I review the Motorola XOOM that I received for review.  I’m bringing it along the BlogHer conference happening in San Diego this weekend!

I cover the hardware specs and features of the Motorola XOOM. Pretty amazing tablet overall and I cover the hdmi option, the dual cameras, usb host option to transfer files and my initial thoughts on the tablet.

Motorola XOOM Tablet, MZ604

• 10.1 tablet
• Honeycomb 3.01 installed, upgraded to 3.2
• Dual core 1GHZ processors
• 32GB storage with micro SD card slot (supports up to 32GB)
• Dual cameras, 5 megapixel (back), 2 megapixel (front)
• Video recording on back facing camera is 720p
• USB host adapter for transferring files, music, movies
• GPS for navigation
• GeForce video card
• HDMI port (mini HDMI) for video/audio output

Disclaimer: Although my reviews are my own, Motorola sent me this device to review and I was compensated for my time.

Earlier this year at CES, Samsung announced the release of a new digital camera that meets the needs of busy social media folks by making it easy to capture and share high quality photos and video with their new  Samsung SH100 (aff).

I’m snapping your photo

Today I’ll be heading out with Samsung folks here in San Francisco to test drive this new camera.  We’re going to explore San Francisco from the camera lens and I’ve picked out two locations for us.  First we’ll head to Capsule, a local festival happening in Hayes Valley today and then we’ll head up to the Presidio for some beautiful scenic, views.

Question: Where should we go in San Francisco to capture beautiful photos?

About the camera

When Samsung reached out, I went to research the camera and was happily surprised to find out the ability to remotely control the camera was develop for the Android platform instead of the ever-s0-common iPhone OS.

This makes sense because Samsung also Android devices.  It certainly makes me feel better about being an Android owner, ahem ”on the other side of the fence”, because, let’s face it Android owners; it can get sorta lame seeing so many cool things rolled out for the iPhone like Instapaper!

Here are the tech specs on the camera:

• 14 megapixel image capture
• Video mode 1280 x 720 at 30fps
• 5X zoom
• Remote control Viewfinder via your Android smartphone
• Built in Wireless to transfer photos to your computer

Sponsored Post Discloser

This is a part of Samsung’s new “Coast To Coast Photo Post” which will be tied to their Facebook page (link coming soon).  I’ll be receiving one of these cameras and will be compensated so I’m disclosing that here and in the future posts I write about this camera.

This is the Dell Vostro V130. There was no tiger blood involved although it in the making of this video commercial. This is a great laptop that will make you stylish, professional and on point at work and in the boardroom.

While settling in for the evening at the Hilton Hotel the night before SXSW, the following crew of creative tech folks put together this video: @baratunde @waynesutton @hajjflemings @robertmurray @amoyal @adriarichards @drgoddess.

This was not created on an iPad2 although it could have been since Apple will have a pop up store Friday at SXSW.

Well, it was a tough decision on who to award the laptop to because we had many good (and interesting) submissions for the contest!

The winner receives a brand new Dell Vostro V130 laptop with the following specs:

• 3.5 lb Red Aluminum case
• 13″ display with 1366 x 768 resolution
• 4GB memory
• Windows 7
• Intel CoreTM i3 processor
• 5 in 1 multimedia card reader
• Ports: 2 USB / 1 eSATA / 1 VGA, 1 HDMI, Headphone + Microphone
• Connectivity: Gigabit ethernet, Wifi and Bluetooth
• 1 year warranty

How the contest was judged

The videos were judged on three criteria:

• Relevance – Is this something that strikes chord for business professionals?
• Usability – Is this something that the average person can start doing tomorrow?
• Originality – Was this advice creative and unique?

Judging was conducted by myself, Adria Richards, and the Zócalo Group, a customer evangelist branch within Ketchum.  Ketchum is a PR and marketing agency focused on corporate branding, consumer products, technology and a few other target markets.

Drum Roll……

The winner of the Dell Vostro V130 laptop is:

Dough Lehman of Atlanta GA!

• Website: http://www.dugworld.net
• YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/Thedugshow
• Twitter: @douglehman

Doug’s entry was selected due to several of his tips being unique and putting the focus on the person you’re meeting with including:

• Research the client online including LinkedIN, Twitter and Facebook fan pages
• Everything you do should provide value to the client
• Be in a mindset of active listening
• Ask the client for feedback on additional discussion topics
• Always be thinking about the next action steps after the meeting
• Followup with a thank you card and acknowledge the value of their time

The thing I like about Doug’s entry is that it covers the life cycle of a good first impression.  From preperation to followup, the client experience is managed, nurtured and monitored.  Excellent tips Doug!

I asked Doug to share with us about his current laptop and inspiration for submitting the video:

My current laptop is an ASUS U5OF and it is having issues with performance and sound card issues. A new laptop is something that I need.  I am conducting a free webinar tomorrow on social video selling and hope my computer can perform…

I just started my own business concept as brand ambassador working business development projects.  It has been a challenge but winning this laptop made my day!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Adria thanks so much..you rock…as I said before I am a big of your work.  You have a very engaging style and authentic flavor on your posts etc.  A great resource of information.  We actually have a mutual friend in Atlanta, Andrea Amir (@andreaAmir).  Andrea is my co-working office buddy.  I was just speaking with her about your blog.  I actually filmed the contest video at my co-working office in Atlanta.  I like the background setting.

Doug, sounds great and thanks for the shout out!  Co-working is an excellent way to stay focused during the day in a professional environment and it gives you access to other creative and motivated entrepreneurs whom you can network with.  Make sure to check out Doug’s website above and his YouTube channel *smile*

Here’s Doug’s winning video

Congrats to Doug, a big thank you to Zócalo Group for the opportunity to hold this contest and that I get to keep a laptop for myself.  Big hugs to everyone who entered and helped spread the word by tweeting, reposting, emailing and promoting the contest!  I’d also like to say I’m very proud of the three people who submitted their very first YouTube videos for this contest!  This was fun to mastermind, plan and look forward to next opportunity to promote new technology solutions for business people!

Review of the HP Wireless Elite Keyboard (Amazon affiliate link) I purchased July 2010 from Amazon.com.  I paid $34.82 and it’s going for $32.61 as of this posting so pretty stable price.

At Amazon, it has 4 out of 5 stars based on 251 reviews.  Reviews were also good at Newegg but for some reason they have it priced at $45.99.  In this case, Amazon FTW with free shipping!

Features

Low profile – it’s almost horizontal to my desk which I like.  I never have any wrist pain.  No carpel tunnel here!

Quiet - I think I read a review somewhere while searching for “silent keyboard” to replace my second Logitech UltraX Keyboard

Laptop keys – for some reason, I just like how the keys on a notebook feel so this is now my third keyboard that deviates from the standard, chunky keys

Wireless – I switched to a wireless mouse a few years ago and found I had less wrist pain so it was logical to try a keyboard too.  Nyoce!

Color - I would have loved another sliver/black keyboard but this one is all black

Thing I like

• Bounce on the keys.  Nice feedback
• Keyboard letters don’t fade easily
• Battery life (although it wasn’t 12 months as stated on the box

Things I don’t like

• Multimedia keys to adjust audio and start/stop/pause iTunes don’t work with Dell XPS 8000 running Windows 7

Summary

Get it.  Awesome, lightweight, well performing keyboard…even if it is made by HP *smile*

I finally saw a real Nexus S in person last night!  In one week, the Nexus S will be released for public consumption.  This is the second generation of unlocked Android phones from Google.  It’s Samsung hardware.  Public release date is December 16th, 2010 available unlocked  so it will work on any GSM carrier’s network including T-mobile.  It will cost $199 with a contract on T-mobile or $529 without a contract.

Let’s explore initial impressions, features, the potential shortcomings of this phone.  You can check out the full list of technical specs at Google’s Nexus S site.

Initial Impressions

As a technology geek who’s had a smartphone, there are particular things I notice when checking out other people’s phones.  Sort of like two dogs sniffing each other, you could say.

Tonight I’ll share a few of those observations.  The other part is when a gadget has been churning in the rumor mill for months with sightings in the wild, you want to see if what they really say is true.

Photo Credit: Google Nexus website

Nexus S Weight. This smart phone is very light.  Compared to the Android G2 or even the iPhone 3GS, I found the Nexus S to be on the light side.  According to Google’s site, the Nexus S weighs 4.5 ounces while Apple’s iPhone 3GS is 4.8 ounces and HTC’s G2 for T-mobile is 6.3 ounces making the Nexus S the lightest smartphone I’ve considered buying.  Interestingly, the iPhone 4 also weighs 4.8 ounces but that was never on my geek gaget drool list.  I like the lighter feel because it means less pocket sag!

Photo credit: AndroidOS

Nexus S Body material. Unfortunately, it seems to have a plastic body casing.  When I played with a co-worker’s G2, I really liked the feel of the metal in my hands.  This is also one of the reasons I love my 13″ macbook pro.  Brushed aluminum cases feel like higher quality gadgets.  They certainly clean up easier than plastic.  Speaking of which, I was unable to find anyone selling Nexus S cases online as of yet.

Photo Credit: Google Nexus website

Nexus S Screen Dimensions. This smart phone seemed wider than what I was used to.  It’s almost 2.48 making it almost 2.5 inches wide!  That’s a lot of screen real estate when you compare it to:

• Apple iPhone 3GS – 2.4 inches wide
• Apple iPhone 4G – 2.31 inches wide
• HTC G2 for T-mobile – 2.3 inches wide

On the Google site, they have this wonderful video for the Nexus S where there are little gingerbread cookies and a warm roaring fire.  But what I noticed (and I’m hoping this was not digitally enhanced!) was the video quality displayed on the device:

Why gingerbread men?  The new Android operating system, 2.3, is nicknamed “Gingerbread”.  Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress, names major versions after Jazz artists so there’s a long history of computer programs having cutesy nicknames.

Can’t wait to see what the video quality looks like on my phone!  Is there a Hulu or Netflix Android App?  I couldn’t really bogart this person’s phone and sit down to watch something but if I do get a chance to, I’ll  update this post!

Nexus S Cameras and flash. There are two cameras, I REPEAT, two cameras in the Nexus S.  One is facing away for you to take photo and video while the other faces you so you can do video calls.  So exciting!  You all may remember Jason Calacanis joking on Twitter that the new iPad would have two cameras.  I’m a big fan of mobile photography.  I capture my world in the lens and am able to look back over the photos and rebuild the amazing experiences I’ve had over the last few years.  Cooking is one of my new and enjoyable hobbies and I love to snap photos when I’m out eating with friends!  Conferences, skylines, weird people in San Francisco, I capture it all.  Since the loss of my iPhone 3GS (upcoming post), I’ve tried to hold off taking photos as the iPhone 2G’s camera is quite pitiful.  As an iPhone user, I’m also looking forward to having an LED flash, finally!   Again, I didn’t wan to be taking photos and transferring them to my mac but I-won’t-be-waiting-too-long!

Nexus S Virtual Keyboard. There’s an on-screen keyboard, similar to the iPhone.  Nothing else too mentionable until I get mine and play around with it more.  The benefit of a virtual keyboard is you don’t have to worry about breaking a hinge or losing a key so for those of you in colder climates (*cough* Minneapolis) texting on a physical keyboard when it’s -24 with the windchill is re-dunka-lious.  If you had a separate keyboard (see bluetooth mentioned below) then you’d have to wrangle batteries for the keyboard and suffer additional battery drain on the phone.  Now, I will say that if you’re going to be somewhere for a while, like a coffee shop, I really liked being able to prop up my Windows mobile device, attached the external keyboard and type up a storm while sipping on a breve latte (steamed half-and-half with espresso).

Mmm, spelling, copy/paste on the Android is a little bit different.  It’s hard to explain but once I get some more hands-on time with the OS, I’ll explain the differences.  When I first got an iPhone, I thought the on-screen keyboard was dumb.  I searched high and low about connecting my existing bluetooth keyboard used with a palm and windows  mobile device to the iPhone.  With each new update to the iPhone iOS, I had fingers crossed they would update the bluetooth standard….no such luck!  As people can attest to in Minneapolis, I was just about the slowest mobile typer in the world!  I got advice on how to hold the iPhone, type with fingers and thumbs, having “faith” that Apple’s spell check would correct my keystrokes automatically and so on.  It really took over a year for me to master typing on a flat screen.  I’ve never been a big “text’er” sending messages back and forth on my phone.  Always thought of it as a kid’s “sport” and something Blackberry geeks did.  Why wear down my thumb pads when I could head over to a regular sized keyboard?  That’s all changed now and I can type out entire emails on my iPhone, no problem…and quickly!

Nexus S Features I Drool For….Coming Soon

I’ll continue with features later this week like the ability to tether up to 6 other devices from your Nexus S!

Folks, this is the same monitor that I have and right now it’s $160 with Free Shipping at the Dell store.

Move on it before it’s gone!

It’s the Samsung 2333SW 23″ LCD

Highlights
* Aspect ratio of 16:9
* Supports full HD resolution up to 1920×1080
* 5ms response time

Overview
Get a breathtaking viewing experience with the 23” LCD monitor from Samsung. The 2333SW has soft curves, a rich piano black finish, a clear acrylic accent bar and integrated cable housing. With the aspect ratio of 16:9, this monitor offers more room for multitasking. Additionally, supporting full HD resolution of up to 1920 x 1080 and 5 ms response time, this LCD Monitor offers you a vivid picture quality. Also, its programmable custom key gives you instant one-touch access to the picture optimization technology. In addition to high dynamic contrast ratio, the MagicBright, MagicColor, Color Effect and image size functionalities, you can easily adjust the picture quality. With all these features and more, the 2333SW lends distinctive style and sophistication to your desk and compliments your lifestyle.

I paid $180 for each of mine. Great Geek Gift!

via XPBargains

How do you find a great deal on a new computer? Crowdsource it!

Finding a good deal online has always involved networking with other people so Twitter isn’t new in that sense. Forums have been lively areas where people swapped information on deals, coupons, mailers and Black Friday specials.

I prefer to my my computer already built as I’m over the “It’s so cool because I built it myself” phase so below are hot spots to find deals on both assembled systems and parts.

I’m going to share my three favorite sites

XPBargains

I began using XPBargains a few years ago when I was looking for a deal on a Dell.  The thing I like about this site is you can search for previous promotions by store.  This allows you to compare a deal Dell had 6 months ago to make sure you’re truly getting the best deal.  Another thing is XPBargains lists specific deals and shows you the cost savings.  Using them for my recent purchase saved me $300.

Fatwallet

I’ve been using Fatwallet since 1999 and it’s one of my favorite deals sites.  There are all sorts of things listed and people spend time discussing, comparing and sharing their deal experiences.  I’ve been able to snag great prices on travel, computer hardware, SSL certificates and especially domain names at Fatwallet.  They were the first site I used for my Black Friday shopping way back when I used to head out in the wee hours of the morning, in Minnesota here and wait in crazy lines.  Remember, 10 years ago, the lines were not so bad as most people didn’t have the internet!  They also have a cashback system setup with many well known companies so I’ve had a few checks come my way for 1%-12% of my purchase.

Slickdeals

Slickdeals is a place for hard core geeks to exchange information about seriously hot deals that often expire within hours.  If you come as a n00b here, you may get a verbal lashing for posting a duplicate deal or asking a “dumb” question.  You can snag great technology deals here.

What are your favorite places to get sizzling technology deals?

My New Dell arrived and it’s smoking hot!

New post 1/2/2010 Dell XPS 8000 Discontinued? What The Hell Dell? [VIDEO]

This shiny new desktop arrived Tuesday just after I was getting over not feeling so well. When the Fedex guy showed up, I felt instantly better! I unboxed it on Wednesday night over at AskAdria.com.

Specs

• Quad Core Intel i7-860 2.80GHZ
• 8GB DDR3 Memory
• 1.5 TB 7,200 Seagate Sata hard drive (I selected a 1TB)
• nVidia GeForce GTS 240 1024MB GDDR3
• Two 16X CD/DVDRW-+ drives (I only ordered one)
• Windows 7 Home Premium
• Dell 6-button Laser mouse
• Dell keyboard

First, let me say this monster is FAST!  I had plans to install Windows XP, the 64-bit version but found out it has been discontinued for service pack maintenance.  I successfully avoided running Vista on any computers I’ve owned.  I’m not too happy about Windows 7 but hear from reputable tech folks on Twitter it’s a great operating system so…I’ll give it a try.

When I ordered, I thought it would just take a few days to get the system built.  I wanted to order before the holidays so I wouldn’t be waiting weeks.  Well, I was wrong!  It took nearly 2 weeks to ship and Dell overestimate the build time so that once I placed my order, it had an arrival date of December 2nd!  Now, I was initially ticked off at this but since I’ve ordered a lot of systems for my clients, I figured Dell was just covering their backend.

Now I was surprised to find that they had upgraded my hard drive capacity by 500GB and thrown in an extra CD/DVDRW for free!

It’s been a long time since I had a new computer.  My current system is a 2.6GHZ single processor, small form factor (SFF) Shuttle XPC with 2GB of Ram and 2 Sata drives.  Nothing fancy.  I pretty much did remote connections to my client’s systems, work in a text editor and made Skype calls.  It wasn’t until I got the webcam and started doing AskAdria that my technology needs increased.

I stubbornly put off upgrading because I didn’t want to believe I needed some crazy, overpowered system.  Plus, I was getting the itch for a Mac.  As fate would have it, this would be the year that I went to 6 blogging conferences so I had to prioritize attending and put off a new system.

Let me take a moment to thank my conference sponsors for Blogworld; Zendesk and Logmein!

Now how the HECK did I determine I needed such a monsterous computer system?  I mean, 8GB (upgradable to 16GB) is just insane sounding.  Or is it?

Turns out that other people who do web based shows have similar “rigs”.  Two folks I consulted on this decision were OhDoctah of IQMZ and Nic of Filmsnobbery.  They both put out videos on a regular basis.

I came across OhDoctah (Owen JJ Stone aka OhDoctah) last year when Googling for who knows what.  I found his site, AskOhDoctah and was amazed with the honesty and emotions he shared in his videos.  OhDoctah is doing a lot of interviews this year so he needs to process his videos once he returns home.  He calls his computer, “The Beast”.

Nic is a film critic and a darn funny one!  He not only reviews movies but also offers advice to up and coming directors, producers and actors.  He puts out a weekly show and takes time to plan his show with a script and then does quite a bit of post production to insert segways and sponsor call outs.

They both assured me I would need a quad core.  Seemed a bit silly at first but after reading on the i7′s hyperthreading ability which would allow my computer to processes multiple tasks at the same time, I agreed.  I selected a higher grade video card that has a whole 1GB of memory on it.  I’m stoked to see how well my weekly technology show, AskAdria looks as well as my Skype video calls.  In addition to better output, I expect that I will be able to render video faster so tutorials that I put together in Camtasia studio will zip along.  I’m also expecting that multimedia that I view will no longer freeze, skip or refuse to play.

I’d like to thank both of these guys for taking the time to help me spec out my new system and understand this new fangled video stuff!

This Thanksgiving weekend, I’m installing apps and moving over my data.  I can’t believe how much memory this thing has!  We’ll see how well it performs once I have my applications I use to run my business installed including:

• Adobe Flash Media Encoder
• Audacity
• Firefox
• Snagit
• Camtasia Studio
• Picasa
• Keepass
• Yahoo Widgets
• Flickr uploader
• PDFCreator
• Affixa
• Cepstral
• DiskAid
• Evernote
• Google Desktop
• GoToMeeting
• Logmein
• PUTTY
• Quickbooks (Sorry Freshbooks)
• RocketDock
• Skype
• Speedfan
• StreamRipper32
• Teracopy
• TortiseSVN
• VirtualCloneDrive
• VMWare
• Webex
• WinDirStat
• Winmerge
• WinSCP
• Avira
• Spybot Search and Destroy
• Logitech 9000 Pro webcam
• Canon MP780 Printer
• All my website development tools including EditPad Pro, XAMPP, Filezilla, Acetext and more.

Now you may be saying, “Adria, you’ve got Windows 7 Home Premium?”.  Why didn’t you get Windows 7 Ultimate?  Because, good things come to those who wait a bit.  *smile*

I ended up talking with the Microsoft guy at Wordcamp NYC (argued really about open source vs talking) and he had a bunch of Windows 7 Ultimate licences with him.  Too bad they were 32-bit and this monster computer is 64-bit…but he said to email him and he would do his best to get me a 64-bit version before year’s end!  Whee!  That saves me $150 that I could of paid to Dell.

I did get a 2 year warranty with this system and may extend that to 3 years because I truly believe that hardware warranties pay for themselves with piece of mine.

Are there any apps I’m missing that I need?

Today is Blog Action Day. It’s where thousands of bloggers unite on a single day to write about a specific topic and this year it’s climate change!

I want to raise your awareness today on how easy it is to save the world.
You want a shiny new Macbook.
Buy a refurbished one from the Apple store.

I did and here’s why:

• I like to save money
• I like to save the environment
• I eat my own dogfood (take my own advice)
• I wanted to see the quality of a refurbished item from Apple

I just bought a 13″ Macbook Pro and rather than buying new, I went into Apple’s Refurbished section and ordered my new (new to me) laptop. I saved $200 and it shipped out fast!

Often, people are worried if they buy a refurbished item that it will have visible scratches or not work right.  I am here to say there was not a single scratch on the Macbook.  Companies will often reuse the guts of a computer by testing them and replacing the shell if there is any defect. 

Not only do you save money taking this route but the machines are fully eligible for the same warranty and you save the environment by not having the company build a new machine.  Computers are bad for the environment and the workers who build them because it takes a lot of toxic stuff to make them. Gina Trapani mentioned a website that supports people not rushing out to buy the latest and greatest but holding onto your gadgets and gizmo’s a little longer: LastYearsModel.org