Hasta La Gadget!

Looking for the perfect gift for your valentine? How about giving that special someone the means to videotape you while you sleep? Just in time for everyone’s favorite non-presidential February holiday, Pure Digital is offering up a sweet new deal: a personalized Flip Mino or Flip Mino HD.

You can customize the camcorders for no extra cost (they run $179 and $220, respectively). Both models and Flip gift certificates can be purchased via www.theflip.com.

I love my camera. To prove it, I took around 1,000 photos this week. OK–I’m obsessed. Shoot me. Often when I’m out I’ll run into other amateur shooters. I always peek to see if their camera is set on “AUTO.” Usually it is.

I know why you’re not trying things. Fear! Don’t be fearful. There is little bad you can do by turning the knobs and pressing buttons. Getting back to a safe setting is always easy–honest.

If you’re shooting in “AUTO” I can almost guarantee you’re getting blurry shots from time-to-time. Of all the things that can go bad blur seems the worst. There’s little you can do to correct it after-the-fact. That’s why my goal is to shoot at a fast enough shutter speed to keep things sharp.

I managed to score a seat for President Obama’s Inauguration–and I brought along the new Sony DSC-T77 camera. I chose the DSC-T77 because it has an intuitive a touch-screen interface that made it easy to figure out various functions, (which was great, because I had never used the camera before).

After a harrowing 7 hours of travel via car, subway, and sneakers from northern Virginia, I managed to reach my seat, which was about 250 yards from the podium. The 10 .1-megapixel point-and-shoot took some great pictures, and I was able to use the camera’s touch screen to zoom in for a great view of the new president and other luminaries after took my shots.

I had been skeptical of touch-screen camera interfaces, but being able to touch the display and zoom in up to 8X was crucial. That way I knew exactly what I had in the shot very quickly and whether I had to take it again–clutch, especially at a historical moment like this one.

Hope you enjoy the shots–more after the jump.

Post by Dan Evans

“Pleasantly surprised.” These are two words I enjoy, but seldom get to include in a post. Let’s roll-em-out today because I am pleasantly surprised by how much I like my $20 ULTRACLAMP. “Really Geoff,” my inner voice shouts. “Do you really think the “ULTRACLAMP” deserves an entry?”

Oh yeah! It is now my favorite product from Redmond, Washington.

No, it’s not a Web site award show–the Webbie is actually Sony’s new entry into the ever-broadening world of pocket camcorders.

The Webbie MHS-CM1 has an upright form factor similar to other entries in the space, like the Flip and Vado. It has a 2.5-inch LCD and a lens with 5X optical zoom (a vast improvement over most other company’s 2X digital), which swivels up to 270-degrees.

The camera also has a number of scene selection modes, include low-light and sport. Oh, and it can also take 5MB still photos.

Like RCA and Kodak‘s recent entries into the field, the MHS-CM1 is a slick-looking, slim camcorder. Users can pick from three colors: eggplant, orange, and silver. The camera’s looking like a pretty strong contender for best in class.