Wize Blog

Which is Best--Kindle or Reader Digital Book?

On Sony's Web site it says: Play, Capture, Watch, Create, Listen and Read. Play has to do with their Playstation line, capture has to do with their digital camera line, watch has to do with their TV line, create has to do with their PC line, listen has to do with their MP3 line and read has to do with their reader, the Reader Digital Book.

While the Reader is no Kindle (Kindle is a reader put out by Amazon), it is sleek and does the trick for those who find themselves reading on planes, trains and automobiles. Technically known as the PRS-505, the Reader can hold up to 160 ebooks, provides almost paper-like pages that makes reading easy on the eyes, and lets you turn 7,500 pages on a single charge. The big drawback about the reader is you need to connect to a PC to use it. (Kindle has a wireless connection so you don't need a PC to download books).

If you purchase a reader before the end of this month, you get 100 free classic ebooks. The Reader has a 6-inch screen and weighs just 9 ounces (Kindle weighs 10.3 ounces). You have to go to Sony's Ebookstore to buy books after you purchase the Reader. You can also read Microsoft Word documents and PDF files on the Reader. The device costs $300 (the Kindle is $359) and if I had a choice between a Kindle or the Reader Digital Book, I'd go with the Kindle because for an extra $59 it does so much more.

XPERIA X1 Looks Hot

The XPERIA X1 from Sony Ericsson is hot. The smart phone, which is coming out in September, will use the Windows Mobile operating system. With a 3-inch touch screen and built in sliding keyboard, it ships with 256MB of SDRAM, in addition to 512MB of NAND Flash.

So what does Sony have to say about its new product? "Arc slider design, 3 inch Wide VGA display and premium metal body: with its sophisticated and distinctive design, XPERIA™ X1 redefines premiumness." Premiumness? Is that a word? Ah, well, you can find out a little more about the phone here.

Sony A700 is Stepping Stone to Higher Level dSLRs

Consumer Reports took a look at the Sony alpha A700 digital SLR last month in an article that listed the highs, lows and bottom line about the camera.

It also reiterated the next step up in technology for Sony digital cameras, the 24MP "Flagship" camera.

Here's a summary of what you can expect from the two cameras it is entering into the dSLR market.

The Sony alpha A700 is rated a 99 at wize.com, the highest rating that the company gives to a product, making this Sony model a camera to consider buying instead of the popular Canon Rebel XTi (rated 97 at wize.com). The price tag for the A700 is a bit higher than for the Rebel XTi, but you get more megapixels--12 for the A700 as opposed to 10 for the Rebel XTi. Two highlights of this camera mentioned at the Consumer Reports site are:
1. The dynamic range optimizer lets you brighten the dark areas of the dynamic range, allowing for more detail in shadows.
2. An image stabilizer built into the camera's body.

The  "Flagship" camera (Sony's temporary name for its new product) will have a 24MP full-sized sensor. The camera will have Sony's "SteadyShot" image stabilization (which on the point-and-shoots works very well). We'll have to wait till it gets closer to 2009 to find out more about this camera. The Flagship is pictured in the above left part of this post. 

Thrermal Printer Highest Rated at Wize.com

The Sony DPP-FP90 thermal printer is featured on the homepage of wize.com with a 99 rating.

Thermal printers are different than ink (dot matrix) printers and laser printers. The DPP-FP90 prints using dye sublimation, a process where dye is heated and transferred to paper.

One review at wize.com stated: "the printer printed crystal clear photos and is worth the price for great prints." Indeed, this is probably why prints from the printer have been referred to as "lab quality."

Sony Runs Sale on BRAVIA TV Sets

They come in a variety of colors and sizes. They're the Sony BRAVIA television sets, and they're on sale until April 12.

Here are of the television sets with the discounts you'll receive:

Model Number:    KDL-40XBR5 40" BRAVIA® XBR® series LCD Flat Panel HDTV
XBR5 series features: Full HD 1080p, Motionflow™ 120Hz, BRAVIA Engine™ PRO, 10-bit display panel and processing, x.v.Color™ capability, Deep Color (HDMI v1.3 option), 1080/24p input capable, PhotoTV HD, high gloss piano black finish
Save $200 if purchased by April 12. Regular price $2,799.99.

Model Number:    KDL-40XBR4 40" BRAVIA® XBR® series LCD Flat Panel HDTV
XBR4 series features: Full HD 1080p, Motionflow™ 120Hz, BRAVIA Engine™ PRO, 10-bit display panel and processing, x.v.Color™ capability, Deep Color (HDMI v1.3 option), 1080/24p input capable, PhotoTV HD, changeable designer color bezels (optional)
Save $200 if purchased by April 12. Regular price $2,499.99.

Model Number:    KDL-40V3000 40" BRAVIA® V series LCD Flat Panel HDTV
V series features: Full HD 1080p, BRAVIA Engine™ EX, 10-bit display panel and processing, 1080/24p input capable, PhotoTV HD, piano black finish
Save $300 if purchased by April 12. Regular price $1,899.99.

Model Number:    KDL-26S3000LI 26" BRAVIA® S series LCD Flat Panel HDTV - Ocean Mist Blue
S series features: 720p, BRAVIA Engine™, 8-bit display panel with 10-bit processing
Save $100 if purchased by April 12. Regular price $899.99.

These aren't the only ones, either. There are more great deals to be had.

Sony's New Portable Navigation System is Affordable

Sony's 4.3 inch widescreen GPS system is just $300, which isn't a bad price when you consider you'll pay from $100 or more for a Garmin system.

The Sony system also comes in a 4.8 inch size for $400.

Both GPS systems contain dual views, Bluetooth Hands-free calling, TMC traffic info and Position Plus.

The system has a high contrast touch-screen display to see your position and route.

It's a device that is less then one inch thick. The device sticks to your dash using a super suction cup, which keeps it stable while driving.

The GPS system gives spoken and visual directions. "Whether typing in your destination using the on-screen keyboard or searching by name or category, the system's graphic interface uses simple icons and touch screen buttons that make navigation easy," writes Sony on its Web site.

Two more features make this, the nav-u portable satellite navigation system, worth looking into:

1. There's an intelligent rerouting option that recalculates your route if you make a wrong turn.
2. There's a "Home" command which instantly directs you to your home address.

Sony's GV-HD700E HD Video Walkman Is for Filmmakers

Released last November, the Sony GV-HD700E HD Video Walkman is the first video player of its kind. The player can play those mini-DV tapes, letting filmmakers see their work immediately out in the field.

The 7 inch LCD screen has a scan function that lets users see the video's image in its entirety.  The device has a HDMI output, which lets users connect it to a high definition television set.

The unit isn't cheap. Yahoo Shopping has it at $1,300 to $1,432.

Its ability to record HDV1080i/DV signals from an external source makes it good for a back-up deck for professional videographers covering events.

Sony Sponsors First World Photography Awards

The final winners for the First World Photography Awards competition will be announced in April with a ceremony from April 21-25  in Cannes, France.

The awards are a tribute to photographers around the world in a variety of categories.

The competition is for amateur and professional photographers.

The work by  9 amateur winners in several categories will be shown in Cannes as well as the work of the professional finalists.

For more information about the competition go here.

Point-and-Shoot Shutter Lag Time for Sony DSC-T200 Digital Camera

CNET came out with a feature that describes shutter lag time and shot-to-shot time.

Shutter lag time: the time it takes for the camera to open the shutter from the time you press the shutter release button.
Shot-to-shot time: the time it takes from when the shutter closes on a shot to the time it opens for the next shot.

Sony CyberShot DSC-T200 (rated 90 at wize.com) was one of the cameras with the fastest shutter lag time and shot-to-shot time.

What this means is that this camera is great for shooting a subject/object when you see it while you're moving. Say, if you wanted to take a picture, for instance, of a barn from the inside of a moving car and you want to catch it before you move too far away from it.

This camera has a shutter lag time of .5 seconds or shorter and a shot-to-shot time of less than 1.5 seconds. It has manual controls, is 8 MP, has ISO of up to 3200, an 35 mm equiv. focal length of 35-175 mm and, a reported image quality of less then its predecessor (the T100).

Check out the video about the camera here.

Sony Introduces Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T300

Sleek is the DSC-T300, the newest addition to Sony's line of slim digital cameras. The camera is controlled by a 3.5 inch touchscreen.

The new camera is 10 MP and has a feature called iSCN, or intelligent scene recognition, a process whereby the camera chooses a scene mode (Portrait, Portrait and Backlight...) without having to choose the scene from the mode dial.

The camera comes with a Carl Zeiss 5x optical zoom lens (33-165 mm, 35 mm equiv.), image stabilization, up to 3200 ISO setting, face detection technology, smile shutter technology (camera takes shot only when subject(s) smile), mpeg movie mode,  9 point AF, exposure compensation.

The camera does not have aperture and shutter speed priority modes (Av, Tv).

The camera comes out in March.