November 2004 — Product Watch
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2005 Digital Imaging Products Guide
As teaching professionals move more content online, the need for digital material to support that Web-based content is growing rapidly. This article will look at a handful of approaches to creating, capturing and manipulating digital content. All of the methods reviewed can generate digital content for Blackboard, WebCT or the Web, while some have educational uses beyond the online world. As an additional bonus to cash-strapped educational institutions, none of the solutions are very expensive and a few are even free.
I will first look at two digital cameras from Gateway, then I will explore a couple of free programs for working with digital images. In addition, reviews for three hardware products - a device for capturing analog video signals on a computer from Dazzle Fusion, the Seiko InkLink handwriting system for capturing handwriting digitally, and an Aspire DVD recorder - are below.
Digital Shutterbug
After last year’s digital camera reviews,
readers requested that I look at Gateway digital cameras since many schools and colleges have purchasing agreements with the company. I was able to get my hands on two models: the Gateway DC-M42 and the DC-T50 digital cameras (www.gateway.com/education).
The DC-M42 offers a 4.1-megapixel resolution, while the DC-T50 has 5-megapixel resolution and retails for $250, making it one of the least expensive 5-megapixel cameras available. While both cameras are small enough to fit in a shirt pocket, the more powerful DC-T50 is surprisingly smaller (by about 25%) than the DC-M42. Both are automatic point-and-shoot models that include a built-in flash, a back 1.6” color TFT LCD and an optical viewfinder. In addition, the DC-M42 and DC-T50 feature 3X optical zoom and digital zoom lenses.
The DC-M42 comes with 11 MB of internal memory, which limits its storage capacity to about nine images at maximum resolution. This model d'esn’t come with a memory card, so you must either download the images to a PC and burn them to a CD, or purchase a Secure Digital (SD) memory card for more capacity. The DC-T50, however, comes with a 32 MB SD memory card that holds about 12 images at maximum resolution. In addition, both models offer several lower-resolution settings and can take short, low-resolution video clips as well.
The DC-M42 runs on two AA batteries, while the DC-T50 uses a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. Both come with cables and software to connect to a USB port as well as serviceable photo-editing software such as Roxio’s PhotoSuite 4, which is easy to use and will handle most common editing needs. There’s no question that both cameras take great snapshots, especially at their highest resolution, just visit click here for examples of photos that I took with the cameras. Overall, given its higher resolution, sleeker design and small difference in price, the DC-T50 is the better choice.
One final note: As this article was going to press, Gateway discontinued the DC-M42; however, used models of the digital camera are widely available beginning at $130.
