Digital Journal is excited to be featuring a new regular section called Essential Digital Gear, starting in this issue. Essential Digital Gear is your valuable shopping guide for the finest in tech-gadgets giving you the Top 5 hits in notebook and desk-top computers, printers, digital cameras, camcorders, MP3 players and many other digital marvels.
ESSENTIAL NOTEBOOKS
| Product Name |
Sony VAIO PCGRX570 |
Toshiba Satellite Pro 6100 |
Apple iBook G3 700MHz |
Apple PowerBook M8592LL/A |
Dell SmartStep 250N |
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| KEY FEATURES |
| Display |
LCD 16.1 inch |
LCD15 inch |
LCD 14.1 inch |
LCD 15.2 inch |
15 inch SXGA |
| Processor |
Mobile Intel Pentium 4 1.6GHz |
Mobile Intel Pentium 4 1.5GHz |
Power PC G3 700MHz |
PowerPC G4 800MHz |
Mobile Intel Pentium 4 2.4GHz |
| Installed Memory |
512MB |
256MB |
256MB |
512MB |
512MB |
| Hard Drive |
40GB |
30GB |
30GB |
40GB |
40GB |
| Graphics |
4x AGP enabled ATI Mobility Radeon 7500, 32MB VRAM |
NVIDIAGeForce4 420 |
ATI Mobility Radeon |
ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 |
32MB ATI Mobility Radeon |
| Drives |
CD-RW/DVD Combo |
CD-RW/DVD Combo |
CD-RW/DVD Combo |
CD-RW/DVD Combo |
CD-RW/DVD Combo |
| Dimensions (HWD inches) Weight |
1.6-1.8 x 14 x 11.5 8.0 lbs |
1.4 x 11.3 x 12.9 6.29 lbs |
1.3 x 12 x 7 5.9 lbs |
1.0 x 13.4 x 9.5 5.4 lbs |
1.8 x 12.8 x 10.8 8.07 lbs |
| Price |
$4,200 |
$3,149 |
$2,899 |
$5,099 |
$2,599 |
ESSENTIAL PRINTERS
| Product Name |
Epson Stylus Photo 2200 |
Epson Stylus C80N |
Brother MFC-9800 Multi-Function Centr class=essentiale |
Brother MFC-5100c Multi-Function Centr class=essentiale |
Lexmark X83 |
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| KEY FEATURES |
| Compatibility |
Mac 8.6-9.x, OS 10.1 or later, Windows 98/2000/ME/XP |
Mac 8.5-9.1, OS X, Windows 98/2000/ME/XP/NT4.0 |
Mac 8.5-9.1 Windows 98/2000/ME/XP |
Mac 8.5-9.1, OS X Windows 98/2000/ME/XP |
Windows 98/ME/2000/XP |
| Interface |
USB 2.0/1.1; FireWire; Parallel |
USB, Ethernet 10/100 Base T-X |
Parallel and/or USB |
Parallel and/or USB |
USB |
| Max. Resolution |
2,880×1,440 |
2,880×720 |
600 x 600 |
2,400 x 1,200 |
2,400 x 1,200 |
| Printing Method Cartriges |
Inkjet 7-colour Ultr class=essentialaChrome |
Inkjet 2 (b + cmy) |
Laser |
Inkjet 4(cmyk) |
Inkjet 2 (b +cmy) |
| Print Speed (b/w, colour) |
7 ppm; 3 ppm |
20 ppm |
15 ppm |
10 ppm; 8 ppm |
12 ppm; 6 ppm |
| RAM included |
n/a |
n/a |
8MB |
4MB |
n/a |
| Max. Paper Size |
3.5×5 up to 13×19, 13×44 max |
8.5×23.4 |
8.5×11, 8.5×14 |
8.5×11, 8.5×14 |
n/a |
| Dimensions (HWD inches) Weight |
15.4 x 34.1 x 24.3 25.7 lbs |
11.62 x 22.14 x 17.8 19 lbs |
16.8 x 19.4 x 18 35.2 lbs |
18.4 x 18.4 x 14.5 24.2 lbs |
10.6 x 18.1 x 14.2 14.99 lbs |
| Price |
$1,199 |
$526 |
$1,249 |
$500 |
$270 |
ESSENTIAL DIGITAL CAMERAS
| Product Name |
Fujifilm FinePix S602 Zoom |
Canon S40 |
Nikon CoolPix 4500 |
Sony DSC-F717 |
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-P9 |
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| KEY FEATURES |
| Effective Resolution |
3.0 megapixels |
4.0 megapixels |
4.0 megapixels |
5.0 megapixels |
4.0 megapixels |
| Max. Image Resolution |
n/a |
2,272 x 1,704 |
2,272 x 1,704 |
2,560 x 1,920 |
1,600 x 1,200 |
| File Types |
TIFF, JPEG, MPEG, WAV |
JPEG, MPEG, WAV, AVI |
JPEG, TIFF, QuickTime |
JPEG, TIFF, GIF, AVI |
JPEG, TIFF, GIF, MPEG |
| Supplied Memory |
16MB |
16MB |
16MB |
16MB |
16MB |
| Optical Zoom |
6X |
3X |
4X |
5X |
3X |
| Viewfinder |
EVF, LCD |
Optical, LCD |
Optical, LCD |
EVF, LCD |
n/a |
| Price |
$1,149 |
$899 |
$999 |
$1,499 |
$849 |
ESSENTIAL DESKTOPS
| Product Name |
Apple PowerMac G4 Dual 1.25GHz |
Apple iMac G4 |
MDG Vision 2400 |
Gateway 500SB P4 |
Sony VAIO RZ16G |
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| KEY FEATURES |
| Processor |
Dual Power PC G4 |
800MHz PowerPC G4 |
Intel Pentium 4 |
Intel Pentium 4 |
Intel Pentium 4 |
| Processor Clock Speed |
1.25GHz |
800MHz |
2.4GHz |
2.53GHz |
2.66GHz |
| Hard Drive |
120GB |
80GB |
80GB |
80GB |
120GB |
| Installed Memory |
512MB |
256MB |
512MB |
512MB |
1GB |
| Graphics |
ATI Radeon 9000 Pro |
nVIDIA GeForce4 |
ATI Radeon 7000 |
128MB nVIDIA GeForce4 MX440 |
nVIDIA GeForce4 MX440 |
| Drives |
8X/4X/24X CD-RW Combo 4X DVD |
CD-RW DVD |
40X/12X/40X CD-RW 16X DVD |
40X/12X/48X CD-RW 16X DVD |
8X/4X/24X CD-RW 2X/1X/4X DVD-RW |
| Monitor |
optional |
17Ó flatscreen |
17Ó LCD flatscreen |
optional |
optional |
| Price |
$5,099 |
$3,149 |
$2,435 |
$1,900 |
$3,000 |
ESSENTIAL IMAGE EDITING SOFTWARE
| Product Name |
Microsoft Picture It! Digital Image Pro 7 |
Jasc Paint Shop Pro 7 |
Corel Procreate Painter 7 |
Ulead PhotoImpact 8.0 |
Adobe Photoshop 7.0 |
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| KEY FEATURES |
| Description |
Easy to learn; loads of features; inexpensive |
Excellent alternative to Photoshop at considerably lower price |
Indispensable for serious illustr class=essentialators, unmatched software simulates all types of tr class=essentialaditional artist’s media using a spectacular array of tools |
Affordable image editing and management software for home users and those seeking an easy learning curve. Image editing, vector graphics and web tools |
Still the one to beat for advanced graphics and image manipulation |
| Operating System |
Microsoft Windows 98/2000/ME/XP |
Microsoft Windows 95/98/2000/NT4.0/ME/XP |
Apple Mac Os 8.6/9/Xor Windows 98/2000/ME/XP |
Microsoft Windows 98/NT4.0/2000/ME/XP |
Apple Mac OS 9.1/X or Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/NT4.0 |
| Min. Processor Type |
Intel Pentium 300 or higher |
Intel Pentium |
Power PC G3 400MHz Intel Pentium 200MHz |
Intel Pentium |
Power PC G3 400MHz Intel Pentium |
| Min. RAM Size |
64MB |
32MB |
64MB |
64MB |
128MB |
| Min. Disc Space |
250MB |
75MB |
100MB |
500MB |
280MB |
| Price |
$150 |
$167 |
$749 |
$138 |
$933 |
ESSENTIAL MP3 PLAYERS
| Product Name |
Apple iPod 20GB Mac |
Archos JukeBox Multimedia 20 |
Samsung YP-700H Yepp |
Creative Labs Nomad Jukebox 3 |
PoGo! Products RipFlash DX |
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| KEY FEATURES |
| File Formats |
MP3, WAV, AIFF, Audible |
MP3, WMA, AVI |
MP3, 2X MP3, WMA, AAC |
MP3, WMA, WAV |
WMA, MP3 |
| Capacity/Battery Playtime |
20GB 10 hours |
20GB 8 hours |
128MB 15 hours |
20GB 11 hours |
128MB 14.5 hours |
| Included Software |
Apple iTunes |
Ulead PhotoExpress, VirtualDub, Archos MPEG-4 tr class=essentialanslation |
Rioport |
Creative PlayCenter, Creative File Manager, Audio Sync |
Drivers and utilities |
| Signal-to-Noise Ratio |
n/a |
n/a |
80dB |
98dB |
85dB |
| Input/Output |
FireWire |
USB, USB 2.0, FireWire |
USB |
FireWire, USB |
USB |
| Extras |
Inline remote, carrying case, AC adapter, headphones |
USB cable, carrying case, headphones, ACadapter |
Headphones, ACadapter, Batt. Holster, remote, case |
SB1394 cord, USB cable, AC adapter, wraparound phones |
USB cable, pouch & str class=essentialap, headphones |
| Dimensions (HWD inches) Weight |
4 x 2.4 x 0.84 7.2 oz |
1.1 x 4.3 x 3.1 10.23 oz |
3.4 x 2.1 x 0.6 3.4 oz. |
1.4 x 5.1 x 4.8 10.2 oz |
2.8 x 2 x 0.7 1.9 oz |
| Price |
$799 |
$582 |
$460 |
$620 |
$335 |
ESSENTIAL DIGITAL CAMCORDERS
| Product Name |
JVC GR-DVP7U |
Panasonic Palmcorder PV-VM202 |
Sony DCR-IP220 |
Sony DCR-VX2000 |
Canon GL2 |
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| KEY FEATURES |
| Media type |
Mini DV |
Mini DV |
MICROMV |
Mini DV |
Mini DV |
| Resolution (effective) Optical Sensor |
1.02 megapixels CCD |
1.02 megapixels CCD |
2.0 megapixels CCD |
0.34 megapixels CCD |
0.38 megapixels CCD |
| Wireless Connectivity |
no |
no |
Bluetooth |
no |
no |
| Zoom (Optical/Digital) |
10X/200X |
10X/200X |
10X/120X |
12X/48X |
20X/100X |
| Min. Lens Aperture |
F/1.8 |
F/1.8 |
Carl Zeiss T-lens F/1.8 |
F/1.6-2.4 |
F/1.6 |
| Installed Memory |
8MB Flash-SD memory card |
16MB-SD memory card |
8MB memory stick |
4MB |
n/a |
| Dimensions (HWD inches) Weight |
4.6 x 1.8 x 3.1 0.8 lbs |
4.5 x 2 x 4.2 1.08 lbs |
3 x 3.875 x 5.375 1 lbs 2 oz |
5.75 x 4.63 x 13.5 3.44 lbs |
4.6 x 5.4 x 12 2.9 lbs |
| Price |
$1,379 |
$799 |
$3,300 |
$4,999 |
$3,999 |
