Gillian Shaw
Sun
Sanyo Xacti HD1000 digital camcorder
Spy Gadgets Micro-Camcorder
Kodak Easyshare All-in-One Printers
Sanyo Xacti HD1000 digital camcorder, $1,100
“Smallest” and “lightest” have to be among the favourite adjectives of the folks in tech public relations and why not? Who wants to be the only one at the party lugging around a brick-sized camcorder? Weighing in at 268 grams, the latest in the Xacti line records in full high definition MPEG-4 video with AVC/H264 video compression that lets it record 85 minutes of full HD (1920x1080i ) on an eight-gigabyte secure digital high capacity (SDHC) memory card or more than five hours on the lower 640 by 480 resolution. And it takes four-megapixel still photos. Of course smallest and lightest here counts only among consumer full HD digital movie cameras. If your needs are more furtive, read on.
Spy Gadgets Micro-Camcorder, $295
Here’s a camcorder so small it makes Sanyo’s Xacti HD1000 look like it’s on steroids. From spygadgets.com, it’s little enough to slip into a pack of chewing gum. It records up to 33 hours of video on a one-GB micro security digital card and its internal rechargeable battery recharges with a USB connection. One charge keeps it going for more than two hours. Unlike the Sanyo HD camcorder this one isn’t aimed at recording family birthday parties and holiday videos, but it could have a certain appeal to the amateur gumshoe.
Ion Audio TTUSB05, USB turntable, $150
Dust off those old vinyl records and plug Ion Audio’s next generation USB turntable into your computer to transform your record collection into digital form. Comes with MixMeister’s EZ Vinyl converter software that converts vinyl tracks directly to iTunes. Ion has also released the TTUSB10 in its latest generation USB turntables, at $250 a more deluxe version with extra features. The USB port lets you hook both these turntables up to either a Mac or a PC.
Kodak Easyshare All-in-One Printers, from $130 to $330
Coming in three versions, the lowest priced 5100, the 5300 at $230 and the 5500 at $330, Kodak’s new line of all-in-one inkjet printers promises to lower your ink costs. With sticker shock coming not at the price of printers but at the price of the replacement ink cartridges, Kodak is clearly hoping consumers will opt for its solution to printing photos and documents. The ink for these printers comes at $12 for a cartridge of black ink and $18 for a five-ink colour cartridge. Kodak puts the cost of a four by six-inch print at 13 cents using its Photo Value Pack.
© The Vancouver Sun 2007