The Dell 2309W Monitor – A Dream for Content Creation.

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This is a quick update on my new toy, the Dell 2309W.

So far in my technical odyssey into internet marketing, I have been using my trusty laptop. I bought this back in February (it’s just a Studio 15 from Dell) and I have since upgraded the hard disk and installed Windows 7 on it – ping me for details if you really care!

The only problem I’ve had with it, is the screen size. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good for almost everything. The trouble is, the only thing it is poor for is internet marketing and browsing….which is kind of what I’m doing. Doh!

The reason: as a result of the widescreen format, it only has an 900 pixel deep screen… and every man and his dog put their buttons somewhere between 900 and 1024 deep on the screen. That tiny amount of scroll is driving me mad.

As a result, I decided to “create an office” and buy myself something that wouldn’t kill my eyes (or give me tiny amounts of RSI all the time). So, I’m typing this up looking at my brand-new Dell 2309W monitor.

Have I turned into a raving Dell 2309W fan? Well, possibly but actually this is a stand-out screen for many reasons. I looked at Samsungs and others, some of them with TV tuners, some with better dynamic contrast. I learned a lot along the way but the thing that made it happen for Dell was the number 2048.

The Dell 2309W has an awesome 2048×1152 resolution and what that means in the real world is that I can have 2 standard 1024 width pages on screen at the same time. If you want to create new material this is a dream come true. The browser sits on one side for research, word sits on the other for typing….perfect.

If you haven’t got a fancy-schmanzy Apple and screen to match and you are looking for a new PC screen, do yourself the favour of at least looking at one of these before you buy. Make sure you get the high-res model with the W, it set me back around £200. Considering my old Iiyama square 19″ was around £1000 a few years back, you could definitely call me a happy bunny. All in all the Dell 2309W gets a “highly recommended” from me.

Kodak Zi8 tests at 720p and 60 fps

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Huh?

If that was a load of acronyms that just blew past, this is really just a post combining the last two tests I did with the Kodak Zi8. 720p is the lower HD resolution (720 pixels in height) and 60 fps is just how many frames per second the camera was capturing. Kodak pitch this as good for action.

In the spirit of that claim, the first video is a short outdoor clip of a car based on the pump-up water rocket idea. The Top Gear logo just made it more expensive!

My initial impressions of the video are pretty good clarity, hand-shake under control and if you step through it closely, you’ll see that the resolution as the car shoots off is pretty good. Shame the car itself was totally faulty and went back the next day!

In the second clip, I hauled the Zi8 back indoors and tried the classic party candles video, so beloved of a thousand doting parents every single day! I’m a lot happier with the stabilization in this clip than the one in my last post and although the Zi8 gets into the normal state with backlit exposure, I’m not unhappy with the output.

If you found these useful, then add a comment below or on YouTube and if you’d like me to try the Zi8 out in other circumstances, I’m happy to test your ideas out.