Nikon Coolpix S3000 | Technophile
Nikon's new Coolpix digital camera looks smart and is easy to use, but it produces mixed results Nikon's new Coolpix S3000 is a lovely little camera, very easy to use, and reasonably priced at £109.99 or less. I liked it a lot, until it came to viewing the pictures. The results were mixed, but disappointing compared with the two Nikon digital cameras I actually own – an older, bulkier Coolpix 5600 and a D40 DSLR. The Coolpix S3000 follows the style established by Canon's Digital Ixus line, the Pentax Optio, and earlier Nikons such as the Coolpix S220. In other words, it's thin and flat when you carry it around, but the lens comes out when you turn it on. The S3000 looks just last year's S220, but provides a moderate advance in specification. You get a 4x optical zoom instead of a 3x zoom, a 2.7in LCD screen instead of 2.5in, and 12 megapixels instead of 10. Both cameras include Nikon's Smart Portrait software. This offers face-priority focusing, will take the shot when the subject smiles, and is "blink proof" – it takes two images and automatically saves the one with the eyes open. It also has a bright focusing light on the front and, unlike many small cameras, doesn't seem to produce a "red eye" effect with flash. The zoom covers 27mm to 108mm, in terms equivalent to a 35mm camera, so you get a usable wide-angle
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Nikon Coolpix S3000 | Technophile
Acer Aspires to lead us into 3D computing
There's a growing interest in 3D movies and games, and Acer is pioneering 3D displays in laptops – but the Acer Aspire 5738DZG probably doesn't have enough appeal for mainstream buyers The Acer Aspire 5738DZG is the world's first 3D laptop, and it's better than I thought. It could get even better in the future, if lots of 3D content appears, but there's very little available at the moment. The system comes with a TriDef 3D Media Player so it will only play TriDef content, such as the 20 titles available from Yabazam . These include a Rio Carnival travelogue ($14.99), The Curse of Skull Rock ($9.99), a pirate cartoon, and Stereoscopic Skydiving ($2.99). It's not a stellar collection, though even the short samples that ship with the PC show that the system has lots of potential. You can also convert 2D footage to give a sort-of-3D effect, with variable results. If you're a 3D buff, you could download a different 3D player and perhaps even make your own movies. But ordinary consumers who want to play off-the-shelf Hollywood titles appear to be out of luck. If your dream is to watch 3D Pixar movies on the train, don't hold your breath. The Aspire 5738DZG uses a passive polarising system, so you have to wear special glasses. The system comes with one pair of glasses plus a clip-on version for spectacle wearers. The TriDef system shows two images at once, using alternate lines, which effectively halves the vertical resolution of the 1,366 x 768 pixel screen. This isn't a problem with movies, but could make it hard to read text in games. Another drawback is that the 3D effect works best with the screen at the correct angle and your head at the correct distance in front of the screen. There's a "framing shot" of a vase of red roses so you can set it up before watching something. However, it's not suitable for family viewing. In other respects, the Aspire 5738DZG is a solid machine with a decent keyboard, glossy 15.6 inch screen, and Dolby Home Theater sound. It has 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB of memory, a 450GB hard drive, DVD writer and 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium.
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Acer Aspires to lead us into 3D computing
What’s wrong with the iPad? Let’s start with the lack of a clock
It won't wake you up and won't charge while it's syncing. And other annoyances. My iPad arrived yesterday afternoon via a friend in the US, and yes, it largely lives up to the hype: it's shiny, elegantly realised and above all potentially very useful. Well, apart from a few wrinkles, which range from a mere raise of the eyebrows to an exasperated WTF? First, Apple: why on earth did you leave out the Clock app? That omission alone means I can't ditch my iPod Touch on my travels because my iPad won't wake me up. The iPod Touch has a built-in Clock app which will set off an alarm at a given time; the iPad doesn't. Sure, there are loads of third-party clock apps, free and paid-for, available via the App Store, but none of them run in the background/when the device is asleep as the native app does, which means if you want your iPad to be an alarm clock, you'll have to leave it on all night and your chosen clock running. On the subject of missing apps, what has Apple done with Calculator? That's a basic functionality of even the dumbest smartphone these days.
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What's wrong with the iPad? Let's start with the lack of a clock
Lenovo ThinkPad X100e | Technophile
The ThinkPad X100e has both good and bad points, depending on whether you see it as an overpriced netbook or a cut-price ThinkPad business notebook The IBM ThinkPad became the industry's premier notebook brand after the launch of the 700T in 1992, and its distinctive black styling and red TrackPoint became a noticeable part of business travel. ThinkPads were never cheap, but they were very durable, had outstanding keyboards, and you could get support and spare parts almost anywhere. Prices came down after China's Lenovo took over IBM's PC division, but the brand has managed to retain most of its value. I've been carrying ThinkPads everywhere for more than a decade, so I was delighted to see the Lenovo ThinkPad X100e when it appeared at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January. It was almost love at first sight. After using one (Type 2876), I'm less impressed, and my views might have tipped too far the other way. The main problem with the X100e is trying to decide what it is.
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Lenovo ThinkPad X100e | Technophile
Asus Eee PC1005PE review | Technophile
The new Asus netbook has terrific battery life, but is let down by limited processing power This year has seen the introduction of a new generation of netbooks based on Intel's Pine Trail platform. By moving to a more advanced 45nm fabrication process, Intel has been able to put the graphics and memory control circuitry on the same die as the Atom, reduce the power requirements, and provide much better battery life. A sticker on the 1005PE says it will run for 11 hours, which compares with 8.5 hours for the popular 1005HA version. Of course, it also depends on the power settings, whether you have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned off, and how much time you spend watching videos. However, the 1005PE should easily get you through a normal working day, and if you need more, there's another version (PU17) that claims up to 14 hours. The disappointing thing about the 1.66GHz N450 Pineview processor is that it doesn't provide a visible increase in performance compared with the old N270 and N280 chips running Windows XP. With 1GB of memory, the 1005PE runs Microsoft Windows 7 Starter responsively, but it doesn't have much to spare, and it would be worth upgrading to 2GB. I found the N450's integrated Intel GMA3150 graphics circuitry wasn't able to run high-definition YouTube movies (720p) without stuttering, though it was OK for the BBC's iPlayer. The 1005PE scores 2.3 on the Windows Experience Index, which is down to the processor. It's rated 2.7 for graphics and 3.0 for gaming graphics, with better results for the memory (4.5) and 250GB hard drive (5.8). Like the 1005HA, the 1005PE uses Asus's popular Seashell design: it's slim, tapers nicely, and has a polished lid. It weighs 1.3kg. The 10in screen is reasonable quality but not exceptional, and the 1024 x 600 pixel resolution feels a bit cramped by today's standards. The 1005PE has a new "isolated keyboard" which is also reasonably good, the main drawback being the tiny shift keys. The mouse pad is small and has a texture effect, but supports multi-touch operations. The mouse buttons are on a one-bar rocker switch, though I'd prefer two buttons. The 1005PE is not short of ports. You get a full RJ45 Ethernet port, three USB ports, an SD card slot, and a VGA monitor port. The battery is removable, of course, and there's a built-in 1.3 megapixel webcam. Like many other Asus machines, the 1005PE also includes ExpressGate and Asus's own software dock, which drops down from the top of the screen, and links to 500GB of free online storage
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Asus Eee PC1005PE review | Technophile
Microsoft’s Office 2010 review | Technophile
The latest version of Office has lots of new bells and whistles – none of which will make either Adobe or Google happy I'm writing this using the beta of Microsoft Word 2010, part of the Office 2010 suite due to hit the shelves later this year.
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Microsoft's Office 2010 review | Technophile
Review: Dualpix Emotion webcam from Hercules | Technophile
It's easy to use and a snap to set up, but this webcam is pricier than most While webcams are now built into many laptops, netbooks and even flat panel screens, many desktop computers and a fair few laptops still require a standalone webcam. It's a crowded market with webcams from Creative, Logitech, Microsoft and Hercules. French company Guillemot makes gaming accessories under the Thrustmaster brand and Wi-Fi products, speakers and other computer accessories – including webcams – under the Hercules brand. The Dualpix Emotion from Hercules boasts a 1.3-megapixel (MP) CMOS sensor. It can take 5MP interpolated stills pictures. Like many webcams, it has face-tracking so can keep your face framed as you move about in front of the camera. To stand out from the crowd, the Dualpix Emotion offers a software suite that will add effects to your video, such as inverting the image or adding fiery trails. The webcam also includes Hercules' Xtra Controller Ex software that allows you to add a slideshow of images to video chat, and the included software makes it easy to upload captured video to YouTube. The bracket held the webcam securely to the top of my laptop screen and adjusted easily to fit to the top of the flat-panel screen on my desktop. The webcam is compatible with Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7
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Review: Dualpix Emotion webcam from Hercules | Technophile
PURE Sensia touchscreen digital radio | Technophile
PURE packs a lot into its promising all-singing touchscreen radio, but it's more than its poor little processor can handle Last year, digital radio maker PURE began integrating DAB with internet radio with their Flow range . Now they've taken this one step further with the Sensia , bringing internet applications to your radio. Shipping with two of what PURE says will be many applications, the Sensia's 5.7in capacitive touchscreen allows you to check the weather or update Twitter.
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PURE Sensia touchscreen digital radio | Technophile
Asus 1201N netbook reviewed | Technophile
The Asus 1201N is the world's nippiest Windows 7 netbook, but the keyboard layout lets it down When you buy a netbook, you expect to compromise on performance, but the Asus 1201N makes the compromise acceptable. It's noticeably nippy when running Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, and it runs videos full screen without stuttering. In most situations, you'd think you were running a decent notebook PC, apart from the lack of a DVD drive. When the 1201N appears early next year (15 January in the US), it should be the most powerful netbook ever. The 1201N has two secrets. First, it's using an nVidia Ion (ie GeForce 9400M) graphics chip, like the one in new MacBooks. Second, it has a 1.66GHz dual core Intel Atom N330 processor, instead of the usual N270 or N280, and 2GB of memory. Windows 7 sees the N330 as four processors, and it makes a big difference to the system's general snappiness, especially with Windows 7's more pointless sliding and fading effects turned off. I found the dual core Atom a lot more responsive than a single-core CULV (Consumer Ultra Low Voltage) chip. When it comes to the hardware, the 1201N is recognisably a new-style thin Asus. It has a good quality 12in screen and a full-sized isolated keyboard of the sort common on much more expensive Sony and Apple laptops. The review sample had a very glossy black top that looked terrific, though it does show fingerprints. At 3.1lbs, it's also a fraction lighter than some rivals. The 1201N has a good set of connections including three USB ports, an RJ-45 Ethernet port, an SD card slot, and two ports for monitors – one of those is, of course, HDMI.
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Asus 1201N netbook reviewed | Technophile
Canon Digital IXUS 200 IS | digital camera review
It's easy to imagine a digital camera with a large touchscreen that offers the ease of use of an Apple iPhone, but that also has a good-quality 5x zoom lens, automatic focusing, image stabilisation, low-light capabilities, electronic flash, and a high megapixel count. It's easy to imagine that the Canon IXUS 200 IS (AKA SD980 IS) is that sort of thing, but it isn't. Instead, it's a somewhat expensive hybrid. The IXUS is, at least, the right sort of place to start. As with other IXUS compacts, the 200 IS looks chic and feels solid. The f/2.8 lens goes from a 24mm wide-angle to 120mm telephoto, there are ISO speed ratings from 80 to 1600, shutter speeds as long as 15 seconds, and a maximum resolution of 4,000 x 3,000 pixels (12MP). But there isn't a T-W rocker for zooming: the 200 IS has a tiny knob in front of the shutter button, and there's no separate viewfinder for old-school photographers like me
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Canon Digital IXUS 200 IS | digital camera review