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Sony VAIO SZ2 Review

Submitted by swisstoni

Background

The VAIO SZ is Sony's latest thin and light range of notebooks, available in a range of specifications all with dual Intel / nVidia graphics and Intel dual core processors.

Sony VAIO SZ2 (view large image)

I opted for the flagship SZ2VP model with the following specifications:

Intel Core Duo T2600 -- @ 2.16Ghz per core
1GB DDR2 RAM
120Gb 54000RPM hard drive
13.3" LCD with LED backlight, running at 1280 x 800 resolution
Dual Layer DVD +/- RW optical drive
Switchable Intel GMA 950/nVidia GeForce 7400 graphics

Being the limited edition prestige' model, this was only available to purchase through Sony Centres or Sony Style online. After a visit to my local Sony Centre and being told a very vague "we might be able to get one for mid September" I decided to pursue the online method!

Build and Design

Sony VAIO SZ2 setup (view large image)

My first thoughts on unpacking the SZ were "wow...it's small!" This is my first laptop, yet with the top level VP' only weighing in at 1.69 kilos (3.7 lbs) I was very pleased with the size and weight of the unit.

(view large image)

The VP features a carbon fibre top casing, yet there is much discussion as to how much carbon fibre is actually present in the laptop! The casing does not feature the weave' you would expect from this material, yet it still provides an interesting effect and also contains blue metallic particles visible in certain light conditions.

The palm rest and keypad area have a brushed aluminium finish which makes a great change from the plastic of many other machines and gives great aesthetic appeal.

There are a total of 5 switches located above the keyboard; two shortcut switches, a wireless on/off switch, power button and the graphics switch. It's a shame you can't turn off wifi/Bluetooth independently with hardware switches but it is easily done from the software utility.



VAIO SZ2 right side view (view large image)
VAIO SZ2 left side view (view large image)
VAIO SZ2 front side view (view large image)
VAIO SZ2 back side view (view large image)
Screen
The LCD features LED backlight technology, which gives a very thin screen and lid -- only around 5/6mm thick. Whilst helping to reduce weight and giving a great look to the product, it does make the LCD seem slightly fragile with a little amount of twist (though probably not as much as you'd expect from something this thin).
The 1280 x 800 resolution works excellently on the 13.3" screen. Not having perfect eyesight, I was concerned about a high resolution on a smaller screen but I find it a pleasure to use with absolutely no problems.
It features Sony's X-Black technology, which gives the typical glossy effect to the screen. Not having a massive range of experience with various manufacturers, I can't really compare it to others, yet suffice to say it also seems to feature some kind of anti glare coating which is hard to describe but it seems to reduce the visible reflections from objects behind you. I am also impressed with the very large viewing angle on the screen, far more so than any other LCD's I've used.
The brightness on the screen is excellent and I find myself turning it down from the highest setting when indoors and only using the brightest setting when outside, which still gives a decent picture.
Features and Performance
I'm not a gamer yet I tend to run multiple applications at the same time, particularly resource hogs like Photoshop. The Core Duo seems to live up to the task very well though I can't say it's any faster compared to my desktop running an Athlon XP at 2.17Ghz with the same 1GB of RAM and a lowly graphics card.
The dual graphics are a fantastic feature and allow you to switch between the integrated Intel GMA 950 chipset, or the dedicated nVidia GeForce 7400 with 128mb dedicated memory. Use the Intel while running office applications to conserve battery life, or the nVidia for more extreme use. A restart is required to flick between the two chips, which is a bit of an annoyance yet it is still an excellent innovation and something I haven't come across in any other laptops.
The fingerprint reader is located between the two touchpad buttons and although I considered it a toy in the pre-purchase stage, I now consider it a godsend! It can be used for logging onto Windows, launching applications (assign an app. to each finger) or entering passwords into web windows. It does the job very well and recognises my fingers first go around 95% of the time. To check security I asked a co-worker to try and logon to my system but they were denied access even after 5 minutes of trying! While I'm sure it's not that secure, it is certainly a viable alternative to entering hundreds of passwords.
The optical drive provides pretty much every kind of functionality I could ever dream of with dual layer DVD +/- rewrite ability. My only gripe would be that the disc tray seems a little fragile, yet for the amount I use the drive this is only a minor concern. I suspect this is due to the thin form factor of the laptop.
Expresscard 34 and a PCMCIA slots both feature on the laptop, yet the Expresscard is filled with Sony's included card reader which seems to cope with all the main formats such as SD and MMC. A built-in Sony memory stick duo reader takes care of their own format, but it's a shame they shun the popular SD format to a separate reader in favour of their own cards.
Included media card reader in the ExpressCard slot (view large image)
It also seems Sony were a bit tight on room by only including two USB 2 ports, which although is adequate for myself, I'd have preferred to have seen more.
There's VGA out but no composite video for outputting to a TV, which I consider a major downside on a laptop costing £1800 ($3,000)! Also, my VGA to TV converter doesn't work on this laptop like it did on my Mac Mini meaning it will be difficult to output the image to a standard TV screen.
Heat and Noise
The laptop seems exceptionally quiet, and the fan noise is almost inaudible in anything other than total silence. I've yet to hear the fans totally shut down, but this may be because I primarily use the nVidia graphics. Shortcut button 2 is pre-set to drop fan noise and CPU clock, yet whenever I've used it the difference has been minimal.
The optical drive is far from quiet when in use and during start-up, yet again as I use it so little this is not a problem for myself.
It seems to produce a fair amount of heat when using the nVidia graphics, though no more than I'd expect from a performance orientated machine with dedicated graphics and it never gets annoyingly hot, just quite warm. Again this is something I can live with. Using the Intel graphics allows the laptop to run very cool and quiet.
Keyboard and Touchpad
(view large image)
After reading various forum reports of problems with the spacebar and keyboard in general on the SZ I was very sceptical. However after using it for a few weeks it seems to have none of these problems. I neither greatly like or dislike the keypad and assume it's something I'll grow to like over time but at the moment I'm still adjusting from my full sized Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard.
The key travel seems about right and it seems relatively quiet in operation. Being a touch typist, I still occasionally hit the wrong key but again, I'm sure this is something I will adjust to over time.
The touchpad has a slightly rough texture to it which works well, and it is easily configurable from within windows for scrolling and tapping speed, etc. Another neat feature is the ability to use the top left corner to maximise, minimise or close windows. Perhaps this is common to other laptops too, but I was still impressed by this simple feature. I later discovered, however, that I kept inadvertently tapping the top left corner while typing and this led to me closing the window I was working in! So this corner functionality has now been disabled; a shame really.
Speakers
I was all set to purchase a cheap pair of speakers to supplement my laptop, yet I think I'll leave this for a while now given the quality of the built in speakers. Peering through the grille results in what looks like a pair of tiny (half-inch) diameter drivers which result in an exceptionally clear and loud sound. Of course, there's no bass but I really wouldn't have been disappointed had the speakers had JBL or similar logos on!
External audio is provided through a 3.5mm line out socket, though the output seems very quiet when using this into my amplified external speakers. There is also a massive amount of hiss/feedback that appears only when the AC power cord is plugged in. If someone uses the external audio a lot then this will prove annoying and the Sony representative I spoke to did not have any idea what it could be. SPDIF optical output would have been nice, especially as this one of the most expensive laptops on the market today!
Battery
Doing everyday tasks as I have been for the past weeks, using the nVidia graphics and wireless and Bluetooth on I reliably get just under three hours battery life. This is using a high/mid LCD brightness setting. I expect 4+ hours easily using the Intel graphics with wireless switched off. Sony offer an extended life battery, but it is far too expensive at around £240 and increases the size and weight of the laptop considerably (see the notebook review forums).
Bundled Software
This is by far and away the laptops worst feature. The amount of bundled useless software was unbelievable and performance out of the box was far below my expectations. Sony make it reasonably difficult to do a clean install, by not providing a separate windows CD (or any CD's... for that matter) in the box. They include a hidden recovery partition on the hard drive and there is an option to create your own recovery discs. The problem with recovery is that it would reinstall all the bundled nonsense!
I have a separate standalone copy of XP pro so I installed this on the laptop with no problems, using the drivers available to download from Sony's website. Though there are many forum posts relating to this issue, I had a problem free clean install and everything works perfectly.
Benchmarks:
Super Pi calculated to 2 million:
Notebook
Time
Sony VAIO SZ2 (2.16GHz Core Duo)
1m 14s
Asus W3H760DD (2.0 GHz Pentium M)
1m 33s
Dell Inspiron e1505 (2.0GHz Core Duo)
1m 16s
Lenovo ThinkPad T60 (2.0GHz Core Duo)
1m 18s
Toshiba Satellite M100 (2.00GHz Core Duo)
1m 18s
Samsung X60 (1.66GHz Core Duo)
1m 29s
Dell XPS M140 (1.86 GHz Pentium M)
1m 41s
Sony VAIO FS680 (1.86 GHz Pentium M)
1m 53s
IBM ThinkPad T43 (1.86 GHz Pentium M)
1m 45s

3DMark05:
Notebook Comparison
3DMark05 Score
Sony VAIO SZ2 (2.16GHz Core Duo, nVidia GeForce 7400)
1,851
ASUS W3V (2.0 GHz Pentium M, ATI X600
1,263
Lenovo ThinkPad Z60m (2.0GHz Pentium M, ATI X600 128MB)
1,659
ThinkPad T43 (1.86GHz, ATI X300 64MB graphics)
727
Asus V6Va (2.13 GHz Pentium M, ATI Radeon Mobility x700 128 MB)
2,530
HP dv4000 (1.86GHz Pentium M, ATI X700 128MB)
2,536
Toshiba Satellite M100 (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400 128MB)
1,660

HD Tune:
(view large image)
Conclusion
I am very pleased with the SZ2VP. Is it a performance machine...is it a thin and light...is it a desktop replacement? It combines extreme performance in an exceptionally lightweight package. I was after a super-fast notebook to take to university and the weight saving is a fantastic plus.
Spending an afternoon reformatting isn't much work for the machine you have at the end, but it shouldn't be a required step.
Pros:
High speed -- T2600 dual core runs at 2.16 GHz
Battery life -- Expected around 4 hours with no wireless and Intel graphics
Lightweight -- only 1.69kg (3.7lbs)
Overall design -- the use of aluminium and carbon fibre make it stand out as something a bit special.
Cons
Terrible pre-installed software -- It shouldn't be there!
Lack of independent wireless switches
No TV out -- For £1800 ($3,000), it really needs this basic feature!
Lack of SPDIF -- Again, for £1800 it would be nice.
Shortage of USB ports

Canon Powershot A650 IS Review

Submitted by J. Keenan on DigitalCameraReview.com

Canon’s newly-introduced Powershot A650 IS becomes their self-described "new top-of-the line" A-series camera offering, and anyone who follows Canon knows they view the A-series as providing a lot of performance at a value price. For someone who wants/needs to shoot at 12+ MP with a camera by Canon, there are only five choices in the current lineup: 1Ds-Mk. III, 5D, G9, SD950 IS or the A650 IS. Opt for any of the Canons other than the A650 IS and you can expect to pay anywhere from $90 to $7,635 more for the privilege. The value part of the equation is looking pretty good so far.

The A650 IS features Digic III processing, Face Detection focus/exposure technology, a 6X optical zoom with optical image stabilization that provides a 35 to 210mm focal length range (35mm film equivalent), a 2.5 inch variable angle LCD monitor to go along with that 12MP sensor, ISO to 1600 with a 3200 setting on tap as a "special scene" mode (albeit at reduced resolution), and a full set of manual controls to complement the typical point-and-shoot automatic modes. Canon packages this all into a nicely-appointed titanium-colored metal and composite body with bright chrome accents.

CAMERA FEATURES AND LAYOUT

Canon provides 4 AA alkaline batteries, a 32MB memory card, wrist strap, CD-ROM software, AV and USB cables and an owner’s manual with each camera.

Camera dimensions are about 4.41 x 2.67 x 2.21 inches with the lens retracted, and a shooting weight (4 AA batteries and memory card installed) of 13.25 ounces. The camera accepts SD, SDHC, and MMC memory cards.

The A650 IS will capture JPEG still images in seven pixel sizes: 4000 x 3000 (L), 3264 x 2448 (M1), 2592 x 1944 (M2), 1600 x 1200 (M3), 640 x 480 (S), 1600 x 1200 (postcard) and 4000 x 2248 (widescreen).

Movies may be captured in AVI format at 640 x 480 pixels and 30 frames per second (fps) or 30 fps LP (selecting LP results in file sizes of 960KB/second versus 1920KB/second) ; 320 x 240 (30 fps) for up to 4GB or 60 minutes and 160 x 120 for 3 minutes at 15 fps.

Canon A720 IS on left, Canon Powershot A650 IS on right

SHOOTING WITH THE POWERSHOT A 650 IS

With an integral handgrip-style body (like most of the A-series cameras), the 650 IS proved a pleasure to hold and shoot one-handed. With the power on/off, shutter button, zoom control and mode dial all arranged in close proximity on the camera top, it’s an easy task to start up, select a mode, zoom and shoot one-handed if need be.


Auto Mode

The default settings for the A650 IS include the "L" (4000 x 3000) pixel setting at "Fine" quality compression. Except where noted, images produced by the A650 IS to illustrate this review were shot at Large/Superfine quality settings and in "auto" or "P" (programmed auto) mode. As a practical matter, I noticed little apparent difference in image quality between the "superfine" and "fine" settings, particularly with snapshot-sized enlargements.

Specific Scene Modes / Special Scene Modes

Portrait, landscape, night snapshot, kids & pets, stitch assist and "SCN" modes may be selected directly from the camera’s mode dial. A "SCN" selection leads to additional choices of night scene, indoor, foliage, snow, beach, fireworks, aquarium, underwater, and ISO 3200. The camera automatically adjusts settings for what it considers optimal shooting in any of these conditions, allowing for little more than image size, quality and exposure compensation inputs from the user.

Manual Controls

In addition to the suite of automatic settings, the A650 IS also provides for traditional programmed auto (P), aperture priority (Av), shutter priority (Tv) and manual (M) exposure modes. A "custom" (C) setting is also available that allows the user to save frequently used shooting modes or settings to the "C" setting and return to them by simply selecting "C".

In-Camera Editing Tools

The A650 IS permits manual red eye correction, image resizing and attaching sound memos to images.

Exposure Compensation

Exposure compensation of +/- 2 stops in 1/3 EV increments is available except in auto, movie and manual (M) exposure modes.

Light Metering

Evaluative metering is the default method, with center-weighted and spot metering options available. Spot metering can be further refined to meter the center of the monitor or to correspond to the AF frame. Evaluative metering was used for the images captured by the A650 IS. In general, it did a good job across a broad range of lighting conditions/subjects, but as with most cameras, it would on occasion lose highlights in high contrast shots.

Focus/Macro Focus

Normal focus range extends from 1.6 feet to infinity; macro is .4 inches to 1.6 feet; manual is .4 inches to infinity and kids & pets mode is 3.3 feet to infinity.

Monitor/Viewfinder

The 2.5 inch LCD monitor on the A650 IS boasts a 173,000 dot composition, in the middle of a pack where typical compositions range from 115,000 to 230,000 dots. The monitor is difficult to use for image composition in bright sunlight, particularly with subjects of uniform contrast, but is fine for composition or editing in good light. There is no brightness adjustment possible.

The camera also comes with a viewfinder, but it is quite inaccurate. Canon doesn’t quote a figure, but it seems to offer something in the 70 to 80% range of accuracy – there will be a lot of extra material in any frame composed via viewfinder compared to what is seen through the viewfinder. Still, the viewfinder is much preferable to trying to work with the monitor on bright days.

Flash

Canon quotes a flash range of 1.6 feet to 11 feet at wide angle, and 1.6 feet to 6.6 feet at telephoto, both with auto ISO. These ranges seemed accurate in my use. The flash did a good job with color rendition and exposure.

Color

Default color with the A650 IS seemed typical based on recent Canon P&Ss I’ve reviewed, which is to say pleasing and accurate. Color may be adjusted to "Vivid" via the "my colors" mode in the P, Tv, Av, M, movie and stitch-assist modes.

ISO

Auto ISO is the default setting for the A650 IS, but high ISO auto may also be selected; auto ISO ranges up to 200, high auto ISO to 800. Manual settings of 80, 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1600 may be selected, and ISO 3200 may be accessed via the "SCN" mode. ISO 3200 shots are limited in size to M3 (1600 x 1200 pixels).

ISO performance was typical for recent Canon P&Ss I’ve reviewed – 80, 100 and 200 were quite good and relatively hard to differentiate in the blue sky shots. 400 and up got progressively noisier, with the biggest jump appearing to be between 800 and 1600.

White Balance

Auto white balance is the default setting, and works well for most situations. Daylight, cloudy, tungsten, fluorescent, fluorescent H, underwater and custom settings are also available in the C, Av, Tv, P and M modes.

Battery Performance

Canon reports a 300 shot capability with AA alkaline batteries, and my experience mirrored this result.

Shutter Performance

The A650 IS powers up in about a second, acquires focus quickly in good light and fires the shutter with minimal lag. Shutter performance with flash is also good – the camera uses the red eye reduction lamp rather than pre-flashes in red eye reduction mode. Shutter speeds may vary from 15 seconds to 1/2000th second. With the AF assist beam on, focus acquisition times were quite good in low light conditions.

There is a continuous shooting mode available in most auto and manual modes that can "shoot continuously……until the memory card is full". I got 5 shots in 4 seconds and 10 shots in 8.5 seconds – there was a slow down after five shots, but the A650 IS will shoot a bunch if you need it to. The monitor is not the way to go about shooting sequences, since it blanks out for a short period after the first shot, then lags about a shot behind if you’re panning. The viewfinder maintains a constant picture and makes it much easier to track moving subjects.

Lens Performance

The 6X Canon zoom lens was quite uniformly sharp across the frame at both wide and telephoto ends, with some slight softness in the corners. There was some barrel distortion (straight lines bow out from center of image) at the wide end which could impact images with prominent straight lines for sharp-eyed viewers. Some purple fringing was present in high contrast boundary areas, but only when greatly enlarged. Overall, very good lens performance.

A 4X digital zoom capability also exists, as well as a "safety zoom" feature that provides some additional zoom factor above the 6X optical capability when shooting at reduced resolutions without the image deterioration generally associated with digital zooms.

MISCELLANEOUS

The A650 IS PictBridge compliant, and there are wide and tele converters available that allow the camera to shoot as wide as 26mm or as long as 420mm.

CONCLUSION

The Canon A650 IS packs a lot of features into a reasonably priced, relatively compact digital point and shoot that Canon hails as the leader of its value-intensive A-series line. But that reasonable price has to be matched by performance, and the A650 IS delivers the goods. Good image quality and color; good shutter and flash performance; optical image stabilization; a lens focal range that goes from modestly wide to modest telephoto and the ability to add options to the camera that broaden the focal range are only a few of the nice details in Canon’s latest offering. The camera features auto functions that can have a novice taking great shots right out of the box, but also provides a full complement of manual controls for folks who wish to get more involved. It’s the lowest-priced 12MP camera in Canon’s current fleet.

When I reviewed my last A-series camera, the A570 IS, my gripes with it were that Canon had basic and advanced camera guides instead of a single guide, and the battery cover was difficult to close and felt a little flimsy. The A650 IS has a single guide, and while the battery cover is still a little difficult to close, it feels more substantial. There’s not much to dislike with the A650 IS.

PROS

Good image quality and color
Optical image stabilization
Good shutter response
CONS

Battery cover awkward to close

Review: ViewSonic VP930b LCD Monitor

Size (inches): 19 • Resolution (pixels): 1280 by 1024 • Adjustments: Multiple adjustments • Contrast Ratio: 1000:1 • Interfaces: Analog and digital • Weight (pounds): 15 • Price When Reviewed: $329

The VP930b looks like much like a standard two-footed ViewSonic model--but wearing different shoes. Two new, small projections extend backwards from the original feet, giving the entire stand an uneven X shape. You feel the added stability when you give the physical adjustments--tilt, height, swivel, and pivot--a whirl. This thin-bezeled model adjusts easily, and changes stay put nicely.

At default screen settings, the VP930b threw a pinkish or orangey cast onto most screens. This, and the slightly spidery text, led to respectable but average image quality ratings from our jury. In a subsequent hands-on evaluation, I discovered several color presets in the on-screen display; simply choosing a cooler screen mode solved the problems.

Better yet, the VP930b includes a CD with PerfectSuite, ViewSonic's branded version of Portrait Displays's Display Tune screen adjustment software. With PerfectSuite's tests and wizard, you painlessly calibrate the monitor to your tastes and environment. PerfectSuite includes some of the more unusual Display Tune settings, such as automatic screen pivot, which saves time and fuss for anyone who frequently pivots a monitor from landscape to portrait.

The theft deterrence plug-in, which arrives on CD, renders the monitor nonfunctional if someone disconnects it from the original PC and fails to enter the user-selected password. This may be better for preventing migration of LCDs between offices than for deterring burglars. (And it's odd that the software starts this process when you check a box labeled "enable theft.") If this function interests you, but the VP930b's $500 price tag seems high for your office, look for it on recent Hyundai ImageQuest models as well, such as the $390 Q90U.

Upshot: With a full range of physical adjustments and excellent screen adjustment software, it's a simple matter to get the ViewSonic VP 930b exactly the way you need it.-- Laura Blackwell

Review: Kodak EasyShare 5300 All-in-one Price: $299

Kodak's Brownie camera, introduced early last century, helped to put photography into the hands of the masses. A hundred years later, the imaging company is hoping to transform the market once again.

Considering its unique standing in the history of photography, Kodak has been slow to enter the inkjet printer market. The Kodak EasyShare 5300 all-in-one printer is its first inkjet and a belated acknowledgement from the company that photographic development is indeed moving out of the lab.

The EasyShare 5300 is not the cheapest printer in a market littered with sub $100 machines. But because low cost printers are often subsidised by exorbitantly priced replacement ink, buyers are now being urged by the likes of Choice magazine to seriously consider the full life-time costs of a printer.

The first thing you notice with the EasyShare 5300 is the ink pricing information stuck on the lid of the machine where it can't possibly be overlooked. Black ink costs $14.99 and colour costs $24.99, bringing a refreshing level of transparency to a market littered with costly replacements that you only encounter once you run out of ink.

Kodak's 5300 uses a two cartridge ink system - one colour and one black and white, a bonus for those tired of having to dash out for individual cartridges of magenta and cyan, but a loss for those who prefer to replace colours as they run out.

The jury is still out on which ink cartridge model works out as most cost effective and comparative price-per-page data for the full range of printers on the market is hard to come by. However Kodak says tests conducted by an independent company reveal it has managed to lop about 50 per cent off the cost of printing documents and photos from its closest competitors (based on its ink and paper costs), without compromising crucial print quality.

The EasyShare 5300 itself has a large, rectangular footprint and a quick once over with the tape measure reveals it to have dimensions of roughly 48cm wide x 30cm deep x 22 cm tall.

Perhaps accounting for its size is the fact that it is a printer, scanner and copier all in one box - but it is the manufacturer's promise of cost-effective and lab quality photo printing that is likely to turn the most heads.

The printer is designed to be very easy to use, and it comes with a single set-up sheet which you can ignore at your own peril. Following the reasonably simple instructions, we had the hardware and software all up and running in just over an hour.

The features that most impressed us were the ability to print pictures straight from the camera's memory card - which proved a fairly straightforward process using the large, clear LCD screen attached to the unit which let us scroll through the images we wanted to print. However we were unable to crop our images or remove red-eye in this mode.

Printing pictures from the computer proved more rewarding, with a range of editing and cropping functions and some special effects such as sepia tones and spotlights thrown in.

A USB drive and a separate PictBridge port for connecting a compatible digital camera extend the range of connectivity options for getting the printer hooked up to different devices, and the dedicated photo tray for 4x6 paper also saved a lot of messing about and failed attempts at matching up paper sizes.

The printer can also cleverly detect the type of paper being used (from a choice of regular and premium gloss and matte finishes) and will adapt photo print modes accordingly, again good for those of us who like to point, click and print with a minimum of fuss.

In terms of print speed, Kodak says 4x6 prints can take as little as 28 seconds to print, but our experience was more like a minute for a portrait type photo.

But features aside, in light of Kodak's claim that the printer can produce long-lasting lab quality prints, what we really wanted to see were some beautiful photographs.

Most of our snaps currently languish away on our computer hard drive with only a special chosen few ever being printed off for our albums. After a disappointing encounter with a dedicated photo printer bought at great expense some six years ago, we usually print out our snaps at a local Kmart photo kiosk for 29 cents apiece.

To put the EasyShare 5300 through its paces, we printed off fifteen of our very best digital photographs in 4x6 size on premium gloss paper using a variety of subject matter (babies, cats, boats, sunsets etc) in both indoor and outdoor settings.

Although some of our indoor shots displayed a slight graininess on the skin tones, our outdoor photos were full of rich colour and sharp detail - and all that we printed was certainly comparable to the print quality of the picture kiosk we frequent.

So is the Kodak EasyShare 5300 likely to transform the printer market in the manner of the Brownie camera in the 1900s?

Given that many of the product features do not stand out substantially from those of competitors, success will rest on ink price, picture quality, and historical goodwill attached to the Kodak brand. But while its ink does seem cheaper than that of its peers, and it does produce lovely, vibrant pictures, this model does not seem likely to become the disruptive force that Kodak was hoping for.

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From PC Connection

PC Connection/MacConnection would like you to take advantage of their new weekly offer plus Free Shipping. Below are brief descriptions of the current exciting offers. Please note I will be posting new promotions on a weekly basis.

Canon ZR800 Digital Camcorder - Only $279 - Around the world, the name Canon means optical excellence, advanced image processing and superb performance. And Canon digital video camcorders are no exception.

Whether you're shopping for your first camcorder, or would like to upgrade from analog to digital, the new ZR camcorders are a perfect balance of style, performance and affordability. The ZR digital camcorders give you a brilliant Genuine Canon 35x Optical Zoom lens, Canon's advanced image stabilization system, Widescreen HR recording , DIGIC DV image processing, Joystick controller, and Level and Grid Markers .The results are brilliant video and digital photos that you can easily share with family and friends.

The ZR800 has everything you need to enter the world of digital video camcorders including some features that are traditionally found on more expensive models. It provides the user with the perfect combination of style and ease-of-operation that makes it easy to capture life's precious memories.


Sony Vaio VGN-CR115E Notebook only $1199! - Get power and style. Give love, hope, and support. Sony has pledged to donate $100,000 from the proceeds of this special-edition VAIO CR notebook bundle to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Bundled with a matching carrying case and mouse, the powerful and incredibly beautiful CR notebook features a stunning cosmopolitan outer shell.

Step out and be seen with the with the portable, powerful and incredibly beautiful VAIO CR notebook. Featuring a stunning 14.1" widescreen LCD with XBRITE-ECO LCD technology, this thin-and-light fashion statement is an astonishing sight to behold. Backed by the Windows Vista Home Premium operating system and Intel Centrino Duo processor technology with Intel Core 2 Duo processor, this lightning-fast, super-powerful mobile notebook is slim, lightweight, and packed with entertainment and design extras.

From a built-in web cam and AV controls to its unique paint colors and comfortable, easy-to-clean keyboard, the remarkable VAIO CR notebook delivers entertainment, power, and pizzazz. Hurry - while supplies last!


Free Shipping on Orders of $249 or More - PC Connection is offering Free Shipping on orders of $249 or more. Expires 10/31/07.

Other special offers HERE!

Exclusive offers from Tiger Direct

AFFILIATE EXCLUSIVE DEAL - (New Price syncs at 1PM EST) - 72 Hours ONLY

SAVE $40 - Lexmark X4550 All-In-One Wireless Color Inkjet Printer Up To
26ppm $89.99 (US)

US:
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TIGER'S TOP DEALS

RCA DVD Player Progressive Scan DivX Playback TV Guardian $9.99* (US)
Price after $30 MIR, rebate expires 9/30/07

US:
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Linksys WRT54GX2 Wireless Recertified Router 54Mbps 802.11g 4-Port SRX
200 Technology $24.99 (US)

US:
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Acer AL2216WBD 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor Ultra-fast 5ms WSXGA+
$179.99* (US) Price after $50 MIR, rebate expires 09/30/07

US:
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Sceptre DCL20A 20.1" Widescreen LCD Monitor 5ms 1000:1 WSXGA+ $144.99*
(US) Price after $50 MIR, rebate expires 09/30/07

US:
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Sharp DVD Home Theater Audio System 5.1 Dolby Digital Slot loading Disc
Wall mountable $189.99 (US)

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HP Intel Desktop PC P4 2.6GHz WinXP Pro (Off-Lease) $229.99 (US)

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eMachines Intel Desktop PC P4 3.2GHz WinVista Home Basic $249.99 (US)

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Compaq Presario Intel Desktop PC P4 3.0GHz 1GB DDR2 160GB SATA DL
DVD±RW w/LightScribe WinVista Home Basic $319.97 (US)

US:
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Gateway Intel Desktop PC Core 2 Duo E4300 2GB DDR2 320GB SATA II HDD
DVD±RW DL Flash Media Reader WinVista Home Premium $449.99 (US)

US:
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Gateway Notebook PC Intel Pentium Dual-Core 1.60GHz Wireless 1GB DDR2
160GB HDD DL DVDRW 15.4" WXGA WinVista Home Premium $549.99 (US)

US:
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