technology review
Saturday 7 January 2012
Samsung WB750 Review
Samsung WB750 images aren’t as sharp as the Canon PowerShot SX230 HS , and it doesn’t have a GPS like that camera, but it is $70 less expensive. Our Editors’ Choice in this category, the Nikon Coolpix S9100 , does surpass in low light, but is priced $50 higher.
The Samsung WB750 rear LCD is 3 inches in size and features a 460k dot resolution. It is quite bright, but doesn’t place forward the vibrancy and sharpness of a high-resolution show.
A sharp screen is an vital feature for a superzoom camera, as you’ll often be focusing on objects that are unsociable, and you’ll want to make sure that the camera’s autofocus is responsibility Samsung WB750 job correctly.
One physical button that is missing is EV Compensation; instead you’ll have to adjust this through a software menu. This is unfortunate news for folks who do wish to exercise more control over shooting functions, as it is normally a quick way to adjust exposure when shooting in Program mode. Many other cameras in this class, including the Nikon Coolpix S9100 and Fujifilm Finepix F600EXR , have a physical control for this function.
The camera’s centerpiece is Samsung WB750 18x-zoom lens, which covers a very impressive 24-432mm range. Most superzooms, including the SX230 HS, start out at 28mm, which doesn’t place forward as much wide angle flexibility as a 24mm lens. Our Editors’ Choice Nikon Coolpix S9100 has a 25-450mm lens, which only slightly differs in the field of view from that of the Samsung WB750.
The screen looks pretty excellent, but it pales in comparison to 921k dot screens, like the one found on the Nikon Coolpix S9100 .
The Samsung WB750 rear LCD is 3 inches in size and features a 460k dot resolution. It is quite bright, but doesn’t place forward the vibrancy and sharpness of a high-resolution show.
A sharp screen is an vital feature for a superzoom camera, as you’ll often be focusing on objects that are unsociable, and you’ll want to make sure that the camera’s autofocus is responsibility Samsung WB750 job correctly.
Samsung WB750 photos
The camera’s centerpiece is Samsung WB750 18x-zoom lens, which covers a very impressive 24-432mm range. Most superzooms, including the SX230 HS, start out at 28mm, which doesn’t place forward as much wide angle flexibility as a 24mm lens. Our Editors’ Choice Nikon Coolpix S9100 has a 25-450mm lens, which only slightly differs in the field of view from that of the Samsung WB750.
The screen looks pretty excellent, but it pales in comparison to 921k dot screens, like the one found on the Nikon Coolpix S9100 .
Kensington BungeeAir Power Review
The case connects to computers via Kensington BungeeAir Power micro USB port, which allows for simultaneous charging and synching. The key fob has two buttons, one to trigger the alarm on the phone and one to mute the alarm on the fob itself.
If not, the Kensington BungeeAir Power is still a excellent case for extra battery, but the Mophie Juice Pack Air is our current Editors’ Choice, nearly doubling the battery life of the iPhone 4.
With so much personal information stored on smartphones these days, security is a must. If you can handle the added bulk, the Kensington BungeeAir Power is a fantastic way to extend battery and add peace of mind if you’re prone to misplacing your keys or phone.
First things first: The Kensington BungeeAir Power is designed to work with the iPhone 4. But, we were able to use it with the iPhone 4S as well, but Kensington could not confirm compatibility at the time of this writing. The case measures 5.25 by 2.57 by 0.67 inches (HWD) and weighs 2.47 ounces, making it slightly longer, but slightly thinner and lighter than our current Editors’ Choice battery case, theMophie Juice Pack Air ($79.95, 4 stars). The two suitcases look very similar, with slightly extended bottoms. The case is constructed of a rubberized black plastic that feels excellent in your hand and provides a solid level of protection for the delicate, mostly schooner iPhone. The case comes in two pieces, with cutouts for the headphone jack, Mute switch, and camera. There are plastic Power and Volume buttons, very than cutouts, which makes them simpler to press given the thickness of the case.
If not, the Kensington BungeeAir Power is still a excellent case for extra battery, but the Mophie Juice Pack Air is our current Editors’ Choice, nearly doubling the battery life of the iPhone 4.
With so much personal information stored on smartphones these days, security is a must. If you can handle the added bulk, the Kensington BungeeAir Power is a fantastic way to extend battery and add peace of mind if you’re prone to misplacing your keys or phone.
First things first: The Kensington BungeeAir Power is designed to work with the iPhone 4. But, we were able to use it with the iPhone 4S as well, but Kensington could not confirm compatibility at the time of this writing. The case measures 5.25 by 2.57 by 0.67 inches (HWD) and weighs 2.47 ounces, making it slightly longer, but slightly thinner and lighter than our current Editors’ Choice battery case, theMophie Juice Pack Air ($79.95, 4 stars). The two suitcases look very similar, with slightly extended bottoms. The case is constructed of a rubberized black plastic that feels excellent in your hand and provides a solid level of protection for the delicate, mostly schooner iPhone. The case comes in two pieces, with cutouts for the headphone jack, Mute switch, and camera. There are plastic Power and Volume buttons, very than cutouts, which makes them simpler to press given the thickness of the case.
Sunday 21 August 2011
Sapphire Radeon HD 6770 Vapor X & HD 6670 Ultimate Review
Entry level graphics cards aren't designed to push as many pixels per-second as their high-end counterparts, but they still play a vital role in the market. In fact, graphics cards priced at or below the $100 mark make up the largest share of GPU's sold worldwide. The simple reasoning for this is that most home PC users can be categorized as light to moderate gamers who use their computers mainly for tasks such as photo editing, streaming videos, surfing the internet and multi-tasking. For this large majority, the graphics cards' price and manufacturer support are more essential than the absolute gaming power of the product.
In our labs we have two graphics cards that are positioned directly at these home PC users that are looking for a product that offers enough support for any type of use, but still inexpensive enough to be purchased by virtually anyone. Don't let the low prices fool you though, both the cards on our testing block can still pack quite the punch when it comes to gaming.
The first card is the Sapphire HD 6770 Vapor-X, which is the more powerful of the two graphics cards we are going to be looking at. However it does come with some controversy behind it. This is because the HD 6770 is essentially an HD 5770, as both use the same Juniper based GPU and have the same memory sub-system. The only real difference between the HD 6770 and its predecessor, aside from the new name, is that it comes with an tweaked BIOS that adds additional support. Also, as part of the Vapor-X line of graphics cards the HD 6770 has an updated Vapor chamber thermal solution.
The second card is the Sapphire HD 6670 Ultimate. This card is slightly the less powerful of the two, but it still has a 1GB GDDR5 frame buffer and 480 Stream Processing Units to allow it to fare reasonably well in resolutions at or below 1050p. Also, since the HD 6670 has been on the market for a few months now, Sapphire has had enough time to tweak with the design of the board using a custom PCB and adding an updated passively cooled thermal solution.
The HD 6770 Vapor-X and HD 6670 Ultimate have an MSRP or $134.99 and $99.99 respectively, but to improve the overall value Sapphire is including a free copy of DiRT 3 with both models.
The Sapphire HD 6770 Vapor-X is essentially a HD 5770 Vapor-X with an upgraded BIOS that adds support for HDMI 1.4a and UVD 3 video decoding. These updates will allow the HD 6770 to support features such as HD3D technology, meaning this card will have no issues supporting the resolutions and bit-rates needed to run H.264 MVC (Blu-ray 3D).
Aside from the updated BIOS, Sapphire has also improved the cooling of the model by adding their highly-efficient vapor chamber cooling solution and also by increasing the GPU clock speed to 860MHz. All other specifications are the same as any Juniper XT based graphics card, giving the HD 6770 Toxic-X some 800 Streaming Processors, 36 Texture Units and 16 ROPs. The memory sub-system is also the same, as it uses a 1GB GDDR5 frame buffer that comes clocked at 4.8Gbp/sec on a 128-bit interface. With these specifications there won't be any surprises in terms of performance, and this board will function at roughly the same level the the previous generation HD 5770.
The back of the board includes four of the eight Hynix based memory modules along with solder points for a single 6-pin power connector. The layout of the board is extremely similar to that used by the Sapphire HD 5770 Vapor-X, with the only noticeable difference being the PCB coming in blue instead of black. From this view you can also see the board includes dual CrossFire connections, which indicates this model can support up to 4-way CrossFire. It is nice to see this feature wasn't dropped, as most of the mid-range Northern Islands graphics cards only include 2-way CrorssFire support.
In our labs we have two graphics cards that are positioned directly at these home PC users that are looking for a product that offers enough support for any type of use, but still inexpensive enough to be purchased by virtually anyone. Don't let the low prices fool you though, both the cards on our testing block can still pack quite the punch when it comes to gaming.
The first card is the Sapphire HD 6770 Vapor-X, which is the more powerful of the two graphics cards we are going to be looking at. However it does come with some controversy behind it. This is because the HD 6770 is essentially an HD 5770, as both use the same Juniper based GPU and have the same memory sub-system. The only real difference between the HD 6770 and its predecessor, aside from the new name, is that it comes with an tweaked BIOS that adds additional support. Also, as part of the Vapor-X line of graphics cards the HD 6770 has an updated Vapor chamber thermal solution.
The second card is the Sapphire HD 6670 Ultimate. This card is slightly the less powerful of the two, but it still has a 1GB GDDR5 frame buffer and 480 Stream Processing Units to allow it to fare reasonably well in resolutions at or below 1050p. Also, since the HD 6670 has been on the market for a few months now, Sapphire has had enough time to tweak with the design of the board using a custom PCB and adding an updated passively cooled thermal solution.
The HD 6770 Vapor-X and HD 6670 Ultimate have an MSRP or $134.99 and $99.99 respectively, but to improve the overall value Sapphire is including a free copy of DiRT 3 with both models.
The Sapphire HD 6770 Vapor-X is essentially a HD 5770 Vapor-X with an upgraded BIOS that adds support for HDMI 1.4a and UVD 3 video decoding. These updates will allow the HD 6770 to support features such as HD3D technology, meaning this card will have no issues supporting the resolutions and bit-rates needed to run H.264 MVC (Blu-ray 3D).
Aside from the updated BIOS, Sapphire has also improved the cooling of the model by adding their highly-efficient vapor chamber cooling solution and also by increasing the GPU clock speed to 860MHz. All other specifications are the same as any Juniper XT based graphics card, giving the HD 6770 Toxic-X some 800 Streaming Processors, 36 Texture Units and 16 ROPs. The memory sub-system is also the same, as it uses a 1GB GDDR5 frame buffer that comes clocked at 4.8Gbp/sec on a 128-bit interface. With these specifications there won't be any surprises in terms of performance, and this board will function at roughly the same level the the previous generation HD 5770.
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