Fujitsu Siemens Pocket LOOX 600

Fujitsu Siemens Pocket LOOX 600

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The Pocket LOOX's design is reminiscent of yesteryear's PDAs, which is hardly surprising considering it competed in our last PDAs group test 11 months ago (see issue 99, p81). The telling signs are its bulky 17mm thickness and plastic body, which contrasts with the sleek metal cases of more recent PDAs. That said, its 170g weight still compares favourably in the business PDA market.

It also boasts a good range of accessories to take advantage of the CompactFlash slot. The most interesting of these is the GSM/GPRS tri-band CompactFlash card, as Fujitsu Siemens places the speaker and microphone in the natural places to use the Pocket LOOX as a phone. Added flexibility comes via an SD card slot and integrated Bluetooth.

So the LOOX can still compete when it comes to features, but it fell down in our quality ratings. It's the only PDA here to include a reflective rather than transflective TFT, making it more difficult to read in bright light - it needs the backlight on most of the time. This seriously affects its battery such as Fujitsu FPCBP120 Battery, Fujitsu FPCBP119 Battery, Fujitsu LifeBook E8210 Battery, Fujitsu FPCBP144 Battery, Fujitsu FPCBP64 Battery, Fujitsu FPCBP145 Battery, Fujitsu LifeBook E8310 Battery, Fujitsu LifeBook Q2010 Battery, Fujitsu FPCBP148 Battery, Fujitsu FPCBP147 Battery, Fujitsu LifeBook C1410 Battery, Fujitsu FPCBP151 Battery life; on one occasion, the LOOX barely lasted for two hours in general use.

This is surprising considering the size of the battery. We imagine it would last much longer with Pocket PC 2003 and a more efficient PXA255 processor rather than the 400MHz PXA250 chip. Performance should also improve, although we found the LOOX to be nippy enough in use.

Sadly, the average battery life and ageing design count against the LOOX 600, especially against business-class PDAs like the iPAQ H5550. The good news is that Fujitsu Siemens is releasing the LOOX 610 imminently.

Fujitsu Lifebook S7010

Fujitsu Lifebook S7010

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We've been big fans of Fujitsu Lifebooks in the past, and the S7010 looked to be the best yet. Packing a powerful 1.7GHz Pentium M processor, a small but practical 14.1in screen, yet weighing a svelte 1.9kg with battery like Fujitsu Lifebook S6200 Battery, Fujitsu FPCBP80 Battery, Fujitsu Lifebook S6220 Battery, Fujitsu Lifebook S2020 Battery, Fujitsu FPCBP64 Battery, Fujitsu Lifebook S6120 Battery, Fujitsu N5485 Battery, Fujitsu Lifebook T4000 Battery, Fujitsu Lifebook T4020 Battery, Fujitsu FPCBP121 Battery, Fujitsu LifeBook N3400 Battery, Fujitsu LifeBook N3410 Battery, it all looks good on paper.

And we've no complaints over performance, with the 512MB of PC2700 memory propelling our 2D benchmarks to an application-friendly 1.34. As with other Pentium M systems, it doesn't score as highly in areas such as image editing or media encoding, but it's fast enough to cope with minor tasks. Bear in mind, though, that Intel's 855 integrated chipset won't even begin to cope with modern 3D gaming.

It's during use, however, that it starts to look more disappointing. The screen runs at a usable 1,024 x 768 - enough for word processing, if not ideal for spreadsheet work - and we've no complaints about its sharpness. The backlight isn't strong enough for our liking though, and the poor viewing angles in both planes cause contrast issues even when sat at a desk. This also affects DVD playback, and we found that darker scenes descended into murk all too quickly.

Apart from the screen's quality, the other issue for a notebook is the keyboard, and again the S7010 disappoints. The layout is passable, with a separated cursor group and Ctrl keys, but page navigation is a pain; besides which it's horribly flimsy, and will rattle and sink disconcertingly if you ever get up to speed. Then there's the touchpad. It's responsive for the most part, but we found it occasionally skipped around erratically - a potential disaster if moving files, for example. While there's also a trackpoint for those who are that way inclined, the rather uncomfortable mouse buttons are too far away to make it an ergonomic experience.

Elsewhere, Fujitsu supplies a reasonable sprinkling of ports. Three USB 2 sockets are sensibly located at the back-right of the machine, and mini-FireWire sits on the left. Infrared is the only legacy interface available, but two Type II PC Card slots provide an element of future proofing, and a VGA out is also included for hooking up to an external monitor.

Storage is well catered for too. A 60GB hard disk should be enough, although for data archival if nothing else we'd expect more than just a combo drive for the asking price.

The high point of the S7010 comes with its cutting-edge networking abilities. Not content with a 56K modem and gigabit Ethernet, there's also Intel's 2200 802.11b/g WLAN card, and integrated Bluetooth 1.2. And if you go wireless, the three-and-a-half hour battery life in our light-use test will be good news too.

Unfortunately it doesn't go nearly far enough to address the basic usability issues; we'd simply expect a great deal better for the money. The three-year international C&R warranty is a plus point, as is the option for Intel's Trusted Platform Module. Ultimately, though, it can't hold a candle to machines such as IBM's ThinkPad T41, which although slightly heavier and slower, easily remains our portable business notebook of choice.

Stylistic 5010

Stylistic 5010

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The Stylistic 5010 isn't the first Fujitsu-Siemens tablet we've seen; the Stylistic 4121 had that honour. But what sets the new model apart is its Centrino heart, the first true tablet (as opposed to convertible notebook) we've seen to incorporate the trio of Pentium M, 855GM chipset and Intel 802.11b wireless adaptor, with all the promise of performance and battery like Fujitsu Lifebook C2310 Battery, Fujitsu FPCBP85 Battery, Fujitsu LifeBook P7010 Battery, Fujitsu FPCBP86 Battery, Fujitsu FMVNBP118 Battery, Fujitsu FPCBP69 Battery, Fujitsu Lifebook P5020 Battery, Fujitsu Lifebook P5010 Battery, Fujitsu FPCBP49 Battery, Fujitsu Lifebook P1030 Battery, Fujitsu LifeBook P1630 Battery, Fujitsu FPCBP164Z Battery life that confers. The Pentium M is a 1GHz variant; not the fastest model around, but results in our application benchmarks are perfectly respectable. More importantly, battery life has improved, with the 5010 managing five hours in our light-use test.

The new model, with its 12.1in screen, has changed little save for the leaner dimensions. It's a little longer and marginally wider than a sheet of A4 paper, and admirably thin at a uniform 20mm. But even so, the 1.6kg weight means the problem of cradling it in one arm and writing with the other will give you neck and arm ache in short order. The 5010 is much better used on a desk in the manner of a normal writing pad, particularly since its back gets uncomfortably warm when used on your lap for longer periods.

Externally, there's little manufacturers can do to make tablet PCs different from each other; the writing-slate form factor precludes any design flourishes. The Fujitsu is limited to an array of six buttons along one side, four of which handle Enter and Escape functions, display orientation toggling and launching email, with Alt and Fn buttons doubling up the functions. Two more rocker-type switches act as cursor and page up/down controls.

The problems of pen input remain: the Windows GUI wasn't designed for anything other than mouse input, and the bolt-on compensations are less than perfect. No matter how much the pen settings are fiddled with, failing to lift the pen cleanly after a click often results in the system thinking you're trying to drag when you're not.

Despite its slim form, the tablet is well endowed with interfaces and connectors, sporting two USB 2 ports, FireWire, 10/100 Ethernet and 56K modem, plus audio jacks. The top edge has SD Card and PC Card slots, too. We can't help feeling that slimming down on some of the connectors would make for a sleeker unit, especially since there's a docking station that replicates all bar the expansion slots and the microphone connector (albeit for an extra £254). The docking station is also fitted with a CD-RW/ DVD-ROM combo drive and VGA connectors.

While they've certainly come down in price - the ST4121 was £500 more - tablets are still too steeply priced for most users. Despite the hype, tablet computing isn't a mobile computing panacea. For most applications, a notebook with a keyboard and mouse is still a faster and more practical way to work. For niche vertical applications there are benefits but, given the restricted utility of the unit when undocked, and the fact that it weighs - and costs - as much as a subnotebook, there are still few reasons to choose a pure tablet design.

Sony WX80

Sony WX80

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Though Sony announced five new Cyber-shot camera models at CES 2013, none of them are jaw-droppers.

However, one of them, the DSC-WX80, does give you a look at some features coming to Sony's higher-end Exmor R CMOS sensor-based cameras this year.

The $199 WX80 is the entry model with an Exmor R sensor, in this case 16 megapixels. That sensor gets you features like multishot shooting modes for improved low-light and backlit photos, 1080/60i AVCHD movie capture, 10fps burst shooting, and high-resolution, 360-degree panoramas.

New for 2013, these models get faster autofocus speeds and improved optical image stabilization when the zoom lens is extended (in this case an 8x 25-200mm zoom).

Also, Sony improved its Superior Auto mode on these cameras for better results when shooting moving subjects. Superior Auto combines Sony's regular Intelligent Auto with its multishot modes. Because of how the multishot processing works by layering multiple shots, using it with moving subjects doesn't work well. Sony's added motion detection to the mode, so that if the subject does move, it won't use the multishot processing.

The WX80 also has built-in Wi-Fi. You can use it to connect to Android or iOS devices to send images from the camera to the device, and you can use the device to remotely operate the camera.

Without the Exmor R sensor you lose a lot of Sony's best shooting and performance features, and that's the case with the rest of its CES-announced cameras, which use Sony's Super HAD CCD sensor.

Sony introduced the $139 16-megapixel W730, which is the CCD-version of the WX80; the W710, a 5x zoom version of the W730 for $99; a $199 rugged 16-megapixel ultracompact, the TF1; and the 20-megapixel H200 featuring a 26x 22.3-580mm lens and AA batteries like sony NP-F550 battery, sony NP-FR1 battery, sony NP-FM50 battery, sony NP-FM51 battery, sony NP-F10 battery, sony NP-FE1 battery, Sharp VL-Z900W battery, Canon BP-512 battery, Canon BP-508 battery, sony DSC-T7 battery, Sony NP-68 battery, Sony NP-98 battery for power for $249.

All of these models essentially have the same shooting options, including 360-degree panoramas, 720p movie capture, beauty effects like teeth whitening, skin smoothing, and shine removal, more intelligent flash performance, and the option to use Sony's picture effects with panoramas and videos.

Panasonic Lumix camera beste uit test

Panasonic Lumix camera beste uit test

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Panasonic DMC-G5 beste camera uit Consumentenbond test : Voor de november / december 2012 uitgave van de Digitaalgids, een magazine van de Nederlandse Consumentenbond, werd een onderzoek gedaan onder een aantal populaire digitale systeem camera’s in de prijsklasse tot €1000,- Euro. De Panasonic Lumix DMC-G5 with battery like Panasonic CGA-S101A Battery, Olympus Li-10B Battery, Olympus BLM1 Battery, panasonic NV-GS10 battery, panasonic VHS-C Battery, canon EOS 400D Battery, panasonic VW-VBD1E Battery, panasonic VW-VBD1 Battery, Panasonic CGA-S002 Battery, HITACHI DZ-HS300E Battery, Olympus FE-230 Battery, canon MV930 Battery kwam als beste uit de Consumentenbond test en kreeg het felbegeerde predikaat "Beste uit de Test" toegewezen. Het predikaat wordt alleen toegekend aan producten die als beste uit de test komen in een bepaalde prijsklasse. De Panasonic Lumix camera met G Vario 14-42mm objectief werd dus als beste getest en kreeg een eindcijfer van 7.4. Ook de Panasonic DMC-G3 camera is in de test meegenomen en werd beoordeeld met 'Beste Koop' voor de beste prijs/kwaliteitverhouding.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G5 beste uit test
De DMC-G5 heeft een compacte body met ingebouwde flitser. Dat maakt deze Panasonic Lumix camera bijzonder geschikt om overal mee op reis te nemen. De Panasonic DMC-G5 benut alle mogelijkheden van de hoogwaardige 16 megapixel Live MOS sensor en Venus Engine en is in staat prachtige video opnames te maken in 1920x1080 50p Full HD in AVCHD formaat met stereo geluid. Daarnaast is 'High Speed Burst Shooting' beschikbaar waarmee maximaal 20fps kunnen worden geschoten bij het gebruik van een elektronische sluiter. De Panasonic Lumix camera beschikt over een snel en accuraat autofocus systeem waardoor de camera snel kan focussen op bewegende onderwerpen. Foto's en filmpjes kunnen worden nagezien op het 3-inch kantelbare LCD touchscreen display.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3 beste koop
De Panasonic DMC-G3 is uitgerust met een 16 megapixel Live MOS sensor. Dit is een groot voordeel voor zowel foto- als video opnames dankzij de hoogwaardige ruisonderdrukking. Deze Panasonic Lumix camera is gebaseerd op de Micro Four Thirds standaard waardoor zowel de body als de lenzen compact zijn vormgegeven. Deze spiegelloze constructie is voorzien van een Live View Finder met maar liefst 1.440.000 pixels. Zowel de LVF als het 3-inch kantelbare LCD beeldscherm geeft je volledige weergave met 100% gezichtsveld. De Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3 kan videobeelden opnemen in Full HD AVCHD formaat (1920x1080 pixels) en is uitgerust met een Dolby Digital Stereo Creator microfoon die garant staat voor perfect geluid.

New Canon EOS cameras

New Canon EOS cameras

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With new acquisitions in late November, Magnanimous Media now offers the full line of Canon’s Cinema EOS cameras and CN-E with battery such as canon NB-1L battery, canon NB-2L battery, canon BP-511 battery, canon NB-5L battery, canon NB-4L battery, canon NB-5H battery, nikon CR-V3 battery, nikon EN-EL2 battery, Olympus FE-250 battery, Fujifilm NP-40 battery, Samsung VP-MS12 battery, Sharp VR-BL1 battery prime lenses.

Magnanimous has offered the C300, the first, midrange model in the Cinema EOS line, since May.

The C300 “is probably the best docu-camera available at the moment, delivers excellent dynamic range in C-Log, has excellent low-light performance and, when grading, the image spreads like butter and performs very well in secondaries,” says Magnanimous creative director Jonah Rubash.

In late November, they began offering the C500 and C100, the models above and below the C300, respectively. “The success and performance of the C300 certainly influenced our decision to acquire the C100 and C500,” Rubash says.

The C100 combines elements of DSLRs and traditional video cameras, and while it does not have the full complement of features of its higher-end cousins, it “has great dynamic range and low light performance with arguably better ergonomics then either the C300 or 500,” Rubash says.

Retailing at a comparatively affordable $6,500, Magnanimous can offer the C100 for $200 a day, and unlike the C300 and C500, it is available without insurance.

On the upper end, the C500 is marketed as a competitor to the RED Epic and Scarlet (which Magnanimous also offers). “The C500 diversifies our 4K cinema options, and makes 4K RAW an option for shoots that may otherwise have been HD,” Rubash says.

Unlike the REDs, the C500 records RAW 4K or 2K to an external recorder. To this end, Magnanimous will soon offer the Gemini 444 recorder, which provides 10-bit Log RAW at up to 30 frames per second, and 12-bit RGB 444 up to 2K.

“The Gemini 444 will provide other benefits to cameras such as the Sony F3 and S-Log as well as 3D support,” Rubash says. “We are currently strongly leaning towards the Gemini 4K recorder as our end solution for Canon RAW as it provides excellent support for all that the C500 has to offer.”

Now renting Canon’s new CN-E primes

Also in November, Magnanimous started renting a full set of Canon’s new CN-E prime lenses—24, 50 and 85 mm—built for Cinema EOS cameras or other EF mount cameras. Rubash says the CN-E primes are “a little warmer” than their Zeiss Super-Speed PL-mount set, “and have contrast on par with the L-series still counterparts.

The CN-E lenses diversify that selection, so low-budget filmmakers can have that much more variety in making decisions about the design of their work.”

The Netbook Is Dead

The Netbook Is Dead

Welcome to a laptop battery specialist of the Asus Laptop Battery

Add your own commentary here above the horizontal line, but do not make any changes below the line. (Of course, you should also delete this text before you publish this post.)

This article titled “Sayonara, netbooks: Asus (and the rest) won’t make any more in 2013″ was written by Charles Arthur, for guardian.co.uk on Monday 31st December 2012 13.01 UTC

Sayonara, netbooks. The end of 2012 marks the end of the manufacture of the diddy machines that were – for a time – the Great White Hope of the PC market.

If you believed ABI Research in 2009, then next year netbooks with battery like Asus AL23-901 Battery, Asus AP23-901 Battery, Asus Eee PC 1000 Battery, Asus Eee PC 901 Battery, Asus A22-700 Battery, Asus P22-900 Battery, Asus Eee PC 701 Battery, Asus Eee PC 900 Battery, Asus A32-W5F Battery, Asus Z35F Battery, Asus A31-W5F Battery, Asus W5F Battery (initially defined as machines with Intel Atom processors and screens less than 10in diagonally – though the definition became fuzzier over time) will sell 139m. (The original ABI press release with the forecast, linked from the Wikipedia page on netbooks, and still there until May 2011, has disappeared. But you can get a flavour of its optimism from the URL of the press release (which contains the phrase “an era begins”) and the research paper it was offering in late 2010 which had forecasts for netbook sales through to 2015 and the names of 23 vendors (including – quiz question – Nokia.)

Still, there’s an eWeek article from July in which ABI says that “consumer interest in netbooks shows no sign of waning, and the attraction remains the same: value rather than raw performance.”

Actually, the number sold in 2013 will be very much closer to zero than to 139m. The Taiwanese tech site Digitimes points out that Asus, which kicked off the modern netbook category with its Eee PC in 2007, has announced that it won’t make its Eee PC product after today, and that Acer doesn’t plan to make any more; which means that “the netbook market will officially end after the two vendors finish digesting their remaining inventories.”

Asustek and Acer were the only two companies still making netbooks, with everyone else who had made them (including Samsung, HP and Dell) having shifted to tablets. Asustek and Acer were principally aiming at southeast Asia and South America – but of course those are now targets for smartphones and cheap Android tablets.

That’s something of a turnround for Acer, which in September was still insisting that it would “continue to make netbooks”, even though Lenovo, Dell and Asustek had all withdrawn.

Intel, which made its Atom processor with the intent of aiming at lower-cost, lower-power, longer-battery-life PCs, is still going to keep making the Atom; those will be pushed into the embedded market for point-of-sale applications.

There are four candidates: the rest of the PC market (including the arrival of ultrabooks); the economy; the economics of netbooks; and the iPad plus the attendant rise of tablets.

Looking at the rest of the PC market first: the writing has been on the wall for a while. Even in May 2009, when netbooks were just two years old (and the iPad wasn’t even a rumour), Jack Schofield was asking whether netbooks were losing their shine, pointing out that

The Netbook Is Dead

The Netbook Is Dead

Welcome to a laptop battery specialist of the Asus Laptop Battery

Add your own commentary here above the horizontal line, but do not make any changes below the line. (Of course, you should also delete this text before you publish this post.)

This article titled “Sayonara, netbooks: Asus (and the rest) won’t make any more in 2013″ was written by Charles Arthur, for guardian.co.uk on Monday 31st December 2012 13.01 UTC

Sayonara, netbooks. The end of 2012 marks the end of the manufacture of the diddy machines that were – for a time – the Great White Hope of the PC market.

If you believed ABI Research in 2009, then next year netbooks with battery like Asus AL23-901 Battery, Asus AP23-901 Battery, Asus Eee PC 1000 Battery, Asus Eee PC 901 Battery, Asus A22-700 Battery, Asus P22-900 Battery, Asus Eee PC 701 Battery, Asus Eee PC 900 Battery, Asus A32-W5F Battery, Asus Z35F Battery, Asus A31-W5F Battery, Asus W5F Battery (initially defined as machines with Intel Atom processors and screens less than 10in diagonally – though the definition became fuzzier over time) will sell 139m. (The original ABI press release with the forecast, linked from the Wikipedia page on netbooks, and still there until May 2011, has disappeared. But you can get a flavour of its optimism from the URL of the press release (which contains the phrase “an era begins”) and the research paper it was offering in late 2010 which had forecasts for netbook sales through to 2015 and the names of 23 vendors (including – quiz question – Nokia.)

Still, there’s an eWeek article from July in which ABI says that “consumer interest in netbooks shows no sign of waning, and the attraction remains the same: value rather than raw performance.”

Actually, the number sold in 2013 will be very much closer to zero than to 139m. The Taiwanese tech site Digitimes points out that Asus, which kicked off the modern netbook category with its Eee PC in 2007, has announced that it won’t make its Eee PC product after today, and that Acer doesn’t plan to make any more; which means that “the netbook market will officially end after the two vendors finish digesting their remaining inventories.”

Asustek and Acer were the only two companies still making netbooks, with everyone else who had made them (including Samsung, HP and Dell) having shifted to tablets. Asustek and Acer were principally aiming at southeast Asia and South America – but of course those are now targets for smartphones and cheap Android tablets.

That’s something of a turnround for Acer, which in September was still insisting that it would “continue to make netbooks”, even though Lenovo, Dell and Asustek had all withdrawn.

Intel, which made its Atom processor with the intent of aiming at lower-cost, lower-power, longer-battery-life PCs, is still going to keep making the Atom; those will be pushed into the embedded market for point-of-sale applications.

There are four candidates: the rest of the PC market (including the arrival of ultrabooks); the economy; the economics of netbooks; and the iPad plus the attendant rise of tablets.

Looking at the rest of the PC market first: the writing has been on the wall for a while. Even in May 2009, when netbooks were just two years old (and the iPad wasn’t even a rumour), Jack Schofield was asking whether netbooks were losing their shine, pointing out that

Acer Aspire V5-571P-6499

Acer Aspire V5-571P-6499

Welcome to a laptop battery specialist of the Asus Laptop Battery

For the past few years we've been impressed by Acer's 15-inch Aspire laptops—not for their looks, but for their ability to deliver above-average performance and features for a budget price. The Aspire V5-571P-6499 adds the sharp looks to round out the package, plus a touch screen to simplify navigating Windows 8, plus third-generation Intel Core i5 processing power, all in a system slim and attractive enough that you'll have trouble believing the Aspire isn't priced above $1,000—at least until you notice a few bargain-bin components (the speakers, the Webcam, the small battery) that remind you this is a $729 entry. Still, if you're looking for a large touch-screen clamshell that won't break the bank, the V5-571P-6499 is a first-class choice.

When we first unboxed the Aspire V5-571P, we were sure Acer had sent a member of its ultra-thin TimelineX series by mistake. Where was the chunky, heavy chassis with the pebbled black lid? Not here. The Aspire V5 measures just an inch thick—not bad for a 15-inch model—and weighs a reasonable 5.3 pounds. Even better, the slender chassis did not keep Acer from slipping in an optical drive. And unlike ultrabooks, which almost universally use sealed-in batteries such as Asus AP21-1002HA Battery, Asus Eee PC S101H Battery, Asus AP22-U1001 Battery, Asus Eee PC S101 Battery, Asus A32-R1 Battery, Asus 90-NGA1B3000 Battery, Asus C22-R2 Battery, Asus C21-R2 Battery, Asus N20A Battery, Asus A32-U6 Battery, Asus A33-U6 Battery, Asus U6S Battery that can only be replaced by a service technician, the Acer's battery pack (a long, skinny 4-cell unit) can be popped off to snap on a replacement.

Mimicking the brushed aluminum enclosures of more upscale laptops, the smooth silver-colored chassis (Acer calls it "Silky Silver") looks more modern than previous Aspire designs. But there's no mistaking that it is indeed a plastic shell and not metal. Another design choice we're not wild about is the combo Ethernet and VGA port. We know space inside and out is limited on a slim machine, but to use the LAN or VGA connector you'll need to hook up the included Frankenstein dongle ... that you'll likely never be able to find when you need it. Port selection otherwise is typical for the class: HDMI, two USB 2.0, and one USB 3.0.

The large (15x10-inch) footprint of the Aspire V5-571P has been put to good use: The expansive keyboard deck includes a dedicated numeric keypad and a downright huge (by Windows laptop standards) 3x4-inch touch pad. The one-piece pad surface hides the mouse buttons below the lower left and right corners, and since the pad is gesture-enabled you can tap anywhere for a left click as well as use your fingers to perform actions such as scroll, zoom, rotate and so on.

The keyboard, however, left us wanting. We were thrilled to see a backlit unit in a laptop in this price range, but the keys themselves are a bit on the small side, being more rectangular than square. The function keys are smaller still, and since there are no dedicated volume or multimedia control keys, you'll find yourself leaning in to see which function key does what. We also found the plunge or amount of up-down travel a bit shallower than on other 15-inch laptops.