Toshiba Satellite A105

Manufacturer: Toshiba
Model: Toshiba Satellite A105-S4384 Intel Centrino Core2 Duo
Screen Size: 15.4 inches
Weight: 6 lbs
Processor Options: Core Duo, Intel Pentium M
Graphics Options: Integrated, nVidia Go 7300 (Dedicated), nVidia Go 7600 (Dedicated)
Description:
The Satellite A105 platform offers a technology-packed affordable notebook in a compact, feature-rich design. Great for basic computing, this system includes an Intel Celeron M Processor 380, wireless LAN, and 100GB HDD. The 15.4" Diagonal Widescreen XGA Display takes the strain out of viewing spreadsheets and other data.

iPOD shuffle the new look

In five brilliant colors and just $79, the 1GB iPod shuffle lets you wear up to 240 songs1 on your sleeve. Or your lapel. Or your belt. Clip on iPod shuffle and wear it as a badge of musical devotion.
One size fits all
You know what they say about good things and small packages. But when something 1.62 inches long and about half an ounce holds up to 240 songs, “good” and “small” don’t cut it. Especially when you can listen to your music for up to 12 continuous hours.2 In fact, iPod shuffle just may be the biggest thing in small.

Ready to wear
Clip it to your coin pocket. Clip it to your bag. No matter where you clip your skip-free iPod shuffle, you’ll have instant access to music. In silver, pink, green, blue, and orange, iPod shuffle goes with everything. Put it on, turn it up, and turn some heads.
Remix and match
The first step to wearing 240 songs is downloading iTunes — free. Then drop your iPod shuffle into the included dock, plug the dock into your Mac or PC’s USB port, and sync in minutes. Got more than 240 songs? No problem. Let iTunes autofill your iPod shuffle and get a new musical experience every time.
1GB = 1 billion bytes; actual formatted capacity less. Song capacity is based on 4 minutes per song and 128-Kbps AAC encoding; actual capacity varies by content.
Rechargeable batteries have a limited number of charge cycles and may eventually need to be replaced. Battery life and number of charge cycles vary by use and settings. See http://www.apple.com/batteries/ for more information.

Squircle SD Card MP3 Player

Is it a square, is it a circle? No - it’s a Squircle!

Spiralling onto the MP3 market in a flurry of excitement, the Squircle is a fun, funky music making machine. The player’s rubberised shell and soft touch buttons make it practically indestructible and since the Squircle doesn’t have an LCD screen, it’s amazingly easy to use.

What’s even better is that this little bundle of joy features a built in Secure Digital/MMC memory expansion slot, so if you’ve got any memory cards lying around from your digital camera or PDA, chances are the Squircle will gobble them up! The Squircle’s internal memory-less so you’ll need to either buy or use an SD or MMC memory card you have lying around with the player.

The Squircle is the perfect multi-relation Christmas/birthday gift – one relative can give you the Squircle MP3 player and another relative can give you an SD memory card to make your Squircle happy!

More practically, the Squircle doubles as a SD/MMC card reader, so you can use for transferring data like digital camera photos off an SD card. Since this perky little player appears as a Removable Disk Drive when connected to your PC, it doesn’t require any drivers, making it the perfect data storage device for transferring files between home and uni or work and home.

The Squircle is a limitless storage MP3 player – if you were particularly crazy, you could get 100 x 1GB Secure Digital cards to make the Squircle a 100GB MP3 player! (It would involve changing cards a bit!) We’d recommend starting with a 512MB or 1GB SD card (available for purchase below at discounted prices).

Sound quality is pretty darn good, especially for an MP3 player which is less than £15. To summarise, the Squircle is an MP3 player, a card reader, a data storage device and a USB data device all rolled into one!

Pentax Optio S7

If you are looking for a very compact and lightweight digital camera then the Pentax Optio S7 could fit the bill. It weighs 100g without the battery and memory card. This makes it one of the lightest digital cameras on the market. Cameras less than 20mm wide are also few and far between and the Optio S7 just sneaks in under that size.I would say the other key attraction is ease of use. The camera has a special green mode. If you use this it cuts down the options to an absolute minimum making it very hard for anyone to become confused by the camera. The camera comes with a rechargeable battery and a charger. Pentax suggests you should be able to taken something like 180 photos between charges. Other companies are now claiming that their cameras can take up to 460 shots in between charges, so perhaps the Optio S7 is on the low side in this area. Even so this is a big improvement on earlier models. As is the current trend memory is built into the camera itself. Therefore a memory card is not supplied in the box. This camera has 23mb of storage built in. That is enough to get you started, but you will soon run out of memory. The camera is compatible with SD and also the SDHC memory cards. The SDHC cards are high capacity memory cards. Headline features are seven megapixels and a three times optical zoom lens. At the time of writing that is about standard for a pocket sized digital camera. On the back is a 2.5" LCD screen. There is no viewfinder available. In fact this camera is typical in many ways of the current batch of cameras. It is though one of the cheapest slimline cameras available. At its low price I can see many people considering the Optio S7 if they are looking for a truly compact camera and do not want to spend a fortune. This is also one of the few digital cameras where a remote control can be used. This needs to be bought separately. One area where the camera has more features than many other models is for editing photos already taken. The editing tools include being able to add colour effects to a photo, removing red eye, adjusting brightness levels and adding a short voice memo to the photo. Voice memos can be useful for adding a short burst of commentary to help you to recall where and when the photo was taken and what was happening at the time. The Optio S7 can also be used purely as a voice recorder. So there you have it. This is a very small and compact camera. It is also one of the cheapest you are likely to find for this style and design.

Casio Exilim EX-S770

The Casio Exilim EX-S770 is one of the slimmest digital cameras you will find. It measures just over 17mm wide. Therefore you will have no problem slipping the Exilim EX-S770 into a pocket. The camera is available in three colours silver, blue and red. It has seven megapixels and a 3x optical zoom lens. Amongst the contents of the box you will find a rechargeable battery and a cradle. The cradle is used for recharging the battery, connecting the camera to a television, computer and compatible printer. In terms of features I found the camera easy to use. This is a fairly standard point and shoot camera, although it does have a data function that I have not seen on other digital cameras. In order to use the data function you need to connect the camera to a computer. You can then upload documents from the computer to the Exilim EX-S770. The documents are stored as Jpeg files. Buttons and controls are kept to a minimum. This does mean that you will have to use the menu system from time to time. The menu system has a straightforward layout. It is divided into three sections. These are recording, quality and set up. Under recording you will find settings such as self timer and focusing. Within quality are more advanced features such as white balance and ISO. Under setup are items like date and time and the language the camera shows the menu in. The Exilim EX-S770 has a larger than standard LCD screen. This is 2.8" in size. Part of the screen is used to display key options from the menu. I think this adds to the ease of use of the camera. Another noteworthy feature is the quality of the screen. I found it much easier to see in bright sunlight than almost all other brands. This could be a big plus point. As with other Casio digital cameras this camera has a very comprehensive set of pre-programmed scene modes. These are used to help you take the best possible shots. Casio refers to them as Best Shot settings. Typical Best Shot modes are portrait, landscape and night scene. By selecting a scene mode the camera will recognise the type of photo you are about to take. It will then use what it considers to be the optimum settings for the photograph. Movie mode is also quite advanced. You can take a still photo while a movie is being recorded without switching out of movie mode. Beware there is a short break in recording the movie while the photo is being captured. There is also a special movie mode where the camera is continuously shooting a movie. When you press the shutter button to start recording the camera will retain just the last five seconds of the footage it has recorded. The idea behind this is that if an event is about to start, but you are not sure exactly when the camera can be recording ready so that you don't miss the very start.

Canon Powershot A710 IS

The Canon Powershot A710 IS offers something a bit different to most digital cameras. This is because it has a 6x optical zoom lens. This is twice as long as the standard 3x optical zoom lens, but falls short of the longer 10 and 12x cameras. One advantage this camera has over the true super zoom cameras is that its body shape remains compact. Although it is on the large side for slipping into a pocket it is still much smaller than a typical super zoom camera. Personally I think this type of camera is better suited to people with larger hands than some of the small, pocket sized models. This is because the larger size makes it easier to take a firm hold of the camera. To help you further there is also a grip on the front of the camera. Another attraction of the Powershot A710 IS is that Canon have built image stabilisation into the camera. This becomes increasingly useful in lowlight situations. This is because as the light gets lower the camera tends to need the shutter open for longer to let enough light in to make a correctly exposed photo. This means that if you are hand holding the camera it is so much harder to keep the camera steady for the extra length of time the camera takes to complete the picture. As with other models in the Powershot range the A710 IS has a number of manual exposure controls. These are fully manual, aperture priority and shutter priority. It can take extra time to get used to using these features, but they can have a major impact on the way a photograph will look and in the long term time spent getting to grips with these features is time well spent. If all you are after is a more simple point and shoot camera, but you like the idea of the longer zoom lens then this camera can be used in fully automatic mode, just like a standard point and shoot model. Two AA batteries are needed to run the camera. Although Canon cameras are fairly economical in their use of batteries I would still suggest considering some rechargeable batteries to go with the camera. Look out for batteries with a mAh rating of around 2300 and above. This type of rating means that you will be able to take far more photos between charges than with batteries with a lower rating. A 16mb SD card is supplied with the Powershot A710 IS. As with a lot of digital cameras this is a bit mean any you will not be able to take many photos before the card is full. Therefore you will need to factor a higher capacity memory card into your budget. As well as the standard SD cards the camera is also compatible with SDHC cards. These are simply high capacity SD cards. If you would like to increase the capability of the lens these are compatible converter lenses available. You can buy two types of converter lens. The first type increases the telephoto capacity of the lens. The second turns the lens into a wide angle lens. Also available separately are an underwater case and a flash unit.

Canon Powershot A640

Digital cameras like the Canon Powershot A640 are few and far between. In many ways this camera is like a cut down version of a digital SLR. It is also much cheaper. Compact digital cameras with manual exposure controls are becoming less and less common. As the Powershot A640 has these it does offer something different to the majority of cameras in the market.Although this camera is much smaller than a typical SLR you will notice some similarities in terms of design and style. It has a grip on the front of the camera. This is very useful for getting a good grip on the camera, helping you to hold it still when you are taking a shot. Headline features are 10 megapixels and a slightly longer than standard 4x optical zoom lens. Canon have built in a feature called safety zoom. This increases the amount of zoom available, but can only be used when you are shooting at lower resolutions. This is an area where the large number of megapixels is a big help as you can still produce printed photos from shots taken using the safety zoom. If you are prepared to spend a bit of extra money then you can further increase the capacity of the lens. This is through conversion lenses that are available for the Powershot A640. These are basically add on lenses. Both a tele converter to increase the length of the zoom and a wide angle converter to add wide angle capabilities are available from Canon. A couple of other accessories you may be interested in are a flash unit to boost the power of the flash and an underwater case. The case is waterproof to a depth of 40m. Another feature I really like is the LCD screen. This flips out and can be turned round at an angle. There are a couple of situations were this is useful. The first is if you are shooting at an awkward angle. The second is if there is bright sunlight falling onto the screen. This can make it hard to see what is showing on the screen. With this camera you can twist the screen so that it is out of the line of the sun. If you prefer to line up your shots using a viewfinder you will be please to know that an optical viewfinder is built into this camera. Again this is one of the few compact cameras that offer a viewfinder. Photographers looking for a camera that can handle close up photography will be interested to know that this camera can focus from 1cm away from a subject. That is as close as you can get. Overall I would say the Powershot A640 is ideal for someone who would like the advanced features of a digital SLR, but does not want to pay out to buy one. This camera is a fair compromise. It is also a good camera for someone to learn the basics of photography with. It may also appeal to families. This is because as well as the manual exposure controls it also has a fully automatic mode. This allows it to be used as a point and shoot mode. Therefore if one or two members of a family are looking for a more advanced camera while others would like something more straightforward then the A640 is an option worth considering.

Nikon Coolpix S9

In my view Nikon have produced a very stylish camera with the Coolpix S9. It's a slimline with a slight curve in the front. I also like the shiny finish the camera has. Size wise the camera comes in at a little over 20mm. Without batteries and memory card the Coolpix S9 weighs 115g. This makes it one of the more lightweight cameras around. The lens is integral and does not appear outside of the camera body when a picture is being taken. There is a view that this reduces the chances of the lens becoming damaged.Standard features include six megapixels and a three times optical zoom lens. In many ways there is not a great deal to say about the camera. When it comes to what Nikon have loaded inside it has all the normal features that this type of camera has. An increasingly popular feature is a one touch portrait button. This helps the camera to detect a face and focus accordingly. You will find very few buttons and dials on the camera. Even when you have to dip into the menu system you are not met by an intimidating range of features. This helps to make the camera easy to use. When you first get the camera you will find a battery and charger in the box. Nikon suggests that you should be able to take roughly 190 shots before the battery will need charging again. There are many factors that can influence the number of shots you are able to get between charges. These include shooting movies, excessive reviewing of images and using the flash on a regular basis. All of these will reduce the number of shots you are able to get per charge. There is no memory card in the box. This is because Nikon have built 24 megabytes of storage into the camera. Although this is more generous than some brands include you will still need to pick up a memory card before you can start taking photos seriously with the camera. The Coolpix S9 is compatible with SD cards. It is noticeable that this camera has come down in price quite a lot since it was first introduced into the shops. It is now one of the cheaper pocket sized digital cameras. A few features that are not found on that many other digital cameras are D lighting, time lapse movies and a best shot selector. Using D lighting brightens a picture after it has been taken. This can help to rescue photos that are underexposed and too dark. Time lapse movies work by the camera taking a photo at the end of an allotted time delay. Typical uses are to show clouds moving a cross the sky or a flower opening. The best shot selector will select what the camera considers to be the best photo from a set of photos you have taken. The selection criteria are based on points such as sharpness and brightness.

Sony DSC T10

The Sony DSC T10 is a very stylish, pocket sized digital camera. It is available in black, silver and pink. I must admit I cannot recall too many pink cameras, so if pink is a colour you have been waiting for then this camera could be the one for you.I would describe the camera as sleek and it is one of the more stylish pocket sized models. As with other Sony cameras in this range you do need to pay a premium to buy the DSC T10 and it is one of the more expensive cameras of its type. It is just over 20mm wide. That places it amongst the slimmest models available and you should have no problem slipping it into a pocket. The lens is integral and is protected by a lens cover. Sliding the lens cover down turns the camera on. This helps to accentuate the camera's design even when it is in use. Cameras like this one are pretty easy to operate. The DSC T10 has a fairly standard set of features and I have always liked the menu system that Sony use. It is just a case of running through the menu to find the option you would like to use. There is very little hidden away out of sight. Most of the key controls can be found on the back of the camera reducing the number of times you need to dive into the menu. Features such as zoom, flash macro, self timer and shooting a movie are all controlled through buttons and sliders. Although image stabilisation is becoming an increasingly common feature it has yet to become the standard on these smaller models. This is probably because greater benefits come with longer lenses. Even so it is always a useful addition and can help you to take sharper photos, especially in lowlight. Don't expect miracles though! You will find a rechargeable battery and charger in the box. Sony estimate that the DSC T10 should be good for around 250 shots before the battery needs to be recharged. Whether or not you get anywhere near that number of shots per charge depends to a degree on how you use the camera. Features like flash, photo review and movie making can all contribute to the battery running down more quickly. Another small bonus is the fact that Sony have built 56mb of memory into the camera. This compares well with other brands were you may only find 8mb of storage built in. Before you can get really serious with this camera you will still need to buy a higher capacity memory card, but at least it is enough to get you started and give the camera a test run. When you do buy a card it needs to be a Memory Stick Duo card. You will have a choice between standard and pro versions. In all likelihood you will struggle to notice a great deal of difference when it comes to the performance of the standard and pro cards. One area where the difference may be more noticeable is in the quality of any movies you record. You can also buy third party brand memory stick duo cards such as those made by Sandisk and Lexar.