We’re not the only site to put Nikon’s new mid-range DSLR through its paces. Plenty of others have taken the D5100 for a spin and we thought you might like to know: they’re all pretty impressed. The new 1080p30 video mode was much appreciated as was the larger, higher resolution swivel screen around back. The biggest props generally went to the improved high-ISO performance (which was already quite respectable on the D5000 it’s replacing) and the boost in autofocus speed, especially when using the LCD as a view finder in Live View mode. Oddly, the built-in effects also garnered a lot of attention. The Miniature Effect (a tilt-shift simulator) and Selective Color mode impressed reviewers the most with their surprising level of sophistication for in-camera processing. All of the effects can also be used when shooting video, so you can make your HD footage look like black and white 8mm by turning on Night Vision. Criticisms were relatively minor and applicable to most mid- and entry-level DSLRs — primarily that the body is plasticy and there is a slight lag in focus and shutter performance. The D5100 is an obvious upgrade over the D5000 and more than holds its own against its competitors, but if you want to dig deeper check out our review and the ones below.

Read – DPReview
Read – Photography Blog
Read – CNET
Read – Nikon Rumors
Read – Pocket-Lint
Read – Pocket-Lint (2)

Nikon’s D5100 impresses, captures children’s birthday parties with incredible clarity originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Apr 2011 17:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Graphics card companies don’t live and die by the enthusiast market alone. That may be where the glory is, but it’s the budget cards that really bring in the bacon. For the entry level, AMD just unleashed a trio of sub-$100 cards, the Radeon HD 6670, 6570, and 6450. How do they perform? Well, let’s just say you get what you pay for. Reaction from reviewers has been one of mild indifference. Depending on manufacturer, fan noise does appear to be an issue, possibly precluding the cards from being a viable HTPC choice. Otherwise, even the lowly, $55 6450 is a worthy upgrade over an integrated graphics chip or a two-year-old discrete card, but it can’t match the performance of NVIDIA’s GT 430, which can be had for only a few dollars more. Consensus was that, with prices of the older 5000 series being slashed, purchasers can get more bang for their GPU buck by sticking with last generation cards (like the Radeon HD 5750) if they’re looking for pure gaming prowess. That said, the GDDR5 flavors of the 6670 provide perfectly playable performance on most modern games (it averaged 45 FPS in Call of Duty: Black Ops) for just $99 (the 6570 runs about $79). Just beware those models shipping with GDDR3. Benchmarks galore below.

Read – Hexus
Read – techPowerUp 6450
Read – techPowerUp 6670
Read – Guru3D
Read – Tech Report
Read – Tom’s Hardware 6670 and 6570
Read – Tom’s Hardware 6450
Read – TweakTown
Read – AnandTech
Read – HotHardware

AMD elevates the low-end with trio of sub-$100 cards: Radeon HD 6670, 6570, and 6450 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Apr 2011 17:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s tax day! Which to the “average American” means you’ll be getting a $3,070 check as your tax refund. Yeah, I gasped too. But anyway! If you are that average American with a nice chunk of change coming, here’s the best ways to spend your newfound money. More »

As sure as snow in winter or sun in summer, AMD has yet another refresh to its graphics card portfolio this spring. The Radeon HD 6790 is only a couple of misplaced digits away from the far more illustrious HD 6970, but you should be able to tell the two apart by another, altogether more significant spec: the new mid-tier card retails at $149. Predictably, its performance offers no threat to AMD’s single-GPU flagship, but the 6790’s 840MHz graphics and shader clock speeds plus 1GB of GDDR5 running at an effective 4.2GHz data rate don’t seem like anything to sniff at either. Reviewers agreed that it’s AMD’s slightly delayed answer to NVIDIA’s GTX 460, and with the latter card exiting retail availability to make room for the (oddly enough) less powerful GTX 550 Ti, AMD’s new solution looks set to be the better choice at the shared $149 price point. Alas, being limited to 800 Stream processors and 16 ROPs does expose the HD 6790 to being cannibalized by AMD’s own Radeon HD 6850 (which can be had for sub-$150 if you’re tolerant of rebates) and that turns out to be exactly what happens. A solid card, then, but one that would require an even lower price dip to make economic sense. Benchmarks await below.

Read – Tech Report
Read – AnandTech
Read – Tom’s Hardware
Read – PC Perspective

Radeon HD 6790 sneaks in at under $150, leaves reviewers wanting more for the money originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 02:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We just got home from this little massive US mobile industry event you may have heard about called CTIA Wireless. It took place in Orlando this year (instead of Las Vegas as usual) and we can definitely say that Sprint was the star of the show with its HTC EVO 3D, HTC EVO View 4G, and Google Voice integration. Samsung also delivered some goodies with the Galaxy Tab 8.9, a redesigned Galaxy Tab 10.1, the Google Nexus S 4G for Sprint, and the Android-powered Sidekick 4G for T-Mobile. LG re-badged the Optimus 2x as the G2x on T-Mobile, and the Optimus 3D as the Thrill on AT&T. The HTC HD7 made a comeback as the Super LCD-equipped HD7S on AT&T, and Nokia gave us the Astound, nee C7, for T-Mobile. Of course, that’s just the tip of the iceberg — so if you missed the action this past week, we’ve got you covered with all the nitty gritty in the links below.

Major news / product releases:

• AT&T agrees to buy T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom for $39 billion
• Google Nexus S 4G with WiMAX announced for Sprint: coming this spring for $200
• Sprint, Google Voice getting tight integration, will let you use your number without porting it
• AT&T launches HTC HD7S with WP7 and LG’s 3D-enabled Thrill 4G Android phone
• Sprint’s BlackBerry 4G PlayBook portal goes live, still on track for a summer release
• LG’s T-Mobile G2x announced, available ‘later this spring’ (update: preloaded with Tegra Zone)
• T-Mobile’s LG G-Slate priced at $529.99 with a two-year contract
• HTC EVO 3D officially announced for Sprint
• Sprint makes EVO View 4G tablet official: 1.5GHz, WiMAX, 7-inch screen, and a stylus to boot
• LG gets official with WCP-700 Wireless Charging Pad, fails to provide pricing
• Samsung’s CTIA press conference posted online, skinny new Galaxy Tabs shown off (video)

Hands-on / previews:

• Nokia Astound for T-Mobile coming April 6th for $80 (hands-on with video)
• Sony Ericsson Xperia Play for Verizon hands-on (video)
• T-Mobile Sidekick 4G by Samsung priced at $99.99 with a two-year contract, we go hands-on
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 and new Galaxy Tab 10.1 hands-on: thinner than the iPad 2, dual-core power, TouchWiz 4.0
• T-Mobile G2x from LG hands-on (video)
• HTC EVO 3D vs. EVO 4G… fight!
• HTC EVO 3D first hands-on! (video)
• Sprint’s HTC EVO View 4G hands-on (video)
• HTC HD7S hands-on
• AT&T’s LG Thrill 4G hands-on (video)
• T-Mobile G-Slate bundled apps tour (video)
  
• Cricket teases CDMA-only Samsung Indulge, Huawei Ascend 2 at CTIA (hands-on)
  
• T-Mobile 4G Mobile Hotspot hands-on
• Wysips wants to turn your phone’s display into a solar cell (hands-on with video)
• ZTE’s Style S and LTE tablet coming to the US during the second half of the year
  
• Kyocera pictures a world of deeply understanding phones
• Google Nexus S 4G for Sprint hands-on (video)
• Google Voice for Sprint hands-on (video)
• Samsung’s original Galaxy Tab 10.1 renamed the Tab 10.1V, thicker Galaxy Tab 8.9 no more than a trade show dummy

Everything else:

• LG’s T-Mobile G2x spied at CTIA
• Cobra Tag Bluetooth key tagging system to ship in July, iRadar and PhoneLynx coming to Android
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 specs and Honeycomb UI tweaks leak out before its official launch
• EVO 3D specs confirmed: 1080p 2D video, 720p 3D, dual cameras, 1.2GHz dual-core CPU
• HTC EVO 3D and EVO View 4G tablet spotted — on Sprint’s website, where else?
• Live from CTIA’s day one keynote with FCC chairman Julius Genachowski
• Live from Samsung’s CTIA event!
• Live from Sprint’s CTIA event!
• Verizon says 4G LTE network will cover ‘at least’ 147 US cities by the end of 2011
• HTC’s WiFi-only Flyer launching exclusively with Best Buy ‘this spring’
• Kyocera launches developer program for dual-screen Echo smartphone
• Best Buy signs up for LightSquared’s wholesale LTE service
• Femto Forum publishes API specification for femtocell apps, places focus on ‘awareness information’
• Blio e-reading software still alive, will come preloaded on T-Mobile Android devices
• Samsung’s original Galaxy Tab 10.1 renamed the Tab 10.1V, thicker Galaxy Tab 8.9 no more than a trade show dummy

And if that’s still not enough, be sure to listen to our CTIA 2011 podcast and take a look at our CTIA 2011 page right here.

CTIA 2011 wrap-up: EVO 3D, G2x, skinny new Galaxy Tabs, and more originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 Mar 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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