Yamaha CD-C600BL 5-Disc CD Changer (Black)

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $379.95
Sale Price: $318.99
Today's Bonus: 16% Off

Bought the Yamaha CD-C600BL as a replacement for currently offered Denon DCM-390 5-Disc changer which I listened to everyday for 2 years. The Denon, while excellent, is bested by this Yamaha in most ways. However, the differences in sound quality between these two players, while discernible, are less than 5% according to my ears. That being said, I would characterize the Yamaha as being fuller in the bass and smoother in the vocals and highs than the Denon. Additionally I would say the Yamaha has slightly better timing and cohesion of sound staging. The only thing the Denon has going for it that the Yamaha doesn't is the HDCD decoder which isn't a big deal because few discs are recorded with the HDCD embedded code that allows a 20-bit resolution playback.

My office stereo system is a pair of Wharfedale Diamond Standmount speakers, with a Yamaha RX-797 100watt receiver with high quality interconnects & bi-wired speaker cable. I play jazz, new age, pop, vocals, etc all day long as I am a massage therapist. When you listen to music all day long as I do, that 5% difference in sound quality makes a big difference in taking the edge off listening fatigue--I really appreciate it.

Functionally, the Yamaha's changing mechanism is faster, quieter, and more graceful changing discs than the Denon. I disagree with one reviewer who thinks this player is slow. All the 5 Disc changers are sloooooow. This one is relatively fast in my estimation. The Yamaha remote could be a little better: The disc skip and the track skip are quite a distance apart and the labeling is small for my 46 yr. old eyes.

The really, really, big deal about this Yamaha is the front panel MP3 player USB port! This was the feature that sold me. I can load 300 cd's converted to MP3's loss-less format onto my iPod Nano (16Gigabytes) and enjoy a cd quality playback without ever having to change a single cd in the changer. The Yamaha takes the data from the Ipod without using the Ipod's inferior DAC/amp/preamp circuits and uses instead the cd player's superior DAC (digital-to-analog converter)for playback. The Ipod is fully a high fidelity component in my system! My how times are a changing.

This piece of equipment is a delight at the Amazon price. I got it sent overnight for a mere $4 shipping upgrade with Amazon's free 30-day trial offer: Free second-day-air-for-a-year-program for $70 per year. Heck, the clerk at FedX told me it would have cost approximately $100 to overnight this shipment. I got my money's worth in the first shipment so now it's free 2nd day air for a whole year anytime I order through Amazon. What a bargain! I'm thrilled all the way around. I highly recommended this Yamaha CD player and Amazon. Thank you Yamaha!

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Sony HDR-AX2000 Handycam HDV Camcorder + Sony 32GB Class 10

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $3,600.99
Sale Price: $3,498.00
Today's Bonus: 3% Off

Shortly after I bought this camera, (Sony AX-2000) I bagan to have trouble with it. As I was recording, it would just suddenly stop, and go dead. I would have to turn the camera off, turn it back on, and then go through a recovery routine to recover what I had recorded...... what a HUGE pain!

This problem got progressively worse, doing it more and more often, until I finally decided I couldn't stand it any more. I called Sony (getting to a human being was VERY difficult), and the lady gave me instructions to send the camera to Precision Camera in Connecticut, as they handle Sony's warranty issues. She told me they would either repair the camera, or send me a new one.

I paid $63 to ship the camera to their warranty center, and they finally checked it into their system 6 days after it arrived there. Precision Camera has a web page where you can monitor the progress of your camera, and after about 5 more days, there was a message there that said "Waiting on Entitlement". I called to check on it, and discovered that I had to pay the labor charge for them to check the camera out. I then discovered that Sony's warranty on labor was only 90 days, and I had sent the camera at about 100 days after I bought it. (Only 90 days!!!! Shame on me for not reading Sony's warranty policy more closely). I gave them my credit card for $150 labor.

About a week later, the Precision Camera web site message changed over to "Ordered Parts". I called to learn that they had to order the replacement parts from Sony, and Sony had backordered them.

At this point, I was fed up with the entire process, so I called Sony back and requested that they send me a new camera. Over several days of trying to talk with someone at Sony that would help me, I got bounced around to people in the Dominican Republic, and the Phillipines. I could never connect with anyone in the U.S. The last person I talked to (located in the Phillipines) instructed me to contact Precision Camera, have them send the camera back to me, and then resend the camera to the Sony repair center in Laredo, Texas so they can check the camera out (and of course I get to pay the shipping on all this). At this point I just gave up. Precision Camera still has my camera, I paid $63 to get it to them and $150 to authorize their labor charge, and I have no idea when I will get it back. I have had to just forget my plans for videoing our Christmas celebration this year.

I will NEVER buy another Sony product as long as I live!!

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Panasonic VIERA TC-P65ST30 65-Inch 1080p 120Hz 3D Plasma HDTV

Customer Ratings:

To preface this I have had 2 P50ST30s (one replacement because of the problems I will talk about below) and Amazon was awesome with the whole return and replacement. One of the best companies I have dealt with. This is a very long review as I would like you to understand what you are buying beforehand.

ALL VERSIONS OF PANASONIC 2011 TVs ARE EXHIBITING THIS PROBLEM.

I was excited when I first set up my TV and took the time to age the phosphors in the TV for 150 hours by running slides (a step that can be skipped but the phosphors degrade in the first 100 hours faster than the rest of it's life). I set up the blu-ray player and after dialing in the settings it looked awesome. Then the brightness fluctuations happened.

The best way I can explain brightness fluctuations ( Fluctuating Brightness or FBr) is will be a leap in lighting. When you have a dark scene the whole picture will darken some to give more detail to a shadowed area. It is necessary to give great picture quality in any plasma. Normally what will happen is that it will gradually fade into darker or lighter, this TV does it all in one step. A drastic comparison would be a pitch black room where you turn a light on vs turning a dimmer light on gradually. What you see on the screen is picture that will switch from dark to lighter. It is most noticeable when you have 2 scenes switching back and forth (think dialogue between 2 characters where it switches between ones face to the other) and one scene is darker than the other. You can easily see this in the movie Hereafter around minute 40.

This problem is exacerbated by a delay in the video processing of the switch between darker scenes and lighter scenes. In almost all video they will have scenes cut and pasted together. When this happens the lighting usually will change for various reasons. When the scenes cut from one to another this TV will take about 0.5-1 second to process the lighting difference to adjust to give more detail to shadowed areas. Given that it does it in one leap as mentioned above, it severely distracts you from watching the movie and enjoying it.

Darker Movies will usually bring out these symptoms to it's max. When I went to watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, I came to the point where I started counting the fluctuations instead of watching the movie. I counted 56 total in one watching. My wife didn't watch HP with me but she commented on it while watching Castle a few times, then more and more on other shows.

The reviews are definitely favorable as it has a great picture quality without doubt. Most professional reviewers mention fluctuating brightness problem, but gloss over it. Why they did I am not sure. It seems that some sets show this dramatically, while others don't. My first one (the one I counted 56 fluctuations on for HP) I would say was very bad compared to a slightly less worse one that I got the second time around. I re watched HP on the second one to see if I could just enjoy the movie, got to the point I started counting again and only counter 32 which were more tame but still easy to spot without even looking for them. To make sure it just wasn't me seeing things because I knew when they were, I made (yes she wasn't to happy about it) her watch Tron with me. We first started Tron in 2d and she saw it some; then I popped in the 3d disc and she was pointing it out in every other scene.

I placed a complaint with US Panasonic as this was unacceptable, trying to explain it the best as I am now. I was walked through changing multiple settings (CATS off, trying all modes, changing contrast and all other settings, using 3 different HDMI cables along with composite and component cables) with nothing relieving the issue. Their response was that this is a feature of the TV and that it was working properly. Some of their exact words in the email I later received were " the picture dimming (fluctuating brightness) is negligible and should be considered within the TV's design specification."

In Spain a gentleman Documented this for Panasonic to prove that something was wrong. If you would like to see how bad this is; there has been a video posted by a member of a great forum for high def junkies that shows this instance (Google " VT30 hereafter " and it will show in the youtube vids) if you would like to see exactly what I am talking about. The TV here was the VT series which is Panasonic's flagship model and cost well over $1,200 of this TV.

Since the posting of the above video Spain got a firmware update to 1.520. The same person posted the exact same scene with the same setup which you can also view by clicking on his name or clicking on it on the right hand side. It eliminates this problem, since then Europe Panasonic have acknowledged that there is something that they are looking into (circumventing saying there is a problem). But US Panasonic calls this a feature that is working as intended. Unlike US Panasonic which I have opened 2 cases with them about this problem, one for both TVs, and just receive it's a feature of the TV which is working properly...

I am hoping that this is heeded as a warning to many as I feel terrible about Amazon being outstanding in it's Customer Service trying to rectify what is obviously not their fault. I am a man that researches any large purchase to the T to try to avoid these problems. I weighed my options and since the professional reviewers either made no mention of this problem or said it was a minor problem; I decided to buy this Panasonic. I post this in hopes that those that do their research won't feel gypped as I do.

If you would like to read more comments a Facebook page was created in hope that it would have an effect as it did with Sony. It is on facebook under "My 2011 Panasonic TV is Defective".

UPDATE 7/26 : Various Panasonic emails have said that there will be an announcement this Wednesday 7/27. Also a A reliable higher up in Panasonic NA has said that there is a FW that will be aimed at fixing "panel dimming" very soon (this term has a different meaning then Fluctuating Brightness, but all other FW fixes in Europe that fixed the FBr were released to fix another problem). This could or could not be a fix to the above problems, but hopefully putting 2 and 2 together means we will be getting a FW fix this Wednesday. Whether this is a fix to the above problems or not remains to be seen. Since I published this report it has been confirmed that all European models are now shipped with the Firmware that fixes FBr, while here in NA it hasn't been addressed. Here is to hoping for a statement Wednesday.

*UPDATE* 8/6/11 : First there has been no true announcement from Panasonic NA as of yet. But after getting all the data collected and sent forward to the engineers (yes many people that owned the TV put in this work), the engineers were able to replicate the problem. Since then there is now a patch. This is not a Firmware update, instead it changes other "software" in the TV like the EEPROM. Since it is not strictly a Firmware update they cannot simply have your tv download it from the internet like normal. It REQUIRES, at least as of right now, a tech to come out to install it on your TV.

Note that this fix has been confirmed to be loaded on TVs coming from the factory now. When this change occurred I cannot tell you neither can anyone that you can talk to, so please do not hound amazon, Panasonic or any other retailer. I assume the earliest we will see TVs with this update will be very late July produced TVs if not August. If you decide to buy a TV from Amazon please just allow them to come out and patch the TV instead of sending it back. If you send it back Amazon has to eat the shipping and this is one company that tries it's hardest to help the customer. So please do not make them eat the cost or else they WILL eventually have to change the policies they have. It may take a few weeks to get the rep out, butit is worth it to allow amazon to keep its very lax and customer happiness driven CS.

Now onto the results :

I have had this patch on my TVs for 2 days now. I compiled a list of FBr material that was bad during the data collection phase before we passed this on to the Panasonic Engineers so I had a list prepared to test this afterward to see if it was fixed or not. Running through 20 of the worst scenes over 6 movies (Harry Potter Deathly Hallows 1, Tron, Casino Royale, Hereafter, Battlefield LA). In these movies I saw not 1 noticeable FBr ( I say noticeable because FBr is in the driving mechanism of this TV). I noticed only 1 instance of a small FBr in the movie The Rite, but it was under extreme circumstances (dark background to near white background with a shadowed face in a scene change). Besides that I also watched some streamed video (Master Chef, True Blood, Band of Brothers etc) and got the same results of no FBr. Gaming (Fallout 3, Dragon Age Origins and Gears of War 2) was also the same, no FBr.

Overall it fixed the problem almost completely, if not completely. This patch surpassed my expectations and Panasonic owned up and fixed a glaring problem. There have been 3 forum users that have this fix and posted about it. They all report the same thing.

If you have purchased this TV or any other Panasonic NA ST30, GT30 or VT30 and have the problems mentioned above please call 1-800-973-4390. This is Panasonic Concierge and this is the number that was requested to call by the engineers. Tell them you have Fluctuating Brightness. Low end techs have been sent a memo regarding this. Many are now receiving emails to set up appointments.

Because of this fix I have amended my score of the TV. For this price this TV is amazing. I reserved 5 stars for the Pioneer Kuro (the gold standard), 4 1/2 stars for the VT series and dk8000. This TV 4 stars is an undervaluation, but it is all I can do on here. Honestly it would be 4.25 taking into account the above TVs superiority. I cannot express how happy I am with this TV now that it is fixed.

****UPDATE 8/22/11****

They have a limited amount of panasonic qualified techs that can install the update via SD card and will NOT give out the SD card for local non-panasonic techs to install as it has proprietary software on it. To alleviate the problem they send a new a-board to local techs that has the patch preloaded. The tech can then come out and install the new a-board under warranty claim (all free to you).

It is a simple procedure and only takes 15 minutes. This a-board replacement doesn't void any warranty as it is done by Panasonic under Panasonic's warranty by a qualified tech.

*WARNING* the a-board swap AND the SD patch will wipe your calibration and the ISF day/night mode (ISF day/night is only available if you have the TV calibrated and the tech turns it on in the Service menu), if you had one done. If you decide to do either of the fixes I would suggest buying a backup program (like controlcal) to save your settings. You can then reload them after the patch. It has been noted by calibrators that after either of the fixes that you will get close to the same results with the old calibration, but they say you will need a touchup to gray scale and colors to be as accurate as possible.

From good sources it has been said that any August build TVs should have the fix pre-installed. Unfortunately the build date isn't on the outside of the box in the US. There is another way to check if it has been factory installed though. The 3-6 numbers in the serial number designate whether it has been fixed or not. These 4 numbers need to be 1215 or higher for the fix to be pre-installed. It will look like : xx1215xxxxxx .

Again if you order from Amazon, or any other online type store, they have no direct control on what comes out of the warehouse and you CANNOT request that it is an August build as they have no control on what goes out. If you want to be sure of what you get, you should buy local and specifically state you will only buy it if it meets those criteria.

The fix is easy enough to get that you should feel comfortable ordering this product. Don't order this product and expect a 1215. Instead order this product expecting to have the tech come out. You may get a set pre 1215 that has no FBr as about 50% of the people report that they have no problem without the patch or you may get a 1215 build, but you should go into it expecting what you will most likely get. Then anything else is a bonus. If you don't feel good about buying the TV and possibly getting a FBr one then I suggest not buying from online stores.

To those outside of the US. Panasonic divisions are completely separate as they use different components, different firmware etc so this fix is for US only. The US division is sharing this info with EU, Canada, Australia etc to try to get this problem fixed with those TVs also. The other countries are still in the beginning stages so don't expect them to be exactly where the US is as the other countries have to test, document, confirm, create a fix (using different components/software mean they just can't copy/paste the US fix to theirs) and then test the fix. I cannot give you an update on outside of US, but I would suggest that you make your voice heard by opening tickets and speaking out about the problem.

Lastly for those that do have the TV or those that are willing to buy the TV and get the fix after. Call up Panasonic Concierge at 1-800-973-4390 . Allow them to walk you through the steps they have and try them as it is possible that it could fix your problem. If they walk you through that and you still see the FBr they should have received info on how to push it to the next level. To make sure here is the Document that they can look up regarding this issue :

Service Hint ('A' Board replacement to fix the 'brightness fluctuation" in the ST30/GT30/VT30).

SH-B34-11-03-REV

A majority of this info is me simply condensing what many others have done to get this in place. Thanks go to the great people of highdefjunkies.com especially 3 in particular, D-Nice for his initial findings and universal knowledge; AVjunkie and Gotchaa who helped consolidate/voice our problems to the techs.

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Wacom Cintiq 12WX 12-Inch Pen Display

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $1,199.00
Sale Price: $1,049.00
Today's Bonus: 13% Off

At first glance, it's an amazing product. It's a great size, it's thin, bright, with nice buttons and a nice pen.

I just got mine and am using it to work with as a normal tablet (to control the cursor on my main screen), and also to work directly on and draw/paint.

I use a 21" Cintiq at work and also have a 6x8 Intuos 3 tablet that I used before getting this new 12" Cintiq.

The 12" Cintiq has a lot of flaws so much so that I think I may have to return it, which is really disappointing.

First. Though it's a "12-inch" screen, I'd say it's more like a 10". Why? Because when you move the cursor to the edges of the screen a little over an inch away from each border, the cursor starts to shake tremendously. This simply doesn't fly when you're trying to keep a steady hand and get a good line while drawing or painting. It's also very annoying when you're just trying to click on something in the menu bar at the top of the screen. The cursor looks like it's spazzing out and it's really hard to live with.

I think part of the reason for this may be because of the limited 2-point calibration, as someone else who reviewed on here talked about. The calibration is just nowhere near refined enough.

Like I said, I also have a 21" Cintiq and I don't have this problem with that. They just didn't do a good job with the 12".

Second. The excessive cables. They really need to figure out how to slim this down and simply it and I think they could. Before you buy look at the manual online and see all that you have to do to get this thing working. If you're thinking about taking it with you on the go with your laptop, forget it. There's so much to have to deal with. I don't see why they can't just make a simple cable like Apple's Cinema displays it plugs into the DVI port, a usb port for the pen to work, and then a power brick, which then plugs into the wall. That'd be so much simpler. The cintiq itself is very thin so it lends itself to portability, but when you have to consider all the extra cables and connections you have to make, it doesn't work out so well.

Third. The quality of the screen. It is cheap. When I first plugged it in I wasn't disappointed I saw my desktop background on this small 12" screen and it looked nice and bright. But then I started working with it. When you're actually drawing in Photoshop the line doesn't look nearly as crisp as on my Apple Cinema display. Text also suffers. Just reading through web pages it's quite noticeable. I think another review said that they just used a cheap laptop screen, and after working with it for a couple days, I think that person was right.

There are nice things about it. The design is nice and like I said before, it's nice and thin so it sits nicely on my desk (a problem I have with the bigger ones is that they are SO bulky).

It's easy to pick up and put in your lap. And the stand is nice too.

I really wish that it didn't have the problems that it does because I'd love it to work well.

My main problem has to be the cursor jumping around and shaking it's really awful and I don't think I can stand it. It's worst at the edges of the screen, but you can't even click and drag to scroll down a web page without the cursor shaking. It's not only annoying, it's almost unusable. I'm used to using my Intous 3 and my goodness what a difference. That one is SO much better at tracking your pin movement.

Worth $1000? Not at all. Hopefully they'll come out with a better updated one sometime soon then it may be worth the price.

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Panasonic HDC-HS250-K Hard Drive High Definition Camcorder

Customer Ratings:

I got this camcorder for about two weeks already. It's very easy to start operating it even without reading the manual. The touch screen feature is great! You can basically play on the touch screen and see the difference of the picture quality right on the screen. Here's some of the Pro & Con that I think after playing with this camcorder.

Pro:

-Easy to use

-Great video quality (I hook on my Sony 48 inches 1080p LCD screen, the picture looks great!)

-Picture quality is great too if you got enough light when using indoor (outdoor, no problem)

-Indoor video recording is pretty good using backlight function if indoor light is not enough.

-Outdoor video quality is excellent

-Digital zooming is great (I can basically zoom in and get so detail that I can see the pore of the person's face right across of the street with 3 traffic lane in between it.)

-LCD touch screen is great (you can flip the screen too! You can also use fingernail to touch the screen if your fingertip is too big, the screen don't have any problem recognizing your command.)

Con:

-Not enough battery life (got around 90minutes of recording, good thing is that you can see how much time you got left on the LCD screen for recording so you'll know when you need to charge the battery or switch to power cord or new battery.)

-You cannot charge the battery while using power cord!

-The power cord plug on the camcorder is hidden underneath where you put the battery at, so you cannot use both battery and power cord at the same time (very bad when you try to record using power cord, once you accidentally pull the power cord plug, all of the recording stops, and it takes long time for camcorder to get back to recording and it also causes temporary hard drive malfunction while the camcorder trying to recover what you just record.)

-You cannot turn on the light that came with the camcorder to do the recording (it's use mostly as flash function when taking picture)

So far that's what I thought playing for two weeks (without reading the manual.)

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Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Super Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR

Customer Ratings:

I've been using this lens about six years. In all that time, I can't remember ever shooting at any aperture smaller than f/5.6. It's amazingly sharp wide open and I've never had any reason to stop it down. When I first bought it, I used it on a tripod almost all the time. These days, I've started using it handheld and I can appreciate how well it handles. In good light, autofocus is fast and accurate. In low brightness and low contrast light, it gets a little slow and sometimes hunts. Not a real problem, just switch off the autofocus and use the superb manual focus ring. Images snap in and out of focus easily whether you do the focusing or you let the lens do it.

The lens is made like a tank. Mine has been subjected to a lot of use but it has never failed me. I sometimes use it with the Canon 1.4x Extender which makes it a 560mm f/8 lens. That combination does usually require a tripod but it is still a handy combination that retains great sharpness. I've also used it with the Canon 2x Extender as an 800mm f/11. It's a good idea to put it on a sturdy tripod and stop down a wee bit to get the best results.

If you can make use of the focal length and you can live with f/5.6 as the maximum aperture, I recommend it highly.

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ASUS Vivotab Smart ME400C-C2-BK 10.1-Inch 64GB Tablet (Black)

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $499.00
Sale Price: $399.00
Today's Bonus: 20% Off

Okay.. I own a galaxy tab two kindles and an iPad so I have had plenty of experience in the tablet field. That I think was my first problem ... you don't treat this as a tablet where you just download apps from the app store. If u do you will be disappointed. Think PC when ur using this. I gave it a four stars and not five mainly because the amount of time it took to update all the apps and the windows updates and while these are updating this tablet acts very odd ... such as things not working like apps or mail or downloading new apps. I was ready to return it... but after the installs were complete everything was great. The best thing about this tab is that you use a full browser and can install real pc programs. The smart cover is decent and worth the money I paid for it. The best part is using my apple magic mouse and keyboard on the tab.. it works flawlessly. Windows 8 takes some getting used to and don't think that this tab is junk bc u don't like change because windows 8 is very intuitive and can make multitasking much easier than any other ios or android device. If u want to do real work instead of just playing angry birds this tab is a god choice for the price.

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Sony DSC-RX100 20.2 MP Exmor CMOS Sensor Digital Camera

Customer Ratings:

This camera tales great pictures. The only problem is learning how to use all the features. I'm pretty good at this stuff but it has me fooled on some things. I wish they came with a good old fashion user manual. I did read online some features, some are never mentioned.

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Nikon SB-800 AF Speedlight for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras - Old

Customer Ratings:

I won't repeat the wealth of information the other kind reviewers have already given. I'll just focus on why I decided to cough up the extra $100 to get the SB-800 instead of the less powerful SB-600.

Compared to the SB-600, the SB-800 has the following extra features:

1) Much more powerful, as reflected in the GN.

2) Slightly faster recycle time with the standard four AA batteries. It also comes with a battery holder that holds a fifth battery which cuts down recycle time by 1/3 to 1/2.

3) The SB-800 has non-TTL auto and auto aperture modes. (More on this later.)

4) In wireless remote mode, the SB-800 can act both as the master and slave, whereas the 600 can only be a slave.

5) It comes with a useful diffusion dome, which won't even fit on the SB-600.

6) The SB-800 package also includes two colored gel filters.

7) The SB-800 can do repeating flash (in the same exposure), for a strobe effect.

Basically, both the 600 and 800 support Nikon's latest flash technologies, i-TTL (supported by the D70 and D2H only) and CLS (creative lighting system), in addition to all the TTL (through the lens) flash modes Nikon introduced in the past. The 600 is really a prosumer-level flash that's either TTL or manual, whereas the 800 is pure pro-grade with a lot of modes and options. The manual, evidently written by a Japanese manual writer, attests to its sophistication; understanding the manual will really require a Ph.D. in yoga so you don't stress yourself out.

The 800's auto modes are what won me over in the end. The auto modes can set the flash output automatically on Nikon bodies that do not support any TTL (through the lens) mode. On those bodies, with the 600 you'd have to resort to manual, which is simply a pain in the butt, not to mention prone to error. The two non-TTL auto modes on the 800 are auto aperture and auto. You'll need to study the manual very carefully to figure out the difference; I still haven't, but I'm already enjoying the auto aperture mode. The availability of auto modes also means the 800 can be used on a wide range of Nikon bodies than the simpler 600.

If you are deciding between the 600 and the 800 like I was, ask yourself the following questions:

1) Do you have an extra $100-$150 to spend? If yes, the 800.

2) Do you plan to use the external flash a lot? If yes, the 800.

3) Do you have Nikon bodies (usually older manual ones) that do not support TTL (you can find out in the camera's user's guide)? If yes, the 800.

4) Do you plan to do a lot of wireless flash photography and take full advantage of Nikon's Creative Lighting System? If yes, the 800.

5) If you want to get a diffusion dome that fits the flash, get the 800.

In the end, I think the SB-800 is a better long-term investment than the SB-600, despite the higher price. It's much more powerful and flexible, and even though it's an overkill for me right now, I imagine when my flash photography improves (and I'm trying very hard right now), it'll prove a very worthy investment.

Feel free to drop me an e-mail at hotmail with any questions. BTW, if anyone knows of a good web forum that discusses how to use Nikon's flash modes and the CLS, please let us know. Thanks.

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Arsat 80mm f/2.8 Tilt Shift Lens for Canon EOS SLR DSLR Camera

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $899.95
Sale Price: $409.95
Today's Bonus: 54% Off

A tilt-shift lens works much like the bellows of a large-format view camera to obtain correction of perspective distortion (shift) and alignment of the focal plane (tilt) to enable creative effects in architectural photography, product photography, and other effects such as miniature look and selective soft focus.

This 80mm f/2.8 tilt/shift lens is manufactured in Ukraine and sold under several names: Arsat, Arax, and Photex. It is available in an amazing choice of mounts: Nikon AI, Canon EOS, Canon FD, Minolta Dynax, Minolta MD, Pentax K, and M42 (Zenit, Practica, etc.). Mine came in a nylon padded zippered pouch with no retail packaging or instructions: the same pouch shown in the pictures. It is composed of 6 multicoated elements. It shifts 11mm in one direction only, however the entire lens rotates 360 degrees giving the ability to shift in any direction. It has lock stops at 12 angles. It tilts plus or minus 8 degrees. The tilt and shift axes intersect at a 90° angle and it doesn't appear that they can be modified from that. I would prefer on-axis because I think it's more useful. It focuses from 0.6m to infinity and the manual-only aperture goes from f2.8 to f22. There is a stop-down aperture ring which allows you to open fully for focusing and down for the exposure. There are no electronic connections, this is a fully manual lens only. You could glue a focus confirmation chip on the mount to allow focus beep and light confirmation; I haven't tried that (yet).

Image quality is surprisingly good for a lens made by a somewhat obscure Russian lens company. It's not tack sharp wide open but very acceptable, and holds its image quality into the corners pretty well. There is almost no vignetting even wide open, because being a tilt-shift lens, the image circle is quite a bit larger than the 35mm sensor. Stopping down, the image sharpens up nicely with a "sweet spot" around f/5.6. Shifting to the extreme doesn't degrade the image appreciably.

Compared to the Canon 90mm TS-E: Both are composed of 6 elements. The field of view is very similar (this lens seems to almost match the field of view of my 85mm lenses). Tilt and shift amounts are exactly the same. The Canon can focus slightly closer at 0.5m. The build of course is not as robust as the Canon TS-E lens, however for the price it's quite solid. All the Canon TS-E lenses are thought to be among the sharpest lenses in Canon's line up. I'm not going to claim that the image resolution is that good, but when viewed at typical sizes the image quality is surprisingly good. At only a third of the price of the Canon 90, this lens is going to allow first-timers to get their hands on a tilt-shift lens without breaking the bank.

When I read about tilt-shift lenses, writers invariably bemoan the learning curve, but I got the hang of it in just a few minutes, aligning the plane of focus with some product surfaces to give the illusion of extending the depth of field. If you know what you're trying to accomplish it's not that difficult. I have to add that one advantage of these lenses is the ability to stop down further than usual without suffering appreciable softening due to diffraction. It's nice to see a third-party lens manufacturer enter into the tilt-shift arena, and this lens is a good value. I recommend it if you want to try out a tilt-shift lens and expand your creative possibilities. It's also a good manual focus video lens, whether you use the T/S features or not, since you can use it on just about any format (like micro 4/3) with an adapter, and still have control over the aperture. I hope we see more direct Canon mount lenses from this company in the future.

Note: there are some versions of this lens that cost less but they only tilt. Be sure to get the kind you want.

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ASUS Eee Slate B121-A1 12.1-Inch Tablet PC - White

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $1,499.00
Sale Price: $692.00
Today's Bonus: 54% Off

I've owned many tablets over the past 3-4 years (including an iPad 32GB wifi and an iPad 2 16GB wifi, a Lenovo X61, and a Lenovo X200, amongst others) and this Asus is by far my favorite.

A lot of reviewers will compare this device to an iPad, but it really shouldn't be. An iPad is a content consumption device it's for watching videos, browsing the web, casually reading and replying to basic emails, playing casual games, etc. The Asus B121 is a device that's designed to do everything that a full-blown laptop computer will do in a keyboardless, tablet form factor.

The tablet runs a "real" mobile CPU (Intel's Core i5), has a usable amount of RAM (4GB), and most important of all, it runs a real, fully-featured OS (Windows 7 Pro). This means people who like to create as well as consume content are ready to go. The Wacom digitizer is nice, though you must install the Wacom drivers from Asus' site to get pressure sensitivity in apps like Photoshop, but they're free and install is painless. I run Photoshop CS 5.5 on this device, as well as Office 2010 (including Visio and OneNote), and I have yet to feel hampered by the amount of CPU horsepower or RAM.

Another thing I liked is that Asus included an actual restore DVD in the box. They don't expect you to dig up a pile of DVD-Rs to create your own and fill up (read: waste) hard drive space holding a bunch of restore disk images out of the box. Granted, the device doesn't have a built-in DVD-ROM drive, but it does have two USB 2.0 ports so you can connect an external USB 2.0 DVD drive as needed. For anyone who complains that there's no DVD drive (as I've seen happen with a LOT of reviews on modern devices) it's your responsibility to read and understand the specs before purchasing a device. This device doesn't list a DVD drive as standard kit, so be prepared to purchase an external USB DVD drive if you think you'll need one.

One thing that really surprised me is that bloatware out of the box was non-existent. As is the case with many Windows devices today, cheap devices are subsidized by a bunch of included bloatware/nagware that typically makes a device run at half speed out of the box. Got a good deal on a $300 laptop that should have cost $900? That's because advertisers paid the manufacturer a bunch of money to throw their malware/adware/bloatware on it so the manufacturer could offset the cost and give it to you cheap. That's not the case here. Typically when I buy a new Windows machine, before I even boot it up, I'll format the drive and install a fresh copy of Windows. I didn't need to do that with the B121. Aside from a paint app, a couple of Asus app (which were non-intrusive), and an Asus Cloud Drive app, the B121 comes with a fairly stock installation of Windows. I was really happy to see this and I'm still using the device on the OEM install without any issues.

The included leather folio case is awesome. Not only does this do an awesome job of protecting the tablet, it looks great and even has a place to store the stylus outside of the stylus holder in the tablet itself for quick access. The included re-branded Microsoft Bluetooth keyboard works well too, and despite being curved, it doesn't feel at all like an ergonomic gimmick like those split keyboards that were popular for a while. It's easy to use, easy to pair, and no-frills. As it should be.

My complaints with the tablet are few and far between. I would like to see a larger resolution on the LCD panel, especially for the price. A lot of companies are packing in 1280x800 panels now just so they can call them "HD" panels (sine 1280x800 is greater than the typical 720P resolution). 800 horizontal lines of resolution is a bit low, however. This product would be great if the panel was 1680x1050 (WSXGA+).

Another minor complaint is the width of the tablet. It is wider than I expected after watching videos and reading reviews online. After having removed the back panel from the device, which is made of plastic, it's apparent that they could have re-designed this panel to make the device noticeably thinner. No extra engineering would have had to happen it's just a piece of plastic with a bunch of extra space between itself and the "guts" of the device.

If I had to make a third complaint it would be with the onboard HDMI port. It's not a standard HDMI port, rather a mini HDMI port. This means that in order to output HDMI to a TV, you're either going to have to use a mini-HDMI to HDMI adapter (which is what I recommend) in conjunction with a standard HDMI cable, or a cable that is mini-HDMI to HDMI. This isn't a HUGE deal, since the mini-HDMI to HDMI adapters can be found online for only a few bucks. If you're shopping for one in a brick and mortar store, be prepared to get hammered. The mini-HDMI to HDMI option is the easiest just throw it in your bag with the device and keep it for those "just in case" moments. Asus also offers a first-party mini-HDMI to VGA adapter specifically for the B121 for about $45. I purchased this to attach an external monitor at work it work quite well, but is probably a bit more pricey than it should be.

Overall the tablet is great. I have yet to have any issues with it. The build quality is sturdy, power is adequate for what you would expect out of a device with a Core i5 CPU with 4GB of RAM running Windows 7, and when the time comes to upgrade, the hard drive is a standard mSATA solid state disk so the option to upgrade yourself does exist (unlike almost all other tablets in this form factor). So far I've been very satisfied with the device, and wouldn't hesitate to purchase from Asus again.

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Sony DPF-D1010 10.2-Inch WVGA LCD (16:10) Digital Photo Frame

Customer Ratings:

The main reason I decided to buy a digital photo frame is because printing out photos from my Sony DSC-H5 on an Epson PictureMate to share with the family got pretty tiresome. Sure, the prints looked good, but printing them took a long time, they cost about 35 cents apiece and some of the older relatives couldn't see them very well. I figured a digital photo frame would improve the whole process. My requirements were simple: the frame must have very high resolution, be small and lightweight (for packing in a carry-on suitcase), and accept images via a Memory Stick and also via a standard USB interface (which many, I found, do not).

The Sony DPF-D810 meets all of my requirements with flying colors. The 800-by-600-pixel 8-inch-diagonal display is clear, crisp, bright and saturated. Photos display instantly, either singly, until you manually advance them, or in a slideshow with your choice of 10 time intervals from three seconds to 24 hours and with your choice of six transition effects. You can show the full image or crop it to fit the screen. If the aspect ratio of the picture is wider than 4:3, thin black bars appear at the top and bottom of the screen--the image itself is undistorted. You can display image information such as the time and date taken, camera type, shutter speed and aperture, EV compensation and more. The unit will show photos directly from an SD memory card, Memory Stick Duo or USB flash drive, or you can copy them to the internal memory, which holds about 150 high-resolution images. A mini-USB connector lets you transfer photos directly from your computer. You can choose from 14 different full-screen clock and calendar displays, or integrate a clock and/or calendar with six of the 10 different slideshow display options. Thus you can place this frame on a desk or mantel and run it all the time as a useful item of room decor. You can even choose whether or not to display the bright "Sony" logo on the lower part of the frame. All in all, this is a very impressive device that should satisfy the most demanding user. Plus, it is small (roughly 9 inches by 7 inches by 1 inch) and lightweight (less than 1-1/2 pounds, including the AC transformer and the remote control).

Speaking of which, the remote control is a great bonus. When I first set up the DPF-D810, I found it difficult to see the on-screen menus while manipulating tiny buttons with minuscule labels on the back of the unit. Then I used the remote. What a difference! You can access all of the frame's well-designed and logically arranged setup and functional menus with ease. Not all frames in this price category offer remotes. I didn't care about it when I selected this frame, but now I wouldn't be without it.

Even though I wanted a digital photo frame for just one simple purpose, I was pleased to find that this one far exceeded my expectations and offered much more than I needed for a reasonable price. If you're considering taking the next logical evolutionary step in digital photography by displaying your pictures on a photo frame rather than printing them, I highly recommend you consider the Sony DPF-D810.

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Leica DIGILUX 3 7.5MP Digital SLR Camera with Leica D 14-50mm

Customer Ratings:

First things first, Leica and Panasonic have been a team in the digital camera world in terms of Leica lens know-how coupled with Panasonic technology (just like Carl Zeiss lens is with Sony as well as Schneider Optics is with Samsung). Take note I said Leica lens "know-how" because Leica is not really the lens manufacturer here, but Panasonic is being a licensed manufacturer of Leica lens. So to Leica purists, this isn't a Leica-assembled product. Despite all this, it's still sold exclusively by Leica and manufactured by Panasonic for a limited batch run alongside the sister model of Panasonic, the DMC-L1. Everything about how the Digilux 3 and DMC-L1 operate and function are the same EXCEPT for a few minor adjustments. The most talked about and only difference is how it processes JPG pictures.

Most notable option:

If you're going to shoot using RAW in order to tweak your own photos, then buying the Panasonic won't make a difference with the more expensive counterpart. Panasonic will save you a lot of money and help you get more accessories with it.

If you grew up with the Leica brand and are familiar with the characteristics of how Leica photographs come out, Leica has especially tweaked the JPG (not RAW, for obvious reasons being RAW) photos to look the same way analog Leica photographs come out looking.

Of course it's not all that simple. Without going into a debate as to why buy Leica over Panasonic and vice-versa, I'll talk about the general controls.

MEMORY CARD:

The camera uses SD or MMC cards. It will take SDHC cards which come with minimum 4GB. As for MMC cards, they are slow and I would suggest not even thinking of using it.

The supplied 1GB memory should be enough for one day of fun. But a 4GB SDHC or higher is recommended when shooting RAW.

BATTERY:

Good for 450 pictures per CIPA standards.

LENS:

The supplied 14-50mm lens is what makes this camera purchase worthwhile. It's very sharp and beats any 7-8MP digital SLR cameras out there as well is arguably at par with 10MP digital SLR cameras.

It patronizes the "Fourt Thirds Mount" set by Olympus. So camera and body built on this standard make them interchangeable.

It has a zoom ring, an aperture ring and a focus ring in a grooved rubber application.

O.I.S. Optical Image Stabilization to help decrease blur when doing handheld shots with a slower shutter speed.

BODY:

All the necessary settings a pro may need is right there by their finger tips and individually labeled aperture, shutter, metering mode, multiple shots, auto/manual focus, flash mode, ISO speed and white balance. Plus there are two more programmable buttons for quick access to special camera features.

INTERNALS:

LiveMOS technology is the reason to get this camera from other cameras. They say it has the best of both worlds for the quality of the CCD, but with the power-saving of a CMOS.

Dust Reduction Function a staple in higher end SLR cameras to shake off any dust sitting on the image sensor and useful when changing lens.

Live View mode which effectively helps you focus in real-time the subject via the LCD monitor rather than the viewfinder. A good idea on paper, but with an actual clunky application.

WARRANTY:

For the first six months your camera and lens (not accessories) is protected by accident. If something happens to it for any reason no questions asked, they will repair or replace it.

After the six months accident protection, you are warranted for three years from any defect of the camera. No one can claim the same. Not even it's sister model, the Panasonic DMC-L1.

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PROS:

1. Leica lens quality and sharpness.

2. LiveMOS sensor.

3. Manual controls right there by your fingertips.

4. Leica build quality and retro design that makes it a stand out.

5. Four Thirds Mount that will help you build your lens library.

6. Manual flash button rather than automatic pop up.

CONS:

1. Boxy, clunky body that may turn off a lot of users.

2. Weight coupled with the boxy body will cause more stress in gripping the camera.

3. LiveView mode definitely is version 1.0.

4. O.I.S. is definitely not perfect. It helps, but it doesn't lead you to believe that you can take better pictures with less blur. An expensive technique rather than building the image stabilization into the body.

5. Manual focus ring is typical of any digital SLR lens. It just turns around and around without telling you have reached the end.

6. Expensive camera slapped on with a red Leica logo, but actually produced in a Panasonic plant alongside a sister camera that depreciates almost monthly.

7. The strap placement may be an issue with hand placement.

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In summary, this is first and foremost for Leica customers who know and appreciate the quality that Leica brings. The warranty is second to none. They will stand behind this 100%.

The design is extreme. If you don't fall in love with it, you are better off looking elsewhere. But if you spend a day with it, you will know why they have designed it that way. The controls are very intuitive.

If you have the money to splurge. Offer no apologies to anyone as they can only salivate to patronize a Leica. If you are the sensible kind, you know where to go as this isn't for the faint of heart in the ever-changing, fast depreciating digital world of electronics and gadgets.

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Canon EOS Rebel T5i Digital SLR Camera & EF-S 18-135mm IS STM

Customer Ratings:

Delivered on time. The kit has everything I need for a very good price. Everything fits on Camera Case, except, of course, the Tripod, which has its own case.

Both lenses are great. The external flash workes well and permits several adjusts on direction. I believe that the extra battery is essential.

Very happy!

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FotoMapr B100 GPS Module: Works With Any Digital Camera!

Customer Ratings:

The FotoMapr is an impressive GPS module. I use it mostly with my Canon 7D but have also used it with my Nikon point-and-shoot. The high accuracy and memo feature alone make it worth the price!

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OMAX 3.5X-90X Digital Zoom Articulating Arm Trinocular Stereo

Customer Ratings:

I'm not the best at writing reviews -but I'll try.

It was packed well and arrived quickly from the seller. It sat in the box for a couple of weeks before I had a chance to set things up. First, I couldn't find any instructions. It was simple enough to figure out how to put it together -but instructions would be nice for those who aren't mechanically inclined. I purchased this for home use to magnify various things I'll work on throughout the years.

The articulating arm has much to be desired. It works, it's somewhat stable...but smoother operation would be great. It does stay fixed in place when you tighten the arm down. Mine seemed to be tensioned well and with the scope in it, it seemed balanced when unlocked. I didn't notice that it tried to rise or drop when it wasn't locked.

Optically, it works as advertised. You get a nice clear image when viewing things with the supplied eyepieces. There are a total of four. There is a set for different magnifications. It only comes with two rubber eyecups that you'd swap out with the different eyepieces. These are beneficial so you don't grease up the glass with oils from your skin or eyelashes. You can easily space the eyepieces closer together or away from each other depending on the spacing between your eyes...which is a nice feature on an inexpensive instrument.

The supplied light ring is nice. It comes with an adapter that allows you to increase or decrease the amount of light. While I haven't really had a lot of time to view different objects with it, I may make some type of diffuser ring so objects don't have so much glare on them. Since they're LED's, they run cool and provide more than enough light.

Now the camera... It provides an image. It's hard to get perfect focus, but it can be achieved with some patience. Why does the camera suck? Maybe it's not the camera...maybe it's the supplied software -I haven't determined. At a lower resolution, the frame updates are much faster as there is less data to be transferred. It's easier to work with focusing and positioning at a lower resolution. At high resolution, the update rate is horrible...a couple of frames per second at the most. It is difficult to focus when you have to pause for a clean frame. There is no way to lock the camera in place...so if you move the head around and the USB cable gets tugged on, the camera rotates -which in turn causes the image to update itself slowly on screen. I may fix this at a later date by drilling a hole in the column and threading it for a small set screw.

In order to use the camera, you must pull the silver lever out on the left side of the unit. This disables the left eyepiece while the camera is in use. If you wish to have the camera in focus with the eyepiece, rotate the column below the camera to raise or lower it while observing the image on the computer until you're happy with it.

Software comes on a 3.1" (8cm) CD...at least mine did. If you have a slot loading CD/DVD drive, do not attempt to insert it! Make a duplicate on a regular sized CD if this is the case. Other wise, load the driver, connect the camera and install the software. I believe the software only works on a Windows based machine...there are emulators on the market that allow you to run Windows on a Mac or on Linux if you have to.

Overall, I'm satisfied with my purchase. It was under $1,000, and I didn't expect top of the line optics or a stellar camera. It should provide many years of trouble free operation.

If by any chance you are doing electronics work with this and happen to be soldering directly under the lens... Get a blower or something to prevent the smoke from the solder from floating upwards onto the glass elements...this is the fastest way to screw things up. If you spent $1,000 on this device, spend another $60 for the Weller WSA350 smoke absorber.

I couldn't tell you where to go for support on the camera, software or scope. By all means, make a duplicate of the disc anyway in case you lose the original.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 (10.1-Inch, Gold-Brown)

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $399.99
Sale Price: $357.99
Today's Bonus: 11% Off

There are too many tablets these days, right?! Samsung's third generation of Galaxy Tab series is highly anticipated and for this price point phenomenal. I have been using Galaxy Tab 2 and I will compare and contrast here. I played around with review units of all sizes and I have since returned them. My reviews are unbiased and neutral! 7 and 8" are ideal for plane trips, long journeys. I had used a 7" Tablet on a long journey to listen to songs and read epub books (Aldiko) and it was a very pleasant experience. 7" form factor is lightweight, compact and great. If you are a bit experienced and can afford it, I recommend the 8". Samsung has made 8 and 7" almost same weight. In my opinion 8" is the maximum value for the money and features and hence I gave 8" a 5 star. I gave 7" a 4 star (but no means undermining it). I gave the 10" also a 4 star because of some strange feature `limitations'. In my opinion, 8" is ideal for consumer use and 10" is marketed for specific segments in business who use for spreadsheets, presentations, remote desktop like Citrix GoToMeeting.

Samsung has introduced 7", 8" and 10.1" of the Tab 3 series. They are entering all form factors. As I know they have something in 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10" lines. Woo.. All of the 7, 8, 10" Galaxy Tabs come in white and golden brown color. My preference is white color. Looks pretty!

Let's start off with salient points of all of the Galaxy Tab 3 series. I will later compare this specific 10.1in model to the previous Tab 2 version.

7-inch tablet: 1024 x 600, Marvell dual-core 1.2GHz processor, 1GB RAM and 8GB storage or ROM, a microSD card slot (upto 64 GB), Camera: 3MP rear-facing, 1.3MP front-facing and weighs 10.58 ounces (300 grams). Android 4.1.2

8-inch model: 1280 x 800, Exynos 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1.5GB ram, 16GB of built-in storage (ROM), a microSD slot (upto 64 GB, 5MP rear-facing, 1.3MP front-facing and 10.9 ounce (309 grams) Android 4.2

10.1-inch model: 1280 x 800, Intel Atom 1.6GHz Z2560 dual-core processor, 1GB RAM, a 16GB built-in storage (ROM), a microSD slot, 3.2MP rear-facing, 1.3MP front-facing and weighs 17.99 oz (510 grams). Android 4.2

I am not going into other details like accelerometer etc as they are all standard these days, Audio support AAC, AMR, MP3, OGG, WMA/ASF, 3GA/M4A, FLAC, WAV; MP3/MP4/Music Tones; Music Player; Ringtones, Polyphonic. Video support: AVI/DIVX, WMV/ASF, FLV, MKV, MP4/3GP, WEBM; Video Player; Video Streaming. Software is current of release date, and it is expected could be upgraded as next version Android 5 Key Lime Pie. (Currently targeted for Oct 2013). Key Lime Pie's one of the main touting points is compatibility to avoid fragmentation, so I can foresee, all of these models being able to upgrade if Google keeps their promise.

The 10.1" has a physical home button so are others in the series. Also has capacitive Back and Menu buttons. 64 GB SD card is awesome! With prices plummeting for 64 GB cards, it is a great boon. Put all your music, books, photos on the SD card and you have a powerful computer in hand always! I personally use the 64 GB microSD card on my mobile devices. Get this mobileUltra (SanDisk 64GB Mobile Ultra MicroSDXC Class 6 Memory Card with SD Adapter Retail Packaging.

I will compare the 10.1 Tab 3 with Tab 2. Big improvement in weight, I would like the 10in series to break lower 400 grams ground. This probably has to wait another 2-3 years. Another difference gtom previous gen is the processor. Intel Atom Z2560. Tablets are nowadays coming with Intel for their excellent power saving capabilities. Asus Fonepad was one of the first to come out with a Intel based chipset. I really am waiting for the day the 10" are even lightweight and holdable. The Tab 3 is 510 grams compared to 589 grams of Tab 2. Resolutions are same 1280 x 800 pixels, 10.1 inches (~149 ppi pixel density). The resolution is a same as in Tab 3 8" which means 8" will be sharper. I am disappointed with lower resolution on the 10". One big puzzling factor for me with the premium price the 10" has only 1 GB RAM. What the ?! Why can't they put a 2 GB RAM on this monster of a device. I really wonder what the design team had in mind. The Tab has Dolby Surround sound enhancement, it does sound good! Both have Bluetooth 4.0" and have USB Host. USB Host is one of the most under noticed features of Androids and is in my opinion one of the best features compared to iPad lines. What this means you get a USB Host cable also otherwise called OTG (On the Go) cables and plug in your USB thumb drive or other USB devices and the device recognizes it. I have used it with Alfa AWUS036H for a wireless project with Android PCAP Capture from reputable Kismet wireless. Both have same camera 3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels and 720p@30fps. Front facing is for skype. Again camera on 8" is better, obviously Samsung thinks no one will hold a giant 10" and take pictures. True and Point taken. Another much ignored feature is the TV-out (via MHL A/V link). 8 and 10.1in supports it, whereas 7in does not. You can connect Galaxy devices to a TV to make it truly a fantastic computer. Throw in a Bluetooth keyboard and it is awesome. Leo Laporte's TwIT TV which is Internet based show has one full episode in Know How on covering this topic. Battery is humongous Non-removable Li-Po 6800 mAh battery in Galaxy Tab 3. The one in previous model was 7000 mAh, this probably explains a slight drop in weight in Tab 3 10.1". GPS was spot on and I tried multiple GPS apps. It was bright outdoors (had to crank the brightness all the way up). I personally use Navigon from Garmin and have downloaded several apps.

For me the big downer has been screen resolution and RAM Size. Intel chipset has some weirdness as not all apps works properly. Firefox does not work on Inten based Android tablets as of June 2013. All apps are written for ARM processors. So for Intel, a layering has to be added to convert apps to work. This causes some apps to crash and has some weirdness. This is definitely not to alarm, but you should be aware of this. If an app works in 8" and not on 10" it is most likely due to the chipset difference. I would have waited for Intel to come out with their own chip based tablets, markets to stabilize on Intel chipsets and them Samsung to introduce it. I am sure Intel and Samsung struck a sweet deal.

Believe me, but don't get mired in the spec game. Samsung is creating markets for all form factors and I would consider this as an exploratory stage. Just like Ford or Toyota has cars in different shapes. Sizes and price range, so are the tablet vendors now. Remember the laptop wars, 10", 12" 13", 15, 17 and even some 19" if I remember right few years ago. We used to debate endlessly which laptop sizes are better, which has better speakers and so on. The time has come to fight it out for tablets! I would say go from budget and size. If budget is not a concern, I would say go for Samsung Tab 8". 8" is a sweet spot. If budget is a concern, Tab 3 7" is awesome, otherwise get the Tab 8. If you are business user, most likely the company will give the 10" tablet.

I tried following apps and they just worked awesome. A tablet is only as good as the apps you have how productive it makes you. It's almost like the camera/lens analogy in the DSLR space. What good it is to have a great DSLR body if you have no good lens? Same with Tablet body and apps you have.

WolframAlpha (I can go on for hours praising this. This is a truly genius app powered by hundreds of supercomputers in the background. Wofram is a computational genius). Well worth the $3 price.

Withings HealthMate. (Another remarkable app great UI/UX). I am getting the Pulse device as soon as it hit stores. I have been using Fitbit and just itching to get the Pulse as I like the integrated weight/track runs in one app)

Aldiko Book Reader Premium (absolutely love it)

Amazon Mobile

Android Status

Android Central app (great and must have for Android users)

Androidify

Angry Birds (Space/Seasons)

Asphalt 7

Amazon App Store

Battery Monitor Widget Pro (a great app)

BeyondPod (excellent for podcasts, I haven't used Pocketcast, some friends say it is very good too)

Box

Car Maintenance Reminder Pro

Chrome

CloudShark Upload

CNET TV

Despicable Me Game! And weather widget (cute for kids)

Dictionary M-W Premium

Dragonvale

NAVIGON (from Garmin offline maps)

Google Navigation/Earth/Maps using a portable MiFi box

Google Currents (nice way to read News)

Google Keep/Keboard/Drive/Search/Books/Voice/Hangouts

Draw Something

Ebay

Linkedin

Google Music (Awesome, I have now upto 10,000 songs halfway through Google's 20K Limit)

Tapatalk HD (awesome forum browsing app)

OverDrive Media Console: Library eBooks & Audiobooks

Microsoft One Note (legacy docs, skydrive of 25 GB is good)

Subsonic Music Streamer

Terminal Emulator (still need to use vi, yes this is it)

TweetCaster Pro for Android

Twit.Tv

Skype

Sphero (Awesome bluetooth ball game)

RealCalc Plus (Awesome calculator app)

Tweetcaster Pro (again awesomeness)

Plenty of Widgets

Ask questions, the reviews cannot do full justice. I will be glad to answer any questions and usually answer within 24 hours to any query.

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