Tech

I’ve had this phone for just over a week now and the verdict is in: It’s good. But, and there’s always that inevitable ‘but’, it’s a little bit of a disappointment. The Basics The basic features of this match basically any other phone out there on the market today. Bluetooth, 2 megapixel camera, slider, fairly funky looking overall package. The ‘hook’, I suppose, is the Walkman branding, which Sony Ericsson is pushing as its ‘youthful’ models, trying to hook into the MP3 player market. Well, they got me, because I was considering a replacement for my temperamental iPod, and seeing this phone meant I could reduce two, maybe even three devices to one. It’s got fairly good battery life, with 3 hours talktime, 8 hours Walkman play or a week’s worth standby. It’s also got flight mode so that you can use the Walkman on a plane. ...

So Apple’s dropped the MacBook as expected, albeit well before their announced expected time last year. And as you may well know, I’ve been keeping an eye out for the MacBook for a while now… so it’s decision time =) It’s really a no-brainer. I can afford the higher-spec 2Ghz machine, and even do up the options a bit. What I really don’t get is why Apple is charging over $200 more for a black box. Once you’ve up-spec’d your white 2Ghz one to 80GB, you’ve got the functional equivalent. I don’t get it. It’s like they’re saying “We know you want black. But you gotta pay for it.” - or is it? Is it something like the black one gets hotter so there’s an extra $200 of cooling in there? ...

I’m looking for a digital camera, and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions based on their experiences. My criteria are: Price should be capped at about $400, with a max of $500. Memory card format needs to be either SD or Memory Stick (i.e. a Sony), as this is the cards I already have. Internal memory would be definite plus. 3 megapixels or above. Optical zoom > 4x or so. Would be nice to have some fancy features. Can be an upcoming model if it’s going to be released here in the next few months Save-time/shutter speed is a factor Can you guys help me out here? ...