Archive for September, 2009
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
Nowadays every manufacturer tries to improve their sales with the MFP printers. An MFP printer (stands for Multi Function Printer or Product) is an all in one printer (aka AIO). Build at first as an office machine because it incorporated the functionality of multiple devices in one, it easily spread as a home device because of the same feature. Even if you are in the comfort of your home, or at the office you always appreciate good centralized document management (distribution, production). An all in one printer usually incorporates beside the actual printer a scanner, photocopier, fax and email (the last two are not very common for the home products).
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Basically the MFP printer got a consistent upgrade from a regular printer. The marketing direction was imported from the modern mobile phones (phone, camera, music player, GPS and other). If you are looking for a middle range all in one for your personal use, the smart buy would be the HP Photosmart C4680. This printer covers the basics. The text, graphics and photo quality are all good for an inkjet printer, and it prints pretty fast for both business applications and for photos. However, its single input tray maxes out at 80 sheets. It has no output tray; therefore all the printed files or copies will just be dropped on the input tray.
Also the input tray makes awkwardly noises when you unfold it, leaving you a feeling of bad build. The HP Photosmart C4680 offers good features, like the 1.5 inches LCD display that shows the menu options. Using this touch sensitive display you can select your settings by just tapping. You can also use the LCD display to preview photos on memory cards before printing. The supported memory cards are: Memory Stick, SD Memory Card, Multi Media Card, xD Picture Card, Memory Stick Duo, SDHC Memory Card. The LCD display is rather small; therefore the viewing angles are tight.
The C4680 has a USB 2.0 connector, but no Ethernet. So, no networking, no fax capabilities, and no automatic document feeder – the C4680 is strictly for home use. However, the HP Photosmart C4680 speed is rather good. The maximum printing speed will deliver up to 29 pages per minute (mono) and up to 23 pages per minute (color). The quality of the printing is pretty good. The C4680 all in one, has a height of 6.7 inches, wide of 17.4 inches, deep of 16.6 inches with a weight of 11 lbs. the setup is in normal standard. Just remember to run the semi automatic alignment routine. HP ships C4680 with a black cartridge (up to 200 pages) and a color cartridge (yellow / cyan / magenta up to 150 pages).
The HP Photosmart C4680 runs smoothly with a Windows Vista system. The all in one comes with a full set of software for Vista x64, XP Service Pack 1 or higher, and Mac OS X v10.4 and 10.5. The new OS X 10.6 and Windows 7 will both provide C4680 drivers as part of the operating system. The scanning feature provides gray scale depth at 8 bit, with an optical resolution of 1200 x 2400 dpi and a color depth of 48 bit. The copying feature provides a good speed with up to 9 pages per minutes (mono) and up to 6.5 pages per minute (color).
The maximum copying resolution goes up to 1200 x 1200 dpi in both mono and color, while the maximum printing resolution goes up to 4800 x 1200 dpi both in mono and color mode. The biggest drawback for the C4680 is the cost of its ink. Otherwise the Photosmart C4680 is a decent choice for a light duty home multi function printer, because of its good quality printing and friendly controls.
Posted in Computer Gadgets | 1 Comment »
Thursday, September 17th, 2009
Even if you are a professional artist (musician, song writer) or just an amateur, you need to have a good keyboard. If you are looking for one, than take a look at the M-Audio Key station 61 ES – Note USB keyboard. This key station is designed to connect with any operating system, worldly spread. Therefore, connections with operating system from Mac (Leopard, Snow Leopard) and from Windows (XP) are done rapidly and user friendly. The setup of the M-Audio Key station 61 ES – Note USB keyboard is just based on plug and play factor.
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Also if you are getting the M-Audio Key station 61 ES key board for an amateur you should know that this particularly key board is compatible with many music education and music creation software titles. If you are looking to create inventive and versatile music that integrates with your Mac computer or Windows computer, than this sleek, compact keyboard is just what you need. Because this key board design is rather large, you should always plan ahead when you travel.
The M-Audio Key station 61 ES has a height of 29 cm, wide of 104 cm, deep of 12.7 cm with a weight of 5 kg. Your MacBook or notebook has to have installed Mac OS X 10.1.5 or higher (with native USB support) or Windows XP Service Pack 1. Don’t expect something else than the M-Audio Key station 61 ES in the shipping box, because you are not getting it. What great features can this key station hide? An excellent 61 note velocity sensitive semi weighted action; pitch bend and modulation wheel (also there is octave up and down which works nicely); the key station also has integrated volume / control slider, which also works well with logic plug-ins but it might seem difficult to make it work lounge lizard 2 and 3 and neither with plug-ins in ableton live (2 wheels are assignable as well as the volume slider); the M-Audio Key station 61 ES also has advanced function button for programming; sustain foot pedal input; octave + / – buttons to extend keyboard range (really nice touch, but useless if you are into extensive manipulation of the sound); separate MIDI out jack to transform the key station into an external controller for your computer (for the price you pay you get a really great MIDI input device).
However if you are going to use the M-Audio Key station 61 ES as a standalone midi controller you might find the lack of buttons annoying. Even more difficult is lack of function markings on the keys; therefore you will need to check most of the time the instruction manual in order to remember the key sequences you need. It offers a great expressiveness. The M-Audio Key station 61 ES comes with different velocity curve options. Because the E61 ES looks solid and well built, the semi weighted action of this key station feels great. The case is made out of thick plastic. For studio use this keyboard is a really good option.
Also if you are a musician who wants to play gigs, club and open airs, this should not be your first choice. Not just the M-Audio Key station 61 ES comes with a cheap price, but also its performances at real wide events. The compact E61 ES keyboard is USB powered and requires no external power supply. You can also charge the key station with 9VDC power adapter.
The M-Audio Key station 61 ES is ideal for computer input work, but right out of the box it won’t work as a stand alone midi controller with many types of sounds modules. This keyboard will probability fit nicely everywhere you will put it. There is, however, a drawback: a problem in the hardware that controls the Active Sense of the keyboard. If you are just using the USB connection, this problem will not affect you, but if you are using the keyboard as a midi controller then the keyboard will fail the sense check. Therefore the module will turn off the notes. Because of this problem the entire key station will crash for every few minutes. Overall this keyboard is a good product, if you are not going for a full potential outburst.
Posted in Electronic Gadgets | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
These days all the manufacturers try to offer a big variety of products. Even so only a few of them are actually going to have great sales and good profit. Canon knows this lesson, therefore for the printer series, Canon offers all sort of devices (entry level, middle level, high level and all in one). From all the levels, Canon invests the most in the all in one line.
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The Canon PIXMA MP6xx is one line that has evolved in a spectacular way from 2006 when the first MP6xx device was created. Canon PIXMA MP610 and MP600 were released at one a year distance. Even so there were not enough improved features between both devices. Therefore Canon released in 2008 the PIXMA MP620 Wireless All in One Printer, Scanner and Copier. In direct comparison with both of the previous models, the MP620 does offer improvements. It adds both Ethernet and Wi-Fi and comes with a smaller asking price (the price is dropped by $50 then the price of the MP610). Unfortunately the smaller price means in Canon language slower processing and the lack of automatic duplexer for printing on both sides of the page (the MP610 was better from this perspective).
The automatic duplexer is a luxury feature and it makes no sense why Canon did not included it in the MP620. However if you don’t need this feature or if you manually duplex a page, this may be for you a pretty good printer. If you already know the product and you are planning to buy it, and then hear or a couple of things you should know: the Canon PIXMA MP620 comes with an overwhelming amount of padding, bags, and tape that will keep the printer safe. It will take a while to unpack it. When you finish the unpacking, you will begin to worry. The printer comes with a few uninstalled pieces, therefore you will have to become an engineer and figure how to install in the best way possible all of these pieces.
Does the MP620 worth all the trouble? Well the first thing you are going to see is the 2.5 TFT display that will let you preview photos before printing them. The MP620 will also let you print easily from memory cards (SD memory card, SDHC multimedia card v4.1, multimedia card plus v4.1, mini SD card, xD picture card – basic, type M or type H, memory stick micro, memory stick pro duo, memory stick, memory stick pro memory stick duo, micro drive, compact flash card, micro SD, micro SDHC, RS MMC), digital cameras or even camera phone and camcorders. Â The MP620 offers the performance of a 300 sheet input capacity divided in two trays.
You can use in a print of this scale two kinds of paper at once. Besides printing, the MP620 can scan over a network and work as stand-alone copier (excellent in offices). Canon officially released a statement that the PIXMA MP620 is compatible to both Microsoft operating systems: Vista and XP and Apple operating system: MAC OS X v10.3.9 to 10.5.x. Because the printer is delivered with the full set of software drivers the setup is doable. However it is by far an easy one. By all means use the steps indicated by Canon. After you unpack your printer, plug it in, turn it on, load paper and insert the cartridges. Remember that unlike other printers you will need to align the MP620 every time you change a cartridge. This was the easy part; now to the impossible part, the actual network setup of the printer.
Therefore, the usual installation process when you connect your printer to a network cable and let the installation software do its job doesn’t work here. Grab a cup of coffee; it will take you another 10 minutes. Step 1: connect your PIXMA MP620 to your PC or Mac using the USB cable. Step 2: choose from the software installation program the “use a network connection” feature. Step 3: remove the USB cable. Now your printer is setup to accept a network connection with cable.
The connectivity in this device is ensured by Wireless LAN with 802.11 b / g support, Ethernet, card slots, PictBridge (connects digital cameras, the cable is not included in the package) and Bluetooth v2.0. Of course another drawback in this excellent connectivity pack is that you cannot use the wireless connection (between a laptop and printer) if the MP620 is already using a wired connection. The printer’s dimensions are not a negligible factor in your purchase decision. It has a height of 17.53 cm (6.9 inches), wide of 36.83 cm (14.5 inches), deep of 44.96 cm (17.7 inches) the printer weights 8.48 kg (18.7 lb). The printing speed is adequate, faster than an all in one HP. The MP620 prints a 4 x 6 inch borderless photo in 41 seconds; the black print speed is 26 pages per minute while the color print speed is 17 pages per minute.
The black print resolution goes up to 600 x 600 dpi while the color print resolution goes up to 9600 x 2400 dpi. Pictures from the printer look great and the good quality will make them last. The photos are water resistant and scratch resistant with a lifetime of 300 years if you keep them in an album (30 years under glass and 10 years if their exposed to air). Printing text takes very little of your time and the printed quality of the texts is excellent. The Canon PIXMA MP620 is not just a printer, but also a copier. The black copy speed is 24 VPN while the color copy speed is 16 cpm. You also have features like reduction and enlargement: 25% to 400%. The MP620 has a Contact Image Sensor as a scanner element. Scan resolution goes up to 2400 x 4800 dpi in optical mode and 19.200 x 19.200 dpi in interpolated mode. The color depth is 48 bit internal and 24 bit external. The MP620 design is excellent; it looks and feels solid with quality build of the case and nice touch materials.
The MP620 is quite smart: it can detect the type of original you are scanning (either is a photo, personal notebook or form) then automatically scans and also saves the image with a specific settings, self operating paper output tray, smart copying and also wireless printing from a Wi-Fi enabled computer. Beside the actual all in one device, Canon delivers in the shipping box a power cord, five cartridges, print head, sample media, documentation kit – includes user guide CD and USB cable. The software that you will need to install is about 400 MB. However it seems to run fast. Unfortunately if your computer is not up to date the software might freeze it. Canon realized this and allows you to delete this software after you install the necessary drivers.
If you are interested enough to buy this printer, be prepared to spend some time with the process installation and money for setting it up for wireless functionality.
Posted in Electronic Gadgets | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
If you were able to take only one device when you go on vacation, what would that device be? Would you choose a video camera, a digital photo camera or a mobile phone camera? Regardless of your choice, take a closer look to the new Sanyo Xacti VPC-E2 Waterproof Digital Camcorder. This device is purely perfection. It is easy to carry around and gets high quality video and photos. Regarding the photo department, you don’t even have to worry on the camera getting under water because it is waterproof. The Sanyo Xacti VPC-E2 is capable of recording full motion video 5 feet under water, for about half an hour.
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The Xacti VPC-E2 is designed to IPX8 International Standard for Waterproof. The effective pixels count of the camera is approximately 8.0 megapixels. The charged coupled device is 1 / 2.5 inch CMOS, approximately 8.12 megapixels. Even under water the Xacti VPC-E2 can record on the SD memory card with values that go up to 32 GB SDHC, but also on the rather small internal memory of 44 MB. The Sanyo Xacti VPC-E2 has implemented good recording file formats, such as: JPEG for still pictures, ISO standard MPEG 4 AVC / H.264 with audio at 48 kHz sampling, 16 bit dual channel, AAC, for the movie clip. In order to accomplish the complexity of such high movie clip standard, the Xacti VPC-E2 is equipped with a great camera designed specifically for this device.
Therefore the resolution movies clips are: 640 x 480 pixels with 60 frames per second – 6 Mbps, frame rate priority, 640 x 480 with 30 frames per second – 3 Mbps, image quality priority, 640 x 480 with 30 frames per second – 2 Mbps, shooting time priority, and 320 x 240 with both 30 and 15 frames per second. The Xacti VPC-E2 can record up to 8 hours of medium quality video with an 8 GB memory card, up to 4 hours of medium quality video with a 4 GB memory card, while for the 2 GB and 1GB memory cards you can record up to 2 hours, respectively 1 hour medium quality medium. The photos taken with the E2 are flawless. However the camera starts a little slow, so you might miss some instant moment photos.
The resolution for the still shots start from a low 0.3 MP with 640 x 480, 2 MP 1600 x 1200, 4.5 MP 1820 x 2448, 6MP 3264 x 1840, 8 MP 3264 x 2448 with both standard and low compression and the great resolution of 4000 x 3000 at 12 MP. However the maximum resolution for continuous shots is 3264 x 2448 at 8 MP, with 1 frame per second, which means a maximum of 10 shots. You can choose to have the continuous shots at 1600 x 1200 pixels, 2 MP with 5 frames per second and a maximum of 10 shots. There are so many features for this camera, but I will try to summarize some. The shutter speed of a still picture goes from 1 / 2 to 1 / 1500 seconds, while on continuous shooting mode values go from 1 / 15 to 1 / 1500 seconds and in the movie clip mode from 1 / 30 to 1 / 10000 seconds.
The Xacti VPC-E2 offers a digital zoom in shooting photos up to 12 xs. The camera also features scene selector (lamp, fireworks, underwater, snow and beach, night portrait, landscape, portrait, sport, auto), digital filter (standard, sepia, cosmetic, monochrome), photometry (multi splits, center weighted, spot), low light sensitivity for movies, still image sensitivity (auto – ISO 50 – 400, manual – ISO 50 / 100 / 200 / 400 / 800 / 1600) and exposure correction. Other functions: face chaser for still images and movies (the E2 automatically compensates for distracting up and down or left to right camera movement, keeping your subjects steady and easy to follow; the E2 distinguishes between unintentional camera shake and the actual movement; the E2 can track 12 faces at once), red eye correction in still images, flicker mitigation and wind noise reduction, white balance (auto – full auto TTl, manual – sunny / cloudy/ fluorescent / incandescent / one push). The Xacti VPC-E2 has a 2.5 inch LCD with a rotation of 285 degrees (when needed or wanted).
The display will make it easy and funny for you to take pictures or shoot videos even in the most difficult to view positions. It is a TFT color LCD display with approximated 150,000 pixels. The Sanyo Xacti VPC-E2 Waterproof Digital Camcorder has beside a built in stereo microphone, a built in monaural speaker with left and right channels output. The Sanyo Xacti VPC-E2 features a high capacity lithium Ion battery (DBL L20U) is a high voltage 3.7 volt battery with 720 mAh. The battery will last for about 205 still shots, 75 minutes of movie filming and 170 minutes continuous playback.
The dimensions are great for such a powerful device. it has a height of 111.4 mm, wide of 70.4 mm, deep of 40.5 mm with a volume of 192 ccc and a weight of 239 g. the Sanyo Xacti VPC-E2 can be connected to a VCR or even a DVD recorder in order for you to make backup copies.  Also you can connect the E2 to a PC to email, edit or store your photos and movies. You should only use the E2 when temperature in somewhere between 0 – 40 Celsius and humidity within 30 – 65%. Beside the Xacti VPC E2 camcorder, the containing box also includes a USB cable, AV cable, Li-Ion battery pack and charger, soft case, hand strap and CD software pack. Overall this is a great product, easy to take with you on a daily bases or just in holidays.
The usability is great and the quality is excellent. Even more you can import the Sanyo Xacti VPC-E2 movie clips directly into iTunes and then easily transfer them to your iPod. If you are looking for an excellent digital camera that records excellent movies, than your first choice should be The Sanyo Xacti VPC-E2.
Posted in News | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
Is your iPhone battery to weak for your intensive usage? We know how frustrating that is. But fortunately the iPhone success leaded to a big accessory market. The mophie Juice Pack Air Case and Rechargeable Battery for IPhone 3G, is the best solution to recharge your iPhone battery on the go without using a charger. The case should improve the iPhone 3G battery life up to 50%. The mophie Juice Pack Air case is easy grip; it offers a full protection of a hard shell case and a built in rechargeable battery. This case is too form-fitting; it is easier to slide the iPhone in than to take it out; with the case on the phone the best way to take if off is to push it out, one side at a time. Push on the side of the case where the volume keys are and slide it slowly.
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Repeat the process to the other side and the top of the case will slide off. You can now pull the phone out of the case. However the form fitting is not necessary a bad feature, because it will keep your iPhone secure and will protect it in case you drop your phone. Also the case is ultra thin and weights little in order to compete with the useless but high fashioned metal cases. The low profile case design hides a rechargeable 1200 mAh lithium polymer battery (with standby values up to 270 hours). Theoretically the case allows USB charging and sync with iTunes. In the real life field the cable offered with this case is more bad than good. The phone covered with the mophie Juice Pack Air doesn’t succeed charging itself.
The same happens when you try to listen through the USB port of either stereo speakers or car stereo; while the syncing with iTunes is not as smooth or easy to happen. Your iPhone will just appear and disappear from the iTunes connected decide. However these are singular issues and are not general spread to all models of mophie Juice Pack. When you use continuously your iPhone, the battery will reach pretty fast 20% of its full capacity. The usage time to 20% is about 4 hours and 12 minutes and standby time has a value of 14 hours and 13 minutes. Then if you turn on the mophie Juice Pack and let it charge your iPhone battery for about 1.5 hours. After a heavier use, when the internal battery drops down to 20%, the full usage time of the iPhone reached 8 hours and 36 minutes and standby time of 19 hours and 54 minutes.
At the third charging with the mophie Juice Pack Air the iPhone’s battery reached 9 hours and 24 minutes as usage time and a standby time of 22 hours and 17 minutes. After the third charge, the mophie Juice Pack Air runs out of power. Therefore the mophie Juice Pack Air case and rechargeable battery offers twice the battery power for the iPhone 3G.
The case is an easy grip touch case. When charging the iPhone 3G with the case on, both the iPhone and the mophie Juice Pack Air charge their built in batteries at the same time. The case offers USB charging and sync with iTunes for the iPhone. Â The case dimensions are, as featured in the commercial ads, very form fitting, offering a light weighted and slim form case for the iPhone 3G. It has a height of 12.4 cm, wide of 6.6 cm and deep of 1.9 cm; while the released values of talk time reaches up to 4.5 hours on 3G network and up to 9 hours on 2G.
You can use the Internet up to 4.5 hours on 3G and up to 5.4 hours on Wi-Fi. The audio playback is up to 20 hours, while the video playback is up to 6 hours. Other special features offered by the mophie Juice Pack Air are: on and off switch for you to choose what battery to use (the phone battery or the case battery) and integrated 4 LED charge status indicator. But this case is not all that great, it still has some drawbacks. The case requires a special plug, used on digital cameras (but smaller), to charge the battery. It is not recommended for your mophie case well being to take it off every time you need to charge it. Also the case does not contain a dock connecter offered on the iPhone. Therefore, with the case on, your iPhone will not connect with any of the accessories with the regular charging port to function. Also this case will provide more power but not as much as you might think.
If your battery is lowered to about 20% you can expect the 1200 mAh built in rechargeable battery from the mophie case to give your iPhone 3G another 50% battery life. However if the phone battery drops under 5% the case will not charge your iPhone rapidly enough, therefore your phone will run out of power. The finish on the case makes it a bit slippery and also is not shockproof. Beside the actual case, mophie delivers in the box an USB cable for charging and syncing and that is it.
Overall, the design of the mophie Juice Pack Air is solid. It’s slimmer than other battery pack cases, because of the materials used it feels nice at touch, status lights on the back are a great feature, micro USB port allows you to sync to your computer. As a technical feature, the iPhone internal battery has to offer in terms of usability, 4 hours and 12 minutes, while the iPhone with the case offers in the same terms up to 9 hours and 24 minutes. This case is a compromise. It offers extra battery life for you to use your iPhone for business or pleasure. It’s a compromise because fashion is over function (you might be losing signal strength – about two line on average).
Posted in Computer Gadgets, USB Gadgets | 1 Comment »
