Jul 12
In this comprehensive review, we will delve into the features, benefits, and user experiences associated with the ComfiLife Anti Fatigue Flo
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In this comprehensive review, we will delve into the features, benefits, and user experiences associated with the ComfiLife Anti Fatigue Flo
Rough & Tough In Every Way – Sony Xperia Z - Read More http://gd.is/8EHAP6
New Post has been published on http://exhibitmag.com/rough-tough-sony-xperia-2/
Rough & Tough In Every Way – Sony Xperia Z
First Impression
I often tend to judge phones on the way they create a first impression. Simply by its looks and build quality does it appear like a phone worth the price? Who would purchase a phone that costs 40k but looks like a regular budget phone. Don’t worry, Sony Xperia Z did not let me down. On the very first look, the phone creates a great impression. The 5 inch fully capacitive touchscreen offers great display. The flaps used to cover most sockets can be irritating, but it is all forgiven because we were blown away by the USP of this product. The water resistance (almost water proof) and dust resistance of the phone is remarkable. So, Katrina Kaif wasn’t lying or creating a gimmick through all the advertising after all!
Review
I would be lying if I said we could review the phone in a short span of time. If anyone managed it, the person is probably lying. There is so much to do with the phone. Firstly, the build quality of the phone is excellent. The shatter-proof and scratch-resistant glass and the Sony Mobile BRAVIA 2 engine, together are a deadly combination. We dropped the phone, threw it on purpose and it always came back for more! The phone is so light-weight and thin that it charms you in every way. Although, it has an Android Jelly Bean operating system, Sony continues to stick to its standard customizations of internal aspects like Walkman (music), Album (images), Movies (videos) and so on. This is great because some users are truly tired of the age old gallery.
Now we come down to the hardware and specs. Xperia Z boasts of a Qualcomm MDM9215M / APQ8064 chipset, Quad-core 1.5 GHz Krait processor, an Adreno 320 GPU 2 GB RAM and 16 GB of internal storage (phew!). With so much packed under the hood, the phone offers excellent performance. We had absolutely no complaints when it came to any phone functions like apps, games, music, web usage, etc. The phone neither hangs nor does it have any issues in running multiple apps side by side. Benchmark tests rate this higher than any other smartphone in the market (woah!). The phone comes with a 2330 mAh battery, whose performance is much better than any other Android phone we reviewed recently.
Is the Sony Xperia Z flawless? The answer is NO! We hate to highlight these two and only two complaints we have with the phone. First, when a phone boasts a 13.1 megapixel camera, you expect it to be nothing short of exceptional. The phone does offer great pictures when indoors but they should have been excellent. The images simply lack detail. You will need perfect lighting conditions or simply use the ‘superior auto’ mode. Secondly, the phone heats too quickly. A 30 minute session of Real Football and we could have made an omelette on the phone (we are exaggerating of course!). But, yes the phone does have this issue.
Verdict
We drowned it, we threw it, we pushed it to its limits and every time it impressed. Sony Xperia Z without a doubt is the best smartphone the Japanese giants ever created. It is not just about its water and dust resistance, but there is whole lot more to it. Purely, on the grounds of performance it is simply an immortal piece of technology. No lags, high-end specs, cheaper than most competitors… what more can one wish for? However, we hate to point out the over-heating and the camera shortcomings of the device! These are the only aspects that take some of the brownie points away from this fantastic piece of technology.
Specs
5 inch fully capacitive touchscreen
Android 4.1 – Jellybean operating system
Qualcomm MDM9215M / APQ8064 chipset,
Quad-core 1.5 GHz Krait processor, Adreno 320 GPU
2 GB RAM
16 GB internal memory
13.1 megapixel primary camera and 2.2 megapixel secondary camera
Price – Rs. 38,990/-
Rating – 4.5/5
ShutterBug Experiments: INFRA-RED PHOTOGRAPHY - Read More http://gd.is/IUtp2H
New Post has been published on http://exhibitmag.com/shutterbug-experiments-infra-red-photography/
ShutterBug Experiments: INFRA-RED PHOTOGRAPHY
In this article, you’ll learn about the infrared choices available, how to take infrared photographs using a filter, process your photographs to a high standard and avoid any common mistakes along the way.
Let’s begin.
Infrared Photography: A Brief Introduction
Infrared (IR) is a challenging form of photography. When going through this article, you need to be very methodical about the process of setting up your equipment and taking the shot.It would be a good idea to print out some notes to take with your when shooting as there is a lot to think about, and it can easily go wrong. We have created a handy checklist for you to make not of and fold up into your bag.
IR Shooting Checklist
Shoot RAW
Turn off long exposure NR
Exposure Delay Mode/Mirror Lockup
Focus before putting the filter on, then switch to manual
Remote release/Self timer
Custom/Pre-set white balance
Image stabilization off
Small aperture + Low ISO
Check to See if Your Camera Can Capture IR Light Check before you go and buy filter, as certain cameras cannot capture IR. A quick tip to find out if you can capture IR is to put your camera in live view and point a remote control at the lens and press a few buttons. If you notice a flashing red tinted light, your camera can capture IR light well. If the light is dimmer, this means your camera can still capture IR, but it means your exposure times will skyrocket due to your camera having a strong internal IR blocking filter.If your camera does not have live view, set a long exposure, start taking the shot, and point and press buttons on the remote towards the lens. The resulting picture should show the red tinted light. If you do not see anything from the remote, this means your camera cannot capture IR, and cannot use this article to effect.
Purchasing the Filter There are a few offerings available when it comes to infrared filters. There are both screw in types from brands such as Hoya, and square filters from Cokin, for example. Screw-in filters are a great way to make infrared photographs. They are, however, relatively expensive. Our advice is to buy a well-known brand to get the best results. We purchased a Hoya R72 and we’re impressed by the results, although they sell for around Rs. 5,000+ for the larger sizes.Square filters offer the advantage of being able to slot in and out quickly. While these work fine, the risk of the shot being ruined from light leaks is much higher than a screw in type. Prices range from around Rs. 2,500 for normal sizes.A handy tip is to buy the biggest screw-in filter you can afford, and use a stepping ring so it can fit on all your other lenses without having to buy a new filter for each lens.
Wavelength & Other Infrared Options 720nm is considered standard IR. I believe it is best to start off with this wavelength. There are others available such as 900nm models (RM90), but the prices of these are astronomical. We have seen them going for around Rs. 1,500+. These are reserved for serious IR photographers with deep pockets only!There is another option for IR photography if you do not want to use a filter. You can have your DSLR converted permanently to capture the IR spectrum. This can be done by sending away your camera and a lens to be calibrated. It is very expensive, and leaves your camera only able to shoot in IR.
What/When to Shoot? One of the most popular IR genres is landscape photography. Because of the effects of IR, foliage can be rendered pure white when processed, making photos look eerie, and have a haunting sense about them. Example subjects to experiment with include trees, flowers and grass.Ideal conditions for IR photography are a bright sunny days, rendering (when false color processed) skies a deep blue and foliage a bright white. That doesn’t mean that you can’t get brilliant results on overcast days. With the longer exposure times available to you with the IR filter fitted, results will be similar to a Neutral Density (ND) filter, giving a strong sense of motion to the photograph. It is up to you to experiment, so don’t be limited by these example subjects and situations!
Lens Issues Certain lenses can produce abnormalities when shooting in IR, namely hotspots. When looking at an image, a bright, discolored ring can be seen in the middle of the photograph when it has been affected.Other issues can occur such as streaks over the image. These can be minimized is post-production, but are a real pain to deal with.Currently, there is no truly comprehensive list to show what lenses work well, and what lenses produce hotspots, but there are some helpful forums online who have written on a number of popular lenses to help you see what lenses could cause you problems when shooting.
1. Setting Up Setting up the camera is an important step in the process to getting great IR photos. Do not attach the IR filter until you have completed the necessary steps, including focusing, exposure and white balance. First, set up your camera on a sturdy tripod. Put your camera bag on the hook of your tripod to add extra weight and minimize movement. Next are a few settings that are important to help you get the cleanest image possible:
Shoot RAW: Shooting RAW allows you to easily alter the white balance in post-production without any problems clipping colors. Shoot in uncompressed RAW so you get the most bits possible. This will give you greater flexibility when processing later. Never shoot JPEG, otherwise when processing images, noise and clipping will become more apparent.
Turn off long exposure noise reduction: Because of the long exposures involved in IR photography, turning off long exposure noise reduction will mean no in-camera noise processing, resulting in no lag when the shutter closes. This also means you can finely tune the strength of the noise-reduction later.
Turn on exposure delay mode/use mirror lockup: Turning on exposure delay mode or using mirror lock up will make sure vibrations from the mirror are minimized when you release the shutter.
Remote release/self timer: Using a remote release is optional, but will further reduce vibrations as you will not be touching the camera when you release the shutter. Alternatively, you can use a 2 second self-timer if you do not have a remote.
2. White Balance White balance is an important part of getting a decent IR image. You can use a pre-set value, or you can use Pre-White Balance to capture the White Balance in the current conditions. Either way, you will need to alter it in post-production to get any desirable results.
Using preset White Balance values is fine. Incandescent is the coolest preset available. Taking a pre-white balance reading from a subject when on location is even better. Because IR will make foliage under sunlight white, this is what the white balance target will be. Go into the white balance menu and select ‘PRE’ as the white balance. Then… Press OK Select ‘Measure’ and press OK. Select ‘Yes’ and overwrite any pre-existing data Make sure in the viewfinder, the subject is mostly green. A good idea is to aim for a patch of grass. Take a shot, and wait for your camera to report back. It will either say ‘Data Acquired’ or ‘Gd’. If the camera flashes ‘Unable to acquire’ or ‘No Gd’, then make sure you expose properly. The resulting exposure will be heavily tinted red/magenta/orange. This will be corrected later in post-production.
4. Focusing & Stabilization Focusing is a difficult part of IR photography and can be a bit hit and miss in some respects unless your lens has IR focusing marks (Usually a small red nib, or on older lenses, a longer red line). It is best to use a narrow aperture, such as f/20, to ensure a large depth of field and minimize focusing issues. If your lens does have IR focusing marks, focus manually, and adjust accordingly to focal length. If your lens does not have IR focus marks, it is pretty much impossible to focus properly without a bit of a trick. One of the best things you can do is to set a small aperture to ensure you have a large depth of field. This little trick will make sure your shots are sharp, but it does mean you cannot use wider apertures for shallow DOF effects. Without converting your camera to permanent IR and sending your lens away to be calibrated, there is nothing else that can be done to achieve consistent focus at wider apertures. However, feel free to experiment. First focus and compose on your subject as normal with Autofocus. Then switch to manual focus. If you have a lens which has a rotating front thread, be very careful not to move it! Make sure any image stabilization systems are turned off. VR/IS/OS is not required because the camera is on a tripod, and also because the lens will try and make adjustments when not needed, which could result in a blurry photo.
5. Aperture One of the most important settings in your exposure setup is to use a small aperture. This is not only great for landscape shots, giving you a larger depth of field, but it also minimizes focusing issues as explained in the focusing section above.
6. ISO Next set the ISO. Generally, it is best to use as low an ISO as possible to minimize noise. Taking into account the length of the exposure, I would recommend a maximum of ISO 800 for shots between 10 seconds and 1 minute, and a maximum of ISO 400 for shots over 1 minute. Any greater than these values, and you will risk of having copious amounts of noise and hot pixels in post-production. Sometimes however, this is unavoidable. Also remember that going from ISO 100 to 200, for example, will half the time you are waiting for an IR exposure. So an 8 minute exposure at ISO 100, can be a 4 minute exposure at ISO 200. Only a slight increase in noise will be noticeable and it’s a good idea if you are pushed for time!
7. Shutter Speed The last setting to choose is shutter speed. At first it will be an experimental process to determine exposure time. Most often you will need bulb mode, so be sure to bring a stopwatch! IR filters are dense and force slower shutter speeds, in the same way as ND filters, so you can calculate the amount of stops you need to compensate for by using an exposure calculator/chart, or you can work it out for yourself. So for example, if your visible light exposure is 1/30th, ISO 100, f/11, and your best resulting exposure in IR after experimentation is 1 second, then you know your filter is equivalent to a 5-stop reduction in light.
8. Taking the Shot, Finally! Finally, you can screw the IR filter to the lens/stepping ring. Be careful not to adjust any settings or accidentally nudge the focus ring. You are ready to take the shot, so go ahead. Press the button, and await the results.
POST-PRODUCTION TO THE RESCUE If the image didn’t work out the way you intended it to be, then there is always Photoshop! We won’t really go into details about how these effects can be mastered or even re-produced from scratch using Photoshop or similar tools, because that’s not the intention of this article. It’s not an exact science, nor is this article an exact idea of what you really must do to get great IR photography images. But, it should certainly get you started. If you are happy with the results, then keep experimenting with some more settings of your own – and share it on your FB page and impress that girl/boy you’ve always had a crush on! *WINK*
REVIEW: Samsung NX1000 Review - Read More http://gd.is/7YYUbT
New Post has been published on http://exhibitmag.com/review-samsung-nx1000-review/
REVIEW: Samsung NX1000 Review
First Impressions Our devices are getting smarter, and can most times do more than just their primary role. Yes, even beyond our smartphones and tablets (and PC’s of course) – almost every gadget is a multi-tasker, it would seem. Cameras now have built-in Wi-Fi functionality, along with GPS for geo-tagging and instant sharing with friends and family over social networks. The NX1000 is one such candidate from Samsung – I’m not expecting it to be mind-blowing with image quality, but let’s see what it has to offer.
Review The NX1000 (especially the white one) is a handsome looking camera, with nicely laid out buttons and dials all around the back and top – with good use of space and great quality of materials used. Once you start shooting, you realize how easy to use the whole camera is – though it’s not that quick. Not quick to get Auto-focus, nor quick to share, edit and review images. Maybe I’m a bit harsher on cameras – but I really do expect the best from each one of them, especially if they cost a good amount of money. The NX1000 does take good pictures in good lighting, but in slightly low lighting conditions – the images are too soft and colour noise starts creeping in. Not that much, but it’s there – especially at higher ISOs. There is an external flash provided with the package, which mounts on the standard hot-shoe, but that could’ve been avoided with an in-built flash. The images were a little soft straight out of the NX1000 at the default sharpening setting and ideally require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you can change the in-camera setting for JPEG files. The night photograph was excellent, with the maximum shutter speed of 30 seconds and bulb mode of 8 minutes allowing you to capture plenty of light. Wi-Fi implantation is easy to use and works well, but there is no touchscreen so entering your user name and pwd takes a lot longer than you expect. Plus, videos of only lower resolution can be directly uploaded to your YouTube account – which is a bit disappointing. However, sharing images on Facebook and Picasa is easy and fairly quick – the Menu is navigate from the images you took, to sharing them is as easy as on most smartphones. Of course, don’t expect to have features like tagging your friends and such to be present in the camera too, but overall the feature is neat – there is an app available as well to control the NX1000 remotely. Samsung’s various Picture Wizard options are similar to Olympus’ Picture Modes, Nikon’s Picture Styles and Canon’s Picture Controls, offering preset combinations of different sharpness, contrast, saturation and colour tone settings, all of which can be changed. There are many more fun modes as well, which basically introduce ‘creative’ effects on the images you take.
VIDEO Full HD video can be captured quite well, but changing aperture while shooting is quite a task – since you have to do that from the Menu screen. There is a terrible shutter roll effect as well, but nothing out of the ordinary.
SPECIFICATIONS 20.3 MP APS-C CMOS Sensor Samsung NX mount, Samsung Lenses 3” LCD, 9,21,000 dots Full HD Video Recording SD, SDHC, SDXC card support In-built Wireless adapter Geo-Tagging with Option GPS Module micro USB, micro HDMI ports.
Verdict For almost 35K, this camera is loaded with goodies for the beginner photographer – or the casual social media junkie, looking for some manual controls to explore. The image quality may not be as high as some of the competition, but it’s the unique features that Samsung is banking on – something I don’t really feel too enthusiastic about.
Exhibit Rating: 3.5 / 5
Price: Rs. 34,990/-
REVIEW: HTC One - Read More http://gd.is/pmGBTD
New Post has been published on http://exhibitmag.com/review-htc/
REVIEW: HTC One
First Impressions
Not every high-end smartphone will evoke the same reactions from the people, but there are some common reactions that the One from HTC will certainly get. That of sheer delight. With its light-weight unibody design, to its excellent aesthetics and even the front positioning of its dual-speakers (top and bottom) – everything feels right. But I kept digging for the faults and after a while, found just a few, and really started falling in love with the phone.
Review
The One feels so light-weight and ‘premium’ in your hands that you wish every high-end smartphone was built this way. The aluminium unibody design impresses, but on the very edge of the glass there is the tiniest gap that might collect some unwanted lint. The right panel houses the volume rocker which feels part of the side panel itself and is kinda hard to operate. The top panel has the power/lock key which also doubles up as an IR blaster, a fairly neat feature, as well as the 3.5mm audio jack. On the right you’d find the micro-SIM tray that can ejected with a pointy pin and on the bottom is the microUSB/micro-HDMI slot and mic. There are dual speakers in the front, one at the top and one below the soft key buttons on the bottom – with the HTC proprietary Boom Sound. Beats Audio integration really helps it to give it some amazing audio output. You can’t open the back panel though, which means no microSD card slot nor replaceable battery.
Coming over to Sense UI 5.0 with the updated ‘Blinkfeed’ feature, I really thought it was a great addition to have to such a clean and fluid UI experience. Blinkfeed essentially brings you a list of stories that you can subscribe to (including Exhibit Magazine) and stay updated on-the-go. You can also include your social networking feeds, as well as post updates directly to Facebook and Twitter. Overall, the UI feels crisp, smooth and snappy. HTC has customized the Android experience deeply, but it’s a good change – though some quirks like long pressing the home screen will not give you the option to update wallpapers, seems confusing at first. Once you get used to the overall usability, though, things are a whole lot better.
The camera has some cool new features, some of them are gimmicky – like I found them on the Lumia 920. It’s a great camera though, doesn’t matter the resolution only goes till 4MP, the ultra-pixel technology really helps it out in low lit conditions. Especially when compared to the best smartphone cameras, it can hold its own. The Zoe feature takes you take moving images (a la Cinemagraph on the Lumia 920) or images with audio. More gimmicks, but some of them can be used rather creatively, as we’ve already seen on many ad’s by HTC. Full HD video recording is also superb, perhaps one of the best on a smartphone right now.
You can’t talk about the best Android experience on a smartphone without mentioning the benchmark scores, to be honest – some of these are not even a true reflection of a phone’s sheer power. But the One does out-muscle most phones thanks to its Snapdragon 600 chipset and the 1.7 GHz quad-core Krait 300 processor, coupled with Adreno 320 GPU and 2 GB of RAM. It can’t much up to the power of the S4, but in real world usage they both feel and perform pretty much the same way.
Verdict
No matter how you look at it, there is no denying that the One is the best looking smartphone in the market right now. It also is a beast with its performance and has a crisp, smooth and sexy UI. If you have the pockets for it, the One is the phone to have! No questions asked.
DISPLAY
With 468 ppi, the 4.7″ Super LCD 3 screen with full HD resolution is just stunning. With excellent colour contrasts and amazing viewing angles too. Outdoors, it even outdoes the Samsung Galaxy S4 and also the iPhone 5. Colours are more natural, though the AMOLED of the S4 has more saturation.
SPECS
4.7″ Super LCD 3 full HD screen
1.7 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600
Android OS v4.1.2 Jelly Bean
Adreno 320 GPU | 2 GB RAM
4 MP rear cam with LED flash, 2.1 MP front cam
Full HD video on both cams
32/64 GB internal memory
Exhibit Rating: 5/5
Price: Rs. 42,900/-
REVIEW: Samsung Galaxy S4 - Read More http://gd.is/7BEdUA
New Post has been published on http://exhibitmag.com/review-samsung-galaxy-s4/
REVIEW: Samsung Galaxy S4
First Impressions
With Android’s latest OS (v4.2.2) rolled out directly out of the box in the S4, it straight away puts itself a small step ahead of the HTC One. But then again, it is still a plastic built phone with a design not that much different from the S3. It’s actually a mini Note II in some ways, especially when it comes to camera mic and SIM slots inside the back panel. But the best of the lot? Hmm..
Review
Right from the more compact frame to the 3gms lighter body, the S4 is certainly an improvement over the S3. Only by that much. However, once you unlock and start using these new ‘Samsung’ features is when you will see the start differences. The TouchWiz UI is certainly a lot smoother and runs extremely responsively on the quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor. It feels great to hold and operate though the plastic feel is quite a downer. The button layout is a lot more comfortable in the S4, with the lock/power button on the right and volume rocker standing out from the left panel. The 3.5 mm audio jack is on the top and the micro USB port on the bottom, with the mic. A nice touch is the chrome band running across the borders of the phone which really add a much better grip, over the S3 and even the Note II.
TouchWiz UI with Android’s 4.2.2 are certainly a treat to use, with various multi-touch and gestures built in to enable various features. Like the customizable lock screen with multiple widgets and a 2 finger swipe down once unlocked, that brings up the extended control menu for settings. Talking of which, once you enter the main Settings menu, is where you see a rather disappointing change. Rather than have a single flowing menu, Samsung have adopted a tabbed settings layout which looks rather lame. Thankfully, all other changes are great.
The 13MP shooter on the back is another great piece of hardware, easily taking some of the best photos on a smartphone. It did feel a bit slow to cycle through, and has one of the best HDR modes in any smartphone cam, but it does struggle a bit in low light conditions. Again, the Lumia 920 and iPhone have better performances there.
In terms of sheer performance and the ability to handle as many apps as you want, there is perhaps none better. I installed at one point nearly 40 different apps which included 20 graphic-intensive games on the S4, yet is sailed along smoothly and confidently. No matter what benchmark you test the S4 on, it will perhaps be the one at the top – though we haven’t seen any octa-core variants come in the Indian market as of now.
Verdict
For all the nerds who have always wanted a smartphone that just allowed them to do more, the Galaxy S4 is the ONE. But, it’s not for everyone, especially those who get the feeling of being overwhelmed by technology once a manufacturer starts introducing more features in their favourite product line. The S4 is a solid phone overall, a beast of a performer, though not as sexy as the HTC One, nor with an attractive UI. But it really digs deep in functionality and begs you to do more and push it more. Without ever flinching.
DISPLAY
At 441 ppi, the S4 theoretically isn’t as sharp as the HTC One. Though it must be said that it still looks just as good, though the colour contrasts are better and deeper. That’s mostly down to the fact that Samsung has stuck to its Super AMOLED tech for displays, which makes full HD look that much richer. Though not as natural as the IPS LCD’s of the world.
SPECS
5″ full HD Super AMOLED display
1.5 GHz quad-core Cortex-A15 processor
Android OS v4.2.2 Jelly Bean
PowerVR SGX 544MP3 GPU | 2GB RAM
13MP rear cam with LED flash, 2MP front cam
Full HD video on both cams
16 GB internal memory, microSD card slot to expand up to 64 GB
Exhibit Rating: 5/5
Price: Rs. 41,500
REVIEW: Lenovo IdeaPad U310 - Read More http://gd.is/PpSHh8
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REVIEW: Lenovo IdeaPad U310
Impresses Yet Misses
The Lenovo IdeaPad U310
First Look
Ultrabooks have started pulling their prices down, as reports have started to come in about their sales figures not living up to the mark that was expected in early 2012. Lenovo’s IdeaPad U310 is positioned below the 50K mark to woo customers into buying it, but it does have the premium quality that you would expect in an Ultrabook. It looks sturdy, yet light – dazzles yet with a subtlety. But, will the high-end specs ensure that people make this slightly cheaper than competition Ultrabook a success? We’ll find out.
Review
On the outside, the Ultrabook means all business – the grey colour top and bottom stating the intent clearly. The interior of the notebook uses matte eggshell white plastic that extends around the sides of the notebook. It’s cool and distinct. A lone chrome power button sits in the top left corner just above the black matte keyboard.Intel’s Ivy Bridge processors continue to impress, powering the Lenovo IdeaPad U310 to solid scores. Equipped with a 1.7-GHz Intel i5-3317U processor, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB 5,400-rpm hard drive with a 32GB SSD and an Intel GMA HD Graphics 4000 GPU, the U310 easily streamed video from Vimeo while we played a few rounds of “Snowboard” with several open tabs in Google Chrome and Internet Explorer. Even the benchmarking tests confirmed that the IdeaPad is a good performer, by outdoing the Sony VAIO T13 and Dell Inspiron 14z. Although you won’t be playing some of the more graphically demanding titles such as “Max Payne 3″ with an Intel GMA HD 4000 Graphics GPU, you’ll definitely be able to watch HD video and play most of the MMORPGs out there.EnlargeLenovo packages the IdeaPad U310 with a small suite of apps and utilities. The Energy Management utility was one of our favourites. We liked how it resembled a car’s odometer as well as how easy it was to switch between settings.During the Laptop Battery Test (continuous Web surfing over Wi-Fi), the U310 lasted 5 hours and 19 mintues. That’s below the 6:51 ultraportable average, but in line with other Ultrabooks we’ve recently tested.
Verdict
Those in search of an eye-catching portable Ultrabook at an affordable price should put the Rs. 50K (approx.) Lenovo IdeaPad U310 on their short list. The notebook delivers fast Ivy Bridge performance and sound ergonomics inside a design that doesn’t look anything like a MacBook Air clone. However, the battery life could be better, and the display isn’t the brightest. If you are looking for more graphical oomph, then you can go for the Dell Inspiron 14z, which is slightly more expensive.
DESIGN AND BUILD QUALITY
The subtle sheen of the tiny metallic flakes danced with every flicker of light. A slightly raised diamond-cut chrome Lenovo insignia sits in the top right corner, creating a beautiful contrast.
DISPLAY
EnlargeThe U310′s 13.3-inch HD 1366 x 768p display delivered sharp text, making reading the latest headlines from NYTimes.com and others easy to read.Unfortunately, the U310 doesn’t have the brightest display. Measuring only 148 lux, it was easily outshone by the 239 lux ultraportable category average as well as the VAIO T13 and XPS 13, which measured 163 and 254 lux, respectively.
CONNECTIVITY
EnlargeThe right side of the U310 houses a USB 2.0 port, a combination headphone/microphone jack and a jack for the AC adapter. An SD Card slot sits on the left front lip of the notebook. A pair of USB 3.0 ports, HDMI, Ethernet and a button for Lenovo’s One Key Recovery service is located on the notebook’s left side.
Specifications
(Insert pic)
Exhibit Rating: 3.5 /5
Price: Rs. 49,990/-
Review: ADATA’s HE720 - Read More http://gd.is/cHQLS4
New Post has been published on http://exhibitmag.com/review-adatas-he720-2/
Review: ADATA’s HE720
Storage Goes Slim
With ADATA’s HE720
First Look
Size 0 is in. Or at least in the world of tech products, it certainly seems to be the current trend. Phones and laptops were always trying to get slimmer, but now almost every computing device wants to be slimmer, faster and sharper. It’s quite easy to see why, we have always shrunk gadgets down sizes over the years, a computer that occupied an entire room some 20 years ago only needs a desk these days. So we have ADATA doing the same, with a really slim waist line for their new metal finish external Hard Disk. Loaded with 500GB and USB 3.0, does it have what it takes to beat the competition? Read on.
Review
A brushed stainless steel appearance gives the ADATA external Hard Drive quite a classy look – one that even be compared to some of the best gadgets around.ADATA does claim this to be the thinnest external HDD in the world, but at 8.9mm is only 1mm thinner than Toshiba’s slimmest. At 164 grams, it doesn’t sound that heavy – but it does feel quite heavy owing to the metallic body. But, what would really matter is how it performs – and how durable it really is. In most of our testing on various surfaces and varying temperatures, the ADATA HE720 performed admirably well. Read/Write speeds were right up there where we expected them to be – among the fastest of USB 3.0 devices. The drive features a bright blue LED indicator to indicate power and data transfer status, as well as the company’s popular “one-touch backup” feature, which automatically backs up and synchronizes data with one easy touch. This feature worked quite well on PC’s as well as Macs. The USB 3.0 interface offers transfer efficiency up to three times that of older USB 2.0 devices, but retains full backward compatibility with earlier versions.Copying heavy data to the external and from the external to our laptop was quite a breeze. For further testing, we streamed the media from the external to our HD TV’s and Monitors, it came out with flying colours.
Verdict
Very seldom have we come across external Hard Drives that have managed to impress us as much as the ADTA HE720 has. It’s got an excellent build quality and superb performance. It does come in a little more expensive than some of its competition- but you have to understand the premium material used to build this thing of beauty.
DESIGN AND BUILD QUALITY
This is where the ADATA HE720 shines through- literally! The Titanium coloured Stainless Steel body lends an elegant and classy look to the HDD, plus the overall design is extremely well thought out and implemented.
EXTRAS
ADATA is offering customers of the Elite HE720 free download of the latest Norton Internet Security 2012 anti-virus software (60 day trial version).
Specifications
500 GB of Capacity
117 x 79 x 8.9mm (L x W x H)
2.5” SATA II
USB 3.0 cable supplied
Titanium colour, Stainless Steel body
Exhibit Rating: 4.5 /5
Price: Rs. 6,000/-