The Sansa Fuze shares a lot of similarities with the iPod Nano but before you think that the Fuze is just another alternative to the iPod, read on.

Aesthetically, the Fuze looks like a cute player because of its rotating front dial, which also functions as a navigation button with its center used as the selection button. The Fuze has 220 x 176 resolution, which is large enough for viewing music videos, but it would be uncomfortable to watch feature-length films on it. The sound quality is ok, but you should get your own headphones because the set that comes with the package leaves much to be desired. What makes the Sansa Fuze really stand out from other mp3 and mp4 players are simple features that are not usually available with others. These include:

· Built-in microphone

· microSD Slot

· FM radio

· Easy file transfer (drag and drop)

But this gadget comes with a few disadvantages as well, including:

· Only video files can be bookmarked

· Propriety USB connection

The battery life of the Fuze is noteworthy. It was rated 24 hours for audio playback, but video playback fell shy of 5 hours. Another impressive aspect about this gadget is the improved responsiveness of its user interface. First-time users don’t need to study the gadget to find out how it works. The player is pretty straight-forward and very intuitive.

Overall, SanDisk has established themselves as a progressive company with the Sansa Fuze mp3 player. Although the Fuze has a long way to go before it can be called “perfect”, it’s pretty impressive nonetheless. It is easy to conclude that this gadget is one of the best SanDisk gadgets so far.

Before investing your hard-earned money on a new laptop, consider looking into who, when, where, and how much it costs. Even in today’s distressing economic downturn, technology is improving at a fast pace. Every business owner and executive is pressured to keep up with the latest trends in technology to stay ahead of the competition. If you want to get a laptop that is still usable two years from today, it pays to look into the following aspects.

· Who are the best laptop manufacturers in the market?

Before you sort through the endless laptop models, take their manufacturers into account first. Consider which manufacturers are getting the best reviews for their products and look at their post-purchase services. Two of the most notable laptop manufacturers include Apple and Lenovo because of their above-average products, reliability, and great post-purchase support.

· Which laptop models are getting the best reviews?

Some laptops have great features, but these sophisticated features will amount to nothing if the gadget has a slow processing capability. Aside from looking at the available laptop features, you should also do some research to find out about other people’s experiences.

· Where should you purchase this technologically advanced gadget?

Most laptop manufacturers have their own websites where you can order directly. Ordering online is convenient but you need to make sure that the company has a repair center near your area, so you easily can repair the laptop in case something goes wrong.

· How much is your budget? If it costs more than your budget, is it worth it?

Now comes the tricky part, you found the laptop you want, but it costs more than what you set aside for it. Consider if you will actually benefit from the advanced features of this laptop or if you are only interested in purchasing it for its prestige. Sometimes, it is important to be practical about the situation, are you sure you will not want to replace the laptop two or three years from today?

Taking a computer to college used to be considered optional. Now, the big question isn’t whether or not to take a computer, it’s what kind of computer you should take with you. Some kids can afford both kinds, but for most college students, budget is their largest priority, and they want to get the most use for their dollars.

The Desktop

The desktop offers you more storage options. A desktop computer’s storage capacity is far greater than the storage capacity on a laptop. What’s more, the types of drives you can have on a desktop are more varied as well. A desktop can easily hold a CD-Rom, CD Burner and DVD burner. Only a couple of these can be used on a laptop. What’s more, a desktop’s individual parts can be easily replaced. If, for example, you spill a drink on your keyboard, you can simply replace the keyboard. With a laptop you have to hope to high heaven you haven’t rendered the entire computer unusable.

The Laptop

Obviously, the largest bonus of taking a laptop to school instead of a desktop is that it takes up far less space and it is portable. You can take a laptop to class, to the library, to the cafeteria, to study groups, wherever. This, paired with school-wide wi-fi can save you a lot of time and worry about whether or not you remembered to bring all of the materials you need to class. Laptops are also going down in price and can be stored a lot more easily. While they don’t have the storage space offered by a desktop, you can connect extra storage drives and media drives via USB cables.

Whichever you choose, one thing is for sure: you will need to take a computer with you to college. It will make your life a lot easier!

Digital cameras have come a long way in the last few years, and right now you might be looking at your current camera and thinking, “I really should replace this thing.” How do you know it is time to buy a new camera or upgrade the camera you already own? Here are a few hints:

1. Your camera doesn’t work anymore. Okay, that one was sort of obvious; here are a few more subtle clues that it is time for a new digital camera in your home:

2. The camera doesn’t take the pictures you want. This was my pet peeve with my old digital camera, a point-and-shoot Nikon. I would push the button to take a picture, and then the camera would take a few seconds to “think” about taking the picture. By the time the shutter actually snapped, the image I was trying to capture no longer existed—the person had moved, the light had shifted, etc. It was incredibly annoying.

3. The camera doesn’t have the megapixels you need. If you are using an older digital camera, chances are the clarity you once had isn’t the clarity you want now. 2.3 megapixels is now considered “low quality”, and six or seven mega pixels is the norm. The difference is in the detail of the picture. A 2.3 megapixel camera will take a perfectly adequate snapshot, but if you really want your photos to be clear, it might be time for an upgrade.

4. You’ve outgrown your old camera. This happens frequently in the world of digital photography. Because you don’t have to worry about film development costs, you are free to explore and try new things with your camera. Before too long, you’ll have exhausted your cameras options and be craving for something that gives you even better control over the images you are trying to capture.

My dad loves to buy my family technological “toys.” For Christmas I received a SimpleTech/160GB SimpleDrive portable hard drive. That’s right, 160GB. I have no clue what I am going to do with 160GB of free space. Maybe I can put every single one of my family’s pictures on it. Oh wait, I’d still have 155GBs of storage left!

Now I know that I should not save everything to my external hard drive. What would I do if I spilled something on it or if it broke by accident? Of course, one way to use the drive is to have it be your base backup drive. It even will back up your files automatically! However, if you buy this drive, you can create your own online storage space. That’s right! 2GB of personal online storage.

My SimpleDrive Portable is very small (for the amount of space it has on it,) and it’s very attractive. Actually, it’s designed by Pininfarina. Just think, for $90 (or so), you can own your own version of a “Ferrari”! Of course, SimpleTech offers other sizes (such as 250GB), colors, and products. I definitely would recommend this brand to others.

The drive is slim, compact, and stylish. It has one-click backup software and is also compatible with Macs. It does not require the use of external power; however, should the drive not have enough power to run, you can hook up another USB plug into the computer for extra power. This extra feature is connected to the cord already. The company also offers free and unlimited technical support, and my drive came with a three year warranty!

I definitely would say that it is worth the money!

Imagine taking a family trip to see, say Mt. Rushmore. You spend the day at the site, snapping pictures of your kids and spouse in different poses in front of the monument and then, when you get home and download the images (or get your film developed if you still take photos “old school style”), instead of a happy smiling family standing in front of Mt. Rushmore, you see a happy smiling family standing in front of Mt Rushmore….and George Washington has a picture of a Range Rover plastered to his forehead. You don’t remember Washington advertising Range Rovers when you were there, but…there it is in your photo!

Is photography hacking possible? It didn’t use to be, but if the wrong people get their hands on Julius von Bismarck’s ‘Image Fulgurator’, it could become the next big marketing tool.

The Image Fulgurator is a camera that, instead of taking photos, it uses a flash to quickly throw an image into someone else’s photos…images that you can’t see when you take the picture and that only will show up once your images have been processed. The Image Fulgurator detects the flash used by your camera and uses that split second of light to project its own image onto whatever has been targeted by the flash. Currently the Image Fulgurator is only used by von Bismarck, who is quickly trying to get his technology patented to keep it out of the wrong hands (aka marketers).

To learn more about Julius von Bismarck’s Image Fulgurator, read this Wired Blog entry about the camera and its inventor. You will be astounded at all of the ways this new invention can be used….and terrified of the repercussions if the wrong hands get hold of it.

Imagine taking a picture of the Statue of Liberty, getting home and finding that, in your photo, she’s wearing a sash that reads “Try Bud Lite!”

We all know how important it is to back up our data and projects as we are working. As a writer I can tell you that there is almost nothing more frustrating than spending all day working on an article only to accidentally hit a button that closes my document—when I haven’t been smart enough to save my work as I go. I only can imagine the horror that I would go through if my computer crashed and I didn’t have my portfolio or photos backed up somehow.

Most people toss their data onto an external hard drive periodically and call it good. But what if you tend to lose things or your external hard drive gets damaged? This is when online storage becomes a good idea.

There are plenty of places that sell online storage space for you to back up your data or store work. Online storage is great for people who work from several locations and hate having to remember to pack a flash drive. It is also very convenient for those who travel or those whose storage needs change regularly.

While obviously you can find companies that will store your data, if you run a website of your own, you might consider simply paying for a larger server package and using some of your extra space to store your documents. This makes for one less password to remember and will save you time in the event that your project will be displayed on your website eventually.

There are plenty of options when it comes to online storage. If you are anything like me, you probably would do well to have both online data storage and offline data storage. When it comes to backing up your data, you can never be too careful!