Wintal PD900 User manual

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FB123 CMYKDHS 23-JAN-2008 PAGE
6
CO
6Herald Sun, Wednesday, January 23, 2008 connect
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HERE are some of the gadgets parents might
consider buying for schoolchildren:
Memory stick: All students should have a school
email address and/or a memory stick. Get two
256MB ones, clearly labelled, rather than a 512MB
or bigger, if you’re worried about your child losing
them.
Mobile phone: Primary students don’t need mobile
phones unless they travel on public transport and/
or their parents want one for peace of mind. Junior
secondary students can be offered the choice.
MP3 player/iPod: If the iPod is
being used regularly for
schoolwork, parents could
consider buying one.
PC: Stick with brand names. Cost
will depend on whether you want to
use the computer solely for
schoolwork or whether you want to use it to play
games and DVDs, edit videos or create graphics.
Laptop: Some schools have compulsory one-to-one
laptop programs. Parents usually buy it through the
school, depending on the deal with a computer
company.
Broadband access: All students should have
access to a computer with the internet at home.
Plans are as cheap as $5 a month for internet
access. If you can afford it, choose broadband.
Printer: Printers can copy, scan, colour print and
print photos. Inkjet printers start at about $50, but ink
cartridges are expensive and running costs can be
higher than expected. Worth getting a bundle deal.
Internet filtering device: Choice has
recommended these free government filters via
NetAlert — Intergard, Safe Eyes (for Mac) and
Optenet Web Filter.
Rudd’s revolution: The ALP’s National Secondary
School Computer Fund offers all high schools,
whether state, Catholic or private, the chance to
apply for grants of up to $1 million to acquire new,
or upgrade, information technology equipment such
as PCs and laptops. Parents need to ask their
child’s school if this affects what they need to buy.
LESSON IN TECHNOLOGY
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Children will love the many
features of this DVD portable,
writes Peter Familari
A picture of
luxury, kids
EVEN in a world conquered by the
ubiquitous MP3 player, there is still a
place for DVD portables as good as
Wintal’s PD900.
Moreover, at $349 the PD900 (right) is an
audio-video bargain.
Though our household iPods seem to
hang permanently off our ears and are
tailor-made for music on the move, our two
Generation Y youngsters took a shine to
the PD900.
At first the main attraction was the
novelty of using a DVD portable with a
rotating screen that looked and felt like a
tablet PC.
They took turns borrowing the PD900 so
they could lounge around in bed, staying up
late to watch the latest releases rented from
our local DVD store.
Connecting the player to their an-
cient CRT TVs in their bedroom was
a cinch, thanks to the amount of
input and output connections built
neatly and discreetly into the
PD900’s chassis.
These include a 2.5mm head-
phone jack and single 2.5 AV
input and output, 2 USB
ports, RF-in for an antenna and
a slot for a card reader. Cards
supported by the PD900 are SD, MS and
MMC flash memory cards.
The kids liked the size and clarity of the
PD900’s 9.2-inch 16:9 widescreen, as well
as hearing the movie soundtrack through the
supplied headphones.
They were also surprised by the range of
discs read by the player.
The Wintal will play back DVD, all the
DVD recordable and rewritable formats
including DVD-ROM, CD-R/RW, and
discs recorded with MP3 audio, MPEG4/
DivX (four and five-channel) video, and
S/VCD, CVD and JPEG files.
It has a USB port and a card-reader input
that supports audio and video formats via
USB devices and SD, MS and MMC cards.
In the following weeks the Wintal was
used to fight boredom in the back seat of the
family car.
The 9.2-inch screen rotates through 270
degrees and is quite large for a DVD
portable, most ranging from 5-7 inches.
The screen can be folded back against the
PD900’s main chassis facing up, which
makes for neat and comfortable in-car
viewing.
The 12-volt power supply was conven-
ient, too. When the built-in battery ran flat
the fix was as easy as plugging in a cable
bundled with the PD900 into the car’s
12-volt cigarette-lighter socket.
The Wintal is a dual power supply model
that can get its power from a 240-volt mains
power outlet as well as a 12-volt power
supply. Fully charged, the battery provides
up to 2½ hours of viewing.
You might be wondering how you could
get a TV station on to the screen of a
DVD portable.
The PD900 is the first of its genre to have
a handy built-in standard definition (SD)
digital TV tuner, as well as analog TV
reception.
It’s not a feature that proved useful for us,
because our vehicle doesn’t have a TV
antenna.
But many caravans and boats have
sturdy, sophisticated fixed aerials.
With a strong TV signal, the PD900’s
tuner pulls in any available telecasts.
When you’re not watching DVD movies
or TV on the PD900 you can play games.
Wintal bundles a joystick and a disc with
300 games into each PD900.
So how does it perform?
Very nicely, thank you. Provided you are
using a quality DVD or a decent broadcast
of a digital-TV channel, video images are
crisp and laced with powerful colours.
Moreover, they’re delivered without a
trace of digital distortion.
When it comes to sound quality, the
PD900 won’t create the nuances of the
subtle high-treble frequencies, nor does it
dig deep into the lowest bass notes.
But what’s there is tonally full and
satisfying.
The PD900 isn’t the last word on sleek
styling.
However, there’s no shortage of features,
a good picture, a reasonable sound — and
it’s well made.
Throw a low price into the mix and the
PD900 clearly emerges as a best buy.
Radio Parts Group: 9321 8300, www.wintal.com.au