Sun
1) ELEKSEN PORTABLE FABRIC KEYBOARD, ABOUT $85.
Let’s say you have a smartphone and you just hate using your thumbs to type out messages in your hotel room on the tiny keyboard and, yet, you don’t want to be trying to fit even a stiff folding keyboard in your travel bag. Fret no longer, road warrior, now there’s a keyboard that rolls up into a compact package that you can store in the same pocket you dump your rumpled shirts. Just don’t try to iron it.
2) KODAK EASYSHARE P712 7.1 MEGAPIXEL DIGITAL CAMERA, $600.
Kodak is championing the P712 as a camera worthy of the digital-camera user who has already gone through one or two models and is looking for something with a little more depth. Certainly the auto-focus is good and quick and, combined with the stabilized 12x lens is just what most people need for the quick-shooting situation families often find themselves in. (That lens, by the way, is equivalent to 36 to 432 mm in a 35mm film camera.) If you want, the P712 even allows for shooting in RAW, for those who really care about their printed photos.
3) PANASONIC LUMIX DMC-FZ50K 10.1 MEGAPIXEL DIGITAL CAMERA, $800, AVAILABLE IN SEPTEMBER.
If you’re not quite ready to make the leap to a digital SLR, then there are some good offerings in what can still be point-and-shoot models (if you must abuse them) but allow for plenty of room for creativity. This model, with its optical image stabilizer, features a 12x optical zoom — the equivalent to a 35 mm to 420 mm lens on a 25 mm film camera. It also offers Panasonic’s Intelligent ISO Control technology that cuts back of image blur. Noise levels are kept in check, says Panasonic, allowing you to shoot as high as 1600 ISO.
4) SONY BLU-RAY DISC DRIVE BURNER, $900.
If you’re reading this then we know you’re one of those fabled early adopters willing to shell out any amount to stay ahead of the crowd, knowing that what you buy today is likely to be a fifth of the cost two years from now. So, here it is, the first ever 1080p Blu-Ray Disc rewritable drive that allows you to burn disks that support up to 50 gigabytes of data on either write-once or rewriteable discs. Of course you’ll also already have a Blu-ray player.
© The Vancouver Sun 2006