Wize Blog

Stargazing with the Best Telescopes

There's nothing like a clear night when the stars fill the sky and you wonder what's out there. Currently we are if you've been keeping up with the news. There's an International Space Station, which is fascinating when you get a minute to take a look.

Of course you can delve deeper into space with a telescope. It's a bit of technology where you can get away from clicking and punching all the devices around you.

Nothing puts you further into space than a telescope. Have you ever wondered how to shop for one? Well, you can start here with a list of a couple highly rated telescopes great for stargazing:

1.  Orion StarBlast Astro 9814 (267 x 114mm) costs just under $200. (pictured)
2.  Celestron NexStar 130SLT (31145) (306 x 130mm) costs about $400.
3.  Meade 70AZ-A (140 x 70mm) costs about $80.

Top 5 Wii Games at Wize.com

Here are today's top 5 games for Wii with their wize.com ratings.

1. Super Mario Galaxy  rated 98
2. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess  rated 96
3. Happy Feet  rated 96
4. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent  rated 96
5. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption  rated 95

5 Best Shredders from Wize.com

Just about everyone is concerned with identity theft. Some of your most valuable papers end up in the trash, a place where identity thieves can easily steal your personal information. Then there's your mailbox. Increasingly thieves are going into  the mailboxes of residents in condos, apartment buildings and homes to get information that can make them money.

You can prevent identity theft by picking up your mail as soon as possible after it arrives and by shredding personal papers that you don't need before you throw them into the trash.

Wize.com rates paper shredders. Here are the top 5 with their ratings.

1. Royal 150MX (Cross-Cut) Shredder rated 98   
2. Royal 29125Z Short Crosscut Shredder rated 98
3. Fellowes DS-1 Shredder rated 96
4. Fellowes Powershred DS-1 9-inch feed confetti-cut paper shredder rated 96
5. Fellowes Microshred Shredder,10Sht. Cap.,6.4 Gal. rated 95

Top 5 PC Desktops at Wize.com

The Visionman DC-MT3000 PC is the top rated PC on wize.com. Last December we reported that it had a 99 rating. Today, it's the only PC desktop that has such a high rating.

The other four at the top of the list are:

Gateway FX8030 PC Desktop--rated 97 at wize.com

Vision Computer Visionman Intel Pentium D 930 3.0Ghz--rated 97 at wize.com (comes with only 512 MB RAM)

Gateway GT5426E Refurbished AMD Desktop Computer AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ 2.6GHz (Dual-Core), 2GB DD--rated 95 at wize.com

Hewlett Packard Pavilion Desktop A1730N--rated 94 at wize.com

The Big Three Defined--Wii, PlayStation, Xbox 360

Three Video Game Players lead the pack—Wii, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
Each is compatible with a variety of games and each offers a place online to get free demos of new games (except PlayStation 3) and songs.

Here’s a condensed version of what the Game Players are all about.

PlayStation 3 (rated 87 at wize.com)  costs $400 Online Content: PlayStation Network Games: Rock Band and God of War II

Wii (rated 94 at wize.com) Cost: $250 Online Content: Catalog of older games as paid downloads Games: Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure and Super Mario Galaxy

Xbox 360 (rated 81 by wize.com) Online Content: available through Xbox Live    Games: Rock Band and  BioShock

VisionMan DC-MT3000 is Top Rated PC at Wize.com

Looking to buy a desktop?

The VisionMan DC-MT3000 PC Desktop rates a 99 at wize.com.

Dealtime.com states: "Once again VisionMan is here to bring you the latest in dual-core technology at a price that won't break the bank! Dual-Core is here to stay, and VisionMan is the first to bring it to you! Guaranteed to outperform any competitor's tin can VisionMan creates the perfect synthesis of speed & style at a price that won't leave you homeless! VisionMan is the first to bring you the power of TWO state of the art CPU's, all on one chip! Standard features include a dual-core Intel Pentium D 830 3GHz Processor, 1GB of DDR2-533 Memory, a Gigabyte 8I945GMF Motherboard, NVIDIA 6600 PCI-Express 256MB Video Card, 200GB Serial-ATA 7200RPM Hard Drive, 8 Channel Audio, 1.44MB Floppy, 16x DVD±RW Dual-Layer Drive, and topped off with Microsoft's NEW 64-Bit Windows XP Pro operating system!"

At about $1000 the computer's not a bad deal.

Here's one more from epinions.com: "Once again VisionMan is here to bring you the latest in dual-core technology at a price that won't break the bank! Dual-Core is here to stay, and VisionMan is the first to bring it to you! Guaranteed to outperform any competitor's tin can VisionMan creates the perfect synthesis of speed & style at a price that won't leave you homeless! VisionMan is the first to bring you the power of TWO state of the art CPU's, all on one chip! Standard features include a dual-core Intel Pentium D 830 3GHz Processor, 1GB of DDR2-533 Memory, a Gigabyte 8I945GMF Motherboard, NVIDIA 6600 PCI-Express 256MB Video Card, 200GB Serial-ATA 7200RPM Hard Drive, 8 Channel Audio, 1.44MB Floppy, 16x DVD±RW Dual-Layer Drive, and topped off with Microsoft's NEW 64-Bit Windows XP Pro operating system!"

Hewlett Packard R837--One of the Last from HP

The Hewlett Packard R837 digital camera will be one of the last cameras made by the company.

According to dpreview.com, "HP is currently working to identify an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) partner that would be licensed to design, source and distribute digital cameras under the HP brand. HP will continue selling its own cameras through the holiday season and intends to have the partnership arrangement in place in the first half of 2008."

The HP R837 was given a stellar rating (a 98/100) by wize.com.

The camera makes a great holiday gift not only because of its 7 MP power, but also because it's inexpensive (around $185).

Another reason to get it while you can is that the current range of cameras with the HP label "is expected to remain on sale for the remainder of this year with the new partnership deal to follow in the early part of 2008," dpreview writes.

Ten Hot Digital Cameras for the Holidays

The reviews are in. The list is made--ten hot cameras, each having a specialized feature and each for a specific level of photography.

First judge yourself or the person for whom you're buying a gift.
Then, figure out his/her photography ability level--beginner, intermediate, semi-pro and pro.
Next, choose a camera from the list below according to your or your gift recipient's ability level.
Last, click on the link to find a wize.com review of the camera.

1. Kodak EasyShare Z812 IS Shoots HD video. point-and-shoot-- intermediate
2. Kodak EasyShare V610 Has dual lens system. point-and-shoot--intermediate
3. Casio Exilim EX-Z77 Has YouTube-ready video. point-and-shoot--beginner
4. Nikon D300 Received a rating of 97 at wize.com. dSLR--pro
5. Leica M8  Leica makes some of the finest high-end cameras in the world. dSLR--pro
6. Nikon Coolpix S51c Digital Camera Has WiFi capabilities. point-and-shoot--intermediate
7. Olympus E-510 Accepts lenses from other companies such as Nikon, Canon. dSLR--pro
8. Nikon Coolpix P5100 Powerful 12 MP. point-and-shoot--semi-pro
9. Panasonic FZ 50 Has Leica lens. point-and-shoot--semi-pro
10. Fuji FinePix A800 Good pictures for a pocket-sized camera. point-and-shoot--beginner

Fuji FinePix A800 Video Review

If you have or are considering buying a Fuji FinePix A800 digital camera, watch the video below. It's from TigerTV. Logan (the guy in the video) goes over all the settings the camera has from the smart flash (flash that adjusts the brightness of the flash) to the modes on the wheel--antishake, baby, movie, scenic shot and auto.

The camera has a grid you can set on your LCD screen so you can follow the rule of thirds (placing your subject/object in the top, bottom, side third of the frame.

The ISO speeds range from 100 to 800.

The Fuji FinePix is an 8.3 MP camera.

For the price ($160) the Fuji FinePix A800 isn't a bad deal (coming with 8.3 MP and 800 ISO), but if you're an aspiring photographer you're going to want a camera that lets you adjust the f-stop and shutter speed (have manual mode, Av mode and Tv Mode as modes available on the wheel. This camera's great for kids. The camera received a 91 rating at wize.com.

Is Dual Lens Point-and-Shoot Digital Camera Worth the Price?

Buy-and-Shoot.com came out with a review of the Kodak EasyShare V610 digital camera. I looked up the camera at  wize.com and found out that it cost $450.  Is this point-and-shoot camera worth the price?

Here are some specs and highlights from the review for the Kodak EasyShare V610 digital camera:

Resolution is 6 MP.
Has dual lens "Retina Technology"
Has 10x optical zoom.
Focal lengths from 38-380mm (35 mm equivalent)
First lens offers 38-114 mm; Second lens 130-380 mm.
Small shutter lag time.
Has video capabilities.
It's just under an inch thick.
Lenses stay flat (flush with camera) when zooming
Has 21 scene options.
Sends images straight to a Kodak printer.
Stitches images together to create panorama.
Shows noise at ISO speeds 200 and up.

I like the idea of having two lenses available on a point-and-shoot. I'm just not sure about purchasing this one, especially since the reviewer notes noise at ISO 200. Not a good sign.

The camera rated a 90 at wize.com.