The HTC Touch Cruise Pocket PC

HTC is really going top of the line now that they're manufacturing their own cellphones. The The HTC Touch Cruise Pocket PC comes with a feature packed GPS that is really neat. This means that there is a better navigation system that is fully integrated into this compact Pocket PC.


It also comes bundled with the latest Tom Tom navigation software, which is one of the de facto standards in GPS navigation. Unfortunately, the phone has been widely criticized for the inclusion of only one free map. That means that you have to pay for more. But if you're willing to shell out $700 for it, you can probably spend a few more dollars on getting the maps you need.

Like most Pocket PC's, it comes with Windows Mobile 6, which has rapidly become heralded as the best OS to use on top of the line phones. The reason why I like it, is because of the navigation button. Unlike most navigation tools, it doesn't just utilize the forward, back, left and right functions. You can turn it around to bring up and select menus. Sort of like an Applie iPod feel, and that's pretty cool. Picture that along with the TouchFlo technology, and you've got yourself a phone that is pretty easy to use.

For the business user, this phone has all the tools you will need to carry your office with you, and that includes the office suite that comes bundled with Windows Mobile. Of course, it goes without saying that MP3 songs and videos are a cinch on the HTC Touch Cruise Pocket PC.

The camera at the back is pretty good, being 3 megapixels, and coming with a 4x zoom. The 400 Mhz processor does nicely in standard tests, and is very responsive. The battery is another amazing feature of this phone. It has a talk time of 7 hrs, and can be on standby for 16 days. All in all, a well rounded phone, and one that you should definitely pick up if you can afford it. Find it at www.pricealerter.com

Oppo's DV-983H DVD player

With Toshiba ending it's support for HD DVD players, one might feel that the Oppo DV-983H DVD player is a symptom of the throes of the dying technology. I have earlier mentioned the issue of HD vs Blue-Ray, and Blue-Ray seems to be winning now.



But Oppo has saved the best for last, and the Oppo DV-983H DVD player is a masterpiece of technology that puts it right at the top of the line. The coolness of this piece is that it's looks very strong. Remember the old players of the bygone generation that would take some efffort to lift and place down? Well, this isn't quite that bad, but it's certainly a solid piece of work. Not as small as a lot of other players out there, it measures in at 16.875 by 10.5 by 2.125 inches. But it definitely gives the impression that it's going to last a long long time. Quite a refreshing feeling in a world where artificial obsolescence is such a factor.

The Oppo DV-983H DVD player does an excellent job of interoperating with various sources. There is a button on the face that toggles the HDMI input on and off. As a bonus. the company also bundles an HDMI cable along with the player, which is very thoughtful of them.

It can also play back SACD audio discs. SACD stands for Super Audio Compact Disc, which means that the music has been encoded with higher and lower frequency responses than are normally found on CD's and DVD's. This leads to increased sound fidelity, and a better user experience.

One annoying feature of DVD players is that they cannot play DVD's from other regions. This is called "Region Encoding". The Oppo DV-983H DVD player solves this by getting around region encoding. It allows you to enter a certain code that will play any disc from anywhere in the world. This is an excellent feature, and a strong vote of support for the Digital Freedom and Free Trade movements.

On the tests, the Oppo DV-983H DVD player comes out right on top, and this is one of the reasons why it's the top notch HD DVD player around. Find the best prices for it at www.pricealerter.com

The Sony Handycam HDR-SR11 Camcorder

Our review of the Sony Handycam HDR-SR11 camcorder is our second in the camcorder line. A little while ago, we reviewed the The Canon HF100 Camcorder. The big difference between the two lies in the way they handle storage.

The Sony Handycam HDR-SR11 has a built in hard drive for high capacity storage. Clearly catering to the lazy among us, who refuse to go to all the trouble of taking a backup of their work, this camcorder sports a 60 GB hard drive. That means you can go a long time without having to transfer your data onto a computer.

Most camcorders support the miniDV storage format, which is basically just a tape the size of a matchbox that fits into the camcorder. But in my opinion, these are on their way out as the digital world takes over more traditional means of data storage.

Sony has tried to maximize the use of space in the The Sony Handycam HDR-SR11 Camcorder by putting some controls onto the 3.2 inch touchscreen. Some people may find that if they're recording, and they need to make a setting change, it will disturb their steadiness, causing the picture to shake. However, the camcorder makes up for this by having one of the best grips in the industry.

The Sony Handycam HDR-SR11 Camcorder comes with a mini HDMI cable. I suppose they were trying to be neat making the cable miniscule, but they're not really standard and this makes it hard to find spare parts. Corporations really should standardize on their hardware to enable interoperativity. But Sony doesn't have a great track record in that department.

The picture quality of the Sony Handycam HDR-SR11 is great, being able to record at the highest capacity - 1920x1080 HD. This means that you can record a little more than 14 hrs of video at the highest quality setting, and 41 hrs at the lowest. That's plenty of range to satisfy anyone. The camcorder renders color perfectly, and even recognizes faces. This means that when a face comes into view, it focuses on it instead of simple going for the object in it's specified range. This makes a great deal of difference when recording your son's birthday party for example.

All in all, a pretty good looking camcorder to go with, giving you all the expertise that has made Sony products famous. Find the best prices at www.pricealerter.com

The HP Pavilion Slimline S3330f Desktop PC

The HP Pavilion Slimline S3330f delivers packed performance at a great price.

It's really hard these days to find a PC that delivers on performance while maintaining a decent cost. However, that's not really my concern since the purpose of this blog is to write about "Irresistible Goodies", and they sometimes don't come cheap.



The HP Pavilion Slimline S3330f however, does manage to do the impossible. It's one of the best media players I have ever seen. But features later. First the looks.

Coming in slick glossy black, this desktop has some really innovative designs. It keeps the DVD/Blue-Ray hybrid optical drive vertical, and really makes good use of the real estate. You can slip in the media card slots that you don't usually see on PC's. It also has a covering at the bottom where you can put in a removable HP Hard drive.

On the technological side, the The HP Pavilion Slimline S3330f runs on AMD's power chip - The Athlon 64 bit CPU. At 2.8 Ghz, the chip is dual core, and that means blazing fast CPU speed. Very useful for Multimedia and such. The 2GB RAM also gives plenty of space for gaming junkies as well as business users who have a multitude of applications that run in the background at any given time.

It also shines in it's connective capability, as it comes with wireless networking, and an inbuilt TV Tuner card. This means that you can hook up the PC to your TV cable and watch your favorite sports shows. Great for someone living in a room with limited space, where the computer has to be the only major appliance around.

The HDMI output from the graphics card allows you to do the reverse - namely pipe the output of your computer to a TV with just a single piece of wire.

In case you didn't know about Blue-Ray, it's the competing standard along with HD DVD's that can carry upto 10 times more data than standard single sided DVD's. It's nice to have this feature, as the world needs to settle down on a standard sooner rather than later.

Of course, backing all this up is HP's great website and 24x7 call centre support. Find the best prices and deals for it at www.pricealerter.com

The Suunto t6 Health Fitness Watch

Health Fitness is all the rage these days, and the Suunto t6 Watch certainly capitalizes on that. Created as part of a partnership between Firstbeat Technologies and the Finnish Research Institute for Olympic sports, it certainly seems to have the expert backing that is necessary when creating such a high class fitness watch.


Unlike other products like mp3 players relating to health care, the Suunto t6 computues a unique value called the Excess Post Exercise Oxygen consumption (EPOC). This highly scientific measure is an indicator of how effective one exercise is compared to another. It's very difficult to measure in real time. You need to know the subjects heart rate, respiratory rate, and the oxygen intake.

The speciality of the Suunto t6 is that it manages to measure all of these parameters and provides you with accurate EPOC measurements. This is certainly one for the fitness addict. In fact, any professional athelete will be proud to own one of these as part of his training repertoire.

The feature that makes the Suunto t6 an "Irresistible Goodie", is it's looks. Sure, it may look too big for some, but in my opinion that's what grabs the attention of someone while you're running. It's certainly not for casual wear, that's for sure. But in the hands of someone who knows how to play up it's characteristics, it can definitely make the onlooker go "Oooh! That's neat!"

The watch has other cool features like an Altimeter and a Barometer. The various functions like storing lap times, and the stopwatch are all accessed by the buttons around the watch's face. It has complete connectivity, as the USB cable that come bundled with it allows you to transfer all your valuable training data onto your computer.

Once that data is on your computer, you pull out the training CD that came with your Suunto t6, and the program will analyse it and tell you the exact state of your fitness. It comes with several tests that help you analyse your strengths, and how you need to improve.

All in all, it's not a watch that is for the faint hearted. And maybe that's exactly what makes it stand out. Find the best prices for it at www.pricealerter.com

Aperion Intimus 4T Hybrid SD Speakers

The Aperion Intimus 4T Hybrid SD speakers are big. Full blown speakers are as much a part of your furniture as your chairs and tables. It's important to fit them into the ambiance of your home and ensure that they are placed to maximum effect.



With a furniture grade finish, the Aperion Intimus 4T Hybrid SD speakers are a cut above the rest when it comes to style. They are made of real Cherry Wood. It doesn't get much better than that when it comes to speakers. The old world style, combined with the superb sound quality make the Aperion Intimus 4T Hybrid SD an "Irresistible Goodie".

They're not too big though. The main speaker has a base of only 5 inches. So it seems like a neat fit between size and convenience.

One of the highlights of these speakers are the Subwoofers. The Subwoofers are those parts of the speaker that are dedicated to reproducing low frequency sound. Usually from between 150hz to 20hz. This allows the main speakers to do a good job even if small. Low frequencies are difficult to localize. This means that you can't tell where the sound is coming from. This allows us to place the subwoofers anywhere in the room.

The Aperion Intimus 4T Hybrid SD has a Bravus 8D Subwoofer. 13 inches tall, it comes built in with a 150 watt amplifier. The various presets that allow you choose movie mode, game mode, or music mode. You can customize the settings via a small LCD panel. This is a nice touch. Wood always gives a retro feel and the LCD speakers provide a nice tech touch.

The customizability of the subwoofers is a bit of a disadvantage though. You need to know what you're getting into as the options for customization are so numerous. I guess for most of us the default factory modes will do. You can return to them at any time.

These guys come with a 10 year guaranty. That's very long. More than twice of what most have, and it tell you loads about their quality.

Find the best prices for them at www.pricealerter.com

The Lenovo ThinkPad X300 Laptop

The latest category in the laptop segment, is the ultraportable laptop. You've already seen one earlier in this blog - namely the Macbook Air. You would also remember that the Macbook Air's main feature, namely it's thickness called for certain compensations in it's design, such as only one USB port, no ethernet slot, and most importantly no CD/DVD player/recorder.


The Lenovo ThinkPad X300 is another major contender for the top spot in the ultraportable segment. Like the Macbook air, it has a full 13.3 inch monitor, and a solid state hard drive. However, it also incorporates features that any business user will expect in a laptop such as three USB ports, and Ethernet slots. It also comes with built in Wi-fi. However, the main differentiating factor of the the Lenovo ThinkPad X300 is the built in DVD burner. With the addition of this, it fills a major need in the top ultraportable laptops.

Looks wise, the the Lenovo ThinkPad X300 is nothing to sneeze at. With a thickness of less than one inch, and a full sized keyboard layout, the The Lenovo ThinkPad X300 provides full functionality while maintaining it's cool factor. It's because of this that I've included it as an "Irresistible Goodie".

The Lenovo ThinkPad X300 incorporates some futuristic technolgies like a fingerprint reader. Imagine how cool it is opening up your laptop, and instead of typing in a username and password, you get to press your finger on the scanner. Feels like something out of the Matrix. Now they need to put in a Retina scan and I'm moving baby!

Communication is now fully built into the laptop with a noice cancelling digital microphone and a webcam built right into it! You're ready to talk and be seen anytime, anywhere.

Lenovo ThinkPad X300 comes bundled with all the ThinkVantage applications. You press a blue button on the top left of the keyboard to bring up the suite that manages various facets of your computer including hard drive maintenance, and the "Shock Protection" feature that can save your hard drive if it's in free fall. You get a cool page telling you that the hard disk has shut down since it's in danger, and will resume if the laptop is stable again. Very intelligent.

Find the The Lenovo ThinkPad X300 at www.pricealerter.com

The Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ800U Plasma HDTV

In our earlier post, we reviewed the Hitachi UT37X902 Ultrathin LCD Monitor, which was a cool sleek LCD TV. Today we take a look at televisions from the other side of the war - The Plasma TVs.

There are many debates on the Internet regarding which is better - Plasma, or LCD, and while I won't take a stand on this (being more concerned about -'ahem', looks), plasma's aren't plagued by the viewing angles problem, which you recall, was an issue with the LCD's. As a result, action movies and sports are widely watched using this type of TV.



The Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ800U Plasma HDTV gets most points in the looks department, and is therefore a big favorite with us. The highlight of the design, is a full front cover of glass that presents a totally flat front. It's quite a stunner. Also, there are no buttons visible. Readers by now will be familiar with my preference for zero buttons at first sight, and will not be surprised by my enthusiastic admiration for this TV.

At the bottom of the screen, the panel flips down to reveal the buttons, and the HDMI inputs, as well as the AV inputs. The remote has an easy to use layout, and the buttons are of a comfortable enough size to navigate in the dark. No backlight though.

A major selling point of this TV, is the THX Display Certification. This consists of a set of minimum requirements that are necessary for proper viewing. Only those TV's that meet these specifications are given the certification. And if you mess up the settings on your TV, you can restore the recommended THX settings with a single click.

The Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ800U Plasma HDTV supports HDTV, which is a high definitino signal for audio and video. The difference between HDTV and ordinary TV is fairly significant, with the picture being sharper, and more vibrant.

In keeping with the 'Green' movement, the first time you set up the TV it asks you if you're in a home or a store. If you select 'home', it adjusts it's settings to save quite a lot of power by engaging the standard picture preset.

All in all, a spectacular TV for those willing to get the greatest and best "Irresistible Goodies". Find it at www.pricealerter.com

The Logitech G5 Laser Mouse

There's a limit to how much you can customize a mouse. Keyboards have a lot of keys to play around with, and you can adjust the size and shape. Mouses have a unique problem though. If you customize the shape to fit the right hand, it won't fit in the left.

Understandably, most mouses are symmetrical for this very reason. It takes a lot of courage to buck public opinion and risk offending lefties, and make a mouse that fits perfectly in just the right hand. But this is exactly what the Logitech G5 Laser Mouse manages to do.

When I held one of these, it's obvious that it's just made to sit in the right hand. Avid gamers and people who spend a lot of time on the computer like me really appreciate this. If the mouse shape isn't comfortable enough, your wrist and arm really starts to hurt. In fact, I know that mouse related injuries can put keyboard related injuries to shame!

Another huge advantage of the Logitech G5 Laser Mouse is the sensitivity. The sensitivity is measured in dots per inch (dpi). Compared to standard mouses whose dpi is around 600-800, the Logitech G5 Laser Mouse's dpi is 2000! This is a very accurate instrument. In the hands of gamers who require precision pointing, it can become a dangerous tool.

It has customizable buttons under the scroll wheel that allow you to change the sensitivity without any software. It also includes a thumb button - pretty standard on high end mouses these days.

But is it an "Irresistible Goodie"? Now there's the question. While it's true that the looks of this mouse can be quite stunning, it's real value comes from it's unusual shape. Most of your friends will have a boring turtle shaped mouse, with the usual buttons. The Logitech G5 Laser Mouse sets you apart from all the others. It'll give you that cool factor that you need with your friends, and you'll be known as the guy (or gal) that has the most comforable mouse around (This is assuming that none of your friends has a Mac - If so, you lose on the cool front. Sorry!).

Get the Logitech G5 Laser Mouse with the best prices at www.pricealerter.com

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III Camera

Canon has always been the company producing top of the line cameras. For a long time now, it's 1Ds series has been the best in the industry, and it's quite a while since they upgraded their best SLR product.

SLR stands for Single Lens Reflex. It means that when you view the subject being photographed, you see it exactly as the lens sees it. If you remember older cameras had the window through which you viewed the subject to the top left of the actual position of the lens. So what you saw was actually a bit off from what was actually being taken.

An SLR camera typically uses a 45 degree mirror to direct the light onto the viewfinder, and then removes it at the moment of the shot so that what you see is what you get.



When it comes to image quality, the Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III is second to none. As you might know, picture quality in a camera is measured in megapixels. If a camera has a 6 megapixel resolution it means that the picture that is taken can contain 6 mps. The Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III has a whopping 21.1 megapixels! That is simply way beyond anything else that currently exists.

This is clearly a top of the line product. The wow! factor of this model comes solely from the image quality and the price tag. If you can afford the Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III it puts you seriously ahead of anyone else in your photography group.

The screen through which you take the shot has increased by half from the previous Mark II model. It is now 3 inches. This means that they have had to make some adjustments in the placement of the buttons to accomodate this. Paradoxically, they've actually managed to improve it's usability despite the lesser space.

The previous model had various combinations of buttons to access specific functions. The EOS-1Ds Mark III has just one combo. The settings can be completely customized to whatever you wish. It certainly does do what it promises. If you're willing to pay the price tag for this, you are definitely going to be viewed as a super stud!

Get the best prices at www.pricealerter.com

Grado RS-2 Reference Series headphones

Grado has always been a favorite brand among those seeking the very best in audio quality. For you and I, it might be difficult to appreciate the sound quality in all it's aspects. But for most audiophiles, these headphones are the best for their money.

Not that we care too much about the performance, though for the price that is being paid, that is a huge factor. The real reason why the Grado RS-2 Reference Series headphones find a place in this blog, is for it's bragging rights as an "Irresistible Goodie".


The first thing you notice about the headphones, is the wood. We're so used to imitations these days that it takes us a moment to realize that the cups are real mahogany! Grado explains that the wood has gone through several stages of a complex curing process in order to perfect the complete "Grado" sound. The ear cups are handcarved. In addition, the headband is made up of genuine leather.

The overall look is a cool hi-tech retro. They look antique, and they still beat the crap out of most other headphones when it comes to top quality sound.

There are other cool things about these babies. One of the attributes of Irresistible Goodies, is the technology that is used in making them. The key is that it must sound cool. Grado claims that their cables are ultra-high-purity, long-crystal (UHPLC) oxygen-free copper cables. I don't doubt their claim that this gives their sound the extra edge, but I'll be damned if I know what it means! The cables also have powerful neodymium magnets. Stuff like this is what we tech junkies dream of!

Interestingly, the cables are double sided. This means that you will have a wire hanging from each earcup. While this increases the chance of them getting tangled, it adds to the overall retro look. The cables, which are seven feet long, end in a 1/4 inch gold plated plug.

The Grado's are expensive, and rightly so. Leaving aside the small chance of you actually meeting an audiophile who will go green with jealousy, if you have the moolah, pick these up and watch your friends do the same, albeit for different reasons. With the Grado RS-2 Reference Series headphones around your head, you will always stand out.

Get them at www.pricealerter.com.

The Toshiba HD-XA2 DVD Player

The Toshiba HD-XA2 DVD Player is Toshiba's new High End player. Designed with the future in mind, it supports all the formats of DVD, including the HD DVD.

In case you didn't know, the HD DVD's are the latest in DVD technology that allows you to store upto six to eight times the data that you normally store on a DVD. Most DVD players have trouble playing these discs, but the Toshiba HD-XA2 handles them without a hitch. These discs are the future, and hats off to Toshiba for supporting them.

But as we know, the purpose of this blog is to get to the looks. So what makes the Toshiba HD-XA2 an "Irresistible Goodie"? Well, it's completely black (If you've been reading this blog, you know that I flip out over that color), and it's got no buttons in front! Now irresistible goodies are defined by their simplicity, and the no button theme gets very high points on this scale. But does it sacrfice functionality for looks?



Fear not. The front panel actually opens up to reaveal the range of buttons that you would normally find on most DVD's. So you get the best of both worlds.

Though many people won't like the remote, finding it too difficult to navigate, it gets a thumbs up from me. The purpose of a remote is not to navigate. That's boring! The real motive of a remote is to impress, and the Toshiba HD-XA2 remote certainly scores on that front. It's sleek long structure makes it futuristic. It looks even cooler in the dark, when the buttons are illuminated from a backlight. This eases the usage, and will definitely get you approving looks from your friends, while you nonchalantly pretend not to notice!

It comes with standard HDMI inputs, as well as inputs for other legacy systems. Interestingly, it has an ethernet jack that connects to your computer. This means that the firmware can be directly updated straight from the source without any complex fiddling around. Full points for this!

Undoubtedly one of the very best DVD players out there. It's a pity that there is an ongoing winner takes all battle between HD DVD and Blueray. Once this battle has been decided, the world of media storage will be taken to the next level. In the meantime, the Toshiba HD-XA2 is your player of choice as an "Irresistible Goodie".

Find the best prices at www.pricealerter.com

The Sony VPL-VW200 Projector

If you're thinking of buying a Projector for your business, you might want to consider an "Irresistible Goodie". You might feel that something that costs as much as a projector, has to be evaluated on the basis of functionality, and you would be correct. But don't ignore the looks. What does it say about your business when you're trying to impress a client, and your bring out this gadget that looks right out the space age? That's right. You succeed in doing just that. Impressing.



And when it comes to impressive projectors, there's none more so than the Sony VPL-VW200. The sleek shape, and front, reminiscent of an eye, will stun and create an effect even before it's switched on. Using innovative ideas, the projector is easy to adjust in complete darkness, with it's backlit remove.

Not that it fails when it has to perform either. Most projectors have a slight error when displaying primary colors. Not the Sony VPL-VW200. As a first, this time Sony has got it right as they ensure that the color fidelity is near perfect.

Using it's own version of the Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS) called SXRD, the Sony VPL-VW200 is capable of displaying an extremely high resolution of 1080p.

As far as image adjustments go, it allows complete flexibility to the extent of making it dangerous. Unless you really know what you're doing, stay away from making use of the dazzling array of color adjustments, or you will be in over your head.

Two other interesting technologies are Real Color Processing (RCP), and MotionFlow. The first allows (as the name suggests) fine color tuning, and the second is for special optimizations when the projector is displaying moving images.

We studied HDMI Inputs earlier, and the Sony VPL-VW200 has two of them, making our connection infested lives much easier. In case your hardware is slightly older, that's taken care of as well. The Sony VPL-VW200 has one S-Video, and one composite Video connector.

The projector handles black shadows exceptionally well, and if you're planning to watch some DVD's on it, you won't be disappointed.

To find the latest prices on the Sony VPL-VW200, visit www.pricealerter.com