This was purchased for my husband and it is exactly what he expected it to be. It was VERY well packaged and arrived on time. We were both delighted.
Samsung UN60ES8000 60-Inch 1080p 240Hz 3D Slim LED HDTV (Silver)
List Price: $4,069.99
Sale Price: $2,094.99
Today's Bonus: 49% Off
This TV is absolutely incredible. I got the 60 inch and bought direct from Samsung's website as I had a discount. I love the design of the actual TV, it's base is sharp looking and the TV and bezel are so thin it's going to look amazing mounted on my stone wall. The resolution and black levels are amazing. When I first saw the motion control demonstrated at Fry's when they first got them in, it looked completely unresponsive, but after getting mine, I now know why that was. The room has to be bright. They were demonstrating it in a very dim room. It doesn't see your hand movement completely if it's dark. It is totally responsive and much more fluid than I originally thought. Honestly speaking it's REALLY cool, but I doubt I'll end up using it that much, maybe for my fantasy football app during football season or when I can't find the remote and I want to turn the volume up. I bet Samsung will create a wider range of uses for the motion control through updates later on. So I feel like there is more to come from the motion control as well as the voice control.
The voice control works really well. There isn't a huge list of commands, only ones on the screen, but it's neat and very impressive to people to speak to your TV, definitely peaking on the wow factor. Like I said, there aren't a ton of voice commands, but I feel this is a good base for expansion by Samsung updates.The amount of apps is plentiful and I love the fact that Samsung has introduced the Evolution Kits. What a great idea. Just a simple software upgrade instead of selling a TV when something new comes out.
Now for my only negative thus far into my purchase. I rented The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on bluray to test how good the quality of the TV really is. It's phenomenal. HOWEVER, once the screen went to black as the credits rolled you DO see spotlighting from the corners. It's weird because you don't see it when you're on non-HD channels and they black bar the left and right sides. In fact the ONLY time I've seen the spotlighting is during the credits of the movie. You don't see it in dark scenes or when the movie in letterbox format. If someone can explain why I only saw it during movie credits and not when in letterbox, that would be great. I know this TV is edgelit not backlit, so the pixels aren't turned off.
All in all it's a tiny complaint for such an awesome TV that is packed with features no other TV has right now. How often are you watching just a black screen? Never. So seeing spotlighting during credits I really could careless, but for those who are completely obsessive may find it annoying. I am not going to knock down such an awesome TV a star over something like that. When you put this thing on your mantle, wall, or TV stand your jaw is going to drop at how sweet it looks even when it's off. Then you say "Hi TV Power On" and wave your hand at the screen and it just gets even cooler.
**UPDATE** 4/14/12
Voice recognition actually has a lot more capabilities than I originally thought. When creating a Samsung account instead of remote control analog typing which can be tedious or the motion control which hurts you arm keeping it up for awhile typing out a long email, you can just say your full email address into the controller and it will get it pretty damn close. You can also say your name and all that and it did it no problem. My name is Chris, so it's not that complicated, but my last name has 2 Ts in a row and it got that somehow instead of just hearing one. Impressive. What is stupid is that you can't use the voice for entering in a URL or stuff like that. Why did they take away the QWERTY remote? Stupid. Also, to keep from having to manually log in, you can take screen shot of your face and it will log you in and all your PERSONAL setting from reading your face. That is super cool if you have people who like different settings.
Exploring the app store more, there is not a whole lot there, but I expect it to grow since this TV just came out a couple weeks ago. What I am REALLY hoping for is that they bring back the Yahoo apps. The immediate predecessor TVs had Yahoo apps and this one doesn't. A big thing for me was having Yahoo Fantasy Football on screen live updating while I'm watching games. I really don't understand why they dumped Yahoo or why the app store is so scant right now. They have dozens and dozens of kid friendly apps that probably make great use of the motion control, but how does that help me with no kids. I don't care about the Kids section or Family Story. Give me my Fantasy football app. I'm not kidding, they have like 4 sports apps and 25 kids apps. COME ON SAMSUNG!! Please expand on that soon. I am still trying to figure out how to rearrange the Smart Hub, it's unclear. I'll have to check the manual I guess.
I absolutely LOVE the AllShare Play. I just plug my external hard drive with downloaded movies into one of the USB inputs in the back and I got a full movie player and organizer. You can operate everything from the remote. It plays all the formats I've tested so far. Some had the volume kind of low, but if you choose the AUTO VOLUME setting it will automatically correct a volume issue.
Lastly, the amount of storage space on the TV is 785mb, but I've downloaded ZERO of anything and 407mb of that space are already used. I don't even feel like THAT many apps are downloaded already. You got Facebook, VUDU, Hulu, Netflix, MLB.TV, Pandora, Youtube, MTV Music Meter, NBA Gametime, Fitness VOD and CinemaNow. That's it. Then you have the Fitness, Kids, and Family Story programs which I think is what sucks a lot of that space away. Most of the apps are 5mb and below so I guess you can still download a lot of them, but I don't know what else I may be able to download as I explore more and 785mb seems skimpy.
**UPDATE** 4/15/12
AND..... I got a faint vertical yellow line of pixels (very thin) across the left quarter panel of the screen. Top to bottom. At first I thought it was an entire line of dead pixels, but I turned the TV off then back on and the line was gone. Few minutes later it's back again. It goes away then it comes back. It comes back EVERY time whenever I click on the Smart Hub. Also, there is so very faint gray lines across the whole screen that you can see during light scenes. In some parts, it looks like a 3D rectangular boxing. I though it may be some interference, but it's on all channels now and it wasn't there before. It only appeared at the same time as the faint yellow line.
Contrary to some other reviews knocking on Samsung's service, I called 1-800-SAMSUNG and was speaking to a live person after 2-3 button pushes. They are having a service person come out to fix it. If he can't fix it then they will exchange or refund my money they say. The entire service call was 22 minutes and that included describing what was wrong to 2 people and being on hold for 2 minutes. So as of right now, their customer service has been great. However, we'll see how the repair goes. They say I will get a call tomorrow from them to set an appointment.
I changed the review from 5 stars to 2 for right now because I was SOOO careful getting this out of the box and putting it on the TV stand. I don't know if the TV is super fragile because it's so thin, but I treated it like it was regardless. Maybe it got bumped around during shipping, but there was zero box damage and it worked fine for 5 days before the line appeared. I think it was just a quality control issue. Two stars, because this thin little line coming and going is super annoying. Screen is everything. I am very tempted to give it 1 star because it's been 5 days. But if they can fix it, and it never comes back and I never have an issue again, I'll raise the review up again. I think I am the only 60 inch screen review, so watch out.
**UPDATE** 4/23/12
Repair company contracted by Samsung came out last Tuesday (a day after scheduling, great response time) to diagnose problem. He typed some code on the remote to do a color test. I asked how he did that, but he said it's strongly advised you don't do the color screen test yourself because you can damage your screen. Anyways, the color test makes the whole screen go red, blue, green, white, black, or a pattern of colors. When he did this we saw that on blue, all the pixels were dead in the line top to bottom, as well as little speckles of dead ones around it. It was weird because on every other color the pixels worked, so maybe just the blue pixels were dead? Maybe this is why the line looked yellow when just watching tv. This line is so weird because it goes away sometimes. Even when it's there it's barely noticeable unless it's pointed out to you or it's a very light colored or bluish scene.
The repair guy said that the screen is ruined and it needs to be replaced. I was like wtf do you mean, the screen IS the TV, it's like an inch thick. I don't fault him because he's not even a Samsung employee, he's contracted by them. This was weird. He said it's Samsung's policy to allow 10 days for a part to come in, if it doesn't come in within 10 days they exchange the TV for a new one. The repair guy said because the 60" TV is SO new (it was the first one he'd seen) and that it was on backorder he said it was slim to none they'd get a new replacement screen in 10 days. He told me to call Samsung and tell them I don't have 10 days to waste when it's ultimately going to be the same result. When I spoke to Samsung on the phone, they didn't know what that "10 days" was about, but they confirmed that they have no replacement screens in stock for replacement. They are sending me a new TV and will take the old one. They said it will take 10-12 days. I don't know why people bitch about their customer service. I saw it as being great. I understand they have a process of trying to repair before they just jump into replacing. There are a lot of idiots who can't differentiate normal from defective.
The issue with the TV isn't unbearable to see, so I've been fine waiting. Although this has given me more time to see some things. The fact that the TV doesn't have a keyboard is completely annoying. You will no doubt want a keyboard if you are going to websurf or do anything where you frequently input text. They sell one separately. The voice thing is very good, but not always completely accurate. When you go to Smart Hub right now it says they are updating their system on 4/24/12 from midnight to 5am and the service won't be available during that time, so maybe their ironing out some kinks. I've also noticed the spotlighting is a little more frequent than originally thought. Whenever the screen is black and their is white on the screen with no letterbox, you will see spotlighting. I'll revise my review if my new TV is perfect.
**UPDATE** (5/12/12)
So my order for replacement was processed and I was called today and they now said there are no 60 inches for replacement and they have to give me a refund. Fine. I just want to move on. I like the look of the TV and some cool features, but I was scared my new one was going to be shoddy as well after several warnings from other users. I got IRATE because the guy said my SALES TAX wouldn't be refunded in addition to my $60 shipping since I purchased straight from Samsung's employee website which is the manufacturer and not a retailer. If there is NO SALE, THERE IS NO TAX no matter who the hell you are. I hung up with him and called Executive Customer Service and got her to give me my sales tax, but I lost my $60 shipping. 12-17 business days for my refund after picking up the TV. So through all of this I got NO TV and LOST $60. Hence another revising of my review from 2 stars to 1 star. Samsung just does not have their crap together with their TVs lately and BELIEVE ME I REALLY WANTED TO LIKE THIS TV. I learned a valuable lesson.
Last bit about the TV before I'm done. You will be sitting in your room, push no buttons, just watching and the voice control menu or motion control will come up (unprompted) and turn down the volume on your TV till it goes away or you pick up the remote and close it. It's like a glitch or something. Annoying. I am telling everyone out there, this is straight up honest review. I am not a Samsung hater. I've owned several Samsung TVs in the past. I picked Samsung because I felt it had the best picture and they are a reputable manufacturer. I gave it 5 stars in the beginning! Then 5 days later, it messed up and now I have no TV and $60 less. I was PUNISHED for buying this TV. Don't let it happen to you.
Canon WP-DC39 4720B001 Waterproof Camera Case
List Price: $299.99
Sale Price: $239.00
Today's Bonus: 20% Off
My husband received this housing for Christmas and used it recently on four separate dives ranging in depth from 35 feet to 85 feet, and we were both quite pleased with the results. The housing performed exactly as promised. The camera automatically sets to the underwater mode when placed in the housing. Settings can be changed for use on land too.
Whistler XTR-695SE High-Performance Radar Detector
List Price: $269.95
Sale Price: $174.21
Today's Bonus: 35% Off
I really appreciate the ID feature, because when it shows a frequency it is almost certainly a police radar, not a false alert. I also like the ability to select the backlight color, as my dash lights are red and the detector doesn't clash.
Some other reviews complain that the display is difficult to read in direct sunlight, but I drive a convertible and have no problems with readability. Depending on the way you mount it, you can get a reflection off of the glossy screen, but that's expected with any LCD. Maybe their real problem was the interior color of their car was too light, making the reflection too bright to see through. The backlight may be too dim to see in daylight, but you don't need one unless it's dark. You can see the color for identifying the type of radar when set to bright. A voice announces the signal, so you don't need to see the display anyway.
The compass display isn't accurate enough to use in a boat, but plenty good for the "one of two directions" choice you face when driving a car. You do have to re-calibrate per instructions when you first mount the detector, or the compass will appear to be stuck.
Be careful when selecting your purchase to get the SE model. Amazon listed the XTR-695 without the SE suffix, and those are the older, less sensitive model.
Night Owl Security ADV-DVR8-5GB 8-Channel Security System
List Price: $279.99
Sale Price: $212.04
Today's Bonus: 24% Off
I own (2) 16-Channel Night Owl DVR's that are running at one of my homes. I have 16 cameras set up to them and access them from my phone, my computer, over the internet (have a static IP at my house) and love them. I have a cabin that I was going to put up about 8 cameras so I got this DVR thinking it would work the same. I set it all up and can access it from my computer, but NOT my phone unless I use their useless app. I have an Android Phone and my wife has an iPhone. I use an app called IPCamViewer Pro and is the best out there. I have 2 homes and my cabin running on it with over 50 cameras and can easily view/keep track of everything. I ended up sending back this Night Owl DVR and buying a different Night Owl 8 channel DVR, but had the same problem. Apparently after talking to Night Owl customer support, they use 3 ports for some reason on their mobile access and every app out there (but theirs of course) only uses 2 ports. So I switched and went with a Zmodo 8 channel DVR and got it all set up. It works with my phone just fine and looks like the exact same DVR, just different firmware, but obviously made in the same Chinese factory/specs. I have been happy with the Zmodo DVR and installed my own Hard Drive (which I would recommend doing because you can get a better hard drive and it only takes 3 minutes to do).
Installing the hard drive is EASY! You just take out the 5 screws to the case, then plug the 2 cables into the hard drive and put the 4 screws in that hold the hard drive in place. Then replace the cover and turn it on. Once it boots up, you click on the "Format Hard Drive" in the Hard Drive menu and you are done. No sense in paying extra to get one that comes pre-installed. A 10 year old could do it so even if you are NOT "tech-savvy" you can do it and save some money.
Overall, if you are going to buy a Night Owl DVR, get their top of the line Zeus DVR, or save money and get a Zmodo.
Sony SEL-20F28 E-Mount 20mm F2.8 Prime Lens
List Price: $349.99
Sale Price: $348.00
Today's Bonus: 1% Off
This is the lens that Sony ought to have made when the first NEX cameras came out, a reasonably fast, medium-wide angle, pancake prime. It's a perfect focal length for street photography or casual snapshots. It's small and light, making NEX cameras reasonably pocketable. It's not exceptional, but reasonably sharp across the entire field of view, at least when it is stopped down. I love the size of this lens, though it is wide enough that the edges stick out on a 5n. Just a bit, but it's there.
I was hesitant to put a preorder into B&H when this lens was announced. Sony's previous wide angle prime, the 16mm was a poor lens. I borrowed a friend's and gave it back quickly. It just wasn't sharp, and surprisingly for such a short lens, it didn't focus quickly. There are no focus problems with the 20mm.
It was a relief to look at my first images from this new prime lens. They are are adequately sharp from f/4 and smaller apertures. At f/2.8 they are at least as sharp as the old 16mm was at any focal length. It's also nice to see Sony make a lens that is sharp in the corners. Except for the Zeiss 24mm, Sony's lenses tend to have great center sharpness but soft edges. My guess is that comes from too much focus on video lenses rather than still lenses. This lens is pretty sharp, at least at the apertures that I normally use 5.6-8. It's acceptable at 2.8 and pretty good at f/4. It's soft at f/16 but still usable. I'm satisfied.
One question is how this compares to the Sigma 19mm, which is a good lens. The two obvious differences are price and size. You can pick up an older model Sigma for $150 or less, which make it very attractive. The Sigma is very sharp in the center, from f/2.8 on, sharper than the Sony 20mm. However the Sony is definitely sharper at the edges.The Sony has some color fringing at the edges. The Sigma shows more flare when pointed toward the sun. Neither is a perfect lens.
The real question is whether or not the Sony 20mm is worth ~ $350. If you're just looking at price and image quality, that's tough compared to the Sigma. I just sold some old lenses so I had money burning a hole in my pocket. You can get an optically equivalent lens from Sigma for less than half the price, but the Sigma 19mm is twice as long and heavier, making the camera a bit much to put in a coat or vest pocket. It's also plastic and makes clunking noises (it's not a problem, some Sigma lenses just do that). The Sony 20 is metal with a nice finish, focuses faster and makes my 5n more or less the equivalent of the new Nikon Coolpix A, which sells for $1100. A new NEX 5r with the 20mm lens runs $900. Put in that light, the lens doesn't look quite as pricey. Okay the Nikon's lens is better but you're stuck with 28mm equivalent. The NEX has interchangeable lenses, which is why I'm sticking with it..
Epson B11B178011 Perfection V700 Photo Scanner
List Price: $739.99
Sale Price: $629.00
Today's Bonus: 15% Off
I bought this scanner a month ago to scan the several thousand slides I have taken over the past years. I'm not a professional photographer my expectations were only to digitize my slides to the same quality as the photos I have been taking with my 7mp digital camera. After receiving the scanner (which set up easily) I did an extensive set of tests to determine the appropriate settings (resolution, compression, etc), and then set about scanning my slides.
Now that I am 2/3 done with the task I can say that it's working OK, but there are goods and bads. I have no experience with other film scanners so I can't say how this unit compares to others, but here's what I have learned:
* Many have complained about the flimsiness of the plastic slide holder. Mine has held up fine so far, but I can find no information anywhere about how I would get a replacement if I broke the one that came with the scanner, which concerns me a little.
* Epson's web site is not very helpful. They have a simple FAQ with some basic items, but nothing really helpful, and no discussion groups. You are on your own.
* As others have commented, the included software is pretty basic, but I think it gets the job done. It has at least 2 very annoying flaws, though. One is that every time I preview scan another set of 12 slides, it turns off the dust removal and/or digital ICE selection. This means that you need to remember to turn it back on with every scan, which I have forgotten to do some times. There appears to be a way of saving your settings, but even that gets reset on every scan, so is useless. Maybe there is a way to make this work right, but the sparse documentation yields no clues.
* Another software issue is its ability to recognize the vertical or horizontal orientation of slides. Mostly it does a really good job with this, but sometimes it guesses wrong, e.g. it will think a slide is vertical when it actually is horizontal. Usually this happens if the slide has a dark background. Unfortunately when it guesses wrong, it crops off the sides or the top/bottom of the picture, so you can't just rotate it 90 degrees. Most of the time when I notice a wrong guess I have been able to correct it by rotating the slide 90 degrees and re-previewing, but I have several slides where it simply insists on getting it wrong and the software provides no way to override this behavior. A related bad behavior occurs if you have a slide that has a bright rectangle on a dark background, e.g. a shot of TV screen in that case, it tries to zoom in on part of the picture, cropping off much of it including even some of the light area. I can find no way to defeat this behavior, so apparently the only remedy is to crop this type of image manually, which is going to be very labor intensive.
* Another problem relates to a hardware design flaw that I am very surprised that no one has mentioned. After scanning my first several batches of slides and examining the results carefully, I went into a mode of scanning without taking the time to examine every resulting image. After scanning a LOT of slides, I started reviewing the results and was horrified to notice that on certain batches, there were 2 faint vertical lines (one green, one blue) down certain scans. I finally noticed that the lines seemed to be on 4 consecutive slides out of every 12 (the slide holder contains 12 slides), so that was a clue. Notice that the top of the scanner has a transparent slit down the middle apparently this is a sexy feature so you can see where the scanner light is and watch its motion. Well, it also admits other light into the scanner, at least under certain ambient light conditions, ruining the scans of the 4 slides in the middle column. I fixed this by taping a piece of cardboard to the top of the scanner. And now I have to re-scan a lot of messed-up images.
* I really can't notice that the Digital ICE feature does anything except quadruple the amount of time it takes to scan each set of slides. I tried doing scans with it and without it, and can notice little difference. Not much of a problem, since I the Epson software de-selects the option to use it after each preview scan as mentioned above.
* I suppose it's not really a fault of the scanner, but watch out for dust! It's really important to blow off your slides before every scan, and also the scanner glass. Despite being really careful, I still have a big issue with dust. Would have been nice if Epson had included a brush and something to blow with (I got a squeeze bulb blower that helps a lot). When I am done with my scanning project I'm considering replacing the electronic air cleaner in my home with this unit, since it seems to be a dust magnet! :-)
* One last comment. This is not a general-purpose scanner, i.e. you really wouldn't want to use it as a document scanner, mainly because every time you want to use it, it needs to warm up for a minute. Fortunately I have another scanner for documents, and it works instantaneously.
It's possible that some of the items above are user error on my part, but with the meager documentation and web site, it's hard to develop a detailed understanding of the unit without a lot of experimentation, which might cause one to miss something. Your mileage might vary.
** LONG-TERM EXPERIENCE UPDATE 3/11/10:
The V700 is still working fine, after scanning at least 10,000 slides, color prints, color negatives and b&w negatives. I remain very satisfied with my purchase (I would probably upgrade my rating to 4-stars now), as it has done a lot of work for me, I've scanned a lot of stuff with good results, and it continues to work fine. In particular, I think that the V700 does a spectacular job scanning prints of any kind, and automatically recognizes where they are when you place multiple prints on the glass for a single scan but see one of the notes below!
* None of the flimsy plastic holders has broken (yet), thank goodness. I handled them very carefully. Still worried about how I would get a replacement if needed.
* Something else I learned: The V700 recognizes each of the included film/slide holders automatically, and changes a variety of settings automatically depending upon which one it recognizes like it or not. See next item.
* Besides my 35mm slides, I also have a large collection of "super slides" that were shot on 120 film. Even though these are mounted in standard 2x2 cardboard mounts, you cannot scan them in the slide holder, because each opening in that holder is in the shape of an "+" to allow for the possibility of a verticallyor horizontally-oriented 35mm slides. But since super slides are square and have much more film area that the rectangular 35mm slides, the holder blocks out part of each slide, making the holder unusable for such slides. Also, when you put the slide holder in, the scanner automatically assumes 35mm slides, and crops down automatically, thus throwing away part of each slide anyway.
Canon offers no additional holders as far as I can tell, so here's what I did: I used a different holder that would fit 4 2x2 objects, BUT turned it 180 degrees on the scanner surface. This was necessary to fool the V700, which otherwise reads some coding on the bottom of the holder and then changes the settings automatically. I believe this holder is meant for raw 6x6 cm negatives, which obviously won't work for slides. Turning it 180 degrees prevented the V700 from reading the "coding" on the bottom of that holder, and allowed it to scan the whole page without changing any setting automatically. Next, I created a set of 4 identical marquees that matched the 4 slots on the holder, and saved them with a name so I could use them as a template over and over again. With this set-up, I scanned several thousand 120 super slides just fine. Again, really watch the dust.
* One more experience item: the V700 does NOT scan all the way to the left edge or the bottom edge of the glass there seems to be a small gap near those 2 edges that is not scanned. (It does scan all the way to the top and right-hand edges.) I learned this the hard way when I was scanning prints. I started off by placing 4 6 prints on the glass for each scan, pushing each up to one of the edges to keep it squarely aligned. Eventually I noticed that I was missing a bit on a few of the edges, which I traced back to this problem. All works fine if you are aware of this issue.
Sigma 8mm f/3.5 EX DG Circular Fisheye Lens for Canon SLR Cameras
List Price: $1,230.00
Sale Price: $799.00
Today's Bonus: 35% Off
I got mine about a month ago and am just back from 10 days in Italy, where I used this extensively.
Sharp, good flare control, lots of fun. The previous reviewer says something about the AF being slow-which, while true, is only half the story. You're almost always going to be focusing at or near infinity, so it's actually very rare to have to wait. Because this lens has such wide depth of field, I actually usually keep it on manual focus and leave it near infinity.
Actually, the biggest challenge with this lens is composition-it can be surprisingly hard to find a scene with interesting things in all directions. That said, this lens is *excellent* for inside buildings and crowded city streets. Be aware that outdoors, finding the correct exposure can be difficult for a number of reasons. I did significantly better in M (manual) mode than my camera was doing in A (aperture) mode. (reasons for difficulty include the dark corners in the frame which mess up the camera's metering in some modes, and the probability that the sun will be in the frame and/or there will be both very light and very dark areas in the frame)
This lens is excellent for making spherical panoramas, and for realllllly wide angle shots (I'm de-fishing a lot of my pictures with software).
(I use this lens with a Canon 10D)
Fujifilm FinePix HS30EXR Digital Camera
List Price: $429.95
Sale Price: $402.94
Today's Bonus: 6% Off
PREFACE: This review is primarily intended for Point & Shoot types. I do not delve into MANUAL adjustments, nor do I have any interest in that. I want something that will take good pics without undue hassle and is convenient to take on travel.
Well, after a fairly long wait for Fujifilm to release the HS-30, mine arrived this afternoon. I charged the li-on battery (no more four AAs) and took it outside to take around ten test shots. They turned out perfectly. I had the HS-10 ... then HS-20 before this latest incarnation, and really liked both cameras. I've no doubts I'll like this one at least, if not more, than the previous HS-20. You can read all the specs, etc., so I won't get into that. Physically, the electronic viewfinder and LCD are sharp, clear, and bright and I do detect that slight shortening of the flash unit, which protruded a bit annoyingly on the HS-20. Thus, no problem at all focusing with the manual lens (which I love). I also did not detect the lag one experienced between shots with the HS-20. Now, again, I just received the thing and only took some ten shots ... but I was very happy with the shots. Since mine is the first review, it remains to be seen if problems, such as the overheating warning with the past early editions of the HS-20 produced, will come along as others get their cameras and put them to use. I hope to get out there tomorrow and run this thing through its paces. If anything untoward happens, I will certainly advise. The HS-30, like the HS-20, sure beats the heck out of having to stop to change cumbersome lenses for differing shots/scenes! Additionally, it all fits into a nice/compact Case Logic case, no more lugging around all that other "stuff" in backpacks, etc. :-) In closing, my background is strictly amateur photography. I've no aspirations in becoming a pro. The pics I take are for my own enjoyment, and it ends there. Speaking only for myself, I do believe photography should be fun, not a hassle. I've had the Canon 7D and the 60D, with all the "L" lenses, so I do "know my way around the block" a bit. This is not to say I think this bridge camera takes the place of DSLRs for professional use, certainly not. Enjoy your HS-30, and please do post your experiences so we can all benefit. :-)
ADDED: March 15, 2012: Took the camera out to my favorite park and ran it through its paces. There was a slight ... slight ... delay between some shots at the park, but no delay when taking pics indoors and other environments. Not a problem for me. I took 52 pictures, and except for two, they were absolutely perfect, and those two were probably my fault. The zoom works fine, no problems. The LCD is also excellent, though I prefer taking my shots via the viewfinder. Lastly: I am a huge fan of POST PROCESSING any pictures I take, be it with a DSLR or the HS-30. I have a MAC and use APERTURE 3, and Aperture 3 makes a notable difference in getting pictures to look the way I want them (that "finishing touch"). If you're using a Windows machine, you might want to look into software packages designed to work with digital pictures.
SUMMATION: Realizing this camera is NOT a DSLR, I would buy it again in a heartbeat. It felt so nice to walk around the park this morning without lugging along a bag filled with heavy lenses. And the resulting pictures more than satisfy me.
ADDED: 3-20: Having had this camera since last week, and having taken a lot of shots with it, I can say I take nothing back: it was worth buying. I am speaking strictly from a Point & Shoot perspective here. If one is looking for all the bells and whistles of a DSLR, then get a DSLR, or you're probably gonna be frustrated. Reiterating: though quite advanced for a P&S, this camera, in the end, is NOT a DSLR.
ADDED/CONCLUSION: 5-2-12: I've now had the HS-30 for about 1.5 months and have used it extensively. I even took it on the annual trek to Las Vegas a bit over a week ago, and it performed flawlessly. If anything, I would draw the prospective buyer's attention to ACTION photography. I would NOT expect this to behave like a DSLR in this respect, OK? You CAN get a sequence using CONTINUOUS MODE, but I found using a DSLR in this respect (action shots of moving subjects) much more satisfying. Taking shots of static objects however, this camera has worked excellently. I note the price keeps dropping on what they were asking initially for the camera. I think it's a great bargain if you're in the market for a great Point and Shoot camera.
Sony DSC-W730 16.1 MP Digital Camera with 2.7-Inch LCD (Silver)
List Price: $139.99
Sale Price: $88.00
Today's Bonus: 37% Off
Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program The DSC-W730 contains a 16.1 megapixel sensor in the 1/2.3" format (about 28 square millimeters, smaller than a fingernail). The obvious drawback here is noise. The more pixels you cram into a small area, the more digital noise that will be evident in the resulting file. On its own, that's a reduction in quality that negates the need for such a dense sensor; who cares about the extra megapixels if you're not getting any more actual information, just noise? All it's doing is filling up your hard drive faster. In the case of the DSC-W730, you're talking about around 6.5MB per image. You'll even hit the limits of the optics well before 16.1 megapixels, so there's absolutely no reason (other than marketing) for Sony to put such a sensor in this camera.
Unfortunately, they did it anyway. And probably because of the increased sensor noise, they decided to really crank up that in-camera noise reduction. It looks awful, and it's evident at all ISO settings. This NR cannot be reduced or defeated. It's there for good, and it's even noticeable when viewing an image on my computer at 50% of its original size. Of course, the higher the ISO, the more destructive they get with the noise reduction, which just makes matters worse. The issues are somewhat less noticeable when shooting low ISO outdoors with the lens at its widest setting. In fact, in that specific scenario I'd say the image quality is pretty good. Once you change any of those parameters though, you start to see more problems.
The lens is an 8x optical (25-224mm in 35mm terms) lens, f/3.3 at the wide end and f/6.3 at the tele end. In other words, slow and dark. You will almost always need to use the flash indoors, especially if you're zooming in at all. Autofocus indoors with zoom is spotty at best and generally takes a couple of seconds to lock on to something (if it can lock onto anything at all). Sony attempted to combat this by adding a retina-frying orange LED as an AF-assist lamp, but while it might occasionally increase the odds of getting good focus on a subject indoors, it doesn't really seem to speed the process up at all. Outdoors (and sometimes indoors with the lens zoomed out all the way), the camera locks focus much quicker (around half a second).
In the majority of cases, indoor flash photos are exposed pretty accurately. Outdoors without flash, I noticed in many cases the camera underexposed by 1/2 to 1 stop, and sometimes even more underexposed that that when trying to shoot indoors without flash (especially when zoomed in at all). Combined with the existing noise from the ISO setting and the very heavy handed application of NR, trying to bring up the exposure of those ambient light indoor shots to normal levels is going to increase the shadow noise quite a bit. It's not pretty.
The build quality is about what I'd expect from a low-end compact in this price range, entirely plastic. It may not be particularly confidence inspiring, but for the most part it seems pretty solid. It's small and light enough to carry easily in a pocket. I'm not a huge fan of the shutter button though, which has no distinct half-press. It's there, but you can't really tell when you've gotten there like you can with most cameras. You just sort of rest your finger on it with some light pressure.
There are a couple of interesting features, such as a panorama mode that operates similar to that of a phone camera -rather than taking several shots and stitching them, it does a panning style capture. There's a "smile detection" mode, which I admit was fun for a couple of minutes. When engaged (there's a shortcut button on the camera for it so you don't need to dig into the menus to turn it on) it actively searches out a smiling face. When it sees one, it automatically takes a picture. I'm not sure how it works with groups (do they all need to be smiling, or just one?) but regardless I think the novelty won't last long with that feature.
My suggestion? Honestly, if you're determined to find a camera in this price range and you can't save your pennies for something better, I'd recommend looking at the used/refurb market. For example, top-of-the-line Canon Powershot SD cameras from late 2009 were about the same size and weight as this DSC-W730, around 12 megapixels (still more than enough for any camera this size), built like small tanks, with better optics and overall better image quality. These days even those high-end models can be bought for less than this camera. A quick search shows that an excellent condition Canon Powershot SD980 IS can be had for around $60-$80 (or refurbished by Canon for $129 which I think includes a warranty) and that was the best, most expensive Powershot SD model of its time. It even has a big touchscreen display.
Apple Certified Lightning to USB cable (3.2 Feet) Made
List Price: $29.99
Sale Price: $16.90
Today's Bonus: 44% Off
I paid a little more for this cable than others because it had good reviews and because a previous one I ordered from another company stopped working with USB almost immediately. This cable worked flawlessly with the wall charger and USB charging/synching--for just over a month. Then it just stopped working no USB or wall charging at all. So I emailed the seller expecting service consistent with the initial quality of their product.
Their first response? Can't return it because it has been used.
Second response: Can't exchange it because you've used it for more than 30 days.
Third response: Would I be interested in purchasing another cable from them at a lower price...
Fourth response: (to my request to either get a refund or a replacement product)? 9/11/13 update got another response back from customer service "As stated on the USPS tracking number, the item was delivered August 1st. We will not be able to accept returns after 30 days."
Fifth response: (to my final request to get a refund or replacement. "Dear Customer, We will not be able to perform a refund or replacement. This has passed our 14 days guarantee deadline. Sincerely, Cusmer Support"
If you are lucky, you MAY receive a quality cable from this seller, one that continues to work for a long period of time. But if you get a crappy product like I did, DO NOT EXPECT ANY SORT OF DECENT CUSTOMER SERVICE FROM THEM. They should not be allowed to sell products on Amazon.com.
Nikon 18-105MM F3.5-5.6 AF-S DX VR ED Nikkor DSLR Lens + Giottos
plastic mounting = dissapointment. The rest = thumbs up. Very good image quality. Not as heavy as the 18-200 mm lens. A very good overall do it all lens.
Sigma 24-60mm f/2.8 EX DG IF Aspherical Wide Angle Zoom Lens
First I really wish people would post reviews for only Canon copies of this lens since the copies for Nikon and other bodies can not be properly compared. I purchased this lens to use as a walk around lens in place of a more expensive 24-70 L lens. No, this lens is not as well built and it is not as fast to focus as the L, but you should not expect it to either. The lens is a good value for the price you will pay, and it beats the heck out of worrying about someone stealing your L lens when you travel. I did require two copies in order to receive a "good" copy of this lens, the first copy shipped to my door had a nasty front focus issue. The company I purchased the lens from did however take the lens back and replace it with another copy that worked very well with no real issues to speak of. The pictures I obtain with this lens are very nice, and for trips and general photography will make most users very happy. If your looking for a lens to use for special events such as weddings however, this is not the lens to use. The focus is very slow compared to an L lens and sometimes has a habit of hunting a little bit. Overall though, a nice value based lens and with a 2.8 aperture hard to beat for what you pay.
Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Medium Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR
October 2006 Update:
I thought I owed this Lens review an update after shooting with it for almost a couple of years and having the pleasure of shooting with a variety of L Lenses: 70-200L, 16-35L, Fisheye, 50mm and the Kit lens. This is what I've found:
1) Bar none, the best "portrait" lens I own. There's just something about this 85mm focal length + f/1.8 that brings out detail....faces have so much dimension with this lens, they look 3 dimensional. When I want to get shots of my daughter that amaze, I use this lens. When I look at my picture archive on my computer, I can easily spot the ones taken with this 85mm. My friends, some of which who don't know much about photography, pick pictures taken with this lens as their favorites they ask wow how did you get that picture? I have a few blown up pictures to 16x20 and 11x14 of my daughter for my parents from this lens which are magnificent.
2) I thought that when I bought my 70-200L I would never use my 85mm again, I was wrong. I routinely find myself putting on the 85mm and shooting pictures with it. Also, Its much lighter and less imposing than my 70-200L so when I just want amazing portraits, don't need the higher 200mm and don't want the weight, and want a real shallow depth of feel and out of focus backgrounds, I go for the 85mm.
3) I also have a 16-35mm L which I use quite a bit for inside shots and panoramas which stays on my camera most of the time but there's just a special look to the longer mm rating that you get which makes portraits just work better with the 85mm so when I take off the 16-35, I usually mount this 85mm.
4) I really thought that between the 16-35mm L and the 70-200L, I'd never ever use the 85mm, I was wrong. There are wonderful advantages to this lens which make it a keeper for me....the construction on this lens has held up very well, after years it looks brand new. I do have a UV/Haze filter that I use as a protector I got from Amazon (about $25) great value.
There's allot to be said for a non "L" lens which consistently winds up on my camera when I own several "L"s which cover the mm of this lens. To me, its an L: built like an L, color and saturation comparable to an L It's my "L" lens that doesn't have a red stripe.
Original Review:
I bought a 20D recently with the 18-55mm kit lens and to start out I bought a 50mm f/1.8 lens which really got me interested in the faster f/stops to blur backgrounds and take pictures in lower light. My kit lens was not fast enough (hard to blur background and hard to take pictures in low light) and both the kit lens and 50mm lens did not have Ultrasonic which made me miss focus more often with moving targets.
I looked quite a bit and found the 85mm f/1.8 lens. Although Amazon only had a few reviews, the photography forums I found were buzzing about how this lens should've been labeled an L lens. Pros might know why but 90% of the reviews I read said it was comparable to an L lens in quality and that it was very affordable.
I bought this lens and I have to tell you, I was very impressed with it right from the start. On construction, its heavier than the kit lens and the plastic 50mm II lens. It has a metal mount and very solid construction. If you look through it you can see allot of glass which tells you it has a wide aperture and consequently its much heavier than the kit lens or 50mm lens. But...its heavy in a good way. It balances the camera and makes it look like a real camera.
So what's good about this lens? For one, you can take great pictures in low light with the f/1.8. I photographed a stage play handheld with this lens and no flash (non allowed) and I got tremendous results. Ultrasonic helped with every picture in focus and all very sharp with vibrant colors, very nice saturation, and I used ISO 400 and I could even freeze the action on stage.
As a portrait lens, it really can blow the backgrounds into a very nice buttery blokeh and with the Ultrasonic I haven't missed focus once. Its also wonderful for inside pictures with no flash. The F/1.8 is really versatile.
A few notes. If you're going to get a 70-200 L zoom lens, you might wind up not using this lens as much but for parties, its allot less intimidating than a big white lens. I hear this lens was designed a long time ago and not really designed for digital and that some strange effects can be seen with it on digitals. I have not gone looking nor experienced any of these. Its just a tremendous value at $350. I was not able to use this lens as a macro as it was not designed as such but I have thought of putting an extension tube on it to see what I get but haven't done so yet.
Constructed Solid. Solid feel, smooth focusing ring, distance window, autofocus with a real Ring USM. Five Stars! Amazon shipped fast on this for me Great store.
I thought I owed this Lens review an update after shooting with it for almost a couple of years and having the pleasure of shooting with a variety of L Lenses: 70-200L, 16-35L, Fisheye, 50mm and the Kit lens. This is what I've found:
1) Bar none, the best "portrait" lens I own. There's just something about this 85mm focal length + f/1.8 that brings out detail....faces have so much dimension with this lens, they look 3 dimensional. When I want to get shots of my daughter that amaze, I use this lens. When I look at my picture archive on my computer, I can easily spot the ones taken with this 85mm. My friends, some of which who don't know much about photography, pick pictures taken with this lens as their favorites they ask wow how did you get that picture? I have a few blown up pictures to 16x20 and 11x14 of my daughter for my parents from this lens which are magnificent.
2) I thought that when I bought my 70-200L I would never use my 85mm again, I was wrong. I routinely find myself putting on the 85mm and shooting pictures with it. Also, Its much lighter and less imposing than my 70-200L so when I just want amazing portraits, don't need the higher 200mm and don't want the weight, and want a real shallow depth of feel and out of focus backgrounds, I go for the 85mm.
3) I also have a 16-35mm L which I use quite a bit for inside shots and panoramas which stays on my camera most of the time but there's just a special look to the longer mm rating that you get which makes portraits just work better with the 85mm so when I take off the 16-35, I usually mount this 85mm.
4) I really thought that between the 16-35mm L and the 70-200L, I'd never ever use the 85mm, I was wrong. There are wonderful advantages to this lens which make it a keeper for me....the construction on this lens has held up very well, after years it looks brand new. I do have a UV/Haze filter that I use as a protector I got from Amazon (about $25) great value.
There's allot to be said for a non "L" lens which consistently winds up on my camera when I own several "L"s which cover the mm of this lens. To me, its an L: built like an L, color and saturation comparable to an L It's my "L" lens that doesn't have a red stripe.
Original Review:
I bought a 20D recently with the 18-55mm kit lens and to start out I bought a 50mm f/1.8 lens which really got me interested in the faster f/stops to blur backgrounds and take pictures in lower light. My kit lens was not fast enough (hard to blur background and hard to take pictures in low light) and both the kit lens and 50mm lens did not have Ultrasonic which made me miss focus more often with moving targets.
I looked quite a bit and found the 85mm f/1.8 lens. Although Amazon only had a few reviews, the photography forums I found were buzzing about how this lens should've been labeled an L lens. Pros might know why but 90% of the reviews I read said it was comparable to an L lens in quality and that it was very affordable.
I bought this lens and I have to tell you, I was very impressed with it right from the start. On construction, its heavier than the kit lens and the plastic 50mm II lens. It has a metal mount and very solid construction. If you look through it you can see allot of glass which tells you it has a wide aperture and consequently its much heavier than the kit lens or 50mm lens. But...its heavy in a good way. It balances the camera and makes it look like a real camera.
So what's good about this lens? For one, you can take great pictures in low light with the f/1.8. I photographed a stage play handheld with this lens and no flash (non allowed) and I got tremendous results. Ultrasonic helped with every picture in focus and all very sharp with vibrant colors, very nice saturation, and I used ISO 400 and I could even freeze the action on stage.
As a portrait lens, it really can blow the backgrounds into a very nice buttery blokeh and with the Ultrasonic I haven't missed focus once. Its also wonderful for inside pictures with no flash. The F/1.8 is really versatile.
A few notes. If you're going to get a 70-200 L zoom lens, you might wind up not using this lens as much but for parties, its allot less intimidating than a big white lens. I hear this lens was designed a long time ago and not really designed for digital and that some strange effects can be seen with it on digitals. I have not gone looking nor experienced any of these. Its just a tremendous value at $350. I was not able to use this lens as a macro as it was not designed as such but I have thought of putting an extension tube on it to see what I get but haven't done so yet.
Constructed Solid. Solid feel, smooth focusing ring, distance window, autofocus with a real Ring USM. Five Stars! Amazon shipped fast on this for me Great store.
Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM SLR Lens for EOS Digital SLRs
This package is fantastic. It contains several items you need that do not come with a basic camera purchase or an upgraded camera & Lens purchase. The lens is a Cannon product that works great and is scored high in many reviews.
Bose® CineMate® 1 SR Digital Home Theater Speaker System
I purchased the Bose Sound Bar as an alternative to a 5.1 Surround System. Candidly, I had gotten to the point where form became more important than function. Yes, the purest of audiophiles will tell you that a soundbar just can't emulate true surround sound and they might be right. But that wasn't important to me. I wanted a clean/professional look, without wires, that could deliver excellent quality sound.
After three days of use, I highlighted the following:
Pros:
Very easy to set-up and install.
Beautiful look, compact, and unassuming.
Powerful room filling sound (think Avatar).
Nice to have a Bose product sitting in front of the TV.
Cons:
Cost a little on the high side for some people.
All in, I felt really good about my purchase. That said, after more regular use, watching TV and Movies, I started to notice one important weakness in the unit that troubled me:
The unit does an incredible job of projecting background sounds that you never would have heard through normal TV speakers. Honestly, it takes your viewing experience to a whole new level. However, human voices DO NOT project out nearly enough to compete with other sounds coming from the soundbar. As a result, I found myself constantly turning the volume on the unit higher to hear what they were saying. Of course, this also increases the ambient sounds also. Without even realizing it, both my wife and I found ourselves commenting that we had to keep the volume up so much that it began to make our ears ring (for context, we are not old farts complaining we are in our 30s!). Doing so, also resulted in a constant game of volume up/down during certain scenes.
Secondly, and to the same point, the Bose focus on simplicity is actually a drawback, as there aren't any settings that let you adjust the mix of sounds to solve for this issue. The only option is to increase/decrease the volume and base.
One might think that you could use a combination of the TV speakers and the soundbar, but there is a split second difference between the two making an even worse echo sound.
After one week of use, we are already finding excuses not to use it. Disappointing, considering my love for Bose products and the investment I made in the unit. Bottom line: Know what you are getting in to. If I could to it all over, I would not have purchased this product.
After three days of use, I highlighted the following:
Pros:
Very easy to set-up and install.
Beautiful look, compact, and unassuming.
Powerful room filling sound (think Avatar).
Nice to have a Bose product sitting in front of the TV.
Cons:
Cost a little on the high side for some people.
All in, I felt really good about my purchase. That said, after more regular use, watching TV and Movies, I started to notice one important weakness in the unit that troubled me:
The unit does an incredible job of projecting background sounds that you never would have heard through normal TV speakers. Honestly, it takes your viewing experience to a whole new level. However, human voices DO NOT project out nearly enough to compete with other sounds coming from the soundbar. As a result, I found myself constantly turning the volume on the unit higher to hear what they were saying. Of course, this also increases the ambient sounds also. Without even realizing it, both my wife and I found ourselves commenting that we had to keep the volume up so much that it began to make our ears ring (for context, we are not old farts complaining we are in our 30s!). Doing so, also resulted in a constant game of volume up/down during certain scenes.
Secondly, and to the same point, the Bose focus on simplicity is actually a drawback, as there aren't any settings that let you adjust the mix of sounds to solve for this issue. The only option is to increase/decrease the volume and base.
One might think that you could use a combination of the TV speakers and the soundbar, but there is a split second difference between the two making an even worse echo sound.
After one week of use, we are already finding excuses not to use it. Disappointing, considering my love for Bose products and the investment I made in the unit. Bottom line: Know what you are getting in to. If I could to it all over, I would not have purchased this product.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7-Inch Student Edition (White)
I wish that I could post without rating. This is a really good deal. I'd rather have just the tablet and without the extras, but since my wife uses our current tablet in the kitchen when she's cooking to look up recipes, the keyboard is a very welcome addition.
* Both of these devices are about the same size, and same weight.
* -The Nexus totes a quad core processor, whereas the Tab 2 7 has a dual core processor. You will have to do some research on whether or not this means anything to you, or to what you're going to use it for. If you have 4 wheel drive on your truck, and never intend on using it, why did you spend the extra money for 4WD?
* -The Nexus has Jellybean 4.1 OS, whereas the Tab 2 7 has Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.
* -Both carry sizable batteries, with the Nexus having just over 4325 mah, and the Tab 2 7 having 4000.
* -Both have front facing cameras, but the Tab 2 7 has a rear facing camera. This can be a big deal when using android apps that use the camera as a barcode scanner for the QR code that you see in magazines and such. Controlling where to center the image of the QR when you can't see your display is quite difficult.
* -Both have nice displays, and if you're into specs... Tab 2 7 has a PLS LCD with 1,024 x 600 pixels and Nexus has an IPS LCD with "720p-ready" 1,280 x 800 pixels.
* -Nexus 7 has Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and WiFi with the Tab 2 7 having only Bluetooth 3.0, WiFi... no NFC.
* -The Tab 2 7 has an IR port. Though InfraRed has mostly gone the wayside, it is still used for a lot of TV's, and entertainment center electronics, so the theory here is that while you're couch surfing that you can also control you entertainment center. (added after a followup comment. Thanks Bob)
... and I saved the best for last. Memory.
* -The Nexus 7 does NOT have an expandable memory slot. This means that you only ever get 8 or 16 GB of memory, internal to the device. Whereas the Tab 2 7 is 8 GB internal; with about half dedicated to the OS, but... and it's a big but... you can take a 32GB card and expand the usability of the product in an offline mode to a grand level higher than the Nexus 7 because it does NOT have a slot for any memory card. If your product dies, and you have important data on the Nexus, it may be considered lost forever unless you're backing up to the cloud. But you can do that with the Tab 2 7 as well, AND have a local copy to throw into an adapter and pull up on your PC in an instant.
Just my two cents on the two units, but you should also see which way I'm leaning. My cursor is hovering over the button to purchase the unit today. It's not about which unit to get, it's about wanting to spend the money on this deal or not.
* Both of these devices are about the same size, and same weight.
* -The Nexus totes a quad core processor, whereas the Tab 2 7 has a dual core processor. You will have to do some research on whether or not this means anything to you, or to what you're going to use it for. If you have 4 wheel drive on your truck, and never intend on using it, why did you spend the extra money for 4WD?
* -The Nexus has Jellybean 4.1 OS, whereas the Tab 2 7 has Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.
* -Both carry sizable batteries, with the Nexus having just over 4325 mah, and the Tab 2 7 having 4000.
* -Both have front facing cameras, but the Tab 2 7 has a rear facing camera. This can be a big deal when using android apps that use the camera as a barcode scanner for the QR code that you see in magazines and such. Controlling where to center the image of the QR when you can't see your display is quite difficult.
* -Both have nice displays, and if you're into specs... Tab 2 7 has a PLS LCD with 1,024 x 600 pixels and Nexus has an IPS LCD with "720p-ready" 1,280 x 800 pixels.
* -Nexus 7 has Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and WiFi with the Tab 2 7 having only Bluetooth 3.0, WiFi... no NFC.
* -The Tab 2 7 has an IR port. Though InfraRed has mostly gone the wayside, it is still used for a lot of TV's, and entertainment center electronics, so the theory here is that while you're couch surfing that you can also control you entertainment center. (added after a followup comment. Thanks Bob)
... and I saved the best for last. Memory.
* -The Nexus 7 does NOT have an expandable memory slot. This means that you only ever get 8 or 16 GB of memory, internal to the device. Whereas the Tab 2 7 is 8 GB internal; with about half dedicated to the OS, but... and it's a big but... you can take a 32GB card and expand the usability of the product in an offline mode to a grand level higher than the Nexus 7 because it does NOT have a slot for any memory card. If your product dies, and you have important data on the Nexus, it may be considered lost forever unless you're backing up to the cloud. But you can do that with the Tab 2 7 as well, AND have a local copy to throw into an adapter and pull up on your PC in an instant.
Just my two cents on the two units, but you should also see which way I'm leaning. My cursor is hovering over the button to purchase the unit today. It's not about which unit to get, it's about wanting to spend the money on this deal or not.