Photo gallery:
Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3

Succeeding the G2, the Lumix DMC-G3 is substantially smaller, but still pretty large to be considered a compact alternative to a dSLR. In fact, although I like the G3 very much–it’s got great photo quality, solid performance, a comfortable shooting design and a reasonable feature set–I’m still not quite sure who it’s for.

The G3 has a new 16-megapixel sensor; though it’s the same resolution as the GH2′s, it’s a less sophisticated (and cheaper) one. For the sensor, Panasonic has added on-chip noise reduction, similar to the scheme used by Sony’s Exmor chips, along with the Venus Engine FHD image processor that’s in the GF3 and GH2.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3 photo samples

That change seems to have made a difference. Our test shots for the G3 at varying ISO sensitivities look much better than those of the G2 in part due to the much-improved JPEG processing (since the necessary raw codec isn’t available I can’t yet tell if the image comes off the sensor cleaner). Photos look good up through ISO 800, with just a little softening from luminance noise reduction kicking in at ISO 1600. Most important, the JPEG artifacts I’ve seen in previous models at lower ISO sensitivities or high ISOs in good light were gone.

Colors look pleasing and saturated, but the slightly cool auto white balance in daylight shifts the reds, pinks, and greens just a little. Exposure is accurate and consistent.

My one gripe about the images: For shots without fine edges, the level of sharpening looks good, delivering a natural appearance. But edges on fine objects like hair or fur display a visible aliasing (jaggies) in the standard setting. You can scale back the sharpening, though.

The in-camera distortion control does pretty well straightening curvature with the 14-42mm kit lens, but it leaves just a smidge of vertical distortion that makes it appear as if the camera isn’t parallel to the wall. This shouldn’t be noticeable on most photographs though, unless you shoot a lot of architecture (for which you probably wouldn’t want to use the kit lens, anyway).

The company has also changed the names of a couple of features to make them more approachable: Film mode is now Creative mode and My Colors has become Photo Style. I was not impressed with any of Panasonic’s creative effects, in part because they’re almost completely automatic–you can’t adjust the intensity of the effect–and the results are pretty boring.

The G3 incorporates Panasonic’s Light Speed autofocus system from its more recent cameras. That AF system drives the sensor at 120 frames per second to more quickly iterate down through the contrast autofocus decisionmaking process. While the G3′s performance is better than the G2′s, even with the updated AF system it’s not as fast as the GH2 and can’t keep up with the phase-detection-based SLT-A35 or comparable dSLRs. Panasonic claims the system is more accurate than phase detection at wider apertures, but in practice found it no better and no worse. I didn’t run formal tests, however.

It still feels reasonably fast for most types of shooting. You can power on and shoot in about 0.9 second; it takes about 0.4 second to focus and shoot in good light, increasing to 0.7 second in dim. It takes 0.6 second for two sequential JPEG shots and 0.7 for sequential raw, but it seems to take a bit longer than usual to save raw+JPEG files than usual. It doesn’t hold up shooting, but sometimes powering off the camera was held up by writing to the card. Shot-to-shot time incorporating flash recycling adds about a second. Continuous-shooting delivered 3.3fps, but as with many of these cameras successfully burst shooting is more a matter of luck than intent; similarly, the tracking autofocus can track within a ballpark area but as with most of these systems can’t really differentiate, say, a squirrel’s head from its tail or follow it fast enough. The other performance issue is battery life–as in, it’s short.

 
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3
Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2
Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2
Sensor (effective resolution)
12.1-megapixel Live MOS
12.1-megapixel Live MOS
16-megapixel Live MOS
16.1-megapixel Live MOS
17.3 x 13.0mm 17.3 x 13.0mm 17.3 x 13.0mm 17.3 x 13.0mm
Focal-length multiplier 2.0x 2.0x 2.0x 2.0x Image processor version Venus Engine FHD Venus Engine HD II Venus Engine FHD Venus Engine FHD
Sensitivity range
ISO 100 – ISO 6400
ISO 100 – ISO 6400
ISO 100 – ISO 6400
ISO 160 – ISO 12,800
Continuous shooting
3.8fps
unlimited JPEG/7 raw
3.2 fps
unlimited JPEG/ 7 raw
4fps
unlimited JPEG/ 7 raw
5.0 fps
unlimited JPEG/ 7 raw
Viewfinder
magnification/ effective magnification
None
Electronic
1.4 million dots
100% coverage
1.4x/0.7x magnification
Electronic
1.4 million dots
100% coverage
1.4x/0.7x magnification
Electronic
1.5 million dots
100% coverage
1.42x/0.71x magnification
Autofocus
23-area contrast AF
23-area contrast AF
23-area contrast AF
23-area contrast AF
Shutter speed 60-1/4000 sec; 1/160 x-sync 1/4000 to 30 secs; bulb up to 4 minutes; 1/160 x-sync 60-1/4000 sec; bulb to 2 minutes 1/4000 to 60 secs; bulb up to 2 minutes; 1/160 x-sync Metering 144 zone 144 zone 144 zone 144 zone Image stabilization Optical Optical Optical Optical Video 1080/60i/50i @ 17 Mbps
720/60p @17 Mbps AVCHD or Motion JPEG QuickTime MOV AVCHD Lite 720/30p or Motion JPEG MOV AVCHD 1080/60i/50i @ 17 Mbps; 720/60p/50p @ 17 Mbps or Motion JPEG QuickTime MOV AVCHD 1080/60i/50i/24p (60p sensor output) @ 24, 17, 13Mbps; 720/60p @ 17, 13Mbps
QuickTime MOV Motion JPEG
720/30p Audio Mono Mono; mic input Stereo Stereo, mic input
LCD size
3-inch fixed touch screen
460,000 dots
3 inches articulated
460,000 dots
3 inches articulated
460,000 dots
3 inches articulated
460,000 dots
Battery life (CIPA rating) 320 shots 390 shots 250 shots 340 shots
Dimensions (inches, WHD)
4.2 x 2.6 x 1.3
4.9 x 3.3 x 2.9
4.5 x 3.3 x 1.8
4.9 x 3.5 x 3.0
Body operating weight (ounces)
9.3 (est)
13.1
13.4
17.8
Mfr. Price n/a $540 (body only) $599.99 (body only) $899.95 (body only) $599.95 (with 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 lens) $599.95 (with 14-45mm f3.5-5.6 lens) $699.99 (with 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 lens) $999.95 (with 14-42mm lens) $699.95 (with 14mm f2.5 lens) $649.90 (with 14mm lens) n/a $1,499.95 (with 14-140mm lens) Ship date July 2011 May 2010 June 2011 December 2010

Panasonic adds Pinpoint focus, which basically allows you autofocus with pixel-level accuracy. But I tend to use it as a general AF mode because it camera pops up a magnified area as a visual aid, just like in manual focus.

For people who like a camera with more heft–a good grip compared to the more compact alternatives but smaller and lighter than a dSLR or dSLR-size ILCs like the GH2 or Sony’s SLTs–the G3 works well. It’s very comfortable and well balanced, with a grip that’s just the right size (at least for my hands).

The EVF is large and bright with a sufficient refresh rate, though like all it gets sluggish in low light. I’m also a big fan of the bright, sharp articulated touch-screen LCD. There’s no automatic switching between the two, which doesn’t bother me but some people may find the lack annoying.

As I’ve mentioned with previous Panasonic models, the touch-screen user interface works for two reasons: because the big virtual buttons are easy to hit precisely and the screen is sufficiently responsive. It also works because if you don’t like it, you don’t have to use it. And a feature I’ve been asking for has finally been implemented: you can turn off the touch focus to prevent accidents. That said, I’d rather you be able to toggle the capability or simply lock the selected focus area than have to completely live with it or live without it.

 
Canon EOS Rebel T3
Olympus E-PL2

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3

Samsung NX100
Sony Alpha SLT-A35
Sensor (effective resolution)
12.2-megapixel CMOS
12.3-megapixel Live MOS
16-megapixel Live MOS
14.6-megapixel CMOS
16.2-megapixel Exmor HD CMOS
22.2 x 14.8mm (est) 17.3mm x 13mm 17.3 x 13.0mm 23.4mm x 15.6mm 23.5mm x 15.6mm Focal-length multiplier 1.6x 2.0x 2.0x 1.5x 1.5x Sensitivity range ISO 100 – ISO 6400 ISO 200 – ISO 6400 ISO 100 – ISO 6400 ISO 100 – ISO 3200/6400 (expanded) ISO 100 – ISO 12800 Continuous shooting
3 fps JPEG/2 fps raw
n/a
3.0 fps
n/a
4fps
unlimited JPEG/ 7 raw
3.0 fps
10 JPEG/ 3 raw
5.5 fps
18 JPEG/6 raw
Viewfinder
magnification/ effective magnification
Optical
95% coverage
0.80x/0.50x
Optional plug-in articulating EVF
1,440,000 dots
0.58x
Electronic
1.4 million dots
100% coverage
1.4x/0.7x magnification
Optional plug-in EVF
201,000 dots
0.55x
(98 percent coverage)
Electronic
0.46 inches/1.4 million dots
100% coverage
1.1x/0.73x
Autofocus
9-pt phase-detection
center cross-type
11-area contrast AF
23-area contrast AF
15-point contrast AF
15-pt phase-detection
3 cross-type
Shutter speed 30-1/4000 sec; bulb; 1/200 x-sync 60-1/2000 sec; bulb to 30 minutes 60-1/4000 sec; bulb to 2 minutes 30-1/4000 sec.; bulb to 8 minutes 1/4000 to 30 secs; bulb; 1/160 x-sync Metering 63-zone iFCL 324 area 144 zone 247 segment 49 zone Flash Yes Yes Yes No Sensor shift Image stabilization Optical Sensor shift Optical Optical Sensor shift Video H.264 QuickTime MOV 720/25p/30p @ 38Mbps (est) 720p Motion JPEG AVI AVCHD 1080/60i/50i @ 17 Mbps 720/30p H.264 MPEG-4 AVCHD 1080/60i @ 17Mbps; H.264 MPEG-4 1440×1080 /30p @ 12Mbps Audio Mono Mono; mic input Stereo Mono Stereo; mic input LCD size
2.7 inches fixed
230,000 pixels
3-inch fixed
460,000 dots
3 inches articulated
460,000 dots
3-inch fixed AMOLED
921,000 dots
3 inches fixed
921,600 dots
Battery life (CIPA rating) 700 shots 280 shots 250 shots 420 shots 420 shots Dimensions (inches, WHD)
n/a
4.5 x 2.8 x 1.6
4.5 x 3.3 x 1.8
4.7 x 2.8 x 1.4
4.9 x 3.6 x 3.3
Body operating weight (ounces)
17.5
12.7
13.4
12.2
16.1
Mfr. Price n/a n/a $599.99 (body only) n/a n/a $599.99 (with 18-55mm IS II lens)
$599.99 (with 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 msc lens) $699.99 (with 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 lens) $499.99 (est, with 20-50mm f3.5-5.6 i-Function lens) $699.99 (with 18-55mm lens) n/a $799.00 (est, with 14-42mm and 40-150mm lenses) n/a $599.00 (with 50-200mm lens) n/a Ship date March 2011 January 2011 June 2011 October 2010 August 2011

Almost every function is duplicated by direct-access controls. The four-way navigation buttons bring up focus area, white balance, drive mode and ISO sensitivity. The Quick menu and display buttons can be mapped to user-defined options. In its default configuration, the Quick menu displays options for metering, AF mode, ISO sensitivity, white balance, drive mode, focus mode, image/video size and quality, and flash settings. A jog dial controls exposure compensation as well as shutter and aperture adjustments. You can also customize the Quick Menu with the settings you use most.

From the G2, Panasonic moved the movie record button from the top to the back, where it sits under your thumb–a much better location–and has done away with the movie mode on the dial. Panasonic simplified the top controls as well as the mode dial, but you don’t really lose any capabilities. There are now two custom slots on the dial, one of which holds three sets of options. The portrait, landscape, action and macro scene modes (which most people tend not to use) are hidden with the less well-known scene modes, and Panasonic has replaced its Film looks with underwhelming handful of Creative Control mode special effects: expressive, retro, high key, sepia and high dynamic.

In addition, Panasonic offers both iA (intelligent auto) and iA+ modes. The latter adds user color, brightness adjustments, and defocus to full auto. Rather than being an electronic effect, the defocus physically adjusts the lens aperture, and you can hear it changing as you scroll the effect.

Other notable features include remains the bracketing, which supports up to 7 frames in one-third stop increments, for a new high of up to three stops.

Conclusion
If you’re looking for a camera that’s not quite as big as a dSLR but doesn’t skimp on hardware controls or features like an articulated LCD, EVF and stereo full HD video, the G3 is one of my favorite options. But performance is hit-and-miss for shooting action, so you may end up having to go with something just a bit bigger, anyway.

Shooting speed (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Time to first shot  

Raw shot-to-shot time  

Typical shot-to-shot time  

Shutter lag (dim light)  

Shutter lag (typical)  

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Article source: http://reviews.cnet.com/Panasonic_Lumix_DMC_G3_white_with_14_42mm_lens/4505-6501_7-34714837.html?subj=fdba&part=rss&tag=_Search+Results

Editors’ note: This review is related to our review of the HTC Arrive, which is Sprint’s version of the same phone design. This review focuses on the HTC 7 Pro’s differentiating features, so please consult the HTC Arrive review for details on the phone’s features and design. However, we rated the HTC 7 Pro and Arrive separately based on the competitive landscape at the time of the two phones’ releases. For more on the operating system, see our full review of Windows Phone 7.

Photo gallery:
HTC 7 Pro

Currently, Windows Phone 7 is one of the few rafts available to carry prospective smartphone owners seeking a little variety over a sea of Android phones. The HTC 7 Pro is U.S. Cellular’s first Windows phone, and although it’s a direct rebrand of the HTC Arrive, which debuted for Sprint three months before, it’s a solid addition to the carrier’s lineup and adds welcome choice.

The HTC 7 Pro is a hefty phone of sturdy design with HTC’s characteristic brushed-metal accents and elements. It’s got a great tilting screen and keyboard we enjoyed using, and it comes with HD video capture and playback, as well as Microsoft’s copy-paste feature, something that the first wave of Windows Phones lacked.

While it’s a good phone overall, several things keep it from being great. The screen could be larger, and the camera could be sharper, for starters. You won’t want to use speakerphone for too long. The update to Windows Phone 7.5 Mango this fall will certainly give the operating system a very welcome boost.

Design
With the exception of a different carrier logo, the HTC 7 Pro is identical to Sprint’s HTC Arrive. After testing, we again give the responsive, rubberized QWERTY keyboard and 30-degree tilting screen a thumbs-up.

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Article source: http://reviews.cnet.com/HTC_7_Pro_U_S_Cellular/4505-6452_7-34837196.html?subj=fdba&part=rss&tag=_Search+Results

The Kodak ESP Office 2170 is a multifunction printer that can print, copy, and scan on a budget thanks to a new print engine inside that separates the print heads from the dual-ink cartridges. This new hardware design lets Kodak cut the price down to a lower cost per page than many competitive devices in the same sub-$150 category. With an attractive design that shows big improvement over previous models, a comprehensive software bundle (PC-only), and innovative features like an automatic paper sensor, stereoscopic 3D printing, and the Kodak Pic Flick app for Blackberries and iPhones, the ESP Office 2170 is worth your dollar.

Design
Kodak builds the 2170 with the same general design as the Kodak ESP C310, but instead of a small cockpit on top, the 2170 has a control panel that sits at a fixed angle on the front of the machine, supporting a diminutive 1.5-inch LCD display and a host of shortcut buttons for directional scrolling through menus, a keypad for dialing fax numbers, and shortcut buttons to start the copy, fax, scan, and photo functions.

There’s also a small green Wi-Fi indicator LED on the right side of the control panel, and just below the buttons you’ll find a multimedia card reader for Memory Stick, xD-Picture Card, SD, Memory Stick, and USB via the PictBridge-compatible port just above it.

The $50 price difference between the C310 and the 2170 goes a long way, with the 2170 offering plenty of extra options like a 25-page auto-document feeder and a rear-loading, 150-sheet paper input tray that marks a vast improvement over older Kodak models that used a clunky, unreliable feeder situated underneath the printer. Additionally, the paper input tray also has a smart sensor that automatically recognizes the size and type of paper you’re inserting, and adjusts the printing preferences accordingly, so you won’t waste precious photo paper.

On the downside, the overall paper capacity is low, considering that competing printers like the Canon Pixma MG6120 can hold 150-sheets in the cassette with another 150-sheets loaded into the auto-document feeder. We won’t knock Kodak too much for this oversight, but you’ll need to refill the tray more frequently if you’re shopping for a large office.

Although Kodak markets the 2170 as an office printer, there are only two ways to connect it to an accompanying computer: Wi-Fi and USB. Strangely, there’s no Ethernet port on the back for a wired network connection. We set up the wireless connection easily enough by entering in our network name and password and were able to get working in less than five minutes. Still, we expect some IT professionals will find the lack of wired networking a deal-breaker.

We’re thankful that Kodak finally ditcheds the thin plastic arm that lifted up the cover of the ink bay on older printer models. Instead, the company joins the rest of the industry and uses a hinged design that allows the lid on the 2170 to stay open by itself, allowing easy access to the ink cartridges bay.

Kodak also redesigned the black and tricolor inks so that the printheads are physically separate, which requires a little more work to install at first, but actually saves you money in the long term since Kodak doesn’t have to ship printheads with every cartridge. Using Kodak’s advertised ink costs and estimated page yields, the cost per page is roughly 3.7-cents per page of black ink and 11.3-cents for color, making the 2170 one of the most affordable printers on the market in terms of the cost for consumables.

The printer ships with a helpful driver disc that walks you through the installation process and includes Kodak’s All-in-One Home Center software. The Home Center acts as a hub for the copy, print, and scan functions. The copy feature is easy to navigate and offers a unique collage copy setting that duplicates several pictures in the same orientation as the originals. The scanning center is simple as well, but lacks the option to scan directly to a fax, so you have to first save the photo to your computer and enable a fax from there.

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Article source: http://reviews.cnet.com/Kodak_ESP_2170_All_in_One/4505-3181_7-34808270.html?subj=fdba&part=rss&tag=_Search+Results

Photo gallery:
Asus PA246Q

There are three distinct reasons to be excited about the Asus PA246Q. One, it’s the first monitor we’ve had the opportunity to calibrate using a new tool (some details below); two, it’s the first 24-inch-plus monitor with a high-end P-IPS panel we’ve reviewed that costs less than $500.

Finally, the graphical overlay feature may be the most original monitor option I’ve encountered in more than three years of writing monitor reviews. Essentially, the feature places one of a number of different grid and photo size options on the screen, allowing for increased precision when tailoring graphics or printing photos.

Anyway, keep reading to see if the above-mentioned features were just a cheap bid for attention or if the PA246Q is worth the relatively small amount of cash Asus is asking for.

Design and features
In the top left corner of the 24-inch Asus PA246Q’s chassis, written in white text, is the word “ProArt.” If there was any ambiguity about the type of user Asus is targeting with this monitor, this small design touch should abolish it. Like most “Pro” monitors, the PA246Q houses a Professional In-Plane Switching (P-IPS) panel. This makes for a monitor with more girth than the comparatively small Twisted Nematic (TN)-based displays, which aren’t as suited for professional art tasks. The P-IPS panel with its Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp (CCFL) backlight measures a deep 3.2 inches in depth.

The bezel is 0.75 inch on the left and right sides with the full width of the panel checking in at 22 inches. Aligned along the bezel are numberless, rulerlike measurement notches that we can safely say we’ve never seen on a monitor before. This precision motif continues at the base of the display’s neck where a circular dial resides with measuring notches arranged along its perimeter. No numbers appear on the dial, but there is an arrow above it that acts as a measurement guide and allows for precise swiveling of the panel.

Speaking of which, the monitor can swivel 60 degrees left and right, tilt back 20 degrees, and pivot 90 degrees, and its screen height can be adjusted by 4 inches. The footstand is fairly flat, is close to square in shape, and measures 11 inches wide by 9.25 inches deep. Even given this wide footstand, the display wobbles quite a bit when knocked from the sides.

The build quality of the boxy, dark-gray chassis feels quite substantial–a surprising impression, given that the PA246Q weighs 17 pounds, while other 24-inch IPS monitors typically weigh 20 pounds or more.

Along the monitor’s left side, aligned vertically, are two USB downstream ports and a multimedia card reader. Back connections include DVI, DisplayPort, VGA, HDMI, USB upstream, and a headphone jack. There’s also a power switch, hidden away on the right side. While this provides us one each of the fab four of video connections, we could have used a few more duplicates of connection options.

The On Screen Display (OSD) array consists of six buttons including Quickfit, a preset shortcut, a down button, an up bottom, a Menu button and an Enter button. The buttons are separated from each other by a button’s width of space and all emit a satisfying pop when pressed.

Navigating the OSD takes a little while to get the hang of, but fortunately, it includes contextual icons to steer you in the right direction. The OSD features Standard, sRGB, Adobe RGB, Scenery Mode, and Theater Mode presets plus an additional customizable User Mode. Also included are brightness, contrast, saturation, hue, gamma, and advanced color settings including six-color hue and saturation adjustment controls and direct RGB color control using gain and offset. Rounding out the more useful options are sharpness and aspect ratio control, picture-in-picture (PIP) settings, and system setup options such as OSD window placement and duration on screen.

By far the most unusual feature in the PA246Q’s already considerable assembly of OSD options is Quickfit. Pressing the Quickfit button places an overlay on the screen of your choice of either grid patterns (of various dimensions) or paper and photo sizes. With the grid patterns you can more precisely and consistently organize content on a page when, say, designing graphics for the Web.

The paper and photo sizes would show exactly what papers and photos will look like once printed. This one seems less useful, as any self-respecting graphic artist would probably already be using Photoshop or some other program to do this. Still, it’s a unique option that some will get more out of than others.

Performance
We tested the Asus PA246Q through its DVI input, connected to a Windows Vista PC, using the included DVI cable. The display posted a composite score of 96 in CNET Labs’ DisplayMate-based performance tests.

DisplayMate: The Asus PA246Q displayed light gray up to level 253, but level 254 was indistinguishable from white. At the lower end of the grayscale, the monitor succeeded in showing dark gray down to a level of only 6, indicating that shadow detail would elude the PA246Q.

In Color Tracking we noticed a red hue in the grayscale that persisted in every other preset to varying degrees; the SRGB preset showed the least amount of off color.

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Article source: http://reviews.cnet.com/Asus_PA246Q_LCD_display_TFT_24_1_inch/4505-3174_7-34505604.html?subj=fdba&part=rss&tag=_Search+Results

In addition to the standard playback and browsing of SiriusXM’s stations by number or category, the SXV100 offers a few new features that are unique to this generation of SiriusXM tuners.

A feature called Instant Replay takes advantage of a digital audio cache rolled into the tuner to pause live broadcasts for up to 30 minutes. You can then resume playback with fast-forward and rewind capabilities. Unfortunately, switching sources or powering down the unit wipes the cache, so you won’t be able to, for example, pause NPR while you run into a store to pick up a few items and expect it to resume when you get back.

Song tagging, a feature that we’ve seen on many HD Radio tuners, enables you to save a list of songs to a connected iPhone or iPod by tapping a button sequence while listening to a SiriusXM broadcast. When the iPod is connected to a PC for its next sync, you can access the tagged song list for purchase in iTunes.

Finally, a trio of features–Song Alert, Artist Alert, and Game Alert–enables you to mark a song, artist, or sports team (NFL, NBA, NHL or collegiate teams supported) so that when that content is playing on any SiriusXM station you’ll be prompted with the option to switch stations and listen.

Browsing stations with the CDE-124SXM’s knob and single-line display can be tricky–and for the first day of testing we found it rather slow. However, once we’d gotten the hang of what buttons to push and in what order, we were able to jump to any station within seconds. Still, we’d recommend that you take a moment and preset a handful of favorite stations before you get on the road, lest you spend too much time staring at the tiny screen while the vehicle is in motion.

In sum
The Alpine CDE-124SXM is a great value for those who want to kill two birds with one stone and upgrade their car stereo while adding SiriusXM Satellite Radio connectivity to their in-car audio source mix. At an MSRP of $229.99, this bundle also ends up being less expensive than what we’d expect to pay for the CD receiver alone.

However, there’s another way to get this level of functionality from Alpine outside of the CDE-124SXM package. The SXV100 tuner can be purchased separately for $69.99 and paired with Alpine’s own CDE-123 single-CD receiver ($199.95) and likely an entire future generation of Alpine receivers of various form factors. Of course, buying the components separately is more expensive–at a combined MSRP of $269.94, they’re about $40 more separately than as a bundle. However, for that $40, the superior CDE-123 receiver adds a few niceties that serious car audio lovers will appreciate. For example, it can decode WMA and AAC audio files via its CD-player and USB port. It also sprouts a second rear USB port that’s useful for those who like to leave a USB drive permanently connected. System builders will appreciate that the CDE-123 unit can be upgraded with an optional Bluetooth receiver, an input for connecting the receiver to a steering-wheel control module, and two more pairs of RCA audio connections, adding dedicated rear and subwoofer outputs for connecting more amplifiers.

For the money, we’d spend the extra $40 and buy our components separately to get the Alpine CDE-123 receiver. However, if you never plan to connect an amplifier to your receiver and are pinching pennies, the CDE-124SXM is a good value and a very good choice.

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It’s common for phones to debut on one carrier and then appear on another carrier under a different name. That’s exactly what Motorola has done with the XPRT–it’s essentially the Motorola Droid Pro, but with Sprint branding. And that’s not a bad thing–the XPRT offers a full QWERTY keyboard and a touch screen, plus it has enhanced security features that should please most enterprise-conscious users. The XPRT is also Sprint’s first Android-based world phone, meaning it can work on both CDMA and GSM bands. The Motorola XPRT ships with Android 2.2 and is available for $129.99 after a two-year service agreement.

Design
We’re not kidding when we say the XPRT is essentially the same as the Droid Pro. The hardware looks the same, with the same touch screen and keyboard combo design. There are a few subtle changes with the XPRT, however. The XPRT is a little flatter on the top, it has a chrome border on the front trim instead of the back, and the battery cover has a matte, soft-touch textured surface where the Droid Pro had a slightly humped, hard plastic back instead. This gives the XPRT a more luxurious feel in the hand.

There are a few more tiny differences in the XPRT’s keyboard. It still looks uncannily similar to the keyboard on a BlackBerry Bold, but unlike on the Droid Pro, the XPRT’s keyboard goes right to the edges of the phone. Unfortunately, it appears that the bottom row of the keyboard is smaller–the Alt key on the bottom left and the voice command key on the bottom right are a tiny bit smaller than their equivalents on the Droid Pro. On the whole, however, we found the keyboard just as pleasurable to use; the angled keys provide a nice texture for typing and dialing. It doesn’t feel top-heavy, but you do need to adjust your fingers to compensate for the phone’s weight.

In other areas of the phone’s design, the XPRT is identical to the Droid Pro. The touch-screen display is the same 3.1 inches, with the same HVGA resolution. It also ships with seven customizable home screens and a scaled-down version of Motoblur that is not quite as intrusive. It still offers resizable widgets for news feeds and social network streams.

The rest of the phone’s hardware mimics the Droid Pro too, like the volume rocker and Micro-USB port on the left spine, and the user-customizable shortcut key on the right. Between the display and the keyboard are the four Android sensor keys, and the camera lens and flash are on the back. On the top are the 3.5mm headphone jack and the power/screen lock button.

Features
The XPRT and the Droid Pro have very similar features, so we’ll point you to that review for the full rundown of what the XPRT can do. In sum, the XPRT has CDMA and GSM technology for world-roaming capabilities, enhanced security like remote wipe and support for complex passwords, support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, and the usual Android 2.2 features. It also has the standard Android media player and a 5-megapixel camera with dual-LED flash. Picture quality is largely unchanged from the Droid Pro.

The only real difference lies in the applications. The XPRT comes saddled with a Sprint software suite that includes Nascar, Sprint Football Live, Sprint Mobile Wallet, Sprint Music Plus, Sprint Radio, Sprint TV Movies, Sprint Zone, and Sprint Worldwide, a portal page that provides access to Sprint services when you travel abroad.

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Article source: http://reviews.cnet.com/Motorola_XPRT_Sprint/4505-6452_7-34667449.html?subj=fdba&part=rss&tag=_Search+Results

Lexus does not offer the Mark Levinson-branded audio system in the CT 200h that it makes available in other models, but the 10-speaker premium system in CNET’s review car sounded almost as good. It featured very detailed and well-separated reproduction, letting you distinguish, for example, different types of percussion instruments. The highs came through crystal-clear, and bass could be tuned for good impact. However, it didn’t sound particularly powerful, so driving down the street setting off car alarms with bass thumps is not a likely scenario.

The Bluetooth phone system in the car was limited in features. Although it had an onboard phonebook, it did not copy over contacts from a paired phone, forcing tedious manual entry. But, as in other Lexus models, the navigation option should bring in a more full-featured phone system.

On the CT 200h’s instrument cluster, the speedometer sits front and center. On the right are a fuel gauge and a monochrome LCD showing different fuel economy information plus a simple animation of the hybrid power-train energy flow. The left side has a power gauge showing when the battery is recharging or discharging. But that left gauge transforms into a tachometer when you put the car in Sport mode, a simple little trick of having two illuminated faces.

But whether in Sport, Normal, or Eco, the CT 200h will not live up to its sporty exterior. The straight-line acceleration, as mentioned above, is not particularly fast. Come full speed at a corner, apply the brakes at the last minute, and gracefully follow a line across the apex, and you won’t find much push when applying the gas at the exit.

That lack of power is disappointing, as the CT 200h handles reasonably well. Lexus obviously tuned the suspension to minimize body roll in hard cornering. With a conventional, fixed suspension, the CT 200h doesn’t have different settings for ride quality. And with its sport tuning, it rides a little rougher than you would expect from a Lexus.

In sum
Although the 2011 Lexus CT 200h seems confused about whether it is a sports car or fuel sipper, there’s no denying the efficiency of the high-tech hybrid system under the hood. Its electric power-steering system adds to the tech underpinnings.

The CT 200h can also be had with a solid cabin tech suite. Not the most advanced on the market, it still offers useful features, such as a navigation system with traffic, a modern set of digital audio sources, and a voice command system. The audio system is a high point for this car’s cabin tech.

As for style, the CT 200h cuts a unique figure, standing out from the pack. That design combines with general hatchback utility to make the CT 200h an all-around car, useful for work commutes and weekend trips.

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Article source: http://reviews.cnet.com/2011_Lexus_CT_200h/4505-10867_7-34831486.html?subj=fdba&part=rss&tag=_Search+Results

By ditching the long-in-the-tooth Intel Atom processor for the AMD E-350 Fusion platform, Asus graduates this 12.1-inch Eee PC from the flailing Netbook category to the more comfortable ultraportable one. At $449, which includes a USB 3.0 port, the Eee PC 1215B compared favorably with the 11.6-inch HP Pavilion dm1z, which looks nicer, but lacks USB 3.0 (but the HP also has a faster hard drive).

Related links
• HP Pavilion dm1z
• Lenovo ThinkPad X120e

• Samsung Series 9

If you’re not looking to spend $1,000 or more on an 11.6-inch MacBook Air or Samsung Series 9, one of these sub-$500 AMD ultraportables is the way to go. The basic Eee PC look and feel is dated, and definitely ready for an upgrade, but for only a little more than last year’s step-up Netbooks, you’ll get performance that’s much less of a compromise.

We’ve seen a lot of subtle variations on the Eee PC design over the years, but if there’s one thing this new 1215B confirms, it’s that the overall look and feel of the line is due for an aesthetic upgrade. The smudge-attracting matte-black plastic worked fine for low-cost Atom-powered Netbooks, but trading up to a more mainstream processor and higher price, we’d like to see some visual differentiation. For example, the last 12-inch Eee PC we looked at, the 1215N from August 2010, looks identical to this model. We called it “a bit of a throwback,” even last year.

The familiar island-style keyboard is similar to what we’ve seen on other Eee PC models, and also very close to the one on the HP dm1z. The Asus version adds an extra vertical row on the right to accommodate page-up, page-down, and other navigational buttons.

The large touch pad looks at first like the clickpad-style ones found on MacBooks and HP’s dm1z, but there is actually a small button bar below it for the left and right mouse buttons. Those button bars are universally a pain to use, and we’d much rather have a clickpad or distinct left and right mouse buttons.

The display has the same familiar 1,366×768-pixel native resolution as found on nearly every laptop screen from 11 to 15 inches. On a 12-inch laptop, that gives you plenty of space for documents and Web pages, and it’s also good for 720p HD video. The display is glossy, so it occasionally picks up distracting glare from nearby lights, and off-axis viewing was better horizontally than vertically.

There are few surprises in the ports and connections on the 1215B, with the exception of a single USB 3.0 port. While it’s unlikely you have a lot of USB 3.0-certified gear lying around, it’s a nice bit of future-proofing, and we’re seeing it added to most mid- to high-level laptops. It’s where we’d go for next-gen peripherals, as it doesn’t look like the competing Thunderbolt high-speed data port is going anywhere fast.

Our Eee PC 1215B included what seems to be close to the standard loadout for a sub-$500 AMD ultraportable: AMD’s 2011 E-350 Fusion processor, coupled with onboard AMD Radeon 6310 graphics, 2GB of RAM, and a 320GB 5,400rpm hard drive. Ordering a similar system from HP will give you some basic configuration options, mostly in the hard-drive size and speed, and amount of RAM.

For basic use, from Web surfing to productivity to media playback, there’s a notable difference in feel between a system with this configuration over an Intel Atom Netbook. You’ll spend a lot less time waiting and more time working, which is a major plus. Performance was on par with other E-350 laptops, including the Sony Vaio Y, HP’s dm1z, and Lenovo’s ThinkPad x120e.

The onboard graphics are certainly a major step up from what you’d find in a 2010 laptop with integrated Intel or AMD graphics, but don’t mistake this for a gaming machine. Unreal Tournament III ran at 22.7 frames per second, and the newer Street Fighter IV ran at 15fps, both at the native 1,366×768-pixel resolution. Cranking down the settings and resolution should get you a playable experience in most mainstream games.

Juice box
Asus Eee PC 1215B
Average watts per hour
Off (60%)
1.0
Sleep (10%)
1.55
Idle (25%)
8.21
Load (05%)
22.05
Raw kWh Number
34.25
Annual power consumption cost
$3.89

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Article source: http://reviews.cnet.com/Asus_Eee_PC_1215B/4505-3121_7-34532034.html?subj=fdba&part=rss&tag=_Search+Results

Photo gallery:
Samsung Exhibit 4G

As the carriers dash to strengthen and expand their 4G networks, more high-quality 4G-capable phones are hitting the market. T-Mobile’s Samsung Exhibit 4G is the sixth 4G phone for T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network. Like the T-Mobile Sidekick 4G, the Exhibit is a more affordable handset that’s still feature-rich without leaning too heavily on your wallet. What helps it stand out is a balance of value with up-to-the minute features. In addition to its speed, it runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread, Google’s most current OS. It has a punchy 1GHz processor, two cameras, movie rentals, and live and on-demand programming from T-Mobile TV.

The Exhibit costs just $79.99 after a mail-in rebate and with a new, two-year service agreement, and it comes in black and violet. (We reviewed the black one here.)

Design
The Samsung Exhibit 4G is a medium-size candy bar phone with rounded corners up top and some interesting angles at the bottom. It stands 4.7 inches tall by 2.3 inches wide by 0.5-inch thick, and it weighs 4.2 ounces. The Exhibit doesn’t look premium, but it is comfortable, thanks to the soft-touch finish on its black or violet back cover, and a similar but more rubbery material surrounding the phone face. Samsung’s characteristic shiny black plastic shows up on the front, spines, and accents. Flip up the Exhibit’s base and you’ll see it’s made of harder plastic with an alligator skin design.

The 3.5-inch touch screen has a 480×800 WVGA resolution and support for 16 million colors. The screen itself feels nice and smooth, and looks bright and colorful, as long as you’re not trying to use it in direct sunlight, which washes it out. The screen size hits our lower limit of what feels useful for a smartphone. Typing on the Samsung and default Swype keyboards was more cramped in portrait mode, and reading Web sites isn’t as easy as on a 4-inch screen, but the Exhibit isn’t so dinky to make composition and browsing impossible.

Samsung has bestowed its custom TouchWiz interface on the Exhibit. Translation: you get five customizable home screens preloaded with various widgets, shortcuts, and app icons. You can add two more screens, too, and pinch the home screens for a thumbnail view of all your screens. There are four static onscreen buttons for the dialer, address book, texting, and applications. Instead of scrolling vertically as you would with stock Android to view your apps, TouchWiz has you swipe horizontally. There are also Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and other controls you can access by pull-down menu at the top of any home screen.

We’re fairly neutral about Samsung’s custom interface, as long as it doesn’t get in the way of OS updates, as they sometimes do. Since the Exhibit 4G already runs on Google’s most current Android operating system to date, we have no objections.

Above the screen is a VGA camera lens for self-portraits and video chats. Below the screen are three light-up touch-sensitive buttons that correlate to the menu, back button, and search. Just south of those is a central Home button. Press and hold it to see your most recent apps, and to access the preinstalled task manager app.

The phone’s right spine houses the power button; on the left spine you’ll find the volume rocker and the microSD card slot. The Exhibit comes with a 4GB card preloaded, and ultimately holds up to 32GB. Up top is the micro-USB charging port with a hinged plastic door, and the 3.5 millimeter headset jack. A 3-megapixel camera lens and LED flash are on the phone’s back cover. The Exhibit unfortunately doesn’t have a camera shutter button, so you’ll need to launch the camera and trigger the shutter from the onscreen controls.

Features
The Samsung Exhibit may not be the highest-end smartphone, but it is chock full of features and apps. There are all of the usual Android services, like text and multimedia messaging, Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth support, plus e-mail that can merge your inboxes for Gmail, Web mail, and Exchange. There’s also an accounts system that lets you sync contacts, calendars, and other information with social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, but also Qik video chat and photo-sharing services like Flickr and Kodak. Just be forewarned that importing and syncing contacts sometimes results in some informational errors you’ll have to manually correct.

Google’s app and services are all here: Gmail, search, maps with turn-by-turn voice navigation, Places, Talk, and YouTube. There’s a clock, a calendar, a photo gallery, and a calculator, as well a thousands of apps in the Android Market–over 200,000 the last time we checked. Android’s built-in music player is pretty basic fare, and as usual, Samsung’s TouchWiz interface dresses it up with some cooler graphics.

T-Mobile and Samsung went crazy preloading the Exhibit with apps, which you typically can’t uninstall. We won’t list them all, but we will touch on the biggies. First, there’s Qik, the Skype-owned (now, Microsoft-owned) video chat app that makes use of the Exhibit’s front-facing VGA camera. For media entertainment, there’s also the Samsung MediaHub, a portal to TV and movie rentals. T-Mobile has its own solution too, with T-Mobile TV, a $9.99-per-month service for streaming live and on-demand programs. It has a free 30-day trial to get you started.

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Article source: http://reviews.cnet.com/Samsung_Exhibit_4G_black_T_Mobile/4505-6452_7-34818011.html?subj=fdba&part=rss&tag=_Search+Results

Photo gallery:
Samsung Exhibit 4G

As the carriers dash to strengthen and expand their 4G networks, more high-quality 4G-capable phones are hitting the market. T-Mobile’s Samsung Exhibit 4G is the sixth 4G phone for T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network. Like the T-Mobile Sidekick 4G, the Exhibit is a more affordable handset that’s still feature-rich without leaning too heavily on your wallet. What helps it stand out is a balance of value with up-to-the minute features. In addition to its speed, it runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread, Google’s most current OS. It has a punchy 1GHz processor, two cameras, movie rentals, and live and on-demand programming from T-Mobile TV.

The Exhibit costs just $79.99 after a mail-in rebate and with a new, two-year service agreement, and it comes in black and violet. (We reviewed the black one here.)

Design
The Samsung Exhibit 4G is a medium-size candy bar phone with rounded corners up top and some interesting angles at the bottom. It stands 4.7 inches tall by 2.3 inches wide by 0.5-inch thick, and it weighs 4.2 ounces. The Exhibit doesn’t look premium, but it is comfortable, thanks to the soft-touch finish on its black or violet back cover, and a similar but more rubbery material surrounding the phone face. Samsung’s characteristic shiny black plastic shows up on the front, spines, and accents. Flip up the Exhibit’s base and you’ll see it’s made of harder plastic with an alligator skin design.

The 3.5-inch touch screen has a 480×800 WVGA resolution and support for 16 million colors. The screen itself feels nice and smooth, and looks bright and colorful, as long as you’re not trying to use it in direct sunlight, which washes it out. The screen size hits our lower limit of what feels useful for a smartphone. Typing on the Samsung and default Swype keyboards was more cramped in portrait mode, and reading Web sites isn’t as easy as on a 4-inch screen, but the Exhibit isn’t so dinky to make composition and browsing impossible.

Samsung has bestowed its custom TouchWiz interface on the Exhibit. Translation: you get five customizable home screens preloaded with various widgets, shortcuts, and app icons. You can add two more screens, too, and pinch the home screens for a thumbnail view of all your screens. There are four static onscreen buttons for the dialer, address book, texting, and applications. Instead of scrolling vertically as you would with stock Android to view your apps, TouchWiz has you swipe horizontally. There are also Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and other controls you can access by pull-down menu at the top of any home screen.

We’re fairly neutral about Samsung’s custom interface, as long as it doesn’t get in the way of OS updates, as they sometimes do. Since the Exhibit 4G already runs on Google’s most current Android operating system to date, we have no objections.

Above the screen is a VGA camera lens for self-portraits and video chats. Below the screen are three light-up touch-sensitive buttons that correlate to the menu, back button, and search. Just south of those is a central Home button. Press and hold it to see your most recent apps, and to access the preinstalled task manager app.

The phone’s right spine houses the power button; on the left spine you’ll find the volume rocker and the microSD card slot. The Exhibit comes with a 4GB card preloaded, and ultimately holds up to 32GB. Up top is the micro-USB charging port with a hinged plastic door, and the 3.5 millimeter headset jack. A 3-megapixel camera lens and LED flash are on the phone’s back cover. The Exhibit unfortunately doesn’t have a camera shutter button, so you’ll need to launch the camera and trigger the shutter from the onscreen controls.

Features
The Samsung Exhibit may not be the highest-end smartphone, but it is chock full of features and apps. There are all of the usual Android services, like text and multimedia messaging, Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth support, plus e-mail that can merge your inboxes for Gmail, Web mail, and Exchange. There’s also an accounts system that lets you sync contacts, calendars, and other information with social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, but also Qik video chat and photo-sharing services like Flickr and Kodak. Just be forewarned that importing and syncing contacts sometimes results in some informational errors you’ll have to manually correct.

Google’s app and services are all here: Gmail, search, maps with turn-by-turn voice navigation, Places, Talk, and YouTube. There’s a clock, a calendar, a photo gallery, and a calculator, as well a thousands of apps in the Android Market–over 200,000 the last time we checked. Android’s built-in music player is pretty basic fare, and as usual, Samsung’s TouchWiz interface dresses it up with some cooler graphics.

T-Mobile and Samsung went crazy preloading the Exhibit with apps, which you typically can’t uninstall. We won’t list them all, but we will touch on the biggies. First, there’s Qik, the Skype-owned (now, Microsoft-owned) video chat app that makes use of the Exhibit’s front-facing VGA camera. For media entertainment, there’s also the Samsung MediaHub, a portal to TV and movie rentals. T-Mobile has its own solution too, with T-Mobile TV, a $9.99-per-month service for streaming live and on-demand programs. It has a free 30-day trial to get you started.

Next page

Article source: http://reviews.cnet.com/Samsung_Exhibit_4G_violet_T_Mobile/4505-6452_7-34836697.html?subj=fdba&part=rss&tag=_Search+Results