Reviews

Sydney Morning Herald

Monday November 20, 2006

David Flynn, Nick Galvin, Greg Borrowman, Rod Easdown

i-mate JASJAM

$1299

www.imate.com ****

The oddly named JASJAM belongs to the new breed of "communicator devices" that are finding a midpoint between a conventional PDA and a smartphone.

You don't have to work your way too far down the checklist of features to realise that they boast the best of both worlds and the miniature slide-out keyboard seals the deal.

You can easily drive the i-mate and its compatriots in "phone mode" with one hand, while the miniature keypad is by far the superior way to work through your inbox, scoot around the web, take part in online chats and even dash off quick documents using the pre-loaded "pocket" version of Microsoft Word. In this landscape mode, the large screen proves its worth.

What makes the JASJAM so different from the pack is that it piggybacks onto Telstra's shiny new NextG mobile network to deliver data speeds that are close to being true mobile wireless broadband when compared to devices that rely on the 3G system.

Our tests with the i-mate in and around the city delivered speeds ranging from 500Kbps to 900Kbps. These are typical of what the average home ADSL user would experience and are well beyond the peak 384Kbps rate of plain vanilla 3G.

If you're within range of a wireless network or hotspot the i-mate can go online using WiFi instead of NextG (the slowest WiFi connection is probably five times faster again than NextG), although you need to change a setting manually.

However, the device doesn't support several of the heavily promoted features of NextG such as the MyPlace personal hub, BigPond streaming music and video channels or Foxtel video feeds.

If those treats are what appeal to you most for NextG, look elsewhere. If you're mainly after turbocharged data on the go, the JASJAM could be your new travelling companion. David Flynn

Download Accelerator Plus 8.1

Free

www.speedbit.com **** 1/2

When internet users talk about the need for a fast connection, they're basically talking about the desire to download more material and spend less time waiting for it.

Yet it doesn't matter how fast your connection is, anywhere from a dawdling dial-up to blazing ADSL2, because Download Accelerator Plus will dramatically boost the speed of your downloads.

DAP achieves this neat trick by opening multiple connections to the server that's hosting the file. Each connection downloads part of the file at a far faster rate than if the whole file was being fetched in a single "virtual pipeline". Once the download is done, DAP quickly and seamlessly stitches the file segments together.

However, DAP doesn't work on peer-to-peer networks, such as BitTorrent or LimeWire, where a file is shared among multiple users - it's intended only for direct file downloads from a single location. We tested the program by downloading the latest hi-res trailer for the movie Casino Royale, which weighed in at a meaty 170MB. Using Internet Explorer on its own took 13 minutes but DAP grabbed the trailer in 4 1/2 minutes.

It's worth noting that this was done with the free version of Download Accelerator Plus 8.1. We fired up the Premium Edition, which sells for $45, and the download time came in a little under four minutes. This shows how efficient the native DAP engine is, and also makes us doubt if the Premium version is worth the extra cost for speed alone.

In fact, the freebie edition has plenty going for it. It can resume a download if the connection is broken, and lets you schedule downloads to take place between certain hours - ideal for broadband plans with an off-peak download allocation.

The free edition contains no spyware and is supported by advertising, which we didn't find intrusive. You just have small ads on the download window which you will quickly ignore. This is one time when we readily rate the free package as better value than its commercial sibling. David Flynn

Canon PowerShot G7

$899

www.canon.com.au *** 1/2

This is the sixth model in a line of Canon cameras that first appeared in mid-2000 (there was no G4, supposedly because the word "four" sounds too close to "death" to some Asian ears).

The G series is aimed at enthusiasts who are unwilling or unable to step up to owning a digital SLR. However, six years on, digital SLR prices have tumbled to the point where Canon's own very tasty 400D can be had (with lens) for about $1350.

So the niche G7 has been squeezed by cheaper SLRs on one side and fully featured compact cameras on the other. Despite this, you still get an awful lot of camera for your money.

It's a very conventional-looking device and robustly built. Ten megapixels give resolution to burn and the 6x (35mm-200mm equivalent) zoom lens has Canon's image stabilisation feature built in. The controls are sensibly laid out: we particularly liked the dedicated ISO sensitivity dial and the LCD screen is a generous 6.35cm. It also comes with Canon's face-recognition software, which automatically sets the exposure for faces and works very well.

Overall image quality is hard to fault with reasonably low noise levels at higher ISO settings. The inclusion of a hot shoe is very welcome, although the camera feels a little unbalanced when used with an external flash.

There are two major gripes with the G7, though: there is still no support for Raw format; and, for a camera with "serious" aspirations the optical viewfinder is limited. No exposure or focusing information is available when using it and, disconcertingly, the end of the lens is visible when fully extended.

These two issues apart, the G7 is well worth considering if you are not quite ready for an SLR. Nick Galvin

Krix Seismix 3Mk3

$850

www.krix.com.au *** 1/2

This high-power subwoofer has a clever programmable microprocessor that controls almost all its circuit functions. It allows Krix to include features not often found on subwoofers at this price. One is a circuit that reduces power consumption when the subwoofer is not being used, slashing running costs to less than 10 cents a week.

Another feature is an earth lift button that eliminates mains hum.

Unlike most manufacturers, Krix builds its Seismix subs right here in Australia. It sources the 255mm-diameter bass driver from Denmark, but makes everything else in its factory in Adelaide.

The In Circuit Serial Programming (ICSP) microprocessor also safeguards against accidental misuse. Soft limiting stops you driving the amplifier's output stage into harmful clipping. An opto-compressor stops the built-in 400-watt amplifier from forcing the cone beyond its design limits.

Recognising that many people hide subwoofers away in places where they can sometimes overheat, Krix has incorporated a heat sensor into the amplifier's cooling fins.

Unlike most subwoofers, it doesn't just switch the amplifier off if it gets too hot. It instead slowly reduces the subwoofer's volume until the temperature drops to a safe level. After a short cool-down period, the volume automatically returns to its original setting.

A separate analog filter limits driver excursion at frequencies below human hearing. This helps keep the bass driver's magnet cool and stops inaudible infrasonic frequencies from modulating and distorting higher frequencies, resulting in excellent tonal quality and foolproof operation.

Deep bass extension is more than adequate and the impressively wide 22Hz to 150Hz frequency range means you can partner this model with small front and surround speakers.

The Seismix 3Mk3 is not large (415 x 360 x 450mm) but the combination of the big bass driver, powerful amplifier and ICSP micro means it sounds much bigger than it looks. Greg Borrowman

Gorillapod

$29.95

www.joby.com *****

This is one of those delightfully simple ideas that make you wonder why it hasn't been thought of until now. It's called the Gorillapod and it's a camera tripod with flexible legs - flexible enough to be wrapped around a branch, hung off a post

or even wrapped around fencing wire.

If you don't mind using your camera upside-down it can even be hung from a clothes line. Or you can straighten the legs out and use it as a regular tripod.

We got this working securely on doorhandles, cedar blinds, fences, hanging off the side of a car on the radio aerial - with a bit of thought it's remarkable just how versatile it is. Here's a neat point - being so flexible, it's dead easy to pack into a small bag, although it will snag just about everything in there. It weighs a mere 45g.

Trip a button and the tiny attachment that screws into the camera base slides free of the tripod, meaning you can leave it permanently screwed into the camera. Using the tripod is then as easy as merely sliding it onto the attachment. It takes all of a second.

The feet are padded with non-slip socks and the same non-slip material rings each of the round leg elements which, by the way, swivel. But the joints are firm enough everywhere to support just about any compact point-and-shoot camera. The manufacturer specifies a maximum camera weight of 275g and there's a bigger model for SLR cameras weighing up to 800g.

This greatly increases your ability to use a tripod in cramped, difficult, damn-near impossible spots. Excuse us, we're rapt; this is the best idea we've seen in photography since phones. We found it in a city photography store and it's also available on-line. Rod Easdown

© 2006 Sydney Morning Herald

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