Digital Cameras, Reviews »

Sony has long been reputable for it’s camera’s which have been spun-off, to be included in their Sony Ericsson phones, one of which I’m a proud owner of. They take great pictures and are always on the cutting edge of technology. This camera is no exception to that rule, the W300 launched as one the only point-and-shoot camera’s with 13.6 megapixels, killing any rumours that the race for the most megapixels was dying.

Look

The camera is coated with ultra-high titanium with a high-end finish that will cover up and prevent most of the scratches and fingerprints you put its way. The camera comes in only one colour which is black so surprisingly, Sony hasn’t offered an array of colours that sometimes include pink.

Usability

For the older generation, Sony has taken into consideration that the baby boomers eyes are not as good as they used to be and can’t fully utilize the LCD screen, especially outside. My parents never use the LCD screen because they can’t see it, so they are forced to use the viewfinder. It makes it very easy for them to eliminate competition if they don’t have a viewfinder. The W300 is still in the running as it is accompanied with a viewfinder just over the 2.7” LCD screen.

The layout of the buttons and controls are always an important factor to consider when purchasing a camera. If you can’t get the right settings quick, the opportunity might have passed. The LCD screen takes a huge portion of the back of the camera so Sony was forced to place all the controls on the right and thus it may lack much freedom. So if you’ve got chubby fingers or maybe a little bit clumsy, this might not be good for you. The buttons seem to be squished together as their are a lot of them in a small compact area. The zoom is in the top right hand corner, and below that is a turn-table for the scene selection (which to be honest, isn’t used that much anyway), and at the bottom right is D-pad for menu movement and selection.

There are two buttons on the bottom for easy access to two things. The first is to review your pictures and videos taken which is much better than the timeline access where you have to push the button sideways to change from shooting mode, to slideshow mode, to video mode. The second button is to use the feature PHOTOMUSIC. It allows for a more creative slideshow letting you upload up to 8 tracks, each 5 minutes in length and play them alongside your photos.

Features

Along with PhotoMusic, Sony has included many intelligent features like SmileShutter, double anti-blur protection, in-camera retouching, and a wide array of scene modes. My favourite scene mode has to be the burst mode that can shoot 5 frames per second for those high action moments. The camera includes 13 scene modes, so you can really experiment with this camera. The SmileShutter is a useful feature as it allows you to give up control to the camera as to when it takes the picture. Obviously by the name you can tell, that when everybody you’ve selected has a smile on, the camera captures the picture. Now all we need is an eye shutter to work in combination with the SmileShutter technology so everybody is smiling and eyes open when the picture is taken. A friend of mine has a Sony camera with in-camera retouching capabilities much like this one does. It’s very handy to make simple adjustments to your photo like: cropping, red-eye removal, adding effects, and recolouring.

Conclusion

For the price of approx. $349, this camera is an absolute steal. It’s got 13.6 megapixels, Super HAD™ CCD imager and the precision-crafted Carl Zeiss® Vario-Tessar® lens. It further enhances picture quality with the Bionz Imaging Processor. Enabling high image resolution and fast reflex, this state-of-the-art processor achieves crisp, clean images by improving noise reduction. On top of that you can view your digital photos directly from the LCD screen or plug your camera into a Full HD TV for an eye-opening experience. For a point and shoot camera, I would look no further than this camera.

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Gadgets »

I downloaded Windows Folder Share in a bid to sync my computer with my one downstairs almost instantly. After trying and failing with many other applications, I was pleased to find this was set up nicely in the beginning. First off, you need to download the application, FolderShare, for all of the computers you want access to and be able to sync with one another. With this, you need a user account that surprisingly does not have to be a Live account. The great thing, and drawback is you don’t sync the whole computer, rather you sync individual folders.

Once the account was created, and the application was downloaded on both my laptop and desktop, I found an easy to use interface that showed me the computers that were online and what I could do with them. With FolderShare, you can share folders not only with your computers, but you can share folders with friends. Basically there are two things you can do right off the bat from the main menu: sync folders with your friends or your computers.

Sync With Friends

First create a personal library to share with your friends. This really means, pick the folder which you’d like to be able to share with your friends. You can choose from any of the computers that are online at that time. All of your computers might not be available because they might be turned off and therefore you won’t have access to them at that time. Then you’ll click the folder which you’d like to share and at the bottom hit “Create Library Here”. Then add all the emails and their associated permissions (4 to choose from) and send out those invitations. They would then download the application and then pick where they’d like to sync your folder, on their computer. Once they’ve chosen it will start syncing intitially as Foldershare placeholder file and then over a short period of time they will become their true files. In literally seconds, files will automatically show up if you change it on one computer which is amazing for a free beta program.

Sync Across Your Computers

To sync across your computers you do need the application on both computers but it’s very easy to do. First on one computer choose the folder you’d like to share and hit “Create Library Here”. Then choose the other computer you want to sync with that folder. You’re done and automatically the files will be there next time you go to that computer.

At first, it might be a little daunting to understand how it works because the new language “library” might be confusing. Another improvement that might be in the works is the folder selection. For example if you want to share the folder called “Pictures” you have to click it and then hit “Create Library Here” even though it shows no files or folders.

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Top 5 »

The reason why Mozilla Firefox has been staying strong over these past years is not only its security, its quickness, and its ability to be stable, but for its wide array of add-ons it provides to its users. There is a vast oasis of these add-ons and sometimes its hard to pick out the best ones. Today I’m going to pick those needles out of the haystack and help you make your Firefox experience better.

1. With so many websites and communities on the web it’s hard to keep track of all of them. Even with Firefox’s built-in password manager it still is very annoying when you have to clear your private data, and then most of your passwords are lost, or they don’t automatically fill it in for you. With Sxipper, it not only stores your login information, it has different aliases to choose from and a cool interface. On top of that it’s a auto-form filler and you have the option to choose what you reveal to those pesky websites. They also give you the option of using a disposable email address.

2. Notes are very handy to have because some of the best ideas come at the most random times and its why we lose most of them to outer space. There are two add-ons for two different kind of people. One is very simple and lacks the option of a one touch pop-up and minimizer, yet the other one might give too much customizability that it’s just pointless. Those two are QuickNote and EverNote. The reason why EverNote might be too complicated is it lets you share your notes with other people and take them around with you through your online account. Do you really need another account for just notes?

3. This add-on is a must for security reasons. It’s been named by PC World as one of the best and for good reason. It blocks unwanted javascripts and other scripts from running when you load a webpage. You do have the option of letting them run but only for trusted websites. Called NoScript, it truly encompasses all your security needs.

4. If you are an online album lover then you’ll love this add-on. Linky will let you select multiple links and open them in a new window or tab. Especially good for photo albums where there are multiple pictures, Linky will speed up your viewing and stop you from getting a sore index finger.

5. This is a small but useful add-on to enhance your browsing experience. TabPreview is just like it says. It previews the tab you are hovering over to give you a better idea of what that tab is all about. When Firefox first came out, the tabs were a huge advantage over IE6, but then IE7 countered with the tabs. Now Firefox holds the lead again in this department with this add-on.

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