Reviews

Grand Theft Auto IV: Xbox 360

Pros: - Amazing Graphics - Outstanding Graphics Engine - Great storyline, great gameplay - Xbox Live

Cons: - The reactions on foot are a little slow (Slightly overly realistic) - The cars have crap turning circles ? - Sound volumes are not very good, you cannot hear the person talking on the other end of the phone often

...

but the voice on the phone always seems a bit .. distant.
**A slight dissapointment .. they apparently took out planes? Rockstar .. why?! Helicopters are still there though**

This review is just to clear up any crap reviews you may have read which put this game down. It is an amazing game, and a hell of a lot more than i expected, which doesn't happen all to often with some games.

If you can get this, do. Even if it involves you applying a fake moustache to hit the 18 rating ;-)

**FROM WHAT I HAVE HEARD, NOT EXPERIENCED**

Nikon Coolpix P80 10.1MP Digital Camera with 18x Wide Angle Optical Vibration Reduction Zoom (Black)

...

set that, or use Manual mode, but it won't work right out of the box in auto or Programmed Auto or Aperture or Shutter mode.

The image quality is fair -- many photos needed saturation boosts -- they just seemed bland out of the box. Again, this is programmable, for those who venture into the menu, or those who like playing with photoshop.

In general, all photos looked soft, and they all need sharpening in photoshop. This is something I would clearly not want to waste my time on with every photo taken that I might want to use for print purposes. The image quality just us NOT what you would expect with a camera of this price. That being said -- the image quality is consistent from closeup to faraway landscape. There is no noticeable loss of IQ with longer focal distance shots, which is better than most superzoom compact cameras I have seen. Closeup macro shots appear the sharpest: if you like taking photos of bees on flower blossoms, this is your baby.

While the photos do not lose IQ at the far range of the considerable 18x optical zoom -- they suffer from severe purple fringing at that end -- worse than many other superzoom ultraportables I have seen.

The VR works as promised -- provided you are moving and your subject is not moving. I couldn't get clear images of moving objects without significant futzing with the settings.

The shutter lag is considerable, nowhere near the rapid response of a dSLR -- and compared to my Canon G9, significantly slower than that as well.

This compares favorably to the Canon S5 and might in fact be better than that camera -- but the image quality is not better than the Canon G9, which remains the absolutely best Image Quality camera out there at this price point (without the zoom lens, of course).

I'm not going to rant and rave and say this is a terrible camera -- it just seems incredibly average at this price range -- take a look at the Canon G9 for faster shutter speed, better image quality, and similar manual control.

I will say one thing -- for those who like to isolate their subject from the background (i.e. blur your background, with good depth of field) the Nikon P80 excels at that -- I haven't quite seen as nice aperture priority images in a point-and-shoot as I have with this camera.

But overall, it's a highly priced point and shoot, which won't satisfy advanced camera users.

Grand Theft Auto IV: PlayStation 3

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set that, or use Manual mode, but it won't work right out of the box in auto or Programmed Auto or Aperture or Shutter mode.



The image quality is fair -- many photos needed saturation boosts -- they just seemed bland out of the box. Again, this is programmable, for those who venture into the menu, or those who like playing with photoshop.



In general, all photos looked soft, and they all need sharpening in photoshop. This is something I would clearly not want to waste my time on with every photo taken that I might want to use for print purposes. The image quality just us NOT what you would expect with a camera of this price. That being said -- the image quality is consistent from closeup to faraway landscape. There is no noticeable loss of IQ with longer focal distance shots, which is better than most superzoom compact cameras I have seen. Closeup macro shots appear the sharpest: if you like taking photos of bees on flower blossoms, this is your baby.



While the photos do not lose IQ at the far range of the considerable 18x optical zoom -- they suffer from severe purple fringing at that end -- worse than many other superzoom ultraportables I have seen.



The VR works as promised -- provided you are moving and your subject is not moving. I couldn't get clear images of moving objects without significant futzing with the settings.



The shutter lag is considerable, nowhere near the rapid response of a dSLR -- and compared to my Canon G9, significantly slower than that as well.



This compares favorably to the Canon S5 and might in fact be better than that camera -- but the image quality is not better than the Canon G9, which remains the absolutely best Image Quality camera out there at this price point (without the zoom lens, of course).



I'm not going to rant and rave and say this is a terrible camera -- it just seems incredibly average at this price range -- take a look at the Canon G9 for faster shutter speed, better image quality, and similar manual control.



I will say one thing -- for those who like to isolate their subject from the background (i.e. blur your background, with good depth of field) the Nikon P80 excels at that -- I haven't quite seen as nice aperture priority images in a point-and-shoot as I have with this camera.



But overall, it's a highly priced point and shoot, which won't satisfy advanced camera users.

Grand Theft Auto IV: Xbox 360

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IV is a game that was years in the making. However for such a highly touted title as this I really expected more. GTA IV follows the story of an eastern European immigrant to Liberty City named Nico Bellic. He and his cousin Roman start off with small time crime and then Nico moves to more serious stuff such as grand theft auto, arson and murder. All the previous mainstays from the original GTA III are present here, massive city, immersive story, a good amount of weapons and tons of cars.

Gameplay 6/10
There is not a whole lot different in GTA IV from previous GTA games in essential terms. You can jump in any car, truck, motorcycle or van and steal it. You can: run over anyone you want, run into anything, beat up anyone and do all of these things with little virtual and no real consequences (well most of the time). However there are a considerable amount of minigames within GTA IV. You can go to cabaret shows, play darts, play pool, go to strip clubs, go bowling and even use the internet in cafes.

Also you are given a cell phone which helps you keep track of your contacts, text messages and allows you to call people up to get jobs or just to hangout. The phone also serves as the cheat interface. This is one of my favorite features. Instead of having to drive to the person's house or wondering if you were supposed to talk to them, you can just call them up on speed dial. They will also occasionally call you to see if you'd like to do things. It is akin to The Sims ® in this respect, because you'll get a thumbs up or down based on how the date or whatever went. Also, you are able to meet women whether on the internet or through other friends.

There are a ton of missions. From what I can tell you just work your way up through small mobs up to larger ones. This is what happened verbatim in the previous GTA games. There is more story here though and I'll get into that in the story section.

Overall the gameplay I felt was good, but nothing new or revolutionary. I've played other games with minigames such as these and I played GTA III when it first came out. The sad thing is that Rockstar managed to set the bar so high with GTA III that it would be difficult to top it. I was expecting this really over the top GTA IV that would just have so much stuff to do that I wouldn't be able to quit playing. Instead they ended up on the other side. In my opinion the gameplay is bare bones and in terms of pure fun it really falls short. Another thing that is very apparent after playing for a few hours is they wanted to create as realistic of a game as possible. In the process they made the game so realistic it has many of things that suck about real life. When I play games, I want to escape

City 9/10
I must applaud the attention to detail and realism the game designers took to create Liberty City. From the slums to the high rises, you really feel like you're in a metropolis. Graffiti, misshapen fences, partially lit up buildings at night, dirty old carnivals, trash and variety of buildings are just some of things that add to the masterpiece of the city. You'll actually run into traffic on the tollway bridge. People will talk to you as you pass them by. There are four areas and you are only able to get to the other parts once you have completed certain missions. It is referred to as a terrorist threat in the game.

I think what makes the game truly realistic is the minigames and side quests or activities. The ability to get on the internet in a web cafe and go to something like 40 websites is astounding. The time to create the content for this must have taken weeks to come up with. Even the police vehicles have a database where you can look up people and the most wanted in the city. In terms of realism, this city is by far the best recreation of a city and by extension the closest thing to virtual reality. The only problem I have is that you can't get to the other parts of the city until later in the game (without immediately becoming public enemy no. 1).

Cars / Vehicles 4/10

I'm sure plenty of people will have a problem with my take on this, but I really feel this is a weak point in the game. Granted there are tons of vehicles-something like 200 in total. My problem is not with the variety, it is purely with the controls and drive of almost all of the cars in particular. It seems as if all but 10% of them are is severe disrepair or are in need of maintenance. I've never seen so many sloppy turning vehicles in a videogame. There is so much body roll in many of the vehicles that you can go around a reasonably normal curve and easily flip a sedan. This harkens back to the realism.

Unfortunately, they developers based few of these on actual physics and attempted to show that normal cars can't take a turn at 75 mph. They can however take them at 45 mph without flipping. Oh and yeah there was an invention a couple of decades ago called ABS. I had some rather high end cars skidding for half a block. If you don't believe me try it for yourself in the game and you'll find it to be true. My qualm with the cars is directly related to the fact that they are obvious replicas of some very common cars. If the cars resemble the real thing, they should drive like the real thing.

The engine sounds are ok. The V8 engines don't sound bad, but the 6 cylinders have very little variance between cars. The cars also seem very slow, even if they aren't. The Comet and Turismo are a couple of the top end cars which very closely resemble some German and Italian carmakers. The only difference is acceleration can be felt between a car and a dump truck. You can always go back to the argument that they are just artificial and this is a moot point. I don't remember how the car's drove in previous GTA games, but I know they were somewhat easier to drive and much faster. It makes it considerably more difficult to run from the cops when you have a dog of a car that has a high chance of rollover, can't turn properly at over 15 mph and will slide on DRY pavement.

By far the worst part is that there are only a few special vehicles (as far as I know). There is a speed boat and the Annihilator - some sort of military helicopter. The only thing I can think of here is marketing. Rockstar planned on selling better vehicles (and weapons) on Xbox Live in the near future. It is brilliant, but I'm one of those crazy people that think for $60 you should get a good amount of extras built-in.

Controls 5/10
I'm not really sure what they were going for here. Controls are clumsy, slow and hardly intuitive. The jump button is X? Your character actually leans when you turn while walking or running. I don't know many people that do this. The part I like the least is that Niko does everything so incredibly slow. He walks as if someone laced his drink with Ketamine. Running is not mush faster. Going along with that, if you happen to get thrown off your bike or out of your car while chasing someone you lose at least 10 seconds getting back into the car. In essence there is absolutely no point to walking if you don't have to. Controls for the cars are not bad. The triggers are the accelerator and the brake.

Weapons control is ok. You can lock on to people with guns, but you also have to lock on to people with a grenade. How exactly does a grenade lock on? It takes a great deal of time to cycle through weapons if you have more than two. The helicopter is a joke. To speed up you hold the trigger and you'll simultaneously raise altitude while moving forward. You need to push the nose down to get it to go faster. This is all well and good until you try to land it. It is nearly impossible to land as you can't get the thing to stay in one position for any length of time. I almost always trash the blades. There is hardly anything different from previous GTA games. Controls are mediocre at best.

Graphics 6/10
The city graphics are really breathtaking. They are very detailed and quite well done. Everything looks very crisp and believable. The water especially has amazing reflective qualities. The cars look decent for the current gaming generation. There was obviously a good amount of time spent here. More importantly it is hard to fault the designers on the visuals of the vehicles because there are just so many of them. I was considerably impressed with the movement of the vehicles on the suspension.

Character detail is average at best, maybe even poor. Even the main character has a very unrealistic graphic quality to it. The faces remind me of Halo 2 from the original xbox which was about four years back. The clothes look really lame. It appears as if the people are wearing construction paper. Everything in general on the people leaves a lot to be desired. They look polygonal and don't have much human quality. Despite this, the animation as always is very smooth and realistic, which I don't understand. If you are going to spend that much time on the animation mapping, why not spend more time on the people's faces.

Story 8/10
I was pretty impressed with the story from GTA IV. It has the makings of a good criminal story. Niko-a former Russian (or eastern European) sailor with an infamous past comes to Liberty city to get a new start and for revenge. Without giving away too much information: Niko plays the role of saboteur, hitman, hired gun, lackey, car theft extraordinaire and just all around criminal. The story follows him and his cousin Roman who owns at cab service. Along the way you'll meet new people who will have various "jobs" to do and some of the story will overlap with other parts of the game.

Each mission has a rather lengthy movie attached to it; probably about five minutes on average. This was the only downside I could find to the story. Other than that, the movies are very informative and give you an insight into the character's personalities and life. The writing was very well done and a lot of the movies had hilarious jokes in them. I will admit I skipped a few however.

Conclusion
Am I happy with my purchase with Grand Theft Auto IV? No, but I was kind of expecting this. With the current trend in games moving towards ultra realism Rockstar was following suit. They are catering to an older crowd which demands more of a top notch entertainment experience instead of swing a remote at a TV. However, I'm a pure gamer and to me any of the previous GTA games is better in relation to exhilaration, which I just don't get with GTA IV. The first day I played the game I became bored very quickly after realizing there just wasn't much to do if you don't play the mission.
Unfortunately there seems to be a divide between these ultra realistic games and one that are purely for fun. GTA San Andreas I felt had a great mixture of both. Sure you can still steal any car, run over people, shoot people, beat them up, but the game just falls flat on its face when it comes to heritage. Where are the insane vehicles, where is the innovation? This game is not revolutionary in any way in my opinion. In fact, when you put this up against current games on this system it is quite inferior in most ways except for playing time. But if you're bored while you're playing who cares how long the game is? Grand Theft Auto III was. It is an ok game, plain and simple and I'd give it a 6 out of 10 overall.

Garmin Nuvi 660 GPS w/Fodors Portable Car Navigation

...

IV is a game that was years in the making. However for such a highly touted title as this I really expected more. GTA IV follows the story of an eastern European immigrant to Liberty City named Nico Bellic. He and his cousin Roman start off with small time crime and then Nico moves to more serious stuff such as grand theft auto, arson and murder. All the previous mainstays from the original GTA III are present here, massive city, immersive story, a good amount of weapons and tons of cars.



Gameplay 6/10

There is not a whole lot different in GTA IV from previous GTA games in essential terms. You can jump in any car, truck, motorcycle or van and steal it. You can: run over anyone you want, run into anything, beat up anyone and do all of these things with little virtual and no real consequences (well most of the time). However there are a considerable amount of minigames within GTA IV. You can go to cabaret shows, play darts, play pool, go to strip clubs, go bowling and even use the internet in cafes.



Also you are given a cell phone which helps you keep track of your contacts, text messages and allows you to call people up to get jobs or just to hangout. The phone also serves as the cheat interface. This is one of my favorite features. Instead of having to drive to the person's house or wondering if you were supposed to talk to them, you can just call them up on speed dial. They will also occasionally call you to see if you'd like to do things. It is akin to The Sims ® in this respect, because you'll get a thumbs up or down based on how the date or whatever went. Also, you are able to meet women whether on the internet or through other friends.



There are a ton of missions. From what I can tell you just work your way up through small mobs up to larger ones. This is what happened verbatim in the previous GTA games. There is more story here though and I'll get into that in the story section.



Overall the gameplay I felt was good, but nothing new or revolutionary. I've played other games with minigames such as these and I played GTA III when it first came out. The sad thing is that Rockstar managed to set the bar so high with GTA III that it would be difficult to top it. I was expecting this really over the top GTA IV that would just have so much stuff to do that I wouldn't be able to quit playing. Instead they ended up on the other side. In my opinion the gameplay is bare bones and in terms of pure fun it really falls short. Another thing that is very apparent after playing for a few hours is they wanted to create as realistic of a game as possible. In the process they made the game so realistic it has many of things that suck about real life. When I play games, I want to escape



City 9/10

I must applaud the attention to detail and realism the game designers took to create Liberty City. From the slums to the high rises, you really feel like you're in a metropolis. Graffiti, misshapen fences, partially lit up buildings at night, dirty old carnivals, trash and variety of buildings are just some of things that add to the masterpiece of the city. You'll actually run into traffic on the tollway bridge. People will talk to you as you pass them by. There are four areas and you are only able to get to the other parts once you have completed certain missions. It is referred to as a terrorist threat in the game.



I think what makes the game truly realistic is the minigames and side quests or activities. The ability to get on the internet in a web cafe and go to something like 40 websites is astounding. The time to create the content for this must have taken weeks to come up with. Even the police vehicles have a database where you can look up people and the most wanted in the city. In terms of realism, this city is by far the best recreation of a city and by extension the closest thing to virtual reality. The only problem I have is that you can't get to the other parts of the city until later in the game (without immediately becoming public enemy no. 1).



Cars / Vehicles 4/10



I'm sure plenty of people will have a problem with my take on this, but I really feel this is a weak point in the game. Granted there are tons of vehicles-something like 200 in total. My problem is not with the variety, it is purely with the controls and drive of almost all of the cars in particular. It seems as if all but 10% of them are is severe disrepair or are in need of maintenance. I've never seen so many sloppy turning vehicles in a videogame. There is so much body roll in many of the vehicles that you can go around a reasonably normal curve and easily flip a sedan. This harkens back to the realism.



Unfortunately, they developers based few of these on actual physics and attempted to show that normal cars can't take a turn at 75 mph. They can however take them at 45 mph without flipping. Oh and yeah there was an invention a couple of decades ago called ABS. I had some rather high end cars skidding for half a block. If you don't believe me try it for yourself in the game and you'll find it to be true. My qualm with the cars is directly related to the fact that they are obvious replicas of some very common cars. If the cars resemble the real thing, they should drive like the real thing.



The engine sounds are ok. The V8 engines don't sound bad, but the 6 cylinders have very little variance between cars. The cars also seem very slow, even if they aren't. The Comet and Turismo are a couple of the top end cars which very closely resemble some German and Italian carmakers. The only difference is acceleration can be felt between a car and a dump truck. You can always go back to the argument that they are just artificial and this is a moot point. I don't remember how the car's drove in previous GTA games, but I know they were somewhat easier to drive and much faster. It makes it considerably more difficult to run from the cops when you have a dog of a car that has a high chance of rollover, can't turn properly at over 15 mph and will slide on DRY pavement.



By far the worst part is that there are only a few special vehicles (as far as I know). There is a speed boat and the Annihilator - some sort of military helicopter. The only thing I can think of here is marketing. Rockstar planned on selling better vehicles (and weapons) on Xbox Live in the near future. It is brilliant, but I'm one of those crazy people that think for $60 you should get a good amount of extras built-in.



Controls 5/10

I'm not really sure what they were going for here. Controls are clumsy, slow and hardly intuitive. The jump button is X? Your character actually leans when you turn while walking or running. I don't know many people that do this. The part I like the least is that Niko does everything so incredibly slow. He walks as if someone laced his drink with Ketamine. Running is not mush faster. Going along with that, if you happen to get thrown off your bike or out of your car while chasing someone you lose at least 10 seconds getting back into the car. In essence there is absolutely no point to walking if you don't have to. Controls for the cars are not bad. The triggers are the accelerator and the brake.



Weapons control is ok. You can lock on to people with guns, but you also have to lock on to people with a grenade. How exactly does a grenade lock on? It takes a great deal of time to cycle through weapons if you have more than two. The helicopter is a joke. To speed up you hold the trigger and you'll simultaneously raise altitude while moving forward. You need to push the nose down to get it to go faster. This is all well and good until you try to land it. It is nearly impossible to land as you can't get the thing to stay in one position for any length of time. I almost always trash the blades. There is hardly anything different from previous GTA games. Controls are mediocre at best.



Graphics 6/10

The city graphics are really breathtaking. They are very detailed and quite well done. Everything looks very crisp and believable. The water especially has amazing reflective qualities. The cars look decent for the current gaming generation. There was obviously a good amount of time spent here. More importantly it is hard to fault the designers on the visuals of the vehicles because there are just so many of them. I was considerably impressed with the movement of the vehicles on the suspension.



Character detail is average at best, maybe even poor. Even the main character has a very unrealistic graphic quality to it. The faces remind me of Halo 2 from the original xbox which was about four years back. The clothes look really lame. It appears as if the people are wearing construction paper. Everything in general on the people leaves a lot to be desired. They look polygonal and don't have much human quality. Despite this, the animation as always is very smooth and realistic, which I don't understand. If you are going to spend that much time on the animation mapping, why not spend more time on the people's faces.



Story 8/10

I was pretty impressed with the story from GTA IV. It has the makings of a good criminal story. Niko-a former Russian (or eastern European) sailor with an infamous past comes to Liberty city to get a new start and for revenge. Without giving away too much information: Niko plays the role of saboteur, hitman, hired gun, lackey, car theft extraordinaire and just all around criminal. The story follows him and his cousin Roman who owns at cab service. Along the way you'll meet new people who will have various "jobs" to do and some of the story will overlap with other parts of the game.



Each mission has a rather lengthy movie attached to it; probably about five minutes on average. This was the only downside I could find to the story. Other than that, the movies are very informative and give you an insight into the character's personalities and life. The writing was very well done and a lot of the movies had hilarious jokes in them. I will admit I skipped a few however.



Conclusion

Am I happy with my purchase with Grand Theft Auto IV? No, but I was kind of expecting this. With the current trend in games moving towards ultra realism Rockstar was following suit. They are catering to an older crowd which demands more of a top notch entertainment experience instead of swing a remote at a TV. However, I'm a pure gamer and to me any of the previous GTA games is better in relation to exhilaration, which I just don't get with GTA IV. The first day I played the game I became bored very quickly after realizing there just wasn't much to do if you don't play the mission.

Unfortunately there seems to be a divide between these ultra realistic games and one that are purely for fun. GTA San Andreas I felt had a great mixture of both. Sure you can still steal any car, run over people, shoot people, beat them up, but the game just falls flat on its face when it comes to heritage. Where are the insane vehicles, where is the innovation? This game is not revolutionary in any way in my opinion. In fact, when you put this up against current games on this system it is quite inferior in most ways except for playing time. But if you're bored while you're playing who cares how long the game is? Grand Theft Auto III was. It is an ok game, plain and simple and I'd give it a 6 out of 10 overall.

5.6" WHITE FRAME (MILK)

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show clock
+ Nice looking frame design
+ Adequate 32 MB internal memory
+ 640X480 display for nice sharpness
+ Price is right for an entry frame ($50 range)

Cons
- Pictures must be JPEG and work best when in native picture format
- Photos edited in certain software WILL NOT work, even when saved as JPEGs
- JPEG support limited to 16 megapixel and 10MBs files
- The white frame isn't as attractive as the black one on the 7 inch model
- No video playback
- Lacks MP3 music playback for slideshows
- No USB port for flash drives
- Competing alternatives from Sony natively support other image formats (RAW, TIFF, BMP)
- Phillips quality control has been declining; definitely test this within your return period
- Many newer alternatives coming to market which use less power than LCD

The frame comes with a quick reference manual and Windows and Mac software on the included CD. The CD also contains Windows compatible picture manager software. For a full PDF manual you will have to go to the website. There's some kind of menu driven help manual on the CD as well.

But the truth is you don't need a manual really. The built-in menu is really well designed. Not all the settings are on the first screen, but with some searching you can set up almost everything you need.
The frame is listed at a display ratio of 4:3. This means it's compatible with most standard camera formats, including my Nikon and almost all handheld Canon models. Those with wide-format digital cameras will want to look for one of the many widescreen frames to save the step of reformatting.

The optional clock display is another nice extra that makes this frame versatile. This somewhat makes up for the lack of MP3 playback.

The frame also has automatic orientation detection as an option, which rotates pictures from portrait to landscape. There are also collage and thumbnail view options.

This guy doesn't have the native image format support of some of the newer (and much more expensive) frames from Sony. And I'm very nervous about Phillips spotty quality record of late. So far so good. But definitely put this through the paces before your return period expires.

Overall this is a good product at the right price. Hopefully prices will come down over time.

This unit is worth a look.

Enjoy!

PHILIPS 7FF3FPW/27 7 LCD Digital Photo Frame (White)

...

7 inch screen is acceptable in size

Cons
- Pictures must be JPEG and work best when in 16:9 format
- Competing alternatives from Sony natively support other image formats (RAW, TIFF, BMP)
- No video playback
- Lacks MP3 music playback for slideshows
- No USB port for flash drives
- The list price is a bit much; the prevailing price is also on the high side
- You should only be looking to get this on sale
- Phillips quality control has been declining the last few years; definitely test this within your return period
- Many newer alternatives coming to market which use less power than LCD

The frame is listed at a display ratio of 16:9. This works fine with most standard camera formats, including my Nikon and almost all handheld Canon models. Those with wide-format digital cameras are spared the extra step of reformatting.

Frame comes with a quick reference manual and Windows and Mac software on the included CD. CD also contains Windows compatible picture manager software. For a full PDF manual you will have to go to the website. There's some kind of menu driven help manual on the CD as well.
But the truth is you don't need a manual really. The built-in menu is really well designed. Not all the settings are on the first screen, but with some searching you can set up almost everything you need.

The optional clock display is another nice extra that makes this frame versatile. This somewhat makes up for the lack of MP3 playback.

The frame also has automatic orientation detection as an option, which rotates pictures from portrait to landscape. There are also collage and thumbnail view options.

This guy doesn't have the native image format support of some of the newer (and more expensive) frames from Sony. And I'm very nervous about Phillips spotty quality record of late. So far so good. But definitely put this through the paces before your return period expires.

Overall this is a good product at a price I can accept for now. Hopefully this will come down over time.

This unit is worth a look. This is at least a 3 star item, but the extra features bumps it just enough to hit 4 stars for me. Test it very well to make sure you don't have a dud.

Enjoy!

Eton Sound 100 iPod Dock, White

...

and navigation in addition to the standard FF, RW, PLAY, STOP, and PAUSE functions. This is so simple, yet few devices have this ability. The Line-in and auxiliary jacks can connect other MP3 players (Creative, Zune) sans the menu control.

The speaker is monaural, but optimized to prevent distortion. At the highest volume the sound won't hiss. If you like modern design, the Eton is one of the best looking. It is sleek, COMPACT and light. Wish this guy was all-black, but I can live with the silver toned speaker.

Most of the shortcomings are from the radio aspect of this device. The internal AM antenna is below average. You can use an external one, and most users will need to.

The features could be better. There are only 10 programmable station presets. The RDS broadcast data is only 8 characters at a time. The screen is hard to read; you have to be right in front of it. There are no external RCA, speaker or subwoofer jacks, only line out. There is no EQ, treble or bass control and no way to adjust the backlight.

This radio came out in January 2007, well into the HD radio era. Only 10 presets? Why no speaker or subwoofer jacks? Why didn't they add Short Wave or HD capability?

If you only need an alarm clock radio, there are better options. This unit is above average on FM but below average on AM. Competing products by Sangean, BA and Sony have higher ratings at this price.
Sangean WR-2 Digital AM/FM Tabletop Radio, Black
Sangean WR-2 Digital AM/FM Tabletop Radio, White
Boston Acoustics Receptor Clock Radio (Platinum)
Sony XDR-S3HD HD Radio

At the present time, there is also a larger 2 speaker version which will be widely released within a month. Some may opt to get that one, but on sale this is still a great unit to own.



Pros
+ Remote control functions are very well integrated with the iPod!
+ Very nice iPod serial interface for digital sound quality
+ Line-in and auxiliary jacks for MP3 players and other devices
+ Good speaker sound with surprising bass
+ Shielding protects the radio from interference
+ Battery backup possible for power outages
+ Nice alarm clock function
+ Nice looking design in a small and LIGHT form factor

Cons
- Standard pricing means you should only be looking to get this on sale
- Many newer alternatives coming to market for those seeking the alarm clock feature
- Display light may be too bright for some when used as a bedroom alarm clock radio
- No equalizer; no treble or bass control
- Requires external antennae for good radio reception
- No RCA jacks or stereo connections for external speakers
- No Subwoofer connector - only standard stereo line out
- RDS only displays 8 characters at a time
- Backlight is not adjustable; you must be close to it to read it

If you are VERY picky about sound and want a nice compact iPod radio alarm clock, this unit is worth a look. Enjoy!

Eye-Fi Wireless 2GB SD Memory Card

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it there, then bring it home and use the travel router as my networking router. Hello, excuse me I already HAVE a network router - I don't wish to buy another one just to make your piece of equipment work!

Pentax K20D 14.6 Megapixel SLR Digital Camera Body

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in this event, what kind of camera is that? It must be nice to be able to take so many shots and capture all of these special moments! They are right - we have over 300 perfect shots to brag about from this session, and two cameras captured those images.

The camera settings are easy to study and learn. You can adjust so many different ways in just seconds and get the perfect results you desire, snap a test shot, view - then capture images of one of a kind, ones that you can truly enjoy viewing plus brag on after a shooting session.

We use the SanDisk 4 GB Extreme III SDHC Card and the write speed is awesome for this camera. We bought a Metz 58 AF-1 TTL Shoe Mount Flash for Pentax & Samsung SLR Cameras for our camera and makes a great match with the Pentax DA 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 ED AL IF Lens.

This K20D is the camera for the money as we see it, study the features, it's loaded with them and you will see this is a fine camera that will deliver what you want in the photographic world - We highly recommended this product from PENTAX.

Logitech 930-000033 Squeezebox Duet Wireless Network Music Player

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minutes I was up and running.

But as Hamlet said "Aye, there's the rub" because a wired connection means that the system must be tethered to the router, and all the advantages of mobility within your house or office are gone. But it works, and soon I was enjoying subscription Internet radio.

And that is where my final question arises. Even with wireless connections in an iPod, satellite radio, cable radio age, do we really need this service to pump sound into a room which may be the only one in the house without some form of digital music? My guess is that Logitech will have to make a major marketing push to differentiate itself in a marketplace filled with alternative competition.

Iron Man: Xbox 360

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and film stars Robert Downey Jr. and Terrance Howard provide their own voices as well. All in all, whether you are a fan of the comic or the film, the Iron Man video game may be worth a look, but in the end, the game is best left on the shelf.

Iron Man: Xbox 360

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least as good as the demo it might have been a different story for me. I don't like to pay to be frustrated

Microsoft Xbox 360 Elite Console - Black

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have purchased for the Xbox instead of the Playstation. This is because of the enchantment of the Xbox "Achievement" scoring system, rewarding the player with (unfortunately useless) global points for making various accomplishments in every Xbox 360 title.

I have begun researching the PS3's "barely used" resale value.

Besides playing games - and there are tons to choose from - the Xbox is well-built to use the internet. Though I myself am not a big online-gaming enthusiast, I can still use it to upgrade games, download visual content for background themes and the like. I have even begun downloading TV shows. The system allows you to establish 1-on-1 chat rooms, which I use often to talk to my brother who lives cross-country. We can catch up on current events while playing two different games. The PS3 allows you to chat, but you can't do anything else while chatting.

Unfortunately, the Elite has one major limitation. In fact, the feature that makes this system "Elite" is it's biggest drawback - the 120 gb harddrive. My PS3 only has 40 gb's, and I've already packed it with MP3's and movies (honestly - what else is it good for??) What drew me to purchase the Elite Xbox (besides it's black color which blends much better into home-entertainment setups) was it's large storage capability. However, Microsoft has made it impossible to download or copy any music content onto the Harddrive. The only way to import music is to "burn" it from a CD. Obviously the intent here is to discourage piracy, but it has also alienated any iTunes subscribers or the like. I probably would have been just as happy with a standard Xbox 360. I still have over 100 gigs available!

Thus the benefit of the Elite is to be able to download lots of game content, pictures, videos, etc. This comes at a cost, as very few of these downloads are free. Take that into consideration before you buy.

System malfunctions seem to be rare - a few game crashes here and there. I am sympathetic to earlier owners of malfunctioning systems. As of this writing, May 2008, I'd say you'd be "good to go" buying one of these systems.

Microsoft I apologize. I've complained about a fair amount of money I've given you over the years, but I have to confess - you did this one right. I look forward to many, many more hours of hardcore, balls-to-the-wall gaming.

Look for me online - my gamertag is "Vipera Raddei!"

Apple iPod shuffle - 2GB - Green - Retail Package

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have purchased for the Xbox instead of the Playstation. This is because of the enchantment of the Xbox "Achievement" scoring system, rewarding the player with (unfortunately useless) global points for making various accomplishments in every Xbox 360 title.



I have begun researching the PS3's "barely used" resale value.



Besides playing games - and there are tons to choose from - the Xbox is well-built to use the internet. Though I myself am not a big online-gaming enthusiast, I can still use it to upgrade games, download visual content for background themes and the like. I have even begun downloading TV shows. The system allows you to establish 1-on-1 chat rooms, which I use often to talk to my brother who lives cross-country. We can catch up on current events while playing two different games. The PS3 allows you to chat, but you can't do anything else while chatting.



Unfortunately, the Elite has one major limitation. In fact, the feature that makes this system "Elite" is it's biggest drawback - the 120 gb harddrive. My PS3 only has 40 gb's, and I've already packed it with MP3's and movies (honestly - what else is it good for??) What drew me to purchase the Elite Xbox (besides it's black color which blends much better into home-entertainment setups) was it's large storage capability. However, Microsoft has made it impossible to download or copy any music content onto the Harddrive. The only way to import music is to "burn" it from a CD. Obviously the intent here is to discourage piracy, but it has also alienated any iTunes subscribers or the like. I probably would have been just as happy with a standard Xbox 360. I still have over 100 gigs available!



Thus the benefit of the Elite is to be able to download lots of game content, pictures, videos, etc. This comes at a cost, as very few of these downloads are free. Take that into consideration before you buy.



System malfunctions seem to be rare - a few game crashes here and there. I am sympathetic to earlier owners of malfunctioning systems. As of this writing, May 2008, I'd say you'd be "good to go" buying one of these systems.



Microsoft I apologize. I've complained about a fair amount of money I've given you over the years, but I have to confess - you did this one right. I look forward to many, many more hours of hardcore, balls-to-the-wall gaming.



Look for me online - my gamertag is "Vipera Raddei!"

Grand Theft Auto IV: PlayStation 3

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by death and betrayal, and escapes his native country to find peace in America only to find a new war to fight. The war of survival for both him, his cousin, and as the story progresses those who become close to him.

The game actually lives and breathes Niko's conflicts, his woes and his desires. For the first time in GTA history the decisions you make actually affect what transpires. there are moments where you can actually decide if someone you pursue should live or die, and it doesn't stop there. As the story progresses you meet many people who begin as business acquaintences, and in time they become your friends, which you can contact on your cell phone when you're not on a mission. With the sel-proclaimed "Alpha-Male" muscle-head Brucie you ultimately start joining him in street races for big bucks. With the Jamaican Dealer Little Jacob, his friendship will mean obtaining weapons at a discount rate. Many times you just meet people on a freelance basis and actually go to internet cafes and hook up with a girl (or a guy) online and you can take them out on a series of dates whether it be to a bowling alley, the club, a bar, etc. and humorously enough many times you can exit a bar totally inebriated and risk getting busted for drunk driving which is a blissfully manic experience trying to outrun the cops while under the influence. Of course driving drunk is only a smidgen of the things you are capable of in this new improved Liberty City.

The gameplay mechanics make an almost seamless transition from one platform to another. The game will start you off with a brand new control scheme. However if that isn't to your liking, R* had the considerate foresight to allow the player to go old school and use the classic control scheme. Which all things considered made my ability to drive a heck of a lot sharper. I purchased the PS3 specifically for this game because GTA and the Playstation controller are a match made in heaven. A new addition to the control style is the SIXAXIS system which allows the operation of certain vehicles (like helicopters, and motorcycles) to be motion sensitive to the way you handle the controller. Once again however if that is not to your liking, luckily R* is flexible, and I'm glad because I didn't want the controls to interfere with my ability to drink in the atmosphere.

Speaking of atmosphere, this is bar none the richest, meticulously detailed, and most beautifully rendered environment I've seen in a video game to date, many times I accidentally crashed into a cop car (leading to another tricky one star level chase) because I was overcome by the sheer grandeur of this brand new Liberty City. After the epic size of San Andreas I seriously did not think it could be topped... I spoke to soon, because not only did GTA 4 dwarf San Andreas in scale it trumped it by giving it life. Many times I was walking the streets deliberately to take in and enjoy the local color. The variety of clashing personalities of the random people wandering the streets is simply mind blowing and I'm still discovering new aspects. Now other drivers are just as crazy and as reckless as I am, the police no longer scrutinize you alone. It actually scares me when I'm driving along and their sirens sound off when they start to pursue another suspect!

Which leads me to another element of the gameplay. the AI on your enemies and police are deadly, the tenacity of Liberty City's finest knows no bounds and they will chase you through hell and back if they have to and it's not as easy to shake them as it was in the old days. Even the trusty Pay 'N' Spray has it's limitations when you're being pursued by the cops!
As for the shootouts. Your enemies are far more organized than they used to be. Though Niko is now able to find cover by pressing R1 that is still not enough, you still have to ward off snipers while fighting off thugs on the ground and many times they got better guns than you do. The most rewarding aspect of this is that if you survive and take the time to salvage the bodies, not only do their guns become yours but many times you get them in bulk. So many times you're never short of ammo for an AK47. Also the targeting system (notoriously has always been the most troublesome aspect of the GTA franchise) has reached a new level of efficiency, refining many of the aspects left over from San Andreas, and enabled you to engage multiple targets at once without becoming too scattered.

Another unique element here is in the almost infinite array of vehicles to choose from. The driving mechanics have been rendered to a point where it almost feels like real deal driving, which makes the experience of driving each vehicle more challenging and urges you to develop a subtle touch with the controls which keeps the gameplay consistently spontaneous an unpredictable. Much like GTA 4's predecessors, however you begin to develop preferences to specific cars and motorcycles, which is both a blessing and a curse, mainly a curse during a police chase or a tailing mission. Oh, also the act of stealing cars has been given a whole level of tricky realism. This time you can't just jump in front of a car to make it stop, this time a car will hit you if you try to stop it out of the blue which will take it's toll on your health so be careful! Luckily, in the end, all these new challenging elements are never a hindrance, and never detract from the overall experience.

Ironically I've barely even scratched the surface of all the brilliant aspects of R*'s next generation debut, but I'd rather allow you to be surprised yourself... also I'd be typing forever if I did go on. Sufficed to say R* still leads the way for relentless, innovative, entertaining video gaming experiences and for the new gaming platforms it seems that they were only getting their feet wet with the PS2.

I wonder if they'll make a Bully 2?

Grand Theft Auto IV: PlayStation 3

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same thing twice in this game. Even when you retry missions, the city life is different so you can't expect to pull the same maneuvers every time.
Driving can take a little getting used to, but it's really not that hard. The suspensions are ridiculously loose, and you will tilt even when turning at very low speeds. Physics are a far cry from real, but a huge improvement over past episodes.
The radio is great. No matter what you listen to there is a station for you, and the debates and commercials are hilarious, and not in a lame way.
There have been complaints of freezing on the PS3. Honestly, read up on it, apparently it has to do with your online settings for the PS3. I never had a problem with it (I have the 80GB PS3).
Also, it comes on a Blu-ray disc. Yes I know that should be obvious, but apparently some people are saying it's on a DVD.

So here's the bottom line: While it's certainly not a perfect game, and it could have had among other things better graphics and better AI for the NPC's, it's a very immersive adventure. You will want to keep returning to it because it's full of surprises and you never know what crazy new thing you'll find on your next errand. There are plot twists too, although I suppose that should be a requirement at this point. I used to be a pretty big gamer a few years ago but then I walked away from games for a while because I just lost interest and moved on to other things. This game got me playing again, and for the first time in years I am having a ton of fun gaming. One last point to make: GTA IV actually grows on you. The interactive NPC's are quite real, and you feel like you're living the story, so you start to care more about it as time passes. It's the best game out there right now, even with its flaws. If you're unsure about buying this game, I recommend renting it and playing it for at least a week before deciding whether it's for you or not.

Thanks for reading, now it's back to GTA IV.

Canon High-Definition Camcorder w/ 40GB Hard Drive and 2.7" Multi-Angle Widescreen LCD - Silver

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them was to simply get me off the phone - not really a problem since they knew next to nothing. Oh and you want to take a pic with the camera, better get yourself a micro-sd memory card - sure their is 40gb of hard-disk space but you can't use any of it for your 800kb crappy picture. And when plugging in to usb, even if the battery is charged, you must have the power cable in. And good luck focusing in on anything in close range. The camera never can so it just continues to adjust the focus constantly. Long story short, I would not pay $50 for this camera.

Canon VIXIA 3.3MP High-Definition Digital Camcorder with Flash Memory - Silver