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

Sunday, February 23, 2003

O2 XDA offer

I was just sent an e-mail which gave me the option of getting an O2 XDA by using my air miles. Hmm... the offer is tempting given that I do have a lot of miles. But is the XDA any good? Still questionable.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 4:12 | 1 comments

Tuesday, February 18, 2003

Nikon Coolpix SQ

Oh no, just my luck... two days after I buy a new digital camera. Nikon just introduced the Coolpix SQ which is a 3.1 MP small, square, metallic digital camera. While I knew about the camera, I didn't know it was going to be this small.

Did I make a mistake? Maybe not. I still want to see it first...

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 4:30 | 0 comments

Monday, February 17, 2003

Bought a Sony DSC-U20 Digital Camera...

So here I am on a Sunday afternoon cruising the malls with my lovely better half. Of course, I'm trying to stay away from the electronic shops because I just won't be able to help myself. We head down to the big supermarket in the basement of the mall when...

A Sony Exhibition right there in the middle of the courtyard

[Stay away from the light Voon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]

Too late. The shiny lights, the blinking screens, the free gifts, I just couldn't help myself. I touched a few keyboards, played with a few screens and then headed over to the digital cameras.

Not only did they just knock down the price of Sony U20, they also threw in the case, a free gift, and put it all in a cool bag. I was soooo hooked. It took the guy less than 45 seconds to convince me and the next thing you know, I was already reaching for my credit card.

I have a new digital camera -- Yeah! This super small, light, 2 mega-pixel toy, is really cool. A review will follow when I get back from my roadtrip. I'll do some live testing with the camera.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 20:30 | 2 comments

Friday, February 14, 2003

New Sony Products

Sony has been on a tear with e-mails. First, the P800 mobile phone is finally expected to be released in March. I got an e-mail asking if I wanted to reserve one. Price is estimated to be about US$900. Hmm... NO THANKS.

Also the new Clie NZ90H is here as well. It has a 2 Megapixel camera but is just too big for my taste. Plus, it's still Palm OS. Asking price: US$766. Bit steep.

Lastly though, there is one cool looking new product - the new Sony Net MD MZ-N10 looks pretty cool. I had a chance to see one yesterday and it is amazingly slim and light. Might be time for an upgrade...

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 18:52 | 0 comments

Tuesday, February 11, 2003

Searching for a 5 MP digital camera...

I am thinking of what 5 Megapixel compact camera's are out there. This is an interesting dilemma. Thus far, versions from Sony, Olympus, Minolta, etc. are all minor upgrades of existing models.

The only new one that has caught my eye is the new Contax TVS digital camera. I have a Contax APS camera which takes very good pictures. I like the fact that it's an SD format but I wish I didn't have to use their proprietary batter. Still it does look fairly nice.

Or I might just have to look into one of those digital SLRs!!!

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 22:01 | 0 comments

Monday, February 10, 2003

New Nikon Coolpix SQ

Apparently the boneheads at Nikon forgot that sequential numbering of web pages is not exactly rocket science. Many users, including myself managed to quickly go all the way to the end to see the square looking digital camera. Of course, Nikon eventually found out about it and broke the links but the damage is done. HEY NIKON, the secret is out, just launch the darn product already!

If anyone wants to see it, there is copy of the sequence here, which highlights the new camera.

theVooner@yahoo.com

P.S. Thanks Lewis for the link.

posted at 8:41 | 0 comments

Friday, February 7, 2003

Nikon NEW???? Digital camera

In my search for a new digital camera, I have come across the Nikon Coolpix website. When you open the site, there is some weird mystery surrounding the launch of a new product. What is it? What's going on? I have no idea, but I am definitely curious.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 1:10 | 1 comments

Thursday, February 6, 2003

More mobile phones

Sony Ericsson has finally started to pre-launch the P800 here in HK which means it should be out in about a month or so. But at an est. selling price of over US$900 I think I'll pass.

Cliff also pointed out to me a site that showed some images of a potential new Nokia Phone, the 8580. Like a clam shell, it has a really weird, shiny cover that folds in half. I'm not sure if this a concept phone or a real phone to be coming. The Nokia website has no mention of this model so I'm not sure what to make of it.

There is also the pretty weird but neat looking phone from Tel.me (the T919). This looks very much like the upcoming Sony Ericsson P800 but with a ton of functions includign MP3 player and PC connectivity/Outlook sync. Pretty neat.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 3:24 | 0 comments

Tuesday, February 4, 2003

GPS -- an excuse for a new iPaq

A company in Hong Kong called Satellite Devices finally did a detailed roadmap of Hong Kong. Add some other technology to take into account the tall buildings, tunnels, underground carparks, and you have a pretty cool product for GPS here in HK! The SD RoadPilot looks pretty awesome and from what the shop told me, uses some of the car power (instead of just relying on the PDA) to power its GPS module, hence significantly increasing the accuracy and coverage. Been waiting long enough...

Of course, it's designed only for an iPaq at the moment. So that would of course mean I would have to buy a new PDA. That does and doesn't sound enticing. But with the new iPaq 5450 costing about US$670 and the GPS unit costing about US$240, I'm having to contain my enthusiasm. It's all really cool, but I just don't think it's worth the price right now.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 7:57 | 0 comments

Monday, February 3, 2003

Digital Wallets

For those of you not accustomed to carrying around a laptop, digital wallets are a great alternative. These devices are basically hard drives on the fly. Versions from Mindstor, Digibin, and Aplux, among others all look very impressive.

There are even a few now that I have seen which come with a digital screen that allow you to show off the images. Different models from Vosonic and Innoplus, not to mention several others all look good. Microsoft has its Media2Go model coming out as well which should be interesting.

I really like the Archos Jukebox Multimedia 20, although it seems to be missing a basic drive slot for memory cards. Maybe Apple can do something like this for the iPod. An iJuke or iDrive or iSomething. Then I'll definitely buy one. Should I see one of these drives though, I wonder if I should be looking at it despite already having my TabletPC which I'm probably going to be carrying around most of the time.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 18:33 | 0 comments

Sunday, February 2, 2003

Sony NW-MS70D -- New Sony Network Walkman MP3 Player

Sony has come up with this really hi-tech looking MP3 player. Using the new Memory Stick Duo, this is a super small MP3 Player. Even cooler is the round, cylinder charging stand which looks a big fat battery standing on its edt that you charge the player with. Impressive design!

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 1:58 | 0 comments

Saturday, February 1, 2003

Plasma TV shopping anyone?

I was cruising the malls on my day off yesterday seeing as how it was the eve of Chinese New Year. Of course, I just happened to be by the electronic shop when I could not pass up the lure of a wall of Plasma TVs. I have come to the conclusion that while a new giant 50" Plasma sounds really cool, it probably is not practical. So instead, I'm carefully studying all the smaller 32" (and a few odd 35"/37") plasma models. The one with the best screen, colour, resolution, and even shape IMHO is the new Hitachi PD32-A3000. I was well designed (the TV is on a swivel to adjust to where you are), comes with a separate TV tuner, and definitely had the best resolution/picture image of the others.

Definitely worth considering...

theVooner@yahoo.com

P.S. Happy Chinese New Year!

posted at 1:52 | 0 comments