Sony VAIO FW

The VAIO FW is a brand new Centrino 2 platform notebook from Sony, offering a much needed facelift, as well as a 16.4" widescreen. What sets this apart from other widescreen notebooks is the aspect ratio of the screen lets movie aficionados enjoy a video without ugly bars above and below the screen. Our full review gives you all the details you need to find out if this notebook is right for you.

Sony VAIO FW Specifications:

• Screen: Sony XBRITE-HiColor 16.4" 1600 x 900 display, glossy
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 (2.53GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 6MB Cache)
• Operating System:Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 (32-bit)
• Memory: 4GB RAM (only 3GB usable)
• Storage: 320GB HDD (5400rpm)
• Optical Drive: DVD+/-RW / BD-R DL
• Wireless: Intel 5100 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.0 w/ EDR
• Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon 3470 w/ 256MB
• Built-in web camera
• Battery: 4400mAh Li-Ion Battery
• Dimensions: 15.12" x 1.14"-1.45" x 10.27" (38.4cm x 2.9-3.7cm x 26.1cm)
• Weight: 6.83 lbs (3.1kg)
• Retail Price: $2,149

Build and Design

The fit and finish of the Sony VAIO FW is wonderful, and the overall design is beautiful. The notebook has a streamlined sculpted look, and when opened has a palmrest and keyboard surround that looks like the graceful sloping surface of a car hood. The surface starts out flat, has a small dip, and then gracefully slopes down to the screen hinges. From working day in and day out at a ThinkPad, it is much easier on the eyes to say the least.

Build quality is excellent, with the overall chassis feeling rigid and sturdy. Although thin at the very edges of the palmrest, you can pick the notebook up from the corner with minimal flex from the chassis. Even the super thin screen shows that quite a bit of effort went into making a durable design, as you are able to man-handle and even punch the back of the LCD panel and no ripples or distortion shows on the display.

Screen

I have to say that my first impression of the true HD screen format was one of hatred. Another odd format I would have to get used to, and more odd screen designations to remember. I figured it would be just another gimmick ... but then I started to enjoy it. Outside of watching movies, the extra-wide wide screen is great for organizing many tasks on the screen, where a normal widescreen display just starts to feel crowded. Two documents side by side, a webpage next to a document, or even a webpage with my IM buddy list far off to the side. Of course it is nice for movies as well.

Moving past the widescreen experience and onto the LCD quality itself, it was rather disappointing on our review model. On anything but full brightness you could see a tunnel effect where the sides and corners were much darker thand the center of the screen. At full brightness it was more even, and was passed by early on. Not counting the tunneling effect, brightness range was more than adequate. I found the most comfortable setting at home to be 50-60% and 70-80% in the office. Anything above that it strained my vision.

Colors appeared to be rich, if not slightly over saturated. Contrasted felt washed out, with black levels seemed to be leaning more towards grey/white. Watching a dark movie at high brightness became very distracting, especially with the unevenbacklight.

Viewing angles were better than what I have seen on some notebooks, with a larger sweet spot before colors started to invert or distort. Vertical range had about 45 degrees down and 35 degrees up before colors started to get funky. Horizontal viewing range was flawless besides a mild orange tint at extreme angles.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The "MacBook Style" keyboard on the Sony FW (yes, Sony did it first, but most people recognize this style of keyboard as a "Mac" keyboard) was delightful to type on once you got the hang of finger placement and distances between keys down. Spacing is just slightly off from a standard keyboard, and without the cupped keys, it can be difficult to type on the keyboard without some practice. That said, compared to other keyboard of similar design (MacBook, MacBook Air) the keyboard on the Sony FW was much nicer to type on.

Key throw distances were about the same as most keyboards, and with each press came a soft click feeling. Support underneath the keyboard was great with little to no flex. It felt as if you could stand on the keyboard without making anything cave inward.

The touchpad surface was great, large enough for wide motions and sensitive for smooth sliding without having to adjust any settings. The touchpad buttons were the only drawback, being at the same height as the palmrest, and just barely off the surface of the touchpad. Finding the key without looking down usually ended with tapping the touchpad instead of the button.

Movie Experience

True HD displays are basically what you have in your living room or TV room if you own an HDTV. 720P or 1080P screens are slightly shorter than what you usually find on a computer. For example on a WUXGA notebook has a resolution of 1920x1200, where as a Full HD 1080P screen is 1920x1080. This has to do with the way most movies are recorded, and in the end thinner or no bars at all showing up during a movie. Below I picked 3 Blu-ray titles from my collection, to give you a good idea of what you might expect to see on this screen format.

• Swordfish (2.40:1): Far from full widescreen, with almost 1 inch bars top and bottom.

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• The Prestige (2.35:1): Very similar to 2.40:1, huge bars.

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• Open Season (1.85:1): Almost fullscreen, just two thin bars top and bottom

Ports and Features

Port selection on the Sony VAIO FW rates average, and one USB port less of perfection. Users have two video outputs (HDMI and VGA) for easy hookup to external monitors or your home theater HDTV. In some ways the design of the notebook hinders the port layout, as some curved locations which would be prime for an extra USB port end up being too small to work out. The ports and feature selection include the following:

• 10/100/1000 LAN
• Modem
• VGA
• HDMI
• FireWire
• ExpressCard/34
• Memory Stick Reader
• SD-Card Reader
• Headphone/Mic
• 3 USB Ports

Front: Activity Lights, Wireless On/Off, Memory Stick Reader, SD-Card Reader, Headphone/Mic

Rear: Hinge

Left: AC Power, Kensington Lock Slot, CPU Exhaust, LAN, Modem, VGA, HDMI, FireWire, ExpressCard/34

Right: 3 USB, Optical Drive, Power On/Off

Speakers and Audio

The speakers on the Sony FW were rather anemic. To enjoy a movie or game at normal volume levels meant putting everything to 100%, and still not being at the level you wanted it to be. Getting past volume levels, bass and midrange were entirely lacking, which is very disappointing for a multimedia oriented notebook.

For external audio, the headphone jack worked fine providing clear audio from what I could hear through my Sennheiser HD80 headphones. This option would be preferred over having to listen to the speakers. The third and probably best option for external audio is the HDMI port. The ATI 3470 graphics supported audio out through the HDMI port, and thus worked perfectly for enjoying your favorite movie on the big screen.

Performance

System performance was very good for most tasks not involving 3D graphics. Working with office productivity software, surfing the web, encoding video, or just looking through your iTunes library performed quite well without any lag. The disappointing part was trying to play semi-modern games such as Half-Life 2 or Portal, and getting very poor frame rates. The ATI 3470 graphics didn't really help with much besides offloading video decoding while enjoying a Blu-ray movie. I would have much rather seen a 3650 series graphics card, considering notebooks like the Toshiba A305 which fall into the same price category offer this. To give you a quick example of what the game play was like, here is my average FPS while playing HL2: Episode 2 and Portal.

Half Life 2: Episode 2 (1360x768, textures on low and most settings disabled): 18-23FPS depending on what scenery you were looking at. Extra characters on screen like enemies or gunfire brought it down even more.

Portal (1360x768, textures on medium and most settings disabled): 40FPS walking around, 28FPS looking through a portal. High action scenes where you are flying through the air slowed down even further into the low 20 range.

While you technically could lower the resolution even more to one of the lower 4:3 settings, you would be looking at a warped screen and really lose any fun while playing. Trying to play at the native 1600x900 was even worse than the scaled down resolution of 1360x768, with frame rate levels dropping by 5 or 10. For a notebook of this size and cost, it is a big letdown with no higher graphics option available.

HDTune results:

Battery Life

Working away from a power outlet was not a fun activity with this configuration that included a 4400mAh battery. In the balanced profile with the screen brightness set to 60%, I squeezed out 2 hours and 39 minutes before the notebook shut itself down. Watching a Blu-ray movie decreased the battery life further, putting me into the range of a movie, with enough time to safely shutdown once the film ended ... figure 2 hours and 10 minutes overall. The one thing I can say though, if you have the option to select the extended battery, get it.

Charging times were slower than what I am accustomed to, taking almost 30 minutes to go from dead up to 15%. Most notebooks would get into the 30-40% range in this amount of time.

Heat and Noise

Temperatures on your lap felt slightly above that of the average Core 2 Duo notebook with dedicated graphics. Some of this might relate to a fairly laid back cooling system that liked to keep the fan off or at very low speeds unless the system was under severe stress. Lap performance would score probably a C-, making my legs sweat after about an hour of surfing the web on the balanced profile. Fan noise at low and high speed was minimal and in a quiet room the notebook would not stand out.

Conclusion

The VAIO FW is a great step forward for Sony, and a worthy competitor to the Dell Studio 15 or even the Toshiba A305. The design is great, but more importantly the build quality is excellent. It feels solid, with a reasonably firm screen cover and keyboard that feels as if a child could walk across it. Performance was more than adequate in every area except 3D performance, but hopefully Sony decides to offer a higher performing graphics card as an option at a later date. The only real flaw that stood out to me was the screen, with its uneven backlight. Hopefully this is a preproduction unit flaw, and not something that shows up on shipping models.

Pros

• Great design
• Solid build quality
• Extra-Widecreen (neat for movies and more perceived screen real estate)
• Comfortable keyboard once you get used to it

Cons

• Battery life with smaller battery is poor
• LCD backlight unevenness
• Speakers sound rather anemic

Top 10 Digital Cameras

Point and Shoot cameras come in all shapes and sizes now, ranging from extremely skinny ones that can fit in your pocket to mini-SLR sized cameras that pack a large punch. Deciding which camera is for you can be extremely hard because of the sheer number of choices, but hopefully this list will provide enough of a choice that you can find the camera that best suites your needs.

Before I start listing the top 10 point and shoot cameras, please keep in mind that I’m not listing the cameras in any specific order and that my choices are based off the reviews of a number of different point and shoot cameras. If you’d like to see a full review of each camera please click on the name of the camera. If you feel differently please feel free to post your list. Now, without further adieu, here’s the list for the “Top 10 Point and Shoot Cameras”.

1. Canon Powershot G9

Coming in at $500, the Canon Powershot G9 is the most expensive of the list. The price is mainly due to the number of features that the G9 has, including an optical viewfinder, 12.1MP resolution, and a number of manual features. The G9 is the closest camera to a SLR and if you’re wanting to have that extra control over your pictures without having to lug around a large SLR, the G9 is for you.

2. Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W90

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W90 is essentially the polar oposite of the Canon G9. It’s small size and small price make it affordable to the masses, but it still packs a good punch. Sony included what they call “double anti-blur” technology which reduces both subject shake blur and camera shake blur. With a 8.1MP resoultion and a 2.5″ LCD this camera has it all.

3. Canon PowerShot SD950 IS

The Canon PowerShot SD950IS is another great little camera. It features a very large 12.1MP resolution as well as a 2.5″ LCD screen. One of my favourite features with this camera is the optical viewfinder. Most digital cameras are now opting for a larger LCD instead of the viewfinder and I find this annoying because most LCD screens are useless in direct sunlight. The SD950IS is fairly expensive at $360 considering you can’t manually control the pictures.

4. Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2 is the only Panasonic camera on the list but that doesn’t mean its not a competitor. THe DMC-LX2 has a number of great features including a variety of focus modes, all of the essential metering and semi-manual exposure options and a wide-angle lens. This is probably the ugliest camera of the group so if you’re looking for style you should continue reading. Coming in at $450, the DMC-LX2 is one of the more expensive cameras, but as they say “You get what you pay for”.

5. Nikon CoolPix P5100

The Nikon CoolPix P5100 is one of the more high-end point and shoot cameras in the list. It’ll set you back $400 but its features are more like a SLR than those of a point and shoot camera. You have pretty much total control over the pictures that you take (but theres also an automatic mode for those who want the camera to do everything for them). 12.1MP resolution, optical viewfinder and image stabilization are all pluses as well.

6. Canon PowerShot A590 IS

As you can probably tell, I like the PowerShot line of cameras. They’re solidly built and take great pictures and the A590IS is no different. This version is less expensive than its bigger brother and only costs $200, but you don’t lose too many features. While the design isn’t the greatest, it still features 8.1MP resolution, a 2.5″ LCD screen and a number of manual features that’ll let you take the picture you really want to take.

7. Fujifilm FinePix F50fd

Coming in at the middle of the pack as far as price is concerned ($250), the Fujifilm FinePix F50fd is pretty much your average point and shoot digital camera. It has an impressive 12MP resolution, different shutter speeds and a large 2.7″ LCD screen. The thing I like best about this camera is the face detection software, because it works extremely well. Most of the cameras on this list have FD software but the F50fd can find a face even when it’s in full profile (which a lot of cameras can’t).

8. Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS

The Canon PowerShot SD1100 takes one of the best selling Canon 35mm cameras, the “elph” and turns it into a digital powerhouse. This camera ($250), has one of the best menu and user interfaces in the list. All of the controls are intuitive and it didn’t take me long at all to learn a new interface. Often times cameras have very complex menus and it’s hard to navigate around them but this is not the case with the SD1100 IS. It also has 8.1MP resolution, 2.5″ LCD screen and an optical viewfinder (which I like).

9. Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T300

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T300 is the second most expensive camera on the list at $450. It features a massive 3.5″ LCD screen, 10.3MP resolution, image stabilization and more. The LCD screen on the DSC-T300 is very large and very bright. You control almost every aspect of the camera via the 3.5-inch touch-screen LCD, leaving just a power button, a playback button, a shutter release, and a zoom rocker as its only physical controls. This camera is by far my favourite when it comes to design, because of its sleekness.

10. Nikon CoolPix S700

Last but certainly not least is the Nikon CoolPix S700. This camera is another mid-range digital camera with a rounded set of features. The S700 feels very sturdy when you’re taking pictures, and the pictures that it takes are of great quality. The controls have a solid feel for the most part, and the AutoFocus is amazing.

Well there you have it. My current Top 10 Digital Cameras. Now, the important thing to remember is that these cameras have different things to offer. People that don’t want all of the manual function sof a digital SLR probably aren’t going to want the Canon G9 or Nikon P5100 since they can’t justify the cost for the functions they need. On the other hand a lot of people aren’t going to want a simple point and shoot camera.

If you feel that this list is missing out on a great camera feel free to drop a comment with the camera that you feel should have been included.

Sony Cybershot DSC-W55

Sony Cybershot DSC-W55 is a 7.2 megapixel camera that is basically a point and shoot camera made for amateurs who are not too much concerned about the accuracy and detailing of the images. The price of the camera has fallen over previous months and has become a really attractive buy now.

Sony Cybershot DSC W55 specifications :

• Dimensions : 3.5″ x 0.9″ x 2.2″
• Resolution : 7.2 megapixels
• Display : 2.5″ TFT
• Light sensitivity : Upto ISO 1000
• Optical Zoom : 3x
• Digital Zoom : 6x
• Digital movie format : MPEG VX
• Still image format : JPEG
• Inbuilt memory : 56MB
• Supported memory : Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick PRO Duo
• Approx. price : $200

The Sony DSC W55 camera has decent looks and the W series isn’t known for producing cameras with killer looks. But having said that, the W55 is just about an inch thick and is pretty light weight too. The controls on the camera are quite well arranged and using the camera is a breeze.

The W55 also has a viewfinder which is hard to find on a point and shoot camera. The power button and the review button are somewhat recessed into the body which makes using them a tad difficult. The small dimensions ensure that the camera fits into your pocket quite well. The 2.5″ TFT display screen is quite good but its visibility in sunlight is not good.

The camera performance is quite good and the startup time is just 1.3 seconds which is impressive. The time lag between shots is pegged at 1.4 seconds with flash disabled and jumps to 1.7 seconds with flash enabled. The still images turn out quite clear and well saturated. The images are well lit and the colors appear quite close to the natural scene. There is a hint of purple fringing though on the photos. Red eye is also predominant in the shots although that can be corrected on the PC using the bundled software.

The flash on the camera is not great and that reflected in the night shots. The night shots turn out blurry as a result. Shooting up the ISO levels brings in a good amount of noise in the photos but still it manages to churn out decent images.

Pros :

• Good image quality
• Fast performer
• Good build quality
• Relatively cheap

Cons :

• Weak flash
• Dull night shots
• Red eye problem

Final Thoughts

The Sony DSC W55 is a good point and shoot camera for amateurs as it offers various modes for shooting and not too many manual settings. The camera has a weak flash and also is plagued by the red eye problem. But otherwise it manages to capture good image shots. The camera performance is fast and a good build quality makes it good buy.

My Rating : 3.75/5

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T300

Sony has been making a name for itself in the point and shoot camera market with their stylish small cameras. We’ve reviewed the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W90 which was a solid camera. Today we’re going to review a camera that is even smaller than the DSC-W90.

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T300 is smaller than most of its predeccessors, but incorporates a much larger LCD than before (3.5″!). This camera features a 10MP ccd sensor, optical image stabilization, 3.5″ LCD screen and a number of other great features.

Here are a few of the technical specifications for the Cyber-shot DSC-T300:

• Street price: $449.99 approx.
• 10.3MP
• 3.5″ LCD
• 5x optical zoom
• ISO Sensitivity: 80 / 100 / 200 / 400 / 800 / 1600 / 3200
• Shutter Speed: 1sec - 1/1000
• Image Stabilization

Things I like
I think the thing I like most about this camear is it’s large 3.5″ LCD touch screen. Most cameras get rid of the optical viewfinder and put in a sub-par LCD screen. This becomes a problem when there’s direct sunlight on the screen because it becomes very hard to view the pictures you’re about to take (or have already taken). The LCD screen on the DSC-T300 is very large and very bright. You control almost every aspect of the camera via the 3.5-inch touch-screen LCD, leaving just a power button, a playback button, a shutter release, and a zoom rocker as its only physical controls.

This camera has an extremely good set of features including image stabilization, a touch screen, face detection software, smile shutter (makes sure everyone is smiling before taking a photo), macro photography and much more. I’m impressed that Sony has managed to pack all of this into such a small case.

I also like the fact that this camera is very small. It allows you to take it everywhere without worrying about its size or weight.

Things I don’t like
If you have large thumbs you’re going to have a hard time holding this camera without resting your fingers against the LCD screen. Because there’s less than half an inch around the LCD it can be rather annoying holding this camera.

The picture quality isn’t as great as its sibling, the T200, but the quality is still fairly good. At the higher ISO however, the photos become extremely noisy and unusable.

Pros:

• Large touch screen LCD
• Small size
• High resolution
• Lots of on-board functionality
• Back isn’t crowded with buttons

Cons:

• Awkward if you have big fingers
• Noisy at high ISO levels

Final Thoughts
A great design, fast shooting, and lots of features can’t overcome the fact that the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T300 simply doesn’t take very good pictures at high ISO levels.

Rating: 4 / 5

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W90

One of the most important features on a camera is how quickly it can take a photo. Some of the other cameras we have reviewed have had relatively slow picture to picture speeds (time it takes to take two pictures successively). This can be important when you’re taking pictures in a sequence or trying to capture something that’s moving quickly.

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W90 has a fairly quick picture to picture speed of 1 second and can take up to 15 pictures at a rate of 2frames per second. From the outside, the W90 looks almost indistinguishable from its 7-megapixel sibling. Its slim metal body measures less than 0.9 inch thick and weighs only 5.3 ounces with battery and Memory Stick Duo. Unfortunately, just like the W80, its small, flat buttons can feel uncomfortable to large-thumbed users.

Here are a few of the technical specifications for the Cyber-shot DSC-W90:

• Street price: $199.99 approx.
• 8.1MP
• 2.5″ LCD
• ISO Sensitivity: 100 / 200 / 400 / 800 / 1600 / 3200
• Shutter Speed: 1/4 - 1/1600
• Aperture: F2.8-F14.8

Things I like
The thing I like most about the Cyber-shot DSC-W90 is all of the included on-board software. Sony went all out including, double “anti-blur” which reduces both subject shake blur and camera shake blur through an intelligent combination of an optical image stabilizer and high sensitivity shooting up to ISO3200. Theres also face detection software and a number of tools to edit pictures, change the dynamic range and a number of other things.

I also like the size of this camera. It’s really small so it won’t be a burden if you’re going on long trips where you don’t want a lot of weight. I was able to put this camera in my pocket while I went on a roller coaster and it didn’t feel awkward. The other thing I like about this camera is the fact that it produces good pictures even at low sensitivity levels.

Things I don’t like
To me the buttons on the DSC-W90 feel a little weird. While the size of this camera is definitely a plus it is also a negative for me. I don’t have large hands but holding this camera often felt awkward. That really is the only problem I have with this camera. While it doesn’t have the performance of the Canon Powershot G9, it’s $300 cheaper so you can expect that.

Pros:

• Quick Response time
• Respectable resolution
• Small size
• Lots of on-board functionality

Cons:

• Small, awkward buttons

Final Thoughts
For everyone wanting to buy a inexpensive, but high-quality point and shoot camera, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W90 is a solid choice. With a quick response time and generally good picture quality you really can’t go wrong.

Sony VAIO Digital Studio

Over the past few years there has been a large improvement in the quality of laptops. Two years ago when I got my first laptop it had a 1.6GHz Pentium M processor with 1GB of RAM, a integrated graphics card and 100GB hard drive. It was by no means meant as a desktop replacement. A number of laptop companies are transforming their current laptop lines into desktop replacements.

The Sony VAIO Digital Studio VGN-AR730E/B is a laptop designed to replace a desktop. It has a 17″ widescreen LCD, 3GB of RAM, 2.10GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 320GB hard drives and a dedicated Nvidia graphics card.

Here are a few of the technical specifications for the VAIO Digital Studio Laptop:

• Street price: $1699.99
• 17″ WXGA+ LCD screen (resolution: 1440×900)
• 3GB RAM
• 160GB hard drive (x2)
• NVIDIA GeForce 84 00M GT
• Blu-Ray Player
• 1.3 MP camera and microphone
• 1.5-2.5 hours of battery life

Things I like
The thing I like most about this computer is its storage space. Fitting in two 160GB hard drives means that you’ll have a lot more space to store your files than in other laptops. One of the biggest things that stop laptops from being true desktop replacement devices is their limited storage space. If you can only hold 100GB of data it really isn’t a viable desktop option if you’re going to be doing anything that needs a lot of space. The VAIO VGN gives you enough space to store almost anything you would need.

The other thing I like about this laptop is its speed. With a Intel Core 2 Duo processor at 2.10GHz and 3GB of RAM (upgradeable to 4GB), you won’t see the usual slow performance of a laptop. This device will be able to run processor dependent applications without any real problems.

I also like the fact that there’s an included Blu-Ray player. Sony made a great choice on putting this in because Blu-Ray has beaten out HD-DVD in the high-definition format wars. Since a lot of current Blu-Ray players are fairly expensive this just adds to the value of the laptop.

Things I don’t like
This laptop is large, even for a 17″ model. If you plan on taking your laptop with you when you travel I would suggest getting a smaller laptop so you don’t break your back while carrying this. I think Sony could have put a larger disk in (maybe 200GB) and dropped the dual hard drives to cut down on the VGN’s weight.

I also don’t like the fact that the display does not support 1080p content. The17-inch display features a standard 1440×900 resolution, but this means it is limited to 720p playback for high definition content. It’d be really nice to be able to watch the Blu-Ray videos on full 1080p resolution.

Pros:

• Blu-Ray Player
• Fast processor with lots of RAM
• Large storage space
• Desktop Replacement

Cons:

• Very large and heavy
• Screen can’t display full 1080p content
• Not the best graphics card

Final Thoughts
This laptop is one of the better desktop replacement laptops. It has a fast processor, lots of RAM and a lot of storage space. It also comes with a Blu-Ray player which is a large bonus but unfortunately it’s extremely large and the screen can’t even display full 1080p content. If you’re wanting to play Blu-Ray movies on you computer I would wait a few more months until better and cheaper laptops come out with this feature.

Rating: 3/5

Sony NWZ-A818

Some of the popular MP3 players like iPod Touch,Creative Zen Vision,Zune have already been reviewed here but one brand that also makes good players has not been reviewed here is Sony.Sony MP3 players are not as popular as some of the ones mentioned above but that might change if Sony manages to match them.The Sony NWZ-A818 is a very slick player that gives stiff competition to other MP3 players.

Sony NWZ-A818 specifications:

• Weight: 530 gms
• Display: 240 x 320 2″ TFT screen
• Flash memory: 8 GB
• Audio formats supported: MP3,AAC,WMA,PCM
• Video formats supported : MPEG4,M4V
• Image formats supported: JPEG
• 33 hours playback time on Li-ion battery

The Sony NWZ-A818 is a encased in a metallic body which is of high quality and you get to choose between 4 colors of your choice viz. black,white,silver or pink.The chrome finishing gives it a royal look.The display is an eye-catcher and its clarity will leave you craving for more.The 2″ inch screen has a resolution of 240 x 320 which displays excellent well lit photos having apt saturation level. The navigation on the player is controlled by a set of three buttons provided below the display.The four way-circular key , power/options button and the back/home provide you with all the navigations tools that you need with the player.You can control the volume through a dedicated button provided on the right panel.You will though find it difficult to access the hold button which has been placed at the back by Sony which is rather odd. The menu system has been well designed with many options provided on the main screen itself.You can also view the screen in landscape mode for viewing photos.The playback screen displays album art and other details related to the song.You can also set screen saver on it. Coming to the features aspect , the player is capable to playing the major formats like AAC,MP3 and WMV which are enough for most of the users.Support for MPEG4 movies and JPEG movies is good but Sony could have included a couple more here to make it more compatible.Also the player does not have a FM tuner which might not go down well with some users.Including it would have given Sony an upper hand over iPod in this department.The bundling of MDR-EX082 earphones with this player is one of the best reasons of buy this player apart from its performance which we will see next.So you won’t need to buy a set of good earphones as they are great even for audiophiles hence saving some cool bucks in the process. The performance is the forte of the player.The amazing sound quality will set your pulse racing leaving you asking for more.The bass is exceptional and the volume is not a concern at all for those who like to crank up it up to the highest.The bundled earphones double the joy of listening.The battery life at 33 hours for audio and 8 hours for video is great making sure you don’t need to find that socket every now and then.The video quality is butter smooth and images as said earlier appear good. Pros:

• Excellent sound quality
• Great display
• Fast processor
• Great bundled earphones
• Amazing battery life

Cons:

• No FM tuner
• Limited video/image formats supported
• Hold key inconvenient
• No expandable memory

Final Thoughts The performance is exceptional on this player which is at par or better than its iPod counterparts.The bundling of great earphones adds to the yum.You will hardly find such huge battery life on other MP3 players.No FM tuner or inexpandable memory are minor negatives of this player which get buried by its positives.The player costs less than 200$ which makes it excellent buy at this price.The Sony NWZ-A818 receives a big thumbs up from me!

Sony W80

Cellphones are yet to match standalone digital camera’s performance and hence a digital camera has become an indispensable item in our life.Sony recently launched W-series of digital camera which hold have much in store.Sony W80 is one of them that has impressive specs but specs don’t guaratee performance!

Sony W80 specifications:

• Sensor resolution: 7.2 Megapixels
• Optical Sensor Type: Super HAD CCD
• Optical Viewfinder
• Upto 3200 ISO
• Optical Zoom: 3x
• 2.5″ TFT Display
• Optical Image Stabilisation
• Face detection
• Li-ion battery

W80 is a 7.2 Megapixel camera which even supports optical image stabilisation.The dimensions of the camera are pretty small and will fit easily in your pocket.The 2.5″ LCD display is bright and has two levels of brightness.The display clarity is good even in low light conditions.An optical viewfinder has also been provided which is rare to find in a digital camera.The standard dial is used for navigation between different modes as is standard with Sony digital cameras.The Li-ion battery is capable to taking 340 shots in a single charge which is very good.

The bundled package includes besides the camera and bettery you will find the charger,wrist wrap,USB+AV cable,manual and a CD-ROM with all the softwares.The charger takes mighty 4 hours to charge the battery completely.Sony although sells a faster charger at a premium.Sony’s proprietry Memory Stick Pro and Memory Stick Pro Duo cards are compatible with the camera.

The camera features a 3x optical zoom coupled with 2x digital zoom.The optical image stabilisation feature on this camera is amazing and you hardly manage to take blurry photos.This is great for beginners who most of the time end up with blurry shots.Optical image stabilisation works great even in low-light conditions.The flash is average and hence makes low-light shots grainy.

Face detection is another feature of this camera which works just as shown in the advertisements.It is capable of detecting upto 8 faces in auto and soft snap mode which results is more detailed and well focussed faces.Red eye reduction is not great as you do end up with red eye shots sometimes but you can remove them with the inbuilt red eye removal feature in the camera.

Start-up times,shutter speed,focus times is amazing as comapred to other digital camera.The camera starts up in a flat 1.5 seconds and has negligible shutter lag when taking photos.With burst mode you can take pics at 2.7 frames per second which is impressive.The bionz processor used in this camera has made it a fast performer.Menu navigation is not easy.Sony has messed up the menus and buttons and it will take you a long time before you become comfortable with it.

Coming to the main point the picture quality.The camera takes great shots in daylight but is not at the same level when taking pictures in low light conditions.The macro shots are decent.Overall it has good picture quality but not great.

Pros:

• Optical image stabilisation
• Small dimensions
• Excellent camera performance
• Good battery life
• Good daylight pictures

Cons:

• Slow charger
• Weak flash
• Limited manual controls
• Poor navigation menus
• Average low light pictures

Final Thoughts

Sony DSC W80 turns out to be a good performer but is plagued by a number of issues.The poor manu navigation system,waek flash and average low-light pictures are some of its downsides.On the brighter side the camera produces good daylight pictures and is a fast performer.Optical image stabilisation is a big boon.To sum it up the W80 is a good camera for beginners,others will notice the lack of manual controls and will demand higher quality pictures in low light conditions.

Sony iPod Dock

When I first hear about Sony I think about the Playstation 3 and their great TV’s. Lately however, Sony has been getting into the home audio market and they’ve been doing a great job. This past summer Sony released a iPod speaker dock with a clock radio built in.

Sony’s iPod Dock with Clock (yes this is what it’s called) is a really cool iPod dock with a built in clock radio. It features a great adjustable backstop for iPods so you can fit all different types (not the iPod Touch however), a digital AM/FM tuner, dual alarms and the ability to charge you iPod as you play.

The great thing about this system is that you can get it for under $100. Most of the time with Sony products you pay a large premium but this seems to be competitively priced for once.

Here are a few of the technical specifications for the Sony iPod Dock:

• Street price: $99.95
• Dual Alarm
• AM/FM Tuner
• Adjustable iPod dock and charger
• FM: 87.5 - 108 MHz, AM: 530 -1710 kHz

Things I like
A lot of companies are jumping on the iPod bandwagon and releasing docks for it. I think the thing I like most about Sony’s product is the fact that they include a clock radio with their dock. This clock radio makes it stand out from the rest and also makes the dock more useful for around the house use. I must say that the speakers sound really good. Like the rest of the Sony products I’ve ever used the quality is definitely there. The fact that the dock is adjustable makes this product really great. A lot of the docks don’t allow for the nano to be attached and this is really annoying.

The thing I like most about the clock radio is the dual alarm features. You could set the alarms 10 minutes apart to make sure you actually wake up While most people probably won’t find this feature useful I certainly do. The clock is your basic clock radio with all of the normal buttons so it won’t be hard to get used to it.

Things I don’t like
There isn’t much I dislike about this product. Sony made something that works, doesn’t cost an arm and a leg and is fun to use. The only thing I can find is that the sound isn’t up to the quality of Bose or Altec Lansing. That being said you pay for what you get and this is a sub-$100 dock. If you don’t have $200+ to pay for a dock then this is a great product.

Pros:

• Inexpensive
• Great Sound
• Combined Clock Radio
• Dual Alarms

Cons:

• Sound quality isn’t up to professional levels (like Bose or Altec Lansing

Final Thoughts
The Sony iPod Dock with Clock is a great product. It sounds really good and the addition of a clock is a great feature. The dual alarms is also nice to have if you’re prone to sleeping through the first one. While the sound quality isn’t up to Bose or Altec Lansing levels it is really good. For under $100 this is a great product and I highly recommend it to anyone who needs a iPod dock.

Sony Cybershot DSC-T200

Digital cameras have been getting better and better over the past few years. I remember a couple of years ago getting my first digital camera. It was chunky, slow to take pictures, ate through batteries very quickly and was only 2.1 MP. Cameras have definitely increased over the past few years and Sony has been leading the pack.

The Sony Cybershot DSC-T200 is a very sleek camera. It features a large 3.5″ LCD screen, 8.1MP imaging, a Carl Zeiss 5x optical zoom lens, and special features like Face Detection and Smile Shutter mode. It definitely fits a lot in considering its small size.

Here are a few of the technical specifications for the DSC-T200:

• Street price: $389
• 8.1MP imaging
• 3.5″ Widescreen LCD
• 5x Optical Zoom
• HD Output
• Face Detection and Smile Shutter software

Things I like
This camera really does fit everything into a small size. You can take this camera with you anywhere you wish to go without worrying about it taking up a lot of size. Sony also fits a 3.5″ screen into the DSC-T200 small size and it looks impressive. This screen gives you the ability to view all of your pictures.

I also like all of the software that is included with the DSC-T200. The face detection software makes sure that everyone is centered in the frame and the smile shutter makes sure that everyone is smiling. While it doesn’t always work it does help some of the time. The final thing I like about this camera is how it feels in your hands. The DSC-T200 is very well built. Unlike some small cameras that just feel cheap, this camera feels sturdy. I wasn’t afraid to break it when I was handling it.

Things I don’t like
While the software included is really nice, it just doesn’t work properly and it clutters up the menus. Trying to get everything to work can be a nightmare and since the software doesn’t always work properly they could have made it a lot easier to use. I normally don’t have a problem getting around a camera’s menu because I’ve used so many but I actually got lost and had to look at the owner’s manual.

The other thing I don’t like about this camera is the fact that the battery is horrible. It just doesn’t last long at all. I was out on an excursion and it barely lasted the day. The flash is also fairly poor. If the object your taking a picture of far away they just won’t show up.

Pros:

• Large LCD screen
• 5x Optical Zoome
• 8.1MP

Cons:

• Software just doesn’t work that well
• Poor flash and battery life
• Complex menu

Final Thoughts
I personally wouldn’t buy this camera. The battery life is way too short for any extended use and the flash is garbage. If you need a digital camera you can look elsewhere. While the 8.1MP is nice and your pictures will look clear, unless you’re shooting in perfect light the pictures won’t show up that well. I’m not recommending the DSC-T200 because there are many better digital cameras out there.