Traveler 2.0

Consumer Reports Best Electronics Guide -- A Few Quibbles

The December 2009 Consumer Reports is out, with the magazine's guide to the best new gadgets and places to buy them. Some reactions:

* Best online stores to shop for electronics: JR.com only ranked no. 7. I think it deserves higher. The online retailer offers competitive prices. And in most cases (unlike some other e-tailers), it doesn't charge a restocking fee if you don't like what you bought.

* Best netbook: The Samsung N120 is no. 1 on the list. Couldn't agree more. I looked at lots of netbooks before I bought this one. Love its comfortable keyboard and long battery life.

* Digital cameras: The Canon PowerShot SX200 IS only earned the no. 7 slot among superzoom cameras. Totally disagree. This is an excellent camera that takes fabulous pictures. Its low light mode works so well, I rarely use the flash.

BTW: The magazine also includes reviews of paper towels and AA batteries and recommends chardonnay in a box, which brings Maggie Smith in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie to mind. In the movie, Smith plays a flamboyant teacher with little use for practicality. One of her students was going on and on about something tedious and pratical she loved. Smith, struggling to say something encouraging, replied: "For those who like that sort of thing...that is the sort of thing that they like." Let's put Dame Maggie's face on the box of wine, shall we?

Amazon Kindle DX: A Burden to Behold, Apparently

The initial reviews of Amazon's new, larger-screen, bigger-bodied Kindle DX e-book reader are in. Both the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reviewers, among others, have said the larger format device is not comfortable to hold.

The Journal: "While it performs its promised tasks adequately, I found that its size and weight made it awkward and tiring to hold for long periods of reading. It's still fairly thin and light, but it's 85% larger and heavier than the standard Kindle."

The Times: "...after toting around the Kindle DX, it suddenly feels as if I am carrying a computer. Furthermore, its larger size means the DX is, while no heavyweight, still heavier than I think I’d want it to be. (One indication: eventual palm fatigue when holding the DX in one hand, as I would when riding the subway.)"

That's a relief.

Having bought the Kindle 2 in February, I was irked when Amazon announced the Kindle DX just three months later. I was preparing myself to experience buyer's remorse. But if the Kindle DX is cumbersome to carry, that defeats one of the primary reasons of owning an e-book reader in the first place. So I'm not interested, thank you.

I suppose if you had the money, you could have a Kindle DX at home and prop it up on a document stand, keep your Kindle 2 in your bag, and keep them wirelessly synced. That way you could pick up reading a particular book on the Kindle DX where you left off on your Kindle 2, or vice versa. Maybe when the economy rebounds...

Amazon Kindle iPhone App: Slow Downloads, No Search

The Amazon Kindle e-book reader debuted today in Apple's iPhone App Store. Cool idea: Read a bit of a Kindle e-book on your iPhone while waiting in line at the grocery store. When you're reunited with your Kindle, you can pick up exactly where you left off reading that book on your iPhone.

In my brief test of the Kindle iPhone app, two areas for improvement became clear right away:

1. It can take a long time to download a Kindle e-book from your library onto the iPhone. One reference book took about 15 minutes to download from my Amazon.com e-book archive to my iPhone. Definitely not something you want to do when you're on the go.

2. I couldn't find a search function in the Kindle iPhone app. While this isn't necessarily a problem with fiction books, it's a big drawback for reference books. For instance, I wasn't able to search my Kindle e-book copy of Frommer's 2009 New York City guide on my iPhone, though I can search it on my Kindle 2. 

Still, I love the concept behind the Amazon iPhone app, and no doubt it will be improved in subsequent updates.

Amazon Kindle 2 Text to Speech vs. Audible.com Audiobook

The text-to-speech feature on the new Amazon Kindle 2 ebook reader has been a tad controversial. The Authors Guild, for instance, is concerned that the feature, in which a digitized voice can read aloud any content on the Kindle 2, will erode the market for audiobooks. 

It's a valid concern. Or is it? Listen to the MP3 clip below, which compares two different audio readings of the same passage from that timely classic, Confessions of a Shopaholic. Can you tell which one is the Audible.com audiobook, and which one is the Kindle 2 text-to-speech version?

If you can't, please hang up and dial 911, or go to your nearest hospital emergency room.

Such a Deal: Web Sites for Buying Discounted Portable Tech

The stock market is insane. The post-holiday debt is oppressive. What's an addicted tech shopper to do? Here are three sites for getting your portable tech fix at a reduced cost:

> Deal Locker, a site that's in beta, offers what it calls its 'Secret Amazon Discount Finder.'  Type in a keyword (such as 'Sony laptop'), select a category (Computers & PC Hardware), and a discount range (from 10 to 99% off); choose a sort-by option, such as 'relevance,' and the site will search for discounted products matching your criteria. You can search Amazon's US, UK, Canadian, German, and French sites.

> CNET's blog The Cheapskate by Rick Broida. Bookmark it and check it often--you'll find some good deals on portable tech gear. A few examples from recent blog posts:

* An $11 enclosure kit that turns your laptop's old hard drive into an external drive. Presuming you're upgrading the old hard drive with a new one, of course.

* An HP dual-core notebook for $465.

* A portable business card/photo scanner: $17.

> Woot! You probably know this one already. Every day, the site features a single product, discounted. Buy it now, or risk losing out. The featured product might be a vacuum cleaner. A Motorola Bluetooth headset. A Samsung 10.1MP digital camera. Whatever--the site is always entertaining.

Latest iPod Accessory: A Bed

There were plenty of kooky product announcements this week at the Consumer Electronics Show. One that made me chuckle was the Starry Night Sleep Technology Bed.

The bed is loaded with tech amenities. Example: Should your better half start snoring, his or her side of the bed will automatically rise. Somehow this is supposed to stop all that log-sawing in its tracks. Check out CNET's video:

The bed also features broadband Internet access support and an iPod docking station, among other gadgety amenities. But why stop there? How about:

* A built-in refrig and microwave oven. For those late-night cravings.

* Built-in Webcam. For--well, must I spell this out for you?

* An alarm feature that shakes the bed violently. For those who have difficulty waking, the alarm could trigger the release of a bucket of water from the ceiling, directly onto your face.

* Built-in toilet. So you no longer have to climb out of bed in the middle of the night. Just roll over and, uh, make sure your aim is accurate.

Anyhow, you get my drift. A bed with a built-in iPod docking station, indeed. How silly is that?

I could go on. But it's getting late, and I'm ready for bed. Think I'll crank my Select Comfort mattress's firmness setting all the way to 100.

What Not to Give for the Holidays, Part II

The Grinch's guide to gifts you should not give this holiday season, continued:

> Sony GC1 Net-Sharing Cam. Attractive design is a Sony hallmark. So is a perplexing user interface, and this pocket video camcorder is a true blue Sony device in both respects. Despite its recent $50 price drop (the camcorder now lists for $149), this camcorder is still not a good buy. Video quality is mediocre (see the video clip below, which I posted previously on this blog). You can barely view what's on its LCD screen in bright sunlight. And for just $50 more, you can buy a good, low-end MiniDV-tape camcorder, the Canon ZR800.

> Amazon Kindle. I've yet to actually see one of these new $399 e-book readers, so take my advice with a grain of salt. Still, the reviews have been consistent: Yes, the Kindle's free wireless connection, for easily buying and downloading books, is a big step forward. But its hardware buttons for navigating the pages of a book are awkwardly placed, causing readers to unintentionally skip forward or jump backward. Bottom line? The Kindle is a first-generation hardware device. And as a rule, I rarely buy a first-gen product. I wait for a second- or third-gen product, to give the developer time to work out the kinks.

What Not to Give for the Holidays, Part I

The Web is buzzing with holiday gift-giving guides for gadget lovers. I'm guilty of adding to the glut myself, with my recent "Head-Start Holiday Gift Guide" and "Gadget Gift Ideas," which recently appeared on PCWorld.com, Washingtonpost.com, and other sites.

And now for something a little different: The portable electronics you should not buy as holiday gifts. Here are two to get the ball rolling (with more coming in subsequent posts):

>  iPod Touch--not for outdoors types. Apple's iPod Touch makes a great Internet tablet for around the house. It's a slick pocket video and audio player. But if your sweetie is an avid jogger, cyclist, or powerwalker, this is not the iPod for him/her.

In my experience, it's been a pain to switch playlists on the iPod Touch while running. To make matters worse, the screen often switches orientation on me when trying to change playlists while in motion. One second I'm in landscape mode, the next in portrait. It's just too much work. 

Instead, for exercising, I recommend an iPod Nano (list: $149-$200). Even better, give them a Nano, the Nike + iPod Sport Kit ($29) chip (which calculates your distance, pace, time, etc.), and a pair of compatible Nike running shoes ($80-$120 or so). You'll still spend less than you'd have spent on an 16GB iPod Touch (which is about $400).

> iPod Shuffle. The Shuffle's biggest assets are its low price ($79 for 1GB) and ultra-compact size. And I can see its usefulness for someone who only wants to listen to podcasts, or one type of music, on the go. But because the Shuffle has no screen, users have to create one long playlist for all their music. And that's a pain for anyone who wants to switch music styles on the Shuffle. Also, my Shuffle has never gotten along with Windows Vista. In fact, I've had so many problems syncing my Shuffle with my Vista PC, I've stopped trying. My advice: Skip the Shuffle.

Amazon's Kindle: Free Wireless Connections = Mounting Consumer Debt?

For me, the most interesting thing about Amazon's e-book announcement yesterday was the free wireless.

Amazon's long-rumored e-book reader, the Kindle, differs from other e-book reader attempts by letting you download content directly to the device wirelessly. Using the device, you can connect to Amazon and pay for and download an e-book using Sprint's Mobile Broadband network. Though Sprint charges $60 a month for unlimited access to its EvDO network and requires a one- or two-year contract, Kindle users get free access, with no contract.

There is a catch, however. While you can access the entire Web, many Web pages don't render well on the device, according to CNET. "The CNET home page, for instance, was rendered as 18 separate pages," the site reports. "Likewise, don't expect support for any plug-ins such as Flash."

Also, you must pay to subscribe to blogs, which you can read for free elsewhere. You can only choose from those blogs Amazon offers.

In any event, the free wireless aspect is a compelling feature. To some degree, it's similar to the free wireless access to iTunes, which Apple began rolling out in Starbucks stores earlier this fall. Using an iPod Touch, iPhone, or laptop, you can tap into iTunes at a T-Mobile Wi-Fi network in Starbucks stores at no charge.

Which makes me wonder: Is this the start of a new trend? Will more wireless services become available to consumers for free, in exchange for making it easier for us to shop online? And, more importantly, is this a bit like a Las Vegas casino, with one-way escalators and moving sidewalks designed to bring you inside easily--but don't provide such an easy way out? In other words, is this a good thing for our debt-riddled consumer culture?

Case in point. A few nights ago, I was in bed reading a review of a book that intrigued me. I picked up my iPod Touch, surfed to Amazon over my home wireless network, found the book, and within seconds, used the 1-Click button to buy it. The next day, I had second thoughts. But the book had already shipped, and it materialized in my mailbox the day after.

Microsoft's Zune Tries to Catch Up With Apple's iPod

For many years Apple has been the underdog to Microsoft. Now, at least when it comes to portable media players, the tables are turned. But for how long?

Microsoft's second-generation Zune media players were announced Tuesday. Reports were ho-hum.
"The devices, which will go on sale in mid-November, didn't appear to offer any radical breakthroughs that suggest an imminent threat to Apple's thriving iPod business, which accounts for more than 70% of digital-music players sold in the U.S.,"  writes The Wall Street Journal.

"The newest Zune models don't offer anything demonstrably better than the iPod," Cnet.com yawns.

Maybe so. But only a fool would count Microsoft out. Once the tech behemoth sets its mind to something, look out.

Besides, Microsoft and others, such as Rhapsody, offer something Apple still doesn't: a subscription-based music service. I love my iPods (yes, I own several). But frankly, even though I buy new stuff from iTunes fairly often, I get bored with my music after a while. The ability to listen to thousands of new songs in a variety of genres, both on my computer and on a portable media player, is compelling. As my friend Scott, once a die-hard iPod loyalist, puts it: "I'm done buying iPods. My next music player will be a Creative Zen, so I can play tunes from Rhapsody To Go."