Sunday, 14 October 2012

Tablet Sony Tablet P


TabletSony Tablet P

Verdict: The Tablet P is simply too expensive and too limited in
functionality
For: Portable, unique form factor, great e-reader.
Against: Too much bezel, too expensive, limited ecosystem of
apps, few Playstation games.



Specifications
Rs 36,990
www.sony.co.in
Dimensions (WxHxD): 180 x 28 x 79 mm (closed);
Weight: 372 g; 
CPU: 1 GHz dual-core; 
Chipset: Nvidia Tegra 2; 
Display: 5.5-in, 1024x480, Dual TFT
capacitive; 
Storage: 4 GB; 
Camera: 5 MP.



Monday, 9 July 2012

XFX RADEON HD 6670




XFX RADEON HD 6670
VERDICT: Well-suited for home theater PCs and casual gaming.
FOR: Low power consumption, uses a single PCIE slot, silent.
AGAINST: None.



SPECIFICATIONS
Rs 5,775
www.xfxforce.com
GPU: AMD Radeon HD 6670; 
Memory: 1024 MB GDDR3;
Memory bus width: 128-bit; 
Speed: (Core | Memory):
Stream processors: 480; Video800 MHz | 800 MHz;
outputs: Dual-link DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort

EPSON L100




EPSON L100
VERDICT: An economical and eco-friendly printer for small and medium sized
businesses.
FOR: Huge refi llable ink tanks, cheap ink refi lls, cheap printing costs.
AGAINST: Average build, ink tanks are not detachable.



SPECIFICATIONS
Rs 8,999
www.epson.co.in
Dimensions (WxHxD): 48.7 x 13.5 x 22.6 cm;
Weight: 2.8 kg; 
Print resolution: 5760 x 1440 dpi;
Interface: USB 2.0; 
Ink tanks: CMYK; 
Sheet tray: input-
100 sheets, output-50 sheets.

CANON SELPHY CP800




CANON SELPHY
CP800
FOR: Very convenient, excellent print quality, prints from memory cards
and USB fl ash drives.
AGAINST: At least a starter kit should have been bundled.




SPECIFICATIONS
Rs 5,295
www.canon.co.in
Dimensions (WxHxD): 177 x 68.8 x 134.6 mm;
Weight: 940 g; Resolution: 300 dpi; 
Print technology: Dye sublimation.


CREATIVE ZEN STYLE M300



CREATIVE ZEN STYLE M300
VERDICT: A good music player as an alternative to the iPod Nano.

FOR: Expandable memory, Bluetooth.
AGAINST: Poor quality display and touch sensitive buttons.




SPECIFICATIONS
Rs 3,499
in.creative.com
Dimensions (WxHxD): 55.2 x 44.2 x 12.6 mm;
Weight: 33 g; Capacity: 4 GB, expandable up to 32GB;
Display: 1.45 in TFT; 
Connectivity: USB 2.0, Bluetooth;
Other functions: FM Radio, voice recorder.

COWON C2



COWON C2

VERDICT: A fantastic audio player if you can get past the dodgy design and UI.
FOR: Excellent audio quality, great battery life, easy navigation.
AGAINST: Not very compact, resistive touchscreen, small UI icons, average video
playback



SPECIFICATIONS
Rs 7,000
www.cowonindia.in
Dimensions (WxHxD): 78.7 x 53 x 12.8 mm; 
Weight: 84
g; 
Capacity: 4/8/16 GB;
 Display: 2.6 in, 320x240 pixels;
Memory expansion: microSD; 
Audio codec: MP3, WMA,
FLAC, OGG, APE, WAV; 
Video codec: MPEG layer 1/2/3
and WMV; 
Other functions: Photo viewer, FM radio and
text viewer

SAMSUNG GT-B7510 GALAXY PRO




SAMSUNG GT-B7510
GALAXY PRO
VERDICT: A great budget smartphone let down by poor battery life.
FOR: Comfortable, smooth UI, great media features, good camera
AGAINST: Poor battery life.





SPECIFICATIONS
Rs 13,520
www.samsung.com
Dimensions (WxHxD): 108.6 x 66.7 x 10.7 mm; 
Weight: 103 g; 
OS: Android v2.2 Froyo; 
Processor: 800 MHz;
Memory: 512 MB internal; 
Display: 2.8-inch TFT, 320 x 240; 
Camera: 3.15 MP; 
Connectivity: GPRS, EDGE,
3G, WLAN b/g/n, Bluetooth, micro USB; 
Battery: 1350

mAh.

LG OPTIMUS BLACK P970




LG OPTIMUS
BLACK P970

FOR: Great battery life, good camera, impressive music playback.
AGAINST: Flimsy build, poor video recording.



SPECIFICATIONS
Rs 19,990
www.lg.com
Dimensions (WxHxD): 122 x 64 x 9.2 mm; 

OS: Android v2.2 Froyo; 
Processor: 1 GHz Cortex-A8 processor, PowerVR SGX530 GPU;

Weight: 109 g;
 Memory: 512 MB
RAM, 2 GB internal; 
Display: 4-inch TFT, 480 x 800;
Camera: 5 MP; 
Connectivity: GPRS, EDGE, 3G, WLAN
b/g/n, Bluetooth, micro USB; 
Battery: 1500 mAh.


DELL XCD35



DELL XCD35

FOR: Crisp, hi-res display, decent build quality.
AGAINST: Weak processor, stock UI, sluggish performance.



SPECIFICATIONS
Rs 10,990
www.dell.co.in
Dimensions (WxHxD): 114 x 56 x 12.2 mm; 
Weight:
120 g; 
OS: Android v2.1 Éclair; 
Processor: ARM 11
600 MHz; 
Memory: 256 MB RAM, 200 MB internal;
Display: 3.5-inch TFT, 480 x 800; 
Camera: 3.15 MP;
Connectivity: GPRS, EDGE, 3G, WLAN b/g, Bluetooth,
micro USB; 
Battery: 1250 mAh.

HTC FLYER



HTC FLYER

FOR: Great build, slick interface.
AGAINST: Expensive, average media performance, poor camera.



SPECIFICATIONS
Rs 43,500
www.htc.com/in
Dimensions (WxHxD): 195.4 x 122 x 13.2 mm;
Weight: 421 g; 
OS: Android v2.3.3 Gingerbread;
Processor: 1.5 GHz; 
Memory: 1 GB RAM, 32 GB internal;
Display: 7-inch LCD, 600 x 1024; 


Camera: 5 MP;


Connectivity: GPRS, EDGE, 3G, WLAN b/g, Bluetooth,
micro USB; 
Battery: 1470 mAh.

Monday, 23 April 2012

HP LASERJET M1213NF


HP LASERJET M1213NF
VERDICT: A worthy investment those looking for a compact multi-function printer.
FOR: Speedy prints, compact, very easy to confi gure and use, power-saving feature.
AGAINST: Below average print quality (graphics).



This printer is a perfect product
for small businesses and SOHO
where documents are needed
to be printed quickly and frequently
in black-and-white. It sports a rugged
all-black body with matt finish.
The HP LaserJet M1213nf is an all-in-one
device comprising the functions of a
printer, copier, scanner and fax machine. It
can be connected via USB or shared with
other users over the local area network.
The printer prints at 600 dpi and can max
out at an interpolated resolution of 1200
dpi. The fax memory can hold up to 500
A4 pages. It also features junk fax filter,
auto fax forwarding, remote retrieval and
delayed faxing. The control panel is neatly
tucked in one corner of the unit and has
well-spaced and tactile keys.
On the performance front, the HP
LaserJet M1213nf is great when it comes
to printing and copying speeds. Regular
documents can be printed at a speedy 18
pages per minute while copying a single
document takes less than 15 seconds.
It takes the printer 38 seconds to
initialize from power off state. But when in
standby mode you can get the first print in
just 9 seconds.
The print quality didn't meet our
expectations. Though the quality of
regular text documents was excellent,
graphics were not as crisp and detailed.
For its asking price we feel it should
have had an automatic duplexor.

BROTHER HL-3070CW


BROTHER HL-3070CW
VERDICT: A printer with good print economy for your offi ce or home.
FOR: Excellent document printing, secure print feature, good print economy
AGAINST: Tiny LCD display, below average photo prints, manual duplex.



The Brother HL-3070CW is an
economical printer for small
businesses and homes, and can
print at a decent resolution of 600x2400
dpi. The printer can be connected via
the USB, LAN or Wi-fi . It has a 64 MB
buff er memory which is good enough for
a small to medium offi ce environment.
The HL-3070CW uses the LED light
printing technology rather than the
conventional laser printers that use a
laser beam. LEDs are more efficient and
reliable since there are fewer moving parts
involved. The front panel sports a USB
port that can be used for both PictBridge
direct printing as well as printing directly
from a USB fl ash drive.
The HL-3070CW prints regular text
documents at 16 ppm and an A4 photo
(best quality) in just 26 seconds. The
black text prints were excellent with crisp
character formation, but the photo prints
were not satisfactory—they were quite
dark and dull due to insufficient contrast
and details.



SPECIFICATIONS
Rs 23,315
www.brother.in
Dimensions (WxHxD): 16.1 x 9.8 x 18.3 in; Weight:
19 kg; Resolution: 2400 dpi; Buffer size: 64 MB; Tray
capacity: 250 sheets; Interface: USB, LAN, WLAN.

The black cartridge (Rs 3,950) can
yield around 2,200 pages at just Rs 1.80
per print. A color print will cost you around
Rs 2.70. The color cartridge has a capacity
to print 1,400-pages and costs around Rs
3,850.

HP OFFICEJET 4500


HP OFFICEJET 4500
VERDICT: A feature-rich all-in-one device with excellent
print quality.
FOR: Excellent photo quality, small size.
AGAINST: Average print speed, manual duplexing,
slightly expensive.



The HP 4500 Officejet is one of the smallest all-in-one
devices available in the market. It can be easily shared
on the network with other users using the Ethernet
port. It features a 4800x1200 dpi color printer, a 1200 dpi
scanner with ADF, a copier, and a 33.6 Kbps color facsimile
with 20 page memory. The AIO looks sleek with an all-black
case in a surprisingly small package. Unfortunately, the glossy
body will attract dust and
fingerprints in no time.
The control panel is neatly
designed with well-spaced
buttons and a single-line,
but sufficiently large and
bright LCD. Considering this
printer is meant for office
use, an automatic duplex
function and a card reader
would have added greater
value to the product. The
printer can print grey scale
text documents at 17 ppm
and documents with clipart and images at 10 ppm. With the
print quality set to Best it printed text documents at 3 ppm,
while it took a little more than a minute to print 4x6-inch
borderless photos. The test photos that we printed had
good color and detail reproduction. Copying black-and-white
and color documents took just 24 seconds and 46 seconds
respectively. It takes 15 seconds for the printer to initialize
from the switched off state and the first print from the time
of clicking the print button takes around 22 seconds.

SPECIFICATIONS
Rs 7,999
www.hp.com
Dimensions (WxHxD): 434 x 217 x 402 mm; Weight:
6 kg, Functions: Print, scan, copy, fax; Print
resolution: 4800x1200 dpi; Paper tray capacity:
100 sheets; Scanner type: A4, ADF


GALAXY GTX 470


GALAXY GTX 470
VERDICT: A capable card with an innovative custom cooler.
FOR: Runs cooler than most GTX 470s, flip fan design makes it easy to clean.
AGAINST: Very high power consumption.



It’s a known fact that Nvidia’s GeForce
GTX 470 and 480 based GPUs
heat up to a great extent. With over
3-billion transistors embedded into the
GPU what more can you expect?
The Galaxy GTX 470 is a little diff erent
from the crowd since everything other
than the GPU is customized by Galaxy.
Moreover the redesigned PCB is also
an inch smaller than Nvidia’s reference
design. Furthermore the card comes with
a Flip fan design which allows you to
clean the heatsink and the fan without
having you to open up the shroud. The
rear supports two dual-link DVI port along
with a mini HDMI port.
Powering up the card is a 12-pin
connector — a minimum 550 W PSU will
be required to breathe life into this card.
The core speeds have been bumped up
to a small degree. What you get is a core
operating at 625 MHz while the memory
and shaders are clocked at 837 MHz and
1250 MHz respectively.
Crysis Warhead returned a playable
score of 49 fps with the resolution kept
at 1680 x 1050 (2xAA). Just Cause 2 also
returned very playable frame rates of 48
fps at a resolution of 1920 x 1080 – this
was achieved with AA disabled while still
maintaining Very High settings.



SPECIFICATIONS
Rs 23,000
www.galaxytech.com
GPU: Nvidia GTX 470; Stream Processors: 448; Process:
40 nm; Memory: 1.2 GB DDR5; Core | Memory speed:
625 MHz | 837 MHz; Video output: Dual-DVI, Mini
HDMI.


Saturday, 21 April 2012

ASUS ENGTX470


ASUS ENGTX470
VERDICT: A very capable card that goes well against the Radeon HD 5850.
FOR: Decent performance, low power consumption when idle.
AGAINST: None.





With the new Fermi architecture
coming into play Nvidia
surely has something to smile
about. They proved their point with
the launch of the GTX 480 which as of
now is considered to be the single most
powerful card. However apart from
being an all-out performer the card is
not only considered to be a power hog
but also generates enough heat to heat
your cup of tea. Now, the GTX 470 is a
run down version of its elder sibling that
features a total of 448 unifi ed shaders
as opposed to 480 unifi ed shaders. The
core and memory speeds are clocked
at 607 MHz and 837 MHz respectively.
The card runs on 1280 MB of GDDR5
memory tied to a 320-bit memory bus.
The card features the same stock design
with the only change being in its sticker.
Performance of the card is something no
one can complain about. Both Crysis and
Just Cause 2 are extremely demanding
games that make cards struggle. Crysis
Warhead returned playable frame rates of
50 fps at a resolution of 1680 x 1050 with
AA kept at 2x (Gamer mode). However
switching the mode to Enthusiast and
bumping up the resolution to 1920 x 1200
brought the frames down by a decent
20 fps. Just Cause 2 on the other hand
returned a playable frame rate of 48 fps
at same resolution and AA disabled.





SPECIFICATIONS
Rs 19,580
www.in.asus.com
GPU: Nvidia GTX 470; Stream Processors: 448; Process:
40 nm; Memory: 1.2 GB DDR5; Core | Memory speed:
607 MHz | 837 MHz; Video output: Dual-DVI, Mini
HDMI.






MSI R5870 LIGHTNING


MSI R5870 LIGHTNING 
FOR: Excellent cooler, silent fans, HDMI cable included.
AGAINST: A slightly overclocked core is completely pointless.




The MSI R5870 Lightning is one of
the very few Radeon HD 5800
series cards to feature a custom
design. It’s not just the cooler; MSI has
gone all out and built this card right up
from a custom PCB to components of topnotch
quality that meet military standards.
The PCB of this card measures 10.1
inches which is just about half an inch
less than the length of the reference PCB.
But it’s wider by three-fourth of an inch to
accommodate the extra components used
for the 12-phase power design for the GPU
and 3-phase power design for memory.
MSI has used Hi-C capacitors instead of
solid-state capacitors all over which they
claim have 8 times the lifespan, lower
operating temperature and are more
efficient. The reference design features a
pair of 6-pin PCIe power connectors, but
this card uses two 8-pin PCIe connectors
to feed the additional circuitry and provide
extra power to the GPU for better stability
while overclocking.



SPECIFICATIONS
Rs 24,500
www.in.msi.com
GPU: Radeon HD 5870; Core | Memory speed: 900 MHz
| 1200 MHz; Video memory: 1 GB GDDR5; Memory
bus width: 256-bit; Video outputs: 2x DVI, HDMI and
DisplayPort.



ECS A875M-A


ECS A875M-A
VERDICT: A very basic motherboard with a handful of useful features.
FOR: Good layout, useful bundled application.
AGAINST: None .



The ECS A875M-A is for those who
need a motherboard with discrete
graphics sans bells and whistles
that high-end boards boast. It features
the AMD 870 chipset, which excludes
on-board graphics and off ers only a
single PCIe x16 slot for adding a graphics
card. Since the board features an ATX
design, ECS has utilized the length to
add expansion slots. There are two PCIe
x1 slots above the PCIe x 16 slots and
three PCI slots below. The good thing
about the way these are placed is that
you’ll lose only a single PCI slot if you
install a graphics card with a dual-slot
design. The SATA 6 Gb/s ports supported
by the SB850 southbridge are stacked
vertically at the bottom right corner for
routing the SATA cables conveniently.
Three USB headers supporting two
ports each, front audio and front panel
headers are placed right at the bottom
and are easily distinguishable by their
color. The rear panel is also well laid
out with eight USB ports and an eSATA
port clubbed in a group. A serial port
(RS-232) has been added whereVGA
and DVI outputs are usually present.
The A875M-A performed well, but active
cooling for the northbridge would have
helped keep the temperature low.



SPECIFICATIONS
Rs 4,140
www.rptechindia.com
CPU socket: AM3; Chipset: AMD 870 + SB850; Memory:
DDR3-1333 (Max 32 GB); USB | SATA: 14 (6 via onboard
headers)| 5; Expansion slots: 1x PCIe x16, 2x
PCIe x1 and 3x PCI; Audio: 7.1 channel; LAN: Gigabit.




ASUS CROSSHAIR IV FORMULA


ASUS CROSSHAIR IV
FORMULA
FOR: Automatic OC button, excellent on-board audio, brilliant layout.
AGAINST: None.



The Asus Republic of Gamers series
of enthusiast-class hardware
needs no introduction. The fourth
generation Crosshair motherboard for the
AMD platform is built around the latest
and the most powerful AMD 890FX
chipset. The chipset features support
for up to 16 GB DDR3 memory and 32
PCIe lanes dedicated to discrete graphics
cards. So two graphics cards confi gured
in CrossFire will run at x16 each and three
graphics cards will run at x16+x8+x8.
Out of the four bright red PCIe slots,
the fi rst and third run at x16, the second
one runs at x8 and the fourth one runs
at x4. The second one can also take a
PCIe x1 or x2 add-on card. You also get
two PCI slots which won’t be of any use
with dual-slots graphics cards occupying
the PCIe slots.The six SATA 6 Gb/s ports
along the right edge of the board are
supported by the SB850 southbrige.
Asus has used a JMicron controller
which adds a SATA 3 Gb/s port and an
eSATA port on the rear panel. A USB 3.0
controller is also present which adds a
pair of blue ports. Other components on
the rear panel include a PS/2 port for
keyboard, seven USB 2.0 ports, FireWire
and gigabit Ethernet ports, CMOS reset
button and the ROG connect button.
ROG connect allows you to monitor and
tweak the clocks and voltages from
another PC or laptop. The package
includes a USB cable for ROG connect
and an application called RC TweakIT
for use on the connected PC or laptop.
The Crosshair IV Formula is equipped
with an OC processor called TurboVEvo
for maintaining stability while overclocking
and an automatic OC switch for an instant
boost at the press of a button. Check
points for measuring the voltages using a
multimeter are also present.
The package includes six high-quality
SATA cables with retention clips, a USB
and eSATA bracket, some cable ties, a
CrossFire bridge and a one-year license of
Kaspersky Anti-virus.



SPECIFICATIONS
Rs 14,310
www.in.asus.com
CPU socket: AM3; Chipset: AMD 890FX + SB850;
Memory: DDR3-1333 (16 GB max); Expansion slots:
2x PCIe x16, 1x PCIe x4 and 2 PCI; Multi-GPU support:
2-way and 3-way CrossFire; SATA | USB: 7 | 14; Audio:
7.1-ch SupremeFX X-Fi.


NCOMPUTING U170


NCOMPUTING U170
VERDICT: An economical method to convert a single PC into multiple desktops.
FOR: Simple installation, cost-effective, no power requirements, small in size.
AGAINST: No PS2 interface for input devices.



Turning a single PC or laptop into
multiple virtual desktops is now as
simple as plugging in a simple USB
hardware device known as NComputing
U170. It is nothing but a USB box that
creates an additional virtual desktop to
your existing PC, thus converting a single
computer into two or more simultaneously
useable virtual desktops. The NComputing
U170 needs a USB mouse and keyboard
and a monitor to form a single virtual
desktop. The U170 connects to a USB
port on the host PC and a software
application - VSpace, shares the
resources (hardware and software) of
the host computer with the other virtual
desktops. Using multiple NComputing
U170 modules and a series of USB hubs,
you can create a maximum of nine virtual
desktops excluding the host computer.
The NComputing U170 is an excellent
and economical way to save on computer
hardware, maintenance and electricity
costs. The device can be either mounted
under the desk, on a wall or VESAmounted
on an LCD monitor. It is very light
and does not need additional power as it
draws its power from the host PC itself.
The product can be best implemented in
cybercafés, data entry centers, accounting
offices, schools, kiosks and other such
areas where core computing performance
is not a priority. The U170 supports a
maximum display resolution of 1680x1050
with stutter-free video playback.



SPECIFICATIONS
Rs 5,000
www.ncomputing.com
Dimensions (WxHxD): 125 x 30 x 80 mm; Weight: 115g;
Connectivity: USB 2.0; Ports: 2 x USB 2.0; Audio in/out,
VGA (D-sub).


SAMSUNG CORBY TV SCH-F339


SAMSUNG CORBY TV SCH-F339
VERDICT: Lacks quite a few things that the cheaper S3650 was equipped with.
FOR: Light weight, comfortable design, TV app works well, decent audio quality.
AGAINST: Struggles with standard mobile video formats.



There’s no diff erence between the
Corby S3650 and the Corby TV. It’s
still a light weight handset at 90g
with a 2.8-inch capacitive touchscreen
that sports a resolution of 240 x 320
pixesl. The camera and screen lock key
are one side and the volume/zoom keys
along with the proprietary all-in-one port.
This time around, Samsung has included a
3.5 mm adapter so you can use your own
set of earphones. The microSD card is just
under the interchangeable rear panel.
Samsung’s TouchWiz UI works out just
fi ne although sometimes it seemed quite
unresponsive when it came to making a
selection. It is however easy to navigate
with multiple desktops with plenty of drag
and drop widgets. A QWERTY keypad has
also been added but unfortunately the
option to change the menu orientation to
landscape seems to have been done away
with. This makes it a bit awkward to use
the QWERTY keypad.
The Corby TV is a CDMA device which
implies super speed connectivity from
browsing to watching Live TV via the
MimobiTV Mobile TV app. This app comes
with a quite a few channels that range
from news to movies and soaps. Kids
channels like Pogo and Cartoon Network
are also provided.


SPECIFICATIONS
Rs 9,699
www.in.samsungmobile.com
Dimensions: 56.5 x 103 x 12 mm; Weight: 90 g; Display:
2.8-inch Capacitive touchscreen, 240x320 pixels;
Data: EDGE, GPRS, 3G, Camera: 2 MP


Friday, 20 April 2012

HTC SMART

HTC SMART

FOR: Well designed, good audio clarity, camera quality is decent.
AGAINST: Lacks Wi-fi for the price, battery life could have been better.


HTC has had quite a bit success with
their slew of Android devices that
seem immensely popular. However
so far, they haven’t really been able to
tap into the budget segment (under Rs.
10,000). The Smart is undoubtedly their
attempt to bridge the gap. It’s a sleek new
handset that’s got just that right amount
of weight (108 g) and it’s just 12.8 mm
thin so it’s easy to carry around without
leaving a bulge in your pocket. HTC has
gone with a 2.8-inch resistive touchscreen
that has a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels.
There’s a tiny key just below display
that can pull up the menus. The large
‘Arrow’ key is for returning to the previous
menu or if pressed and held will return
you directly to the main desktop menu. A
3.5 mm handsfree port is located at the
top with a mini-USB port at the bottom.
The volume keys are neatly camoufl aged
along the chromed border and a camera
shutter release is located on the other
side in the same way. A hot swap MicroSD
card slot is located just under the rear
panel on one side.
The Smart runs the new OS designed
by Qualcomm, called Brew Mobile
features multiple desktops, full page
widgets, shortcuts etc. The Smart’s 300
MHz processor enables speedy delivery
of access to the various features and
functions. The device is loaded with all
basic connectivity options which are quite
adequate. It’s a 3G-enabled device which
also off ers EDGE/GPRS connectivity for
Web browsing or social networking.
A 3 megapixel fixed focus camera with
LED fl ash includes settings for brightness
and contrast, a few effects and White
Balance. It’s not much but it does come
in handy. Picture quality is not too bad
however there was a slight issue with
focus in some areas.
The battery life of the Smart isn’t
impressive at all. On a single charge we
were able to use the handset for just
about a day and half with a few calls,
messages, music and social networking
thrown in. Talk time averaged in at just
about 3 hours and 30 minutes.



SPECIFICATIONS
Rs 9,990
www.htc.com/in
Dimensions: 55 x 104 x 12.8 mm; Weight: 108 g;
Display: 2.8-inch resistive touchscreen, 240x320
pixels; GSM: 850/900/1800/1900; Data: EDGE, GPRS,
3G; Camera: 3.15 MP




GARMIN ASUS M10

GARMIN ASUS M10

FOR: Plays DivX and Xvid videos, good battery life.
AGAINST: Slightly bulky design, low playback volume, slow Facebook app


The first impression you’ll have
bout the M10 is that it’s a large,
slightly heavy but not altogether a
bad looking handset. The large 3.5-
inch touchscreen (480 x 800 pixel) is
unfortunately resistive. It has volume/
zoom keys on one side and a micro
USB port above the cradle docking port
on the other side. A 3.5 mm handsfree
socket is at the top. Even though the M10
comes with 4 GB of internal memory,
it should have had a hot swap slot for
the microSD card which, as a matter of
fact, it doesn’t. Other than the volume
keys, there are no other tactile buttons.
The M10 runs on a Windows Mobile
6.5.3 Professional edition. The Qualcomm
7227, 600 MHz processor helps runs things
quite smoothly and multi-task without a
hassle. Aside from the regular WinMob
virtual keypads, larger QWERTY option is
also available, however if you have stubby
fingers you will find the layout too small.
One of the biggest issues we had with
was with reception. It seemed like other
phones were able to get full strength in
the same areas that the M10 showed no
more than three bars. We could make and
take calls with no issues of voice clarity
from our end or those on the other side
with other handsets, but the M10 didn’t
fare as well on a consistent basis.
There’s plenty to go around in the
M10’s connectivity department. It’s a 3G
enabled handset with connectivity options
that include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v2.0 +EDR
and USB 2.0 for data transfer.
The handset’s GPS capabilities are
its best quality. Not only does it acquire
satellites faster than any other handset
we’ve tested, including the G60, the
applications associated with the feature
are extremely handy. Navteq has provided
detailed maps. There are quick access
options to search for anything specifi c,
store co-ordinates for contacts, a travel
guide (which is extra) as well as a list if
emergency options that will quickly find
the closest hospitals, police stations, gas
stations and even parking areas that are
in the vicinity.



SPECIFICATIONS
Rs 19,990
www.in.asus.com
Dimensions: 58 x 116 x 14.3 mm; Weight: 138 g;
Display: 3.5-inch resistive touchscreen, 400x800
pixels, GSM: 850/900/1800/1900; Data: EDGE, UTMS,
HSDPA; Camera: 5MP