Canon Powershot A620

I've always liked Canon's digital cameras and the Powershot A620 is no exception. It's a lovely 7.1m pixel compact camera which is now retailing online for less than £200. Sure it's by no means a small camera, it's rather bulky, owing to it's use of 4x AA batteries but it's still a very good camera. If you're looking for a camera that takes stunning pictures and runs on standard batteries then you can't go far wrong with the A620.

The A620 has a really satisfying number of settings considering it's a 'low end' camera. There are the auto and preset settings but also a number of manual settings. The macro mode is very crisp all the way up to as close as 1cm. The overall shooting quality is also superb. The lens is a decent size for this type of camera and provides the CCD with good levels of light. As always the Canon post processing is also excellent. The only thing I wonder is if 7.1mp isn't a little bit of overkill for this camera (the new A700 is a 6mp). Either way I suppose you could down the resolution if you wanted to save space. On the other hand 7.1mp is ideal if you want to print posters!

The video settings are quite good too. 640x480 at 30fps is the top end and 320x240 at 15fps is the bottom end with a mixture of the two in between. The video file format is a motion JPEG which provides decent quality for short clips. There was a problem playing the files in Windows Media Player but Quicktime handled them no problem at all. The max video file size is totally dependent on the size of your CF card.

Overall the camera is very satisfying to use. It uses Canon's DIGIC II processor and is very responsive. The swivel LCD might not be everyone's cup of tea but the ability to turn the LCD toward the camera when not in use certainly helps reduce the chance of horrible LCD scratches.

I highly recommend this camera to anyone looking for a decent camera to make the switch to digital or if you want to replace an aging early generation digital camera.

For an in depth review check out: Digital Photography Review

DVD Rental Chart: Compare all 41 UK DVD Rental Services

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DVD Rental Chart: Compare all 41 UK DVD Rental Services

UK music fans can copy own tracks

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | UK music fans can copy own tracks

So it's now not going to be illegal to rip a CD in order to store / play it on your iPod / PC. That was illegal before!? Talking of which I just loved this quote, it kind of sums it all up:

"In February, music industry investigators claimed someone in almost every street in every town in the UK was illegally copying music and film."

When the majority of the population are breaking the law that usually means there is something wrong with the law. Interestingly there are moves taking place in the US which will make it a Federal offence to copy any copyright material even if the copyright isn't currently valid! You just gotta love IP law.

Yahoo Battles YouTube But Forgets to Bring Flickr

TechCrunch » Blog Archive » Yahoo Battles YouTube, But Forgets to Bring Flickr
"Yahoo Video is targeting YouTube by allowing user-generated videos on the site. The biggest disappointment? The product is not being integrated (yet) into Flickr."

Flickr is a wonderful web service and is very user friendly. Personally I think Yahoo's decision not to integrate Yahoo Video into Flickr is a good one. YouTube has some good features but it's quite a different beast to Flickr. Flickr is more classy also Flickr doesn't bombard you random 'junk' from other people like YouTube does.

Maybe over time a video option within Flickr would be a useful feature but I'd prefer for Yahoo not to lose the photo focus that Flickr has.

Yahoo Video / Flickr / YouTube

Music Industry Wake Up Call?

First a internet only song, Crazy, takes the number 1 UK chart spot by storm then it's replaced by a song from a girl who until very recently was playing her gigs through the net and didn't have a record deal. Maybe some of the music industry suits will start to view the internet as a tool rather than as enemy territory. Sure a lot of music is downloaded illegally on the net but it should be clear for all to see by now that rather than reducing sales this wide-spread free distribution is feeding new interest in music and driving music sales. All that's needed now is a way for unsigned bands to distribute and promote their music without the need for a traditional record deal.

Read all about the latest chart news:
Thom curtails Crazy chart reign

Windows Vista takes it's lead from XP 'Slow Edition'

Hot on the heals of Windows XP - Slow Edition we have a chance to see that some of XP Slow Edition's features have made their way into Windows Vista. Take a look at the procedure for deleting a desktop shortcut:

Deleting a Shortcut in Windows Vista is "just a few clicks away"

Maybe Microsoft are working to this slogan:

Windows Vista - "Simply Complicated Computing"

Complete the Great British TV Survey for a chance to win a HDTV

SKY TV are currently conducting a Britain wide TV survey. Not only will your answers help influence the future of TV in Britain you'll be entered into a price draw with the chance to win Sky HDTV prizes.*

*This survey is in no way associated with the I'll Get You Gadget Blog

Windows XP - Slow Edition

Windows Xp Slow Edition
Originally uploaded by orzalaga.

Since Windows Vista is delayed until sometime next year Microsoft have taken the step of releasing a stop gap version (think Win ME) of Windows XP. This version will require much lower system specs than Vista and will be ideal for users of last year's computers.

Note... Case melting is an optional add-on.

Glossy PixelBright Laptop Displays

Since day one of the MacBook launch there has been a lot of talk about the choice of a glossy screen in these units. The official name for these panels is PixelBright and they're commonly found in consumer laptops.

So what's the bright (sorry) idea?

Here's the low down on PixelBright panels from Screentek Inc:

PixelBright LCDs: "In the past, LCD screens were only available with an anti-glare surface. Nowadays, consumers have the option of purchasing an LCD screen with an anti-glare surface (rough matte) or anti-reflective surface (smooth high-gloss) depending on the users’ environment.

Both anti-glare and anti-reflective LCD screens serve a distinct purpose. Anti-glare LCD screens may be better suited to office environments, where spreadsheets, word-processing, and similar tasks are the norm - along with many light sources and less flexibility in screen placement. Anti-reflective, on the other hand, may be better suited for graphics, gaming, and multimedia applications - like watching DVDs. While anti-reflective high-gloss LCD screens may seem superior in all facets, they are better suited in indoor environments where ambient light conditions are not as bright. This way the user gets ambient light reflection reduction without sacrificing any image quality. Anti-glare, on the other hand, may be better suited to the outdoors or indoor environments with brighter or direct light. In this situation, the user may be better off sacrifice image quality for maximum ambient light reflection reduction.

Ultimately, this comes down to each user's personal preference. Every user is different, and the best way to determine which screen type is best for you is to stop by your local consumer electronics retailer to see them both for "