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If only camera manufacturers focused as much on quality, as they did with cramping up spec sheets with as many useless features as possible, life would be so much better for everyone. Kodak’s gone down a similar path with the feature-rich Easy share Z980.

The camera’s dimensions are 91 x 124 x 105 mm and it weights 445 grams, making it of average weight and size. The weight isn’t evenly distributed though, and the side where the batteries go feels heavier, making it a little uncomfortable to hold while taking shots.

Button placement’s gone the old Kodak way, which works for those who’ve been using Kodak’s superzooms for a while. I’m not too fond of how they’ve cramped up the self-timer, macro mode, flash and shutter buttons on top, along side the orientation and power toggle, and mode dial, on the top side of the camera.

It feels really cramped up and counter-intuitive, considering most cameras use the selection d-pad to double up as a few of the shortcut keys, unlike the Z980. Also, the buttons feel really flimsy, like they’re made of cheap plastic, especially the shutter buttons (yes, there are two of them) which feel like shoddy pieces of silver plastic wedged into the body of the camera. The area around the shutter buttons are flat, making them cheaper.

BenQ has launched their latest ultra-portable netbook, the Joybook Lite U102.

Featuring Intel’s Atom processor, a 10.1″ UltraVivid 16:9 WSVGA LED-backlit screen, a 250GB HDD, connection essentials, and cool web conveniences, the U102 weighs in at about 1kg and is less than an inch thick.

The Joybook Lite U102 also equipped with a high-resolution webcam, built-in speakers, integrated microphone with smart noise suppression and echo cancellation, high-speed WiFi, optional 3.75G HSUPA, 250GB hard disk storage, three USB 2.0 slots and a 4-in-1 card reader. The U102 is also fitted with a keyboard 90% the size of a full-size keyboard and an expanded touchpad.

The Joybook Lite U102 will be available from June in Taiwan, China, and Thailand. No info on its availability in India or its price point has been announced.

Widescreen monitors are the norm these days, after being touted as the new ‘in’ thing a couple of years back. We have reviewed Viewsonic and BenQ monitors in the past and now it’s time to bring in some more brands; so why not the popular Acer. Today we have a 20-inch LCD monitor by them called the Acer P205H.

Design
Simple to look at first glance, this gleaner has a glossy black bezel for the front, with a regular matte black plastic back panel. The cursive ‘Acer’ logo is stuck on center of the bottom panel, with the model name on top right. On further scrutiny, one can see the sexy-looking aesthetic condiment on the far right hand side of the bottom panel, which is actually a power button gone glam. It is a flush mounted transparent plastic button, with some very cool looking techie contours embedded in the button itself. It lights up with a blue Led backlight when ‘on’, making it look really nice. The stand is a perfect circle, with a knit-like texture on its surface, again just for design rather than function.

This stand fixes on to the frame quite easily - it’s a clip on one - and quite sturdy at that. We have vertical movement of the screen, able to go about 25 degrees, but no sideways swiveling. The build quality though is great, and it sits sturdy on the desk, no jerkiness at the joint is observed when one moves the stand around. As for buttons, this model has them underneath the bottom panel, rather than the side. They are black and flush with the surface, with tiny white dots on the upper side to mark position, like frets on a fingerboard.

Features
This is a true 16:9 format, 20-inch screen. We actually wanted the larger one to review, but no worries, this one will suffice for testing. The resolution is 1600×900@60Hz, while the panel is a TN panel. Contrast ratio is 20,000:1(dynamic), while brightness is 300 cd/m2. This model supports DVI-D input (with HDCP) and a VGA input, but no HDMI.