Give the gift of technology

Database News - Wednesday December 19, 2007

COMPUTER CURRENTS

Give the gift of technology

Tips for buying digital cameras, storage devices and media players if you're stuck for gift ideas

JAMES HEIN

It's holiday season again and for some that means Christmas shopping and presents. I have noticed that the gift-giving part of Christmas has gradually taken hold here in Thailand, so this week I'll take a look at a few different products I like and my recommendations.

The most obvious one is a new camera to replace that old film or even digital one. The first decision is, point and shoot or SLR? If you have an SLR and other equipment such as lenses already, then this makes the brand choice easier - as long as your old equipment is supported.

You have to be careful, however. I am a long time Nikon fan and I had the lenses, flashes and so on. In the end I purchased a D200, but now I wish I'd waited for the D300. I thought I'd be able to use my old lenses - and I can - but the digital ones are so much better So I ended up trading my old ones for a VR 18-200, which I now use as my sole lens 99 percent of the time. I also got a 10-20 from Sigma that I sometimes dust off.

If I ever earn enough spare cash to take the D200 underwater then I'll get a macro lens of some kind, but for the moment one good lens is enough, even in the SLR world. I did get to keep and use my older filters but I had to get a new flash unit. As for recommendations, I like the D300 but for the more entry level the D40X is fine.

In other brands, and depending on your current attachments, take a look at the Canon EOS 400D, the Olympus E500 and the Samsung GX10, which is compatible with Pentax lenses. For a hybrid - not quite a full SLR or a point-and-shoot - then check out the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18EB-S, which also wins my alphabet soup award.

In the point-and-shoot category, I am a real fan of the Panasonic Lumix range as well as the Canon units, although Olympus has a very small one I also like. The Panasonic Lumix I recommend is the TZ range and the T33 at this time because it comes with a 28 mm lens, while the TZ range has a 10x optical zoom.

The Canon IXUS or Powershot IS range has been a reliable one for some time now. It is a matter of price point and feature set that you are after with the say the main difference between say the SD850 and SD950 being megapixels and the SD850 and SD870 being rear screen size. Canon also has an excellent range of inexpensive underwater housings.

On the subject of megapixels, anything in the 6-8 megapixel range is perfect for a point-and-shoot and 10-12 for a digital SLR. Anything beyond that in either category is either redundant, in the case of the point-and-shoot, or specialised for the SLR. Make sure you get a decent size memory card for whatever you buy - consider 1GB as a starting point.

The other perfect gift is a thumb drive. This is typically a rectangular unit in varying sizes that slips into any USB port to store or transfer data from one machine to another, or even to use as a convenient backup device.

A 1 GB device is well under 1000 baht these days, with successive sizes of 2GB, 4GB and 8GB progressively more expensive. The sweet spot at the moment is in the 2-4GB size, though that can change quickly. The key when looking for one of these units is the transfer speed.

Consider the Transcend JetFlash range, which is readily available here in Thailand. The V Series contains a variety of models. I have a 4GB V50 that is very slow in terms of data transfer, running on the 3 MB/s transfer range. The V35 and V60 range, by comparison, moves at a very reasonable 10 MB/s speed. The JetFlash 150 and 160 range takes that to 12 MB/s and the 110 range moves up to a very nice 16 MB/s.

Now think about think about transferring data back and forwards between machines. My V50 is five times slower than a JetFlash 110. That adds up to a lot of time waiting for data to transfer each time, and adds up even more over multiple uses. The price difference is usually minor so spend the extra cash for the faster units. I didn't do my research when I bought mine and I will have bought a newer, faster one by the time you read this. After you have considered capacity and speed, all that is left is the physical design, size and colour to choose.

The other option with thumb drives is security. If you lose it do you want others to know what you have stored? Some units now come with a fingerprint scanner built in. The JetFlash 210/220 is a bit harder to find locally and other brands have models with this feature. The advantage is a fingerprint protected unit that also includes 256 bit encryption that will at least deter the casual hacker.

If you want to give more storage, then consider a portable hard drive. This consists of a hard drive, a case and USB, SATA, Firewire or even SCSI connection(s). As with a thumb drive, you are interested in capacity, speed and size. The notebook-sized units are very handy because they are small, light, easy to carry and do not need a special power supply other than USB. The downside is a maximum capacity of around 200 GB.

The 3.5 inch units are a bit larger, require their own power supply but can handle larger drives - up to 750 GB or even 1 TB as long as the case you are using can handle that capacity. If you want to carry large files then format to NTFS instead of the older FAT32 standard.

If you are a business traveller then this kind of drive can hold your whole presentation, data files, documents and so on. On the down side, unless you have encrypted the files if you lose the device then that is a lot of information in the hands of someone else. Once you have selected the drive and connection you want supported, then it also comes down to drive design and colour. I prefer a built in power supply if possible for the larger units. An average case will cost around 1000-1500 baht and the drive costs vary from week to week but 500 GB costs around 5000 baht at the moment for a SATA II drive.

A new LCD monitor is a nice gift as well. With even the 19-inch models well under 10,000 baht these days, you can upgrade from an old lumpy screen to a flat panel for as little as a few thousand baht for the smaller ones.

Then there are the digital players. Use the same rules as for memory with a few additions. Units that do not require special software are always better than those that do. The more formats it supports the more you will be able to use easily available materials. Remember that in countries like Thailand you cannot connect to music download services such as iTunes. It's a backwards rule to me too, but once you lose that advantage then why bother getting an iPod or a unit from Sony that is full of DRM limits you will never be able to use?

Email: jamesh@inet.co.th

Bangkok Post