Posts by Scott Snowden, Reviews Editor

Canon EOS 400D digital SLR

A little clarification needed I feel

As George clearly writes in his second paragraph, "...the EOS 400D has been around for quite a while now and Canon has since launched the EOS 450D. But the EOS 400D remains in the Canon range..."

And any product...as we have pointed out repeatedly in the past, that is *still* current is eligible for review.

The EOS 400D remains a potentially good choice for anyone who is using a DSLR for the first time.

We are constantly increasing our digital camera review coverage...and this includes DSLRs. *All* DSLRs that are currently available to buy.

Canon Digital Ixus 70 compact camera

review policy

It's our policy here at The Register Hardware, that if a product is available to purchase, then it is eligible for review it. Regardless of whether it's the very latest in that particular range or not.

The protection's off, as Warner commits to Amazon

Correction

Quite right. Thank you.

Xbox 360 Elite games console

...additional...

Rechargeable batteries. OK...good point. *But*...that's still an additional outlay if you don't possess any.

Responses...

Firstly...in responses to Si...

"I've got both systems and I've not seen anything on the PS3 that can touch the top tier 360 games like Gears of War and Bioshock."

Si...have you even played Resistance: Fall of Man..?? It's as good as Gears of War in terms of graphics. And have you seen the trailers for MSG4..??

Next...

"Does the ability to charge the PS3 controller via USB make it the winner in that regard?" Yes. Yes it does. 'Cause funnily enough I don't have to buy more batteries to do this...

"Lets face it, the comparatively puny Wii is outselling both the PS3 and 360. Why? Using the comparison methods used by Scott, here, it sucks, big time."

The Wii is an entirely different kind of games console aimed at an entirely different market. Don't you think? Therefore it's not really appropriate to include that analysis in a head to head contest between two much more similar consoles.

I agree with you..."that is most important in a games console is the way the user interacts with it" and for PS3 and Xbox users...that means lots of graphics and complex gameplay. It's different for Wii users because the games are different. I don't really think you thought that through very well.

Sony faces case for 'Cell' patent infringement

legal clarification

In the US, patents can be bought and sold as an asset. This means that any company purchasing for example, an IT hardware patent is then entitled to bring legal action against another company if it believes that patent has been infringed upon.

Patents are granted much more readily in the US than they are in the UK. This can result in a higher number of infringement claims because the terminology or wording used to describe a patent is sometimes ambiguous and prone to different interpretation.

However, many US cases of patent infringement are settled out of court to avoid high damages being awarded to the claimant by a jury. Therefore, it could be in a defendant’s interests to agree upon a settlement figure with the claimant outside of court.

Hope that clears any queries up.

Creative Zen Stone MP3 player

USB connection and pricing...

Thanks for highlighting those points...

The connection is mini USB (1.1/2.0)...and the pricing was based on information given to us at the time of publication...but as is often the case, that can quickly change. So we'll look into exactly how much this MP3 player is being made available for and update the price information as soon as possible.

SlouchPod gaming chair

link correction

"oops" and "wrong link" are quite right, and the URL has been corrected. Thanks for pointing that minor slip out.

And...actually, the cream SlouchPod looks nice in my lounge...

Sinclair ZX Spectrum: 25 today

Word on games...

Starquake was truly exceptional...and Jet Set Willy had his moment in the spotlight too... but what *really* revolutionised game playing on the Spectrum was...

...was...

...Elite.

MSI NX8600GTS graphics card

Corrected typo

Sorry about that. It was indeed a typographical error. All sorted now though.

Xploder PlayStation 2 HD TV up-scaler

Wouldn't say we had "no" problems...

Yes, we had seen other reviews of the same product, and noted problems that others had.

Our test wasn’t completely free of difficulty, but we managed to make it work in the end to a reasonable degree of success.

Perhaps that was down to the particular review sample, the our actual console itself or even the HD TV we used. There are also some reviews dotted around where the user found some degree of success after a little perseverance.

And as far as the “before” and “after” shots go, yes, that was meant to be funny.

SanDisk V-Mate memory-card video recorder

RE images and fine details

The point we were trying to get across is that the SKY, Freeview and Telewest units we have seen, used and researched upon for this review did not have a native composite output (yellow rimmed receptacle socket).

Also, the commonly found SCART adaptor, which just provides the 'IN'

source for adapting the accompanying cables to be used – will not

suffice for deriving a signal for recording.

The more uncommon variety of SCART adaptor, that has the pins wired in

such a way that 'OUT' signal is available would need to be used here.

We discovered this by purchasing and using as you've mentioned '"scart

to three phono" cable, wired for L/R audio + composite video' adaptors

and could not get the signal through.

To resolve this we sourced the correct unit from a know specialist in

electrical components, where they put the record straight and

explained all.