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SPEEDLINKORIOSLEDXL
/£52.57incVAT
SUPPLIER amazon.co.uk
The Speedlink Orios LEDXLis a massive,softmousepadwitha
USB-powered LED striparoundtheedge.Insofarasambitionis
concerned, the Orios XLis mostlyaimingtobereallybig,andit
succeeds – with its 910x 420mmarea,it’sabsolutelyhuge.
The pad itself is only3mmthick,witha smoothfabricsurface
and a rubberised undersidetokeepit still.Meanwhile,theLEDs
around the edge featuresevendifferentcoloursanda pattern
that cycles through themall.Byitself,that’snotanimpressive
party trick for a mousepad,butthescaleofit makesit more
visuallyinteresting,actingasa sortofperimeterlightforyour
maindesktoparea. TheOriosis a decentexecutionofthegiant
mousepad approach,althoughit’salsoa bittoopriceyforwhatit is.
Giant mouse Giant mousepad
Custom kit
Phil Hartup checks out the latest gadgets, gizmos and geek toys
REVIEWS / CUSTOM KIT
COZOO HEADPHONE STAND
/£22.99incVAT
SUPPLIER amazon.co.uk
The Cozoo Headphone Stand is a combination
of a couple of useful desktop gizmos smushed
together. Ostensibly, it’s a headphone stand that
attaches to the underside of your desk with a
strip of double-sided tape. However, it also has
a three-port USB hub and an audio port. This
combination of features enables you to not only
use the Cozoo as a headset stand, but also as a
charging port or, most helpfully, as the point of
connection for a USB headset back to your PC.
The Cozoo is also supplied with a trio of cable
holders, equipped with double-sided tape,
in order to mitigate the possible headache of
wiring. As such, you can neatly hook the wires
to the underside of your
desk, then up and into the
rear USB ports of your PC.
As a USB hub, it’s inevitably
in an unusual position, but
not an inherently bad one, and
the arms on which you stand the
headphones include additional grabbers
for cables to further limit cabling chaos. It’s not
hard to make a headphone stand, but the Cozoo
excels at its job, and an extra USB 3 port and two
more USB 2 connections never hurt anybody.Kazoo Cozoo