Stuff Geeks Want

The Panasonic Pro AG-HVX200A is the latest Panasonic Camcorder to hit the market, and it’s gotta be the best HD Camcorder they’ve ever released. It’s Panasonic’s first HD video product to use P2, the cutting-edge memory recording device that has the potential to revolutionize the entire production paradigm.

A huge feature of this camcorder, is the use of the P2 Card. According to Panasonic: “Basically, four SD memory cards are packaged together to create a single P2 card. When striped as a RAID 0 array, this gives the P2 four times the transfer speed and four times the capacity of a single SD memory card.” Additionally, the P2 card plugs directly into a Type II PC Card slot on your laptop (which isn’t available on my MacBook Pro anymore).

This camera is truly a Pro camera, but it’s still relatively affordable, and man does it kick ass. Go read all about it on Amazon, then just buy it.

Do you love using a remote with your MacBook Pro, but hate dragging it around with you on trips (or losing it in the couch cushions as much as we do?)

The SiK Rex Remote Control for Apple is your answer. This six-button remote is fully compatible with your Mac, but it stores easily in the MacBook Pro’s ExpressCard slot, meaning you’ll never have to “find room” for it in your bag, or lose it accidentally.

It’ll also work with any other Mac or Apple TV, so you it can do double duty for you when you really need it to.

Go ahead and pick up and extra battery or two for it while you’re at it from Amazon. It’s always nice to have a few extra batteries around for a tool you use a lot.

Prices: $30 from Amazon.com for the SiK Rex Remote Control and ~$5 for an extra battery.

Sanyo recently announced a new full-HD home projector that’s undoubtedly the one we’d pick up if we were in the market for one. Here’s what makes the PLV-Z700 so great:

• 1080p support
• displays up to 100-inch screen at either 3m or 6.1m away
• electronic lens-protecting shutter
• virtually silent (21dB) operation
• wide-area lens shifting (up to +/- 100% vertical, +/- 50% horizontal)
• Inputs: HDMI(x2), Component(x2), S-Video, Composite, RGB
• 1,200 ANSI lumens

In other words, it’s got everything you’d really want and nothing that you don’t. That includes its price tag, which might seem steep at $1,995 from B&H but is actually very reasonable full-HD projector.

A little while ago, I wrote up the Canon Vixia HF 100 camcorder. Technology doesn’t wait for people, and neither does Canon. On October 1st, Canon will be shipping the Canon Vixia HF 11 Camcorder, which is a huge upgrade.

The video processor on the Vixia HF11 can now capture video at the AVCDH codec’s max speed of 24Mbps (the HF100 and HF10 can only capture video at 17Mbps) and while this seems like a big upgrade, it’s really just a technological upgrade and doesn’t affect video performance that much.

The big upgrade is in the limit on the size of the memory card each camcorder supports. The older model only supports up to 16GB of memory, while the HF11 will take a 32GB memory card alongside it’s internal 32GB memory card, more than doubling the amount of footage you can capture.

And our standard disclaimer is that we recommend picking up an extra battery and a few extra memory cards (get 32GB or 16GB cards if you can) and you’ll be set.

Price: $1,000 – $1,200 at Amazon.com

A buddy of mine was asking for advice about flash-memory HD camcorders, and I recommended the Canon VIXIA HF100 to him, because it’s the upgrade to a model another friend of mine has, and these things take awesome video.

With features like a 3.3 Megapixel Full HD CMOS, Canon’s Digic image processing, image stabilization, 12x optical zoom, and a huge 2.7-inch widescreen lcd screen, it’s hard to find a more capable flash-memory camcorder.

It records video in AVCHD (Advanced Video Codec High Definition) format, which uses an MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) video codec allowing you to get true 1080 High Definition resolution video. The compression algorithm of this codec lets you get twice as much video as a raw DV stream, in the same amount of space… which is what truly allows this camera to stand out against tape based video cameras.

Measuring only 2.9-inches wide, 2.5-inches high and 5.1-inches deep, and weighing only 13.4 ounces, with all of the controls in the right place, you’ll love holding this camcorder.

As always, we recommend picking up an extra battery and a few extra memory cards (get 32GB or 16GB cards if you can) and you’ll be set.

Price: $600 – $700 at Amazon.com

Remember back when people had “bookshelf hi-fi stereos” with reel-to-reel tape players (my Dad did) and the systems literally took up the whole bookshelf?

Thanks to micro-electronics and better engineering, things keep getting smaller and smaller all the time. Take for example, this Coby Compact DVD player.

It’s 8.8″ by 2″ by 9.9″. That’s roughly the size of a hard cover book, and it’s all you need for your home theater system, no matter how small or large your room. The Coby DVD player has all you’ll need, and it comes in a great form factor with all the needed features.

It plays movies (DVD, DVD R/RW) and music (CD, CD R/RW) and photos (JPEG Compatible) in NTSC/PAL Compatible TVs, and has a zoom function, parental lock, and progressive scan built in. It also has a Dolby Digital secoder and surround sound through coaxial or digital output (for use with compatible receiver/speaker). It also has a universal power supply, and a full function remote control for ease of use.

And you can’t beat the price: $30 at Amazon.com.

We’ve told you about the Flip and the Vado from Creative, but you may not have heard about the new HD pocket sized video camera from Kodak.

The Zi6 is sure to make a huge splash when it hits store shelves in October, for two reasons:

1. It captures video at 720p and 60 frames per second. Yes, it’s a real HD quality video camera that truly fits in your pocket (dimensions are 2.5 × 4.5 × 0.9 in.) unlike the Canon TX1 that “fits” in your pocket, but is a little bulky, to be honest (though we’re pretty sure it takes slightly better quality photos than the Zi6 will).

2. It only costs $179.99. That’s right… well under $200 for an HD quality video camera. You really can’t beat that.

PC users will get some software from Kodak that will let them edit and upload their video direct to Youtube, while Mac users will love that the video comes is captured in standard h.264 video format, meaning you can just dump it into iMovie, and away you go. It’ll also take still photos, so you don’t have to carry three camera’s with you just to capture all your shots and video.

It also supports up to 32GB SDHC memory cards, meaning you can expand it to capture hours of video, versus the lower time limits on the all-in-one Flip or Vado.

The Kodak Zi6 is powered by “AA” batteries, so you should never run out of power, and it comes with two rechargable AA’s and a wall charger. If you find yourself out of power, just grab two more Duracell AA batteries at a local store, and you’re back in business.

I can’t wait for this thing to hit the shelves.

Pre-order it on Amazon.com for $179.99 right now, and be one of the first to own it when it ships.

Oh, and pick up some big SDHC memory cards while you’re at it:

Try a 32GB SDHC memory card from PNY for around $130 or get these excellent 16GB SDHC memory cards from Transcend for around $60

(And yes, the HC part of the SDHC designation is important. It’s what makes the cards work for video at these large sizes… they’re faster than standard SD memory cards, so keep that in mind if you’re shopping at Fry’s or something and think you see a ‘good deal’.)

With it’s 250GB hard drive (the upcoming VUDU XL has a 1TB drive), and instant download and play features, the VUDU kicks the pants off the AppleTV and Netflix… and is something we definitely want.

There are currently over 6,000 titles for sale or rent, about 100 of them in full 1080p HD quality.

Use the included HDMI cable to connect the VUDU to your Hi-Definition TV, and you’re off to the races. Connect the VUDU to your high-speed internet connection, and bam… instant access to the entire library of movies. Purchase or rent an movie, and start watching instantly.

VUDU uses it’s own proprietary encoding technology, and the only downside we can see to this device is that if the hard drive takes a dive, you might have to call VUDU support to get the machine fixed… but, thanks to the VUDU Vault, I’m not all that worried about them not being able to back up and reissue the movies I’ve paid for and need to download again.

And, the slick black box really does look pretty cool next to the slick black skin on my big screen TV.

Price: $295 for the VUDU with a 250GB drive, $999 for the VUDU XL with a 1TB drive (coming soon)

Just take a look at the photo of the Samsub MBP-100. Ask yourself, how big is that thing?

Would you believe us if we told you it was about the same size as a cigarette case?

Yep, that’s right. It’s freakin’ tiny!

Samsung is developing this little jewel of a projector with cell-phone users and traveling business people in mind. It’s said to be able to project an image of anywhere from 20 inches to 60 inches in size, depending on the light levels in the room.

According to the New York Times “Prices have yet to be announced. Matthew S. Brennesholtz, an analyst at Insight Media, a marketing research firm in Norwalk, Conn., says he thinks the projectors will initially cost about $350, then quickly drop to less than $300.”

I want one now, just so I can throw it in my bag, and always have a projector with me in case I need it.

Wouldn’t it be cool to be in a business meeting where you needed one, and instead of troubling someone to go find a big bulky projector they have laying around the office, and waiting the 20 minutes it took them to bring it in and set it up, you just whipped this thing out of your bag, and got back to business?

Ah, the promise of tiny: the Samsung MBP-100