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Crave giveaway of the day: Canon PowerShot SD940 IS

After giving away a $500 gift certificate a couple of weeks ago, newegg.com is back to provide a sweet little prize today, the Canon PowerShot SD940 IS digital camera.

Josh Goldman, CNET's point-and-shoot professor, says in his review that, "[a]ll things considered, the SD940 IS is one of the best ultracompacts available." (Read the full review).

In case you don't know what Newegg.com is, it made its name selling computer gear and accessories at really low prices. But now it sells not only computer stuff but tons of electronics, so you're looking … Read more

Tamrac's new foldable tripod is like tent poles

Currently, most tripod legs are hollowed and allow the extensions to fit inside. Tamrac has taken a different approach and designed what is possibly the most innovative tripod we've seen this year.

The ZipShot is a compact, three-legged support whose design is inspired by collapsible tent poles. With a rugged bungee cord inside the legs, users just have to pull apart the joints and fold the tripod. The rounded edges at individual sections help to guide the aluminum legs to join together.

Tamrac rates the ZipShot as able to support up to 2.8 pounds, which means the tripod … Read more

Dying breed: Compacts with optical viewfinders

Read through the user reviews of point-and-shoot cameras on CNET and you'll come across a common question: where's the optical viewfinder? The answer is there aren't any. Well, almost any. Canon is basically the lone major manufacturer of compact cameras with optical viewfinders. And even its numbers are dwindling.

In Canon's current lineup of PowerShot Digital Elph and A-series models, there are just five models featuring the company's real image optical zoom viewfinder. If you want manual control over shutter speed and aperture, the only option is the 14.7-megapixel SD990 IS (and it's nearing the end of its life). (On the upside the SD990 can now be found for more than $100 less than its original $399.99 price, making it a much better purchase than when I originally reviewed it.)

Below is a listing of the five models that are still readily available at retail with links to their reviews. Generally, they're all very good cameras and at current prices I wouldn't hesitate to recommend any of them if you must have a viewfinder. If you want it to be powered by AA-size batteries, too, you're limited to the A-series models. Also, if you don't mind a larger, more advanced camera, Canon's PowerShot G11 and Nikon's Coolpix P6000 models both feature optical viewfinders. … Read more

Man fakes moon landing in own garage for $800

I know most of you out there think we landed two Americans on the moon in 1969. Well, let me tell you that you're wrong. It's all a hoax! It was done on a sound stage and George Clooney and Dan Aykroyd were involved!

I mean, look at this real-life version of the Atari classic Lunar Lander vector game!

It took British engineer Iain Sharp less than $800 and a year to build this replica in his garage to honor the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, and it works almost like the real thing. It's powered … Read more

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T90 Quick Take

There's very little that's different between the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T90 and the DSC-T900. The T90 has a 0.5-inch smaller screen that has a significantly lower resolution (910K to 230K dots). It also doesn't have a stereo mic or have HD output via HDMI, only component. But, that's pretty much where the feature shed ends.

Basic specs for the ultracompact include a 12-megapixel sensor, 4X optical zoom with stabilization, 3.0-inch LCD, and 720p HD movie recording. You also get Sony's intelligent scene recognition, intelligent auto mode, Smile Shutter, and face detection with child and … Read more

Why so much hate for the Memory Stick?

Last week I posted a review of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX1, but this post is not really about my review. It's about two user reviews (written by users I doubt have actually used the camera). One calls my review flawed, while the other praises the camera and then gives it a half-star rating out of five stars. Why? Sony's use of Memory Stick media for storage.

According to the first user review, the reason my review was "flawed" was because I didn't mention the use of Memory Stick media as a con and a reason … Read more

With cameras, do color choices equal lower quality?

On September 16, Pentax launched the K-x, an entry-level-ish digital SLR that it's offering in navy, red, white, and black versions. While different body colors are not unusual for point-and-shoot digital cameras, offering more than a black dSLR is still rare. (In fact, just Pentax and Sony offer color options, currently.)

Unfortunately, after testing many snapshot cameras available in a single color as well as those offered in several colors, I've developed a working theory that the more colors a camera comes in, the more likely there's something wrong with the model.

It's not the case … Read more

OneShot camera: Shake to recharge

These days, it's hard to find a digicam without an LCD display, which got me wondering if the OneShot Camera concept by German designer Tino Klaehne would ever take off.

Klaehne envisions the OneShot Camera with face detection, though he didn't mention how it would work without a display. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the OneShot Camera is that you just have to shake the gadget to recharge it. I'm guessing it uses internal memory to store the image files because from the pictures there doesn't seem to be any slot for flash memory media. … Read more

The 404 423: Where we can't buy love

If you're even remotely interested in The Beatles, today's episode of The 404 is a must listen. CNET Audiophiliac Steve Guttenberg helps us out today for all things Beatles. To set it all up, Steve gives the three of us a lesson in how the band essentially shaped a decade of music and culture and how they became innovators in the way that bands record music. For example, did you know that it only took the band 4 hours to record and mix the song "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band?" Later on in the show, Steve tells us about how the Beatles used a vacuum tube-based machine to record their earlier albums and later switched to solid-state, with adverse affects to the low-end sounds. Lots more Beatles trivia on the show!

We also talk extensively about the latest Beatles Remasters and whether or not they're worth the extra investment. Some claim that there are "near-miraculous improvements in the key areas of information retrieval, hidden details, expanded midrange, etc...," but Steve makes the argument that simply remastering doesn't necessarily improve sound quality. Check out the Audiophiliac blog for Steve's Beatles box set review coming soon, but in the meantime you can enter for a chance to win the entire remastered Beatles CD collection!

EPISODE 423 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more