budget

Cameras

Kodak Launches Cheap Zx1 Weatherproof 720p HD Camcorder

1:30PM Nick Broughall | Every Jackass in America has a cheap HD camcorder in the US these days, thanks to models from Flip, Creative, Sony, Kodak and god knows how many other manufacturers. Meanwhile, here in Australia, we’re left with pretty much nothing. Luckily, Kodak’s decided to offer us some hope with the Zx1, a weatherproof 720p camcorder that’s just $299. Now every jackass in Australia can record their misadventures in HD for YouTube glory! More »
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Memorex MVBD-2510 Blu-ray Limbos Under $US300

11:30PM Mark Wilson | The Memorex MVBD-2510 fills that getting-the-job-done-for-cheap niche, but Gizmodo readers should know we don’t actually recommend it for purchase. It costs only $US270, but sacrifices Profile 2.0 and the ethernet that accompanies it. So it’s a pass, but a positive trend for the industry all the same. [prnewswire] More »
Phones

Hop-On Set To Release US$125 Smartphone, Super Cheap 3G, GSM and More

4:50AM Sean Fallon | You may recognise Hop-On from their wide array of cheap-o disposable mobile phones and budget-friendly mobile devices. The company is looking to build on this reputation by unveiling six new phones including the US$125 HOP 1801 smartphone and the HOP1809 which they claim will be one of the cheapest 3G capable phones you can buy. It will also feature a camera, Bluetooth, and support for MPEG-4 media playback.
Press

What The Budget Means For Gadget Fans

11:31AM Nick Broughall | Last night K-Rudd unleashed his government’s first federal budget. It was riveting stuff for anybody even remotely interested in what kind of economics are involved in planning the finances for an entire country. Considering I struggle to balance my household budget, the chances of me paying attention to last night’s events were slim. However, our good friend Angus was kind enough to sort through all the boring bits about childcare and health, and come up with a down-to-earth guide of the important technology bits for APC. More »
Entertainment

Is It Right That the U.S. Government Spends More on the Digital TV Switch Than Literacy Education?

11:00AM Sean Fallon | To be honest, I can’t say that I am surprised to hear that the government has allocated US$1.5 billion to inform 17 million citizens about the digital TV transition. After all, those uninformed few would undoubtedly take up arms if they missed out on sports broadcasts and NBC’s Thursday lineup. However, I was a little surprised to hear that the total proposed budged for literacy education in 2009 stands at a paltry US$574.6 million. Once again it seems that our government does not have its priorities in order. That having been said, does this represent a proper allocation of taxpayer money in your opinion? How does broadband access fit into the mix? More »
Cameras

The Ultimate Cheap Camera Battlemodo

11:30AM Benny Goldman | I have a confession to make: I’ve never owned a digital camera. I’ve played around plenty with friend’s point-and-shoots, and I have picked up a DSLR on occasion too. But I never saw the point of paying US$300 for something my iPhone could pretty much do well enough. Now that summer’s coming up and the price of high-megapixel cameras is going down, though, I figure it might be time to pick one out for myself—on the cheap. Let someone else waste money, I want to know what’s good at US$150 and not a penny more. I’m gonna be picky: I only want a camera that can take shots that make me look like a photography genius while in truth I’m a photography dumbass, but still, the key is to keep the price down. I tried out five US$150-and-under cameras, and here’s what I found: More »
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Supercomputing on a Budget

9:05PM Gizmodo US Edition | Tim Brom built this 26.25 gigaflop supercomputer from scratch, for only $2,500. Since then hadware costs have dropped, and it should now only cost you $1,256 to build the same machine. It’s called MicroWulf, and is based around four microATX motherboards. Each motherboard has its own dual core CPU and 2GB of RAM, and communicates with the others over Gigabit Ethernet. A complete list of hardware is after the link, if you’re tempted to build your own. [Oh Gizmo!] More »
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Budget GeForce 8400 GS Coming in Two Weeks

12:15AM Seamus Byrne | Looking for some DirectX 10 action on the cheap? The guys at ExtremeTech are claiming Nvidia will release a sub $100 GeForce 8400 card on the 19th of June. It’ll come in 256MB ($79) and 128MB ($50) flavors. The cards will be clocked at 450MHz with a 400MHz memory clock. They’ll have HDCP support, but no HDMI (naturally at that price point). Either card you get will be a good deal so long as you’re not a heavy gamer. – Louis Ramirez Cheap GeForce 8400 GS on 19th June [VR-Zone via ExtremeTech] More »
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Low End Theory: Gadgets Are the New ChapStick

3:40AM Seamus Byrne | By Brendan I. Koerner Totally against my will, the missus dragged me along to Bed Bath & Beyond a couple of weekends ago. (Insert whip-cracking sound effects, wise guys.) It was every bit as horrific as I’d feared—I must lack whatever gene enables some folks to swoon over Casabella all-purpose gloves. Oh, and I had to miss the Mavs-Suns game in the name of stocking up on overpriced cleaning supplies. Brutal, just brutal. The day’s one saving grace came as we trudged toward the checkout line. To the right of the cash registers was a rack of low-end gadgets, of the sort you’d ordinarily find at an exceptionally raggedy Radio Shack. There was a USB minifan for five bucks (brand name: “Cool Breeze”), a host of Bandai-style LCD games, and quite possibly the flimsiest iPod speakers known to man. The cake-taker, however, was the Zadro iSing Shower Radio (pictured at right), which hits all the low-end high points. Shameless attempt to leech off the iPod’s celebrity? Check. Using the “wow” factor of water resistance to mask otherwise craptacular craftsmanship? Check. Under a Hamilton? Yep—a lovely $9.99. Now, absolutely no one goes to Bed Bath & Beyond looking for electro-dreck. These products were rather impulse buys, to be tossed in a shopper’s cart just before she pays for a bevy of pillows and spatulas. In other words, here was strong evidence that gadgets are quickly morphing into the new ChapStick. And that strikes me as sort of a big deal. More »