LG 8GB PMP

LG has launched one of the personal media players announced earlier this year at CES. It has an 8GB drive, a 1.77-inch touch sensitive OLED screen, and weighs just 88g.




It can play videos in MP4 format as well. The player gives 30 hrs of music playback and 4 hrs of video playback. It also plays OGG, WMV; and displays JPEG files. It has an FM radio, built-in microphone, line-in port for audio recording, etc. It also has a feature called "Music Therapy" but no details of this feature are known.

Sony Ericsson SO902WP+ Waterproof Cellphone

Sony Ericsson is now also catering to those who seek a waterproof phone. The Sony Ericsson S0902WP+ is a waterproof cellphone. It is based on the S0902i except for the camera which has been replaced with a 1.3 MP. The phone will work fine for 30min in water at a depth of 1 meter.

Razer's Tarantula Gaming Keyboard

From the popular gaming hardware developers, Razer, comes yet another gaming device, Tarantula gaming keyboard. Razer has been working on the Tarantula, a gaming keyboard, since its debut at CES back in January. The Tarantula is a fully programmable keyboard wherein you can assign certain functions to a key or just disable the key. There is also complete macro functionality; any kind of macros can be bound to the outside keys on the left and right. All this customization is possible using Razer's software.



Razer has developed new technologies for the keyboard to facilitate gamers, namely Anti-Ghosting and Hyperesponse. Anit-Ghosting prevents the keys from jamming due to multiple inputs and Hyperesponse reduces the key-press latency down to supposedly 1ms-response time. There is no backlighting because of the features mentioned above. But the Tarantula is equipped with a mini lamp attached above the "F" keys. Also included are five programmable profile settings that change on the fly according to the game; a microphone, headphone, and USB ports. The Tarantula is expected to be in stores by August for $99.

Tech-Com DSC-524X PLUS

There is a craze of buying a cell phone with features like quality camera and music playback now days. Ironically, people have more than ample options for a decent camera with better performance. Taking into consideration this craze, many brands have already released cameras providing the common man a better option. Instead of buying a high priced mobile phone with camera, why not buy a camera that just does its job. Tech-Com has realized the sensitive issue and has launched the camera we have for review.




Features

Tech-Com DSC-524X PLUS is a 5.19 MP sub 10K digicam with an optical zoom of 3X and digital zoom of 5X. The dimensions 99.94 x 55.4 x 35.29 mm give it the sleek looks. It weighs around 140 grams without batteries and a memory card. The large 2.4" LCD is clear and sharp. The camera does not flaunt too many buttons at a first glance; hence, it is simple to operate. The build quality of this camera is quite good even when compared to other cameras from better brands. The camera finish is nice, providing a good-to-touch feel. There is some chrome thrown on it that makes it look like a cool personal camera.


Performance

The quality of pictures is almost at par with other sub 10K digicams in the market, the results of which you can see for yourself later in the review. The camera does consume power from the batteries quite fast. It drained a pair of standard Duracell alkaline batteries after clicking just around 60 photos; at least the message "Low Battery" warning kept showing every time I tried turning it on. This is average battery life; if provided with an optical view finder, this camera could be used for a longer period.

The box specifies 32 MB of inbuilt memory of which you can actually use around 25 MB; which isn't bad. But if you are to click photos with the entire zoom available and at the highest resolution, then this memory will not be sufficient. You will only be able to click around 20 photos max. There is even a slot to load more memory via SD/MMC Card. But there is a drawback here; you have to switch off the digicam to insert/remove the memory card. While you do that make sure that the batteries don't pop out. This is because the memory slot is in the battery closet.

The noticeable factor when you're clicking photos is the speed of the camera. The interval time between clicking photos is very low; just after you have captured a moment the camera is ready for capturing the next. With a normal shutter speed of 2 to 1/1000 seconds and night sense speed of 8 to 1/1000 seconds, the shutter works both mechanically and electrically, delivering good pictures. There is this feature to shoot continuous photos wherein you can click 8 shots in a span of a minute. The camera facilitates B/W, Normal, Sepia, and RGB custom color effects. The camera also features a digital output connector; the USB 2.0, and other interfaces like MIC-in and video-out.



Above you can see the color reproduction is quite good.



Here the image shows that the white balance of the camera is indeed decent. The view was captured from a shady point (pun not intended).


The Verdict



The view has been captured very well, the camera not showing any negativity.




The picture here displays the performance of the camera against the sun.

Conclusion

Given the camera's price nearly 180$ with 1 year warranty, it's a value for money package. The performance is at par with other Digital cameras available in the same price range. But if you still have a couple of thousand more to spare then renowned brands like Nikon and Canon are also in your reach which offer better picture quality and modes. This camera is a good buy if you're looking for an inexpensive, uncomplicated 5MP camera with decent performance and fair amount of features.