Point and shoot...

I first got into photography simply to make my blog photos look nicer.  Coming from my SonyEricsson mobile phone cams, it was quite a step up when I got my Canon 400D.  Since then, most of my photos have either been using my DSLR, or my phone cam.

Last month, I decided to get my first real point & shoot camera.  The point & shoot I have is a Canon A80 which I got used and use exclusively for my underwater shots (This will change once the UW housing for my Lumix arrives...whenever that is...)

Veering away from the popular Lumix LX3, I decided to go for the ZS3/TZ7 for it's high zoom (12x, that's 25-300mm in SLR terms) capabilities.

I was never too fond of the automatic settings found on consumer cameras, but I have to say, Panasonic did good with their Intelligent Auto mode.  Unlike the bigger LX3, the ZS3 has no manual controls so you can only select iA mode or one of the many presets.  But it does a good job about 90% of the time.

And even though I do miss the manual controls, I am quite happy with how well the ZS3's iA setting performs in most conditions.  And even when the iA can't quite guess what you're taking a photo of, you can just select the right setting from the many presets that are built into the camera. (Sunset, Candlelight, Fireworks, and Underwater are just some of the many scenes to choose from)

The ZS3 can also record in 720p HD using the AVCHD Lite which basically means you've got a very decent camcorder with an excellent zoom lens built into the ZS3.

Over-all, the ZS3 is a very capable point & shoot camera.  I feel it offers more versatility than the popular LX3 due to the very long zoom.  It's a small, light, and relatively affordable camera.

If you're in the market for a good point & shoot camera, I would seriously recommend the Panasonic ZS3/TZ7 to be on your list of considerations.

It's... MAGIC!

As my first review entry in my new blog... I'm gonna write about Apple's new Magic Mouse. I used to blog about new gadgets the very first day I'd get them... but after a while, I noticed, my reviews got better once I lived with the gadget for a few days.

So... is it all it's hyped up to be? It IS an Apple product. Notorious for advertising hype and all... after all... it IS just a mouse. Or is it?

Now, don't get me wrong... there are a million other pointing devices out there. My personal favorite for years now has always been Wacom's offerings. The tablet+pen combination is so much more comfortable for me than a mouse. Specially since I do a lot of graphic work, it's so much easier than a mouse... regardless of brand or type.

Back to the Magic Mouse. There are other mice out there... for a lot less money... that are as accurate. There are also mice out there that have way more functions that the MM. Logitech is the most common brand for pointing devices... not counting the specialty gaming mice that offer hi-res tracking and a multitude of programmable buttons. But... the Magic Mouse is, by far, the most elegant mouse out there.

I've seen a lot of sleek mice... aluminum ones... floating ones... a lot are well designed... laser tracking... 1000 buttons... etc...etc... But the implementation of Apple's multi-touch technology has brought the term "sleek" to an all-new level. Final product is very competent... and the gestures are very responsive. Software is still very bare-bones for now... but the technology in the mouse itself is already mature.

I've tried The Better Touch Tool and it opens up the Magic Mouse to way more functionality than Apple's default mouse software... so if having more functions is your thing, give this a go as well.

Complaints? So far just one... the "right click" disappears if you have 2 fingers on the mouse, and it turns your mouse into Apple's single-button buzzer mouse.

Over all, this is the FIRST Apple Mouse I actually like, and actually decided to buy. I wouldn't recommend it for gamers though, gestures aren't as easy to access as a dedicated hardware button, and the surface can get sticky if your hands are sweaty making it a bit more difficult to swipe. Other than that, this is a very good mouse... is it worth the cash? I say yes simply because of the multi-touch. 3rd party software allows a lot of customization. And the design is one of the best out there.

Up next... my first point and shoot... the Panasonic ZS3 (TZ7)

The Gospel...

Greetings to any readers out there. A brief history about the origin of this blog. I've been a techie for quite some time now... actually as far back as I can remember. I used to post my reviews on product forums which have been republished in some websites.

Then most of my tech reviews and blog entries were moved to my personal Multiply site out of laziness and convenience.

I was initially gonna repost all my previous entries here...but decided against it. This is going to be a fresh new tech blog for 2010.

The name was actually inspired by my friend, Michelle, who always uses the phrase "Well, according to John..." whenever she wants to win an argument about technology.

This blog will include my views on technology from all industries, not just consumer electronics. Guest comments on their own cool tech finds are more than welcome as well!

I'm still in the process of organizing my other blogs as well, so please bear with the template layout for now. Thank you for taking the time to drop by!

Pre-blog: 3rd time is not quite the charm for the iPod Shuffle

When I first got the email about the new iPod Shuffle, I was impressed with the design, and the Voice-over function.  But when I finally got to try it extensively, I was very disappointed.

One, it's NOT small.  Well, ok, it's small, but not as small as the pictures depict.  It's slightly (and I mean, SLIGHTLY) smaller than the 2nd generation Shuffle.  But, unlike the previous Shuffle, the new one doesn't have any controls.  Instead, you have this annoyingly retarded button that you click, double click, long click, triple click... and Morse code all day long just to move from song to song.

Which brings me to number two... the crappy earbuds.  Apple has probably THE worst earbuds on the planet... which is usually the first thing to chuck when you buy an iPod... but now, since they moved the controls to the earbuds, the new Shuffle does NOT work without the crappy earbuds.

Granted that most Shuffle owners are not audiophiles (ironic since the Shuffle is the best sounding iPod) it's still annoying since they didn't save any space at all by moving the controls from the iPod to the earbud cable.

But I guess all things have to change.  Apple will probably use this as an interim model before going back to a design similar to the previous Shuffle.

Don't get me wrong, it's a sleek new music player that looks great ... but ergonomics REALLY suck... and it would sound good, if you could use other earbuds, but since you can't, it sounds kinda crappy.  At 2x the price of the previous Shuffle, it isn't really a bargain either.

I'd recommend buying the previous Shuffle instead.

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On a more positive note, I finally got to audition the B&W Zeppelin iPod Dock, and I have to say, it is THE BEST iPod dock I've heard to date.  It's like the Bose SoundDock & the Harman Kardon Go + Play combined... it has the clarity of the Harman, and the bass extension of the Bose.  BUT, it also costs as much as both those iPod docks combined... ringing in at P36k.  Plus it doesn't run off batteries so it's not really portable.

But it does sound great, and it looks just as good.

Pre-blog: Great balls of sound!

The best sounding speaker under P2000, and under 100g! A bit larger than a ping-pong ball, the X-Mini 2 is a great successor to the original X-Mini, and X-Mini Max.

Decent size, price, sound, and battery life... this is a great accessory to have for anyone who enjoys listening to music. Having tried all the other XMI products, I have to say, that you can't really go wrong with any of them, but my personal choice would be the X-Mini 2 over the original or the Max.

The Original is smaller, and cheaper, so go for that if the size is an absolute priority, or if you don't really care for the additional sound quality of the 2. The Max is stereo, but it's larger and has a lot more wires to consider a portable solution. The Max is nice for laptop users looking for an acceptable solution for presentation work.

Specs state a 100Hz cut-off but realistically, it sounds closer to 130-50Hz, but again, for the price, and size, it's great. I haven't heard anything this small, sound this good...period. It won't replace great earphones, but it sounds way better than a lot of generic desktop computer speakers. And even sounds better than a lot of the entry-level JBL On-Stage products.

To get the best audio quality from this speaker, turn the volume on the X-Mini to the max, then half a turn back. Then set your volume on your music player to about 60-70%. This keeps distortion to a minimum, while maximizing bass response... the X-Mini 2 driver is strong enough that anything louder makes this tiny speaker rattle around your desk whenever bass notes are strong.

Go to: http://x-mini.com/ for more info.

I bought mine from http://silienation.com/ Great site, lots of nice accessories, and quick delivery via Air21