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, October 31, 2004

Apple mini iPod - theVooner finally gets one.

I succumbed to temptation and just couldn't resist. After long holding off on the whole iPod fad, I finally gave in and bought the mini iPod. I'm glad I waited too. I know friends who've had the old Ipod and are not that happy about the initial iTunes/MusicMatch set up that didn't do a good job of managing the music. The latest iTunes is pretty darn good software, I must say, and that's from a non-Mac fan.

Anyway, after scouring the malls for months, the production of mini iPods have finally caught up to demand. There have been a recent infusion of supply and that has been a welcome relief. I don't have to worry about all those unscrupulous retailers charging massive premiums for the mini. To my luck, they also dropped the price just slightly which made it that much more attractive. More importantly, the influx of new supply meant that you can finally pick which color you want. So went in, chose the pretty Blue one and walked out with a new mini iPod. Yeah!

I considered doing a review, but as I'm already WAY behind on reviews and since I'm pretty late on the whole iPod craze, I think it wouldn't make much sense at this time. All I can say is that Apple has done a great job and from what I read (this being the 4th Generation of production of iPods), they've done a great job of fixing users demands (like the software). I'm sure most of you have already jumped on board so I don't need to tell you how good it is.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 22:25 | 0 comments

Friday, October 29, 2004

New Higher capacity Sandisk cards

Sandisk has released some pretty amazing upgrades for its storage cards. The Memory Stick Pro gets a 4GB card, the MS Duo gets a 1 GB card, and the SD Card gets a 2GB card. Wow! That's a lot of capacity. Really not much excuse now for Sony not to have put out a 7 mega-pixel or even a 9 mega-pixel T-series Cybershot!

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 0:03 | 0 comments

Thursday, October 28, 2004

Sony Vaio Type X

B&O meets Sony. The Type X follows on from Sony's cool Vaio Desktop designs. But this one is really stunning. The design, look and function is certainly up a level from other Vaios. The Type X can serve as a server for recordings. It hooks up to the TV where it can record programs, run the sound system, or just be a suped up AV controller. It's also a PC so this is truly an all in one AV/Computer. Very cool.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 22:28 | 0 comments

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

Samsung SCH-S250 5-Megapixel Camera Phone

Samsung has announced a 5-Megapixel camera phone. The SCH-S250 has a sliding feel similar to Samsung's other phones. It has a rally nice LCD which it claims can produce 16m colors. I like that they have pushed the technology envelope and I'm eager to see more new products coming out soon from others as well.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 1:29 | 0 comments

Monday, October 25, 2004

Nintendo DS

Nintendo is already making aggressive marketing moves for its new portable which is expected to be released on Dec. 2. The Nintendo DS has two screens and the unit and is tentatively priced at 15,000 yen which seems very reasonable. The software list at the time of its rollout is typical Nintendo - built around heavyweights like Mario, Metroid and Pokemon. I haven't seen the Sony release date yet, but it should be an interesting fight. I'm leaning towards buying a Sony PSP but you never know -- I'll probably own both!

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 1:14 | 0 comments

Tuesday, October 19, 2004

Sony Cybershot L1

I saw the marketing material yesterday for the new Cybershot L1 and the mock-up looks actually quite good. I don't know why Sony is moving towards this shape or this design, but I think its too get people to move over to Sony by upgrading their existing cameras of this shape and design. It:s certainly small and looks like a good replacement to all those mine U-series Cybershots.

I also saw the live version of the T3 which I like very much as I liked my T1 a lot. Unfortunately, I wished Sony would have put a nice 7+mega pixel resolution because then it would feel like an upgrade and I'd probably do that. As for now, I think I'll still stick with my T1.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 23:33 | 0 comments

Sunday, October 17, 2004

Sony M Series

I love Sony's designs. I know they always command a premium and in truth, the Vaio's specs never measure up. I've been having debates with a few people who just say they can't justify the Sony, especially when they compare it to other brands that often are better equipped and cheaper. I'm inclined to agree.

But take a look at Sony's designs. The new M-series is a new take on their hybrid desktop with a laptop feel. I think the integration of the PC with other aspects of entertainment including TV is happening pretty fast so I'm not surprised that we are moving more into these products. They sell well in Japan where houses are fairly limited. There are even lots of options from other manufacturers like NEC. But these type of computers don't seem to do well outside of Japan. I wonder why that is. I guess most people want better specs, cheaper prices, and like to keep their PC separate from their entertainment options like the TV. Still, the design is just so visually appealing.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 22:48 | 2 comments

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

Sony Vaio T series

I can't help myself. I went all crazy and bought the U70 and now I want another laptop. I like the U70, but the battery life is starting to be a bit annoying. I want power. Sony of course realises that people like me want way too much computing power, so they decided to introduce the T17! The T17 is like the TR series, but looks thinner and without the camera. The screen looks like it might be the same size. But I'm most impressed with the 8 hour rated battery life. I understand that this means the battery is probably larger than other laptops, but its nice that this is standard, not a really expensive addition like all the other Vaio's. Anyway, is it time to trade in the U70 and buy a T17? Hmm... any takers for the U70?

Regards,

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 3:40 | 2 comments

Monday, October 11, 2004

Hey everyone

I'm really sorry. As some of you might know, I've been on a sabbatical of sort. Life is sort of taking me in a different direction so I haven't had time to do as many reviews, and even keep my blogs up to date. But I'll continue to do so and I apologise and thank everyone that has written or continues to watch this page.

Anyway, I'll be putting up lots of updates soon as I have some spare time now.

I just got an e-mail from Nokia about the 6670. It looks like a slightly lower version of the 7610. I think I didn't tell enough people about the 7610 as I actually did buy one. I gave up on it pretty fast and I'll do a quick review to tell you why I didn't like it. This probably will not bode well for the 6670. Having said that, it's Nokia and I see plenty of people using the 7610.

Check back on this page soon!

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 6:58 | 0 comments

Saturday, October 2, 2004

Sony S700 is here!

The long awaited Sony Ericsson S700 mobile is finally here. Among all the mobile phones, this one definitely had the best specs. I mean, it had everything. An amazing screen, 1.3 MP digital camera, all the other add-ons that you want on a mobile phone. So I told myself I wanted one and went to the store. Well there are two big disappointments: 1) it's huge. The phone is gigantic. It's roughly the size of Sony's P-series digital camera line. It reminded me of a Sony P100 actually, except this was also a phone. It didn't fit in my pocket, and didn't feel comfortable at all. 2) Because of the shortage of units (it's only a few days old), the model is somewhat sold out. Consequently all the stores are marking it up between 15 to 20% above MSRP. So instead of US$ 640, it's US$750. I hate it when retailers do that. Just sell the darn thing at MSRP and if its sold it, it's sold out. I know that this should be expected and if I were a retailer, I might do the same, but it's still annoying.

After careful consideration, I decided not to get it. My hunt for a new mobile continues.

theVooner@yahoo.com

posted at 17:25 | 5 comments