Review The D3000 is the new entry-level DSLR from Nikon and it’s aimed at the complete beginner with high-performance ambitions. It replaces the best selling D60 and marks a much needed and anticipated upgrade. The basic kit includes an 18-55mm lens and comes in at £429, stirring up competition for its main rivals the Canon EOS 450D, the Sony A330 and the Olympus E520.
Flash kit: Nikon’s D3000
At 126 x 97 x 64mm and weighing 485g, the D3000 retains the design and overall build of the D60. While keeping the 10.2Mp DX-format CCD sensor of previous entry-level models, Nikon has also introduced some handy new features and raised the specs to match some of its higher-end models. A case in point is the inclusion of Nikon’s flagship EXPEED image processing technology and the very useful on-board auto sensor cleaning system.
Among the shooting options available is an intelligent Guide Mode. This is an ideal function for newcomers, this is substantially different from a typical auto exposure mode. By selecting Guide Mode, you access a menu that prompts you to make decisions on the image composition and then makes the right settings for the results you had in mind. Quicker than reading a manual, it offers a much simpler way for the novice to familiarise themselves with the Camera’s capabilities as well as time-honoured photographic techniques for pics just like a pro, sort of. Read the rest of this entry »
Review While Nokia continues to push at the boundaries of mobile phone technology, it also has its eye on the voice-as-primary-function mainstream. This is where its bread and butter lies, and a market well served by the stalwart and very popular 6300. Now meet its successor, the 6303 Classic.
Nokia’s 6303 Classic: the candybar handset that wants to be a slider
As such, it’s a handset with few frills. There’s no GPS, no Wi-Fi and no 3G. Actually, 3G is one absence that that may hold this handset back. What constitutes the mid-range is moot, but for our money 3G is one feature that’s fast becoming, if it isn’t already, a must have for all but the most bottom-of-the-ladder phones. Read the rest of this entry »
Review Few would be surprised to learn that US brand Motorola has struggled of late. Since the flush of success it enjoyed with the Razr series back in 2004, Motorola has singularly failed to set the mobile world alight, seemingly watching as other brands grasped the smartphone nettle and raced to the future.
Motorola’s Dext: better than we’d imagined
But now, the company thinks its saviour may be at hand. The Motorola Dext is a smartphone that focuses on social networking using its Motoblur service. This makes innovative use of cloud technology to put instant Facebook and Twitter updates on your home page and holds all your phone‘s info on a remote server, so you can access it anywhere and revise it instantly.
Motoblur features aside, the Dext runs the Android operating system, has a slide-out Qwerty keyboard, 5Mp Camera, HSDPA 3G, Wi-Fi, A-GPS and a host of additional apps. However, for UK users, it’s initially only available on the Orange network. The Motorola Dext is a fairly chunky device at 114x58x16mm and 163g. Still, its designers have made the effort to soften its brick-like tendencies by tapering the front edges dramatically. This actually feels a bit odd at first, since the top half sits slightly inside the bottom half, but it turned out to be quite a practical solution. Read the rest of this entry »
Review One of the problems with being a newcomer to any multiplayer combat gaming platform is that, up against experienced sharp shooters, you probably won’t survive for long. You really do get to learn the hard way. Although technically outlawed – offending the gaming community’s sense of fair play – a modified controller with rapid-fire functionality may well save the day for those whose profile is, literally, in terminal decline.
A CoD5 life enhancer? Consoles and Gadgets’ Rapid Fire Xbox 360 controller
One such device is the Consoles and Gadgets Rapid Fire Xbox 360 wireless controller. It boasts seven modes to accommodate various Xbox LIVE titles and different game genres. These include modes for Halo 3, Call of Duty 4 and two general-purpose burst fire options. Designed with CoD5, World at War gamers in mind, this title gets special treatment with three modes for different rates of fire. Although the modes are labelled specifically for each game, most games will receive some level of compatibility with the modded features. Gears of War 2 fans, you are denied! Read it and weep. Read the rest of this entry »
Review AMD’s Radeon HD 5770 and 5750 are the mid-range members of the new HD 5000 DirectX 11 graphics chip family. They’re fabbed using a 40nm process, just like their bigger brothers.
Sapphire’s HD 5770: reference Radeon HD 5770 design
But the number of transistors in these mid-range chips – codenamed ‘Juniper’ – has been reduced by just over a half, from the 2.15bn in the 58×0 design, codenamed ‘Cypress’, to 1.04bn. The area of the chip has also been quartered, from 334mm² to 166mm².
Armed with that information, you won’t be surprised to learn that the number of unified shaders in 5770 has been halved too. Which is to say that the 5870 has 1600 shaders and the 5770 has 800. The 5750 has 720.
When it comes to clock speeds, the 5770 has the same 850MHz core speed as 5870 while the 5750 runs at 700MHz, which is slightly slower than the 5850′s 725MHz frequency. The specification of the memory breaks with tradition as the junior 5750 and 5770 use 1GB of GDDR 5 just like the grown-up 5850 and 5870. In the past, we’ve been accustomed to mid-range chips that use slower memory than their high-end siblings do. The high-end chips use a 256-bit memory controller while the new mid-rangers settle for a 128-bit controller. Read the rest of this entry »
