We got a little hands-on time with Olympus's tiny E420 DSLR back at CeBIT, but the cam's now shipping and the crew at LetsGoDigitial put one through its paces. As you'd expect, the E420's diminutive stature won praise for being light and compact while still fitting well in the hand, but the real accolades were saved for the new Live View feature that allows for instant focusing with supported lenses and solid image sensor that delivers images on par with the more expensive Olympus E-3. The only major negatives appears to be some noise at higher ISO settings and the lack of an IS system, but those aren't necessarily major flaws -- and if you're in the market for a DSLR, the review just beyond the read link might be well worth your time.

Well Zuneinites, the new models are primed and ready for store shelves tomorrow, but we've got first looks and reviews today. As Microsoft's new media players make their way into the hands of eager beavers across the internets, we're here for you, picking up the pieces and putting it all together. As it stands right now, we've got videos and reviews from a number of sources, including (but not limited) to: CNET, Zune Thoughts, and Zunerama. All of the sites currently have unboxing videos and / or reviews of the new units, and Zune Thoughts even has an informative video on some firmware update problems they discovered with the Zune 80. Some interesting Zune Marketplace info has also come out, including details that the DRM-free track cost will be $.99, or 79 Microsoft Points (the same as pricing on protected tracks). Additionally, we've received the official word from Microsoft on the Zune Originals, as well as all the confirmation you'll ever need that the Zune-bomb really does drop tomorrow. Hold on to your hats folks, it's going to be an exciting week.

Read -- CNET First Look: Zune (second generation, 80GB, black)
Read -- Zune Thoughts
Read -- Zunerama: Full Zune 2 coverage
Read -- Microsoft Unveils Device Customization via New Zune Originals Store, New Zune Players Available Tomorrow

The nuvi line has proven to be a big seller for Garmin -- we know half a dozen people who own a 300-series alone -- so expectations are obviously pretty high for the newest flagship device in the family, the 760. Luckily for nuvi diehards, the company has done just about everything right here, according to GPS Review, packing the 4.3-inch widescreen unit with nearly every bell and whistle you could possibly want in a PND while still maintaining the ease-of-use Garmins are known for. Specifically, you're getting pre-installed maps of North America, cellphone integration via Bluetooth, FM transmitter, text-to-speech, MP3 playback, and a cleverly designed traffic antenna built into the power cord that's capable of connecting to Clear Channel's Total Traffic Network. Apparently the biggest improvements over the 600-series are screen brightness, a "last position" feature to figure out where you parked, and a new routing function that lets you plot out a multi-stop trip or determine the best order in which to hit multiple destinations. Quibbles here are relatively minor -- wonky re-routing, too-late voice prompts -- and it seems the biggest barrier to purchase with the 760 is its price: at between $700 and $800, it costs quite a bit more than other models with nearly the same feature set.

It takes a while to put a camera like Canon's EOS 40D fully through its paces, but a few brave souls have blazed through the feature set, menus, ISOs and megapixels afforded to them by the new camera in time to get reviews up mere weeks after launch. Of course, the flashiest feature here is Live View, but the 40D is no one trick pony: unlike the minimal 20D to 30D upgrade, the 40D is all-new and packed with enhancements. Who knows if this'll be enough for Canon to get Nikon of its turf, but we'll let you read the mountains of text, peep the comparison shots and draw your own conclusions.

Read - CNET Asia ("The Canon EOS 40D is a leap forward in improvement over its predecessors..." 8 / 10)
Read - Cameralabs ("If the 40D's price and feature-set suits your requirements, you'll have few if any complaints.")
Read - Bob Atkins ("It's a very good camera and I can recommend it.")
Read - The World According to Roland ("A nice feature upgrade over the 20D and 30D and at an attractive price.")
Read - DP Review (Preview)

The chaps over at PhotograhyBLOG have an extensive (as in six pages) review of the handsome Ricoh Caplio GX100 that we told you about in March. Opinions from the experts concerning this 10 megapixel camera seem largely favorable, with high marks for design, features and ease-of-use, and only a few minor quibbles in the image-quality department. They seemed particularly excited about the Caplio's use of a RAW storage format, which the competition has apparently been moving away from. But hey, it's your $700, so if you really want to know all the details, follow the link to the full review.

We noted last week that the FCC's official approval of HD radio was good news for embattled terrestrial broadcasters, but Richard Menta of MP3 newswire clues us in to a dirty little secret on the consumer side of things: most of the hardware on the market today sucks. Specifically, Menta put three current models (Boston Acoustics' Recepter Radio HD, Polk Audio's I-Sonic Entertainment System, and the Accurian HD Radio from Radio Shack) up against three analog units he had lying around the house (his car stereo, a cheap Sony shower radio, and just for fun, a 1940 Zenith tube radio), and much to his surprise, even the crappiest of the latter group was able to pick up analog stations better than the most expensive HD device. Furthermore, the HD models did a terrible job picking up the digital stations they're meant to highlight in signal-rich central Jersey, as they were only able lock in one of the 13 channels promoted by the HD Radio Alliance with any regularity. Luckily this poor performance seems due to the lack of sensitivity in the tuners these radios are built with -- an issue that's easily solved -- so the real question is whether manufacturers have the will to start tossing better parts in. If not, things don't look very good for HD Radio, so all that NAB can really do is hope that its anti-merger smear campaign is gaining some ground

So we recently threw together a little rig of our own, and though we made sure to toss in at least four fans for keeping everything nice and cool, we has no idea that for a lot more money we could get ones that pull double duty as obnoxious billboards for flashing the internal temperature. So would we have done things differently had we known about ThermalTake's iFlash+ 120mm model with built-in POV (persistence of vision) display? Of course not, don't be silly. But for those of you who take pride in shlocking up your case mods as much as possible, Dark Vision Hardware reports that the iFlash+ does indeed live up to the hype, basically giving you the performance of ThermalTake's TT-1225A coupled with a bright, readable, and mostly pointless bit of ambient information. Reviewer Thomas gives the lively air mover a nine out of ten rating, harshing on it only for its curious but rather minor omission of a Fahrenheit mode (i.e. all temps are shown in Celsius). Still, you're not spending triple the price of a regular fan because of your need for real-time, completely accurate data anyway, so it's probably best to say that this product will be most pleasing to anyone who would actually consider buying it. If that's you, make sure to check out the vid after the break...

Sony Ericsson's venerable Walkman line just received a good dose of cool with the announcement and (pending?) release of the W880. Sony Ericsson has joined the thin-is-in crowd with this one, as the W880 comes in at a skinny and svelte 9.4mm thick -- pretty dainty for a candybar unit. This is one of the newest Sony Ericsson handsets we've been pleased to view and gawk at. Slim, trim, and comes in fightin' with such features like 2 cams (a VGA one for front-facing video calls), Bluetooth 2.0 A2DP and Memory Stick M2 support (alas, Sony's proprietary format) and...we'll say it again -- an ultra-slim shape that's more Samsung-ian than from the SE boys. A few things that stood out in the GSM Arena review was the inclusion of "multitasking" support (we can guess at the meaning there), EDGE being absent and the inclusion of a standard 3.5mm audio adapter for using your own high-end headphones with the W880. We wish all handset makers would do this -- since using those sweet Shure earphones are, well, worth it. GSM Arena's verdict with the in-depth review? This is one sweet candybar.

[Thanks, Simon]

When Samsung decided to target the more discriminating consumer with its NV-series (NV = New Voyage -- thrilling!) of "Lifestyle" digicams, it chose to forgo the rather staid aesthetic of most of its older models for more distinctive, high quality designs -- but as with so many other "fashionable" products, The Photography Blog reports that you're getting more sizzle than steak when it comes to the seven megapixel NV7. On first glance it would seem that this hybrid cam has the potential to be a real winner: besides the attractive looks and tight build quality, you're getting a Schneider lens with long 7x optical zoom, a welcome tag team of digital as well as optical image stabilization, and several manual control options for finicky photographers. Unfortunately, for all its attractive features, the NV7 just don't take a very good picture. While it supposedly handles chromatic aberrations well and makes good use of that optical stabilization, images tend to come out looking very noisy, even at a low ISO 100 (maximum ISO is 1000, but both that setting and ISO 800 and reportedly unusable). Other faults include the rather ineffective digital Advanced Shake Reduction option, a steep learning curve for getting accustomed to the 13 unlabeled soft keys bordering the 2.5-inch LCD, and the fact that optical stabilization turns off after every shutdown. But the main problem here is those grainy images, so unless you're willing to overlook picture quality for eye-catching design, it sounds like you're best off spending your ~$475 on a shooter that gives you better performance.

ExtremeTech and Games for Windows magazine have combined their forces to take on a few of the ultimate gaming machines that are tearing up the scene these days. Over the last week, they rocked six, that's right, six full-on reviews of these rapacious rigs: the Dell XPS 710, Gateway FX530XT Gaming PC, CyberPower Gamer Infinity SLI KO, Alienware Area-51 ALX, Falcon Northwest Mach V, and VoodooPC Omen (pictured).

First up is the Dell XPS 710, which really didn't get high marks at all -- they dubbed it a "very average system." What made it deserve such a panning? Basically, the site found that it's overpriced ($5,314) for the performance you get (2.66GHz Core 2 Extreme Quad QX6700) -- Dell seems to have spent the extra money on case design and not the actual components. When stacked up against a very close rival, the Gateway FX530XT, ExtremeTech found that the 530 edged out the Dell system, earning points for a faster chip (3.24GHz QX6700 quad-core), smaller case, lower price ($4,030), and quieter fan. Keep reading to check out the rest of the hardcore action...

After having already seen photo galleries, video walkthroughs, and endless spec sheets focused on Microsoft's upcoming Zune player, there's no real need to hear Walt Mossberg's and David Pogue's take on the attempted iPod-assassin -- but we'd be lying if we said that we had absolutely no interest in learning the opinions of two of the day's most influential tech journalists with regard to one of the most hyped consumer electronics products of the year. In their thorough write-ups, both Pogue and Mossberg tell us what we pretty much already knew about the device, and which can best be summed up by this variation on a famous political retort: "Mr. Ballmer, I served with the iPod; I knew the iPod; the iPod was a friend of mine. Mr. Ballmer, your Zune is no iPod."

Specifically, each of these esteemed reviewers found the Zune lacking in terms of portability ("The Zune looks big and blocky, sort of like a prototype for a gadget, rather than a finished product," said Mossberg), battery life (less than the iPod's, or even Microsoft's own claims), and content selection (there are currently no movies, TV shows, or podcasts available on the Zune Marketplace, although a last-minute deal with Universal does bulk up the offerings somewhat). Furthermore, Zune's one potential "iPod-killing" feature -- music sharing over WiFi -- is judged to be a complete dud; instead of truly helping the consumer discover new music, Pogue opines that "you can't shake the feeling that it's all just a big plug for Microsoft's music store." Mossberg goes on to knock the Marketplace's point system -- you can only buy points in $5 blocks -- and both gentlemen lament the dearth of accessories and the perceived "screw you" to all parties who have already invested in the PlaysForSure microcosm.

So, is there nothing positive to say about the ol' Zune? Of course not: the device gets high marks for its smooth syncing, polished GUI, intuitive navigation, ability to dock with an Xbox 360, and solid build quality. The problem is, these niceties don't outweigh the missing or frustrating features -- so although it may be a decent player on its own merits, it falls far short in the inevitable comparisons to Apple's darling. Still, we're reminded once again that this is only the first generation of Microsoft's entry into portable audio hardware, and like so many other products from Redmond, it promises to only get better with time.

Read- Pogue
Read- Mossberg

While our dealings with Alienware have been nothing but positive (although we haven't chosen to review any of their systems), HEXUS seems to have gotten into a bit of tussle with the high-end PC maker, saying that the company will no longer send them products as a result of a negative review. The altercation culminated in an email exchange in which HEXUS claimed that Alienware "will only submit products to publications which will write nice things about Alienware," to which an Alienware representative responded: "That's was (sic) and remains Alienware's global marketing strategy from the beginning. We're hardly alone." Now, Alienware's received its share of less-than-positive reviews over the years so it's not clear how tightly they stick to that "global marketing strategy," if that's the case, but wouldn't the best strategy be to just make great PCs and let the reviews take care of themselves? Either way, we can certainly tell you that if that's actually the case, we'd have stopped dealing with them (or anyone else demanding positive reviews) faster than you can say VoodooPC.

[Via Slashdot]

We've just come across a complete review of Samsung's Q1-SSD UMPC, the first device in its class with a solid state NAND flash drive. Sammy's had some ups and downs with its Q1 devices over the last few months, giving us all the more reason to wonder what Riyad Emeran of TrustedReviews had to say about it. The verdict? That 32GB flash drive is pretty freakin' fast -- Emeran noted the Q1-SSD booted in a snappy 22 seconds, notched a PCMark hard drive score of 5895 (more than twice as fast as an HP Compaq nc2400), and was able to perform a complete system restore in just over four minutes. However, that performance increase for the flash drive doesn't translate into as large of a battery life jump as we'd like, given that the battery only lasts about three hours, compared to two hours on the original Q1. But the worst aspect of the Q1-SSD, as TrustedReviews notes, is the fact that its retail price is £1,400 ($2,663) -- double the original MSRP of the Q1 (£700, or $1,331). For that level of coinage, you may just want to stick to the pokey-but-slim Compaq nc2400 to lighten your gadget bag.

Our peeps over at PC Mag have gotten their hands on the higher-end of Microsoft's two Live-optimized LifeCams announced last month and, for the most part at least, seem to have dug it, giving it a hefty 4/5 rating. True to Microsoft's claims, they found that the cam was in fact, very easy to use and delivered some nice added features like face-tracking along with the standard pan, tilt, and zoom control. And while they were impressed with the 30 fps, 1,280-by-1,024 (interpolated, of course) video, they found that the audio quality from the built-in mic left a lot to be desired, having to crank up the volume in order to hear each other clearly, resulting in some nasty feedback. An external microphone would obviously solve that problem but, you know, would kinda defeat the purpose. Not surprisingly, the best results also came when using Windows Live Messenger, with some additional audio/video problems cropping up when used with AIM and Yahoo. A deliberate downgrade? Nah, couldn't be.

It's a rare occurrence when we're more interested in a product's reviewer than the product itself, but when esteemed and influential tech journalist Walt Mossberg dropped his pants to get the scoop on a high-tech toilet seat, well, we knew there was some fun to be had. Unkie Walt (as he's affectionately known around here) and his trusty sidekick Katie decided to throw modesty to the wind and have Brondell's $800 Swash 800 electronic toilet seats installed in their respective homes; since the main draws of this product are its twin bidet-like spray wands (one for him and two for her), we couldn't help but picture the distinguished Mr. Mossberg enjoying the morning's Wall Street Journal while having his nether regions blasted with SuperSoaker-like jets of water -- a simultaneously amusing and disturbing image. The Swash 800 also features a heated seat and air drying feature that supposedly eliminates the need for toilet paper, but both Walt and Katie found that it was inefficient for completely, um, cleansing themselves after answering nature's call. Another downside to this model is that you need to hook it up to an electrical outlet, so unless you already have one conveniently placed behind the toilet (for your iPod dock / toilet paper dispenser, perhaps), you'll either have to get one installed or run an unsightly extension cord to the closest socket. In the end, toilets come across a lot like Mossberg himself: the old-fashioned ones just seem to do the job better.

[Via Slashdot]