What a mouthful! We’ll just call it the PG-F255W to keep things simple, eh? Anyway Sharp has just unleashed this little sucker on the world and they reckon it’ll be available for under US$1000. Interested? Well if so read on and check out the specs on the PG-F255W
* 1280 x 800 res display 16:10 aspect ratio
* 2500 ANSI lumens
* 2200:1 Contrast Ratio
* Ultra-quiet cooling fans to reduce noise
* 6.4 pounds
Sharp are aiming the PG-F255W at the business market judging by quotes such as
Sharp’s new PG-F255W WXGA DLP BrilliantColor projector is packed with features and performance to meet the needs of any professional presentation in almost any business setting
But we reckon for under a grand, you may just get some financially-minded home users interested too. In fact they later admit that the PG-F255W will talk nicely to video game consoles too, so unless Sharp executives play video games in the boardroom all day, then Sharp’s marketing department can already probably see this projector’s potential home user market.
Having just mentioned it in my last post, I decided to dig out a video review of the Motorola W755 and let you all have a look to see what it’s all about. Here’s one I found from good old phonearena.
Phonearena don’t rate the unit, and the downsides they mention (display dimness, bad call quality) would certainly encourage me to actually spend some more money on another model.
If you’re still keen as then here are some purchasing options available for the Motorola W755
Looking for a cheap phone? Well, Verizon have just released Nokia’s 2605 Mirage for the US$50 after mail-in rebate and of course it comes shackled with a two year contract. So what does the flip Mirage 2605 offer us?
* Bluetooth connectivity
* A camera that will say “Say Cheez” – how cheesy is that?
* Internal 1.8 inch 128×160 res display
* External 1.2 inch 128×128 res display
* 3.22 x 1.65 x 0.62 inches
* 2.32 oz
* 210 minutes of talktime
* 240 hours on standby
* Verizon’s VZ Navigator and Chaperone services
* Calendar, Calendar Preview, Notepad, Calculator, Alarm Clock, World Clock, and Stopwatch tools
* Speakerphone
Yeah, that’s right, not a lot, especially when Verizon have already chucked the Motorola W755 at us for free earlier this year. Not sure what they are playing, perhaps they think the recession has loosened our purse strings? Dream on!
I’ve always liked the performance of Panasonic plasmas, and this one doesn’t disappoint. It delivered the best blacks and colors I’ve seen in this price range, making high definition content truly stunning. The selection of extras on this TV should make it appealing for people who like to play with their gadgets.
So they give it the big thumbs up – here are the details on this Viera model
* 50 inch diagonal screen
* 1920 x 1080 res
* 16:9 ratio
* 30,000:1 contrast ratio
* Handles 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p60, 1080p24 video formats
* 4 HDMI, Component, Composite and S-Video inputs
* 126.7cm x 79.5cm x 10.9cm
The MSRP for the TH-50PZ850U is US$3,000 which sort of lumps it mid-range, so may be a good investment if you’re not after a top-end HDTV.
If you’re looking for a sexy Blu-Ray player you can’t go far wrong with the Denon DVD-A1UD. However it’s currently only available in Japan and it’ll also make a sizable dent in your wallet if it does venture to your neck of the woods. But given Denon’s reputation and the following stats an investment in the DVD-A1UD may well be worth it.
* SD / SDHC card slot
* DivX support
* HDMI 1.3 x 2, S-video, composite outputs
* optical digital audio, coaxial digital audio outputs
* 480/60i, 480/60p, 720/60p, 1080/60i, 1080/60p, 1080/24p res output
* DTS-HD Master Audio / Dolby TrueHD
* 7.1-channel analog outputs
* Profile 2.0 update to come
* Handles BD-ROM, BD-R/RE, DVD Audio, DVD Video, DVD-R/RW, SACD, CD, CD-R/RW format discs
* Handles WMA/MP3 audio files
* 434 × 410 × 151mm
But the final kicker is the price tag at 540,000 yen, around US$6,000. Ouch! But as they say, you get what you pay for and I’m sure this unit will keep many a videophile happy for a long time to come.
Apparently with the arrival of the Nokia N97 QWERTY slider-tilt phone ‘The era of the personal Internet has dawned’. Well according to Nokia’s marketing blurb about the sexy-looking N97 at any rate. The blurb also claims the N97 is
the world’s most advanced mobile computer
Big talk from Nokia, well here’s the specs on the N97 to help you deicde for yourself
* 3.5 inch 640 x 360 res touch display
* QWERTY keyboard
* 48 GB of storage, including 32 GB of on-board memory, expandable with a 16 GB microSD card
* Audio playtime time of 1.5 days, 4.5 hours of video
* 5 Mp camera with Carl Zeiss optics
* HSDPA, WiFi, and Bluetooth connectivity
The estimated price tag is around US$700 which given the bells and whistles is not too shabby. The only downside is that we won’t be able to get our gadget-loving hands on it until the first half of next year. That’s either a month away or may be seven depending on your optimism! Just to make you drool over the N97 even more here’s a marketing video from Nokia
The N97 certainly looks the part and a US$700 isn’t too shabby either, especially as discounts may apply if you opt to attach a plan to the unit. Will it be an iPhone killer though? Probably not, I can’t imagine people queuing up over night for a Nokia phone somehow, but who knows. And it’s specs match or beat out the Apple unit nicely but the name probably doesn’t have the same pull.
Unfortunately no definite launch date or price tag yet, but Motorola assure that the ROKR EM35 slider will be ‘out there’ by year end. Here’s what else they will tell us about the unit
* GSM 850/900/1800/1900, EDGE Class 12, GPRS Class 12
* 2.2” QVGA display
* 110MB user memory
* MicroSD Card slot – allows expansion up to 32GB
* 3.1 Mp camera
* MMS, SMS, Email, IM messaging
* Plays AAC, AAC+, AAC+ Enhanced, AMR NB, AMR WB, MIDI, MP3, RA v10, RA v9, WAV, WMA v10, WMA v9 audio fomats
* Handles H.263, H.264, MPEG4, RV v9, WMV v10, WMV v9 video formats
* 49.5 x 107.00 x 16.00 mm
* 116g
* Up to 400 minutes of talk time
* Up to 400 hours of standby time
I’ll wait until I see a price tag around the ROKR EM35 before passing judgment but it’s gonna have to be cheap for anyone to get excited about it as the specs are nothing special – no 3G for starters. I’m guessing that this may not be a stocking filler this Christmas.
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