Sony DSC-T900 Cybershot Digital Camera

Shopping for a digital camera can be a bit overwhelming nowadays. There are many trusted manufacturers to choose from, each offering a wide variety of camera models. A good place to start in narrowing down your options is price point. For those of you who are willing to spend a little more for a feature and performance rich camera, that is slimmer and lighter than your wallet, the Sony Cybershot DSC-T900 should be the right choice for you.

As you can see, this camera is beautiful and very stylishly designed. It definitely has a very classy and chic look and feel. The sleek brushed aluminum body measures 3.8 x 2.3 x 0.6″ and weighs about 5 ounces (with the battery and memory card). It has a large and bright 3.5″ touch-screen LCD. Most of the camera’s controls are through this touch screen. There are very few actual buttons on the camera. To expose the lens you have to slide the front face of the camera down, which I’m sure those of you who have had problems in the past with pop-out lenses getting jammed, will appreciate.

Perhaps even more impressive than its excellent design, is its features. Sony has packed lots of them into this very compact camera and they are very useful. At first, some of the features sounded gimmicky to me. For example, the “smile shutter” and the “anti-blink” functions. With these functions, the camera is supposed to recognize when your subject is smiling and then automatically take a picture, and recognize if your subject blinked and then immediately take another shot, respectively. I’ve found both of these functions to work extraordinarily well. They add a lot to the camera’s ease of use, and can really come in handy when trying to photograph uncooperative subjects, like children. Additionally, the smile function can take the place of using a shot timer. You can set the camera up on a table or tripod, get into the shot, and it will automatically snap away every time it detects a smile. Brilliant!

The iAuto and iSCN modes also help to make this a truly “point and shoot” camera. Most of you are probably familiar with the many shooting modes that most digital cameras offer (i.e. Portrait, Landscape, etc.). With the iAuto and iSCN features, this camera will automatically analyze a scene, and make the appropriate adjustments to capture the most optimized images. Incredibly user friendly. It can even take two shots at once using different settings and let you choose which shot you like better. That is what I call point and shoot.

What’s most important for any camera is the picture and video quality, and I found both to be stunning. I really couldn’t ask for more. The images are sharp and the colors are bright in both high and low light. Like most others, I was very pleased with the pictures it took, but some complain that for the price, the quality should be better. However, everyone seems to agree about the quality of the video it takes. It’s great. It shoots 720p videos at 30fps, and the results are clear, smooth and vibrant. Definitely good enough to substitute for even high end camcorders in certain situations.

A couple of things to note if you do decide to purchase one; you will want to pick up a spare battery or two, and I recommend a high speed, high capacity memory card (this supports Memory Stick PRO Duo cards up to 16GB). The battery stamina isn’t the best, probably because of the bright touch-screen LCD, and at 12.1 megapixels, and with all of the lovely videos you will shoot, the extra memory will not go unused. For one stop shopping, check out the Sony DSC-T900 and accessories here:

http://focuscamera.com/product.asp?id=964783936 (Also available in red, silver and bronze)

Sony PRS-600BC Electronic Book Reader

The Sony PRS-600BC Electronic Book Reader is thinner, smaller and lighter than most magazines. Measuring 6.9 inches tall by 4.8 inches wide by 0.4 inch thick and weighing 0.63 pounds, the PRS-600 has a 6-inch screen (diagonal) and looks to be about 20% larger than Sony’s previous models.

With the addition of an optional memory card (SD or Memory Stick), it’s capable of storing thousands of books. With One Lithium Ion, the battery life is extraordinary displaying Word and PDF files while playing MP3 for hours. Two full weeks of reading (7,500 continuous page turns) on a single battery charge to be exact.

Sony’s eBook Software is now both Windows and Mac compatible.

An included stylus offers freehand highlighting and annotation for the ultimate electronic reading experience. Going on a trip, not sure which books to bring on your trip? With the Reader Touch Edition, you will never have to make that decision again.

If you are on the market for electronic book reader, and Amazon Kindle does not appeal to you, Sony PRS-600BC Electronic Book Reader is the way to go. It is available  at our sponsor’s website at http://focuscamera.com/product.asp?id=964803509

Sony DVPFX930R 9-Inch Portable DVD Player

Sony has done it again with the DVP-FX930 portable DVD player. The DVP-FX930 boasts a 9-inch widescreen LCD (800 x 480) that swivels and has a 180° viewing angle. If you’re into the beauty of simplicity, you’ll love the sleek exterior design.

The beautiful 800 x 480 resolution LCD screen swivels and folds so you can view the unit like a tablet. It’s perfect for cramped conditions like the bus and subway, or an airplane. You won’t need muscles of steel to hold the DVP-FX930. It is relatively light, clocking in at two-pounds and thankfully has anti-skip protection.  One of the standout features in the touch sensitive button bar that allows you to adjust play modes, volume, and all the standard features of a DVD player. You can also play DVD-R/W and CD-R/W discs pictures, and MP3 files. A remote control is included and the DVP-FX930 has two sensors so you’ll always be able to control the unit. If you are worried about the battery dying in the middle of a movie, have no fear. The battery will last up to six-hours on continuous playback.

The DVP-FX930 comes in five colors (black, white, pink, red, and blue). Connectivity is not a problem with A/V input and output ports, and two headphone jacks. While there are cheaper units available from Sony and other competitors, the video quality and ease of use is greatly sacrificed. I highly recommend Sony’s DVP-FX930 for anyone looking for a portable DVD player that isn’t a headache to use.

If you would like to learn more about or to purchase this product, please visit our sponsor’s website at http://focuscamera.com/product.asp?id=964785118