Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Gadgetell Quick Review

Pros:   Small form factor, does HD video capture.  Macro mode is welcome for close up shots.
Cons: Low light performance is not great.  No lens cover.
The Crux:  If you’re looking to shoot a couple of things really quickly and want it in HD, this is a terrific device.  It’s not going to replace a real HD camcorder, but is very good for a pocket HD cam.

Full, in-depth review with video samples after the break.

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You may remember about a week ago when Gadgetell posted the doorbuster/main sales from Wal-Mart.  Recently, they have unveiled their full Black Friday sales, and I must say, they are looking pretty good. 

Camcorders

They only have 2 camcorders listed for sale and one is the Pure Digital F230 camcorder which is selling for $79.00.  The other is the Samsung SC-DX103 Black DVD Camcorder.  It comes with a 2.7-inch wide LCD screen, 34x Optical Zoom, and SD memory expansion.  This camcorder will be on sale for $179.00. 

Keep reading for more deals on computers and televisions.

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We all know, love, hate and possibly do our best to ignore Black Friday.  For deals on gadgets and tech, you’d expect the main electronic stores to participate: Best Buy, Circuit City, maybe even Wal-Mart and Target.  You can add one more to that list that you probably wouldn’t expect: Walgreens.  Yeah, I wasn’t expecting it either.

Of course, a store like Walgreens doesn’t have a whole ton of electronic deals, but there are a few.  Some of its not too surprising, like a 10” LCD TV for $99, a 9 megapixel Kodak camera for $79 and a 2 GB MicroSD card for $9.  While they are good deals, their what you’d usually expect from a store like Walgreens.  However, there are two surprising additions.  One is an 8MP HD camcorder from Aiptek for $79.  The other being an $89 Nextar GPS.  Sure, they aren’t really big brand names, but what do you expect from Walgreens?

With the economy the way it is, and tech becoming more popular, I wouldn’t be surprised to see more of these types of deals from other retailers for Black Friday.  Last year the big push was for HDTVs, which it could be this year as well.  One thing is definite, though, people like finding good deals on tech.

Read [BFads.net]

• The disruptive spectre of a $99 Wal-Mart iPhone
• “Put down the Wise Man and slowly back away with your hands up” - GPS tracking devices now free
• The new pirate busting idea: second hand music

Motorola has announced that its MOTOZINE ZN5 will be available via T-Mobile for $99 with a two-year service agreement.  The MOTOZINE was first announced this past June.

At first blush, the MOTOZINE looks like a very simple phone.  Its secret—a 5 MP camera packing lots of goodies, including some Kodak technology, Xenon flash, auto-focus, and a multi-shot mode.  It also has special capture and edit modes (like a panorama mode).  Photos can uploaded to photo sites directly from the phone via Wi-Fi, printed via Bluetooth or USB, or sent out via MMS.

The design of the phone is clean and the screen size is decent relative to the size of the keypad.  The phone is lacking a QWERTY keyboard, though this is not necessarily a negative.  Why use words when you can say it with a picture?

Check out the phone [Moto ZN5]

• Glimpse at the iPhone of 2012
• A solution to your USB port wiring problems
• The new failure of a keyboard

Kodak has two new All-in-One (AiO) printers, the EasyShare 7 (“ESP7”) and the EasyShare 9 (“ESP9”).  The ESP7 and ESP9 showcase Kodak’s promise of the lowest ink replacement cost in the industry.  MSRP on black ink is $9.99 and color ink is $14.99.  Those prices are pretty reasonable.  Other goals for these printers are lab-quality prints and easy to use.

Keep reading for specs on each printer and a SALE!

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Pricing and Fade-Resistance Figured Out

Kodak recently introduced two inkjet printers to their All-in-One lineup: ESP7 and ESP9.  The announcement came nearly six months after they released the ESP5.

As a draw-in, Kodak claims these printers give us the lowest ink prices in the industry.  This is just like every printer they have ever put out, even going back to the first ones in 2004.  Even in 2007, when Kodak put out its first inkjet, they were singing the same song.

Is Kodak bringing printing costs down or not?  Keep reading to see what I found out.

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Digital picture frames have been sweeping the market, and so is OLED (organic light-emitting diode) technology.  I suppose it was just an obvious to mix the two, and Kodak is the first as the company just unveiled the wireless OLED digital picture frame. 

As you can see, the OLED screen is quite thin.  I don’t have measurement of its thickness (or thinness), but considering the OLED from Sony debuted at CES at 0.3mm, then this one from Kodak is probably millimeters thin. 

More info on the Kodak OLED frame after the break.

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Kodak has unveiled its new Easyshare P520 digital frame featuring easy photo navigation through Kodak’s Quick Touch Border technology. This feature lets users scroll through their pictures while at the same time keeping fingerprints off the frame’s viewing screen and allowing the frame to remain smudge-free. The Quick Touch Border also lets users to create, edit and view slideshows at the touch of a fingertip.

The P520 has a 5-inch display with a 5:4 aspect ratio allowing for a vibrant color and crisp display. In addition, the frame is also loaded with the Kodak Easyshare Software Digital Frame Edition which allows easy loading of pictures directly from the user’s PC, easy browsing and editing of photo albums, and a drag-and-drop functionality for transferring pictures when creating slideshows.

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Remember that great little pocket camcorder that Kodak announced a little while back, it was the 720p capable Zi6, well its now available for pre-order. The pricing remained at the originally announced $179.95, and although there is no specific mention of when it will begin shipping, they are offering free shipping if you place your order before August 25. Hopefully it will ship sometime soon after.

The Kodak Zi6 should offer some nice competition to the current leader in the pocket camcorder market, which as we recently learned is the Flip Video Ultra that just hit the 1 million units sold mark. The Kodak Zi6 is similar in shape and size, but has a much nicer video quality, it will capture in HD quality at 720p.

Otherwise, just to recap, the Zi6 also features a 2.4-inch LCD display, built-in USB connector, 128MB of internal memory and a SD/SDHC memory card slot for additional recording capability. Similar to the other camcorders in its class, the Zi6 also has direct upload capability to YouTube. It is powered by two AA batteries, and also ships with two pre-charged Kodak Ni-MH rechargeable batteries and a mini charger kit. The Zi6 will be available in either black or pink.

Product [Kodak]

• Gadgetell Video Review: Kodak Zi6 HD camcorder
• Creative Vado HD pocket camcorder now available for pre-order
• Asus Eee PC 1002HA now available with US retailers

According to research company NPD, Flip Video has broken the one million mark with their Flip Video Ultra camcorder. In an ever increasing market, Flip Video is now seeing competition from Kodak and DXG in the easy to use and easy to upload market.

“Flip’s simplicity makes it easy for anyone to capture and share their stories and to participate in the explosion of video-sharing on the web, and that has been a winning approach with consumers,“ said Jonathan Kaplan, Chairperson and CEO of Pure Digital Technologies.

Of course, Flip was the first to make a splash in this market, so its safe to think they have gotten a nice head start in terms on sales. It should be interesting to see just how well they do with the new Flip Mino model, especially considering some of the competition is offering up to 720p quality.

Via [I4U News]

• Gadgetell Video Review: Kodak Zi6 HD camcorder
• Creative Vado HD pocket camcorder now available for pre-order
• JVC promotes that which needs no promotion