Gear Patrol | Spirit of Adventure, Passion for Gear

Better late than never

After buying out Ericsson’s share of their joint venture earlier this year, Sony’s inaugural run of solo-branded smartphones shows the Japanese heavyweight has no intention of ceding the market just yet to Korean competitors like Samsung and LG without a fight. The Xperia S features a 4.3-inch 720p display with a 1.5GHZ dual-core processor, a [...]

Higher Def

4k resolution is still a long way off from replacing lowly 1080p as the new standard for high-definition, but Sony’s latest BDP-S790 Blu-ray player doesn’t mind standing on the cutting edge. Among the slew of players announced, this lone model packs the ability to up convert 1080p content to 4k resolution — which is great [...]

Hot Shot

Sony hopes to shift the tide in the war between micro four-thirds technology and mirrorless DSLRs with their newly announced NEX-7. Its 10.3 ounce, magnesium alloy body contains the same 24.3-megapixel Exmor APS HD sensor that has made Sony’s Alpha line of DSLRs the talk of the camera town. Combined with other features like an [...]

Look Now, Or Later

Precision glass isn’t cheap. Photographers and Apple Store architects have known that for years, as have those in the market for a quality pair of binoculars. In that context, Sony’s digital recording binoculars ($1400+) offer an interesting value proposition and represent an entirely new category of devices — at least for those whose business card [...]

Brothers in Arms

Taking advantage of speedy new Thunderbolt technology (courtesy, Intel) the all-new ultraportable Sony VAIO Z piles on the specs including a featherweight 2.6 lb weight, 256 GB solid-state hard drive, 1.3 megapixel webcam and a matte 1600×900 or optional 1920×1080 13″ LCD display. But what makes this svelte little machine truly interesting is its optional [...]

What You Need to Know Before Diving In

2011 is the year of the tablet, no matter how hard we and our wallets squirm over having another gadget thrust into our lives. But why now? A discussion on that topic could take longer than the birther diatribe if explored in full, but the short answer is we have our smartphones addictions to thank. [...]

Sony goes dual wield

Powered by Honeycomb, Sony has unleashed a duo of tablets called, S1 ($599, est) and S2 ($699 est) — we’ll let you guess what the ‘S’ stands for. The S1, designed for media consumption and shaped like a folded magazine features a 9.4″ screen, Tegra 2 SoC processor, Sony’s own customized UI, “Swift” web browser [...]

Because your homage to Inception won't film itself

Mmmm. Pro gear. At long last, Sony’s pro camcorder with E-mount (think: exchangeable lenses) has arrived. The broadcast quality HD camera is far too much gear for the amateur, but it never hurts to dream. Right? At the heart of the modular-design Sony NEX-FS100 ($5,850-$6,550) is what the Sony calls the Super 35mm sensor — [...]

Because 2D still matters

Like the idea of 3D, but don’t want to sacrifice the ability to capture tack-sharp full HD video? Sony has just the weapon for you. The Sony Handycam HDR-TD10 Full HD 3D ($1499) captures 1080p HD with both of its dual lenses — something Sony calls Double Full HD. Each lens is backed by a [...]

No more amateur hour

The onslaught of video-capable DSLR cameras have brought sexy back to budding filmmakers and photogs making the jump to motion, but even cameras like the Nikon D7000 and Canon 5DMkII are plagued with hair-pulling issues when capturing motion. Nauseating judder, reliability, and proper focusing are enough to cause any operator nightmares. What’s a budget filmmaker [...]

Google TV by way of Sony

Logitech may have struck first blood in the Google TV race with their Revue set-top box, but the Sony Internet NSX-GT1 series is the world’s first HDTV line powered by Google TV. Here’s the skinny.

How Sony Does a Pocket Cam

Besides winning the “most appalling product name of the month” award, the Sony Bloggie Touch ($179-$199) does pack an impressive bit of hardware for a pocket camcorder. A 3″ touchscreen, 4GB or 8GB of memory, Exmor CMOS sensor, 1080p video, 12.7 megapixel still image capture, and a fast f2.8 lens give the Bloggie some legit [...]

Thanks to all who entered our recent Sony Walkman giveaway. Unfortunately, we can only make the water resistant dreams of two lucky random readers who entered come true, so congratulations to Adam Yates and Jeff (doing the Ironman Coeur d’Alene). We hope you’ll both enjoy the sweet rewards of Gear Patrol readership. Drop us a [...]

Note: This contest has ended! Click here to find out who won. After our review last week, Sony graciously offered up two black Sony Water Resistant Walkman NWZ-W250′s to get Gear Patrol readers geared up with some water-resistant, wire-free goodness. Here’s the skinny. We know some of you have Facebook, some of you have Twitter, [...]

Wire-Free, Water-Resistant, Wear-Able

Nope, no tape players here. The Sony Walkman NWZ-W250 ($60) is a wireless, water-resistant player specifically designed for those who need to be hands-free, literally. Looking at you fellow all-weather runners. Before you yawn at the thought of another Walkman, take a look a the specs. Quickcharge (3 mins gets you 90), 11 hour play [...]