Digital Cameras
Click first here  if you wonder WHY a digital camera, is the absolute best alternative...
You may also click here to see exactly how we work... And please click here to email me... If you have NEWS about finer worldwide alternatives, any important information (type extra good or bad qualities) on the products I recommend and naturally, any finer pictures!
This is a wonderful time, for everyone who like photography... The price has been falling dramatically on digital cameras, since 2003 and you can now get a finer camera, at only 12% of the old price...
How to select a digital camera
 You should first ask yourself, how big ZOOM you want... Cameras in phones, have normally no zoom and that is a big disadvantages... Most real cameras (including a DSLR kit lens) offer from 3x zoom and that means, that you can get up to 2 times closer and you can especially take fine portraits... Then will a 4x wide angle zoom, that is like 28mm in a 35mm camera, let you get more people (or maybe a house) in the picture... But you will come up to 5 times closer with a 6x zoom and objects 20 meters away, will then look as only 4 meters away... Or just 2 meters away, with a 12x zoom... And remember that the motive (the interesting part of the frame) will be dramatically more sharper IF you can zoom in and use all the pixels, so you not have to cut away everything around the motive in a photo editor... One example... If you zoom in with a 6x zoom and just 7 megapixels - will a DSLR camera with only 3x zoom, need 28 megapixels to get the motive just as sharp.... Because the picture must first get twice as many pixels wide (14mp) and then twice as many high, before you can cut away everything around the motive and get the same number of pixels!
And look ONLY for the OPTICAL zoom, because digital zoom give you less sharp pictures... A digital zoom, show simply the centre of the original image (with less pixels) and put sometimes fake pixels between the real one, but you can normally do that better (and whenever you want) with a fine Photo Edit program... Yes, you get normally a basic Photo Edit program with any camera... And if you want extra fine pictures, will you need a good photo editing program... You can click here to find them...
Then is a fine Optical Image Stabilizer the most valuable option... Simply because it is very hard to hold a camera steady and get sharp pictures, with more than 5x zoom... So if you want a long zoom and don't like to use a clumsy tripod all the time, must you select a model with a fine Optical Image Stabilizer... And that will naturally help you get more sharp shots, even with just 3x zoom or less... Then will a good stabilizer, also help you to take sharp pictures in normal soft indoor light, without any need for a flash (that make flat "burned out" pictures) or a clumsy tripod...
WARNING! There are many "anti shake" technologies (especially electronic methods) that NOT work as effective as a real Optical Image Stabilizer and some use even extra high ISO sensitivity as a "shake reduction" technique... But higher sensitivity destroy the picture, with small sensors and give normally very noisy or very soft pictures... Only a few compact cameras from FujiFilm have special sensors that avoid that big problem, but they has other problems... Then can most clumsy DSLR cameras handle rather high ISO sensitivity excellent, but they has also other problems - as lenses that need more light and that you normally must pay a lot extra for a huge lens with an Optical Image Stabilizer ... The "sport" mode many cameras have (that auto select the fastest possible shutter) give almost the same "anti shake" effect as higher ISO and can especially freeze movements, if the camera also have a good lens... And you can naturally use both a "sport" mode and Optical Image Stabilizer (if the camera have that) at the same time, for maximum sharpness!
How many Mega Pixels do you really want?? Cameras with many mega pixels was very expensive and often extra noisy, so the big question was how high resolution you actually need and I did begin every camera class by explaining what you may need... You will now find that info just below... But today has even a basic camera 8 million pixels and most new models give you 12 mega pixels (which actually is slightly too much for a tiny sensor, see more below) so you get anyhow more than you normally need... Yes, many users never use the highest resolution and get instead room for more pictures on the memory card... And if you don't need max resolution, for the size of print you want, can you instead reduce a too big picture with a photo editing program (and not select a smaller size in camera) which automatically reduce a lot of noise and still give you an ultra sharp picture (after little sharpening) if you have any noise to really bother about... You can also use the extra pixels, to take pictures with an extra margin and then creative compose the pictures (or just zoom in) with a photo editing program...
 If you want 261x196mm prints, of excellent quality (true 300 dpi) will you need a sharp 7.2 megapixels camera, which give 3072x2304 pixels... Then can you also get twice that wide prints (522x392mm and almost three A4 papers) of fine photo quality, with optimizing in a Photo Edit program... But you can NOT compare this quality with mobile phones, that don't have any optical zoom... Then have they also too tiny lenses, too tiny sensors and no optical image stabilizer, so they handle soft light very bad!
And if you really need huge 310x232mm prints, of excellent quality (true 300 dpi) must you anyhow get a very sharp 10.1 megapixels camera, that give 3648x2736 clear pixels... Then can you also get twice that wide prints (620x465mm or little bigger than four A4 papers) of fine photo quality, with optimizing in a Photo Edit program... You can also read more about "Pixels and Photo quality" a bit below...
But there is a major PROBLEM with 12 mega pixels or more... First must the lens be very sharp, to handle that high resolution and even cameras with 10 mega pixels and a tiny 1/3 inch sensor, get slightly less sharp pictures at 5.6 aperture and clearly softer at 8 aperture... Because of the "diffraction" effect, that is a side effect of too many pixels on a tiny sensor and simply limit the possible sharpness... A higher aperture make the light beams wider and when they begin to cover two pixels, get you diffraction and a softer image... And that's why you only get slightly higher resolution at 2.8 or 4 aperture, with 12 megapixels and a 1/3 inch sensor... Then give a fine 10mp camera, practically the same sharpness as a fine 12mp camera at 5.6 aperture or more - if both have a really sharp lens and 1/3 inch sensors... So if you have a 10 to 12 mega pixels camera (with a tiny sensor) should you especially avoid 8 aperture or more - by selecting a lower aperture OR use the sport mode (if that NOT select a higher ISO value too) that automatically select a lower aperture... And you can never get really sharp pictures with a tiny 14 megapixels sensor (or 3 to 8mp in a mobile phone, depending on the sensor size) because even 5.6 aperture will get very soft and the flare or "fogging" you easy get at lower aperture... Yes, your photos will naturally have more pixels - but only be softer, take more space on the memory card and make the saving of each photo slower... And if you reduce the size until the picture really are sharp (after some sharpening) will it anyhow be as big as an 8 to max 10mp picture, because of the quality loss in the reduction... This facts was also the main reason why Canon did go down from silly 14.7 million pixels 2008 to 10mp in G11 which was their next "semi pro" compact camera... So the MP number is only one rough indication, of the potential sharpness and it has a clear limit, at 11mp with a 1/3 inch sensor!
This mega pixel race is actually crazy... Because even 10mp is actually more than most photographers ever need... And more pixels make also your memory cards smaller, take more time to handle, give especially more noise plus artifacts and produce actually less sharp pictures with tiny 12 megapixels sensors - because of the diffraction effect, if you not use max 5.6 aperture... The camera companies are sadly forced by the customer's unrealistic desires, to release cameras with more pixels (or lose sales to the competition) and this "customer's desire effect" is exactly the same that force DVD makers to produce discs with 16x speed, even if that ultra high speed (same as a CD at 128x) need an ultra sensitive recording layer - which become self erasing and unreliable, within four years!!
Then will a fine 7.1mp camera with a big zoom, actually give you clearly sharper pictures at 6x zoom, than a 24mp DSLR with a standard 3x zoom... Because you need first a two times as wide picture of 14.2mp, that then must get two times as high and 28.4mp, to show the same number of pixels on the motive... And you can easy make a fine 7.1mp picture up to 200% as wide with a good photo editing program and get a print, that look 98% as fine as a 28mp print!!
A big bright lens Then need many simple cameras 88 lux at 100 ISO - but soft indoor light are from only 22 lux and a flash, will kill any fine soft shadows... So look for cameras that not has a tiny lens and handle soft indoor light... Fine automatic functions And after the sharpness, is the most important for great picture quality, fine automatic functions (exposure, white balance, focus and contrast) and accurate colours...
Some problems to avoid... There are also some digital artifacts that you don't want, even if you only can see them in rather few pictures... The worst looking artifact (that also are impossible to fix) is pixelation (look like tiny steps) or "zigzagging" on diagonal lines... You can also get that on yellow objects and highlights, but that error is rather rare today... Then come burn out highlights, that also are impossible to fix and very common - but you can often avoid that, by set the exposure compensation one or two step lower... And chromatic aberrations, that I simply call for "purple edges" because it give a glowing "purple effect" on some dark to white edges... But you see it only in a few situations (somewhere in one of 20-40 pix) and you can reduce (or even eliminate) this ugly effect, by not use the widest angle or select less contrast (maybe by underexposing and then get it right, in the computer) or simply replace the purple with grey, in a good photo program... Then is a "holo" effect rather common, with white around black edges, if you (or the camera) set sharpening too high... And finally will you almost never see moire (distorted patterns) in normal photos, but it's good if your camera can handle that too... Very bad cameras, save also pictures with too high compression and that give "jpg" noise that look like tiny worms... But some (like Panasonic) handle this better and get no ugly side effects, even with rather high compression!
Fast actions and more... Some cameras work also very slow, so you miss the right moment and that was actually the biggest problem with digital cameras... But almost every camera I recommend is very fast... Then is any manual control of exposure good and more memory is nice, even if you anyhow should buy a second bigger card... Then is auto lens cover, the possibility to use AA batteries and good battery life - naturally VERY practical... And if it's hard to select between some models, check finally for the best optical or electronic viewfinder OR a bigger screen... Or if the camera can take a fine wide adapter... Remember also that an usd price, is without tax and sek (Swedish krona) is with 25% tax.
A few more vital advice The video option in most cameras, did only give you very small pictures and was almost useless, but now can many cameras film with 640x480 vga quality and 30fps, if you first buy a huge high speed memory card... Most cameras use USB connection and if your computer don't have that, must you buy a cheap card reader...
Pixels and Photo quality A very fine brilliant sharp paper photo, look like 300 true dpi (that's 300 pixels wide on 2.54 cm) and that are also the print quality, in a fine magazine... And more than 350dpi, don't look better... But a computer screen, show normally just 98-140dpi and that's why web text look ugly and why it's vital to optimize web pictures, like I do... Yes, a 15.6 inch wide notebook monitor show 98dpi and a 11 inch high resolution screen 140dpi... You can also optimize a low noise picture, with a good Photo Edit program and then print (up to) twice as wide, with fine photo quality... The picture will then look as 200 to 250 dpi... Just like most of my web pictures, look as twice the real screen dpi... But if the original is rather noisy, can you only make it max 150% wide, because the program can't calculate the new "between" pixels accurately and the noise will also be more visible!
You will finally need a fine cheap 600 dpi inkjet printer (with edge improvement) to get excellent quality prints, because the ink points will smudge and look as 300 true dpi, on fine glossy photo paper... But very light parts may still look slightly dotty, except with fine Canon printers... And yes, any picture need naturally a lot less dpi (to look perfect) on distance!
Take finer pictures!
You should first adjust you camera... Avoid extra noise There are 4 vital facts, about noise and digital cameras... 1) You should simply not use high ISO with any small sensor, except with some unique Fujifilm cameras, but they has other problems... Small sensors are normally made for the lowest ISO and everything else is like using 2 to 8 truck turbos, on a small car engine and that will naturally produce a lot of extra noise OR more and more unsharp pictures, if the camera try to reduce the noise... So you should select max 100 ISO sensitivity and some cameras give clearly better result with a 50 or 80 ISO setting... And if you like to take pictures in "soft indoor light" that is 22-66 lux (without flash) or at late evenings outdoors, should you (a) select a camera that let you select a low ISO sensitivity and (b) especially has a fine Optical Image Stabilizer, which give the same effect as a rise from 100 to 800 iso... Then will (c) a bright lens also help a bit and you can always (d) use a tripod... But a tripod or OIS will naturally not freeze moving objects (only a faster shutter time can do that) just as little higher ISO not will eliminate tiny vibrations...
You can otherwise select up to 2 step lower exposure, if the light not is enough and first let the picture get darker... Then can you very easy adjust the clean low ISO picture so it get perfect, with the "curve" tools (not brightness) in a good photo editing program... And the result get normally much better, if you use that method instead of boosting the sensors sensitivity... The only problem with that method, is that the "white point" will normally move down a bit, but that is also easy to adjust (except with very bad pictures) and that side effect will also make sure, that you not get burnout highlights...
Remember also three more facts... 2) A normal 98dpi notebook screen show a "full size" picture in over 300% closeup, compared to a fine 300dpi print... So any noise will simply look over 3 times more (than it actually is) and be dramatically reduced (not visible) in a high quality print, that is only 33% in size compared to what you see on a computer screen... And you will get almost the same effect, even if you make the picture twice as big and optimize it for max size printing... You can view a picture at 50% size, to see some of the "print effect" on noise, but remember that the print will look dramatically sharper and cleaner... That mean that even a rather "noisy" 400 ISO picture (from a small sensor) may be completely noise free in print...
3) If you check that, will you see that most digital cameras (with small sensors) give clearly less noise at 400 ISO compared with the "grain" from the finest 400 ASA films... Except that digital shadows can look worse, compared with the other clean parts of the picture and most small sensors cameras will also loose sharpness above 200 ISO because of too aggressive noise reduction...
4) And if you scale down to BIG pictures for the web, will normally any noise be totally eliminated, even if you add some sharpness... Then have DSLR cameras much bigger sensors, that handle up to 800 ISO without problem - but that mean also that they need a much bigger and dramatically more expensive zoom lens (if you want more then the silly 3x kitlens) thet cost even more with a valuable Optical Image Stabilizer and they need also more light, if they not are extremely expensive...
Don't use the flash A flash kill any lovely shadows and give a very "flat burned out" picture, that only look fine for some "party" pictures... So you should normally use the normal lights indoors and if that not is enough, a separate wide spotlight... Or at least a strong slave flash, from the side...
White balance... Adjust the white balance, so you don't get too yellow indoors, or too blue shadows outdoors... Check the manual, if you don't know how to do that!
And take then pictures... Get first in the best position It's very important that you try to get the strongest light behind you, or at least from the side... You may also have some more light, that absolutely not is visible, behind your motive... Because any light that is directed into the camera, will make your motive pale or grey... Be careful so you not get a bad, distracting or really annoying background - if possible... Then may a small change of the angle (move first side ways and then down) be very important... A few things look also better, if you move up... And if you take pictures of people, is their position also of major importance... It may be smart to study some magazines, days before and select some reference pictures, that look extra fine... A slightly open mouth and some hair over one eye, look a lot more sensual... Hands should be folded, or sometimes closed... A face should either look in the camera or at something, like a book or another person in the frame... And if you have deep shadows, should the nose be directed at the strongest light (or half the face, be in a deep shadow) to avoid strange shadows from the nose...
Frame right Let then your motive (the interesting part of the picture) almost "fill" the frame... But your motive can naturally be several things - like a girl, sitting under a huge tree in a misty park... Use minimum 3x zoom for portraits, even of you frame the whole torso - if you don't want "silly" looking faces, with a huge nose...
Focus Focus your target by first pressing down the trigger, half way and wait on the "focus lock" sign... Then can you change then direction (with most cameras) if you don't want your target in the centre... And squeeze finally off the picture, without shaking the camera and remember that a Optical Stabilizer is a GREAT help...
And take safety pictures If something was very bright in the frame (and you can't set lower contrast) so you might get burned out high lights (or the graph in a histogram, hit high up on the right side) should you adjust down the exposure and take some extra pictures, until you see most of the details... But normally does some burned out high light look natural and a lower exposure, may make shadows completely black... Avoid also leaning pictures and take another one, if you not are sure... Most people does also blink, so take several "safety" pictures, when you photograph people... Take finally more pictures, if you not are absolutely sure you got the perfect framing or angle!
Optimize your pictures
And optimize then the picture, with a fine photo edit program... Click first here and check, if you need to adjust your monitor... Make then too dark indoor pictures, lighter with the curve tool... Which not give as much more noise, as 200/400 ISO does... Adjust (maximise) then the black and white point... Add normally some contrast with curves, make slightly darker dark and slightly lighter light, until the picture not look greyish... Before you add some extra sharpness, without getting any "white halos" or pixelated edges (which you then can make softer, if you want max sharpness) and fine tune the colours... Then has many report that the Qimage program is excellent, if you want to make a 200% interpolation (twice as wide picture) and add then finally some extra sharpness... And remember that fine noise, that is visible on the computer screen in a "print ready" picture - will not be visible in a 300dpi print, that normally is three times smaller!
Safety!
Remember finally that every computer hard-disc will CRASH in time (even if some notebooks hard-discs are much safer) so you must also COPY your digital pictures to some extra media and that may be a second hard-disc... Two hard-discs crash "never" at the same week... So you should take some minutes and copy everything to a new simple DVD-R disc twice every year (because they have only a lifetime of 1 to 6 years) or every second year to a finer disc (that hold up to 50 years) or always save to two hard-discs and if you do that, will your pictures be safe forever... And you should always save your pictures on your hard-disc and NEVER only print them from the memory card, before you erase them... The colour of paper pictures, fade rather fast and you loose also 33-50% sharpness, if you don't have the digital original and have to scan them!!
First some words about megapixels... Most people don't need more than 6 million pixels, but the best value digital cameras have anyhow 10 MP today...
And if you want huge 310x232mm prints, of excellent quality (true 300 dpi) must you anyhow get a very sharp 10.1 megapixels camera, that give 3648x2736 clear pixels... Then can you also get twice that wide prints (620x465mm or little bigger than four A4 papers) of fine photo quality, with optimizing in a Photo Edit program... But you can NOT compare this quality with mobile phones, that don't have any optical zoom... Then have they also too tiny lenses, too tiny sensors and no optical image stabilizer, so they handle soft light very bad!
But a camera with a tiny 12 megapixels sensor, get some problem with diffraction - that give clearly softer pictures at 8 aperture or more... You can then use max 5.6 aperture, to avoid this problem OR buy a camera with a bigger sensor... And a tiny 14 megapixels sensor, will never be really sharp - because of some diffraction at 5.6 or some flare at 2.8 aperture... You may click for deeper Mega Pixels info!
The best value "ultra compact" camera with over 7mp and 3-5x zoom...
 Is the elegant Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS7 that offer a 4x wide angle zoom (as 33-132mm 2.8-5.9 by LEICA that work smooth with 19 steps, has virtually no "purple edges" sharp corners and auto lens cover) 10.1 millions effective pixels and the famous Optical Image Stabilizer, that give you very sharp handheld pictures even in soft indoor light... And it produce pictures of excellent quality, with high smooth sharpness (even in the corners) exact exposure and very nice colours... Or very accurate in "Natural" mode... The noise reduction don't smudge details at low ISO and you get only little shadow noise at 200 ISO... Then has it a big 2.7 inch screen (230 pixels, that is almost 3x sharper than a notebook screen and great in strong sunlight, 16x view zoom and a special high angle view) in a very compact metal body (only 115cm3 or 97x54.4x21.7mm) with good ergonomics, especially compared with other tiny cameras and a real door to the connections... It has a easy power switch and shooting / playback switch... And it work rather fast with under 2sec startup, 0.2-0.8sec autofocus (at wide or tele) almost no shutter delay and 2sec between shots (without flash) or 3 photos at 1.4 sec in burst mode... Yes, the different reviews did report slightly different times... It has also very good battery life (about 360 shots) AF assist lamp, can show live histogram and guiding lines, 60 to 1/2000sec shutter, a metal tripod socket and take SD/SDHC/MMC cards... And it has accurate face detection for 15 faces and a very clever "Intelligent Auto Mode" that actually can help you in many situation (according to several reviews) at only 1550sek or 139usd with 50MB built in, li-ion battery and separate charger... In black, silver, strong pink or green... Which make this camera to the PERFECT first digital camera and a fantastic alternative to a mobile phone... Yes, it is a real masterpiece if you don't need more zoom... And this camera is actually the 10th improved generation of Lumix ultra compacts, since the legendary FX7 that came 2004...
But you should set it at 100 ISO to not loose any of the finest details (just as most compact cameras) even if 200 work better than usual... You may click for basic info about high ISO and noise! Then has this camera a big screen, instead of a tiny optical viewfinder... And I could not find any review with sharpness lines, just very sharp sample pictures... Yes, the reviewers seem to prefer to test more expensive models... Then is the rather compact Canon A2100 IS below (207cm3) a better choice for most, because it offer a 6x zoom and a fine 3 inch screen, for little more... And the greatest alternative is the elegant Panasonic TZ7/ZS3 you also find below, that is very compact (only 202cm3) but offer a superior 12x zoom (as 25-300mm ) with OIS, a 3 inch ultra high resolution screen and 10.1mp, but that one cost more...
And if you want to spend little less, is... Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS62 practically the same camera, with a slightly smaller 2.5 inch screen, at 1450sek... * But observe that the even cheaper Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS42 has NO optical image stabilizer and that is something you need... You may click if you wonder why you need an Optical Image Stabilizer!
Then is Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS10 a slightly more advanced model, with 5x zoom as 28-140 (f2.8-6.9) 12mp and the fine lens give outstanding corner sharpness, virtually no purple edges (chromatic aberration) very exact exposure and accurate colours... It work also very fast with just 1.6sec between shots, even faster in the continuous shooting mode and offer all the other advantages of the slightly lower cost models above... In a very elegant and slightly bigger body (still only 127cm3 or 98.4x55.2x23.4mm) that look best in black, great in silver or cute in pink - at just 1850sek or silly low 139usd with 40MB built in, li-ion battery and separate charger... Butyou get a bit barrel distortion, at the wide 28mm setting and a tiny 12mp sensor get the problem with diffraction, which make photos clearly softer at F8 aperture or more, so you should use max 5.6 aperture.
 The other "ultra compact" cameras with 3-5x zoom and over 7mp - has bigger problems, type clearly less good image quality OR not a true Image Stabilizer and that is the most valuable extra function, if you really want quality pictures... Or cost a lot more, without offering better picture quality... Or are simply not tested (yet) by any fine reviewer... So we can not recommend any other alternatives!
Why Not?!?
Canon PowerShot S90 is a very interesting camera, with it's extra fast lens, excellent 3 inch screen (461t pixels) and extra big sensor... But a 3.8x zoom is rather limited today, it has a very loose control dial at the back (that easy change your exposure by mistake) rather short battery life and it is finally very expensive, especially compared to Panasonic TZ7 (ZS3 in USA) with 12x zoom... Yes, if you have to use 400 ISO or higher will you get cleaner (and also softer) pictures with this camera - but I almost never have to use over 100 ISO and whenever you need more than 4x zoom, will you get clearly sharper pictures with TZ7 at a clearly lower price!
Canon PowerShot SD970 IS Digital ELPH (in USA) Canon Digital IXUS 990 IS (in Europe & Asia) may be rather elegant and offer a 5x zoom... But has no wide angle (it begin as 37mm) a strange sloping "anti grip" (just as a soap) and no place for your thumb!!
And you might wonder why I almost only recommend Panasonic cameras here?!?
That's is simply because Panasonic make some of the finest compact cameras, with Optical Image Stabilizers and that is really the most valuable function in a camera, if you like sharp pictures and especially if you take pictures in normal soft indoor lightening or at long zoom - without a tripod or flash... But there are some fine models from Canon, too... And Panasonic cameras give also finer sharpness, than most other brands and they cost normally less... But I would sincerely LOVE to recommend more cameras from other brands, if they begin to make finer alternatives... And I absolute don't get any money from Panasonic, or even cameras to review... But the last may be because I told them, that I will only do "long time" reviews and not return the camera... And my talent is anyhow, to compare alternatives and draw conclusions from the finest reviewer!
First some words about megapixels... Most people don't need more than 6 million pixels, but the best value digital cameras have anyhow 10 MP today...
And if you want huge 310x232mm prints, of excellent quality (true 300 dpi) must you anyhow get a very sharp 10.1 megapixels camera, that give 3648x2736 clear pixels... Then can you also get twice that wide prints (620x465mm or little bigger than four A4 papers) of fine photo quality, with optimizing in a Photo Edit program... But you can NOT compare this quality with mobile phones, that don't have any optical zoom... Then have they also too tiny lenses, too tiny sensors and no optical image stabilizer, so they handle soft light very bad!
But a camera with a tiny 12 megapixels sensor, get some problem with diffraction - that give clearly softer pictures at 8 aperture or more... You can then use max 5.6 aperture, to avoid this problem OR buy a camera with a bigger sensor... And a tiny 14 megapixels sensor, will never be really sharp - because of some diffraction at 5.6 or some flare at 2.8 aperture... You may click for deeper Mega Pixels info!
The excellent Canon PowerShot A2100 with the wider "grip" side
And if you prefer a compact camera, with over 7mp and a great 6-8x zoom is...
The black Canon PowerShot A2100 IS the finest alternative, with two advantages (a sharper 3 inch screen and much higher resolution) over the "old" Panasonic LZ7 below and just as excellent picture quality... But it has also a grip with much worse ergonomic, a lens that need little more light and it give sometimes a blue glow (or blooming) at high contrast edges... The good side is that it's almost a copy of Panasonic LZ7 main qualities (including the limited "easy" mode) with a great 6x zoom (as 36-216mm in 14 steps F3.2-5.9 with clearly sharper corners than average, very little purple edges and auto lens cover) a fine Optical Image Stabilizer (for a lot sharper tele and soft light pictures) and 12.1 million effective pixels, that give very sharp noise free pictures at 80/100 ISO in two deep reviews... Yes 12.1mp is more than you probably need, take a lot more space (3mb for each picture) make your camera slower and give the diffraction effect (softer image) at 8 aperture - so that is no big advantage, as the huge 3 inch screen (good even in direct sunlight) with a high 230.000 pixels resolution (that's is about 2.4 times sharper than a notebook screen and it has up to 10x view zoom) which is a true advantage... It's also very compact at 207cm3 (or 102x63.5x32mm) compared to the big zoom and look very good, with a rounded very dark grey grip and black body, with chrome details... Then does it work fast (about 1.4-2 sec start up, plus 0.3-0.6 at wide 0.5-1sec at tele to focus with shutter delay and 1.5 to 2sec between shots, without flash - according to 3 different reviews) it use only 2 AA batteries (for 400 shots with good NiMH batteries, or 160 with alkalines) has focus assist lamp, auto focus for 1 selectable or max 9 faces, VGA movie mode (640x480 60fps with mono sound and any preset optical zoom) and a smart "Kids & Pets" mode (on the function dial) that set fastest possible shutter as a "sport" mode... So this magnificent masterpiece is a great "everywhere" camera and possibly the best choice for most, if you like a rather big zoom and want sharp pictures, without a tripod... At only 2284sek or 250usd with a 128MB SD card and it take SD/SDHC/MMC cards...
But a tiny 12mp sensor get the problem with diffraction, which make photos clearly softer at F8 aperture or more, so you should use max 5.6 aperture... And the shutter button is now too close to the corner and you have no extra front grip (even if the body get clearly wider, at the grip side) so the ergonomic is clearly worse than the "old" Panasonic LZ7 below, that also give no blue glowing at very high contrast edges... And the A2100 lens need also little more light... Then is Panasonic TZ7 (ZS3 in USA) you find below, a clearly finer alternative - mainly because it offer a superior 12x zoom (as 25-300mm ) with OIS and a 3 inch ultra high resolution screen, but it cost also clearly more... Then give the lens little more barrel distortion than average at wide, it has sometimes hard to focus in macro mode and the screen is not of the "wide angle view" type Canon use in more expensive models, even if it have the same resolution... Then is Panasonic OIS even better and A2100 use to "blow out" some highlights, as most compacts, so you should set it to expose little less... It don't always use the whole screen when you view pictures in playback mode (!) it has a simple rubber flap to hide the connections and a dumb "easy" mode (it reduce you possible settings) you should avoid... It has also a huge LCD screen, instead of an extra tiny inaccurate optical viewfinder... You should as always invest in a charger with good NiMH AA batteries, that give twice the battery life... And it show noise from 200 iso (so set it to 100 iso) as almost every compact camera... You may click for basic info about high ISO and noise!
Before that was Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ7 the absolute finest choice and it's still finer in three ways, as you can see in the "but" part above... With every amazing quality of the older LZ5 including the excellent 6x zoom lens (as 37-222mm F2.8 to 4.5 with auto lens cover, eight elements in seven groups and two aspherical lenses) that work both very quiet and smooth... And the same effective Optical Image Stabilizer (mode 2 is best) that give sharper tele and especially fine pictures (without either tripod or flash) even in soft indoor lightening (of 66 lux) but naturally not of moving objects, or in just candle lights... Yes, I have now a Panasonic LZ7 myself and it give amazing soft light quality, with just a 40 watt (classic bulb) wide spotlight!
The magnificent "old" Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ7 with some size references... Photographed
with my old Panasonic FZ2 and the "gold stripe" in the handle, is unique for my camera
Then has this more elegant version a fine sensor with 7.2 million effective pixels (for 1900 fine line sharpness and no moire) a very compact body (206cm3 or 98.5x62.3x33.6mm, plus the protuding lens ring) compared to the big zoom, with a very comfortable stable grip and it give especially excellent pictures - with clearly higher sharpness, normally exact exposure, very nice colours (including deep red) excellent auto white balance, virtually no purple edges and very low noise (with one unique exception, see "but" below) or even better if you set "pict.adj" to natural... And the big 2.5 inch screen offer good resolution (114t pixels and 194dpi, which is about 2.3x sharper than a notebook screen, ok in strong sunlight, brighter in low light, 16x view zoom and have a high angle mode) it has also a new smart direct to 6x zoom button, can take 3MP pictures with 9x optical zoom, take great macros (minimum 51mm wide) work rather fast (2.8sec to first shot, 0.5-0.8sec auto focus, plus 0.09sec shutter delay and 2.6sec between shots) offer high quality Widescreen video (848x480 pixels) and VGA movie recordings (of 640x480 pixels, 30fps with mono mic) use AA batteries, has excellent battery life (about 460 shots with modern NiMH batteries) and you could get LZ7 in both smooth black or silver... At (sold out in Sweden) or silly low 130usd, with 27MB internal memory, but it take also SD (max2gb) SDHC (min4gb) MMC cards and you should also buy a cheap AA NiMH battery charger... There was also a slightly cheaper sister LZ6 model, with a lower resolution 2 inch screen and almost every other quality, that I can't recommend because the bigger finer screen IS worth a lot more...
Then has LZ7 a much finer lens than Canon EOS 350D / Digital Rebel XT kit DSLR that only offer 3x zoom, need more light (f3.5-5.6) and has no image stabilizer, so the 4 times more compact LZ7 should normally give you sharper stable pictures... And just imagine, if you use 6x zoom will you actually need a 28.8 megapixel camera (with normal 3x zoom) to get the same number of pixels, on the motive... Simple calculate 7.2mp x twice as wide x twice as high!
But this model is now replaced with a worse 8MP version with 5x zoom and is difficult to find... And Canon A2100 IS above has two advantages (a sharper 3 inch screen and much higher resolution) but worse ergonomics, a lens that need more light and show sometimes a blue glow, at high contraste edges... Then may Panasonic TZ7 (ZS3 in USA) you find below, be a dramatically finer alternative for you - because it offer a splendid 25-300mm 12x zoom with OIS and a 3 inch ultra high resolution screen - but the lens need slightly more light, it use a special battery and cost a lot more... Then give LZ7 some noise in shadows of skin and hair colour (dark brown to pale) that ONLY is visible at full size on the computer screen (that anyhow is over 3 times bigger, than you should print - max 8x10 inch or 20x26cm, for 300dpi) instead of loosing details and I actually think that's very smart... And it has a bigger screen instead of a tiny optical viewfinder, no panorama mode, the "sport" mode that help to freeze movements use "intelligent iso" which may give you some extra noise (you can set it-iso to max 400 iso and the camera use to select short shutter times, even in normal auto) you should also select 100 ISO to avoid extra noise (as always, even if it give lower noise than most at 200 ISO) and then is it slightly bigger than the older LZ5... And click for basic info about high ISO and noise!
The other compact cameras with over 7mp and 6-8x zoom, has bigger problems OR not a true Image Stabilizer and that is the most valuable extra function, if you really want quality pictures... So we can not recommend any other alternatives!
One "almost" alternative...
Canon PowerShot G9 from 2008 did offer 12.1 million effective pixels, 6x zoom (as 35-210mm in 14 very quiet steps, F2.8-4.8 and many quality problems) with Optical Image Stabilizer (the continuous mode work best) and auto lens cover... That give huge pictures (about 2150 soft lines, which is only slightly more than the earlier G7 with 10mp, because of the bad lens and the diffraction effect) of partly high quality with extremely accurate colours, normally exact exposure and and no visible 80 ISO noise... Then has it a great 3 inch high resolution screen (230t pixels and 230dpi, with extremely wide viewing angle, scratch resistant and anti reflection coating, overexposure warning and is fine in strong sun) and a lousy optical viewfinder (see why below, but it has diopter correction) in a not very compact "techno style" black body (325cm3 or 106.4x71.9x42.5mm) with real doors (not rubber flaps) it work fast (1.2 to 1.6sec start, 0.6sec focus with shutter delay and 1.5 to 2.3sec between shots) has every possible manual function and two custom modes, smart focus help that magnify the focus area, tiny live histogram, a limited RAW option (at debut no program, that can edit and save to jpg) that not give higher sharpness, digital audio recording, improved face detection (detect up to 35 faces in a frame and optimize focus and exposure) dedicated flash hot shoe, panorama help mode, sport mode that help to freeze movements and it take SD/SDHC/MMC/MMCplus cards, at too expensive 3800sek (sold out in Sweden) or 360usd with 32mb MMCplus card, li-ion batt and charger...
But the new A2100 model from Canon give finer quality pictures, at a dramatically lower price - because the lens on G9 is not very good, with some deep blue and "purple edges" on high contrast areas, strong barrel distortion at the 35mm wide angle, rather soft "washed out" corners and it make the sensor look soft... The lousy round optical viewfinder, give blurry edges and show generally only 80% except too much over the image area at tele... Then is the 325cm3 body extra clumsy, the grip are not good (so you need two hands for a safe grip) you get rather tight free room for your thumb, the tiny sensitive zoom ring is harder to use and even the shutter button is a bit too small... The green AF lamp is irritating... And the heavy noise reduction, begin to smooth some details even at 100 ISO and 200 ISO give noisy shadows... So it very strange that one review gave it a "Highly Recommended" rating, even if the "semi pro" styling might impress... And the elegant Panasonic TZ7 (ZS3 in USA) you find below, is a dramatically finer alternative - because it is a lot more compact (202cm3) but offer a superior 12x 26-280mm ultra wide angle zoom with OIS, a huge ultra high resolution 3 inch screen, excellent sharpness, much less noise at 100 ISO and cost only little more... And the amazing Canon A2100 IS above offer a clearly finer 6x lens (no distortion, sharp corners and no visible purple edges) with OIS and a very compact rounded body (207cm3) at less than half the price - so I would prefer Canon A2100 IS even if they cost the same... And G9 does sometimes over expose (mainly in strong sunlight) and clip then (type burn out) highlight areas... It use a special battery that only last 240 shots and it show noise from 200 ISO (so set it to 80 or 100 ISO) as almost every compact camera... You may click for basic info about high ISO and noise!
You may think that DSLR cameras is cleraly better??
Or that it's great to be able to change the lens?!?But it is very difficult (or expensive) to clean the sensor, every time it get dusty or dirty... Even if some models have a "dust cleaning" function, that try to "shake off" dust with intensive vibrations, but that method work only on some totally dry "non sticky" dust and remove only 0-50% of the dust (after 25 cleaning cycles) according to several test's... Meaning that even the best system (from Olympus) leave half of the dust... Then is a complete digital camera, normally a lot more compact and easy to hold steady, for long times...
And many photographers regret that they bought a DSLR just because they are so HUGE and clumsy, to always bring... The excellent Panasonic FZ18 below is only about 599cm3 with it's dramatically superior Optical Image Stabilized 18x zoom (as 28mm wide angle to 504mm, max F2.8-4.2 by Leica) cost about half and give you almost the same sharpness (2000 fine lines) compared to Canon EOS 1000D / Digital Rebel XT with 10.1mp and 2100 fine lines, a huge 764cm3 naked body - without the simple 3x zoom (f3.5-5.6) of clearly lower quality... And even the very compact 207cm3 Canon A2100 IS above, with a fine optical stabilized 6x zoom, give clearly higher sharpness than Canon EOS 350D and twice as long stabilized zoom, at just 25% of the bulk and price... So you can save a lot of money, even if the Canon 350D and 1000D are "exceptional cheap" because fine stabilized zoom lenses are VERY expensive... The almost 11x stabilized zoom Canon EF 28-300mm IS (as 45-480mm on 1000D and just F3.5-5.6) is over 18cm long, 9cm fat, weight 1670 gram and cost 0808 over 23.000sek... And you can even get a long free holiday, if you simply sell your old lenses...
First some words about megapixels... Most people don't need more than 6 million pixels, but the best value digital cameras have anyhow 10 MP today...
And if you want huge 310x232mm prints, of excellent quality (true 300 dpi) must you anyhow get a very sharp 10.1 megapixels camera, that give 3648x2736 clear pixels... Then can you also get twice that wide prints (620x465mm or little bigger than four A4 papers) of fine photo quality, with optimizing in a Photo Edit program... But you can NOT compare this quality with mobile phones, that don't have any optical zoom... Then have they also too tiny lenses, too tiny sensors and no optical image stabilizer, so they handle soft light very bad!
But a camera with a tiny 12 megapixels sensor, get some problem with diffraction - that give clearly softer pictures at 8 aperture or more... You can then use max 5.6 aperture, to avoid this problem OR buy a camera with a bigger sensor... And a tiny 14 megapixels sensor, will never be really sharp - because of some diffraction at 5.6 or some flare at 2.8 aperture... You may click for deeper Mega Pixels info!
The best value camera, with over 8mp and a really BIG zoom...
Is the famous Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 that is an almost identical version of the older FZ18 below with a 10.1 million pixel sensor and this camera handle the tiny pixels clearly better than the competition (but over 13mp WILL be big trouble) so you get anyhow excellent photos and in addition a slightly bigger 2.7 inch LCD screen (230t pixels, ok even in strong sunlight) plus a slightly improved viewfinder (now 201t pixels, still with diopter adjustment) and then is the magnificent lens probably exactly the same, even if the slightly larger sensor change the effective focal length from 28-504mm to 27-486mm and it's now rated as F2.8 to 4.4 so it need slightly more light at tele, but it offer anyhow better sensitivity than any other ultra tele... And you get virtually no purple edges, very little barrel distortion and amazingly sharp pictures of up to 2300 fine lines (except slightly softer corners) with help of the famous Optical Image Stabilizer (that work better than any other) just as before... Then get you now a HD video mode (max 1280x720 at 30fps) with optical zoom and component video output... Plus a record / play switch, 4 new scene modes (totally 22) even shorter shutter delay with 0.02sec, slightly better battery life (460 pics) and the "iExposure" option, that select settings after the motive... And it offer as before almost every possible manual controls (including 4 custom modes) too... There is also a 3MP burst mode that fire away 8.7 pictures per second... So this rather compact ultra zoom camera, is simply the absolute best choice for the advanced photographers... At only 3690sek (sould out in Sweden) or 360usd with 50MB internal memory, li-ion battery (for 460 pictures before charge) and rapid charger...
But the extra pixels make this version slightly slower than FZ18 between pictures (about 1.5 to 1.8sec for JPG shots without flash) the grip don't feel smooth in my hand and the trigger is not perfectly placed for me, the screen could have better contrast and viewing angles, the eyepiece for the viewfinder is of hard plastic and corners get slightly soft at tele, but they are still sharper than normally... You can also click to see how fine it look, find a lot more information and view a few sample pictures, in Panasonic's official site!
Then came the clearly finer  Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ38 (in Europe) FZ35 (in USA) that offer every quality of FZ28 above - plus an even better Optical Image Stabilizer (that give 4 stops advantage, which is like boosting 200 ISO to 3200 without any noise problems) clearly faster actions with 1.2sec startup 1.4sec between pictures (or 0.77sec between max 3 pictures, in burst mode) plus even faster focus (0.29sec wide 0.31sec tele) a 12.1 million pixels sensor that work surprisingly fine and actually give very sharp pictures of 2300 lines (with rather sharp corners) as long as you "open up" the aperture with the lowest possible number - because the diffraction effect, make the pictures softer at F5.6 and very soft at F8 aperture... Yes, this model is just as sharp as FZ28 with 10.1mp - but that camera is anyhow extremely sharp... It has also a new 80 ISO setting (it handle even 200 ISO rather good - but you should never use a higher setting) longer battery life (470 shots and over 450 in test) HDMI output and a stereo microphone, for the new AVCHD Lite (or old M-jpeg) 1280x720 video mode... Finally can you save the photos at "normal" quality, that show no difference from the "fine" setting (not even at 100% on a notebook screen, that is about 3x closeup compared to high quality 300dpi prints) except that each picture take only 3MB instead of twice the space... At only 3465sek with 40MB internal memory, li-ion battery and rapid charger!
Before that was the fine Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 from 2007 the best alternative and this camera is basically is a FZ8 with 18x zoom (from 28mm wide angle to 504mm, smooth two speed zoom with last position memory, f 2.8-4.2 razor sharp corners and virtually no "purple edges" or distortion) that give you even higher image quality (even finer deep reds, exceptional accurate colours, excellent dynamic range at 100 ISO and very low noise to 200 ISO) a fine 8.1 million effective pixels sensor (that give 2000 fine lines) and a slightly better grip, with a more leaning shutter button... Every owner, seem to be extremely happy with this camera and that is exceptional... And it works fast - start up in 1.7 to 2.5sec, very accurate focus at 0.33-0.8 wide and 0.6-1sec tele, plus shutter delay 0.18sec, take 1.1sec between JPG shots and just 2.4 to 4sec between RAW shots... The battery last now 400 shots and several photographers report that the famous Optical Image Stabilizer (that was clearly best, together with Canon) seem to work even better than before and help you get more sharp pictures with 18x zoom, than other cameras get with 12x zoom... Observe also that you can only buy a max 11x zoom with Optical Stabilizer, to a Canon DSLR camera and that famous lens need also much more light and cost over 3000usd... And then offer FZ18 face detection for up to 15 faces, a new button for exposure lock, plus every excellent quality from FZ8 including the other first class image quality aspects, as very accurate colours and exposure, at only 250usd and sold out in Sweden... You may click here for one full size sample picture - from a Chinese PC magazine - that clearly show that this masterpiece can take photos (at 100 ISO) of extraordinary quality...
But the GIANT zoom make this relatively compact camera slightly bigger (about 599cm3 or max798cm3 or 118x76x89mm, compared to "old" FZ8 that was about 500cm3) the grip don't feel smooth in my hand, the trigger is not perfectly placed for me and the viewfinder's "eye piece" is still made of hard plastic, that might scratch cheap glasses... You can also click to see how fine it look, find a lot more information and view a few sample pictures, in Panasonic's official site!
Why not?!! Then are the ultra big zoom alternatives from Canon, Nikon and Olympus clearly worse in many different ways (even if they actually have a slightly more comfortable grip than Panasonic) and they show especially more chromatic aberration, that look as a purple "glow" along edges with high contrast... Then is the lenses not as sharp, bright (so they need more light) and has more barrel distortion... As you easy can see in most reviews!
The superior Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ7 (in Europe) ZS3 (in USA)
In real size scale, on most wide 15.4 notebook screens
And if you prefer a very compact Super Zoom camera, with a great 12x zoom...
Is the finest alternative, the elegant Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ7 (in Europe) ZS3 (in USA) that offer every quality the legendary TZ5 below have, plus an amazing 12x ultra wide angle zoom (as 25-300mm in 36 steps, F3.3-4.9 and design by Leica with 10 elements in 8 groups, including 2 ED lenses and 2 aspherical lenses with 3 aspherical surfaces - that only slide out 31mm at max tele) and the finest Optical Image Stabilizer (now with an auto mode, that select the best method - for sharp freehand pictures, even in low light and at tele) and 10.1 million effective pixels, that give excellent picture quality - with high sharpness (even in the corners at ultra wide) of 2150 fine lines, very little barrel distortion, no moire or "purple edges" (even at extreme contrast) rich true colours (you can also select "Natural" for extremely acurate or "Vivid" for stronger "canon" colors) great shadow details, exact exposure and fine film like noise at 100 ISO (only seen at full screen pc view, which is as 300% close up) that not is visible in high quality 300dpi prints... They did also limit the highest aperture to F6.3 and that is a smart way to avoid the diffraction effect, that otherwise would limit the sharpness at F8 aperture... It has also a slimmer (now only 200cm3 or 104x60x32mm) and clearly more elegant metal body, with the same delicious ergonomic... And the magnificent 3 inch screen, work now perfect in extremely wide angles, offer still 460t pixels ultra high resolution and work superior in strong sunlight, compared with other cameras... Plus AVCHD 720p HD video (1280x720 60fps H.264) with active zoom, separate movie recording button, HDMI out and Dolby Digital Stereo Creator, for high quality stereo sound... Which give you the finest video quality from a compact camera, but worse than a fine full HD video camera... Then get you finally a panorama assist mode and automatic backlight compensation, if you like... It work very to average fast with 1.5 to 2.3sec startup (according to four different reviews) 0.2 to 0.8sec focus with shutter delay (depending of zoom and type of selected focus and it's very accurate focus too) about 1.5sec between shots and the shutter delay is practically eliminated, at 0.0006 second... TZ7 has also advanced face recognition functions (for 6 people) in addition to face focus of max 11 faces... And you can get TZ7 in soft black, deep red, soft brown, silver and deep matte blue... At only 2785sek in Sweden or 293usd, with 40MB internal memory, li-ion batt (for 300 shots) and separate charger... *** But this very low price is very temporary and only because it soon will be replaced by the slightly different TZ10 (in Europe) ZS7 (in USA) that is very similar, except it has now many manual modes and take bigger 12.1 million pixels photos, but you get just the same max 2150 lines resolution (so the otherwise excellent photos are slightly less sharp) and it has also a GPS that eat's battery (so you get about 100 to 200 photos on one charge) if you not turn off that function and get 300 photos... And the new lower cost version TZ8 (in Europe) ZS5 (in USA) has the same screen as the "old" TZ6 below and no real advantages... Before that was TZ7 little more expensive, than most compact cameras - but remember that this masterpiece give truly excellent pictures and has an extraordinary zoom, with magnificent possibilities and you can also select the great budget version below, that give exactly the same picture qualities... Many advanced owners did love the older TZ5 so deeply, that they quit using their much more expensive DSLR equipment and this one is clearly finer... Yes, I did also buy this camera... And a little tip - you can safely save the pictures as "normal" quality (that give you about 2.6mb photos, instead of 5.4mb) without any visual difference!
But the rotating mode dial on top, is a bit loose and easy to change by mistake (so you must simply check it everytime you activate the camera) it show a little bit barrel distortion at 25mm wide, you can not select shutter speed or aperture directly (that's possible in the otherwise worse TZ10) if you use the zoom while filming may it lose focus for a moment and you should select 80 ISO and use max 200 ISO sometimes, as any fine compact camera... But Canon A2100 you find above, give clearly sharper pictures (except at max tele, of course) if you are happy with only 6x zoom (as 36 to 216mm) and that alternative did cost almost half as much!! You can also click for a lot more information and to view a few sample pictures, in Panasonic's official site!
Then is Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS1 (in USA and Asia) TZ6 (in Europe) a clearly less expensive budget version, with every quality above - except "just" a 2.7 inch screen (with 230t pixels) only 848x480 video (still 30fps) no HDMI out and a mono microphone... Plus 320 pictures battery life, which is best in this class... At only 2094sek in Sweden, with 40MB internal memory, li-ion batt and separate charger!
Before this amazing model, was the legendary...
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 the finest alternative, that also is very compact (max 221cm3 or 103.3x59.3x36mm or jacket pocket size) compared to the impressive 10x wide angle zoom (as 28-280mm, F3.3-4.9 and design by Leica, that only slide out 31mm at max tele) with auto lens cover and a very effective Optical Image Stabilizer, plus 9.1 millions effective pixels and a "Easy Zoom" button, that let you jump to maximum zoom... Which give you an excellent picture quality with 2050 fine lines sharpness (at 100 iso, little softer at tele and the otherwise excellent previous model TZ3 gave just 1750 lines) no moire and very sharp corners, accurate colours and exposure (normally without the burn out highlights, most compact cameras show) impressive sharp details in shadow areas, little noise at 100 ISO (only visible at full size on a notebook screen, which is as 300% closeup of a fine print) almost no "purple edges" and not even any visible barrel distortion... Then has it also a magnificent ultra high resolution 3 inch screen (superior 460t pixels that give amazing 325dpi or 3.8 times higher than a notebook and work fine even in bright sunlight) with auto brightness adjustment, mainly metal body (available in cool black and silver, bronze and silver, three silver tones or dark blue and silver) with very fine ergonomics, plus a new switch between record and playback... You can also get 16.9 x real optical zoom at 3mp, if you like... Okay, you get exactly the same effect, if you cut down a 10x zoom 9.1mp picture - but it is naturally more easy to see and frame the motive, if you use the extra zoom option... The extra effective Optical Image Stabilizer, give you especially sharp pictures with the long zoom outdoors and even in rather soft indoor lightening (of 88 lux) without any flash, but naturally not of moving objects, or in just candle lights... It work also very fast (starts up 1.9sec, focus 0.2-0.45sec, shutter delay 0.11sec, 1.39sec between shots and can take 3 pictures in 1.2sec) good battery life (about 300 shots, charge in 2 hours) exposure adjustment, live histogram, manual white balance and adjustments, 23 scene modes for different situations, including a sport mode that help you freeze movements everywhere, effective face detection for up to 15 faces, fine macro (minimum 59mm wide) of high quality, you have also a secondary "quick menu" that some prefer, you can adjust the strength of colour with the "Color mode" setting and "natural" give an extremely accurate result, AF assist lamp, a HD video mode (1280x720 30fps in 16:9 and 11min take 2MB) 8-1/2000sec shutter speed plus 15-60sec in the Starry Sky Mode, it has USB 2.0 for high speed transfers, the connections are behind fine doors (not annoying rubber flaps) and it use SD/SDHC/MMC memory cards... At only 249usd or 3330sek with 50MB internal memory, li-ion batt and separate charger... That is little more than most compact cameras - but remember that this masterpiece give you magnificent possibilities and excellent pictures... Many advanced owners fall actually in love with this camera and quit using their much more expensive DSLR equipment!
But the lens is slightly less bright, compared with the best and DRAMATICALLY more clumsy zoom alternatives and deep red is fine, but get slightly orange... The mode dial is also rather easy to move, so you should check it before you shoot... And it has "only" the most valuable manual controls, including some smart scene modes, so it could offer even more... Then does the images look slightly soft in one review (or extra smooth, as DSLR cameras) but they are easy to sharpen OR slightly over sharped (select then "natural" at "Color mode" in the menu) in another review and you will hear little zoom noise, if you zoom when you are video filming... Then cost the slightly smaller Canon A2100 IS with fine 6x zoom, 12.1mp and fine 3 inch screen a lot less... You get no tiny viewfinder, but the finest screen in the world and a more compact camera... And it use a special battery, so you should maybe buy one extra for times you don't want to bring the charger... Then does a few reviewers complain about the noise, when they use auto ISO and view the result at full size on a notebook screen, which is double dumb... Just select 100 ISO and remember that "full size" on screen, actually is a 300% closeup compared to a fine 300dpi print - so the noise you see, will simply NOT show in fine print... And if you want to freeze movements, select sport mode (and not higher iso) which simply select the fastest possible shutter speed... You can click here to see how fine it look and read a deep review, that reflect most of this unique masterpiece qualities, except it's great quality in rather soft indoor light...
And there is only one weak alternative, the rather elegant Canon PowerShot SX200 IS that only is better than Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 in two ways and worse in many other... So I can not clearly recommend this alternative, even if it almost is a masterpiece - except if you already got it or get it cheaper than TZ5 - because it is anyhow one of the finest cameras ever built... It has a magnificent 12x wide angle zoom lens (as 28-336mm in 40 steps, F3.4-5.3 with auto lens cover and almost no barrel distortion, but it get slightly softer a bit from the corners) with a fine Optical Image Stabilizer - for sharp freehand pictures, even in low light and at tele... And that is a clearly longer tele, than the "as 280mm" of TZ5 - but Panasonic TZ7 (in Europe) ZS3 (in USA) offer also 12x zoom (as ultra wide angle 25-300mm) and that amazing lens is still brighter... You get anyhow a rather high picture quality (almost as Canon A2100 with 6x zoom) with superb colours (especially the deep red) exact exposure and some (very soft) details in shadow areas... And SX200 don't show any noise - if you first select 80 ISO and with 100 ISO is it still hard to see any noise (even after sharpening) at full size on a notebook screen, which is 300% closeup compared with a fine 300dpi print and that is clearly better than Panasonic TZ5 even if you can't see any difference in print - but the heavy noise reduction, smooth also away some of the finest details... And the very compact body (at 238cm2 or 103x61x38mm) compared with the huge zoom, has very nice ergonomics and is mainly of metal... Then has SX200 also 12.1 million pixels - but that is actually slightly too much for the tiny sensor (43mp/cm2 sensor density) because of the diffraction effect, that actually give softer pictures at high apertures (so you should NOT use f8 with this camera) and more pixels than you need, make your memory card smaller and take naturally more time to save... But SX200 work anyhow fast - with 1.2-1.9sec startup, 0.2 to 1sec focus with shutter delay and 1.5.2.4sec between shots, without flash... The 3 inch screen (230t pixels and 230dpi, which is almost 3 times a notebook and fine in strong sun light) is great and possible to view in wider angles than the TZ5 screen - but see the but below... Then offer SX200 an unique self portrait mode that sense / react when your face get in front of the camera, the "Kids & Pets" mode (on the function dial) that set fastest possible shutter as a "sport" mode, quick delete of the last picture, both good 9 face focus and blink detection, macro with manual focus, exceptionally elegant menu system, almost every manual option (you can as example adjust contrast, sharpness, saturation and red/green/blue/skin tone levels) a clear battery meter (first in the last years Canon models) can record HD video at 1280x720p at 30 frames/second with mono sound (using efficient H.264 codec and with optical stabilizer, but you can not adjust the zoom) and use SD/SDHC/MMC memory cards... And it's cost more than TZ6 at 2570sek, with li-ion battery and charger - but no memory card or internal memory... In elegant matte black, dark blue metallic or dark "purple" red metallic.
But SX200 give especially slightly softer pictures and even more softer in shadows - compared with Panasonic TZ5 even if the absolute resolution may be higher... And the diffraction effect, if you use f8 aperture, make them even softer... So the pictures need some sharpening, to look almost as sharp as TZ5 either by the settings in the camera or in a photo editing program... And TZ7 give normally clearly sharper pictures... That mean also that you can't print the noise free pictures extra big (with less than 200 dpi) because they will then become too soft - or show sharpening artifacts, if you sharpen them... SX200 give sometimes "purple edges" too... Then offer Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 and TZ7 twice the screen resolution (460t pixels) a slightly brighter lens (F3.3-4.9) and a more compact body (TZ5 221cm3 and TZ7 only 202cm3) and then cost TZ5 clearly less and TZ5/7 brighter lens slide only out 31mm at max tele, compared with the huge 46mm (or 48% more) that SX200 fatter lens protrude / expand... Then will the flash always plop up, when you activate the camera - even if you did turn off the flash and that is plain silly... It overexpose also sometimes bright details (worse than TZ5) as many compact cameras... Then has SX200 slightly worse battery life of about 280 shots than Panasonic and a plastic piece with a loose rubber hinge (when tz7/5 has a fine door) to cover the connection... It has not stereo microphones for video, as the coming Panasonic TZ7 (in Europe) ZS3 (in USA) and you should select max 100 ISO sometimes, because higher ISO give you both visible noise and softer details, as most compact cameras... And we have not seen any deeper review with sharpness lines, yet.
Why Not?!?
Canon PowerShot SX10 IS has a magnificent 20x zoom lens, except that it show more "purple edges" (chromatic aberration) than most ultra zooms and give also more barrel distortion (at wide) than Panasonic FZ28... Then has this model grown clearly more clumsy, so it's much bigger than FZ28 and it's also a lot more expensive, making it clearly worse than Panasonic FZ28 that in addition offer a bigger screen... Even if SX10 is the next best ultra zoom!
And you need normally some kind of Image Stabilizer, to use more than 5x zoom without a clumsy tripod and even 3x zoom pictures, get easy "shaky" in soft light... So we can absolutely not recommend any ultra zoom camera, that not have that basic function!
And why is a digital camera, completely superior?!?
I did actually use a fine Pentax system camera, with five exclusive lenses... But I bought a fine 2 megapixels digital camera, with 12x stabilized zoom and it was dramatically better, in every vital way... And now I use an even finer Panasonic LZ7 with 7.1 megapixels and 6x stabilized zoom, which give amazingly high picture quality...
And the rather high price of a fine digital camera, give you over 45 unique advantages (each gold arrow) including that the total cost, will be clearly less after 1-4 years... So a fine digital camera is a great investment, for everyone that like to take fine pictures and many of this advantages, will especially help you to take finer pictures than anytime before... If you try almost as hard as before and not get sloppy!
First, you simply don't have to buy any more film... So you save both money and time... And it could also be hard to find the film you prefer, on holidays!
And then is it also a lot more expensive, to get very fine paper copies (with right colour, contrast and so on) from old film... Yes, you can easy improve and optimize you digital pictures, anytime you like... First can you take care of the ordinary problems... Fix slightly strange exposing, not perfect colours, cut some stuff or change the composition and rotate the picture a bit... Details that often make photos on paper, rather lousy and even may kill a great picture... Then is even easy to fix a bad background, erase people you don't want in the photo and improve your pictures, in over ten other unique ways... And you get normally easy photo editing programs for free, both with the camera and with magazines!!
As I wrote above... It's enough with a 2mp camera, to print out excellent 136x102mm big photos of pro quality... And with careful optimizing can you also get twice as wide pictures (272x204mm, almost A4 size) of fine photo quality, almost as fine paper photos from old 35mm film and clearly BETTER than APS photos... Normal 200/400 ISO films give the same quality on paper and clearly worse, if you need to scan the photos to your computer... And you get higher quality with a fine 5mp camera, than with a fine SLR camera and film to paper photos...But if you take dia-positive pictures with a fine SLR camera and scan them with the best scanner, then will you need a fine 8mp camera to get the same quality... With both dramatic less noise and little higher sharpness... Yes, even the best 35mm dia-positive give very noisy pictures (compared to digital cameras) and max 2000 fine lines sharpness!
Then can you see the result directly, in the camera, so you can easy take another better picture... That great possibility and especially that moment, are normally lost forever, with film... So that are a GIANT advantage, both for the advanced photographer and the clumsy beginner! And you can naturally show your pix to new friends, directly on the camera screen...
Then can you always take MANY MORE alternative pictures and simply delete the really bad ones... Experiment with alternative settings, different angles, other lighting and so on... A cheap 128MB card, have room for 200 high quality 2mp pictures... You don't even have to "click" every picture, when you experiment, because you will basically see how it will look, on the screen... You can also take a lot more "real" pictures and hope that some will be great, as many "pro" photographers... Even if my theory, is that you get the absolute finest photos, if you take some extra time and really try to make each picture, to a masterpiece!
The possibility to delete most and save the best, is a special advantages on holidays... You can take over 1000 pictures, delete the worst many times and finally have 200 pics, that are from interesting to excellent... Even if you only can afford a cheap 128MB card!
And a very fine digital camera is normally VERY small, compared to a rather compact old 35mm system camera... About 110-300cm3 compared to 1500cm3 with a 38-114mm zoom... So you can always bring your camera with you, even where it's best to be discreet and never miss any more great shots... That are possible the greatest advantage, with digital cameras!
And it's light to hold, very easy to hide (from thieves) and easy to protect, from the element of destruction... Like rain, sun and sand... Compared with a system camera!
You can then show your pictures, almost directly... In your computer, on internet and send them to your friends, by email... And your originals, will naturally be a lot more easy to handle and they will never loose quality... Even copies, will actually be perfect originals... Yes, it is also very easy to save them in several ways (for extra safety) and copy them to new media, when the technology changes!
You can naturally get excellent paper copies, in several easy ways (even send an email and get copies by post) from your absolute best digital photos... Or make them at home, with a fine cheap Canon printer... And even if the cost is little higher for each copy, will the total cost be 2-50 times lower, because you never have to pay for all these rather good pix, you don't want on paper, but still want to keep... Or the lousy ones, you simply delete... You can in addition decide the size of the paper copy, directly and only pay for the pix in the right size... Then is it a lot more easy to get the pix, from a digital camera to your computer and you get higher quality (compared with scanning paper photos) within the size limits I mention above...
And most digital cameras are a lot more reliable, than a 35mm camera... Mainly because it has very few "delicate" moving parts, that can break... And compared with a heavy system camera, will the light impact be softer, if you drop it (or hit a corner) and you get not the frustrating problem, to always load the film perfect...
Yes, you will also avoid MANY other vital problems with film... That sometimes give very strange colours, often are of the wrong type for the situation, quickly become too old, can be stuck in the camera (without any warning) so you don't get any pictures, get damage from x-ray scanners and finally, may get lost by the photo shop!
The only real problems, with digital cameras... Is the short delay, when you take a picture (even if the best cameras are very fast now) and that you naturally must charge batteries, for the camera... But the price is NOT a real problem, if you like to take pictures... Only 11 films with 36 pix (or 7 APS films with 40 pix) are actually more expensive than a superiour budget digital camera, with 6mp and 3x zoom with Optical Image Stabilizer, as Panasonic LS2 with an extra battery charger and after that, will any more pictures be completely free... And you will then get finer pix than APS class, plus all the other advantages!!
Click here for links to the finest reviews, of digital cameras!
Wrist Watches
My gallery, with some extra interesting models... Click a picture, to see the big one!
    
My second Casio * My first Casio..* Citizen Aqualand II * Raymond Weil "Parsifal"
  
An elegant Orient * A very old hi-tech Citizen * A magnificent Breitling
   
My morning clock * World time by Citizen * A glittering Tissot * Breitling Crosswind
You could buy Japanese brand watches, at half the Swedish (and most countries) price, on the holiday resort Canaria Island and you got also a lot more models to choose from... Simply because (1) there are too many watch shops and people don't come there to buy watches (2) so the importers add very little, on the factory price (3) some shop is ready to sell, at almost the import price (4) and it was also tax free... Yes, I just heard that the tax free time is over... But watches and some other stuff may still be a lot cheaper there, than in Hong Kong or anywhere else..
Then I normally find the lowest price, by looking around in more shops, for the best "direct offer" price and almost never, trough every kind of bargain!! Remember also, that in most tourist towns, are there a few shops which sometimes sell demo items as new, faulty products, returned goods and stuff you can't use in your country... So you should always test the product, as much as possible, before you pay (or a least leave the shop) and check that you get the main accessories (type a charger, you can use at home) plus an international guarantee... These things cost very often extra, even if they should be included!
We have a lot more photo galleries...
You find first fine photos and text about the finest mini yachts and other boats and a gallery with old cars and other fine technology - in the Great technology page...
And big galleries with sublime art, objects of great beauty, fine architecture, lovely views, cat's, other fine animals, funny stuff and Stockholm - in the Art, great beauty & joy section.
Mobile Phones
First a note... I write normally only about phones I can check personally and I have no access to the phones that only are sold in USA and Japan, so I don't use to write about them...
Smart Phones, with fine PDA functionality
Mobile Phones, with camera and colour screen
Mobile Phones, with colour screen
Advanced PDA without phone
A "SmartPhone" with fine PDA functionality, is naturally the best alternative, if you can afford one... It is the absolute best way - to plan your life and always do the most important first, handle complex projects, manage your contacts and personal info, compare and investigate things to buy, collect facts anywhere and never forget anything, anymore!
You can click here to read (in a new window) about the perfect Smart Phone, that still has to be made... And you can also click here for my detail guide (in a new window) on how to select an advanced SmartPhone...
Remember that a mid size keyboard might look great, but has some big problems... It's simply too small to let you type with both hands and you can't hold it, at the same time... And if it's wider than 12cm, is it also slightly too wide (and often without enough space between the keys, as Nokia E90) to hold and handle easy with your thumbs... Or not possible to hold stable with one hand and type fast & easy with one finger, as I use to do with my 6cm wide Palm Treo 680 because that excellent keyboard is just big enough, so you don't have to move your finger a lot... You can even hold a Treo with one hand and write accurately with that thumb... And a fine keyboard, is one key element for a fine smartphone!
The best value SmartPhone, with great PDA functionality is...
 Palm Centro that offer exactly the same qualities as the slightly finer Treo 680 below - except it's 5mm shorter, 5mm less wide, slightly slimmer (only 107cm3 or 107.2x53.5x18.6mm) use micro SD cards and the 320x320 pixel TFT touchscreen (2.23 inch or 16.4cm2 compared with 25.4cm2 for Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 that cost 3 times more) is also 15% smaller than Treo 680... Yes, the slightly smaller keyboard is reported in many reviews, to work exactly as fine as the excellent Treo 680 so the only "real" limitation is the 2.23 inch screen, if you like the cute design ... At only 2808sek or 280 euro (for the unlocked gsm version) which make this advanced smartphone an incredible bargain... But this model can be hard to find 2010 so if you don't find it and especially want a budget smartphone OR simply prefer a 3.2 inch screen (without a real keyboard) should you look at Nokia X6 16GB that you find a long bit below...
And if you think Apple iPhone might be a smarter alternative, must I disappoint you and you can read a lot more about WHY a bit below...
 And 2009 did Palm finally announce the amazing Palm Pre (as a "prelude" of a greater future) that is a truly revolutionary shiny black smartphone, with a superior new OS and every other advantage any other smartphone offer, combined in one... Without any big compromise... And this little miracle is also clearly smaller than iPhone - less than 101x60x17mm, with only 61cm2 front area (iPhone 72cm2) or 103cm3 totally and the great screen, is only slightly smaller than iPhone... Then is the elegant multitouch fingertip navigation, even smoother and more accurate than iPhone, with more delicate scrollings and other moves... You can also see a cute "round ripple effect" where you touch the screen... Some things work actually like magic, according to the amazed reporters and the new OS offer many unique advantages - including the magic multitasking system - where you simply "scroll sideways" with your fingertip, trough "activity cards" that can show up to 20 active programs or web windows (sometimes only 4 because a few programs use a lot more memory - but that's no problem with the 512 MB in Pre Plus, that let you open 50 apps) and you can also move around any "activity card" by hold and drag... Or simply swipe a card up and off the screen, to close that activity... And open the application menu in any of three easy ways... The system show also a very elegant slim "notification bars" at the bottom of the screen - when you get emails, messages, for the music player and more - that mainly let you do other things first (if you like) and then are very easy to handle... Okay, Android has almost as fine notifications - but you cant swipe away just one, you must clear all and that's a bit brutal... And other mobile OS has much dumber notifications, that often force you to act on them directly... The ultra smart OS is actually a radical new concept in personal computing and more sophisticated than any big OS for notebooks... And Palm Pre was released 6 June, cost now just 100usd (at Amazon, with Sprint 2 years low cost contract) or 150usd for Palm Pre Plus (at January 25th with 2 years Verizon and after a 100usd mail-in rebate) and did come October 13 to Germany (you can buy it unlocked there) October 14 to Spain, plus 2 days later to Great Britain and Ireland... The huge operator SFR in France will also offer both Palm Pre and Pixi soon...
You get first a brilliant 3.1 inch BIG multitouch screen, that every reviewer love... With 320x480 pixels (as iPhone) scratch proof coating, extra wide viewings angles, 24 bit color and it work even fine in strong sun... The black status bar at top, is actually a part of the screen... So you can see how great contrast and deep black you get... And it has a special "gesture area" below the screen (with lightening feedback, for VERY easy to learn smart moves) and a sometimes glowing "ball" that jump to the multitasking card view... Plus an excellent curved slide out mini keyboard... That is backlit, clearly bigger than Centro's famous version and actually work great, even with fat fingers - except for 1 of 9 reviewers... Palm Pre Plus (only on Verizon) got a slightly better slide mechanism and the keys has a slightly more "clicky" feeling (almost as Palm Pixi) but the orange numbers is now gray and that's less good.... You get also 8GB internal storage (with almost 7GB user available) and 256mb RAM or 16GB and 512mb RAM in Palm Pre Plus (only on Verizon) the most powerful processor of any smartphone (TI OMAP 3430) a faster browser based on the WebKit engine (that also iPhone use) but with "thumbs of the sites" as bookmarks and other advantages... You can as example download files, copy links and save (jpg, png or bmp) pictures... The browser turn also to widescreen, if you turn the phone, just as it rotate photos in any direction... You get also Palm's unique "Synergy" concept, that bring together all kind of contact info (even from different websites - like Facebook, Google and Yahoo - plus delete duplicate data) and different ways of communication, type mixing IM and SMS together... You have a new smart "reminder" field in contact - that automatically show when you have a call or exchange an email, text, multimedia, or IM message... And it has also an advanced music player (for MP3, AAC, AMR, QCELP, WAV) with a 3.5mm earphone connector, that sometimes can sync to iTunes (as an iPod when Apple not block this possiblity, except DRM protected contents or calendar / contact info - which you easy can move in other ways) you can anyhow also use Pre as a mass storage drive (with extra easy drag and drop of any files, including iTune files or sync to Windows Media Player) and you can even search an artist or song you play on YouTube or Amazon... And buy music directly from Amazon... And a fine video player (for MPEG4, H.263, H.264, MP4, M4V, 3GP, 3GPP, 3G2 and 3GP2) sophisticated image viewer (for GIF, JPEG, PNG and BMP) an excellent "App Catalog" for extra third party programs (that have ratings, reviews, links to more info and even fine screen shots, you can also do multiple automatic downloads that continue if you use another program or lost the signal and you are only limit to the total storage space) both in your smartphone and at several websites, a viewer for PDF, Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents, micro USB connector (2.0 Hi-Speed, with mass storage support) easy removable rechargeable battery (which also create an ideal center of gravity) high-speed wireless (EV-DO Rev. A CDMA or GSM turbo 3G UMTS HSPA with EDGE GSM support) WiFi (802.11b/g with WPA, WPA2, 801.1x authentication) rather low SAR value (0.92) secure Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync email support (with Direct Push Technology, Remote Wipe and even for multiple accounts) in addition to the ordinary POP and IMAP emails (also with push) IM MMS and SMS messaging, integrated GPS with turn by turn navigation, Bluetooth (2.1 EDR with A2DP stereo support) and if a calendar event include a phone number, can you simply tap the number to dial.... Then has it.a fine 3mp camera that handle soft light better than most (with virtually no shutter delay, fine color balance, autofocus and a tiny LED flash) video recording (with editing functions, sending by email or text message and upload to YouTube or Facebook) environment light and "near face" sensors, physical ringer mute switch, universal search (partly as before, but see also the "but" below) that in addition include your favourite web search sites, an alarm clock (with many alarms, but no stopwatch or world clock) impressive speakerphone, cute retro style calculator, you can use the cute normal charger, or rather slow optional wireless charging (with the elegant 50 usd "Touchstone" charger) get free automatic backups of your data (setting, email, contacts, calender and task info) with "Palm Profiles" to Palm's servers (even if a few details can get wrong, so you can move to another Pre if the first one get stolen or die) and naturally copy & paste (now with your fingertips) functionality... You can also use Palm Pre Plus (only from Verizon) as a high speed 3G modem for up to five notebooks!
The superior OS (with the big exceptions below) is actually BOTH more advanced, in many ways and dramatically more easy to use - than any big desktop OS and you get naturally instant on, resume where you was and auto save, just as before... And it make most programs, as Google Maps, clearly more easy to use... Then will it naturally come more models (in good time) with this OS than Pre and the second smartphone will be the lower cost ultra thin Palm Eos, that look almost like a wider black Palm Centro... And Palm offer advanced help, with the sophisticated Mojo SDK application framework (that the programmers find extremely nice) and a very advanced web based development program, to anyone that want to develop "third party" programs... Then will the programming also be extra easy, because Palms superior main Nova OS follow Linux standards and the screen presentation follow HTML CSS, JavaScript and Ajax standards... And that's why Palm call Nova a "web OS" plus the fact it's very internet oriented... But the "web OS applications" stay anyhow inside the smartphone, so you will actually NOT need a web connection for most of the programs - except the browser, email and IM programs of course... They will also be very generous when they approve new applications and just guard high security and great stability... Then will only selected partners (as some huge game companies) get access to "deep areas" of the main Nova OS because of the same safety reasons... And finally are the programs be presented in a central "app shop" from a relative low cost, to completely free...
But there are naturally some problems - even if the innovative OS is close to magic... There are mainly some vital software limitations (see just below) that maybe never will be fixed - even if they easy can be fixed in Palm's updated or at least by extra third party programs... And then are there fortunately very few hardware problems... This is the smallest ultra advanced smartphone, but that does also mean that they could not fit any removable storage, so you can't expand the generous memory. - but it would anyhow be a nice option, even if it would make the Pre a tiny bit longer... There is no lens cover and that's rather ironic - because the slide out keyboard, could also work as a camera lens cover... And I don't like the rubber flap over the miniUSB connection, because a smart micro door (that may be of rubber and naturally open sideways) would be both more easy to use and look better.
Vital webOS limitations Palm must fix and my "wish list" for software developers... WebOS is now the clearly best alternative, for most people - but the Personal Information Management functionality, got a lot worse since the "old" Palm OS and that is a huge problem, because a really smart PIM suite with excellent ToDo and calender functions, can really improve your life and that make it the most valuable part of a smartphone, if it work great... And if Palm finally begin to fix this limitations, can they also advertise "We make the best mobile OS even better" each time they update and not just use the updates as bug fixes... Then do I live in Sweden and we don't got the Palm Pre yet - so I could not test anything myself and that mean that some details below might be wrong or already fixed... So please click here to email me, if anything got wrong and need adjustment... And that also mean that I maybe missed some more problems, that was very hard or impossible to see in screen shots and reviews... And I will actually not buy any device with webOS before most of the first 8 limitations below, are fixed either by Palm or someone else - because I simply don't want to pay for clearly worse functionality, than I already have with my "old" lovely Palm Treo 680!!
01) There is still no complete desktop sync for every important Personal Information Management part, as ToDo lists with categories... Except if you are connected to an Exchange server... You can only back up automatically to Palm's servers, but without any option to edit your own text from your notebook... So complete desktop sync should actually be included in the box, as an alternative and offer sync through both USB and Wifi, plus maybe Bluetooth... And naturally include some kind of desktop application, so you can save and edit the calendar and tasks in your notebook... Now must you first buy MS Outlook (if you not have that) and a third party sync program, that not even handle ToDo lists... But palm have at least a migration tool, that help you move all your data (one way only) from an old Palm device and Palm desktop (or MS Outlook) to a new pre...
02) There is a lot of "elegant" waste of screen space and very BIG fonts, in almost every basic view... That should naturally be an option and absolutely not a default setting, you can't change... Because most people need just 25% more space, to max 50% more if you have huge finger tips, for accurate finger navigation (compared to a stylus) and NOT more than twice the space, to show the same text info... They should at least offer two slightly smaller font sizes (as options) at every view that now use huge fonts and also "less empty space" around the text - so you totally can see two or three times as much text - when you count both more letters, at each line and more visible lines... And that would anyhow be easy to navigate with average fingertips... Okay, the calender events have already small text (that not should get smaller) and many may love the new spacious design, with a lot of empty space and huge fonts... But there should naturally be some alternative settings - for everyone that have average finger tips, a lot of info in the smartphone and don't want to scroll like crazy... And it's especially very easy to miss vital info, if you can't see it directly, as in Tasks and Contacts... So I sincerely hope it will be possible to select two slightly smaller font sizes (where the fonts are huge today) together with much less empty space around the text... And the absolute best would be if you also can select that options separately for the tasks, contacts, email, calendar and messaging... And Palm can even offer five slightly different text sizes, with today's size in contacts as 4 and today's calendar events as size 2 plus a roman font, as an extra option... Because if some tightening NOT is possible, will the the big screen only be really useful for web browsing and that would be very very sad... Yes, you can now only see HALF the info in Tasks (without scrolling or missing vital stuff) even if the screen is much bigger, compared to my "old" Palm Treo 680 and that fact make Palm Pre practically useless for me!!
03) The included Task application seems to be almost worthless, because of six big usability limitations... -1- You can't see if there is an "extra note page" connected to the task... -2- It don't show the priority either... -3- You can now only select 3 priority levels (just as in Windows mobile and Symbian) even if it was 5 levels before and that detail was one of the biggest advantages with Palm OS because its good to have two extra important levels for "first" and "soon" one for "when you got time" one for don't forget and the last for archive... -4- The big check box steal a lot of valuable screen space and make each task line very very short, so it should be an option instead... If you have to show your boss what you done, is it better to move stuff you done to a "Done" list where it also is easy to see everything directly and where it not mess up the view of everything you still have to do... Yes, there was a check box in PalmOS too - but it become twice as big now and that make it a big problem! -5- The huge fonts and plenty of empty space around the text, make it only possible to view 6 short tasks without scrolling, instead of the 11 longer tasks that I can view on the much smaller Treo 680 screen and that is almost insane, when a simple setting / option could allow 12 task in Pre, with clearly more empty space around the text (for easy finger navigation) than before... -6- Then will task only sync with Exchange servers (if you have that) but not with Google, as example... But the lousy task management, can of course be fixed soon by Palm or in good time, with extra programs... And it support at least "multiple todo lists" as categories, so it work slightly better than simple Nokia smartphones... Then can you anyhow use the old PalmOS task application (that not have any of this limitations) with help of the amazing "Classic" emulator, instead of the crippled webOS version!!
04) The last BIG problem I found, was the fact that webOS not support any categories (as friends, biz, service and shops or whatever you like) in the contacts application any more - which are very bad news, if you have about 200 contacts and extremely inconvenient for people with a lot more than 600 contacts... Note that otherwise is webOS contact application clearly more advanced than before... And I expect there will be some even more advanced contact applications, with category functionality, pretty soon - even if that naturally should be included by Palm, from the start... Then can you actually use the old PalmOS contact application (that not have this limitation) with help of the amazing "Classic" emulator, instead of the otherwise great webOS version!!
05) In the calendar should you also be able to remove the fancy "empty time holder" completely, to free up even more space for real calender info!!
06) The "date picker" that help you select another day for an entry in the calendar, should naturally show a mini calendar (with dates and weekdays) as it was before and not just let you select days from a list, guessing what weekday that might be!!
07) The "universal" search don't search in the Calendar, any documents, in the message part of emails or Tasks* and that is very strange - it should at least be a two step search, with a "Search deeper in Pre" option, before Pre offer you to search in Google... Or even get a finer possibility, to select where the Pre normally should search... * But you can search Task, if you are inside.
08) There is no longer any "scroll bar" that show where you are, not even as an option and it should be a slim transparent indicator, that also show how big the actual view is of the total page.
09) Then do I also want the magnificent "floating event" functionality (or "roll over" as some say) in the calender (at least in a third party application) that I now have in DateBk6 so you can show vital events "that should be done today" and get them automatically moved to next day, every new day... But before you get this in a webOS application, can you use DateBk6 (made for the old PalmOS) that have this great functionality, with help of the amazing "Classic" emulator!!
10) The pretty "Memo" application is pointless (just as before) when each post is limited to just 4.000 letters and you anyhow have ToDo / Task and the Calender... And it is not possible to sync, so what you really need is a good plain text editor - that is easy to back up and open from your notebook, rock solid, ultra fast, has smart search & replace and handle at least 200 huge text documents of minimum 100.000 letters each, sorted in 12 folders... Including at least txt, html and hopefully some other file types... I sincerely hope (and guess) that someone will make a fine text editor, because a true Word document editor IS a lot more clumsy and slower to use, in a smartphone... But you can probably use the excellent old PalmOS application CardTXT that have the text functionality you may need and more, with help of the amazing "Classic" emulator!!
11) There is no multiple email management, so you have to delete or move each email separately and that should naturally be fixed... Even if you (maybe) can do that in Google email or outlook, instead? * But you can now "delete all" in the trash folder!
12) Then is the new program launcher, rather limited... You get only three windows, without any helpful category names - like main, games, web favo, friends, settings and extra - you get only a simple I to III style indicator at bottom... But you will probably be able to buy a more advanced launcher, soon... And you can temporary put your 12 main programs (that not is on the quick bar) on the first page, web favo's plus settings on the second and everything else on the last page... But there is now a free "patch" at www.precentral.net that add extra pages and two more, that show 4 or 5 icons on each row... And you can in addition use the old PalmOS application manager (that not have this limitations) for any excellent "old" programs, with help of the amazing "Classic" emulator!
13) Pre shuts down the phone, when you connect it as a USB drive and you have to enter your PIN to get back online.... Yes, that is one thing that even iPhone handle better.
14) You use right or left swiping to view another day and the same method to view another week, in that view... But you must swipe up and down in month view and that's just dumb!!
15) Some part of the ultra smart "Synergy" integration give you also trouble, because if you include your Facebook account will everyone you "know" there (you can't just select a few) be saved as contacts and that may result in ton's of contacts, you don't want in your smartphone - but it will probably come some extra program that "filter" that later and the other new "Synergy" contacts functionality, work like magic.
16) You can't change how many "message lines" you can see in the email preview.
17) Then might the ring signal be too quiet, but only according to 1 of 9 reviewers and another one say it's loud enough... And the alarm clock use now the ringtone volume, so it should be fine... Even if the alarm clock naturally have a separate volume!!
18) Pre work normally very fast, but there is a delay when you open new applications and no "hourglass" so you might sometimes wonder if something happen, the first times you open a heavy program... * But they do now show a "startup card" before an application open and that should work just as good?!
Some problems that seem to be fixed now...
- And I also wanted the possibility to change the boring / plain ugly "modern" light gray and baby blue colors of the OS to something I actually like... ** But that seem to be fixed now, with extra "webOS themes" programs!
- Some did get also a long delay, when they go from day to day in the calendar... ** But that work clearly faster from version 1.3.5 and it did seem to depend on how many old entries you have... But that IS possible to manage in other complex calendars, without any noticeable delay... And the delay was extra problematic, when you can't search in the calendar (as mention above) or have a detailed week and month view...
- You can not use the original Palm Pre from Sprint, as a modem for a notebooks... ** But there are now extra programs that manage that..
** And please click here to email me, if YOU got any extra information about any of this vital software problems... Type if there is a way around any of them, or a fix really is on the way / already done!?!
Okay, Palm Pre is anyhow the finest alternative (according to over 22 reviews) with a great margin, for most people and can only become finer, with even smarter software... You can already buy over 1600 third party applications, specially written for webOS and many of them are very advanced, with more sophisticated functions than iPhone's limited OS can manage... Like Pandora - that let you listen to your personalised Internet radio stations, while you do other tasks on your Pre (unlike iPhone) and you can also see what’s playing (as a notification, at the bottom of the screen) pause playback and grade a track... Yes, the most advanced games can also access the graphic acceleration directly and that plus the smooth tilt sensor, make ultra sophisticated 3D action games possible... As Need for Speed and X-plane, which is the most powerful and realistic flight simulator in the world (that even pilots use for training) you can select between 7 different airplanes, 8 flight conditions (like wather and time of day) and 6 locations... No other smart phone offers this kind of experience and comfortable intelligence!!
The new complete Adobe Flash 10.1 (not a lite version) will come first on webOS too... And over 2000 (soon many thousand) outside developers work right now on the creation of extra applications... Then is there over 500 excellent programs (of over 20.000 totally) made for the great "old" Palm OS that naturally not will work directly - but you can already buy the amazing "Classic" emulator for Palm OS Garnet version 5.4.9 that handle most of them, twice as fast than before and you can even HotSync (from v2.0) to your computer over WiFi... And the best of the old programs, will also be converted to the new OS soon and that will also optimize them for finger navigation, which they not are now... Even if the Classic emulator let you zoom in, for easy finger navigation, when you need... Then cost most of this clever extra applications very little, so it should anyhow be a smart little "investment" to buy a new version... And Palm did finally begin to upgrade the applications functionality, from the third webOS version ;-)
Finally have I another reservation... Is the battery life great, rather good (as 8 of 9 reviewers say) for a tiny smartphone or not enough, with the included battery?? Yes, you can already buy a much more powerful third party battery, that only make the phone slightly fatter - but last for days of heavy use... Or a Seido battery of exactly the same size, that last 25% longer... And the official life is anyhow 5.5 hours talk time (and 4:45 in one test at the beginning) or 350 hours standby... And they have made the battery last last longer for almost every update and it had 2010-01-01 nine updates... But some did have huge problem (at least back in June) with Hotmail (even set to manual) draining the battery in only 3 hours (only standby) even if the the same phones then did work for over 12 hours (light use) with Gmail active and Hotmail gone... Okay, you can easy change to a second battery and the powerful processor have in addition an "ultra low power standby mode" and some newer screens need less power, so there is some promise for the future... Turning off AIM will also improve standby time by several hours, just as if you change the email settings to less frequent updates... And the latest "future battery" news promise ten times as strong batteries, within a few years (nam-nam) and hopefully 4 times better than right now, within one year!!
This miracle is actually the first smartphone, that come very close to my own 6 years old "perfect smartphone" concept... Especially with the combination of a slim "movable" keyboard (that you can use with one hand) under a really big vertical screen and the location of a replaceable battery... And this version is also slightly smaller than I hoped for - but my concept offer almost twice as many keys and a folder form factor, that keep the main screen safe for scratches... You can click here to read (in a new window) about the perfect Smart Phone, that still has to be made...
They offer also Palm Pixi that basically is a slimmer version of pre, with a slightly smaller 2.63 inch touch screen (320x400pixels) above a slightly better QWERTY keyboard, in a thinner 109x55x11mm body... Then has it the same 8GB storage, amazing webOS and every other quality, except WiFi connection... But Palm Pixi plus (only from Verizon) has even WiFi!
 Then was Palm Treo 680 (which I actually own) a superior alternative to Palm Centro, that offer every advantages of the famous Treo 650 below, with the same lovely qwerty keyboard (with slightly better feeling) magnificent 2.44 inch 320x320 pixel TFT touchscreen (19.36cm2 and it was one of the finest in any compact smartphone) with support for over 65000 colours and the advanced Palm Garnet OS that also is the most easy to use, with a great margin... Or Click here for a lot more OS info (in a new window) or just scroll down a bit... PLUS finally an internal antenna, 64MB available battery safe user memory (plus 64MB for system) and full size SD or MMC card (up to 2GB and some 4GB but not SDHC cards) at the side, protected by a plastic flap... It is also slightly slimmer than before and just 139cm3 (or 112x59x21mm, compared with only 99cm3 for Sony Ericsson Xperia X1) with much better grip at the sides and you get a choice of Graphite, Copper, Arctic or Crimson body colours... Treo 680 was the smallest advanced smartphone in the world (until 2007 at least) with a large touchscreen and a querty keyboard... Many owners report also that it's rock stable, with heavy advanced use... Then has it both clearly better reception and MUCH finer voice quality (according to many happy owners) with help of BCM2133 M-Stream chipset made by Broadcom... And dramatically lower radiation rating of SAR 0.66 or 0.78 and not 1.51 as Treo 650 possibly because the part close to your ear work as a shield... And even if it's not a giant step forward, is it simply the best GSM smartphone ever made... It has also a brand new phone application, that is more elegant and easy to use... You can now assign a shortcut to any "favorite" that may be a program, web link, phone number, email or sms... You can then activate shortcuts anywhere, by press & hold a letter and you can now have any number of favorite's... And it has now a complete built in user guide... Class 10 GPRS/EDGE Quad band GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz cover over 80% of the world) and you can easy make multi way conference calls... Docs To Go Professional v8.0 for Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF files... A smart "Quick Launch" window, show the 8 last applications... Multimedia: new pictures and videos applications, add music to slide show, save a picture as contact directly from album and Voice memo... Both audio and video streaming media, with WMA and WMV support... The fine music player Pocket Tunes are included, plus the famous game Bejeweled and eReader... Then has it the excellent Palm 5.4.9 operating system (and 70% of the system parts are a later version than in Treo 700p) multi volt charger, Intel® PXA270 Bulverde 312 MHz processor (same as Treo 650) make the Palm Garnet OS very fast, the SIM card is moved under the battery, slightly better VGA camera (than Treo 650) and finer picture quality than the 1.3mp 700p, Bluetooth 1.2 and infrared... At 4650sek (sold out in Sweden) or max 399usd with li-ion battery and charger... So I value this masterpiece to 74% of the perfect SmartPhone (according to my design) and the absolute best alternative today, then is the "old" Treo 600 still 64% because it has the fine Palm program suite and Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 (that cost twice as much) about 76% because of the smarter compact design and the excellent screen (that make web surfing a delight) even if Windows Mobile make Xperia slower and almost everything more complicated to use... Then are the other alternatives, clearly worse...
But the battery is also smaller (1200 vs 1800mAh) and offer 4 hours official talk time or 300 hours standby, if you not buy a twice as strong extra battery (made by Seidio) that make the phone a few millimetre thicker... And the original battery take a week of use before you get max battery capacity... Then does several owners report (maybe too quick) about dramatically shorter standby times, typically 24 to 100 hours OR just more than one work day, before they did the ROM update... You SHOULD anyhow change the time sync "automatic set" (go Prefs > Date & Time > Set) to "nothing" and phone network to "manual" and then specify you carrier (go phone screen > menu > options > select network > manual NOT auto) and this two actions will give you a lot more battery life... Then can you naturally turn off infrared (beam receive) and Bluetooth, when you not use it... Plus reduce the rather strong screen light and maybe turn off the strong key backlight, with help of an extra program... The lousy camera did also drain the battery mush faster, in Treo 680 bought before jan 18 even if you don't take any pictures and you must do a soft reset (or get this update - www.palm.com/us/support/downloads/treo/680cameraupdate.html) to get back to normal... Finally will any frequent "active polling" in email programs, naturally drain your battery very fast... That is the main problem with 680 compared to earlier models and remember that most other smartphones has worse battery life... Observe also that the battery FIRST need an extra long charge and then one full charge (from empty) before the battery meter (that otherwise turn off the phone early) work accurately and do then the same every second month (just to calibrate the battery meter) even if li-ion (just as li-polymer) batteries don't like very deep discharges and normally can be topped to full, very often... Then steal the new elegant graphic in the Phone application, some valuable space at the bottom of the screen and the category selector steal now another line at the top, just as the "more" arrows / indicator in "Contacts" steal another line, so there are just 8 lines left (for your own text) of 11 before... Yes, I guess they got stressed by the "old system" criticism, but this flashy "improvements" was actually idiotic... And the otherwise smarter "Favorite Page" has now only one table and don't use the wide screen for two tables, which is silly and you can't sort them on several pages either, so you must now move more steps - even if you can put short keys to 26 favorites and access them from anywhere... The stylus is more difficult to remove... And you simply remove the battery, to do a soft reset... And this model have not 3G and that's good, because 3G eat batteries and cost generally more - as long as you not need to download or send huge amount of data... Then does many "news hungry" journalists complain that Palm Garnet OS is outdated, even if it has got many improvements and actually IS the clearly finest smart phone OS you can get... Even compared to Palm's new and amazing webOS above, if they not fix the last functionality limitations... Click here for a lot more info (in a new window) or just scroll down a bit... Which make the often abusive critic, very strange... You may also click here for my best tips and six excellent program, that make Treo even finer... And click here for Palm's official page, with pictures.
You should FIRST select the best OS for you!
The finest Operation Systems, for advanced Smart Phones... Before I recommend the alternative SmartPhones, must I first present the most important part of these machines... The operation system, that is the "gear box" and the vital selections of programs, that both is included and possible to buy... These programs are the "brain" that can make the SmartPhone to a very helpful assistant and possible to make it even smarter... Or rather dumb, very limited and almost useless... The following alternatives has some great common advantages, if you compare with a notebook... You can start a fine pocket computer directly, without any delay and when you done what you want, close it directly... And then can you normally continue directly, exactly where you was the last time, so you don't have to find and open the last file once again... They has especially (rather to very smart) Personal Information Manager suites, with an advanced contact manager (extra smart address book) calender and todo program (where you simply note everything you should do when you have time, sorted by priority) - to handle your private information, really plan your life, control other projects, collect facts and never forget anything, anymore... Every post in the PIM programs - like a contact or some thing you have to do when you got time (except in Nokia) can also have an extra page with more text and be placed in a category, so you find it more easy... And it's normally very easy to jump between the most important programs, with dedicated buttons... Finally can you very easy "sync" with a notebook or desktop computer, when you anyhow charge your pocket computer and then always have a backup... And just as a modern notebook, have they in addition many multimedia programs, so you especially can listen to music on the move and if you don't think the screen is too tiny - view pictures, surf the web and even look at videos!
Palm Garnet OS is still the best alternative for most people... It's a lot more easy to use and offer many extra helpful functions, when you learn it and that's also rather easy, with help of the fine manual... Many "normal actions" are especially easy to do... You must as example do 6 main step, everytime you add an appointment with Windows Mobile 5 or Symbian and only 3 steps with Palm... You can also work with the PDA programs (type take notes or find facts) when you use the phone (normally with speakerphone or handsfree) so you get basic multitasking... The smart OS or "gear box" is combined with very fine basic programs and the Personal Information Management suite (that handle the info for your life and project's) is the best you get in any SmartPhone... And most people are completely happy, with this fine basic programs... You find also a handy "global find" function...
Then is there also an amazing wealth of over 27.000 extra programs, specially made for Palm Garnet OS and many of them are extremely smart / helpful... As example several office programs that handle Word files better (are more compatible) than the included programs in WM5 or Symbian... Most of them are also surprisingly cheap and many excellent programs are totally free... And with help of some of this extra programs, can you design a Treo to work perfect for you... Yes, not even Palm is perfect, but you may click here to find six excellent programs, that make Palm almost perfect and some tips, that might be very helpful... Palm Garnet OS is also written in more "machine close code" so it run faster and give a better battery life... But Windows Mobile 5 below has anyhow a few tiny advantages, that might be important for you...
Version 5.2.1H (in Treo 600) offer many smart Treo improvements and shortcuts, over earlier versions... And should be called version 7 if you compare with Windows Mobile 5 or later... You can as example navigate without using the pen / stylus... Then can you buy most of the following versions functionality, as extra programs... But this version does not look as elegant (especially in Treo 600) as following versions...
The "Garnet" version 5.4.5 (in Treo 650) offer some smart improvements of the basic programs... And should be called version 8 if you compare with Windows Mobile 5 or later... The notes (an extra page to entries in the calender and ToDo) can now be up to 32kb and when you are navigating in a dialog, the up/down buttons go now around the top/bottom of the screen... The advanced VersaMail email program (supports 8 email accounts, POP3, IMAP4, SMTP and Exchange ActiveSync email) and a upgraded Blazer browser... And the screen of Treo 650 offer also higher resolution (twice as sharp, compared with a notebook) than any other advanced SmartPhone and that result in ultra smooth clean text, graphic and pictures... Then can you buy most of following versions functionality, as extra programs...
But the calender don't support the smart "floating events" any more (as in Treo 600) so you should buy the Datebk5 program for that advantage... And some people prefer the "modern" look of WM5 below, but you can buy very elegant "skins" that give you an even finer look...
Version 5.4.9 (in Treo 700p and 680) offer in addition richer multimedia capabilities for streaming music, video and more... And should be called version 9 if you compare with Windows Mobile 5 or later... As smarter faster Blazer Browser and photo album application, plus the fine Pocket Tunes mp3 player... The program suite can also edit native Word and Excel documents (with less compatible problems, than WM5 or Symbian) plus view PowerPoint presentations and PDF files... And enhanced email and messaging, such as better Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 ActiveSync support, which now allows contact sync in addition to email and calendar sync, with a threaded view of SMS/MMS messages... You can also ignore a call with a text message, as with 700w and it show birthdays you add in contacts, in the calendar...
Cobalt was meant be the next step, but Nova / web OS is the future... Palm did sell their software division to ACCESS who did continue to work on a new operating system... Cobalt was a fully multi threading and multitasking OS that they presented 2005 - but Palm did not want to use it, because the current Garnet version was still superior any alternatives and Cobalt need slightly more memory... And Palm did even buy back the rights for Garnet from ACCESS so I was guessing that Palm did use the time to get an even finer Cobalt and the price on fine memory lower, before they use it...
But the real reason was that Palm was developing an own and much more advanced OS completely based on Linux, with the inspiring company code name "Nova" to make it even more easy for "outsiders" to create advanced Palm programs and they especially wanted to make Nova / web OS more elegant, superior on internet connectivity and multi media, truly multitasking, even more easy to use than before and rock stable... Nova was 080110 being tested internally on an unreleased future Palm device code named Zeppelin, that may be the amazing Palm pre... Cobalt 6.1 did anyhow include many improvement over Garnet - as 255 categories and you can finally select multiple categories for each post, even more advanced multimedia, more elegant graphic and scalable True Type fonts... And I guess you can expect exactly the same improvement and much more, in the future Nova / web OS...
Windows Mobile 6 is the second best, almost as easy to use as Palm (with the BIG exceptions in BUT below) and slightly more easy to learn (if you never had a Palm) because it look like Microsoft Vista and is almost as "simple" as Palm, because it has less smart functions... And this version handle memory much better than before, which promise improved stability and speed... Then is it also slightly more easy to use than WM5 (but still clearly worse than Palm) the browser is 30-40% faster and you can finally erase the web cache very fast... You can now search e-mails and other information stored on Exchange Server 2007 configure your push email settings and out-of-office notifications... You can also (just as with Palm OS) view and edit Word, Excel and even PowerPoint docs... And the calculator is finer... But many basic tasks, still require more clicks than they should!
Then was the earlier WM5 clearly improved compared with the old "MS pocket PC operating system" or the even worse "MS SmartPhone OS" and you get actually a few tiny improvement over Palm's program suite... Mainly in Active Sync, that sync in the background without an annoying status window... And the Explore button in Active Sync let you easy view, add or delete files - even on any SD card... You have also an option to quickly Add/Remove Programs... Then is it slightly better than Palm Garnet OS at multitasking, even if it hard to find any good examples - type you can use the speakerphone and work with the PIM functions (or other programs) even with a Palm... And finally does some people think WM5 and especially WM6 look more "modern" but you can buy very elegant "skins" to Treo 650/700p that give you an even finer look, on the higher resolution screen!
The basic program suite in WM6 is almost as advanced as Palm's (with the BIG exceptions in BUT below) and the contact manager, is clearly more advanced than before and just on level with Palm... Then is also Pocket Word and Excel finer than before (you can now edit in both, with all basic functions, but the Office suite in Treo 650/680/700p/centro offer even more and is also more compatible) and you find a PowerPoint viewer, Media Player and File Explorer... WM5 and higher work also fine with the navipad and store your data in "battery safe" ROM, just as Palm Garnet OS version 5.4 or higher!
But almost every "normal task" is a lot more complicated to do... You must as example do 6 main step (actions) everytime you make a note in the calendar and just 3 steps with Palm... And that not include the extra steps just to open that program... The "more easy to learn" part, is also a "side effect" of the very basic programs, that often has less smart functions and anyhow more step, to do the same thing... Then is there much less extra programs to WM5 than you find to Palm Garnet OS and that is a big limitation, even if you can find most of the finest programs for both systems... So even if the latest mobile operation system from Microsoft is clearly finer than before, is it still worse than Palm Garnet OS in many "easy to use" aspects... Palm has especially a much better calender program (the WM5 day view is practically useless) so if you really use the Personal Information Management program suite and your company don't force you to use Microsoft's OS (or you are familiar and happy with the limitations) is Palm Garnet OS (in Treo 650/700p) a better option - according to several deep reviews... WM5 may not even offer any keyboard shortcuts for basic text editing like cut, copy and paste - according to one review... Then is WM5 written in more "easy to write code" so it run slower and give worse battery life... WM5 open also programs slower than Palm Garnet OS and you can not have many programs open at the same time, so you must shut them down manually (and not just change programs) or get problems... Palm (and maybe Symbian too) has an "auto close" function, that also save your work, when you change to another program.
Then is Symbian sometimes one of the best - becaue it has multitasking, every basic program / application you need from the start and a fine looking graphic interface... And some of the basic programs are slightly better, but some is a bit worse... The ToDo list has as example no categories, only 3 priority levels (yes 5 as Palm is much better) and ther is no smart "float" function, for calender events... And you can only select from a few thousand extra program (that you can buy or sometimes get free) and they don't use the screen space in a smart way, in some of their phones... Okay the lovely Nokia X6 or the fine budget version 5230 that I recommend below, don't have this idiotic problem - but the elegant designed Nokia E90 use the screen space extremely bad, when you open the wide screen above the lovely keyboard... In the most vital PDA views, does it only use 33% of the screen for your text and you can only select a big fat font... Compared with 80% of the screen in Palm, with clear normal size text (you can naturally select bigger) and about 75% in WM5 with rather small (you can select bigger) clear text... So you can actually see more text, in the "day view" of a Palm Treo 680 or Centro than you can view on a Nokia E90 with an almost 3 times wider screen!!!
Why not an Apple iPhone?!
And if you think Apple iPhone might be a smarter alternative, must I disappoint you... It is a magnificent thing in a few ways, with the great 3.8 inch screen (only 320x480 pixels that only work ok in direct sunlight, just as most smartphones) 4 to 32gb memory, the first version was ultra slim (under 12mm) the Safari web browser was the finest included browser (with a slight margin) and the finger navigation system, is very easy to use...
But the main problem is that you get "locked" to itunes, that you must use to sync your PIM data and a few file formats for music or video... And this "smartphone" is one of the dumbest, because several vital elements are missing from the system...So even Nokia 5230 (or Nuron in USA) below is clearly smarter in many ways and have other great advantages, as replaceable battery and that one cost not even half as much... You can as example forget about any Microsoft Office functionality, except reading files... And there was (until 090316) no way to cut, copy or paste text... Text file management is also very limited and you can't use an iPhone as a portable hard drive... And even the ToDo part is missing (without any extra program) that you truly NEED for everything you not do directly, or if you like to plan ahead and not lock everything to a specific date... But you can finally get the ToDo functionality from the Apple App Store, so you can at least fix that huge handicap... And it is also badly designed, in the way that the front get very greasy from your skin oil, just as Palm pre...
Then has it almost none "multitasking functionality" except that you can listen to music, take phone calls and the alarms work, when you use other programs - but otherwise can you not use two programs (as you often can in Palm Treo and always in Microsoft Mobile phones, plus extra easy with the new Palm pre) so when you open a program, does it normally close the last one... So if you download a tv section, must you wait until its done and then can you not save it for later, either... Yes, you can only save pictures... Apple did offer little more multitasking 2009 03 16 and mainly allow a few more programs, to "work" in the background (actually just alert, in different ways) but still with much bigger multitasking limitations than Microsoft Mobile and especially Palm pre...
It's also complicated to make a call, because you need more steps (it has no voice dialling) and there is not even a search function, in the phone book... But 2009 0316 got you anyhow a global "spotlight" search, just as Palm and search functionality in many system programs... The call list don't show what's incoming and what's outgoing calls... A clear majority of owners, vote that the earpiece of the first version is a bit too quiet (it might just be difficult to position accurate to the ear) and many note that the speaker phone is even worse... The phone sound quality of the 3G version was clearly better than before, but anyhow only "acceptable" and not excellent, according to several reviews...
The EDGE data is very slow and not even the 3G version is possible to use as a modem, to a notebook... Then is the talk time not that great, if you also use it to listen to music or surf the web and so on... So you normally have to charge it daily and for the 3G version, sometimes more often and you can't even change the battery... Music (mp3/iTunes) can't be used as ring tones... Flash is supported in the web browser and you can't record video with the camera, that anyhow give lousy pictures, that get horrible in low light... And the 3G version has a front camera, so you can't do video calls either, but that possibility is rare / unusual in other smartphones too... Then take the huge "miniature" mobile version of OS X about 700MB from your memory...
And you can't buy and use any more really advanced programs, except the few fancy ones that is included and simple widgets... But that last huge limitation did at least change after February 2008 even if many programs naturally are severely handicapped by the clumsy on screen keyboard, that also leave very little space for the information and the fact that almost no type of multitasking is possible... But some of all the other negative aspects may naturally be fixed (or not) sometime in the future, as Cut & Paste finally came after several years of intensive complaints... And the extremely promising programmer / developer support for Palm's webOS did also force Apple to offer 1000 new connections to the system, type interaction with the battery meter and the email program - even if that NOT change the multitasking limitations...
So Steve did actually lie brutally in his first presentation, when he told everyone that his iPhone is both much more smarter and easy to use that Palm Treo... A Treo is actually dramatically more smarter, because it can do exactly the same things AND a lot MORE from the beginning (except wifi, that really eat battery life in any phone) plus even more, if you want to expand it with more advanced programs and Treo is also more easy to use, when you consider everything... Like the excellent physical keyboard on a Treo and direct keys to the main programs / functions!
Another very strange aspect with Apple and the iPhone is that they refuse to pay any license fee (at least until Nov 2009) for many vital patents they use and Nokia own - even if every other mobile phone company does pay... That is completely outside common business sense and actually an arrogant act of stealing!
Apple will release the OS 4.0 update this summer - which finally include very limited multitasking (mainly for background audio, VoIP and GSP functionality - but this and some of the following fixes will not work in old phones) faster reopening of applications with "where you was" memory, local notifications, folders for applications, a better mail app with an unified inbox, iBooks, custom backgrounds, Game Center with multiplayer network, Bluetooth keyboard support, spell check and developers will get more functions to work with... But Nokia, Windows Mobile and especially Palm webOS has generally all this and much more!
By the way, the Korean company LG did also release an extremely similar smartphone, some month before iPhone and nobody found it amazing... Even if the interface was just as elegant... And it had the same size, the same generous screen and finger tip navigation!
 
And the finest alternative SmartPhone, with the clearly worse Microsoft Mobile operating system...
Was the innovative and very elegant Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 from 2009 that especially offer a rather elegant slimline querty keyboard, that has a very good feeling and is very accurate (tested by me, with writing every letter twice and the Swedish version have separate ÅÄÖ too) together with a smart micro navigation pad (that also work fine) a truly excellent high resolution touchscreen (3 inch 800x480 pixels and 25.4cm2 compared with 19.4cm2 for Palm Treo 680) extra easy navigational system (with smart icons, called panels) and a strong battery (10h talk or 500h standby at GSM and 6h talk or 627h standby at UMTS / HSPA in test and 1500mAh) that you can change... Only 99cm3 (110.5x17x52.6mm, compared with 139cm3 for Palm Treo 680) and 160g... Quad Band GSM 850/900/1800/1900 with EDGE and GPRS, UMTS (tri band) HSUPA (for max 7.2 Mbit downloads) MMS, WiFi (802.11b/g) play MP3, AAC, MPEG4, FM radio, has miniUSB (for charge and sync) and a big 3.5mm headphone jacket... The keyboards slide function, does also feel excellent and very reliable... Then has it Sony's media player (as extra alternative) GPS (type aGPS that need the mobile network) and 3 months test version of Wayfinder (you can then save maps from your PC to xperia) 256MB free ram and take microSD (4GB is included and support 16GB cards) 3.2mp autofocus camera (without any lens cover, but an easy to wipe off glass) with vga video (640x480) at "only" 4990sek with a 4MB miniSD card, headset, extra pen, li-ion battery and charger...
But almost every normal task (as making a note in the calendar or open a program) need twice as many "actions" to be done, compared with Palm OS that also is better in other ways (read more about the big OS differences, above) and the extra sexy black version, has some shiny black surfaces that get very greasy... And you should (as always) buy screen protectors... It work faster than most smartphones with Windows Mobile, but slower than most with Palm OS or Symbian...
Long before that was the finest alternative SmartPhone, with the clearly worse Microsoft Mobile operating system...
 The extremely promising Sharp W-zero3 (or WS003SH) from 2005 the best alternative with the worse Windows Mobile 5.0 OS if you live in Japan... This ultra elegant black dream machine offer a 3.7 inch VGA screen (640x480 pixels, four times more than HTC wizard) and a qwerty keyboard (with delicious "glass" keys) in a relatively compact 237cm3 body (70×130×26mm) which is the best combination for an advanced SmartPhone, except my optimal design... Then has it Windows Mobile 5.0 for Pocket PC Phone Edition... Click here for why this OS is worse, in a new window... Plus PHS network phone on a W-SIM card (work only in Japan) internal antenna, Intel PXA270 Xscale 416MHz processor, 128MB rom 64MB dram, WiFi 802.11b, a 1.33mpixels camera and might cost under 450usd, according to the price in Japan...
But this phone work only in Japan and it may never be a version that work in USA or Europe (if you and many other people not contact Sharp, demanding that) it seem not to have Bluetooth and use miniSD cards... Then have we not seen any review, naturally...
Warning! Note that many "smart phones" with Symbian (and a few with Windows) use a simple version, with reduced functionality and especially NOT a a complete PDA system... Which make them almost useless for really smart personal information management (type planning your life and handle your projects) even if some of them have a real mini keyboard... Click here for vital OS info, in a new window... Some of this limited models can't load really fine PDA program... Others (as models with Symbian and the older MS SmartPhone OS) have very few fine PDA programs that you can buy, but that might naturally change, if you like to wait... And most are missing vital functions, as creating documents...
Observe... You will NOT get sharper photos, with more than 2 to 6 million pixels in a mobile phone (the absolute limit depend on the sensor size) because of the "diffraction effect" that is a result of too many pixels on a tiny sensor and simply limit the possible sharpness.... Yes, your photos will naturally have more pixels - but only be softer, take more space on the memory card and make the saving of each photo slower - above the limit... And if you reduce the size until the picture really are sharp (after some sharpening) will it anyhow be as big as a 2 to max 6mp picture... You may clickfor deeper info, in our camera section.
And mobile phone cameras are also totally missing the two most valuable options - a good optical zoom and a real Optical Image Stabilizer... So you can only get rather small sharp photos (1750 to 2500 pixels wide) with a fine mobile phone camera (that especially have a fine clean lens) if you take them in bright light and on short distances (for people) or as landscapes... Then must you also reduce the size and sharpen each picture, if you have too many pixels!
The best value Mobile Phone - with colour screen, memory card and camera is...
The very fine "basic" touchscreen smartphone Nokia 5230 (or Nuron in USA) Which look good in black (or very cheap in white) has very happy owners and offer exactly the same great qualities, as the more elegant X6 below - except that it has no capacitive touch screen (so you must press down a bit) or WiFi, are a bit fatter (totally only 89cm3 or 51.7x111x15.5mm) just double 3G (UMTS) the camera is 2mp and you must buy any MicroSD memory (there is no 16GB internal memory included) at incredible 1464sek... And it's in many ways clearly smarter than iPhone... But they stole the model number from Samsung GT-S5230 which actually was the best alternative, in this class and I must still recommend that one below - because it look better, are slightly cheaper and you may not need (?) either the 3G or GPS functionality that Nokia 5230 offer...
Before that, was Samsung GT-S5230 the smartest simple touchscreen smartphone... That mainly is like a delicious mini iPhone, at only 1310sek!! Okay, this is not a "real smartphone" even if it has most of iPhone's functionality (except that you can't add a lot of extra programs) plus some advantages and that make this an excellent advanced mobile phone, that also can handle emails with up to 5MB attachment's... Yes, this phone has a big touch screen (3 inch TFT 240x400 pixels, but lousy as most phones in strong sunlight) and a fine on screen keyboard (both numeric and qwerty, that work fine with big thumbs) instead of an old number key pad... It is also one of the most elegant phones ever made, with a very slim 66cm3 (53x104x11.9mm) body - in delicious black, snow white or cute pink... And it has a very fine "phone book" for 2000 contacts - with photo or video, personal ringtone and many fields... A very nice music player, with some preset equalizer curves (not manually adjustable) and good sound quality, with low noise level and low distortion... Then a FM radio, that you can record from... You get also a good calendar, todo list, memo, alarms, world clock, calculator, timer, voice recorder (max 60 minutes) games, Google maps (without GPS location) and unit converter... And it has a very fine web browser (based on the same WebKit that iPhone use) that support both Flash and Java - but the missing 3G or WiFi means that most pages load slow... The fine "PC studio" make it easy to backup and work with almost everything in your big computer... It has also an office document viewer for Word, Excel, Powerpoint and PDF files... And extremely happy owners, a removable battery, amazing 700 hours standby or 10 hours talk time, worldwide quad band GSM (with EDGE and GPRS) good speakerphone, very strong max ringtones, very low safe 0.51 in SAR value and Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP... And the 3.2MP camera give impressive 1200 lines sharpness and has a nice panorama function - is actually very good (type better than most phones) in daylight... BUT the equalizer can't be adjusted manually, it has a special audio jack at the side (not standard 3.5mm) so you can only use the included average ear plugs (if you not buy the low cost audio adaptor - with volume, microphone and answer button) the memory card is placed behind the battery, it has no 3G (UMTS) WiFi or GPS and it use a special USB connector...
Then is Nokia X6 16MB a great and very good looking alternative (at least in black, with the dark grey backside) with a few big advantages, even if it's clearly more expensive - with a 3.2 inch capacitive touch screen (16:9 aspect ratio, scratch resistant and 360x640 pixels which is clearly better than iPhone, but it's only ok in strong sunlight just as most phones and iPhone) and this masterpiece cost only 3578sek or 410usd, with 16GB internal memory... There is also a version with 32GB that include "Comes With Music" that is free downloading of 3 million songs (of high mp3 quality) under one year, but that one cost much more and you can only listen to the songs on your PC and this phone, not anywhere else... Capacitive touch is the same technology that iPhone use and it mean that you only have to touch gently (not press down) on the screen and Nokia X6 has in addition a very accurate touch (in test) compared to others, so the onscreen keyboard (with haptic "tingle" feedback) work both fast and normally error free... And you get first all the advantages of Samsung S5230 above including extremely happy owners, a very good on screen QWERTY keyboard and a removable battery... But no timer, that you anyhow can download from the OVI site... PLUS the great fact that this is a real "smart phone" with Symbian 9.4 S60 5th edition operating system, you get even finer sound quality for music and a 3.5mm audio jack at top, very sensitive GPS with advanced free maps, built in stereo speakers, WiFi / WLAN 802.11 b/g with UPnP (that eat battery, as always) standard microUSB connection (work not for charging) a good calendar with a basic ToDo view (just 3 priorities and no categories) true multitasking, advanced multi alarms (with a quick function) and a lot of extra applications to download (exactly 1489 at 090909) from the smart OVI application store, plus a lot more from other stores on the web... The excellent music player give slightly higher sound quality than the iPhone, can show album arts and has especially a manually adjustable 8 band equalizer... ** And if you love music, should you naturally invest in finer headphones like Sennheiser PX100 and not use the just "ok" included ear plugs... The phone "in call" quality is also excellent or truly impressive, according to several deep reviews... The very advanced phone book or "Contacts" application handle unlimited numbers of contacts - with photo, personal ringtones, grouping of contacts, many fields and any extra fields you like... And it show dynamic search letters, that only show the next letters that actually exist in the phone book...But Im not sure you can add a note, type an extra text page, as you can with Palm... You get also an advanced call log, the phone part work excellent in every way, it has a fine speakerphone, very easy email setup and even finer email functionality, with Microsoft Exchange support ... And it has a good web browser (same WebKit system as iPhone) that in addition support both Flash Lite 3.0 and Java... So this phone is actually more advanced than iPhone in many vital ways - especially the replaceable battery, better battery life, higher resolution screen, slimmer body, multitasking and alternative PC connections, that not is locked to one program... It has also good 420 hours standby or 11h30m GSM talk time 6h WCDMA 3G talk time or 3h vide oplay in test or 34/35 hours of music play, tri band 3G (WCDMA / UMTS) with HSDPA 3.6Mbps support and worldwide quad band GSM (with EDGE and GPRS) handle AAC+, AAC, eAAC+, MP3, WAV (PCM) and WMA sound files, MP4 and WMV9 video, has also a fine FM stereo RDS radio, ok 1.11 in SAR EU value, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP and extra advanced file manager... And the 5MP camera with Carl Zeiss Tessar optics take very fine pictures in daylight (without any face features) if you only set the ISO low ... You get also a nice calculator, video camera, unit converter, voice recorder, notes and three games... BUT there is some screens that work better in strong sunlight, it's slightly bigger (only 78cm3 or 51x111x13.8mm) than Samsung above, the vibration alert is a bit soft, has no copy & paste of events in the calendar, no timer or stop watch, some find the fine OS a bit slow sometimes (even if it not get slower when the memory fills up) the cool "transition effects" really slow down the navigation (so they should stay inactivated) the navigation is different in different parts (which is confusing and may be annoying) the max ringtone is slightly lower than most phones (even if nobody complain about it) and it don't support N-Gage games... So it get easy 9 of 10 points, in it's price class!
Why not?!? The slightly cheaper Nokia 5530 has no 3G or GPS functionality... The cute LG KP 500 has half the battery life and some other disadvantages, as a worse screen keyboard and limited phone book, compared with the slightly more expensive Samsung GT-S5230 and AVOID both Sony Ericsson G502 and Sony Ericsson W302 that did seem to be great BUT made many owners very disappointed!!
And the best basic LOW COST mobile phone, with colour screen is...
The nice looking black Nokia 1661 that just cost 418sek, operator free!
You may wonder why we don't recommend any other of the new models?! They are simply not better than the one we recommend, most of the ordinary phones has become very ugly AND we get so many reports about system faults... Mainly that the phone turn off, battery problems, screen problems, lousy sound and problems with the keys...
The SAR radiation value, will now be on the package (in Europe) and the radiation is 20 times lower on the best model, than on the worst and everything under 1.00 is consider to be very safe... The other main difference today, is if they have an extern antenna and the buttons, which can be too hard, too soft (so you need key lock) without click feeling, too close together, too flat, with a printed text (which disappear) or a combination...
In Sweden is Comviq the cheapest GSM service and as good as the other... You can even change to a finer number, for a few hundred sek and change to a new phone, extremely cheap if you just prolong your old subscription!
The Bluetooth technology, was be the next big improvement and make it possible to surf on internet with a hand computer, while your telephone (with the modem) stay in your pocket... But there are some big comparability problems, mainly that it only works with equipment from the same company and this system, interfere often with other wireless networking systems...
The last stage in telephone systems, which was released about year 2002, was the 3G (third generation) which use CDMA (code division multiple access) technic and are divided in WCDMA or the other name UMTS for Europe and Japan, cdma2000 for USA and "Imt Tc Ultra Tdd" for China... The 3G systems are built beside GSM which will remain as the poor mans alternative and is later improved as "turbo 3G" with even higher speeds... The main advantage with 3G is wider bandwidth (higher speed for internet stuff) which are at least 7 times faster than an old 56kbit modem, you can always be connected and the idea was that advanced phones (or hand computers) should handle the three standards, but I don't think that last advantage did happen... Hmm, GPRS is a way to make GSM faster, but still 4 times slower than 3G and EDGE another way to make GSM faster, but still is slightly slower...
Magazines The Swedish Ljud & Bild (formerly ElektronikVärlden) has the deepest tests... But otherwise is the English T3 a very nice publication, which present (but hardly test) the latest stuff, in all areas (!) every month...
Other sites You find also a great collection, with helpful REVIEWS of almost every audio and video product, in eCoustics big free website... Click here to explore... And lick here for links to the finest reviews, of digital cameras!
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