Full Review

The Sony DSC-TX7 is a stylish compact camera that was announced in CES, January 2010. It comes with some enhanced features and it is the first compact camera from Sony’s stable that supports full HD (1080p at 50fps interlaced) video recording.

Features & Design
The TX7 is a 10.2MP compact camera that has an Exmor R’ CMOS sensor that is only found in Sony’s dSLR cameras.  It employs a BIONZ imaging processor and Carl Zeiss lens that has 4x optical zoom (25mm-100mm in 35mm equivalent range).  The camera features Optical SteadyShot image stabilization, face detection (up to 8 faces), 9-point autofocus system and three metering modes (Multi-Pattern / Centre Weighted / Spot). Its ISO settings start from 125 to 3200 including Auto.

The camera has a handful of shooting modes that let us capture good looking images. We particularly found modes like Handheld Twilight, Anti-Motion Blur and Backlight Correction HDR very useful. In these modes, the camera took multiple images and combined them to get the most optimized image for the selected mode.

The camera has a 10fps burst mode in full resolution which is impressive for a compact camera. It also captures full HD (1080i) movie at 50 fps, and it is the first full HD capable compact camera we've seen. Lower resolutions like 1440x1080 are recorded in MPEG-4 format though. Fortunately, it supports SD/SDHC cards apart from the Sony’s own Memory Stick Pro Duo and it has 45MB of onboard memory. The Sony TX7 came with a dock to connect the camera to a PC or a display via its onboard HDMI and S-Video out. The battery is rated at 230 shots only which is average by today’s standards.

The compact TX7 has a classy and slim design. The look is clean and the brushed metal design with a glossy finish makes the camera look very classy.  The body is slim and pocketable but weighs in a little heavy at 149g. The glossy brushed aluminium body also ensures lasting build quality. The camera has a non-protruding lens protected by a slide-down lens cover on the front like the older Sony TX1.

The autofocus was quick and very accurate. Even at the tele end (4x optical), the focusing happened without any stutter.

This sliding covers also acts as a power on/off switch. The back is taken up by a 3.5-inch TFT display with 921k colors support but this leaves no room for a thumb-rest. Despite the Sony’s simple touchscreen interface, we still prefer those dials and buttons when it comes to accessing camera controls. There are only a few buttons on the device on the top- a power on/off button, shutter release, playback button, dedicated video button and the zoom lever. The touchscreen is bright and responsive. It’s simple and customizable interface design is very easy to use and does not require much time to get used to. Images captured are nicely categorized and they can be edited as well.

Performance
The Sony TX7 had a start-up time clocking 1.4 seconds which is reasonable. The shutter lag with pre-focusing took 0.1 seconds while without pre-focusing it measured anything between 0.3 to 0.5 seconds which is also decent. It also managed to capture 10 frames per second in burst mode which is excellent for a compact camera.
The autofocus was quick and very accurate. Even at the tele end (4x optical), the focusing happened without any stutter. The inclusion of touch focus gave the Sony an advantage over non-touchscreen cameras as it gave us the freedom to focus where we wanted in the frame through mere touch. The face recognition worked well and the camera also let us change the priority faces among the eight detected faces by just touching them on screen.
The wide-angle end of the Sony TX7 is a bit soft on the corners but the centre showed good sharpness. Chromatic aberration was noticed on lightly contrasted areas.  Barrel distortion at wide angle was perceptible only when viewing at full resolution but it was still more visible than what we saw with the Panasonic ZR1 which also has a 25mm wide angle lens. The camera let us capture subjects as close as 1 centimetre which is amazing and our  macro shots came out well with slight noticeable chromatic aberration.  Overall, the optical lens performance is above average.

Colors were accurate and there was no oversaturation. Contrast was great and pictures came out with vivid colors and acceptable details. However, when viewing the images in full resolution on a 22-inch LCD monitor, the sharpness and details could have been better but still better than what the Sony WX1 and TX1 could offer.  The Backlight Correction HDR mode on the other hand let us capture good amount of shadow details. From ISO 125 till ISO 200, the noise presence was minimal but at ISO 400, the noise reduction process took its course and details degraded. Beyond this point, the noise presence and loss in details spoiled the overall picture quality.  However, the Handheld Twilight mode let us capture very impressive night shots with great details and very acceptable noise levels. Overall, the image quality is good but not great.

The full HD videos captured at 50 fps (interlaced) were very good by digital compact camera standards. Compared to the 720p HD videos captured with Sony’s earlier Cybershots like the TX1 and WX1, or even the Panasonic ZR1, the Sony TX7’s videos had better details and better frame rates. Colors looked vibrant but purple fringes were also visible in highly contrasted areas. The optical zoom also worked smoothly in video recording mode and there was no unwanted mechanical zooming noise. All in all, the Sony recorded decent full HD videos.

At Rs. 22,990, the Sony might be at the top of the compact camera price range but its excellent features, stylish design coupled with its decent full HD video quality make it a top-notch digital compact camera.

Bottom Line

A stylish compact camera, the Sony CyberShot DSC-TX7 captures very good quality images and offers features that actually are dependable and useful. Its full HD video recording feature is one of the many worth-mentioning features.

Full Review

Panasonic’s Lumix range of digital cameras is well known for their Leica lens that usually help in capturing above average image quality. The Panasonic ZR1 is a compact zoom digital camera that is powerful enough to let you capture decent looking photos using its fast lens and quick auto-focusing system.

Features and Design

The ZR1 is a 12MP compact zoom camera that has an 8x optical image stabilized lens with 25mm - 200mm equivalent focal length in 35mm film lens. Panasonic managed to pack in an 8x optical image stabilization lens (.3mm thick) in its 5.4 x 9.7 x 2.6 cm body which is quite admirable. And the body weighs just 138g.  Further, the zoom can still be extended up to 15.6x when setting the camera resolution at 3MP. Panasonic updated the optical image stabilization system from mega O.I.S to Power O.I.S which is claimed to be two times as effective as the former.  Its 25mm wide angle lens will also let you capture more subjects in the frame and gives you more control over the depth of field. The ZR1 uses a Venus Engine Processor for ultra high speed auto-focusing, much improved face detection (up to 11 faces). The camera can remember up to six commonly shot faces and give importance to those registered faces in terms of focusing and exposure. There is no manual mode but intelligent Auto mode will suffice for most shooting situations.  Apart from this, there are 29 scene modes including pinhole, film grain and travel modes. The ZR1 also captures 720p HD video at 30fps in MJPEG format and thankfully, zooming is also possible while recording video.

The ZR1 is an average looking camera but has solid build. There are four color options (silver, black, blue and red); we reviewed the silver color. The buttons and other components also offered good build quality that won't spoil easily. The back has a 2.7-inch auto power LCD supporting 230K colors and it’s crisp and colorful with good visibility outdoors.  Right next to it, a four-way directional pad and a switching mode for playback and capture are located. There is also an E-zoom which is a shortcut for extending the lens to its tele end and to the maximum digital zoom at the speed much faster than what the manual zoom can achieve. This is useful for quickly capturing distant subjects. The top has mode dial, shutter button with the zoom ring and a power switch. The buttons arrangement is nothing different from other Lumix cameras and is straightforward and easy to get along. Even first time users will feel right at home. A port for HDMI is absent which is a bit disappointing and this leaves us only with miniUSB and HD AV out. At the bottom, there is a battery compartment with the SD/SDHC slot inside which is sealed with a cover.

Performance

The Lumix ZR1 started up in approximately 1.1 seconds and the time taken from switching the camera on to its first shot was around 1.5 seconds which is very decent for compact cameras. Shutter-lag with pre-focus usually falls in between 0.1 to 0.2 second which is also very decent.  Focusing in most lighting situation was quick and accurate. The face recognition worked well and the registered faces were recognized quickly among the group. Face tracking option also made focusing moving subjects an effortless task. However, the burst mode which captures 2 frames per second is below average as cameras like Sony WX1 can capture 10fps in full resolution.
The LEICA DC VARIO-ELMAR Lens showed slight distortion or pincushion effect at the extreme end but it is less noticeable than what I saw on the Sony DSC W580 ( 24mm wide angle lens). Chromatic aberration was barely noticeable and edge to edge sharpness is decent with slight softness on the corners. The Power O.I.S performed admirably during handheld shooting in low lights or while the lens is extended at the tele end.
Images captured showed accurate colors and they were well exposed. The auto white balance worked well except for under fluorescent lighting but the manual option did the trick here. Macro shots were excellent too, and the camera enabled us to get as close as 3cm to the subjects. Noise was also not an issue till ISO 400 whereas many compact digicams already suffered from enormous noise at this level. Overall, its imaging capability is clearly above average compact digicam category.
Video recording was fun using the ZR1. Focusing was quick and the HD videos captured had good frame rates and nice color saturation. Compared to what we captured with the Sony TX1 or WX1, the videos captured with the ZR1 showed warmer colors but slightly more noise. The Sony videos were sharper but a bit overexposed. The optical zoom was impressively smooth and silent while recording video which is a plus.
The Panasonic ZR1 is a very good compact zoom camera with impressive performance. However, its heavy price tag of Rs 21,990 is weighty enough to make us to forget the 8x optical zoom and go for a cheaper but more capable compact shooter like the Sony DC -WX1.

Bottom Line

A capable compact camera with a long zoom and wide angle lens that performed well in various shooting conditions but overpriced.

Full Review

Markets for multi-channel speakers for PC have not seen many updates for a while. Recently, we got the Creative Inspire T6160, a 5.1 speaker for PC and Creative has promised to bring realistic surround sound to your desktop with this set of affordable speakers.

Design & Features
The Inspire T6160 is a simple looking 5.1 channel PC speaker system with a clean design. The system puts out 50 watts of RMS power- 6 watts from each satellite and 20 watts from the sub. It has a frequency response of 40Hz to 20kHz which is reasonable for a budget system.

Imaging and soundstage was good though at moderate volume, however, it fails to deliver distinctive sound across the whole frequency range.

Each satellite is powered by a single driver which is incorporated with Creative Image Focusing Plate (IFP) design for better imaging and focusing. The satellites are magnetically shielded and they sport similar shape and design. They are lightweight but their plastic enclosures also make the build quality feel a bit shabby. Unfortunately, there is no wall-mount option which makes placing the two rear satellites difficult. Each satellite’s front has a thin and delicate grill cloth fabric which makes their durability questionable - one of the satellite’s grill was already torn when we unpacked it for review.
The subwoofer is well-built and weighs 3.5 kg. It has a down-firing woofer and a flared port tube design. The bass level control and connectivity ports for satellites are at the back. A wired remote control and the audio-in cable are also fixed at the back. This is inconvenient as it restricts sub placement due to the limited cable length.  The wired remote has one green LED and a volume cum power on/off switch. There is no aux-in, no headphones-out and no option to up-mix the stereo audio to five channels as in the Logitech X-540 which falls in the same price range. So there are more grumbles than grins on the features and design front.

Sound Quality
As usual, I started the audition with Creative’s own Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic with our reference FLAC files queuing up on the Foobar2k player. In music playback, the Inspire T6160 delivered smooth highs and sufficient amount of upper mids. Cymbals and high hats sounded bright and but still could have been more articulate. This was audible while playing tracks like Jack Johnson’s Horizon Has Been Defeated or Radiohead’s High and Dry. Vocals and guitars could have sounded richer with more depth as the lower mid range was lacking. The Logitech X-540 which falls in the same price range performed much better in this regard. But for higher frequencies, the Inspire T6160 has bright and sparkling treble.  The Inspire T6160 plays mid-bass well but is not able to reach the deep low–ends. The bass is punchy, warm and has good timing which is good for a budget system. But once again, the Logitech X-540’s subwoofer has much more depth, detail and impact. The bass on the Inspire T6160 is just enough for playing music at moderate volume but towards the louder volume they tend to become boomy. In short, don’t expect an earth-shattering bass from this budget system.
Be it a classical piece, smooth jazz, hip hop or heavy metal, one thing is clear, the Inspire T6160 has bright highs but lacks details, articulacy and depth for the rest of the frequencies. Besides, they sound best at moderate volume as going beyond 80 percent of the maximum volume caused the sound to become badly distorted and painful to the ears.
In gaming and movies, the Inspire T6160 failed to deliver. Movie and game dialogues were not as sharp and crisp as we heard on the Logitech X540. Further, the subwoofer failed to cope up with most of the actions scenes incorporating huge explosions and in one scene the roaring of a plane engine made the sub literally shake. Imaging and soundstage was good though at moderate volume. However, it fails to deliver distinctive sound across the whole frequency range. For immersive gaming and explosive bass experience, the Logitech X-540 is a much better bet.

Bottom Line

The Creative Inspire T6160 is an affordable set of 5.1 speakers but its mediocre sound will make you look out for better alternatives.

Full Review

There's a lot to be said for software that just works. That isn't to say that Adobe Reader doesn't work, but it has a lot of baggage attached to it that Foxit Reader doesn't. As a result, Foxit is significantly smaller and faster.

The actual functionality is pretty straight-forward. It reads PDFs, and it comes with a PDF printer so you can actually create PDFs for free, too. It supports a few optional features like filling out PDF forms, but for the most part it sticks to one task and does it really well. You have a choice between a modern ribbon user interface or a classic menu-and-toolbar interface. However, before you download, there are two important provisions.

First, Foxit Reader 6.0 will install adware into your browser by default, if you let it. It's opt-out, so as long as you uncheck the box during the installer, you can avoid it easily. When I installed it, I double-checked to confirm that the installer honored my opt-out preference.

Second, if you happen to actually need to open PDFs that contain Adobe Flash animations or 3D CAD drawings, you're still going to need Adobe Reader around for that. Fortunately, the vast majority of PDFs people use are pretty boring: user manuals, newsletters, maybe the odd Dungeons and Dragons character sheet. Foxit Reader is going to do the job perfectly for any of those.

If you've had bad experiences with Adobe Reader and want to try an alternative, Foxit Reader comes highly recommended.

Note: The Download button takes you to the vendor's site, where you can download the latest version of the software.

Full Review

I never thought a truck-driving simulator could be fun, but Euro Truck Simulator 2 proved me wrong. There is something soothing in watching the world go by from the high and mighty cockpit of a Volvo FH16 Globetrotter XL. If you are used to more traditional racing games, getting used to the way trucks handle in the game may take some time. They really do feel like trucks: Slow to accelerate, jarringly fast to brake thanks to air brakes, ungainly to maneuver, and immensely powerful.

In this decidedly niche title, you find yourself in the driver's seat of a full-trailer truck, hauling freight across Europe. Vehicle interiors are painstakingly rendered, and countryside views are breathtaking. The climate and time of day change, so you could find yourself enjoying a balmy spring day in one ride, and trying to navigate under torrential rain in the middle of the night in the next.

You start the game as a freelance driver for hire, taking on trucking jobs across the continent. From one job to the next, you gain experience, unlock abilities, and set aside a nice nest egg you can eventually use to buy a truck of your own and start a trucking company.

Euro truck simulator lets you customize the controls and decide just how much of the driving you want the game to do, and how much you want to handle on your own. Manually switching gears on a truck hauling 20 tons of ore while navigating through a massive open pit mine is no mean feat...which is why it's nice to have the game take care of that detail for you, at least as you're getting started.

Euro Truck Simulator 2's attention to detail, convincing physics, and striking visuals transcend its niche status. This is a game so well-made, it can make you a fan of the category just by virtue of its sheer quality alone. The demo's enough fun that you'll find yourself speeding to buy the full game for $40.

Note: The Download button takes you to the vendor's site, where you can download the latest version of the software.