Canon digital camera,EOS 300D review

Canon is doing well in the world of digital photography and maybe that is an understatement.Especially canon EOS 300D with a power bp-511 battery.The assortment of digital cameras built up by Canon over the past few years, is recognisable and has its own face. Names like Powershot and EOS are standing out and being recognised which is quite a performance in a sector that goes through many changes almost daily. Until the end of last year it was mainly the compact digital camera attracting the attention from the consumer, beside that a large group of consumers could only dream of a digital reflex camera, because the price tag showed some 2000 Euro.

Canon EOS 300D - digital reflex camera

But by the end of August Canon all of a sudden as if by magic made a digital reflex camera appear with a price tag that made us raise our eyebrows, and with us many of the industry. The price of a digital reflex became interesting overnight: Euro 1299, lens included! And not only that; Canon was also capable to supply the demands for the Canon EOS 300D and high capacity
canon bp-511 battery) for market need.

Canon EOS 300D - Features

This model is equipped with a CMOS image sensor with an effective image resolution of 6.3 Megapixel (3062x2048) which is more than sufficient for the mayor part of the functions to be able to offer oversized enlargements. Canon EOS 300D have a powerful bp-511 li-ion battery,no memory effect.The Canon EOS 300D offers a lot of similar possibilities that the EOS 10D offers. Here and there the Canon 300D stays on the surface with the possibilities of his settings and Canon economised on the material of the housing to be able to keep the price down. Anyone owning lenses suitable for EOS analogue cameras can use them again in combination with the EOS 300D. Just like the EOS 10D one should count on a focal length multiplier of 1.6x.

Biggest hit

The 300D offers several advanced features such as 35-zone TTL metering that is linked to the active focusing point; continuous tracking AF and ultra-wide AF with seven manually or automatically selectable focus points which light up in red if focus has been achieved.

Canon EOS 300D Battery life was very good throughout our tests. You can expect to take about 600 images without flash and 400 with it.

If you have liked Canon EOS 300D through my introduction,you come to buy it!!

Sony Vaio SZ Series Lapops

The Sony Vaio SZ Series (Battery Code # Sony Vgp-bpl2) is Sony's entry-level SZ-series notebook. The SZ line represents Sony's latest attempt to combine mobility and power without sacrificing too much of either. These ultraportable laptops weigh in at a light 4 pounds, about average for their category, but they come loaded with features not found on other ultraportables.

As of late March 2006, the Sony SZ line is one of the few ultraportable Intel Core Duo notebook series currently available. Other laptops in this category include the Lenovo Thinkpad X60s, the Asus W5F, and the Toshiba Portege M400 convertible tablet, but several important features differentiate the SZ line from the others.

General info about the Sony SZ line

Sony's SZ laptops are divided into two major categories, "Regular" (Sony just calls them "SZ", but "Regular" is used here for clarity) and Premium:

Regular SZ laptops have magnesium bodies, weigh 4.1 lbs, and offer a manufacturer-estimated 5.5 - 6 hours of battery life (inaccurate; see Battery section below).
Premium SZ laptops have carbon-fiber bodies, weigh 3.7 lbs, and offer a manufacturer-estimated 6 - 7 hours of battery life (inaccurate; see Battery section below). They use a different type of LCD screen and backlight, resulting in an ultrathin screen (4.5mm thick) that supposedly looks better than the Regular type -- but the Regular screen already seems thin enough and bright enough, so the Premium one may be more of a luxury than a necessity. The Premium laptops also have a slightly different type of keyboard, but the difference is subjective and preference will probably depend on the individual user. Lastly, some Premium laptops come with an integrated EDGE antenna for wireless Internet access using Cingular's cellular network.
The two types are otherwise the same. For more details, see Sony's SZ comparison page.

The Sony Np BG-1 Battery in particular

The Vaio SZ Series

The SZ Series is Sony's lowest-priced SZ notebook (excluding the custom-configurable SZ-140). This means:

As a Regular SZ notebook, it has a magnesium body instead of the carbon-fiber body of the Premium laptops.
It comes with Windows XP Home instead of Windows XP Professional.
It has an Intel Core Duo T2400 1.83Ghz CPU instead of the 2.0Ghz CPU that some others have.
It has a 100GB hard drive instead of the 120GB drive that some others have.
It does not have the EDGE antenna (for WWAN Internet access) that some others have.
SZ Series Specs as Reviewed

Dimensions: 12.5" (W) x 1.0" -1.5" (H) x 9.3" (D)
Weight: 4.07 lbs. with standard battery
CPU: Intel Core Duo Processor T2400 1.83GHz
Memory: 1GB DDR2 PC2-4200 533MHz (upgradable to 2GB)
Hard Drive: 100GB 5400rpm SATA drive with G-Sensor Shock Protection
Optical Drive: Dual-layer, dual-format DVD RW DL internal drive with max 8x read speed and 4x write speed
Display: 13.3" WXGA 1280x800 XBRITE widescreen glossy LCD
Graphics 1: (A built-in switch toggles between the two graphics cards) Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 with 128MB Shared Memory
Graphics 2: (A built-in switch toggles between the two graphics cards) NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400 with 128MB Dedicated Memory
Audio: Sony Sound Reality Audio Enhancer
Wireless LAN (WiFi): Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG (802.11a/b/g)
Bluetooth: Integrated Toshiba Bluetooth technology
Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2 (the CD is not included)
Sony Vaio SZ Series Battery: Standard-capacity lithium-ion battery with estimated life of 2.5 to 5.5 hours (inaccurate, see Battery section )
Power Requirement: 105W+10%
Keyboard: 86-key full-size keyboard with 3mm stroke and 19.05mm pitch
Pointing Device: Electro-static touchpad with two buttons and vertical & horizontal scroll areas
Webcam: Built-in webcam and microphone
Security: Fingerprint scanner
Ports:
1x Memory Stick Duo Pro MagicGate
1x PC Card (PCMCIA Type II)
1x VGA output
1x iLink/FireWire/IEEE 1394
1x headphone output
1x microphone input
1x V.90 Modem (RJ-11)
1x 10/100 Fast Ethernet (RJ-45) (no Gigabit Ethernet)
2x USB 2.0
1x ExpressCard/34
1x DC-in (for power)
1x Port Replicator Connector
Card Reader: 4-in-1 xD/SD/MMC/MS Pro flash media reader card that uses the ExpressCard/34 slot from Digital Camera Battery Shop.
Service & Support: 1-year Limited Warranty, 1-year toll-free 24/7 telephone support
Installed Software: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition with SP2, America Online 180-Day Trial - New Users Only, Norton Internet Security 60-Day Subscription, TrendMicro Anti-Spyware 30-Day Trial, VAIO Security Center, VAIO Update software, VAIO Recovery Wizard software, VAIO Support Central, Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Edition, Intuit Quicken 2006 New User Edition (previous Quicken users may require additional upgrade), InterVideo WinDVD, Microsoft Works 8.5 60-Day Trial Version of Microsoft Office 2003 (Student/Teacher Edition), Roxio DigitalMedia SE, Click to DVD - DVD Creation, DVgate Plus - Digital Video, SonicStage Mastering Studio - Audio Mastering and Remastering, SonicStage - Digital Music, VAIO Media - Network File Sharing, Image Converter - PSP Transfer, 60-minute Trial Version of Wheel of Fortune, 60-minute Trial Version of Jeopardy .


Where and How Purchased

I purchased the notebook from Amazon.com at a list price of $1899.99. After a variety of Amazon discounts and rebates, my final price was somewhere along the lines of $1720. ($150 Amazon rebate, $30 A9.com discount). The price hasn't stabilized yet and some of the buyers commented that the price had decreased by a few hundred dollars since they placed their orders. In the last few days, however, the price has actually gone up and as of March 31, 2006, the list price is $1,999.99 (the rebate and A9 discount are still available). Nonetheless, thanks to free shipping and a lack of sales tax in my state, this turned out to be a reasonably good deal for the notebook -- according to Pricegrabber.com, other merchants were selling it for $1800+.

As expected of Amazon, the notebook arrived on time and in perfect condition.

Reasons for Buying


I was in the market for a new notebook because my old one was too slow and too heavy. I wanted a faster, more portable model and I looked around for a good match. Intel recently released their new Core Duo processors, and seeing the supposed performance gains in multitasking environments and multithreaded applications, I decided to get one instead of an older Pentium M model. A few laptops had already begun to make use of the new processors and I examined the offerings from several major notebook manufacturers. Lenovo (which acquired IBM's PC division) had the Thinkpad X60s -- a generally excellent machine, but it had no internal optical drive, something I considered an absolute necessity. Toshiba had the Portege M400 convertible Core Duo tablet, but it had a strange keyboard layout that moved or eliminated several keys I frequently used. The Asus W5F seemed like a potential match, but at the time, the product website was incomplete and buggy so I couldn't find out enough about it and the product itself seemed to be unavailable for sale everywhere I looked.

Then I found Sony's SZ series. I traditionally avoided Sony products because -- in my opinion -- they tended to be overpriced toys that sold themselves based more on style and looks than functionality. Initially skeptical, I examined the SZ series' specifications, and to my surprise, Sony's expensive toy actually seemed to offer more than anything else out there. It has an internal optical drive (a dual-layer burner, no less); a regular full-size keyboard; a 13.3" widescreen display; both a PC Card slot (which I use for EV-DO wireless Internet) and an ExpressCard/34 slot (which may soon gain popularity); 802.11a/b/g WiFi; Bluetooth; FireWire; a multi-card reader; a webcam; a fingerprint reader; and to seal the deal, a unique Hybrid Graphics System that allows the user to switch between an Intel integrated graphics card and a discrete NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400 card.

Finding any of two or three of those features in an ultraportable would be a tough task, yet Sony somehow managed to integrate all of them into one sleek and lightweight machine. I was impressed.

Power of Sony VGN Sz Series

SONY Vaio Vgn-Sz Series Laptop Battery's OEM Battery Code: vgp-bpl2 , vgp-bps2 , replacement for sony vaio vgn- fe590pa , vaio vgn-fe550g , vaio vgn-fe590 , vaio vgn-fe590pb , vaio vgn-fj series, has Chemistry: Li-ion,Volts: 11.10V,Capacity: 6600mAh,Dimension: 206.55 x 70.70 x 19.60 mm,Net Weight: 474.00 g,Color: Black.

Casio Exilim EX-S100 review

EX-S100 Features:

• 3.2-Megapixel effective CCD imager
  
• Credit card-size stainless steel body, only 0.66" thick
  
• Still Image: 2048x1536, 1600x1200, 1280x960, 640x480
  
• Uses world's first transparent ceramic 2.8x optical zoom lens
  
• Lens covers 36-102mm (in 35mm equivalence)
  
• AVI 320x240 Movies with audio, length limited only by available memory
  
  
• Contrast type AF selectable between spot, multi
  
• Focus modes include pan focus, macro mode, infinity, and manual focus
  
• 23 Best Shot scene modes, plus 1 custom mode
  
• 9.3 Megabytes of internal memory
  
• 4 to 1/2000 sec. shutter speeds
  
• Built-in flash with Red Eye Reduction
  
• 2" TFT color LCD monitor
  
• 4X playback zoom magnification
  
• USB 1.1 data transfer to PC or Mac computers
  


• Lithium rechargeable Casio NP-20 battery and charging cradle included


• Secure Digital/MMC card slot for memory expansion
  
• DPOF, Exif Print, Print Image matching, and PictBridge compatible
  

The Casio Exilim EX-S100 was developed to be the flagship of the Exilim "S" series, and as such, embodies all the brand concepts. Key features of the EX-S100 include a 3.2-megapixel CCD image sensor. The Casio Exilim Card EX-S100 is a 3 megapixel digital camera with a 2.8x optical zoom lens that offers a focal length of 36-102mm and a large 2-inch LCD screen and rechargeable np-20 battery.

The Casio Exilim Card EX-S100 is no different with dimensions of 88mm (W) x 57mm (H) x 16.7mm (D) and weighing just 113g without the battery and storage card fitted. All of this is housed in a stylish and hard-wearing metal casing. But is the Casio Exilim Card EX-S100 just too small for its own good? Carry on reading my extensive review to find out if it's actually a good camera or not.

The Casio Exilim Card EX-S100 has a 3.34 megapixel, 1/3.2 inch CCD that delivers 3.2 effective megapixels. The camera's 2.8x optical zoom lens is equivalent to a 36-102 mm lens on a 35mm format camera. There is also a 4x digital zoom available. There are 5 image sizes (2048 x 1536, 2048 x 1360 (3:2), 1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960, 640 x 480 pixels, powerful NP-20 battery) which are recorded as JPEGs in one of 3 image quality settings (Fine / Normal / Economy). The EX-S100 supports SD and MMC memory cards and there is also 9.3MB of built-in memory.

The Casio Exilim Card EX-S100's dimensions are 88mm (W) x 57mm (H) x 16.7mm (D), and it weighs 113g without the NP-20 battery and storage card fitted. The camera is powered by Casio's proprietary rechargable lithium-ion battery. There is a metal tripod mount in the left of the bottom of the camera. The PC interface is USB 1.0 (via the supplied cradle). There are no NTSC / PAL AV outputs, so you can't connect the EX-Z55 to your TV. Printouts can be made without going through a computer, though, by directly connecting the Casio Exilim Card EX-S100 to a PictBridge-compliant printer.

The EX-S100 features a stainless steel body, a hallmark of the EXILIM CARD series, which has been polished to a brilliant shine through a special process. It is created entirely of metal, right down to the screws, for a true feeling of high quality. The front of the camera has been given a fresh look, with a theme of circular patterns to highlight the shape of the lens, while the back of the unit features a more square look that matches the impressively large 2.0” TFT LCD screen. In keeping with the distinctive form of the other models in the EXILIM CARD series, the lens area itself protrudes slightly from the body of the camera. Its NP-20 battery can last about 3 hours.

dell xps m1210 laptop review

LIKE MANY THINGS IN the PC industry these days, laptop computers as the digital camera (digital camera battery ) are a fairly mature sort of product. We all know about the basic types and sizes, and how the inevitable tradeoffs in display performance, size, weight, battery life and display real estate tend to work. If you're a road warrior, you can get a svelte, compact machine with understated design cues and six hours of battery life; you'll just have to sacrifice performance for that mobility. If you're a gamer, you can get a graphics and processing powerhouse with Pontiac-style ribbed body cladding and a display large enough to double as the main sail on a small yacht; you'll just have to accept the additional weight, heat, and battery drain that comes with it. For most of us, buying a laptop means deciding what set of tradeoffs we're willing to make and then looking into the various choices in our preferred weight class.

Dell's entry-level multimedia laptop, the XPS M1210 (xps m1210 dell laptop battery)has some excellent show-biz genes, such as media buttons and a TV tuner option. But it's also a strong, well-designed, and highly mobile performer. The Windows Vista refresh only enhances the earlier XP version's strong points.

The 4.9-pound M1210 is not the lightest laptop in its class, but it's still quite travel friendly as a digital caemra (digital camera battery ) . Pricing is flexible, starting at $1299, and the design is excellent. The M1210 has four USB ports, among other connections, ports, and card slots. Its 12.1-inch WXGA screen is extraordinarily bright and inviting, and the well-laid-out keyboard requires no ramp-up time. And with the unit turned off, one press of the keyboard's MediaDirect button launches a movie, music file, video clip, or photos slide show located anywhere on the notebook. Though the M1210 is a small notebook with small-sounding speakers, it comes with two headphone ports on the front so two people can plug in and listen at the same time.

Last year Dell added an 'Instant office' option to the MediaDirect menu; after selecting it, you can flip through your PowerPoint slides, contacts, and calendar entries, without waiting for Windows to load.

The Mobile Media Guru configuration, included on our $2150 (as of April 11, 2007) review unit) further broadens your entertainment and communications horizons. An external USB TV tuner and a remote control enable you to watch and record live TV on the M1210's small screen. Dell also includes an excellent Webcam and an integrated broadband antenna at this price level. (An integrated Cingular or Verizon cellular broadband card and Bluetooth cost extra, however.) The notebook's 'WiFi Catcher' switch makes it easy to scan for any type of wireless signal--Wi-Fi, broadband, or Bluetooth.

The XPS M1210 ( dell xps m1210 battery )features a bright 12.1-inch display that's just big enough for surfing the Web and watching the occasional movie on the road; the crisp 1,280x800 native resolution and glossy finish in particular add to the movie-watching experience. Above the display sits an optional 1.3-megapixel Webcam with directional microphone; the camera swivels so that you can snap shots in front of or behind the laptop and record presentations with audio and video. Beneath the display sit two speakers with the tinny sound that's typical of a laptop; we had hoped for more from a laptop that's billed as a mobile entertainment center.

The keyboard on the XPS M1210 (xps m1210 battery ) shows some significant gains over its predecessor's; all of the keys are full size, with generous travel that makes typing comfortable for even extended periods. The touch pad and mouse buttons are a bit small (typical for a laptop of this size) but functional. We like the glowing blue media controls that sit along the XPS M1210's front edge, making it easy to change music tracks and control volume. We also like the handy Wi-Fi catcher, which lets you test for nearby Wi-Fi networks by simply sliding a switch on the laptop's left edge.

The Dell XPS M1210 takes advantage of its slightly thick case by packing it with an impressive number of ports, jacks, and slots. For starters, you get four USB 2.0 ports, a number usually seen on much larger systems. Add to those four-pin FireWire, VGA, and S-Video-out ports plus two headphone jacks (handy if you want to watch a movie with a friend) and a microphone jack; there's also an ExpressCard slot and a five-in-one media card reader that recognizes Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, and xD formats. Networking options include modem, Ethernet, and 802.11a/g Wi-Fi; our review unit also included Bluetooth and WWAN. An integrated DVD burner rounds out the feature set.

Casio Exilim EX-Z60 camera review

The Casio Exilim EX-Z60 is a six megapixel digital camera with a three times optical zoom lens and strong power battery(np-20). It is a fairly slim model and will slip into a large pocket. It is a simple digital camera and it should not take long to get to grips with it. In terms of price this is one of the cheapest cameras of its type that I am aware of. Therefore the Exilim EX-Z60 is likely to appeal to anyone who is looking for a straightforward point and shoot camera that is easy to carry around and will not break the bank.


In addition to its compact and stylish design, the EX-Z60 functions include “Old Photo” Best Shot Mode, which refreshes faded colors of old photos by bringing them back to life in digital format, automatically adjusts for obliquity even when photos are shot while still in the album. The Rapid Flash function enables three consecutive, high-speed flash photos in only one second, ensuring that no special moments are missed. The Easy Mode setting provides a simplified, easy to understand, and convenient version of the settings menu and camera interface, designed especially for first time users but also helpful to those who prefer a basic camera settings interface as well. The BEST SHOT Button enables convenient, one-touch access to 33 scenes chosen from an image menu and providing the user with a wide range of camera settings for taking hassle-free photos every time. But different from the old's,Z60 Camera have high capacity and power rechargerable battery(casio np-20) for you.



The EX-Z60 has features like: “Auto Macro” mode which allows for automatic switching between macro and auto focus modes. “9-Point Multi AF” clearly indicates the areas of focus when photographing subjects with multiple focus points. The “Quick Shutter” function reduces mistakes by facilitating simple and easy high-speed focusing. “Flash Assist” mode compensates for poorly illuminated areas within the shot. “Exposure Warning” mode warns over or under exposure via an on-screen display. The “Icon Help” function provides icon guidance when adjusting camera settings. The “Direct On” button allows quick startup in both shooting and playback modes.

Features:

• 6-Megapixel effective CCD imager, 3x optical zoom w/auto macro


• A rechargeable lithium ion battery (NP-20 battery)


• Stylish, durable and light-weight aluminum body


• Large 2.5-inch TFT color LCD, twice as bright as EX-S500


• Anti Shake provides higher sensitivity, faster shutter speed prevents image blurring to hand or subject movement


• High-speed start-up enables shooting approximately 1.4 seconds after power up.


• Release time lag of only 0.002 seconds after the shutter is pressed.


• Rapid Flash, 3 high speed flash photos in one second


• Continuous shutter function enables photos to be taken in 0.9 seconds intervals.


• 33 "BEST SHOT" scene modes set the camera for easy to difficult situations.


• Attach up to 30-second audio memos to still images at capture or later.


• Record voice-only audio, approx. 25 minutes on internal memory.


• MPEG-4, VGA(640×480 pixels), 30 frames/second high quality movies


• Movie Best Shot, Past Movie, Short Movie and in-camera movie editing.


• 9-point autofocus system with selectable AF modes: Multi or Spot AF.


• ISO sensitivity from 50 to 400, ISO 800 with Anti Shake.


• Built-in flash with Red Eye Reduction and Flash-assist function.


• USB data transfer to PC or Mac computers.


• Super-Life battery enables up to 180 shots on a single charge.


• Li-ion rechargeable battery and charger included.


• 8.3 Megabytes of internal memory and SD card slot for memory expansion.


• ExifPrint, PRINT Image Matching III, USB Direct-Print, and PictBridge compatible.

Ease of Use

Casio have made the Exilim EX-Z60 very easy to use. If you take a look at the back of the camera there are very few buttons compared with other digital cameras. My only complaint is that if you want to shoot a movie you will need to dip into the menu system to place the camera in movie mode. Otherwise everything you need to take a picture is at your fingertips.



The menu system itself is well designed. It is basically a case of scrolling through the menu until you find what you are looking for. Nothing is hidden or tucked away and all the options are described in plain English without the use of symbols or abbreviations.



To cut the menu options to a bare minimum you can put the camera in easy mode. This makes it even more straightforward to use.

Batteries and Memory Card

A rechargeable lithium ion battery (rechargerable casio NP-20) is used to power the Exilim EX-Z60. Casio supplies both a battery and charger with the camera. Casio estimate you should be able to take around 180 shots before the battery needs to be recharged.


There is 8.3mb of storage built into the camera. Therefore a memory card is not supplied with the camera. I was able to take just four photos before the memory became full. This is very poor indeed. You are strongly advised to buy a high capacity card to go with the camera. It is compatible with both SD and MMC cards.




Casio's Exilim EX-Z60 makes a better fashion accessory than a camera.it hava a strong casio np-20 with longer battery life. If you're looking for style and photographic substance in the same price range, I suggest you check out Canon's SD series or Nikon's S series of cameras.

Sony Cybershot Dsc-H9 review

Sensor: 1/2.5 " Type CCD,

8.1 million effective pixels

Movie clips:MPEG VX Fine / Standard
(640 x 480 @ 30 / 16 fps MPEG-1 with audio)

Modes: Auto • Program • Shutter Priority • Aperture Priority • Manual • Scene

LCD monitor: 3.0-inch tilt 230,000 pixels

Power: Sony cybershot Dsc-H9 battery (NP-BG1)

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H9 is an 8.1 Megapixel super-zoom camera with a 15x optical zoom. This gives it one of the longest optical zoom ranges of all super-zoom cameras and makes it usable in practice with Super SteadyShot to combat camera-shake.

The H9 also boasts a huge 3in screen and better still, it’s a flip-out model allowing easy composition at high or low angles. And the H9 wouldn’t be a Sony if it didn’t feature additional gadgetry, so let’s give a warm welcome back to NightShot in the Cyber-shot range, which uses infra-red illumination to take photos in complete darkness.

The DSC-H9 provides up to 250 shots3 with a fully charged NP-BG1 Lithium Ion battery -- enough shooting capacity to cover a long weekend or a whole vacation 

The Cyber-shot H9 is certainly a feature-packed camera which understandably piqued the interest of super-zoom buyers the moment it was announced in February 2007. It stacks up pretty well against the competition too. The 15x zoom range offers an equivalent range of 31-465mm, making it a little wider and longer than the 12x zooms of Panasonic’s Lumix FZ50 and FZ8 models, and beaten only by the whopping 28-504mm 18x range of the Olympus SP-550UZ.

While it’s easy to compare numbers in theory, the H9’s lens has a big advantage over its rivals in practice: it focuses very quickly indeed, making it much easier to grab action shots be they of wildlife or sports.

The H9 also trumps its rivals with its screen: not only is it much bigger at 3in, but you’ll also enjoy the flexibility of flip-out capabilities. It may not twist to be usable in portrait orientation or for self-portraits, but it’s still very impressive.

So has Sony produced the ultimate super-zoom camera? In our full H9 review we’ll detail its features and capabilities, along with comparing it against rivals from Panasonic and Olympus. As always we’ll also demonstrate the H9’s key features, including the zoom range, stabilisation, focusing speed and night capabilities, in our Sony Cyber-shot H9 video tour.

A rechargeable lithium ion battery (NP-BG1) is supplied together with a charger. Sony estimates you should be able to take around 280 shots in between charges.This NP-BG1 battery is a change from previous H-series cameras: the H5 ran on two AA batteries. While those batteries are more convenient.

Canon PowerShot sd900

If it is true that one can not tell a book by its cover, then the diminutive Canon Powershot SD900 seems too small and compact package that is a 10 megapixel Wallop. canon nb 5l .But large file size is only part of the story of a small camera that produces excellent color images and out of the box.

Canon PowerShot sd900


In fact, coverage is pretty cool on its own - the SD900 case is titanium, with its bright medium gray complemented very well chrome bright and flat black accents. Build quality, fit and finish appear to first class. The camera has a 2.5 "LCD monitor and an optical viewfinder, a 10 megapixel sensor 3X optical zoom and Canon that provides a 35mm film equivalent focal length of 37 to 111 mm. Canon claims the DIGIC III processor image provides a better image quality, operating speed and battery performance over previous processors.Canon nb-5l battery.


The SD900 is a new addition to the Powershot line and like many point-and-shoot cameras Canon SD line, which offers virtually no manual controls. The ability to produce images with large file sizes seems tailored for those who want to print large enlargements or crop your shots aggressively to produce the desired result.

Original Canon PowerShot sd900 Battery

Canon offers a wrist strap, battery charger, battery, AV cables and interface, a 32MB SD memory card and CD-ROMs with software every SD900. With a 10 megapixel sensor 32MB card that did not last long, so plan on buying one with more capacity. One card allows some 4 GB + 950 images in the largest file size and configuration of image quality, at least according to the camera meter.

The SD900 measures approximately 2.35 x 3.6 x 1.1 inches and weighs about 6.5 ounces with battery pack and memory card. You can capture still JPEG images in seven different sizes pixel, Motion JPEG and a 160 x 120, 320 x 240, 640 x 480 or 1024 x 768 pixels at 15 and / or 30 frames per second.

House features and design

The front of the camera features 3x zoom lens, flash, viewfinder window, self-timer/red-eye reduction / AF-assist beam and a microphone.


The camera back is dominated by the 2.5 "LCD monitor, but also houses the viewer, the indicator lights, the mode dial, print / share, visualize, function / set nenu and buttons, and Touch Control Dial .


The upper chamber includes a loudspeaker, lamp power and power button, shutter nutton and zoom lens.



A socket threaded tripod, memory card slot / batteries lock release switch, DC coupler terminal cover and memory card slot / cover batteries are in the lower chamber.

A digital terminals and A / V of the terminal can be found beneath the terminal cover the camera on the right side.


Auto mode

The SD900 powers up in a relatively short time - the lens extends as a wide-angle camera and is ready to acquire focus about 1 second after pressing the power button. By default configuration will automatically include the normal color and compression, automatic white balance, the size of large files and evaluative metering exposure. The image quality and color are good enough for shots of scenes illuminated normally automatic settings.


Manual Mode

While the SD900 offers a "manual" which really only allows you to select the exposure compensation, white balance and ISO speed manual as inputs. The camera continues to make almost all the work.

There are also four other shooting options accessed through the "manual" mode: Digital Macro, Color Accent, Color Swap and Stitch Assist. The color options involves the selective color image manipulation, Stitch Assist and helps produce panoramic images.

Special scene modes

There are eleven Special Scene selections available on the SD900 - Portrait, Night Snapshot, Kids & Pets, Indoor, Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Aquarium, under water and ISO 3200. Canon makes a "watertight case" for the SD900 and recommends using it to shoot at ski resorts or beaches.

A word here about ISO 3200: a simple rule of thumb with any digital camera is the image that noise increases as does the ISO level.canon nb-5l ,Because the sensors in compact cameras dimensions can be smaller than those of their older brothers, this noise may become more apparent in the ISO lowest levels in the covenants. In the SD900, ISO 3200 would be the choice of places where the flash is inappropriate or ineffective, given the distance between the main theme - that literally becomes the final option, the "noise when a picture really is better than no picture at all "the establishment. In the photos below, one was shot in "Indoor Mode" and the other on "ISO 3200" - the results speak for themselves.


Another consideration in the selection of ISO 3200 in the SD900 is that the camera default in 1600 x 1200 pixels. In practical terms, this means that the expansion / crop options offered captured images to higher resolutions are not available in ISO 3200 - you'll be presented with the production of an image that best suits postcard size prints, or slightly larger.

Exposure Compensation

In Manual and many of the special scene modes, the SD900 accepting manual input of + / - 2 EV exposure compensation in 1 / 3 EV increments.

Metering

Evaluative metering, Canon said it was appropriate to the standard lighting conditions, including lighting, the camera is the default setting. Center-weighted and spot metering can also be selected. In the photo below, evaluative metering did a good job of exposing this road backlit billboard.



Focus / Macro Focus

The SD900 will focus as close as 1.6 feet in normal mode, 2-inch wide-angle and macro 12 inches in macro telephoto. There is also an "Infinity" that the establishment of close-focuses on 9.8 feet. The camera is equipped with an autofocus assist beam supporting care in low light conditions.

Monitor / Viewer

The 2.5-inch LCD monitor is composed of some 230000 pixels and is adjustable brightness. On sunny days with direct light on the monitor and a low contrast theme, the photo composition is sometimes problematic, even with the monitor to adjust the maximum brightness. Monitor performance was satisfactory in the absence of direct sunlight and / or a greater contrast topic.

Unlike many cameras in this class, the SD900 is equipped with a viewfinder. Although small, the viewer provides for a viable option for those times when the composition of photos through the monitor has been difficult.

Photos composed through the monitor are captured as they appear on the monitor, but through photos composed by the viewer tended to produce an image that covers most surface that appeared through the search engine. You may find more photos cropping up through the viewfinder to remove objects that "hidden" in the frame.

Flash

Canon claims a series of flash to 17 feet and 10 feet at wide angle in shaping telephoto, figures that seem accurate in my experience. Red-eye reduction and slow sync options can be enabled by the shooter. Playing with the flash of color seem accurate to my eye.

I was particularly pleased with the performance of flash in connection with the AF assist beam. In the photos that follow, two of them were made in the copper mine Queen in Bisbee, Arizona. We were 1500 feet into the mine and about 950 feet below ground, and with the exception of our small miners lamps and an occasional bulb, the lighting is nil. The SD900 produced some quality exhibitions despite the near pitch-black environment.


Color

The SD900 produced accurate color reproductions of my eye across a range of natural light and flash. The camera also has a "My Colors" mode with a series of adjustments that allow the shooter to change colors to be captured: Off (normal colour), Vivid, Neutral, Sepia, b &w; positive Film; light and shades of darker skin; Vivid red, blue or green color and custom.


ISO

In addition to Auto, ISO values of 80, 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1600 can be selected manually. There is also a high ISO setting, but the camera only select a higher ISO Auto it deems appropriate if this option is chosen. As mentioned above, there is an ISO 3200 Special Scene mode that can be accessed through the menu.

White Balance

The SD900 features automatic white balance in my experience that worked well in a series of flash and outdoor lighting. There is also daylight, cloudy, tungsten, fluorescent, fluorescent H and custom white balance options.

Battery performance

Canon claims a canon nb-5l battery life of approximately 230 shots with the LCD monitor activated, and about 700 shots using only the viewer. In my experience the Canon SD900 exceeded the estimate - I got about 250 shots using the monitor, with nearly 80 of those flash also included. I did change the chamber energy savings to minimize the adjustments in time for the various systems.

Performance speed

Performance speed in the SD900 is quite good for a point and shoot. I thought that it could acquire the approach and shoot a good image in lighting conditions at about 1.25 to 1.5 seconds, with the shutter seems to have about .5 seconds or less on fire.

Canon claims to 2 frames per second in continuous shooting rate Large / Fine mode. I saw 5 shots in about 3.7 seconds in the High / Super mode.


Lens Performance

The Canon 3x optical zoom in the SD900(nb-5l) offers a range of af/4.9 aperture of f/2.8. Performance seems good on TV of the range, but there was no barrel distortion (straight lines bow out from the center) present at the wide angle. There were also strip (ghosting purple) present in the high-contrast images in border areas. The barrel distortion could be observed in normal photos, but the band was more obvious under large increase (400%). My feeling is the strip will not be apparent unless an image is enlarged or very much cropped and enlarged. Unfortunately, these two scenarios are unlikely with the SD900.


With a 35 mm film equivalent focal length of 37 to 111mm, the SD900 lens is not really a "comprehensive" wide-angle, but the length of 111mm is very close to the 105 mm focal length 35mm many shooters favour portrait work.

Diversity

The SD900 does not feature image stabilization and has 4x digital zoom and digital macro capability. The camera can print directly to PictBridge-compatible printers (no computer necessary) and also has new face detection technology to identify faces in images and make the focus point.

Conclusion

The Canon SD900 is a compact, elegant shirt-pocket camera that can produce high quality images in file sizes that lend themselves to large additions and / or crops to achieve the desired result.
See Cheap Canon Nb-5l Sd900 Camera Battery.

Laptop Dell C600 Review

Dell C600(Dell C600 Battery) Key Specs

Processor manufacturer: Intel
Processor model: Mobile Pentium III
Clock speed: 0.85 GHz
RAM installed: 128 MB
Wireless LAN: integrated antenna for wireless 802.11b networking via a Mini-PCI card
Hard drive size: 10 GB
Graphics processor: ATi Rage Mobility 128 AGP 2X
Graphics RAM: 8 MB
Display diagonal size: 14.1 in
Dimensions (W x H x D): 31.9x3.5x25.4 cm
Weight: 2.7 kg
Operating system: Windows 2000 Professional

The Dell Latitude C600(Laptop Dell C600 Battery) is a straightforward corporate laptop with excellent battery life and some special touches.

One aspect that is unique among the machines we tested (and worth copying by others) is the inclusion of both a touch pad and pointing stick. Those who are comfortable with both features can switch back and forth, depending on the task (both are active concurrently), and those with a preference can choose between them, turning one or the other off.

The C600 has an internal antenna for wireless networking, and Dell offers, for an extra $199 (direct), an internal Mini-PCI 802.11b adapter. Unfortunately, that card needs to be plugged into the same slot as the wired Ethernet Mini-PCI adapter. So to toggle between wired and wireless networking, you'll have to use a PC Card for one of them. This is an unexpected omission, especially when the similarly priced Acer and Toshiba models include standard internal wireless network and Ethernet capability.

If you like, there is some Digital Camera Battery infomation to view.

Hot-swapping modules to and from the single bay worked like a charm: We just clicked an icon on the System Tray, ejected one module, and popped in the new one. Another highlight is the high-resolution display. Although its 14.1-inch size is the same as most others, the screen's 1,400-by-1,050 native resolution lets you see more of a document or Web page without scrolling.

As for the audio capabilities, the speaker volume was very low: For presentations, you'll need an external pair of powered speakers. The keyboard layout, spacing, and feel were all comfortable. One notable keyboard feature is the Dell(dell battery) AccessDirect button, which calls up the on-disk documentation. You can also program this button to launch a frequently used application or—even more useful for IT managers—to preconfigure each machine with a specific support resource, such as Dell's technical-support Web site.

Dell(how about the Battery Dell Latitude C600) also caters to tech managers' needs. Bay modules, batteries, docking slices or stations, and an AC adapter can be shared among any Latitude C-series models, including legacy systems (CPx, CPt, CPi, and others). The modules also can be shared with L-series models via an external expansion bay and an IDE cable. Also, the primary and secondary battery are identical and can be used in either the battery bay or the multipurpose bay.

Speaking of battery life, the C600 beat out all the other notebooks in our roundup. With a system weight of 5.4 pounds, the C600 is one of the bulkier models we tested. Those extra few ounces (due to its bigger battery, the same as Digital Camera Battery), however, translate to more than 3.5 hours of runtime or nearly 8 hours with an extra battery installed in the modular bay.

The C600 comes with minimal printed documentation, but Dell balances this shortcoming with outstanding, comprehensive on-disk system reference material and a three-year warranty.

Canon Digital IXUS 800 IS camera review

The delightfully compact Digital IXUS 800 IS combines IXUS style with advanced photographic features. Experience sharper flash-free shooting with ISO 800 and a 4x optical Image Stabilizer zoom lens, rechargeable Canon NB-5L battery.

• 6.0 MP CCD
  
• 4x optical zoom with optical IS
  
• ISO 800
  
• Elegant design
  
• DIGIC II and iSAPS
  
• 2.5" LCD
  
• 16 shooting modes and My Colors
  
• Widescreen recording and 30fps VGA movies
  
• PictBridge and Print/Share button
  
• Software and CANON iMAGE GATEWAY*


• Accessories : Extend shooting possibilities with a range of optional accessories, including a Waterproof Case (40m) WP-DC5 and High Power Flash HF-DC1 NB-5L battery.

The Canon Digital IXUS 800 IS is a 6 megapixel digital camera with a 2.5 inch LCD screen, li-ion NB-5L battery and optical viewfinder. For the first time ever on a Canon compact, the IXUS 800 features image stabilizer technology to help combat camera-shake. Canon have also extended the optical zoom lens to 4x, giving an effective focal length of 35-140mm. Under the surface, the Canon Digital Ixus 800 IS uses the same advanced DIGIC II processor as the company's digital SLR cameras for fast performance and image processing. There are 14 different scene modes on offer for beginners and a more advanced Manual mode for those who desire greater control. VGA movies at 30fps, a My Colors mode that allows special in-camera colour effects, and PictBridge and USB 2 support complete the specification. So does the Digital IXUS 800 IS carry on the good name of previous IXUS compacts? Read our latest review to find out.

As a rule with Canon digital cameras you know roughly what you are going to get before you turn them on. The IXUS 800 IS is no exception. This camera is capable of producing sharp images and strong colours. For me that is the ideal combination when you are looking to buy any camera. Also camcorder battery can be used in camera.

The Canon Digital Ixus 800 IS has a normal shooting mode, Self-timer (2 secs. 10 secs. or Custom) and a Continuous mode, which allows you take up to 2.1 frames/sec until the memory card is full. There are a number of different My Colors photo effects on offer (My Colors Off, Vivid, Neutral, Sepia, Black & White, Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red, Custom Color). The Macro setting allows you to focus on subjects that are as close as 2cms. The camera offers 2 auto-focusing systems - 9-point AiAF and 1-point AF (Fixed centre). The built-in flash offers 5 different modes (Auto, On, Auto Red-eye Reduction, Slow Synchro and Off). The flash range is 50cm-3.5m (W) / 2.0m (T). An AF assist beam and Flash Exposure Lock are also available. Noise reduction is automatically applied to exposures greater than 1.3 seconds. The powerful NB-5L battery can last for about three ours with continuous working

The Canon Digital Ixus 800 IS's dimensions are 90.4 (W) x 56.5 (D) x 26.4 (H) mm, and it weighs 165g without the battery and storage card fitted. The camera is powered by a rechargeable Li-ion Battery which allows you to take up to 240 shots before needing to be recharged. There is a metal tripod mount in the center of the bottom of the camera.

In my view Canon digital cameras are some of the more complicated to use. I have reviewed so many now that I know where to find everything, but if you are new to them it may take you a short while to fully get to grips with the camera and better charger NB-5l battery

The Canon Digital IXUS (NB-5L) series of digital cameras has been successful for many years. At this time, the new Canon Digital IXUS 800 IS leads the series, and will undoubtedly enjoy a warm welcome from the IXUS enthusiasts. We had the opportunity to test the Canon IXUS 800 IS during a long period of time. Whether or not Canon set a new benchmark for their compact camera line can be read in the following Canon Digital IXUS 800 IS digital camera review.

dell inspiron 9300 laptop review

Packing just about everything you'd want in a desktop-replacement laptop, the Dell Inspiron 9300( dell inspiron 9300 battery )has an expansive 17-inch wide-aspect display, plenty of handy connections and drives, and a bevy of top-notch components, including Nvidia's robust GeForce Go 6800 graphics chip. Delivering nominally lower productivity performance than the prior Inspiron 9200 model, the Inspiron 9300 provides a slightly improved gaming performance and a number of refinements, including Microsoft XP Media Center 2005, an optional TV tuner, and two additional USB 2.0 ports, for a total of six. It's not cheap--our loaded configuration costs $2,858--but we recommend it to home and business users who want power and features in a relatively portable rig.



The body of the Inspiron 9300 is crafted out of sturdy and stylish magnesium alloy and measures 15.5 inches wide, 11.3 inches deep, and 1.6 inches thick; it has an attractive silver hue with white trim. At 8.2 pounds, the Inspiron 9300 is on the lighter side of robust desktop replacements, weighing more than a pound less than the HP Pavilion zd8000, not like the digital camera battery Still, it's far too heavy for regular travel. With such a big case, the Inspiron 9300 can afford to include a big keyboard, though it lacks a separate number pad, which the HP Pavilion zd8000 has. The mouse buttons are downright huge, and the touch pad is adequately sized. The latter features arrows running along its right and bottom edges, outlining where to place your finger when using the software-enhanced pad to scroll through documents or Web pages. The Inspiron 9300's two speakers and internal subwoofer deliver crisp and rich sound, unlike the weak, flat strains that trickle out of most laptops. Better yet, because the speakers sit in the corners of the laptop's front edge, your hands won't muffle them while you're typing. Sandwiched between the speakers, a row of seven buttons lets you control disc playback and adjust or mute the volume. The buttons are handy, but we wish they let us play discs without booting up the system--a feature standard on other laptops, digital camera Though the Inspiron 9300 runs Media Center, the bundled TV-tuner box is rather bulky and probably too big to bring on the road.



Our test unit had a bright, vast 17-inch wide-screen display with a WUXGA 1,900x1,200 native resolution. It made newer games such as Half-Life 2 really shine, and we thoroughly enjoyed watching a DVD movie. We must note, however, that the antiglare coating on the Inspiron 9300's WUXGA screen creates a somewhat sparkly effect that's most noticeable against white backgrounds; we've heard from a number of irate users who have found this intolerable, so beware.



There's no dearth of ports, jacks, or slots: the Inspiron 9300 ( dell inspiron 9300 battery ) offers FireWire, S-Video-out, VGA, and six USB 2.0 ports; 56Kbps modem, Ethernet, headphone, and microphone jacks; one each of Type II PC Card and Secure Digital slots; and a swank DVI port, should you want to connect the laptop to an even bigger digital LCD. Last, but definitely not least, the Inspiron 9300 includes a cutting-edge multiformat, double-layer DVD drive, which is fixed and cannot be swapped out for another drive.



Like all of Dell's laptops, the Inspiron 9300 is extremely configurable; our Inspiron 9300 series review includes more details about the available components. At $2,858 (as of May 2005), the configuration CNET tested was quite expensive. Our test model had a blazing Nvidia GeForce Go 6800 graphics chip with an ample 256MB of dedicated video RAM; a power-saving 2.0GHz Pentium M processor; 1GB of speedy 533MHz system memory; a moderately fast 5,400rpm 80GB hard drive; and a giant 17-inch wide-screen display. Our Inspiron 9300 test unit flew through CNET Labs' benchmarks, so if you're low on dough, consider getting a unit with a slower, less expensive processor and less memory; if you're looking for a significantly less expensive, lower-octane desktop replacement, check out the Toshiba Satellite P35-S611.



Our test model featured a 2.0GHz Pentium M 760 CPU with a 2MB L2 cache--an extremely robust mobile rig which outscored many comparably clocked systems we've tested. It held its own in 2D application performance and edged out other powerful laptops on our latest 3D graphics tests; the Inspiron 9300 will undoubtedly deliver strong performance for office and content-creation apps. The Inspiron 9300 even bested the mighty Voodoo Envy m760 on our Half-Life 2 gaming benchmark, revving up to a speedy 64.60 frames per second, though it proved no match for our top gaming machine, the Dell XPS Gen 2. The Inspiron 9300's performance is more proof that a fast Pentium M coupled with Nvidia's latest and greatest graphics solution is a worthy competitor to a heavier, more unwieldy Pentium 4-based machine.



The Inspiron 9300 delivers exceptional design, features, and performance, but its warranty maintains the status quo. Dell backs the Inspiron 9300 with an industry-standard one-year warranty on parts and labor, available by mailing your laptop back to Dell; upgrading to three years of warranty protection costs $269. Toll-free telephone support also lasts for just a year. However, Dell offers a long list of warranty-extension options, including onsite repair, night and weekend service, and accidental-damage coverage, for up to $389. Since you'll be shelling out a pretty penny to get the Inspiron 9300, protecting your investment with at least a two-year warranty is a good idea. The best part of Dell's support Web site is the customer forum, where users can go to get help from other Inspiron owners and Dell reps who moderate the discussions. Otherwise, the site offers the typical knowledge base and downloads sections.

Design

The frame of this Dell is more or less a larger version of the Inspiron 9300 ( dell inspiron 9300 battery), but with a larger palm rest and array of ports. The form remains as a solid plastic material, though the chassis is much heavier at 3.6kg. The screen is locked by two rather flimsy latches which don't clamp down properly until the lid is forced down. However, when swiveled open, an expansive 17-inch reflective widescreen with a resolution of up to 1,920 x 1,200 awaits you. We preferred adjusting the screen to 1,440 x 900 pixels as we felt we were squinting our eyes at the higher res.



You get huge but firm mouse buttons with a four-way scroller lying on the touchpad. The keyboard, appearing to be almost dwarfed by the Inspiron's frame, delivers snappy and responsive feedback. While there are no quick launch buttons, seven useful self-explanatory media buttons line the front edge. With such a huge system, we were surprised that no remote was provided to optimise the use of the Dell Media Experience application meant to control DVD/MP3 playback. Also considering the amount of free space there is on the chassis, we were surprised to find no dedicated Wi-Fi switch.



Features

Most of the features packed into our system are top-notch material. Our test unit uses the high-end Pentium M processor 760 (2.0GHz), a huge 1GB of DDR2 SDRAM and a 60GB hard drive. At the left edge is a DVD±RW burner with dual-layer support to burn 8.5GB DVDs. The graphics are powered by the superb 256MB Nvidia GeForce Go 6800, just a level below the 6800 Ultra seen on the Inspiron XPS Gen 2 (not available in the region unfortunately). The unit is highly customisable so you can downgrade to a 730 chip, change the RAM or get a less powerful graphics chip like the 64MB ATI Mobility Radeon X300.



You have a wide range of connectivity options on the unit with highlights such as six USB ports (more than the usual two to four), FireWire, S-video out and DVI-D ports. On the other hand, S/PDIF support is lacking and the ability to read just a single flash card format (SD) is not enough. Many notebooks already come with 4-in-1 flash readers. For a desktop replacement, this is even more unacceptable. The speakers and the subwoofer lying at the 9300's base produce superb sound quality with great bass reproduction audible as far as three to four rooms away. You get a wide range of networking devices such as a 802.11b/g wireless card, Bluetooth, fast Ethernet and a 56K modem.



Performance

We whipped out our usual benchmarking software, MobileMark 2002, to test the performance and battery life of the Dell. The 235 score we obtained was good by general notebook standards but definitely not the top in the 2.0GHz range, especially when the Fujitsu LifeBook N3510 was able to get a slightly better 237 score running on 1.73GHz.



Gaming performance is by far the Inspiron's forte. With an astonishing 8,118 result when using 3DMark03 and 3,004 in 3DMark03,dell inspiron 9300, dell 9300 battery ,this whipped all other laptops that dared to contend for the throne of the best gaming notebook. As such, the Acer TravelMate 8104WLMi boasting a score of 5,700 (3DMark03) fell into second spot in terms of mobile gaming machines we've tried.




Battery life didn't do too well, clocking 179 minutes (about 3 hours) with the additional nine-cell Lithium-ion battery before dying on us. But does anyone really care so much about this when you're probably going to leave the unit at home anyway?

The default option on Dell's Web site is a one-year next-business-day onsite warranty which covers parts and labour including phone support and battery coverage. A great array of extended warranty options is offered, such as three years of service, accidental damage protection and onsite repair. You can also access Dell's online support site to find additional help such as FAQs and downloads for your notebook.

Loaded with Windows XP Professional Edition with Service Pack 2, the Dell comes with a software bundle which includes Power DVD, Sonic MyDVD, Sonic RecordNow! 7 and Microsoft Works 7.0. The Dell Media Experience application opens up an interface where you can choose to play music, pictures, videos and an option to connect to the Net for software support.

Canon digital camera SD300

Generally stellar performance figures, great NB-4L battery life, and an ultracompact design will score points for the Canon PowerShot SD300 with the point-and-shoot crowd, but its lack of manual controls, limited selection of scene modes, and anemic flash put a crimp in this Digital Elph's versatility. Minimovie fans will love the ability to shoot continuous high-quality clips limited only by memory card capacity, as well as the unusual 60-frames-per-second slow-motion mode.

What's in the Box?

The PowerShot SD300 has an average bundle. Inside the box, you'll find:

• The 4.0 effective Megapixel Canon PowerShot SD300 Digital ELPH camera


• 16MB Secure Digital card


• NB-4L lithium-ion battery


• Battery charger


• Wrist strap


• USB cable


• A/V cable


• CD-ROM featuring Canon Digital Camera Solutions, ArcSoft Camera Suite, and drivers


• 177 page camera manual + software manual (both printed)

Canon includes a 16MB Secure Digital (SD) card with the camera. That holds just six photos at the highest quality setting, so I'd advise that you buy a larger memory card right away. I'd say 128MB is a good starting size. The camera can use SD or MMC cards, though I'd advise against the latter. The camera takes advantage of high speed SD cards, and one is recommended if you plan on using the VGA movie mode.

The SD300 uses the brand new NB-4L lithium-ion rechargeable battery. This small battery packs a paltry 2.8 Wh of energy, which translates to 140 photos per charge using the CIPA battery life standard. I figure that's around (or maybe a tiny bit below) average for small cameras like this. Doing a little extrapolation, I figure that battery life is about 10% worse on the SD300 than on the S410, which had a more powerful battery.

My usual complaints about proprietary batteries like the one used by the SD300 apply here. They're expensive ($50 a pop), and you can't put in a set of alkalines to get you through the rest of the day like you could with an AA-based camera.

When it's time to recharge, just drop the battery into the included charger. This is my favorite style of charger -- it plugs right into the wall (yes, I know some don't like this). It takes about ninety minutes to fully charge the battery.

There are a just two accessories available for the SD300. The most interesting one is the AW-DC30 all-weather case ($149). This lets you take the ELPH up to 3 m / 9.8 ft underwater -- great for pools and snorkeling, not so great for scuba. The only other accessory that I can find is the ACK-DC10 AC adapter kit, which lets you power the camera without draining your batteries.

Canon includes version 21 of their excellent Digital Camera Solutions software with the SD300. Included in this package are ZoomBrowser (for Windows) or ImageBrowser (for Mac), PhotoStitch (for making panoramic photos), plus TWAIN and WIA drivers for Windows. Zoom/ImageBrowser can be used for downloading images from your camera, basic editing of your photos, and photo printing.

ArcSoft Camera Suite 1.3 is also included with the SD300, which contains VideoImpression and PhotoImpression for Mac and PC. Although it has a quirky interface, there are some useful tools in this easy-to-use software.

Recent Canon camera manuals have been more complex than earlier ones,and canon NB-4L's capacity higher. but they're still above average. The SD300's manual is complete, but expect lots of "notes" and fine print.

While you can operate the PowerShot SD300 with one hand, a two-handed grip makes it easier to work the zoom lever, which is concentric with the top-mounted shutter-release button. A recessed on/off button and a green power LED are the only other adornments on the top surface. The major controls are concentrated on the right side of the back panel, which is dominated by a brightness-adjustable 2-inch LCD viewfinder. A three-way sliding switch lets you select recording, movie mode, or playback, and three other buttons provide access to the three-page menu system (with shooting, setup, and customization options), display options (status info, no info, and monitor off), and print/share features.

As with other point-and-shoot Canons, most shooting settings are taken care of by the four-way cursor pad with embedded OK/Function button. For example, pressing the Up button switches between spot, center-weighted, and evaluative metering; Down selects single-shot mode, burst mode, or the self-timer. The left key cycles through Normal, Landscape, and macro focus modes, while the right button selects a flash mode.

The PowerShot SD300's modest feature set includes most of the basics, starting with a 35mm-to-115mm 3X zoom lens (35mm-film-camera equivalent) with a nine-point autofocus system that's accurate down to 1.2 inches in macro mode. Only six scene modes are available, which is a modest selection in the current market. However, they're generally useful and include a Digital Macro option that fills the frame with the center of the image to provide the equivalent of digital zoom in close-up mode. Other scene modes include Portrait, Night Snapshot, Kids & Pets, Indoor, and Underwater, which you can use with an optional marine housing. Unfortunately, there's no sports scene mode nor any way to manually control shutter speeds, which seriously limits this camera's excellent 3fps burst mode.

A weakling built-in flash unit, a nonlive histogram that can be viewed only in playback mode, and a jerky zoom lens that was difficult to set precisely are among the PowerShot SD300's other annoyances.

On the plus side, this Elph's movie capabilities are outstanding and include in-camera editing features. You can shoot 640x480 clips with monaural sound at 30fps for as long as your memory card holds out with an optional high-speed SD card and a strong power NB-4L battery, as well as 60fps clips for up to 60 seconds at 320x240 resolution.

Some other ultra compact cameras worth considering include the Casio Exilim EX-Z50 and EX-Z55, Fuji FinePix F440, Konica Minolta DiMAGE X50 and G600, Nikon Coolpix 4200, Olympus AZ-2 Zoom and Stylus Verve, Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX7, Pentax Optio S5i, and the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T1.

If you don't mind losing a Megapixel of resolution, the Canon PowerShot SD200 is similar to the SD300.

As always, I recommend a trip down to your local reseller to try out the PowerShot SD300 and its competitors before you buy!

Nikon D70 Digital Camera

I had been a die hard Nikon fan for many years...until I bought the D70(nikon en-el3). This was a backup body to my F3. Yes, I know that this seems quite backward from most other people, but I still prefer manual focus to auto focus. The camera worked well for a little over 12 months, then I had 3 "major module" failures at the same time. The folks at Nikon refused to consider that this particular unit may have been a lemon, and I had to pay full price for the repairs. I was particularly dissatisfied with the way Nikon handled this situation...2 weeks out of warranty and no consideration at all. They could have, and should have done better.
Sensor • 6.24 megapixel (total) CCD

specification

• 6.1 million effective pixels
• 23.7 x 15.6 mm
• Nikon DX format (size)
• RGB Color Filter Array
• 12-bit A/D converter
Image sizes • 3008 x 2000 [L] (6.01 million)
• 2240 x 1488 [M]
• 1504 x 1000 [S]
File formats • NEF (12-bit lossless compressed RAW)
• JPEG (EXIF 2.21)
• NEF+JPEG
Color space • Ia (sRGB)
• II (Adobe RGB)
• IIIa (sRGB - more green for colourful landscapes)
Lens mount • Nikon F mount (with AF coupling & AF contacts)
• 1.5x field of view crop
Lens compatibility • DX Nikkor : All functions supported
• Type G or D AF Nikkor : All functions supported
• Micro Nikkor 85 mm F2.8D : All functions supported except autofocus and some exposure modes
• Other AF Nikkor*2 : All functions supported except 3D color matrix metering, i-TTL balanced fill-fl ash for digital SLR
• AI-P Nikkor : All functions supported except 3D color matrix metering, i-TTL balanced fill-flash for digital SLR, and autofocus
• Non-CPU : Can be used in exposure mode M, but exposure meter does not function; electronic range finder can be used if maximum aperture is f/5.6 or faster
*1 IX Nikkor lenses can not be used
*2 Excluding lenses for F3AF

Autofocus • TTL phase detection
• Nikon Multi-CAM900 autofocus module
• Detection range: EV -1 to +19 (ISO 100 equivalent, at normal temperature)
Lens servo • Single Servo AF (AF-S)
• Continuous Servo AF (AF-C)
• Manual focus (M)
AF Area mode • Single Area AF
• Dynamic Area AF
• Closest Subject Priority Dynamic Area AF
Focus area One of five areas can be selected
Focus lock Focus can be locked by pressing shutter-release button halfway (single-servo AF) or by pressing AE-L/AF-L button
AF Assist White light lamp
Exposure mode • Digital Vari-program
- Auto, Portrait, Landscape, Close up, Sports, Night landscape, Night portrait
• Programmed auto (P) with flexible program
• Shutter-priority auto (S)
• Aperture priority auto (A)
• Manual (M)
Metering TTL full-aperture exposure metering system
• 3D color matrix metering with 1,005-pixel RGB sensor
• Center-weighted: Weight of 75%(8mm circle) given to 6, 8, 10, or 13-mm circle in center of frame, or weighting based on average of entire frame
• Spot: Meters 2.3mm circle (about 1% of frame) centered on active focus area
Metering range • EV 0 to 20 (3D color matrix or center-weighted metering)
• EV 3 to 20 (spot metering) (ISO 100 equivalent, f/1.4 lens, 20 °C)
Meter coupling CPU coupling
Exposure compen. • +/-5 EV
• 1/3 or 1/2 EV steps
AE Lock Detected exposure value locked by pressing AE-L/AF-L button
AE Bracketing • 2 or 3 frames
• +/- 2 EV
• 1/3 or 1/2 EV steps
Sensitivity • Auto
• ISO 200 - 1600
• 1/3 EV steps
Shutter speed • Combined mechanical and CCD electronic shutter
• 30 to 1/8000 sec
• Steps of 1/3 or 1/2 EV
• Flash X-Sync: up to 1/500 sec
• Bulb
White balance • Auto (TTL white-balance with 1,005 pixels RGB sensor)
• Six manual modes with fine-tuning
• Preset white balance
• White balance bracketing possible
Image parameters • Sharpening
• Tone
• Color
• Hue
Viewfinder • Pentaprism
• Optical-type fixed eye-level
• Built-in diopter adjustment (-1.6 to +0.5 m-1)
• Eyepoint: 18 mm (at -1.0 m-1)
• Frame coverage 95% (approx.)
• Viewfinder magnification approx. 0.75x with 50mm lens at infinity; -1.0 m-1
• Focusing screen: Type B BriteView clear matte screen Mark II with superimposed focus brackets and On-Demand grid lines
LCD monitor • 1.8"
• 130,000 pixel TFT
Flash control • TTL : TTL flash control by 1,005 pixel RGB sensor
o Built-in Speedlight: i-TTL balanced fill-flash or standard i-TTL flash (spot metering or mode dial set to M)
o SB-800 or 600: i-TTL balanced fill-flash or standard i-TTL flash (spot metering)
• Auto aperture: Available with SB-800 and 600 with CPU lens
• Non-TTL Auto: Available with Speedlights such as SB-800, 80DX, 28DX, 28, 27, and 22s
• Range-priority manual available with SB-800
Flash Sync Mode • Front-Curtain Sync (normal sync)
• Red-Eye Reduction
• Red-Eye Reduction with Slow Sync
• Slow Sync
• Rear-Curtain Sync
Built-in Speedlight • Auto flash with auto pop-up
• [P], [S], [A], [M]: manual pop-up with button release Auto flash with auto pop-up
• Guide number (ISO 200/ISO 100, m): approx. 15/11 (manual full 17/12)
Flash compensation • -3 to +1 EV
• 1/3 or 1/2 EV steps
Accessory shoe • ISO standard hot-shoe with safety lock
Flash Sync Terminal No
DOF Preview When CPU lens is attached, lens aperture can be stopped down to value selected by user (A and M modes) or value selected by camera (Digital Vari-Program, P, and S modes)
Shooting modes • Single frame shooting (S) mode
• Continuous shooting (C) mode: approx. 3 frame per second (up to 12 consecutive shots with JPEG format, 4 shot with RAW format)
• Self-timer/remote control mode.
Self-timer • 2 to 20 sec
Playback functions • 1 frame: Thumbnail (4 or 9 segments)
• Magnifying playback
• Slide show
• Histogram indication
• Highlight point display
• Auto image rotation
Storage • Compact Flash Type I or II
• Microdrive supported
• No CF card supplied
Text input Up to 36 characters of alphanumeric text input is available with LCD monitor and multi-selector; stored in Exif header
Playback functions • Single image
• 4 or 9 thumbnails
• Magnified playback
• Slide show
• Histogram indication
• Highlight point display
Video output NTSC or PAL selectable
Remote control ML-L3 wireless remote controller (optional)
Connectivity • USB 2.0 (only at 12 Mbps)
• Mass storage / PTP selectable
• Video out
• DC-IN (optional AC adapter)
Power • Lithium-Ion battery pack EN-EL3
• Three CR2 lithium batteries (with supplied MS-D70 battery holder)
• AC Adapter EH-5 (optional)
Dimensions 140 x 111 x 78 mm (5.5 x 4.4 x 3.1 in)
Weight (no battery) 595 g (1.3 lb)
Weight (inc. batt) 679 g (1.5 lb)
Box contents * Strap, Body cap, Eyepiece cap, LCD monitor cover, Video cable, USB cable, Rechargeable Li-ion battery EN-EL3, Quick Charger MH-18, Picture Project CD-ROM, MS-D70 CR2 battery holder
Optional accessories Rechargeable Li-ion Battery Nikon EN-EL3, Multi Charger MH-19, Quick Charger MH-18, AC Adapter EH-5, Speedlight SB-800/600, Nikon Capture 4 Software, Semi-soft Case CF-D70, Remote Controller ML-L3, CompactFlash™ Card


This is a wonderful camera that delivers, but there are a few complaints:
1. You can change the position of the auto focus, but the control for that is on the camera back, where your face is when you are using it. This control should be on the front, so you can adjust the focus while composing.

2. These focus points are not at the traditional "rule of three's" intersection points, where they should be.

3. The same control, the focus point control, isn't very responsive, so there is a lot of fumbling to get it where you want it quickly.

4. I think (no test data to back this up) the autofocus is noticeably slower than on its Canon counterparts.

5. The Camera is too heavy. A camera this pricey should incorporate pricier, lightweight materials into its casing, such as magnesium, titanium or composite plastics.

I've used it for two years, alongside an FM3. Nothing to say about the latter, but from the D70 I've only had problems. It died on me in the middle of an assignment (stuck on bulb position). After a year the rubber coating came off. The on/ off switch began working erratically, so that the camera would turn itself on in the bag. I had a long think before buying the D70 because of the many, many reports of unreliability I had seen on the Internet, but as a long time Nikon user I decided to go ahead with it. I now had it repaired, as I had purchased a three year warranty, and I put it on Ebay. I have switched to Canon with an Eos 3, Eos 5 and Eos 10D, although I'm keeping the FM3 with 24mm and 50mm primes, as I like to have a fully mechanical camera. I must add that I was very surprised at how many users in Nikon forums considered the fact that a top- of- the- range camera, bought new, should fall apart within sixteen months as absolute normality, and were irritated by my pointing out that Nikon seems to have a serious quality control issue with this model that they are failing to address - and why should they, since many users seem very happy to act like sheep. Many people told me that, since I had a warranty, I shouldn't complain and just have the camera fixed. As if that were the point. I think it is important that gear gets used for what it is meant to be used for - it shouldn't become surrogate babies.

Great Camcorder battery for the money. I was very tempted to go with the F5 but kept reading all the great reviews and decided to go with this camera and have money left for the high end AF-S lenses. I have always had Nikons, but this one just knocked me off of my feet. I had had it only a few days when a friend of mine had his wedding. On the way to the ceremony, I went by my photo shop and picked up an SB-28, went to the wedding and casually shot around having some fun. I had the prints made on Fuji paper and was amazed at how sharp and "trasty" this camera and lens was. I have meanwhile gotten the MB-15...it works great also and makes the camera heavier but more comfortable. Also....if you can afford the marque lens GET THEM. They are better than anything I have ever seen with 35mm. I just got back from a trip to Guatemala and Tikal...the slides are out of this world. Buy the camera and don't look back.

I can't understand some of these reviews. The camera was designed at a specific price point for a specific audience. I think this camera has everything you would ever want for the price you are paying. YES there are nit picky little things, but overall it's a fantastic camera.

I think most people want the D70 features at the F80/N80 price. You simply can't get it at the price you are paying. Maybe Nikon needs another new model that has more features again, but costs less than the D70.

My nit picky items so far... - dim viewfinder, I know this is because of the fancy on-demand grid lines. - very annoying low light assist beam. (should have used the red-eye feature of the F70 built into the flash and have the standard infra red beam). Yes, I know you can have it turned off.

There are more things, but can't really complain because of the price.

After sending my first Nikon D70 en-el3 back to Nikon three times for the same rewind fork problem of breaking..I finally received a new D70 body with the new and beefier rewind fork and the camera is serving me well. I have two N90s', an 8008s, a FM and a FE2...all of which I use periodicly as backup for my D70. I do a lot of studio work and weddings and definitely appreciate the custom settings and functions of the D70 which suit my needs...that my other Nikons don't have. All are wonderful performers in their own right..but the D70 seems to fit like a glove and promotes confidence in my abilities to create exceptionally good portraits with it. I applaud Nikon for taking care of the professionals' needs when they are called on to service and repair in an expeditious manner...and I have always received courteous service speaking directly with service relations personnel explaining my needs and desires. Nikon always comes through for me. I have tried Canon, Pentax and Maxxum pro 35MM systems..but never really satisfied with their optics. Not so with Nikkor lenses. They also breed confidence. There are no perfect cameras which suit all photographers needs...but the D70 along with the two N90s bodies have served me well for the type of photography I do most. My other Nikon bodies also have their place and function...and serve equally well for what they are used for. I prefer Nikon as my choice of equipment over the others I've tried in the past and the D70 was chosen over the F5 because of bulk...not to mention heft of the F5. After a two to three hour photo shoot the F5 would feel like a lead filled bucket to wheel around. The Nikon D70 Battery fills my need perfectly..or nearly so

IBM ThinkPad R50 Review

IBM released its new ThinkPad R50 series during the fall of 2003. The R Series of notebooks from IBM used to parade as a budget class, that’s no longer the case, the R Series is in fact quite close to the high-end T Series in performance and specs. The ThinkPad R50 (Battery) of course features IBM’s easy to distinguish classic black case and with a 13” x 10.4” x 17” (W x D x H) dimension specs we see that it has grown slightly from the previous generation. With a 15-inch XGA screen (14.1" also available) and weighing a modest 6.6lbs, or 7.1lbs when combined with the AC adapter for travel weight, the ThinkPad R50 can serve as a good desktop replacement or as a reasonably mobile laptop if you’re on the go. The ThinkPad R50 is a diverse laptop, so let’s dig into the details and see if it’s worth your consideration for purchasing.

ThinkPad R50 Review Unit Specifications

The ThinkPad R50 (Battery) used in this review has the following configuration:

- Pentium M 1.4 GHz (Centrino processor)

- 512MB DDR333 RAM (CL2.5)

- 14.1" 1024x768 XGA screen

- Radeon 7500 Mobility graphics card with 32MB RAM

- 5400 RPM 30 GB Hard Drive

- Built in 802.11b Wi-Fi

Shortcomings

It’s always best to get the bad news aside and focus on the good, so let me now talk about the only two failings I can think of with the R50:

1. The screen. It's not bad. It's actually somewhat better than the screen on the old Toshiba Satellite 3000 I have, but it's not as nice as Sharp's Actius screens, or Sony's black LCDs, or some Digital Camera (Battery)'s screen. The default settings are lacking in contrast and brightness, and it is easy to imagine the image would get washed out in glare. The vertical viewing angle is a bit small (about 20 degrees before color and contrast reversal start to happen), but the horizontal viewing angles are fine (about 130 degrees). It was clear this was meant as a no-nonsense business laptop, and not a multimedia machine. Having said that, the display is crisp and sharp for text and CAD work that I do.

2. No standard FireWire port, if you want fast data transfer from such things as Digital Video Cameras then you need this. It is true that some models come with IEEE1394 (FireWire), but mine did not. To compensate for this shortcoming in the R50 you’ll have to purchase a FireWire PCMCIA card.

Usability

The R50 is a joy to use. The keys are wonderfully tactile, and the TrackPoint navigation stick with the new Soft Dome cap is very comfortable to navigate with. The buttons for the TrackPoint are likewise very well designed. The TrackPad does not fare quite as well. For some reason, it always feels a little too small, and the buttons are flush instead of raised, making them harder to click. The motion of the TrackPad is also not quite as satisfying as with the TrackPoint. However, the extra features of the TrackPad are quite convenient - scrolling areas for horizontal and vertical scrolling, and customizable hotspots are nice to have. I ended up using the top left corner of the TrackPad to simulate the Windows key.

What amazed me most about the ThinkPad R50 (Battery) in operation was the sheer silence. I could not hear the hard drive spinning against ambient noise in my home. Even more impressive, with the R50 on my lap, I could not feel the hard drive or the DVD-ROM spinning! While parked on my lap, the bottom surface of the R50 was never the slightest bit warm during normal usage. It did warm up a bit when running 100% CPU utilization with consecutive SiSoft Sandra tests (a benchmark application designed to push a PC to its processing limits to record performance), but other than that, it was always comfortably cool to the touch.

The speakers were also quite a bit nicer than I'd expected, especially for a business model laptop. Please realize that the ThinkPad R50 was not designed to be a music machine though, you’ll need decent speakers to hook up via the headphone out jack to get really good sound.

Active Protection System

The much-hyped APS (Active Protection System) on the Tthinkpad R50 and Thinkpad T42 (Battery) is a feature that causes the ThinkPad to park the heads of the hard drives when the notebook senses it is falling. I doubt I'll be testing how effective that is in an actual fall, at least not intentionally, anyway. In practice, I find the APS program is a little too sensitive, and I miss being able to set sensitivity settings in the software - you get a simple on/off, and another option for ignoring repetitive motions caused by such things as trains and buses. Still, it doesn't cost me any trouble, and the day it saves my data might make it all worthwhile. In the meantime, I amaze and astound my friends with the 3D real-time position readout!

Design and Build

The R50 is a very nicely proportioned laptop, and strikes an ideal balance for mainstream laptops. The lines on it are very smooth, with a nice blend of chiseled edges and contours. Of course, it's in the standard IBM matte black casing.It has the typical oversized "hood" on the outer edge of the screen. Love it or hate it, the beveling does serve a purpose to stiffen the cover. It does not provide any appreciable shading from glare, however. The latch on the screen is a twin-hook arrangement, but it only needs a single sliding switch to unlock it, and it can be easily opened with one hand. The hinges to open and close the screen are solid chunks of metal, and open with a smooth action. Some laptops you’ll find creak or feel cheap when you lift the screen , the Thinkpad R50 (Battery) suffers no such issues.

The top surface of the R50 has a nice, rubberized feel that is quite easy to grip. The keyboard is full-size, and very tactile. It's missing a Windows button, and it's not for want of space. Credit it to typical IBM stubbornness. IBM lists the ThinkPad R50’s weight as 6.6lbs (2.5 kg), but it is actually lighter than my old Toshiba Satellite 3000, which was also supposed to be "2.5 kg". The weight of the R50 is a comfortable one, and not burdensome in the least.

Sony DSC-D700 camcorder review

Sony DSC-D700 (NP-F550) specifications

• lens / zoom : 28 mm - 140 mm (5x) (dig: 2x)


• focus / macro : auto | manual / 20 cm /


• metering mode :


• aperture : auto | manual / F2 - F2.4 - F13.2


• white balance : auto


• shutter : auto | manual / 4s - 1/2000s


• exposure :


• flash / mode : pop-up / external


• viewfinder :


• iso ratings : 100 / 200 / 400


• image size : 1344 x 1024


• image format : tiff / jpeg (exif)


• image compr. :


• lag/cycle times :


• remote control : self timer 1s / 30s / time laps


• video options :


• audio options :


• connectivity : video


• storage : pcmcia II, memory stick


• Power acceessories : Li-ion NP-F550

Sony's CyberShot Pro D700 is definitely the "king of the hill" of the sub-$2000 digital cameras. Newer digicams may be topping the 2 megapixel mark these days but the 1.5 megapixel D700 has got it all! The Sony DSC-D700 (np-f550) caused quite a stir in the Digital Photography world when it was announced last year. Many people were excited by it's specifications: five times zoom, full SLR-TTL viewfinder, 1.5Megapixel CCD and all the manual controls you'd expect to find on a true SLR.

True SLR with a big optical viewfinder, a huge 2.5-inch color LCD, 5X zoom lens with manual focus and zoom control, variable ISO 100-400, builtin popup flash or external "clip on" strobes with the hot shoe mount, 1/2-inch 1.5 million square-pixel progressive scan CCD, JPG or TIF image capture (1344 x 1024 pixels), ATA Type II memory card (CompactFlash, SmartMedia or MemoryStick cards in PCMCIA adapter too) and it's powered by the infamous Sony NP-F550 LITHIUM rechargable battery, more Sony Battery here..

Unfortunately due to the high price ($1699) and short supply (the newsgroups were buzzing with availability news earlier this year) it's not had the impact we all expected it would. Those who did venture (and were fortunate enough) to get hold of one weren't disappointed, finally I've got my hands on one and have the opportunity to share an in-depth review of the camera with you.

The D700 has the largest focal length zoom of any camera in its class except for its 2MPixel brother, the new Sony NP-F550 which also sports a 5X zoom (and that one is a Carl Zeiss!) The 700's lens is a F2-2.4, 5.2-26mm (35mm equiv 28-140mm) optical zoom with 13 elements in 10 groups. Threaded for 62mm filters. The minimum object distance is 20cm in all focal lengths, macro is automatic.

dell inspiron 700m laptop review

The Dell Inspiron 700m sits on the borderline of being an ultraportable (usually determined as a notebook weighing 3 – 4 lbs) notebook and a thin-and-light style notebook (defined as a notebook weighing 4 – 6 lbs). With a gorgeous 12.1” widescreen, 4.1 lbs of weight and 1.5 inches of thickness this notebook is certainly small and highly mobile, yet still big enough that is very usable given the widescreen viewing and decent, though not full, sized keyboard it has. Let's get on with a full review of the good and the bad of this Inspiron 700m laptop.

Specs:

The review unit Inspiron 700m ( dell 700m battery) has the following specs:

• Intel Pentium M 725 (Dothan 1.6GHz Pentium M Processor)


• 512MB RAM


• 12.1” WXGA Widesceen


• Intel PRO/Wireless 2200 (802.11 b/g) Internal Wireless


• 40GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive, 4200 RPM


• 32 WHr 4-cell Lithium-Ion Battery


• Windows XP Home, Service Pack 1


• 24x Combo DVD/CD-RW Optical Drive


• 1-year warranty

The price for all of this came to $1,446.70 after a coupon code was applied for 10% off. I ordered the notebook on 8/14/2004 soon after it was announced by Dell and it took almost 3 weeks for it to arrive with the receiving date being 9/7/2004. Usually a notebook from Dell will ship quicker, but when it’s a new release you can expect a longer time on delivery.

Design

The Inspiron 700m (dell inspiron 700m battery) is unlike any other Inspiron in it’s look and design. First of all the 700m’s lid is a very pale silver and almost white in color. There are some white trimmings on this notebook so it has a clean look and does borrow a bit from the styling of Apple’s PowerBook. The quality of the casing and overall finish of the 700m is not as good as an Apple PowerBook, but the inspiration was most definitely borrowed from that line of notebooks.

Overall I like the design of the 700m, it actually reminds me a lot of the Sony VAIO TR series, except kind of pumped up a bit so that it’s larger (the Sony TR has a 10.6” screen and weighs 3.1lbs). It’s got enough style to turn some heads, but it’s by no means loud in it’s design as the Acer Ferrari notebook is. A friend of mine called the dell inspiron 700m battery“cute”. I guess I would agree with that, so if you’re looking for a notebook that screams “get out of my way” or you want to present an attitude, then don’t look here.

Build

I separate the build from the design as it is entirely possible for the design of a notebook to look nice, but the build to feel a little cheap. The build of the 700m is not cheap by any means; it feels relatively sturdy and even looks slightly rugged from the side. However, this notebook was not made to be tossed around. The casing is plastic and gives the impression that if it were dropped from 3ft. or more there could be some damage registered. I didn’t try this, I’ll leave it to an accidental drop to determine this estimation I make. Where the build does feel a little cheap though is with the touchpad and mouse buttons. The mouse buttons are just plain clunky and make a lot of noise. On my 700m the left mouse button depresses in a lot further than the right one.

The good news is that the keyboard has no flex, it is sturdy, and the rest of the notebook build feels solid too. The lid hinge feels solid and is still easy to open, the CD tray is not overly wobbly and there are not buttons or ports that look like they’re begging to fall off or cause problems after a few months of use.

As you can see, an ample number of ports are provided for such a small notebook. A modular optical drive is a big bonus, this makes it easy to upgrade your 700m ( dell 700m battery) to a DVD burner if you want. The S-Video out, VGA out and, FireWire and SD card reader are all nice extras to have on this sized laptop too. Not putting any ports on the back ensures that all of the ports are easily accessible.

Screen

The screen is where the 700m shines. And I do mean shine, as this is the brightest shiniest notebook screen I’ve come across. I’ve used the Sony VAIO TR5 with it’s XBrite technology and the HP zt3000 with it’s BrightView screen, but the Dell Inspiron 700m is just slightly brighter and better than these. Watching DVDs or viewing images is a treat, as colors are vibrant and gorgeous and the contrast amazing. The screen brightness is truly amazing and the angle at which you can view the screen from is great. The widescreen is extra good for DVD viewing and, although the resolution is quite high and you can’t fit a ton on the screen, the widescreen allows you to view two windows at the same time with relative comfort.

Sound & Audio

The Inspiron 700m has two speakers that are actually built into the screen and project sound forward towards the user. The soundcard does provide stereo sound, as you would expect given the fact there are two speakers! However, as is almost always the caveat with laptop speakers, the sound is somewhat tinny and if you turn up the volume a lot it starts to sound bad. Plug in headphones to the front-side port to achieve better sound and get some bass, as the built-in speakers provide almost no bass.

Heat & Fan

I’m happy to report that the Inspiron 700m is both quiet and cool. You won’t have papers blown off of your desk as a giant sized fan kicks in to blow out hot air when using the 700m. Rather, the Inspiron 700m (dell 700m battery )is whisper quiet and you won’t be hearing any noisy fan.

The Inspiron 700m is also cool running and does not generate too much heat. It is comfortable to use on your lap, you won’t burn yourself or feel uncomfortable. The only thing that does make it slightly awkward to have this notebook on your lap are the rubber feet on the bottom, they tend to stick into your legs and don’t let the notebook rest flat on your legs. But at least the fact the notebook doesn’t get too hot means it won’t cause any discomfort to the, umm, crotch area shall we say. The fact heat is not an issue is a kudos to the design of this notebook and the Pentium M processor, often times I find with smaller notebooks that the heat builds up quite a bit due to the fact all of the components are smashed together and it’s hard for the heat to exhaust out. This is true with the Sony VAIO TR5 I last used, the Inspiron 700m is much cooler than it.

OS and Software

I selected Windows XP Home as the operating system for the Inspiron 700m. I wasn’t going to use it for code development or as a web server so it’s all I needed. Unfortunately the XP Home I got did not have the latest Service Pack installed. All Inspiron 700m machines that now ship will have this though. The included software is standard fair, you do get recovery CDs so that’s nice. Here’s a list of included software:

• Image restore disks

• Dell Resource CD with Application Backup

• CyberLink PowerDVD v5.1 Decoding Software for DVD

• Norton Internet Security 2004, 90-day trial

• Dell Jukebox powered by Music Match

• AOL 9.0 (Yuck)

• Word Perfect Productivity Pack 12

• Microsoft Encyclopedia 2004

• Dell Media Experience version 2.1

• Dell Photo Album

• Jasc Software Paint Shop Trial Edition

You’ll want to buy Office XP if you don’t already have a copy, the Word Perfect Suite just doesn’t cut it when compared to MS Office. If you despise all the bundled promotional applications such as AOL 9.0 and Norton AntiVirus that come installed by default on the 700m and you are a power user then you might want to format the hard drive and then reinstall the Operating System (not using the Recovery CD, that’ll just reinstall all the garbage applications such as AOL and other trial software, use the Windows XP Home CD that comes with the 700m). If the word “format” and “hard drive” put together scares you, then don’t pay attention to what I just said.

Battery Life

This is the part of the review where I hang my head in disappointment. Everything was pretty good up to this point, but there’s no beating around the bush, battery life , not like the digital camera battery is below mediocre for a laptop that claims to be a “traveler”. Travel with this on a plane ride that lasts more than 2 hours and you’ll be calling it a lot of words, but not a “traveler” when the battery dies at precisely 2 hours of usage. Yes, 2 hours of use is what I got in my experience with the provided 4-cell battery. This is unacceptable for a notebook that is designed to be taken and used easily for travel. You’re literally forced to buy an extended life battery or carry an extra battery. So much for travelling lightly and without bulk. Check out this quote about the 700m from the Dell website:

Weighing in at 4.1 pounds and 1.5" thin, the stylish InspironTM 700m is the “go anywhere” notebook perfect for students and frequent travelers. Full-featured with a two spindle device design, a fast Intel Pentium M processor, and a 12.1” wide Crystal-Clear LCD screen, the Inspiron 700m offers a complete mobile, computing solution.

Well, go anywhere as long as it’s not for over 2 hours and away from an electric plug outlet. The extended life 8-cell battery is a $130 add-on option that should extend your battery life to over 4 hours. It will stick out of the back of the Inspiron 700m quite a bit though and add weight. Plus I think $130 is overpriced for a battery – I guarantee Dell gets these for around $30/$40 from a Taiwanese supplier so the markup is rather huge. Oh well, it’s how these computer companies make there money.