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Can you resist temptation?

By TJ MANOTOC, ABS-CBN News | 11/11/2008 6:32 PM

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Last week, Mornings@ANC's Tech Talk had a smorgasbord of gadgets on the show. It's rare that we get so many on the table at one time. But thanks to Vince Sales of T3 magazine, we got a first hand look at the sweetest smart phones, the smallest and lightest laptops, and the cheapest SLR on earth! It was close to yet another Tech Heaven but, as Vince said, the devil was just around the corner. Hmmm.
 
T3's theme this month is Devilish Temptations or Heavenly Bargains. And no, they're not talking about sweet deserts and tiangge savings. We're talking about them gadgets that are so new and awesome but cost an arm and a leg... and maybe even your firstborn.  Then again, there are gadgets with the cheaper price tags and nifty features that make it easy to believe in tech-savvy angels.

First up... laptops!  Small laptops!  There have been a boatload of mini laptops in the last year and a half.  You've probably seen those 10-inchers about a year or two ago.  Back then, they were damn expensive.  One brand I remember was the Sony VAIO... a gorgeous 10 inch "full powered" laptop.  Unfortunately, the price tag called for a full powered wallet as well!

So there they were, the very sexy Sony VAIO and the Lenovo X200, both costing above P100,000 but easily giving pretty much all the power of a full sized laptop. The X200 is the slimmest laptop next to Apple?s Macbook Air. Yes they were small, lighter, and more powerful than their predecessors, but still friggin? expensive. Though admittedly they were gorgeous. They were the devilish temptations of the small laptop category.
 
But those going small in size nowadays have also enjoyed going small on the power and, most importantly, the price. T3 brought along one of the best selling netbooks (that?s the name they coined for this new category)... the MSI Wind. This small wonder comes with a Linux operating system or Windows XP. But a lot of users are now realizing they can survive without Windows and that Linux will do just fine.  The price? A heavenly figure of less than P25,000... easily paid off in 12 monthly installments.
 
Next... smart phones!   The Apple iPhone 3G and the Samsung Omnia are absolute stunners in the looks category. Software-wise, some prefer the iPhone with the OS X built in and the fast emerging Apple App store for the plethora of games and utility applications. But the Omnia has the tried-and-tested Windows Mobile Platform.  It also comes with a stylus and has several other input methods. People worried about getting used to the iPhone's touch screen qwerty can opt for the Omnia. But from what I?ve seen, iPhone users are a bit faster than Omnia users. One thing about the Omnia though, it does have the edge where Apple is weak.  It has the basic stuff like SMS forwarding, cut & paste, and a superior 5MP camera.  Both babies command a price tag of at least in the mid-30 thousand range.
 
An interesting alternative is the LG Secret. Like the iPhone and Omnia, it?s a touchscreen that has a slide out physical keyboard. Though not as loaded in features like its expensive brothers, the Secret costs half the price. At P24,000 you may just be looking at the simpler alternative.
 
Last... cameras!  Who would've thought the day would come that we'd see an entry-level digital SLR priced less than P40,000? How about much less... at only P32,995?  Thank your high heavens for Canon's EOS 1000D. It has pretty much all the features of the usual entry level SLRs...10.1MP, 3 frames per second, RAW capabilities and many more. But interestingly, T3 categorizes this baby as both a Heavenly Bargain and a Devilish Temptation coz it will eventually tempt you to upgrade with higher capacity lenses that can go from P15,000 to more than a P100,000.
 
So these are just some of your choices... the gadgets with all the bells and whistles - and of course, their cheaper alternatives.  So splurge like the devil or save like an angel.

But take my advice... always, always, ALWAYS take your sweet time buying them.  Read the reviews.  Go to a store more than once to physically feel them out.  Check the details of the warranty.  It also doesn't hurt to check out products that are easier on the pocket.

Happy Gadget Shopping!

as of 11/13/2008 8:29 PM