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The Olympus E-PL2 comes from a long line of DSLR and entry-level DSLR cameras that employ the technology, artistic filters and accessory ports necessary to turn any photographic opportunity into a unique experience.
Unlike its brother, the Olympus E-620, the E-PL2 has HD movie capabilities and allows you to connect the camera directly to your HDTV with an HDMI cable to share all of your movie creations with your family and friends. To give you a mode of reference, this DSLR camera has a continuous image-shooting speed of three frames per second. When shooting a film using this DSLR camera, however, the Olympus E-PL2 camera shoots at 30 frames per second.
The E-PL2 entry-level camera is ideal for preserving those perfect family moments. If you have interest in shooting more creative projects, the DSLR camera has six artistic filters for you to choose from, enhancing your video to create dynamic content. If you regularly use your DSLR camera to shoot HD video, we recommend using a SDHC or SDXC media card, which are both compatible with the E-PL2, to store your large files.
Whatever you're doing and wherever you're doing it, this Olympus DSLR camera has 22 scene-select modes for you to choose from so you get the best shot every time. You can choose from portrait, panorama, sunset, sports, night, children and more. With its iAuto technology, the E-PL2 DSLR camera automatically recognizes the appropriate scene (portrait, landscape, macro, sport and night) for every occasion.
The ePortrait Mode is a wow feature that automatically smoothes and illuminates the faces in your portraits. The camera will also automatically save two images on your memory card when in this mode – the unaltered portrait and one with the ePortrait modifications.
Children, pets and life in general never stand still, so this DSLR camera employs Live View technology with autofocus tracking and in-body image stabilization. See a shot from the sidelines, press the shutter halfway down and snap – the DSLR camera captures the image, and it's in focus. The autofocus tracking system hones in and locks on your subject, automatically adjusting the focus and brightness levels.
The Olympus E-PL2 is smaller and lighter than many entry-level DSLR cameras on the market today. Due to its small size, the overall design is underwhelming and looks like what you would imagine an entry-level camera to look like. The front of the camera is plain, and the back of the camera features the basic selection buttons. The built-in, automatic flash is usually located in the center of a DSLR camera. Olympus placed this DSLR's flash on the right side of the camera.
On the product's homepage, there are up to six tabs for you to access, including Overview, Features, Accessories, Support and Reviews. We appreciate that the Support tab is front and center, easy to see and easy to access. The Olympus E-PL2 camera has several help and support options, including telephone, email and live chat support, an excellent instruction manual and a model-specific FAQs section.
The HP mini 5103 is a lightweight, small and capable netbook. While there are some flaws, this product has nothing to be ashamed of. Netbook users are likely to swoon over the 5103's form factor and will be elated to hear about the impressive battery life. The 5103's biggest shortcoming is that it doesn't stand out in any particular area. In a competitive market like netbooks, products like the 5103 can be overlooked. Not because they aren't pretty or don't perform well, but because they don't have any outstanding specifications to draw your attention. The 5103 is, however, a product worth consideration.
With most netbooks trending towards high-definition displays, it is unfortunate to see that the 5103 has not adopted a higher-resolution display. With only 1024 x 600 pixels, the 5103's display is not considered HD. While this may not be a big deal for some people, we feel strongly that higher resolutions are better. If you have a higher resolution, you can fit more information on the screen at a time than you can with lower resolutions. This can be very important for multitaskers.
The 5103 is one of the smaller netbooks in our lineup. Due to their nature, netbooks should be ultra portable. Imagine trying to carry around a netbook that weighs as much as a couple of textbooks. That just doesn't make sense. The 5103 weighs less than 3 pounds. That's light enough that you won't notice much of a difference if you place it in your backpack.
As with many current netbooks, the 5103 uses the Intel Atom N455 processor. This processor excels at providing enough processing power to get the job done without using excessive amounts of power. The N455 conserves power as much as possible, which translates directly into longer battery life. However, the N455 is not a dual-core processor and multitaskers may become frustrated with the processor's limitations.
Many netbooks boast of a seven- or eight-hour battery life, and that's a good amount of time to work, play or surf the internet. The 5103, however, claims a 10.25-hour battery life. While that isn't the longest advertised battery life in our netbook lineup, it is certainly impressive.
The 5103 also sports the netbook standard 250GB hard drive. Some people may think that 250GB isn't enough, but if you're going to fill a hard drive of that size, you probably don't want a netbook anyway. The 5103's hard drive gives you enough space to save and store any important documents or pictures.
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