ViewSonic ViewPad 10 tablet review

The first dual-boot tablet is surely worth a look, but needs a price cut. 

There are a lot of tablets that have been launched in India within the past few months and more are on the verge of being launched. Most tablet manufacturers have chosen to go with Android as the operating system, whereas few others have chosen Windows 7. However, ViewSonic comes with a tablet that dual boots both operating system, that almost provides the user best of both sides.

Looks & Ergonomics
The ViewPad 10 is not the slimmest or the sexiest tablet out there, but its got a vibrant 10.1” display. There are three touch sensitive buttons on the matte finish bezel that extends below the glossy bezel and perform different functions under the two OS. There is a 1.3MP front camera present as well. The tablet has two full size USB2.0 port, mini VGA port, microSD card slot and 3.5mm audio jack and microphone on the side.  The back has a brushed metal finish with the ViewSonic logo printed in the centre with speakers and heat vent at corners.

 

The tablet weighs just under 1kg and was easy to use with two hands. Using the tablet in vertical as well as horizontal position did not pose any problem. The brushed metal back and the matte finish bezel provide excellent grip.

Display
The tablet has a 10.1” capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. We loved the touch response on the tablet and multi-touch worked superbly across windows and android. Of course, like every other tablet out there, the large display is a fingerprint magnet and requires cleaning every now and then.

Hardware & Software
The ViewPad 10 is powered by an Intel Atom processor running at 1.66GHz with 1GB of DDR 3 RAM along with 16GB SSD storage. The SSD provides quick boot up and thought the hardware is more than enough for Android, 1GB RAM makes the overall windows experience slightly sluggish. It comes with WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth, 3G and assisted GPS.  The tablet also has a G-sensor, E-compass sensor and an ambient light sensor.

The tablet comes loaded with Windows 7 Home premium and Android OS v1.6 as operating systems, which can be selected, on start-up. We loved the fact that Windows on the tablet performed the same way on a laptop. In fact, when we tried connecting to the Internet using a Reliance Netconnect USB modem, it worked flawlessly. We installed various windows application and other than the slight sluggishness due to low RAM we faced no issues.

It comes with Android is v1.6 and ViewSonic has no plans to upgrade it on the tablet. The performance on Android is fantastic, though due to the older version the number of apps is limited across categories.

Multimedia
Thanks to Windows 7 and the full size USB 2.0 port, the ViewPad tablet provides for the easiest access to multimedia. Like a standard desktop, various codecs and multimedia player could be loaded allowing the user to play any format of video as well as audio. Watching videos on the tablet was superb due to the large sized display. The sound output from the tablet is not too loud, but is higher than that for personal listening. The sound output in the earphones is great though with excellent clarity.

User Interface
ViewSonic has not done any modification across either of the interface than the standard wallpaper change to Viewsonic’s logo. Windows 7 interface is like a standard laptop, instead of physical mouse and keyboard; the user gets an onscreen keyboard and the multi-touch display to work with. In Android, it’s the same basic android interface that was in phones around a year back.

Conclusion
Although, the tablet has excellent hardware with a great touch-screen display, it’s the dual-boot operating system that is the major advantage over competitors here. However, we barely used the Android operating system over windows as it provided more options. The battery backup of the device lasted us just over a day, which is impressive considering we constantly worked on it and it was connected through WiFi constantly.

The ViewPad 10 is priced at Rs 38,000, which is too steep for an average consumer who now has options in terms of the MSI Windpad at 35,000 and the Apple iPad starting from Rs 28,000 in the same screen size.

Specifications

10.1" LCD screen with Capacitive multi-touch screen

1024x600 with LED backlight

220 cd/m2 Brightness

700:1 Contrast Ratio    

Intel Pine Trail N455 1.66GHz processor

DDR3 1GB SDRAM 667MHz

16GB SSD SATA

Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.1 (optional 3G module) + EDR, 3G and assisted GPS
Windows 7 Home Premium

Android 1.6

0.875 kg

1.3 megapixel camera (front)

G-Sensor, E-Compass sensor and ambient light sensor

Ports-3.5mm audio jack for stereo headset, 2 USB 2.0 ports, mini VGA port, Micro SD card slot

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HP Dreamscreen Review

A fancy desktop with lots of eye candy, but very limited use

Touchscreen tablets are expected to be the top selling gadget this year. With around 100 tablets announced at CES, touchscreen devices seem to be the direction to go. Looking at all the hype, HP has tried to go a step ahead and instead of providing a portable tablet; they incorporated touch-screen into their new desktop offering called the DreamScreen.

The DreamScreen is pure eye candy in terms of looks. This All-in-one desktop has a large 18.5” display with 1366 x 768 resolution. The display has a clear plastic bezel around the display frame that adds to the looks of the system. There is a large indicator right at the front bottom that looks like a power button, but works only as a power indicator. Other controls are placed on the right hand side. All the connectivity ports for USB and card reader, headphones are placed neatly on the left hand side with additional ports at the back. There is also a slot load DVD drive on the right hand side just above the control buttons. All in all, the Dreamscreen looks very good and can easily add to the décor of a room. The only issue is that it takes a wire with an adapter for power that is clearly visible behind the monitor.

The HP Dreamscreen is powered by an Intel processor and comes with a 250GB hard-drive. There is very little information about the hardware that has been shared by HP. It comes with a mouse and keyboard as well even though the onscreen keyboard of the PC is very responsive and easy to use. It has inbuilt WiFi for connectivity and also comes with an Ethernet port at the back.

The desktop runs on a Linux based operating system, which has been heavily customized.  The interface has been tweaked to be touch-interface friendly. The good thing is that HP has provided large icons to use on the desktop for various activities. You can either log in as the administrator or as an student. The student account has limited privileges in terms of installing and purchasing content. HP has tied up with various vendors to provide content on their machine across categories such as News, music, videos etc. Some content is paid, while other is free. Video streaming is free from various channels, whereas to use application for astrology, you need to subscribed etc. The User interface overall is very easy to use and quick to respond.

What we didn’t like was the operating system is too limited and restricted. It will play media of very few formats, does not remember your last sites/applications and does not even remember you WiFi connection password on restart. Moreover, a user cannot install additional applications, which is a major downer.

The HP dreamscreen is priced at Rs 19,999 and is aimed at the mid-level consumer who wants to have a good looking desktop with internet and multimedia capabilities.
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Whats Hot

- Looks
- Easy to use
- price
- touchscreen
-
Whats Not

- restricted OS
- paid subscription model
- limited media support

Estimated Street Price

Rs 19,990/-

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3 free softwares to turn your Webcam into video surveillance camera

There are many situations in which you require to monitor your work area or your home. Here we have few free softwares which can turn your Webcam into a surveillance camera .

1. Rise Sun:

Rise Sun is a free Windows based video security software. Which uses a webcam for motion detection. In case of any movement detection it automatically takes a snapshot and saves it on your hard disk. It can ring an alarm if any movement is detected.  You can read more about this software and download it from here.

2. TeboCam:

TeboCam does the same job as Rise Sun. But it can send you emails also in case of any activity. TeboCam can generate snapshots at regular intervals and if any movement is found it can create emails and send the snapshots to you via mail or it can directly upload it on the website. To know all the features of it just download it and use it . Here is the download link. TeboCam

3. Prog’z WebCamSpy:

Prog’z WebCamSpy is not as good as the previous two softwares mentioned here. But it can be used to make your webcam a spy cam. It is a lightweight software. Does not require much resources to work. It just sits silently and takes snapshots using webcam at regular interval and saves them on your computer. It also can zoom on particular portion while recording so you can use it for monitoring specific areas. Download Prog’z WebCamSpy

If you know any other good software which can be used for the same purpose then please share it with us using comments form below.

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Buyer’s Guide for HOME THEATRE PROJECTORS

Home Theatres what was once thought to be the product for the richer, has now turned out to be an affordable product for everyone. But many would face the problem of choosing the right Home Theatre to buy. This are the guidelines that must be followed while buying a home theatre projector.

Decide on Technology of the Projector

HOME THEATRE PROJECTORS use liquid crystal display (LCD) or digital light processing (DLP) technology to process light and display an image.  So what should you buy, check out about them.

LCD projectors: Turn down the lights and deliver a presentation with vibrant colour and sharp, detailed data. It pass light through three small LCD panels, creating bright images appropriate for dimly-lit rooms and auditoriums.

DLP projectors: uses a single digital chip that makes them weigh less than LCD projectors. They offer smooth video performance, high contrast ratios, and little pixilation—perfect for home theatre use

Best Guide to buy Projector

Projector Specifications

Projector resolution

Projector resolution is the number of pixels produced by a home theatre projector. Expressed as two numbers, the first number indicates horizontal pixels and the second number represents vertical pixels. For example, 800×600 and 1024×768. The higher the resolution, the sharper the image. But be cautious, because more the resolution more the price .

Projector Image brightness

Brightness, or light output, measured in American National Standards Institute (ANSI) lumens, determines how well you’ll see projected images in a well-lit room. More lumens produce a bigger, brighter image. Home theatre projectors generally have 700 to 2,500 lumens, perfect for dimly-lit or dark rooms. Look for a higher lumen count if you plan to use your projector in a room filled with sunlight. Please do not buy a projector with less than 700 lumes, else you will end up watching it in a room with no other light.

Projector Contrast ratio

Video projectors measure the difference between the brightest and darkest sections of an image with a ratio. For example, 600:1 or 2,220:1. Projectors with higher contrast ratios produce the most well-defined pictures.

Projector weight

Home theater projectors can weigh less than 7 pounds or as much as 20 pounds. Look for a lightweight projector if you want to use your projector outside your home. This factor though doesn’t affect the quality of the picture, its always better to get a light weighted one.

Decide on viewing screen

Retractable projector screens

Mount your retractable projector screen from the ceiling and roll it out when you want to use your projector.

Free-standing projector screens

Bring out your free standing projector screen when you need it.

Wall-mounted projector screens

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