theVooner's weblog

A weblog for theVooner.com where the best cool gear and gadgets get reviewed.

last modified Jul 15, 2003 at 1:45

Tuesday, July 30, 2002

Foldable Laptop by Xentex

Xentex has unveiled a laptop which folds not in half, but in quarters. That's right, the screen even folds in half. One half of the screen can be rotated 180 degrees so that it can be displayed as a presentation like laptop. I like the idea of making it smaller, but I'm not sure if I'd go for this particular idea and design. At US$4995, I think it's even less appealing.

Instead, I'm really looking foward to the portable Oqo laptop which is a fully functional PC the size of a PDA. In fact, this little device may one day replace PDAs altogether. Can't wait to see if it actually comes to the market.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 2:12 | 0 comments

Monday, July 29, 2002

More PDAs

I can't keep up with all the new PDAs these days. Sanyo unveiled a Linux prototype the other day with 2 TFT screens.

There is a new iPaq 5000 being already rumoured about.

HP has a new Jornada 928 which looks interesting, but still doesn't have the charm of the CLIE IMHO. BUT it comes with a SIM slot for GPRS access. Neat.

Sony too has a new low-end CLIE. The SL10 is a B&W version of the T series (at least it looks like that) and is pretty cheap at US$150.

Not to mention all the new models from Toshiba, Sharp, and Fujitsu.

How are we to keep up these days? I've already changed my PDA what 3 times this year? Oh well... back to the mall to take another look.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 17:18 | 0 comments

Saturday, July 27, 2002

Sony Memory Stick Duo

I remember reading some time back that Sony was exploring another type of Memory Stick. The Duo was nearly half the size of the existing Memory Stick. I don't know whether to be excited or outraged. I mean, cool, gadgets are going to be even smaller.

BUT, hey, Sony can't even figure out a 256MB or 512MB Memory Stick, and now they want us to buy the Memory Stick Duo format all over again?!?!? It looks as if the new Sony Ericsson P800 will be one of the first products to use the new Memory Stick Duo.

So what do we loyal Sony users do? Sony has always forced us to use their batteries, their format, their memory cards. It's all a bit frustrating. But it has become enough of an issue for me, such that I am starting to consider other brands and products. In particular that 128MB limit is very frustrating. I'm tired of buying more Memory Sticks, which is one of the main reasons I haven't bought a new Sony digital camera. I'm much more impressed with the Compact Flash format (or even the SD Card format) and might just buy something OTHER than a Sony.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 19:24 | 0 comments

Friday, July 26, 2002

Binoculars with Digital Camera

I'm not sure what sort of things you can get up to with this, but it's an interesting little add-on. This binoculars with a digital camera will let you take pictures of whatever it is your zoomed in on. I'm not even going to get into what you'd do with it. It has 8MB of built in memory and the 640x480 resolution is probably too low for any decent photos. Still, it does have its uses...

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 17:08 | 0 comments

Korean Handheld GP32 Game Machine

I'll be travelling to Korea next week and just cannot get this GamePark GP32 machine out of my head. It looks awesome! Much better graphics than the weak GBA. It's got a screen resolution of 320x240 (versus the GBA's 240x160). It's also got a built in MP3 player, wireless connectivity to play against other machines, smart media card slot, and 8MB of memory. I want one.

I hope I can find it when I'm over there. We'll see.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 16:58 | 0 comments

Thursday, July 25, 2002

Alternative iPod - Toshiba Gigabeat

Check out this cool Walkman from Toshiba, the Gigabeat which allows you play MP3 files from a Type 1 PC Card (5GB card shown). Cool. While it doesn't have the glamour of the iPod, it is much more versatile. Still with the iPod now PC compatible, I guess that's still the best choice!

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 2:21 | 0 comments

Wednesday, July 24, 2002

Sony DSC U10

Sony just launched the new DSC-U10 digital camera. While it only has a 1.3 megapixel lens, it's supposed to be one of the smallest camera's out there. This is about as close as we can get now to that Silicon on a Stick Sony Digital camera we saw sometime back. I'm excited because I like that this looks like a super small digital camera. I'm disappointed though at the resolution. I think the P9 is a better alternative for now, but I can't wait till we get super small, high resolution digital cameras.

BTW, where the hell is the 256MB Memory Stick these days?

theVooner

posted at 0:20 | 0 comments

Monday, July 22, 2002

iPod for Windows

I haven't been checking the Apple website for months and (thanks to Danny pointing it out) I just saw that the new 20GB iPod now comes with Windows compatibility. Awesome! I'm pretty eager to get one. I just now have to figure out how to store 20GB of music on my computer.

Apple also has a really cool 17" widescreen iMac. Great design, but it's still a Mac.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 4:46 | 4 comments

Thursday, July 18, 2002

On the road

Have now been travelling for 2 weeks so I apologise that I did not make any comments earlier.

As some of you might have noticed, I've put up two new reviews before I left:

the Sony Clie NR70V

and the

Nokia 7650

So far, the Nokia has garnered the most attention from people, especially here in the US where they have been totally fascinated by the phone. I only wished it worked here.

I hope to add more when I finally return home later next week.

theVooner

posted at 11:01 | 0 comments