Camcorders

Canon XH A1: All about the outside

Right now I'm craving home more than anything. So if you're into camcorders, check out my analysis of the design and usability aspects of this pro HDV model. I'll be following up with my full review next week.

Now this little piggy is heading Wii, Wii, Wii, Wii all the way home.

Panasonic's first AVCHD camcorders

Japanese videophiles woke up to a pleasant surprise from Panasonic today, when they announced two new AVCHD camcorders--the HDC-SD1 records to SD and SDHC flash memory cards, and the HDC-DX1 records to mini DVDs. Both are three-chip camcorders, so they should offer better color accuracy and low-light quality than a single-chip model would. Both camcorders include 12X optical zoom lenses, 3-inch LCDs, and HDMI output.

The AVCHD format, developed jointly by Sony and Panasonic, was announced earlier this year and was included in Sony's HDR-SR1 and HDR-UX1 camcorders. The codec is based on MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding (a.k.… Read more

Solar can look good even without a tan

Maybe we're just superficial (OK, probably), but we've often suspected that appearances are a key reason that solar products haven't taken off with the masses. Too often they look like something you'd find listed under "contractor's special" than, say, at Bang & Olufsen. So leave it up to the marketing-obsessed electronics business to come up with some effective packaging. Case in point: Sanyo's new Eneloop device, whose solar-powered batteries can recharge products through a USB connection while looking decent enough to display in the open. Now the marketing department just needs to … Read more

A gaggle of great gadgets

You slackers haven't even begun your shopping for the holidays this year, right? Well, we're already busy gathering info on gadgets you're gonna want next year. That's right, Best of CES for 2007. So if you build gear, get your boss to enter your company's greatest awaited gizmo.

The Zen Vision:M shown here was Best of Show at CES in 2006 and drew hundreds of comments. The biggest complaint? Not enough advertising for the product.

Here's the entire winner list from Best of CES 2006 in Las Vegas, as well as videos. Among … Read more

The first Web 2.0 camcorder

Pure Digital has upgraded the el cheapo flash memory camcorder it's been selling since May through retail stores, such as Target. See our previous blog post and review. The new version, which sells for the same price ($129 for a unit that will record 30 minutes; a 60-minute version is also available), has improved audio and video quality and longer battery life, company reps told me. The external hardware is the same: a generic-looking white case with one very interesting feature: a USB port that swings out to transfer data.

The real news is the improved software. Once you … Read more