5 hot electronics gifts flagged by Consumer Reports Holiday Shopping Poll

Electronics are again at the top of a lot of gift lists for the coming holiday season, according to the results of a Consumer Reports Holiday Shopping Poll released this week.

Here, are the five hottest electronics gifts, listed in order of respondents’ intentions to give them. I’ve added some reasons why they’re hot at the moment and, for some, details on the kind of people who are buying them:

• Video games and accessories. Planned as gifts by 28 percent of respondents. In a year where many people plan to cut back, as other survey data underlines, these are gifts that cost a lot less than most hardware. Nearly half of households with kids under 12 are planning such purchases, but so are nearly a quarter of homes with no such youngsters—underlining that games and extra Wii nunchucks aren’t just being bought for kids anymore. It helps that some of the hottest game titles of the year appeal equally to young and old players—notably Beatles Rock Band.

• Video-game consoles. Planned as gifts by 14 percent of respondents, including 25 percent of homes with kids under 12. With no new versions of consoles out this year, and the economy softening, prices have dropped for most brands. Also, after two seasons in which getting a Nintendo Wii consoles required military-level planning, the promise of its wider availability may be prompting some Wii holdouts to plan a purchase. (See our video buying guide for game consoles.)

Extra Extra: Consumer Reports Electronics Buying Guide is on sale

(Click to enlarge.)

It may be a tad early to start your holiday shopping, but there’s a good chance you’ve at least been thinking about it. Maybe you’ve had a big-ticket gift—like a new TV or home theater—in mind for a while now, but are putting off the purchase till November or December. If it’s sales you’re waiting for, you probably know what you want and how much you’re willing to pay. On the other hand, you might just a teeny bit leery of throwing so much cash at something you know very little about. Which is better: a plasma or LCD TV? Should you upgrade to a Blu-ray player or stick with standard-def DVDs?

If you find yourself in need of expert advice, consider the newest edition of the Consumer Reports Electronics Buying Guide. Inside you’ll find a wealth of information on everything from televisions and computers to smart phones, GPS units, and much more. For each product, the Consumer Reports editors walk you through the basics, explaining what’s available, which features matter, brand profiles, and offering tried-and-true shopping tips.

In addition to product information, the guide offers advice on how to shop smarter, including:

• Netting the best deals online, and protecting yourself when you shop on the Web


• When to repair and when to replace a broken item


• How to haggle effectively


• Finding the best electronics retailer based on our comprehensive annual survey


• How to save—and what to be wary of—with refurbished or open-box products on store shelves


• Where to get free office software, free computer security programs, and more useful freeware

New Camcorder Ratings: One standard-def model stands out

The Canon FS200, now in our Ratings.
[Photo: Courtesy of Canon]

We've just added several models to our camcorder Ratings (available to subscribers), including four HD models and three SD models. Of the newly introduced models, we found one, the Canon FS200, $330, which stood out among the many SD models. If you don't want to shell out enough for an HD model but still want better quality than pocket camcorders offer, the FS200 may be a good choice.

For starters, it's moderately priced. You can find other well-rated miniDV tape or DVD format camcorders that are cheaper, but the FS200 was one of the few SD models offering very good image quality, decent audio and image stabilizer in a flash-memory model, which makes it light and compact. It's also one of the few SD models with a microphone input and headphone output.

You can check out how well all the latest models fared in our Ratings.—Terry Sullivan

Does the Samsung Instinct HD really shoot HD video?

The Samsung Instinct HD.
[PHOTO courtesy of Samsung]

The Samsung Instinct HD, available from Sprint for $250 with a two-year contract after a $100 mail-in rebate, is the first cell phone we've seen that claims to make high-definition video recordings. It also boasts a 5-megapixel still camera with flash. That camera is a step up from the flashless, 2-megapixel camera found on previous Instincts, also from Sprint, including the S30 version now in our Ratings, available to subscribers.

We’re evaluating the Instinct HD now, and will post full test results on it to our Ratings later this month. Meantime, our initial results on its imaging are promising, albeit with a few quibbles.

The new Instinct’s camera is easy to access, thanks to a dedicated camera button, conveniently located on the lower right side of the phone. Pushing the button activates the camera’s still mode. Tapping a camera icon on the upper left of the largish (1.78 x 2.66 in.) display switches the camera to video mode. Tapping again summons controls for auto-focus, exposure, and other camera functions.

The Instinct HD claims it can record video resolution of 1280 x 720p, which is a true HD format—although, as we often point out, HD format alone does not assure images of pristine, high-definition quality. To assess quality, we shot a series of videos on the Instinct and hooked it up to a 50-inch Panasonic plasma television using the optional ($30) HDMI cable.

Our findings: Color was good in the MPEG4 videos, though they lacked fine detail and texture. They blurred even more when we panned the camera to the left or right. In short, they couldn’t rival the image quality you’d enjoy from full-sized HD camcorders in our Ratings, available to subscribers.

But such camcorders are much bigger and pricier than the Instinct HD, and do nothing except shoot video and stills. The high-def video quality of the Instinct was comparable to what you’d get from a standard-definition pocket camcorder, such as the Flip. And that's still way ahead of the video we've seen any other camera phone.

New HD and SD camcorders added to our Ratings

Sony's HDR-SR12 HD camcorder is just one of the many models you'll find in our latest Ratings of high-definition camcorders. (Click to enlarge.)
[ Photo: Consumer Reports ]

We've just added more than a dozen new camcorders to our Ratings, including nine high-definition and five standard-definition models. The new batches reveal a number of trends that, for the most part, will benefit consumers:

• Both HD and SD camcorders are cheaper to buy: About 18 months ago, the cheapest HD camcorder in our Ratings was $590. Now, there are three models available for less than $575. (The cheapest is the Sanyo VPC-CA9, for $375.)
• Manufacturers are producing more flash-based and hard-disk models and fewer MiniDV and DVD disc models than in the past. However, we still have at least four models of each of these older formats, and they're generally less expensive than the flash and hard-disk models.
• More optical zoom: SD models have optical zooms as high as 70x. HD models have also increased, with some models including 16x optical zoom lenses.
• Most models are smaller, lighter and easier to carry. Some can almost slip into a pocket. However, with this reduction in size comes some trade offs, such as the elimination of a viewfinder. This can be a problem when trying to shoot on a bright day, since the sun can wash out the image on your display, making it a challenge to compose your video.
• One common problem we've found in nearly all HD and SD camcorder models of the past was that they didn't perform well in low light. But our newest batch has some exceptions to this rule, at least among the high-def models. Look to our Ratings to see which HD camcorders excelled in low light.

You can check out the latest HD and SD camcorders on our Ratings pages. Also, stay tuned for our upcoming coverage of high-def pocket camcorders, which are smaller still than any of the models in our main Ratings. —Terry Sullivan

With more HD camcorders comes more detail and anxiety

This photo was taken in the late afternoon. Note how the warmer sunlight creates softer, less conspicuous shadows, particularly on the face. This lighting technique can improve your HD video as well. (Click to enlarge.)  [ Photo: T. Sullivan ]

Sony recently announced two new flash-memory camcorder models for consumers, the HDR-CX500V ($1,100) and HDR-CX520V ($1,300), which will be available in September. It's proof that Sony, like all camcorder makers, is continuing to expand its line of HD camcorders while introducing fewer and fewer standard def models.

But in the rush toward this more detailed video format, are we getting more than we bargained for? In the world of show biz, many makeup artists, who are responsible for making celebrities look great in front of the cameras, are concerned about how much detail HD captures. Apparently, HD will, indeed, make a mountain out of a molehill. Even makeup companies are getting into the act: On the Sephora website, you can buy an "HD Elixir" which claims to have an "immediate smoothing effect" on the skin that will make you look better in front of an HD camera.

So what's an average Joe or Jane to do when it's time for his or her close-up? Here are a few tips to help you look good, or at least look better, on HD:

iPhone 3G S: First impressions of its upgraded camera

Apple's new iPhone 3G S sports a 3-megapixel digital camera. But is it really better than its predecesor's 2-megapixel camera? Consumer Reports takes a first look at the iPhone 3G S camera's performance. Click to enlarge.
[ Photo courtesy of Apple ]

The digital camera on the new iPhone 3G S seems to deliver on its promise of better performance compared with other iPhones, at least in my initial use of it over the past few days.

Imaging capability is among the several key areas where Apple has upgraded this newest version of their smart phone with capabilities that competitors have—and have had for years, in some cases.

Here's what I observed:

Sharp pictures. In my casual test shots, the 3G S yielded shots that looked noticeably sharp, at least in the viewfinder. Some of the credit undoubtedly goes to the presence of auto-focus, a first for an iPhone and a less-than-universal feature on other cameraphones. There's also has a unique tap-to-focus feature, which lets you override the auto-focus by tapping on any subject on the screen. I found the camera successfully focused on the subjects on which I tapped.

A macro feature—another first for an iPhone and relative rarity on cameraphones—lets you shoot objects as close as a few inches away. As you can see in my close-up shot (just 4 inches away) of an n-scale train layout, this feature, too, appeared to yield impressively sharp performance.

Here's a sample of a close-up I took of an n-scale model train set using Apple's new iPhone 3G S built-in camera. Click to see the full-size (and unedited) image.
[ Photo: M. Gikas ]

It likely helps, as well, that the 3G S camera has been upgraded to 3-megapixels of resolution, compared with the 2-megapixels of past iPhones. But resolution isn't everything, as we say in our digital camera advice. Factors including the lens and image processing also affect image quality. The new Palm Pre has a 3-megapixel camera, too. But in my casual test shooting, I found its photos to be less sharp than that of the 3G S, particularly when taking close-ups.

Decent videos, too. The 3G S is the first iPhone with video capability. While we haven't extensively tested video from other cell-phones, the videos I shot looked reasonably clear—even at close range. (Download a QuickTime video of a model train set I shot with the iPhone 3G S. Download IMG_0034) In addition, you can edit videos for length, at least rudimentarily. A film-strip-like bar appears on top of each video clip, showing successive images from it. You slide the virtual tabs at each end to edit where the clip begins and ends. You can preview your edit before you finalize it with a press of the Trim button. The feature is less robust than video-editing software on a computer—you can't splice together successive clips, say, or save the original full-length clip for later editing. But it's extremely easy to use.

Top gadgets for Mom

Image: Mike "Dakinewavamon" Kline/Flickr

Don’t think that electronics make good gifts only for guys. Women—especially Moms—love them too. A recent study from Retrevo.com found that while more men than women consider themselves tech savvy, more women were able to correctly identify what “MB” refers to (megabyte) and what "1080p" stands for in HDTV jargon (the highest level of high definition).

We picked some gadgets we thought our Moms might like and mention a recommended model or two. (Value was a key factor, given the economy.) For each, also check out our buying advice and Ratings (available to subscribers).

An e-book reader. An electronic book reader may appeal to moms who are voracious readers. Amazon's Kindle has an edge in convenience over the rival Sony Reader; the Kindle receives content wirelessly. However, a new Kindle is expected to be announced on Wednesday May 6, which could complicate your shopping.

A digital camera. Easier to use than ever, many digital cameras today come with presets that will let mom optimize her shots in different light settings. "Smart camera" features, like face detection (and sometimes smile detection) have tended to work well in the models we've tested. Most point-and-shoots also have an image stabilizer to minimize camera shake. If you buy a camera as a gift, be sure to throw in a memory card—the ones included with the camera usually have a paltry amount of space.

Recommended for Mom: The Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS ELPH, $150. This subcompact has many of the above features and fits neatly into a pocket or purse. Digital camera Ratings & Buying Advice: digital cameras

Coming soon: Camcorders with features borrowed from cameras

In addition to having a wider range of resolutions, our incoming batch of camcorders also boast some interesting new features, many borrowed from other portable devices, especially digital cameras.

Those include:

• Face recognition / smile detection technology, borrowed from cameras, where it is now almost universal.

• A quick-start feature, to minimize the chances of missing that home-run swing because the camcorder was still booting up.

Coming soon: Camcorders in a wider range of resolutions

Our shoppers are out in stores, buying a new batch of camcorders that show a greater diversity in image resolution—mostly upward.

We’ll post test results on the batch to our camcorder Ratings (available to subscribers) later in the spring. Meantime, here’s some of what's new about the group. We’ve included prices where those are available; all are suggested retail. 

• More high-def models. The number and variety of full-HD (that is 1080p format) models has increased. Those we’re shopping for include the Canon Vixia HF-S10 ($1300), JVC GZ-HD320 ($800) and Sony HDR-CX100 ($600).

• More camcorders that use solid-state recording media—as in flash memory or a hard drive. HD examples include the Samsung HMX-H105 ($800), one of the first solid-state hard-drive camcorders from Samsung. Standard-def examples include the Panasonic SDR-H80 ($450) and Sony DCR-SX41 ($330).