There are lots of contenders out there in the UMPC market and Gigabyte are no strangers to small portable devices. Just a few days ago I managed to get my hands on the Gigabyte M528 which is their latest UMPC model. The unit we have on review is effectively a prototype but I’m told it’s very close the the final unit which is due out soon.
The Gigabyte M528
The M528 form factor is similar to the HTC Shift but is significantly smaller.
The GIGABYTE MID M528 has a stylish, simplistic design and elegant appearance, and is compact in size. It is equipped with a 4.8” LCD touch screen display and only weighs 340g.
With a built-in 3.0 Mega-pixel camera and a 300K pixel webcam for video conferencing, it is also a great communications device.
In addition, the wireless communication design of M528 allows users to connect to the Internet and to process e-mails and messages anywhere. The QWERTY slider keyboard and handwriting recognition make editing e-mails and documents easy. The M528 also has a built-in GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver.
We just, ahem, found this video of the HTC Touch HD. Looks like this is the Orange version of the HD although there’s no Orange logo on the unit. As you know, the Touch HD will be exclusive to Orange for the first three months!
The video is very short but interesting nontheless.
The Xacti HD700 is Sanyo’s weapon for its foray into the budget end of hi-definition consumer video. As seems to be the trend these days, it eschews traditional video tape for solid state storage for reasons of cost and robustness. In a rapidly growing market for cameras of this type how does it fair against recently reviewed competition?
The Sanyo Xacti HD700
What’s in the box?
Xacti HD700
Li-ion rechargeable battery
USB cable and converter cable
AV cable
HDMI cable
Mains charger
Charging cradle/docking station
Remote control
Strap
Soft case
Printed instruction manual
Quick start guide
Software CD inc’ Adobe Premiere Elements
Sanyo Xacti HD700 unboxing video
General
The Xacti is entirely unconventional in appearance. It’s a bit like a cross between one of those widgets Captain Kirk used to point at misbehaving aliens and some kind of water pistol. In fact using it is like holding a gun – point, aim and shoot. More about that later.
The design is clean, simple and compact. It’s not much bigger than some mobile phones when the screen is closed. For this reason it’s eminently pocketable in a way that most videocams aren’t and therefore ideal for my travels on my motorcycle. It fits easily in the small amount of underseat storage I have or in the tankbag on top of the petrol tank. Fab!
The specification can best be described as very comprehensive for a budget camcorder.
Controls
Rear: (Left) stills record, (centre) zoom control, (right) video record, (lower centre) menu activate, (lower right) record/playback select, (bottom) 5-way multi-navigation switch for selecting modes and menu items, (top centre) full auto mode switch.
Underneath: HDMI socket, tripod mount.
Left: Power/standby switch (under the screen when folded).
Video resolution (pixels): [HD-SHQ] 1280 x 720 (30fps, 9Mbps), [HD-HR] 1280 x 720 (30fps, 6Mbps), [TV-SHQ] 640 x 480 (30fps, 3Mbps ), [TV-HQ] 640 x 480 (30fps, 2Mbps ), [Web-SHQ] 320 x 240 (30fps)
Still resolution (pixels): [7M-H] 3072 x 2304 (low-compression), [7M-S] 3072 x 2304 (standard-compression), [5.3M(16:9)] 3072 x 1728, [2M] 1600 x 1200, [0.9M(16:9)] 1280 x 720, [0.3M] 640 x 480.
Lens: 6.3 – 31.7 mm (38 – 190 mm on a 35 mm camera), 5x optical zoom lens, f/3.5 (W) – 4.7 (T)
Photo range: Standard: 10cm (wide) / 80cm (Tele) to infinity, Macro: 1cm to 80cm (wide)
Video output interface: HDMI, Component Video, Composite Video, S-Video, NTSC / PAL (interfacing via included docking station or connecting adaptor)
Power source: Lithium-ion battery (DB-L40/1200mAh, included), Charging AC adapter included)
Dimensions: 2.9 x 1.4 x 4.3 inches (W x D x H)
Weight: 6.7 oz. approx. (main unit only), 7.5 oz. approx. (including battery and a standard SD card)
Highlights:
Easy to use, simple but not limited
Uses SDHC cards
Very compact
Good battery life
Docking station
Lowlights:
Build quality is a bit “loose”
No conventional viewfinder
Could be mistaken for a pistol in use!
REVIEW
The Xacti is so simple to use that my other half can use it whilst sat on the back of my speeding motorbike and wearing leather gloves. If a camera passes that test then it’s usable. The usability is key because I found it opened up a whole new way for me to use a videocam and the portability meant I was more able to carry it with me more often.
Fold the screen out and it switches on automatically to either present you with either stills mode or video mode. Start-up is quick and I never found myself waiting which, is a real bonus because a camera with a tardy start-up means you miss the action.
Filming is just a case of pointing it at the action and pressing the record button for either stills or video. There’s two buttons here and I think this is slightly less intuitive than it should be – instead of one button for stills and one for video, I would rather have a single trigger for both with a two-way mode switch that selected either stills or video. You might think that the choice of the word “trigger” is a bit odd – it isn’t. I used it because using the Xacti is a bit like pointing a gun and then pulling the trigger. In practice it soon becomes entirely natural and much less fatiguing than a more conventional videocam. Conversely, at the same time it also feels odd because it does look like you’re holding a gun and taking aim!
The Xacti is capable of recording in HD resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels at 30 frames per second (fps). This is on a par with the competition and more than enough for action work. As I said previously, you should be aware that editing such large images is fairly demanding for any pc and some well-known photo-editing applications still aren’t HD ready. The Xacti has a variety of video modes that will also go down as far as 320 x 240 pixels at 30fps – ideal for YouTube or if you want to conserve space on the memory card. Talking of cards, the Xacti takes SDHC with an 8GB £10 card providing ample space and performance for nearly 2hrs of footage in HD mode.
Movie quality was fine. I had no criticisms of it at all. The anti-vibration feature wasn’t massively successful, although I think that using on a motorcycle at unfeasible speeds probably extended it beyond its design parameters (and no I am not going to fess up to how fast we were travelling – which reminds me – I must clean the bugs off the lens before returning it). The anti-vibration function is a digital one and does seem to have some minor effect upon sharpness of images but it worked well enough in general use.
As a stills camera the Xacti works well with a 7.1Mp sensor. It produces some decent results although composition is not always easy when having to rely upon an LCD screen in bright light. Of course, an optical viewfinder would help massively and this is something that is becoming increasingly rare on digital cameras and videocams. As I always say – if you want a stills camera then buy one, meanwhile the Xacti certainly is good enough for it to be your main stills camera if all you do is take snapshots.
Like the H10 I last reviewed, the Xacti has a 5x optical zoom. As I said before, this is quite limited when compared to conventional DV-cam opposition, but fairly typical for a budget camera. Again, like the H10, the lens zoom is a bit lethargic and something I think many cameras in this class suffer from. The slow zoom renders the camera less than ideal for sports footage. In normal general filming it’s less noticeable though.
Unusually for a camera in this price range, the Xacti comes with a very handy docking station for charging and connection to a desktop pc. This saves having cables hanging around.. Of note is the fact that the Xacti is Mac compatible. In this day of Windows-centric devices this is good to see and top marks are also awarded for including a comprehensive package of cables meaning that everything you might need is available out of the box.
The menu system itself is very easy to navigate and understand without having to refer to the manual although accessing it is a bit fiddly initially because the menu button is quite discrete. If you can use a conventional digicam then you can use the Xacti. That’s not to say it’s limited though – it isn’t. There’s enough flexibility to meet most needs in terms of customisation. If you are the sort of person who likes to avoid settings, then fear not – using a key on the screen it is possible to switch between simple menu mode and normal full menu mode. This has the effect of turning off all the detailed menus and restricting the user to just a few – quite handy if you want to stop a casual user from screwing up all your carefully chosen settings.
The battery is a removable 3.7v/1200mAh item which is charged via a conventional 5v power jack at the rear of the pistol grip. I never actually ran out of battery when using the Xacti so, it appears to have a good lifetime in general use. As readers of this erstwhile column will know, I loathe built-in, non-replaceable batteries so I was pleased to see that the Xacti is equipped with a removable battery. Whether a replacement is easily obtainable at a sensible cost is another matter altogether, but at least you have the option.
The overall feel of the camera in the hand is good due to its compactness and ergonomic design. However, it does all feel a little bit “loose” in terms of fit and finish. The screen moves when folded against the body, the battery cover is flimsy, the covers on the power jack and headphone socket are flimsy too and are just asking to be broken off eventually. The lens cover is a snap-on affair which is pretty shoddy and not in keeping with the rest of the camera. It is retained by a skinny strap that is more akin to a thread of cotton than anything else so it won’t be long before that is lost when it snaps. However, the cover does stay put and is not easily dislodged. Any owner would need to exercise some care to keep it in tip-top condition.
You can download a sample video – taken straight from the HD700 memory card with this link.
Conclusion:
Of all the videocams I have tested to date the Xacti is my favourite because it’s compact, easy to use and gives decent results that satisfy most of my needs. It is probably the best travelling videocam so far and because of this I used it more than the others. At about £250 from the likes of Amazon you get a comprehensive package and highly-specified and capable videocam.
Until fairly recently a 2 megapixel camera was about al you could hope for when it came to phones with built in cameras. There are some exceptions to this of course, notably the Nokia N95 with it’s 5 megapixel sensor. However, recently there seems to have been a race among several manufacturers to be the first out there with an 8 megapixel camera phone.
Recently we saw LG enter the race with their Renoir, Sony Ericsson with the C905 and now Samsung with their new i8510 Innov8. I’m not sure who actually won the 8MP race but Samsung are the first to actually send us their phone for review.
The Samsung i8510 Innov8
The Innov8 is a fairly good looking candybar style handset with a slider that reveals a numeric pad and looks a little like a bigger N95. The screen is a generous 2.8" QVGA which does make the handset a little more chunky than I would like.
We’ll have a review for you in a week or so once we have had a chance to use the i8510 properly. Until then enjoy the unboxing video!
If you’ve been following us for a little while I’m sure you will have seen our Camcorder Group Test where we’re looking at 4 camcorders around the £200-£250 mark.
Part of the reason for starting off the group test was to see if we could find a new camcorder for filming our unboxing videos to (hopefully) improve the quality of the videos.I couldn’t decide which camcorder to use and there seemed to be a lack of direct comparisons or reviews to look at.
So the Sony HDR-SR11E Handycam doesn’t really fall into our group test as it’s towards the high end of the Sony HD consumer cameras. However we thought that the HDR-SR11E was worth a look to see what the extra few hundred pounds gets us. The obvious thing is the 60GB hard drive that the HDR-SR11E records its footage on.
The Sony HDR-SR11E Handycam
Over the next few weeks I’m going to be using the HDR-SR11E Handycam to record my unboxing videos. I’ll be looking at the quality of the footage, ease of use, battery life and, among other things, how easy it is to edit the recorded footage.
For now, here is my Sony HDR-SR11E Handycam unboxing video, here you can get an overview of the camcorder as well as seeing what else is included in the package.
Recording and Playback Times : High Definition: FH = 7 hours 10 min. HQ = 14 hours and 40 min. SP = 17 hours and 50 min. LP = 22 hours and 50 min. Standard Definition: HQ = 14 hours and 40 min. SP = 21 hours and 50 min. LP = 41 hours and 50 min. When using 8GB Memory Stick PRO Duo™ Media (sold separately): High Definition: FH = up to 55 min., HQ = up to 115 min. SP = up to 140 min., LP = up to 180 min. Standard Definition: HQ = up to 115 min., SP = up to 170 min., LP = up to 5 hours 25 min.
Recording Media : 60GB9 Non-Removable Hard Disk Drive, Memory Stick Duo™ Media, Memory Stick PRO Duo™ Media
Still Actual : 5080K Pixels (4:3), 3810K Pixels (16:9)
Still Picture Resolution : 10.2 megapixel
Video Actual : 2860K Pixels (4:3), 3810K Pixels (16:9)
Video Resolution : 1920 x 1080
Power
Battery Type : InfoLITHIUM® with AccuPower™ Meter System (NP-FH60)
Power Consumption : 4.5W/4.8W/4.9W
Power Requirements : 7.2V (battery pack); 8.4V (AC Adaptor)
Video Features
PhotoTV HD : Yes
Audio
Audio Format : Dolby® Digital 5.1
Optics/Lens
35mm Equivalent : 49 – 588mm (4:3 Camera Mode),40 – 480mm (16:9 Camera Mode)
Last week we had a look at the Glofiish V900, (you know, the one with the TV Tuner) and this week we’re road testing one of its siblings, the Glofiish X610.
The Eten Glofiish X610
There isn’t a TV tuner in this model but you can still find a built in SiRF StarIII GPS chipset and a reasonably fast CPU. John is working on the review at the moment and you can expect to see that here on site within the next few days.
As always, you can see more of the Eten Glofiish X610 in the unboxing video below:
Eten Glofiish X610 Unboxed
Eten Glofiish X610 specification:
Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
Samsung S3C 2442 400MHz CPU
128MB ROM 64MB SDRAM
2.8", 320 x 240 QVGA, 65,536 Colours TFT-LCD
GSM/EDGE Quad Band: 850/900/1800/1900MHz. GPRS/EGPRS ClassB,Muliti-Slot class 10
The Glofiish V900 is one of the newest devices from Eten and joins the ranks as one of the few Windows Mobile devices with a built in DVB TV tuner!
I’ve played with a couple of the TV capable devices in the past and have found all of them to be rather disappointing. However, the V900 is somewhat different as the TV tuner actually works. Using it at the office in London I can actually pick up over 50 channels of digital freeview TV. I actually lost the phone for about a day while some of the chaps in the office watched Sky Sports News. Several argued that the V900 was worth its price tag for that feature alone!
The Eten Glofiish V900
John has been using the Glofiish V900 over the past few weeks and his review, which I hope will cover more features that just the TV tuner, will be online shortly.
As always, you can see more of the Eten Glofiish V900 in the unboxing video below:
I’m just heading back from a T-Mobile event in London where we got a chance to play with the new T-Mobile G1 (HTC Dream) Android phone! Paul O’Brien (MoDaCo) and I managed to find a quiet place to record this video preview for you. It’s a little rough-and-ready as we’d only been given the G1 about 5 minutes before recording but I hope you enjoy the tour nonetheless!
T-Mobile G1 preview video
First impressions are that it’s not a bad device considering that it’s the first of it’s kind but does feel a little on the ‘cheap’ side with it’s all-plastic case. Available in both black and white, the glossy white version looks the more classy of the two in my opinion.
The sliding QWERTY mechanism seems fairly robust and snaps open quite urgently as it’s well spring loaded. Unfortunately you will HAVE TO use the QWERTY keyboard for any and all text entry as there’s no on-screen keyboard of any kind. That’s a bit of a shame really.
The screen is of a decent size and well lit. It’s also a capacitive touchscreen which makes it very sensitive and responsive (dare I say ‘iPhone-like’?!) There’s no stylus here!
The built-in camera is just about average but doesn’t have a flash of any kind.
I would like to present a couple of videos taken from the recent press launch at the newly opened Sony Ericsson Headquarters, Lund, Sweden on the 25th September 2008.
I need to point out that the Q&A video is very much a high level or corporate view of the management thoughts about the future. Also that there is not a lot to be gained from it for the WM enthusiast.
Sony Ericsson Q&A session
Of more interest will be the X1 Demo, by Magnus, the man himself.
Grab a coffee, put your feet up and take note of the features, including that there is no accelerometer, but also confirmed that it will come with 384 MB RAM, on top of this there is to be an SDK release to develop and enhance the ‘panels’ concept, the impression is that SE are welcoming development and ideas from individuals as well as Third Party companies to the point that of the 9 panels 8 of them are customisable.
Apologies for the quality, which is not too bad but certainly not professional quality. It is the whole view of the unit and takes approximately 43 mins!
Magnus Andersson presents the Xperia X1
Once again, we are hoping to get our units shortly and bring you the unboxing and review as soon as possible.
HTC announced their new candy-bar style Smartphone, the HTC S740, a few weeks ago and since then I’ve been pestering just about everyone to get my hands on one to review.
Thanks to our friends over at Devicewire I got an early PR unit to play with for a couple of days. I Haven’t had time to put together a full review but I’ve got some early comments and a nice video demonstration for you.
The HTC S740
I have to be honest and say that I didn’t think I was going to like the S740 – it looked to me more like a cordless home phone than a Windows Mobile device and although I am a fan of Smartphones (Windows Mobile Standard) it’s been such a long time since I used one, having had the TyTN II and the Diamond recently, I wondered how I would cope without a touchscreen!
It took less than two minutes for the S740 to grow on me, going from "Hmm it’s OK" to really quite liking it in a very short time.
The QVGA screen is crisp and clear and the keypad buttons are really well placed on the front and I like the way that the numeric keys go all the way to the edge. I also found that the raised send and end phone keys were a good idea and made finding those buttons nice and easy!
HTC S740 keypad
The QWERTY keyboard slides open from the back and is similar to that found on the HTC Touch Pro but the S740 has only 4 rows of keys, mainly because the S740 is that much narrower than the Pro. Keys are nice and easy to type with though and there’s the standard Caps Lock and Function LED indicators.
HTC S740 keyboard
The worst thing about the S740 in my opinion is the SIM and MicroSD card arrangement. Not only can you not hot-swap the MicroSD card, which I can just about accept, but you have to remove the SIM card to gain access to the MicroSD. Opening the cover over the SIM and MicroSD card slot kills the power to the device, this is annoying enough but removing the SIM card all the time is a pain. If you are a frequent memory card swapper this this probably going to get on your nerves and runs the risk of damaging the SIM card.
HTC S740 SIM and MicroSD card slots
I think I cover most of this stuff in the video which you’ll find below. It’ll be a few more weeks before I get my hands on another HTC S740 for a full review but I’ll definitely make sure that we do!
Overall the HTC S740 is a nice device and it’s great to see a new Candy-Bar Smartphone hit the scene, I know that many people have been waiting for one!
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