vintage

Every now and then, having the ability to look up old Mac models can be fun. If not for nostalgic reasons, you might be needing to help someone revive an old Mac and wish to look up some of the specifications and capabilities of the system. For instance, if you have some spare RAM modules and wish to see if they can be used in an old Mac, then checking the Mac's RAM type as well as its maximum supported RAM may be useful information to have.

You can always use a search engine like Google to find information … Read more

This Top-10 list of great-sounding solid-state and vacuum-tube amplifiers includes headphone amps and vintage models. Most are light on features, so if you need autosetup, GUI menus, AirPlay, iPod/iPhone/iPad compatibility, home networking, HD Radio, Bluetooth, HDMI switching, digital-to-analog converters, Dolby and DTS processors, that's not the main plan. The focus is on amps that provide the maximum sound quality for a minimal investment, but I included one receiver with some of those goodies.

I'll do a top-10 affordable speaker list soon.

Dayton Audio DTA-1 Amplifier ($40)

It weighs almost nothing, looks cheap and flimsy, but Dayton'… Read more

You'll never find a comparably equipped 1980 Corvette outperforming a 2011 'Vette, or a 1980 TV or computer blowing away a '11 model. Audio is a different matter; a lot of decades-old gear really does sound better than its 2011 equivalents. That's especially true when comparing 1970s and 1980s receivers with today's models. I covered why that is so in last weekend's "How can 30-year-old receivers sound better than new ones?" blog.

I chatted with Innovative Audio's Gordon Sauck to learn more about buying old hi-fi. Sauck started designing home theater installations in … Read more

Comics apps have been around for a couple of years, but the rise of the tablet has seen a resurgence of interest in digital comic books. Comixology, Graphicly, and the Vintage Comics Droid are three apps that bring superheroes and more to your fingertips.

I recently bought a NAD 3020 integrated amplifier on eBay for $66. The little amp was a smash hit in 1980 and instantly put NAD on the map. While the amp made its reputation as a giant killer, it's not very big--just 16 by 3.75 by 10 inches. And the look is bare-bones basic. The sound is something else again; as soon as I fired it up I remembered why budget-minded audiophiles bought more than a half million 3020s in about three years, making it the best-selling integrated amp of all time.

It was rated at just 20 … Read more

As its name suggests, Camera360 is an all-around, effects-heavy camera app for your Android mobile device. Depending on how complicated you want to get, it could serve as a power-packed replacement for your device's stock camera app.

Camera360 rolls the functionality of several different camera apps into one. It lets you wrap frames or scenery around your photos, or add whimsical effects like Ghost, Infrared Thermal, or a Warhol-like Four-Color Poster. And, of course, there's also a long menu of filters to choose from, including two different HDR filters, Black & White, Retro, and Lomo styles among many … Read more

Action Snap for Android lets you use your phone's camera to take analog-looking lomographic photos.

Because it can snap a series of photos rather quickly, Action Snap is great for capturing action shots. Hit the shutter button, and the app will shoot four or nine photos (you choose) in quick succession, and arrange them into a single print. It can arrange your series into a horizontal configuration, 2x2, 3x3, or a single image. Adjust the shooting interval from 0.1s to 5s to capture different ranges of action. Or if you like, switch to custom mode to snap each … Read more

It doesn't seem that long ago when we would have to lug around a VHS camera to capture video of family events, vacations, and other memories we could relive later by inserting the VHS tape and hitting the play button on our VCRs. While it was a workable solution for capturing memories in motion, lugging around a video camera everywhere we went wasn't exactly practical.

Fortunately these days, there is no longer the need for fresh VHS tapes or making sure to pack the digital video camera because we have the ability to shoot reasonably good video right on our smartphones. With the iPhone 4's front- and rear-facing cameras, we have even more options for shooting videos, and with hundreds of cool video apps in the App Store, we have tons of interesting (and sometimes strange) options.

This week's collection of apps gives you some options for shooting good-looking videos. The first app lets you film the action from before you hit the record button, the second makes retro-looking videos using effects you control, and the last app gives you some professional options for shooting more-serious movies.… Read more

Contrary to its name, Little Photo for Android is huge on features. With an impressive list of filters and tools, and a seemingly infinite number of combinations to apply, Little Photo is an awesomely powerful camera app for your mobile device.

Open up the app, and either activate the camera, or load up an existing photo from your gallery. If you choose to take a new photo, you can either snap as you tap or enable a 3-second timer. From there, you'll be jetted over to the work space, where you can scroll through pages of effects to apply … Read more