reviews TESTED. REVIEWED. VERDICTIZED
Oregon Scientific
ATC-1000 DV Cam
We described Samsung’s SC-X105L
Sports Cam as being “perfect for captur-
ing your best Jackass moments” when
we reviewed it in January 2006. Oregon
Scientific’s ATC-1000 could be that little
camera’s even littler brother.
Sure, this DV cam maxes out at
640x480 resolution, it delivers a glacially
slow capture rate of just 15 frames per sec-
ond, and it’s outfitted with a miniscule 32MB
of flash memory (upgradeable to a full giga-
byte by way of its hidden SD memory card
slot), but do you really need anything more to
capture stupid human tricks?
The barrel-shaped device runs on four
AAA batteries and is about the size of a
rifle scope. You can fasten it to damn near
anything—handlebars, pith helmet, model
rocket—using the provided nylon strap
and shock-absorbing rubber mount. The
videos and still images we captured in our
tests using the CMOS image sensor and
fixed-focus lens were pretty grainy, but the
camera proved to be quite capable of taking
a beating without falling apart.
You download images and video from
the camera using a mini USB 1.1 port, which
draws power from the host PC while it’s
connected—a convenient battery-saving
feature, since the camera doesn’t come with
a separate power supply.
OK, so the ATC-1000 doesn’t have near-
ly as many features as the Samsung, and its
image quality leaves much to be desired. But
with a $120 price tag, it’s so cheap that you
probably won’t mind if it’s damaged while
capturing a gnarly misadventure on your
snowboard or dirt bike; that is, if you and the
camera’s memory survive the escapade suf-
ficiently intact to watch it later.
—MICHAEL BROWNATC-1000 DV CAM 7
$120, http://www.oregonscientific.comBLUETOOTH HEADSET
XXXXXXXnXZEN Plus
Talking on a cellphone while you’re driving or
sitting in a restaurant doesn’t exactly display
mastery of the social graces, but needs
sometimes trump manners. If you must yak
in public, do the rest of us a favor and use
good equipment.
If your phone supports Bluetooth,
Gennum’s nXZEN Plus is a fabulous wire-
less headset. It’s tiny and lightweight, and it
sounds great. Gennum’s secret weapon is
a powerful DSP chip paired with two highly
directional microphones; together, they do an
excellent job of canceling background noise.
We tested the headset in a variety of
noisy environments, including a crowded
bar, while driving in a convertible at freeway
speeds with the top down, and even stand-
ing between two loudspeakers at very high
volume. We never felt the need to speak
above a conversational level to compensate
for the racket. Listening on a cellphone at
the other end of the connection, road noise
was perceived as a soft whoosh, bar chatter
was reduced to a dull murmur, and we could
barely hear the speakers.
Four buttons control all the headset’s
functions. We found the large side-button
(on/off and call answer) simple to locate
and use, but the volume control and
“pinch” (mute/unmute) buttons proved a
little more cumbersome.
In addition to sounding great, the
nXZEN comes with thoughtful features:
plug a second, cabled earpiece into the
headset and your MP3 player and you can
listen to music in stereo. The headset will
automatically mute your tunes when you
receive an incoming call. Laptop users who
like to travel light will appreciate the ability
to charge the headset using either an AC
adapter or a USB cable.
—MICHAEL BROWNNXZEN PLUS 8
$160, http://www.nxzen.comMINI DV CAM2”2”5.5”1 .5”