Up until yesterday I had been getting my broadband from BT Total Broadband for 16 months. When I joined it was around £22 for up to 8mb speeds with a useage limit of 4GB per month. Because I wouldn’t call myself a heavy downloader I was happy with the package. Recently the price came down to around £20 and a useage limit of 8GB per month. However, I was experiencing some problems and poor speeds a couple of weeks ago so I was considering making a move quite soon.

One evening I went to the o2 website to look at the mobile phone handsets as I’m due an upgrade shortly. I was just about to click on the ‘Shop’ button when I noticed o2 were now offering broadband. I’ve been an o2 mobile phone customer for several years now and have had no isses at all. Infact I’ve often said I wish that o2 would supply broadband! The packages are as follows…

Standard: 8mb speed, unlimited useage, £7.50 per month for o2 Pay Monthly customers (standard price £17.50)

Premium: 16mb speed, unlimited useage, £10 per month for o2 Pay Monthly customers (standard price £20)

Ultimate: 20mb speed, unlimited useage, £15 per month for o2 Pay Monthly customers (standard price £25)

I opted for the Standard package as it was the only speed my line is capable of. Since I’m already an o2 mobile phone customer then I get it for £7.50 - a saving of £13 per month compared to what I was getting with BT. Plus, since they only just launched their broadband service 2 weeks ago they are not only giving customers the usual 14 day cooling off period but also an extra 100 days in which you can cancel and get your money back if you aren’t happy.

o2 sent me the o2 wireless box on Monday, which is a Thomson 780 router. My broadband with o2 was activated yesterday so I swapped my Netgear wireless router for the o2 wireless box and I find this a much better set-up - and my speeds have increased. I also like the admin panel for the o2 router which gives far more detailed statistics about the devices which are using my connection, as you can see here

So, I’ve been up and running with o2 broadband for 24 hours and it’s been plain sailing so far. The £7.50 price tag was one of the attractions, but also the UK based call centre and the other features of the package including 10 e-mail accounts (and POP3), 100 free texts to send to any mobile via your PC or Mac and o2 e-mail to mobile (free).

If you’re looking for a new ISP then I would definitely recommend that you check out o2 Broadband. Since you have the extra security of the 100 day money back guarantee if you sign up before January 2008 then it’s well worth a try

My new 20in Apple iMac arrived today. After unpacking I started it up, then installed Leopard which took around an hour. Once that was complete I hooked up my Mac Mini to the iMac via firewire and migrated my user accounts, files and folders and applications to the new machine. That took half an hour or so which was quicker than I anticipated.

I haven’t even touched on half of the new features in Leopard since today has just been about setting up and making sure all my info is in place. I have a lot to play with tomorrow after a good nights sleep. But, the Migration Assistant is an absolute godsend. It’s a new computer yet it’s familiar as everything I had on my Mac Mini is now on here…and with the most minimal fuss of getting it across.

So, just a quick entry - my first from the new iMac and Leopard. I’m sure I’ll have more to say in the coming days when I’ve settled into it all. It’s a gorgeous machine - so quiet, so sleek. The one thing I was a little concerned about was the glossy display given I hadn’t touched one before. I’ve read about how some people thought the glare was too much for them. But, for me it’s a non-issue. When the computer is on and you’re sitting infront there is no glare/reflection whatsoever. Believe me, the last thing I want to see when I’m looking at my screen is my own reflection. So, no problems here for me at all in my environment I’m happy to say

This evening I ordered myself the 20in iMac from the Apple UK Store. I originally ordered it around 6 weeks ago but due to a shipping delay I decided to cancel and wait it out for it to ship with Leopard.

So, this is my 3rd Mac in two and a half years. My current set-up consists of Apple Mac Mini 1.25GHz Power PC G4 purchased in June 2005 and an iMac G3 purchased from eBay for around £90 in April 2007. Both of these run Tiger and surprisingly the classic iMac runs it rather well.

I will, of course, be hanging on to my classic (there’s that word again) iMac G3 but I have plans to sell my Mac Mini in a month or so as I don’t have the room for it. Yes, I know that sounds crazy since the Mac Mini is so tiny, but I won’t have any monitors to hook it up to once I sell my Samsung 20in widescreen display. Plus, it will be nice to get a little money back for what I’ve spent on Apple goodness recently. With the new iMac and iPod touch I have spent a whopping £1,000 just in the past 3-4 weeks alone. But, I’m sure it will be totally worth it and I am so looking forward to getting to grips with Leopard.

So, shipping is between 26th-29th October and is estimated to arrive between 29th-31st October. So very excited about having a new and more importantly faster machine on my desk than anything I have had in the past few years I hope the migration process is as smooth and easy as I’ve heard it is. I shall be making some notes over the next few days of what I want to pass over to the new machine. See you on the other side…or maybe before then

I knew it was a matter of time before my finger would make it’s way to the Games section of the Apple Web Apps page for the iPod touch. Now that it has I’ve fast become addicted to Bubble Trouble.

The aim is quite simple: Pop the same colour adjacent bubbles, in blocks of three or more. The more bubbles you pop in a tap equals more points. My highest score so far is 3407 3515 (as of 19 October). See if you can beat that on your iPhone or iPod touch

XWUZ Entertainment

Mac OS X Leopard was officially announced today and we can expect it in our hands on Friday 26th October. I will be ordering the new 20in iMac next Friday when Leopard will ship with it. For those who bought their eligible Mac’s between 1st October 2007 and December 29th 2007 they will be able to get Leopard for £5.95 ($9.95 US)

I actually placed an order for the new 20in iMac, early September. However, due to a shipment delay I was starting to think “Shall I wait just that little bit longer, for Leopard?” and I promptly cancelled it. I then purchased the iPod touch touch to keep me entertained and I must say it’s done a good job of it so far

So, expect an exciteable entry when I’ve ordered the iMac and an even more exciteable one when I’ve taken delivery of it. My Mac Mini, current Mighty Mouse and aluminum keyboard will then be sold on to a good and loving (I hope) home. It’s served me well for over 2 years and it’s still going strong