Digital World

Asus LS201

2008-01-25T03:12:00.000+02:00

We like to gesture excitedly at the pretty pictures on our screen as much as the next IT enthusiast, but we struggle to recall a time when a stray finger jab has left more than a slightly annoying smudge. Nevertheless, if you regularly manhandle your monitor, Asus may have the ideal solution: the punch-proof LS201. On a more mundane note, it's supposedly scratch-proof, too.

Overall quality is high, with an acceptable white level and an impressive black level. We found no flaws in our colour-gradient tests, and the 5ms response time meant fast-moving video showed no signs of blurring. As you'd expect with such a glossy display, edges are incredibly sharp and the colours in our HD video clips were vivid and accurate.

Conclusion

The LS201 isn't great. It's not scratch-proof -- at least not in our extreme tests. Neither does it offer great image quality. If you're after a stylish-looking 20-inch monitor, you're better off with the LG Black Jewel.
The LS201 does offer better protection than an ordinary monitor, but so what? We'd rather it had decent image quality than average-at-best protection.

Canon Powershot A720 IS

2008-01-25T03:02:00.001+02:00

The Canon PowerShot A720 IS is based around the previous PowerShot A710 IS model, and a 6x optical zoom lens -- an equivalent of 35 to 210mm, making the A720 excellent for all-purpose photography. It also includes a high resolution eight-megapixel sensor, more than enough for tack-sharp 11 x 14-inch prints with some cropping. Although the resolution has been increased from the prior A710 model, the Canon A720 IS offers an ISO range that's been extended at the top end for an equivalent of ISO 80 to 1,600 -- plenty for indoor low-light shots.

The Canon PowerShot A720 stores its images on SD/SDHC memory cards, with a not-so-generous 16MB included in the product bundle. A USB 2.0 Hi-Speed computer connection provides for speedy downloads, fast enough that most users will find no need for a separate card reader. There's also NTSC/PAL video connectivity. Power comes from two AA batteries, with disposable alkalines in the product bundle.

The overall style of the A720 IS is very similar to most of the other models in the range. The body is made from plastic, but the build quality is up to Canon's usual high standard. It does emit a few creaks when given a good squeeze and there are a few areas on the body that do flex slightly, but it feels reasonably robust, and the fit and finish of the controls and other external features is very good. The battery/card hatch has a metal hinge, and the rubber-like plug covering the access ports on the left of the body fits securely. The tripod bush is plastic, and is located right at the far end of the base plate, which could cause a few problems, but at least it means you can open the hatch when the camera is fitted to a tripod. The camera is somewhat larger than most pocket compacts, measuring 97.3 x 67.0 x 41.9 mm, and weighs around 250g including the pair of AA batteries that supply it with power, so it'll take up a lot of room in your pocket.

Sony Cybershot DSCW55 7.2MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Black)

2008-01-14T20:39:00.000+02:00

In silver, black, pink, or light blue, the DSC-W55 is a stand-out choice for style-conscious start-out or step-up camera customers who appreciate real value and advanced technology. 7.2 MP imaging, Carl Zeiss 3x optical zoom lens and high sensitivity combine to capture clear, high-detail images even in low light--and with up to 380-shot2 Stamina battery power, 56 MB internal memory capacity and large 2.5-inch LCD screen, the DSC-W55 is ideal for family memories at home or on the road.
7.2-Megapixel Super HAD CCD
More megapixels give you more detail and definition when you make big prints or crop in tight on your subject. The advanced Sony Super HAD (Hole Accumulated Diode) CCD design allows more light to pass to each pixel, increasing sensitivity and reducing noise.

Carl Zeiss 3x Optical Zoom Lens Design
A top-quality Carl Zeiss 3x optical zoom lens design helps the DSC-W55 bring distant subjects closer and lets you frame shots quickly for better composition--a real advantage for family sports, outdoor fun and travel photos.

Large 2.5-Inch LCD Screen
The DSC-W55 provides a large, bright LCD screen for composing shots, checking results, sharing your photos on location and reading camera setup menus even in full sunlight.

High Sensitivity Mode
With high sensitivity of ISO 1000, the DSC-W55 gives you better shots in low light so you can shoot without flash to preserve the mood--great for birthday parties, indoor gatherings and candid portraits.

Clear RAW Noise Reduction
The original Sony Clear RAW NR (Noise Reduction) image processing technology helps suppress color noise that can accompany high-sensitivity shooting.

56MB Internal Memory
The DSC-W55 allows you to capture a large number of images without a flash memory card, so it's great for traveling or for quick candid snapshots.

Memory Stick Duo Media Convenience
The DSC-W55 also has a built-in slot for optional Memory Stick Duo or Memory Stick PRO Duo media--the compact, high-capacity storage media that make it easily to upload photos to your computer or make lab-quality prints at home on your SonyPicture Station digital printer (sold separately).

Function Guide Text/Icon Display
An on-screen Function Guide text/icon display makes it easy to learn the camera functions that give you greater creative freedom to adjust photo settings.

Versatile Color Modes
The DSC-W55 gives you greater creative freedom to adjust color mode for the creative results you want--with Natural setting for subtle colors, Rich setting for more intense colors, in addition to Monochrome and Sepia color settings.

Convenient Photo Modes
To adjust quickly for specific shooting situations, the DSC-W55 lets you choose from several convenient photo modes: Auto, P-Auto, and Scene Selections for Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Landscape, High Sensitivity, Soft Snap, Snow, and Beach environments.

14x Smart Zoom Feature
The Sony Smart Zoom feature intelligently "crops into" the central portion of interest in your photo, avoiding the image degradation of other digital zooms.

MPEG Movie VX Fine Mode
The DSC-W55 can capture VGA (640 x 480) audio/video clips at high frame rate (up to 30 frames per second4), with length limited only by the capacity of your media.

Stamina Battery Power
Sony lets you capture up to 380 shots2 with a fully charged NP-BG1 Lithium Ion battery--enough shooting capacity to cover a long weekend or a whole vacation.

Burst Mode
You can fire off four shots automatically at 7.2 MP mode or up to 64 shots at VGA standard mode--a great way to capture a child's first steps or a pet's best tricks.

Picture Motion Browser Software
Supplied software makes it easier to upload, organize and search photos on your PC--and provides a convenient map view function to sort photos by location and display their origin on a world map by using an optional GPS unit.

What's in the box
Sony Cybershot DSCW55 digital camera, NP-BG1 rechargeable battery, BC-CSG battery charger, AV and USB multi-connector cables, wrist strap, software CD-ROM (Note: No Memory Stick DUO media or adaptors are included.)

Product Description
7.2 Megapixel of detail and definition gives you the option of large prints or crop in tight on your subject. The Super HAD(TM) CCD design allows more light to pass to each pixel increasing sensitivity and reducing noise. Top-quality Carl Zeiss lens helps you bring you subject closer and frame shots quickly for better compositions, ideal for family sporting events, outdoor fun and travel photos. Check your composition shots on the large, bright 2.5-inch LCD Screen, share your photos on location or video the setup menu even in full sunlight. Even shoot in low light with the high sensitivity ISO 1000. Original Clear RAW Noise Reduction helps suppress color noise. 56MB of Internal Memory let's you start shooting right away. Then, when you're ready, upload you pictures onto a Memory Stick(R) Duo media or PC for printing. Capture VGA 640x480 video clips with audio at high frame rates up to 30 frames per second with length limited only by the capacity of my media. Get up to 380 shots with a fully charged NP-BG1 Lithium Ion battery. Enough for a long weekend or a whole vacation. Burst Mode let's you shoot up to 64 shots at VGA Standard Mode. High Sensitivity ISO 1000 Clear RAW Noise Reduction Burst and MPEG Movie VX Fine Mode White Balance - Automatic, Cloudy, Daylight, Fluorescent, Incandescent and Flash Self Timer - 10 Seconds, 2 Seconds and Off Red-Eye Reduction Up to 64 Shot VGA at 1.3 fps Burst Mode Scene Modes - Beach, High Sensitivity, Landscape, Snow, Soft Snap, Twilight and Twilight Portrait Movie Mode - MPEG VX Fine with Audio at 30 fps 640x480 Optical Viewfinder 6 Elements in 5 Groups, 3 Aspheric Elements Lens Construction 35mm Equivalent - 38-114mm Shutter Speed - 1/8-1/2000 seconds 1/3 EV Step Increments Exposure Compensation Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1000 ISO Battery Capacity - 3.6V, 960 mAh Dimensions - 3.5 x 2.25 x 0.875 inch, 89mm x57mm x 23mm Weight - 4.2 ou

NEC LaVie

2008-01-14T16:44:00.000+02:00

Known as the panoramic laptop, the Acer Aspire 7720 gemstone laptop features a widescreen display (a glossy 17-incher), a Core 2 Duo Processor T5450 processor, 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, and NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS graphics, and of course Gemstone design

Dell XPS M1730

2008-01-14T16:24:00.000+02:00

It's the first laptop ever to use a dedicated Ageia PhysX processing unit alongside two separate high-end graphics cards. In most gaming situations, there isn't another laptop on the planet that can compete. Anyone with a large enough wallet -- and a strong enough back

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Processor/Display

Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme X7900 (2.8GHz/800Mhz FSB, 4MB Cache)

Operating System

Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate Edition - English

Memory

2GB4 Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz

Hard Drive

RAID Performance: 400GB2 (2x200GB) 7200RPM Free Fall sensor

Combo or DVD+RW Drive

CD / DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW Drive)

Video Card

NVIDIA®SLI™Dual GeForce®8700MGT with 512MB4 GDDR3 Memory

Physics Game Accelerator

AGEIA PhysX™ 100M Processor

Wireless Networking

Intel® PRO/Wireless 4965a/g/n Mini Card

Primary Battery

9-cell Primary Battery and 9-cell additional Lithium Ion Battery

Sound Options

Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy HD Software Edition

Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed)

Trend Micro Internet Security 15-months3

Warranty & Service
3Yr In-Home Service,6 Parts + Labor,5 24x7 Phone Support

Design

The XPS M1730 is not pretty, but what did you expect from a laptop nicknamed 'The Beast'? Like most of Dell's consumer laptop range, it's available in a range of colours, including red, blue, grey and white. We were sent the grey model, which if you look closely has a swirly, carbon fibre-esque pattern that give it a scaly, reptilian look

Conclusion

The XPS M1730 is the best gaming laptop in the world right now. It slays the Alienware mALX for several reasons: it's nearly 2kg lighter, its display resolution is significantly higher and it's less expensive. If you're a fan of hi-res PC games, you needn't look any further

Red Nokia 5310

2008-01-13T19:07:00.000+02:00

The Nokia 5310 is a seriously thin mobile phone, measuring in at just 9.9mm. The Nokia 5310 focuses on music. Your music, with you, when you want it. The 5310 offers crystal clear playback, and a playback time of up to 18 hours. Memory capacity can be boosted by the addition of Micros SD cards, with the Nokia 5310 supporting up to 4GB in capacity. Audio files supported by the music player include MP3, MP4, AAC, eAAc+, and WMA.

Windows Mobile 7

2008-01-13T18:58:00.000+02:00

A new version of Windows Mobile 7 is coming, and it’s being aimed squarely at the iPhone’s throat, according to an excellent report on the Inside Microsoft Blog.
Now, there are due to be some serious changes to Windows Mobile, in light of all the innovations the iPhone’s brought to the market. So, Windows mobile 7 is touted as being touch control without needing a stylus, but on top of that, it has gesture controls. Not, however, gesture controls using gyroscopes and accelerometers in the phone. Gesture controls using the phone’s camera to recognise when it’s being moved about.
Now, you may ask why they’ve gone down that route, instead of using hardware, but when you think about it, it has two MASSIVE advantages:
1) It allows user to “distance control” the phone using gestures in mid-air, in front of the camera.
2) It allows people with phones running Windows Mobile (such as the XDA Orbit), to upgrade the operating system on their phone to run Windows Mobile 7, and get a whole slew of new features and cool stuff! (And they’re also being clever and writing the software so it will support handsets with touchscreens, or with keypads, or with BOTH, making it very versatile in terms of what phones can use it.)
It remains to be seen how well it works in the flesh, but if it’s half as nice as these screenshots (which make it looks similar to the dark blue ‘futuristicness’ of Windows Media Player 11) make it out… it’s gonna be stunning

Nokia N81 8GB

2008-01-13T18:49:00.000+02:00

Take gaming on a mobile phone to a whole new level with the fantastic Nokia N81. Designed as a gaming handset the N81 comes packed with dedicated gaming keys and high quality N-Gage capability. There's a quality 2.4" screen to enhance your gaming experience, or simply use it to view your pictures and videos. With a fantastic data suite including 3G, EDGE, HSCSD and Wi-Fi, download tunes or surf the web - it's all so quick and easy with the N81. In addition you'll find a huge 8GB of internal memory for storage, a 2MP camera, MP3 player, FM radio, a 3.5mm headphone jack and lots more!

Features
Quad Band
2 Megapixel Camera
FM radio and MP3 player
8GB internal memory
Symbian OS 9.2, Series 60 v3.1 UI
3G, EDGE and GPRS technology
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, UPnP technology
3.5-mm stereo headphone minijack
WAP 2.0/xHTML
Dimensions: 102 x 50 x 17.9 mm
Weight: 140 grams
More Images
Open View Angle 1 View Angle 2 View Front View Angle 3 View

InFocus IN10

2008-01-13T18:36:00.000+02:00

The InFocus IN10 is a very small projector: measuring 19.8cm wide by 15.5cm deep by 6.35cm high and weighing 1.09kg, it’s just about the most portable projector you can buy. Put it down on a desk and it seems to take up less space than the cables that come bundled with it.
The lens protrudes slightly from the front and is fitted with manual focus and zoom rings that allow projection distances ranging between 1.5m and 9.85m, making the projector useful in a wide range of locations.
A small adjustable plastic foot enables image height adjustment, with a vertical digital keystone correction available in the menu. Horizontal tilt adjustment is also possible by unscrewing one of two rubber feet at the rear until the device is level.
It’s hard to imagine such a diminutive device delivering a presentation large enough to fill a boardroom — until you turn it on, that is. With 1800 Lumens at its disposal, the IN10 is noticeably brighter than the LP70+ it replaces.
Of course, there are compromises to be made: there’s no economy mode, for example, so it’s always running at full tilt. It's also harder to manage air flow in a small case, and the IN10's necessarily small fan produces a fair amount of noise as it cools the internals. However, even when running flat-out, the lamp life is rated at up to 4,000 hours, which is double what you’ll get out of some larger models from InFocus.
The top of the unit houses seven control buttons: Power, Menu, Enter and four cursor controls. The buttons themselves seem exceedingly small even on a projector this small. They’re the same size as those on the remote control, and neither set is illuminated.
With a body this compact, there’s very little room for the usual selection of connectors. Instead, we see the use once again of InFocus’s favourite connector, the M1-DA, this time without the familiar VGA and DVI inputs we'd usually expect.
Usually, finding an M1-DA connector at the back of a projector is cause for frustration. Nothing else seems to use it, so you’ll need an adapter or a special — and usually expensive — cable before you can hook up any of your equipment.
A standard DVI-I port would have enabled the use of both standard 15-pin VGA cables and digital DVI cables via affordable and widely available adapters. However, the M1-DA port also incorporates USB functionality and the supplied cable provides both an analogue VGA and a USB connector. Don’t lose this, otherwise you’ll have trouble using the projector until you’ve ordered a replacement.
If you want to use a digital connection, you’ll have to fork out for an optional DVI to M1-D cable, as there isn’t one provided with the unit.
We found the IN10 was impressively bright for its size, although somewhat lacking in contrast. Colours also appeared somewhat muted by comparison to other DLP projectors we’ve tested.
The InFocus IN10 is certainly very impressive for an ultraportable, but if you want to carry a projector in the same case as your notebook ,take a look at the ultra-slimline IN12 or IN15 models which are a little heavier, but only 4.3cm thick.

Touch MP4

2008-01-13T02:36:00.000+02:00

Detailed Product Description
Capacity:
1) 8GB or 16GB flash drive
2) Holds up to 1,750 or 3,500 songs in 128-Kbps AAC format
3) Holds up to 10,000 or 20,000 -viewable photos
4) Holds up to 10 hours or 20 hours of video
Size and weight:
1) Height: 4.3 inches (110 mm)
2) Width: 2.4 inches (61.8 mm)
3) Depth: 0.31 inch (8 mm)
4) Weight: 4.2 ounces (120 grams)
Display:
1) 3.5-inch (diagonal) widescreen multi-touch display
2) 480-by-320-pixel resolution at 163 pixels per inch
Audio:
1) Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
2) Audio formats supported: AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4 Lossless, AIFF, and WAV
Video:
H.264 video, up to 1.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Low-Complexity version of the H.264 Baseline Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; H.264 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Baseline Profile up to Level 3.0 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats
Languages
1) English, French, German, Japanese, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Russian, and Polish
2) International keyboard support for English, UK English, French, German, Japanese, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Polish, and Portuguese
3) Dictionary support for English, UK English, French, and German

MP4 Player 2008 Latest Style

2008-01-13T02:32:00.001+02:00

Detailed Product Description
1. 1.8" LCD, TFT color display2. Accessories: mini earphone, CD drive for 98, USB cable, charger, user manual,service card.3. After sales service: 2 year warranty4. Approval: CE, FCC,RoHS5. color:red,blue,green,silvery,black6. MP3 / WMA / AMV (can save WMV, WMA, ASF, MPG, MPEG, MOV, AVI into AMV), supportMPV, MPEG I/II layer 2/3, 8-448Kbps7. USB flash disk, 128MB/256MB/512MB/1GB/2GB/4GB built in flash memory8. Digital voice recording; 8 hours recording for 128MB and VOX recording.9. FM radio 10. ID3 support, lyric display11.Support Multi-language system on manual: English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French,German, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Denmark, Czech, Polish,Russian, Turkish12. 7 mode equalizer13. Function of browse of JPEG picture14. Repeat A-B, normal, repeat all, random15. USB 2.0 specification supporting16. Long time playback17. Rechargeable lithium battery through USB/AC charger18. No driver needed under Windows ME, 2000, XP or above (except Win98)Packing Information : Q'ty/Carton : 96 pcs Carton G.W : 22kgs Carton Size (L * W * H) : 75cm * 35 cm * 31 cm

SyncMaster 245BW Black 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor

2008-01-13T02:19:00.000+02:00

Manufacturer's Info: Imagine having more room to spread out. The Samsung 245BW combines a 24" screen with a 16:10 widescreen aspect ratio to give you a bigger window on your world. Whether you use that power to work more efficiently or to watch a bigger blockbuster, you get shart text and crisp motion through a fast 5 ms (GTG) response time, 3000:1 dynamic contrast ratio and exclusive technologies like MagicColor and MagicBright. And it's all topped off by a height-adjustable stand and optional integrated speakers. With the Samsung 245BW, it's not hard to imagine.

Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP-HC

2008-01-13T02:11:00.000+02:00

Dell's UltraSharp 2407WFP-HC is basically the same 24-inch widescreen monitor that we reviewed from Dell a year ago, only with an improved range of displayable colour. We called that old Dell display the best in its class.

Design

The basic frame and stand of the UltraSharp remains the same as it has for roughly the past two years. It's a clean-enough design that doesn't quite have the aesthetic polish of an Apple display, but it's suitable for display in any environment.
The screen is easy to attach and remove, and the stand gives you just as much adjustability as NEC's recent 24-incher, the Multisync LCD2470WNX, and much more than any Apple monitor, including tilt, pivot, up-and-down, and 90 degrees of rotation to move into portrait mode

Features

Here's where the Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP-HC shines. Dell includes almost every kind of PC and mainstream video input you can imagine on this display, the one exception being HDMI. It's not out of the question that you might want to connect an HDMI-only device to this monitor, but you can always use a DVI-to-HDMI adapter if that's a requirement.
The display lacks speakers out of the box, although Dell offers a Dell SoundBar for an extra £30. This set of encapsulated speakers snaps onto the bottom edge of the screen and provides 10W of stereo audio output

Dell also makes great use of the monitor's downstream USB capability. In addition to four USB 2.0 ports, Dell also includes a 9-in-2 set of media card slots. Building slots for your digital camera data cards into the screen lets you keep your desktop stowed farther out of sight. Those slots also fill a features gap if you own a desktop that lacks a media card reader -- aka Mac owners.

Performance

Compared to a similarly priced Gateway 24-inch LCD, the FPD2485W, and a more expensive NEC, the Dell UltraSharp stayed very competitive on our image quality tests. It tied the Gateway in overall quality, and lagged behind the NEC by only a very small number

Nikon

2008-01-13T02:00:00.000+02:00

Nikon is expected to be Japan's DSLR market leader for 2007 says a leading Japanese market research company. But Canon's compact sales ensure it retains the top-spot for overall digital camera sales in the country. DSLR sales are expected to continue to grow as more manufacturers join the fray.
Nikon and Canon share the spoils of Japanese camera market
Tokyo-based BCN said that, having captured 43.3% of Japan's DSLR market between January and November, it expects Nikon to hold on to the top spot once December's sales have been calculated. Despite the successful launch of the 40D, BCN's research suggests that Canon will not be able to overcome its second place, having secured a 39.9% market share up to November. Pentax were positioned third, having taken 6.3% of the market to November.However, taking compacts into account as well, Canon led the market for the fourth consecutive year. It took 21.2% of Japan's overall digital camera market, ahead of Matsushita (Panasonic), which jumped from fourth to second place with 14.9% of the market, mainly because of the success of the Lumix FX33.
With Electronics giants Panasonic and Sony both launching DSLRs in the second half of 2007 and expected to continue to engage with this relatively high-margin market, 2008 is likely to see the big two's market dominance challenged. The Japanese market for DSLRs grew almost 50% in the first 11 months of 2007, in terms of volumes and around 35% by value.
Nikon was bullish about the additional competition: "Next fiscal year [from April 2008] our competitors will develop their marketing to full extent in the digital SLR market, and we expect this will stimulate market growth and contribute to sales." In November 2007, Nikon revised its sales projections, stating that it expected its DSLR sales to increase 43% over the previous year and account for 40% of the Global DSLR market in the financial year ending March 31st 2008

Canon PowerShot A460

2008-01-13T01:57:00.000+02:00

Canon's PowerShot A460 has a sophisticated and durable look to it, yet it costs just $130 (as of 5/10/07). Though nicely designed, its boxy and chunky shape prevents it from being carried comfortably in a pocket. It will fit nicely into a small bag, however.
The 5-megapixel A460 offers a 4X optical zoom, whereas most cameras at this price level have a 3X zoom. Plus, the A460 has three metering modes (evaluative, center-weighted, and spot); most competitors have only one. The function-set menus offer exceptionally quick access to settings and are easy to use. Key controls are grouped together in an intuitive list.
The zoom control is a little unusual--instead of having a separate wide-telephoto toggle, the camera uses the top and bottom positions of the four-way thumb control for zooming. The thumb control works well enough, though its function won't be obvious to a first-time user, and its placement on the back makes the camera a bit awkward to operate one-handed.
The A460 starts up quickly, in 2 seconds, and offers both an eye-level viewfinder and a bright 2-inch LCD screen. A simple mode dial lets you select full auto (with a limited selection of menu options), manual (still automatic, but with some user settings, such as ISO and white balance), scene modes, and movie mode.
You get a choice of eight scene modes--a typical set that includes portrait, night scene, foliage, beach, snow, and fireworks. But oddly, you'll find no sports or action setting. The camera also lacks a built-in help system to explain the modes, though for most people they should be self-explanatory. However, it does have a super macro mode that lets you get really close to your subject (up to just 0.4 inches away).
A separate menu button pops up a list of less-common camera settings, such as a date stamp and digital zoom on/off. You'll also find grid lines and red-eye settings there. The menus are short and only one layer deep.
The Canon A460 earned an overall image quality score of Good from the PC World Test Center, with roughly average ratings for color and exposure accuracy, and below-average points for sharpness. Photos I took outdoors at a waterfront area showed good color saturation and image sharpness--better than photos from the comparable Kodak EasyShare C653 and Nikon Coolpix L10 cameras I tried at the same time. Unfortunately, the Canon's images also showed significantly more noise or speckling than images from those two competing models; this noise was obvious in areas of solid black, such as a ship's hull, and in a clear blue sky.
Canon bundles its flexible ZoomBrowser utility on a CD with the A460; you use it to organize, edit, print, and share your photos. The editing tools are not extensive, but they work well and include a very helpful Photoshop-like before/after preview button. Also on the CD is PhotoStitch, which you can use to merge photos into a panorama, though the camera lacks the panorama-assist mode, found on other Canon models, that helps you line up successive shots.
The A460 runs on AA cells and delivered roughly average battery life in our tests, lasting 253 shots.
Overall, the Canon PowerShot A460 is a nice package and a great value

Lenovo ThinkPad X61

2008-01-12T22:38:00.000+02:00

In the ThinkPad X61, Lenovo has introduced its successor to the ThinkPad X60. The X61 uses Intel's Santa Rosa mobile processor. Otherwise, it's the same light, sophisticated ultraportable as the earlier model; like the X60, it lacks an integrated optical drive but offers dazzling battery life.
This 3.6-pound X-series member goes to the top of our list of ultraportables for mobile professionals. Our X61 test unit, with a 2-GHz Core 2 Duo T7300 processor and 2GB of DDR2-667 SDRAM, earned a WorldBench 6 Beta 2 score of 75, which is tops among currently tested ultraportables. The extended-life four-cell battery lasted an amazing 6 hours and 14 minutes.
The bright, 12.1-inch screen and the keyboard might feel a bit close at first, but the cramped feeling quickly goes away. The keyboard has no touchpad, but the eraserhead pointing device is first-rate and easy to acclimate to. The usual nice touches found on Lenovo keyboards, such as volume buttons and a one-press launch of the recovery system, are also present.
The UltraBase docking station adds four more USB ports (for a total of seven) as well as legacy parallel and serial ports. In addition, the modular optical drive has a side release, so you can swap with one hand between an optical drive, a second battery, or a second hard drive (those are optional accessories). Including the base, which is easy to snap on and off, the unit's total weight is a little over 6 pounds.
Our review unit, which included an UltraBase docking station with a dual-layer DVD burner, costs $1724 (as of July 27, 2007). The great performance and features, and its reasonable price, make the X61 our current top choice of ultraportable

HP Compaq 2710p

2008-01-12T22:19:00.000+02:00

Design

The first impression of this laptop is one of stylishness. All too often, business laptops are somewhat clunky affairs, styled in predictably dull colours and somewhat boxy in their design. The HP Compaq 2710p bucks that particular trend.
Even when it's closed, this laptop has a certain elegance thanks to its rounded corners. The lid is a dark silver/grey colour, while the main system unit is black and has a rubberised finish that helps to stop it sliding around on a desk or lap.
The lid and system unit are held together with a single strong clasp. The same clasp holds both together when the screen is rotated 180 degrees around its central hinge and laid flat facing outwards to work in Tablet PC mode. Build quality is very good indeed. The lid is robust and has little give, affording the screen good protection.

Features

The HP Compaq 2710p comes in several configurations. Our review sample had at its heart a 1.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo U7600 processor and 1GB of RAM, upgradable to a maximum of 4GB. You can specify either Windows Vista Business, which came on our review sample, or Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. It can also be configured with FreeDOS, a free open-source operating system.
Graphics are handled by the Intel GMA X3100 module built into the Mobile Intel GM965 chipset. This can use up to 384MB of shared system memory dynamically as required.

Performance

The HP Compaq 2710p delivers a Windows Experience Index (WEI) rating of 2.4 (out of 5.9). The WEI takes the value of the lowest component score, which in this case is for Graphics (desktop performance for Windows Aero).
Other scores range from 4.4 for Processor (calculations per second) to 3.0 for Gaming Graphics (3D business and gaming graphics performance), taking in 4.2 for RAM (memory operations per second) and 3.7 for Primary hard disk (disk data transfer rate) along the way.
None of these scores is particularly high, which illustrates that if you choose an ultraportable laptop you inevitably sacrifice some performance. The best way to squeeze more speed from the system would be to upgrade the RAM to at least 2GB.

Sony Ericsson P1i

2008-01-12T21:52:00.000+02:00

Features

Connectivity options are plentiful on the P1i. For the cellular networks, it is a triband GSM phone and 3G-enabled. Other wireless options include wireless LAN and Bluetooth. Its Bluetooth implementation supports A2DP, which means you can connect a wireless stereo headset to it for music playback

While its wireless options should be sufficient for most users' needs, it is regrettable that they are exactly the same as the P990i's. We would have appreciated the addition of HSDPA for faster cellular data connections or a quadband GSM radio for better roaming options

The OS used on the P1i is Symbian 9.2 with the UIQ 3.1 interface. Symbian is the same OS used on many mid- to high-end Nokia phones, but the Series 60 interface used on those devices is very different from the touchscreen-supported UIQ on the Sony Ericsson smart phones. As with any OS, a user going in cold will need some adjustment time, but it is safe to say that the UIQ learning curve is not steep. Tapping the screen with the stylus is the best way to navigate the menus, naturally, but one-handed operation is not as convenient as other competing OSes. For example, moving between tabs in option screens requires either tapping the display or using the left and right arrow keys found on either side of the spacebar button. This is tedious because your left thumb, which can scroll up and down as well as depress the selector, must shift to either touch the screen or downward to the arrow keys to perform basic functions. It may seem nit-picky to point this out on a device meant to be used with a stylus, but the truth of the matter is that both Palm OS and Windows Mobile (5.0 onward) have made the direction pad efficient to the point where you can get to almost every field without touching the LCD panel

The 3.2-megapixel camera found on the P1i has both an autofocus feature and LED light for dark situations. It produces good images for a mobile phone, and comes with options like macro and night mode for those specific situations. A second front-facing camera is found on the top left corner for video calls.

full charge of the 1,120mAh battery lasted us about 2.5 days. This included some Web browsing using both wireless LAN and 3G aside from normal phone use like calls and text messaging. Voice calls came through clearly, as was also the case with video calls when using the speakerphone. .

Nokia N95

2008-01-12T21:37:00.000+02:00

One of the main complaints on the original N95 was the mediocre battery life. Nokia has also addressed that problem by using a larger capacity 1,200mAh BL-6F battery. Does it make a difference? Yes, but only slightly. If we were to use every available feature on the phone at least once, with the typical usage pattern of making phone calls, sending text messages, taking pictures and listening to music, the cell would last us a day and a half at most. We updated our review unit with the firmware version v11.0.026, but the most remarkable improvement in the performance was actually due to the increased RAM of 128MB, which is twice the size of what's available on the original N95. That accounted for the snappy response of the unit even when multi-tasking. When we reviewed the N95 earlier this year, the onboard GPS took between 5 to 8 minutes to get a successful triangulation. A recent firmware update has enabled the Assisted-GPS feature on the N95, which now comes as a default feature on the 8GB version. Lock-on times were blazingly fast on our test unit. On average, it took about 20 to 30 seconds to get a triangulation from a cold start, and that's worth a lot of praise.