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A great-sounding pocket recorder: Zoom H2n

I wrote about Zoom's nifty $99 H1 pocket recorder last year, and really loved its sound, so I was curious to see how the H2n recorder measured up. It's a bit shorter, just 4.5 inches high, but fatter and a little heavier. The H2n's body is shiny black plastic, but it feels more solidly built than the H1.

It has four recording modes: Mid-Side (MS) stereo, 90 degree X/Y stereo, two-channel, and four-channel surround modes. The H2n can record MP3 files (48 to 320 Kbps) or WAV files (44.1-kHz/16-bit to 96-kHz/24-bit). The &… Read more

Add this hydrogen fuel cell R/C to your gift list

With this hydrogen-fueled remote-controlled vehicle, batteries aren't included--or required.

The H2GO hybrid is a environmentally friendly R/C car that uses hydrogen to power the battery that turns the motor and moves the toy car. That's right, this R/C is a tiny electric car fueled by hydrogen. And where do you get this hydrogen fuel? From a pint-size solar-powered hydrogen generation and refueling station, of course.

Toy owners will use a solar panel and water to create the hydrogen fuel supply. The solar panel is also used to recharge the R/C's remote control and super … Read more

Zoom H2n puts five mics in your hand

Due out in September, the Zoom H2n has the makings of a killer little portable audio recorder.

Like its predecessor the Zoom H2, the new model will be priced at $199, and keeps the same retro electric shaver design but in a more attractive black color pattern.

Inside, though, Zoom has packed a total of five microphone capsules, allowing it to capture up to four simultaneous channels of uncompressed surround sound. Those same microphones allow for three stereo modes, including a unique midside stereo pattern that makes use of three of the five mike capsules. … Read more

Zoom H1 records high-resolution audio for $99

The Zoom H1 Handy Portable Digital Recorder is exactly what the name claims. Measuring just 8x2x5 inches it's very portable, and this little thing records high-quality WAV files at 44.1- to 96-KHz sampling rates with 16-bit or 24-bit resolution.

If you're more interested in maximum recording time, it can also do MP3 files at 48Kbps to 320Kbps. The H1 records on microSD cards and comes with a 2GB card. Step up to a 32 GB microSD card and you'll get over 50 hours of recording time at 16-bit/44.1KHz.

I first wrote about Zoom products in late 2007, and came away really impressed with the company's H2 recorder's sound quality. The H1 doesn't replace the H2, but it's a more evolved design, and goes for just $99!

Connectivity is pretty basic; there's a 3.5mm mic input, a 3.5mm headphone output, and a USB 2.0 port. You can monitor the H1's sound over headphones, or in a pinch with the recorder's tiny built-in speaker. Zoom claims the single AA battery should last 10 hours, but I only got 5 or 6 hours.… Read more

General Motors recalls 1.5 million vehicles

General Motors today announced its recalling 1.5 million 2007-2009 model cars, trucks, and crossovers to disable a heated washer fluid system module that could pose a fire risk. Because the feature will be disabled, GM will make a voluntary payment of $100 to the owner or lessee of each vehicle.

There are no known injuries or crashes related to the condition, according to a GM news release.

"While our analysis shows the number of incidents is very small compared with the number of vehicles on the road, we want our customers to have complete peace of mind," … Read more

Hummer H1 and H2 on BBC's 'Top Gear'

Hummer has been fairly newsworthy lately as General Motors has announced its plans to discontinue the SUV line and sell it off to a Chinese machinery manufacturer, and lately I've been dedicating a few blogs to the Hummer as GM plans to pull the plug on the Hummer brand. And as you may know I've become quite the fan of the popular BBC TV program "Top Gear." So I thought we'd have a little more fun with the blog with today's video featuring sharp-tongued host Jeremy Clarkson taking a spin in not one but … Read more

Getting creative with Hummer SUVs

I'm sure by now most of you readers know that the Hummer brand was taken off of General Motors' hands by a heavy industrial machinery company in China, and that means that Hummer will no longer be produced by GM here in the United States. I suspect that a majority of readers here probably think that Hummer shouldn't let its ass hit the door on the way out, but there are a select few of us who appreciate the famous box on wheels for not just its easily recognizable style, but also for its ability to be styled … Read more

An early burial for Hummer

I was reading an Associated Press article recently about all the soon-to-be-defunct product lines produced by General Motors: Pontiac, Saab, and Saturn. But another brand that's been on the way out for a while now was making headlines again, as GM looks all set in its selling off the Hummer brand to China-based Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Corporation. While it's not official yet, unless something goes awry it looks to be a done deal and GM will have washed their hands of the tanking SUV line.

With General Motors metaphorically taking its Hummer brand out to the … Read more

Dell XPS 730 H2C gets released, reviewed

Dell launched its new flagship gaming rig, the XPS 730 H2C, this morning, which sees the mass-market PC vendor acting like a boutique gaming shop. The system includes high-end touches throughout, from a factory overclocked (a first for Dell) quad-core chip and overclocked memory to a unique cooling system and support for Nvidia SLI and ATI Crossfire graphics. It all adds up to a very interesting and powerful configuration but--surprising for a Dell system--it carries a less than competitive price. Read Rich Brown's in-depth review for the full story. PC Magazine has a review up, too, and had a … Read more