Audio Visual·Film & TV·Thought Piece Sky Pod is good but not great May 2, 2023 Pat Pilcher Seasoned Sky water PAT PILCHER really, really wanted to like the affordable new Sky Pod but found that its issues were deal-breakers. Read More
Concerts·Interviews·Music Dire Straits 40 years ago April 26, 2023 Gary Steel GARY STEEL interviewed two members of Dire Straits both before and after their 1983 gig in a dangerously windy Wellington. Read More
Gear·Phones·Smartphones·Thought Piece Here’s a flipping wonder from Oppo April 21, 2023 Pat Pilcher The first of Oppo's foldable phones available on the NZ market is an easy 10/10 rating writes a wildly enthusiastic PAT PILCHER. Read More
Gear·Hi-Fi·Sound and Vision·Speakers·Thought Piece PSB Alpha iQ Streaming Powered Speakers: Small but mighty April 12, 2023 Pat Pilcher On the hunt for a pair of small streaming speakers? PAT PILCHER recommends these highly practical and great-sounding beauts Read More
Life·Thought Piece Learning to be kind again… even to those we oppose March 28, 2023 Gary Steel The media engineered a circus last weekend and the end result is that no one benefited, writes GARY STEEL. Read More
Thought Piece Canon EOS R50 Mirrorless Camera: A great all-rounder March 27, 2023 Pat Pilcher PAT PILCHER gets to fiddle extensively with an especially excellent camera with top video and touchscreen smarts. Read More
Film & TV·Thought Piece The best (and worst) streaming TV shows & films this month March 22, 2023 Gary Steel A regular column in which GARY STEEL sifts through the mountain of available streaming TV and brings your attention to great new and old Read More
Gear·Hi-Fi·Sound and Vision·Thought Piece An artisanal Japanese DAC that isn’t like the others – the Spec RMP-DAC3EX March 21, 2023 Andrew Baker All digital to analogue converters sound the same, right? ANDREW BAKER finds that this Japanese beaut proves otherwise. Read More
Life·Thought Piece Cyclone response by telco and council leave small community in the dark March 20, 2023 Gary Steel A nine-day telecommunications blackout was bad enough but the farcical response by the telcos was worse, writes GARY STEEL. Read More
Uncategorized Review: Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra March 6, 2023 Pat Pilcher Samsung's shiny new Galaxy S23 is a champ in every conceivable department, writes PAT PILCHER in his enthusiastic assessment. Read More
Gear·Hi-Fi·Sound and Vision·Speakers·Thought Piece PSB’s Passif 50 speakers look like 1970 but sound like 2023 March 5, 2023 Andrew Baker PSB's retro-look Passif 50 speakers get ANDY BAKER's undivided listening attention and he likes them very, very much. Read More
Digital Sources·Film & TV·Fitness Gear Hands on with the new 4K MySky Box February 16, 2023 Pat Pilcher PAT PILCHER gets a special preview of the new 4K MySky box and comes away with a smile on his face and a happy Read More
Life·News·Thought Piece Is AI about to create seismic change? February 16, 2023 Pat Pilcher Is AI about to change life as we know it? Could it bring peace and prosperity, or will it make life hell on earth? Read More
Concerts·Interviews·Music Pussycats in leather: Skid Row land in Auckland February 7, 2023 Gary Steel Vulgar and abusive on stage, wild metal animals Skid Row purr in the presence of tabby-tamer GARY STEEL in this 1990 interview. Read More
Life How to spot and purge pathetic punditry January 30, 2023 Paul Rose The media is filling its column inches with pundits whose opinions are seldom backed up with anything like facts, writes PAT PILCHER. Read More
Digital Sources·Gear·Hi-Fi·Sound and Vision·Thought Piece Technics’ astounding new Grand Class player does it all January 27, 2023 Andrew Baker Made for listeners with 2023 requirements but a penchant for physical media, this network player is a sonic marvel, writes ANDREW BAKER. Read More
Gaming·Thought Piece Meta’s Quest 2 VR headset does it right January 23, 2023 Pat Pilcher PAT PILCHER gets intimate with the new Meta VR headset and discovers that they've done it just right second time around. Read More
Film & TV·Thought Piece The best (and worst) streaming TV shows & films this month January 11, 2023 Gary Steel A regular column in which GARY STEEL sifts through the mountain of available streaming TV and brings your attention to great new and old Read More
AI Chat GPT – will it kill off human writers? January 10, 2023 Pat Pilcher PAT PILCHER plays around with an astounding generative language processing tool that might just be a game-changer for wordsmiths. Read More
Thought Piece Combining Quantum Dots and OLED – this TV rocks! January 4, 2023 Pat Pilcher Sony’s picture-perfect marriage between OLED and Quantum Dot technology gets PAT PILCHER all worked up in a lather. Read More