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Comic-Con Coverage.

njdevil 2-Revenge of the Fallen 07/12/10

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Alice in Chains- Greatest Hits

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#reviews

Joos Orange Charger Reviewed: Solar-Powered Gadget Charging, For Real

We were a little skeptical of claims that the Joos Orange offered 6 to 20 times more sun-to-power conversion than its competitors. But Giz editor Brian Lam tried one recently and says it's the "best solar charger [he'd] ever tested." More »

07/12/10

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By Kyle VanHemert

#graphicscards

The Best Graphics Cards at Every Price

Choosing a graphics cards is a confusing endeavor. So Tom's Hardware shared their buying results after testing pretty much every card on the planet. Whether you've got $50 to spend or $250 to spend, this list will come in handy: More »

06/23/10

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By Tom's Hardware

#bestmodo

The Best Gadgets

"What gadget should I get?" is a timeless question. To answer it, here's our current leaderboard of favorite gadgets, including smartphones, laptops and cameras. More »

06/21/10

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By Mark Wilson

Future Retro 06/11/10

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$200-$350 Point and Shoot battle: Build quality and control schemes

I’m sick of DSLR maintnence and have finally decided to get a little point and shoot to slip in my pocket when I don’t want to deal with the hassle of the big camera. I spent a good hour or so at Best Buy testing the 4 models they had there with manual control or priority modes at least. Now this isn’t a full review by any means, some more premium models weren’t carried by Best Buy and I wasn’t really able to test picture quality since they were all display models…but this is at least a start since many people have been wondering which is the best to get.

The contenders:

the favorite: Canon S90, street price: 350

the protégé: Canon SX210 is, street price: $300

the new guy: Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3, street price: $240

the underdog: Sony H55, street price: $200

The selection of point and shoots with manual control was pretty bleak, but there weren’t many places I could go to test them all out side by side.

---Canon S90---

This thing has been reviewed to death, and most people know what it’s all about. However, when you pick one up for the first time it’s like holding a true masterpiece in your hand. The aperture ring on the front really makes it fun to use and give you the closest to DSLR-like control scheme possible since you can assign Aperture and Shutter speed to each of the 2 dials. Also the body is rock solid and has some decent heft, sure felt like they stuffed a lot in there. Menu navigation is rapid and you usually only have to dive into one menu to change vital settings like ISO and white balance

Even though it has a pretty short focal length the f/2 lens in sample shots still produced some surprisingly good bokeh across the entire focal range, which tops out about 24mm (35mm equivalent) over the standard DSLR kit lens. Thanks to the large aperture clear shots could be taken handheld over the entire focal range in the Best Buy store lighting.

---Canon SX210 is---

Myself, I was a little biased to this and the S90 going into this, the S90 because…well it’s the firkin S90, ever heard of it?...and this one because it’s preceding model, the SX200 is was my first camera and I learned how to shoot with it.

The SX210 is doesn’t really stack up to the S90’s design, but the 12x zoom range is very valuable though if you don’t have DSLR with a few extra lenses that can achieve up to the ~400mm (35mm equivalent) focal length. The control scheme and button layout isn’t exactly the same, and a few of the buttons, mostly on the top of the camera were too hard to press. Also, the zoom lever is horrible, they went away with the standard forward facing lever and went with a tiny (probably 2mm) rocker sticking up and out of the top, it was horribly hard to use and offered no variable zoom speed since there is so little play in the rocker. Aperture and Shutter speed are very easy to control via the click wheel (you jump between the two by pressing up and then spinning to adjust)

Control flaws aside, this one does boast HD video recording and a burst speed that the S90 doesn’t have, all for 50 bucks less, but you have to give up RAW shooting and one Aperture stop (f/3.). Shocker Alert: the main draw to me for the S90 was the compact size, but with the SX210 is Canon managed to make them both just about the exact same size, which impressive considering the differences in zooms.

---Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS5---

While this isn’t the top of the line Lumix it’s probably good enough to judge the higher end models on.

I didn’t spend very much time with this one because after a few seconds with the manual control I was about to vomit. Fatal Flaw: NOTHING SPINS!!!! Every setting on the camera is controlled via the 4 way d-pad. This method of controlling Aperture and Shutter speed is terribly inefficient and takes way too long, even for simple things like going from f/3.5 to f/11 seemed to drag on forever.

However, this is more of a personal preference of mine, but it was slow, seemed buggy and I really didn’t like it. For the price though, it’s probably the cheapest shooter you can get that has true full manual control (explanation later). Also it has a zoom range matching the SX210 is for a cheaper price

---Sony H55---

I wasn’t expecting this but after I saw the $200 price tag (at Best Buy!) I looked up and was presently surprised to see an M setting on the dial. Wow! I though, I might as well pick this up now because nothing can beat that price…Wrong! Just like the Lumix, it was all controlled by a single d-pad, with no dials or wheels. Also, there was no histogram or exposure meter…sure you don’t need those, but with manual control it’s really nice to have, especially when you have to judge everything off a low res LCD.

The absolute worst part of the Sony was that the Aperture "control" had two settings, minimum and maximum aperture at every focal length….WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?...Maybe I just haven’t had that much experience with different cameras but I thought that was the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen. Want to shoot at f/11 on a sunny day? Better stay locked at the right focal length or GTFO.

I couldn’t imagine anyone buying this for control when for 40 more dollars you could get the Lumix; that while hard to control, still has true full manual operation and a much longer zoom range.

The verdict

I’m torn right down the middle between the two Canons. I’m leaning slightly towards the S90 because I eventually want to move to RAW shooting, and with the controls and interface it was simply a joy to use. I haven’t enjoyed using a camera that much in my life, it was so simple and straightforward. It also has a larger sensor. Giving up the zoom range, HD video, and burst mode of the SX210 is will probably easy for the superior image quality and control.

S90 wins!!

***I’m not a pro, never will be. I’m just a hobbyist and there’s far more people here on giz that can give you a real photographers perspective on these cameras if they choose, I’m guessing they just don’t have the spare time to do something like this. I’ll also point you to some links for real pro reviews with sample shots

S90: [www.dpreview.com]

SX 210 is: [www.photographyblog.com]

DMC-ZS5: [www.photographyblog.com] (I think)

H55: [www.photographybay.com]

Feel free to reply with any questions, and if you please, criticisms or insults…are all welcome

Most importantly, To the editors at Giz: Please please do a pro review/battlemodo of some point and shoots to help us all pick the best one at different price ranges, I know I’m not the only one who is interested and it would be greatly appreciated by the whole Giz community

#gizretro
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#tips
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kobisn 05/31/10

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xSeat Pro #bestmodo Reply

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Future Retro 05/19/10

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Whoa whoa whoa what the heck is going on in #bestmodo?

That place is more pink than articles and black and grey comments combined!

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#battlemodo

The Best $250 Blu-ray Players, Reviewed

I've argued that a Blu-ray player could soon be your only set-top box. These $200-$250 models, the four fullest-featured you're likely to buy, all strive to be Swiss Army-like in their utility, but only one comes closest to the promise. More »

05/13/10

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By Wilson Rothman

njdevil 2-Revenge of the Fallen 04/26/10

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Got the Slash solo album the other day. I've never been a huge Guns 'n Roses fan mainly because I never really liked Axl's singing, but this album is unexpectedly awesome. It's simply GnR with Axl replaced with various lead singers from other bands- Motorhead, Avenged Sevenfold, Maroon 5, Soundgarden and Wolfmother all lend their vocal talents, as well as Ozzy and, surprisingly, Fergie.

Check it out if you haven't already people. You won't be disappointed unless you suck.

#bestmodo
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Edited by njdevil at 04/26/10 2:26 PM

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#pcs

The Fastest Gaming Processors for Any Budget

If you don't have the time to research the benchmarks, fear not. Tom's Hardware has come to your aid with a simple list of the best gaming CPUs offered at each and every pricepoint. More »

04/09/10

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By Tom's Hardware

#apple

Apple iPad Review

How and where you'll use the iPad are of the essence. More »

04/07/10

231,993

859

By Brian Lam

#review

Linksys E3000 Review: Still a Lot of Router

The E3000 is Cisco's new king of Linksys routers, replacing the WRT610N. It's a pretty minor upgrade to the previous simultaneous dual-band beast, with a major exception. More »

03/31/10

114,429

By matt buchanan

#reviews

The Best 3DTV: Samsung UN55C7000 vs Panasonic TC-P50VT20

There are just two 3DTVs on the market right now—a plasma from Panasonic and an LCD from Samsung. Luckily, that means it's really easy to spot which is the best. More »

03/25/10

101,059

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By Richard Baguley

RT100 03/24/10

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What exactly warrants a product to earn #bestmodo status? Reply

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#battlemodo

TESTED: The Best New Netbooks

If you're in the market for a netbook—the gimpy kittens of the laptop jungle—know this first: on the inside, they're all basically the same. Making the little differences all the more important! And yes, they do add up. More »

03/11/10

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By Brian Barrett

#hometheater

Pioneer's VSX-1020-K Is Best $550 AV Receiver and Not Only Because You Control It Via iPhone

This week Pioneer introduced five new receivers, from $230 to $750. All have HDMI 1.4 switching for 3D, and all have Pro Logic IIz surround. But one model stands out, the $550 VSX-1020-K, a worthy successor to our Battlemodo champ. More »

03/04/10

61,917

By Wilson Rothman

#review

AV Receiver Battlemodo: $600 or Bust

You want a serious home theater. One that will rattle the windows, and ensure movie night is always at your house. But you don't want to spend more than $600 on the thing that ties it together. Cuz you're smart. More »

02/26/10

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By David Kay

#digitalcameras

Samsung's Best Ever Point-and-Shoot: TL500 Shoots RAW With Ultrafast F1.8 Lens and Twisty AMOLED Screen

Samsung's new TL500 is capable of shooting RAW with a crazy fast F1.8 lens and lets you view it all on a twisting AMOLED screen. It's possibly Samsung's best point-and-shoot ever, and it could be a Canon S90 killer. More »

02/20/10

62,360

By Kyle VanHemert

#sony

Sony Overturns Blu-ray Line with Nicely Priced 3D-Ready BDP-S470 and BDP-S570

Sony got serious about home-theater Blu-ray at CES 2010, with a 3D, Wi-Fi, Netflix-powered monster with iPhone-app control. Sadly, the model we praised is now pointless. But two cheaper ones—the $200 BDP-S470 and the $250 BDP-S570—are suddenly hot. More »

02/10/10

13,680

By Wilson Rothman

#digitalcameras

Nikon Coolpix P100 26x Superzoom: Their First 1080p Video Camera

Oh, I've waited for this day. The day Nikon delivered legit HD video. Not only does the P100 deliver full 1080p video in H.264, it shoots 120FPS bursts, and goes with a 10MP CMOS sensor for better low-light performance. Yeah. More »

02/02/10

34,641

By matt buchanan

#cameras

Fujifilm HS10 Not-a-DSLR Packs Manual Optical 30x Zoom, 1080p Video

Fuji just announced a quartet of megazoom (read: fixed lens) cameras in a Monday blitz, with the most impressive being this HS10. It won't give the level of control of a DSLR, but it looks to blow away any point-and-shoot. More »

02/02/10

30,496

By Dan Nosowitz

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