MaximumPC 2006 03

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ikon’s D50, the company’s latest foray into the sub-$1,000 digital-SLR

category, outstrips most other budget bodies in its class and kicks much

point-and-shoot ass.

Much of that capability comes from the D50’s lineage. The body feels and

functions like a detuned D70, which was itself a breakthrough product. The D50

sports the same imaging sensor as the more expensive D70, and delivers ter-

rific bang for the buck.

The body is rated for 2.5fps, which sounds slow, but thanks to fast write

times, the D50 will shoot almost continuously until your memory card is full

(provided you own a fast card, of course). We tested the D50 with a SanDisk

Ultra II SD card and only experienced slowdowns shooting RAW or at high ISO.

Nikon likely switched to SD to save space and make the D50 smaller.

The body is plastic but feels solid. Ergonomics are good but a few things

irked us. First, you

have to use the

menus to switch

metering modes. And

there’s only one com-

mand dial, so chang-

ing exposure settings

in manual mode is

cumbersome; it’s

much easier with

two dials. Hobbyists will also miss a mirror-lock feature for macro or telephoto

work, and we hate that the top LCD lacks a backlight. Grrr.

The biggest weakness of the camera is in perception though. At 6.1MP,

many consumers will pass on the D50 in favor of a point-and-shoot with a

higher pixel count that costs about the same. That would be a mistake. With

its larger CCD sensor, the D50 will shoot far superior images to any point-and-

shoot on the market today.

With a mirror lock-up feature, and a better viewfinder, this would be a

Kick Ass camera, without a doubt. Coming off the full-frame EOS 5D (reviewed

in April) and its spectacular viewfinder, the D50 finder looks like a disposable

camera’s. That shouldn’t be a deal breaker, though, as the D50 is a

great bargain.

—GORDON MAH UNG

Nikon D50

Entry-level SLR is packed with features

T

he AR Digital MediaBridge offers a host of welcome features, including

the best TV-based user interface we’ve seen. It also includes a not-so-

welcome cooling fan. Most of its remaining shortcomings should be easy

for the manufacturer to overcome.

Curious to discover why such an otherwise elegant device requires

videocard-style cooling, despite its external power brick, we immediately

popped the MediaBridge’s lid for a look-see. Inside, we found proof that

some older components never really go away: The MediaBridge is built

around AMD’s Geode CPU, and nVidia’s nForce2 chipset and nForce2 IGP

integrated graphics processor.

Fortunately, the fan is quiet enough—and the MediaBridge’s perfor-

mance is fabulous enough—that we can ignore it. With all that power under

the hood for decoding, we had no problem playing Call of Duty 2 on our host

PC while a ripped DVD version of The Abyss streamed to our home-theater

system over an 802.11g network (802.11b is also supported, as is wired

Ethernet). The unit’s back panel bristles with connectors, including optical

and coaxial SPDIF; component, composite, and S-video; a DVI port; and a

USB 2.0 port (which would be much handier on the front panel).

The MediaBridge was an absolute breeze to set up and use, with an

intuitive user interface and a terrific remote. Dedicated buttons call up

directories of movies, music, and digital photos stored on your PC, and a

“go back” button makes simple work of backing out of nested menus. The

remote can be programmed to control up to five other components, too.

Support for nearly every A/V format (including 480p and 720p HD for

video, and 1080i HD for digital photos) left us doubly disappointed by the

absence of support for subscription music services, such as Rhapsody. This

wouldn’t be such a problem if the box supported Internet radio or Universal

Plug-and-Play server software, but it doesn’t. The manufacturer promises

Rhapsody and Internet radio support “soon,” but it was less certain about the

general UPnP support that would open Yahoo’s music service among others. All

these shortcomings could be easily remedied with a software upgrade;

but as it works now, the MediaBridge

falls just shy of Kick Ass.

—MICHAEL BROWN

Acoustic Research Digital

MediaBridge

This A/V streamer is frustratingly close to being great

The stylish AR Digital MediaBridge can stream audio and high-

definition video without breaking a sweat.

8

AR DIGITAL MEDIABRIDGE

$350, http://www.araccessories.com

8

NIKON D50

$700, http://www.nikonusa.com

SPECS

SHUTTER SPEED Bulb-1/4000

FLASH SYNC SPEED 1/500

ISO RANGE 200-1600

SENSOR 6.1MP sensor

LENS SUPPORT Nikkor DX and AF Nikkor

lenses (no metering with AI^

and AI-S lenses)

Get yourself a Nikon D50 and get rid of that sissy, nickel-plated

point-and-shoot.

MARCH 2006 MA XIMUMPC 65