Oregon Trail iPod Touch Game from Gameloft

Gameloft has revealed new details regarding its upcoming game The Oregon Trail for iPhone and iPod touch. The Oregon Trail for mobile made it to the top 10 download lists for the Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T networks. And so it’s no wonder that people are excited to see the first photos of Gameloft’s iPhone version of The Oregon Trail.
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Once on the trail, the game progresses much as it did in the original: move from landmark to landmark, ford rivers, lose a wagon wheel, get attacked by marauders–that kind of thing. Based on the Apple II classic, this updated take on the game features the same trail, from Independence, MO to Willamette Valley, OR, and the same random events, such as disease, bandits, bear attacks, and more.

One of Gameloft's notable additions is to engage the game party at various points along the trail in one of the 8 different mini games. Occasionally your companion will invite you to do a bit of hunting to increase your party’s food stores.

Fishing is another activity represented by a mini game, as is the task of repairing your wagon and even tapping out a bit of morse code. The mini games start out simple but increase in difficulty as you go along.

The Oregon Trail iPhone and iPod Touch Game from Gameloft will be available in the App Store on February 28th or March 1st for $5.99.

Check out the video trailer of the Oregon Trail iPod Touch Game.

New 'More Fun' iPod Touch Ad featuring games

Apple has begun airing a new iPod touch television commercial with the title 'More Fun'. Similar to the prior ad which debuted along with the second-generation device in September 2008, the new ad features several iPod touch being used to play games, appearing over top of one another and set on a white background.
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The ad, which features the iPod touch as a gaming device, features brief clips of over a dozen games available in the App Store, with Franz Ferdinand's No You Girls serving as background music.

Games spotlighted during the ad include Rolando, Touchgrind, Real Soccer 2009, and TouchSports Tennis '09; the song in the background is "No You Girls" by Franz Ferdinand. The ad also features the text "More Games" and "More Fun" before finishing with the iPod touch 2G slogan "The funnest iPod ever". If you haven't yet watched it on TV, you can see it on Apple's website.

Update: Also check out the latest page-busting Web ad for iPod touch 3G released on SEP 30th 2009

Toshiba A305-S6872

The Satellite A305-S6872 features Toshiba's "Horizon" case pattern in a "Fusion" finish, which basically means silver gray with pinstripes that resemble an optical illusion. The finish is almost mirror like, and even light handling will leave major fingerprints all over it. The case's rounded corners resemble the HP Pavilion dv6915nr, and the two systems are nearly identical in size.

At 6.4 pounds with the included nine cell battery, the Satellite A305-S6872 is a reasonable weight to carry on occasional trips but too heavy to carry every day. The stripes continue inside the case, both along the sides of the keyboard and on the wrist rest (even the touch pad has a subtle striped design). The keys are made of very glossy plastic that fits the aesthetic but is so shiny, it can be distracting.

Fortunately, the keyboard is comfortable; with your eyes closed it feels like any other nearly full size board. The touch pad is likewise roomy, though we were annoyed by the glowing white stripe across the top of the pad, which seems to be just decoration (we thought maybe it would change colors if the touch pad were disabled, but no dice).

We took some consolation in the fact that it along with other distractingly illuminated case elements, a Satellite logo in the bottom left hand corner and a row of touch sensitive media controls above the keyboard can be turned off using Toshiba's HWSetup utility.

The 15.4 inch wide screen LCD display offers a 1,280x800 native resolution, which is standard for a screen this size. The display's glossy finish produces rich colors and contrast we found it minimally distracting while surfing the Web and typing email, but quite enjoyable for movie watching. A Webcam above the display lets users conduct video chats.

Other Features

• Video VGA out, Webcam VGA out, S-Video
• Audio Stereo speakers, headphone or microphone jacks Stereo speakers, headphone or microphone jacks
• Data 3 USB 2.0, mini-FireWire, mulitformat memory card reader, eSATA port 4 USB 2.0, SD card reader
• Expansion ExpressCard/54 ExpressCard
• Networking modem, Ethernet, 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi modem, Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional WWAN
• Optical drive DVD burner DVD burner

Toshiba Qosmio G55-Q802

Instead, the $1,549 Qosmio G55 adds a handful of genuinely unique extras, which run from gimmicky to useful under certain, limited circumstances. The 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 is joined by a second Cell processor (just like the chip powering the PlayStation 3). Toshiba calls this combo "Quad Core HD," and uses the extra horsepower to power both a Webcam based gesture control system and accelerated video encoding (as long as you're using the prescribed software).

Neither addition is going to be of much use to casual consumers, but we can see limited circumstances where specific tasks encoding lots of HD video to DVD would make the G55 worth a look, and note that the non Blu-ray versions of Acer's and HP's 18 inch laptops cost around the same, even without the extra processing power.

Specification

• Price as reviewed / Starting price $1,549
• Processor 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 (plus 1.5GHz Cell processor)
• Memory 4GB, 800MHz DDR2
• Hard drive 250GB 5,400rpm (x2)
• Chipset Mobile Intel P45 Express Chipset
• Graphics 512MB Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT
• Operating system Windows Vista Premium (64 bit)
• Dimensions (WDH) 17.8x12.2x1.9 inches
• Screen size (diagonal) 18.4 inches
• System weight or Weight with AC adapter 10.7/12.1 pounds
• Category Desktop replacement
  

Easily the biggest and bulkiest of the current crop of 18 inch laptops at nearly 2 inches thick and almost 11 pounds, the G55 dwarfs the (relatively) smaller HP HDX18 and Sony Vaio AW170.

The system's glossy (and fingerprint prone), pinstriped design resembles the recently revamped Satellite line, but the chassis itself has the same clamshell look, with the edges of the lid curling in slightly, as on the 17 inch Qosmio X305-Q701.

It's not for those without ample desktop space, but the G55 also feels solid as a rock. The full keyboard and separate number pad are typical for Toshiba which is to say very glossy.

The keys themselves are comfortable and easy to use, but there's a bit too much flex around the middle of the keyboard. A row of standard touch sensitive media control buttons sit above the keyboard, but we're much more excited about the small volume control jogwheel that's on the lower left side of the keyboard tray. We always find jogwheels easier to use and more responsive than volume up and down buttons, or touch sensitive volume sliders (which never respond fast enough for our tastes).

The 18.4 inch wide screen LCD display offers a 1,680x945 pixel native resolution, which is a bit of a mystery. Every other 18 inch laptop we've seen has a 1,920x1080 pixel resolution, which is a natural match with the 16:9 aspect ratio and 1080p HD content. The G55 also lacks the Blu-ray drive that the other 18 inch laptops we've reviewed all carry as standard equipment. However, since Toshiba laptops were saddled with HD DVD drives for long past that format's useful life, we can call this progress, of a sort.

Other Features

• Video VGA out, HDMI VGA out, S-Video, HDMI
• Audio Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks, S/PDIF jack Stereo speakers with subwoofer, headphone/microphone jacks.
• Data 4 USB 2.0, mini FireWire, multiformat memory card reader, eSATA 4 USB 2.0, mini FireWire, SD card reader
• Expansion ExpressCard/54 ExpressCard/54
• Networking modem, Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth modem, Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, optional Bluetooth
• Optical drive DVD burner DVD burner or Blu-Ray
  

The G55's two most interesting features are its gesture controls and its extra processing power for video editing and encoding. Both features make use of what Toshiba calls "Quad Core HD," which means the standard Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 working with a second processing chip. That chip, essentially the same Cell processor found in the PlayStation 3 (and originally co-developed by IBM, Sony, and Toshiba), has a clock frequency of 1.5GHz.

Toshiba Satellite Pro U400-S1001X

The Satellite Pro U400-S1001X will fit into any business environment, with its dull silver lid and keyboard deck, black screen bezel, and black keyboard. It uses the same chassis as the consumer oriented Satellite U405, but removes the multimedia control keys above the keyboard and the glossy Fusion finish. Branding is kept to a minimum, with a simple Toshiba logo on the center of the lid, another smaller Toshiba logo below the screen, and a tiny Satellite Pro logo on the front left corner. Despite its lack of dedicated multimedia control keys, an always appreciated volume dial resides along the front edge between a media card slot and Wi-Fi power switch.

Specification

• Price as reviewed / Starting price $1,049
• Processor 2.1GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T8100
• Memory 1GB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz
• Hard drive 160GB, 5400rpm
• Chipset Mobile Intel 965GM Express
• Graphics Intel GMA X3100
• Operating system Windows XP Pro
• Dimensions (width by depth) 12.4x9.0 inches
• Thickness 1.2 to 1.4 inches
• Screen size (diagonal) 13.3 inches
• System weight and weight with AC adapter 4.6 / 5.5 pounds
• Category Thin and light
  

Like the first Satellite Pro laptop we reviewed, the 15-inch A210, the 13 inch U400 feels very solid, from the two sturdy hinges that anchor the display to the firm keyboard deck. The keys themselves offer good travel, and even a heavy handed typist like myself didn't feel much flex when banging away on the keys. I'm also known to be driven slightly insane by a laptop's loud mouse buttons (I'm looking at you Sony Vaio NR498), so I experienced something akin to what might be described as euphoria when I first encountered the U400's mouse buttons.

OK, euphoria might be overstating it a bit, but the fact remains that the mouse keys offer excellent feel with just the right amount of travel and a barely audible click when fully pressed. Between the two mouse buttons is a fingerprint scanner. The touch pad is a compact 2.5 inches by 1.5 inches and, sadly, it lacks the vertical scroll function that many have come to rely on, including myself.

The 13.3 inch display offers a 1,280x800 pixel native resolution, which is standard for a screen this size. We were surprised to find the same glossy screen coating as found on its consumer cousin, the Satellite U405. For business use working under bright fluorescent lights or in a sun filled airport gate we generally prefer a screen with a matte finish, which reduces glare and reflections.

Above the display sits a 1.3 megapixel Webcam and mic for easy video conferencing. We generally have low expectations for laptop speakers and lower those for the audio output of business laptops. Yet, the Satellite Pro U400 fell short of our meager expectations, with the tinniest and weakest audio output. For both music and movies, you'll want to make use of the laptop's headphone jack.

The Toshiba Satellite Pro U400-S1001X serves up a standard collection of ports and connections similar to what we saw on the Satellite U405 but minus an eSATA port. There's a placeholder on the left edge for an HDMI port, but it sits empty on this business machine; your only video out option is the analog VGA port.

SwitchEasy Pure screen protectors for iPod Touch 2G

SwitchEasy has introduced PURE, the ultimate screen protection system. This series has 3 new iPod Touch 2g screen protectors consisting of the PureProtect, PureReflect, and PureAntiReflect.
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The PureProtect screen guard is designed to offer high glosss with highest level of clarity, while protecting the screen with a scratch-resistant layer. The PureReflect features the same protection but with a reflective surface that resembles a mirror. It offers True Mirror reflection. The PureAntiReflect provides a smudge-proof matte finish that is intended to provide no-glare display from background light sources.

Key Features:
* Tough, Scratch resistant shield
* No Dust Antistatic membrane
*PureProtect: High Gloss ultimate clarity
*PureReflect: True Mirror reflection
*PureAntiReflect: Smudge-proof, no-glare display

Each of the Switch Easy screen protectors for the iPod Touch 2G is priced at $12.99. As a Switcheasy tradition, the packages include a microfiber screen wipe and a squeegee screen guard applicator to remove air bubbles when applying the film.

Also check out the following screen protectors for the iPod Touch 2G:
-Zagg's invisibleSHIELD iPod Touch 2G Screen Protector
-BodyGuardz Screen Protector for iPod Touch 2G

Lenovo 3000 V100

And the fact that Lenovo has updated the V100 line with the latest Core 2 Duo processors, larger hard drives, and the option for Windows Vista warranted a second look. Based on our $1,699 review unit, we'd say that the Lenovo 3000 V100 has kept pace with the times, continuing to provide all the features you'll need for work (and some play) in a highly portable package.

The V100 is the smallest Lenovo 3000 laptop available like its siblings, the C200 and the N100, the V100 is silver on the outside and dark gray on the inside. Its steel hinges and relatively sturdy construction reflect its ThinkPad heritage, though it doesn't have the ThinkPad's drain holes, shock mounted hard drive, or keyboard light.

The V100 weighs 4.5 pounds (with the optional six cell battery, which extends about a half inch from the back of the laptop) and measures 9 inches deep, 12 inches wide, and 1.1 inches thick.

So it's a bit larger than both the Toshiba Satellite U205 and the Dell XPS M1210. Total travel weight with the V100's modest A/C adapter is 5.1 pounds, striding the line between ultra portable and thin and light.

There are certainly lighter laptops on the market, including Lenovo's own ThinkPad X60s, but the V100 is reasonably portable for regular travel.

Because Lenovo doesn't currently offer a wide screen ultra portable ThinkPad, the Lenovo 3000 V100 fills an important role in the company's laptop lineup. Like the XPS M1210 and the Satellite U205, the V100 features a 12.1 inch wide screen display with a sharp 1,280x800 native resolution and a glossy finish that's great for watching movies but can become distractingly reflective in bright environments (unfortunately there's no option for a matte finish display). An optional 1.3 megapixel Webcam is built into the display bezel, making it useful for Web videoconferencing from the road.

Corresponding to the V100's wide aspect display is a wide, comfortable keyboard that harkens back to the laptop's ThinkPad lineage. Like all Lenovo 3000 laptops, the V100's trackpad feels a bit small, and the trackpad buttons don't provide as much travel as we'd like. Next to the trackpad sits a tiny fingerprint reader, which lets you securely log on to your computer, network, and favorite Web sites with just a swipe of a finger.

Above the keyboard are three handy external volume controls and a button to launch Lenovo's MediaNow application (the extent of the V100's dedicated multimedia controls), plus a button that summons the useful Lenovo Care system management and help utility. Along the front edge, two speakers emit hollow but passable sound, while the right edge of the case holds a handy hardware on or off switch for the system's built in Wi-Fi radio.

Lenovo ThinkPad T60p

The Lenovo T60p eschews the soft, rounded edges and brushed metal accents of consumer laptops for a no nonsense squared off look, giving it a slim, sleek profile. The familiar matte black case measures 12.5 inches wide, 10 inches deep, and 1.1 inches thick. That's a little smaller than the wide screen version of the T60, which measures 14 inches wide, and it may be too big for some fitted laptop cases.

This version of the T60p is a half pound lighter, weighing in at 5.3 pounds, or 6.2 pounds if you include the AC adapter. The time tested design includes traveler friendly touches, such as sturdy steel hinges and a shock mounted hard drive. The keyboard is one of the best laptop keyboards available, offering an extremely comfortable typing experience.

The T60p also has both an eraser head pointing stick and a touch pad, each of which has a set of mouse buttons (the top set includes a scroll button in the middle). Above the keyboard are three handy volume buttons the extent of the ThinkPad T60p's dedicated multimedia controls and a blue ThinkVantage button, which summons Lenovo's helpful preinstalled support and configuration utility.

The ThinkPad T60p features a 14.1 inch display with a 1.400x1.050 native resolution that affords a decent amount of screen real estate. Nearly every laptop we've seen in the past year has had a wide screen display, so the squared-off display on this model is almost jarringly retro. As with all ThinkPads, a reading light tucked into the bezel above the screen lets you illuminate the keyboard when working in the dark (hit Fn + Page Up to turn it on and off).

Connections include VGA and three USB 2.0 ports, plus headphone and micrhone jacks and slots for a PC Cards and an ExpressCard. Consumer friendly extras, such as FireWire and a media card reader, are missing, but networking options include a 56Kbps modem, Gigabit Ethernet, and 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. Security features include a fingerprint reader and the ThinkVantage Active Protection System, which uses a motion sensor to park the hard drive in case of a fall.

Our $2,250 ThinkPad T60p review unit costs almost double the system's base price. For the extra money you get a 2.3GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7600 CPU, 2GB of RAM, and Windows Vista Business. For the $1,200 starting price, you'll have to trade down to a 1.67GHz T5500 CPU, only 512MB of RAM, and Windows XP Pro leaving you with a system that's cheaper but has a much shorter useful life.

With such a high end set of specs, the Lenovo T60p made short work of CNET Labs' Multitasking test, beating two other recent Vista laptops, the Lenovo ThinkPad X60 Tablet, with a 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo L2500, and the Dell Inspiron E1505, with a 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7200. But compared to a nearly identical T60p system we tested with Windows XP, it fell slightly behind in the Photoshop CS2 and iTunes encoding tests, suggesting that Windows Vista requires more computing power to run than the older XP operating system.

Lenovo IdeaPad Y730

Home users are increasingly turning to notebook computers as their primary PCs, as they like that laptops can offer similar performance and features to those of a desktop PC, and can be easily moved from room to room. Though of course almost any notebook computer will do for typical home use, there are two types of laptops most suitable for home users middle size notebooks, which tend to be budget friendly, and desktop replacements, which are usually packed with features.

To maximize battery life, notebook computer processors are often designed to save more energy and run cooler than desktop processors.

The drawback is slower performance, but more memory can help, which it won't consume energy or radiate heat.

Even better, up to 4GB of RAM can now be found in budget configurations. If you want more memory later, expansion is often a simple procedure.

The central processor (CPU) is the heart of any computer system and an excellent litmus test as to whether a desktop computer or notebook fits your needs. The trouble is, processor names like Athlon and Celeron are as cryptic as system names like Latitude and Pavilion.

Lenovo ThinkPad T500

Home users are increasingly turning to notebook computers as their primary PCs, as they like that laptops can offer similar performance and features to those of a desktop PC, and can be easily moved from room to room.

Though of course almost any notebook computer will do for typical home use, there are two types of laptops most suitable for home users, middle size notebooks, which tend to be budget friendly, and desktop replacements, which are usually packed with features.

The central processor (CPU) is the heart of any computer system and an excellent litmus test as to whether a desktop computer or notebook fits your needs. The trouble is, processor names like Athlon and Celeron are as cryptic as system names like Latitude and Pavilion.

Lenovo ThinkPad X60 Tablet

Usually comparable in size and weight to ultra portable or thin and light laptops, tablet PCs let you take handwritten notes and navigate menus, documents, and Web pages using a stylus directly on the screen. The most common type is the convertible tablet, which looks much like traditional a laptop but has a display that swivels 180 degrees and folds flat over the keyboard.

(Some manufacturers are incorporating this type of tablet functionality into larger middle size and thin and light laptops.) Slate tablets, on the other hand, lack keyboards they're all screen. The smallest tablets, ultra mobile PCs, bridge the gap between PDA and ultra portable, with 7 inch touch screen displays and enhanced media player features.

Once only the tool of specialized industries, tablets are gaining a wider audience, thanks to their portability, flexibility, and wow factor. To maximize battery life, notebook computer processors are often designed to save more energy and run cooler than desktop processors. The drawback is slower performance, but more memory can help, which it won't consume energy or radiate heat. Even better, up to 4GB of RAM can now be found in budget configurations. If you want more memory later, expansion is often a simple procedure.

Apple fixes iTunes Crashing after Firmware 2.2.1 upgrade

Since the release of the iPhone 2.2.1 firmware update, many users have had problems with iTunes crashing with both iPhones and even iPods. To fix this issue Apple has sent the following email to some of the affected customers that outlines the steps for fixing this issue.
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Dear Customer,

Recently, we uncovered an issue which was causing iTunes to unexpectedly quit when synced with an iPod or an iPhone. This issue impacted a small number of users, and we have identified your account as potentially being affected.

If you have experienced this issue, please follow these steps in order to sync your iPod or iPhone with iTunes:
1. Launch iTunes
2. Select "Deauthorize Computer" from the Store menu
3. Enter your iTunes Store Account ID and Password, then click the Deauthorize button
4. Next, choose "Authorize Computer" from the Store menu
5. Enter your iTunes Store Account ID and Password, then click the Authorize button

Once you have successfully deauthorized and reauthorized your computer, you should be able to sync your iPod or iPhone to iTunes.

I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that you may have experienced as a result of this issue.

Thank you for being an iTunes Store customer.
iTunes Store Team

This fix has now been available on the internet for some time now and users have been reporting that this fix does work. Drop a comment if you had this issue and if this fix works.

Lenovo ThinkPad SL400

Slide the ThinkPad SL400 out of the box, and you might think you mistakenly purchased a particularly boxy Sony Vaio. Open the laptop up, however, and you'll soon discover it's a standard issue ThinkPad that Lenovo outfitted with a glossy, black lid. Without the magnesium alloy shell protecting the back of the screen, the plastic lid feels soft flexing when pressed. The plastic wrist rests, however, feel much sturdier.

Overall, the SL400 feels like a substantial machine it's bulky and rather thick for a 14 inch laptop, running from 1.3 inches thick along its front edge to 1.5 inches thick at the back edge. Like all ThinkPads, the SL400 boasts an incredibly comfortable keyboard, a red track point, and blue Enter key. Below the keyboard sits a touch pad and second set of mouse buttons. The touch pad's matte finish and vertical and horizontal scroll regions make it highly functional, and the mouse buttons are soft, quiet, and responsive.

To the left of the keyboard sit a blue Lenovo Care button that calls up a small window with helpful links to system management and security tools. Below the Lenovo Care button are volume up, down, and mute buttons.

Five small, green glowing icons adorn the front edge below the touch pad, informing you of your wireless, wired, and Bluetooth connections as well as whether you're running on full battery power or in sleep mode.

On the angled bottom half of the front edge reside three small air vents and a Wi-Fi power switch. A large vent sits on the left side for the GeForce 9300M GS graphics card.

While the laptop is by no means noisy, it does emit a fairly steady yet low hum and stream of warm air out its left side. The side edges are sloped and narrow toward the bottom of the laptop. It helps lessen the ThinkPad boxy appearance somewhat, and while some reviewers have complained that the ports are difficult to reach, I did not find this to be the case.

I have an old, bulky USB key and was able to connect it to all four of the system's USB ports without a problem the overhanging top edge did not interfere. The ThinkPad SL series is available in three sizes, the 13.3 inch SL300, the 14.1 inch SL400 we reviewed, and the 15.4 inch SL500. The standard SL400 wide screen display offers a 1,280x800 pixel resolution our review unit included a $50 upgrade that bumps you up to a still very readable 1,440x900 pixel resolution and includes Lenovo's AntiGlare option.

In general, we think a matte finish is the better option for the screen of a business laptop, and Lenovo's AntiGlare screen lives up to its name. (Lenovo also sells an SL400 configuration with integrated Intel graphics, but choose that and you lose the higher resolution option.) Even when sitting with two bright, sun filled windows at our back, the screen was very readable with glare and reflections kept to a minimum. We still found colors to be vibrant when viewing photos or movies, though we did find a stuck pixel in the upper right hand corner of our review unit.

Lenovo IdeaPad S10

With Intel's now standard 1.6GHz Atom N270 CPU, specifically designed for low power Netbooks, the Lenovo S10 is not going to match up with Lenovo's normally high powered business systems or deliver the same level of performance you'd get from even an inexpensive Core 2 Duo.

Still, for Web surfing, email, and working on office documents, which is 90 percent of what most people do on their laptops anyway, the S10 performed about as expected, closely matching the Asus Eee PC 901 and MSI Wind in our iTunes performance test.

With impressive battery scores from Lenovo's mainstream laptops, we had high hopes for the S10's battery, even though it's of the smaller 3 cell variety.

Unfortunately, the battery lasted about as long as other 3 cell Netbooks we've tested, such as the MSI Wind, coming in at 2 hours and 13 minutes on our video playback battery drain test. Dell manages to get more than 3 hours out of the Mini 9's 4 cell battery, while Netbooks with 6 cell batteries, including the Asus Eee PC 1000, lasted for more than 5 hours. Lenovo includes an industry standard one year parts and labor mail in warranty with the system. A variety of extension options are available and upgrading to a year of on site service costs an extra $49, while three years of at home service is $159.

Lenovo IdeaPad U110

The Lenovo IdeaPad U110 is imperceptibly smaller than one of our favorite 11.1 inch ultra portables, the Sony VAIO TZ150. It gives up 2 inches in screen size to the 13.3 inch MacBook Air, but the U110 weighs a full pound less (when using its four cell battery). Toshiba's Portege R500, on the other hand, weighs less just 1.7 pounds and gives you an extra inch with its 12 inch screen.

Aside from its diminutive size and stunning design, the IdeaPad U110 is remarkable in its sturdy construction, thanks to an aluminum cover and magnesium aluminum case. The sturdy construction seems to owe something to Lenovo's business focused ThinkPad line. But the IdeaPad U110 is considerably different from the company's other flagship ultra portable, the $2,476 ThinkPad X300.

The latter maintains the familiar ThinkPad DNA rectangular black case, great keyboard, and such corporate friendly features as WWAN and a Trusted Platform Module while still allowing for innovation in design and cutting edge components. The IdeaPad U110, on the other hand, is focused on the consumer market, and as such gives Lenovo more freedom to experiment with design while still incorporating new technologies.

Speaking more concretely, the 11.1 inch, 2.4 pound IdeaPad U110 is considerably smaller than the 13.3 inch, 3.4 pound ThinkPad X300. The entire keyboard deck on the IdeaPad U110 including the keyboard, touch pad, mouse buttons, and quick launch keys is one flush surface, all in a glossy piano finish. At first the flatness of the keys, and the lack of space between them, had us worried about typing comfort.

But closer inspection revealed that the keys have a slightly concave surface, and while the keyboard did feel noticeably less than full size, typing was remarkably comfortable and error free. Part of the reason Lenovo extended the keyboard quite nearly to the edges of the system, similar to the HP 2133 Mini Note, to accommodate larger keys than would ordinarily be found on such a compact laptop.

Unfortunately a concession had to be made when it came to the touch pad the IdeaPad U110's narrow depth means the touch pad sits uncomfortably low on the keyboard deck, and its mouse buttons are part of the laptop's front edge. We were able to complete a day's work with this setup, but would likely want to pack a travel mouse for better ergonomics on lengthy trips. Also, the meticulous among us might be put off by the shiny interior, which easily picks up fingerprints. (Lenovo does include a chamois cloth to help you keep the IdeaPad U110 looking sharp.)

Lenovo ThinkPad X301

Like all ThinkPads, the ultraportable X301 features a rectangular black case built around a sturdy chassis. There's still a blue ThinkVantage button above the keyboard, a fingerprint reader below it, and a keyboard light on the top edge of the display. However, ThinkPad fans will notice small touches that make the X301 a bit more attractive than other ThinkPads.

The lid and wrist rest feature an appealing soft matte finish the ThinkVantage, power, and mute buttons glow when pressed and the front edge is devoid of any ports or switches. In addition to the keyboard light, the ThinkPad X301's display bezel includes a 1.3 megapixel Webcam and a noise canceling digital microphone for Web conferencing.

The matte finish display itself features a 1,440 x 900 native resolution that's sharper than that of the MacBook Air and other similar size screens, resulting in text and icons that are a bit smaller than you'd expect. So far the sharper resolution hasn't caused tremendous problems, though we did find ourselves pumping up the font size on a newspaper's Web site so we could read a lengthy article.

We also zoomed in a bit when working on documents and spreadsheets. The trade off more screen real estate for multitasking and, when it's time for a break, beautiful video.

Given the amount of typing the typical executive does through the course of the workday, a keyboard can make or break an ultra portable. The ThinkPad X301 actually uses the same keyboard found on Lenovo's 14 and 15 inch models which is to say, not the condensed keyboard found on previous X series models and many ultra portable laptops from other manufacturers. After conducting several days' work on the ThinkPad X301, we still don't feel like we've been typing on a laptop. We love it.

Lenovo decided to include both the red eraser head TrackPoint pointing stick and a touch pad on the ThinkPad X301. The decision is understandable many ThinkPad users are viscerally attached to their TrackPoints, while other users can't stand it, so why not include both methods? However, the double sets of mouse buttons seem to run counter to the overall theme of simplification that the ThinkPad X301 embodies.

In order to make room for the TrackPoint's buttons, the touch pad is placed rather low on the wrist rest, with its buttons near the laptop's front edge. Fortunately, the ThinkPad X301 is thin enough that we could use the touch pad with our wrist resting on a desk surface or on our leg, when the laptop was in our lap. Of greater concern is the fact that, during our lazier typing moments when our wrists dropped to the wrist rest, we were likely to graze the touch pad and accidentally misplace the cursor.

Lenovo ThinkPad X200

With the ThinkPad X200, Lenovo brings a wide aspect ratio to its most portable system. The 12.1 inch wide screen display features a sharp 1,280x800 native resolution that's more common on 14.1 inch or even 15.4 inch displays. The resulting text and icons are probably about as small as you can go for comfortable everyday use. Given the ThinkPad's business focus, we appreciate the matte screen finish, which avoids reflections in brightly lit office environments.

Another advantage to going wide with the ThinkPad X200 plenty of room for the keyboard. Whereas Lenovo's previous ultra portable, the standard aspect ThinkPad X61s, had (of necessity) a slightly compact keyboard.

The ThinkPad X200's wider case can accommodate the same keyboard used on Lenovo's 14 and 15 inch ThinkPads. (You can see close up photos of both keyboards in this blog post.)

The difference in size is noticeable on the X200 we never felt like we were typing on an ultra portable machine. Navigation, however, is still a bit limited. With its last few ThinkPad models, Lenovo has tried to accommodate both fans of the red TrackPoint pointing stick and those who prefer a touch pad by including both options. The ThinkPad X200, however, features only the TrackPoint and three mouse buttons (the center acts as a scroll button) touch pad fans, of which there are many, will feel left out.

Above the keyboard are basic volume controls as well as the very helpful blue ThinkVantage button, which launches a suite of system maintenance, power management, connectivity, and other utilities. All the other classic ThinkPad touches are here, including the nifty keyboard light tucked beneath the lip of the lid and a fingerprint reader below the keyboard for quickly logging in to Windows and a company network.

How to increase iPod Touch battery life

Apple claims that the iPod touch gives up to 36 hours of music playback and up to 6 hours of video playback when fully charged. But many users since the 1st gen ipod touch have been complaining of significantly lower battery runtimes.

With such high-tech, power-hungry features and Apps that you're getting on the iPhone and iPod Touch, it's no surprise that you don't get the battery life that you'd like to. However, there are a number of simple ways to lengthen the time between charges, as well as prevent the premature need for battery replacement.
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Temperature Matters

Your iPod works best from 32° to 95°F. You should store it in environments of -4° to 113° F. That’s 0° to 35° C and -20° to 45° C for the metrically inclined. Keeping your iPod as near room temperature as possible (72° F or 22° C) is ideal.

If the temperature is higher than 95° F (or 35° C), you may permanently damage your battery’s capacity. You may damage it even more if you charge the device in these temperatures. Even storing a battery in a hot environment can damage it irreversibly.

Cold environment is not good either. Cold environment may decrease the battery life. Unlike the effects of a hot environment, this is a temporary condition. Once molecules in the battery warm up, the battery will return to its previous capacity.

Charging your iPod touch while in certain carrying cases may generate excess heat, which can affect battery capacity. If you notice your iPod gets hot when you charge it, take it out of its case first.

Turn off Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi consumes power even if you are not using its features to connect to a network. You can turn it off to save power. Go to Settings > General > Network > Wi-Fi.

Switch Off Backlight and Equalizer (EQ)

Your iPod’s backlighting and equalizer features all consume power. Setting the backlight to “always on” will significantly reduce your battery life. Adding EQs to playback uses more of your iPod processor, since they aren’t encoded in the song. Turn EQ off if you don’t use it. If, however, you’ve added EQ to tracks in iTunes, you’ll need to set EQ to “flat” in order to have the effect of “off,” because iPod keeps your iTunes settings intact.

Minimize use of third-party applications

Excessive use of applications on iPod touch, such as games that prevent the screen from dimming or shutting off, can reduce battery life.

Fetch new data less frequently

Applications on iPod touch such as Mail can be set to fetch data wirelessly at specific intervals. The more frequently email or other data is fetched, the quicker your battery may drain. To fetch new data manually, from the Home screen choose Settings > Fetch New Data and tap Manually. To increase the fetch interval, go to Settings > Fetch New Data and tap Hourly. Note that this is a global setting and applies to all applications that do not support push services.

Turn off push mail

If you have a push mail account on iPod touch such as Yahoo!, MobileMe or Microsoft Exchange, turn off push mail when you don’t need it. Go to Settings > Fetch New Data and set Push to Off. Messages sent to your push email accounts will now be received on your iPod touch based on the global Fetch setting rather than as they arrive.

Minimize Fast Forward

iPod plays music out of a solid-state memory cache to provide skip-free playback and maximize battery life. If you fast forward through your playlist, iPod will need to fill its cache more frequently, thus accessing the hard drive more often and using more power. This will decrease overall battery life. By creating great playlists in iTunes that cater to your personal taste, you can decrease your need to fast forward. Using the shuffle feature may also help to minimize your use of the fast forward feature.

Use Compressed Songs

iPod’s cache works most efficiently with songs of average file sizes (less than 9 MB). If your audio files are large or uncompressed (including AIFF or WAV format), you may want to compress them, or use a different compression method, such as AAC or MP3, when importing them into iTunes.

Lenovo IdeaPad Y510

The Lenovo IdeaPad Y510 eschews the soft round edges and light colors of other 15 inch consumer laptops, such as the Dell Inspiron 1525, for a matte black finish and boxy shape. It feels solid and well built, if a little on the heavy side, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The Dell 1525 is lighter but feels much flimsier. This still isn't the heftiest 15 inch around that would be the 7.8 pound Alienware m15x.

The back of the lid is also black, but has a linen like pattern etched into it. Lenovo calls it a "Light Weave Texture," and while it probably spent more time on the name than the design, it's at least a nice break from the usual flat, glossy laptop shells. Lenovo is known for its excellent keyboards, and the IdeaPad's is very good, with thick, sturdy keys. A row of touch sensitive media control buttons sit above the keyboard, and a volume rocker switch is on the right side of the keyboard tray.

It's worth noting that the traditional Lenovo pointing stick in the middle of the keyboard is missing. The Y510 takes audio seriously, with four front mounted speakers and a subwoofer on the bottom.

The sound is certainly a step above your average laptop, and good for movies and TV, but we have yet to find a laptop that offers acceptable sound for serious music listening. A 1.3 megapixel Webcam sits above the display.

It works with the VeriFace face recognition software, which uses your face to log into Windows. Unlike the Asus U6S, the Lenovo version actually worked well, and we were able to log in almost instantly, after running a quick face enrollment application, without having to play around with positioning and lighting. The 15.4 inch wide screen LCD has a 1,280x800 native resolution, which is standard for a screen this size.

The display looks bigger than it actually is, thanks to a glossy screen overlay that extends right to the edges of the lid. Lenovo calls it a "frameless screen," although we'd probably save that designation for a screen with the smallest possible bezel this one has a fairly standard half inch bezel. The glossy overlay does make for a cleaner look, but it was a bit too glossy for our tastes, and we had a lot of screen glare to contend with.

Olympus Stylus 1030 SW

Although the 1050 SW is newer than the 1030 SW, don't let the numerical sequence fool you. The 1030 SW succeeds the 790 SW while the not quite as tough 1050 SW replaces the 770 SW. What you really need to know is that the 1050 doesn't match up to the 1030's capability to withstand pretty much anything you can throw at it (or throw it at).

While the 1050 SW is shockproof to 5 feet, waterproof to 10 feet and freeze proof to 14 degrees Fahrenheit, the 1030 SW beats on all counts and adds a few extras. You can drop the latter from a height of 6.6 feet, take it underwater to a depth of 33 feet, haul it out in 14 degree weather and attempt to crush it with up to 220 pounds of pressure. A 3.6x wide angle zoom lens with a 35mm equivalent focal range of 28mm-102mm also sets it apart from its siblings.

You only have to look at and hold the metal-bodied 1030 SW to start believing that this compact camera is rugged enough to withstand everything Olympus promises. At the same time, the camera is attractively designed at 3.7 inches by 2.4 inches by 0.8 inch and 6.8 ounces fully loaded, it's compact enough to carry in your pocket while you're hiking up the side of a mountain or around your wrist while diving a shipwreck or a garden of coral and pretty fish.

Scuba divers should note that underwater time is limited to one hour. If you want to take the camera deeper or on an extended dive, check out Olympus' underwater housing for the 1030 SW. Also, anyone using the camera under, on or near the water should be aware that the camera is not buoyant if you let go, the camera's going to sink. But you don't have to participate in extreme sports to benefit from the camera's tightly sealed seams.

Gaskets and O-rings, as long as you maintain them, will keep out water, snow, sand, dirt and other assorted tiny debris that would wreak havoc with more vulnerable digital cameras. Like most snapshot cameras, the 1030 SW lacks an optical viewfinder. But its 2.7 inch, 230K-dot LCD features a wide angle of view and, with its five step brightness adjustment, can be tweaked to work reasonably well under most conditions.

If you're diving in dark environments East Coast shipwrecks come to mind you may have some problems viewing the display. But midsummer swimming pool conditions with bright sunlight overhead improves the LCD's underwater usability.

Olympus SP-570 UZ

At 4.7 inches wide by 3.3 inches tall by 3.4 inches deep and weighing 1 pound, 3 ounces, the 10 megapixel SP-570 UZ takes up a lot more space than the SP-560 UZ in fact, it's almost as big as Olympus' E-420 dSLR. (Much of the design hearkens back to the days before Olympus shortened "Ultra Zoom" to "UZ.") But all that room allows it to have a great, comfortable feeling grip, hot shoe, and a thumb wheel on top for adjusting shutter speed, aperture, and so on.

The 2.7 inch LCD also provides a minor step up from the SP-560's 2.5 inch display. That large grip accommodates the four AA batteries that power the camera. The menu navigation is typical Olympus, which means logically arranged with large, easy to read text and explanatory text that you pull up at the press of a button.

The help text is small and looks crammed into the left half of the screen, though, as if that part of the firmware were copied directly from another camera with a smaller display.

As is becoming common on dSLRs, you can press a button that calls up a grid of the camera's current settings and change them directly via the thumb wheel, which I really like.

However, Olympus forgoes a zoom switch in favor of a servo electronic manual zoom ring on the lens.

Unfortunately, the ring isn't nearly as responsive as it needs to be, and I found it inaccurate and hard to use, making for a frustrating shooting experience. (For more comments on the design, click through to the slide show.) The camera has all the manual and semi manual features you'd expect from an enthusiast model as well as a host of automatic modes targeted at less experienced shooters.

(You can find a complete feature list by downloading the PDF manual.) Naturally, it includes mechanical (sensor shift) image stabilization, without which the 20x lens would be pretty useless. Among the more notable features are Guide mode, which offers task centric, step by step instructions for various shooting scenarios. And I've always been a fan of Olympus' My Mode, which in the SP-570 UZ allows you to store up to four sets of custom settings.

As with the SP-560 UZ, this model also supports wireless flash, which can come in quite handy, and it's quite easy to configure the SP-570 UZ also adds a hot shoe. And it can focus as close as 0.4 inch in Supermacro mode. The camera can capture typical, OK looking 30fps VGA movies, but you can't zoom while capturing, which seems a waste of that lens.

Olympus SP-560 UZ

Body design was one of our favorite aspects of the SP-550UZ, so we were pleased to see that the new version looks and feels almost identical. Every design aspect is carried over, from the pop up flash to the comfortably large, flat buttons. It even weighs nearly the same, standing at a hefty but manageable 16.4 ounces with four AA batteries and an xD memory card.

A whopping big lens stands out as the SP-560UZ's most prominent feature, just like its predecessor.

The 27 to 486mm equivalent lens is slightly wider and shorter than the SP-550UZ's 28 to 504mm equivalent lens, but still offers the same f/2.8-4.5 range and 18x optical zoom.

I could easily frame the spire of the Empire State Building from Hoboken, N.J., thanks to the camera's long reach.

Sensor shift image stabilization helps reduce camera shake, a vital feature when pushing the camera to its full zoom without a tripod to stabilize it. Unfortunately, the SP-560UZ's biggest feature is also one of its greatest weaknesses. While its lens is long and wide, it simply isn't very sharp. Regardless of the lens position and focus, pictures taken on the SP-560UZ generally look soft.

Fine details, like text focused upon from a great distance, can appear fuzzy regardless of focus, shutter speed, or ISO sensitivity. Beyond the softness, significant noise further hurts the camera's pictures. Notable grain appears at ISO 200, and gets significantly worse as sensitivity gets higher. At ISO 400 and higher, noise consumes fine details, rendering textures muddled.

Olympus E-3

The magnesium alloy body is as solidly made as ever, and now it's dust, weather and splash proof, as well. At a shade less than 2 pounds, the body weighs about as much as its midrange dSLR classmates, with similar dimensions as well. It's quite comfortable to hold, with a deep rubber grip. Like all of its competitors, the E-3 supplies the requisite front and back dials, status LCD, and plethora of direct access controls. (For more details on the body design, see the E-3 slide show.)

While shooting, the layout feels logical enough, though some of the multi button plus dial combos feel a tad old fashioned. If you want, you can bypass most of them by using the so called Super Control Panel, an increasingly popular interface for adjusting most shooting settings from a single screen. The control panel doesn't rotate when shooting vertically, however, the way it does on Sony's dSLRs.

When you cycle through each of the direct access options, they appear in the viewfinder read out even options that don't normally appear there, such as white balance or image stabilization mode which is a very nice touch. The viewfinder, too, is great large with 1.1x magnification and 100 percent scene coverage.

Combined with the 4 : 3 aspect ratio native to the Four Thirds standard of the sensor and lenses (for a 2x focal length multiplier) and its big, comfortable eyecup, the viewfinder provides the same shooting feel as a far more expensive full frame camera. On the other hand, when operating at ISO 2,000 or higher, the display blinks continuously, which can get quite annoying. In addition to the viewfinder, Olympus includes Live View mode a feature it pioneered in conjunction with Panasonic for framing via the LCD.

Though it still requires a mirror flip up for pre-focus like most of its competitors, which can slow Live View shooting considerably, the E-3 provides a couple of helpful features. For one, its flip and twist LCD makes Live View useful in situations where a fixed LCD can't cut it (such as this shot).

For another, it lets you preview the effect of the image stabilizer. (The inability to see the stabilized image remains the one advantage of optical implementations over to sensor shift.) But at 2.5 inches, the LCD is also kind of small, and not quite high resolution enough for precise manual focus.

Olympus FE-300

The Olympus FE-300 distinguishes itself as one of the lightest, least expensive 12 megapixel cameras currently available. Unfortunately, its pictures pale in comparison to those from some higher end, lower resolution cameras. Measuring about 0.9 inch thick and weighing just 4.9 ounces with battery and xD-Picture Card, the FE-300 fits easily into nearly any pants or shirt pocket.

Despite its small design, the camera sports surprisingly accessible controls, with large, flat buttons that rest comfortably even under large thumbs. It lacks a viewfinder, but the camera's 2.5 inch LCD screen can be read clearly from nearly any angle. It includes a modest 35 to 105mm equivalent f/2.8-4.7 3x optical zoom lens. A wider wide angle would be nice, but this zoom range is typical for a camera this size and price.

While the FE-300 lacks manual exposure controls, it offers an otherwise pleasant selection of features. Olympus' new Perfect Shot Preview mode stands out among these features as one of the most useful aspects of the camera.

This mode lets you preview how your picture will look under four different EV compensation or white balance settings. If you shoot in awkward lighting, Perfect Shot Preview can really help you take a proper shot without a lot of trial and error or menu hunting.

You can even preview how movie clips will look at different quality settings and frame rates, though the highest quality 30fps VGA movie mode will almost always be your best choice. White balance and ISO sensitivity settings offer some control over your photos. In addition, the camera comes with 14 scene presets to complement its automatic, program auto, ISO boosting or shutter quickening digital stabilization, and movie modes. Finally, like most current digital cameras.

The FE-300 includes a face detection mode that can find your friends' faces and adjusts focus and exposure based on them when shooting portraits or group shots. The camera's menu lets you set sensitivity as high as ISO 6400, but lowers the pixel resolution to 3.1 megapixels when you shoot at ISO 3,200 or ISO 6,400.

Olympus Stylus 790 SW

Olympus' Stylus 790 SW, like the Stylus 770 SW before it, is tough enough to shoot in 10 feet of water or when it's 14 degrees Fahrenheit. Plus, it can withstand drops of up to 5 feet, so if you're klutzy, you won't have to worry quite as much. If you swim deeper than most, the 770 SW might be better for you than this model, since it can operate down to about 33 feet.

Other than that, a slightly different body design, and a new feature or two in the 790 SW, the two cameras are basically the same. If it didn't say so on the front of the camera, you might not think that the Stylus 790 SW is a waterproof camera. While last year's 770 SW's body design screamed rugged, with its all metal construction and tougher than nails look, the 790 SW has a softer look, with plastic accents on the top, side, and front.

Also, the 790 SW is about one ounce lighter and comes in five bright colors, while the 770 SW only had three, more muted colors.

All of the camera's buttons are on the right side of the camera back, except the shutter and on or off buttons, which are on the top.

The mode dial, also accented with black plastic, is on the back, and in my opinion, a bit small. The plastic has little notches in it, though, so it's thankfully not all that hard to turn.

Menus are separated into the shooting menu, accessed by pressing the OK button in the center of the four way rocker, and the main menu, which you get to by pressing the Menu button. The main menu lets you activate the silent mode quickly, but makes you choose a submenu before proceeding to anything else.

This slows things down a bit, but Olympus does organize the menus well, and the shooting menu and four way rocker let you quickly change anything you need while shooting. In our lab's performance tests, the Stylus 790 SW had decent shot to shot times, but otherwise didn't impress. The camera took 1.3 seconds to start up and capture its first JPEG. Thereafter, it took 2.3 seconds between images with the flash turned off.

With the flash turned on, that wait increased to 3.2 seconds. Shutter lag measured 0.6 second in our high contrast test and 1.6 seconds in our low contrast test, which mimic bright and dim shooting conditions, respectively. In burst mode we were able to capture an average of 1.5 full resolution frames per second.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1

With the G1 specifically, and the Micro Four Thirds standard in general, Panasonic (and Olympus) hope to attract those users who want the advantages of interchangeable lenses and the flexibility of a dSLR, but in a more compact design. And to a certain extent, the G1's specifications read like those of an entry level dSLR, including a 12 megapixel Live MOS chip (with the same expanded photo site design of the sensor in the Lumix DMC-LX3) and rated continuous shooting speed of 3 frames per second for an unlimited number of JPEGs and 7 raw.

But the G1 finds itself in an odd competitive situation. On one side of it are relatively compact enthusiast models such as the Canon PowerShot G10, Nikon Coolpix P6000, and Panasonic's own Lumix DMC-LX3: small enough to fit in a jacket pocket, with full manual feature sets and high quality photos, but with no pretensions at acting like dSLRs and commonly available for less than $500.

On the other side of the G1 sit less expensive entry level dSLRs such as the Nikon D80 and Canon Rebel XSi. While they're about as much bigger than the just under a pound G1 as the G1 is over its compact competitors, the G1 still can't fit into a large jacket pocket. (I don't think it would even if equipped with one of the pancake prime lenses promised for the future.)

And while the G1 and future models will be able to use standard Four Thirds lenses via an adapter not all will support the MFT contrast focus AF systems, though with the exception of pancake primes such as the Olympus f2.8 25mm lens, they're all awkwardly big relatively to the size of the G1. Unlike dSLRs, though, the G1 comes in three colors: two-tone black and blue, black and red, and sedate solid black.

The camera ships with a Lumix G Vario f3.5-5.6 14-45mm (28-90mm equivalent) lens, and currently there's one other lens available, the Lumix G Vario f4-5.6 45-200mm (90-400mm equivalent). Though Leica lenses are likely in the Micro Four Thirds future, these are Panasonic lenses. Panasonic also offers a converter which allows you to mount standard Four Thirds lenses on the G1, but AF will only function if the lenses support contrast AF.

The body is made of sturdy plastic with some metal on the inside and on the mounts, with a nice feeling rubberized coating over everything. It's also got a large, comfortable grip. It offers a considerable number of direct access button and dial shooting controls, and, overall, I like their layout and operation. (Click through the slide show for details and commentary on them.) There are two exceptions, however.

First, the front jog dial. You press it to toggle exposure compensation adjustment. Nice in theory, but in practice I found myself accidentally pressing it way too often. It needs to be further from the grip indentation. And second, the EVF. As far as EVFs go, the G1's is pretty good 1.4 million dots with 100 percent scene coverage, bright and easy to see, with a relatively speedy refresh. But it's still an EVF. (Read about my issues with EVFs.) If it weren't for that, I'd have really enjoyed shooting with the G1.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5

Extremely similar to its less expensive sibling, the DMC-TZ4, the TZ5 offers higher 9 megapixel resolution (compared with 8 megapixels for the TZ4), a 1280x720 pixel resolution movie capture mode and a larger LCD (2.5 inches for the TZ4). Because of the higher resolution, the TZ5's performance is also rated a bit slower, with fewer photos fitting in its memory buffer, than the TZ4. Finally, it's about 0.01 inch fatter and at 8.4 ounces, 2 ounces heavier.

Because it lacks manual and semi manual exposure capabilities, the mode dial is fairly sparse. The Easy Zoom button makes a nice shortcut for getting from one end of the zoom range to the other.

A dial lets you switch among camera and movie modes, as well as two slots for program exposure (scene) modes these have the same choices, but allow the camera to remember two of your last selections.

Intelligent Auto and an odd Clipboard mode that captures low resolution photos to internal memory for fast display.

The four navigation buttons toggle among the exposure compensation, flash, macro, and self timer options. Depending upon your current zoom, it automatically chooses standard or telemacro. One of my few complaints about the design of the TZ5 is the placement of the microphone on the top left of the camera.

Given that Panasonic states "do not block the microphone with fingers" five times in the manual, the company must be aware that there's a problem with its location. And despite the many warnings, my fingers still tend to wander over there while recording movies. The Q(uick) menu button brings up a subset of options that are also available in the full menus.

LCD brightness, picture size, aspect ratio, intelligent exposure, ISO sensitivity, white balance, AF mode spot, face detect, 9 area, 3 area high speed, 1 area high speed, and 1 area burst shooting and optical stabilization. The full menu adds more shooting settings picture quality, Intelligent ISO, metering, continuous AF, intelligent exposure, color effects, digital zoom, minimum shutter speed, audio recording, AF assist, and clock set as well as setup screens.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS80

An optically stabilized lens stands out as the LS80's most prominent feature. The camera includes a 33mm to 100mm equivalent, f/2.8 to f/5.1, 3x optical zoom lens with Panasonic's Mega Optical Image Stabilization system that shifts lens elements to compensate for camera shake.

While many budget cameras offer some form of "image stabilization," those modes are usually software based and rely primarily on increasing camera sensitivity and quickening the shutter. Most companies reserve their mechanical (aka sensor shift), or optical stabilization systems for more expensive models, and seldom in budget lines.

However, we are seeing optical stabilization begin to trickle down into budget models, as evidenced here. Besides the optically stabilized lens, the LS80 presents a lackluster feature set, including a 2.5 inch LCD screen, a WVGA (848x480) 30 frames per second movie mode, and a standard compliment of scene preset modes.

The LS80 performed slowly in our lab tests, lagging behind similar cameras in nearly every category. After a 3.2 second wait from power on to first shot, the camera could take another picture every 2.2 seconds with the on board flash disabled. With the flash turned on, that time doubled to 4.4 seconds.

Its shutter lagged 0.7 seconds with our high contrast target and 1.2 seconds with our low contrast target, which mimic bright and dim shooting conditions, respectively. In burst mode, the LS80 captured four full resolution pictures in 2.7 seconds for a rate of 1.5fps.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18

The FZ18 incorporates a wide aperture, wide angle lens, specifically f/2.8 to f/4.2 28mm to 504mm, and like the S8000fd, incorporates an 8 megapixel sensor. Its design looks quite similar to its 7 megapixel, 12x zoom line mate, the FZ8Sony Cybershot DSC-H3, the FZ18 retains an EVF (electronic viewfinder).

That's a good thing even with the optical image stabilizer, when shooting that long you really want the additional steadiness conferred by an eye level grip type of stance. Panasonic doesn't skimp on shooting options here. In addition to a full set of manual, semi manual, automatic, and scene program exposure modes, and the standard three metering choices spot, center and multiple the FZ18 includes six auto focus algorithm options.

Face, 1 point, 1 point high speed, 3 point high speed, Multi point, and Spot. It also offers automatic scene detection, rather sluggish face detection, and Intelligent Auto mode, which enables the image stabilizer, uses Intelligent ISO (automatic up to the user set cap), face detection, automatic scene mode detection, and continuous AF.

The three shot self timer provides a retro photo booth experience. And not only does the FZ18 offer raw mode, it also supplies a raw plus JPEG option, which we generally see only in midrange and higher dSLRs.