1) What were your initial impressions and how did you find setting up the devices?
Physically, they're all attractive bits of kit. The XBox One in particular is very glossy, and the tablet and phone feel much more solid and expensive than you’d expect given their low price points.
The XBox was simple to set up, but very time consuming because there were a lot of huuuuge downloads to install. Once that was done though, the interface walked us through the set-up fairly helpfully. DH, however, who isn't particularly wi-fi literate, had to guess at a couple of things because I wasn't there, and some of the typefaces are tiny. In an ideal world there'd be two set-up modes: "I know what I'm doing, just point me in the right direction" and "I haven't a clue, explain everything in minute detail"
As I said in an earlier post, we had to rearrange things because our largest "front room" TV is a bit old and didn't have an HDMI input. This isn't a problem exactly, but any prospective purchasers need to bear it in mind.
Playing the games was a very simple set-up, but they all have a lengthy set of updates to download before you play for the first time, and the Kinect Sports set-up was also quite time-consuming, although the avatars were very entertaining.
We made a bit of a hash of choosing which Microsoft account should be attached to the Xbox account with the Gold Xbox Live subscription on, and we still haven’t set the kids up properly – it needs a bit of thought.
2) Overall, what do you think of the following products? Do you like them? If so, why? If not, why not?
a.Microsoft Lumia 735
I think the phone is a lovely bit of kit. Like other testers who currently have iPhones, I'd find it hard to ditch all my existing apps to switch, but for DH, starting from scratch, it should be great.
b.Xbox One console with Kinect
It’s a good games console and DVD/Bluray player. I’m not sure whether we’re interested in the idea of running absolutely all our family entertainment through it in the way that is envisaged, but it’s very impressive for a family who were used to a console two generations behind.
c.Linx tablet
Good solid tablet, enjoying using it. I’m struggling with the nifty photo gesture log in, and will need to reset it to something more foolproof (but not guessable). The absence (so far) of an iPlayer app is a real drawback – I originally thought that it wasn’t a problem because I could use the iPlayer page through the browser, but of course if you do that then it times out if you don’t touch the screen for a while (eg while listening to the Radio 4 adaptation of Good Omens in the bath). I’m quite tempted to get a keyboard case for it though.
3) Who uses each of the products the most and what do they use them for?
DH and the DC have been playing the Forza driving games, which are beautiful to look at, and they seem to be having lots of fun. The DC have been playing Project Spark which is also very pretty and intrigues them (they’re 10 and 12 and very keen on Minecraft/Roblox) but going to take a lot of time and patience to master.
DH has had a go at the Kinect Sports game which seems to work well.
The phone is going to be DH's. He's never had a smartphone before and doesn't like touchscreens, so he was very resistant at first, and struggled with things like turning it on 
(he has a degree in engineering) . However after I came back with top tips from the Microsoft training sessions he’s really got to grips with it and is finding it pretty easy to use. He’s using it as a backup to his existing dumbphone at the moment, and will give it until the New Year before switching his number over. I think he’ll use it a) as a phone b) for texting c) for emails d) for maps/directions e) to find out when the next bus is coming f) to take pictures g) to look facts up on Wikipedia – all the usual stuff really.
I’m using the tablet. Having never had one before I’ve always struggled to work out what they’re for, but now I’ve set it up, I’m starting to get it. I’m planning to use the Kindle app to read books on which aren’t available in physical form. I don’t travel enough or buy enough new books to have thought a dedicated e-reader worthwhile, but it’ll definitely be useful now and again, and because I’ve got the smaller one, it’ll fit neatly in my handbag. It’ll be useful for watching my BlinkBox Game of Thrones downloads.
One of the key uses which didn’t previously occur to me is that it’ll save on printing things out – when I go to committee meetings I can take last month’s minutes without printing them out – and when I’m working from home on the laptop and want to refer back to documents while I work on spreadsheets it’s been very useful to email the pdf to the tablet and have it sitting next to me for reference.
I’m not sure it’ll be useable for taking next month’s minutes though, it’s just a bit small and I keep hitting the wrong bit of the screen when I use Office, but maybe I’ll get better at it and/or find some settings to make it easier.
4) If it came up in conversation, do you think you would recommend the Microsoft Lumia, Xbox One with Kinect and Linx tablet? If so, why? If not, why not?
I’d certainly recommend looking at the Lumia unless you’re wedded to the Apple app store. It’s a good product at a great low price and it will do most things you want a phone for well enough for most purposes. If you’re using the XBox One as intended as a home entertainment hub then I imagine the SmartGlass functionality would be very useful as well.
The Linx tablets are startlingly cheap, especially because the Office 365 subscriptions they come with would cost about 50 quid on their own. In terms of value for money it’s well up there, for reading, document reference, web-browsing, playing games and watching TV/films on the move. Whether you’d want the 10 or 7 inch version I guess depends on your particular lifestyle.
5) Do you have a favourite aspect about any of the products? If so, what is it?
The swipey keyboard thing on the phone is absolute wizardry, I just can't get over how fantastic it is. The HereDrive and HereMap maps on the Lumia phone are great too - it's so good not to have to wait while everything loads up or be tied to a 3G signal and/or huge roaming charges.
And
1) Did you find the Microsoft event useful? Why/why not?
Yes it was useful, it answered some specific questions I had and showed me some things that I wouldn’t otherwise have known about. But actually two hours only scratched the surface, and it would have been good to talk specifically about child safety settings.
2) Do you think the products work well together? Why/why not?
Yes I think they do work well. Actually the thing that I’m finding most useful is the way the tablet works with my laptop. I’ve previously resisted the suggestions to put documents onto OneDrive, but being able to transfer things from tablet to laptop will be very useful, and I think the SmartGlass will be handy for keen gamers.
Thankyou very much Microsoft and MNHQ
