Filed under: Digital Cameras

We’ve seriously stopped trying to understand what differentiates one DXG camcorder from the next. Every release reads something like “blah, blah, 1080p,” followed by a price that’s simply too good to be true. The DXG-595V claims to capture 1080p (imagine that!) video onto your SDHC card for a mere $200, and the ability to snag stills / connect to your SDTV via composite or S-Video is thrown in for free. Thanks, DXG — can’t wait for you to slap a new model number on some leftover inventory and treat us again next month.

[Via Gearlog]

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Filed under: Desktops

Be honest here, you didn’t even remember that the $249 CherryPal cloud PC was expected to ship this month last month. Reportedly, you’ll be waiting a little longer for a PC you don’t even know about thanks to a software quirk that isn’t playing nice with a newer SSD. CherryPal is hoping to get the issue resolved and begin shipping the wee boxes within two weeks, though it does leave open the possibility for things to take “longer” as it slips into vaporware territory.

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Filed under: Digital Cameras

Okay, so we won’t totally judge Chinavasion’s “High Definition Great Value” camcorder before we get to know it, but we’ll be frank, we ain’t gettin’ to know it. Those willing to give this heap a fighting chance can look forward to hope for 720p capturing at 30fps, 8-megapixel still shots, a 2.5-inch LCD monitor, 19MB (and not a byte more) of internal memory, an SD / SDHC expansion slot and an HDMI output for showing off your adventures to friends and family (who will inevitably whisper behind your back about what camcorder you chose). Nah, we’re not seriously riding this thing that hard, but do tell if you’re the first soul to lay down $157.50 for one. Anyone, anyone?

[Via Random Good Stuff]

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Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

What, you seriously expected the $999 VP422 to perform like a $5,000+ KURO? In your dreams, bub. Vizio’s latest 42-inch plasma, which certainly looked a-okay on paper for the price, recently hit the test bench over at CNET, and while the overall package was deemed enough to “satisfy casual viewers,” those with even a single videophile gene in ‘em should be wary. The unit managed to snag an extremely rare 6.0 out of 10 rating, with “highly inaccurate green primary color and poor grayscale tracking” as the two biggest knocks. Granted, reviewers did appreciate the rock-bottom price, respectably array of inputs and the “relatively clean image,” but at the end of the day, you can only expect so much from a sub-$1,000 42-inch PDP. Give the full review a look and determine if it’s sufficient for your wants needs.

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Filed under: Cellphones

We could tell by looking that RIM wouldn’t think of charging too many hundies for its still unannounced BlackBerry KickStart, but $49.99? CrackBerry has it that said flip phone will be selling at T-Mobile for a penny under $50 on a two-year contract, which certainly seems smart given the competition. ‘Course, we’ve nothing to substantiate this with just yet, but take one more look at that chubby side and tell us this thing deserves a triple digit price tag. That’s right, you can’t.

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Consider yourselves fortunate. You’ve had well over two whole months without an episode of Crapgadget, but today, that grace period ends. The most recent laughable load includes an absolutely vile wristwatch that supposedly plays MP3s / MP4s if you can manage to glance away from the bezel and band. Furthermore, we’ve got a TV tuner and webcam — in one — alongside a way-too-expensive WiFi sniffing pen that doesn’t do 802.11n. Bringing up the rear is Connectland’s 180° X2 Revolving USB Hub, which clearly raises the bar in USB hub design stupidity. Per usual, we’re begging for your vote on the crappiest below, but we’ll understand if you just can’t bear the thought of spending another moment thinking about these pitiful creations.

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Filed under: HDTV, Storage

If you’ll recall, SonyNEC Optiarc was the same company that suggested BD prices would be halved by 2008 from what they were in late 2006, and while stickers are still relatively high on standalone decks, the prediction actually wasn’t too far off. A new report from Tom’s Hardware notes that the aforementioned outfit is expecting Blu-ray combo drives “to reach the $100 line before the holiday season.” For around $50 more, it reckons you’ll have access to slim-line notebook drives that handle the same duties. Granted, there’s no real confirmation surrounding the assertions, and we’ll be the first to blindly hope such wishful thinking comes true, but we’d say BD prices in general have a whole lot of falling to do in six short months for this one to even stand a chance.

[Via TechDigest]

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Filed under: Handhelds, Portable Audio, Portable Video, Storage

After careful deliberation, we can only assume Vosonic’s VP5700 is some form of portable media player, but considering just how unsightly it is, the actual nomenclature is probably a non-issue. Nevertheless, this unit features a 3.5-inch display, way too much plastic, a bizarre looking control scheme, a multicard reader and support for a slew of image, audio and video files. Mum’s the word on a price / release date (again, not like you care, right? Right.), but those flash cards sure look as if they’re entering the device mighty hastily, wouldn’t you say?

[Thanks, Yoav]

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Filed under: Handhelds

Shamelessly attempting to rip off a plethora of yesteryear’s gaming handhelds all at once isn’t a new trick or anything, but you’d expect the creators of the Cool Boy to at least conjure up a name with some inkling of originality, right? Nevertheless, the portable, um, system features a 2.4-inch color display, gets juiced from a trio of AAA cells and even includes a video out port for taking the sweet handheld action to the 13-inch CRT. Of course, the thing only works with Cool Boy Mega Pack game cartridges, which means that even the homebrew crowd is likely out of luck here. But hey, you can get 120 sure-to-be-riveting titles in a single cart for just $7.99. Any takers? Anyone? Okay.

[Via Coolest-Gadgets]

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Filed under: Home Entertainment, Laptops

Grabbing a laptop with a built-in Blu-ray drive isn’t at all difficult; finding one that’s reasonably affordable, however, is. Starting today, users looking to pick up a new BD-equipped lappie can get their kicks for under nine bills, as the base model Inspiron 1525 can be fitted with a Blu-ray combo drive (and the requisite 1.83GHz Core 2 Duo T5550 processor) for the low, low price of $879. Kicking things up to a Blu-ray burner will tack on another $200, and given the 1,280 x 800 screen resolution, we get the idea you’ll be utilizing that HDMI output in order to enjoy the 1080p capabilities (if it’ll even reach above 720p). Still, the aforesaid configuration is pretty lacking in most respects (1GB of RAM, 80GB HDD, and a woefully underwhelming GMA X3100 graphics accelerator), but hey, at least you’ll have Blu-ray! Grab yours now if you’re situated in Canada, Europe or the US of A.

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Filed under: Cellphones

We’ve seen phones that push the boundaries of chintziness, but this newfangled MP7 phone really shows what humans are capable of when they’ve no motivation to assemble a decent product. Granted, most everything here is lost in translation, but the blatant “Blue tooth” logo on the front pretty much sets it up for disaster. Nevertheless, this GSM handset reportedly comes in silver or black and features a 320 x 240 touchscreen display, a 1.3-megapixel camera, built-in FM tuner and support for some form of mobile TV along with the elusive “MP7″ format. Best of all, this marvelous gem of handset engineering can be had for $599.90 (or a dozen easy payments of $59.99) — we can hear the N95 cowering from here (or is that laughter?).

[Via Saporra]

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Filed under: Cellphones

Oh sure, Apple’s been offering up a couple of refurbished iPhones on its own web store for some time now, but actually finding one in stock has proven to be quite a challenge. Nevertheless, a purported internal memo has explained that select AT&T stores in the New England region (sorry, rest of the solar system) will be stocking refurbished iPhones for $199 (4GB) and $249 (8GB) — of course, the deal only applies to new activations. Has anyone actually seen this go down first hand? We wonder how quickly it’ll be before this offer bleeds out from the Northeast.

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Filed under: Cellphones

Oh sure, Apple’s been offering up a couple of refurbished iPhones on its own web store for some time now, but actually finding one in stock has proven to be quite a challenge. Nevertheless, a purported internal memo has explained that select AT&T stores in the New England region (sorry, rest of the solar system) will be stocking refurbished iPhones for $199 (4GB) and $249 (8GB) — of course, the deal only applies to new activations. Has anyone actually seen this go down first hand? We wonder how quickly it’ll be before this offer bleeds out from the Northeast.

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Filed under: Laptops, Tablet PCs

Sure enough, that 100 quid laptop we heard about early last week is already making the rounds, as the BBC caught up with the ONE at The Education Show in Birmingham, England. Granted, this thing is far from stylish (okay, so it’s downright ugly), but it’s hard to expect too much more given the ultra-low price tag. Satisfy your curiosity by checking out a minute long clip of the unit in action — go on, it’s right there in the read link.

[Thanks, KC]

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Yeah, we’ve seen solar chargers crammed into some fairly interesting places, and the latest questionable call comes from who else but Chinavasion. The CVEAB-S828-2 handheld features 2GB of internal memory, a media player, 3.5-inch display, integrated LED flashlight (saywha?) and of course, pre-installed emulators for NES and Game Boy titles. Beyond all that, users can crack this bad boy open, lay it out to bake, and watch it magically recharge its own batteries courtesy of the internal solar panels. And if for whatever reason that’s still not enough to draw you in, it can also recharge other gizmos attached via USB when parked under the sunlight. Still, we wouldn’t believe for a minute that this thing will actually work precisely as advertised, but those with oodles of faith can take the plunge for $123.32.

[Via Tech Digest]

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Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

Every so often, we get wind of a mysterious gaming rig that’s so powerful, so mighty, that the entire world just has to see it. Unfortunately for most, this particular one will remain a pipe dream, primarily due to the UK’s impeccably strong pound and America’s woefully weak dollar. Nevertheless, those shacked up on the other side of the pond can grab Computer Supermarket’s (we know, we know) Ultimate Gaming rig, which is home to an Intel Q6600 quad-core CPU, 8GB of DDR2 RAM, a 750GB SATA II hard drive, NVIDIA’s 512MB 8600GT graphics card, a dual-layer DVD burner, 22-inch LCD, Windows Vista, keyboard / mouse and a fairly decent assortment of ports. All this pizazz can be yours for just £938.83 if you’re in the right place, but for $1,829, we’ll probably look elsewhere over here.

[Via RandomlyAccessed]

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Filed under: Desktops

For those who haven’t been paying attention, the market for sub-$200 (or value-priced, if you will) rigs seems to be on quite the rise. Hot on the heels of the Everex gPC and the recently announced Shuttle KPC comes a $199 Linux box from Mirus Innovations. Available now at Sears.com, this understandably lackluster machine houses a borderline ancient 1.6GHz Intel Celeron 420 processor, a slightly more respectable 1GB of RAM, 80GB hard drive, a CD-RW drive, 56k modem, an Ethernet jack and a 15-in-1 multicard reader. Furthermore, you’ll also get a set of speakers, a keyboard / mouse bundled in, and Freespire 2.0 pre-installed. Ready to delve into the bargain basement PC arena? Hope you’ve got about three bills sitting around, as this one only becomes $199 after an oh-so-dreaded mail-in rebate returns.

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Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

At first glance, we assumed the completely misnamed Christmas MP3/MP4 player was merely a mephistophelean covering for an older iPod nano, but apparently, Putian Hengwang Trade Company put in the legwork and actually knocked off a DAP (or at least an interface) from Apple’s past. This creature fittingly arrives in red or black and features 1GB, 2GB, 4GB or 8GB of storage, a 1.5- / 1.8-inch display, optional FM tuner and built-in speaker, a rechargeable Li-ion and support for MP3, WMA, WAV and ASF file formats. Sadly, there’s no mention of a price, release date or pickup location, but there’s a decent chance you’ll find ‘em awkwardly stacked up beside the Cross MP3 Player somewhere in Beijing.

[Via PMPToday]

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Filed under: CES, Digital Cameras, HDTV

DXG is no stranger to bottom-end, über-cheap kit, and while the vast majority of its products are simply laughable, this one may just be cheap enough to respect — maybe. The all new DXG-566V HD, set to debut officially at CES, sets a new bar for HD camcorders, as this bugger rings up at a mere $149. You heard right, for under two bills you can snag a craptastically designed handheld camcorder with a 5-megapixel sensor, a 3-inch flip-out LCD monitor, 32MB of onboard memory, an SD expansion slot and the ability to capture video at 1,280 x 720. ‘Course, you better pack along quite a few SD cards (there’s no SDHC support to speak of) if you’re headed to a graduation or the like, but hey, what else did you really expect for $149? Click on through for one more look.

Continue reading DXG delivers DXG-566V HD camcorder for $149

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Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Believe us, we’ve seen plenty of chintzy in our day, but Shenzhen Link-Create Technology’s MP901 goes above and beyond the call of jankiness. This PMP — which looks as if it were (and probably was) pieced together using whatever spare parts could be found around the plant — sports a 2.4-inch LCD, a 1.3-megapixel camera, 128MB to 4GB of internal storage space, a T-Flash expansion slot, integrated microphone and an FM tuner. Additionally, you’ll find a rechargeable Li-ion, support for NES emulation, built-in speaker and support for AVI, MPEG4, MP3, WMA, AAC and WAV file formats. Per usual, pricing remains a mystery, but considering that minimum order quantity of 500, we’ve no real interest in unearthing the truth.

[Via PMPToday]

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