Doug Aamoth…

My rule for purchasing laptops (or for recommending laptops to family and friends): nothing over five pounds. That’s been unfortunate for Dell, as I haven’t been able to recommend many of the company’s laptops over the years.

They’re finally starting to shed some weight, though, so the company can expect to see sales spikes in the low teens thanks to an increase in word of mouth endorsements between me and anyone asking for “a good, cheap laptop” and then saying that someone in their office just bought a Dell. At that point, I know I’d be wasting my time trying to talk them into another brand, so Dell it is.

Dell’s Inspiron line, ever the bastion of moderately priced, decently-spec’d notebooks, will finally break the five pound barrier with the impending “Inspiron 13”, set to hit Wal-Mart stores August 3rd at $699 and Dell’s site toward the end of August. It’ll weigh “just under five pounds” and will come in Pacific blue or black. You’ll get a 13-inch LCD (not sure about the resolution yet) and, oooh, a slot-load DVD drive.

[via NotebookReview.com]

Wow, for the first time I’ve found that Twitter can actually be useful. Here’s a new trailer for “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” that I wouldn’t have known about if it weren’t for someone I happen to be following on the big blue machine.

The film will be in theaters November 21st, if you’re into watching young wizards battle the awkwardness of puberty and teenage politics in a faraway land.

Thanks Laurie!

In the wake of the FCC versus Comcast brouhaha, wherein Comcast has been accused of illegally slowing down connections to file sharing services like BitTorrent without informing its cable internet subscribers first, the Federal Communications Commission has ruled that Comcast acted outside of the law.

According to a report in the Washington Post, the five-member panel will formally vote this Friday, although three of the five members have said that they’ll vote against Comcast. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin “is not expected to fine Comcast, according to industry insiders and members of the FCC who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the ruling is still pending.”

The ruling is expected to set precedent for future complaints. Roger Entner of IAG Research says, “This is a slap on the wrist for Comcast, but it will be a cutting off of the hand for the next provider who violates rules.” It’s important to note that the throttling BitTorrent connections isn’t the issue at hand, it’s that throttling connections without making it clear to your customers is the problem. So the practice can, and likely will, continue. It’ll just need to be much more transparent in the future.

I still have my 20GB Dell DJ (the one on the left up there). It’s been sitting in a box marked “To Sell on eBay” for, oh, at least three years along with my Nokia 770 Internet Tablet, my first-generation Nintendo DS, and a couple of ink cartridges for an old Lexmark printer. Bad news for me, as it appears the value of my old Dell music player might plummet when Dell’s new MP3 players hit the market. Instead of getting $20 for my old Dell DJ, I might only get $18 or $19.

That’s right, Reuters is reporting that Dell “has been testing a digital music player that could go on sale as early as September.” Actually, Reuters is reporting that the Wall Street Journal said all that stuff, but the Wall Street Journal wants people to pay for its (ad supported) web content. I’d rather “rent” a “videotape” instead.

The music player will apparently feature a Wi-Fi connection, a “small navigation screen” which seems to indicate a touchscreen, and a price tag of under $100.

So will it work? Maybe.

Dell is big, and these days it’s as much about the hardware as it is about the content deals you’re able to strike. Picture this, a Dell MP3 player with Wi-Fi connection directly into, say, Napster or Rhapsody, allowing you to download as much music as you want for $10 or $15 per month. Better yet, Dell might just be big enough and crazy enough to start its own online music store called DellTunes or D-Tunes or whatever.

Alas, it seems that “Dell is working on software for a range of portable PCs that will let users download and organize music and movies from various online sources” which looks and sounds great on paper but might turn out to be a logistical nightmare in real life. If Dell can pull it off, though, and the company makes an easy-to-use MP3 player, it might have a shot. It’s a crowded field, though, so come out swinging, Dell.

When it comes to buying a webcam, there seems to be two distinct product groupings. On the one end, you have inexpensive cameras that sell for between $20 and $50. These cameras often feature relatively low resolutions like 320×240 or 640×480 and are relatively simple to operate — you stick the camera on top of your monitor, fire up AIM, Windows Live Messenger, or Skype and then start your video chat.

Then there are the $80+ cameras that feature higher resolutions and carry features like automatic face tracking, low-light adjustment, and stuff like that. Most regular consumers will opt for the less expensive models but those that opt for the higher-end cameras often have a very specific reason for doing so and, as such, put a little more time and effort into researching their various options.

So that brings us to my story. I’ve been looking for a good webcam for a while now and I needed one that could handle the specific task of grabbing decent videos of gadgets at very close range. I didn’t want to spend a bundle because I didn’t need things like HD or even very high resolution due to the face that the width of the CrunchGear page is only 560 pixels wide. So I needed something that did 640×480 at the most and I didn’t need head tracking or anything like that found in the more expensive cameras.

However, the cheaper cameras were just that – cheap. I’ve gone through a few of the lower-end Logitech and Microsoft cameras and I’ve either had problems with low-light or poor microphones. I have a camera built into my VAIO laptop but it’s only 0.3-megapixels and the microphone picks up the way-too-loud fan that plagues the VGN SZ650 series of VAIO laptops (if you listen closely, you can hear my laptop’s fan running and grinding in almost every video I’ve put up here on this site).

So, long story short (too late): It just so happens that there’s a camera out there that somehow manages to straddle the canyon between cheap and expensive webcams. It’s the IPEVO POV webcam and it costs a mere $40.

Features

The main selling point of the POV camera is that it can be held in the hand kind of like a pen and then can focus down to within 2.3 inches of an object. There’s a little focus ring around the lens of the camera that allows you to switch between landscape and macro mode and a snapshot button on the top of the camera that allows you to grab stills. For regular video chatting, the camera snaps into a small clamp that sits on top of your monitor.

The cameras resolution is 640×480 (which can be software-enhanced to 800×600) and video is captured at 30 frames per second. There’s also a quick send button on top of the camera that provides you with one-touch e-mailing of photos and videos. The camera is USB 1.1 or 2.0 compatible and works with most Windows-based instant messaging software. Sorry, no Mac support.

Here’s a short video with some footage from the camera itself, starting at the one minute mark.

Pros

It’s inexpensive for what you get. At $40, the macro mode alone makes it an easy choice over all of the other lower-end webcams out there. Aside from that, videos appear crisp, even in low-light, and the one-touch snapshot and e-mail buttons are nice touches. Also, the ability to hold the camera in your hand or use it on its stand make it fun to use. I was videochatting with my wife via Skype when I was in Japan and she asked me to show her my hotel room. I simply detached the camera from its stand and started pointing it at various things. Easy.

Cons

There have been various complaints that the included software doesn’t really do much. It’s true, it doesn’t. It only captures snapshots, not video. However, the camera is designed to work with instant messaging programs and it worked quite well when I tested it with Skype, Windows Live Messenger, and AIM. If I need to capture non-live video for later, I use Windows Media Encoder.

The lack of Mac support is a little troubling, as I’m sure there are plenty of Mac users out there that could benefit from a detachable, movable webcam as a supplement to the built-in iSight cameras that come with most new Macs.

Finally, the drivers are a bit wonky on both Windows XP and Windows Vista systems. After I’d installed the software and drivers, I’d still occasionally get a “driver not found” message after plugging the camera back into the USB ports. I found that opening the POV software before plugging the camera in on toggling the camera’s power switch off and then back on solved this problem whenever it popped up.

Conclusion

If you need an inexpensive webcam that does more than the average inexpensive webcam, the POV camera is a great deal at around $40. The macro mode, alone, makes the camera worth the price of admission.

IPEVO PoV Web Camera [ipevo.com]

Panasonic’s “Eco Technology Center” sits in a little town outside of Osaka, Japan and is unique in that it’s one of the only recycling centers that has an on-site research and development lab and allows public tours. Check out the above video to see more.

In Japan, the Home Appliance Recycling Law (HARL) was passed in 1998 and then fully enforced by 2001. The law calls for end-of-life home appliances to be recycled through the cooperation of consumers, retailers, and manufacturers with the target goal of over 50% of the materials in various home appliances to be used to make new appliances. There are four main categories: CRT televisions and monitors, electric refrigerators and freezers, electric washing machines, and household air conditioners.

We got a chance to sit down with the president of the Eco Technology Center, Kazuyuki Tomita, and peppered him with questions about what they do with the stuff that can’t be recycled, a refrigerator-eating machine named “Jaws”, and all of the weird and wonderful things that they find in old, forgotten appliances.

What are some of the main elements that can’t be recycled?

Some of the materials we can’t recycle right now is insulation resin foam and some spongy material used in air conditioners. Also, some resin mixed with metal – we used to burn everything but with new technology, we’ll soon be able to recycle resins mixed with metals.

So where will those materials go?

There are two ways. One is that we give it to a special company that specializes in disposing harmful materials. The second is that we burn them and, after burnt we put it back into the plant. So there are two ways.

Do you look over the appliances that come in, just in case they’re still working?

We have to recycle the products that we receive here because consumers give their end-of-use products to the retailers for the purpose of recycling. The retailers could reuse them at their retail shops, not here. Under the law, it is prohibited to reuse the products we receive here. We do find products which can be used, of course.

What kinds of forgotten stuff do you find in old products?

Money! When we find money in a refrigerator, of course we give it to the police – report it! Not “give” (laughter), we report it.

Do the consumers have to leave identifying information with their appliances so that if you found something illegal, for instance, you could find them?

When we receive the product, it has a ticket with a name. At that time, if we find something inside, we can identify the person. But when we start the recycling process, we take the label off so we don’t know who had this product. We can’t identify this person. So any substantial money we find, we use that ticket to report the money to the police. We try to give back the money through the police.

What’s the most money you’ve found? How often do you find money?

The highest amount was 400,000 Japanese Yen, which is about $4,000. We find money all the time when we take apart washing machines. We find about 20-30 coins per day, so you should check your washing machine if you’re ever short on money!

Also, Japanese refrigerators have a lot of compartments in them, so when we take them apart, sometimes we find that people have hidden money in there. Do you have any money hidden in your fridge?

Are the machines here running 24 hours a day?

No. It varies by product, but right now in the summer, we have two shifts. There are people here between 7:00AM and 3:00AM, depending on the shift, but not 24 hours.

Whose idea was it to call that refrigerator-eating machine “Jaws”?

(Laughter) The former president of this technology center wanted to make an image of a machine that ate refrigerators, so they came up with Jaws. We receive a lot of children here, so it is very important that we have these kinds of things so that they can relate. Do you have any other suggestions (Laughter) that we could use?

You can read more about the Eco Technology Center by following this link.

Must…resist…temptation. Deal…too…good. Need…monitor…for…gaming. Damn it anyway. This Hannspree 19-inch monitor normally costs $200 but you can get it for $139.99 at Best Buy this week. It’s got an HDMI input and built-in speakers, making it just about perfect for those of you looking for something to hook your Xbox 360 or PS3 up to. Oh, it’s also a computer monitor, too, but it’s only got a VGA input.

So you’ve got HDMI or VGA, but not DVI. Other features include a 1440 x 900 resolution, anemic 2-watt speakers, 800:1 contrast ratio, 16:10 aspect ratio, 160-degree viewing angle, and, again, the price is delicious. Go ahead. You’ve earned it.

Hannspree – 19″ Widescreen Flat-Panel LCD Monitor [BestBuy.com]

Okay, here’s what happened. Microsoft took a group of 120 individuals who “were either Mac, Linux, or users of versions of Windows that came before Windows Vista” and who rated their perception of Vista at less than a five on a scale of one to ten. These people were shown a demo of what they thought was a new Windows OS called “Mojave” and this demo was individually tailored to each person based on “the experiences they seemed most interested in following a series of interviews.”

While the average rating of Vista before the demo was 4.4, the post-demo rating was 8.5, even though Mojave was actually Windows Vista. So what can we learn from all this? Vista looks nice. Problem is, none of these people had to use Vista. They were just “given a demo by a trained retail salesperson.”

So you’ve got a bunch of people who have only heard bad things about Vista but have never used it (or even seen it, from what I gather), and then you show them some tricks from what they think is a new operating system and they like it. What a surprise.

Most people wouldn’t argue with the idea that Vista looks nice and perhaps even looks good on paper. What Microsoft should have done, though, is sent these 120 home with a copy of Vista and had them use it for three months. I don’t think the average score would be 8.5 after that, but if it was, it’d be a big win for Microsoft’s image. This Mojave Experiment, though, just seems kind of dumb.

I mean, how hard is it to trick 120 people who haven’t even seen Vista before? These people probably aren’t all that computer savvy to begin with. They’ve just heard from their friends and IT departments that Vista is a bad operating system. Microsoft had the right idea by attempting to teach them not to judge a book by its cover, but in this case, all they were shown was the cover of the book and a few good chapters.

Mojave Experiment Videos [MojaveExperiment.com]

Get right the hell outta town. By the time the sun burns out or December 21, 2012 – whichever comes first – there will be 23 different models of Asus’ venerable Eee PC, according to a presentation slide sent to Engadget Chinese. The netbook models will be divided into three classes: Ultimate, Pro Fashion, and Smart Casual.

If you consider yourself an elite user, you’ll eventually be able to purchase the S101 or the S91 which, according to the slide, will be “exquisite” and “extreme slim and light”, perfect for the “travel explorer” and the “free writer”. Free writers? Don’t write for free, you guys will ruin it for the rest of us.

Then there’s the Pro Fashion line, which will contain the 1000HV, the 1002SA, the 1002HA, and the T101. These netbooks are “precise, mature, fancy,” and appear to be “touch” which I’m guessing means touchscreen. They’re perfect for “insurance sales”, “editor, journalist” and “house agent”. Ah, I just figured out that “free writer” from above must have something to do with freelance writing, which most of the time ends up costing more than traditional, salaried writing.

Then there’s the Smart Casual line, which is made up of all the Eee PCs that are currently on the market, plus a whole heaping helping of new ones that’ll be coming out over the next however many years.

Walking: fun. Leaving the house: not fun. Enter the virtual reality treadmill, a project by geniuses at Japan’s University of Tsukuba (go Panthers!). Alas, this apparatus appears to be for hospital-use only, as it’s aimed at rehabilitation programs (stroke victims, mostly). Still, I’m sure this setup might not be impossible to replicate with five or six HDTVs arranged in a semi-circle. I’d hang a few pine-smelling air fresheners for a true outdoorsy feel.

Hit the jump for a video of the treadmill in action.

[Newlaunches via Ubergizmo]