Archive for December, 2007

28
Dec

Apple iPhone 8GB Review

By Taylor 3 Comments
Categories: Apple, Mobile and Reviews

Apple iPhone 8GB Review

No product in the history of mobile technology has garnered as much hype or fanfare as Apple’s iPod-in-a-phone, the aptly named iPhone. With an initial selling point of $600, naysayers predicted a failure because it was simply too expensive to have a widespread appeal. Clearly, that was not the case. Even with the prohibitive price, the iPhone was an undisputed commercial success and drove Apple’s stock straight up. Fast forward a few months, Apple drops the price of its overwhelmingly popular 8gb model to $400 and begins phasing its less popular (and less available) 4gb model out. After issuing a $100 credit of questionable intent to pre-reduction buyers, the “unreasonable” moniker assigned to the iPhones price suddenly becomes more realistic. And now, in January 2008, the iPhone is one of the most popular phones in the world.
iPhone 8GB Review

Large@Flickr
Hardware: The iPhone is revolutionary not only because of its unique implementation of multi-touch technology, but because Apple managed to cram a huge screen, 8gb of memory, a camera, web browsing power and a touch screen keyboard into one of the slimmest phones on the market. Apple veers off from the traditional full-chrome backside and instead goes for a more conservative and less scratch-prone matte aluminum finish. For the front, they surround the glass panel in a thin rim of chrome and accent the phone with glossy black. All in all, it’s a marvel to look at.
Apple 8GB iPhone Review
The lack of a 3g modem is a problem and one of the very few things I regret about moving from my old (3g) pda phone to the iPhone. Apple has excuses for why its not feasible, but I would gladly sacrifice much of my battery life for current-generation browsing speed. 3g is pretty much the only advantage Cingular/AT&T has over its GSM competitors and I was sad to see Apple not taking advantage of this. However, I knew what I was buying and purchased it anyways.
The headphone jack is a huge oversight and a real design flaw. Placed right on the beginning of the corner’s rounded edge, it is too deep for most aftermarket headphones! Without an adapter, the iPhone has alienated many of its buyers (who already own expensive, third party headphones). I was one of these people. Neither of my headphones (Sennheiser HD595 cans and Shure SE210 IEMs) would fit the iPhone. Admittedly, the usual suspects in the Apple accessory market (Griffin, Belkin and others) were quick to produce an adapter that allowed other headphones to circumvent the restrictive recessed jack, but this is one of those things that should have never made it past in-house testing.
Apple iPhone 8GB Review
Small flaws aside, its well built and amazingly strong. The glass is as scratch proof as they advertised it to be and I have no hesitation putting it in my pockets without any sort of case. I do have a screen protector placed on the front, but that is merely out of my own squeamish obsession with perfection. The camera is what cell phone cameras should be – it’s not perfect, and certainly not a replacement for a full featured digital camera, but it is good enough for snapshots and quick pictures with friends. I found the camera to be substantially better then my previous phone, the HTC Hermes (Cingular 8525).

Activation: Apple changed the way people activate cell phones forever when it set the iPhone to be activated on your home computer, through the bundled iTunes software, rather then at a cell phone store. This is the future of mobile products and I found it very well executed. As a launch day purchaser, I was one of the hundreds of thousands trying to activate their phones at the same time. I encountered some long waits, but was eventually successful on my first try.

Software: The software is where the iPhone breaks away from the crowd. Multi touch is nothing new (the HTC Touch versions 1 and 2 also attempt to do what the iPhone has done, but rely on the very limited Windows Mobile platform) but Apple’s software enables it to be pleasant and amazingly intuitive. Cover flow, however, is annoying. Every time I turn my iPhone on its side, cover flow springs into action. I am not a fan of it, and while the eye-candy is very nice; I find it less functional then the text piece. If there was an option to disable the in-iPod-mode cover flow, I would.
iPhone 8GB Review

Large@Flickr

Email: Email is straightforward and fairly basic. There is no push support, which is a large turnoff for business users and anyone who relies on mission critical email. For the average Joe, this is no big deal. Email can come in every half an hour and that is frequently enough for most people. The actual email display is very good and graphics come through well.

3rd party software: As with any popular device, people are always looking to get the most out of their new top. However, the iPhone is a cut above most “popular” devices; with enormous communities dedicated to opening its capabilities up sprung up across the Internet and the world.

Conclusion: For “Crackberry” junkies, the iPhone might not be the perfect fit because it lacks a true push email solution. However, for almost everyone else, it is an excellent option. Highly recommended!

28
Dec

Sony Vaio SZ650 Premium Laptop Review

By Taylor 2 Comments
Categories: Laptop and Reviews

Sony Vaio SZ650 Review
Sony is well known for their excellent laptop design, dating back to before physical beauty was a selling point to potential laptop buyers. Models like Sony’s X505 (reviewed here) ultralight, the thinnest notebook ever commercially produced to this day, set the bar very high for other manufacturers. The sz650 continues this tradition, with physical beauty rivaled only by a select few (Apple, Acer and late model Dell XPS). The premium full-coverage carbon fiber body is thin and sleek. The LED-backlit 13.3’’ screen is a marvel, bright and razor thin. The laptop spares no features but maintains a very light 4lb total weight.

Sony Vaio SZ650 Review
View large version here:
Flickr

Hardware: The guts of the SZ650 are top of the line and no expense is spared to built one of the fastest ultraportables on the market. My SZ650n/c model came equip with a 2.2ghz Core 2 Duo t7500 processor, 2 video cards (an intel X3100 and a nVidia 8400GS), 4gb ddr2-667 RAM and a 160gb hybrid solid state/platter harddrive. Other amenities include a biometric fingerprint scanner, an integrated webcam and an expresscard slot (complete with multiformat card reader in the box). The screen is a marvel as well, a LED backlit panel that is even and bright. This impressive featureset comes with a hefty pricetag – in my case, just exceeding $2000. However, it would seem that the cost is justified.

Software: The software should pick up where the hardware leaves off in excellence. However, in the case of the SZ650, it absolutely does not. Sony made the enormous mistake of loading a business branded laptop full of Trial softare, better known as “bloatware” or less elegantly, “crap.” Even worse, Sony does not include any sort of Operating System disks, so I couldn’t format the machine and remove the junk. Its not like there were a few programs installed for my convenience, the system was loaded to the gills with unnecessary and infuriating software. They even included a full length, multi gigabyte copy of Spiderman 2 that could only be played through their proprietary software, which I would consider hardly appropriate for a business notebook. This alone was almost enough to make me return it to the Best Buy where I had purchased it, but I was able to do a clean install using a Vista disk that I already owned.

Believe it or not, it was actually downhill from here. Sony’s (necessary) driver utilities are poorly built, resource intensive and barely functional. The ingenious-on-paper “hybrid graphics card” system, which allows you to switch between dedicated and integrated graphics to save battery life in situations that do not require dedicated graphics power, is crippled and very close to useless. Not only does it require a full reboot to take effect, the switching utility actually stopped detecting when I had changed the switch after about a week. I eventually did another clean install of Windows Vista and the driver resumed working (only to fail again). The wireless drivers were also questionable and often resulted in dropped connections while signal was excellent. I tested the Vaio alongside my Apple Macbook Pro (reviewed here), and it experienced no problems with wireless where the Vaio struggled.

Build Quality: In my time with it (about a month of constant use), the Vaio held up fairly well. However, shortly after I sold it (due to the immense number of problems I had with the software), the buyer complained that the left-click button had ceased to function and he also was experiencing some problems with the screen. I verified these problems and helped him work with the warranty to have it repaired, but no laptop should have significant hardware issues in the first month of ownership.
Sony Vaio SZ650 Laptop Review
View a large version at: Flickr

In conclusion - I hate to say it, but I do not recommend the Sony Vaio SZ650. For what its worth, the Dell XPS m1330 has an almost identical configuration available and I would be inclined to choose the Dell over the Sony in a future situation where I needed another laptop in this category. The SZ650 appears nice on paper and looks good on the surface, but that beauty is only skin deep and the prevalent problems keep me from recommending it. Look elsewhere for a 13’’ laptop with dedicated graphics, as Asus, Dell and others off comparable models without the garbage pre-installed and hardware quality issues.

26
Dec

Speck Hard Case for Macbook Pro 15” Review

By Taylor 2 Comments
Categories: Apple and Reviews

Speck hardcase Macbook Pro 15''
The Speck hard shell sounded like the perfect way to keep my expensive Mac protected from the world without having to take it in and out of a case every time you need to use it.

I guess in theory it does so, but it fails to execute in almost every situation. I found a number of problems with my case:
-Very poorly constructed. I had to shave down the sides of the back to get it to open and close without catching on the other section of the case and making a loud cracking sound. Very, very poorly measured out. It seems like a bonehead move and I can’t imagine its a widespread problem, but I lined everything up and it definitely doesn’t work.
-Low quality. Just look at the pictures below, this was fresh out of the box without ever putting it on my computer. Brand new.
It had plastic seams, even little cracks all over it. There was some sort of paint or scrapings on the inside that I couldn’t clean off. Again, I’ll iterate that this was brand new out of retail, shrink wrapped packaging.

My conclusion? Do not buy at retail price. For the $50 or so list, it is absolutely not worth it. The case is poorly constructed and very low quality. However, at the price I paid, I’m indifferent.
Not Recommended

Plastic seams:

Residue and bubbling:

Factory cracking (wasn’t broken, but on the way to cracked)

26
Dec

Nikon D80 Digital SLR Camera Review

By Taylor 1 Comment
Categories: Photography and Reviews

Nikon D80 Review

Since the days of 35mm slr and film shooters, Nikon and Canon owners have always held very vocal opinions towards the opposite camp. Having owned both Canon and Nikon gear in the very recent past, I can say with all confidence - Nikon hit a home run with the D80.

Using many of the powerful components found in the D200, Nikon created an exceptionally powerful “prosumer” camera with an abundance of features with a reasonable price tag. Unlike its smaller counterparts, the D40 and D40x, the D80 has an internal autofocusing motor which allows it access to a much wider range of lenses. It incorporates many bells and whistles not found on similarly priced models from the competition.

The key features are:

  • A 10.2 megapixel DX format CCD
  • Image processing engine (similar to D200 / D2X)
  • 3D Color Matrix Metering II, 420 pixel sensor (same as D50)
  • 11-area AF system (new version of Multi-CAM 1000, similar to D200)
  • Custom Auto ISO (selectable maximum ISO, minimum shutter speed)
  • Configurable high ISO and long exposure noise reduction
  • Mechanical only shutter (maximum 1/4000 sec, flash sync to 1/200 sec)
  • Quoted 80 ms shutter lag (short viewfinder blackout; 160 ms)
  • Larger, brighter pentaprism viewfinder (x0.94 magnification)
  • Support for SD-HC (SD cards over 2 GB in capacity)
  • In-camera retouching
  • Multiple-exposures
  • Compact body (smaller, lighter than D70/D70s)
  • Improved menu user interface (same as D200)
  • Higher capacity EN-EL3e battery (provides detailed information, same as D200)
  • Wireless flash integration (same as D200)

Nikon ML-L3 Remote for D80

When coupled with Nikon’s optional ML-L3 wireless remote, taking shots without ever touching the camera is wonderful. Its great for long exposures and multiple identical shots (for HDR bracketing or otherwise)

Nikon D80 vs Canon XTi.

Canon’s Digital Rebel XTi is considered a direct competitor to the Nikon D80. Frankly, this is not a fair comparison. The D80 carries a higher price point, but it also carries a much stronger feature set and is a generally more powerful camera. Compared to the toy-like body of the XTi, the D80 is well built and looks very professional. Appearance is only skin deep, but the D80 has the hardware to back up its slick looking exterior.

The D80’s viewfinder is a major improvement over the XTi. Larger and brighter, it allows for much easier shot composition. The grip is also an improvement. The D80 feels much more natural and well situated in the hand, and makes handling large lenses easier then with the XTi.

If you decide to go Nikon, you can’t go wrong with the D80 for almost any application. I would highly recommend it over the cheaper but far less sophisticated 4-series models.

Nikon D80 with optional MB-D80 Battery Grip and 18-135mm Lens

Nikon D80 pictured with optional MB-D80 battery grip and Nikkor 18-135mm kit lens.

26
Dec

Canon EF 70-200 F/4L USM Lens Review

By Taylor 0 Comments
Categories: Photography and Reviews

Canon 70-200 F/4L Lens Review

If you are looking for the best lens that $500 can buy you, look no further. Canon’s 70-200 F/4L USM lens puts the legendary L-series lens quality into a shockingly affordable package that covers a desirable range for most every type of shooter, whether a beginner or a pro. While it is significantly more expensive then the telephoto lenses that a chain store clerk will pitch to the new Digital SLR user, the quality difference is night and day. The 70-200 L focuses internally and faster then any lens in its class. The images are brilliant, very colorful and a compliment to any digital body.

Canon 70-200 F/4L Lens Review

Canon doesn’t skimp (like it does with its consumer-series lenses) on the extras with its L series. Included in the package is a lens hood (hard to manage the lens cap, but very high quality with suede-like lining and a cloth/leather bottomed carrying case for the lens its self. The attention to detail in building the package is one of the reasons that the L series really shines. It is well built and a bit on the hefty side, but certainly manageable and hand-holdable in almost every situation.

I paired the lens with both the Canon Digital Rebel XT and the XTi models, and the results were across the board excellent. The image quality, focusing speed and build are excellent. If you are on the fence regarding whether to spend the extra amount over, say, the 75-300 USM lens by Canon, I cannot recommend enough the 70-200 F/4L.

Those looking to shoot lower light or in less-then-desirable conditions may also want to consider the 70-200 F/2.8 or the 70-200 F/4 IS (image stabilized) versions.

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