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24x club gets new member: Samsung HZ25W

If there weren't already three cameras available using the same wide-angle 26mm-equivalent lens with a 24x zoom, the announcement of the Samsung HZ25W would be a little more interesting. It doesn't seem to bring anything terribly new to the category either, making it an also-ran in a race of fairly mediocre cameras.

I'm not saying Samsung's entry isn't worth considering, just that it's more than fashionably late and brought the same bag of pretzels to the party that Nikon, Kodak, and Pentax did. Hell, Samsung even brought the same brand as Kodak by using … Read more

Netgear ships high-end dual-band wireless router

Since my CES blog on Netgear's WNDR3700, I have received a numerous e-mails asking about the availability of the product. Today, I can provide readers with a definitive answer.

Netgear announced Tuesday the immediate availability of what it calls "the ultimate networking machine for gamers, media enthusiasts, and small businesses," the RangeMax Dual Band Wireless-N Gigabit router WNDR3700.

This is Netgear's highest-end draft-N router that offers true dual-band (concurrent signals in both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency bands), as well as other features such as ReadyShare for high-speed access to a USB hard drive from any … Read more

Thin Samsung plasma comes with nice picture, higher price

In the battle between plasma and LCD, the former generally comes out ahead in most areas of our picture quality tests, while the latter has dominated the less important, but somehow costlier, dimension of depth.

LCDs such as the Samsung and Sony edge-lit models and the Hitachi UT37X902 cost a hefty premium for manufacturers knocking an inch or two from the standard panel's thickness. Now plasma makers want in on that premium, and the PNB850 and PNB860 series represent Samsung's less-depth-for-more-money gambit.

Like the company's thicker, less expensive PNB650 series, the PNB850/860 series offers excellent picture … Read more

Smarter Firefox, happier you

Not long ago, I discovered what is to date, a favorite productivity add-on for Firefox. Maybe even the favorite. As someone who lives half the waking week plugged into the Web, add-ons aren't just about novelty, they're also about getting things done. The less I have to manage open tabs, media downloads, and the often laborious task of seeking information in the deeper layers of a site, the more time I can spend evaluating software.

So, if you haven't had the pleasure already, meet SmarterFox. Developed by Yongqian Li, it's a multitasking fiend that helps make … Read more

CNET's top-rated 24-inch LCD computer monitors

I own a 24-inch Dell UltraSharp 2408WFP LCD computer monitor. Over the last year or so, I've yet to have a performance issue. I do a heavy amount of gaming on it including World of Warcraft and first-person shooters, and I've never once had a problem with input lag. Input lag is a delay measured by the difference between the time a signal is input into a display and the time it is shown by the display.

Input lag is one of the major criticisms of this monitor from its users. Just to be clear, I'm not claiming that input lag on this monitor doesn't exist, I'm only saying that I've not seen evidence of it on either our evaluation unit of my own. Dell has purportedly addressed the issue in the A02 revision of the 2408WFP.

That being said, I still feel the Dell Ultrasharp 2408WFP is the best 24-incher money can buy and quite easily earned the top spot on CNET's top-rated 24-inch LCD computer monitors (that we've reviewed).… Read more

Asus slates sleek TV-monitor combos for Europe

The line between HDTVs and computer monitors continued to thin out Monday as Asus announced a new line of what are either small TVs or normal-size monitors.

Asus unveiled its new TV Monitor T1 series, which comes in 21.5-, 23-, and 27-inch models. All support a 16:9 aspect ratio with a 1920x1080 resolution. Other specs include a 300 cd/m2 brightness, 20,000 Dynamic Contrast Ratio, a 5ms response time, and two 7W stereo speakers.

Connections options include two HDMIs, VGA, Component, S-Video, and Composite inputs. No DVI is included, though, according to the spec list.

I have … Read more

Samsung does plasma well, too

With the exit of heavy-hitter Pioneer from the plasma racket, just three major makers remain: Panasonic, Samsung, and LG. The latter two offer significantly more models of LCD TVs than of plasma, however, and seem more focused on LCD technology. Nonetheless, Samsung's 2009 plasmas, if the PNB650 series is any indication, are nearly the match of Panasonic's best.

The model we tested delivered superb black-level performance--significantly better than past Samsung plasmas--and the company's traditional accurate color. Samsung has also kept up with Panasonic on the feature front and delivers more picture adjustments, although we prefer Panasonic's … Read more

Acer's 24-inch G24: Rain Man of LCD computer monitors

The 24-inch Acer G24 is like the Rain Man of computer monitors. It does one thing exceptionally well but stumbles in others. While its gaming performance is stellar, due to its ultraglossy and reflective screen, its viewing angle is unforgiving. Not the most ideal monitor when judging color accurately.

Just to be sure though, the G24 is the best gaming monitor I've yet to test. While playing Unreal Tournament 3 and Crysis on this thing, the one permeating thought I had was, "Oh that's how they're supposed to look!"

Unfortunately, my UT3 game went on … Read more

Panasonic's best plasma yet

In our review of Panasonic's G10 plasma we discussed how it competed for picture quality supremacy against Pioneer's now-discontinued Kuro PRO-111FD--still the best HDTV ever--and how ultimately it couldn't quite match the Kuro.

The same basic story stays true for the TC-PV10 series, but it's even better than the G10.

This Panasonic plasma has the same deep blacks that grace its less-expensive little brother, and adds a couple of key improvements: better video processing to handle 1080p/24 sources and more picture adjustments that allow it to transcend the limitations of THX mode. Its picture should … Read more