Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35 12.1MP Digital Camera with 18x POWER

Customer Ratings:

As a serious amateur, I've been fortunate enough to own a number of point and shoots including Panasonic, Fuji, several Nikon's, & a couple of Canon's. All have had their strong points and I'm not a brand loyalist by any means, but after a couple of weeks, I must say I absolutely love this camera.

My first impressions were ones of pleasant shock. The camera seemed smaller than in the pictures and if it seemed smaller, it seemed doubly more so in terms of weight. Compared to my SLR this thing is an absolute lightweight but very well built and certainly heavier than the smaller 'in your pocket' point and shoots. A great balance...although I wouldn't want to drop it. Some strategically placed silicone on the housing would make this a bit more rugged without much if any impact on cost. Powerup is about as fast as you can bring the camera up to your face amongst the best of the point and shoots. Controls are easy to use and I like the mini joystick for making on the fly adjustments in manual and scene modes. The menus are fairly well laid out although some items I had to resort to the manual to find their location for the first time.

The iA or Intelligent Auto function gave consistently above par picture quality, although I was always able to tweak it better myself (this could have been as much preference as anything). The AVCHD and HD movies worked absolutely flawless with my Transcend 16 GB SDHC Class 6 Flash Memory Card TS16GSDHC6E [Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging]. (NOTE:Make sure you lowlevel format these SDHC cards a COUPLE of times BEFORE first use). I do wish that you could use the normal shutter release instead of the dedicated movie button on the back face when in movie mode. I kept forgetting and tried to stop the movies using the shutter button instead of the record button. Minor nuisance, but will be overcome as I get my brain wrapped around the change in button locations.

The battery worked well past 300 stills and about 35 clips, so I am very pleased with it with the LCD display being used for most of the shots. I purchase another spare battery;Lenmar DLP006 Lithium-ion Digital Camera/Camcorder Battery Equivelent to the Panasonic CGR-S006A Battery, also available here at Amazon, and it appears to be working about as well as the original Panasonic (a great buy). The EVF or Electronic View Finder was very handy, although most of the overlaid information is very hard to distinguish in the small EVF. I CAN'T BELIEVE PANASONIC DIDN'T INCLUDE A RUBBER BOOT FOR THE EVF! Please someone, anyone, make it as an accessory.

The EZ or Extra Zoom function is quite handy. Using this feature, you can shoot at lower resolutions and get more effective zooming power out of the camera...over 30x and it works very well. The LCD screen is clear and crisp, but its performance in high ambient light is about average. Thank goodness for the electronic view finder mentioned above.

Image stabilization is the absolute best amongst my camera collection and is especially noticeable in low light and full zoom. I was pleasantly surprised how well I could take indoor pictures at night with a simple tweak of the exposure. Far better than any of my other point and shoots, although nowhere near my SLR.

The standard 3picture burst mode was fairly standard and unimpressive, but the 10pics per second for speed priority and 6 pics per second in image priority burst mode worked well for catching difficult shots like geese landing on the water and children jumping out of swings, but I still wish the resolution and picture quality was better in these modes. Still, for a point and shoot, it's ability to catch the fast action is at the top of it's class.

The lens cap interferes with zoom, but the camera will kindly remind you that you have left it on with a 17,000 volt discharge...just kidding...it will tell you on the LCD screen.

UPDATE: A new megazoom runoff was conducted by Digital Photography Review in June of '07 and can be seen here: or you can cut to the results here:

To say the FZ35 stacked up well would be an understatement, but as they point out in the above review, you will likely not be disappointed with any of the other fine cameras in the pack. The review, however, will help you to pick one that works best for your needs and preferences. (I'm still super happy and winning contests with my amateur photos).

LIKES: Ease of use, picture quality, zoom and extra zoom, HD movie, lightweight, stop action. BEST Point and Shoot I've ever owned ! ! !

DISLIKES: (all minor) No eyepiece boot for EVF, lens cap interferes with zoom, tripod mount interferes with battery/memory door when in use. Only 10 sec. max on the built in timer.

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Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX20V 18.2 MP Exmor R CMOS Digital Camera

Customer Ratings:

First, I didn't buy this from Amazon. I was walking around my local electronics store and played with it and bought it. Overall this is a good improvement from the HX9V. Few months ago, I purchased a Canon PowerShot SX260HS for $349.00 (you can get it for $299 now) and it's one of my favorites. How does the SX260 compare to this camera?

Resolution:

The Sony is an 18MP camera, Canon is 12MP.. besides the bigger JPG size, can't tell the difference both look decent when printing on 11x17..

Size/Weight:

Both are nearly identical. The Canon weigh 8.5oz, the Sony 8.8oz

Zoom:

Both have 20x optical zoom, but in comparing pictures, it looks like the Canon's optical "zoom" is closer. Canon has a combined 81x digital zoom, Sony's 40x. Canon's 81x combined digital zoom sounds nice, but there's so much noise that it may not be worth using. With the Sony, even at 40x the picture is still acceptable.

Flash Control:

With the Canon, you can adjust the flash power, with this, you can't....major disappointment especially for a camera that cost $399.00

Menu/Navigation/Ease of use:

This is more of a preference. I used Canon and I used Sony; personally I like the Canon because I think it's more logically ordered

Flash position:

Both are pop up flash. I know it's going to require people to change their grip but I kind of like the pop up flash.

AWB (Auto White Balance)

This is one area that I think Sony made a big improvement with this camera. The AWB on the HX9V was terrible and required manual tweaking. The Canon does a very good job with the AWB. I used this Sony for about a week and went through about 500 shots. The AWB has NOT missed it's mark; not even taking photos indoor with florescent lighting that can cause yellow tinting with improper AWB.

Speed:

One of the reasons why I got rid of the HX9V was because of the slow processing speed. This camera, the image processor performance has improved quite a bit. With the HX9V, it would take up to 6 seconds to save/process images. With this, I think the longest was 3 seconds. The speed is on par with the SX260.

Picture Quality:

In auto mode, the Sony does an excellent job reproducing accurate colors. The colors are more natural looking, but on occasion (especially in landscape mode) the blue and red looks amplified.

Manual Controls:

This camera DOES NOT have a "Shutter Priority" and DOES NOT have a "Aperture Priority" mode! The Sony's manual mode is practically useless. Sony what were you thinking!!! Canon has the Aperture and Shutter mode, and the Canon's manual mode give you more control although it doesn't compare it with a DSLR

ISO Speed:

This Sony goes up to 12800 AMAZING!!!... the Canon comes no where near this..

3D Feature:

I don't have a 3D TV so can't comment on it. I did try to take some 3D pictures (supposedly you can now view 3D pictures on the LCD screen; something the HX9V was not able to do) but I don't think it's working correctly, or maybe I just can't tell the difference. The Canon has no such feature.

Video Quality:

Sony's video quality hands down. This beast is fast capturing full HD. One of the thing I loved about the HX9V was the video quality. It was perfect for those quick moment. This Sony looks just as good if not better.

Memory Card:

The Sony has built in memory, it's not much but better than nothing. I used a Patriot SDXC and a SanDisk SDXC, performance identical. The SanDisk cost twice as much as the Patriot because it's suppose to be faster. I can't tell the difference, and neither can my cameras. Both camera recommends Class 6 of higher, but if you plan to record video, go for the Class 10. A 64GB card can capture close to 10,000 picture.

Battery Life/Charge:

With the Canon, I got about 250 shots before the battery indicator started flashing. The Sony was about the same based on mixed use. One thing about the Sony is that it DOES NOT come with a battery charger. But, you can charge it with a micro USB able. Call me old fashion but if you're going to charge $399 for a camera give me a battery charger! The Micro USB charge may not be a bad thing if they didn't put the port on the bottom of the camera. So when you're charging the camera has to lay on it's side. As others have commented, you can buy a decent aftermarket charger for under $5.00.

Live Mode:

The Canon has a dedicated "live mode" that allows you to adjust the color on the LCD screen before snapping a shot; kind of like a "what you see is what you get". Sony has this built into their auto mode. Press the down navigation wheel to activate this feature.

Scene Modes:

With the HX9V, the scene modes were terrible; the difference were so subtle. This Sony is a HUGE improvement. With the Sony, you can see there IS a difference now. I am especially impressed with the "food" scene. With this mode, when you take a picture of food, it's suppose to enhance the color to make it more appealing. With the HX9V, it's a gimmick, but with this it's a 180 degree improvement. My best description of this is when you see those professional pictures of food at restaurants, this Sony can produce that type of quality. Canon does a good job with most of the scenes, but I prefer the Sony now. The Auto and Super Auto mode works great. For the regular outdoor or well lit environment the Super Auto won't be much difference. For those complicated lighting situation, the Super Auto does a better job. But the Super Auto mode will take about three seconds to process the image. With the scene mode, just because its designated as a "food" mode does not mean you just use it to take pictures of food. I used the "food" mode to take other beautiful indoor pictures that are not food (without flash) at fancy steak houses, and they came out beautiful. The difference with this mode (and the ISO mode) is that the food mode enhances the colors a notch making them appear more vibrant.

Defcocus Mode:

One of the feature I like is the defocus feature. This is one feature that distinguish this camera from other Point and Shoot. With the more expensive DSLR camera, you can take a picture where the portrait is in sharp focus but the back landscape is blurred. Sony does a decent job with this (in fact, I haven't seen this feature on any other brand camera). This feature does not work with the flash because what the camera does is take two shots and combine them to create this effect. But do note that when you use this mode, the LCD screen will tell you how far the subject should be and if you ignore it and take a picture, the Defocus will not work (you still get a decent picture though)

LCD Screen:

Both units have a 3-inch LCD screen, but I think the Sony camera has a sharper, clearer display.

GPS:

Both units have GPS, I haven't used it on either units though.

Camera Body:

The Canon has a more solid feel to it. The HX9V had an "expensive" look and feel. With this Sony, it's just all black and nothing to distinguish this camera for others. The Canon has that expensive camera look and feel, but this Sony does not. It looks plain and boring.

Cost:

The Sony cost $399, Canon cost $299.00, $100 difference.. Is this camera worth $100 more than the Canon SX260HS? You decide...

Sony, if you want me to rate this 5-Star, please do the following:

1. Put the Shutter and Aperture mode back in this camera

2. Give me flash exposure control

3. Give me a battery charger

4. And, give it to me for no more than $349

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19 Piece Super Zoom Kit with Canon EOS 7D 18 MP Digital SLR

Customer Ratings:

I bought this as my first professional camera. It is a great camera but the large telephoto lense isn't compatiable with Canon auto-focus so you are trying to focus and take the shot all in one. The tri-pod is cheap and with the big lense and the camera it tips over very easy. The back pack buckel broke in the first two weeks of having it. Now I would be these items independent instead of thinking this is a good deal.

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Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $125.00
Sale Price: $110.00
Today's Bonus: 12% Off

Once upon a time the 50 mm lens was THE standard camera lens and was THE optical benchmark by which manufacturers were judged and compared. Although the basic lens focus has now shifted (at least at the low to mid amateur level) to zooms you can still benefit from years of research and development that went into designing the 50 mm lens and this here lens may be the best lens, dollar for dollar, that you can ever buy. The question is can you afford not to own this lens?

Years of development have brought us a lens that has a fast aperture of 1.8 far faster than any consumer zoom lens and that is sharp as a filed tack. Be forewarned about the sharpness . . . if you are taking pictures of people, this lens is unyielding in its sharpness and may well surprise you and your subjects whose every blemish is captured. The lens has a fabulously shallow depth of field if you want to use the 1.8 aperture to blow out a background. This lens is also ridiculously inexpensive. It is not USM so it is a little loud. It does not have a moving focus scale. For the money though this is heaven.

As to the build quality yes, it is plastic. No, it's not built like the Rock of Gibraltar. If you are going to give this lens extensive use as your everyday lens and you shoot a lot, it may not hold up all that well as one reviewer suggests. However, I've now had this lens and used it fairly regularly (although not as the primary lens) for about 8 years and it is still in great condition. In my mind, spend the $$ on this first before you go and drop $330 on the 50mm 1.4 USM lens and I think you'll find it gets the job done nicely and that the extra $250 on the 1.4 may not be worth the difference in build (major difference), speed (minor difference) and image quality (minor difference).

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Pulsar N750 Digisight Riflescope

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $2,399.99
Sale Price: $1,599.97
Today's Bonus: 33% Off

OK, The unit is well constructed and light compared to some of the units I used in the Military. I bought the "Doubler adapter on ebay from "colmarlowe" Which works on the principal of the "Cantilever" is anchored at the top. The beam carries the load to the support where it fits nicely into he scope 's recessed housing in the front and is forced against it by cantilever force. Cantilever construction allows for structures without external bracing. (Think of the Golden Gate bridge) Then I added the Yukon doubler night vision scope lens. (Nothing made for a camera) to colmarlowes "doubler adapter" and SHAZAM! I also added a TNVC torch pro IR Illuminator on top of the unit (The doubler lens adapter from colmarlowe has a rail accessory on top of the cantilever) and I am looking at insects on big white flowers at 100 yards! (You have to adjust the focus knob on the scope, and the diopter on the eye piece and it is very very good. But here is the kicker. With the yukon doubler lens on "colmarlowe's doubler adapter I can screw the Yukon lens in or out to fine tune the focal length (And lock it with the locking ring) and I can now see insects on white magnolia flowers at night at 100 yards!!! (Colmarlowe is an engineering genius)He takes a good scope and makes it phenominal!!! I am watching deer out at around 300 yards and I clearly saw a does urine stream with amazing clarity!!! (With the TNVC Torch pro IR illuminator) If you are only going to use the onboard IR then unscrew the cap and remove the black honeycomb light diffusor from the onboard IR illuminator and that works "Good" on its own (If you are using colmarlowe's doubler adapter with the Yukon doubler lens)

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Fujifilm FinePix XP10 12 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 5x

Customer Ratings:

The Fujifilm Finepix XP10, newly available in April 2010, is a stylish little ultra-compact camera that invites you to have fun outdoors while taking pictures. It:

is waterproof to 10 ft. under water, perfect for swimming pools, beach, snorkeling (note: do not use in hot water!)

is shockproof up to 3 ft., great for jogging, cycling, or even letting your baby learn to take pictures

is freezeproof down to 14 degrees Fahrenheit (-10 Celsius)

is dustproof

has 12.2 effective megapixels

has 5x optical zoom and features a Fujinon lens for great clarity; lens focal length is 36-180mm in 35mm film camera terms

takes 720p widescreen, VGA or QVGA video

can zoom optically in video mode (but see note on audio recording below)

is really small and weighs just a little over 5 oz. with battery and SDHC card

uses SDHC memory card, no more xD that was championed by Fuji and Olympus

I bought a green XP10 because I love spending time in the water. I find that, outdoors during the day, the XP10 takes pictures with excellent clarity and excellent color saturation and contrast. Using fill-in flash in daylight truly enhances the picture. Indoors, because the XP10 lacks Fuji's legendary SuperCCD technology, picture quality is average for a compact or super-compact camera. It does have two natural-scene modes where it boosts the ISO (light sensitivity of the image sensor) at the expense of increased noise. I bought my XP10 to be used outdoors, in the pool and at the beach, so I haven't taken many indoor pics.

Video shooting at 720p yields smooth, clear HD video clips. BTW, video size is limited only by the 2GB FAT32 file size limit -this means even if you pop in a 16GB SDHC card, the longest video clip can only go up to 2GB in file size, due to the limit imposed by the FAT32 file system. Video is recorded as motion JPEG in an AVI container, so it can be played on many, many devices, at the expense of slightly larger file sizes than a more compact format like MPEG-2 or MPEG-4.

While you can zoom optically -a feature that every digital camera should have -audio recording's volume level is lowered during zooming. Instead, the camera picks up some noise from the lens mechanism and that noise overwhelms the ambient sounds you want to record, which can be annoying when played back on a large TV. My advise is to use zooming sparingly during video mode. If you want great video recording on a compact digital camera, you should get a Sony or Canon or Panasonic camera (be prepared to pay a lot more for the waterproof feature, though).

Anyway, my sample video clip shows how the camera works under water. The video resolution was set to QVGA (320x240) for easy upload to Amazon, but you should be able to see the amazing clarity both in and out of water.

In summary, the XP10 is a great waterproof, shockproof camera that every water enthusiast should bring along to record fun memories.

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Smoke Detector Hidden Spy Camera DVR with motion detection

Customer Ratings:

Arrived very fast. Other than the power connector on the back of the unit, it looks just like ordinary smoke detector, even up close. Installation was a breeze. The picture quality is excellent. I have been using it for over two months now, no complaints, very happy with my purchase.

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Apple iPod nano 8 GB Silver (6th Generation) (Discontinued

Customer Ratings:

Woke up a few weeks back and got my new Ipod Nano 6th gen to start my morning jog. However, to my surprize afer a full nights charge it wouldnt turn on! "Okay, no problem, I'll just call the tech support"...

After spending over 2 hours with them on the phone, and trying everything we could, they advised me to take my Ipod into a store where they would see what could be done... After all, I still had 8 months of my warranty! To cut a long story short, as soon as they looked at my Ipod I was asked the following question: "Sir, has the device been in contact with liquid?" "No" I said... "What about sweat?"... Man, once I heard that question, I just couldn't believe my ears!!! Of course there is going to be some contact with sweat! I bought the device to go jogging with it! One would imagine that the all mighty Apple would have that one covered right!!! NOPE... Apparently we cannot sweat if we exercise with an Ipod 6th Gen. Or at least that was what was informed to me at the store.

Now, Im about $180,00 short (after you add all the accessories I bought for it!Silly me!!!!) and with Apple slamming the door on my face! As they were totally relunctant to give me further assistance or even collect the device to have it inspected!!!

I live in a humid place, but only used the Ipod at the gym (which is air conditioned), so I would really like to get a position from Apple about this, as I feel utterly cheated by them...

Well fokes, that's my tip... If u sweat when exercising, make sure to buy another MP3 player as I wouldn't want someone else going through what I just did.

My next MP3 player will be an inexpensive chinese one. As if it stops working after 3 months due to sweat, I'll still be on the win...

I demand that Apple at least takes the device in and have a look at it as to give me a position of what has happened! I seen Nokias be dropped in the toilet and work the next day, how can a bit of sweat destroy an Ipod which is designed for joggers?!?!?!?!

Cheers!

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Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Student and Teacher Edition

Customer Ratings:

I am a college student with very limited funds and there is no way I could fork over $300 for the regular version. As much as I loved this program during the 30 trial, I knew it would be years before I would be able to get it. Then I found out Adobe discounts it for students and teachers! This is the same as the regular version. When you get it in the mail you have to provide proof you are a student, or teacher or whatever, through a website and then they email you a serial #. I really do appreciate Adobe lowering the price for us poor folk. Thanks again.

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Sangean ATS-909X BK AM/FM/LW/SW World Band Receiver - Black

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $449.00
Sale Price: $232.08
Today's Bonus: 48% Off

I recently purchased the new 909X model, and did some technical tests on the 909x versus my Tecsun Pl-390 and Grundig 750. First, as to FM reception, the 909X has outstanding FM reception, as to both the number of stations received and the tonal quality. I was able to easily log 18 RDS stations from my central Florida location in daytime. As to tonal quality, this is where the 909X is a great portable. The built-in amplifier and the high-quality speaker, give the FM listener a range of tonal quality approaching my Tivoli Audio SongBook radio. This excellent tonal quality carries over to AM reception also. My next test was on the shortwave bands. I was surprised as to the radio's sensitivity and, again, good tonal quality on SW voice and music programs. Although my Grundig 750 and Tecsun PL-390 are very sensitive shortwave radios, the big plus in the 909X is it's very high signal-to-noise ratio. What that means is that weak signals received on the Grundig 750 and Tecsun Pl-390 come in with a large amount of background noise. The 909X, in contrast, has a surprisingly low background noise level on the various shortwave bands. This low background noise level allows weak signals to become more audible and less anoying to copy. Also, the 909X appears to be equally sensitive on all shortwave bands. Even the normally weak 26-28Mhz band sensitivity on most portables, I was easily able to tune in some CB radio traffic at that higher frequency. I also tested medium wave, and found it just as sensitive as on my Grundig 750, again, with better tonal quality, and the wide/narrow filters worked well to separate loud from weak stations.

Just to mention some other things that make this portable shine are the alpha-numeric page memory system, world time in many cities which sync automatically after you set your local home time, and the many ways that you can tune stations. The 909X even has a squelch control in addition to an effective RF Gain control. Due to the very low background noise level of the 909X, I have yet to use the squelch control even when seeking for weak shortwave signals

So, in conclusion, with just using the radio's long provided whip, and better, the reel-in antenna acompanying the radio, the 909X serves as an excellent portable to carry on trips, and carry around in its nice case. I can't overemphasize the great signal-to-noise ratio of this radio. Yes, the 909X is rather large and expensive compared to other portables. But, what you get in this larger package is a high-quality speaker and a great built-in audio amplifier of very large tonal range.

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VIZIO Thin and Light CT15-A1 15.6-Inch Laptop

Customer Ratings:

First off, let's just get this out there: paper spec-wise, few other laptops can compare to this laptop in my opinion. Laptops with 15" 1080p IPS screens are very few and far between, and then weighing just 4 pounds and being very thin is icing on the cake. The rest of the system is pretty average for this price range nowadays, but if you haven't experienced a screen like this you might just not realize how big of an asset it truly is.

Now, the caveats: the first sample I got had a rattly fan. It was very noticeable, and made me worry that it might break after a short amount of time. Wanting my laptop to last more than a few weeks, I returned it and got another which was quick and painless, but it definitely did not inspire confidence in Vizio's build quality. My second CT15-A1 is fine, but I'm strongly considering the 3 year aftermarket warranty that Amazon offers just in case it has problems down the line. Not only is this laptop priced very aggressively, but Vizio is brand new to the laptop space, so it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect some growing pains with early models. Subjectively, the laptop feels like it's actually built very well. The aluminum body is stiff, and there's very little screen flex. The screen hinge is stiff without being too stiff. There are no obvious build quality defects like bumps under the keyboard or that kind of thing (which I had with my previous Dell XPS M1330).

With that out of the way, I do have to say that I truly love this laptop. It's crazy lightweight for the specs. The matte 1080p IPS screen is beautiful, and when calibrated with my X-Rite i1 Display 2 (using the Lacie Blue Eye software), the average dE is less than 0.2. Read: this display is capable of near perfect reference color reproduction. I can do Adobe Lightroom work on this laptop without color reproduction concerns any more, in fact I moved away from a separate monitor to save space on my desk and for a little extra cash.

The keyboard is very nice tactile-wise. Before I got this laptop, I was using a mechanical keyboard with Cherry Blue switches. So I definitely appreciate the benefits of a nice keyboard. And while the keys aren't the same as a mechanical keyboards', they're still nice. The travel is pretty limited but there's good feedback. It's not too loud but also isn't silent. Everything's laid out pretty nice, although I'm not a fan of the arrow key setup and I hate the complete lack of home/end/pgup/pgdown navigation keys. I think the default option of the F1-12 keys acting as special function keys without needing to hold fn is an excellent decision. I only ever used F5 for refreshing a page, which can be accomplished by ctrl-r, but on the other hand I need volume, playback, and brightness control very often. One thing I have noticed that could be a problem: sometimes it seems like key presses aren't noticed, and other times it seems like I unintentionally double press a key. I'm a very fast typer (about 90 words per minute on a 1 minute test), so it could be that I'm just being really inaccurate with a new keyboard, but if you're concerned about this I would check for a trend in other reviews.

The touchpad is okay at best, and if it's having a bad day it's absolutely terrible. This is my first multi-touch touchpad, so my experience here should be noted as very limited overall. I like the gestures, and scrolling usually works pretty well. I really like that the entire touchpad clicks in for a left click no more need to keep my left hand on the click button. I dislike that the default option for touch to click is "on". This was an amazingly stupid decision that wreaks of limited to no end-user testing. It makes typing almost impossible because there's no palm detection and merely brushing the pad moves your cursor. But thankfully this can be turned off, and as I mentioned previously the push-in-entire-pad-to-click design makes it unnecessary anyway. As another reviewer mentioned, sometimes the touchpad decides to just take a break and turn off. Other times, it decides to get all coked out and just randomly go around the screen, in no clear relation to what I'm actually trying to do. I'm not exaggerating. It's just completely broken in that respect. I have the most recent drivers and occasionally this happens with just no warning at all. It's infrequent enough that it's not critical, but it's pretty pathetic. Finally, it should be noted that there's no off button for the pad. I feel this is OK with touch to click being set off, since then the pad shouldn't randomly click unless you have a habit of bending your wrist to go between your hands and pressing down pretty stiffly, but it's still something some users might be concerned about.

So, basically, plan on using a trackball or a mouse with this laptop.

The ports are a little limited. Just two USB ports and only HDMI kind of sucks. Lots of projectors are still behind the curve and only have VGA, but the D-Sub connector is huge so I can't blame VIZIO for leaving it out.

The headphone audio is really nice. I would consider myself a practical audiophile I don't believe in $500 power cable snake oil, but I appreciate a good DAC and good pair of cans. In that regard, the audio from this VIZIO is pretty respectable. There's none of the hissing that you get with truly awful DAC/amp combos, but it's also nothing to write home about and the gain is pretty low. Shouldn't be a problem unless you're planning on driving expensive high impedance cans, in which case you're probably the type of person to have an external DAC/amp combo anyway.

Also, cool feature sidenote: like smartphones, the laptop detects when headphones are plugged in, and it remembers the difference between last speaker volume and last headphone volume. So otherwise, you can have the speaker volume set to muted but the headphone volume set to average so you won't disturb anyone but still not have to mess with the volume constantly.

Finally, the OS experience is very nice. Turning on from standby is instantaneous. Turning on from hibernate isn't blazing fast but still only about 20 or 30 seconds. Turning on from being completely off or restarting takes about probably only 15 or 20 seconds. Not having bloatware is a godsend. This is the first prebuilt I've ever bought where I didn't do a Windows fresh install first thing. I just uninstalled the Bing and Zune crap and I was good to go 30 seconds later. Also, as a sidenote, there aren't ridiculous brand stickers plastered all over the place. The CT15 has a great design that's very nice to look at, and they obviously cared more about the user experience than absurd brand identity/advertising when they were designing it.

Final geek note: I haven't tried yet, but I see any kind of hardware changes being difficult or impossible. The entire underside of the laptop is a single piece, so there's no easy-to-access hard drive, RAM, etc. doors. This is frustrating, especially since I'd like to drop in a 512GB SSD in a few months since the prices keep dropping and 128GB is a little small, but I would research into this more if you're considering the laptop and need this capability.

Anyway, to summarize, this is an amazing laptop for the price. The screen is superb, and doesn't even require a "for the price" qualifier. Everything else is pretty average, with nothing being terrible except the touchpad depending on how much you plan on using it and if you're OK with messing with the settings (very easy to do). The internals are nice, but you might not be able to change them (research this if it matters to you). It's indeed very thin and light, and again at a great price. I recommend it, but consider the quality control risks before buying., and if you're willing to also carry around a mouse or a trackball.

Really I would have given this laptop a -1 star for the touchpad, and -0.5 stars for the one I had to replace. But since you can't do out of 10 ratings, I think a 4 is more appropriate because the rest of the laptop is good and the screen is greaet.

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ZMODO 8CH H.264 CCTV Security DVR System and 4 Sony CCD

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $379.99
Sale Price: $244.99
Today's Bonus: 36% Off

Arrived lastnight in the mail and had 3 cameras hooked up in a few hrs. You NEED the SVGA cable to view on tv/monitor. Picture is a bit grainy but will do the trick. Cameras viewing rage is about 100ft max. Time will only tell how the cameras will handle NY weather, ones getting wet right now. The dvr has tons of features. The instructions arnt as bad as some make them out to be.

Over all in the few hours that I have had the system up and running I'm happy with the way it works and the quality of the machine.

PS: the hard drive that these come with this is a WD blue. At least my 1TB is.

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Sony Alpha SLT-A99 Full Frame Digital SLR Camera Body & VG-C99

Customer Ratings:

First, I am an amateur photographer who got his start with a Minolta 101, then a maxxum 7000. When Sony took over the Minolta rights and technologies, it was natural for me to continue with their product line. My Alpha 100 was a decent camera and when I decided to take the plunge for a full frame the a99 caught my eye and has proven to be everything any of the other preceeding cameras weren't. Amazing in low light, Well thought out buttons and layout that make it easy to make the key adjustments on the fly. The electron view finder is great and was an area of concern before I bought. This is a great camera, maybe a little on the high side price wise, however this bundle included a vertical grip, a 64gb memory card and the hvl 60 flash adding almost 1000 of additional gear. I am more than pleased with this camera and looking forward to adding 2470 zeiss 2.8 at some point in the future. In the meantime I make due with my old Minolta maxxum lens a 28 -135 a 70 -300 and a 50 1.7. I highly recommend this camera it rocks.

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Toshiba Satellite S855D-S5148 15.6-Inch Laptop (Ice Blue Brushed

Customer Ratings:

I am a computer science student so I am pretty well versed when it comes to computers. I know my hardware, can write operating systems, and am constantly programming. I began searching for laptops because I needed a more powerful one. I play a few games so I also wanted something able to power through some graphics. This laptop has pretty amazing specs, especially for the price. Windows 8 is pretty intuitive once you get used to it, so don't let that defer you from getting this laptop. The operating system that it comes with is 64bit. The quad core amd and radeon graphics card can crunch through just about anything. Plenty of RAM, plus it is up-gradable to 16gigs if you desire. The hard disk is the only thing that can slow some operations down, but at this time solid state is a little too pricey. I would have loved to have a back-lit keyboard, however for the price and specs I wasn't going to let that be the reason I did not buy this laptop. I researched laptops for weeks and this turned up to be the best; and at a very reasonable price. I would most assuredly recommend this laptop.

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Canon PowerShot G1 X 14.3 MP CMOS Digital Camera

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $649.00
Sale Price: $599.00
Today's Bonus: 8% Off

A few years ago Thom Hogan posted a "Compact Camera Challenge" () in his excellent blog, in which he lamented the lack of compact cameras with a large sensor. Despite the development of digital photography technology for the past two decades, stated Hogan, "the camera makers simply don't have any idea of what many of their customers really want." In Hogan's view, consumers will be well served if there was a compact camera with a larger sensor that met certain standards he deemed essential for a serious photographer.

I stumbled onto Hogan's challenge as I was looking for the same thing. And since that time I have been waiting and hoping for such a camera. I use a DSLR (Canon EOS 10D and EOS Xti) almost exclusively, but grow tired of lugging the camera and those heavy lenses on each trip as well as the lens changing for those casual outings. The end result is that I now don't bother to even bring a camera with me on some of my trips. I know there are those mirror-less cameras, but the prospect of buying a whole new set of lenses and change them during shooting had discouraged me from jumping into them.

The Canon Powershot G1X is exactly the camera I have been waiting for. It has in fact exceeded all the criteria laid out in Hogan's challenge. So I immediately bought it, even though the $800 price tag is on the high side.

After playing around with it in the past few days I have gained a better picture of what this camera is (and isn't). I'm still very pleased with it. In the mean time I also feel that depending on what you use your camera for and what your level of enthusiasm is, there might be better alternatives. I'll try to summarize what I have found below in more details.

1. Image Quality (Sensor). The greatest strength of this camera is its ability to take SUPERB quality images. The lens is very sharp. The quality of images taken under low light situation (which is pretty much the case if you take indoor pictures) is UNSURPASSED by any other compact camera. I have shot several images at ISO 3200, something I had never done even with my DSLR, and the images are completely usable. In fact, up to ISO 1600 the noise level is negligible. Numerous reviews have confirmed this experience. You can find various sample images online, including a large number of them on DPReview. You may also find some of images I have taken at2. Lens Quality. So far I'm very pleased with it. It is a very sharp lens. The 28-115mm zoom is practical for most shooting situations. I find the lens to be very sharp overall. However, at the widest setting of 28mm the barrel distortion is quite evident --in fact it is very pronounced. If you shoot in JPEG at 28mm the images looks far less distorted because it has been corrected in the camera firmware. Of course, this means you do see some softness away from the center of the frame. But when you shoot in raw and open it in Photoshop (after converting it to Adobe dng format), you see the pronounced distortion. This is something most of the "official" reviews have missed.

The lens, other than at its widest setting, is quite slow. I do understand that this is a limitation of the compactness of this camera.

3. Features. As an advanced compact camera, like other Powershot G-series cameras, the G1X comes with all kinds of user controls that are essential for enthusiasts. I will not go into details. DPReview () has just posted its full review of the camera, and many features are discussed there. There are also a number of features that people who don't care for user controls will find intriguing. For example, there is a "smile detection" setting that will take three pictures automatically if it detects a smile. I have tested this feature, and it seems to work fine. If you want a camera packed with features that suit both novices and professionals, the G1X will not disappoint you. I highly recommend one to go through the full manual (downloadable from Canon website) to get to know all the features.

4. Focus. The G1X has been criticized by just about every review for its slow autofocus. But I find this to be an overreaction. I certainly have not noticed that the focus is slow or inaccurate. If anything, I find it to be quite good. Sure it is no match for an SLR, but I have used many compact cameras, and the G1X stacks up pretty well. In lab testing the G1X is slower than the state of the art compact cameras by a fraction of a second on average, but to most people, even seasoned professionals, I don't believe this is an issue. The G1X also has a very useable manual focus, conveniently controlled with a dial and viewed on the LCD with a digital "magnifying glass."

A bigger problem is its inability to focus in close range, so one must often switch between normal focus and macro focus modes. Fortunately this is not so difficult for the G1X.

5. Macro. Like everyone else had said, this is not made for it.

6. Usability/Performance. The controls are a mixed bag. In some cases they are well designed. I like the exposure compensation dial, making exposure compensations a cinch. The various exposure modes are rather conventional. However, I find myself often inadvertently touching a button and mess up the setting I had. This is extremely annoying. Some of the features take a little practice to get used to. Overall, the usability is good although not exceptional.

If you plan to use this camera to do mainly landscape or scenes that are not moving, such as shooting friends who will pose for you with their contrived smiles, this camera will not disappoint you. I would highly recommend this camera. However, if you are into sports photography this camera is DEFINITELY NOT for you. In fact, even for photographing kids this camera is woefully inadequate, and I say you should forget it. The main problem is that it takes very long to go from one shot to the next. In my test with a moderately fast SD card, shooting in raw+JPEG it takes a whopping 6.5 seconds for the camera to be ready for the next shot (the figure is about 4 seconds in JPEG only, or with a very fast SD card). This is completely UNACCEPTABLE. I don't know why no major reviews had pointed it out. Note that even after 6.5 seconds you will still need to tack on another few seconds to compose your next shot and press the shutter. So overall, from one shot to the next can take 8 seconds easily, which for many photographers is an eternity.

6. Movie/HD Video. I don't use this feature much so I don't have anything extensive to say. On a cursory examination it is quite good.

7. Battery. The battery is small, and it gives you about 250 shots. Please be sure to buy one or two extra ones. You can find them on eBay for a fraction of the cost Amazon charges (I bought two for about 7 bucks).

My overall verdict on Powershot G1X is that it is a GREAT camera (with some minor flaws) if you are photographing mainly landscape or people who will pose for you. However, it is completely unsuited for sports, and it is poorly suited for photographing kids or spontaneous scenes because of its ridiculously long lag between shots.

======================================================

Update:

I have just taken the Powershot G1X to Xian, China, to photograph the Terra Cotta Warriors and artifacts in the Shaanxi History Museum. The lighting condition was not ideal at all. In most cases it was very dark. Only in the Terra Cotta Pit 1 the lighting was not extremely dark. I took about 250 photos in those two places. In several places I had to push the ISO to 3200 and use a shutter speed of 1/20th of a second. In the end, almost all images came out tack sharp with little noise! The IS worked superbly. I must say the overall quality of my pictures has gone far beyond my expectation. In fact I went with a friend who carried the latest Sony full frame DSLR, and my G1X held up very well. As far as image quality goes, it does not disappoint.

However, the battery life was really not so great. While Canon claims 250 pictures per charge, I got about 170 (LCD on). So make sure you get at least two extra batteries (on ebay).

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Nikon MB-D15 Grip Multi Battery Power Pack for D7100 Digital SLR

Customer Ratings:

I will not spend time bemoaning the fact that this product is $269....I prefer to read useful information related to the product itself. The MB-D15 is well constructed, and gives one the option of using AA batteries in addition to the EN-EL 15 Nikon battery. This battery grip is great for people with large hands who appreciate the added gripping area. I prefer to use Nikon products with my Nikon cameras and don't mind paying the extra (nominal) cost.

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Brand New Nikon D800 Body Only Black

Customer Ratings:

I must confess, I am a Convert from Canon. Should have done it years ago. I've been denying the Nikon products for years, and would like to apologize for that. Now I can state that NO CANON product can compare to the Nikon D3.

The sharpness, the color reproduction, the camera ergonomics and functions are presenting you with an infinite number of creative opportunities. You will truly comprehend the meaning of: The World is your studio! And, no! I am not a Nikon salesman.

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