With all the latest fancy smartphones these days that do just about everything except for washing the dishes, we need to now and again come back down to earth and check out the more basic/entry-level phones.
Nokia has provided us with their 3720 Classic. A stylish yet simple looking phone that should do the basics such as call and text, and as Matt mentioned in the unboxing video into, it is built to be robust and is water, dust and shock resistant with an IP54 rating.
The Nokia 3720 Classic
What’s in the box?
- Nokia 3720 Classic handset
- Battery (BL-5CT)
- Headset/handsfree
- Mains charger
- Manual
For more information you can check out Matt’s Nokia 3720 Classic unboxing video
Nokia 3720 Classic specification:
- Dimensions: 112 x 51 x 15.4mm
- Weight: 94g
- Battery: Talk Time: 7 hrs / Standby Time: 450 hrs
- Display: 320 x 240 pixels/2.2"
- Network: 2G: 900/1800/1900 (Tri-Band)
- Camera: 2 mega-pixels (auto-focus)
- Video: 11fps Video Recording (QCIF)
- Music: Supported formats: MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+ & WMA / FM Stereo Radio (RDS)
- Messaging: – SMS – MMS (with video) – E-mail (POP3, SMTP, IMAP4) – Instant Messaging (MSN)
- Memory: 20MB (internal) / microSDHC (external)
- Connectivity: microUSB / Bluetooth (2.0)
- Navigation: Nokia Maps
- Features: Water, Dust & Shock resistant
- Opera Mini Web Browser
- Flash Lite 2.0 Support
General:
Front – First, there is the 2.2″ screen (320×240 pixels). Below this are the left and right soft keys and then the call and end buttons (the ‘end’ button is also the ‘Power . In the middle is a typical d-pad for navigation through menus and the select button in the middle of this. Lastly, the is a basic phone keypad.
Nokia 3720 Classic – front view
Left-hand side – There is absolutely nothing on the left side of the phone. This keep the phone as simple as it was designed to be.
Nokia 3720 Classic – left-hand side view
Right-hand side – Again, very simple. The up/down rocker button can be seen here, and near the bottom of the handset is the loop hole for attaching a wrist strap/lanyard.
Nokia 3720 Classic – right-hand side view
Bottom – The charger socket is located here. The rubber cover encases microUSB and headphone sockets.
Nokia 3720 Classic – bottom view
Back – The back cover is secured with a screw which can be loosened with a small coin. The microSD card, sim card and battery are located under this cover. You can also see the speaker grill, camera (2MP) and flash.
Nokia 3720 Classic – back view
Highlights:
- Simple stylish design
- Robust build (water, dust and shock resistant)
- Clear display
- Flash for the camera
- Good call sound quality
Lowlights:
- Quite complicated for an entry level phone
- Camera quality is quite poor
- No dedicated camera button
- USB cable not provided in box
- No 3G
Review:
The Nokia 3720 Classic is one of Nokia’s entry level/basic mobile phones. The idea is that it is a simple to use, plain-looking mobile phone that does the basic things that you would want a phone for.
Nokia have done well with the design of the 3720. Some of the entry level phones that are on the market look quite dated, but this one is actually quite stylish. What I really noticed what the solid and robust feel to it. It gives the impression that it could definitely stand up to a bit of rough handling! Made to be water, dust and shock resistant, it has secure covers and rubber seals in order to keep out the elements.
To look at this phone objectively I took the approach of keeping a family member in mind who doesn’t really use their mobile phone except for the odd text or phone call.
The Nokia 3720 Classic
I was nicely surprised with the display. It’s bright and clear – even in bright sunlight.
The Nokia 3720 comes with the Series 40 6th edition user interface. This is where I think Nokia could have made a change. This user interface is one that has become familiar with Nokia phone users. It looks great, and for the smartphone users out there it seems very simple to use. But, there are people out there looking for an entry level phone. People who have rarely used a mobile phone or haven’t used one at all. Taking this into account the 3720 is actually quite complex. I actually think that it has the potential to put people off from choosing this as their first phone.
For me, texting on this phone was great. The large keys and clear display make it a very easy task. Again, I think that many of the options when texting can over complicate things and make a beginner texter want to just call the person they want to get in contact with or not bother at all!
The main menu can be viewed in either a grid mode or list mode and is quite straight forward. You can access the usual applications and tools here such as messaging, contacts, media, calendar, etc.
You are also provided with the Ovi store, Opera web browser, email and instant messaging, which means the 3720 Classic offers many ways to keep up to date with applications and your social life. This could be seen as a bit of a waste though as people looking for a very basic phone would most likely steer clear of the more technical applications.
One thing I feel I should mention here is that web browsing on this phone is not user friendly in the slightest. The smaller screen and lack of capability to view in landscape mode make web pages a pain to read and navigate through. The rendering of the pages seems to take an age as well.
The camera is only a 2MP camera. Not the most advanced compared to many camera phones, but you can take pretty good pictures when the light is right. Just don’t expect to be able to enlarge the photo without loosing some of the quality. The fixed focus means that photos taken with the camera are very average looking – but if a camera phone is what you are looking for I guess you would buy a camera phone! In saying that, if you have any pictures that you copy onto the phone from your pc, viewing them on the 3720 is quite good. The clear and bright display really does the phone justice here.
The music player is very standard and does the trick. Straight forward, and I would think that it would be quite easy to get used to for a new mobile phone owner.
The audio quality for music playback using the loudspeaker is not brilliant but is good enough. The earphones that are packed with the phone are very average.
There are a few pre-installed games on the phone – great for killing time on the train.
Connectivity on the 3720 includes GPRS/EDGE, Bluetooth and USB. Not a huge range but it keeps the phone simple.
Nokia have stated on their site that the 3720 is “resistant against dust, splashes, drops and shocks”. Now, I was a bit dubious about trying anything here and handing Matt back a dusty, scratched and possibly soggy phone – so, I had a good look on the web. It’s amazing what people have tried! From light splashes of water to submersing the handset in a glass of beer, and from a short drop onto the floor to running over it with a car!! (Please do not try this at home!) Well, the result seems to be a pretty hardy phone!
As I’ve mentioned a few times, this has been designed to be an entry level phone so I can’t forget to mention the main function – phone calls!
The sound quality is very good on the Nokia 3720. People that I called when using this phone commented on the clarity as there seemed to be hardly any background noise even when I was walking about in a noisy shopping centre. The reception seems to hold well with this phone too. I know it depends some what on the general reception in your area but it performed great compared to other phones that I have tried out. The speaker phone worked well too. The sound came through loud and clear.
Conclusion:
It’s a nice change to have a look at an entry level mobile phone as all you really see these days is the smartphone and touchscreen phone market battle.
Although I like my fancy phones with all of the bells and whistles I found myself really liking this phone. It it nice to hold and robust enough to make you not worry about dropping it.
I did find myself looking at a few apps thinking that some of the features could really confuse an absolute mobile phone newbie. But, over all, this is a good entry level phone from Nokia.
Reviewed by: Emma
HTC always have a few interesting devices up their sleeves and here we can visualise what we can expect. Putting names to faces is always great, especially when we have reports of names ripped out of Android roms.
Engadget have all the details of what to be expecting in 2010, obviously this isn’t going to be every device HTC will output but it is a good starting point. Read on for the details:
Launched in October this Year the Sony Ericsson J105 Naite takes on the appearance of a traditional candy bar device but if you ask me this is possibly what Sony Ericsson does best.
The Sony Ericsson J105 Naite
The J105 Naite is nothing too fancy and is lacking features such as Wi-Fi and GPS but it is packing 3G which will enable fast web browsing and retrieval of emails.
Have a look at the unboxing below for a quick glimpse into the hardware and a tour of its UI.
The Naite is part of Sony Ericssons “Green Heart” range and is meant to be environmentally friendly by saving on power and packaging. The device is made from recycled plastic and it comes with a power consumption charger to save energy.
“Stay on top of life with the Sony Ericsson NaiteT phone. A classic 3G phone designed to help you stay in touch, stay organised – and do a bit for the environment. Its timeless looks include a large 2.2" LCD display so you can easily see your calendar and contacts. It’s got a decent camera, GoogleT maps, a phone calendar and great green credentials, too.”
Sony Ericsson J105 Naite Specification:
- Display: TFT, 256 colours. 240 x 320 pixels, 2.2 inches
- Memory: 100MB
- Card Slot: up to 8GB
- Dimensions: 108 x 47 x 12.6mm
- Weight: 84g
- 3G: HSDPA 3.6 mbps
- Bluetooth: V2 with A2DP
- Camera: 2mp with additional front facing secondary camera
- Stereo FM radio with RDS
- Standard battery, Li-Po 950 mAh (BST-33)
- Talk Time: Up to 13 h 45 min (2G) / Up to 4 h 30 min (3G)
- Standby: Up to 600 h (2G) / Up to 583 h (3G)
Posted by: James
Devicewire.com just sent me an email with an exclusive offer on the Blackberry Bold 9700. Place your order today and use the promo code: BB9700TAM and not only will you get £5 off but you’ll also get free delivery.
This offer is today only and is exclusive to tracyandmatt.co.uk!
Save £5 off the BlackBerry Bold 9700 and get free delivery.
http://www.devicewire.co.uk/blackberry-bold-9700
£374.99 Delivered.
Code : BB9700TAM
Posted by: Matt
Also being called the Bold2 the Blackberry Bold 9700 is the new version of the original Bold 9000. Although there are not too many major software changes there are a few hard wear ones. Is the 9700 an improvement?
Blackberry Bold 9700
What’s in the box:
-
Device
-
Battery
-
Charger
-
USB Cable
-
Headphones
-
Case
-
Software/Manual
See also at Matt’s Blackberry Bold 9700 unboxing video – a closer look at the hardwear and a tour of the UI.
The ten second review:
Device: Blackberry Bold 9700
Price: £396.75
Summary: A hardcore messaging device that does pretty much the works.
Best of: Keyboard, Wi-Fi, 3G.
Worst of: Web Browser.
Buy it now from: Clove Technology
Blackberry Bold 9700 Specification:
- Memory – ROM: 256MB / RAM: 128MB
- Display – High resolution 480×360 pixel, Transmissitive TFT LCD, 2.44″ (diagonally measured)
- Network – 2G: 850/900/1800/1900 (Quad-Band) / 3G: 850/1900/2100 (Tri-Band)
- HSDPA (3.6Mbps)
- microUSB
- 3.5mm Audio Jack
- Bluetooth (2.1)
- Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11g)
- 35 key backlit QWERTY keyboard
- Trackpad – Located on front face of device, ESC Key to the right, Menu to the left
- Integrated GPS with A-GPS
- Includes BlackBerry Maps
- MicroSDHC
- 3.2 mega-pixels (auto-focus)
- LED Flash
- Image Stabilization
- Video: 30fps Video Recording (480 x 352)
- Talk Time – Up to 6 hours (GSM), Up to 6 hours (UMTS)
- Standby Time – Up to 19 days/456 hours (GSM), Up to 15 days/360 hours (UMTS)
- Battery – 1500 mAh Removable/rechargeable Cryptographic Lithium cell
- Dimensions – 109 x 60 x 14.1mm (4.29 x 2.36 x .56 inches)
- Weight – 122g with battery
General:
The top of the Blackberry 9700 appears to have no buttons but there are actually two. The first locks the device and the second puts it into standby mode.
Blackberry Bold 9700 top
The bottom also appears to have no buttons and that’s because there are not any! Both the top and bottom are extremely smooth.
Blackberry Bold 9700 bottom
Housed on the left side of the device is the 3.5mm headset jack, a shortcut button and the microUSB port. This shortcut button is preset for voice dialling.
Blackberry Bold 9700 left side
On the right side is another shortcut button. This one is preset as the camera button. There is also an up/down volume rocker.
Blackberry Bold 9700 Right side
The rear of the handset contains the camera lens and flash. You can also see the nice leather battery cover with the Blackberry logo on it.
Blackberry Bold 9700 rear
And of course the front of the device houses the full QWERTY keyboard, send/end keys, a back button and a Blackberry menu button
Blackberry Bold 9700 front
Highlights:
- 3G/Wi-Fi
- QWERTY Keyboard
- 3.5mm headset jack
- Multiple push email accounts
- Optical Track Pad
Lowlights:
- Web Browser
- Cheap looking supplied headphones
Review:
Straight out of the box I was amazed at what a nice looking device the Blackberry Bold 9700 is. The combination of jet black plastic and shiny metal give the Bold 9700 a really sweet look. Like the original Bold 9000, the 9700 has inherited the leather battery cover which helps give it a luxurious feel.
The device is fairly lightweight but doesn’t feel as robust as some other handsets. Only time will tell if the 9700 can withstand heavy daily usage.
The Blackberry Bold 9700 is a few millimetres smaller in both height and width compared to the 9000. Thickness is the same but this new Bold really feels a lot smaller. Its now about the same size as the Blackberry Curves. The one concern I did have prior to receiving the Bold 9700 was that this reduction in size may make typing a little harder. I was wrong. The keys on the 9700 are the same design as on the 9000 which in my opinion are a lot better than on the Curve models. I have never owned a Blackberry myself and have only reviewed one, the 8520, and I can honestly say I took to typing on the 9700 like a duck to water. I do prefer a hard keyboard over an onscreen one and I instantly found myself getting as few errors as I do on my HTC Touch Pro2. I was most impressed.
The other major difference between the original Bold and the new 9700 is that RIM have replaced the trackball with a optical track pad. This is the same as I used on the 8520 and a real joy to use. I have played with friends Blackberries which have the trackball and I found the new track pad to be better to use in every way. Hopefully this will now stop millions of Blackberry users complaining that their trackball has stopped working as they are prone to getting dust and debris inside them. This new move by RIM is fantastic and I would imagine the trackball is now history.
As you would imagine the track pad can have its sensitivity altered. This will allow you the choice of speed that it moves. I did test it out on its highest setting but it was way to fast and totally uncontrollable!
Messaging has to be the main reason that people use a Blackberry. This was my first time setting up email on a Blackberry and after the nice people at Orange gave me a few tips I was off to a flying start. It could not have been much easier to be honest. It was just a case of registering the device and then inputting the email account details onto the Orange Blackberry site and that was it. The accounts appeared on the Blackberry. Now, the beauty of the Blackberry is you can have multiple push email accounts which I think makes it unique and it works perfectly.
So lets see what else is different compared to the 9700s daddy. Well the screen is obviously smaller but of a better resolution . This time 480 x 360. It looks pretty sharp. We have lost some internal storage though, which is a shame. The Bold 9000 came with 1GB but now we are down to 256mb on the 9700.
The camera has been upgraded to 3.2 mp with auto focus but I will cover that in more depth later in the review.
Apart from the above, I think the features are more of less the same but now in a new shell. I am most defiantly not a Blackberry expert so I may be missing a few things!
In terms of performance in all other areas I have been really pleased with the Blackberry Bold 9700. I have been using the device as my primary handset for nearly a week now and I have become addicted!
As a phone the 9700 does a great job. Accessing contacts is simple. Just start typing their name and up they pop. Getting contacts onto the phone was easy for me. As I use Microsoft Outlook I set the Blackberry desktop software to sync with Outlook so in a matter of minutes all my contacts were on the handset. Perfect!
The calendar on the Blackberry is also nice and easy to use and this again syncs with Outlook, making the transition to using Blackberry as simple as can be.
One thing on all Blackberries that has never been great is web browsing and this is the one main area that I feel let down. Coming from a big touch screen device I knew that using the browser would be “pants” but its not been as bad as I thought it would be. Of course compared to handsets like the iPhone, HTC HD2 and the Samsung Omnia2 its totally rubbish but I think you need to decide what is of most importance to you when thinking of switching to a Blackberry. If you are constantly browsing or using your phone as an in-car satnav then a Blackberry is probably not right for you (apart from the Storm or Storm2). If messaging is what you do most then this could be the device you need.
Connectivity on the Blackberry Bold 9700 is great. Its a 3G device and also has Wi-Fi. I think this is what will get a tonne of Blackberry Curve users switching to the Bold2 as none of the Curve models were 3G. God knows why but at least now there is a solution.
I have managed okay with the browser. To be honest I have not spent as much time browsing as I did on my touch screen phone but I can do pretty much everything on the Blackberry that I could do before. The downside is that the screen is not as big and if you need to zoom in you will find yourself scrolling left and right just to read a sentence. But as I said before it was better than I thought it was going to be.
If social networking is your thing then you will be pleased to know that Blackberry is pretty good when it comes to that sort of thing. There are some fantastic apps to help you stay in touch with your buddies.
Facebook has to be the top one at the moment and the Blackberry Facebook app is not bad. Compared to the windows version I would say its better as it keeps up to date. I found the windows one lagging behind a lot. As well as seeing your friends status updates you can also see news feeds, photos and links. Uploading photos to the app is also dead easy and its an all round decent application.
Like on most operating systems there are numerous Twitter apps and Blackberry is no different. I found Ubertwitter to be the best one and it worked faultlessly.
I’m not a massive Twitter user but tweeting from the Blackberry was easy-peasy.
I also installed Windows Live Messenger as Matt and I use it all day to communicate and I also found a good Facebook chat app so I could IM my Facebook buddies.
One of the first things you need to do when you have your new Blackberry is download Blackberry App World. Although its not on par with Apples iPhone app store its not bad. There is some decent stuff in there and the prices are reasonable. Of course there are loads of free apps as well . Its easy to navigate round App World and you are given a lot of info about the apps before you download, including screen shots. The graphics are not great for gaming but you must remember that a Blackberry is primarily a messaging device.
Media on the Blackberry Bold 9700 is taken care of nicely. I put a few movies onto my MicroSD card and they played straight away. Although not the biggest screen viewing is possible thanks to it being so crisp and bright.
Viewing photos was fine and dandy. With the vibrant screen the pictures look fantastic. A simple swipe of the optical track pad moves pictures left or right so you can either view all pictures in a grid or just view full screen and scroll smoothly to the one you want. Nice.
The 9700 has a built in music player and the quality it produced was surprisingly good. Using the external speaker the music was loud but not of great quality. Using the supplied headphones made things a lot better although they don’t feel the best made bit of kit. Once I plugged in my own JVC headphones (which only cost about £12.00) Guns N Roses rocked! The quality was super good and after I found the equaliser and turned up the bass I was rocking my socks off. If you listen to music you will be more than pleased with the results the Bold 9700 produces.
With built in A-GPS you wont be getting lost with the Bold 9700. It comes pre-installed with Blackberry Maps which is much the same concept as Google Maps. I also tried Nav4All which is a turn by turn navigation tool and it worked perfectly. Its never going to replace a stand alone satnav but for those times you are out and about on foot it will certainly come in handy.
No one is every going to buy the Blackberry Bold 9700 for its camera but it actually does a good job. At 3.2mp its not going to produce the best pictures in the world but the powerful LED flash helps a lot. Certainly does a better job than the camera on the Bold 9000. The camera interface is dead simple and fool proof really.
Conclusion:
So is the Bold 9700 an improvement over the 9000. I should say so. As long as web browsing is not what you do most and you like a QWERTY keyboard then the Blackberry Bold 9700 is in my opinion a fantastic phone well worthy of its price, although in time I am sure most carriers will supply it free on contract.
I liked it so much that this review device is not going back. I have dipped my hand into my pocket and I am keeping it. We cant bare to be parted!
I never thought this would happen as I am a big Windows Mobile fan but the Blackberry Bold 9700 just does everything well and its so easy and quick.
I have also just upgraded my girlfriends phone and she now has a Bold 9700 coming!
Good job RIM. Lets see if the Storm2 is as much of an improvement as the Bold2 is?
Posted by: James
Does the Sanyo Xacti VPC-FH1 camera live up to full HD expectations?
Hi everyone, this is my first review so please be gentle. When Matt told me I would be getting a full 1080p HD camcorder for my first review I was really looking forward to it and at roundabout the £400 mark, one that was quite affordable in the growing market of full HD cameras and the latest in the already popular Xacti series. Let’s see if it’s as good as I’d hoped.
The Sanyo Xacti VPC-FH1
What’s in the box?
-
Sanyo Xacti VPC-FH1
-
Battery
-
Hand Strap
-
Lens cap
-
Mains Charger
-
USB Cable and USB adapter
-
Component AV Cable
-
Remote Control
-
Easystart manual and software/manual disc
Check out Matt’s Sanyo Xacti VPC-FH1 unboxing video for a more detailed look at the camera.
Sanyo Xacti VPC-FH1 specification:
|
Effective pixel count/Camera element |
Stills: Approx. 8.0-Megapixels |
|
|
Camera element |
1/2.5 inch CMOS sensor, Approx. 8.1-Megapixels (total) |
|
|
Recording media |
SD Memory Card, SDHC Memory Card (up to 32GB) |
|
|
Recording file formats |
Photos: JPEG (DCF*1, DPOF*2, Exif Ver2.2*3) |
|
|
Resolution (pixels) |
Photos |
12M: 4000 x 3000*4, 8M-H: 3264 x 2448 (low compression) 8M-S: 3264 x 2448 (standard compression) 6M[16:9]: 3264×1840 2M[16:9]: 1920×1080 2M: 1600 x 1200 0.9M[16:9]: 1280×720 0.3M: 640×480 |
|
Continuous shots |
8M: 3264 x 2448 , 6fps/Max 9 photos, 4M: 2288 x 1712 , 12fps/Max 15 photos |
|
|
Videos |
Full-HR: 1920 x 1080 (60 fps/ 24Mbps) Full HD: 1920 x 1080 (60fields/sec 16Mbps) |
|
|
Lens |
10x optical zoom lens; Aperture: F=2.0(W) – 2.8(T) |
|
|
Photo range |
Standard: 50cm to infinity (wide), 1.0m to infinity (tele) / Super macro: 1cm – 1m (wide) |
|
|
Digital zoom |
Shooting: 10x max., Playback 62.5x max. (12M mode, depending on the resolution) |
|
|
Low light sensitivity (video) |
Approx. 6 lux (Auto mode, 1/30 sec.) |
|
|
Stills sensitivity |
Auto (ISO 50 – 200), Manual (ISO 50/100/200/400/800/1600/3200, Switching system) |
|
|
Digital Image Stabilizer |
Photos: Digital Image Stabilizer (Multi-Calculation method),Videos: Digital Image Stabilizer (electronic) |
|
|
Audio |
Microphone: Built-in stereo, Speaker: Built-in monaural (L+Rch mixed output) |
|
|
LCD monitor |
3.0 inch, Low-temperature polysilicon TFT color widescreen LCD display, Approx. 230,000 pixels (7-level brightness, 285 degrees rotation) |
|
|
Languages |
English/ French/ German/ Spanish/ Italian/ Dutch/ Russian/ Portuguese/ Turkish/ Thai/ Korean/ Simplified Chinese/ Traditional Chinese |
|
|
Interface |
AV output (Video: HDMI/D/ S-Video/ Composite video(NTSC/PAL) Audio: Stereo sound) |
|
|
Power source |
Lithium-ion battery x 1 (DB-L50 included: 1900mAh) AC-adaptor |
|
|
Power consumption |
When using battery: 4.3W (when filming videos) |
|
|
Approx. battery-use time |
Photos: Approx. 355 shots (CIPA standard), Continuous video filming: Approx. 135min./Continuous playback: Approx. 350 min. |
|
|
Dimensions/Volume |
53.3 (W) x 57.3 (H) x 105.0 (D)mm (maximum dimension, excluding protruding parts) |
|
|
Weight |
Approx. 299g (main unit only), Approx. 342g (including battery, Approx. 41 g, and SD card, Approx. 2 g) |
|
|
SD Memory Card Type |
Video Recording Time (Total Time) |
|||||||
|
Full-HR |
Full-HD |
Full-SHQ |
HD-SHQ |
TV-SHQ |
Web-SHR |
Web-UHR |
Audio Memo |
|
|
16 GB |
1 hr 28 min. |
2 hr 11 min. |
2 hr 54 min. |
3 hr 51 min. |
11 hr 06 min. |
4 hr 19 min. |
41 hr 19 min. |
261 hr. |
|
SD Memory Card Type |
Number of Photographs |
|||||||||
|
12M |
8M-H |
8M-S |
6.0M [16:9] |
2M [16:9] |
2M |
0.9M [16:9] |
0.3M |
8M Cont. |
4M Cont. |
|
|
16 GB |
4,020 |
4,020 |
5,940 |
7,920 |
21,700 |
22,700 |
41,600 |
99,800 |
5,940 |
11,800 |
General
Front – Lens, flash and stereo mic’s left and right side
Sanyo Xacti FH1 front view
Side – Right side has hand strap and lens cover holder, left side has Viewing screen which when opened reveals the on/off switch plus USB, Component/AV and HDMI sockets as well as the SDHC card holder
Sanyo Xacti FH1 left side view
Screen – The screen is a 3.0 inch, Low-temperature polysilicon TFT color widescreen LCD display, approx. 230,000 pixels (7-level brightness, 285 degrees rotation)
Bottom – Underneath is the battery pack cover which slides off and the tripod screw
Top – On top is zoom rocker switch and small speaker grill
Controls – Controls are at the rear of the camera with the stills record button on the top left and the video record on the top right with a set joystick and menu button. Underneath that is the AC adapter socket which has a rubber grommet type cover and the unlock latch for the battery cover.
Sanyo Xacti FH1 back view
Highlights
-
Good build quality and looks
-
Value for money
-
Light and easy to use
-
Good quality video and stills
-
Remote Control
Lowlights
-
No HDMI lead (optional extra)
Review
I don’t know about you, but being a bloke I tend to get things out the box and see how much I can do before referring to the instruction manual, this was no exception to that rule. I am pleased to say that it was all very user friendly and I managed to use all functions of the camera and navigate the menu system without any need for instruction. Big plus point for Sanyo.
I like the looks of the camera especially in gloss black which has a glittery paint finish on the main body of the camera with silver round the lens. You can also have it in gold as well if that takes your fancy. The Xacti FH1 feels solid, robust and comfortable in your hand with your thumb falling nicely on the rear controls. These controls are large and nicely spaced out and you get used to them very quickly which is great when you need to record the action fast.
The 3″ screen is sharp and clear and makes framing your shots easy. The menu system is very straightforward to use and even gives you a simple menu option for a less detailed format. You can even adjust white balance , exposure etc for the more manual touch and has 9 point or single spot focus and autoflash. It has face recognition/ face chaser technology which keeps track of up to 12 faces at any one time which is great for group or family shots. The FH1 also includes video and image stabilisation, a must for any kind of movement while recording.
I tested the video and stills out on my 46″ Toshiba LED TV and were very pleased with the results. I used the supplied component leads and also dropped the SDHC card straight into my PS3 which outputs in 1080p just to see if there were any difference, but both ways resulted in great picture quality and clear sound with the camera switching from high to low light very well. The stills are 8mp (12mp interpolated) and were good quality with nice colours and sharp focusing although you have to get used to pressing the stills button down halfway, waiting breifly for focus then pressing all the way down to take a picture with a shutter sound effect, the clever bit is being able to take stills while recording video. I also like the included remote control, very handy when playing back through your tv still sitting in your favourite chair.
The only thing that disappointed me was a lack of an included HDMI cable, especially when there is a HDMI socket on the camera, it is an optional extra (VCP-HDMI02) as well as a battery charger (VAR-L50) and spare battery (DB-L50).
As far as recording time goes I used an 8 Gig SDHC card which will give about 1 hour recording time in full HD (more info in specs). Battery life is also very good with an average of over 2 hours this includes recording video, taking pics and playback through the screen and TV output. The 10x optical zoom with 16x advanced zoom and 160x digital zoom works well and is smooth and progressive with the super macro mode working well for close-up work.
Software
A Sanyo Xacti software CD is included with:
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Arcsoft Total Media Extreme for full hd playback and editing
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Arcsoft Panorama Maker 4 for easy panoramic photo stitching
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Xacti screen capture 1.1
Conclusion
In conclusion I really love this camera and would have no problem buying it myself or recommending it to anyone else. Apart from the unincluded HDMI cable I cannot find any real faults as it did exactly what it said on the box , a small, easy to use full HD Dual camera at a very reasonable price. What more can I say ?
Review by: Charlie
[ Post Tags: Camcorder, Video Cameras, sanyo Xacti FH1, VPC-FH1, tracyandmatt.co.uk ]
Edward has finally completed his full examination of the HTC HD2. In this great review we are taken through all major aspects of the HD2.
- HTC HD2 review – part 1: first impressions
- HTC HD2 review – part 2: camera
- HTC HD2 review – part 3: software – too much lipstick on that pig made by Microsoft
- HTC HD2 review – part 4: video recording
- HTC HD2 review – part 5: usability of user interface
- HTC HD2 review – part 6: apps and mobile broadband speed test
- HTC HD2 review – part 7: more about photo taking and video recording
- HTC HD2 review – part 8: size comparison of HTC HD2 with iPhone and other cellphones
- HTC HD2 review – Part 9 – Conclusions
There’s no debating it: having 8GB of onboard storage on your phone is great. What’s even better, though, is if you can actually use it — and currently, owners of Palm Pres and Pixis are stuck with an arbitrary limit for curious technical reasons that caps app installations after a couple hundred megabytes and change. Back in the day when the App Catalog had a few dozen submissions, that was fine and dandy — but these days, owners are staring down the barrel of a selection more than 500 apps deep, so the time’s definitely come to put this annoyance to bed. PreCentral is reporting that webOS 1.3.5 will finally kill this one by moving app storage to another partition on the device’s memory — the media partition — which has about 7GB free on a completely virgin phone. Coincidentally, this is the same partition that gets used when you hook up mass storage mode on a PC, so to prevent unencumbered copying of apps off the device, Palm will allegedly be employing some sort of on-the-fly encryption that keeps apps secure while connected. Next step, Palm: microSD expansion so we can install each and every one of those 500-plus apps. What do you say?
[Source Engadget]
Launched a few months ago in Korea the LG GD510 Pop offered to be a more environmentally friendly handset with the option of a replacement battery compartment with a built-in solar panel.
The LG GD510 Pop
The DG510 may be fairly basic, no 3G or WiFi connectivity available for starters, but it’s not a bad looking handset and if you are looking for something that’ll easily slip in your back pocket or purse then the GD510 is small, slim and light enough to do that and still sports the S-Class user interface!
So we’ve been playing with the LG Pop for a few days and will have a full review on site for you soon. Have a look at the unboxing video below for a tour of the hardware and a brief look at the UI.
LG GD510, or more simply, “Pop”, the most compact 3-inch full touchscreen phone ever made. The LG GD510 is the handset people who want a simple touchscreen phone have been waiting for.
LG has been one of the industry’s leading innovators in touchscreen phones since it launched the world’s first full touchscreen phone, PRADA Phone by LG, in January 2007. Since then, the company has achieved great success in the touchscreen devices market by creating an array of handsets designed to meet different consumer needs. For instance, LG’s Cookie (KP500) is an affordable full touchscreen phone that has already sold more than 7 million units worldwide since its launch earlier this year. With the LG GD510, LG is applying its tried and true strategy to another new model – this time, to a compact full touchscreen handset.
LG GD510 Pop specification:
- Display: TFT touchscreen 240 x 400 pixels – 3.0 inches
- Memory: 42MB internal storage
- Card slot: up to 16GB
- Dimensions: 97.8 x 49.5 x 11.2 mm
- Weight: 87g
- 2G: GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900
- Camera: 3.15 MP, 2048×1536 pixels
- Radio: Stereo FM radio with RDS
- Bluetooth: v2.0 with A2DP
- USB: microUSB
Posted by: Matt
HTC have stated they are going to down the number of phones produced and concentrate on promoting those devices. Fewer devices and better level ingenuity in each. So, HTC have announces no less that 15 Android devices, So of the name include – Bahamas, Bravo, DesireC, Dragon, Espresso, Halo, Huangshan, Incredible, Legend, Liberty, Memphis, Paradise, PassionC, Passion, Sapphire, Supersonic, Dream, HeroCT, HeroC and Hero. Some models are already known, and others are new.
So in actual fact they have downed the number of Windows Mobile devices in favour of Android. I would imagine that a number of these are variants of the same model.
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