5 retro-tech gadgets that won Digit Zero1 Award over 20 years ago

It would be an understatement to say that technological progress has accelerated over the past two decades, proof of which is visible across Digit Zero1 Awards’ journey as well – right to its very beginning in 2001. This was the time when online streaming music didn’t exist, you had to buy CDs to play on your PC’s CD-ROM drives. Where megapixel count in cutting-edge digital cameras was still done in single digits, and PCs retailing for close to a lakh Indian rupees paled in comparison to the performance prowess of today’s ₹10,000 Android smartphone. 

Also read: Zero1 Awards Special: Best smartphones of the past decade

You’ll only find these products in antique electronics stores, if you’re lucky! In this nostalgic trip down memory lane, check out these retro-tech products who won Digit Zero1 Awards for their best performances at the turn of the millennium. 

Sony DSC-P1 (Point-n-Shoot Digital Camera)

Back in 2001, over 20 years ago, 6 MP cameras offered the best image quality but also carried a heavy price tag, wrote Digit’s Test Centre. Not only did the Sony DSC-P1 offer pixel-perfect reproduction in an easy-to-use package, it also had the ability to shoot a maximum of 1 minute of video together with voice recording – which was a big thing at the time!

Despite its very small form factor, the Sony DSC-P1 had brilliant optical and imaging features and packed plenty of punch into a small package, making it a very good choice for the discerning user who needed portability in a camera coupled with performance.

ASUS CD-S500/G (CD-ROM Drive)

In 2001, CD-ROM drives hit an astounding 56x speed, according to the Digit Archives – resulting in a maximum 8.4 MBps transfer rate! As invaluable as the floppy disk once was, the CD-ROM drive was the de-facto standard for CD-based storage back in 2001. 

The ASUS CD-S500/G 50x drive performed at such a commendable level well that it proved to be faster even than some of the 56x drives that were tested during the course of the year by Digit’s Test Centre over 20 years ago. With a very good sequential data transfer rate and excellent access times, this drive would prove to be very suitable for applications where there was a lot of sequential data being read, wrote Digit’s reviewers back then. We couldn’t imagine a world without disc-based media then, can you imagine trying to find a fresh new consumer PC with a CD-ROM drive in it?

Dell Dimensity 8100 (Desktop PC)

From faster and more feature-rich processors to blazingly fast graphics subsystems and seriously powerful speakers, desktop computers have evolved in sheer functionality and processing power, Digit’s Test Centre wrote about desktop PCs all the way back in 2001. What was the norm in top-of-the-line PCs at the time? A 17-inch monitor, 64 MB graphics cards, DVD drives and surround sound speaker systems – would you believe it?! 

When it came to sheer processing power, in terms of the processor or the graphics sub-systems, there was nothing that could touch the Dell Dimension 8100 – circa 2001, according to Digit Test Centre. With a 1.5 GHz Pentium 4 processor, a GeForce3 graphics accelerator, DVD, and a highend Turtle Beach multi-channel sound card, the Dell machine was the epitome of a powerful desktop PC. A worthy Zero1 Award winner over 20 years ago!

Viewsonic E53 (CRT Monitor)

With ever-evolving technology in terms of resolution and refresh rates, 2001’s top end 15-inch monitors could even reach resolutions of up to 1280×1024—something that was unthinkable in the past, wrote reviewers of Digit’s Test Centre. When it came to building a budget PC, there was “nothing to beat a 15- inch monitor,” we said back then. 

Specifically, the Viewsonic E53, this monitor proved to be a very worthy choice for users who wanted a 15-inch monitor but needed the characteristics of a 17- inch monitor. It was one of the very few 15-inch monitors that supported resolutions of 1280×1024—something that was seen only in larger monitors at the time. With very good display characteristics, this monitor won top honours in the display category of Digit Zero1 Awards in 2001.

Creative Nomad II MG (MP3 Player)

Circa 2001, early MP3 players based upon flash memory were not only expensive, but also didn’t have the space to store a good amount of songs. Though memory became cheaper, new ways of playing back MP3 songs were devised. As the footprint for higher storage capacities continued to diminish, users could look forward to gigabytes of song data that fits into their pocket – with the added support for standards such as MP3Pro and Ogg Vorbis. 

This is where the Nomad II MG excelled, offering a sleek and suave power accessory for those who are happier with small and feature-filled packages that suit their style. It offered great build quality, a nice interface, good audio transfer speeds, support for WMA format and a very utilitarian software bundle that made it stand out from the rest of the MP3 player pack in 2001.

Which category of products will become vintage antiques in another two decades? Let us know in the comments below. And stay tuned for more Zero1 Awards 2023 updates, keep checking www.digit.in/zero1-awards for all the latest on Digit’s annual best products of the year awards.

Also read: Announcing Digit Zero1 Awards 2023 and Best Buys 2023