You can find the power settings in the Windows taskbar. Sometimes you are also hiding in the small flyout menu that appears when you click on the arrowhead pointing upwards. Alternatively, use the search function in the Start menu to go to the corresponding section of the system control. For Windows 8 / 8.1, simply type “Power settings” on the start screen.
Windows: The best power settings
At first sight, there was not much to do with the Sigma 2.8M / 17-70mm DC OS HSM Macro (C) compared to the predecessor model, but in the interior, there is a lens less in the Type C (for contemporary). But less is actually more, because by special glasses – called FLD and SLD – and bilateral aspheres comes out in the test on the Canon EOS 7D a visually better result out and that despite a little overall length and weight. Shading does not bring much at all focal lengths, which is synonymous with the longest synonymous completely ok. However, with the shorter focal lengths, the contrast and sharpness decrease noticeably in the corners.
Conclusion
Buying advice: Buying a lens - what you need to know
Despite weaknesses in the corners currently one of the most attractive candidates in the class of the long Universalzooms and a good replacement for most kit lenses. Digital recommended.
SIGMA 2.8-4 / 17-70mm DC OS HSM Macro (C) (Canon 7D)
B & W Zeppelin Air
Thanks to integrated AirPlay technology, iPod, iPhone or iPad no longer need to be connected directly to the docking station to transfer their music to the high-powered speakers. Only a WLAN network is necessary, it can communicate between Apple player and Zeppelin.
Even from the PC, the songs can be conjured directly onto the musical airship. All this worked in the test under real living conditions not only flawless, but also with several zeppelins. And because the music can be transmitted from one source simultaneously to multiple receivers, multi-room sound is relatively simple.
Also the volume can be adjusted via the Apple control units. If you want it classic, you can also use the enclosed infrared remote control.
Pleasing: behind all the computer technology, the sound does not need to be reset. The active 2.1 loudspeaker system is convincing all along the line and also sounds almost effortlessly with rooms with difficult acoustics. And last but not least, the wonderfully elegant design completes the overall package, which is absolutely worth its proud price.
B & W Zeppelin Air
€ 600, www.bowers-wilkins.de
Overall rating: Outstanding
Price / Performance: very good
B & W Zeppelin Air
They are tailor-made for Windows 8 tablets. At first glance, the cool design of the Wedge keyboard and the Wedge Touch Mouse is noticeable. Thus the 80 euro expensive Bluetooth keyboard turns off automatically as soon as the cover sits in its place. In addition, the rubberized, carbon fiber-reinforced cover can be folded and used as a tabletop.
Guide: Windows 8 with Windows 7 interface
The keys of the compact, but thanks to aluminum plate rigid keyboard are close together, but can be used well. Some of the function buttons are used with the Windows 8 commands search, settings, parts, and devices. The tiny, wedge-shaped 70-euro mouse is operated with the fingertips, which requires a certain amount of habituation.
The four-way scroll function is controlled via the touch-sensitive surface of the mouse. Zoom gestures, it unfortunately does not recognize. Mouse and keyboard worked perfectly with Android 4 tablets, iOS devices can only use the keyboard.
For the addition of macros, two macro-languages are available in the Office: PerfectScript for Automation of Processes and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) 6.3 for more complex add-ins. VBA macros from Word were not correctly imported in our test and had to be adapted. The interface is now redo in German, the well-written help texts answer fast questions and give especially advice from Microsoft Office many advice. For the United States, there is an interesting upgrade offer of 99 euros for Corel and Microsoft customers. The upgrade does not check if a previous or competing product is installed.
Http://www.corel.de
As a mobile companion for the shirt or handbag, the Panasonic Lumix SZ7 with Leica 10x zoom is positioned and will thus be linked to the Lumix DMC-TZ1, with which one had begun in house the trend to the mini-travel camera with large zoom range. If the TZ1 was still around four centimeters in the year 2006, the SZ models of the year 2012 with only 20.6mm measure just barely more than half. The SZ7 is offered for 269 Euro (UVP) in the colors black, mother-of-pearl white and chocolate.
Test Conclusion
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ7 fits easily into the shirt pocket with 130 grams in the check card format. The camera surface looks roughened, but it is not and the camera thereby not optimal to keep. The buttons with clear pressure points are of good quality, less popular are the susceptible sliding switches. The small plug sockets for connections of all kinds are protected by lids against dirt. The battery can also be charged via a normal USB port, such as the notebook, if there is no power outlet.
Like many new camera models, the Panasonic Lumix SZ7 has tiny tiny elevations on the camera floor. This makes it perfect on flat surfaces. It was always an annoyance when one tried to take photos with the self-timer and the device always turned to the front. This can not happen.
The 3-inch display of the Panasonic Lumix SZ7 with automatically controlled backlighting and 153 300 RGB pixels enables reliable image control under changing light conditions. The SZ7 produces ten images per second, with a continuous autofocus still five. In video mode, full-HD video (1920x1080 pixels at 50 frames per second) is written to the memory card. The autofocus is at 0.31s wide and 0.61 at telephoto.
The lens of the Panasonic Lumix SZ7 is from Leica. The range of focal lengths from 25 to 250 mm is suitable for the usual photos and certainly for a little more. An optical image stabilizer is on board. In the Lumix DSC-SZ7 a "High Sensitivity" -MOS sensor with 14 megapixels is used, which according to Panasonic "should be improved in signal and noise behavior". In addition to the usual scene modes, the SZ7 also has an HDR mode. This automatically generates three images with different exposures when it is triggered, and then calculates an image that is clearly marked in both bright and dark areas.
The picture quality gave little reason for criticism. The resolution in the center of the image remains above the mark of 1,000 Lp / BH at ISO 1,600 and only misses the mark itself at ISO 3.200 (993 Lp / BH). The edge waste is above all sensitivities at about 200 Lp / BH, which is noticeable but for a compact camera ok. The kurtosis values are especially exemplary for this camera class between 0.3 (ISO 100) and 1.1 (ISO 3.200).
The image results underline the measured values at least in the lower sensitivity range: stones and blades of our test pictures are accentuated at ISO100, skin nuances finely differentiated. Up to ISO400, the image quality is good, with ISO800 still useful. At the higher sensitivities, the picture quality must pay tribute to the small format of the sensor. Here, cameras with less (and larger) pixels are of advantage. All in all, 58.5 points for a camera in the credit card format and an MSRP of 269 euros are worth all the honors.
Buying advice: The best compact cameras up to 200 euros
The Panasonic Lumix SZ7 is a nice companion, which makes good pictures - as long as the sensitivity is not exhausted. No revolution at the camera market, but easy to use and reliable.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ7
With the dropbox, however, can make much more than pure data exchange. In the meantime, a number of tools and web services have emerged that extend the functions of the service, speed up the use, or completely turn it around for other purposes.
Tool 1: SortMyBox
We have compiled the best of these tools and web apps - there is something useful for every Dropbox user.
Tool 2: IFTTT
SortMyBox creates order in the dropbox. You define rules for SortMyBox to sort files, and the rest happens automatically whenever you upload a new file. For example, the rules can be "All with the file ending .mp4" in the "Videos" folder or "All files whose name 'Tim' contains in the 'Private' folder.
Tool 3: Drop it to me
Like Dropbox, SortMyBox runs in the cloud and, of course, the software needs access to the dropbox files. If you have a Google AppEngine access, you can also install the OpenSource software via GitHub.
Tool 4: Print via Dropbox
Go to website: SortMyBox
With the online service IFTTT (short for "If this then that") you can link your dropbox to other web services. To do this, create rules according to the pattern "If X happens, do Y". X is a triggering event, Y is an action, or to remain in IFTTT jargon: a trigger and an action.
The Dropbox channel of IFTTT knows the "New file" or "New image" triggers in the dropbox as well as the "Add file from URL", "Create text file" and "Add text to a text file" actions. The sample recipes IFTTT shows for the dropbox channel are more meaningful.
For example, you can automatically save images stored in Instagram in your Dropbox, have callers on your Android phone recorded in a text file in the dropbox, or drop any Facebook picture you are tagged into the dropbox
IFTTT is free of charge, free of charge, and can also be operated from the smartphone thanks to corresponding apps.
Go to website: IFTTT
Swap without Dropbox - Similar to the Side Cloud Load service, Drop It To Me works, but it is less for your own use, but for others who want to send you files. So that not everyone can fill your Dropbox account, set a password that the sender must know.
First, create an account with Drop It To Me and link it to your Dropbox. Enter the uploader password. At the end you will get a personal link in the form: "www.dropitto.me/my_name". You also need to know your friend. If he opens the link and enters the uploader password, he can select a file up to the size of 75 MB from his computer and load it into your dropbox. It appears in the Dropbox subfolder "DROPitTOme."
Go to website: Drop It To Me
Tool 5: Dropbox Portable AHK
Dropbox can also be used to print files automatically. Windows users use the Visual Basic script from Labnol.org. It creates a subfolder named "PrintQueue" in the dropbox. Whatever you place here is automatically printed on the standard printer as soon as your PC synchronizes with Dropbox. Labnol.org also demonstrates how to get this feature running on OSX and Linux.
Bonus tip: Set up a rule in your email client that handles messages with the subject "bill" and known senders like Amazon, Ebay, or your favorite online store. It automatically stores attached PDFs in the PrintQueue folder and archives the relevant mails. Then you do not have to worry about printing receipts.
Go to website: Labnol.org
Dropbox for the stick: Dropbox actually lives on it, in several places firmly installed the data to mobilize. But with the Dropbox Portable tool you make the Dropbox mobile. Install the tool on a USB flash drive, and carry the sync tool with you. Then you can start it on any Windows computer without installation. The Dropbox folder is also on the stick, so you do not have to create it on the remote computer.
However, a first configuration is required: Unpack Dropbox Portable AHK in a directory on the stick and start the exe file. A wizard will guide you through the configuration, for example, to specify the swap folder that should be on the stick.
Tool 6: Viivo
Tool 7: Mover
One setting that you can make is "Sync and Go": This will automatically close the application when the synchronization is complete. This is useful if you just want to keep a short-cut of a folder.
After configuration, start the portable tool wherever you want from the stick. If you want to recall the configuration, press and hold the Shift key while the tools are started.
Go to website: Dropbox Portable AHK
Encryption for your files in the cloud: Not only since the NSA scandal, many users fear an unencrypted award of their data in difficult-to-control cloud services. So it is quite useful to encode the data before the actual upload.
Truecrypt or Veracrypt, which allows you to create encrypted containers that you can mount as drives into the Windows tree, is a simple way to do this. This is known by most users. Because the container files are very large, deployment in the cloud is only worthwhile if you are using a service that only transmits changes to files and does not always contain the complete file. This is done with Dropbox and Hidrive, but not with Skydrive or Googel Drive.
An alternative are special cloud encryption services such as Viivo. Viivo offers its own folder, which you use like the Dropbox folder. The files that you insert there again, automatically encrypt Viivo and pushes them into the dropbox. This takes the synchronization.
On the other side of the line - like your notebook - Viivo waits and retrieves everything that is new in the dropbox, decrypts it and puts it readably into the Viivo folder there. Practical advantage: Parallel to the encryption, the dropbox can be used as usual, because Viivo places its files in a special folder within the dropbox: Vivo-Encrypted. The security service is a kind of encoded meta-layer over the dropbox.
Viivo also works with Googel Drive, Skydrive and Box.net. There are also Viivo apps for iPhone and Android devices.
Go to website: Viivo
Setting up cloud backup for the cloud: The Mover web tool automates data transfer between different resources on the web. This allows you to move data between different cloud services. It is not possible to upload files from the PC.
The copying itself is simple: Enter a source on the left and a destination on the right. In the middle, you can specify additional options, such as mover zipping the data or repeating the schedule on a regular basis.
An incremental backup is also possible, which means that Mover always transfers only the changed data. This is useful, because you have to pay the service by GByte: 1 US dollar per GB.
Go to website: Mover
