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Thursday 21st of June 2007 02:58:12 PM (3 years ago)
#1
Ultraportable Notebook : Asus U1F-1P016E
The Asus U1F-1P016E is a true ultraportable that weighs 2.7 pounds and tapers in the front of the case to a thin five-eighths of an inch tall. A lustrous black lid and real leather palm rest add to its appeal. So what's not to like? The speed and keyboard layout are so-so, the optical drive isn't built in, and the $2199 price (as of 6/6/07) is high.
Though lacking a built-in DVD burner, the U1F-1P016E is otherwise well designed. The unit feels solid, and the hard drive is shock-mounted on foam railings. It has both SD and ExpressCard slots, three USB ports, a FireWire port, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless communications, a fingerprint reader, and even a basic 0.3-megapixel integrated Webcam. The 11.1-inch screen is small but remarkably bright thanks to LED backlighting, and it is as easy to read in direct sunlight as it is under fluorescent lighting.
The keyboard layout is good except for the placement of the small Shift key on the right side of the Up arrow key instead of on the left. This arrangement will frequently cause touch typists to move the cursor up a line instead of capitalizing a letter.
The ultra-low-voltage 1.06-GHz Core Duo U2400 processor, paired with a slow 4200-rpm 80GB hard drive and 1536MB of RAM, didn't win any speed contests in our tests. Our test unit earned a WorldBench 6 Beta 2 score of 44--but that's still zippy enough for e-mail, word processing, and other light work.
Battery life could be very good with an upgrade. The U1F-1P016E comes with two batteries, a 2400-mAh (three-cell) battery and a 4800-mAh (six-cell) battery. We tested with the six-cell battery, which lasted 3 hours, 42 minutes, a below-average time among currently tested ultraportables. For extra oomph, think outside the box and opt for the nine-cell sold for about $150 extra on the Asus site; this battery lasted 6 hours, 15 minutes during earlier tests on an identically configured U1F.
All in all, the Asus U1F-1P016E is a better-than-average choice for anyone who needs to get light work done wherever there's a Wi-Fi connection. It's ultralight and pretty, and it has a great little screen. People who need power, an optical drive, and a touch-type friendly keyboard, however, should opt for a larger ultraportable.
-- Carla Thornton
Thursday 21st of June 2007 03:01:19 PM (3 years ago)
#2
Power Notebook : Everex StepNote XT5000T
A laptop with a 17-inch wide screen for only $899 seems too good to be true--and in this case, it just might be. Though the Everex StepNote XT5000T has decent features and would make a nice computer for the kids, it lacks speed and keyboard comfort.
This consumer notebook, found only at TigerDirect.com, is well designed in many respects. The big screen's 1440-by-900-pixel resolution is comfortable both for everyday work and for DVD movie watching. A volume dial and stylishly scooped speakers, which produce better-than-average stereo sound, are also nice features for a sub-$1000 Windows Vista Home Premium entertainment laptop.
Budget shoppers will be happy with the feature set, which includes a dual-layer DVD burner and a DVI-I digital flat-panel port. A shared memory card slot, an ExpressCard slot, and three USB ports handle expansion needs. There's even room inside the laptop to add another hard drive.
Equipped with a 256MB nVidia GeForce Go 7600 graphics card, the XT5000T proved to be a surprisingly good gaming notebook according to our benchmarking tests. Its lowest average frame rates in Far Cry and Doom 3 were around 36 fps at 1024 by 768 with antialiasing turned on. With the smoothing feature switched off, the XT500T managed over 50 fps in both shooters. The 7.5-pound weight (not including the power adapter) is light relative to other currently tested desktop replacements.
You will need that power adapter, however. The battery gave out after 1 hour, 38 minutes in our tests. And performance in our benchmarking tests was undistinguished: Powered by a 1.6-GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-50 processor and 1GB of RAM, the XT5000T earned a WorldBench 6 Beta 2 score of 41, placing it in the lower third of currently tested desktop replacement laptops.
Finally, the keyboard has two problems that will frustrate touch typists: a very small right Shift key and an Enter key that's L-shaped rather than rectangular. Both are hard to press without looking down at your hands.
If you're looking for an inexpensive desktop companion for playing games or doing light work at the house or in the office, the XT5000T might be just the ticket. Those with more heavy-duty needs should opt for a laptop with a faster processor.
Thursday 21st of June 2007 03:03:53 PM (3 years ago)
#3
Ultraportable Notebooks : Sony VGN-TXN15P/B
The broadband-ready VGN-TXN15P/B is good for travel and a battery champ, but it performed poorly in tests and has a cramped keyboard.
The featherlight Sony VGN-TXN15P/B supports broadband and lasts a long time on one battery charge. Roving professionals who need to write short notes and answer e-mail in the field might enjoy this 2.9-pound unit with a built-in DVD drive and a gorgeous little LED-backlit screen. But mainstream users will find its snail-like performance and cramped keyboard a compromise.
The VGN-TXN15P/B is impressively feature-rich for a laptop that measures 10.7 by 7.7 by 1.2 inches (width by depth by height). It includes the standard connections--such as network and modem jacks, a monitor port, two USB ports, and a PC Card slot--plus welcome extras, such as a fingerprint reader and a FireWire port. Our test unit's instant-on AV button saved time and battery life by bypassing the Windows Vista Business operating system, allowing us to view thumbnails of photos on a Memory Stick or SD Card or to play a CD or DVD. For the latter activity, however, you'll need headphones, as the stereo speakers are shrill.
Icons are tiny on the 11.1-inch WXGA screen, but text and graphics are bright and easy to read and see, thanks to an antireflective coating. A combination keystroke lowers and raises screen brightness; unfortunately, I couldn't find a way to disable the annoying high-pitched beep that sounded each time I used it.
The VGN-TXN15P/B offers excellent battery life but slow speed. Our test unit's 7800-mAh battery lasted a little over 6.5 hours on one charge in our battery performance tests. Its 1.2-GHz Core Solo U1400 processor combined with 1GB of DDR2-400 SDRAM produced a relatively low WorldBench 6 Beta 2 score of 32. (That score, however, matched the mark of a Fujitsu LifeBook P7230 equipped with the same processor.) The VGN-TXN15P/B seemed zippy enough to handle e-mail, word processing, and surfing the Internet, but not much more.
A couple of design problems also prevent a wholehearted recommendation. The keyboard is very small, with Chiclets-size keys that are flat and slippery. My petite hands partially covered the touchpad, repositioning the cursor repeatedly as a result. The VGN-TXN15P/B might have the world's tiniest optical drive eject button, too: It's so small, I had to use my fingernail or the end of a pencil to press it.
While you might be able to overcome these annoyances with practice, the VGN-TXN15P/B should not be your first choice if you need to do heavy-duty word processing. For anyone looking for a no-wires, all-day-battery laptop, though, the freedom this $2300 unit (as of 6/6/07) offers is attractive.
Thursday 21st of June 2007 03:06:38 PM (3 years ago)
#4
Ultraportable Notebooks : Everex StepNote SA2053T
If you can tolerate the short battery life, this inexpensive ultraportable is a super choice.
The Everex StepNote SA2053T has hideous battery life, but at $899 (as of 6/6/07), it costs half as much as most ultraportables. It also looks good and handles e-mail and Web applications just fine.
The SA2053T, currently available only at Best Buy, lacks bundled software. It does come with two batteries, a three-cell that lasted all of 70 minutes on one charge and a bonus six-cell that we did not test. (Everex estimates 2 hours for the three-cell and 3 hours for the six-cell.) Including the lighter battery, the weight is 3.8 pounds. Even adding the 1-pound power adapter, the total weight of the machine is still less than 5 pounds.
Black and silver with a case that's smartly beveled in front, the SA2053T looks more expensive than it is. It sports a reasonably bright 12.1-inch wide screen, a good keyboard, and remarkably robust stereo speakers for a small laptop; in fact, it's not a half-bad CD player. It's generously equipped overall, including such niceties as a DVD burner, an ExpressCard slot, and a 100GB hard drive.
Despite the unit's poor battery life, our WorldBench 6 Beta 2 tests indicate that its speed should be adequate for everyday tasks such as word processing and Web surfing. Equipped with a 1.73-GHz Core Duo T2080 processor, 1GB of RAM, and integrated graphics, the SA2053T performed sluggishly in our graphics and multitasking tests and earned an overall WorldBench 6 Beta 2 score of 54--just above average among currently tested ultraportables.
If you don't have the dough for a brand-name ultraportable from Dell or Lenovo, take a look at the SA2053T. Just remember to pack the power adapter for when your battery runs out.
Thursday 21st of June 2007 03:10:17 PM (3 years ago)
#5
Power Notebooks : Asus G2P-7R009C
If your dream laptop is a desktop replacement that doubles as a lights-flashing gaming machine, look no further.
The Asus G2P-7R009C is a big, heavy notebook short on battery life but long on gaming muscle. This powerful desktop replacement can handle e-mail and spreadsheets, but the flashing lights and red-honeycomb air pockets won't let you forget that its raison d'être is killing zombies.
If Black & Decker were to make a laptop, it might look like the G2P. The black and silver case has brushed chrome and red highlights. A menacing eye located between the mouse buttons glows red when the unit is running, and red side panels flash during moments in games when DirectX 9 is invoked.
Our test unit came with the multimedia extras you'd expect in a gaming laptop. Serious entertainment enthusiasts will appreciate the multiple options--S-Video, DVI, and VGA--for attaching an even bigger screen. However, the version of the G2P sold in the United States does not have an integrated TV-tuner option, despite what the user manual says.
The case layout could be a tad more convenient. The right side houses nothing but the DVD burner, and all but one of the five USB ports are stuck on the back. The keyboard is plenty comfortable, especially for gamers, with the crucial A, S, D, and W keys color-coded red. The palm rest is very deep, but people with long arms should have no trouble reaching the keys. In a more practical vein, a direct console LCD mounted above the keyboard on the left provides user-defined status information, such as incoming e-mail and appointments.
The G2P's hefty 9.6-pound weight is typical for a gaming notebook. So is the battery life, 3 minutes shy of 2 hours in our tests. But the speed of this 2-GHz Core 2 Duo T7200-equipped machine with 2GB of RAM was superlative, earning a WorldBench 6 Beta 2 score of 81, which ranks in the top 5 percent of laptops we've tested. In our game-play tests, 3D shooters ran without a stumble on the 17-inch WXGA+ screen. In our automated Far Cry test, our test unit reached a searing 99 frames per second, powered by a 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon X1700 graphics card.
For gaming fiends who can pony up $1949 (as of 6/6/07) and have a bit more in savings for a set of surround-sound speakers, the G2P would make a fine desktop replacement.
Thursday 21st of June 2007 03:13:41 PM (3 years ago)
#6
D-Link DSM-520 Wireless HD Media Player
The DSM-520 delivers great sound. Standard-definition video, however, was sometimes a little blocky.
D-Link's DSM-520 Wireless HD Player provides exceptionally beautiful sound. It also comes through with a wide selection of music-listening choices. Not only can it stream protected .wma files purchased from subscription services like Napster (using Windows Media Player 11), but it can transmit audio from sources such as AOL Live, Live365, Napster, Rhapsody, and vTuner. Free sample versions of both Live365 and vTuner are included with the player. The DSM-520 HD isn't able to play back AAC iTunes music, however, whether the files are protected or not.
The D-Link's video capabilities, though, are less impressive. Standard-definition clips looked a bit blocky, while HD videos (which can include .wmv, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4 files) came through somewhat better. The DSM-520 can output video at resolutions up to 1080i over HDMI.
The DSM-520 was the only player that gave me absolutely no Wi-Fi setup trouble. D-Link assured me that using the DSM-520 with a D-Link router provides no advantage. The player permits you to enter the password via a point-and-select screen or a remote-control phone pad. Or you can skip these two options and set up the network with a flash drive prepared in Windows' own Wireless Network Setup Wizard--an excellent method that no other player I looked at offered.
Setting up the DSM-520 to take full advantage of my TV was another matter. With my input choice (HDMI) selected, I couldn't alter the resolution at which it output video to my TV; the unit simply grayed out the option. To work around the difficulty, I changed the output to component, altered the resolution, and then changed the output back to HDMI--but having to go through that routine didn't inspire confidence. (D-Link is working on a fix.)
Once set up, the D-Link sports a promising, eye-pleasing menu system. But despite its large, colored buttons and comfortable fit in the hand, the remote seemed unresponsive. Sometimes I had to press <Enter> a second time because the first press accomplished nothing.
Besides supplying the unit's own server software, the D-Link CD contains an excellent 122-page .pdf manual with one of the best guides to cables I've run across.
Thursday 21st of June 2007 03:16:45 PM (3 years ago)
#7
Mvix Wireless HD MX-760HD Media Center
This player handles many formats but calls for plenty of tech savvy. You can also add your own hard drive.
Mvix's player boasts some very nice capabilities. Besides supporting mainstream video formats like .mp4, DivX, and Xvid, it plays unusual formats such as .iso DVD images, DVD files (including .vob and .ifo), VCD files (.dat), .ts (streaming MPEG-2 DVD) files, plus .tp and .trp (used by some PVR/DVR devices). You can upgrade it with an internal 3.5-inch IDE hard drive. And it supports full, 1080p high-def video.
Unfortunately, it's an absurdly difficult device to set up and use. Nothing will help you with initial setup--not the on-screen menus; not the dense, overly complex documentation printed in a tiny, eyestrain-inducing typeface; and not the software on the CD (there isn't any).
The documentation can be unreliable; at one point it tells you to turn a screw clockwise when you should do the opposite. This is followed by information for Windows XP--but not Vista--setup. Vista instructions on Mvix's site either do not work in Vista Home Premium or involve editing the Registry.
If you're sharing your media folders with plain-old Windows networking, the Mvix will find them. But it lacks support for UPnP servers, which mars otherwise good format support and exacerbates already poor usability. Without UPnP support, the streamer can't use Windows Media Player to play any type of protected music files. And without the organizing capabilities of a server, you must drill through folders to find the videos and songs that you want to play--all identified exclusively by file name.
If you can't bring an ethernet cable into your home theater, you'll have to configure the MX-760HD for Wi-Fi, which entails entering your network ID manually and your WEP password in hex.
Menus are functional but the text they contain is presented in an ugly, monospaced font. Thankfully, video output looked good, though standard-definition files suffered from some blockiness (HD content showed practically none). Sound had a very slight harshness. The Mvix is one of only three players in this review that supports full 1080p high definition.
The MX-760HD comes with a four-line LCD screen that displays scrolling text, menu data, and song details. This screen is aligned for reading when the unit is standing upright; but I found the device unstable in this orientation, except when I propped it up with something heavy.
I liked being able to install my own hard drive, however. You can transfer, edit, rename, or delete files on the Mvix's drive from your PC, over the network. By copying files to it, you can avoid network problems and free up space on your PC's hard drive. But in the end, despite the MX-760HD's very good picture and audio quality, wide format support, and hard drive option, design issues make it an iffy proposition for anyone but a true geek.
Ziova Clearstream CS510 High Definition Network Media Player
Thursday 21st of June 2007 03:19:39 PM (3 years ago)
#8
Ziova Clearstream CS510 High Definition Network Media Player
The CS510 has nice sound and extras like weather information, but it suffers from awkward slide-show viewing.
The Ziova is a pretty competent digital media receiver. Physically, it's an attractive gadget--bigger than an Apple TV but smaller than the wide Netgear and D-Link boxes. The front-panel LCD, which displays one line of scrolling text information such as ID3 tag data and current activity, is big enough to be legible from across the room--a welcome exception to the rule.
Navigating around the Ziova can be both pleasing and annoying. Its colorful home screen is big, bright, and easy to read. The remote control's navigation buttons are big and well situated, but playback buttons are very small and awkwardly placed.
When you watch a slide show, all of the players I looked at will occasionally make you wait a few seconds for the next slide. But whereas the other players keep the last picture on the screen until the next one is ready, the Ziova tells you with its hourglass that you'll just have to wait.
Standard-definition videos were a bit fuzzy, and high-definition ones looked the tiniest bit blocky; but both were perfectly acceptable. The sound was excellent, with only a very slight muddiness preventing it from ranking among the best. Like Netgear's player, it comes with the free Shoutcast Internet radio network and can display weather information.
The Ziova supports 1080i HD and a range of video formats like .iso DVD images and .ifo DVD files. Although the device can work with UPnP servers, it can't stream protected files from Windows Media Player. And like most of the other players that I looked at, it can't play protected iTunes music files.
Thursday 21st of June 2007 03:22:01 PM (3 years ago)
#9
ZyXel DMA-1000 Digital Media Theater
This compact, easy-to-set-up streamer lacks Wi-Fi, and rival streamers provide better audio output.
The DMA-1000 may be easy to set up, but that's chiefly because it lacks Wi-Fi, the tricky part of a streaming setup. (ZyXel says it's working to add the feature to future versions, but you'll still see a nonfunctioning option for it in the setup screens.) The DMA-1000 doesn't play DivX files or anything at a definition higher than 1080i, but it can play video formats such as .mp4 and Xvid, as well as unprotected .wma files and unprotected iTunes music (.m4a files). It produced a very good HD picture but failed to accompany it with first-rate sound.
Indeed, the ZyXel had worse sound than any other device I looked at. But let me put that in context: The other six players delivered very good to spectacular audio, while the DMA-1000's was merely acceptable. It was the only streamer that lacked an optical audio output, though it does have a coaxial S/PDIF connection (which I used). Nevertheless, it didn't sound as good as the others.
This is a very nice-looking player--small and sleek, with only a row of status lights to make its outside any more communicative than an Apple TV. In fact, the DMA-1000 resembles a well-designed router minus the antenna.
Though the remote control fits well in your hand, little thought seems to have gone into button placement. The bottom, hard-to-reach section of the remote holds 20 identical-looking small buttons, including Play, Pause, Video, Music, and Rotate. Trying to pause or rewind quickly can be a pain; by the time I found the right buttons, the moment I wanted to reexamine would be long gone. The remote control does have one very appealing touch: a Tools button that behaves like the right-mouse button in Windows. If you are watching a video, listening to music, or watching a slide show, clicking the Tools button will bring up a small, activity-appropriate menu in the upper-left corner. For instance, if you hit the Tools button while examining photos, the ZyXel will display a menu of slide-show options, so you can pick the background music and the length of time each picture will be displayed.
The ZyXel DMA-1000 delivered pleasing video, despite its slight pixelation of difficult-to-render movements, such as dissolves and swirling fog.
Despite nice video and a low price, the DMA-1000 is our least favorite streamer in this group, mostly due to its lack of Wi-Fi and its average sound.
Buffalo Technology LinkTheater Wireless A&G Network Medi
Thursday 21st of June 2007 03:28:54 PM (3 years ago)
#10
Buffalo Technology LinkTheater Wireless A&G Network Media Player
This is a great audio server that happens to connect to your TV. Other products stream video better.
Since the LinkTheater can handle high-definition video streams only at 2.5 mbps or less, it's not really an HD video receiver (though it can use that resolution for photos). It lacks digital HDMI and DVI connections, too, so I used component video to connect it to my TV. But to tell the device that I was using component video, I had to plug in the composite video cable, navigate the menus until I found the right settings, select a component video option, and watch the screen go blank. I then had 10 seconds to switch cables so that I could see what was on the screen and confirm the new setting before the player reverted to composite.
Setting up Wi-Fi was no picnic, either. Like many rival players, the unit has you enter your password in text-message style via buttons on the remote that resemble a telephone keypad. But the LinkTheater is overeager; if you pause even briefly after pressing the 9 key four of the nine times needed to get a capital Z, you'll get a lowercase z and a 9. Another snafu: The bundled software wouldn't install on my Vista PC (Buffalo is working on a fix), but Vista's own UPnP server worked just fine. Unlike the other non-Apple players, the Buffalo can't see files on a networked PC if media server software isn't used.
On-screen menus lacked the good looks and fun animation of many competing players, but they were responsive and reasonably easy to read and follow.
Videos had some pixelation, but not too much, and music played exceedingly well. Over an optical-audio connection, sound was clear, clean, and powerful. Photos looked sharp and vibrant, too.
The LinkTheater provides no Internet radio support, but if you use Windows Media Player 11 or a Viiv PC as a server, it supports protected .wma music.
Thursday 21st of June 2007 03:30:51 PM (3 years ago)
#11
Netgear Digital Entertainer HD EVA8000
The pricey EVA8000 offers versatile features and DRM support that you won't find anywhere else.
Netgear's Digital Entertainer is a feature-packed product, but setting it up entails visiting too many menus. Fortunately, the menu screens are eye-pleasing and easy to read. Also, the remote feels right in the hand, and it has large, well-placed buttons. The EVA8000 scans your PC or PCs and organizes your media, making the video or song that you seek easier to find, even if you don't use the supplied server software.
The device played almost every file I threw at it: DivX, Xvid, and .mp4 (MPEG-4 video with .aac audio). It was one of only three players that could play protected .wma files, and it and the Apple TV were the only two units that could play copy-protected iTunes Music Store files.
The Digital Entertainer has impressive Internet streaming capabilities. It supports the free Shoutcast Internet radio service, and you can add your own .mp3 and .wma audio streams. Besides permitting you to view photos stored on your computer, the device lets you browse photos at Flickr. You can also get news (from RSS feeds) and weather from the Internet. The EVA8000 also streams videos directly from YouTube (your PC must be on, and Netgear's software must be installed).
Not surprisingly, YouTube videos look like bad surrealism on a 50-inch HDTV. Netgear's tendency to stretch 4:3 standard-aspect images to 16:9 wide-screen dimensions exacerbates the problem. If you set your TV to display a 4:3 frame, pillarboxed with black or gray bars on the sides, YouTube videos at least become watchable.
On the flip side, the Digital Entertainer handles video shot at a good resolution quite well. I spotted a very slight visual stutter at the beginning of one 1080p trailer, but otherwise the image quality reminded me of why I purchased a 1080p HDTV in the first place. Sound was excellent: Pink Floyd had depth and great tone. I could even hear fine details (such as a very slight analog tape hiss) beneath an Itzhak Perlman performance.
The EVA8000 has some unique extras, too. You can use it to check your e-mail or to browse the Web; and with a TV-tuner-equipped PC and the Electronic Programming Guide option ($5 to activate), it can act as a DVR, letting you schedule, watch, and time-shift TV show recordings.
Unlike any other player, Netgear's high-definition Digital Entertainer transforms your TV into an extension of your home network, and of the Internet.
Thursday 21st of June 2007 03:32:41 PM (3 years ago)
#12
Harman/Kardon Guide + Play GPS-500
Sleek GPS device includes a useful media player, but lags occasionally at acquiring GPS signals.
Harman/Kardon's Guide + Play GPS-500 called to mind the backpacker's axiom: Double up! Why carry two things when one thing does the work of both? The Guide + Play is a good in-car navigator and a worthy portable media player, but it's a step down from the best in either category.
I tested a shipping version of the device, and when I started its navigation app for the first time, its built-in Centrality Atlas II GPS receiver took more than a minute to find and display my location. On several subsequent cold starts the unit took just as long to acquire enough GPS signals to orient itself. Once it locked onto the signals, however, it followed my progress along the route without lagging, and it recalculated the correct directions in just a few seconds whenever I departed from the prescribed course. You can view a list of the turns in a programmed route, choose to avoid specific segments of a route, and skip or add waypoints in midtrip.
The Guide + Play's 4-inch, 480-by-272-pixel LCD touch screen shows maps in 2D and 3D views, and it switches to night view automatically as the sun sets. To adjust the screen's brightness you have to enter the device's settings menu to call up the touch-screen control, but turning the volume up or down is handier: Just use the dial control on the right side of the device.
Maps for all of North America and a points-of-interest database with millions of listings (both provided by TeleAtlas) fit in the device's 2GB of internal flash memory.
Other in-car GPS devices include a media-player applet, but the Guide + Play is the first I've seen that lets you listen to MP3, WMA, and AAC audio files from an SD card with a capacity of up to 4GB while also receiving turn-by-turn driving directions (no card ships with the product). While songs play, you can see your location, next turn, and other navigation information on the 2D or 3D map. The name of the track currently playing appears at the bottom of the map. Conversely you can view your playlist in the media player and see the next turn at the bottom of that screen. The GPS system's spoken turn instructions are easy to hear over the currently playing audio track.
The media player lets you play MP4 and WMV9 video files, too. (Since you wouldn't play a video and navigate at the same time, there's no need to display your next turn at the bottom of the video screen.) Also included with the device are a 12-volt car power adapter, an AC adapter that connects to a USB 2.0 cable (to power a USB bus), a carrying case, and a compact windshield mount that holds the device firmly in place as you drive.
I was impressed with the Guide + Play's battery life: It's rated for 5 hours, but in my tests the device played music files and issued driving directions for more than 6 hours.
I was less enamored of the routes that the device suggested: Too often it directed me into the teeth of commute traffic--usually instructing me to turn at nearly every street corner until I returned to its preferred route--and ignored faster surface-street alternatives. Still, its GPS receiver did a good job of keeping up with the vehicle, and it recalculated the route quickly whenever I strayed. When you're not navigating a route, you can hit the Map button and track your route as you go.
Most GPS devices are one-trick ponies. Thanks to its built-in media player, the Guide + Play lets you travel with one fewer gadget, though you must sacrifice some extras to lighten the load.
Thursday 21st of June 2007 03:35:23 PM (3 years ago)
#13
iRiver Clix 2nd Generation
Lightweight, easy-to-use flash-based player has a nice display and fairly good sound.
The small, sleek Clix 2nd Generation from iRiver has pretty much everything you'd want in a flash-based media player, starting with a beautiful, easy-to-read display and good controls.
The 1.9-ounce, 4GB shipping model I tested costs $200. The device plays MP3, OGG, and WMA song files; and it's compatible with eMusic, Napster, Sony, Urge, and Yahoo online services. It also supports files saved in WMV or MPEG format for video playback.
Video looks crisp and bright on the 2.2-inch, active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) display. The Clix 2nd Generation can play and record FM radio, too, and it can handle voice recordings.
The entire front panel functions as a directional pad. By clicking up-down or left-right, you can quickly navigate the menus and make selections.
In the PC World Test Center's audio tests, the Clix fared poorly at handling harmonic distortion and cross-talk; our test of the latter measure assesses whether sound from one channel leaks into the other. In informal testing, I got reasonably clean sound through the accompanying earbuds.
The Clix 2nd Generation is a fine player, with a great display and intuitive controls. Its storage space can't match that of a hard-disk-based player; but if you're looking for a light, portable, flash-based device, it makes an excellent choice.
Thursday 21st of June 2007 03:41:55 PM (3 years ago)
#14
Fujifilm FinePix S700
The nicely priced S700 has good features and SLR styling but an awkward electronic viewfinder.
Fujifilm's FinePix S700 adds an SLR-style frame to the solid functionality of an advanced point-and-shoot. Its best traits are its long battery life, manual controls, 10X optical zoom, and image stabilization--not a bad combo in a $250 model.
The camera powers up in less than 2 seconds, and the shutter button responds fairly quickly. It handled close-up shots nicely; I photographed a quarter at a distance of about 2 inches, and the resulting shot looked crisp and clear.
In our lab tests, the 7.1-megapixel S700 earned a high score for color accuracy and an average score for sharpness. Its scores for distortion, however, were subpar. In our battery-life tests, the camera's four AA alkaline batteries supported 475 shots--much better than the average score.
I liked the camera's 'Natural Light and Flash' mode shooting option, where the camera captures a pair of consecutive shots--one without flash and another with flash--so you can compare which lighting captured the better image. A continuous-shooting mode snaps shots at a resolution of either 7 megapixels (the unit's maximum) or 4 megapixels. This feature worked fine, but it was a bit slow to record.
The S700 has the chops to perform well in most shooting scenarios. You may find the body a bit bulky, though.
Thursday 21st of June 2007 03:45:23 PM (3 years ago)
#15
Fujifilm FinePix A610
This basic model has limited controls, but it delivers good images for the price.
The Fujifilm FinePix A610 ($120 as of 5/10/07) is an entry-level digital camera that's well constructed and offers a few worthwhile features. Its basic specs are a little more generous than those of other similarly priced point-and-shoots you may see: a 3X zoom, a 6.3-megapixel sensor, and a 2.5-inch LCD (some other models offer fewer megapixels or only a 2-inch screen).
The A610 is best suited to people who rarely make camera adjustments in their search for the perfect photo. That's because it offers few manual controls. For example, it lacks aperture- and shutter-priority modes, and you can't manually calibrate the white balance--a feature common even on low-cost cameras.
You do get six white-balance presets (including three for different fluorescent lighting conditions) as well as exposure compensation for when auto settings don't deliver an accurate exposure. Another convenience is that the A610 allows you to manually set the ISO; this is handy when you want to shoot in low light. However, the maximum setting of ISO 400 won't get you far in very dim conditions. Some other models in this price range offer up to ISO 800, and a few have an antishake mode, which the A610 also lacks.
This FinePix offers a generous number of scene modes--14 total. The top button, which is for deleting photos during preview, can also be used to adjust the brightness of the LCD. At its highest setting, this screen is bright enough for viewing in midday sunlight--a welcome feature, since the A610 lacks a viewfinder. Other than these controls, you'll have to dive into the on-screen menus to make most changes because the A610 doesn't have a mode dial.
Overall, the A610's scores in our image quality tests were about average, but impressive for a budget-priced camera. In lab tests, our jury gave the camera scores slightly above average for the color and exposure accuracy of its images, but rated it slightly below average for image sharpness.
The A610 runs on AA batteries, and in our tests, it lasted just 195 shots before running out of juice, compared to the average of 260 frames. In contrast, the similarly priced Nikon Coolpix L10, which also runs on AA batteries, lasted 343 shots.
The A610 comes with a well-organized printed manual--no need to resort to a PDF file. The FinePix Viewer software is for uploading, viewing, and printing photos. There is also an e-mail function, which simply launches your default e-mail program with selected photos automatically attached to a message. You can also make slide shows, though the software does not offer any editing functions.
Although the A610 is a competent low-cost camera, a few more features would make it a better deal.
Thursday 21st of June 2007 03:49:26 PM (3 years ago)
#16
Kodak EasyShare C653
This low-priced camera delivers high-quality images and can stitch panoramas, but battery life is short.
The EasyShare C653 ($130 as of 5/10/07) is a simple, inexpensive point-and-shoot with a built-in help system. It's not the most stylish camera, though you get a lot for relatively few dollars: 6.1-megapixel imaging, a 2.4-inch LCD screen, and, most important, good-looking photos. Thankfully, there's also an eye-level viewfinder for framing your shots, because images in the LCD can be difficult to see in bright sunlight.
Operating the C653 was comfortable and trouble-free, for the most part. Startup is a very quick 2 seconds. The large shutter release button is surrounded by an easy-to-rotate mode dial with positions for auto, macro, movie, and scene mode; the last of these offers a choice of 19 shooting conditions, such as low light, sunset, and children, plus one I am unlikely to use: close-up self-portrait. There's an in-camera photo-enhancement tool called Perfect Touch, though this was hit or miss when I tried it. A dedicated delete button lets you trash photos during preview.
Perhaps the most novel feature is the camera's ability to stitch together up to three consecutive shots in a panorama. Its stitching method is really simple--the camera displays a small portion of the previous photo on the LCD to help you line up your next shot--but it limits each image to 3.1 megapixels. Processing the first two shots took about 9 seconds each; after shooting the third image, the camera took roughly 22 seconds to produce the final panorama. However, my efforts at panoramas when holding the camera by hand (no tripod) produced poor results: Differences in the exposures were evident in blue sky, and some edges did not line up properly.
As you'd expect with a low-cost camera, advanced exposure controls are few. An exposure value control on the four-way thumb button helps you compensate for difficult lighting. But you don't get automatic exposure bracketing, manual focus, or even white-balance calibration, a standard feature in most digital cameras. I was pleased, though, to find a gridline option for keeping my horizons level.
Given the camera's low price, the C653's photos came out quite well--and earned an overall image quality score of Very Good in our lab tests. My informal shots looked sharp and nicely exposed, though they suffered from a slight blue cast in a waterfront scene with lots of sky. Compared with my old 5.1-megapixel Olympus C5060, the C653 was least sharp when it was set to full telephoto.
The bundled EasyShare software is a fine image management application that automatically creates a thumbnail database of all photos on your hard disk and offers a burn CD/DVD function for backing them up. Though limited in capabilities, the photo-fixing tools are easy to use. The manual is through, but you'll have to download it from Kodak's Web site.
The C653 runs on AA batteries, which lasted just 160 shots in our tests, far less than the average of 260 frames.
The EasyShare C653 isn't a good choice for anyone who's moved beyond novice photography. But its simplicity is a perfect fit for someone who just wants to take the occasional family snapshot.
Thursday 21st of June 2007 03:52:31 PM (3 years ago)
#17
HP Photosmart M537
This basic camera is low-priced, but you can find better models for the same money.
The 6-megapixel HP Photosmart M537 is a basic point-and-shoot camera with a 3X zoom, a 2.5-inch LCD, and a very low cost ($130 as of 5/10/07). On the surface, the M537 offers an adequate number of features for the price, such as in-camera red-eye removal, a maximum sensitivity of ISO 800, and image stabilization.
However, in our lab tests, the M537 earned an overall score of Poor for image quality, the lowest for any recently tested digital camera; it also earned some of the lowest recent scores for both color and exposure accuracy, and its images, which didn't look very sharp, suffered from more distortion than those of other models.
In my informal use, I found that the M537 could take attractive outdoor shots in afternoon daylight, but it proved less capable in low light. The camera offers a maximum of ISO 800 for shooting in low light--but you'll have to rely on the camera to pick the ISO for you because you can't select it yourself in the menus. This was something I wished I could have been able to do when taking landscape photos around sunset; some of these photos otherwise might not have come out blurry. One sunset photo that did look sharp turned out quite grainy; surprisingly, the EXIF data says that the camera chose ISO 100 despite the low light.
The M537's plastic case doesn't feel very rugged. However, it does fit well in the hand, and the L-shaped zoom control falls conveniently under your thumb. There are dedicated buttons along the top of the LCD for deleting photos and turning the flash on or off; a selector switch makes it easy to change from still photography to movie mode.
The M537 lacks some common features we've come to take for granted, even in simple cameras. For example, it doesna??t have an exposure compensation setting, nor does it even offer white-balance presets--much less a custom white-balance setting.
That's not to say the M537 does not come with some worthy features. The image stabilization thata??s available in its steady-photo mode improved the sharpness of indoor photos I shot in very dim lighting.
The Photosmart software suite on the bundled CD is generous, offering features for sharing photos, creating greeting cards, and printing in various layouts. Editing functions include cropping, red-eye removal, and an adaptive lighting feature that shows you nine subtle variations on your photo.
In our battery tests, the Photosmart M537 excelled, taking 345 shots before depleting a pair of AA cells.
Despite a generous software bundle and long battery life, low image quality makes the M537 a less attractive option than some other comparably priced cameras.
Thursday 21st of June 2007 06:35:31 PM (3 years ago)
#18
Nikon Coolpix L10
This small, simple camera offers face-detection focusing and accurate exposures.
The Nikon Coolpix L10 ($120 as of 5/10/07) is an excellent value for a simple snapshot camera. Yet there's nothing cheap-looking about the L10: It has a stylish, thin-profile body that slides nicely into a pocket.
This 5-megapixel camera has a 3X optical zoom that's suitable for basic point-and-shoot photography. It has 15 scene modes for various lighting conditions, and a face-priority mode that optimizes the automatic focus for shots of human faces. As you'd expect in a low-cost camera, it lacks many advanced features, such as exposure bracketing, spot metering, and manual focus, though it does offer white-balance calibration.
I liked using the L10, for the most part. Despite its smallish size, it felt comfortable, even when shooting one-handed. Startup is a quick 2 seconds. Everything is kept simple--there's no mode dial, for example, just a slide switch for selecting full auto mode, the scene mode selected in the menus, or movie mode. Key controls consist of three clearly labeled buttons: photo review, photo delete, and menu display. The camera's menu is short and easy to navigate, and when you're using the menu, pressing the zoom button pops up an all-too-brief description of each menu function. The descriptions for the scene modes are more valuable. Unfortunately, I found that the zoom control races from wide to telephoto (or vice versa) so quickly that it's hard to set a precise, intermediate focal length.
The photos I took looked nearly as sharp as those produced by my 5.1-megapixel Olympus 5060 (which, a few years ago, was state-of-the-art and five times more expensive). In lab tests conducted by the PC World Test Center, the L10 earned an overall image quality score of Good on indoor shots. It earned high marks for exposure and color accuracy, but low ones for sharpness and distortion. In my informal shots, colors tended to look a little weak. In auto mode, an outdoor scene with lots of sky and water had a bluish tint. Switching to Daylight color balance made the whites a little brighter. An indoor flash photo had better colors when I switched to the camera's Party/Indoor scene mode.
Mostly because of the L10's small size, you do not get an eye-level viewfinder. Fortunately, the LCD screen can be used to frame your photos even in bright sunlight, though it has a smallish size, at 2 inches. The camera's 7 megabytes of internal memory will hold only about seven shots at the highest resolution setting, but it's handy for capturing must-have photos when your SD Card (not included) is full or when you forget to put the card back in the camera, as I have done numerous times.
The L10 runs on two AA cells, and it performed well in our battery tests, lasting 343 shots (recently tested digital cameras averaged 260 frames).
Included on the CD-ROM is PictureProject, a mediocre application for organizing and editing your photos. The software could benefit greatly from a better tool for managing color balance.
Overall, the Coolpix L10 is an attractive package if you're looking for a simple camera that has a low price and that will fit in your pocket.
Thursday 21st of June 2007 06:39:49 PM (3 years ago)
#19
Canon PowerShot A460
This bargain-priced camera offers a solid body, a 4X zoom, and exposure compensation; but some images looked noisy.
Recommend this story?
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.
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