If computers and mobile phones are being renewed at the speed of lightning, it's far from the case of scanners. So when Epson launches two new models, one must take a look. Two scanners, or rather a scanner comes in two versions: the Perfection V33 Perfection V330 Photo and share the same design, gray, and the same basic technique. The "more" of the second version is the back photo, which can scan slides and other films.
LED technology: the promise to avoid waiting
Both models scan documents up to 4800 x 9600 dpi, which is good. They are more animated by LED - Epson ReadyScan LED technology - which, according to the manufacturer, reduced to zero waiting time associated with warm lamps. Furthermore, replacement of lamps by LEDs avoids the use of mercury, the dolphins will thank us.
Scan up to A2
How a scanner can scan A4 to A2? By assembling the images "pardinne (in Gascon in the text)! With the software, delivered, ArcSoft Scan-n-Stitch Deluxe, version V330 Photo can scan documents (A4) and automatically restore the A2 format. A promise that we will be sure to check when testing the device.
Both scanners also have tools to image restoration: color recovery, removal of dust on the film, framing or reduction of grain, etc.. Man-machine interface side there are configurable keys, four in number: scan, copy, e-mail and scan to PDF, which will facilitate the work of lazy ... if the software is well designed, we also check if we have the scanner in hand.
Price aside, no surprises: the Perfection V33 89 euros, 109 euros Perfection V330 Photo, both are already available. Given the competition from multifunction, no doubt that this is the V330 Photo, which is of most interest, with advanced features that only a dedicated scanner can for the moment, bring to the user.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Casio Exilim EX-H30
Imagine an ad for the compact Casio EX-H30: " After 5 days of walking in the wild savannah, Bob Morane resting in the shade of a baobab tree. Suddenly, a blue grouse from Brazil who came by to ask a dozen yards away. Fortunately he could count on the battery of his extraordinary compact Casio EX-H30 . " Question endurance, Bob is happy, but what about the picture quality?
reality
Without falling into the unit of prestige, Casio has treated its compact design to give it a personal touch. The front shell is beveled on the top and amplified on the right side and improvised handle. The grip of the compact is good, as well as the quality of finish. The presence of a dedicated button to start the video is a good thing and the wheel, slightly inclined, as well. A good balance.
More enduring
Thousand trips, the guy ... Face it, we have not gone after. Understand us: the past 600 shots in a row our kettle with a gauge of energy always half full, we're tired - to the same image and press the button. One thing is certain: it is without a doubt the 1000 images, as announced by its manufacturer. An absolute record in the world of compact since it is generally 2.5 to 3 times as tough competition. The undisputed champion.
Suitable optical
24-300 mm optical range more than sufficient for 90% of users since it is a very wide-angle 24 mm to deformations well controlled with a telephoto lens entirely appropriate. The only downside comes from the competition: where dry Casio x12, 5, brands like Panasonic to push x16. A relatively sufficient power and which still allows to make good shots stung.
Quality photo in the middle
...
Generally lower side of the image quality, Casio is here a device for proper performance. In daylight it is very good: the images are clear, the colors a bit but not too flashy. We feel that the approach is a bit soft at the end of zoom, but nothing nasty. In dark interior - the Louvre, Egyptian Antiquities gallery - it degrades significantly, but remains in the field of acceptable since some shots out clean. We are still far from the Exmor-R from Sony, but it is not as catastrophic as the past.
... But quality video back
Proper side of the picture, the picture is below our expectations for video: quality of image compression is poor, the 720p not really sexy - number of CDs are in 1080i - and after stabilization zoom perfectible. It is a bit disappointed by Casio on this one.
the verdict
Casio offers, with the Exilim EX-H30, a device to the optical range and decent performance and above all a record-breaking battery, ideal for backpackers who stay too long without an electrical outlet. But the average quality shots in low light, the video mode back for improvement and stabilization did not make a must- technical. In short, it is a device for real travelers. The other find better elsewhere.
reality
Without falling into the unit of prestige, Casio has treated its compact design to give it a personal touch. The front shell is beveled on the top and amplified on the right side and improvised handle. The grip of the compact is good, as well as the quality of finish. The presence of a dedicated button to start the video is a good thing and the wheel, slightly inclined, as well. A good balance.
More enduring
Thousand trips, the guy ... Face it, we have not gone after. Understand us: the past 600 shots in a row our kettle with a gauge of energy always half full, we're tired - to the same image and press the button. One thing is certain: it is without a doubt the 1000 images, as announced by its manufacturer. An absolute record in the world of compact since it is generally 2.5 to 3 times as tough competition. The undisputed champion.
Suitable optical
24-300 mm optical range more than sufficient for 90% of users since it is a very wide-angle 24 mm to deformations well controlled with a telephoto lens entirely appropriate. The only downside comes from the competition: where dry Casio x12, 5, brands like Panasonic to push x16. A relatively sufficient power and which still allows to make good shots stung.
Quality photo in the middle
...
Generally lower side of the image quality, Casio is here a device for proper performance. In daylight it is very good: the images are clear, the colors a bit but not too flashy. We feel that the approach is a bit soft at the end of zoom, but nothing nasty. In dark interior - the Louvre, Egyptian Antiquities gallery - it degrades significantly, but remains in the field of acceptable since some shots out clean. We are still far from the Exmor-R from Sony, but it is not as catastrophic as the past.
... But quality video back
Proper side of the picture, the picture is below our expectations for video: quality of image compression is poor, the 720p not really sexy - number of CDs are in 1080i - and after stabilization zoom perfectible. It is a bit disappointed by Casio on this one.
the verdict
Casio offers, with the Exilim EX-H30, a device to the optical range and decent performance and above all a record-breaking battery, ideal for backpackers who stay too long without an electrical outlet. But the average quality shots in low light, the video mode back for improvement and stabilization did not make a must- technical. In short, it is a device for real travelers. The other find better elsewhere.
Acer Aspire One 722
Often criticized for the lack of comfort due to their small size, the netbooks are also declined to 11.6 inch format as this Acer Aspire One 722. A netbook in the size of a small ultraportable that has a screen with 1366 x 768 pixels, which is far more comfortable than the poor 1024 x 600 dots usual found on netbooks 10 inches.
AMD inside
Basic technical side, Acer uses the recipe of his little brother, the Aspire 522 that we tested, namely an AMD Fusion all-in-One (APU), the C-50 clocked at 1 GHz. A more powerful chip that combines Intel Atom central processing unit (CPU) and graphics chip (GPU). Outperforms Intel's Atom, the chip offers pretty good performance for office use and provides the power needed to decode HD videos (720p and 1080p). Next game, no miracles, he will settle for old titles and levels of detail limited.
Standard Equipment
If the integrated graphics chip can benefit from an HDMI output, the rest of the technical details of this netbook is basic - Wi-Fi, webcam, three USB ports, VGA, Ethernet, etc.. - Although there is some unknown date (1 or 2 GB of RAM, 160 or 250 GB hard drive, three or six cell battery). No revolution, the price of the machine tight leaving little room for the introduction of new technologies.
Available in June
On model 522, the keyboard quality and autonomy were weak points. He will hope that Acer has made some efforts on finishing Acer and France decided to distribute a version of six cells. It remains to be seen whether such a battery can fit into the small price of 299 euros. The Aspire One 722 is available in black, blue and red during June 2011.
AMD inside
Basic technical side, Acer uses the recipe of his little brother, the Aspire 522 that we tested, namely an AMD Fusion all-in-One (APU), the C-50 clocked at 1 GHz. A more powerful chip that combines Intel Atom central processing unit (CPU) and graphics chip (GPU). Outperforms Intel's Atom, the chip offers pretty good performance for office use and provides the power needed to decode HD videos (720p and 1080p). Next game, no miracles, he will settle for old titles and levels of detail limited.
Standard Equipment
If the integrated graphics chip can benefit from an HDMI output, the rest of the technical details of this netbook is basic - Wi-Fi, webcam, three USB ports, VGA, Ethernet, etc.. - Although there is some unknown date (1 or 2 GB of RAM, 160 or 250 GB hard drive, three or six cell battery). No revolution, the price of the machine tight leaving little room for the introduction of new technologies.
Available in June
On model 522, the keyboard quality and autonomy were weak points. He will hope that Acer has made some efforts on finishing Acer and France decided to distribute a version of six cells. It remains to be seen whether such a battery can fit into the small price of 299 euros. The Aspire One 722 is available in black, blue and red during June 2011.
Kodak playfull Ze1, a handheld camcorder quite commendable
Kodak launches compact pocket camcorder that records 1080p HD video and photos in 5 megapixel. The playfull (also called Ze1) has a built-in USB connector and a dedicated button on Internet sharing. It uses SD memory cards. What about quality, autonomy and ease of use? That's what we wanted to know.
reality
Opening the box, we had a pleasant surprise: Kodak book not only a micro USB cable and an audio / video composite, but also an AC adapter (to plug into the USB cable) and especially micro HDMI cable. A small problem though for the cable composite video / audio: it has only one RCA connector for audio. So you do the sound on one speaker on your TV.
Allow nails because playfull has two doors. The first provides access to the micro USB connector used to charge the device, but also acts as a audio / video analog. The second provides access to the microphone HDMI and SD memory card reader. The camcorder also has a real USB connector that easily releases but lacks flexibility.
Finally, the back of the unit is the LCD screen (3.1 x 2.4 cm), the navigation control / validation, four function buttons (photo / video playback, deletion and configuration). A fifth button is dedicated to sharing function pictures / videos on the Internet.
Four modes for video recording
It takes about three hours to charge the internal battery. We were surprised that this phase of the load is very hot. You then have about 1 hour and 30 minutes remaining. And, again, heavy use, heat dissipation is significant.
The device has an internal flash memory of 128 MB, of which only 20.3 MB are available. In short, we must use an SD memory card or SDHC. However, you're not limited by the barrier of 4 GB FAT32 for the duration of your videos because the device automatically continues recording to another file. For movies, you have four recording modes: 1080p (1920 x 1080 pixels), 720p (1280 x 720 pixels), 720p at 60 fps and WVGA (848 x 480 pixels). For their part, the pictures have a single definition of 3072 x 1728 pixels. With a 4GB memory card, you can record about 45 minutes of video at 1080p.
Good outdoor average indoor
Quality outdoors is very satisfying, both for the photos for video. However, it is not advisable to shoot while walking as image stabilization inefficiency and the jerks themselves be felt. The results are in contrast very average interior with an image that turns yellow, sometimes blurry photos and tingling significant. In short, this is not the ideal camcorder for low light conditions.
To note, a handy feature that allows cutting video keep only part of what you filmed. No optical zoom on this model, but a 4x digital zoom. OK but nothing more.
Easily manage your photos and videos
The internal Flash memory contains the program's installation files MediaImpression ArcSoft and the utility to manage the share button. If you press the "Share" of playfull, it automatically launches the utility to copy the pictures and videos on your computer, but also for sharing on a wide range of websites (including Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Flickr and Kodak Gallery).
The program displays MediaImpression multimedia files easily and manages their Internet sharing, but also offers features photo and video editing, certainly basic but easy to use. Finally, it can convert your videos into formats compatible with those of players from Kodak, Apple and Sony.
the verdict
Sold about 150 euros, playfull can be taken easily by hand, you're left or right handed. Its image quality is correct, especially outdoors, and independence is satisfactory. We enjoyed the accessories and software. Only quibble: the camera starts to overheat when used intensively.
reality
Opening the box, we had a pleasant surprise: Kodak book not only a micro USB cable and an audio / video composite, but also an AC adapter (to plug into the USB cable) and especially micro HDMI cable. A small problem though for the cable composite video / audio: it has only one RCA connector for audio. So you do the sound on one speaker on your TV.
Allow nails because playfull has two doors. The first provides access to the micro USB connector used to charge the device, but also acts as a audio / video analog. The second provides access to the microphone HDMI and SD memory card reader. The camcorder also has a real USB connector that easily releases but lacks flexibility.
Finally, the back of the unit is the LCD screen (3.1 x 2.4 cm), the navigation control / validation, four function buttons (photo / video playback, deletion and configuration). A fifth button is dedicated to sharing function pictures / videos on the Internet.
Four modes for video recording
It takes about three hours to charge the internal battery. We were surprised that this phase of the load is very hot. You then have about 1 hour and 30 minutes remaining. And, again, heavy use, heat dissipation is significant.
The device has an internal flash memory of 128 MB, of which only 20.3 MB are available. In short, we must use an SD memory card or SDHC. However, you're not limited by the barrier of 4 GB FAT32 for the duration of your videos because the device automatically continues recording to another file. For movies, you have four recording modes: 1080p (1920 x 1080 pixels), 720p (1280 x 720 pixels), 720p at 60 fps and WVGA (848 x 480 pixels). For their part, the pictures have a single definition of 3072 x 1728 pixels. With a 4GB memory card, you can record about 45 minutes of video at 1080p.
Good outdoor average indoor
Quality outdoors is very satisfying, both for the photos for video. However, it is not advisable to shoot while walking as image stabilization inefficiency and the jerks themselves be felt. The results are in contrast very average interior with an image that turns yellow, sometimes blurry photos and tingling significant. In short, this is not the ideal camcorder for low light conditions.
To note, a handy feature that allows cutting video keep only part of what you filmed. No optical zoom on this model, but a 4x digital zoom. OK but nothing more.
Easily manage your photos and videos
The internal Flash memory contains the program's installation files MediaImpression ArcSoft and the utility to manage the share button. If you press the "Share" of playfull, it automatically launches the utility to copy the pictures and videos on your computer, but also for sharing on a wide range of websites (including Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Flickr and Kodak Gallery).
The program displays MediaImpression multimedia files easily and manages their Internet sharing, but also offers features photo and video editing, certainly basic but easy to use. Finally, it can convert your videos into formats compatible with those of players from Kodak, Apple and Sony.
the verdict
Sold about 150 euros, playfull can be taken easily by hand, you're left or right handed. Its image quality is correct, especially outdoors, and independence is satisfactory. We enjoyed the accessories and software. Only quibble: the camera starts to overheat when used intensively.
Amazon sells more electronic books than printed books
The bookseller Amazon now sells more books in electronic format as printed books. That's certainly what the company forward in a press release boasting that once again the success of e-books and the Kindle reading light , without, as usual, give specific figures. Amazon simply indicates that, since 1 st April, for 100 printed books sold, it sold 105 eBooks.
The company is also pleased to sell three times as many Kindle books since the beginning of 2011 than the same period in 2010.
Other interesting information: the success of the latest version of the map light from Amazon - a little less expensive than the Kindle classic because it displays advertising - which is now the top selling devices Kindle United States.
The company is also pleased to sell three times as many Kindle books since the beginning of 2011 than the same period in 2010.
Other interesting information: the success of the latest version of the map light from Amazon - a little less expensive than the Kindle classic because it displays advertising - which is now the top selling devices Kindle United States.
With SmartAR, Sony wants to dust off the augmented reality
And a step closer to virtual worlds! Sony has unveiled an augmented reality technology that could make this technique - much talked about but that makes little use - much more manageable.
We know already that allow these applications to add real-time dose of virtual video tour of the camera with a mobile phone or with the sensor of a 3DS . Problem, most of these programs have significant flaws: the veneer of virtual items is often rough, they consume a large portion of the resources of the machine (which spoils the experience with many phones), and a "marker" specific - as the cards come with the 3DS - is often necessary.
With its technology SmartAR (you can see a demo video below), Sony intends to change that. First, SmartAR react particularly well to the movements of the camera (1).
But the main interest lies elsewhere SmartAR: it gets rid of the markers usually required. For this, Sony has incorporated a technology advanced object recognition, which can "ask" a 3D model on any surface. The manufacturer does not give many details about his tricks, but it seems that his visual recognition algorithms are particularly efficient, being able to work with ordinary images (photos, drawings, textures ...), including whether the sensor the camera does not distinguish a portion thereof, even if they are deformed.
Technology spatial recognition
Equally interesting, Sony has relied on spatial recognition technologies he has developed some years ago for fire robots Aibo and QRIO. Through them, the camera captures the scene who is able to take into account the dimensions (width, height and depth) of the part filmed and put together the best 3D object in its environment. " It is possible move a virtual character in real space 3D [established by the piece, Ed] as if there were really " , says Sony.
Impressive, even if SmartAR is unfortunately not going to happen in our smartphones . Sony just says he continues his experiments on this project, including the markets for advertising and video games.
(1) Although it is highly likely that the demonstration provided by the Japanese company has been achieved with a much more powerful computer than a mobile phone, contrary to what she suggests.
We know already that allow these applications to add real-time dose of virtual video tour of the camera with a mobile phone or with the sensor of a 3DS . Problem, most of these programs have significant flaws: the veneer of virtual items is often rough, they consume a large portion of the resources of the machine (which spoils the experience with many phones), and a "marker" specific - as the cards come with the 3DS - is often necessary.
With its technology SmartAR (you can see a demo video below), Sony intends to change that. First, SmartAR react particularly well to the movements of the camera (1).
But the main interest lies elsewhere SmartAR: it gets rid of the markers usually required. For this, Sony has incorporated a technology advanced object recognition, which can "ask" a 3D model on any surface. The manufacturer does not give many details about his tricks, but it seems that his visual recognition algorithms are particularly efficient, being able to work with ordinary images (photos, drawings, textures ...), including whether the sensor the camera does not distinguish a portion thereof, even if they are deformed.
Technology spatial recognition
Equally interesting, Sony has relied on spatial recognition technologies he has developed some years ago for fire robots Aibo and QRIO. Through them, the camera captures the scene who is able to take into account the dimensions (width, height and depth) of the part filmed and put together the best 3D object in its environment. " It is possible move a virtual character in real space 3D [established by the piece, Ed] as if there were really " , says Sony.
Impressive, even if SmartAR is unfortunately not going to happen in our smartphones . Sony just says he continues his experiments on this project, including the markets for advertising and video games.
(1) Although it is highly likely that the demonstration provided by the Japanese company has been achieved with a much more powerful computer than a mobile phone, contrary to what she suggests.
Samsung Chromebook 5 Series
After invading the Web, flooded the world of smartphones , and tablets, here is Google tumbles in notebook PCs, where Android has given way to Chrome OS, a lightweight operating system based on GNU / Linux and takes the form Enhanced Chrome browser, which serves as a common portal to the Net and applications. Among the first to shoot, Samsung. Its 5 Series is a 12 inch based on an Atom platform. The first commercial, but not precursor, the CR-48 was distributed to a thousand users during the pilot program, initiated in late 2010.
The promise of Chrome OS
Before talking about equipment, it should mention the operating system (OS) and its promises. Among them, starting the PC in 8 to 10 seconds to be quickly connected to the Net. Chrome OS is more fully turned to the Web, with a fine integration of Google services (Gmail, Calendar, Picasa, etc..) And others - music sites Pandora and Netflix videos available in the U.S., is expected see for Europe - with priority for storing data online ( cloud ).
Limitations, alleged and proven, the OS
Chrome OS is not compatible with Windows and Mac software. Everything is here "apps" , applications for download through the browser. You can already try out the operating mode by connecting to the Chrome Web Store from the browser Chrome. Point of Photoshop, Lightroom, Winzip, Office software ... the park is under the control of the U.S. publisher. It can cool more than one.
Then, the interest of the machine may take a hit in areas not connected, and they are numerous. Manage offline will also a key element of success or failure of these Chromebook. Google says there have been working hard, including providing a file browser. We are waiting to see before judging.
A very basic technical
399 euros Wi-Fi version and 449 euro model Wi-Fi/3G: in light of the fact sheet, classical, it is reasonable to wonder about the price: frame 12 inches (1280 x 800 dots ) of 1.3 kg with Atom processor and equipped with double heart (like most netbooks ) a webcam, a microphone, a memory card reader, two USB ports, Wi-Fi, etc.). and a special keyboard Chrome. The hard drive is a 16 GB SSD, as saying that the external storage unit is almost mandatory.
A set that boasts the final 8 hours and 30 minutes remaining, we will not fail to be tested. But when we see that Acer offers its Aspire One 722 to 299 euros, a 11.6-inch AMD Fusion (more powerful Intel Atom) running Windows, you wonder if the Samsung Chromebook is good business, the OS is supposed to be open source , what happened to the economy of a license for Windows 7?
Different distribution
Sold through normal channels in France, Amazon initially, the Samsung Series 5 has a partnership with SFR, which offers 1GB of 3G data for use within two months of purchase. Remains to be seen whether the operator will also distribute ... When the United States, the Chromebook is proposed to rent the machine, $ 28 per month, $ 20 / month for students. No information about a similar offer in France.
Available from June 15, the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook will face model from Acer, cheaper, lighter and well equipped. The battle will be fierce ...
The promise of Chrome OS
Before talking about equipment, it should mention the operating system (OS) and its promises. Among them, starting the PC in 8 to 10 seconds to be quickly connected to the Net. Chrome OS is more fully turned to the Web, with a fine integration of Google services (Gmail, Calendar, Picasa, etc..) And others - music sites Pandora and Netflix videos available in the U.S., is expected see for Europe - with priority for storing data online ( cloud ).
Limitations, alleged and proven, the OS
Chrome OS is not compatible with Windows and Mac software. Everything is here "apps" , applications for download through the browser. You can already try out the operating mode by connecting to the Chrome Web Store from the browser Chrome. Point of Photoshop, Lightroom, Winzip, Office software ... the park is under the control of the U.S. publisher. It can cool more than one.
Then, the interest of the machine may take a hit in areas not connected, and they are numerous. Manage offline will also a key element of success or failure of these Chromebook. Google says there have been working hard, including providing a file browser. We are waiting to see before judging.
A very basic technical
399 euros Wi-Fi version and 449 euro model Wi-Fi/3G: in light of the fact sheet, classical, it is reasonable to wonder about the price: frame 12 inches (1280 x 800 dots ) of 1.3 kg with Atom processor and equipped with double heart (like most netbooks ) a webcam, a microphone, a memory card reader, two USB ports, Wi-Fi, etc.). and a special keyboard Chrome. The hard drive is a 16 GB SSD, as saying that the external storage unit is almost mandatory.
A set that boasts the final 8 hours and 30 minutes remaining, we will not fail to be tested. But when we see that Acer offers its Aspire One 722 to 299 euros, a 11.6-inch AMD Fusion (more powerful Intel Atom) running Windows, you wonder if the Samsung Chromebook is good business, the OS is supposed to be open source , what happened to the economy of a license for Windows 7?
Different distribution
Sold through normal channels in France, Amazon initially, the Samsung Series 5 has a partnership with SFR, which offers 1GB of 3G data for use within two months of purchase. Remains to be seen whether the operator will also distribute ... When the United States, the Chromebook is proposed to rent the machine, $ 28 per month, $ 20 / month for students. No information about a similar offer in France.
Available from June 15, the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook will face model from Acer, cheaper, lighter and well equipped. The battle will be fierce ...
Medion Akoya E6221
The Akoya E6221 Medion addresses a problem that is fairly simple: offer a low cost machine, but equipped with latest components, namely a platform Sandy Bridge Intel in order to overcome the routine office tasks no problem. Little more, it must be expected because, without graphics card, 15.6-inch laptop should quickly show its limitations.
reality
The Akoya E6221 is first noticed for his new chassis ... gloss black! First offense since then retains fingerprints to perfection. Even coating for the touch pad that, as a bonus, offers a smooth gliding sensation. Not very pleasant. The keys on the keyboard so chiclet not compete with the giants that offer the kind (Asus, Sony, Apple, Samsung, etc..), but we must recognize that they have the merit of being well separated, limiting of all the typos. To finish the design, the second bad taste in our view, concerns the speakers. Medion hides them in a round grate tiny, too small (2 cm in diameter) rimmed chrome. The result is almost immediate: it seems to have before me a machine with an audio device ultraminimaliste. In fact, this device provides stereo quality classic, very powerful and with little detail.
Medion Akoya E6221: a desktop
Using an integrated graphics chip (Intel HD 3000), the Akoya E6221 has nothing of a game machine Our software testing confirmed. This Akoya struggling to reach the ten frames per second in native resolution (1366 x 768 pixels), even with a game not really demanding in resources ( Resident Evil).
However, his power is more than enough for office and multimedia use in everyday life. Score high enough, resulting in PCMark Vantage (5181 points) confirms the good behavior of the machine for office use. It is now a classic, but we appreciate the presence of Microsoft Office Starter allowing use Word and Excel in versions for free.
We would have liked his slab is a bit brighter and certainly more varied. We measured respectively 213 cd / m² and 473:1, the contrast is rather low. However, it has the great benefit of getting treatment that avoids glare matte so unpleasant to the eye. So, got used to it pretty easily.
Always look on the desktop and multimedia, we regret that the disk capacity is only 500 GB Although it already offers enough to store countless pictures, movies and music, we would have preferred to opt for a Medion 640 GB model Again, this hitch is offset by a pleasant surprise since this laptop has two USB 3.0 ports (and two USB 2.0) can accommodate an external storage unit very quickly.
Overall nice ... no more
The Akoya E6221 is generally pleasant to use. It does not heat or too over the top (we measured 35 degrees max on the palm rest) nor too far below (39.2 degrees max.). We talked about the comfortable keyboard, complemented by a series of touch-sensitive - above the keyboard - to activate or turn off the Wi-Fi, driving the music or adjust volume with one click. This 15-inch notebook also offers a range of good three hours of video playback with the Wi-Fi enabled.
the verdict
The Akoya E6221 Medion could be a laptop a good value for money. If the configuration is the road - despite a storage capacity that would have liked a little more important - his design that is somewhat unfavorable. The glossy black chassis is very messy and the minimalist look of its speakers is not very flattering. Bestow three stars for this product which is a segment where competition is fierce.
reality
The Akoya E6221 is first noticed for his new chassis ... gloss black! First offense since then retains fingerprints to perfection. Even coating for the touch pad that, as a bonus, offers a smooth gliding sensation. Not very pleasant. The keys on the keyboard so chiclet not compete with the giants that offer the kind (Asus, Sony, Apple, Samsung, etc..), but we must recognize that they have the merit of being well separated, limiting of all the typos. To finish the design, the second bad taste in our view, concerns the speakers. Medion hides them in a round grate tiny, too small (2 cm in diameter) rimmed chrome. The result is almost immediate: it seems to have before me a machine with an audio device ultraminimaliste. In fact, this device provides stereo quality classic, very powerful and with little detail.
Medion Akoya E6221: a desktop
Using an integrated graphics chip (Intel HD 3000), the Akoya E6221 has nothing of a game machine Our software testing confirmed. This Akoya struggling to reach the ten frames per second in native resolution (1366 x 768 pixels), even with a game not really demanding in resources ( Resident Evil).
However, his power is more than enough for office and multimedia use in everyday life. Score high enough, resulting in PCMark Vantage (5181 points) confirms the good behavior of the machine for office use. It is now a classic, but we appreciate the presence of Microsoft Office Starter allowing use Word and Excel in versions for free.
We would have liked his slab is a bit brighter and certainly more varied. We measured respectively 213 cd / m² and 473:1, the contrast is rather low. However, it has the great benefit of getting treatment that avoids glare matte so unpleasant to the eye. So, got used to it pretty easily.
Always look on the desktop and multimedia, we regret that the disk capacity is only 500 GB Although it already offers enough to store countless pictures, movies and music, we would have preferred to opt for a Medion 640 GB model Again, this hitch is offset by a pleasant surprise since this laptop has two USB 3.0 ports (and two USB 2.0) can accommodate an external storage unit very quickly.
Overall nice ... no more
The Akoya E6221 is generally pleasant to use. It does not heat or too over the top (we measured 35 degrees max on the palm rest) nor too far below (39.2 degrees max.). We talked about the comfortable keyboard, complemented by a series of touch-sensitive - above the keyboard - to activate or turn off the Wi-Fi, driving the music or adjust volume with one click. This 15-inch notebook also offers a range of good three hours of video playback with the Wi-Fi enabled.
the verdict
The Akoya E6221 Medion could be a laptop a good value for money. If the configuration is the road - despite a storage capacity that would have liked a little more important - his design that is somewhat unfavorable. The glossy black chassis is very messy and the minimalist look of its speakers is not very flattering. Bestow three stars for this product which is a segment where competition is fierce.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Acer Iconia Tab A500
For the new Tablet of Acer, the Iconia A500, have released information on the Web for some time. The Tablet uses a 10.1-inch screen 1.280x800pixels and analysis platform based on Nvidia Tegra 2 with two cores and 1GHz operating frequency.
One GB DDR2 memory as well as 32GB of internal memory complete the technical characteristics of the Tablet. The Iconia A500 also offers two cameras, one at 5 and a second at 1.3 MPixels like mini HDMI connectors and USB.
The price and release date has not been officially announced yet, but already some online stores say the Tablet with Android 3.0 is available at 499 euros.
One GB DDR2 memory as well as 32GB of internal memory complete the technical characteristics of the Tablet. The Iconia A500 also offers two cameras, one at 5 and a second at 1.3 MPixels like mini HDMI connectors and USB.
The price and release date has not been officially announced yet, but already some online stores say the Tablet with Android 3.0 is available at 499 euros.
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