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Sony Ericsson Vivaz

admin — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 09:12:45 +0000

Sony Ericsson Vivaz is an elegant cell phone featuring an 8 megapixel camera and the option to record 720p videos. The phone has a large touchscreen, excellent connectivity and a fast processor. Sounds interesting, doesn’t it? If you want to find out more, read on!

Sony Ericsson Vivaz pros:

+ 3.2″ 16M-color resistive touchscreen of 640 x 360 pixel resolution
+ 8 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash,
+ HD 720p video recording @ 24fps with continuous auto focus
+ 720 MHz CPU, dedicated graphics accelerator
+ Quad-band GSM support
+ 8 GB microSD memory card in the package
+ 3G with HSDPA 10.2Mbps and HSUPA 2Mbps support
+ Wi-Fi and GPS with A-GPS
+ microSD card slot (up to 16GB, 8GB card in the box)
+ TV out

Sony Ericsson Vivaz cons:

- No camera lens protection
- No auto mode for the flash/video light
- The S60 5th edition UI isn’t to the best in class standards
- No DivX or XviD support out-of-the-box
- No smart or voice dialing

The design:
Sony Ericsson Vivaz measures 107 x 51.7x 12.5 mm and weighs only 97 grams. The phone comes in four different colors so you can get a serious silver, or easy-going red. The front of the mobile phone features the 3.2-inch touchscreen showing 16M colors in 360 x 640 resolution. Below the screen are three buttons: menu, call and end call. Above the screen is the earpiece and the ambient light sensor. The phone is made mainly of plastic, but since it is of very high quality it feels right. On the left side of the phone there is the 3.5mm audio jack, the loudspeaker and the microUSB port. The right side houses the volume rocker, two shutter keys – one for the camera and the second one for the camcorder. The back of the cell phone houses the 8 megapixel unprotected camera lens and the LED flash.

Performance:
The screen in the Sony Ericsson Vivaz has vivid colors and it is really responsive, yet it has somewhat poor direct sunlight legibility. The mobile phone runs on the 5th edition of Symbian, but a slightly tweaked (improved) version of the OS. The entire OS is very user friendly with its animations, shortcuts and customizability. It does not lag and the built-in accelerometer takes care of rotating the view. The menu structure is quite predictable and thus easy to use. The biggest disadvantage of this Sony Ericsson phone seems lack of smart dialing, but hopefully it will be fixed in a software update.
The phonebook in the Sony Ericsson Vivaz looks as usual in a Symbian phone so there is plenty of space for your contacts. Of course you can add some additional information to each contact, add a photo and a custom ringtone and so on.
Messaging with this phone is a real pleasure. SMS and MMS messages share an editor which shows you in how many parts your message will be sent if you exceed the limit of 160 characters. The email client can download headers, or entire messages and it is super-easy to set up so it will take just a few seconds. Of course you are free to set up multiple email accounts. To input the text you can make use of the virtual alphanumeric keyboard, or the full QWERTY (virtual) keyboard.

Multimedia:
The media center in the Sony Ericsson Vivaz looks much like in the Sony Ericsson Yari, or the Sony Ericsson Aino. The accelerometer works all the time so you can hold the phone as you wish and you’ll be able to see what you want. The music player shows album artwork, has a few equalizer presets and allows track filtering.
The video player works in portrait and landscape modes and plays HD movies, yet it has no DivX/XviD support out of the box.
The FM radio can remember up to 20 stations, but it does not support RDS. Just like the music player, the radio can also be minimized to play in the background.
Although the phone is not among the loudest ones, it surely has a high audio quality.
The 8 megapixel camera in the Sony Ericsson Vivaz can shoot up to 3264 x 2448 photos. The camera interface is comfortable and straightforward. The cell phone produces images with accurate colors, sharp edges and with little noise. Also the contrast and the amount of detail in the photos are ok so you can say that the overall image quality is really superb.
The Sony Ericsson Vivaz can also record 720p videos at 24 fps with autofocus. The videos look surprisingly good. They are smooth and sharp. The autofocus works quite well although it might have some problems with macros.

Selected Sony Ericsson Vivaz features and specifications:
Network

Phone Network
EDGE, GPRS, GSM, HSDPA (3G), HSUPA
Service
850, 900, 1800, 1900, 2100
Connectivity

Bluetooth
v2.1 with A2DP
Infrared
No
Wi-Fi (WLAN)
Yes
USB
YesMicroUSB v2.0
Fax / Data
Yes
Display

Main display
Color TFT touchscreen
Color display
16.000.000 colors
Dimensions
3.2 in.
Resolution
360 x 640 pixels
External display
No
Memory

Internal memory
75MB
External memory
16GB
Memory slots
Yes
Storage types
MicroSD, MicroSDHC
Basic

Battery
Standard battery, Li-Po 1200 mAh
Standby time
430 hours
Talk time
13 hours
Calling

Vibrate alert
Yes
Photo ID
Yes
Ringtones
MP3
Camera

Camera
Yes
Megapixels
8.0 megapixels
Maximum photo resolution
3264×2448 pixels
Digital zoom
Yesx
Optical zoom
No
Auto focus
Yes
Flash
Yes
Recording video
Yes
Second (front) camera
No
Messaging

SMS
Yes
MMS
Yes
T9 text function
Yes
E-mail
Yes
Internet browsing
Yes
Entertainment

FM radio
Yes
Java
Yes
Audio player
AAC, M4A, MP3, RA6, WAV, WMA
Video player
3GP, MP4, RV, WMV
Other recently reviewed cell phones:

LG GW620, HTC Nexus One, LG GW300, Acer Liquid A1, Motorola MILESTONE, BlackBerry Curve 8520, Nokia X3

Kodak Zi8

admin — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 08:37:09 +0000

Kodak Zi8 is a compact full HD camcorder capable of taking 5 megapixel still photos and with the standard 3.5mm external microphone jack. If you are currently looking for a compact HD camcorder that can also take photos you need to read this review.

Kodak Zi8 pros:

+ Available in three colors
+ Good noise performance
+ Smooth motion
+ Good low light performance
+ Standard definition recording as option
+ 5 megapixel still photos
+ Good connectivity

Kodak Zi8 cons:

- Lens has poor focal range
- Colors not accurate in bright light
- 20 MB of built-in memory
- Poor sharpness for an HD camcorder
- No size options for still photos

The design:
Kodak Zi8 measures 2.4 × 4.5 × 0.9 in. And weighs 110 grams without the battery so it is lighter than some cell phones. The front of the camcorder houses the fixed focus lens with the built-in microphone next to it. Below them is the sliding panel underneath which is the battery compartment. The right side of the camcorder features the power button, SD/SDHC card slot and the USB arm. The left side houses the HDMI and AV-out terminals hidden under a cover, a DC-input and the 3.5mm external microphone jack. The back of the Kodak Zi8 hosts the 2.5-inch LCD screen, and a few buttons controlling settings, record and playback modes and the record button itself. At the bottom of the camcorder’s back panel is the built-in speaker. The top of the Kodak Zi8 houses only the macro switch mode, whereas the bottom hosts the tripod mount, USB arm release switch and the wrist strap connector.

Performance:
The little Kodak Zi8 can record Full HD videos with a 30p frame rate, but when you decide to record in 720p you may do so with 30p or 60p.the camcorder uses the H.264 compression. Since the camcorder has only about 20 MB of built-in memory you will have to purchase a memory card. The camcorder has a 3.5mm external microphone jack which is a rarity in compact camcorders. You also get the option to manually set audio levels.

Video quality:
The Kodak Zi8 has an automatic white balance which unfortunately does not work too well and in fact spoilt the color accuracy. Moreover, the camcorder has no adjustable color settings, or any color modes. On the other hand, the motion produced by Kodak Zi8 is really smooth and the video sharpness is just fine. In low lighting conditions the camcorder does a relatively good job, although still a bit worse than the competition such as the JVC Picsio GC-FM1, or Sony HDR-TG5V.

Still photo quality:
The camcorder can take 5 megapixel (3072 x 1728) still photos but there are virtually no manual settings of still photos. The overall still photos quality is similar to the Kodak Zi8’s video performance: the noise is good, but not the color accuracy and sharpness.
Selected Kodak Zi8 features and specifications:
Sensor type: 1 / 2.5-type 5 MP CMOS
Lens: 6.3 mm, f/2.8, fixed focus, 35 mm equivalent: 61 mm (1080p), 46 mm (720p/60 fps, 720p, WVGA), 42 mm (still)
Zoom: 4X digital
Display size: 2.5 in.
Storage: 128 MB internal memory with SD/SDHC card expansion slot
Focus modes: normal, macro
Focus range: normal >> 100 cm–infinity and macro >> 15 cm
White balance: auto
File formats: video >> H.264 (MOV), AAC LC; still >> JPEG
Capture mode:
1080p (1920 × 1080, 30 fps)
720p/60 fps (1280 × 720, 60 fps)
720p (1280 × 720, 30 fps)
WVGA (848 × 480, 30 fps)
Still (5.3 MP, 16:9 widescreen, interpolated)
Microphone: Yes
Speaker: Yes
I/O interface: USB 2.0 (high speed), AV out, HDMI, DC in, external microphone jack (support stereo)
Tripod mount: 1/4 in. standard
Other recently reviewed camcorders:
Canon Vixia HF S21, Samsung HMX-H106, Canon Vixia HF S10, Canon FS200, Sony HDR-CX500V, JVC Everio GZ-HM200, JVC Picsio GC-FM1

LG GW620

admin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:32:27 +0000

LG GW620 also known as the ‚Eve’ is the second LG phone to run Android, yet strangely, only version 1.5 when the latest one is 2.1. The phone features a full QWERTY keyboard, 3-inch touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera and a few more goodies.

LG GW620 pros:

+ Comfy keyboard
+ 5 megapixel camera
+ Supports DivX and XviD videos
+ Camera with plenty of functions
Powerful battery
+ 528 MHz processor and 256 RAM

LG GW620 cons:

- Few personalization options
- Obsolete Android version

The design:
LG GW620 measures 109 x 54.5 x 15.9mm and weighs 139 grams. The front of the LG GW620 houses the 3-inch display and below it are two touch-sensitive keys. When you slide the phone open you will see the the full QWERTY keyboard with 5 row of keys. The key layout reminds the one on a computer keyboard, the keys are responsive and large enough to prevent accidental presses of several buttons at one time. The LG phone has a few standard ports including microUSB, microSD slot, and 3.5mm headphone jack.

Performance:
The 3-inch display in the LG GW620 features a resistive technology which means you can use it even in gloves and it has great sunlight legibility. Although the phone runs an old version of Android (1.5) which means you don’t have some of the latest functions the pre-installed applications in fact provide such functionality (as with the support of Exchange server for instance). Although the phone has only a 528MHz processor and 256MB or RAM it runs smoothly and does not lag. The animations and transitions are fast and all the eye candy features make it only more appealing.
The LG GW620 is integrated with social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Bebo to make it easier to keep in touch with your friends.

Multimedia:
The web browser in the LG GW620 is quite useable. The websites are rendered very well but without Flash. However, zooming is not as easy as on the Acer Liquid A1, or HTC Nexus One.
The media player in LG GW620 supports both DivX and XviD videos right out of the box and it plays them in 480×360 resolution.
The audio player displays album artwork and some visualizations. Of course you can browse your music library in a few different ways and make use of the pre-installed equalizer presets.
The built-in 5 megapixel camera has a wide array of features and different options. The interface has plenty of manual options including white balance, exposure control, macro mode, different shooting modes and more. In auto mode the image quality is good in most lighting conditions. Yet, should that be not enough you may tamper with the different options and achieve even better results.
The LG GW620 can also capture videos yet merely in QVGA resolution at 30 fps so it might be ok for YouTube, but little more.

Selected LG GW620 features and specifications:
Display
TFT resistive touchscreen – 256K colors
320 x 480 pixels – 3.0 inches
Full QWERTY keyboard
Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate
Operating System
Android OS
Processor

Memory
Phonebook: 1000 entries – Photocall
Card slot: microSD (TransFlash) – up to 16GB
Network
2G: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 HSDPA 2100
Camera
5 MP, 2560 x 1920 pixels, autofocus
Video
Yes
Sound
Alert types: Vibration; Downloadable polyphonic / MP3 ringtones
Speakerphone: Yes

Features
MP3 / MP4 / AAC / AAC+ / EAAC+ / WMA player
MP4 player
Organizer
Photo / video editor
Voice memo
T9
Radio
Stereo FM radio
GPS
with A-GPS support
Data
GPRS
Class 12 (4+1/3+2/2+3/1+4 slots), 32 – 48 kbps
HSCSD
Yes
EDGE
Class 10, 236.8 kbps
3G
HSDPA 7.2 Mbps
Wireless
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth
v2.0 with A2DP
USB
v2.0 microUSB
Price: ??
Other recently reviewed cell phones:
HTC Nexus One, LG GW300, Acer Liquid A1, Motorola MILESTONE, BlackBerry Curve 8520, Nokia X3, Samsung OmniaPRO B7330

Toshiba Satellite E205

admin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 09:00:58 +0000

Toshiba Satellite E205 is a new 14-inch laptop with interesting design and Intel Core i5 processor. The laptop can play HD videos, which is not that surprising, but it can also stream them to your HDTV.

Toshiba Satellite E205 pros:

+ Intel Core i5 processor
+ Wireless video streaming to TV
+ Comfy, backlit keybaord
+ Stylish design
+ Two-year warranty
+ Windows 7
+ 500 GB HDD
+ RAM up to 8 GB

Toshiba Satellite E205 cons:

- Longish boot time
- Poor graphics performance
- Keyboard is a fingerprint magnet

The design:
Toshiba Satellite E205 measures 13.7 x 9.6 x 1.2 inches and weighs 5.2 pounds. The laptop has rounded corners and glossy finish which makes it visually attractive, yet also prone to get covered with fingerprints. It also has a diamond-like patterns on the outside and partially on the inside. Unlike other Toshiba laptops the Toshiba Satellite E205 does not have the large manufacturer logo on the back of the display, but a slightly smaller one on the hinge. The laptop has a full sized backlit keyboard making it easy to write at night.
The Toshiba Satellite E205 has three USB ports and one of them may charge some gadgets or work as an eSATA port. Moreover the laptop features the VGA and HDMI ports, memory card reader, Ethernet jack, microphone and headphone ports. Above the display is the 1.3 megapixel webcam supporting face recognition which may be very useful for logging in. The image captured with the camera is quite decent, but the microphone is of a slightly worse quality.

Performance:
The Toshiba Satellite E205 may get a bit too warm after a prolonged use and although the keyboard is not warm enough to be uncomfortable the bottom of the laptop may be annoying if you hold it on your lap. The keyboard is a bit too loud and since it it glossy it attracts fingerprints but it is quite comfortable. The trackpad is quite large and responsive and so it does its job quite well.
The display shows up to 1366×768 resolution. The image is sharp and with accurate colors. Also the sound quality and volume are good. The laptop comes with the Intel’s Wireless Display Technology allowing you to mirror the laptop image on a TV. It is a useful feature although it has some limitations. As on now it does not support gaming or videos in higher resolution than 720p. Apart from that it all works well and is easy to use.
The most basic version of the Toshiba Satellite E205 with 2.27 Core i5 processor and 4 GB of RAM scores almost 5,400 on a PCMark Vantage test. So the laptop scores above the category average and it is perfect for day do day use. When it comes to graphics performance it scores below the average and so it is not suitable for playing the latest games. If you are looking for a gaming noteboog have a look at Alienware m15x.
The laptop should work on a single battery charge for almost 5 hours.

Selected Toshiba Satellite E205 features and specifications:
CPU
2.27-GHz Intel Core i5 430M
RAM Included
4GB
RAM Upgradable
8GB
Hard Drive Size
500GB
Hard Drive Speed
5,400rpm
Hard Drive Type
SATA Hard Drive
Optical Drive Type
DVD /- RW
Optical Speed

Display Size
14
Native Resolution
1366×768
Graphics Card
Intel GMA 4500 MHD
Video Memory
Shared
Wi-Fi
802.11a/g/n
Bluetooth
Bluetooth 2.1 EDR
Mobile Broadband

Operating System
MS Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Ports (excluding USB)
Ethernet; HDMI; Headphone; Microphone; USB/eSATA; VGA
USB Ports
3
Card Slots / Readers
5-1 card reader
Warranty/Support
2-year standard warrant/24/7 tech support
Other recently reviewed laptops:

Alienware m15x, HP Envy 15, Acer Aspire 1410, HP Pavilion dm3, Asus K50,

Casio EX-G1

admin — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 08:52:44 +0000

Casio EX-G1 is a 12 megapixel point and shoot camera with durable body allowing you to shoot in extremely difficult conditions. The camera has interesting design, but as most point and shoot cameras no viewfinder.

Casio EX-G1 pros:

+ Interesting design
+ Good color reproduction
+ low noise levels
+ Excellent sharpness
+ Dedicated video record button
+ Comfortable controls
+ Well balanced and so easy to handle

Casio EX-G1 cons:

- Slight problems with reds and yellows
- In high ISO noise reduction leads to loss of details
- Poor colors in video recording

The design:
Casio EX-G1 measures 104 x 64 x 20mm and weighs 124 grams. The front of the camera houses the lens, assist light, flash, speaker and microphone. On the back of the Casio EX-G1 is the 2.5-inch screen, dedicated video mode button, shutter release button as well as zoom, playback, menu and 4-way controller. The left side hosts only the rubber bump protector, whereas the right side features the port cover release, port cover and the wrist strap connector. The bottom houses only the tripod mount and the battery cover. The top houses the best shot button, power button, and of course the shutter button.

Performance:
The images taken with the Casio EX-G1 have quite good resolution and sharpness. Only on the edges the sharpness gets worse, but it most probably be hardly noticeable for non-professionals. The camera offers 7 image sizes with the largest being 12 megapixel (4000 x 3000). Although the camera has a form of image stabilization called AntiShake it makes almost no difference to the images.
The camera has only a 2.5-inch screen with average resolution, yet the menus are easy to read and navigate trough. The flash is a bit too close to the lens on the camera which means that you may get some red eye effect on your photos. The small battery in the Casio EX-G1 should be enough to take about 300 photos. The camera comes with only 35 MB of internal memory so you will have to buy a microSD memory card.

Image quality:
The Casio EX-G1 captures colors quite accurately and in fact it does a similar job to the competition. Only the reds and yellows were a bit worse than the rest, but still it is good enough for a point and shot digital camera. Since the camera has 8 different color modes you can find the right one by trial and error. Fortunately, the noise is not an issue with the Casio EX-G1 at least as long as you shoot photos below 800 ISO. Then it becomes a bit more problematic, yet still nothing out of the ordinary.

Video quality:
Casio EX-G1 can also record videos and it even has a dedicated video mode button. The camera can record in up to 848 x 480 pixels which is just enough for YouTube. The videos look average and the colors are a bit less attractive than in still images. If recording videos with a digital camera is your thing have a look at our reviews of Nikon COOLPIX S570, or
Canon PowerShot S90.
Selected Casio EX-G1 features and specifications:
Sensor
• 1/2.3″ Type CCD • 12.39 million pixels total • 12.1 million effective pixels
Image sizes
• 12M (4000 x 3000) • 3:2 (4000 x 2656) • 16:9 (4000 x 2240) • 8M (3264 x 2448) • 5M (2560 x 1920) • 3M (2048 x 1536) • VGA (640 x 480)
Movie clips
• 848 x 480 (30 fps)
• 640 x 480 (30 fps)
• 320 x 240 (15 fps)
File formats
• Still: JPEG (DCF / Exif2.2/DPOF compliant)
• Movie: AVI format, Motion JPEG, IMA-ADPCM (monaural)
• Audio: WAV format (monaural)
Lens
• 3x optical zoom
• 38-114mm (35mm equiv.)
• f=6.66 to 19.98mm
• F3.9 – 5.4
• 11 lenses in 9 groups, including aspherical lens
Digital zoom
Yes, up to 4x
Focus
• Contrast Detect AF • Macro Mode • Pan Focus • Infinity Mode • Manual Focus
AF area modes
• Intelligent
• Spot
• Multi Tracking
Focus distance
• Normal: Approx. 10cm – infinity
• Macro: Approx 10cm – 50cm
Metering
• Multi-pattern
• Center weighted
• Spot by imaging element
ISO sensitivity
• Auto
• 64
• 100
• 200
• 400
• 800
• 1600
• 3200
Exposure compensation
-2EV to +2EV (in 1/3EV steps)
Shutter speed
• Auto: 1/2-1/1250 sec
• Night Scene: 4-1/1250 sec
Aperture
• F3.9 – F5.4
White balance
• Auto
• Daylight
• Overcast
• Shade
• Day White F
• Daylight FL
• Tungsten
• Manual WB
Self timer
• 10 seconds
• 2 seconds
• Triple Self-timer
Continuous shooting
Approx. 3 frames per second at 1600 x 1200 pixels (Up to 8 shots)
Flash
• Auto, Flash Off, Flash On, Soft Flash, Red Eye Reduction
• Range:Approx. 0.1 to 2.4m (W), approx. 0.5 to 1.1m (T)
Viewfinder
No
LCD monitor
• 2.5″ TFT LCD Display
• 230,400 dots
Connectivity
• USB2.0 High speed
• AV Output (NTSC/PAL)
Storage
• microSDHC Memory Card, microSD Memory Card
• 35.7MB internal memory
Power
• Rechargeable lithium ion battery (NP-80)
• Charger included

Other recently reviewed digital cameras:
Nikon COOLPIX S570, Sony Alpha DSLR-A550, Panasonic DMC-GH1, Canon PowerShot S90, Olympus E-P1, Nikon Coolpix L100, Kodak EasyShare Z950

Canon Vixia HF S21

admin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 10:52:12 +0000

Canon Vixia HF S21 features a 64GB of built-in flash memory, two memory card slots should that be not enough, an improved LCD, automatic lens cover and much, much more goodies.

Canon Vixia HF S21 pros:

+ 64GB internal memory
+ 3.5-inch touchscreen LCD
+ Outstanding sharpness
+ Very good low light sensitivity
+ 8-megapixel still photos
+ Plenty of manual controls

Canon Vixia HF S21 cons:

- Merely 10x optical zoom
- Noise levels a bit too high
- No standard definition recording

The design:
Canon Vixia HF S21 measures 3 x 5.8 x 2.9 inches and weighs 16.6 oz. The front of the Canon camcorder features the 10x optical zoom lens, autofocus sensor and the control dial with a custom key. The right side of the Canon Vixia HF S21 houses the auto/manual mode switch, the built-in speaker, wrist strap, and the hand strap. The back houses the DC-input, electronic viewfinder, start/stop record button and the battery pack. The left side features the 3.5-inch touchscreen LCD, and plenty of buttons and ports in the LCD chamber. The top of the camcorder is home to the zoom toggle, photo shutter button, pop-up flash and Canon proprietary mini hot shoe. The bottom of the Canon Vixia HF S21 houses only the battery release switch and the tripod mount.

Performance:
The Canon Vixia HF S21 uses the AVCHD compression and has five quality options. The maximum is 1920 x 1080 in 24Mbps. In this quality you can store up to 355 minutes (almost 6 hours) of videos in the built-in memory so there is really no need for the memory cards yet it is nice to have that option. The camcorder has a lot more manual controls than the competition, and the improved LCD screen has implemented plenty of automatic controls which makers the camcorder very good tool for both beginners and professionals.

Video quality:
The color accuracy in the Canon Vixia HF S21 is good, yet a bit worse than in some other Canon camcorders released last year, such as Canon Vixia HF S10, or Canon FS200. The noise levels are good, but again other camcorders may do a better job in this respect. On the other hand the Canon Vixia HF S21 has a lot more color controls than most other camcorders. The motion recorded by this Canon camcorder is really outstanding. Moreover, the videos are always very sharp. Low light video performance is disappointing although it is better than in some of the recent Canon camcorders. Fortunately, when you use an alternate frame rate you can improve the overall low light video quality.

Still photo quality:
The camcorder can take up to 8 megapixel (3264 x 2456) still photos in the still mode or up to 3264 x 1840 while recording a video. Thanks to the pop-up flash you can also take photos in low light with this camcorder. The color accuracy and sharpness are very good, yet as with the videos the camcorder may produce a little too much noise in still photos.

Selected Canon Vixia HF S21 features and specifications:

Standard Definition or High Definition

High Definition

Television System

NTSC

Video Recording system

MPEG4-AVC / H.264

Image Sensor

1/2.6-inch CMOS, RGB Primary Color Filter

Total Pixels

Approx. 8.59 Megapixels

Effective Pixels

Video: Approx. 6.01 Megapixels (3264 x 1840) Photo: 16:9 Approx. 6.01 Megapixels (3264 x 1840); 4:3 Approx. 8.02 Megapixels (3264 x 2456)

Lens

Zoom Ratio 10x Optical/200x Digital Focal Length f-6.4-64mm (35mm equivalent 43.5-435mm) Zoom Speed Variable / 3 Fixed Zoom Speeds Max. F/Stop f/1.8-3.0

Focusing System

Instant AF, Face Priority AF, TTL (through the lens)

Manual Exposure

Yes
Other recently reviewed camcorders:
Samsung HMX-H10, Canon Vixia HF S10, Canon FS200, Sony HDR-CX500V, JVC Everio GZ-HM200, JVC Picsio GC-FM1, Sony HDR-TG5V.

Lenovo IdeaPad U150

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 12:21:21 +0000

Lenovo IdeaPad U150 is an 11.6-inch consumer netbook with powerful battery and interesting design. The netbook runs Windows 7 and supports up to 4Gb of RAM.

Lenovo IdeaPad U150 pros:

+ 11.6″ 1366 X 768 display
+ 250GB HDD
+ Windows 7
+ Supports up to 4 GB of RAM
+ 1.3 Megapixel built-in webcam
+ Integrated Intel GMA 4500HD graphics

Lenovo IdeaPad U150 cons:

- Might get too warm
- A bit to expensive
- Not too good speakers

The design:
Lenovo IdeaPad U150 measures 11.4 x 7.5 x 1.4 inch and weighs 3.2 pounds. The keyboard in the has large enough keys for comfortable writing even if you have larger fingers. The keys are responsive and and comfortable to use so you can quickly get accustomed to the whole keyboard. The touchpad is a bit too small, but responsive and it get the job done quite nicely. It supports multitouch gestures and has dual mouse buttons which makes it even more comfortable. The netbook has decent connectivity: 3USB ports, eSATA, HDMI and VGA ports. Moreover, you also get the 4-in-1 memory card reader.

Performance:
The 11.6-inch screen is capable of displaying 1366 x 768 pixels and it shows bright and accurate colors. The integrated Intel GMA 4500HD graphics let you watch 720p videos without too much effort. It seems that the Lenovo IdeaPad U150’s weakest point is the audio quality which compared to the graphics performance is rather weak. Although the sound is quite loud it can’t compare to Acer Aspire One 532h, or Samsung N510.
The 1.3 megapixel webcam above the screen does a very good job even in poor light so conferencing with the Lenovo IdeaPad U150 should be seamless. When it comes to the overall performance of this Lenovo netbook it scores a bit above the category average. So although its price is also slightly above the average its performance compensates that.
The battery in the netbook also runs longer than an average netbook and not just a few minutes, but an entire hour! This small device can wirelessly browse the internet for over six and a half hours on one charge.

Conclusion:
All in all, if video performance i a lot more important to you that the netbook’s audio quality the Lenovo IdeaPad U150 might be just the right netbook for you. It will enable you to watch HD movies and play some games for a quite reasonable price.
Selected Lenovo IdeaPad U150 features and specifications:
CPU type
Intel Pentium SU2700
CPU speed
1200 Mhz
Graphics
Intel GMA 4500MHD
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium
Display Size
11.6″ 1366 X 768
RAM
2048 MB
Hard Disk
250 GB
Keyboard
YES
Mouse Pointer
YES
Battery capacity
57 (Wh)

Physical Interfaces
Ethernet 10/100
HDMI
Line-out / Headphone (3.5mm)
MIC-in
USB2.0 (x3)
VGA
eSATA

Wireless Interfaces
802.11b/g
802.11n
BT 2.1
No Wireless WAN (e.g. 3G cellular)

Additional Specs and Accessories (can vary)
WebCam 1.3Mp

Other recently reviewed notebooks:

Acer Aspire One 532, Samsung N510, Sony VAIO X, Gateway LT2016u

Nikon COOLPIX S570

admin — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 09:05:55 +0000

Nikon COOLPIX S570 is a 12 megapixel compact point-and-shoot digital camera with 2.7-inch screen and decent video recording features.

Nikon COOLPIX S570 pros:

+ Superb image quality
+ 5x optical zoom
+ Good battery life
+ Video recording in 640 x 480 at 30fps
+ Low noise levels

Nikon COOLPIX S570 cons:

- No optical image stabilization
- No HD video recording

The design:
Nikon COOLPIX S570 measures 56.5 x 92 x 21.5mm and weighs 129 grams. The camera is available in a few different colors so you can get the most suitable one for yourself. This Nikon camera has a metallic finish which adds to its serious look. The Nikon COOLPIX S570 is small even for a compact camera so it is easy to carry around, yet if you have larger fingers you may find operating it quite challenging. The front of the camera houses the Nikkor 5x Wide Optical Zoom lens and above it the flash, whereas the back houses the 2.7-inch LCD. On the right side of the screen is the 4-way controller and below it the mode selector and playback buttons. The top of the Nikon camera hosts the shutter release key and a slightly recessed on/off button. The bottom houses only the battery and memory card compartment and the tripod mount.
In the continuous mode the Nikon COOLPIX S570 will take slightly less than a photo per second in the highest resolution.

Performance:
The built-in flash in the Nikon COOLPIX S570 has the reach of 5.5 meters which is better than cameras such as Canon PowerShot S90, or Nikon Coolpix L100. The red-eye reduction feature in the camera not only pre0flashes, but also applies some image post-processing to remove the vampire eyes effect. It takes the Nikon COOLPIX S570 less than three seconds to start up so it is quite fast. Unfortunately, the camera has no optical image stabilization and the electronic stabilization that it does feature won’t work miracles.

Image quality:
The Nikon COOLPIX S570 features full auto mode which takes care of all the settings for you, but it also has a few scene modes to choose from if you decide you want to set everything manually. The automatic mode works really well and the images look good. They are sharp, with plenty of detail and accurate colors. Also the noise level in quite low. In the manual mode everything depends on you, but if you know what you are doing you can achieve really good result with the Nikon COOLPIX S570.
The camera can also record movies in up to 640 x 480 resolution at 30 fps. Although it cannot compare to cameras capable of full HD video recording the video quality is surprisingly good. For sure it is more than enough to record a video for YouTube.

All in all, although the Nikon COOLPIX S570 does not have optical image stabilization it takes high quality photos which should be satisfactory for al casual photographers. Especially that it comes at a really reasonable price of about $180.
Selected Nikon COOLPIX S570 features and specifications:
Camera Flash
Features
AF illuminator
Red Eye Reduction
Yes
Flash Modes
Fill-in mode, slow synchro, auto mode, flash OFF mode, red-eye reduction
Camera Flash
Built-in flash
Main Features
Still Image Format
JPEG
White Balance Presets
Incandescent, fluorescent, cloudy, flash, daylight
White Balance
Automatic, presets
Exposure Modes
Program, automatic
Image Stabilizer
Electronic
Light Sensitivity
ISO 100, ISO 800, ISO 400, ISO 200, ISO 80, ISO 1600, ISO 3200, ISO auto (80-400), ISO auto (80-800), ISO auto (80-1600)
Optical Sensor Size
1/2.3″
Effective Sensor Resolution
12,000,000 pixels
Total Pixels
12,390,000 pixels
Optical Sensor Type
CCD
Color Support
Color
Resolution
12.0 Megapixel
Digital Zoom
4 x
Shooting Modes
Frame movie mode
Face Detection
Yes
Battery
Supported Battery Details
1 x Li-ion rechargeable battery ( included )
Supported Battery
Nikon EN-EL10
Other recently reviewed digital cameras:
Sony Alpha DSLR-A550, Panasonic DMC-GH1, Canon PowerShot S90, Olympus E-P1, Nikon Coolpix L100, Kodak EasyShare Z950, Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3.

Sony Alpha DSLR-A550

admin — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 15:27:15 +0000

Sony Alpha DSLR-A550 is a new digital SLR from top shelf featuring 14.2 megapixel Sony Exmor CMOS sensor. The camera has the latest BIONZ image processing sensor and ISO sensitivity range of 200 to 12800 which may give you a hint as to what this camera is capable of.

Sony Alpha DSLR-A550 pros:

+ 14.2 megapixel CMOS sensor
+ ISO range of 200 – 12800
+ 3-inch screen showing 921,600 pixels
+ Two live modes
+ Continuous shooting at up to 7 fps
+ 9-point autofocus
+ Powerful battery

Sony Alpha DSLR-A550 cons:

- Tends to oversaturate
- Larger than competition
- No AF assist lamp
- Limited scene modes
- 4-way controller may seem small
- No video recording

The design:
Sony Alpha DSLR-A550 measures 137 x 104 x 84mm and weighs 599 grams. The front of this Sony camera features the lens release, control dial, remote sensor, self-timer lamp and the focus mode switch. The back of the Sony Alpha DSLR-A550 is crammed with buttons, sensors and such like. It houses the 3-inch screen 4-way controller, viewfinder, teleconverter, as well as buttons controlling playback, image rotation, zoom in and out, display and menu. The left side of the camera houses the focus mode switch, flash control, HDMI / USB connectors whereas the right side features merely the memory card slot. The bottom of the Sony Alpha DSLR-A550 is home to the battery compartment and the tripod mount, whereas the top hosts the proprietary hot shoe, the pop up flash, mode dial shutter release button and a few other controls.

Performance:
The Sony Alpha DSLR-A550 has a powerful battery, large screen and great flash. It produces sharp images and it supports 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios. The camera features a built-in image stabilization system, although it isn’t that good. The auto white balance works surprisingly well, even in fluorescent lighting and rarely only the incandescent light may pose a slight problem.
Playback has somewhat limited functionality, but it should be quite sufficient. The camera has also no in-camera editing features. If you are a keen continuous mode shooter the Sony Alpha DSLR-A550 is a camera for you. It can shoot up to 9 photos per second.

Image quality:
The Sony Alpha DSLR-A550 is quite a good performer in most respects. The greens, purples and skin tones are reproduces very well, yet the blues and reds are slightly worse. Unfortunately all color modes tend to oversaturate the images. Compared to the competition such as the Panasonic DMC-GH1, or the Olympus E-P1 the Sony camera produces slightly more noise. On the other hand, the Sony Alpha DSLR-A550 has the widest ISO range.

Selected Sony Alpha DSLR-A550 features and specifications:

Megapixel

14.20

Resolution

4592 x 3056 pixels

Sensor

CMOS
23.4×15.6mm

Zoom

N/A

Video

N/A

Display

LCD 3″

921600 pixels

Storage

SD
SDHC
MS Pro Duo / Pro HG Duo

Battery

Li-Ion
1000 shots

Price: $999 body only

Other recently reviewed digital cameras:
Panasonic DMC-GH1, Canon PowerShot S90, Olympus E-P1, Nikon Coolpix L100, Kodak EasyShare Z950, Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3.

HTC Nexus One

admin — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 10:04:06 +0000

HTC Nexus One is the first cell phone to be sold exclusively by Google and to feature the Android 2.1 OS. although the phone is manufactured by HTC you will not see its logo on the box. yet, it can be seen at the back of the phone itself.

HTC Nexus One pros:

+ 3.7-inch AMOLED with 480×800 WVGA resolution
+ Plenty of Ram and fast processor
+ Speech to text
+ Improves UI
+ Excellent connectivity
+ Google integration
+ Pleasant design

HTC Nexus One cons:

- No mutlitouch gesture support
- Poor camera
- No voice dialling

The design:
HTC Nexus One measures 119 x 59.8 x 11.5 mm and weighs 130 grams so the phone may seem a bit heavy, but you can quickly get accustomed to it. The phone’s most prominent feature is its large, 3.7-inch screen showing 480×800 pixels. The phone is grey, but it is available in two different grey shades. there are almost no physical buttons on the HTC Nexus One. It has only the volume rocker on the left and the power button. The front of the phone also features a trackball below the screen. the back of HTC Nexus One houses the 5 megapixel camera lend and a LED flash unit on its right. slightly below is the Google logo and the the bottom the HTC. the HTC Nexus One has a simplistic, yet appealing design saying it is aimed at businessmen.

Performance:
The display in the HTC Nexus One is bright, with great contrast and abundance of colors. The direct sunlight legibility is great and using it is a real pleasure. it is simply one of the best displays on the market at the moment.
The phone runs on the Android OS 2.1. The last version tweaked the visual aspect of the OS and the 2.1 brings some new features such as Facebook integration, or Quick Contacts. But there are some new eye candy features, such as the live wallpapers for instance. Now, with the Android 2.1 you get 5 homescreens and some other small, yet handy features. With its 1GHz processor the HTC Nexus One everything happens so quickly that you will not want to use any other phone.
One more new to the Android 2.1 feature is Speech to text which means you can dictate messages (SMS, and emails). You can, of course, integrate multiple Gmail accounts with the HTC Nexus One. If you decide that text to speech is not a feature for you the virtual QWERTY keyboard should fulfill your needs.

Multimedia:
The HTC Nexus One has a refreshed Image Gallery which not has smooth animations, transitions and plenty of sorting options. The HTC Nexus One also handles videos quite nicely. It smoothly plays H.263 videos, but unfortunately the phone has no DivX/XviD support.
The 5 megapixel camera has very few options and so the camera performance is merely good and cannot compare with Motorola MILESTONE, or Nokia X3.
The music player in Android 2.1 is pretty much the same as it was in earlier versions of the OS. the sound quality is good, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Selected HTC Nexus One features and specifications:

Processor

Qualcomm® QSD8250™, 1 GHz

Operating System

Android™ 2.1 (Éclair)

Memory

ROM: 512 MB
RAM: 512 MB

Display

3.7-inch AMOLED with 480×800 WVGA resolution

Network

HSDPA/WCDMA:

900/AWS/2100 MHz
Up to 2 Mbps up-link and 7.2 Mbps down-link speeds

Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE:

850/900/1800/1900 MHz

Device Control

Trackball with Enter button

Internal GPS antenna

Connectivity

Bluetooth® 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate and A2DP for wireless stereo headsets
Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11 b/g
Micro-USB port
3.5 mm audio jack

Camera

5.0 megapixel color camera with auto focus, 2X digital zoom, LED flash, and geo tagging

Audio supported formats

.aac, .amr, .awb, .wav, .wma, .mp3, .mid

Video supported formats

.mp4, .3gp, .3g2, .m4v

Battery

Rechargeable Lithium-ion polymer battery Capacity: 1400 mAh Talk time:
Up to 10 hours for 2G networks
Up to 7 hours for 3G networks
Standby time:
Up to 290 hours for 2G networks
Up to 250 hours for 3G networks
(The above are subject to network and phone usage.)

Expansion Slot

microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)

AC Adapter

Voltage range/frequency: 100 ~ 240 V AC, 50/60 Hz
DC output: 5V and 1A

Special Features

Proximity sensor
Ambient light sensor
G-sensor
Digital Compass

Price $529

Other recently reviewed mobile phones:
LG GW300, Acer Liquid A1, Motorola MILESTONE, BlackBerry Curve 8520, Nokia X3, Samsung OmniaPRO B7330, Sony Ericsson Yari