Acer Aspire One AOD250-1165 10.1-Inch Blue Netbook - 3+ Hour Battery Life Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Got it from Wal Mart for 298 $. This is a great netbook
pros
- After uninstalling Google Toolbar and McAfee and other useless software came with the netbook, it is really fast. 1 GB is enough, if you do that cleanup.
- Thinner than D150 model, very light weight.
- keyboard is small still usable
cons
- touchpad isn't that good, gesture for scroll doesn't work always.
- screen is glossy, but usable. I prefer glossy screen, some people won't like it.

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Building on its line of popular Aspire One netbooks, Acer makes it even easier to stay productive while on the go with the larger 10.1-inch screen of the Aspire One AOD250. Improving on the previous AOD150 model, the chassis of the Aspire One AOD250 has been honed down to be more sleek and lightweight than its predecessor while still retaining its excellent near full-size keyboard and stylish signature black bezel surrounding the bright, glossy 10.1-inch screen.
A great choice for students as well as business travelers who like to travel light, this Aspire One AOD250 model (AOD250-1165) in blue has a 3-cell battery that provides up to 3 hours of battery life on the go and weighs 2.4 pounds. Designed especially for mobile devices, the 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 processor uses an innovative design structure and hafnium-infused circuitry, which reduces electrical current leakage in transistors to conserve energy.
You'll be able to easily video chat wherever you roam thanks to the Crystal Eye webcam integrated into the LCD's bezel, delivering smooth video streaming and high quality images even in low-light situations. And the built-in digital microphone delivers superior voice quality keeping background noise level low and minimizing echoes.
Packed with roomy 160 GB hard drive--great for storing a mobile digital audio and video library--this Aspire One also features 1 GB of installed RAM (1.5 GB maximum), 54g Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g), multi-format memory card reader, multiple USB ports, and built-in email, web browsing, and digital media applications. In addition to this Sapphire Blue model, the AOD250 also comes in Diamond Black, Ruby Red, and Seashell White.
It comes preinstalled with the Microsoft Windows XP Home operating system, which offers more experienced users an enhanced and innovative experience that incorporates Windows Live features like Windows Live Messenger for instant messaging and Windows Live Mail for consolidated email accounts on your desktop.

Key Features
10.1-inch LED-backlit CrystalBrite screen (1024 x 600 resolution) (Learn more)
1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 processor combines performance and efficiency to explore the Internet and stay connected while mobile (Learn more)
160 GB hard drive (5400 RPM
1 GB DDR2 RAM (533 MHz; maximum capacity)
Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 video processor
Crystal Eye webcam supports Acer PrimaLite technology, which consists of a premium sensor, firmware and lenses to provide superior video performance under low-light conditions. A built-in digital microphone helps keep background noise levels low and minimizes echoes.
84-key keyboard, 89 percent of standard-size with 12 function keys, WLAN switch
54g Wi-Fi (802.11b/g)
Fast Ethernet (10/100)
VGA video output
Stereo speakers and optimized Dolby Headphone technology for 5.1-channel audio
Microsoft Window XP Home operating system
Up to 3 hours of battery life with included 3-cell battery
Dimensions: 10.2 x 7.2 x 1 inches (WxDxH)
Weight: 2.4 pounds
Warranty: One-year parts and labor limited warranty with concurrent International Traveler's Warranty

Networking, Connectivity & Expansion This Acer Aspire One notebook has an integrated 54g wireless LAN (Acer InviLink) that's compatible with 802.11b and 802.11g networks and offers Acer's SignalUp technology for enhanced antenna efficiency. It also provides Fast (10/100) Ethernet networking.
3 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals--from digital cameras to MP3 players
Analog video output: 1 VGA
Multi-in-1 memory card reader compatible with MultiMediaCard, Reduced-Size MultiMediaCard, Secure Digital, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO or xD-Picture Card
1 headphone jack, 1 microphone jack

What's in the box This package contains the Acer Aspire One AOD250-1165 notebook PC, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, and operating instructions
It also comes with the following software: McAfee Internet Security Suite (trial version); Google Desktop; Carbonite Online Backup; Customized Windows Internet Explorer 7.0; Acer GridVista
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10.1-Inch CrystalBrite Screen The 10.1-inch screen has a WSVGA resolution (1024 x 600) and support for up a 262K color depth. Video is powered by the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950, which uses shared video memory with the main memory. Acer's CrystalBrite display technology guarantees the best possible visual experience by preventing the diffusion of surrounding light and internal ray. Compared to normal TFT LCDs, Acer CrystalBrite technology is able to read color coordinates more accurately, thus minimizing distortion and creating high-fidelity colors in all environments.

Power-Sipping Processor The Intel Atom processor uses a brand new design structure that packs in 47 million transistors into a single chip sized at just 22mm (0.87 inches), and it uses just 2.5 watts of power--less than 1/10 of the 35 watts used by an Intel Core 2 Duo processor--for excellent battery management. This 1.6 GHz Atom N270 processor also includes a power-optimized front side bus of 533 MHz for faster data transfer on demanding mobile applications and a 512 KB L2 cache (which temporarily stores data).

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Logitech Quickcam Fusion (961403-0403) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I use two other Logitech webcams and have been very pleased with them. My attraction to the Fusion stememd from its size, the 1.3 megapixel sensor, promised improvement in low light situations and the the promised echo-cancelling audio.
On the whole the Fusion is a competent perormer. The form factor is a pleasure. It is very compact and looks good. Best of all is the mounting which molds very nicely to support the webcam on a laptop or can be set up to sit atop a monitor or other flat surface. Overall a very well thought out design.
The camera mounted microphone coupled with Logitech's echo-cancelling technology works extremely well. If you've used other webcams, you know that the audio from your speakers is picked up by the webcam mike and repeated to whoever you're chatting with . . . which can drive everyone crazy. The Fusion microphone appears somewhat directional. Since the echo-cancelling feature works only with another Fusion user, my testing was limited to movies recorded on my computer. I was truly surprised by the quality of the audio.
Image quality gets a mixed review. Overall it is good, but the Fusion uses a fixed focus lens. The near-focus point on my Fusion appears to be set just a few inches further back than where I normally sit while at my laptop. Thus the pattern on my shirt is in sharp focus, but my face being closer to the webcam is not. I have found nothing in the manual, online or Logitech site help files addressing this issue. I am attempting to contact Logitech in hopes that my webcam is simply a bit off and needs to be replaced. If this is not the case, then reluctantly the Fusion may be returned. With all the attention given to ergonomics, it is curious that Logitech provides no manual focus and demands that you sit at an uncomfortable distance from the monitor. I have long arms, but would have to sit still further away than I do to keep my face in focus with the Fusion. This is, in my opinion, a serious design defect.
Logitech's customer support is also a drawback: they really don't seem to have anything than a relatively few self-serving FAQs and a user forum that is poorly organized. I am not lowering my rating of the product because of this since I have owned many Logitech products without ever requiring support. But the novice user might find this lack of support to be a major negative. On the other hand, I don't know if any other webcam manufacturer provides better support. Since webcams are essentially commodity items, I kind of doubt it.
Logitech claims the lens is wide coverage and they aren't kidding. For those of you with the need to include more than just yourself in the picture, it's a great feature. You, the significant other and all the kiddies can fit into the frame and wave at the grandparents. The downside is that if you are the grandparent and want to fill the frame with just you, you have to rely on an inconvenient digital zoom function. I've found no keyboard shortcuts for the zoom function. You have to open a separate window and then click for each level of zoom you want. I needed at least three or four to provide just a shot of my head and shoulders. That's a lot of clicking and since it is a digital rather than an optical zoom, you lose some image quality at each step. The image is still good, but I wonder if Logitech didn't go a bit too far in providing wider coverage.
The Logitech software is version 9. Functionally it provides a simpler interface than earlier versions. They've added avatars and what they call digital effects, such as overlaying a crown on your head. It's interesting for perhaps 2 seconds. Kids, however, might like it.
Overall, the Logitech Quickcam Fusion is a solid product. Were it not for the focus issue (which I hope can be successfully resolved), I'd give it 5 stars rather than 4.
Jerry
NOTE: I've spoken with Logitech tech support (pleasant, informed folks who answer promptly) and confirmed that the Fusion lens is fixed-focus. I also ran some tests of my own and found that I was mistaken. The critical focus is not set improperly. Rather the image is soft throughout. The beneefits of the higher-resolution (1.3 Megapixel) sensor are negated by the wider angle of view of the lens. My final conclusion is that the Fusion is best suited for people who often webcam with two or more people in the field-of-view (i.e., couples with kids chatting with grandparents, etc.) Individuals may find that the wider field-of-view leaves them appearing "too small" in the image. Using the digital zoom will increase the size of the person in the image, but will amplify the generally soft focus.
Overall, given the improvements in the audio and low-light capabilities and the smaller form factor, I think the Fusion is a keeper. But solo webcammers may find that the other Logitech webcams without the wide angle lens and higher resolution sensor may do the job better at a lower cost.

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Creative Live Optia Webcam (73VF027000000) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)First off, anyone tech-savvy these days knows what end-users go through when it comes to drivers -- especially with web cameras. There have been hundreds of problems, if not in the thousands, with webcam drivers from all sorts-of vendors. Driver incompatibilities and bizarro problems (such as Logitech's DLL injection problem, which causes X Windows under Cygwin to not function -- a flaw later admitted by Logitech and fixed) are a nightmare.
As one of these users, and as a software developer who's familiar with USB classes and protocols, I was delighted to hear that Creative had come out with a camera that was driverless. The instant the camera was released in the United States, I picked one up.
The camera does in fact live up to it's driverless name -- you simply plug it into your PC, and Windows XP will find it as a standard USB Video Camera. You do not need to install control applications or any drivers -- it just *works*. By default, you can control exposure (automatic or manual), brightness, contrast, hue, gamma, sharpness, saturation, and a couple other features. Focus on this camera is done manually, via an adjustable ring around the lens.
If you want more control over the camera, such as face tracking and some additional features, you can install Creative's Optia Driver program from their website (it's about 1MByte in size). This makes the camera show up under Windows XP as a "Creative Live! Optia", and provides a pretty decent control application (not memory or CPU hungry, either). It sounds like a fantastic camera, does it not?
Yeah... until you actually examine the image quality. Visually, this camera is *awful*. I am surprised it's using a CMOS image sensor, because the camera looks horrible. Under absurdly bright lighting conditions, you get a semi-decent picture, with a lot of mosaic and anti-aliasing around the edges of objects. Adjusting the sharpness slider does not help. Under low light conditions (or even normal bedroom lighting), you get a washed-out look to your picture, and all focused objects appear almost pitch black. CMOS isn't great, but it's normally not this bad either.
Aside from the visual atrocity this camera results in, another complaint I have is with the hinge-based clip which allows the camera to sit on top of any monitor (CRT, LCD, or laptop). The hinge spring is too strong, thus if sitting on top of an LCD with a curved back (which is completly normal), the camera literally falls forward due to the strength of the spring in the clip, and falls off your monitor. I can't imagine this working on a CRT or an LCD, but a laptop it would work perfect on.
Finally, back on the positive train, the camera has fantastic swivel capabilities (even left to right), and the base of the clip has rubber on it so that it stays stable if you place it on a desk or a flat surface.
In general this camera gets 4 out of 5 stars for being driverless and living up to that claim, but gets 1 out of 5 stars for its awful visual quality. If you're looking for a camera that gives you great imaging, avoid the Optia. If you want something driverless that should work w/out any fuss (or use FreeBSD, Linux, etc.) and are willing to sacrifice quality, get this camera ASAP.

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Experience true plug and play with Live! Cam Optia! Hook it up to a USB port and start video chatting right away! No drivers are needed for this USB Video Class1 webcam. Built for perfection, Live! Cam Optia uses Precision Lens to give you the best picture quality. Its stylish and ergonomic design means you can use it confidently anywhere on any laptop computer display or LCD monitor.

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iHome MyLife Webcam (White) Review

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(More customer reviews)I BOUGHT THIS WEB CAM ABOUT 1 MONTH AGO. I LIKE IT I TOOK PICTURES, I MADE VIDEOS AND THE AUDIO IS GOOD. THE ONLY THING AT THE BEGINNING IT WAS KIND OF HARD TO FIGURE OUT HOW IT WORKED. BUT NOW IT WORKS FINE.

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iHome IH-W301DW MyLife Webcam - White

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iHome MyLife Webcam (Black/Red) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This webcam is fine but the cord was not long enough to reach my usb hookup. The picture is fine and the sound is also O.K.

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The MyLife webcam allows you to easily share photos & videos or video conference with loved ones over the internet.The CrazyTalk Cam Suite includes creative and fun software including Avatar Live for online chatting with real-time lip synching effects, Magic Mirror that makes you look thinner, younger and funnier and Avatar Creator for creating your own animated talking characters with special effects. The included software also enhances the webcam's resolution allowing you to capture crystal clear photos at up to 1.3 megapixel resolution. Motion tracking technology and 4x digital zoom enables you to video chat freely. The webcam works great with Windows Live Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger and Skype.

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iHome MyLife My Home Your Home Webcam Kit (Black) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I installed this webcam on my laptop and sent the other to my girlfriend. She tried to install with the latest drivers and her computer kept crashing. Eventually she installed it on an older computer to get it working. Now, when the planets align just right we're able to use them, and only for a short time before it decides to crap out. I would avoid this webcam.

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iHome IH-W305DB MyLife My Home Your Home Webcam Kit - Black

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iHome MyLife Notebook Webcam (Silver) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This product doesn't even come close to it's specs. Rated at 30 FPS at 640x480. Don't move if you sit in front of it. Poor quality slow FPS everthing blurry. Extremely disapointed with this unit. It was the size and price I wanted to pay. Guess what... it's going back. Will try something else.

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The MyLife notebook webcam allows you to easily share photos and videos with friends and family over the internet on the go. A built-in microphone adds crisp sounds to your movies and video chats.The included software enables the webcam's 3x digital zoom and motion tracking technology so you can video chat freely. ArcSoft MediaImpression software is a great tool to manage your media with a lot of fun and exciting ways to create and share projects featuring your photos, videos and music files. The webcam works great with Windows Live Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger and Skype.

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Logitech EasyCall Desktop Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I am so impressed with the quality of each of the components in this desktop. The mouse is really top notch: precise and very comfortable in the hand. The keyboard has smooth buttons and is a pleasure to type on. The speakerphone itself is heavy and high quality. My one big gripe with this system was that it came with AIM and Yahoo messenger support only, and I am a Skype user. Most of the buttons for managing phone calls (initiate a call, end a call, online status, dial) were just not available to use with Skype, you can only launch Skype, but then you have to do everything else on screen with the mouse, which kind of defeats the whole reason why I invested in this desktop.
For whatever licensing reasons, these sets are only sold in Europe with Skype support. The good news is that there is an EASY hack to get native Skype support with this desktop system in the USA, and the solution is as follows (thanks to mstarmetro.net):
1. Make sure to go to the logitech site and download the latest release of the setpoint drivers for the desktop ending in "*br.exe" (Use the UK site to get a European download)
2. Run regedit (Program Files / Run... / Regedit ) then find / create a dword called VOIP in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Logitech\SetPoint
3. Set it to 1 and re-install SetPoint BR and Skype support will be included.
I LOVE this set now that it works seamlessly with Skype.

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Now it's easier than ever to stay connected with friends, family, and colleagues around the world through Internet calling. Both keyboard and speakerphone provide one-touch controls for easy call management, and the full-featured speakerphone and headset make hands-free conversations a snap. You'll also enjoy superb comfort, an uncluttered workspace, and the superior performance provided by the cordless laser mouse. The cordless laser mouse with comfort-enhancing rubber grips makes working with documents and digital photos ultra precise.

Features

Reliable, hassle-free wireless technology Logitech wireless technology establishes a fast, reliable connection with your computer and helps eliminate cable-clutter from your desk. With Logitech SecureConnect technology, your keyboard and mouse have been pre-connected to the receiver to ensure hassle-free set-up and secure keyboard encryption right out of the box.

Programmable hot-keys Convenient hot-keys instantly open applications, games, folders, or web pages. To customize, simply hold down the deisred hot-key with a long press.

Premium comfort Integrated soft-touch palm rest provides extra support and can help reduce fatigue.

Extended battery life Sophisticated power management technologies mean that batteries can last up to 15 months for the keyboard and up to 6 months for the mouse. The convenient LED battery indicators flash when batteries need changing. The mouse features an "On/Off" switch to extend battery life even further.

Superior typing experience The straight keyboard layout with Zero Degree Tilt offers the most natural typing experience, and the sculpted design of the mouse fits comfortably in your hand. Large, full-travel keys maximize comfort, respond instantly and are extremely quiet.

System Requirements

PC with Windows XP, or Windows Vista
1 available USB port
CD-ROM drive
Pentium III 1 GHz or higher (recommended for best calling experience)
Broadband Internet connection (recommended for best sound quality)

Package Contents

Logitech EasyCall Cordless Keyboard
Logitech MX 600 Laser Cordless Mouse
Logitech EasyCall Speakerphone
Logitech Internet Chat Headset
SecureConnect receiver (integrated into speakerphone)
4 AA alkaline batteries
CD with software, comfort guidelines, and help center
Quick-start guide
Full product support
5-Year limited harware warranty

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