If there’s something that I’m truly passionate about, it is sound.  Being an audiophile I always demand high quality gear (although I may not always get what I demand).  When I got my first iPod, I was not impressed by the sound and immediately sought ways to hook it up to the big kahuna sound system which would rock the house.  A couple of months back, we told you of Sony’s upcoming RDP-X50iPBLK speaker dock and we finally got our hands on one courtesy of Sony.  So let’s take a look and find out just how good this unit is.  I’d like to also welcome Kawc, a long time reader of JAMM as this will be her first joint review with me.  So let’s get the beats on!

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I’ve used a couple of digital cameras and only recently started to deal with digital camcorders.  Previously, I used my digital cameras to take video footage.  In the past couple of months after getting some cats as well as video tutorial creation requirement at work, I started using digital camcorders.  I was initially shooting my projects with a Cisco Flip HD until I was given the opportunity to test drive a DXG Pro Gear Series DXG-A85V HD.  This camcorder boasts of 1080p HD recording with a 10MP Image sensor and a 12x optical zoom.  This looked very different from the Flip I was using and initially I felt a bit intimidated.  I soon learned however that using a much higher quality camera does not have to be a scary experience.  So I set forth with my trusty tripod to shoot anything and everything whether it was of my 2 new cats, the white elephant portion of a party, or driving down the road (mom did the driving, I just sat in the passenger side and shot video).  So how well did this camcorder fare?  Read on to find out!

What’s in the Box:  No, you won’t find the camera in there with lump of coal – far from.  Inside in addition to the camera you’ll find a slew of goodies:

• Pouch-Style Case (Sorry, Mr. Peripherals sales person…I already got a bag…I don’t need that attachment).
• Battery and proprietary charger.
• Arcsoft Total Media HDCam 2.0 software for editing and blue ray conversion.
• HDMI cord to connect the camera to the TV or even a monitor!
• RCA cable to connect the camera to the TV
• Manuals and quick start guides.

What’s not included in the box that you better get:

• SD Memory cards – Preferably a nice speedy SDHC as those HD videos gobble up memory faster than you can say “Chubby Chipmunk”.  Be warned that the maximum file size is about 3.75GB.  Which equates to about 30 minutes of shooting per clip.
• Firmware Update (http://www.dxgusa.com/CustomerService/Forms/DXGA85FW.zip) is optional, but I initially ran into some problems getting my Arcsoft Total Media HDCam software to work in which case DXG instructed me to install this update.  The software worked afterwards so I believe this did fix something although there is no formal change log as to what this update does.

Quick Look: Before getting down to the features, let’s take a quick look at the DXG supplied demo unit.  On the side where you can see the flip out portion, you’ll notice the 3 dots for the microphone.  The placement of the microphone is excellent as it will pick up sounds in all directions whether it be of me behind the camera, my subject, or other directions.

Start by rotating the camera to the front part and taking off the lens cover.  The lens is huge in comparison to the other lenses that I’ve seen (such as the DXG-5B1V which only sports a digital zoom) .  That 12x optical zoom lens rocks!  You’ll notice to the bottom is the flash for photography as well as an uber-bright LED light to the right side. This thing is really bright and is sure to light up places that are particularly dark (although your subjects may not be too happy being blinded).

The opposite side of the flip out touch screen LCD is where the hand strap goes.  It took a while to adjust the strap to a comfortable position where it allowed me to easily get at the controls.  There is a learning curve to this camcorder and practice does help to achieve perfection.  So don’t be crestfallen if you don’t get the handling immediately.

The top is where the stereo speakers are placed for on unit playbacks of captured video.  You’ll also see the zoom controls which feel great when the hand strap is properly adjusted.  This zoom control is an easy to use rocker switch that can go left and right.  Unlike other camcorders, there is also a button (covered by the glare in this photo – but is directly about the “bil” of “mobile” in the JAMM watermark) which allows you to be in video mode but still be able to take photos before and during a video clip.

The back of the unit is where all the controls are.  On the top you’ll see the mode “Mode Dial” where you can set it to camcorder, camera, and SET modes.  Switching between modes between taking video and stills is a snap.  You get a D-pad navigation button to navigate through menus as well as going through features quickly like manual and auto focus.  On the left hand side of the D-pad you’ll see the cover that covers the USB and HDMI ports.  The USB is one way to get your photos and videos off the camera without having to keep on removing your SD card.  On the right hand side of the D-pad is the camcorder record button.  The open switch below it is for the battery bay door. 

Here’s a close-up of the battery bay.  There is a little gray latch on the left hand side that keeps the battery seated.

On the bottom, you’ll notice that this little guy has holes for tripod mounting.  I’ve learned that tripods whether small or large are a video maker’s best friend as it keeps things nice and steady for the optimal picture.

The 3 inch touch LCD pops open and reveals a very nice screen.  This screen is also rotatable which is useful for trying to film yourself or to get that perfect shot angle. On the edge of the LCD touch screen is the playback button which allows you to view your recordings as well as photos.  The round power button that is in the center of the control section is seldom used.  The only time I find myself using it is if I left the camcorder on the tripod and needed to turn the camcorder off.  By opening the LCD screen, the unit turns on.  Closing it turns it off.  The lighting controls for flash as well as the super bright LED are the last two, top-right buttons that are above the power button.  Pressing display will toggle the on screen display (OSD) icons on and off.  Near the hinge of the LCD is the SD card slot.

The menu button will take you to the options for a specific mode (camcorder or camera).  In camcorder mode, you’ll be presented with options such as resolution, quality, white balance, and color.  In camera mode, you’ll get a similar array of choices including megapixel, brightness, self timer, and even aspect ratio options.

If the Mode Dial is on SET mode you’ll get options such as “toggle beeps”, auto-off, NTSC/PAL, formatting of the memory card, language, hertz, and date.

Technicals: The DXG-A85V is the flagship of DXG’s Professional Gear series and as such has loads of options.  But what kind of features do professionals need that this camcorder provides? 

• DXG utilizes B frames for smoother video and uses H.264 main profile for efficient video compression. 
• Accurate exposure control for Exposure Value (EV) adjustment on the fly.
• Auto Focus (AF) Accuracy – As auto focus will fail in certain situations, Multi Focus (MF) must be ready on hand.
• 60 frames per second (fps) for fast motion.
• Eye-Fi support – DXG works directly with Eye-Fi to ensure compatibility.
• Fastest way to get AVCHD DVD formatting for any third party non AVCHD members (Canon, JVC, Sony, Panasonic, etc.) is through special licensing which DXG has.  Unless you are a member, you cannot save to a format that is directly playable off of a Bluray player.  By having this special licensing, the encoding can be done in 10-30 minutes in comparison to 17 hours on a 2GHz Dual Core computer.  The advantage of this type of formatting also allows the video to be uploaded to viral video sites such as YouTube.  AVCHD is not directly uploadable and can be considered a disadvantage depending on the circumstances.

Video: Recording is a cinch – no manual is needed to get going (although it is highly advisable to read it).  Open the screen to turn the unit on.  Make sure the Mode dial is set to the correct function and hit the record button.  Voila!  In the settings section for resolution, you’ll see that this camcorder offers a wide variety of formats to shoot with.  Choices include 1080p at 30fps, 720p at 30 or 60fps, WVGA (480p) at 30 or 60fps, and WQXGA (1600p) at 240fps.  I do recommend turning on the stabilizer option as without it, things can become very blurry especially with the oscillations of using the camcorder without a tripod.  I have never shot in anything greater than 720p and having that extra resolution sure makes a difference!  Furthermore, with the 12x optical zoom, I can zoom in very close to objects (like my cat) where I can almost seem to touch him.  The detail of the photo is wonderful as each hair can be seen.  Shown below is a photo taken while in camcorder mode to quickly demonstrate quality.

Without the zoom (about 4.5 feet away)…

With maximum zoom!  You can actually see the individual hairs of my kitty cat.  It is important to note that when using the AF, it does take time to focus. 

Not waiting long enough for it to find the proper parameters for focus will cause ugly pictures like the one I shot below.  Which also goes to show the importance of using the flash and LED lights to properly light your subject.  I personally find it faster to let the AF do most if not all the work before switching to MF to fine tune things (if needed).

Here’s a clip that was taken at a party.  Stabilizer was set to on and it was locked to AF.  The LED light was not used as I’d get a few too many complaints that it was too bright.

Doing some shooting in the car, I was very impressed with this camcorder.  Sure, I got dizzy watching this later, but the fact still remains that there was excellent AF despite constant movement – even in a zoomed-in position where when something shakes the shaking is compounded.  All in all, I am very impressed with this unit for video capture.  One thing I wish it had is a viewfinder which would help in stabilization.  Oh well.  We’ve already seen some photos taken, but let’s look at the photo capture aspect of this unit a bit more.

Photos:  The DXG-A85V can also take some good still photos.  Although I find it harder to take photos with this unit than the standard stand-alone digital camera.  Taking a picture is simple whether the camcorder is set to camcorder or camera mode.  Just use the shutter button labeled “Photo” on the top of the camera near the zoom controls.  Press the “Photo” button lightly for it to focus and harder for it to activate the shutter.  It does take some pressure to press the button so you’ll need to make sure to brace the unit well as the additional pressure needed to press the button may cause the hand to shake more.  It is important to wait until the little box turns from red to green before fully pressing the “Photo” button.

Here’s a shot that my mom took of Ella our cat.  Out of a large number of shots taken, many that mom took turned out blurry.

A large number of my initial photos taken also turned out blurry.  But with a bit more practice, a larger number of my photos started becoming more clear.  Again, it was learning to wait for the autofocus and remembering to use the flash. 

You can easily select what resolution you want your photos to have.  From 20MP to 2MP including 10MB and 2MB bursts.  In other settings you can also choose a self timer of 5 to 10 seconds to delay the shot so you can get into the picture too!

Playback:  This was extremely easy!  After pressing the playback button next to the touchscreen, the on screen controls allow you to cycle and playback your videos and photos.  You can also easily connect your camcorder to a big screen via HDMI or RCA – both cords are included.  Kudos to DXG for this!  As you can see with any touch screen, fingerprints can and do get in the way.

Battery: There are things to be said about trade offs between conventional and proprietary batteries.  DXG goes the proprietary method has a very good battery with a very long life.  I went through a couple of smaller 2GB Micro Center branded memory cards before I even started running low on battery life.  If you need even more power, go buy a battery.  The down side of course is the need to bring yet another charger – a small price for good power, though.  You can only charge the battery with the charger and not with the camcorder.   If you need to charge the battery, do it overnight and you’re good to shoot for the day.  When I did my tutorials for my previous employer, I used this camcorder to record the footage.  Shooting a session usually involves getting much more video than you really need and then whittling everything down during editing (clips used for this review have not been edited and were directly uploaded to YouTube).  The battery will last.

Bundled Software: Just when you thought things couldn’t be any finer, DXG again steps up and proves us wrong.  The DXG-A85V comes bundled with ArcSoft’s TotalMedia HDCam software.  This software allows for video clip and photo management across your entire computer.  What it does add and brings to the table aside from YouTube and Facebook uploading are also the ability to do cuts and merges to video,  the ability to create photo books and album pages, keyword tagging, user ratings, and finally the most important tool of all – Create AVCHD DVDs!  This is where you can create DVDs that will playback your 1080p HD content directly on a Bluray player.  Unfortunately, I don’t own a Bluray player – but a quick trip to the local electronics retailer proved quite rewarding watching mom’s little cat do…whatever cats do!  Please note that YouTube uploading does degrade the quality of the video considerably due to transcoding.

Conclusion: I’m impressed.  This certainly is a camcorder that can rival even more expensive competitors like Canon.   With that being said, it probably won’t be long before DXG becomes known as an elite brand in their craft.  The DXG-A85V HD, is my first personal experience in professional type gear.  I have had friends show me their studio camcorders and in comparison this (not so) little guy comes with loads of professional features.  It ranks close to the Canon HF200 and makes the Cisco Flip look like the Spider Man or Barbie kid camcorder.  Perfect for most occasions whether for photos or video, the DXG-A85V HD can get it done professionally and affordably.  I would recommend keeping this camera for well lit situations as it will struggle in darker situations.  If you want to watch your recordings on Bluray and you don’t want to pay higher prices for a camcorder with native AVCHD, this is hands down the way to go as it will quickly get your video to that format.

I am surprised to see 2 negative reviews by Amazon.com buyers regarding battery life and camcorder performance.  In my extensive testing, I was unable to duplicate such complaints as my sound was crisp and the battery lasted waaaaay longer than an hour.  In addition, all of my videos and still photos were captured at the highest possible resolution using a plain 2GB $6.99 Micro Center SD card.  In response to one buyer’s review, it is the opinion of this recording technologies graduate that the expectations of getting crisp clashing sounds of bowling pins crashing without the use of a boom microphone is absurd.  It appears that some people have unreasonable expectations in performance. 

The DXG-A85V HD  is available from DXG for $319.99

One of the favorite holiday decorations in my house are snow globes.  You know the ones.  They depict a tiny town or scene, frozen in time, and surrounded by a plastic or glass bubble.  Shake the globe and snow falls, covering the scene in the glistening white sheen of a fresh snowfall.  Sometimes, I like to imagine real people living in those frozen scenes, unable to move beyond that transparent bubble, and their world periodically (and randomly) shaken violently until the sky crashes down upon their heads in the form of that fake snow.  But I digress.

Just in time for the holidays, our friends at Seehere Studios released their latest interactive eBook.  Unlike their previous offerings, this one is really not a story.  Instead, I would term it the eBook equivalent of a coffee table book.  Each of the six holiday-related snow globe scenes consists of two pages, and introductory page explaining the scene you are about to view, and then the globe itself.

What is really cool here is that the globes are not just static images, or pop-up images as you might expect.  They are fully interactive.  Tilt the globe, and snow will fall (though I did think the snow could have fallen heavier) across the scene.  Additionally, each scene has an interactive element, which allows you to control the animation by tapping the screen.  You can control the lights on the Christmas tree in Times Square, make the gingerbread couple dance, and even reveal Santa’s presents. 

Additionally, each of the globes can be viewed in either traditional 2D or eye popping 3D.  I was really impressed by how crisp the 3D looked on this one.  I will say that it kind of stinks that you still need to use those red and blue cardboard glasses to view the 3D.   You would think that this technology might have improved in the last 50 years or so.  Then again, I cannot really knock Seehere for that.  Their app is simply limited by the state of the current technology, which will hopefully continue to improve.

I have been extremely impressed by Seehere in the past, and snow Globes certainly lived up to that reputation.  They did a fantastic job with this one, creating digital snow globes with stunning graphics and animation…and the 3D is not too shabby either.  What a great holiday ornament for your iPad.  Oh and Merry Christmas to All, and to all, A GOOD NIGHT!

Snow Globes is available from Seehere Studios for $1.99 for a limited time over the holidays.

Not long ago, I had the opportunity to write a fairly comprehensive roundup of this genre of hidden object games.  One of my favorite games in that roundup was The Mystery of the Crystal Portal from G5.  It was well written, challenging, and featured spectacular graphics.  My only problem with it was the end of the game, which really left you hanging off the edge of the cliff.  The point of the original game was to figure out how to activate the Crystal Portal in order to find your father.  The problem was: you find everything you need, activate the portal, step through…and that is it.  The game just ends there.  All that work to find out what is on the other side of the portal…and you never even get a glimpse.  what a letdown.

Fortunately, earlier this month, G5 released a follow up to the Crystal Portal game.  This one picks up right where the first installment ended, just as you are stepping through the portal to find the lost world of Atlantis.  In this game, once you have crossed through the portal, you have two overriding tasks to complete.  First, you must locate your father.  Then, with his help, figure out how to open a portal back home.  In the meantime, you will explore all of the many splendors of Atlantis.

Gameplay in this one is identical to the original game, which I thought worked extremely well.  Not only do you need to find the identified objects, first you must locate the “receptacle objects”.  Once these have been opened, they will tell you which objects to find.  You will need to find those objects and drag them into the receptacle.  Additionally, there are two new challenges at play here.  First, some of the objects are in pieces.  Before you can add them to the correct receptacle, you must repair or construct them.  Additionally, some receptacles cannot be completed without completing another receptacle first.  For example, one receptacle, when filled, might become or reveal an object which you will need to add to another receptacle.  By daisy chaining the objects like this, the game significantly adds to the challenge.  Toss in a few extra puzzles and challenges, and this is really an extremely well rounded game.

There are two here.  You can choose casual mode, which is more relaxing and allows quicker access to hints.   Advanced mode recharges the hint button much slower, and many hints are simply not available at all.  This mode is meant for advanced players looking for a challenge.  I liked the fact that these modes make the game accessible to both casual gamers and advanced players alike, however, I still felt the game was too short and easily finished…even in advanced mode. 

I absolutely loved this game.  While the changes from the original were subtle at times, they really added significantly to the challenge.  Plus…well,m G5 finally finished the story which was started in the first game in this series.  That alone is enough to make me happy.  I have really been extremely impressed by G5 lately.  With offerings like the Crystal Portal series, they are quickly becoming one of my favorite game developers on the iPad.

Check out The Crystal Portal 2 from G5 in the iTunes App Store for $6.99 on iPad and $4.99 on iPhone.  There is also a free version with limited gameplay.  While you are at it, check out the original Mystery of the Crystal Portal, which is now free for all iOS devices.

We have done a lot in the past few days.  We’ve identified a lot of potential gifts for everyone, and now the only thing left to do is to purchase them and get them to our loved ones.  I’m going to give everyone a bit of a heads up when it comes to shopping on line.  There are a couple of rules that I follow when I purchase stuff on line, and they’ve served me well over the past few years; and I want to make certain that everyone practices "safe shopping."

That being said, let’s briefly review what we’ve covered so far

1. Computer Buyer’s Guide Part 1 – Computer Hardware
2. Computer Buyer’s Guide Part  2 – Computer Software
3. Computer Buyer’s Guide Part 3 – Cool Gadgets & Electronics
4. Computer Buyer’s Guide Part 4 – Digital Cameras for All

We’ve figured out what we want to buy; but not (necessarily) where we want to buy it. Let’s figure out where to get our stuff!  Check out some important Holiday common sense at iTechGear.org.