Reviewing a dozen of anything at the same time is generally a nightmare.

Tech journos might get to play with cool toys, but mostly the life of a product reviewer is far less glamorous than it might seem. Testing one product can be tricky enough, but testing a bunch of them can drive you mad - especially when you're dealing with bleeding edge technology.

In ten years of tech reviewing, the last five as a freelancer, I've learned a few things about group product tests (also known as a "Round-Up"). As I settled in this week to run a group test of Android smartphones, I started to post a few words of warning on Twitter, using the hashtag #ShitIveLearnedTheHardWay. Colleagues soon jumped in with their pearls of wisdom. Our musings quickly grew into quite a long list of advice which I thought people might find of interest. I know it would have helped me along my way when I was first starting out.

Round-Up Rule 1: Group tests are more trouble than they're worth, that's why editors outsource them

Round-Up Rule 2: Know when to say no to a group test commission, and which editors are good to work with

Round-Up Rule 3: @David_Neiger Don't test heavy or bulky products (eg. printers, large screen TVs) unless you love your physio

Round-Up Rule 4: Read the brief carefully & plan ahead. Reread brief as you go - aloud if necessary

Round-Up Rule 5: Allow at least week for all gear to arrive, despite promises from vendors/PR/couriers

Round-Up Rule 6: Pay mbe.com.au to deal with couriers, to avoid #PunchCourierInTheFace (the @alexkidman clause)

Round-Up Rule 6a: @alexkidman At least 1 product will be sent to the publication rather than you. The heaviest one (Freelancer sub-clause)

Round-Up Rule 6b: @David_Neiger Products sent to the publication will disappear from the planet only to re-emerge after deadline

Round-Up Rule 6c: Stuff sent to mag will disappear forever, or be stolen in transit (with @coaten)

Round-Up Rule 7: If one in a million are DOA, you'll get that one

Round-Up Rule 8: @alexkidman Expect cables and other important stuff to be missing

Round-Up Rule 9: Expect gear to turn up with only US power plugs

Round-Up Rule 10: Clear a dedicated work space ie. not the kitchen table

Round-Up Rule 11: Allow extra time, clear yr schedule & don't leave complicated stuff til last

Round-Up Rule 12: Photograph the contents of every box before you start

Round-Up Rule 13: Get right tools for job - don't be afraid to spend $$ on gear that makes life easier

Round-Up Rule 14: Cheap powerboards r like dodgy mates - keep plenty around but don't rely on them

Round-Up Rule 15: Take lots of notes, including logins & passwords - and keep notes forever

Round-Up Rule 15a: @alexkidman If someone else set the password, try "Password" and "VendorName" first.

Round-Up Rule 16: NEVER assume you know everything, plus don't take the vendor/PR's word on anything

Round-Up Rule 17: Network-locked gear is a pain in the arse

Round-Up Rule 17a: @neerav Demand SIMs for every phone

Round-Up Rule 18: Battery tests are a pain - be methodical and double-check b4 walking away for 24 hrs

Round-Up Rule 19: Don't get cocky - if it all seems too easy, you've probably missed something important

Round-Up Rule 20: If y'r gettin friend to help, hope they don't have bad reaction to meds & need hospital- slows u down #TrueStory

Round-Up Rule 21: Feature tables are a pain in the arse and take longer than you think

Round-Up Rule 22: @alexkidman High Res product photos will take 4x longer to source than most product tests actually take

Round-Up Rule 22b: Good product photography is harder than it looks, don't do it unless you know your shit

Round-Up Rule 23: When u start seeing compression artifacts & 3D crosstalk whilst driving to shops, y'r in "the zone"

Round-Up Rule 24: You always go through that moment of panic when all seems lost - learn to deal with it

Round-Up Rule 25: @David_Neiger No matter what you do, one or more vendors will end up screaming to the editor

Round-Up Rule 26: @David_Neiger Vendors have no clue where products are - you'll be asked to return gear already sent or never received

Round-Up Rule 27: @David_Neiger The return satchel supplied by a PR will never be big enough to fit the product #itstrue

Round-Up Rule 28: @alexkidman At least 3 new replacement products will come out the day your story goes live. Learn to love it.

Round-Up Rule 29: Don't get sucked into Twitter when you should be working

I wasn't surprised that Apple announced revisions to the iMac line, having seen some clearance sale adverts from Apple resellers in the last week or so.

Apple probably didn't warn its resellers, but they have become accustomed to reading the entrails of stock figures and delivery times.

Anyway, faster processors, memory and graphics are nothing unusual in a 'speed bump' update like this. For most customers, support for SDXC memory cards is probably a 'future proofing' move as they don't yet own a digital video or still camera that support these extra-high capacity cards.

64GB SDXC cards currently sell for around $A300 - expensive, but about half the price of a similar amount of memory in the form of multiple 4GB SDHC cards. According to Panasonic, a 64GB card can store around 8.5 hours of HD video at maximum quality.

Some people are probably getting excited about the Mac Pro refresh that offers various CPU combinations from a single 2.8GHz quad-core Xeon to dual 2.93GHz six-core Xeons (prices start at $A3499), or the 27in LED Cinema display (2560 x 144 pixels, iSight, microphone, speakers, powered USB hub and integrated MagSafe charger, shipping in September).

But to me, the most interesting part of Apple's announcement was the $A99 Magic Trackpad, an external version of the multi-touch trackpad that's been part of the MacBook family for some time. I've been expecting an equivalent for desktop models ever since multi-touch arrived. I'll have more to say about it when (if?) I have a chance to test one.

A quick rant, if I may. If such things worry you, come back tomorrow. I'm sure Stephen will have something much calmer to say, although I can't explicitly guarantee that.

Amidst the never-ending hype prior to the Australian launch of the iPhone 4, there's a critical detail that just about every single article I've seen to date has missed out. It's a detail that's crucial not only to iPhone users, but to anyone who uses a smartphone.

As I write this, Telstra and Optus have released their iPhone pricing plans, and to the surprise of almost nobody, they're functionally identical to the old 3GS plans, with only a few quirky bumps around the edges. Vodafone hasn't released plans for its Vodafone and Three brands yet, but having looked over (insert blatant plug here) the basic plans on offer from Telstra and Optus for PC Authority, I've got a pretty good idea where they're likely to go. With the competition playing steady as she goes games, why rock the boat and make things harder and more expensive for yourself?

That annoys me, but nowhere near the quoted "value" of each of the plans. I've been as guilty of this as anyone in the name of getting a quick article out, it should be admitted. Still, when you buy a $49 cap plan, the quoted "value" is apparently around $400-450.

It's utter rubbish. It's not $400, $450 or even $300. In no way is it $450. It's $49 value, because that's the sum of money (at a minimum) that the telco takes out of your pocket each and every month for the privilege of using the service. That $400+ figure is based on value figures that the telcos set themselves, and can depend on flagfalls, the types of services you're using and the location you're contacting. Year by year these values change, not because telephony gets rarer or has to be mined out of the earth at great cost, but essentially because of competitive pressures when and if they exist at all.

It's worse with actual mobile data, too. The "cost" of iPhone data differs from the cost of iPad data which differs from the cost of data for a Blackberry which differs from the cost of data for a feature phone which differs from the cost of data for a USB modem and all of this differs depending on whether you're a business or consumer customer or a postpaid or pre-paid customer. I don't think I've ever used the word "differs" as much in a sentence before, but that aside, it's all the same darned network. Data packets are data packets, but as Orwell might have put it, some packets are more equal than others.

That straight number cost gets even worse with SMS, a service that's of such a marginal cost to telcos that I'm stunned they still even charge for it. It also ignores the other "costs" of the service, like whether you've got to pay to retrieve voicemail that you received only because the network was down wherever you were. Is there a cost for the stress of missing a call through no fault of your own? There should be a rebate.

In this technology based world, longevity of a company usually means around 5 years. 10 years is better than average and 25 years phenomenal. So imagine then, a technology company that has been around for 50 years!

Well this is an achievement reached by Grass Valley, the makers of the Edius range of prosumer video editing systems and broadcast Grass Valley products.

In celebrating the announcement, a memo was issued today saying that the parent company, Technicolor, had received a binding offer from Francisco Partners -- a leading technology-focused investment company - that recognizes the value of the Grass Valley brand, the strength of the new and refreshed product line and the potential that can be realized through independent ownership of the company.

The memo goes on to say “The offer to acquire the business includes the complete product portfolio, the R&D centres and manufacturing facilities, as well as all current customer contracts and support agreements – everything that is part of the Grass Valley Broadcast & Professional business. Most important, because the business depends on its ability to design, manufacture, sell and support its market-leading products, the offer of course includes the great people within Grass Valley, from the design engineers in our R&D centres to the sales and customer support teams around the globe – and the many other people in between”

In a time when the industry is dominated by Apple with Final Cut, Sony with its Vegas lineup and Adobe, this hopefully will bring the Edius name (and Grass Valley as a consequence) into more prominence, as it is certainly worth deserving of a good hard investigation as an alternative platform.

The worm didn't get a chance to react to the technology policies of Australia's two aspiring PMs last night. They were too busy talking about boats.

In fact, you had to wait until the 56th minute of the hour-long debate before there was any mention of technology at all. Just before the final gong, Julia Gillard confirmed her intention to continue with the massive NBN project. Two brief mentions, and that was it.

Now, while it would be naive to expect exhaustive discussion about the various technology related issues facing the country in a national televised debate, surely just a little wouldn't hurt?

Couldn't they have found some time, in between "moving forward" and "stopping the boats" to touch on some of the factors that will affect virtually everyone in the country?

The issues they didn't discuss included:

* The NBN: This vast network will touch every home and business in the country. Yet no one knows whether its construction will even continue should Tony Abbott win the contest.

* Immigration: There's been much talk about sustainable population growth, but nobody is clear about what imact migration cuts will have on skilled technology specialists. Will Aussie companies have access to the pool of international skills they need to grow?

* R&D: Other countries do much in the way of stimulating technology development through schemes that support R&D through grants and tax breaks. What do our leaders think of this and what are their plans? Who knows.

* The internet filter: This issue has been delayed, but it's still bubbling away in the background. How about a bit of discussion?

Even just a few minutes on these issues would help to clear up where the major parties stand. The worm would have provided instant feedback and we could have used the details to guide our decisions come polling day.

Let's hope that, if further live debates are scheduled, technology issues at least get more than a mention.