Sony Cybershot DSC W210

Get, Slate, Go - I

This is a sort of second coming that ageing film-stars and out-of-work models would long for. The tablet was an all-but-dead product category, one that never really got off the ground sales-wise, despite the big push from Microsoft way back in 2002. But with the iPad, Apple's wiped the slate clean, opening up the flood gates for a slew of contenders that promise to revitalize an almost obsolete form factor, or to say, completely change the way we interact with our computers. Here's a small peek at what on the cards in 2010.

HP Slate :

Squint a little, and you could easily confuse the HP Slate with the Apple iPad. With a similar sleek profile and a large 8.9 inch capacitive display, it almost is. But it runs on the touch-enabled Windows 7 platform. Along with the netbook specs, it supports Flash and has got multi-tasking capabilities which the iPad lacks. It also packs in 2 built-in cameras (front and back) along with video recording. Looks like HP has all he iPad's bases covered, and then some more.

Notion Ink Adam :

Here's one from my country, India. Notion Ink, a small Indian start-up is talking big with the Adam. This Android based slate not only boasts of a sleek design, but also of the 1 GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 chip that acts both as a chip and a graphics card, allowing you to playback videos at 1080p on the 10 onch display. The real genius is he Pixel Qi screen which can switch from backlit LCD mode for web browsing to a low-power electrophoretic reflective mode for power saving (16 hours) and becomes easier on the eyes.

Fusion Garage JooJoo :
This is from the Singapore-based Fusion garage. Other than iPad, JooJoo is the only other slate that is commercially available at the moment. With a 12 inch screen this Intel Atom/Nvidia ion powered tablet promises full Flash HD and a decent interface over the custom Linux platform. But it misses out in many things - No Apps, no multi-tasking, no e-books and a 5 hour battery life.

More models to come in the next post.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Sony Cybershot DSC W210

Posted by Sourav 6:37 AM

This one is a new addition to Sony's Cybershot family, along with the W220. My father bought the W210, so This review is on the W210.

My first impression about this camera was good.It comes in four colours, but the black looks the best. It is sleek and compact, like any other compact digital camera.

Coming to the specifications, they do attract a bit more attention. The first thing you will notice is the 12.1 megapixel resolution. Very few compact digital cameras have a 12 MP lens. Secondly, it has got a wide angle (28 mm to 2000 mm) Carl Zeiss optics. But the zoom is a bit disappointing, it's only 4x optical zoom. On the back side, it has got a 2.7" LCD along with the buttons.

Picture quality is great. The face detection feature works well, and in addition to that, it also has the smile shutter feature which is a bit fun to use. It has the steady shot option and the capability to capture full HD still images. But the video quality is a let down.Video recording is done at 30 fps. You can't zoom in and out during recording. But you can't expect more from a camera of this quality.

The in-built image editing software does a good job. The slideshow feature is good with 7 different styles and music. The battery backup is decent. I haven't shot with it continuously, so I don't know how long it can last.

So in all, this one is a good choice for those who would like to own a decent camera for unprofessional use.