Gadget Story

LG PRADA KE850:Sophistication made simple

2008-07-11T23:56:00.000-07:00

Key Features:

* Exclusive design and slim form factor
* Full touch-based Flash user interface
* 3" TFT display with a WQVGA resolution (400 x 240 pixels)
* 2 megapixel camera with auto focus
* Shoots video in WQVGA resolution
* Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP stereo support
* microSD memory card slot
* Office documents viewer
* FM radio
* Standard 3.5 mm audio adapter

Main Disadvantages:

* No 3G or HSDPA support
* Unimpressive battery life
* Really basic web browser
* Fingerprint magnet

The LG Prada phone is truly unique and thus has no direct competitors. With its touch-based user interface it outranks all current fashion mobiles.

When it comes to product packaging LG already have a tradition of offering their products in high-quality retail packages that are visually attractive as the handsets themselves. The LG Prada phone makes no difference to that rule. The Prada phone retail box is a black cube and the contents are positioned on different levels inside the box.

The large touch screen display is the centerpiece in this work of technological art. It measures a good 3 inches in diagonal and supports up to 262K colors in a WQVGA (400 x 240 pixels) resolution. The original PRADA theme doesn't seem to take full advantage of the rich colors. But rest assured, there are full color interface themes, too. Above the display there is the PRADA insignia and the loudspeaker grill and below it are three control keys - the two receiver keys plus a Back key in the middle. This middle key is so small that it's hardly noticeable but proves rather comfortable in everyday use.

The battery cover is easily removed after you release it with the abovementioned release key. The LGIP-A750 Li-Ion battery with a capacity of 800 mAh is hidden below it. According to the manufacturer, the battery should sustain the handset for up to 300 hours in standby mode and up to 3 hours in constant talking. Now we weren't able to measure the battery life correctly since we used the handset heavily during our tests but under a moderate everyday usage you would probably need to charge the Prada phone every two days or so. The SIM card bed is located above the battery while the memory card slot is buried even deeper - being under the SIM card slot itself. You would have to take out the battery in order to take out the memory card which is a bit of a nuisance.

Epson PictureMate Dash (PM 260) Portable Photo Lab

2008-07-11T01:16:00.000-07:00

The PictureMate is a lunch boxed sized printer with a handle that you can use to tote it around. This little printer does not require a computer in order to print your photos. It reads your images from its built in card readers, or an attached USB storage device. If you want to connect it to a computer, you have that option too. Drivers are available for Windows and Mac OS X.

The front of the PictureMate closes up for transport. To open the paper tray, you just press the spring loaded latch in the upper right corner. When the paper tray is opened, you'll also see the built in card readers. The top reader slot can accommodate MemorySticks and SD cards. The bottom slot is for Compact Flash Type I and II cards. Other card formats such as MicroSD and miniSD can be used if you have the appropriate adapter.

If we look at the back of the printer, we will find a USB port for external storage devices, a USB port to use to connect to your computer, a power connector, a battery compartment and an ink cartridge compartment.

In addition to loading images from flash cards and USB devices, you can also send images wirelessly from a Bluetooth enabled phone, PDA or computer. Slide the cartridge into the slot, move the locking lever to the lock position and close the compartment door. Totally quick and easy, just the way I like things to be.

Palm TXDA

2008-07-07T20:55:00.000-07:00

Pros: Size, Wi-Fi, Ease of Use, Price

Cons: Seperate Pwr cord, "trickle charge USB"

After running around the world with Palm's E2 and having to switch my SD storage card for my Wi-Fi card and not being able to download files I decided to bite the bullet and purchase Palm's T|X. Upon opening the flashy business box the T|X gleems like a new penny. After a 3 hr initial charge I got to play with the T|X's features. Doc2GO, Versimail, and bluetooth connectivity all worked like a champ.

The media program played mp3s and showed pictures on a beautiful landscape or vertical screen in millions of colors. The most impressive feature was the ease of use of the built-in Wi-Fi. I detected not only my home's network but 3 others in my neighborhood. I took my T|X on the road for the first time and connected to the hotel Wi-Fi without any trouble. My only complaint would be with the battery life is not a long as I would like it to be but there are ways to get your battery to last longer. (i.e. turn off BT or Wi-Fi when not in use). Also, I am not a big fan of the 2 wire set up on the latest Palm products.

2 ports on the bottom of the device, one for hotsync and the other for power. What ever happened to the cradle? If your USB port supports 500 mA power you can "trickle charge" your T|X through it's USB cable and not the power charger. Word to the wise though..."trickle charge" takes up to 9 hrs vs 3 hrs on the power charger. The other 2 items I highly recommend is the hard case to protect your purchase and a 1 or 2 GB SD card so you can work and download from you Wi-Fi connections.

So, if you don't need to be connected all the time and don't want the monthly cost of a data plan on a smartphone like the 700w or Motorola Q but still want processing power, internet connectivity, and a robust email program for all your email needs then this sleek, beautiful, handheld is for you.

Cowon D2 (8GB)

2008-07-06T20:18:00.000-07:00

Photos of the Cowon D2 really don't do the player justice--it has such a nice feel to it, so we definitely recommend some hands-on time with the player before you pass final judgment. The sleek body is wrapped in a brushed-metal border, where you can find some tactile controls: a power/hold slider, volume buttons, and a menu key. On the left edge, hidden beneath a flap, are two USB ports: one standard mini for syncing with the computer and one proprietary for use with the included wallwart power adapter. The bottom of the device features an SD card expansion slot for adding more memory. At 3x2.2x0.6 inches, the player is pleasantly compact overall, though it feels a bit weighty at 2.1 ounces.

The D2 is dominated by a 2.5-inch color screen, which makes it look quite similar to the iRiver Clix. Unlike the Clix, however, the D2's display is touch-sensitive, which means the majority of navigation is accomplished by poking at the screen PDA-style. Your finger will do the trick, or you can use the included stylus--which also acts as a nifty kickstand, by the way. The D2's touch screen is responsive, but we prefer tactile controls for MP3 players since a touch interface makes blind navigation impossible. All in all, the D2's user interface is pretty straightforward, with an icon-driven main menu that reminds me of Archos' PVPs, but deeper navigation will take some acclimation. Still, anyone with a bit of tech experience should catch on swiftly.

Getting started with the Cowon D2 is a simple task on Windows XP. (The player also works with previous Windows versions back to 98, as well as Mac and Linux operating systems.) You can simply connect the player to your computer using the included USB cable and begin transferring content, either via drag-and-drop in Windows Explorer or by using Windows Media Player (WMP). Cowon also includes a software CD that includes JetShell for transferring files and JetAudio for media playback and conversion. We prefer WMP to JetShell for syncing, but JetAudio is a worthwhile install--and necessary if you want to convert video for playback on the D2. Transcoding takes time, but it proved easy to do in testing, and the resulting files played back flawlessly on the D2. However, we had to use drag-and-drop to transfer it over--WMP gave an error message.

As with all Cowon players, the D2 is teeming with features. It offers support for multiple audio codecs, including MP3, Ogg, WAV, FLAC, and WMA--including subscription tracks. We tested the player with Urge and the D2 had no problem playing back the tracks and recognizing prebuilt playlists. (You can also create a dynamic playlist on the device itself.) Music playback options include shuffle and repeat modes, six EQ presets as well as a user-defined mode, and BBE sound effects (Mach3Bass, 3D Surround, and Stereo Enhance). You can also view photos and videos on the device. It supports WMV and AVI natively, and the aforementioned JetShell can help you with other formats, such as DiVX. There's also voice and line-in recording, as well as an FM tuner with autoscan and a seemingly limitless number of preset slots.

And how about that ever-pressing performance issue? As I've come to expect from Cowon players, the D2 sounds great when paired with a decent pair of headphones, such as the Shure E4c. You'll definitely want to replace the set that comes with the player--they sound pretty awful. The multitude of sound-adjustment options should help you find the perfect balance for your tastes. Overall, tunes sounded rich, warm, and detailed with a thumping low-end to satisfy bass-freaks. The stellar sound quality remained consistent across all genres of music. Photos looked crisp and detailed on the bright, color screen, and it's kind of cool to see the chunky, pixilated effect just before an image comes fully into focus. Video playback also proved more than acceptable--we wouldn't mind watching a 30-minute clip on the D2, though we still think the screen is too small for feature-length movie watching.

E61i: billed as Nokia's communicator device

2008-07-04T19:26:00.000-07:00

smartphone communicator segment. This is where QWERTY thumbboards, an emphasis on messaging, and all around usablity are the keys to success. Devices such as RIM's BlackBerry 8700/8800 and Palm's Treo 680/750/755p models head out this group as the benchmarks for usability and style.
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Nokia's initial forray into this arena was the E61. As its first QWERTY communicator device, it was received well by only a few. Problems with usability and an unclear product focus made it a hard peg for consumers to fit well. It didn't help that in bringing this smartphone to the U.S., Nokia stripped the E61 of Wi-Fi and a few other programs, making an essentially underspeced model in the E62.

The E61i was released in an effort to correct issues with the original E61, and also to give the world audience something not named Treo or BlackBerry to consider when looking for a solid smartphone communicator.

Here are a few other points about the E61i that I found cool/interesting:
When you put your SIM in and turn the E61i on, the Settings Wizard comes up guiding you through the process of setting up the data features of your phone. The only niggle here is that some carriers might be asked for gateway information that most users just do not know.
Microsoft Exchange integration comes through Nokia's Mail for Exchange. This is a free download, and will sync calendar, contacts, and email with your Exchange Server. It also supports direct push. I liked using this program, and it made it feel just like my Treo as soon as my calendar and contacts were synced over.
The E61i connects to your computer thru PC Suite. This is a complete device manager as you can even go as far as removing contacts from your phone or making a full backup of your contacts and other data. It will sync, install, connect to Nokia LifeBlog and update your E61i software if there is an update to be had.
Bluetooth (BT) functionality was simple and tenacious. Between my jawbone BT headset and my Moto BT headphones, the E61i would get a hold and not let go. Because it supported A2DP, it was just as simple as pairing the headset and then I could hear music over it.
The E61i takes microSD cards. I liked that it could take the cards, just not that I had to remove the battery cover to get access to the slot. Once the cover was off, I could remove the card without having to remove the battery (which is not the case for the SIM card). Much like the recent reports of the N95 supporting SDHC, I would hope that the E61i also gets this support, because having a number of fingernail-sized memory cards is not a good proposition.
Much of the E61i is made of a hard plastic, but the battery cover is made of metal and feels no differnt than the rest of the device. Compared to even the N95, the E61i feels like an expensive device, and a sturdy one.
As with many mobile devices, the E61i uses a propriteory interface connector for syncing, the Nokia pop-port. Much like Palm's multiconnector, this is a sure connection, but can make you uneasy when trying to take the cable from the device. A syncronized up and out motion seems to be best, but that didn't work all the time either.

Specifications

Symbian S60 Feature Pack 1
Quad band (850, 900, 1800, 1900), EU WCDMA (2100)
Display: 320-by-240 pixel (QVGA), 16 million colors
802.11b/g WLAN
Bluetooth 1.2
60 MB RAM
microSD card slot (up to 2GB)
2.0 Megapixel camera, with video capture
Battery: 1500 mAh

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

2008-07-03T21:35:00.001-07:00

The Canon PowerShot S3 IS's aesthetic seems to be a cross between those of a classic Volkswagen Beetle and a Busy Box. Granted, it's the same body as its predecessor's, but the silver bits stand out more against the current version's iridescent, dark gray plastic than they did against the previous model's silver coloring. As with the S2, there's certainly enough here to keep you busy for a long time, though, and loving every minute of it. (For more details about the S2/S3's basic design and features, read the PowerShot S2 IS review.)

For the S3, Canon upped the size of the flip-and-twist LCD to 2 inches from 1.8, which is still disappointingly small. The company also added a ludicrous 16:9 aspect mode: not only does it simply crop and letterbox the standard 4:3 image, but the LCD is too small for a functional letterbox display. More useful is the new 320x240 60fps movie-capture mode, which produces slick little movies, as does the VGA, 30fps mode. Unfortunately, the camera still lacks raw format support.

Oddly, despite the different sensors--or perhaps because they use the same f/2.7-to-f/3.5, 36mm-to-432mm lens and Digic II imaging processor--the S3's photos look almost identical to the S2's. They display a broad tonal range, albeit with some clipping in the highlights and shadows, very good color accuracy and saturation, and acceptable edge-to-edge sharpness. Its noise profile follows suit as well: low until about ISO 200, then increasingly bad. Though the camera can now boost ISO sensitivity to as high as ISO 800, either manually or by enabling ISO Boost in a programmed-exposure mode, the noise at that setting is quite obtrusive. In general, the S3's photos look good but can't really shake the digital look, either onscreen or in print.

Performance, while not identical to the S2's, is either the equivalent or better. Start-up to first shot takes only 1.5 seconds, which is quite zippy overall, and extremely good for a camera that has a long lens to extend. Shutter lag in bright light runs about 0.4 second and doubles to 0.8 second when the lights get low. The S3 is also relatively responsive: 1.1 seconds typically from shot to shot, plus another second if the flash needs to recycle. Though it maxes out at 1.5fps in continuous-shooting mode, there's no buffer-constraint on the number of sequential shots at maximum resolution; I find that much more useful than a fast but limited burst mode. It was certainly sufficient to capture active dogs and children playing in the park, including kids spinning in a tire swing.

Giga-Byte G-MAX TA4 Mini PC

2008-06-30T21:24:00.000-07:00

The market for the small form factor (SFF) PC, also known as the Mini PC, is one that has been steadily growing since Shuttle first shipped the SV24 in 2001. Other companies have since followed suit, answering consumers’ pleas for smaller (and quieter) computers by making alterations to the original Shuttle design. Taiwanese PC manufacturer, Giga-Byte, known best for their popular motherboards, entered the Mini PC market with the G-MAX TA1, a barebones kit noted for its incredibly small size. Its success with the TA1 has led them to follow up with other Mini PC models, such as those in the SA and TC lines.

The G-MAX TA4 (version 2.0) is one of the latest in Giga-Byte’s offerings, although it has recently been joined by the SA4 and TC4. It is, like its predecessors, a barebones kit, although there are enough options to flesh out an almost-complete system right out of the box. It’s encased in the G-MAX Mini PC form factor casing distinctive of all Giga-Byte Mini PC offerings, such as those listed in their Mini PC product page, as well as some offerings by others who’ve licensed the design, such as AMD.

in the package is the following:
PC Case and system
Specialized Heat Sink*
External Power Supply Unit
24X Slim CD-ROM or DVD-Rom (Optional)
PCMCIA Slot (Optional)
2.5-inch Slim Hard Drive (Optional)
Power Cord
Keyboard and Mouse (Optional)
Flat Screen to CRT Adaptor
System Assembly Manual
Windows Driver CD
Ribbon Cable
Screws for the Slim Hard Drive and CR-ROM.

Mio c310x

2008-06-30T21:16:00.000-07:00

Mio made what I consider a typical mistake of placing the power connector (in this case the mini USB plug) at the bottom of the device. This makes it harder to have the GPS sit low on the dash. With the device higher it is more prone to vibration and may obstruct your forward view a tiny bit more than if it could rest on the dash completely like the Nuvi can.

The process of routing to an address works very well. You click ‘Menu’ –> ‘Address’ then select from either your current city, a list of recent cities you navigated to, or another city. As you enter in the city name, a number to the right side of the display indicates how many cities match what you have typed in so far. This gives you great instant feedback and will let you know when you have typed enough so that you can select the city from a list based on what you have typed in so far. A similar search function is provided for the street name.

There are a couple of other issues I have with the interface. The preferences are located in various locations all over the device and can be difficult to find. For example I couldn’t remember how to force day/night modes. At first i went to the settings button on the side, then hit the ‘Tools’ button and looked in ‘General’ with the gear icon. Not there. Then I went back to the settings button on the side, hit ‘Tools’ again, and this time clicked on ‘Advanced’ with the tools icon. Not in there either. Finally I went back to the ‘Cockpit’, clicked on ‘Menu’, then clicked on the tiny gear icon, and clicked the icon with the sun/moon on it. It would be much easier if all of the preferences for the Map mode were in one place.

Like other devices at this price point, there is no Bluetooth hands-free calling, no traffic receiver, no text-to-speech, and no option to add a traffic receiver later. However at this price those features are not expected. There is an MP3 player, however. It works like most other GPS MP3 players and if you are not going to use it with headphones like an iPod then the quality of the speaker isn’t good enough to replace your car stereo anytime soon. The Mio c310x also comes with the SiRFstarIII chipset which makes signal acquisition fast and reliable.

Affordable 8GB flash drives from Kingston

2008-06-30T21:05:00.000-07:00

Focusing mainly on storage capacity, Kingston today introduced two new 8GB flash drives in the $100 range.

Skipping advanced options, Kingston's new DataTraveler 100 flash drive offers up to 8GB of storage capacity and comes with a retractable design. The new flash drive is compatible with Windows Vista, Mac OS 10.x and above and Linux 2.4 and above. It's also fully compliant with high-speed USB 2.0 specifications, ultimately offering a transfer speed of 480 Mbps/s.

The Kingston DataTraveler 100 is available now in 1, 2, 4 and 8GB capacities, and the 8GB drive retails for $116.

Kingston today also introduced another 8GB flash drive. The password-protected DataTraveler II Plus - Migo Edition offers synchronization software that enables users to work on multiple PCs in different locations, using the contents of their own desktop's e-mail, internet settings, favorites, cookies and history, plus files and folders. This flash drive supports Microsoft Vista and XP, and retails for $154.

Panasonic DVD-LV70 DVD player

2008-06-29T21:49:00.000-07:00

This lightweight portable player has a handsome, silver case that opens like a laptop computer. Check out our photo gallery for pictures of this model. Open the DVD compartment by pressing on the "Push Open" button at the left bottom corner of the base and the disc lid pops up. Press the disc (DVD-Video, Video CD, or audio CD) into the spindle until it engages into the hub clips, close the lid, press and hold the "Play" button and the unit turns on automatically and starts playing the movie. As soon as the image appears on the built-in 7-inch color LCD screen, you can't help but be amazed with the detailed, sharp, bright and colorful image. It's simply stunning! And with this player's full host of features and very notable performance, it should easily pull double duty as your primary home theater DVD player as well.

LCD Screen. The LCD screen is sufficiently bright for comfortable viewing even under the brightest sunlight conditions. The screen brightness can be adjusted for comfortable viewing under darker conditions. Color is saturated and also adjustable. A feature we found particularly useful is the built-in LCD screen which can serve as a display for an external video/audio feed. For example, we connected our camcorder (Sony Digital8 camcorder model DCR-TRV103) to the DVD player and watched the Digital8 videotape playback on the 7-inch LCD screen. The image was equally astonishing as that from DVD, since the source is digital video. Our videos looked great on the Panasonic's widescreen LCD, since we chose to shoot our video in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen format. It's a little troubling that the advertised 7-inch screen really measures 6 7/8 inches diagonally. That's an 1/8 inch shy of what's advertised. Hmmm. Anyways, as a final testament of quality for the LCD display, we did not notice any dead pixels on the LCD screen of our sample.

This unit comes with a compact, low-profile remote control, with color-coded buttons (gray, green, blue, and red) that are logically organized. The buttons are just big enough to operate with ease, though they might be a tad small for those with larger hands. Buttons for disc transport controls (e.g., play, stop, pause, scan, skip) and menu navigation buttons (e.g., arrow and enter buttons) are well placed for good ergonomics. Also included are direct access buttons for subtitles, audio tracks, and angle change. Unfortunately, the remote control can't be used to control other audio or video components (such as a receiver or TV, Panasonic or otherwise).

Obviously the mass appeal behind portable DVD players is that you can take it with you anywhere. So you would naturally ask, how long does the standard Lithium Ion battery (same battery technology as in state-of-the-art laptop computers) last between charges? Of course, this depends on how you use the unit. For example, whether you use headphones vs. the built-in speakers, what volume it is set at, and the LCD screen's brightness setting. When we tested the DVD-LV75 last year, we got an astonishing 4 hours and 50 minutes of play time for one charge. Our test was conducted with headphone volume set to a typical listening level ("6" on the volume dial), and LCD screen brightness set to "0" (from a scale of "-5" for dimmest to "+5" for brightest). In our test this year for the DVD-LV70, using the exact same settings as described above, we got an identical 4 hours and 50 minutes of play time.

Dell Inspiron 530

2008-06-29T21:41:00.000-07:00

Dell's first Inspiron desktop computer system really is geared more towards the budget oriented consumer than the performance minded. That doesn't mean the Inspiron 530 can't be configured as a mainstream PC, it just means that it requires more customization.

The highest level of processor currently offered on the Inspiron 530 is the Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 dual core. This is actually a quite powerful desktop processor and is a step up from what many other companies are offering in their mainstream PCs. One gigabyte is offered standard, but users are advised to opt for the 2GB of PC2-5300 DDR2 memory so that applications run smoothing in the Windows Vista operating system.

There are a wide range of storage options for the Inspiron 530, but most users will probably find sufficient space with the base 320GB 7200rpm hard drive. Large 500GB hard drives or multi-drive configurations are available if you need more. A standard 16x dual layer DVD burner comes standard.

What Dell does offer with the Inspiron 530 that many other companies don't include is a monitor. In the case of this unit, the SE198WFP 19” widescreen is included. While not as nice as the UltraSharp, it still is a decent monitor. The upgrades GeForce 8600GT graphics is also a nice option for those potentially looking to use their system for PC gaming. Although not really powerful, it can still handle the task.

Overall, the Inspiron 530 desktop is a very strong offering, but consumers will need to put up with the customization processor to get the system that they want.

Nokia N800 Internet Tablet

2008-06-29T21:29:00.000-07:00

The N800 is an evolutionary step above the older model, the N770. It features a (rumored, faster 320 Mhz ) TI CPU, two SD slots, 128 MB RAM, 256 MB flash storage, 4.1" 800x480 touchscreen, WiFi, Bluetooth, 3.5mm headphones jack and mini-USB port. On the top of the device you will find the zoom buttons, the fullscreen on/off button and the microphone while on the front of the device there is a 5-way joypad and 3 additional buttons: close application/window, application's menu and task-switch. On the left side there is a retractable VGA video-call camera. Below the device you will find a very practical kickstand, which is very nice if you are using your N800 to watch movies.

The screen has seen an upgrade is terms of quality. It still has the same res/size, but the screen is more clear and easy to read. Upgrade has seen the RAM (128 MBs from 64 MBs), while there is now easy to use swap support to the SD card when running out of memory (e.g. on some huge web pages). The speed of the device is also higher than in the N770, everything feels a bit faster now. The two SD slots (reportedly) support the SDHC protocol now and this means that you should be able to go up to 16 GBs of flash storage using the N800.

The battery life is pretty good too: it reportedly manages 10 days in always-ON standby (the device is actually ON, and with only a few hardware elements OFF), and it managed here about 5 hours of WiFi usage (screen in low backlight mode). It is my estimation (I only had the device for just a day and a half so far) that having the Gizmo or GTalk clients ON and leaving WiFi ON while in standby mode, you should get about 4-5 days of battery life which is better than the second best such device, the Nokia E61. My Nokia E61 has GSM OFF as I use it exclusively as a SIP VoIP device with GizmoProject and manages about 3-4 days of battery life (with WiFi OFF and GSM ON it can last 15 days as the E61 has one of the best battery lives out there, but WiFi is by design more power hungry than the GSM or Bluetooth antennas).

The software has seen an upgrade too, including Opera that now has Macromedia Flash support. Unfortunately, both YouTube's and Google's Flash videos are unwatchable because of the lower CPU power, and this is really a shame, because I bet the biggest reason why Nokia had to work with Adobe and ask them and port Flash to the N800 is because of YouTube... (update: speed is better in latest firmware) You can use a Windows server running Orb to stream Flash video in the .ram format which it plays back fine, but this is not easy to do and can not be expected from normal users to do so. Opera crashed twice while using Hotmail, but other than that it worked admirably.

Acer AcerPower FH 4401 Budget Desktop PC

2008-06-12T20:48:00.000-07:00

The AcerPower FH lineup of desktops is very clearly directed at businesses looking for a low cost desktop option. That doesn't mean that this can't make a very usable home desktop system. Some of the features are very clearly targeted at business use. Take the Windows XP Professional operating system over the newer Vista. This may actually be a bonus for many people who don't want to migrate to the new OS yet.

In terms of performance, the AcerPower FH 4401 has lots of it for the price. Rather than using older Pentium D or Duo models, Acer has elected to use a newer Core 2 Duo E4400 dual core processor. This gives it an edge on most available budget desktops. Combine this with two full gigabytes of memory and the Windows XP Professional operating system and it should have no trouble handling multitasking.

Storage does suffer a bit over a traditional consumer system. Most budget desktops have 300GB or more of hard drive space, but the AcerPower FH comes only with a 160GB drive. This is large for a business system but still quite low overall for the market segment. At least they included a dual layer DVD burner over the more traditional CD-RW/DVD combo drive found in business PCs.

While performance is quite good, the business nature means that many smaller peripheral interconnects are missing. The system has six USB 2.0 ports, but lacks any FireWire connector or a media card reader for digital peripherals. They also elected to not include a modem with the system even though they are not used as frequently as in the past.

What this ends up with is a system that is a good fit for those needing strong performance but don't require much in terms of storage space or peripheral connectivity.

Description
Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 Dual Core Desktop Processor
Two Gigabytes PC2-5300 DDR2 Memory
160GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive
16x DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Burner
Intel GMA 3000 Integrated Graphics
HDA 7.1 Audio
Gigabit Ethernet Interface
Six USB 2.0 Ports
Windows XP Professional

Motorola HS820 Bluetooth

2008-06-12T20:43:00.000-07:00

General Performance:
The sound quality is excellent. No delays, no reverberation.
The weight is so insignificant that I often forget I am wearing it. In fact, the only clue I have is that the ambient sound hitting my right ear is slightly muffled.

Outgoing calls:
Keypad dialed: I hear every key-press on the headset.

Voice dialed: After pressing the MFB (Multi-Function Button) once, I hear two tones and then I speak the voice-tag name. I hear a confirmation of the tag and it dials. (Sometimes I don't hear the 2nd tone and have to re-initiate the sequence again.) If the system doesn't recognize the tag, it beeps once.

Network activity:
This struck me as odd the first time I heard it. The only conclusion I can reach is that I must be hearing something to do with "markets" As I travel south on Hwy 680 coming up to 580, I hear several low-tone beeps at about 1 beep per second. I hear the same thing as I am coming into the Tracy area on hwy 205 around the Mountain House exit. Looking at the phone, it shows nothing. In that I am being passed off to several other towers in that 35-mile distance, I am assuming it has something to do with the markets I am traveling through. (Anyone know??) I have never been on a call when this happens so I don't know if I would hear the tone if I were on a call. The phone is on but no activity.

One hiccup:
Once on the way home, I decided to drive the backroads. Its 10 miles longer but (commuters will understand) at least you "feel" like you moving. Anyway, I was in an obvious dead spot when all of sudden the headset turned itself off. When I turned it back on, I couldn't get it sync with the phone. The phone kept demanding the password. Even after entering the correct pswd, it wouldn't link. I finally cycled the phone's power and everything came back just fine.

Samsung Pebble SyncMaster 2232BW

2008-06-12T20:38:00.000-07:00

Pebble: a small, rounded stone, often worn smooth by the action of the elements. Or so you would think. Of course, in this case, Pebble: a rather large, rounded PC monitor, worn smooth by the action of designers and marketeers. Indeed, Pebble is the standout name Samsung has chosen for part of its recent LCD monitor and television range. Inevitably, this monitor still carries the name SyncMaster, and model number (2232BW), but there's just something cool about being able to say you're browsing the net or playing a game on a Pebble.

So what can another 22in monitor do to distinguish itself in an already overcrowded market? Perhaps offer a superb quality IPS or MVA panel as opposed to the usual cheap TN? Or how about full-HD resolution? Not quite. However, what the 2232BW supposedly does bring to its corner is a dynamic contrast system and fast 2ms panel in a gorgeous package. To find out if this is enough to compete against the contenders in its size-class, read on.

This iteration of the SyncMaster comes with all the cables to match its inputs, VGA and DVI, and thankfully a nice cleaning cloth. I say thankfully because this is one accessory you will be using a lot - the 2232BW's finish is remarkably resistant to fingerprints, but dust shows like a fluorescent flea on dark carpet. For its Pebble monitor range, Samsung has decided to port some of its rather spiffing television styling to computer screens, and the results are very pretty indeed.

Featuring the same hard curves and smooth edges as its namesake, I am tempted to compare the Pebble to some sports-car or other. Its looks are that sleek, with a piano-black mirror finish that mercifully doesn't extend to the panel's coating. Overall, it's not hard to see why the 2232BW won Samsung a 2007 iF Product Design Award. The only thing that spoils its svelte curves slightly is the Samsung logo in white lettering across the lower bezel.

The OSD buttons are labelled on the front of the monitor across the lower bezel, but before you cheer at how much easier this makes operating the settings, or groan at the aesthetic crime of it, let me tell you that they're a mixed blessing. On the one hand, they're just clear enough to read in bright light without being in your face, therefore leaving the Pebble's looks unmolested. On the other, in dimmer light they're simply illegible. But kudos to Samsung for daring to stick them on the front of a designer monitor nonetheless, and saving us some neck-ache.

Motorola Q8

2008-06-11T20:25:00.000-07:00

Beauty, power and intelligence collide with the Motorola MOTO Q? ?an elegant all-in-one device that merges business with pleasure. Boasting a full QWERTY keyboard, the feature-rich MOTO Q? keeps your life with you in one sleek device by combining powerful business productivity applications via Windows Mobile with multimedia entertainment. From stereo Bluetooth?wireless technology? astounding audio sound and a 1.3 megapixel camera to blazing fast Internet connections? convenient WiFi through optional miniSDIO card connectivity?and the ability to view and edit Microsoft Office documents from anywhere in the world 2,3 there’s no need to compromise when you can have it all in one device.

Always Connected
With MOTO Q?, you’re connected regardless of where travels take you. Send and receive text messages, emails and attachments worldwide using quad band GPRS and high speed EDGE data networks, or at WiFi hotspots through miniSDIO.2,3

All Work AND Play
MOTO Q? makes not only viewing but creating and editing Microsoft Office documents a snap. The optimized QWERTY keypad design allows for easy and fast email or text messaging.?Take advantage of downtime with Windows Media Player to listen to your favorite music, watch videos or view your favorite photos on its large color screen. MOTO Q? includes a 1.3 megapixel camera for shots on-the-go, and up to 1GB of storage with optional miniSD card so you can take your photos and music along with you.

Get Noticed
MOTO Q? turns heads both in the boardroom and on the beach, with its ultra-thin profile and sleek, black exterior. It’s designed with beauty and intelligence in mind, offering a simple, seamless layout in a device that fits naturally in your hand. A soft-touch material provides an easy, comfortable grip. MOTO Q?’s precise and clean construction lends to the phone’s visual elegance and solid feel.

SUMMARY OF FEATURES:

QWERTY tablet form factor

Global GSM quad band access

High-speed data transfer using GPRS class 10 and EDGE class 10

128MB Flash memory, 64MB RAM (approximately 40MB user memory), plus miniSD slot for up to 1GB of optional storage of music, pictures and other media

Vivid 2.4? 64K TFT display

1.3 megapixel fixed-focus camera with LED photo indicator light

Enhanced music experience featuring Windows Media Player and integrated music player that supports multiple audio files: MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV.

2.5 millimeter headset jack

Video capture and playback with sound using Windows Media Player supporting MPEG4, H.263, WMV formats

Connectivity using USB 1.1 Full Speed, Version 1.2 Class 2 Bluetooth wireless technology, 802.11b/g through optional miniSDIO connectivity

Windows Mobile 6.0 Standard Edition

Email via IMAP4, POP 3, SMTP, Exchange with Push email Clients; also RIM and Good support Messaging via SMS, MMS, Microsoft IM applications

Full web browsing with Microsoft Explorer

Support document viewing and editing.

Nintendo Wii

2008-06-11T20:16:00.000-07:00

The Wii is the most compact of the next-generation consoles. It weighs just 2.7 pounds and measures 8.5 inches long by 6 inches wide by less than 2 inches thick. It has clean, sharp lines and an Apple-like glossy white finish, though we'll undoubtedly see units in black and possibly other colors at some point.

Like the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, The Wii can be oriented horizontally or vertically, thanks to its angled plastic stand. Once you've positioned it, your next step is to plug in the power supply (which is about the size a laptop brick), and connect the bundled composite audio/video cables to your television. To output content at the Wii's maximum 480p resolution in 16:9 wide-screen format, you'll have to purchase the optional component cable separately.

Next you must set up the included controllers: a Wii Remote and a Nunchuk--a joystick-style controller that connects to the remote for additional game control. I first hooked up the supplied sensor bar to the console and placed it just under the display of my TV. The sensor bar allows the console to communicate wirelessly (via Bluetooth) with up to four Wii Remotes at a time. The Wii Remote works for games within a radius of about 30 feet and functions as a cursor-type pointing device within about 15 feet. In my testing, the on-screen pointer jittered slightly when I tried to use it from farther away.

The final setup steps are to place two AA batteries into the Wii Remote, rearrange your furniture as necessary to clear plenty of space in front of the TV (to avoid any "Wiinjury"), and fire up the console.

Our colleagues over at GamePro have scanned in the Wii's manual, and it's worth a look to get an even more complete idea of the Wii's setup routine and overall features.

PC World also has a detailed account of a test drive of the PlayStation 3; and a review comparing the PS3 and the Wii.
The Wii Menu and Online Features

The first time I powered up the Wii, I had to create a gamer ID, which the system uses to save your games and also to identify you online. After creating my log-in and entering the date and time, I was presented with the Wii Menu. This interface, which uses a television/channel metaphor, is where you access the Wii's mostly free online features.

The first thing I wanted to do was jump online. I was particularly interested in the "sleepless" WiiConnect24 service that lets the console automatically download information, even when it's on standby.

The Wii includes a built-in 802.11b/g wireless network adapter, but you can also go online by using extra-cost options such as a LAN adaptor or a Wi-Fi USB adaptor that shares a PC's Internet connection. I tested the integrated Wi-Fi, and setup was a snap. The Wii scanned for and found my wireless ADSL router, and it let me type in the network's WEP key via an on-screen keyboard. I found that I could select letters and move around the Wii Menu using the Wii remote in the same way that I'd use a computer mouse. The remote even vibrated subtly in my hand as I hovered over menu options. Tactile feedback: great!

AOPEN Mini PC

2008-06-11T20:03:00.000-07:00

Apple has produced some of the simplest yet elegant designs for computers, MP3 players, displays, and even little accessories such as the iSight. Every time Apple launches a product there?s always another company attempting to make a pseudo look-a-like?Lian Li?s 1000, various MP3 players, and now the AOpen Mini PC. AOpen?s Mini PC first appeared at Computex 2005?five months ago. There was plenty of interest in the Mini PC and it was only a matter of time before AOpen would start selling the Mini PC to consumers.

Details of the shipping product started appearing at the beginning of the month with an expected availability of November 12th, 2005. It was reported the system would start out at $399 for the base configuration with a Celeron M and Linspire while Windows XP equipped systems start out at $499. Supposedly the system will also be available as a barebones?although there has been no confirmation on pricing or availability yet.

Barebones or not its quite clear AOpen is aiming to keep PC users from making the /switch/ by directly targeting the Mac mini in terms of size, price, and usage. The target market isn?t the hardcore gamer or engineers. Instead the primary target markets are the general consumer and possibly business?. These buyers aim to use a computer for internet surfing, word processing, and instant messaging on a daily basis. 3D performance isn?t too much of a concern in this market as most buyers could care less if they can play F.E.A.R. or not.

While the AOpen Mini PC and Apple Mac mini are based on totally different architectures and use different operating systems, they?re both entry-level personal computers for those seeking a simple box for surfing, chatting, interfacing with a digital camera, making home movies, and office applications. As there are no other similar systems on the market, we?ll be comparing the Mini PC to the Mac mini in a different manner than usual. Usually we?d run a bunch of benchmarks, make some pretty graphs and make a conclusion but this time around we?ll be comparing them as complete systems, evaluating the software, hardware differences, and its usability as an entry level system.

Dell XPS 630 Gaming PC

2008-06-10T20:35:00.000-07:00

When Dell took over Alienware in 2006, there was much speculation as to what would happen to Dell's XPS gaming range, and some relief when it appeared they would peacefully coexist. Recently, however, that future looked unsure, with rumours of the Dell XPS range's demise. Thankfully, these rumours were greatly exaggerated. I say thankfully not because Alienware's gaming PCs are bad, but because having the XPS range alongside them affords the customer more choice - and surely that can't be a bad thing.

Especially since the target customer group in this case is gamers, and gamers like their individuality. They're basically the reason PCs are no longer boring beige boxes, as at some point the industry in general copped on to the fact that people were investing large amounts of time and money on prettying them up, and decided to do it for them - at a premium, of course.

Dell, being the second-largest PC manufacturer in the world, has obviously got in on this action, offering custom looks across its entire XPS desktop and laptop range. And though personally I've not always found Dell's XPS desktop designs the most attractive, I must admit its current case line-up (420, 630 and the high-end 730) is rather gorgeous. What we have before us today is a 630, falling between Dell's budget and extreme lines. The 630 is quite attractive, despite lacking features like the LCD panel, front mounted video ports and rubberised recess that are found on its lower spec sibling, the XPS 420.

But before getting onto the case, let's first examine what you get. The core specifications are impressive, comprising a 2.4GHz Intel Quad Core QX6600, dual nVidia GeForce 8800GTs running in SLI, 2GB of RAM, twin 500GB hard drives striped in RAID 0 and a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer soundcard.

In the box you'll also find a full user manual in English, multi-lingual electronic safety instructions, and a full-colour quick-start guide. All of these are contained in a lovely leather XPS folder with pockets for 16 DVDs, two Velcro cable ties and a textured XPS cleaning cloth. You also get Roxio Creator DE 10.1, Microsoft Works 9, an OS re-installation disc, Dell drivers and utilities, and the SoundBlaster X-Fi CD.

iPhone 3G

2008-06-10T20:30:00.000-07:00

The Good Stuff
3G is here
GPS is onboard too,
Battery life hasn't suffered. It is up to 10 hours for 2G calls, five hours for 3G. Standby up to 300 hours, video playback up to seven hours and music playback 24 hours.
3.5in screen remains contrary to rumours of it being shrunk
A white edition (the back is white) - for those find this important
Flush headphone jack - at long last
Weight is cut 2g (most likely by scrapping the metal back in favour of a plastic one - see below)
Price - it's cheaper: $199 for 8GB and $299 for 16GB black and white versions and Steve promises it won't cost more than $199 in any country.

The Bad Stuff
It IS fatter 115.5 x 62.1 x 12.3mm verses the original's 115 x 61 x 11.6mm
The sleek metal back is now plastic. It may be less slippy to hold but what about durability and build quality?
GPS is rudimentary working from a top down view, no 3D mapping
Screen resolution remains unchanged at 480 x 320 when many rivals have adopted VGA
Incredibly Bluetooth A2DP is still left off so no wireless music enjoyment
Video recording unbelievably remains absent
No front mounted video camera, no 3G video calling
Camera unchanged at two megapixels and no mention of any upgrades (flash, autofocus, etc) this one is a huge let down.
No details of offline mapping. It's likely to cost a pretty penny it seems
8GB and 16GB capacities remain, no 32GB edition for now
Steve didn't define the 3G (7.2Mbit had been rumoured) and it isn't specified even now
No wider codec support (AVI/DivX/Xvid remain a distant dream)
The dock has been removed from the bundle as Apple strips out costs just as it did when the iPod evolved (it seems unlikely the old dock will fit the curvier profile too)
No announcement of Flash for the web browser

In all then something of a letdown. The expectations were impossible but the unchanged camera, continued lack of A2DP and Flash support, same capacities, removal of the bundled dock and (arguably) the move to a more plasticy finish aren't welcome. Bulk has also gone up which is understandable but we're not blown away as we were first time around.

Bose SoundDock Portable

2008-06-10T20:22:00.000-07:00

The growth of people with all or most of their music collections on iPods has led to a massive explosion in the number of accessories on the market. But the rush to make money out of iPod owners has become a little silly of late. The infamous iPod bog-roll holder is an example of technology gone mad, but other companies producing otherwise serious products are just as guilty of iPod obsession. It makes me grind my teeth whenever I see an ad from a car manufacturer proudly boasting that the latest model of its 20-grand family hatchback is iPod enabled. It's a 3.5mm audio input socket, for goodness sake!

One of the biggest growth areas, however, has been in the eminently more sensible iPod-enabled hi-fi category. The best we've seen so far has been the B&W Zeppelin that Riyad reviewed earlier in the year. The daftest has been the TwinMOS Boom China, with its vase-shaped sub-woofer.

Now it's the turn of another big name - Bose - to get involved with its SoundDock Portable. And, thankfully it's far from foolish. It's not adorned with silly flowers and it doesn't have bright flashing lights. In fact the SoundDock's sloping, slightly curved frontage is pleasingly minimalist. The only light is hidden away behind the speaker grille: it activates when the dock is switched on and off, when the volume is increased and reduced and hides itself at other times. The only controls are a pair of touch-sensitive volume buttons on the right hand edge - and if you didn't know they were there, you'd probably not notice those either.

The SoundDock is eminently practical in ways other than plain aesthetics. Though it's quite wide and tall (307 x 175mm) from the front, it's only 103mm deep. This means it's easy to pop down at the back of a kitchen worktop or on a mantelpiece without having to clear much space. It's a clever, flexible and unobtrusive design.

The speaker's rear-firing bass port doubles up as a handy carrying handle at the top rear of the unit making it extremely easy to pick up and carry around from one location to another. And the iPod docking cradle itself smoothly rotates and locks into the main chassis for transport - once you get to where you're going just press the drawer in and leave it to glide luxuriously smoothly back out into place. The latter takes pretty much any iPod you care to throw at it too (apart from the Shuffle), charging it while playing back. If you don't own an iPod you can connect any other player you fancy via the 3.5mm stereo line input on the rear.

Canon Selphy CP760 Photo Printer

2008-06-09T01:16:00.000-07:00

The dye sublimation technology Canon uses in its Selphy range of printers is now mature, so to keep sales buoyant the company has to update other aspects of its dedicated photo devices. The Selphy CP760 is close to the entry-level device in Canon's new range, but still provides most of the features seen in its more expensive siblings.

It's simple, rounded lines, finished in pure white with colour accents on the control buttons, mean it can fit in a living room as well as a study. In fact, it will probably be used as a standalone printer as often as a PC-connected one.

The most obvious feature in its top panel is the 63mm colour LCD panel, deep-set into the surface and slightly angled for easier viewing. This is complemented by the usual diamond of control buttons, with just four others for power, menu, back-out and print.

The main features in its front edge are three memory card slots, which take SD, memory stick and CompactFlash, though support for Fujifilm's xD format requires an optional adapter. On the left-hand side are sockets for a PC connection and for a PictBridge cable from a camera.

The right-hand side has a flip-down cover concealing the film cartridge, which is the only consumable in the machine, apart from paper. A similar cover slips down from the front so you can engage the paper cassette, which nearly doubles the footprint of the printer, when in place. As with previous Selphy printers, there's no convenient way to carry this cassette.

If you intend to use the CP760 to print from memory cards or a camera, the only installation required is to slot in the film cartridge, load the 15 by 10cm paper blanks into the cassette and plug the cassette into the front of the printer. Power is supplied from a separate ‘black block' power supply, though in Canon's case it is white, to match the printer.

Canon supplied us with an early evaluation sample of the printer, which came with no software CD, but the company confirmed it will normally be supplied with copies of Ulead Photo Express LE for photo editing, with Canon's own ZoomBrowser EX doing the photo housekeeping. This effective partnership has been seen before in previous Selphy printers.

Canon claims to have improved the firmware in the printer, to automatically detect faces and correct their brightness. You can also remove red-eye without having to use a PC.

iRiver E100 Media Player - 8GB

2008-06-09T01:08:00.000-07:00

Despite the obsession of modern society with appearance, appearance, appearance, good looks don't always mean top quality. The most attractive of supermodels occasionally, turn out not to be rocket scientists; the most fantastic looking minimalist flats can turn out to be completely impractical to live in and million dollar special effects don't always mean an entertaining movie.
It's sometimes the way in the world of technology, too. Slim and sleek design often masks a neglect of basic features - the Meizu MiniPlayer SL 8GB I reviewed in these pages looked great but sadly failed to match those looks with sound quality. It was brilliantly easy to use too, which made the poor sound all the more frustrating.

The latest player from iRiver - the 8GB E100 - comes from the opposite school of thought, putting practicality before looks. It's certainly not the greatest piece of hardware design I've ever come across, clad entirely in plain black plastic. Click over to the iRiver website and you'll see all sorts of sexy stock shots of the player, but don't let that fool you; apart from the fact that you can also buy it in a range of colours, there's nothing at all here that provides any kind of visual highlight. There's no aluminium anywhere, no-soft touch surfaces, no gloss finish or subtle sparkle; in fact the standard plastics don't even feel that nice in the hand.

The five-way directional button panel occupies an unnecessarily large proportion of the front panel making the E100 quite a chunky player, too. Even though it has the same-sized screen as the Meizu - a 2.4in 240 x 320 TFT - it feels much bigger. It's certainly much, much thicker at around 14mm (compared to the Meizu's 10mm) and that button panel adds a good inch to the length of the player.

Flip the E100 over and you find the reason for that extra bulk. On the rear is a pair of speakers, and as with Creative's latest range of pocket Shuffle-style music players, if you unplug your headphones the E100 produces noise. I say noise, because these speakers are barely worthy of the name. They're very quiet and sound horrible. Even the speaker on the much smaller Creative Zen Stone players is better than this.

RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8120

2008-06-09T00:32:00.000-07:00

There was a time when anyone looking to a BlackBerry to deliver their mobile email was going to have to carry a fairly large and not too pretty device around, and know that while their pocket computer was good at email it wasn't good at much else. No music playback and no camera, for example. The combination of staid looks and feature-deprivation was enough of a double whammy for some to avoid the BlackBerry altogether.

Then BlackBerry maker Research In Motion decided it could do more. It started adding features to devices and making them prettier too, in a bid to appeal to out-and-out consumers and those business people who like a bit of style. So, this year we've seen the arrival of the QWERTY-keyboarded Curve and, just before the that, the candybar style BlackBerry Pearl.

But RIM has taken on board a lot of the criticisms I and others made of the original Pearl, and of BlackBerry handhelds in general, and the Pearl 8120, while not perfect, is an improvement I think many people could live with.

Also, regardless of the feature improvements, this new Pearl is a cute looking device. The colour scheme is dark blue and chrome with the latter used for the left, right and upper edges and various highlights, while the front and back fascias are predominantly blue. It is comfortable to hold, being a slimline candybar handset. The actual dimensions are 107mm tall, 50mm wide, 14mm thick and just 91g. Its metal-like finish means it feels lovely in the hand.

The small miniature trackball that sits under the screen and is used for navigation within and between applications remains as delightful as ever. It rolls comfortably under either left or right thumb. I'd like to see an auto-scroll mode implemented so that longer emails can be run through without to much ‘thumb action', though.

To the left and right of the trackball are the BlackBerry menu and back keys, and to their left and right the Call and End keys. The arrangement is unchanged from the original Pearl, and it works fine. There are also two ‘convenience keys', one on the left and one on the right edge. You can configure these to launch whichever application or device feature you want.

Asus Lamborghini VX1

2008-06-04T19:32:00.001-07:00

Design
The VX1 comes in two flavours: black, and the more traditional Lamborghini yellow. Both are attractive, but our yellow review sample makes an instant retina-searing impression straight out of the box, making it the more suitable poser's accessory. Asus says the laptops use the same paint finish as the iconic cars, incorporating subtle golden paint flecks that catch the light of the sun, as well as the famous Lamborghini logo.

The lid of the VX1 has a moulded plastic section that is reminiscent of a car boot spoiler, but it's actually inspired by the engine cover slats of a Lamborghini Gallardo. It's a nice touch, giving the laptop a sleek overall look. Unfortunately, the 'spoiler' section of our review sample was a slightly different shade of yellow to the main body of the laptop -- a flaw which Asus says won't be present on final retail models.

Features
Any laptop bearing the name of a high-performance sports car deserves high-performance components, and the Asus Lamborghini VX1 doesn't disappoint. It's not the most insanely well-equipped laptop we've seen, but its 2GHz Intel T2500 CPU and 2GB of DDR2 RAM give it a very potent foundation from which to build.

We'd have preferred if the laptop used the 2.2GHz T2600, the fastest CPU in the Centrino Duo range, but this is an acceptable alternative. Graphics performance comes courtesy of a custom Nvidia chip, the Geforce 7400 VX. This is essentially a GeForce 7400 that was renamed for Asus' use, but it's a welcome and capable inclusion for a laptop that doesn't tout itself as a dedicated gaming machine.

Unusually, Asus has opted not to use a widescreen 16:9 display on the Lamborghini VX1. Instead, you get a 15-inch screen with a native resolution of 1,400x1,050 pixels. This is fine for everyday use, but its 4:3 aspect ratio limits the number of windows you can view side by side, and means you get a letterbox view when playing 16:9 widescreen movies. Some may take exception to the screen's glossy coating, which is a tad too reflective to use in direct light, but aside from this, we were very impressed with the image quality. Colours were recreated faithfully, and the screen was able to accurately display the subtle tonal differences.

Also impressive was the capacious 160GB hard drive. It's the largest laptop drive on the market and is perfect for storing a wealth of games and other multimedia content. You also get a dual-layer DVD rewriter drive that lets you burn up to 8.5GB of data per DVD disc. Unfortunately it's quite slow at 4x, and is a tray-loading model. We'd have preferred a slot-loading drive to help maintain the sleek lines of the laptop.

The Lamborghini VX1 features the usual assortment of ports, including three USB ports, a 4-pin Firewire port, plus a Gigabit (1,000Mbps) Ethernet port. You also get a 5-in-1 memory card reader which supports all major formats, but there's no sign of a modem -- you'll need to buy your own USB modem, as is the case with most new laptops.

All told, the VX1 has a strong specification, but its AU$4199 price tag is in excess of what you'd pay for a laptop without the Lamborghini badge.

Performance
As a high-end laptop, we expected a lot from the VX1, and it delivers in most respects. Its 2GHz CPU helped it reach a commendable PCMark 2005 score of 4,212, which isn't quite enough to catch the all-conquering Acer Travelmate 8204WLMi's tally of 4,236, but the difference between these two systems is marginal.

Where the Lamborghini trails slightly is in its graphics performance. It clocked up a 3DMark 2006 score of 1,403, which again is lower than the Travelmate's score of 1,999. In real terms this equates to 48 frames per second in Doom 3 versus the Acer's 56.6fps, both at a resolution of 1,024x768 pixels.

Ultimately, the VX1 isn't as potent in this department as many of its rivals, but it provides sufficient graphics horsepower to run most games, albeit at modest resolutions and image quality settings.

Halloa Mini Vacuum Cleaner

2008-06-04T18:59:00.001-07:00

Packaging
************
This review is for the Mini Vacuum Cleaner that i purchased from Maplin for £2.99.
The vacuum is packaged in moulded clear plastic and stapled to a card that shows you 3 illustrations on what you can use the mini vac for. One is of a camera, one of a telephone and the last a computer keyboard.
On the back of the card you will find the instructions in 10 different languages.
These are very basic and it is just as easy to assemble without them.

Assembly
*************
Before assembling you will require 4 AA batteries these are placed in the bottom by removing the flap.Pull is moulded into the flap to tell you how to remove it, but you do not pull you actually slide the flap off. The batteries are placed in 2 - and 2 + this is clearly marked.Replacing the flap is a bit fiddely as you have to push and slide at the same time and it took me a few attempts before i succeeded.
The accessories you get are a bent tube that is inserted into the hole at the top of the vacuum. On this you can put a crevice tool for narrow gaps and a brush tool.
To collect the dust is a vacuum bag that is attached to the outlet pipe on the mini vac. This has a velcro fastening that you pull apart to empty.

How to use
************
To turn on the vac is a switch, with power on and off at each end. Push the switch towards on and it will switch on push it towards off and it will switch off.
When you turn it on it is quite loud and you think this is going to be good.
First i try the brush attachment nothing is picked up, the brush seems to be moving the very small particles around. so replace this with the crevice tool, this is a little better but you have to stick it right on top of the dust so it will pick any up.
Now just as i try to vac between the keys on my keyboard the bent tube falls out, i replace it but it continues to fall out as i move around the keys, so i have to tape it in place to stop it falling out.
Another thing is the crevice tool is to wide to fit right down to the bottom of the keys where all the dust is.
Results
**********
So lets check to see what the mini vac has collected in the dust bag.
Nothing there is absolutely nothing in the bag. But how can this be i did see something get sucked up the pipe.So i take the vac apart to see where all this dust has gone. some is caught in the pipe between the dust bag and pipe and the rest is in a chamber inside the vac.
At least i suppose it did pick some dust and bits up but did not put them into the dust bag.

SanDisk MicrSDHC 4 GB Media Card

2008-06-03T19:46:00.000-07:00

Convergence is all the rage – we want to carry all our Media, Data and assorted information with us at all times. The problem, is storage capacity. I have a 30 gig iPod that is almost full. Now, I don’t need all that music and all those Videos with me at all times – but I like to have the choice.

Features:
High storage capacity (4GB) for storing essential digital content such as high quality photos, videos, music and more
Optimal speed and performance for microSDHC compatible devices
Speed performance rating: Class 2 (based on SD 2.00 Specification)
High Quality microSDHC card backed by 5 year limited warranty
Built to last, with an operating shock rating of 2,000Gs, equivalent to a ten-foot drop **
SanDisk microSDHC 4GB card ships with Bonus MicroMate™ USB 2.0 SD/SDHC Reader, to ensure compatibility when downloading pictures or other digital content
Easily transfer files between your digital devices and computer
High speed USB 2.0 certified reader/writer for fast data transfer

Not all devices support microSDHC 4.0GB cards. Please contact your device manufacturer for details. To ensure compatibility, look for the microSDHC logo on the product or packaging of your new phone or PDA.

What are the differences between SD and SDHC?
Regular SD cards use the FAT16 file system, but SDHC uses FAT32 to boost the range of memory addresses it can access and so store. Micro SD versions work the same way.

There are warnings on the SanDisk site that trying to put information from the old SD or Micro SD cards onto the new ones might not work. In addition, if 4GB cards are inserted into a legacy SD/miniSD/microSD host device, the host device may not recognize/utilize the card as 4GB, and it instead may read as a 2GB card.

Overall Conclusions
This is a simple and easy way to double or quadruple the storage space on your BlackBerry device. You can do everything your friends can do on their iPhones with all the conveniences of your BlackBerry keyboard and BlackBerry email.

This might just be enough to get you to ditch your iPod or portable MP3 or PMP and just use your trusty BlackBerry for all your Media needs.

Linksys CIT200 Skype phone

2008-06-03T19:38:00.000-07:00

Linksys has partnered with Skype to offer a cordless DECT 1.8-1.9Ghz phone complete with a backlit color display, backlit keyboard, and other features, called the Linksys CIT200 Cordless Internet Telephony Kit. The Linksys CIT200 is tightly integrated with Skype utilizing the Skype API for not just making and receiving calls but also accessing your Skype contacts and profiles. At some point today (Tuesday), Skype and Linksys will officially announce their partnership and the official launch of the Linksys CIT200.

A USB base station acts as the “go between” communicating with both the PC (running Skype) via USB and with the CIT200 using the DECT standard. Linksys gave me an exclusive first look at the Linksys CIT200 and I have to say the Linksys CIT200 is probably one of the coolest if not the coolest product that works in conjunction with Skype. One of the coolest features is that you can scroll through your Skype contacts using the Linksys CIT200’s color display and you can see their current Skype presence (online, offline, etc.). Then using the arrows on the phone you simply highlight the Skype contact and dial.

The CIT200 actually supports multiple handsets, up to a maximum of four and you simply use one base station to communicate with all 4 phones. Each handset can be assigned a unique extension thus enabling handset-to-handset dialing. Also, the base station has a single button which if you press will page the CIT200 handsets – perfect for when the phone slips down into the sofa and you can’t seem to find it anywhere. The CIT200 recharges via a stand-up cradle and sports 120 hrs standby and 10 hrs of talk time using standard rechargeable AA batteries. I should also mention that the CIT200 sports a belt clip and a 2.5mm headset jack.

The Linksys CIT200 currently only works with Windows (sorry Mac and Linux fans). I asked Linksys if a Mac or Linux version was in the works and they said that they don’t have plans at this time to support either.

Installation
Installing the CIT200 was a breeze as are most USB products these days. You do need to install a bit of software which provides the integration with Skype and which runs in the background. The CIT200.exe process takes up 3296K of PC memory. The CD also includes the Skype client in case you didn’t install Skype already, although it isn’t the latest 1.4 version. One really nice feature is that the CIT200 comes with 60 free SkypeOut minutes using a coupon code that you enter on Skype's website to credit your Skype account. This is great for Skype users that typically only make Skype-to-Skype calls and

just didn’t want to be bothered to give their credit card or Paypal information to Skype in order to purchase SkypeOut minutes. This lets users test SkypeOut, get addicted, and then pay for SkypeOut minutes later on. No doubt this is why Skype, the "masters of marketing", chose to partner with Linksys and offer a coupon code with every Linksys CIT200 sold.

Conclusion
Overall, the Linksys CIT200 is a great wireless Skype solution that is a perfect alternative to your typical Skype headset solution. It has excellent range, very good battery life, and most importantly you can access your Skype contacts from the phone itself so you're not chained to the PC for dialing or taking calls. It's worth mentioning that most people are not using Skype as a landline replacement though many are using broadband VoIP providers such as Vonage to replace their landline. Part of the reason is that Skype requires your PC to be on all the time and you have to be at your PC to initiate dialing. However, if you take the Linksys CIT200 and add in a SkypeIn PSTN number along with pay-as-you-go SkypeOut minutes, and the ability to make outbound dialing away from the PC, then the CIT200 could be the perfect home landline replacement.

Kodak V705 Dual Lens Review

2008-06-03T19:32:00.000-07:00

This Kodak EasyShare V705 Dual Lens Review is based on a production model. All sample images are unretouched, except where specified.

The Kodak EasyShare V705 Dual Lens is a beautiful compact digital camera with a unique ultra-wide angle lens. Billed as the world's smallest ultra-wide-angle digital camera, it in fact has two quality SCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH C-VARIOGON lenses: a regular 39-117mm 3x optical zoom lens, plus an ultra-wide angle 23mm lens perfect for group shots of friends and family members, landscape and real-estate photography.

With the Kodak V705's ultra-wide angle 23mm lens, you can capture wide vistas, plus a unique in-camera panorama stitching requires only 3 pictures for a full 180° coverage. Use 2 or 3 shots stitched together for real estate pictures.

The Kodak V705 is a Point-and-Shoot camera with Auto (Programmed Auto) mode, easy-to-use Scene Modes, and everything designed to make it simple to use. It is similar to the V570 that it replaces, and now sports 7.1MP resolution. Image quality is good to very good.

The Kodak V705 is compact enough to fit in your pocket, though its elongated shape means that it is a bit wider than most digital cameras. Those with large hands would want to try out its small control buttons first. An extra large 2.5 in. LCD monitor with 230,000 pixels high resolution and a wide viewing angle makes viewing pictures easy.

The Kodak V705 is part of Kodak's EasyShare series which makes it simple to produce 4x6 in. borderless prints using the optional Printer Dock Plus Series 3 at a touch of a button. Overall, it is a fun camera and potential purchasers are those who are attracted to its simplicity of use, the ultra-wide-angle coverage for large group shots and easy in-camera panorama stitching for spectacular landscape shots.

Logitech Z-5450 wireless Surround Speaker

2008-06-02T19:48:00.000-07:00

Hot on the heels of the z-5500 comes its baby brother, the z-5450 from Logitech. Although the system is priced higher than that of its smaller sibling, the z-5450s are in fact smaller in size than the z-5500. These speakers have an interesting positioning in the market that we will get to later, but for now, let's just say that it would be suitable for those of you live in places like apartments where the 10" high excursion driver of the z-5500 would perhaps not be the best thing to have in the interests of neighbourly love.

Like the z-5500s, the z-5450s come with a control pod that allows one to control all aspects of their speakers from a central location. Volume adjustments of different sets of speakers (rear, subwoofer and center) are no problem here and the control pod can even do Dolby Pro Logic II upmixing.

When an appropriate source is selected, the screen will show the input type as well as the channel mode it is on. Though it looks blue in this picture, the background was more of a dark green and thus this display was not too distracting in a dark room. The blue power button on the other hand... was a little bright. It would have been nice if is would possible to dim them.

The z-5450 may be the little brother in the family, but it does one better than the z-5500s in terms of the number of inputs available. In addition to the standard 6 channel analog inputs, the control pod can also take in 2 optical and 1 coax digital input that can decode Dolby Digital and DTS 96/24 streams. With the imminent release of the next generation consoles, this was a smart move. As with the z-5500, there is an additional line-in plug along with a headphone jack. The unit will automatically switch itself to stereo mode when headphones are plugged in.

I was surprised to discover that this brand new set is quite reasonably priced. A quick look at our Real Time Pricing results from Shopping.com reveals that the Z-5450 is available for between $350 and $380 at time of publication. Even more suprising to me is how much the Z-5500 have subsequently dropped in price. They can be found for as low as $211 at some stores, and mostly under $300 at the more well-known stores like Newegg.com and Buy.com.

While we're looking at the Z-5450 in this review, the Z-5500 has better specifications, so should be considered if you don't mind sending cables from the rear sats to the amp/woofer console.

Remote Control Spy Car

2008-06-02T19:42:00.000-07:00

I can’t think of a practical application for this radio controlled Spy Car, but it sure does look cool. Mounted on the vehicle is a video camera and microphone that’s wirelessly transmits back to the remote control where the action can be reviewed on its 1.5″color screen with speaker. Spying at night? No problem. The camera even includes night shot and remote angle adjustment for those tough to get up the skirt shots. Unfortunately, no recording capability, but nothing a little modification can’t take care of. Range: about 180 feet and will work through walls.

Nokia N95 8GB

2008-06-02T18:52:00.000-07:00

In terms of reviews, the Nokia N95 8GB is relatively simple to handle, thankfully. Not because it's a simple or trivial product, but because the original N95 is so well known and has been written about so many times that there's really little point in going over every function that's common to both devices in minute detail.
Setting the scene.

But a short summary is in order, at least. The original N95 was intended to be the last word in the classic S60 phone line, i.e. with a typical phone form factor, with (and I'm judging it by the last released firmware, v12 here):
S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1, with the combined Web/WAP browser and miniUSB connectivity
HSDPA, UPnP and Wi-Fi (all fairly cutting edge in a phone when announced but more commonplace today)
a largish, recessed 2.6" screen
an utterly superb 5 megapixel stills camera with great optics, light sensitivity and options, protected by a physical shutter and spoilt slightly by slow image processing and slow camera startup
a great VGA-res video recorder (producing good video images but only mono sound)
a very full set of media software, with all audio and video codecs, video and image editing suites, online integration
the facility to work in portrait or landscape mode
a built-in low power GPS with 'Assisted GPS' for fast lock-on times
great and tactile d-pad and button set
TV out for video echoing of any application or media item to a TV or other video equipment

It was quite a package for a 'phone', but despite the plus points above and even with latest firmware, two big negatives remained. The 950mAh BL-5F battery just wasn't up to the job of powering all the multimedia and comms goodness, with power users of the N95 finding that the battery sometimes didn't last the day and with casual users irritated by having to recharge every single night. Secondly, the free RAM after booting, around 20MB, while enough for lesser S60 3rd Edition devices, wasn't really enough for a device of the N95's ambitions and RAM was prone to run out while (for example) browsing a largish web page, prompting various 'memory errors'.

Armed with feedback about the issues above and with one eye fixed firmly on the company's new Ovi strategy, Nokia set about revamping the N95 and trying to fix everything in one go, to produce a worthy flagship phone for 2008. And now it's here, with WOM World kindly sending me one of the very first production N95 8GBs in the world. How has Nokia done?
The changes

Although much of the N95 8GB's hardware and software are identical to that of the original, there are more changes than you might think at first glance.
The microSD slot is gone, replaced by a fixed 8GB flash disk mounted internally. This appears to the smartphone as disk 'E' in the usual Symbian OS way and all programs should treat this just as if it were an 8GB microSD card. This capacity matches Apple's iPhone and is more than enough for the vast majority of users. For example, it represents 6 HOURS of video recording at full VGA resolution or around 30 hours of commercial movies at QVGA resolution or around 160 CDs worth of music (in WMA format at 64kbps).

The system RAM has been doubled to 128MB, meaning that there's now around 95MB of free RAM after booting. This figure is slightly higher than you might have guessed because the N95 8GB also features 'demand paging', i.e. only the bits of applications that are strictly needed are loaded into RAM, other bits are left on disk until needed. Although demand paging is really only for Symbian OS 9.3 and above, the OS 9.2-running N95 8GB has had the feature back-ported specifically for the OS and S60 built-in applications. In fact, it may even be possible to include demand paging into a future firmware release for the original N95. Watch this space. In summary, you'll never run out of RAM with the N95 8GB, even on the largest web pages, while simultaneously viewing the largest image and keeping ten Java games running in the background.

The back of the N95 8GB has been redesigned, with an extra millimetre or so of depth allowing the use of the BL-6F, rated at 1200mAh. This would appear to give 25% extra battery life, but in fact extra optimisations in the OS (and possibly the use of demand paging) mean that the real world increase is closer to 50%. Although this isn't exactly capacious, the use of the BL-6F does mean that very few people will exhaust the N95 8GB's battery in a day, even if they try quite hard.

The verdict

So, quite a list of changes from 'original' to '8GB'. Most are very positive, but it's also worth noting a few of the negatives, which may, just may keep people using the original design. There's the lack of a physical lens shutter, which may be an issue if you're rough with your smartphone, there's the lack of a built-in video editor, the fixed flash memory, with no option to take out a card and stuff it into a printer (for example), and finally there's the black finish, which is slightly less tactile than the original N95 and the 8GB model slipped from my fingers more than once while testing it. Gulp .

But there's no doubting, on balance, that the N95 8GB is 'better' than its predecessor. The improvements in speed, battery life, free RAM and screen size all stand out as highlights. Build quality on this production unit was excellent in every regard and some of the mechanical oddities of some batches of the original are nowhere to be seen.

Is this the best smartphone ever made? Yes. You could even drop the 'smart' bit and call it the 'best phone ever made', since this will be sold in High Street shops and picked up, as the original was, by people from all walks of life, most of whom have never even heard the term 'smartphone'.

For the hardened AAS reader and power user though, note that the form factor limits of the original N95 are still in place, i.e. the QVGA screen, placing real usability limits on which web sites can comfortably be browsed around, and the numeric keypad - going back from the Nokia E90 or E61i to a keypad is a real wrench. Still, the latter problem can be solved for some use cases with a Bluetooth keyboard.

A big thumbs up overall though. Nokia has listened carefully to the feedback coming from early N95 users and has addressed just about every criticism and done it in style. The original device enjoyed several major firmware updates and countless extensions via the Download! application and I'd expect this to see the same attention from Nokia.

O2 XDA Flame

2008-06-01T23:57:00.000-07:00

The Flame is the latest device in the O2 range. It has a rather large screen and is probably the largest of recent O2 devices with a 3.6-inch display.

In the box
Handset Transceiver
Battery
Charger
Headset
Manuals & CD
2 Data cables

The phone
The initial impression on taking the Flame out of the box is that it does rather look like a slice of bread. It is large, flat and a few people I showed it to did wonder who the maker was. That was because the logo is black on black and not very noticeable.

Many also remarked on the obviously large device, which I had pegged to be ideal for watching videos on. A TV cable is in the box, so I guess that one is supposed to plug the Flame into a convenient TV set and show pictures, videos and probably powerpoint presentations on the TV set.

The entire device is in black, with a checked pattern on the battery cover as a result of etching alternate squares in one direction. The camera lens bulges out of the back, which isn¡¦t a very good idea because there will be a lot of wear and tear on the camera lens over time. The idea should have been to protect the lens, not to expose it.

The screen, as we mentioned earlier, is very large. While this is excellent, the Flame drains the battery faster than a bunch of roughnecks go through a case of beer. Charging takes a rather long time, around five hours to charge up the Flame from a totally flat battery. After 24 hours of leaving the Flame alone to sulk by itself, nearly half the charge was gone. Imagine what it would be like if you made use of the voice and data connections, not to mention turning on WiFi or Bluetooth.

Chances are, you will need to buy a second battery, and your Flame would spend much of its time attached to the wall charger or your PC USB. Oh, there is no cradle for the O2 Flame, but there is a nice little USB-On-The-Go cable which lets you plug a thumb drive directly into the Flame¡¦s USB port. That is a pretty good idea because I can put my larger video clips onto a thumb drive and just plug and play when I need it.

Games
There are two games in the phone. They are Bubble Breaker, which is also known as Jawbreaker in other PDAs. The second game is Solitaire. Both of these are pretty much standard with any Windows Mobile device these days.

Alienware Area 51 7500

2008-06-01T23:34:00.000-07:00

Processor:

The Area 51 7500 comes equipped with an Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E8400 3.00GHz. This processor is a very fast and powerful addition to the Area 51 7500 and allows you to play even the most taxing games.

Memory:

The Area 51 7500 comes standard with four 1 GB memory sticks for a total of 4 GB of RAM. 4 GB of memory is enough to keep up with the most advanced games available now, as well as keeping up with the requirements of future games. Another side effect of having this much memory is how well Windows Vista runs both while playing games, and performing other activities like word processing or web surfing.

Video/Audio:

The dual 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT's will keep up with the most intense, fast–paced 3D first–person shooters or MMORPGs with zero graphics lag. This is one of the best graphics configurations offered in a gaming computer in this price range.

The Area 51 7500 comes standard with high–definition 7.1 surround sound. Your games will sound as good as they look.

I/O Device:

This system comes standard with a 3 button optical mouse with a scroll wheel and a premium USB keyboard from Logitech. There is an option to add speakers through the configuration utility, though they don't come standard.

One of the outstanding features of Alienware is their original PC case designs. The Area 51 7500 comes in a very attractive full–tower chassis that comes in a beautiful array of colors for no additional charge.

Value/Price:

This is an exceptional computer for the price. If you have the money to spend, Alienware has the upgrades available to build the ultimate gaming PC. Alienware also offers free shipping. This is a nice money saving bonus.

Support/Warranty:

Alienware’s online live chat is first–class. We didn’t have to wait more than a minute and the representative was helpful and courteous. You can also contact customer support through phone and email.

The system comes with a 1–year parts and labor warranty and it can be upgraded if you choose.

Summary:

The Alienware Area 51 7500 is light years ahead of the competition. It offers some of the most advanced components available to squeeze every last ounce of performance out of the hardware that is included.

SanDisk Cruzer Titanium Plus

2008-06-01T23:26:00.001-07:00

The SanDisk Cruzer Titanium Plus (4GB) has several features that should appeal to business travelers: AES hardware encryption, the ability to run applications, password protection, and 4GB of online backup. Add in a durable design, and you have an all-around champ—if you’re willing to pay more per GB. Design and Features The Cruzer Titanium Plus isn’t the most attractive flash drive, but it felt sturdy, and we appreciated its slide-out USB connector and included lanyard, which helps keep it from getting lost. Once we plugged the Cruzer Titanium Plus into our notebook, we began to appreciate its true value: We were prompted to create an online account, which then automatically backed up the 1GB of mixed data on the drive courtesy of the BeInSync data backup service. Users get 4GB of free online storage for six months; after that it costs $29.99 per year, which is an offer exclusive to the Cruzer Titanium Plus. This is a technological godsend because if you accidentally delete a file from the drive, you can recover it from the online storage. The USB stick will back up new files as well as changes made to pre-existing files.

D-Link DWL-920 802.11b USB Wireless Networking Kit

2008-05-30T20:17:00.000-07:00

Why do we all like the Internet? What can you do on the Internet? In my opinion, the Internet embodies everything that humans as a whole think. The Internet is the world's largest hub of information, many times greater in number of pages than the congressional library, many times more popular than soccer, many times more frustrating than a Chinese finger-trap.

Frustrating? That can't be right, can it? The Internet was made to simplify everyone's lives and how can it complete that endeavor if it's not simple enough for everyone to access it? To tell you the truth, 3 years ago, I thought we would be technologically advanced enough to deploy massive, citywide wireless Internet access that everyone could access with just a simple PCI card you can buy at the local store.

Sadly, that isn't a reality. But we have progressed tremendously in the past 3 years, going from 28.8 modems, to 56k modems, to Cable/DSL. With some thought, one could say that the Internet is easier to access now than it has ever been before. As the world becomes more enthralled by networks and computers, there will be a big boom in the networking market as more people purchase computers. There will be a huge demand for faster Internet access; there will be a massive demand especially for products that will simplify everything.

What am I getting at? Wireless. The el facto talk of the town for the past decade. Wireless technology is the apex of technological evolution. Think, if everything was wireless, how could you make it better? Everything we ever knew about the future embraced wireless technology.. Star Trek, did you EVER see wires in an episode of Star Trek? No, how about the company roadmaps of D-Link, 3Com, Linksys, etc… wireless dominates. Before you pass off my theory as bull, there are some things that will probably never be wireless such as RAM, processors, video cards, etc. There will be no Intel Pentium V featuring a wireless motherboard interface. I'm off to a bit of a rant here so I'll just get on to introducing the product we have the spotlight on today. From D-Link today, we have their new USB Wireless Network Kit. Although I was a bit hesitant on reviewing it, it turned out to be one of the best pieces of hardware I ever tested and used.

Hands-on with the Dell XPS 16:9 Full HD laptop

2008-05-30T19:25:00.000-07:00

One of the most interesting laptops on display at CES, this 16-inch concept laptop from Dell can offer true 16:9 HD perspective, unlike the 16:10 most laptops are limited to. In other words, you'd be able to watch HD movies on your notebook without any black bars on the top and bottom of the screen. The problem is, glass manufacturers who make displays for notebooks don't like building custom sizes, so we may never get to see this concept realized. Still, Dell is probably one of the few OEMs with enough purchasing power to make something like this become a reality. Release: January 2009. Price: $2000.

Pros: True 16:9 perspective for watching HD movies

Cons: May never become a reality

TomTom ONE XL HD Traffic

2008-05-30T19:15:00.000-07:00

World’s first portable navigation device with High Definition Traffic offers:
Up to five times more traffic updates
At least ten times more road coverage
More accurate travel and arrival times with measurements of the delays in minutes
The TomTom ONE XL HD will ensure a safe and fun trip taking the stress out of everyday driving and trip planning.

At its heart lies TomTom’s award-winning plug-and-go navigation software, but the new 4.3” wide high-quality touchscreen makes navigating even easier.

Your TomTom ONE XL HD has a pre-installed maps of UK and Ireland and database of safety camera locations in the UK. This database is fully integrated in your TomTom ONE XL navigation software and alerts to warn you when there is a fixed safety camera on your route.

Combined with the new HD Traffic service, TomTom also launches the first PND which is compatible with this real-time traffic information.

The TomTom One XL HD comes with hundreds of points of interest providing useful information for your journey. Simply type in your location and zap! off you go - or choose a different route.

In other words, the Tom Tom ONE XL HD makes getting there better than ever.
This new TomTom ONE XL HD will accept a Vodafone network SIM card, which can be used to connect to the Vodafone network. This way, the position of the PND is continuously followed, and in that way it can add more information to improve the traffic mapping. That same connection is used every three minutes to acquire the actual traffic data, and that data is used whilst navigating and the planning the route.

The rest of the ONE XL HD Traffic’s specifications are identical to those of the existing ONE XL, e.g. the 4.3 inch touch screen and the latest map of 25 countries in Western-Europe. The TomTom ONE XL HD Traffic is shipped initially with NavCore version 7.30, a version specially created with support for the retrieval and processing of traffic information.

HD Traffic Subscription

This amount includes the use of HD Traffic and the charges for the data traffic for one year. The subscription can be renewed every year for € 9.95/month. This also includes the costs of the live data connection.

Technical Specifications
Highly sensitive GPS receiver
4.3 inch full TFT colour LCD touch screen (480 x 272 pixels, 64.000 colours)
Internal memory 1 GB
GPRS Modem with built-in SIM card for live data connection
SD slot (only for additional maps, SD not included)
Internal Lithium-Ion battery (2 hours operation)
119 x 86 x 27 mm
230 grams
Operating temperature: -10 °C to +55 °C
Map Coverage: Republic of Ireland, United Kingdom

Unique TomTom Map Share™ Technology

That’s it – your map is updated! Connect to TomTom HOME to receive and share map updates with the entire Map Share community.

The TomTom ONE XL HD also sees the introduction of TomTom’s unique new map improvement technology, TomTom Map Share™. This technology enables drivers to easily and instantly improve their own maps. It also lets users share improvements and benefit from all other users’ improvements, daily, automatically and easily via Tom Tom HOME – TomTom’s free software application. TomTom has the world’s largest satellite navigation community with over 10 million users. TomTom Map Share™ users can contribute and exchange all their improvements amongst each other, making the best maps available for all of them. Tom Tom Map Share™ means TomTom drivers can always have the most up-to-date maps and inside local knowledge at their fingertips (see separate press release for more information on TomTom Map Share™). The all new Navcore 7 software is feature enriched and also gives you more accurate maps and POI's. customising is definitely something which Tomtom will be improving on in TomTom ONE XL HD.

Mobile phone projector from Microvision

2008-05-29T19:32:00.000-07:00

Microvision, developer of light-scanning technologies for display and imaging products, will unveil at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2008) in Las Vegas next week an advanced prototype of the first handheld, battery-powered, ‘plug-and-play’ projector based on the company’s single micro-mirror laser scanning display technology. Code-named SHOW, Microvision’s stand-alone pico projector intended for mobile device applications, is powered by the company’s proprietary ultra-miniature PicoP display engine. Microvision will preview the PDA-sized, fully self-contained, battery operated, full-color laser projector to select global OEMs, mobile carriers, content providers, development partners and members of the media.

Microvision SHOW mobile projector

SHOW connects directly to laptops, mobile phones, portable media players (PMPs), digital cameras and other mobile devices to project large, high-resolution images and video onto any surface. The images projected can range anywhere from 12 inches (30 cm) to 100 inches (2.5 m) in size depending upon the projection distance and are always in focus. The production version of the device is expected to offer approximately 2.5 hours of continuous battery life, sufficient to watch a full-length movie without a need for recharging.

Microvision pico projector for mobile devices

"Consumers want better display solutions that will enrich their experience in watching TV, videos and movies, in playing games, and in browsing the web from their cell phones and other mobile devices," points out Alexander Tokman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Microvision. "While mobile multi-media subscription services are on the rise, handset manufacturers, content providers and service providers view tiny cell phone displays as a barrier to stronger consumer adoption of their products and services. With Microvision's SHOW you could view and share everything ranging from YouTube videos, MSN newscasts, and Google search results to PowerPoint presentations, feature-length films, and family photos in a large, full-color, hi-resolution format instead of a 2-inch, QVGA display."

Mobile phone projector

Microvision says that SHOW can project a widescreen, WVGA (848 X 480 pixels), DVD quality image - offering a very different experience from the tiny 2-inch display solutions available today on various portable devices. Designed for viewing high-quality projected images in a variety of controlled lighting environments, SHOW offers more than five times the resolution compared with competing miniature projectors that typically only offer QVGA resolution (320 x 240 pixels). At the heart of SHOW is Microvision's PicoP display engine, measuring close to 5 cc in volume and approximately 7 mm thick (approximately the size of a thin mint chocolate candy). Microvision envisions the PicoP display engine being used not only in stand-alone accessory products like SHOW, but also embedded directly into mobile consumer products.

Casio Exilim EX-Z100

2008-05-29T19:26:00.000-07:00

Casio introduces the new Casio Exilim Z100 just in time for Spring. The Casio Exilim EX-Z100, while naturally offering significant enhancements in function and performance, focuses on style with a new body shape that keeps height to a minimum and exudes a sense of premium design quality. With its newly developed lens, the Casio Z100 camera gives users the freedom to enjoy a range of different photo styles, from wide angle to telephoto. The Casio Exilim EX-Z100 includes a highly visible Super Clear LCD as well as Casio’s AUTO BEST SHOT scene recognition function that automatically chooses an appropriate shooting mode.

The new Casio Z100 also features the Auto Shutter function, which enables users to take the picture just at the moment of a lovely smile or at the instant that hand shake ceases. Using Auto Shutter, the camera automatically detects the right moment and takes the photo. “We are continuously developing new features that take advantage of digital technology, and we introduced the Snap Video mode on our digital cameras. By using Apple’s superior video technology we believe people will find more ways to enjoy Snap Video,” said Susumu Takashima, a managing director and head of digital camera development at Casio Computer Co., Ltd.

The high resolution, 10.1 Megapixel Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z100 features an EXILIM series first - a 4x optical zoom lens that can shoot as wide as 28 mm (equivalent). Also, in addition to the usual recognition technologies, the intelligence of these cameras has been enhanced. They incorporate automatic scene differentiation and allow the shutter to be released automatically, thanks to Casio’s commitment to keep improving the convenience offered by digital cameras.

The Casio Z100 allows zoom photography between 28 mm and 112 mm (35 mm film camera equivalent). This increases photographic enjoyment, from wide angle photography suitable for capturing large subjects or shooting up close in small spaces, right through to telephoto work. The new thinner, smaller body of the Casio Exilim EX-Z100 was made possible without sacrificing high resolution image quality using a newly developed 1/2.3 inch CCD.

Features:

* 10.1 effective Megapixel CCD
* F2.6-5.8, 4X optical zoom lens, equivalent to 28 - 112 mm
* Ultra-compact metal body comes in blue, red, pink, and silver colors
* 2.7″ LCD display with 230k pixels
* Point-and-shoot operation, tons of Best Shot (scene) modes
* Auto Shutter feature waits until your subject is smiling or camera shake stops before taking a photo
* Flash continuous shutter mode takes three flash photos in rapid succession
* Records movies at 848 x 480 or 640 x 480 at 30 fps using H.264 codec; dedicated movie recording button
* Unknown amount of built-in memory + SD/SDHC/MMC/MMCplus card slot
* Uses NP-40 li-ion battery; battery life numbers not available
* USB 2.0 High Speed supported
* Ships in March for $279

E-Lead NoahPad

2008-05-29T19:20:00.000-07:00

So, E-Lead will apparently be showing off a new UMPC that looks (not-so-) surprisingly like the Eee PC that everyone has fallen in love with. The main differences are the lack of flash memory, a different distro of Linux, and some sort of weird input interface.

The specs are a 1GHz VIA C7 Eden processor, a 30 gig hard drive, and half a gig of RAM. Then there is the weird hinge that appears to have nearly 360 degrees of movement, oh, and the split keyboard touch interface looking thing that you apparently type with. The Noahpad actually runs the latest version of Ubuntu instead of some custom distro.

Apparently some recommended uses for this thing are a digital photo frame, GPS navigation, video conferencing, and hanging it from a hanger to watch a video while you fry and egg. Not much else is known other than that it will be unveiled at CES.

SONY VGN-FZ31Z.CEK

2008-05-28T20:26:00.000-07:00

Sony laptop featuring Windows Vista Premium, Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB RAM, 300GB hard drive, Blu-ray disc compatible and a 15.4" widescreen display.

True colour

Beautiful image quality is essential for business, especially if you make a lot of multimedia presentations. Sporting the very latest X-black LCD technology, the VAIO FZ-Series gives you an ultra bright, glare-free screen that’s great for working outdoors.

Compact

Here’s one of the most compact notebooks around with a 15.4” screen - barely larger in size than most 14” notebooks! We’ve gone back to basics, redesigning the batteries and motherboard to create a truly mobile machine weighing 2.7 kilos that’s light enough to take to meetings, conferences and home for the weekend!

Radical design

Its sleek and streamlined design looks good by your side whether you’re in the office or on the way to client meetings. The VAIO FZ-Series is elegantly finished in black and silver to reflect your professional image and strong enough to take the rough and tumble of business travel. A perfect combination of style and practicality.

Instant videoconferencing

There’s nothing like face-to-face communication to get your message across. With an integrated camera and microphone on your notebook, it’s easy to hold instant video discussions with customers and colleagues wherever you are in the world. You can also save time and improve your efficiency in the office by cutting back on time-consuming meetings.
Go wireless

Working and communicating from airports, train stations and client receptions can be a challenge.

The VAIO FZ-Series makes that challenge as easy as possible with a variety of special buttons including a one touch wireless switch to fire up your wireless LAN and useful shortcut keys to save on mouse clicks. Don’t make life harder than it needs to be!

CANON HV30

2008-05-28T20:17:00.001-07:00

Today at CES, Canon announced the Vixia HV30 ($999 MSRP), the replacement for the popular HV20. The new HDV camcorder features an all-black design, a multi-angle Vivid LCD screen, and the ability to capture in 30P mode. Canon now offers a total of five camcorders in their newly christened “Vixia” high definition line-up.

“With the exception of those features, the product is the same as the HV20. Is it a revolutionary product? No. But it’s a very strong product as the HV20 was a very strong product and we added just a couple of features…to make it even more attractive to a wider range of consumers,” said Mitchell Glick, assistant manager of Product Marketing, Consumer Division for Canon USA. The HV20 was the recipient of four CamInfo Select Awards, including Camcorder of the Year.

The HV30’s ability to shoot in 30P is likely the most compelling upgrade. Not only will this add a new option for those who want an option beyond 60i and 24P. Canon has marketed this as a feature that online video producers can take advantage of. Most video sharing sites down-convert the frame rate to 15fps, which can lead to a choppy image. Footage shot at 30fps can be neatly halved, unlike other frame rates. Canon has also improved the zoom toggle on the new HV30, which was found to be small on the HV20.

Hands-on with aigo MID

2008-05-28T20:03:00.000-07:00

aigo MID (Gigabyte M528 in US) is 4.8 inches Intel Atom (Z500) based MID which is one of the first group MIDs presented in the world. (BenQ MID in another way is the first MID shown in IDF 2007 as a full function demo. unit). Before I meet the real machine of aigo MID, the first point in which aigo MID attracts my interest is it's Intel Atom processor (also known as Silverthorne). Intel Atom almost the main topic to be presented in IDF Spring 2008. Most of the devices and prototypes using Intel Atom or Diamondville were demonstrated in the IDF and I found aigo MID and LG MID were the representatives for MID engineering design.

The advantage of the Intel Atom (Silverthorne type + Intel Poulsbo) over it precedent, A100/ A100 (McCaslin), is not only the 45nm manufacturing process but also the theoretically 10 times less power consumption which means MID will have much more battery life than the current A100/A110 based UMPC or ULCPC.

My First Impression:
Apart from the interior Intel Atom processor, my first impression on aigo MID is it's size and weight! It is a real small and light and even lighter than Raon Digital Everun which is the smallest UMPC I've played before!
When you holding it, it is just like you are holding a PSP or NDS but with a x86 processing power! My HTC TyTN II weights ~200g and aigo MID is just 352g but with a larger screen size (4.8 in 800 x 480 res.) and full function browser which is what I have expected on a mobile internet device.

Performance and Battery life:
I think most of you may ask the performance of the Intel Atom (Z500) 800 MHz. I do not change it to Windows (smoothly) so far (I just got it for two days~~).
I will pass it to my colleague Pauliu to have a full function test (if we can change it to Windows XP “successfully” – a little bit trick has to be overcome first).
But what I have experienced so far, the Intel Atom Z500 did pretty well in this Linux OS. I seldom felt it laps or hang-ups during normal use.
The Midinux OS very suitable to Intel Atom based device (and I think Microsoft will not want to see this especially they don't like Touch Screen device running WinXP OS).
However, the battery life does not show what Intel promised (theoretically)~~ I don't see 10 times longer in battery life~~(that is for sure >.< )
The battery capacity is 2700mAh, 3.7V (~10Wh). For a normal use, surfing internet with Wifi on and simple text input may give you about 2 hours operating time. Even worse than EeePC 900 and Kohjinsha SR8 !!! However, I did not count exactly the running time. Hope I will have time to test it again (both in Windows and Linux environments)

Motorola H700

2008-05-27T23:36:00.000-07:00

Looks Good, Feels Great, Sounds Even Better
Designed for enhanced comfort while delivering a 30% reduction in size and weight from its predecessor, the super compact Motorola H700 delivers unbeatable comfort with an ergonomic ear hook that can be worn on either ear. With unsurpassed call quality and Motorola’s exclusive PowerFlip™ design that lets you answer and end calls with ease, this headset optimizes on-the-go conversations – with style and simplicity.

Ready to Move
The Motorola H700 is the premium choice for those who are serious about wireless connectivity, offering up to six hours of talk time**, 130 of standby time** and charge time of less than one hour. Designed with your calls in mind, the headset features Bluetooth 1.2 wireless technology for better call quality, faster connections and less interference.

Smooth Sailing
Feature rich doesn’t mean complicated. A blue light lets others know when you’re on a call. The light changes colors to let you know when the headset is in pairing mode, charging or running low on battery power. The ability to connect with compatible devices up to 10 meters (30 feet) away helps you chat, sync and send – even when your mobile isn’t in sight. Fashionable and functional, the Motorola H700 is the essential partner for serious mobile consumers.

SUMMARY OF FEATURES:
• Compact, small and lightweight design is approximately 30% smaller than its predecessor
• Award winding PowerFlip™ foldable microphone design with ergonomic reversible ear hook
• Cutting-edge noise reduction and echo cancellation technologies
• 6 hours talk time** or 130 hours standby time**
• Multi-function button to control 3-way calling, call start and end, hold and mute
• Advanced Volume controls: orientation technology to assure that volume controls will always be upright and volume adjustment form the headset
• Bluetooth Class 2 for wireless connection up to 10 meters (30 feet)
• Bluetooth 1.2 support for quicker pairing, fewer dropped calls and reduced interference
• Compatible with Bluetooth 1.2- or 1.1-enabled mobile phones, PDAs, PCs, printers and more that support headset and hands-free profiles
• Status LED light that can be turned off or on depending on user preference

HP - Scanjet N8460

2008-05-27T23:23:00.000-07:00

Unlike most modern desktop scanners, which tend to be small and sleek, the Scanjet N8460 is a huge and far from elegant device. But then it's made that way for a reason. The reason being that it's designed to capture hundreds of documents a day, as part of a high volume document management system.

There are two components: a huge (legal size) 600dpi flatbed colour scanner with, on top, an equally large automatic document feeder (ADF). This can be loaded with up to 100 sheets at a time and will reliably handle a wide variety of paper types and weights. Jams can still occur, though, so there's also an ultrasonic double-feed detector to let you know if more than one sheet starts to be pulled in at once.

Capable of scanning in both monochrome and 48-bit colour, the N8460 is rated to handle up to 1,500 documents a day - much, much, more than cheaper devices. It's also a lot quicker. Actual throughput will depend on the type of document being scanned, selected resolution and file format, but typical A4, black and white documents can be scanned at 200dpi and saved as TIFF files at an impressive 35ppm. The N8460 can also scan both sides at once, effectively doubling that to 70 sides per minute.

To connect to a PC there's a USB 2.0 port on the side and plenty of space at the front for the LCD display and a set of controls for walk-up operation. All the usual buttons to start and stop scans are to be found here, along with a customisable set of Quick Start buttons to apply user-defined scan profiles to, for example, scan to a PDF or editable Word document, e-mail application or SharePoint server.

Everything needed to drive the scanner is included in the box, starting with HP's Windows-based Smart Document Scan Software (SDSS). An ISIS-based application, this lets you operate the scanner remotely to scan to a variety of graphics and text formats. Readiris Pro OCR software is also included to generate editable text, and ScanSoft PaperPort to file and manage the documents produced.

Added to which you can re-size, straighten and crop documents as they're scanned, re-order and rotate pages and generally enhance the content using Kofax VirtualReScan (VRS).

We had very few problems putting it all together, although it does take a while to get used to the way the various tools work, and new operators will need basic training. On the plus side, the Quick Start buttons help automate repetitive procedures while the inclusion of ISIS and Twain drivers makes it possible to integrate the Scanjet N8460 with larger document management applications.

It all works as it should and there's no doubting the capabilities of this HP scanner. But if you're only going to scan in a few documents a day the price is hard to justify and cheaper devices are likely to be just as good. The fact that it doesn't have an Ethernet interface for network sharing could also be an issue. However, it compares well on price and functionality against other high volume scanners and, if looking at those, is well worth considering.
Comparing prices of 'HP Scanjet N8460'

Palm Treo 650

2008-05-27T23:06:00.000-07:00

Design
The Treo 650 is primarily made of plastic but has a overall solid feel. The front of the device houses the status LED, earpiece speaker, screen and the keyboard. Unlike previous palmOne handhelds, the status LED on the Treo 650 is quite functional and can indicate a number of different states as shown here. The edges and corners of the device are all smooth and slightly rounded. Below the display lies the central navigation ares with the application buttons and the 5-way navigator. The full qwerty thumboard lies below the screen completing the data centric smartphone design.

The right side of the device hides the infrequently used stylus silo, while the left has large volume rocker and a configurable application button, which was likely placed with a push to talk feature in mind. The bottom contains the new palmOne multi-connector and a smaller 2.5mm headset jack. The top of the device holds a rounded exposed antenna stub the SD card slot, SIM card bay (on GSM versions), the IR window and a convenient silent mode switch.

Phone & Wireless Specs
The GSM Treo has a quad band wireless radio that uses the 850/900/1800/1900 MHz frequencies. The CDMA model uses a digital dual-band CDMA/1xRTT radio operating on the 800/1900 MHz bands. The GSM model also support high speed EDGE networks with data speeds averaging up to 135 kilobits per second (kbps). It also features E911 compliance with a built in GPS chip that is solely used for the enhanced E911 emergency location service.

Bluetooth
In addition to its wireless phone network capabilities the Treo 650 has built in Bluetooth wireless. Bluetooth enables a number of new accessories including wireless headsets, bluetooth GPS, wireless hotsyncing etc. When enabled, with Bluetooth Dial up networking can use your Treo as a mobile modem taking advantage of its data connection to use on your laptop or PC. However, certain carriers have disabled Bluetooth DUN by default, but fortunately there are patches available to re-enable this feature.

Audio
The Treo 650 has a dual speaker design, with the front earpiece speaker used for phone calls only while the rear handles the sysytem sounds, games and music. If you want to listen to digital audio via a headset you'll need the 3.5mm stereo adapter. The rear speaker is well placed just under the camera and can be very loud. There is an excellent selection of ringtones that can also be used as alarms. (finally some new and modern alarm sounds!)

Battery
The Treo 650 comes with a 1900 mAH Li-ion rechargeable battery that can be removed via a cover on the back. Additional replacement batteries are sold by palmOne for $59.99 USD each. Battery life for GSM models is rated at 6 hours talk and 300 hours standby, while the CDMA version gets 5 hours of talk and 300 standby. Tapping on the small battery icon will tell you how much battery life is left percentage wise. With my own personal usage pattern, which included heavy internet usage and a few phone calls a day, I am able to charge up every 3-4 days or so, which is very impressive for a high end phone.
Display
The Treo 650 has a very sharp 16bit color, 320x320 pixel TFT screen, which measures just under 2 x 2 inches. palmOne outfitted the 650 with a high resolution screen in about the same spacial area as the Treo 600 making for a very crisp text and graphics experience. The fonts are extra smooth and photos and graphics look great. The screen also offers improved visibility in direct sunlight, though slightly washes out. There is a backlight slider which can also turn the backlight completely off.

Thumboard
The Treo 650 has a improved thumboard over the Treo 600. The keys are now slightly larger and flatter and are arranged in a curved smile pattern. This new design is much more ergonomic and makes thumb typing on the 650 a more effective and smoother experience than its predecessors. It also has an improved backlighting system for the keys. The keys glow a sharp white color that is especially bright at night and consistently well lit. One minor complaint is that there is no option to adjust or turn off the keyboard backlights and they always remain on when the device is in use.

Camera
The Treo 650 has a built in VGA camera with 640x480 (0.3 megapixel) resolution and automatic light balancing. It has 2x digital zoom and can also capture movie clips in the .3gp format. The camera's quality is vastly improved over the Treo 600's. Photo's are more realistic and colors and light balancing are much more accurate. Pictures can be automatically stored in configurable photo albums to either the handheld memory or preferably an SD card.

The rear of the Treo contains the VGA camera, with a small circle mirror for self portaits. Underneath the camera is a speaker-grill for the speakerphone and music playback. Next to that is the button to remove the battery door, which exposes the removable battery and reset hole, which can be triggered by the stylus tip.

Hardware
The 650 is powered by a 312 MHz Intel PXA270 processor and runs Palm OS Garnet v5.4.5. It has 32 Megabytes of non-volatile memory, of which 23.7MB is user accessible. The non-volatile memory allows the memory contents to be preserved even when the battery is removed or out of power. The Treo also incorporates a SD memory expansion slot which can accommodate MMC, SD and SDIO memory cards. However, it does not yet support the palmOne WiFi SD card at launch. palmOne claims to be evaluating the situation, so there is only a slight potential the card will eventually be supported.

HP Pavilion m8120n Mainstream Desktop PC

2008-05-26T20:50:00.000-07:00

HP made a very interesting choice by using the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 for the Pavilion m8120n desktop PC. The processor is a major boost for those that heavily multitask or look at doing computer work while also using the PVR features of the system. If the computer won't be used heavily for video or mulitasking, then the processor ends up being slower than a comparably priced dual core system. This should be an important factor when considering purchasing the system.

The Pavilion m8120n comes with a somewhat odd 3GB of PC2-5300 DDR2 memory. This actually gives it a bit more functionality when multitasking and doing digital video than those with just 2GB. The twin 320GB hard drives provide it with plenty of storage space for storing programs and videos. A door on the left side of cases front panel also hides a slot that can be used for HP's portable drive accessory. For optical storage, a LightScribe compatible DVD burner is included.

The one major flaw in the Pavilion m8120n design is its graphics. The GeForce 7350 LE graphics board included is a step up from an integrated package, but it lacks performance for boosting high definition video or 3D gaming. HP should have considered using a new Radeon HD 2400 or 2600 board if they wanted to boost video processing or a GeForce 8600 for 3D graphics instead of the older 7350 used.

While the Pavilion m8120n is not a home theater specific system, the HDTV compatible TV tuner and 802.11b/g wireless networking can allow the desktop to be used as one. It is much better suited as a desktop system with secondary TV functions while working or in the study.

Pros
Quad Core Processor
Lots Of Memory And Hard Drive Space
TV Tuner Included

Cons
Limited Graphics Capabilities
Quad Core Not Useful For Those That Don't Multitask
Description
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad Core Desktop Processor
3GB PC2-5300 DDR2 Memory
Two 320GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drives
16x DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Burner with LightScribe
NVIDIA GeForce 7350 LE Graphics with 128MB Dedicated Memory
Digital (HDTV) and Analog TV Tuner
Intel HDA Audio
v.92 56Kbps, 10/100 Ethernet and 802.11b/g Wireless
Six USB 2.0, Two FireWire, 15-in-1 Media Card Reader
Vista Home Premium, MS Works 8, Roxio Creator, MyDVD, AutoProducer, Photosmart Essentials

Sony PlayStation 3

2008-05-26T20:38:00.000-07:00

Weighing about 11 pounds and measuring 12.8 inches wide by 3.86 inches high by 10.89 inches long, the PlayStation 3 is larger than the PlayStation 2, the diminutive Nintendo Wii, or the Microsoft Xbox 360. Like those consoles, it can be oriented vertically or horizontally. Either way, the PS3's striking design looks right at home in the living room (admittedly, however, its polished top surface is prone to finger marks). The PS3 runs more quietly than the Xbox 360 but is a bit louder than the almost silent Wii. Though the unit itself doesn't get too toasty, the air around it tends to feel warm after a few hours of continuous play.

The PlayStation 3 comes in two versions. The $599 model (which I tested) has a 60GB hard disk; built-in 802.11b/g wireless networking; and MemoryStick, SD, and CompactFlash slots. The $499 unit omits Wi-Fi capability and the media card slots, and has a 20GB drive. You can replace the hard drive on either version, and the supplied manual explains how to swap in your own 2.5-inch, serial ATA drive. Our sibling publication GamePro has posted scans of these instructions.

The differences between the two PlayStation versions end there; both provide a Blu-ray slot drive, HDMI-output, gigabit networking, four USB 2.0 ports, and built-in Bluetooth 2.0 support.

At the heart of the PlayStation 3 lies a CPU that'll impress even the most hard-core PC gamer. This powerful, multicore Cell processor, jointly developed by Sony, Toshiba, and IBM, runs at 3.2 GHz. An RSX Reality Synthesizer graphics engine, based on NVidia's G70 architecture, delivers the graphics. Working alongside these chips are 256MB of high-performance XDR main memory (based on Rambus RDRAM) and 256MB of GDDR3 video memory.

Getting Started

First, make sure that you come home with all of the cables you'll need. To fully experience the console's graphics capabilities--that is, to play supported games or to watch Blu-ray movies in 1080p high-definition--you'll have to purchase your own HDMI cable (and own an HDCP-compliant 1080p television). Two extras that you might consider buying are Sony's proprietary component video output cable and the optical digital audio cable required for 7.1-channel audio. For optimum Blu-ray or DVD movie playback, you could also spring for the optional $25 remote control.

The standard package includes basic cords: a USB mini cable for the bundled Bluetooth wireless controller, an ethernet cable, a multi audio/video cable with composite connections, and an AC power cord (the PS3 uses a standard cord, unlike the external power brick used by the Wii and the Xbox 360).

Most new PS3 owners will fire up the console without looking at the manual--and they probably won't run into any trouble. It's just that easy to hook up. In case you feel like doing some tech reading before you go shopping, GamePro has scanned the PS3 manual to make it available for the geeky perusal of all.

Once turned on, the PS3 will ask you to choose a language and a time zone, and set the time/date. You then create a user account, sign in, and are presented with a navigation interface that Sony calls the Xross Media Bar (XMB), which closely resembles the interface employed by Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP) handheld.

My first priority was to properly configure the high-definition output. I accomplished this by navigating to the video settings and changing the unit's output to 1080p over HDMI. The difference was as if I had switched my computer monitor from 640 by 480 (480p) to 1920 by 1080 (1080p high definition).

PlayStation Online Store and Network

Sony has said that--unlike Xbox Live--the PlayStation Network will be a free service. You'll be able to see when friends are online in order to chat with them by video, voice, or text, or to join multiplayer games. We'd like to confirm this for ourselves, but early feedback following the Japanese launch of the PlayStation 3 is that currently users can leave only text messages for other gamers. Reports further indicate that you can't read messages while in a game; you simply get a pop-up notification. Again, we'll look into this and let you know what we find out.

Regarding the PlayStation Store, Sony has stated that it intends to offer downloadable game demos and movie trailers, and to sell retro games, episodic content, and perhaps eventually even full-length movies. Methods to pay your "electronic wallet" bill will include credit card and special PlayStation cards sold in shops. Downloadable games that Sony has developed will cost less than $15 apiece at launch, and you can expect new titles from a range of developers to appear regularly.

Parting Thoughts

So there you have it: the PlayStation 3 in a rather large nutshell. It truly is technologically superior to both the Xbox 360 and the Wii (which isn't really a direct competitor). But to succeed, Sony and its third-party partners must tap into their traditional strength of delivering compelling games for the console. The PS3 looks like an expensive box at first, but seems less so when you compare its cost to the cost of a stand-alone Blu-ray player, a high-end PC graphics card, the Xbox 360 with its HD-DVD add-on, or even a Media Center PC.

Panasonic TH-50PZ800U

2008-05-26T20:22:00.000-07:00

Design
In photos, the Panasonic TH-50PZ800U looks a lot like every other HDTV on the market: a glossy black rectangle. In person, however, it's a lot more striking and less glossy. In fact, the black frame around the screen isn't glossy at all, it's simply fronted by a big pane of glass that lends the panel a somewhat more sophisticated look than a typical set, where the frame is raised a quarter inch or so from the surface of the screen. Below the screen, the Panasonic's frame has what resembles a pair of pursed lips that protrude forward, bearing the logo and hiding a set of inputs behind a flip-down door.

The stand looks identical to the sloped number common to lower-end 2008 Panasonic plasmas such as the TH-46PZ85U and the TH-42PX80U, but unlike those stands, this one swivels, courtesy of a lazy-Susan-like base hidden underneath. Including stand, the TH-50PZ800U measures 49.9 inches wide by 33.4 inches tall by 15.3 inches deep and weighs 92.6 pounds. Divested of stand, its size shrinks to 49.9 inches wide by 31.2 inches tall by 4.1 inches deep and its weight shrinks to 81.6 pounds.

Panasonic's remote remains the same as last year, and we remain fans of its layout. The medium-length wand groups the distinct sets of right-sized buttons in an easy-to-feel arrangement, and although we'd have liked to see some backlighting, we didn't really miss it after a few minutes of becoming familiar with the button arrangement.

A familiar yellow-on-blue menu system leads to the television's setup functions, and although the graphics lack the panache of a Sony or a Samsung menu, navigation was intuitive enough. We liked that the company renamed its previously confusing "Normal" command to "Reset," which more accurately describes what it does to your picture settings.

Features
As we mentioned, the big step-up feature between Panasonic's TH-PZ85U series and the TH-PZ800U models such as this is THX Display Certification. The certification involves testing in a number of categories such as contrast ratio and color accuracy, according to THX, and the TH-50PZ800U has a special THX picture preset that, when engaged, causes the TV's picture to comply with the certification. We'll detail its effects in the Performance section below, and we describe more about the certification itself in this blog post.

Performance
Thanks primarily to the accuracy of its THX picture mode, the TH-50PZ800U is one of the best-performing plasmas we've ever tested. It can't quite match the depth of black evinced by Pioneer's Kuro plasmas, such as the PDP-5080HD, but it most other areas, including color accuracy and uniformity, it's superior.

We typically go on and on about calibration but with the TH-50PZ800U we didn't have to do much beyond increasing its contrast control a bit to approach our 40 footlambert baseline light output. Compared with other picture modes and to the company's own TH-46PZ85U, THX on the PZ800U delivered superior color temperature and especially primary color accuracy, and despite the fact that THX mode didn't pass blacker-than-black parts of the video signal (while the Custom mode did), we left brightness alone for optimal performance. Check out our full picture settings for details.

Gear4 Duo

2008-05-26T00:51:00.000-07:00

Design
The Duo is essentially a large subwoofer, with a pair of mid-range drivers and tweeters mounted into a removable face plate. Gear4's thinking is that you'll leave the sub plugged in, but when you want your music to come with you, simply pick up the face plate and let it play from two user-replaceable lithium-ion batteries.

Build quality's what we've come to expect from Gear4: solid, but without the bells and whistles that add significant cost. The front speakers are held in place by two grooves at their base, and magnets at the top, meaning it slips in and out of place without clips or wires.

Features
Batteries power the front speakers when not connected to the sub, and while they'll continue to work if the system has no mains power, the batteries won't power the sub too. In addition to the sub and main drivers, two tweeters push out high-frequency sound, giving the Duo some potential as an all-round star player in the league of iPod docks.

On the back of the detached front speakers and the sub are power input sockets for mains power and battery charging, and line-in sockets for hooking up other audio devices.

Notably missing is video output -- a big iPod feature these days. Neither can you connect the system to a PC via USB for syncing with iTunes.

Performance
In its full configuration, the Duo adequately fulfills its bedroom role. That is to say, it's no living room hi-fi alternative, but sound is clear, bass is present and it'll hit a reasonable volume. What you must bear in mind is that, while this is technically a 2.1 setup, it will not sound anything remotely like what you'd hear from even a middle-of-the-road 2.1 system in satellite/subwoofer configuration.

What the sub does is add decent warmth to the bright sound generated by the mid-range drivers and the two tweeters. When you take the front speakers away for use on their own, however, you lose that warmth. But the convenience of this kind of setup makes up for this, and you could easily take the front speakers away with you on holiday.

Playing Dashboard Confessional's emotional track Stolen, we heard decent overall performance. Yes, the audiophiles will scoff at the Duo's harsh high-end and its lack of stereo separation. But it does offer decent enough sound quality for anyone who just likes casually listening to their MP3s, with the convenience of being able to take their music in the bathroom.

And we loved this feature. We actually found this most useful when we were listening to a lengthy podcast. 15 minutes into the show and we needed to eat. We simply picked up the front speakers, popped out the kick stand and carried on listening in the kitchen. Brilliant. True, we had another audio setup in the kitchen already, but for those that haven't, it's darn handy.

Samsung U700

2008-05-26T00:46:00.000-07:00

The U700 is the latest in a long line of slim slider phones from Samsung that boast supermodel looks. But this handset has brains as well as beauty, thanks to support for the latest ultra-fast 3G standard.

Strengths
The first thing you notice about this handset is its brilliant display. Not only is it big, bright and colourful but it also has a crisp 240x320-pixel resolution that's ideal for viewing Web pages using the built-in browser.

In fact, access to the Web is one of the areas that this phone excels at. Sure, the large screen is a bonus in this regard but what's even better is the support for HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access), the next generation 3G standard. It allows the handset to connect to the Web at speeds of up to 3.6Mbps, and certainly it felt blisteringly quick while we were browsing sites via the Vodafone Live service.

As this is a 3G handset it's also equipped with twin cameras for video calling. The one on the front is the usual low-resolution affair but once you open the smooth slide mechanism the rear mounted 3.2-megapixel snapper is revealed.

This has both a micro mirror for taking self portraits and also a flash for shooting in low light. The shots it takes are above average as the autofocus keeps everything nice and sharp and images have natural-looking colour. A slight bit of smearing in the detail means it's not going to replace a dedicated camera but it's still pretty impressive.

The handset's slim and light design means it feels comfortable to hold, and battery life isn't too bad either -- you'll get around five hours of talk time out of it.

Lenovo ThinkPad X60 Tablet PC

2008-05-26T00:31:00.000-07:00

The ThinkPad X60 Tablet PC is the second generation X-series Tablet PC / notebook convertible machine from Lenovo. The X60 Tablet PC is a Core Duo based machine that offers both significant performance and feature enhancements over its X41 Tablet PC predecessor. The X60 Tablet (X60t hereafter) is based upon the 12.1" screen X60s ultraportable released earlier this year. While many have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Tablet PC incarnation of the X60, we're happy to say the best comes to those who wait.

Let's just cover the specs for the two X60 Tablets we have under the spotlight. Both have essentially the same specs hardware wise, but there is a major difference in terms of the screen. One X60t has an SXGA resolution screen while the other has an XGA+ with MultiTouch (pen and finger touch) capabilities for double the screen input fun.

Specs for X60 Tablet PC as Reviewed:
Processor: Intel Core Duo L2400 1.66GHz (1.2V) (can configure up to 1.83GHz Core Duo L2500, Core Solo options also)
OS: Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
Hard Drive: 2.5" Hitachi 100GB 7200RPM SATA (as seen on NewEgg.com)
RAM: 1GB DDR2 SDRAM (667MHz), max RAM config of 4GB
Screen Size: 12.1"
Screen Resolution: XGA 1024 x 768 with pen and touch screen capability
Screen Resolution: SXGA+ 1400 x 1050
Graphics: Intel Media Accelerator 950
Slots:
PCMCIA Type II, with ExpressCard 34 adapter (left side)
SD memory card slot (left side)
1 Expansion slot / docking station slot (bottom)
Ports:
3 USB 2.0 ports (1 on the left, 2 on the right)
FireWire Port (right side)
Monitor out port (left side)
Ethernet LAN port (left side)
Modem port (right side)
Microphone (right side)
Headphone line-out (right side)
Power jack (right side)
Battery: 4-cell battery (3.3 hours of quoted battery life)
Battery: 8-cell extended life battery (7.5 hours of quoted battery life)
Dimensions: 10.8" x 9.5" x .83 - [1.1" - 1.30"] (width x depth x thickness [varies from front to back])
Weight: about 3.77lbs with 4-cell battery, 4.23lbs with 8-cell battery
Integrated Communications: 802.11 a/b/g/n wireless, Modem, Gigabit Ethernet, Verizon EVDO WWWAN (optional), Bluetooth (optional), IrDA

Design and Build
The X60 Tablet has undergone quite a few external design changes from the previous ThinkPad X41 tablet (X41t). Listed below are the major external differences between the X41t and X60t:
The X60t is slightly thicker than the past X41t -- the X60t is 1.30" at its thickest point while the X41t was a slimmer 1.26". The extra thickness comes from having a larger and faster 2.5" hard drive in the X60t, so I think everyone will agree that's well worth the tradeoff.
There are now 3 USB 2.0 ports as opposed to two in the X41t.
The X60t now has a FireWire port, the X41t did not
Added to the front of the X60t is an on/off wireless switch
The X60t weighs in at 3.77lbs with a 4-cell battery and 4.23lbs with the 8-cell. The X41t weighed 3.5lbs / 4.0 lbs respectively so there is some weight gain here
The X60t has a NavDial button for multi-direction scrolling when in tablet mode, this is an improvement on the PgUp / PgDn button on the X41t
An XGA or SXGA+ resolution screen is offered with the X60t, you can also get a pen/finger touch screen with the XGA resolution. A new feature called ActiveRotate also improves the screen functionality of the X60t over the X41t.
Button color and shapes have changed in the keyboard area, for instance there are now red color stripes on the mous buttons any longer and the power button is silver not black.

Outside of these changes the X60t sticks to the tried and true look and design of other ThinkPad notebooks. The casing is a rugged and firm plastic material that has been built to withstand up to 3 foot drops. The keyboard is spill proof, there are two drains that take the liquid away from the keyboard and out the bottom of the notebook during an unlucky beverage spill. The usual steel hinges we see on a ThinkPad notebook are missing because this screen of course has to rotate. The single pivot point has a very convincing and solid feel though and holds the screen in place well when in notebook mode, the pivoting action feels firm and smooth. The pivot point rotates clockwise and allows for 180o of screen turning (to reach tablet mode), the hinge that provides the tilt is excellent and provides 180o of tilt from closed to fully open and flat, the hinge feels very firm. A magnesium alloy material screen lid provides strong protection for your LCD screen. The built-in Active Protection System is a marquee piece of IBM software that protects your data in drop situations, it works by lifting the hard drives read/write head when sudden movement of the notebook is detected.

Wireless
The X60t has four forms of wireless built-in:
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n using a built-in wireless mini PCI card, antenna for wireless is located in the screen for better reception
Bluetooth 2.0 (optional based on configuration)
EVDO using built-in antenna located on the screen side (optional based on configuration)
Infrared (IrDA) using port located on the front right side

This is about as good as you get in terms of wireless choices, especially given the small size of the X60s, that's a lot of communication devices to fit into this space. The built-in EVDO antenna is great for business people who can afford the monthly $80 option, money is no object if you're trying to land an all important business deal by sending an email. I wish Lenovo would figure out a way to get rid of the ridiculous "hump" they put on their machines with EVDO antennas though. All the other manufacturers have put the EVDO antenna in the screen tucked away. Honestly, I'd rather sacrifice a little reception quality from EVDO and have the designers tuck it into the LCD frame somewhere than have this weird (and vulnerable) fin on the top of my notebook.

The 802.11n offering is an improvement over what the previous X41t offered, you'll of course have to go and buy an 802.11n capable router ($100+ these days) to be able to utilize the longer range and faster capabilities that 802.11n offers though.

I'll mention the fact that for some reason the Access Connections wireless manager software kept crashing on me, but only when I opened it in tablet mode. These are engineering pre-production model machines though, so it could be related to that.
ThinkPad X6 Tablet UltraBase

The X60t will have a new docking solution in the form of the ThinkPad X6 Tablet UltraBase, we'll review this in an upcoming review, but here's a rundown of the ports you'll get on it: Ultrabay Slim, 4 USB 2.0 ports, VGA out, Microphone in, Headphone out, Speakers, RJ-11, RJ-45 ethernet, Parallel port, serial port, cable lock slot, key lock security.

The X6 UltraBase will be portable and cost $199. Note if you want an optical drive (DVD/CD) you will have to get this, the X60t does not have a built-in optical drive.

Microsoft Xbox

2008-05-26T00:25:00.000-07:00

Microsoft's Xbox is a Trojan horse. The company has conquered the desktop and now seems intent on sneaking a PC into your living room. Yes, this black behemoth of a system looks and acts just like a video game machine--and a state-of-the-art one at that. But with built-in support for high-speed networking, an 8GB hard drive, DVD playback capabilities, and display support for HDTVs, the Xbox does more than just play games.

No small feat
With a front-loading disc tray, two buttons, and four controller ports adorning the face, the monstrous case will look at right at home among your other home-theater components. Inside this eight-pound box you'll find the power of a PC (a 733MHz Intel processor; 64MB of RAM; and a custom Nvidia graphics board, the NV2A) and the heart of a video game console. Still, as nice as all that processing power is, what really matter is the onscreen results.

Video enthusiasts will appreciate that the Xbox works not only with standard 4:3 TVs but with HDTVs as well. If you have an HD-ready set, you can set the Xbox to output 480p, 720p, and 1,080i signals in either normal or wide-screen (16:9) aspect ratios for your games. The Xbox is capable of producing 1,080i images, but the games themselves, such as Halo and Dead or Alive 3, haven't been optimized for that high a level yet. Still, the images are crisp and sharp. A nice complement to this visual horsepower is the fact that the Xbox supports 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound and deliver 256 simultaneous voice channels--previously unheard of in a game system. All of this adds up to some of the richest, most realistic experiences we've yet to see in video games.

However, to get the most out of the system, you will have to spend some extra cash on optional accessories. The Xbox ships with composite video cables and RCA audio outputs like every other game console. But for improved audio and video performance, you'll have to spring for the $15 Advanced AV Pack, which has an S-Video connector as well as optical digital audio jacks. The $20 High Definition AV Pack offers component video connectors (Y, Pb, Pr), plus the optical digital audio jacks. And what about DVD playback? Well, unlike the PS2, which plays DVDs right out of the box, you'll need to shell out an additional $30 for the DVD Movie Playback Kit. (Note to videophiles: Even with the extra kit, the Xbox won't output your movies in 480p, so hold on to that progressive-scan DVD player.)

PC perks in the living room
While Microsoft makes you pay to unlock some features, it does include some PC-like ones that can't be found in competing systems. First, there's a built-in Ethernet adapter for broadband multiplayer gaming, regardless of whether you're using a cable modem, DSL, or an office LAN. For an extra $50, you can purchase Microsoft's Xbox Live Starter Kit, which allows you to play games online (broadband connection required) free for a year. Several, but not all, titles are Xbox Live-enabled.

The console also comes with a built-in 8GB hard drive, so you don't need to buy expensive memory cards to save your game progress. (Proprietary memory cards are available to share files with friends.) That hard drive also opens up some other possibilities. For starters, games load quickly because they can cache levels on the speedy hard drive rather than having to read all of the game's information from the disc. Another fringe benefit is the ability to drop audio CDs into the unit and copy songs to the drive. You can then use the console to play your music rather than fumbling for your CDs. Too bad you can't install whole game discs.

Price is no longer an issue when it comes to the Xbox. Now $199, the Xbox sells for the same price as the PlayStation 2 and costs about $50 more than the GameCube. Clearly, the Xbox has a lot of power under the hood and sports some unique features (a hard drive, an Ethernet adapter, 720p and 1080i support for HDTVs) that are missing from competing systems. Does that make it a better choice than the PS2? While the PS2 currently has a plethora of great games, as well as such PS2-exclusive titles as Grand Theft Auto Vice City, most top games are being released on Xbox simultaneously, and the console has its own excellent Xbox-only titles such as Mech Assault. Overall, the Xbox offers superior graphics and is the best choice for those who demand the best audio and video performance from a system and have the A/V components, including a surround-sound package, to complement it.

Sony VAIO TZ

2008-05-23T20:13:00.000-07:00

Build and Design
Sony's designers worked overtime to make the TZ not only an ultra portable notebook, but to make it an ultra portable notebook that looks good. Lines match up, panel thicknesses stay the same, hinges are molded into body with the battery, AC plug, and power button integrated, and it's topped off with a carbon fiber lid to seal the deal. Lifting the display cover you find the glossy keyboard surface reflecting the world around you with keys standing out like ripples on a pond. This notebook could be perfectly described in one word; glamorous.

The build quality of this notebook is excellent. Having such thin panels merging together across various parts of the notebook you would almost expect to see uneven panel spacing or gaps, but this notebook has none. Panels merge together with razor thin clearances, and even flexing the notebook doesn't make the parts squeak or groan from plastic rubbing together. Support is excellent around the base of the laptop, leaving just the screen with some amount of flex. I can't really place too much blame on Sony for that, since it is only 4.75mm thick. Overall I found the Sony TZ to be of excellent quality, only lacking on allowing certain parts to be upgraded by the user.

Screen
Sporting a new LED backlight screen, a first for a Sony ultra-portable, the laptop is able to achieve great color reproduction and backlight distribution. Watching movies, editing pictures, or just browsing the web was very enjoyable. I only wish this laptop had the performance of a gaming machine, so that the screen could be used for more recreational purposes. Comfortable brightness levels on the TZ were around midrange, with anything above too bright for my poor eyes. As is common with most notebook displays, viewing angles were excellent horizontally, but poor vertically. The purple anti-glare screen coating combined with the poor viewing angles helped make dark colors invert at shallow angles.
Protection of the screen from the display cover is on the weak side, since it is extremely thin. Throughout the review procedure, the only damage I was able to inflict were key marks left on the screen from the LCD pressing on the dirty keys. These were only temporary marks, I was able to rub them off with a soft cloth (which Sony included with the notebook). Besides flexing the screen into a taco shape or accidentally sitting on it, I don't see most users having any problem with the screen.

Speakers
The speakers on the Sony TZ are located right below the pivot point of the display, providing a clear path to your head for maximum listening pleasure. They worked quite well for watching movies, playing games, or listening to some music around the office. With the volume set to max, the decibel meter registered ~64dB at one foot. The audio was only slightly distorting on high notes, but stayed mostly clear. During normal use high and upper midrange came through well, but don't expect any lower notes from speakers this small.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The keyboard on the Sony TZ is very compact, and takes a bit to get used to typing on. It took a few hours of use before I could type without peaking at the keys. Passwords were mangled, friends were confused with my typing, and websites locked me out for too many login attempts. Once I got used to it the typing was fairly comfortable, but this keyboard is not ideal as a primary machine used during an entire work week. For users who would buy this machine as the main computer in their office, a docking station with full-size keyboard would be highly recommended.
The touchpad was easy to use, and very stable with finger tracking. It did not appear to have any lag moving across the screen, nor did it have any pause when it sat idle. My only complaint with the touchpad was the upper boundary was flush with the keyboard tray, making it easy to slide your finger right off the surface. The soft texture made the touchpad easy to control, as well as very comfortable on the fingertips.

Performance and Benchmarks
The only modern game I found to work at decent frame rates was Half Life 1 as mentioned in my first look. Watching movies, editing photos, and using productivity software worked out much better. The beautiful LED backlit screen really made those activities enjoyable. Below are the standard benchmarks to see how this laptop stacks up against others notebooks. Keep in mind that the TZ compares favorably to other notebooks in the ultra portable notebook class.

D-Link DWA-652 Adapter

2008-05-23T20:01:00.000-07:00

Wireless N is the new emerging standard in wireless networking, which provides greater range over a longer distance and extreme speed. Today at Benchmark Reviews we have the new D-Link DWA-652 Xtreme N wireless notebook adapter for testing purposes. Let us find out if the DWA-652 delivers performance as promised.

The D-Link Xtreme N™ Notebook Adapter (DWA-652) is a draft 2.0 802.11n wireless client that delivers unrivaled wireless performance for your notebook computer. This wireless adapter delivers up to 14x faster speeds and 6x farther range than 802.11g while staying backward compatible with 802.11g and 802.11b networks. Once connected, you can share a high-speed Internet connection, photos, files, music, videos, printers, and storage.

The Xtreme N Notebook Adapter is powered by Xtreme N technology to provide superior wireless reception in your home or office. This adapter is designed for use in larger homes and offices, or for users running multiple bandwidth-intensive applications. This adapter enables you to simultaneously make or receive Internet phone calls (VoIP), surf the Web, transfer files, and stream High-Definition (HD) media when connected to an Xtreme N Gigabit Router (DIR-655)*. The DWA-652 supports WEP™, WPA™, and WPA2™ encryption that allow you to connect securely to a wireless network.
D-Link’s Quick Adapter Setup Wizard guides you step-by-step through the installation process. Configure this notebook adapter without having to call a networking expert to help you. The D-Link Wireless Manager is also included with this product to keep track of all your most frequently accessed networks so that you can join them quickly and easily.

With unmatched wireless performance, reception, and security, the D-Link Xtreme N Notebook Adapter (DWA-652) is the best choice for easily adding or upgrading wireless connectivity to your notebook computer.

The adaptor looked very similar to most notebook adaptor and it becomes very hard differentiate them in looks, but I personally prefer the black and silver finish it comes with.

Nikon Coolpix S4

2008-05-23T19:12:00.000-07:00

The Coolpix S4 ($400) marks Nikon's return to the swivel-body camera design. Back in the early days of digital photography Nikon had quite a hit on their hands with the Coolpix 900 series cameras, and later the CP4500. That was the last "true" swivel-body Nikon camera, unless you count the ill-fated Coolpix SQ.

While the old Coolpix 900-series and 4500 cameras were aimed toward enthusiasts, the Coolpix S4 takes a different approach. This camera is aimed more toward consumers, with its point and shoot operation, plastic body, and relatively low price. While the older models had more modest zoom lenses, the Coolpix S4 has a whopping 10X zoom.

To say that the ultra zoom field is crowded is an understatement. How does this unique camera compare? Find out now in our review!

What's in the Box?

The Coolpix S4 has a below average bundle. Inside the box you'll find:
The 6.0 Megapixel Nikon Coolpix S4 digital camera
Two AA alkaline batteries
Wrist strap
USB cable
A/V cable
CD-ROM featuring Nikon PictureProject
97 page camera manual (printed)

With their 2005 Coolpix models, Nikon is going the route of so many other camera manufacturers by building flash memory into the camera instead of including a memory card. The Coolpix S4 includes a paltry 13.5MB of internal memory, which holds a grand total of four images at the highest quality setting. That means that a memory card is a required purchase, and I recommend a 256MB or 512MB as a good starter size. The Coolpix can use Secure Digital or MultiMediaCards, and I recommend sticking to the former. A high speed card is not a necessary purchase.

The Coolpix S4 uses two AA batteries for power. Nikon includes two alkaline batteries in the box which will quickly find their way into the trash, so you'll also need to buy a set or two of NiMH batteries (2300 mAh or higher) and a charger in addition to a memory card.
The Nikon Coolpix S4 is a fairly average ultra zoom camera with a most uncommon design. Given the tough competition in the ultra zoom space the S4 has its work cut out for it -- and its feature set and image quality keep it in the middle of the pack.

The Coolpix S4 marks the return of the Nikon's swivel-body design, and I missed it. I owned a Coolpix 950 back in the dark ages, and I became a fan of the swivel-body instantly. It comes in handy when you're shooting over people's heads in front of you, or at ground level for cool shots of your pets or kids. Unfortunately Nikon cut a few corners on the S4, and it's not quite as nice as its predecessors. Build quality is okay in most areas, though the cheesy plastic lens cover leaves much to be desired. In terms of ergonomics I have a few complaints. First, there's absolutely nowhere to put your right thumb, which will end up on that large LCD display -- I hope you like fingerprints! Second, the four-way controller is a little clunky, but that's just my opinion.

While the old swivel-body Coolpixes had manual controls and expandability, the Coolpix S4 is a point-and-shoot camera if there ever was one. It has one manual control -- and it's a useful one -- which is for white balance. Everything else is automatic, and Nikon should be commended for providing tons of scene modes and a help system for menu items. The Best Shot Selector and D-Lighting features are handy, though the latter only increases the noise levels in the S4's already grainy photos. While the camera features a VGA movie mode with a digital image stabilization feature, the frame rate is limited to a choppy 15 frames/second and the video quality is poor.

The S4 features a 6 Megapixel CCD, 10X optical zoom lens (the highest the old swivel-body cameras ever got was 4X), and a 2.5" LCD display. While the LCD is large, its resolution and low light performance leave much to be desired. One thing that unfortunately got axed on the S4 was an optical viewfinder, something that all its predecessors include. The camera has a paltry 13.5MB of on-board memory as well as an SD/MMC memory card slot.

Camera performance was average in all areas except for battery life. There the S4 performed better than average, especially if you put some decent NiMH batteries in it. One area which was a real disappointment was the S4's low light focusing ability: it was pretty awful considering that there's an AF-assist lamp on board.

Photo quality was a mixed bag. While photos were well-exposed, colorful, and low in purple fringing, things were a little too "overprocessed" for my taste, with details looking muddy instead of sharp and clear. Redeye levels were fairly low, which surprised me.

There are a few other things worth pointing out. The camera doesn't support the USB 2.0 High Speed standard, which many other cameras in this class offer. Nikon gives you throwaway batteries with the camera, and I already mentioned the tiny amount of built-in memory. And finally, some manual controls, or at least a slow shutter speed mode (2 seconds isn't very long) would be nice.

Ultimately the Coolpix S4 is an average camera in a sea of excellent ones. It's unique design allows for some creative shooting, and it's a heck of a lot smaller than any other ultra zoom. At the same time, there are better ultra zoom cameras out there, offering manual controls, image stabilization, expandability, and more. For those who value the S4's form over its features, it's worth a look.

Sony PSP

2008-05-23T18:56:00.000-07:00

tackle the portable system market--one heavily fortified by Nintendo's Game Boy Advance and DS. Sony sought to take down Nintendo by adopting the tactic that made the PlayStation 2 such a runaway success: by offering sophisticated, graphically intensive games and a heavy dose of multimedia functionality. The device is called the PlayStation Portable (PSP), and in addition to playing games of PS2 graphical quality, it can play music and movies (downloaded or via disc) and surf the Web. It may not be the best handheld media product on the market, and the games lack the innovation of ones on Nintendo's portables, but as an all-in-one device, the Sony
PSP is king of the hill.

From an aesthetic perspective, the Sony PSP is a gorgeous device. It's one of those gadgets you immediately want to get your hands on but vigilantly want to protect once you set it down. Weighing essentially the same as the Nintendo DS (6.2 ounces, including removable battery) and measuring 6.7 by 2.9 by 0.9 inches (WHD), the body feels well built and solid in your hand. Although not a lightweight, it's by no means a brick, nor, we suspect, would it be especially durable in a fall; you'll want to treat the PSP just as gingerly as an iPod or a Palm-style PDA.

The PSP's screen is roughly the same size as the entire front face of the iPod.

The centerpiece of the handheld is its especially impressive 4.3-inch wide-screen display (480x272 pixels, 16.77 million colors). The screen is flanked by controls that will be immediately recognizable to fans of past PlayStations: the directional keypad is to the left of the screen, and the familiar square, triangle, circle, and X buttons are to the right. We dug how Sony managed to include an analog "joystick" below the directional keypad. The stick isn't raised like the analog controls on a PS2 or an Xbox, but it conveys that multidirectional element that gives it a joysticklike feel.
Battery life? Well, a lot of numbers have been bandied about, with some critics suggesting its relatively short run time would be the PSP's Achilles' heel. Here's what we got:

Running on full brightness, we managed about 5.5 hours of gameplay before having to recharge the included 1,800mAH lithium-ion battery pack; gaming time can vary significantly depending upon screen brightness (two dimmer settings are options) and the game you're playing. It's worth noting that recharging a battery to full capacity takes a lengthy 2.5 hours. Playing in peer-to-peer wireless mode reduced game sessions by a little more than 2 hours; the battery pooped out after 3 hours, 15 minutes. For music only, the PSP was able to run for a decent 11.2 hours.

And finally, we managed to watch Spider-Man 2 all the way through twice and got 20 minutes into a third showing before the battery died. All in all, that's not too bad and slightly better than we expected. Still, the easiest way to ensure that your PSP doesn't go dead at an inopportune moment is to purchase an additional battery pack; kudos to Sony for making it replaceable. Transfer rate over USB 2.0 to an inserted Memory Stick was a reasonable 2.2MB per second.

Compaq iPAQ 3970 Pocket PC

2008-05-22T18:55:00.001-07:00

Screen, Sound, and Gaming

As I said, this is an amazing screen. It equals if not exceeds the Sony Clié NR70. The 3900 series, like the NR70, uses a transflective screen. It both reflects ambient light to illuminate the screen (for outdoor viewability and power savings) and has backlighting. How different is it? The 3800 and 3900 PDAs look identical and I was worried I'd be confusing which is which in my PDA pile. But one look at the screens when the units are turned on and there's no mistaking them for each other. The 3900 series screen is that much brighter (without appearing milky) and richer, that even when they are not side by side you can tell the difference.

Colors are also more accurate. When I create images using Paint programs, I'm not startled to see how different they appear when transfered to my color-calibrated desktop PC. If you're interested in paint/image editing programs, you can read my review of 4 top apps, complete with sample art here.

Sound is typical iPAQ: as loud and good sounding as it gets on a Pocket PC. No clicks or pops from the speaker.

So far I've tried Hexacto Bounty Hunter 2099 Pinball, Hyperspace Delivery Boy, Diamond Mine and a few old WinCE games and they all run fine. Their speed seems no different than on StrongARM Pocket PCs. They look better thanks to the transflective screen. The directional pad is described as "8-way" and it does diagonal movements. Which games didn't work? Icy Maze, Reflect It, FogNog Blaster and Warring States.

HP Officejet 7210 All-in-One

2008-05-22T18:51:00.000-07:00

The HP OfficeJet 7210 All-In-One crams everything you could want from a home- or small-office MFP into a single unit that costs $300.

Besides providing printing and scanning functions, the OfficeJet 7210 offers stand-alone faxing and a 50-sheet automatic document feeder (ADF) that makes multipage copying easier. The 7210 can fax in color, and it has a 130-page memory for incoming faxes, in case the paper runs out while you're not there. To print photos, you can either attach a PictBridge-compatible digital camera to the 7210's direct-print port or slide your camera's memory card into one of four slots, each capable of reading all the major formats. Using the unit's ethernet port, you can share the 7210 over a network.

The sets of buttons on the unit's control panel, which surround a backlit two-line LCD, are arranged sensibly by task (fax, copy, photo, scan, and print). A numeric keypad lets you dial fax numbers, and there are five programmable speed-dial buttons. The 7210 doesn't have a color monitor for previewing images, but you can print an index page of your photos, mark the images you want to print, and then scan that page to initiate the print job.

The included HP Image Zone software is among the most thorough in the business, but installing all 780MB of it can be a slow process. The well-organized printer driver provides shortcuts to major printing tasks, such as printing documents or photos, while the scanner driver supplies both basic and advanced menus. You also get he Iris OCR program for turning scanned documents into editable text.

The paper cassette can hold 150 sheets. For $100 more, you can add a 250-sheet drawer; and for double-sided printing, you can buy an optional $80 duplexer. HP also sells a $100 duplexer with a 4-by-6-inch automatic document feeder attached, which might be handy if you print many snapshots. In contrast, the $300 Canon Pixma MP760 comes with a duplexer but lacks an ADF.

Two cartridges supply up to six inks for printing. In the box, you get a tricolor (cyan, magenta, yellow) cartridge, and a pigment-based black ink cartridge (designed for better text quality). You can swap out the black cartridge in favor of a photo-color cartridge, but doing this often can be tedious. A slot under the cover is designed to accommodate partially used cartridges.

We liked the 7210's print quality and performance. True to its office designation, it printed very attractive text. Large fonts were dark and solid, and all but the finest italics came out sharp and well formed. Our prints of color graphics on plain paper showed good detail and contrast. With the photo cartridge in place, the 7210 printed glossy photographs with bright colors, smooth color transitions, and sharp detail. The edges of closely spaced boldface letters bled together, however, and our line art print showed some smudges and beading in narrow parallel lines. Despite those problems, the 7210 still earned the highest score for overall image quality among the MFPs we tested this month.

The 7210 was fairly speedy, printing text at 6.8 pages per minute and color graphics at 2.2 ppm (both speeds were better than average). It printed photos faster than any other inkjet MFP we tested, taking only 65 seconds to spit out a 4-by-5-inch photo on glossy paper.

In our scanner quality tests, the 7210 earned especially high marks on monochrome documents. It previewed and scanned our 4-by-5-inch photo at 100 dpi in just under 18 seconds, roughly 4 seconds faster than average. Copy quality was very good, too, and the 7210's photocopy speed of 4 ppm was significantly faster than the 2.9 ppm average.

Upshot: With fast performance and built-in ethernet , the HP OfficeJet 7210 All-In-One is our top choice for an office-type inkjet MFP. And you get superb-looking photos to boot.

Leadtek WinFast TV2000 XP Expert TV-tuner

2008-05-22T18:42:00.000-07:00

Over the years, TV-tuners for computers have gone from providing basic (and arguably lousy) TV signal input on a monitor, to having a variety of features and capabilities beyond simple TV watching. Newer devices provide a wealth of standard features, such as letting you capture TV input to hard disk as one compelling example.

While the primary purpose of a TV-tuner is still to put that cable TV signal on your computer monitor, these products are definitely moving towards the role of video appliances. That is to say, they bring the video into the computer to be manipulated, or recorded, before being output to a monitor or TV.

In this review, we're testing one of Leadtek's latest TV-tuner cards, the Winfast TV2000 XP Expert. This PCI card has ambitions to replace your VCR, with video recording straight to DVD, timeshifting and an assortment of other goodies made for a computerized home theater setup. Does this all sound too good to be true? Let's take a close look at the Leadtek TV2000 XP Expert, and find out.

Leadtek's TV2000 XP Expert card itself is rather small, with two coaxial inputs for TV and radio respectively, and an additional port for the included S-video and RCA combination cable. The small plug on the end is for the Infra-read sensor that goes along with the included remote control. The 41-key remote is simple to operate and runs on two included AAA batteries.

Also included in the bundle are an analog audio cable for outputting sound directly from the TV2000XP to a soundcard, an FM wire antenna, the aforementioned infrared sensor (with a decently long cable) and a short cable with both S-Video and RCA inputs for bringing non-coaxial TV signals and audio into the TV2000XP.

In terms of software, Leadtek have bundled in Winfast PVR TV viewing software and three Ulead products. Ulead Videostudio 7 covers movie editing, Ulead DVD Movie Factory does authoring, and Ulead Cool 3D can be used to add 3D effects to home movies.

The included manual manages to be both sparse and cluttered at the same time, this is where the TV2000XP looses a few points. While the manual does cover the basic functions of the program and the remote, it offers no insight into several areas which will be important to users of the TV2000XP Expert. For example, there is no information provided on the advantages and disadvantages of the various video capture formats the card offers. Unless the user is well versed in computer video formats, he or she will have to use trial and error to find out which video format offers the best performance and file size.

Doesn't sound too difficult you say? Well there are more than 10 video formats to choose from...

This is a very unfortunate omission. Worse, the manual does not explain at all how the included 'Directburn' to DVD and VCD works, except to state that a DVD or CD burner is required to use the feature. No mention of which DVD media can or cannot be used, or whether rewritable media can be used. Suffice to say, we were not impressed by the manual with the Leadtek TV2000XP Expert, and hope the company makes efforts to improve the documentation with what is otherwise shapping up to be a fine product.

The separate multi-language quick setup guide is not a whole lot of help either. While it does provide a hardware and software installation walkthrough, the booklet covers several different Leadtek TV tuner models, so it's rather difficult to locate the correct diagram. For the record, it's 'TV 2000 XP series model 3.' :-)

Garmin Nuvi 760

2008-05-22T18:36:00.000-07:00

Physical Design

The Nuvi 760 is a beautiful GPS device. Maybe not quite as sexy as the TomTom 720, but we’ll still take her out. A few immediate differences are seen from the previous top of the line 600 series. First, the face of the device is black. To me, this is an improvement over the previous Nuvi devices not simply from an aesthetic point of view, but it also makes the screen appear slightly easier to read against the high contrast surroundings. We’ve talked about the color of your GPS before and this is a tiny but welcome change.

Another improvement over the 600 series is that the flip-up antenna is gone. No more pulling up the antenna to activate the GPS chip. It does seem to take noticeably longer for the 760 to get a GPS signal each time we turn it on compared to our 300, and 600 series Nuvi devices. Across the top of the device is a slider which turns the 760 on and off, and can serve as a “hold” switch causing the device to ignore touch screen input. That feature can be especially handy for pedestrian use. On the left side is a headphone jack and SD card slot. The maps are loaded in an internal memory so the SD card slot is only needed for additional map coverage or multimedia files, should you desire. Along the bottom is a USB port for connections to your computer, as well as the power/mount connector. On the back is also a connector for an external GPS antenna, should you need one, but you probably won’t.
In typical Garmin fashion, the mount and hardware design is nearly perfect. The mount is compact making it easy to stow, the ball and socket joint in the mount is perfectly tensioned for easy adjustability of screen angle, yet it holds tight enough to not bounce around on rough roads.

The power adapter for the car also serves double duty as the FM TMC traffic antenna. This is simply brilliant. The last thing I need is one more cord hanging around my dash… especially one with multiple suction cup mounts that just scream “Expensive GPS hidden in this car!”. Integrating the traffic antenna with the power cord eliminates a dash full of spaghetti cable and one less accessory to forget taking with me. Before using one of these combo cords I was concerned that it might not have as good of reception as a separate cord stuck up on the windshield, but I’ve found with this and other Garmin combo power/antennas that the reception has been just fine.

Of course the only way to make the traffic receiver even better would be to incorporate it into the device itself so I could still get traffic on trips less than 4 hours (estimated battery life) without needing to take the traffic adapter. But still the traffic solution offered with the 760 does beat the competition when it comes to convenience and other devices that have built in traffic receivers haven’t had great reception.

Perhaps the best part of the newer Nuvi devices is the screen. The screen is incredibly bright, brighter than just about any other GPS on the market. These newer screens (as compared to the early 300 series for example) are so bright it is the only GPS I’ve ever considered turning down the brightness from the maximum setting. Text is crisp, and extremely readable.

We would have liked if the Garmin 760 came with an AC adapter, but in all fairness most other GPS companies are skimping on this accessory as well. While most of my trips are short enough to do without a power cable, you may still want to take the power cable with you since it doubles as the traffic receiver.
Routing to an Address

As you can imagine, I frequently get friends, neighbors, and relatives asking to borrow GPS devices. When someone who has never used a GPS device asks for a loaner, I often (but not always) hand them a Garmin. The reason is that they are dead simple to operate.

Navigating to an address is really simple. Power on -> Where to -> Address -> State -> City -> Street Number -> Street Name -> Go. But to be picky, there are a few things I’d like to see changed. I prefer to enter the street name first, then number. And why, oh why, does nearly any GPS on the market today not know that I type “NY” in the state field I want…… you guess…. New York! Again, in fairness most other GPS devices on the market are equally dumb and don’t understand state abbreviations. Instead I’ll just keep having to type N-E-W-Y-space-Y before it knows what I’m taking about.

Again, being really picky, there are two other things I don’t like about the Address entry feature. First, after selecting the city and town there is only one street in my town that begins with the letters “Mon”, yet I need to enter two more characters “Montg” before it will show me that one result. The second is that it isn’t at all accommodating if you make a spelling error. A few other devices on the market are much more elegant when it comes to spelling mistakes.

More people have recently begun to ask which GPS devices support QWERTY keyboards for address entry. The Garmin Nuvi 760 does offer a QWERTY option for you fast thumb keyboarders like myself.

Finding POIs

Finding POIs is just as simple. Where to -> Points of Interest -> select a category, a sub category if applicable, and then look through the resulting list. A nice bonus is that the list will tell you which direction the POI is in relative to your current location. The font size used is good and big, however we would prefer (again, being picky) that the address not be shown on this list instead making room for one more item on the list before you need to scroll. Once you click on a POI the address is shown, making it somewhat redundant in the POI list. Once you find the POI you are looking for, click ‘Go’ and you are on your way.

And we still would like to be able to view POI icons in the 3D map/navigation display, something that other devices have offered for quite a long time.
Multi Destination Routing

It took a few years, but Garmin finally heard the cry and has given us Multi Destination routing without the need for a big old bulky StreetPilot device. Thank you, thank you, thank you! To create a route with tons of points in it go to Tools -> Routes -> New. From here you can add a starting point, an end point, and lots of points in between. I haven’t yet tried to hit the limit on how many points you can add to a single route, but I’ve been told it is 50. If you need more than 50 points you should probably look into some sort of commercial navigation system anyway.

After you’ve entered in your starting point, your ending points, and intermediate points you can calculate the route and go. You can manually reorder the points in the route, or have them “optimized” by using the ‘Optimally Reorder Points’ function. Yes, the Garmin Nuvi 700 series does include the highly sought after “route optimization” feature many people are looking for. I’ve always been upset with a few GPS manufacturers who offer a feature called “Route Optimization” but it is really “route sorting” where the list is sorted from closest to furthest away, which is often not the most efficient order. However once again, Garmin gets this right and the feature they call ‘Optimally Reorder Points’ is in fact true route optimization.

Note that through the Routes feature, you can now also plan routes in advance by setting a starting location other than your current location. In most other Nuvi devices you could only do that through a complex work around which involves disabling the GPS and then browsing the map to find your starting location. Not anymore! So when would you use this feature? Next week I’m going to a trade-show. I want to know now how far it is from the airport to my hotel. And I might want to plot out a route from the hotel to the convention center. With most of the other Nuvi devices it was an unbearable workaround to get that information. Now I can just take advantage of the Routes feature to set my starting location as a POI (the airport) and then my destination as another POI (the hotel) and preview the route.
Traffic

As mentioned above, integrated into the power connector is a FM Traffic antenna. Here you can connect to The Clear Channel Total Traffic Network (TTN) to receive live traffic information as it pertains to your route. While we’ve put quite a few miles on our 760, we haven’t yet spent a ton of time in traffic. While we’ve been in an area covered by the traffic service, we haven’t been able to spend time in rush hour traffic to give it a run. However there are not too many unknowns here. The TTN is used on quite a few devices, so we know the service works fairly well. And we can say that we were able to get a connection to the traffic network where a few other devices had dropped in “fringe” areas, so the reception appears to be fantastic.

You don’t need to turn anything on to activate the subscription. Once the GPS is plugged in and it finds a traffic report, the ticker starts on your three month trial subscription. After that the subscription costs $60 annually.

SteelSeries 7G Keyboard Review

2008-05-21T19:09:00.000-07:00

Look and Feel
If you're looking for a keyboard with game-specific functions, you'll have to look elsewhere. The $150 7G keyboard from SteelSeries is really rather basic. There are no fancy LCD displays or custom key layouts, no differently shaped keys to place game functions at your fingertips, no macro recording or other fancy software tricks. It's just…a keyboard. Only this keyboard is focused on key action and construction quality.

The keyboard itself is a full-sized standard affair with your basic rows of letters and numbers and function keys, the "inverted T" arrows, and a number pad. There are no separate media keys or game function keys.

Keyboard layout is a bit of a personal preference issue. The 7G includes the large L-shaped Enter key many people like, and a single-width backspace key (we prefer the double-wide backspace key, because we make lots of mistakes). It's a standard straight layout, rather than the split "ergonomic" or hybrid curved layouts you often see today. Beyond that, it's nearly devoid of special features.

There are really only two things this keyboard does outside of the general "typing in characters" stuff. The back left side includes a two-port USB 1.1 hub, and a headphone and microphone jack. The large, cloth-wrapped cable terminates in four connections—PS/2 for the keyboard functions, USB for the hub, and headphone/microphone for the audio jacks. You can't just plug in the USB and expect the keyboard to communicate with your PC that way—this is a PS/2 keyboard, though a PS/2 to USB adaptor is included. This is deliberate: A robust PS/2 buffer system is used to ensure that you can press a bunch of keys at the same time without locking up the input on your PC. Mash your hands down on all the keys at once, and they will all be transmitted to your PC. This is important in games where you're rapidly pressing multiple keys, sometimes with Shift or Control held down.

The keyboard itself is rather small, with a large, flat, sturdy "overlay" of sorts to add a palm rest. It's flat and hard, which makes it durable and less comfortable than those keyboards with softer palm rests.

Where you would normally find the Start button on a typical modern keyboard (between the left Ctrl and Alt keys), you'll see the SteelSeries key. Pressing this button does not open the Start menu or perform any other function in Windows. Rather, you use it in combination with the F1–F6 keys for Media Key functions (mute, volume up/down, pause, and next/previous track).

Sony Ericsson P1i

2008-05-21T19:02:00.000-07:00

The Sony Ericsson line of smart phones have long had a loyal fan following. The P990i was announced about a year before market availability, but when it did go on sale at the end of 2006, interest was still high because its features were still not outdated. Though it pushed the right buttons among the tech-geek crowd for its features, users were soon disappointed to find that there were quite a few bugs in its built-in software. A quick Internet search will bring up criticisms of the UIQ 3.0 implementation not only on the P990i, but also on the M600i and W950i.

While there have been firmware upgrades, users of those smart phones were recently up in arms because of talk suggesting that there would be no more development and bug fixes on UIQ 3.0. Shortly after, Sony Ericsson announced one more firmware release for the P990i and W950i devices in August, though none was promised for the M600i.

Reviewed here is the latest P1i, one that moves away from the form factor of the previous P-series devices significantly. It uses UIQ 3.1, which will enjoy the bulk of development efforts from firmware and software developers.

Design
The mobile phones in the P series have always been somewhat bulky. The last few models had flip-out keyboards, the last two of which, the P910i and P990i, had both a QWERTY and numeric keyboard each. That added to the size significantly, not to mention that the main chassis of the P series smart phones have traditionally been quite thick.

That has now changed with the P1i. Those familiar with Sony Ericsson's UIQ models will find that it looks more like the M600i than any P series device. This is thanks to its compact form factor as well as the exposed QWERTY/numeric keypad. Instead of a plasticky housing, the P1i has a matte metallic finish around the edges with a piano black gloss around the sides and front. The back, which is where the camera lens and battery cover are, has a different rubbery texture but is also in black.

Compared with the M600i, the P1i has a much more solid feel to it. This is not just because of the material used but also due to its heavier weight. The reduced size and weight compared with the P990i will surely appeal to some who stayed away from that model because of the form factor.

Sony Ericsson did not include a full QWERTY keyboard on the P1i, but instead put all the letters and numbers in 20 keys. Most of these keys rock left or right to serve as different letters. For example, the top left key is used for both the Q and W letters. Rocking it left will get you the former, while rocking right will type the latter. The center portion of the keypad has numbers in red laid out just like a regular numeric keypad for use in the phone application and when filling out fields where numbers should be entered.

While such a keyboard layout saves space, it takes some getting used to. Essentially, typing a letter becomes a two-step decision. First, you decide which button to land your finger on, then which direction to rock the thumb toward. You could just land your thumb on the side you want and press it immediately, but that means there is very little room for error when it comes to the position of the thumb tip, a real challenge for those with large fingers.

A scroll wheel is found on the left side of the device, meant for use with the left thumb. A back button below that makes it easy to get out of applications and menus. On the other side, there are shortcuts to the Web browser and camera application as well as a slot for the M2 memory expansion card. The single connector at the base of the P1i allows for charging and syncing, and lights up either green or red depending on the charging status of the battery, a helpful indicator to determine if it is time to disconnect after charging. As we have come to expect from Sony Ericsson's smart phones, an anorexic stylus can be removed from the top left-hand corner of the handset.

Aliph Jawbone Bluetooth Headset

2008-05-21T18:55:00.000-07:00

Introduction
People recognize Aliph Jawbones in the same way that they easily spot iPhones. These Aliph headsets are loved by those who use them, while everyone else in close proximity of the secret conversation mutters profanity. Showoff, that's what he is, the cockbite with that hundred-dollar Bluetooth headset. "Look at me, I'm Alexander Damn Bell."

Aliph talks about the Jawbone (the Jawbone) like it isn't a headset. As though it were an idol for worship. And after the rebuking I suffered at the feet of their Cockney representative at CES, I dug in for this review with prejudice.

And now I know... it's not that bad. OK, it's a choice product. It looks great - almost enough to be proud of being that ass who's chatting on his headset-and, as it turns out, it does work better than the others. But I'm still not a total convert to the golden headset.

Looks and Features
Let's talk a little about the box. This headset's vessel is a crystal pedestal. If plastic was still a premium material, I think Aliph would nevertheless have used it for the packaging. Without knowing anything about the contents, I'm sure many people fall victim to it when shopping for headsets lined up on shelves. And it's expensive, so it's gotta be good.

The shield, plainly displayed, places the Jawbone's best foot forward. It's a perfect compromise between steely industrial design and lip-gloss style, is neither masculine nor feminine (gadgetly-speaking), and distracts from the actual size of the device, which, out of the box, appears much larger.

The device itself is practically elephantine next to my Plantronics Discover 665-my comparison premium headset-in volume and mass (14g vs 9g). The ear loops and buds are also heavier, but Aliph's creation comes with more options: four different stiff, rubbery plastic buds and three sizes of loops.

A larger battery alone would account for the scale, but Aliph packs some heavy hardware inside the thing: voice-isolation tech designed for DARPA to relay speech but not gunfire, while simultaneously adjusting volume. The tech works, by the way, and it's just short of fool-proof.

The headset charges via USB (although it doesn't yet work with PCs) but comes with an AC-to-USB wall adapter, which'll charge any USB-powered device you plug into it.

Creative WebCam Live! Motion

2008-05-21T18:48:00.000-07:00

The first affordable web camera with face tracking was the Logitech QuickCam Sphere which I reviewed almost two years ago. It was a pretty decent product but not as elegant a solution as I’d hoped for and the head tracking was a bit hit and miss. Now Creative has launched its WebCam Live! Motion – available in silver or white - and although I was shown an early model way back at CeBIT, it has taken this long for Creative to bring it to market.

But if you want something special, you sometimes have to wait longer than you’d like. To be fair, the WebCam Live! Motion is far better than the older QuickCam Sphere, but I wouldn’t have expected anything less, as it’s got two years of technology improvements inside it. First of all, the face tracking software is far more sophisticated, although still not perfect - it offers two modes of tracking, continuous or smart. In continuous mode it follows any movement of your head and moves along when you do. While in smart mode it only moves after you’ve stopped moving.

Which tracking mode is better depends on the situation and how you use your camera. With the continuous mode on, the digital zoom will kick in and although this is handy if you want a close up of your face at all times, the image quality degrades noticeably when in maximum zoom mode. Without the digital zoom enabled the image quality is on pair with entry level digital cameras. A 640 x 480 pixel CCD sensor which captures up to 30fps – at full resolution – is as good as you’ll get with any web camera these days.

Philips DCP850

2008-05-20T20:29:00.000-07:00

The Philips DCP850 is more than just a standard portable DVD player. It offers an integrated video iPod dock, an SD memory card slot and is DivX Home Theater Certified. While the DCP850 delivers an excellent feature set and all around solid performance for an affordable price, there are a couple of flaws in this player that prevent us from giving it our highest rating.

The neat design of the DCP850 allows for a video iPod to slip into the bay where the remote control would otherwise sit during transit. An iPod locks securely into place and remains flush with the player's chassis. Unfortunately, the remote is not able to control much in the way of playback from an integrated iPod aside from the pause control. Of course, you can easily access the controls on the iPod itself, but it would have been more convenient if Philips had fully integrated the unit.

The quality of the images displayed on the 8.5 inch screen of the DCP850 is good, comparable to most similar sized units. The screen can swivel up to 180 degrees, so you're more likely to find the viewing angle that is just right for you. You can even swivel the screen to turn the DCP850 into a tablet-like viewing device (although that would prevent you from being able to access the controls on an iPod). The audio performance on this portable left us disappointed. Like many similar models, the integrated twin speakers on the DCP850 are tinny and weak. Audio improves when using one or both of the dual headphone jacks, although volume level is still a weak point on this unit.

We were disappointed by the Philips DCP850's battery performance, but perhaps the biggest drawback is that the battery is not removable, so you don't even have the option of carrying a back up for those long flights without AC power. Of course, if you intend to primarily use the DCP850 to keep the kids entertained on road trips, the units includes a car adapter so battery life won't be an issue.

The DCP850 offers excellent disc compatibility. As well as just about every type of home burned DVD and CD it can also access discs loaded with DivX files sourced from the internet. The built-in memory card slot also enables you to access video and photo files from SD or MMC cards. The Philips DCP850 is a competitively priced portable DVD player that will greatly appeal to video iPod owners wanting to view content on an 8.5 inch screen.

Pros: Inexpensive price, video iPod dock, memory card slot, DivX compatible, excellent disc compatibility
Cons: Weak built in speaker volume, disappointing battery life, no possibility of carrying a spare battery

Warranty
1 year, parts and labor

EOS 450D: get ready to play

2008-05-20T20:18:00.000-07:00

Canon today launches its latest D-SLR, the EOS 450D. Featuring a 12.2 Megapixel CMOS sensor, EOS Integrated Cleaning System, 3.0” LCD with Live View mode and a new 9-point AF system, the model presents consumers with an unprecedented level of image quality and versatility at this end of the market.

The EOS 450D employs features already proven in Canon’s professional EOS-1 series cameras, including the DIGIC III image processor and a redesigned menu system that enables features such as direct control of Speedlite flash units from the camera LCD. A choice of 13 custom functions allows the photographer to customise the camera to their shooting style.

“The EOS 450D bears the fruits of more than 20 years of ongoing investment into EOS,” said Mogens Jensen, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging, Europe. “This camera continues Canon’s policy of taking technologies proven in the professional arena and putting them within reach of a wider market of amateur photographers.”

The EOS 450D features:
12.2 Megapixel CMOS sensor
Canon’s EOS Integrated Cleaning System
3.5 frames per second
3.0” LCD with Live View shooting
9-point wide-area AF system with f/2.8 cross-type centre point
Picture Style image processing parameters
DIGIC III image processor
Digital Photo Professional RAW processing software1
Compact and Lightweight body
Fully compatible with all Canon EF and EF-S lenses and EX-series Speedlites

The EOS quality advantage
With all key components developed and manufactured in-house, EOS offers photographers a unique quality advantage. The EOS 450D’s specially designed 12.2 Megapixel sensor employs Canon’s high-sensitivity, low-noise CMOS technology to produce richly detailed images with minimal grain. The DIGIC III processor ensures superior image rendering and rapid response times, with an almost instant 0.1 start up. Image data is processed at 14 bits for Delivering a burst rate of 3.5 frames per second, the DIGIC III processor works with the image buffer to handle up to 53 JPEGs (6 in RAW) without interruption.

Built for better photos
The EOS 450D is designed to make photography a fluid experience for photographers of all levels and experience. Housed in a compact body that weighs less than 475 grams, the camera features an improved grip design that provides a natural, ergonomic fit with the user’s hands. A large, bright viewfinder makes image composition clearer and more comfortable. The menu system inherited from professional EOS cameras uses a simplified tab structure that does away with scrolling. It includes a user-defined My Menu tab for instant access to frequently used settings.

Several custom functions are available to optimise the quality of photos captured in a range of situations. Highlight Tone Priority boosts the dynamic range at the highlight end, providing better tonal detail from wedding dresses, cloudy skies and other bright objects. The new Auto Lighting Optimiser corrects brightness and contrast during image processing, while improving skin tones in portraits by ensuring correct exposure for faces. Photographers can also enable additional noise reduction for shots captured at high ISO speeds.

Live View
Available for the first time on a Canon consumer D-SLR, Live View mode makes it easier to shoot from awkward angles, such as ground-level macro shots or when shooting from a tripod. The image from the Live View mode is displayed as a smooth, 30fps video feed on the 3.0” LCD, which is 50% brighter than the screen of the EOS 400D. A grid line display and live histogram can be selected to help with shot composition and exposure. While focusing, the photographer can zoom in on specific details with up to 10x magnification of the image displayed on the LCD screen. Two types of auto focus are available: Quick AF flips the camera mirror momentarily to engage the AF sensor; Live AF uses the image contrast data to focus - a method familiar to anyone upgrading from a compact digital camera.

For studio environments, remote Live View lets the photographer compose, adjust settings and capture the shot from a PC using the supplied EOS utility software.

Other improvements
The EOS 450D complements its headline features with a host of smaller improvements that enhance the photographic experience. The viewfinder now displays all key exposure information including ISO speed. The addition of spot metering (4% of viewfinder) allows for greater control over exposure in tricky lighting conditions. PictBridge functionality has been expanded so that photographers can correct horizons and add picture effects before printing. A new high capacity battery extends shooting time on a single charge to a maximum of 500 shots.

Software
The EOS 450D is supplied with a comprehensive software suite that provides everything the photograph needs to manage and process images. This includes Digital Photo Professional (DPP), a powerful RAW converter that provides complete RAW image processing control. DPP also integrates with camera features such as Dust Delete Data and Picture Styles. The supplied Picture Style Editor software can be used to create custom Picture Styles for fine control over colour display. The camera also comes with EOS Utility, Image/Zoom Browser and Photostitch.

3.5" SATA HDD Dock with Hub

2008-05-20T20:07:00.001-07:00

The 2.5" and 3.5" SATA HDD dock with USB hub (known from here on as the dock) is actually one of three products that I have, all offering the same functionality. The two other products, also from Brando, are the USB 2.0 to SATA/IDE Adapter with One Touch Backup and the Brando USB 2.0 to SATA/IDE Cable. All three products allow a person to connect an SATA drive to a computer via USB. But this latest product that I'm reviewing today, is significantly easier to use. It's just not quite as portable as the other two...

Package Contents
Dock
USB A to B cable
AC adapter
UK, US and Europe power cords
User guide (in Japanese)

The dock has a 5.125 x 3.5 x 2.5 inch footprint and weighs in at 2 pounds, which allows it to remain stationary on your desk. It's not going to slide around when you're plugging and unplugging drives and USB gadgets.

It's made of Black plastic, with rubber feet on the bottom. On the front face are four USB 2.0 ports and on the back side you will find the power switch, power cord socket and USB A connector.

On the top of the dock, there is a spring loaded door that is used to support a 2.5" drive or it can fold down to accommodate a 3.5" drive. Either sized SATA drive can be plugged into the dock. Below the drive bay, is an oval status LED and an eject button.

I only had a 3.5" SATA drive to test with this dock. Plugging it in is easy. You don't have to worry about lining up the connectors as the slot opening is sized perfectly. Ejecting the drive when you want to remove it, is equally effortless.

To use this product, you just connect the included AC adapter, plug it into an outlet, connect the included USB cable to the dock and your computer, insert a 2.5 or 3.5 inch SATA drive in the dock, press the power button and enjoy. Yes, it's that easy and a big reason why I like this solution way better than the other solutions I've reviewed in the past. You gotta love plug and play.

Having an additional four USB ports is pretty handy as well. I tested this dock with my iMac and had no problems at all. I didn't have any issues copying files, playing movies or listening to music directly from the connected hard drive. I also tested the USB hub by plugging in four USB flash drives and was able to copy data, play media, etc. from them as well. Copying files to and from the connected hard drive and a connected USB flash drive worked fine too. The only slight weirdness that I noticed was that when pressing the eject button in the Mac finder to eject the hard drive, the whole finder would vanish.

This dock is a great thing to have tucked away in a drawer for those times when someone has a hard drive that needs cloned or a set of files copied onto it before installing it in a desktop PC. It's even useful to use it all the time as an external drive for your desktop / laptop.

Kohjinsha SA1F00 UMPC Hands-on

2008-05-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

Portable computing devices has been more affordable over the past years thanks to chip manufacturers 'recycling' lower-spec chips making them worthlessly affordable. The Kohjinsha SA1F00 runs on AMD 500MHz, which compared to the latest multi-core CPU, is a crawl. But the slow CPu speed also means lower power consumption, an important factor in portable computing.

You can read about the usual reviews all over the Internet. What I always like to do is to provide first-person usage experience. Theoretically, a UMPC allows you to do computing on the go, but how practical is it, in this case, on the Kohjinsha SA1F00?

How Small:
SA1F00 is small enough to fit in an A5-size notepad organiser. With a zip around it, you can use that as a carrying case instead of the one that comes with the retail set.

Processing Power:
SA1F00 runs on Windows XP Home, one reason why I choose it over the newer models SH6 and SH8. Although the new models run on higher processor and comes with more features, running on Windows Vista negates the processor boost.

Capacity:
With a 40GB harddisk space, you should always keep the harddisk free from applications requiring excessive processing power. I can safely assume that the UMPC is purely a tool for mobile computing, so restrain from storing too many junk files like what we always do in our home PC. Only upload files that you need for the day. If you need to do a lot of intensive computing, it's better to invest in a larger 12" laptop.

Screen resolution:
The 800x480 screen isn't OS-friendly. In fact, most of the pop-up screens will overflow off-screen. Fortunately, you can toggle to the non-native resolution of 1024x600 to see the full window. At this mode, the fonts are interpolated so the screen looks unsharp.

Input devices:
Kohjinsha UMPCs are never short of input options. There is the touchpad, the trackpad, and the touchscreen for you to manipulate the mouse. The keyboard layout is just like a laptop, but some keys are reduced to a very small footprint, like Tab, Caps Lock and Shift. Also, the SA100 is known to have a less-responsive keyboard. Coupled with a small screen, you sometimes may not be aware of typing mistakes until you look closely.

Connectivity options:
Kohjinsha UMPCs comes with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Ethernet port, so connecting to the Internet is a breeze. With 2 USB ports on both sides of the laptop, you have no worries about adding external devices with it.

Battery life:
Although the manufacturer claims almost 4 hours of battery life, you cannot expect it to last more than 3 hours on normal on-the-road usage with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection, lots of web surfing or running of applications. Be mindful of the heat too: the SA100 can get quite hot when used excessively.

Compact Flash slot:
I am appalled to find that the Compact Flash slot runs very slowly. The estimated time to copy 4GB worth of data is almost 60 minutes. The design also make it hard to remove the CF card after inserting. Due to the close proximity to heat vents, the CF card gets extremely hot after a mere 3 minutes. In addition, using the CF slot causes the touchpad to stop function, and I have to resort to other input methods to navigate my mouse.

What Do I Use UMPC For?
Initially when I purchased it, my intention is for mobile web surfing as well as doing photo editing on freewares. 2 obstacles I faced: low screen resolution and slow processor. But when you think about it, it's pretty amazing to buy a full-function computer at a price of a high-end PDA phone that struggles even to do the simplest computing application. Quite often, you really need a portable PC that lets you do what a home PC can do without the bulk and fanciful processing power. Kohjinsha provides a VGA port so you can connect to an external monitor for presentation or desk-bound use. From how I see, Kohjinsha's UMPC is probably one of the most comprehensive low-priced UMPC in the local market.

The SA1F00 is a good buy because of its low price. If I were to spend more than $1000 on a laptop, I might as well pay for a more powerful 12" one that gives you better computing power and a more usable keyboard.

The ZPC-GX31, a Computer in a Keyboard

2008-05-18T19:42:00.000-07:00

Here is an example of a great idea that will probably never take off with the power user community: the Zero-Footprint-PC™ (ZPC-GX31). The reason why it won’t take off is simple: it cannot support a discreet graphics card. For that reason you are stuck with Windows XP, which is yesterday’s news for many people; alternatively you could go for Ubuntu Linux, or any other flavor of Linux for that matter. For those of us that do have a place in our home for a small form PC, this could be a winner. As configured with a Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor E4500, 1GB of RAM and a DVD/CDRW optical drive, you are only paying $700.

I played around with the configurations to make it a little bit more versatile and came up with the following specifications:
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor E4500 - this is not going to break any speed records, but it will give you more than enough zip in XP to make your user experience a pleasant one.
4GB of RAM: this is over the top for a non-gaming machine, but 4GB is only $25 more than 2GB, so why not?
Internal 802.11g Wireless - You can get an external option for a lot less than the $99 that this upgrade costs, but internal is infinitely more sexy.

To put all of that together and add a DVD-R drive will set you back $929, not exactly cheap, but more than you would ever need from a machine running a lackluster Intel G31 graphics chipset. The perfect PC to take from room to room, it is less functional than a notebook, but not too hard to set up. If they really wanted to sell this thing to the performance crowd, I would suggest that they pack in some higher end graphics. Rather than Intel G31, this thing should be have some DirectX 10 compatible NVidia GO. Give it that and you will have a “portable” PC that really challenges the bulky gaming notebooks that are achieving such unprecedented popularity of late.

MacBook Air

2008-05-18T19:33:00.000-07:00

The MacBook Air is driving me insane. I want it like no other hardware. It's thin, yea, ok, we know this. And many power users have been bitching for more: 3G, bigger storage, more USB ports, and an internal drive. If you feel that way, this computer isn't for you. I'll go ahead and call it the most simple, focused, and beautiful laptop ever. And the MacBook Air's shortcomings matter no more than the discomfort that fashionistas endure while wearing high heels, or car fanatics do when they have to fill up their tanks twice a week in their 5MPG sports cars. It just doesn't matter to those who are smitten. For the rest of you, here are the facts.

The Basic Guts:
The Air has a Core 2 Duo chip in a specially designed package and small motherboard that help reduce its thickness. The LCD screen is backlit with LEDs, which saves battery, and allows the screen to be dimmed much lower than CCFL screens for additional battery. It has Wireless N/B/G, Bluetooth 2.1 EDR, and is available in two basic configurations: $1799 for a 1.6GHz chip, plus 2GB of RAM and a 80GBs 4200 RPM Drive. For almost double the price at $3098, you can get a 1.8GHz chip with the same 2GB of RAM and a 64GB solid state drive module that, like all SSD, is shock resistant. There is no ethernet port, only a USB to ethernet jack that needs to be bought separately. And there is no optical drive, save the $99 optional external. For all the bitching we do about it not having 3G cellular data, Apple considered it but couldn't fit it into the case and didn't want to lock consumers into one carrier.

The Hardware Details:
The Air has a few notable hardware elements all paying homage to the original conceit of a stripped down laptop. It has one USB port, a headphone jack, and an external monitor port, all tucked away in a fold down compartment. The USB port is difficult to get to, and keeps fatter USB devices from mounting. There's no firewire, so no target mode. Above the keyboard and screen, there's an iSight camera for video conferencing and stills, which records to 640 by 480 res (same as other iSights). Next to each are laser cut grills. One is a light sensor which adjusts the keyboard backlight. The other is the microphone. The Air has a single speaker, but its much louder than the speakers on the MacBook (But not those on the MacBook Pro.) Oddly enough, it's built under the arrow keys on the keyboard. The touchpad we'll address later. BTW, even the insides are beautiful (yes, we already opened it) reminding me of the Fake Steve Jobs rant about the iPhone's CPU not being perfectly centered. Fake Steve would not be able to complain about these guts. Build quality is excellent. The general twisting you get in the frames of most laptops is practically gone. One minor quirk. The right side of my screen is not flush with the main chassis when the lid is closed. The cooling system is adequate. Using it on your lap is perfectly acceptable, temperature wise. Oh one more thing about thinness: While using the Air, you never feel that edge of the front wrist rest because it is so narrow. Very, very nice.

Performance:
It's the slowest Mac you can buy right now. But our benchmarks show it to be sufficiently fast, and between the performance of a last generation MacBook and MacBook Pro (machines people likely have.) We tested the 1.6GHz 80GB MacBook Air and several things were clear: The CPU was adequate, the 2GB of standard config RAM helped with multitasking and big file handling, and the 4200 RPM drive was a bit of a bottleneck, especially compared to the aftermarket drives in the older machines. We look forward to testing the SSD version of the laptop.

The battery ain't that bad:
The 34 watt internal battery of the Air has been a point of contention for pros who do lots of field work. That's fair, considering this is a highly portable machine. You shouldn't worry. We took that mother apart and found it was far easier to deconstruct than any notebook Apple's ever made. With a small philips head screwdriver, the thing takes 5 minutes to disassemble. And the battery was simple to swap, no glue, just a few screws. I even think the aftermarket can make a new aluminum base that allows for battery swaps. I'll update this post with battery life info very soon, but a preliminary test shows that it's slightly lower in capacity than what Apple's 5 hour rating. (No surprise.) We'll see if using 3G on this smallish battery (fine for the low power system itself) go to mush with serious use. UPDATE: The first rundown test included putting the Macbook Air on normal power settings, prohibiting the screen, computer and drives from going into power save mode. Then we ran mp3s through the speakers using iTunes. We're at 3:15 and its just about done. More rundowns tomorrow. UPDATE: A second day of battery testing shows the Air lasting 4:30 by lowering LED brightness from full to midpoint. An alarming find is that the 45watt Magsafe adapter (an ipod adapter sized brick) will charge the Air from empty to full in 8:30 with the Air in sleep mode. We've confirmed this twice. Will test with a Macbook Pro adapter to see if that changes anything. (I doubt it, but we'll see.) UPDATE: Phew. Retests show the Macbook Air charges to full battery in about 3 hours with either charger.

Value:
It's hard to put a price on such a thin, simple and interesting machine. The $1799 MacBook Air with a 1.6GHz, 2GB of RAM, and 80GB of space is not a deal, but this is the lightest OS X machine out there. $3098 for the 64GB of SSD and a relatively meaningless bump to 1.8GHz is ridiculous. If this is a secondary machine, you shouldn't pay more for this than a more powerful and capable MacBook Pro. For comparison, some SSD laptops include 128GB of storage for $3k.

JVC GZ-MG70 Camcorder

2008-05-18T19:19:00.000-07:00

The GZ-MG70 sells for around $800, an expensive first step for most consumers. This is JVC's top of the line in the G-Series, which use non-removable hard drives for storage. JVC believes their Everio G-Series represents the future of camcorders. They have picked up on three notable features – portability, simplicity, and capacity – that seem to mark the direction in which the industry is bound to shift. And we can’t argue that point. Camcorders are getting smaller each year, and the writing is on the wall for tape media. But before we can reach that land of milk and honey, where solid state cams weighing less than a feather can produce video of unparalleled quality, the path must be built to get there.

The MG70 is light, small, and simple to operate, but those benefits have often proven to come at a cost, most often in the form of awkward handling and curtailed manual controls. But JVC frequently excels in giving users manual control options above and beyond what Sony or Canon typically provide. So did it find a balance? And what about the solid-state file types; can they be easily edited? And what, if anything, is better about this camcorder than the abysmal MG30? For answers to all this, and more, read on.

Video Performance(5.75)
The GZ-MG70 captures video using a 1/3.6” CCD with 1,228,800 effective pixels. These are fairly impressive specs. The Optura 50 and 60 feature only slightly larger 1/3.4” chips, and both produced great video. But it takes more than chip size to deliver quality video, as the MG70 has the misfortune of proving.
At 3000 lux, the picture had unsatisfactory color representation and significant sharpness problems. As with the GZ-MG30, the camcorder had most of its color trouble with the yellow-green portion of the spectrum, which lacked any definition. The grayscale was slightly improved, with a much blacker black and whiter white. Also, the MG30's noise issues seem not to have carried over to the MG70 very much. There is still some noticeable noise in the violet and yellow areas. Sharpness seems to be the worst area of performance. Even with the larger chip (vs. the MG30’s 1/6” chip), the blurring is apparent.

The Panasonic SDR-S100 (Specs, $1199), the SD card-recording cam with a 1/6” CCD and 640K effective pixels, produced an exceptionally sharp image, though coming at the cost of some fine grain. The color definition was much better, with bolder (though not brighter) colors. The only area where the MG70 might have trumped the S100 is in brighter whites. The Canon Optura 60, a comparably priced MiniDV with a 1/3.4” CCD, showed a sharper picture (though not nearly as good as the S100) but had marginally better color representation than the MG70. The biggest area of difference was the red-orange area of the spectrum, which was more clearly defined by the Optura 60. Finally, we looked at the king of the Everio line, the GZ-MC500 (Review, Specs, $669.99), with three 1/4.5” CCDs. As if proving its familial bonds, the MC500’s color chart looked nearly identical to the MG70’s, but with a uniform boost in sharpness and color saturation. The MC500, in the same way as the MG70, did poorly in the yellow-greens and better in the blues. The MC500 did manage to sidestep the noise problems.

Video Resolution (13.9)
Video footage was taken of a standard ISO resolution chart with the JVC GZ-MG70 in both 4:3 and wide mode. Stills from that video were exported to Imatest Imaging Software in order to determine the camcorder’s true video resolution. In 4:3 mode, the camcorder gave us approximately 477.9 lines of horizontal resolution and 292.2 lines of vertical resolution at its best, yielding a true resolution of 139642.38(0.14 MP). In Wide Mode (16:9 aspect ratio) the GZ-MG70 gave us 448.4 lines of horizontal resolution and 252.1 lines of vertical resolution at its best, producing a true video resolution of 113041.64 (0.11 MP).
Picture & Manual Control
Automatic Control (5.0)
As with the GZ-MG30, and presumably all the G-Series Everios, finding the button to switch between automatic and manual control is one of the largest challenges a new user will face. Only upon close inspection of the left panel will you start to wonder about that graphic of the letters “A” and “M” connected by a diagonal line, located in the region of the right side of the navigation pad. A similar looking “A” on the LCD screen seems to indicate that you are in automatic mode. But toggling to Manual mode, then back, is the surest way to tell. If you touch the button, nothing happens. The “A” is still there. “How to get to Manual mode?” you wonder, as you press the button again and again. Finally, as you give it a long and frustrated poke, you happen to hold it down. Success! Your quest is complete. And if this little narrative sounds overly harsh, please consider that ease of use is supposedly one the MG70’s selling points. Finding a button shouldn’t be this hard.

Automatic controls are available for focus, exposure, white balance, shutter speed, and gain. The focus is surprisingly good, especially in close up. The problem is its relationship to stabilization. If the camcorder is on a steady surface or tripod, the focus does not falter much. But with the type of hand-shake you get in a full 10x optical zoom, the subject comes in and out of focus. The digital stabilization system does little to correct this, whereas an optical stabilization might have done a better job.

Conclusion
The GZ-MG70 is, undoubtedly, a step into the future. Solid state camcorders will eventually phase out MiniDV tapes. We are not reluctant to let them go. Tapes require shelf space. They collect dust. They can be lost or damaged, and transferring them to a computer takes time. What we can assure you of, most sincerely and assuredly, is that their obsolescence is not here yet, and the MG70 will not speed it along the path to retirement.

The best possible video quality, we believe, is still the top priority for a camcorder. Portability and ease of use have their place, and if the world of video was judged by point-and-shoot usability alone, the MG70 would do well. Almost anyone could take this camcorder out the box and be recording within a minute. But this is not enough. Consumers should be given the options for control, even if they choose not to act upon them. JVC has, historically, been good about including manual control options. The MG70’s exposure, shutter speed, white balance, and focus (well, maybe not the focus) are all useful, but none of them are readily accessible. In the effort to minimize the size of the camcorder’s body, the buttons were disproportionately shrunken. This leads to some serious handling issues that most users are going to notice.

Adding to, working with, and editing from the video has also been severely curtailed. There is no audio input, so you’re stuck with the built-in microphone, something manufacturers rarely, if ever, put much thought into. There is also no headphone output, preventing you from monitoring the audio track as it is being recorded.

The solid state media creates a host of editing issues. Currently, most editing programs cannot import the file types that the MG70 uses. Manually transferring them and changing the file extension to .MPG allows you to import the video, but the audio track seems to disappear. In order to edit the entire package, you are forced to use JVC’s rudimentary editing software bundle. It has most the basic options (fades, etc.), but you won’t have the advanced capabilities of something like Premiere or Final Cut. The whole editing suite JVC provides is geared towards rushing your footage off the cam’s hard disk and onto a DVD.

The MG70 is a good sight better than the MG30, that’s for sure. Video performance in bright light is only marginally better, but the low light is remarkable. See the pictures above and you’ll know why we called it one of the best performers we’ve seen it a while. If low light and ease of use are enough for you, maybe you’ll find the MG70 sufficient. But the deficiencies, in our opinion, are overwhelming. JVC has begun the road to consumer solid state camcorders, but we all have much ground ahead of us.

The auto white balance is the weakest of the controls. The GZ-MG70 can’t seem to adjust well to shady outdoor colors or indoor color temperatures leaning towards yellow. There are three preset modes: Halogen, Cloud, and Fine. None of these could do as good a job as the cam's manual white balance. Of course, not everyone is comfortable making manual adjustments like this, which is why manufacturers like Canon offer up to six presets rather than three.

The auto exposure did an excellent job making quick adjustments between changes from strong to moderate lighting. Less than moderate lighting, though, was a cut-off point in terms of quality. The exposure could not raise itself to make a low-lit environment appear brighter. It had trouble making a sharp image out of black objects in even medium light. Unfortunately, the manual exposure adjustments did not help much, but that will be elaborated upon in the Manual Exposure section below.

Any of the preset controls, like the white balance presets, must be engaged in Manual mode. Once there, pressing down on the navigation pad will bring up the manual control menu. Notable automatic controls, in addition to white balance, include NightAlive, JVC’s slow shutter night mode, and four Program AE modes: Twilight, Spotlight, Snow, and Sports. See the manual for recommendations, but the names should give you some ideas of what they do and which situations call for their use. Pushing up on the navigation pad also toggles between two additional exposure features. Backlight Compensation boosts the exposure to keep a strongly back-lit subject, such as a person in front of a window, from appearing too dark. The second feature, Spot Exposure Control, significantly narrows the range of the frame – down to a small circle – that the camcorder uses to adjust the exposure. The target can be moved into the three spots across the middle horizontal axis of the frame, then locked in by pressing the set button.

PalmOne LifeDrive

2008-05-18T19:02:00.000-07:00

In the past year things weren't looking too good for Palm: Windows Mobile Pocket PCs had gained a great deal of market share (a few years ago, the vast majority of PDAs sold worldwide were Palm) and Palm brand PDAs (with the exception of the Treo smartphone) lacked the sexy features and innovation necessary to keep them on top. This spring, that's changed with the release of the Tungsten E2 with its introductory level handheld pricing but mid-level features and the new LifeDrive for the high end market.

The LifeDrive is the first member of Palm's new Mobile Manager handheld category, aimed at those who want "Digital everything": Photos, MP3s, videos, lots and lots of documents and the usual PIM applications to keep track of appointments, contacts and tasks. Yes, many PDAs can handle these tasks, but the LifeDrive sets itself apart by providing you with a whopping 4 gigs of storage and an extremely easy way to get all these kinds of media onto the device. The desktop software, LifeDrive Manager, is your one stop spot for managing files on the LifeDrive. It handles file conversion for you, can keep documents in several folders on your PC in sync and can even act as a repository for digital camera images if your camera uses SD cards. You can purchase the same 4 gig MicroDrive used in the LifeDrive for Pocket PCs with CF slots and get the same amount of storage and media support, but the LifeDrive attempts to do one better by making it faster via a USB 2.0 connection and by making it downright simple to get those gigs of data, be it multimedia files or Office files onto the device. This brings to mind some of the high end Sony Clies, though lacking in sheer storage capacity, they were multimedia powerhouses that handled MP3 playback, photo viewing and video playback well. However, Sony's desktop software required that you use several different Sony apps to handle the various conversions. This meant users had to learn several different programs and use them separately to get a variety of multimedia file types onto the Clie. Thus, high end Clies were for power users and those who didn't mind the extra effort. The LifeDrive offers the same functionality in an extremely simple user interface that anyone can master. And of course, with 4 gigs of storage, this new breed of Palm device makes a much better portable MP3 player and video player than the Clie.

So what about these 4 gigs of storage? The LifeDrive uses a 4 gig Hitachi MicroDrive, which is a miniature hard drive designed for use in mobile devices. It has relatively low power consumption and is designed to handle bumps and shakes well, despite the moving parts. Like any hard drive, data stored there is persistent, which means that it requires no power to preserve its contents: if the battery runs dry, your data remains intact, unlike data stored in RAM on PDAs.

Palm isn't the first handheld manufacturer to incorporate a MicroDrive into a PDA; Sharp did it in late 2004 with their Zaurus SL-C3000 Linux handheld which more closely resembles a miniature laptop. However, the C3000 is sold in Japan only, and is available in the US from a handful of importers for nearly twice the price of the LifeDrive. Palm's syncing and desktop file management software is also much more full-featured and friendly than the venerable Zaurus'. In the end, the Zaurus is an excellent notebook replacement rather than a turnkey PDA. Outside the PDA realm, hard drive-based MP3 players like the Apple iPod mini have a MicroDrive inside and portable video players generally use 1.8" hard drives which are smaller than notebook hard drives but larger than the 1.5" MicroDrive. And there's the Archos PMA400, which is a portable media player that runs Linux and offers PDA features. However, that device is much more expensive at $799, doesn't have a photo slide show mode, doesn't support portrait mode for PDA use, and doesn't have very good WiFi performance. But it does have a 30 gig hard drive!

Features at a Glance
The LifeDrive is both a Palm OS PDA and a multimedia device. Similar to recent high end Palm handhelds like the Tungsten T3 and Tungsten T5, it runs Palm OS 5, and has a half VGA 320 x 480 high res+ transflective color display that works in both portrait and landscape modes. The device has Bluetooth, WiFi, 64 megs of program memory (works like RAM) and a 416 MHz Intel XScale processor, making it quite powerful by Palm OS standards and competitive with Pocket PCs. The LifeDrive plays MP3s, has a stereo headphone jack, plays videos and works as a photo and slide show viewer out of the box. Documents To Go is included for viewing, editing and creating MS Office documents. And of course, it has all the standard features of a Palm OS PDA, allowing you to keep track of contacts, calendar items, tasks and more.

In the Box
The LifeDrive comes with a USB 2.0 sync cable with a HotSync button— Palm went for the cable rather than a cradle since you might want to use the device on the go us in USB Drive Mode with various computers, and who wants to carry a cradle everywhere. You get a compact world charger that you can plug directly into the LifeDrive or into the sync cable (same as the Treo 650), leather slip case, stylus, software CD for Windows and Mac, a thin printed guide (the larger PDF manual is on the CD) and a certificate good for 30 days of free T-Mobile WiFi Hotspot access.

Design and Ergonomics
Given all that's packed into the LifeDrive, it's one of the larger PDAs on the market, being bigger than the Tungsten E2 and T3 with slider closed. It is a tad smaller than the VGA HP iPAQ hx4700 Pocket PC (one of the largest recent PDAs) and the T3 with slider open. By portable media player standards such as the Apex E2go MP-2000, Archos PMA400 and the Creative Zen Portable Media Center, the LifeDrive is small.

A metal casing and a very attractive bright silver finish cover the LifeDrive which is basically a rectangle with attractively and ergonomically curved corners. The back's tapering sides make the unit easier to hold and it fits easily into all but very small hands. The LifeDrive is both good looking and hip, with a minimalist flair: when we carried it with us on visits to various venues in Silicon Valley, everyone from waiters to engineers ogled it. Folks wanted to know whether it was a PDA, mini-computer or a portable media player.

Four front application buttons integrate cleanly into the design, surrounding the center oval 5-way directional pad with center action button. The application buttons launch Favorites, Files, Media and the favorite application of your choice by default and you can re-assign them if you wish. The DIA (dynamic input area) where the silk screen Graffiti input area appears at the touch of a taskbar icon, has application icons for VersaMail, Calendar, Web and Contacts. On the left side you'll find the voice recorder button, mic holes, and the hardware button that switches screen orientation on the fly. There are no controls on the right side, and you'll find the standard 3.5mm stereo headphone jack and the sync connector on the bottom. The LifeDrive shares the Palm Multi Connector used on other recent models such as the Treo 650, Tungsten E2 and T5. The back has a large grill: the speaker is located beneath the upper section and we imagine the remainder of the grill area functions to keep the unit and particularly the MicroDrive cool.

Up top you'll find the combined power and hold switch, IR port and SD card slot inset into a black plastic panel. That hold switch is handy: use it to prevent accidental button presses from turning on the machine while it's in your pocket or purse. Conversely, you can use it when the unit is on and you've handed it around for folks to view a slide show or presentation— no worries that someone will accidentally hit a button and stop the show. The stylus, a typically nice Palm weighted metal telescoping affair, lives up top on the right corner. All in all, an excellent design both in terms of functionality and aesthetics, though given the device's role as a portable MP3 and video player, I'm surprised that Palm didn't incorporate a hardware volume control into the design.

Horsepower and MicroDrive Details

The LifeDrive uses the same Intel XScale 416 MHz processor found in the Tungsten T5. This is a very fast CPU for a Palm OS device and is competitive with processors used in Pocket PCs and other PDAs. Though you'll find faster CPUs on the high end Pocket PCs, Palm OS requires less processing power so that 416 MHz is plenty enough to run games, multimedia apps and Documents To Go.

As you know by now, the LifeDrive has an internal 4 gig hard drive called a MicroDrive with 3.85 gigs available to the user. It's whisper quiet and you won't feel the machine vibrating when the drive is accessed. For those of you who are into the nitty gritty: the Hitachi MicroDrive weighs only 16 grams ( .56 ounces), measures roughly 1.5" x 1.5", has a 128k buffer and spins at 3,600 RPM. It has an average seek time of 12ms and uses just over 300 mA current when active and 16 mA when in standby. The LifeDrive partition is formatted in FAT32.

RAM is used to cache running applications and data, and there's rarely a significant lag when accessing data on the hard drive. Files opened reasonably quickly, though not as fast as if they were stored in RAM which is much faster than any hard drive. MP3s occasionally stuttered for one second when switching to another app using the background playback feature. They didn't stutter at all when the device was used a portable MP3 player with screen turned off and no PDA use. Movies rarely stuttered due to disk access times.

How long is the delay when launching apps? We soft reset our unit to make sure no applications where cached in RAM, the launched a few test apps, including that old standby, Calendar. It took 2 seconds according to our stopwatch to launch Calendar. There was NO delay when switching between calendar views. The LifeDrive was set up as a "real world" unit, with 1.5 gigs of data on the LifeDrive partition, 20 megs of apps and data on program memory, 350 contacts, several hundred calendar items, 60 Memos and 15 Tasks.

In addition to the drive, the LifeDrive has 64 megs of "program memory" which functions just as RAM does on other PDAs: you can store programs and data in this area, and applications which only support syncing to main memory should be stored in this area. Unlike the 4 gig hard drive, you can't view and work with files on program memory usiing LifeDrive Manager on the desktop. Program memory is actually a partition on the hard drive, so it's persistent and will survive compete battery run downs with no data loss. The LifeDrive has 32 megs of RAM which works similarly to RAM on your computer: programs execute in RAM, and RAM can be used to cache multimedia files for improved playback performance. The LifeDrive also has 16 megs of ROM where the OS lives.

The LifeDrive's SD slot supports SD cards, MMC cards and SDIO cards. I tested a variety of cards, up to 1 gig capacity and all went well. I tried a 1 gig Lexar SD card formatted as FAT32 and after formatting it in the LifeDrive then formatting it as FAT32 using a card reader on my PC it worked fine.

Display and Multimedia

The Life Drive has the same 320 x 480 transflective color display capable of displaying 65,000 colors found on the recent Palm Tungsten T5. It's bright, sharp and supports rotation on the fly using a handy hardware button on the unit's left side. The display is reasonably color accurate, though it does have a faint cool color cast and it's middle-of-the-road in terms of brightness. That said, it's plenty bright enough even for viewing dark videos, and likely battery life would have suffered greatly if Palm had gone for an extremely bright LCD. The screen looks great when viewing digital camera images and it's sharp enough to work with documents using small fonts. Rotation on the fly is instantaneous and reliable: we didn't experience any screen glitches or bugs when rotating a variety of applications several times. The Handedness prefs item allows you to specify whether you're left or right handed, which changes the landscape orientation (buttons on the left for righties, buttons on the right for lefties).

To watch videos, slide shows and view images, you'll use the Media application. Media is covered in greater detail below, but suffice to say it's central to the LifeDrive multimedia experience. The LifeDrive Manager desktop software helps you transfer these multimedia files, convert movies as needed and can keep them all in sync. And you can of course use the 3rd party image viewer or video player of your choice, though we think that Media is hard to beat as an image viewer and slide show app.

Pocket Tunes, likely the most popular MP3 player for Palm is included rather than the less full-featured Real Player for Palm bundled with other Palm handhelds. You get the bundle version of Pocket Tunes 3.09 which supports all the MP3 playback features and skinning of the Deluxe version but doesn't handle Internet radio broadcast streaming playback. You can upgrade to the Deluxe version if you're into web-based radio broadcasts. The included version will suit most users and it has a great set of features, including background playback, automatic screen shut off (to conserve battery when using the LifeDrive as a portable MP3 player), playlist creation and syncing to Windows Media player using a plugin.

Software, Syncing and Compatibility

Software on the LifeDrive

Palm includes a note inside the box warning you to make sure your software is compatible with the LifeDrive. We keep our 3rd party Palm software current, and encountered no problems. We tested MMPlayer, TCPMP, eReader, several games, Acrobat Reader and all software included on the CD. In 5 days the LifeDrive froze once during a WiFile transfer of several large MPEG video files from a networked PC over WiFi, and once when the unit turned off when left in the Palm Wireless Keyboard settings application. I did notice that after a soft reset (reboot), the LifeDrive had set my handedness preference back to the default right handed— not sure why that preference isn't saved after a soft reset. If the unit does crash, when it reboots it tells you that it crashed and what the error was (generally one of the usual Memory Manager line C errors). It also automatically runs a chkdsk (like Check Disk on a Windows machine) on the hard disk.

You get a good 3rd party software bundle with the LifeDrive, as you should for a high end unit. Documents To Go 7 supports viewing, editing and creating native MS Word and Excel documents, viewing of native PowerPoint files and editing converted PowerPoint files. The excellent Pocket Tunes is included for MP3 playback along with the Pocket Tunes plugin for Windows Media Player on the desktop. This is the standard version of Pocket Tunes, and you'll need to upgrade to Deluxe if you want to play WMA and Internet radio broadcasts. You also get WiFile (light not pro version) for accessing computer network shares, Handmark Solitaire, eReader, Audible Player and Acrobat Reader for Palm OS.

The LifeDrive includes Palm's enhanced PIM applications: Calendar (with Agenda view similar to the Pocket PC's Today Screen), Contacts, Memos, Notes (for handwritten notes) and Tasks. And you'll get the usual host of standard Palm apps such as Calculator, Card Info, Expense, Dialer (the Palm can dial your cell phone for you over IR or Bluetooth), Voice Memo (for recording voice notes), SMS and World Clock.

Palm developed a few in-house applications which add a great deal of functionality to the LifeDrive. These include:

Camera Companion: Have a digital camera that uses SD or MMC cards? You can use the LifeDrive as a photo viewer. Insert the camera's card into the LifeDrive's SD slot and you can use the Camera Companion application to copy all files from the card to the LifeDrive (it copies all images in the DCIM folder), or you can use the LifeDrive and an external removable hard drive to copy images from the device to your PC, or you can simply view the images without copying them. We love the copy to LifeDrive feature: no need to bring a notebook on a vacation outing simply to transfer files from the camera card: use the LifeDrive instead! And it makes a great portable photo viewer too.

The Files application is a true file manager which allows you to browse, move, delete, open, beam and send files on the LifeDrive (but not on internal program memory). It works like and resembles the file managers on Windows and Mac PCs rather than the more arcane interface found on handy utilities like Filez. You'll see all folders on the LifeDrive and navigate and manage them easily— and we thought we'd have to wait for Palm OS 6 to get a true file manager!

Media allows you to view photos, create sideshows with sound easily and watch videos. It supports JPEG, BMP, TIFF and GIF image formats. The application is fast even when loading thumbnails and viewing images from an SD card that had fifty five 2.5 meg JPEG images taken with our Pentax *ist DS 6.1 MP digital SLR camera. Given that my iPAQ hx4700 with 624 MHz Intel XScale processor is slow to view and rotate the same images, I'm impressed with Palm's work here. Want to show a slide show of your vacation to friends and family? Use the hold switch to pass the device around in slide show mode without worrying that someone will hit a button and stop the show.

Media can play videos in ASF, MPEG1, MPEG4 and MJPEG formats. If your video format isn't supported by Media, you can use the LifeDrive Manager desktop application to automatically convert the video to ASF format while copying it to the LifeDrive's internal disk. Be warned that like many video conversion processes, this isn't fast and is slower than some standalone converters. We converted a 30 meg 320 x 240 WMV to ASF format using LifeDrive Manager and it took 30 minutes, creating a 130 meg file! How about 3rd party video players? We tested both MMPlayer and TCPMP and both worked well on the LifeDrive. Using these apps and Media, we tested movies up to 300kbps and both TCPMP and Media handled them well, playing smoothly with good audio sync. MMPlayer occasionally showed artifacts or stuttered a bit. Given that the device is buffering media from the hard disk during playback, we were pleased with the LifeDrive's overall performance as a portable video player. Sound quality, as with the included Pocket Tunes MP3 player is very good as well.

Addit is an application you can use to download demo versions of Palm OS software or even purchase software titles. In addition, it's a portal of sorts that offers top news and tips on using the device. It updates automatically using your computer's Internet connection each time you HotSync.

Favorites, first found on Tungsten T5, functions as a launcher with shortcuts to your favorite applications such as Documents To Go, music, photos and VersaMail. It also has room for additional individual applications which you can launch with one tap. The Favorites app has three additional pages where you can add more shortcuts to the files, folders or apps of your choice. Of course, you can use the traditional Palm OS home screen if you wish or your favorite 3rd party launcher.

For Internet applications, you get the Blazer 4.1 web browser and VersaMail 3.1 for email. Blazer has optimized and wide (desktop) page layout modes. The browser supports Javascript, bookmarks, history, cookies, proxies and SSL. VersaMail, Palm's popular email application supports POP, IMAP and SMTP servers, multiple email accounts, automatic email fetching and notification of new mail and filters. Web browsing over WiFi on the 480 x 320 display is a pleasure and rendering times are good thanks to the LifeDrive's 416 MHz CPU. If rendering quality and accuracy matter less to you than raw speed, check out Xiino which is great if you use the LifeDrive with a Bluetooth mobile phone acting as a wireless modem over a relatively slow GPRS connection.

Desktop Software

You can use the LifeDrive as if it were a USB flash drive with any USB-equiped computer. Run the Drive Mode application on the LifeDrive, connect its USB cable to any USB computer regardless of platform and the device's 4 gig hard drive will mount as a removable drive so you can copy, move, reorganize and delete files. And of course, you get the usual Palm Desktop software for both Windows and Mac which allows to you keep your PIM information in sync and backup the PDA automatically each time you sync. Windows users have the choice of syncing PIM data (calendar, contacts, tasks and memos) to either Palm Desktop or Microsoft Outlook.

On Windows, several of us had problems upgrading from recent older versions of Palm Desktop software to the version included with the LifeDrive. If you have a previous Palm Desktop installation and are getting errors during the installation and upgrade process, it's likely due to a Microsoft Windows MSI installer bug. You can download a small free utility from Microsoft's web site here to fix the problem. Download and install the app, then run it from the Start Menu. Select the Palm desktop software from the list and remove the problematic old installer data (it will not remove the actual software, don't worry).

In addition, you get LifeDrive Manager for Windows (sorry, no Mac version). This excellent application is an important part of the LifeDrive experience, making it extremely easy to view and manipulate files on the MicroDrive and convert media files. When you plug your LifeDrive into your Windows PC, the LifeDrive is ready for file transfers (the screen won't turn on but you'll hear the familiar hardware recognized sound on your PC). You can use the LifeDrive while transferring files to and from it using the desktop LifeDrive Manager app, and if you initiate a HotSync from the PDA, LifeDrive Manager will automatically disconnect during the syncing process and reconnect once HotSync is finished (a popup window near the taskbar on your Windows machine tells you LifeDrive Manager is ready to go). LifeDrive Manager puts files where they belong, unlike prior Palm models, there's no obscure special folders to figure out and no card reader needed.

LifeDrive Manager adds a new kind of syncing: File Sync. You can use LifeDrive Manager to keep files and folders of you choice synced with the mobile device. Drag files and/or folders to the LifeDrive using LifeDrive Manager and specify that you wish to keep them in sync. When you do a file sync, the selected files will be synchronized (they'll also be synced when you do a full regular HotSync).
WiFi

Integrated WiFi has been a rarity on Palm brand handhelds and we're thrilled to see both WiFi 801.11b and Bluetooth included in the LifeDrive. To turn WiFi on, tap on the WiFi symbol in the taskbar at the bottom of the home screen or tap on WiFi under Prefs. You can also create new connections and edit existing connections. Set up is very easy: the unit will show you access points within range and walk you through connecting to them. Our LifeDrive quickly found access points in range and had average range compared to other PDAs. It works in both ad hoc and infrastructure mode, supports DHCP and manual IP configuration, short and long preamble. Once you connect to a WiFi network, the device saves the connection information so you need not enter it again. Once connected, you can get basic info about the current connection such as MAC address, channel, IP address, subnet mask, gateway and DNS server addresses.

To conserve power, the LifeDrive automatically turns the radio off after three minutes of network inactivity by default. You may change this to 5, 10 or 15 minutes if you wish. We had no problems with access points re-assigning an IP address even with multiple radio timeouts. The LifeDrive supports WEP (64 and 128 bit) encryption and WPA-PSK. The included CD has links to purchase movianVPN and Mergic VPN software and a link to IBM's WebSphere Everyplace Micro Environment Java (free download).

How about bandwidth and connection speed? Testing the connection speed at McAfee's site yielded 23.4 Mpbs (2.93 MBps) for a 150k test file and 61.6 Mbps (7.71 MBps) result using a 1.5 meg test file (part 2 of the test). Blazer was in wide page mode for the test. The test tried to send us a 3 meg file but Blazer complained that the cache was full. McAfee starts with a 150k test file and if that downloads in under 1 second it progresses to either the 600k, 1.5 meg or 3 meg test file depending on how fast your connection tested in part 1. They use the larger files in order to provide more accurate results. For comparison, our HP iPAQ hx4700 got 1.17 Mbps (150 KBps) with a 150k test file, and our Windows XP desktop using wired Ethernet on DSL got 249 Mbps with a 3 meg test file. Since the McAfee test is tougher on the browsers' rendering engines, take these results with a grain of salt: the test is really designed for PCs and not mobile devices.

As a more accurate test for PDAs and smartphones we use DSL Reports mobile test which is much easier on the rendering engine and is intended for mobile devices. Using a 600k test file, the LifeDrive managed an average of 1024 kbit/sec. In comparison, the iPAQ hx4700 got 1162 kbit/sec with a 600k test file.

As an excellent added bonus, Palm includes WiFile 1.0LT which allows you to browse network shares to access files on shared folders on your computer(s), including multimedia files. This worked well for us, though we did have one spontaneous soft reset when transferring some 10 meg MPEG1 videos: it finished copying then rebooted, and told us that WiFile had crashed with a Memory Manager line C error. The LifeDrive apparently automatically ran a chkdsk after the reboot, just as a PC would, and saved the log file!

Bluetooth

Got a mobile phone you'd like to use as a wireless modem for the LifeDrive? Or a GPS or Bluetooth keyboard? The LifeDrive has Bluetooth 1.1 and uses Palm's typically friendly Bluetooth software to get you connected. The software worked well and we used Bluetooth to connect to both the Nokia N-Gage QD and the unlocked GSM Treo 650 as a wireless modem and used the Stowaway Universal Bluetooth keyboard with the LifeDrive.

Battery Life

The LifeDrive has a 1,660 mAh Lithium Ion battery which is a fairly large capacity battery. While a few PDAs such as the Palm Treo 650 and HP iPAQ hx4700 have even higher capacity 1,800 mAh batteries (the Treo needs it to power the mobile phone radio and the iPAQ needs it to power the bright VGA display and fast CPU), the LifeDrive does well with 1,660 mAh. Given the 3.8" display, fairly fast CPU, dual wireless and MicroDrive, we had our doubts about the LifeDrive's staying power. But after a few charges to condition the battery, the device surprised us with very usable battery life. Those who use wireless connections (especially WiFi) and video playback heavily will need to charge the unit every night, while those who are more into using it as a PDA, MS Office document editor and photo viewer will get 2 to 3 days per charge with daily use. The battery is not user replaceable, which means you'll either need to send it back to Palm for a fresh battery in 2 to 3 years when it fails to hold sufficient charge, or break out the philips head screwdriver and do it yourself with an aftermarket replacement battery. This also means that you won't be able to swap in a spare battery in the field when not near a charger. Thankfully, the LifeDrive charges very quickly when you are near a charger.

As a test, I surfed the web for 1.5 hours, watched videos for 40 minutes, viewed 50 images from an SD card, played games (Billiards, Bejeweled 2 and Trivial Pursuit) for 1 hour total, wrote an MS Word document in Documents To Go (25 minutes) and listened to 40 minutes worth of MP3s with the screen on during playback and had 38% battery remaining. Not bad for a device with an internal hard drive. We got 6 hours of continuous MP3 playback with the screen turned off and watching a two hour video with brightness set to 66% used 50% of the battery's charge (we used headphones with both tests).

Conclusion

A bold new offering, that goes for a different kind of convergence. Rather than meshing a phone with a PDA, the LifeDrive merges the PDA, hard disk-based MP3 player, photo viewer and portable video player into one machine. The name LifeDrive says it all: a device with a hard drive that's a part of your lifestyle (we're not sure that Mobile Manager says much of anything). Of course it will help you keep track of your contacts, appointments and tasks too, and you can use it to access the Internet and work with MS Office documents. Add in integrated WiFi 801.11b and Bluetooth and you've got quite a package for $449.

Pro: Lot and lots of space to store documents, applications, MP3s, photos and videos. It's amazing how much you'll want to throw on this device once you experience the freedom 4 gigs provides. The 320 x 480 display, supporting both portrait and landscape modes is higher resolution than most portable video players' and is great for photo viewing. Excellent companion to a digital camera that uses SD cards. The excellent Pocket Tunes is included for your MP3 listening pleasure and sound through headphones is both good and loud. The desktop software makes it easy to transfer files, convert video and keep documents in sync. Works as a removable mass storage device, and you can use it like a flash drive with any computer that has a USB port (no driver required, just bring your cable). Wifi means fast wireless Internet access, and Bluetooth allows you to connect to your Bluetooth enabled mobile phone, GPS, keyboard and more. Battery life is quite good given the processor speed, large display and internal hard disk. The unit charges quickly. Data is persistent and will survive battery rundowns.

Con: Battery isn't user replaceable so you can't swap in a spare on the road. There's a short delay when programs are launched (average of 2 seconds), though it's by no means unbearable.

Nokia N82 - Beautiful Smartphone

2008-05-16T19:37:00.000-07:00

Nokia has boosted its N series with its most heavily-featured candybar yet. With a five-megapixel Carl Zeiss-lensed, xenon flash equipped camera and GPS, it’s comparable to the N95 and one of the best cameraphones around. Even if it’s not the prettiest.

Working on the principle that you shouldn’t judge a book by the cover, anyone serious about getting a high-quality cameraphone should take a long hard look at the N82.

With Wi-Fi and HSDPA 3G connectivity, it has versatile options for high-speed web surfing and content downloading. It doesn’t have the 8GB built-in storage capacity of the recently upgraded N95 8GB - reviewed here - just 100MB of internal dynamic memory. But the N82 does have the same media player plus a Micro SD card slot. The N82 comes with a 2GB card, but can take Micro SDs of up to 8GB. These are widely available for around £40, giving you an affordable route to upgrade to iPhone-like music player capacity.

Other plus points include unusually high video recording quality for a cameraphone, and the facility to upload pics and clips online to content sharing sites. The N82 is also one of the new breed of N-series phones to support the Nokia Music Store and revamped N-Gage gaming platform.

The N82 doesn’t quite have it all though. Head-turning good looks are, unfortunately, a stranger to this device. To be kind, with a bit of eye-squinting you could describe its face as 1980s-inspired future retro. A less generous interpretation would be 'a bit plasticky'.

While the footprint of the phone - 112 x 50.2 x 17.3mm - is slightly larger than the Nokia N73’s, its weight has been kept down to 114g. The plastic casing used to achieve this gives it a lightweight feel, but unfortunately also a cheap look and feel to the silvered-up keypad and patterned rear panel.

CECT W100 Wrist Watch Phone

2008-05-16T19:33:00.000-07:00

The recently launched CECT W100 Wrist Watch Phone is the first wrist watch phone to hit the Asian markets, and is sure to cross into Europe and the US at some stage. While there have been attempts to crack this market in the past, it is only of late that the technology has been available to actually make it happen - without feeling as though you are carrying a brick on your wrist!

The CECT W100 Wrist Watch Phone offers a unique experience with a 65,000 colour TFT LCD touch screen, which incorporates some of the latest touch phone technology. Amazingly the “watch” hides a 1 GB flash memory system complimenting the 1.3 megapixel camera, offering more than enough memory to save those special moment. The “phone” also has a traditional in-built FM radio, phone book, and other standard facilities present in the traditional handsets of today.

While there have been attempts at watch phones in the UK and Europe in the past, it appears that the Chinese manufacturers have been waiting for improved technology before targeting this area of the market. Available in a variety of colours, and doubling up as a stylish watch on it own, the CECT W100 Wrist Watch Phone may just be the product to open the door to the mass market. Style and technology comig together - sure to be a hit.

MSI Bluetooth USB Dongle

2008-05-16T19:12:00.000-07:00

For a number of years now, if you wanted to connect a GPS Receiver to a laptop or a PC, you would have to use a Serial or USB type GPS Mouse. These come with a cable tethering it to your laptop and although they work extremely well, they are not the best solution for in-car use, especially having cables trailing over the dashboard when you are driving!

In the past year we have seen not only Bluetooth take off in a very big way, but in the past 6 months a flurry of new Bluetooth USB Dongles being brought to market. These Bluetooth USB Adapters are a little plug (or dongle) that plugs into your USB port and with added drivers and software allow you to run Bluetooth on a Windows based PC and connect wirelessly to a Bluetooth GPS.

This review concentrates on the MSI Bluetooth dongle (BToers) which is a tried and tested Bluetooth adapter and works well with all Bluetooth GPS Receivers we have tested it with on Laptop, Notebook and Tablet PC's that have a spare USB port.

In The Box
When you open up the box you will find the very small USB plug, with a plastic cap on so you can protect the USB plug when you take it away with you, and also a lanyard chord so if you want to be hip and cool, you can hang the Bluetooth Adapter from your neck.

Installation

Select the MSI Bluetooth Software option, and follow on-screen prompts. When completed and are then requested to insert the Bluetooth Dongle, Windows XP will then install the driver reading it from the CD Rom.

Configuration

To setup and connect to the Bluetooth GPS you need to power on your Bluetooth GPS Receiver, then create a new service, select Bluetooth Serial Port and follow on-screen prompts.
You should then see another screen like the one below, change the devices to Show All Devices and click REFRESH and you should then see a Bluetooth GPS like the EMTAC which is the one we're testing this dongle with.

Once you click NEXT and follow on-screen prompts, you should then see this appear in the Bluetooth Places.

If you right click the Emtac BT GPS icon and click CONNECT you will see a dialog box like this one.

Once connected you will then be able to create a Bluetooth bond using the correct passkey that the BT GPS uses. The one we tested here was the Emtac/Socket BT GPS which uses a passkey of 0183.

That's it, it's as simple as that!

All you need to do is open up your GPS software and connect on the COM port it has bound to (which can be changed later) and you should start receiving a GPS signal (providing you are outside!).

If you want to assign a different COM port, perhaps a lower or high one that what was selected, in the Bluetooth Places you right click the icon for the Bluetooth GPS, click PROPERTIES and change the COM port. Then click APPLY, OK and you're done!

ViewSonic VX710 LCD monitor

2008-05-16T19:07:00.001-07:00

Having recently reviewed the stunning 23-inch Apple Cinema Display, we're not embarrassed to declare that our heads have been officially turned. So we were pleasantly surprised by the ViewSonic VX710 17-inch LCD. It may not win any design contests, but with its two-tone, black-and-silver plastic casing and its thin, 0.75-inch bezel set into a silver frame, the VX710 is sleek and understated. But looks aren't everything, and unfortunately, the VX710's limited adjustability and unimpressive video performance left us wanting more.

The bottom bezel houses five silver, bar-shape buttons--one power button, two arrow buttons to navigate the onscreen menu (OSM), one button to engage and exit the OSM, and one button to select submenus. We normally don't get excited about the onscreen menu, but the VX710's is delightful to use. It employs a joyful kelly green/royal blue/yellow color configuration, and the navigation is as easy as can be.

The VX710 accepts digital and analog signals, and both cables are included. Said cables are very easy to attach (no turning the display upside down or poking around blindly), and the recessed area in the back of the display where the interface ports are located is easy to reach and can be hidden behind a plastic cover. On the downside, the cables feed out through a fluted section of the plastic that also serves as the handle to the cover, so you have to cram them together to get the cover on properly. There's also no cable-feed system down the neck of the display, but the neck can't be raised or lowered anyway, so unsightly cable dangle is not an issue. You can tilt the VX710's panel about 25 degrees forward and back, but there is no side-to-side swivel and no Portrait/Landscape pivot option. The neck hinge is fairly stiff, so tilting is a two-handed job. You may not want to tilt it back too far anyway, because the vertical viewing angle isn't impressive. Just the slightest tilt back results in glare. The rectangular base is fairly sturdy, but it does kick up when you're trying to change the tilt angle.

The VX710's image quality and video performance are sadly unimpressive. Text is definitely the display's strong suit. At a native resolution of 1,280x1,024, text looks crisp and clear with good contrast and nice sharp letters, making it acceptable for basic productivity applications and Web surfing. The VX710 didn't fare as well with our DisplayMate-based grayscale and intensity tests. When scaling from black to white, the goal is for transitions to be smooth, each step to be discrete, and the grayscale to be free of color. While no LCD accomplishes this without flaw, the VX710 was particularly troubled--we saw many irregularities in the grayscale such as jumps, bumps, dull spots, and plenty of color. No amount of adjusting in the OSM improved the output.

The backlight of the display is also uneven. While you're looking at a black screen, the backlight clearly leaks along the top and bottom edges of the display. The irregular backlight also makes the bottom half of the screen noticeably brighter than the top half. Web colors are bright, making for an appealing end-user experience, but they lack the richness you'd see in a better-performing display such as the Apple. Video quality is average, with minimal streaking and ghosting, but there's a lot of digital noise in flesh tones and darkly lit scenes. The similarly priced Samsung SyncMaster 172X offers better overall performance.

New Eee PC for Complete Mobile Internet Enjoyment

2008-05-15T18:55:00.000-07:00

Majority of activities conducted on the laptops today are Internet related. Whether it´s checking emails, reading news, communicating with others or simply utilizing online share spaces, Internet usage has become a big part of the daily computing operations - for both work and fun. To accommodate the increasing total Internet computing demands as well as growing number of users, both young and old, ASUS launches the revolutionary Eee PC to provide users with a new mobile Internet experience like never before.

This is a new line of PCs that focuses on providing users with the most comprehensive Internet application based on three Es: Easy to learn, work, play; Excellent Internet experience and Excellent mobile computing experience, and hence the product name of Eee PC.

Easy to Learn, Work and Play
Learn the latest technology without a technical manual! For easy hands-on, the Eee PC offers two modes of intuitive user interface design: the easy mode and the full desktop mode in order to accommodate both experienced and inexperienced PC users. The Eee PC is also Windows XP compatible.

Excellent Internet Experience
Built-in WLAN connectivity allows users to stay connected for dynamic Internet usage on the go. With the Eee PC empowers users to share photos without waiting till one gets home; connect face to face with just a few clicks; enjoy online entertainment live; stay on top of emails for high work efficiency and more!

Excellent Mobile Computing Experience
The 7” Eee PC 701 weighs at a featherlight 0.89 kg, with large flash-based storage capacity and built-in webcam for compact mobility with wireless freedom. The special solid-state disc design based on built-in flash-memory gives the Eee PC a great shock-proof advantage over traditional notebook PCs allowing extra flexibility and a worry free mobile computing experience.

EeePC 701 Specification
Display：7"
CPU & Chipset: Intel mobile CPU & chipset
OS: Linux/ Microsoft Windows XP compatible
Communication: 10/100 Mbps Ethernet; 56K modem
WLAN: WiFi 802.11b/g
Graphic: Intel UMA
Memory: 512MB, DDR2-400
Storage: 4/ 8/ 16GB Flash
Webcam: 300K pixel video camera
Audio: Hi-Definition Audio CODEC; Built-in stereo speaker; Built-in microphone
Battery Life: 3hrs (4 cells: 5200mAh, 2S2P)
Dimension & Weight: 22.5 x 16.5 x 2.1~3.5cm, 0.89kg

Dopod D810

2008-05-15T18:53:00.001-07:00

While larger devices may have an advantage when it comes to features, some of the smaller handhelds don't fall too far behind, either. The O2 Atom Life is a fine example of that, packing in a slew of wireless connectivity options as well as a powerful processor in its tiny form factor. The Dopod D810 is about the same size as the Atom Life and manages to pack in one more wireless feature, GPS.

At S$1,298, the D810 is less expensive than the Atom Life. This price goes even lower when bought from operators with a contract.

Design
The D810 measures in at 108 x 58.2 x 18.4mm, which makes it just marginally larger than the Atom Life. At 150g, it's incredibly light and will fit into any pocket or handbag without weighing you down. The material used on this handheld gives it a glossy finish on the outside. This makes it a fingerprint magnet, especially the back which is almost entirely in glossy black. The other color on the D810 is a gunmetal shade along the sides and bottom of the device. Looking beyond the smudginess of the plastic, the D810 is a very attractive device and will appeal to a wide range of tastes.

All the buttons and connectors are found along the non-black areas of the D810. The phone buttons along with four shortcut keys are found on the front, surrounding the direction pad and selector. An alternative to using the direction pad is the scroll wheel on the left side. This is meant for use with the right thumb and also functions as a selector when depressed. The best thing about having a scroll wheel is that volume control becomes incredibly easy during phone calls. Even with the D810 plastered to your face when taking a call, the scroll wheel is easily accessible to increase or decrease the volume of the other party's voice. Right below the scroll wheel is also an OK key for getting out of applications and menus.

Along the right side are the power, voice command and camera shortcut buttons. The D810's miniSD card slot is also found there, beneath a plastic flap which fuses well with the design of the handheld when closed.

The 2.8-inch display has a resolution of 320 x 240, the most common screen resolution for Windows Mobile devices. It is sufficiently bright and sharp, displaying both text and images clearly. Two cameras are found on the D810, with a VGA above the display for video calls and a 2-megapixel camera on its rear. Regrettably, the device's speakers are also found on the back, which is less than ideal when in a video call or watching a video clip. Also, we would have liked a sliding cover for the camera lens to protect it from smudges that may cause blurred images.

The stylus on the D810 is found on the bottom right corner of the device. While we had no problems with the stylus or the position of its silo, we did find that the paint around the stylus slot got scratched off after a period of use. This was a result of the frequent removal and insertion of the stylus.

Canon IXUS

2008-05-15T18:49:00.000-07:00

Open your wallet, take out a credit card.. No, I'm not going to ask you to order one just yet, that credit card is the same size as the front of the Digital IXUS. Small? You bet. This is truly the smallest digicam I've ever reviewed and weighs in as the smallest 2.1mp digital camera on the market.

But is small good? Well, it's eminently pocketable yet with a steel case, flat front and automatic lens cover you'll not worry too much about how you handle it. What does this mean? It means you're more likely to take the camera out with you and get "that shot".

One slight confusion has been the naming convention, put simply this camera is called the PowerShot S100 Digital Elph in the USA & Canada, the Digital IXUS in Europe / SE Asia and Ixy Digital in Japan. For simplicity in this review I'll refer to it as the Digital IXUS.

Canon have used an almost identically designed and sized case since the A5 , A5 zoom, A50, S10 and S20 (all pictured above). The break with that design has now come with the Digital IXUS as Canon begin to merge the distinction between traditional photography products and digital products.
Here you can see from where the Digital IXUS gets its design points, with the same stainless steel exterior, very similar design points and some "borrowed items" (spot the zoom control and flash unit). Canon are making a strong statement with this camera, and it's all about where it sees the digital market in a few years time, see this as one of the first steps. This, and the EOS-D30.

Invisible Keylogger

2008-05-15T02:04:00.000-07:00

Invisible Keylogger 1.3, from SpyPatrol, is a very good product. The user interface is very easy to use and very pleasant to look at. There are a few of the text images that are a little blurred, but nothing to worry about. The installation is also very easy to use and setup.

Feature Set:
Invisible Keylogger allows you to view the outgoing email, but not the incoming. It does allow you to view both sides of the conversations in chat rooms and Instant Messaging, making it very easy to know exactly who is saying what through your computer. An improvement would be the separation of all of the various types of web text, email text, and chat text. It got somewhat confusing trying to determine what you were looking at in the logs.

It has a very good stealth mode feature. If you don't want anyone to know the application is running in the background, the stealth mode allows you to completely hide the application. You can't even see the application running when you display the Windows Task Manager, by way of the CTRL-ALT-DELETE combination. It is easy to re-display the application with certain hotkey keystrokes that you can customize for easy remembering.

The task of setting up delivery of an email seemed a bit laborious. You had to specify all of the SMTP information including 6 different pieces of information just to give it an email address. This should have only required one field—your email address.

Ease of Use:
Invisible Keylogger was not as user-friendly as our top three products.

Ease of Installation:
The installation is also very easy to use and setup.

Monitoring Effectiveness:
The capture of logins and passwords worked most of the time, but there were a number of times where it didn't catch the password.

Help/Documentation:
The Help is good, but not great. There is no context sensitive Help, just a main directory with screen images and some text associated with each of the options.

Summary:
Overall, Invisible Keylogger is a very good product for getting an understanding of your computers activities. It is not as powerful as some of the other competitor's products, but it is still very good.

Seagate 500GB eSATA External Hard Disk

2008-05-15T01:38:00.000-07:00

External hard disks are useful little items. If you like the idea of backing up large chunks of data from multiple computers, having a large capacity hard disk that you can carry around with you is a great solution. Despite the fact that I think NAS appliances are the best option for external storage in most cases, a plug-in external hard disk is a far easier solution for the novice, and you can transport it between locations.

About a year and a half ago we looked at a 400GB external hard drive from Seagate that could connect over USB 2.0 or FireWire, and we liked it so much that we gave it a Recommended award. Now I have a 500GB external hard disk from Seagate, but this one uses an eSATA interface, which should offer lightning fast performance.

In case you’re unfamiliar with the eSATA standard, it basically allows an external storage device to operate at speeds rivalling your internal hard disk. Despite the fact that USB 2.0 and FireWire are pretty fast interfaces, they can’t compete with the SATA interface that your internal hard disk is connected to. This means that if you’re copying large amounts of data to a USB or FireWire external hard disk you’ll be left twiddling your thumbs for a while. In theory eSATA addresses this problem, by hooking up your external drive to the same type of interface as your internal one.

Of course the ubiquity of USB and FireWire ports make external drives that use those interfaces all the more usable, but there has been a lot of recent movement towards eSATA. More and more of the motherboards that make their way into the TrustedReviews lab come equipped with an eSATA port, while many sport two. This means that soon you should be able to plug an eSATA drive into most PCs, which will hopefully make the standard as common as USB.

But Seagate is well aware that there are a great many users out there who will not have an eSATA port on their PC, and has addressed this issue by bundling a Promise eSATA controller PCI card. The decision to use a PCI card instead of a PCI Express card makes this drive a viable option for a far wider audience. Let’s face it, a fast external drive will be a bonus even if you’re running an older PC – in fact if you hook it up to a machine with a basic IDE drive inside it, the external disk will be faster than the internal one!

Installing the PCI controller card was simple enough – just crack your PC open and whack the card in a spare PCI slot, then it’s just a matter of loading the driver from the supplied CD. For comparison, I also plugged an eSATA header into one of the SATA ports on the motherboard and ran the same tests over both connections. The results proved pretty interesting – while copying a very large single file took almost exactly the same time over the motherboard SATA controller and the PCI card, copying a plethora of smaller files was significantly faster over the Promise PCI eSATA controller.

Apple iPod Touch

2008-05-15T01:31:00.001-07:00

The new iPod Touch is a beautiful, beautiful object. It's also got simply the best control system on earth. Honestly, once you've used Apple's two-finger, thumb-friendly touchscreen, you'll wonder how the hell you got along for so long just prodding buttons.

The Touch is the easiest iPod ever to navigate, has a drop-dead gorgeous wide screen for video, lets you leaf your way through Cover Flow album artwork with a thumb, browses the web gracefully via Wi-Fi, and even makes YouTube videos look good. It's a superb, if pricey, piece of kit. There are just a couple of problems with it – the biggest of which is iPhone-shaped.

iPod Touch or iPhone?
Steve Jobs said you could use iPod Touch like training wheels for iPhone. The Touch basically is the iPhone, minus texting and email, a phone connection and a few other neato bits such as Google Maps.

So you do have to make a choice between the two, unless you're Steve Jobs' fantasy Apple consumer who 'trains' for one expensive Apple product by buying another, then chucking it away when they have 'learned' enough to give them another £270.

And if you are making that choice, iPhone clearly wins out – it's still got that neat interface, plus a whole variety of text- and
phone-specific functions. It's a superb phone that happens to double up as a slimline, pocket-sized media player, with the sort of memory one would expect from a product that size.

Transcend JetFlash 220 with Fingerprint Security

2008-05-15T01:21:00.000-07:00

The world-class leader in the field of flash memory and consumer electronics, Transcend has recently announced the launch of its new JetFlash 220 USB thumb drives come equipped with biometric protection. With an unique built-in finger print sensor which embedded on the JetFlash 220, you can protect and access your private/valuable data by simply scanning your fingerprint.

Besides, this USB flash drives also features AES 256-bit encryption technology, driverless operation (Windows 2000/XP/Vista) and fully USB 2.0 compliant for high speed data transfer. In addition, this amazing thumb drives also allows users to automatically log on to web sites (Microsoft Internet Explorer only) for which they have a registered account.

The new Transcend JetFlash 220 USB thumb drives that available in 8GB (Ruby Red), 4GB (Royal Blue), and 2GB (Sunburst Orange) versions are come with a two-years warranty but no words on its price yet.

MOTOROLA RAZR MAXX V6

2008-05-13T19:47:00.000-07:00

Design
Take a look at any phone from Motorola's RAZR line-up, from the original V3 to the garishly golden D&G model, and you'll see the basic design of the MAXX. More than two years since the RAZR form factor first appeared, Motorola is still clinging to the now iconic look, with just a few tweaks to the surfaces and specs.
As with the Samsung A701, many of the MAXX's noteworthy features come from the Telstra Next G network rather than the phone itself. Due to the higher downloads speeds possible on HSDPA, video has been given star billing, with Telstra offering news services and Foxtel on Next G handsets.

The music player can handle a variety of formats including MP3, WMA, WAV and AAC files, but you'll need to shell out for a microSD card if you want to build up a formidable playlist: the internal memory is 50MB.

Performance
Our MAXX suffered from a few inexplicable quirks -- occasionally it took the questionable initiative to turn itself off after being left alone for a few hours, and required a reboot. It also froze a couple of times during Web browsing.

iPod Nano-The Most Popular Music Player

2008-05-13T19:24:00.000-07:00

It’s the small iPod with one very big idea: Video. Now the world’s most popular music player, available in 4GB and 8GB models, lets you enjoy TV shows, movies, video podcasts, and more. The larger, brighter display means amazing picture quality. In six eye-catching colors, iPod nano is stunning all around. And with models starting at just $149, little speaks volumes.
Video
Watch up to 5 hours of TV shows, music videos, movies, and podcasts.
Enhanced Interface
Browse your music by album artwork with Cover Flow. View everything on your iPod nano in a whole new way.
Brighter Display
iPod nano sports a larger, 320-by-240-resolution display that’s 65 percent brighter than before.
Newly Redesigned
In anodized aluminum and polished stainless steel, iPod nano is now 6.5 mm thin and even more beautiful.

Asus F9S-Swivel 240° for Total Image Capturing

2008-05-13T19:20:00.000-07:00

The ASUS F9S´s stylish design for modern sophistication is perfect for today´s urban metropolitans who demand more than functionality in digital devices.

Enjoy revolutionary entertainment on the go - Intel® Core™2 Duo processor in F9S enables breakthrough mobile performance, new high-definition capabilities and improved battery life.

See and be seen with the ASUS F9S eye for style
No matter where you are, the F9S´s built-in 1.3 mega-pixel 240° swivel webcam will bring your vision to wherever you wish to be. Built-in microphone and the exclusive LiveFrame software, especially developed for F9S, allow easy capturing, recording and playing of photos and videos.

stylish Design for Modern Sophistication
As technology gradually integrates with daily life, we look for things beyond functionality in our devices. With black and white being the most enduring classics of fashion, make a statement with the F9S stylish design available in both colors.

Gadgets

2008-05-13T19:13:00.000-07:00

Gadgets appear to be the technical buzzword of the day. It all started with PDC and the announcement that the sidebar had made a return. Taking a page out of the Konfabulator book, Microsoft designed the sidebar to support gadgets, or mini applications.

This was nothing new as it had been speculated that the sidebar would be making a return for several weeks now. What was new was the announcement that gadgets aren't just for the sidebar. There will also be gadgets for the Vista SideShow (Auxillary Display) and for the Start.com aggregator.

I am most excited about the gadgets for Windows SideShow. Windows SideShow (aka Auxillary Display) is a new feature of Vista that allows information to be displayed on devices other than the primary system monitor, whether it be on an LCD on the lid of a laptop, a keyboard display, or a cellphone. Keeping that information in mind, think of the possibility of SideShow gadgets. The new Microsoft Gadgets blog has some interesting possibilities.