minis

New baby in the house? Old camcorder on its last legs? Here's your chance to score some MiniDV goodness for a song: eCost has the Canon ZR830 camcorder for $134.99. It's a Canon-recertified model with a 90-day warranty, and you'll pay a few bucks for shipping, but at least there's no rebate.

An entry-level camcorder, the ZR830 combines a 1/6-inch CCD (bigger is better, and that's on the small side) with an unusually long optical zoom (35x!) and a widescreen LCD. It includes a handful of program modes for various shooting conditions (snow, … Read more

The mass-market audio business is scared to death of iPods. Sales of $500 speakers are shaky, A/V receivers aren't exactly flying off the shelves, and nobody's getting rich selling $59 DVD players. Prices of flat screen TVs are still falling, and so are the profits. Meanwhile overhead and other costs go up every year.

The mainstream business model is faltering, but the two channel, high-end market is holding its own, thank you very much. THE hot speaker at the moment is Magico's Mini II ($29,600 per pair including floorstands). I was more than a little … Read more

We've just taken a cheeky advance look at Asus' new Nova P20. It's the latest in a line of alternatives to the Mac Mini and at first glance it ticks all the right boxes for a small form-factor PC: It's tiny, it's very, very quiet, and it's not beige.

You can position it in vertical or horizontal orientations and it has touch-sensitive power and optical drive eject buttons, which help to keep the front looking uncluttered. 'Round the back there are four USB ports and three audio jacks that support surround sound. It also has … Read more

We have a soft spot for the X-mini Capsule Speaker, which blew us away with its mighty volume last year. Now Singapore-based XM-I Company has unveiled the X-mini Capsule Speaker Gen2, which addresses a shortcoming of its older sibling--namely, that it's now stereo.

Part of the charm of the X-mini series lies with its patented technology, which mimics the resonance of a subwoofer; the capsule's resonance chamber acts like a loudspeaker. Now there are two of these. So if you thought the mono-aural original had a surprisingly big boom, the new and improved X-mini sports double the goodness. … Read more

With all the tapeless camcorder options coming out this year, we're not surprised that JVC has limited its Mini-DV selection to two models, with very little difference between the two. Both the GR-D870 and GR-D850 include 1/6-inch 680,000-pixel CCD sensors, 35X optical KonicaMinola zoom lenses, and 2.7-inch widescreen LCDs with auto backlight control to help keep your LCD visible when moving from moderate to bright lighting conditions. JVC says that the batteries included in the cameras give you two hours of operation and remaining power, expressed in minutes, can be seen at the press of a … Read more

High-def camcorders might be gaining in popularity, but you still have plenty of choices if you're not quite ready to make the jump. Canon just announced three new budget-priced, standard-definition miniDV camcorders scheduled to hit stores later this month.

The Canon ZR900, ZR930, and ZR950 are the least expensive models in Canon's upcoming camcorder lineup. The ZR900 features a 680,000-pixel CCD, a 41x zoom lens, and the most modest price tag of the three. The ZR930 upgrades to a full megapixel CCD and a 48x zoom lens, and includes a remote control and microphone terminal. Finally, the … Read more

Besides its high-def and waterproof camcorders, Panasonic has unveiled five more models ranging from simple miniDV to hybrid SD/hard drive.

The Panasonic SDR-S7 is a new ultracompact camcorder that records its footage to SD and SDHC cards. The slim shooter looks similar to the rugged SW20, though it lacks any waterproof, shockproof, or dustproof attributes. It features a 10x optical zoom lens and a 2.7-inch flip-out LCD screen, and a Quick Start feature Panasonic claims lets it start recording just 0.6 second after opening it. The SDR-S7 ships in May, with a suggested retail price of $300. … Read more

Sony's camcorder lineup might be very DVD- and hard-drive-heavy this year, but budget-minded tape lovers are still getting some love. The company just announced two new miniDV camcorders, offering inexpensive alternatives to its myriad DVD and HDD camcorders.

While the Handycam DCR-HC52 and DCR-HC62 don't seem nearly as impressive as the upcoming high-def HDR-HC9 DV/HDV camcorder, their much smaller price tags and simpler designs should appeal to frugal users. The HC52 uses a 680,000-pixel CCD and a 40x optical zoom lens, while the HC62 uses a 1-megapixel CCD and a 25x zoom lens. Though only $50 … Read more

The Venturi Mini in-car audio and communications hub is an innovative, feature-packed device. Its effectiveness as a Bluetooth hands-free speakerphone will depend on the location of your car's 12-volt power outlet, and its phonebook transfer feature is temperamental to say the least. But its simple design, intuitive controls, and competitive price tag make it an attractive option for those looking to bring hands-free calling, Bluetooth audio, and hardwired digital audio playback into the car. See our full review here.