Hewlett Packard Jornada 565

Let me say this about the HP Jornada 565, "HP's Pocket PC's still need refining"

The good about this Pocket PC

-Fast OS and easy useability when first powered up

-Improved design of the flashcard slot versus its predecessors. No more flimsy hinge cover.

-From the industrial designer's perspective, very good button layout, spacious for easy navigating, except still confused on the functioning of the button below the four-way scroll keypad

-Nice side rubber molding for improved grip

-Excellent screen resolution

The bad about this Pocket PC

-Lots of bugs

-If you set up your Activesync to your desktop and connect your handheld then your device name will be "Pocket_PC". If you change the device name, your Activesync won't recognize it and connect only as "Guest". Only way to fix it is to re-install Activesync.

-Activesync. After installing on my Windows 2000 and upgrading the Outlook to 2002, the settings for the Inbox syncing only showed up occasionally when clicked on.

-Avantgo server setup. After changing the device name, had to redo the whole setup procedure of establing servers on my network computer and the avantgo.com server just to get the device to sync up again with the website.

-Windows Media. When I changed the Audio & Video settings to play large dimensions in Audio and Video, it screwed up the application and now it comes up garbled every time I try to open it even after soft resetting.

-The volume control key button on the side doesn't adjust volume automatically. You have to open the volume control window first

-When using earphones, the volume is still very loud even at the lowest setting.

Overall, the HP 565 is a very good product. If HP can fix those software bugs, then it would get a higher rating. I haven't dropped my HP yet but looking at the thin front cover it has, it doesn't look like it'll survive the drop test and there is no warranty coverage for dropped HPs.

Good luck!

I thought for a second that I was going to have to reconfigure all of avantgo's server stuff, too, but all you have to do is click on avantgo in the active sync list, select properties, and enter your avantgo name and password. It will take off from there. Also, I didn't have to reinstall active sync to name it something besides pocket_pc. Maybe I got a later version.

Anyway, I like this jornada. I have had a hand spring visor and phillips velo and a rex in the past, this is the best by far. The built in apps are great, and it is also great for add in programs and games. The stylus is a bit whimpy. Overall I've been very happy.

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I purchased a Handspring 1 1/2 years ago (OS) and decided to make the switch to a CE system. I am very pleased with the switch. I started with a Casio BE-300 but was disapointed in the programs available (programs need to be written especially for the BE-300) and the features that came with the unit. I went ahead and swallowed hard and spent the extra couple hundred to get what I really wanted and am very satisfied. More programs, Pocket Word, Pocket Outlook, etc. I had a hard time getting it to connect everytime but then went to the web site to get help and found that you needed to make sure that the unit was not in the cradle when you restarted windows on your descktop PC. Since I have gotten used to taking hte Jornada out of the cradle I have not had a problem.

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Ever since I bought my 565 I have loved it. It has been my trusted companion. It also makes a supperior MP3 Player, as it syncs well with Windows Media Player on my PC. It also is the perfect medium to write letters (Pocket Word), Manage your money and investment (MS Money for PPC), The best universal remote(TV Remote), and a better note taker that a giant Tablet PC. And it has a wonderfull hard cover to protect the screen. Despite loving it so much, It is impossable to find parts for it in Canada. Since it is discontinued you can not get a replacement stylus, or assesories. And I've had to get the screen replaced once, and the second time is comming soon. And the dust is impossable to get out.

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A few days ago I asked HP the upgrade to Pocket Windows 2003 for my Jornada 565, bought at Amazon on May 30, 2002. They answered they are not planning to give any upgrade to Jornadas because Compaq IPacs are now the mainstream line of pocket PCs from HP. A year after the purchase I have an obsolete tool and I think this is very unfair for HP customers.

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Polaroid ID820-WHITE-OD-2 Ultra Thin Digital Video Recorder (Pearl White)

The best thing about this camera is the small size, it's about as big as a cell phone, so it is easy to take anywhere. We took it to Disney and overall the footage was ok. Because of the very small lens it suffered in low light situations, getting very grainy, and having trouble focusing. But outside it was great.

Image stabilization was not the best (had a sony handy cam before which was great in this aspect), so you had to try and hold still and not pan much to get the best quality video. Once we figured out how to work with it we got some great footage.

There is only a digital zoom (120x) which is pretty useless, quality goes way down, but we did discover that if you had a lot of things in frame if you zoomed in on the key item, and let the camera adjust, then zoom back out, the overall captured footage was better.

As a simple point and shoot digital camera under 200 bucks it's pretty good.

It was just what I wanted. Small easy to use video camera that fits in your pocket. A great product.

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Bought it for my daughter. Quality of the video is very low, even thought it's 1080p. You have to open camera touch screen to charge it. And after one week it stop working.............

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Sharper Image U-Video Camera

this video camera is ...uhhh... decent lol. the camera has built in zoom a bit so if your holding the camera out and recording yourself then its either going to show only your eyes and forehead or your mouth and chin lol. this camera is good to medium distance. video clarity is pretty good. this is a good camera just for pulling it out and capturing something. dont expect it to be awesome.

the recording is good. the sound and picture are both o.k. we cannot figure out how to make useable dvd's, which was the reason for buying it.

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I dont know if im the only one but DO NOT BUY!!! Compleate waste of money!!! When i try to view the vids and pics I mjust took and or recorded it says file error every single time. When i hook it up to my computer it says that the file cannot be read to all of my pics and vids. This camera will not work i have tried and tried and tried......

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GE 87618 6-Feet Digital Optical Cable with Toslink Plugs, Black

I assumed this product was new when ordering, as it turned out it was used and in a taped up manufacturers package. I wish Amazon would require seller to specify if the product is new or used when listing on their site.

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Sony Professional Digital 2GB MP3 Voice Recorder with Memory Card Slot, Noise Cut Technology Reduci

The is great voice recorder, I use it in class to record my history lectures and is working great. What I want to know is will work with regular batteries are or only rechargeable ones. If anyone else could respond it would be helpful before I go out and spend money on regular batteries for backup. rechargeable.

DVR410 Digital Camcorder - 2" LCD - CCD

I bought this camcorder for a project and overall I think it's good for the price, but keep in mind you get what you pay for. I would not use it for special life moments (i.e., births, birthdays, etc.). The screen size is ok and the video quality is generally decent, although sometimes grainy. The battery life does not last long 15-30 minutes at most...make sure you buy an economy pack of batteries.

@neverhadafriendlikeme is it good quality i was wondering because i wanted one for my daughter because she started out on youtube

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This was a christmas gift for a small child.. worked out well for her, but it only takes pictures in perfect light. The display is small and its hard to see what your looking at... You get what you pay for.

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2.0" TFT LCD HD Car DVR Video Camera Recorder 120 Degree View Angle Dual lens with GPS X6000

There are alot of positives about this camera. My only negative would be that it sometimes does not start recording automatically when the vehicle is started. Pulling the cigarette lighter plug out and reinserting it fixes it but it will do it about 50% of the time. You have to be sure the recording has started each time you start the car. Other than that it works like it is supposed to. Sound recording can be turned off and on. Dual lenses are great. It records both views, forward and in car, at one time. I purchased a 16GB micro memory card for it so I have lots of record time. It comes with a GPS sensor which kept falling off the windshield until I put some windshield mirror glue on it. You can lock the videos manually and they lock automatically when it senses a crash. You can view what it's recording on the viewer either in split screen or forward view or in car view. The camera mount to the windshield is great. It has not fallen of once. It is a suction type design. It comes with a very long power cord to plug into a lighter socket. If you are creative you will be able to hide the cord in the Headliner/A Pillar Trim/Dash/Console to get it to a lighter socket. Like I said, the power cord is REALLY LONG! The instructions do come in English and there is an English menu on the camera. It only reads in Kilometers though. Overall it has alot of nice features in a small package and the software worked on my Windows 7 64bit PC so i'm happy so far.

Dane-Elec High Speed 300X 4 GB USB 2.0 Compact Flash Card UDMA DA-CF30-04G-C

Dane Elec is the only Brand of CF card that hasn't failed. The "top three" brands have failed me at one time or another. Four years-NO FAILURE. I have confidence in Dane Elec cards.

I little to slow for me but pretty damn good for the price. I shoot action photography for a living and read/write speed is crucial to me so to slow for work use, but I still own a couple that I use for stills and personal stuff and a great deal for most peoples everyday use.

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Mustek PVR-H140 Personal Media Center

I really have a single use for this little beauty: my digital DVD/Hard Drive unit will NOT record my premium cable channels. My cable provider (or the channels, themselves) clearly sends some sort of proprietary signal that disables recording of STARZ, HBO, CinemMax, etc. Yes, I could record to plain VCR (yes, I still have one) and I am sure there are more elegant solutions *but* I wanted to generate DVDs and NOT more VHS tapes. SO, solution: the Mustek. It records ANYTHING that comes across your TV. If you hit your TV's MENU button while you are recording to the Mustek, it will record that. It runs off you TV not the cable; anything and everything. I have also managed to convert some of my 6 hour VHS tape archives to digital video using this method.

Now, its a simpler if not a perfect system. I record video (in HQ mode) to my Mustek, USB the file(s) to my PC, and burn them to DVD on my PC's drive. The quality is excellent, at least for my eyes and preferences. I am quite sure the inventors at Mustek wanted their gem used in such a simple system but it certainly does what I expected and needed.

And, though I seldom use them, the other functions (playing and viewing the video or JPEG photos from the Mustek LED, MP3 player, and even storing backup PC files to the hard drive or external optional SD card) are quite acceptable as well. For my purposes, as outlined previously, this has been a very useful and cost-effective device. Construction quality is GOOD, the LED screen is quite bright enough and the PC interface is seamless.

I have such mixed feeling about this device.... once you get past all the weird behavior, the device is really cool and is fun to use, but the hurdles one goes through to get to this point are many....

When I first received my device, I turned it on, it came up, and I played some of the sample movies and pics. There is a movie of a Chinese family playing in the backyard and blowing bubbles.... There were also many images of similar people. I then deleted all the sample images I found BIG MISTAKE....

Mustek made a poor decision in making all "required" files accessible to the user and it mixes them with the sample files bottom line, is that after deleting what I thought were all the "sample files," the main menu was distorted.....like you were looking at a monitor in a resolution it doesn't support. On top of that, the fonts weren't working, so I could see any of the settings I was trying to change. Mustek should have put these required files into firmware and not where someone can delete them. After visiting their Mustek's web site, I see this is something addressed in their FAQs. It's evidently a common issue and there is no warning at all about watching out for this. I downloaded the restore file and restored my files...

The next thing that is weird is how slowly the device scrolls between MP3 files.... while you can skip a screen at a time, even this is slow. The sound quality is OK..... Due to the slow scrolling, I would be hesitant to carry this everywhere with me. I would like to be able to do this.

Another thing that bugged me is that on some screens, paths are expressed in 8.3 format only, so you see paths like C:\basica~1\xxxx etc.... it just seems like someone took a shortcut here instead of taking the time to display the path in a long format.

The thing I had the biggest problem with was the video recording.... First of all, the software was slightly different than the manual very confusing.... and all the manual pictures were so dark you could not see them. but the biggest thing that drove me nuts was using the timer. Basically, to record, you have to set a recording quality, start time, and end time.... to help you, the machine sets the start time to the current time, leaving you to set the end time. What the manual doesn't tell you is that if you accept the current time as the Start time and if you save these settings a minute after the start time, the recording never starts! I learned the hard way that you have to set the time to 1 or 2 minutes after the current time so that the change to that minute will trigger the time very aggravating!

Oh yes, how to set the time?! There is a setup area where you can set everything except the time and date....so weird..... instead, you have to go through another area in the calendar to set the current time.... the interface is just not consistent and not intuitive....

I really had the feeling that this device had its software made quickly, in a foreign country, without any input from real users. The device should certainly not place its most important files in a place a person might delete them, especially when there is no warning about this....

Lastly, the belt clip is a joke..... It attaches in a weird way and its design gives the impression it was an afterthought....

Anyway, once you get past all these idiosyncrasies, the device is pretty cool and being able to record your DVDs into the device and then take them on a trip is very nice.... the device does work well once you understand what areas to remain away from..... The software really needs to be redesigned by a US company, where users are given input.

Enjoy!

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I am a college professor and was looking for a portable media center to transsport a semesters work of class files and to have a device that could record programs/documentaries,news that may be pertinent to class discussions. I narrowed my search did extensive research on the Mustek PVR-H140, The RCA Lyra model, and the Archos AV400 series. I compared tech specs and read other reader reviews, but realistically my purchase came down to price in the end being that all models recieved good to excellent average ratings/reviews. I purchased the PVR-H140 for $210 from the Home Shopping Newtork website after holiday discounts, a coupon code and a $20 rebate from Mustek.

It came down between the Mustek and the RCA since Sears had it on special for $199. The determining factor which really steered me from the RCA was that Sears was out of stock would not honor the sale price even though the product was miraculously back in stock the day after the sale ended. Something fishy there and has soured my view of the store. Between the Mustek and RCA, they both had comparable capabilities that made those a wash on paper. I did like that the RCA had a narrower profile, but the aspect that would have pulled me towardes the Mustek is that it had double the capcity (40gb compared to 20gb) and accepted SD cards, which my current digital camera also uses.

My only real problem with the device is the poor mp3 interface. Complicating this and possible other future issues is that Mustek, after my inquiry, informed me that there will be no future software upgrades for the device...this was made perfectly clear. RCA and Archos do upgrade thier device software; I thought this was standard, but evidentially not.

If price was not an issue for me, I probably would have gone for the Archos especially since they offer a new 80gb model in the AV400 series. Needless to say, the Archos is much more costly, even without the discounts I received. Another small issue was the carrying case provided as an accessory; it is just a cheap velvety pouch with a drawstring...no protection at all.

Overall, this device has performed very well in this first month and there are no indications of any problems with the device. It seems of sturdy construction, so I wonder what the earlier reviewer who complained about the buttons was talking about. Of course this is not the best personal media device in the world, but a great little device for the money paid. I only wish Mustek would show more dedication to this product by issuing software upgrades to improve its capabilities (eg. the ability to read pdf files and a better mp3 interface). Maybe if enough owners/customers made this suggestion, they would see the value...I have already done this.

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If you love movie's and your a big Survivor fan like me you will love this product. I've recorded (8) full seasons of survivor and (12) movies and still have room for more. You will need to get an auxzillary 12vdc battery pac like the one's used for camcorders and a car power adapter rated at 2000ma and a setting for +4.5vdc or +5vdc if your going to travel with it because the built in battery will only last about 1.5 hours. If you want to listen to music buy something else because the sound quality for music lovers is not there. It will fit in your pocket and the screen is big enough to enjoy your digital pic's, or movies. Or connect it to your tv.

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Originally, I purchased the same unit elsewhere as I had heard that it would be a great companion piece for a digital camera. I really didn't want to store my photos on my desktop as it wasn't portable. Shortly after receiving my unit, I immediately recorded a tv show..just to play around with the recording function. I am now hooked! The unit has now become a companion piece not only to my digital camera, but to my Tivo as well! Everything works flawlessly and I am very pleased.The unit that I purchased here is a gift for my Mom who will benefit from the recording function. It's a great time shifter for television and movie viewing!

Creative Zen Vision W 60 GB Widescreen Multimedia Player (Black)

• 60 GB multimedia device holds tens of thousands of photos, up to 240 hours of video, and up to 30,000 songs
• 4.3-inch WQVGA wide aspect, high-resolution TFT LCD screen delivers crisp, clear details
• Built-in Compact Flash memory card slot lets you transfer pictures directly from your camera
• Connect the Vision W to a projector or TV with the included AV cable
• Measures 5.27 x 2.95 x 1.04 inches (WxHxD) and weighs 10.5 ounces

The first thing you'll probably notice about this player is it's gorgeous widescreen. How big is it? Well, technically speaking it's 480 x 272 resolution, 4.3 inches wide diagionally, and capable of displaying about 262,000 colors(same as Zen M). For those of you who now own a Zen M, to illustrate how big the screen is on the Zen W: You can lay an entire Zen M on the Zen W, and the entire area of the Zen M is about the size of the screen of the Zen W. For you Psp owners out there, the Zen W screen is exactly the same resolution and size as the screen on the PSP. Although, the PSP screen is actually more advanced and can display over 16 million colors. Though both of these screens are much better than the screen on the video Ipods(which is only 320 x 240, and only display 65,000 colors). The screen on the Zen W does the job very well, and you can adjust the brightness levels. Even at %50 brightness, it's adequate. Though it outshines the Zen M in screen size, I noticed that it's not quite as sharp and the colors are not as vivid as on the Zen M. Also, I noticed that while playing Divx video, the Zen W doesn't play the video as smoothly as on a computer. The video frame-rate seems to look more jerky and less smooth. Although the pre-installed videos looked fine in Xvid, so this may only apply to Divx videos. Some other great features about the player are it's built in FM radio, voice recorder, custom sound equalizer, built in speaker, and Compact Flash slot. The built-in speaker can get surprisingly loud and is adequate for watching videos... But if you're an Audiophile, it's not good for listening to your music. It's sounds quite tinny and is only a single speaker. One huge improvement over the Zen M is that you no longer need to carry a stupid adapter to charge or upload songs or media. The mini-usb power, and A/V out ports are already built in to this player. Also the magnesium casing seems much sturdier than the Zen M's plastic casing... and probably not as prone to scratches. The thing looks and feels very solidly built. The interface is also simple and easy to figure out and very similar to the Zen M interface.

The only big difference is that the Zen W uses buttons instead of the touch thumb-pad on the Zen M. I think they should have tried to integrate the thumb-pad somehow because it worked so well on the Zen M. In this respect, the Zen W buttons seem like a step backward in progress. However, I do like the fact that they made all the buttons on the right side so you can effectively use the player with only your right hand. (sorry lefties).

The built in Compact Flash slot is also a very cool idea. You can backup your compact flash or microdrive photos onto the player with the slot. The only thing is that you can't use the compact flash as a secondary hard-drive... meaning you can't just slip a compact flash card with video on it and watch it straight from the card. You must import it onto the player first before you can play the media. You can't play mp3s or browse photos straight from the CF card either. All the files must be imported onto the hard-drive of the Zen W first. This seems pretty lame to me because you're not using the slot to it's full potiental. Hopefully there will be firmware upgrades that will let you do this in the future. Another thing about the player that needs to be improved is it's thickness. The second thing you'll notice (after the lovely huge screen) is how thick this thing is. I mean, it's barely pocketable. So it's not quite as portable as the Zen M. How think is it? Well, it's nearly an inche thick... a little less thick than a PSP. If they could cut the thickness in half, it would make this player much more portable.(not to mention sleek and sexy). Here's a quick run-down on Pros and Cons.

Pros:

-Gorgeous 4.3 inche (480x272 resolution) screen that displays up to 262,000 colors. Movies look so much better than on a 320x240 (Ipod)screen. And if you like to watch Anime, you'll have no more problems reading subtitles.

-Built in mini-usb port, power, and Audio/Video out port(for tv output).

-Sturdy magnesium casing and solid feel.

-Lots of extras like FM radio, organizer, calendar, voice recorder -Audio/Video cable included, plays Xvid and Divx files.

-Built in compact flash/microdrive slot for photo backup.

-Removable battery (yes, finally!)

-Optional wireless Remote control available (built in IR reciever)

-ZenCast organizer (allows you to download/organize Podcasts to Zen W)

Cons:

Pretty thick at almost an inche thick. (barely pocketable)

Divx playback (Frame-rate) a bit jerky. Screen not as sharp-looking and colors not as vibrant as Zen M. (I'm nit-picking, you may not even notice the difference...especially if you don't have a Zen M)

No video line-in for video recording. It would be great if they had this built in and you could record from any video source... don't know why they don't.

When viewing files on Compact Flash using CF slot, you must first import/upload files over to the Zen W drive first to view.

In conclusion, this player packs alot of punch for the money. And almost everything it does, it does very well. If you love movies and music like I do, you will definately enjoy this device. It's very impressive and looks and feels sturdy. The biggest flaw/turn-offs to me is it's thickness. A device made for portability should be ... well, more portable. In a world where other mp3 competitors are sizing down their players, creative seems to be sizing their's up. If they could somehow cut the thickness of this player to half while not sacrificing any of it's other features, it would be perfect. Still with it's minor imperfections, this player is still worth every penny and outshines it's competitors. If you value portability over video capability, I'd go for the Zen M. The Zen M still plays video... but on a smaller screen.(And it's cheaper too)

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Just got my Zen Vision W a couple days ago, and I have to say I am very impressed. This is my first MP3 player purchase after shopping around to find the best one for me. My friends of course all have the IPod videos but I needed a player that works with Napster-to-go(an absolutely awesome service, you can download basically as much as you want from Napster all for the incredibly low price of 14.95 a month). I have held out of buying an MP3 player until I found one that can hold all my music, over 45 gb, and would still have room to fit my favorite tv shows and maybe a movie or to. The Zen Vision W does all this and more! They include all these great features as well as picture, radio tuner, and an organizer.

Pros:

Absolutely brilliant display. Hard to believe but the display is actually bigger than you think (display probably as big as an IPod video by itself). Put a couple videos on it and am blown away by how crisp the colors are and how good the resolution is.

Great for music. Keeps all your files organized the same way your computer does. Able to work with all types of online music using Windows Plays-For-Sure technologies as well as Audible and stuff like that. Syncs up easy with your computer. Just drag and drop your files onto it from your computer. Also has a built in speaker so you don't always have to have headphones. All sorts of EQ effects for different types of music.

Videos are a breeze. Almost too easy to put videos on it. Will play most avi, divx, and mp4, but will easily convert other types of video to make it compatible. Comes with A/V cables so you can move files off your computer onto the player and then watch them on your own tv.

Lots of options you can change on it to customize it for you. You can set up playlists easily and change most settings for other situations that come up.

No touch-pad! Sorry but I hate touchpads. Glad there are actual buttons to use, and remarkably easy and fast to find your music on it with the buttons.

Cons (yep there are some):

Pretty big: Almost too big. I don't like putting stuff in my pants pockets anyways so I don't care about the size. But beware it is about the size of a psp(about an inch thick) so I just put mine in my hoody pockets where it fits better or in a backpack or cargo pockets.

Power charger: This is based off region but mine did not come with a regular power adapter, I got the european one so I can't plug it into the wall to charge, I have to use the usb which takes about six hours to charge compared to three. Creative offers one for $35 bucks, not happy about that.

Accessories: Not a whole lot of accessories for it yet. Pretty hard to find a case for it.

Battery life: Not a great battery life. Long enough for me but still not very long.

In conclusion, absolutely amazing media player that plays almost all types of files and looks and sounds great doing it. The size will hold a lot of people back looking for a more portable device compared to the standard IPod.

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Creative did it! They fixed the issues with their 30GB model and created the device I've been hoping for!

PROS

The navigation is very easy to understand and this new model boots and navigates very fast, compared to the sluggishness of the older model.

The audio is excellent, and the colors and video sharpness remain crisp and clean.

The improved screen is excellent from all viewing angles.

The 60GB capacity is a serious plus.

The file management software is straightforward to install and use.

The unit is well constructed and feels good in the hand, and even though it's bigger (to support the widescreen), it uses lighter-weight construction which feels only slightly heavier in the hand.

CONS

accessories are important for this kind of gadget, and Creative doesn't seem to understand this. The 30GB model had a cradle which was very useful since the device can get heavy through a 2 hour movie. There doesn't seem to be a cradle for the new 60GB, at least not yet, and this is a big flaw. It can also be hard to find accessories like the extended battery.

my photos don't look good in their original high res form. ipod will optimize your photos, reducing the file size so they look good on the small screen. With Creative, looks like I'll be "optimizing" myself. I guess this is no different from downsizing my movies, but since I know ipod can do it, I challenge Creative to do this next time around.

To get my DVDs onto this device, I use a two-step process:

(1) rip the DVD onto the PC hard drive (I use "DVD Shrink" freeware, takes about 20min)

(2) convert that ripped file, which is usually between 2-7GB, into a portable movie file using "Video Vault" software. This creates a small movie file of about 400-800MB. This step takes 1-3 hours per movie, so I run it overnight.

The resulting small movie file is easily transferred from the PC to the Creative device using the software that comes with the device.

To get TV onto the Creative, it's helpful to have a Media Center PC with a DVR. This way you can move recorded TV shows to the Creative and watch them on the go.

For me, the results of all this digital transfer are worth the effort. It's a blast to have this on a trip, especially when so many United Airlines movie screens are broken! Thank you, Creative, for making all the improvements. This new Creative Zen Vision is a terrific product and a fun toy for the electronics enthusiast.

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I already own an older Creative MP3 player -the Nomad Zen Xtra, and I thought the sound on that was excellent. As any audiophile worth his salt knows however, sound quality is never as good through a headphone out jack as it is through a dedicated line-out jack. So, as good as the sound quality is on the older Zen Xtra, my mp3s really kicked when I played them on my car stereo through the A/V out jack on the Zen Vision. Not only louder, but cleaner, crisper, better separation and punchier. And in my opinion, that's pure gravy. Like another reviewer mentioned, I got this baby because I can upload my pictures to it when I'm out shooting, rather than having to lug around my laptop all day. For my purposes as an avid amateur photographer, that alone justified the purchase of this beauty. Photographs are surprisingly crisp and bright, and I can tell immediately if a shot is a "keeper", something it's very hard to do on the tiny display of the camera itself. I've played around with watching videos on it, and as others have said they are surprisingly crisp -more so than I would have thought, given the relatively low screen resolution. I personally won't be using it for that very much, though. Now that I know how pretty the sound is, I'll be using this as my primary mp3 player.

Of course, there are a few cons associated with this device, but in my opinion, they're relatively minor. First, since I *am* a left-hander, having all the buttons organized strictly on the right-hand side does make it awkward for me to navigate. But most products are made for right-handers anyway, and I've long since learned to adjust. But something that is slightly more annoying is the spacing of the buttons. They're all crammed together into a small space, and are hard to reach for a person with larger hands -not unlike the spacing when you're trying to text on your phone or a Blackberry. If they were a little larger, and a little more spread out, it would be much more comfortable. As it is, your thumb will start to feel cramped if you are navigating through a lot of photos or trying to create a playlist.

Also, one final thing which may be a glitch, but has seemed to turn out well for me. Since I play my mp3s mostly through my car stereo, I'm using the A/V out jack. Apparently, Creative thought that people would only be using the jack to connect to video sources, overlooking the obvious fact that the line out provides superior sound quality when connected to an external stereo as well. Anyway, the display screen, once it senses that you've connected to the A/V out jack, completely blacks out, so you can't see what song is playing, time elapsed etc. If you want to add a song or change what's playing, you must first disconnect the A/V out jack for the screen to come back on. The geniuses at Creative just assumed that the display info would show up on whatever external video source you've got the thing connected to -but most stereos won't display video. As a workaround, what I do is build my playlist, make all my EQ settings, randomization settings, etc, then plug it in and play. The screen turning completely off is a boost to battery life, so I don't mind so much, though it would be nice to hook it up to a stereo and be able to see the album art and song info on the player. Hopefully Creative can address this oversight with a firmware upgrade. It would be nice if you had the option to turn the screen off to preserve battery life, rather than having it black out with no recourse except disconnecting the jack.

All things considered, it is well worth the investment, especially for what I intend to use it for, and the excellent sound quality comes as an unexpected bonus -I'd intended to keep the older Zen Xtra in service for a bit longer!

Let me first say that I am so glad that I did not go the IPOD route because of it's MANY limitations. This player is amazing. It will take SO many different types of music or video files which makes it far superior to IPOD.

Screen clarity is great for videos, love the EQ options and the ability to customize your own. I have the 60GB Zen W model(it's been out about 3 months now) which has currently about 2000 songs and close to 125 hrs of vidoe on it, and I still have 20 gigs to go. Have fun filling it up, it's taken me almost 3 weeks of nonstop work. Rips a song in about 20 secs from CD, and a 2 hr video in 90 secs (using Video Vault after conversion for Vids).

I bought the wireless remote, and the buttons vs. touch pad is no big deal. Earbuds are good but I upgraded to Creative's $99 in ear phones which are AWESOME (I also have Shure's comparible in ear model and Creative's is far superior). I also purchased a spare battery which is easily interchangeable and relatively cheap. Avg batt life so far is about 2 1/2 hrs for video, and who knows for audio b/c I've let it play all day on audio w/ a full charge and it didn't die, however that is with the switch in lock mode which turns off the screen. Player charges with USB cable (included) or AC adapter (included).

The out options are incredible, I can hook it to any TV or projector and surprisingly the picture is pretty good using full screen mode. (3 way Cable is included)

It also has an external speaker which works pretty good.

When it comes to you it has a protective plastic over the screen DO NOT THROW IT AWAY it keeps your screen from scratching and works well. (A replacement costs about 14 bucks)

So what are the cons?

1. It doesn't handle static well and rebuilds the drive every time you pop it so I recommend purchasing the SKIN which is made of silicone from Creative it totally eliminates static and is great for protecting your player from accidental drops.

2. It is pretty big so don't look to use it on your person while aggressively excercising (just for walking) It does however fit in a suit coat inner pocket with SKIN on and in it's velvet pouch (included).

3. It doesn't have all of the IPOD gimmick options yet (it's not been out long and Creative assures that more options are coming)but for around $25 you can purchase a Belkin FM digital transmitter which will allow you to listen to it anywhere that has FM. (GREAT OPTION)

So far that's all I find, mabye because I'm very pleased.

Overall, it's durable, well made, and very easy to use even if you are somewhat computer illiterate.

Again let me stress that IPODS confine you to Itunes or Ivideo. If you want freedom buy this player, you won't be sorry! And if a larger video screen is important to you the Zen Vision W is the player for you. It is worth every dime I paid for it, and more!!

Q-See QS408-803-5 Precision Recording Security System with 8 Indoor/Outdoor CCD Cameras and Pre-Ins

I bought my first q-see DVR (digital video recorder) about 3 years ago right here on amazon.com. It was known as a "PENTAPLEX" which meant you could do 5 things at the same time record live video from multiple channels, backup the hard disk, view video remotely over the internet, view video locally on a TV set, and search through recordings to find out who took your recycle bin full of cans. Pentaplex and Triplex are names given as to how many activities the unit can do simultaneously.

That unit is still running after driving the neighborhood drug dealers out of their rent free abandoned home (and having them arrested numerous times it povided key evidence of license plate numbers, video of drug deals going down, spousal abuse -you name it the police department got it. For that matter the PD could log in over the internet to check up on who was there if they wanted to)

I live on a 2 block long road full of modern quiet 4500 sq ft homes, and across from me was a 60 year old 931 sq ft original house that had become the neighborhood drug hangout a place to go smoke a bowl, ride your motorcycle through the front door of the house and out the back, to hook up with the homies, etc. It definitely did not fit in the crime rate rose the house adjacent to the drug house was robbed 5 times in 3 months. Both me and my next door neighbor installed MONITORED alarms and we formed our own neighborhood watch. His was a .357 and mine was a 9mm.

The Q-see was instrumental in getting rid of the trash. It provided numerous photographic enlargements of license plates, video evidence used in court to convict the individual squatting there, and more 30 second drive by drug deals than I could count, happening every 3-5 minutes right in front of my house.

I installed 8 cameras covering every angle possible, 2 PTZ (pan-tilt-zoom like the casino's use) domes that I could controll remotely over the internet to see what is going on if I was not home, and motion detectors, microphones all of this was OVERT meaning it was blatant that you were on camera if you came nearby I had to put up a sign because legally I could not record voice without notifying the people (video is OK) due to wiretapping laws that are outdated, so I put my sign on the 60 year old tree in front of my house warning people they were under video and audio surveilance. In 3 months we had the dealers out, the rightful owners back, they had to demolish the house because it was so badly damaged, and then they built a brand new 4500 sq ft home in keeping with the neighborhood.

About Q-see

Q-see brings the $12,000 DVR that the casinos use to catch card cheats down to the price a homeowner can afford. I recommend any home first install a MONITORED alarm system and make it BLATANT that one is in place (big bell box outside in a conspicuous place) this will rid yourself of 90% of the crime because criminals know where to look for these and when they find them, they walk on to your neighbor's house to rob instead. After an alarm comes video evidence of WHO did WHAT and WHEN with PROOF. Q-see gives you this.

What do all the numbers mean? What is H.264?

When dealing with video (which is inherently analog) and you go to digitize it, you would normally find yourself swamped in data, because video is 30 pictures per second, each 740x480, full color (or b&W at night with IR vision cameras). Imagine a 1.3 megapixel camera taking 30 pictures per second your memory card would be full in a couple minutes at the most.

The broadcast industry faced the same problem when the FCC mandated that they "go digital" recently there was not enough room on a channel to put raw high definition television. So they did what we do on our PCs when we have a bunch of files they compressed them. This process is known as coding and decoding and is abbreviated CODEC for those of us who dont like to type alot. MANY codecs exist divx, h.264, h.263, mjpeg, etc. H.264 however crams the best quality picture into the smallest amount of disk space. It's used by the satellite providers to give you more channels than they could without it. Best of all, it's free. No royalties to pay.

You're going to hear alot about frames per second. 1 video channel is 30 frames per second. That's for one camera. If you have 8 cameras, then it 8 times 30 or 240 frames per second that your 8 camera DVR must record (if you want smooth free flowing video like you are accustomed to on TV) now you don't need free flowing video you can cut from 30 to 15 frames per second and still get reasonably smooth video. The point is that any DVR has a limit as to how many FPS (Frames per Second) it can record. You get to decide which cameras get the best picture, and which ones only take 2 pictures per second (as an example) if you do not have 240 frames per second.

The second number to throw at you is resolution. VGA is 640x480 and is about VHS quality. HD is 1920x1080 and will blow your mind after being accustomed to VGA quality video (blu ray is done in HD as an example) In the world of surveilance video the more pixels you choose to record, the less time you can record on a disk. So they invented QVGA which stands for quarter vga they divide a VGA screen into 1/4ths and you are left with 320x240. That's cell phone size video and when you see it blown up onto a big screen tv set it looks pretty bad. Another standard is CIF which is 352x288 pixels better than qvga, but not as good as VGA (about VHS or the old video standard).

What I like about this product is you can configure how much quality you assign from the product's ability to record to each camera. That way the cameras for areas where people are standing (front door for example) take 3 frames per second of CIF or VGA quality video. The cameras that cover high speeed motion the street with cars zooming by or the sidewalk with bicycles, they can record at 30 frames per second for smooth video. Again for 8 channels you need 240 frames per second to record all 8 channels at full framerate (30 FPS).

The good news!

The 408 from q-see supports 240 frames per second, so every camera can have full motion video. Cameras 1 and 2 are special though, as they are sampled at a higher resolution called D1 or 702x408 pixels (sure beats CIF) while cameras 3-8 are recorded at CIF resolution. I've been getting by on JUST CIF for 3 years, so this is a step up!

Can I Install it? Is it legal?

I am not an attorney, so this is not legal advice, but from what I found on the net, you can record video of your property without giving notice. However, this product can also record audio. To do that you must put up a sign in a conspicuous place that tells passers by that video and audio surveilance is in use then you are compliant with all the laws.

Can you install it probably if you can wire an 8 track player into your 1977 buick. Here's what you need to know.

1 everything you will need is on amazon.

2 I've reviewed most of it so read my reviews

3 my email is in my profile so if you get stuck email me

4 every camera needs 2 things a video connection and 12 volts to run the camera. x 8 cameras and you will want a 12 volt power panel like the one I reveiwed here: Q-See QS1018 12 Volt 12 AMP Power Distribution Panel Connects 18 Cameras

5 should you decide to record audio, you will need 1 a microphone for each channel (8 of them) 2 a mic to line level amplifier (about $20) 3 some microphone cable. This gets into recording gear the sennheiser C2 is a good deal since you get 2 mics in a set, 4 sets would get you 8 mics, and they are very sensitive able to hear a whisper at 100 feet. But they need preamps. ART Tube MP Microphone Preamp Here's just one example it will only handle one microphone, and costs more than the mic, so you might look around for 8 channel preamps beause the microphone needs 48V to run itself, and it gives you a very low level output on a XLR connector (3pin pro stuff) and you need to amplify that .007 volt signal to about .700 volts (100x or 20dB for those who speak dB) to run the line level inputs of the 408. Of course you could opt to just have 2 microphones.

6 what's this I hear about night vision it it that expensive military stuff? No. How night vision works is when the sun goes down a sensor tells the camera to turn on a whole bunch of IR LEDs (infrared light emitting diodes) these look to have a dull red glow to you, but 36 of them shining into your front yard is like a 1000W light turned on. Best part is the subject walking through can't tell the infrared spectrum is beyond what us humans can see so it still looks dark, except on your camera, where although its black and white, it is fully detailed with facial recognition possible.

7 How about motion detection can these replace those alarm motion sensors. The answer is: it depends. Inside, I'd say yes, but outside, I'd say no. The reason is that IR is not visable to HUMANS, but BUGS love the stuff, especially spiders who spin webs over your camera lenses where it's nice and bright at night. And that spider will trigger any motion detector even if you kill off all the spiders, the number of flying insects that love IR light is amazing. Every night I capture about 50-80 bugs flying through a motion capture zone.

8 what is a motion capture zone? Your camera brings back a big area as much as the lens lets it see but you may not want to capture the entire area, just a sub part of it, such as your front walkway without getting the sidewalk. You can exclude the sidewalk and the street but if someone or their dog comes into your front yard, you trigger the motion capture event, and it records until the motion stops. This saves tons of storage by not having to store video of your front yard all night long. It also gives you an idea of how long something happened a 50Kbyte file is probably a bug while a 1 megabyte file is probably a person. In between are cars, people walking by, dogs, cats, etc.

9 how can I get rid of all those extra recordings and only get people. Simple you use a tool called a PIR (passive Infra Red) detector it looks for the body's heat they are about $40 at security stores, and guess what they run off 12V and give back a signal when someone is walking through their protection zone (where you point them). That signal that someone is DEFINITELY there can also be used to start the recording (there is a terminal block on the right lower rear panel where you hook up one sensor for each camera input if someone crosses the sensor, they also start the recorder but bugs, spiders, and all the tiny things won't set off the sensors. Now you really cut down your night's recordings. Indoors its not a problem unless you have a bug infestation in your house. Get a bug zapper.

10 OK I have all this stuff how long will it record. On my 16 channel system I can record for 17 days on a 1 TB disk drive. One of the things I like about q-see is they let you use your own disk drive say you just upgraded the 1TB disk that came in last years computer to a 2 TB disk and now its laying around, right? q-see lets you open the case and change out their 500 gb sata drive for your 1000 gb sata drive and you just gave yourself twice as much storage.

11 do I need to use all 8 cameras. Absolutely not. You can use channels 1 and 2 which are the high quality channels only and add cameras later as problems develop or you can do what I did you have a dual system overt cameras that people can see and avoid, and covert cameras that catch them when they do. It's a great way to divide and conquer.

Summed up, you will be running alot of coax cable (at least 8 pieces for a full system) the cameras come with skinny coax, but I prefer rg-59 as a minimum and rg-6 for long runs. Q-see also makes "siamese" cable its coax with 2 power wires along with it the advantage is from one reel you can run power and video without needing 2 separate spools of cable.

Earlier I mentioned PTZ domes these are loads of fun if you get a camera with a 400x zoom lens. From my house I can zoom in on the stop sign at the end of the road and see the bolts that hold the sign on the pole! You get an IR remote with the system much like your TV set, and there is an output for your TV set (composite video 740x480 or so resolution). There is also a higher resolution output for multiple images like at the quickiemart it uses VGA monitors you have laying around when you went to hdmi or dvi for your video card. That's one of the things I like about q-see I can recycle alot of my computer equipment into surveilance gear. I even went so far as to get a 1 in 4 out VGA distribution amplifier so I could see the q-see signal at many screens in my house. My older unit has relay outputs which I wired to buzzers to tell me when someone was walking up to my door I usually beat them to the door with the advance notice. you can customize your system based on your skill as an electrician and programmer in software. For indoor cameras, it intergrates nicely with your alarm system program your alarm to close a relay when a door or window is violated (opened) and have a camera (inexpensive 30 dollar type) pointed at that door inside wire the relay from your house alarm to the alarm trigger for the camera associated with the corresponding door and you've just eliminated the need for the motion sensor (they are better outside at night)

In summary, q-see has brought the ability to record security video to the consumer price range. I do not recommend the shopping big-store specials that come with 8 cameras because the 8 cameras they come with are usually the cheap indoor variety, and often you want an outdoor camera instead.

Q-see has been around for a long time and instroduced new features, like the ability to send video to your cellphone (in this model) Again do you want a call about every moth at night? If not you need to use quality motion sensors to trigger the system. With the internet connection you can view your 2nd house or cabin remotely over the net to check in on things. (again start with a good alarm system and at least get a permit from the city ours are shiny reflective like streetsigns and just a little flashlight warns the would be burglar that the PD will be there in 2 minutes if they break into this home)

Good luck with your install. It is a diy project, but plan a couple of weekends to fine tune the system. When done, you can have a great surveilance coverage of your property.

I think all the good reviews for this product must be written by q-see's marketing team. This product is just worthless garbage. I've had it for less than a year and already two of the four cameras are filled on the inside with condensation rendering them worthless. After I was finally able to track down q-see's customer service number, it was just a leave a message and someone will call you back. They don't even have anyone answering the phone with customer service. I was dumbfounded. And of course no one called me back. Please, do yourself a favor and don't waste your hard earned money on this garbage.

Buy Q-See QS408-803-5 Precision Recording Security System with 8 Indoor/Outdoor CCD Cameras and Pre-Ins Now

I just installed this in my home with my 5 existing cameras and I must say that I am extremely impressed with this sub $200 system. It even has some features I wouldn't expect it to have. Specifically, FOUR audio in ports. Thats just unheard of even in much more expensive systems. Usually they only have one or two audio ins.

Support for ALL smart phone operating systems is EXCELLENT. QSee has written a dedicated app "Meye" for each phone (Android, iPhone, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Symbian, sorry no WP7) It's VERY fast at streaming to my Android. It all went together so easily I just couldn't believe it. I bought this expecting to have to hack it here and there to get it to do what I want.

As the very diligent reviewer above said, this is not a $3k security system, but it is more than plenty for any small to medium sized area. You're not getting HD quality bank security footage with this thing, but man does it beat getting up to go see who's at the front door...or anywhere else around the house for that matter. All I do is flip to channel 3 on any of my TV's or hit the Meye app on my phone (its almost instant!).

A note:

Setup was easy for me because I'm moderately tech savvy. For network viewing, I had to fiddle with my network configuration due to the limitation on the DVR's IP address configs. If you want to use a static IP it needs to have all 12 digits for some reason. I couldn't get it to work with something like 192.168.1.5 (it needs like 192.168.100.005). Consider using a static IP for devices that broadcast such as this one to assure you don't loose signal because your router decided to reset...

Read Best Reviews of Q-See QS408-803-5 Precision Recording Security System with 8 Indoor/Outdoor CCD Cameras and Pre-Ins Here

**VIDEO REVIEW EXTENDED** Search y-tube for my channel, dfizzbom, and watch an almost eight minute extended review. Multiple vids covering the package, a camera mount hack, and how to setup the multi client software. Hope this will help all those interested in this system!

Did a ton a shoppingthis is a great deal. What you're really buying into with this package is an 8 channel dvr with pre installed hard drive, and the cables. This is the heart of the system. The cables are of typical quality and are fine. The dvr, from all that I have tweaked upon setup, is outstanding. This dvr rivals that of a much more expensive dvr we use at my employment where I monitor another camera systemMUCH more expensive. The dvr in this package is very capable. Big points for that. NoteI used a 15" LCD computer monitor via VGA and setup menus and cameras are perfectly sized. A 19" monitor is great, but not absolutely needed. Another note about resolution choices per channel. This dvr, greatly so, also includes HD-1 [half D1] as a choice on ALL channels too! So actually, from lowest resolution to highest, you have the choice of CIF on all channels, HD-1 on all channels, and D1 on the first two channels if you want that. HD-1 is a very nice step up from CIF and since all channels support it, it's really great. That's a nice feature in this dvr.

The cameras is where you get into 'starter' kit. They are capable. They do very well in daylight. They can be tweaked in the dvr to have perfectly acceptable color representation and if you're not happy, you can also make them black and white. All doable. Face recognition is very very good in daylight, and I have my cams temporarily placed two stories up. The live feed has perfect real time movementnot studder steps in live mode. Where the cameras fall a bit short is angle of view and live picture quality at night. 53 degree angle can be fine if you're pointing straight out into the back yard from second story. But point it down to a space you want to cover, and the angle gets tight. Don't expect to cover the entire side of the house below from the peak of the roof when pointing down to the ground. Better to mount one camera under a first floor eve and side swipe the whole area for full coverage. The night vision does it's job too. I have mine pointing down to a doorway below from a second story window temporarily. The patio has an eco bulb for added light. The picture is grainy and would not make for easy identification. But, when I install the camera properlyunder the first floor eve swiping that door area, it will crisp the image up and be fine. Proper placement and added light is a big plus at night. But remember, these are really starter cams and although they seem capable, obviously the cameras is the area that you'll look to upgrade over time. And that's fineyou get going right away with 8 acceptable cameras, beautiful thing. Since I'm using only five, I have three extra to put in line should one or more break, while I wait for replacements. That is the biggest reason I got double the channels and cameras I needed, not to mention the extra cables too.

Remote veiwing works. I have no plans for mobile phone viewing presently, but remote pc veiwing is what I wanted and it works. It takes some studying to get a grip on how to do it. It's not hard if you read up. I SUPER HIGHLY recommend viewing this wonderful free video crash course-

wifi-wiz.net

It's an integral part of setting up remote viewing for any consumer. Read and watch everything there, especially the ip cam section, and you'll be all set. I can offer a couple of tips quickly. Do not forward port 80. You won't be luckyinternet providers block that port and mine does as well. Avoiding that will save time and hassle. I forwarded port 89. Also, q-see manuals and vids suggest only TCP connection type setting in the router. In my experience, you need choose 'both'TCP/UDP. One last tipafter initailly setting networking in the dvr to DHCP and after reboot, set it to STATIC and reboot. Then enter the new static IP of the dvr into your router and all should be fine. If you have a traditional simple cable modem [non-combo modem/router] and a router, the process will be much easier for you. Remote viewing is excellent. All three pc's have downloaded and show the remote view no problem. That's what I wanted mostlyto keep an eye on my home while I'm at work.

You can try, but you won't find an 8 channel system with hard drive installed and EIGHT cameras included for this price anywhere at the moment. Don't miss the deal.

Want Q-See QS408-803-5 Precision Recording Security System with 8 Indoor/Outdoor CCD Cameras and Pre-Ins Discount?

If the hardware had any quality it would be a great system. 6 cameras died in the first year, 3 dvr replacements by the factory and it still does not work properly. 3 video cables with shorts from the factory. 2nd HD in the dvr. These units are the epitome of Chinese made crap. Internet accessibility is pretty handy but causes the system to lock up and quit recording. You must be on-site to reboot. Bottom line I am sorry I bought the unit and sorry I did not return it initially. I would not even recommended this unit as a toy.

Zmodo PA-105 5A Power Adapter

I bought this product just recently and it lasted me less than 3 months. I BOUGHT A CHARGER THAT LASTED ME 6 Months. This goes to show how poor the quality is on the charger. I would recommend you put down the extra $5 and buy a better charger that last you a longer time.

Terapin TX-0002 Audio/Video CD Recorder , Gray

• Standalone CD recorder with audio and video abilities; audio recording requires audio/music CD-R/RW; data CD-R/RW okay for VCD
• Record TV programs and camcorder footage to optical digital media playable on most PCs and DVD players
• Digital and analog audio inputs and outputs; offers composite- and S-video inputs and outputs
• VCR-like performance with NTSC and PAL compatibility; VCD offers VHS-level audio and video quality
• Measures 15.7 x 4.5 x 13.7 inches (W x H x D)

Before I start let me clarify that this Video-CD recorder is NOT for everyone. For instance, my mother could never use it... it has too many buttons and there is no single-button operation (except for Video-CD playback). Recording involves pressing the menu button, selecting the video and audio source, hit record, waiting for the "Record ready" message, and then pressing the "confirm" button.

With that in mind, for the video and techno-geek, this unit is very nice. I will start by listing the good points:

1. You can record around 73 minutes of video on 650mb CD-R media

or 79 minutes of video on 700mb (80 min) media.

2. You can use CD-R OR CD-RW (rewritable) media.

3. The unit has composite video (RCA plugs), stereo sound (RCA) inputs and outputs in the back, and a secondary set of inputs in the front.

4. The unit has s-video input and output connectors in the back.

5. The unit has digital audio input!

6. In addition to TV programs, movies, etc, you can also record CD-Audio to cdr-audio media.

7. The unit records in MPEG1 video cd format but with EXCELLENT image quality, much better than the dazzle 1 or other PC-based mpeg1 hardware encoders. There is no pixelation, if the source image quality is clear and good.

8. You can play back recorded programs on CD in the unit OR on any Pentium 1 100Mhz or higher PC running Windows, Linux, or MacOS.

9. You can see what the recording is going to look like by hooking your Terapin's video-out to the Video-IN of your TV (what you see is what you get, no surprises!).

..and here's the bad:

1. You need to "finalize" the disc before a disc runs out of space, otherwise, you can't play it back on a PC.

2. The unit overheats. The manual recommends turning the unit off to let it cool down after 4 hours of continued use. This can be easily fixed by opening the unit (voids warranty), and drilling a few holes to let the hot air get out. Yes, the company should have thought about this, but after you do this, the unit works flawlessly.

3. There is no TV-out or TV-tuner in the unit, you need to hook it to a VCR via the rca video and audio connectors to tune into tv/catv programs

Buy Terapin TX-0002 Audio/Video CD Recorder , Gray Now

Before I start let me clarify that this Video-CD recorder is NOT for everyone. For instance, my mother could never use it... it has too many buttons and there is no single-button operation (except for Video-CD playback). Recording involves pressing the menu button, selecting the video and audio source, hit record, waiting for the "Record ready" message, and then pressing the "confirm" button.

With that in mind, for the video and techno-geek, this unit is very nice. I will start by listing the good points:

1. You can record around 73 minutes of video on 650mb CD-R media

or 79 minutes of video on 700mb (80 min) media.

2. You can use CD-R OR CD-RW (rewritable) media.

3. The unit has composite video (RCA plugs), stereo sound (RCA) inputs and outputs in the back, and a secondary set of inputs in the front.

4. The unit has s-video input and output connectors in the back.

5. The unit has digital audio input!

6. In addition to TV programs, movies, etc, you can also record CD-Audio to cdr-audio media.

7. The unit records in MPEG1 video cd format but with EXCELLENT image quality, much better than the dazzle 1 or other PC-based mpeg1 hardware encoders. There is no pixelation, if the source image quality is clear and good.

8. You can play back recorded programs on CD in the unit OR on any Pentium 1 100Mhz or higher PC running Windows, Linux, or MacOS.

9. You can see what the recording is going to look like by hooking your Terapin's video-out to the Video-IN of your TV (what you see is what you get, no surprises!).

The bad:

1. You need to "finalize" the disc before a disc runs out of space, otherwise, you can't play it back on a PC.

2. The unit overheats. The manual recommends turning the unit off to let it cool down after 4 hours of continued use. This can be easily fixed by opening the unit (voids warranty), and drilling a few holes to let the hot air get out. Yes, the company should have thought about this, but after you do this, the unit works flawlessly.

3. There is no TV-out or TV-tuner in the unit, you need to hook it to a VCR via the rca video and audio connectors to tune into tv/catv programs

Read Best Reviews of Terapin TX-0002 Audio/Video CD Recorder , Gray Here

I have owned one of these things since 2004. It works fine if you use "terapin brand" CD-R's. I have not found an alternate brand that the machine will recognize, so I use the one terapin brand CD-RW that came with the machine. If I lose that CD-RW the machine is useless. I would not recommend its purchase.

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I ordered one of these units on impulse a couple of years ago but didn't set it up immediately (flooded basement, broken sewer line, new baby--you know how it is!). Bad luck there. Once I did get it up and running, I quickly discovered that it was useless for the task that I'd bought it: making VCDs of family videos. The problem with the unit is that it freezes during recording whenever there's the slightest imperfection in the video signal, which, with analog video, is bound to occur now and then, so what I've ended up with is CDs with a few minutes of action and then a single frame, frozen, all the way to the end of the CD. (When I contacted Terapin about my problem, explaining that I'd just taken the product out of the box and it didn't work right, they basically shrugged and said, "Tough. It's out of warranty.") So if you see one of these on Ebay or at a garage sale, be advised that it may work for audio, but don't get your hopes up that you'll be able to capture video (unless you have a digital camera--but then why would you want a Terapin, with its inherently inferior video quality?).

Sure do love my Terapin.

Q: Only records on a certain brand of CD?

A: False. But you may have to try a couple different brands before you find a compatible one. The Terapin is compatible with most all BRAND NAME cd's. Besides, today's retail stores will accept the return of a slightly used CD stack, if you explain the cd's are not compatible with your equipment.

Q: The unit overheats?

A: True. It is known for this. However the solution is well-documented online. As soon as I bought my brand new Terapin, I immediately voided the warranty by removing the top metal case cover and drilling about 50 holes in it. After that, i NEVER had a heat related problem.

Q: It freezes while recording?

A: False. In two years of frequent recording, I've never had it "freeze on a frame". For the gentleman who had this problem, I suggest he had a very bad video source. It is true, however, that if you "switch sources" during a recording, it will probably turn the disk into a coaster.

Q: What's so great about a Terapin?

1. cheap disks

2. because of its VHS-quality pixelization, it visually improves a source whose picture has quality problems.

3. Besides being able to play back disks in your Terapin, you can also play the finalized disk in 99% of today's DVD players.

Q-See Smart Recording Security System with 2 Indoor/Outdoor Cameras and Internet Monitoring QT474-2

Recieved the unit and started playing with it. Instructions were easy to follow and I was up and going in minutes

I installed the hard drive easily and was up and running quickly. Picture quality is not great but I paid $129 so it was a good bang for the buck. With a better camera I'm sure quality would improve. Remote viewing on iPhone / iPad also works semi-easily, not bad if you have networking knowledge. Would be 5 stars if picture was better, but again, for the price, it can't be beat.

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BOTH NIGHT VISION ON BOTH CAMERAS JUST STOPPED ALONG WITH AREAS THE CAMERA SEES DAY AND NIGHT... DVR IS A PIECE OF JUNK ... CONNECTIONS ARE TERRRIBLE ... DONT TOUCH THEM THEY MALFUNCTION ! GARBAGE ... THANK GOD I DIDNT PAY MORE ! VERY DISSAPOINTED !

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ContourROAM Waterproof HD 1080P Hands-free HD Camcorder Watersport Kit

This is a good camera for the price I paid, I got it on sale and so far I am pleased with the camera's performance. I would have given a five star rating if the camera came with better instructions. The printed material that came with the camera is sparse at best although the camera is easy to operate I had to learn some things the hard way. For example, I purchased a helmet mount bracket for mountain biking. The camera slides into the bracket via the grooves along either side of the camera (so the camera is lying on its side.)

Going for my first ride the camera worked very well however the film was sideways and I was unable to rotate the movie and ended up deleting it. The camera has a lens that rotates but there were no instructions regarding this feature and how to use it. On my next ride I rotated the lens and my film came out very nice.

Another example of poor instruction is the use of the waterproof case. Although the case works very well I had a difficult time mounting the camera and case to my helmet mount. After much consternation I finally located the small black plastic lock tabs that were preventing mounting. Had there been adequate instruction I would have been much happier.

In the minimal instructions provided there is information about downloading Storyteller" a program for uploading video etc. Storyteller takes a lot of time to upload your video. Additionally, in Storyteller is where you can make adjustments to your camera such as 720, 960 or 1080 filming and sound sensitivity. There was no information provided with the camera that explained this feature in Storyteller, I found it by looking around within the download. Camera does not come with any SD card, you need a micro SD card, shop around I found a micro SDHC (High Capacity) chip at a big box store that was 32GB for $24.99.

Otherwise I am delighted at the performance of the camera the waterproof case was put to the test in recent heavy rain and rough trail uses. The only drawback for the waterproof case is that it dampens the sound pick-up. The camera comes set with a 720 HD default and the pictures are very good. The 720 setting provides the longest film time and least battery depletion. The 720 is so good I do not have a need for anything higher for the way I use the camera. The only other issue I have found is that there is considerable sound distortion in high winds or at high speeds (high wind). I realize this is an issue with all cameras I have encountered especially in outdoor sporting activities.

My first trail ride was 46 minutes and the camera battery was fine for the entire time. I charged the battery after that ride and it took only about a half an hour. The camera charges via a USB plug. I recommend the camera if you can catch it on sale, the instruction provided is lacking but the camera appears sturdy, well-built and delivers very good video. The helmet mount is an extra that costs about 15 dollars.

I've never purchased an underwater camera before this one, and am so pleased I did. I went river rafting a couple months ago and this was incredible. Not only that, but when I took this jet skiing, it was superb. It was getting dark and the laser beam worked wonders! This is also really easy to use, just 1 button. The audio is really good, which I wasn't even expecting because of the wind/engine noise when jet skiing, but it's just incredible. The quality overall is amazing, I couldn't have asked for anything better.

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I mountain bike with people who either own GoPro or Contour. I have seem videos from both and they are as good as each other. I however like the design and simplicity of Contour over GoPro thus the purchase. I was somewhat disappointed to find the "watersport kit" came only with the watersport mount but not the basic mounts. Fortunately I purchased a generic bicycle handle bar mount. I looked for other mounts from Contour and found them outrageously priced.

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Just a quick review of the Roam. I also have a contour GPS, I bought it to use on fishing tournaments as my friends and I enter the Mako Mania tourney in NJ every year. I used the gps last year with the underwater case to take fantastic video of the sharks circling the boat placing the case on a painters telescopic pole and dunking it in the water attached to the handlebar mount.

Well last year as I was battling a mako shark, no one was on the camera and we missed a fantastic jump out of the water. The sony camcorder was on the console off, and the gps was still in the case on the pole and I realized I will need a third camera since the action gets too frantic for the rest of the crew to operate one if I am on a big fish.

I chose the roam because it was a bit cheaper then the Contour+. I did not use it underwater, I used it with a headband. The GPS can be a pain to operate due to difficulty in turning it on and off (the power button is a bit flaky and requires more force and extra time to 'boot'. This is where the roam is king. It's very easy to slide the bar at the top as opposed to hoping the power button boots in time and sliding the bar on the gps. It's the instant on that makes it invaluable to catch the action and give you a chance to catch a great shot.

Criticisms: the mic seemed to work just fine out on the ocean, even with the wind constantly blowing. I tested it in my car with the music blaring though, and it appeared to 'overload' and break up a tad. I didn't further experiment with this though. It's very acceptable IMO however thus far.

The other criticisms I have is it does tend to "fisheye" a bit, but it's not a game breaker. I knew the quality was going to be a step down from the GPS. Also, since I am combining footage from both cameras side by side, the Roam's 30 frames per second limit compared to the GPS 60 frames is noticeable. But in my case I'd rather have a slightly less 'smooth' footage then missing a possible spectacular shark breech again.

If Contour reads this review, here is what I would like to see down the road for your next model. Using the camera man as a sort robotic operator is genius, especially when you have your hands full, I would like to see a combo of great battery life, great lense, great camera and the instant on feature on the roam. One more thing would 'take the cake'. Some kind of wireless wrist band display add on that can be viewd in bright sunlight with a possible 'zoom' feature would be simply awesome. However, for what it is, I give the Roam 4 stars, knocking off for the fisheye and 30 fps. The rest of it is rugged and good quality and I highly recommend the Roam for quick instant on so you don't miss your memories fumbling with buttons and praying the device is activated (the camera beeps loudly letting you know when it's on or off)

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I just got this camera this afternoon and have had about an hour and a half to play with it. I will update this review after I have a chance to get it on the road.

I purchased this camera to mount to my motorcycle helmet to record my trips and have evidence of the crazies out there. A few tests around the house and in the yard show the quality of the recordings to be excellent and the microphone is acceptable for it's size and need. I purchased a 32GB MicroSD card with the camera and the instructions say that should be about 15 minutes per GB (~465 minutes total, reserving 1GB for system use) at the default 720p/30fps. The instructions are simplistic at best and give you a rough overview of the camera and it's operation. You should plan on at least half an hour of poking and prodding to get the hang of it.

My biggest complaint and this one is all Amazon's fault is the product description at the time I ordered and as of writing this review state that one of the mounts that comes with this camera is a profile mount. This is not true. The ONLY mount that came with the camera was the dash/surf mount stalk with waterproof case (the mount works with or without this case). As my intention is to use this as a helmetcam, that is very annoying.

Overall, if you are considering this camera you are safe to go for it it is a good buy. For mounting to a helmet or to handle bars, you WILL need to purchase a separate mounting system to go with it.

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Ion It18 CD Direct Conversion Turntable with CD Recorder and Speakers

• Burn Cds Directly From Vinyl Without The Need Of A Computer
• Built-In Speakers Allow Listening To Cds & Vinyl Records Anywhere
• Plays 33 1/3, 45 & 78 Rpm Speeds To Accommodate Entire Record Collection

Is incredible. Fast, easy to do, clean, sharp and crispy sound when you finish the transfer. One more time, amazing and incredible for the price!.

Only it need is the audio cassette transfer function.

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Very good sound, I am happy I can listen to my old records again! I recommend it. It came in time and in perfect conditions. I can convert the music to MP3

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It meets the product description. Easy to use. This was a gift to my husband who would not have been able to use the software to convert on a computer so he has already done several CDs and thinks it is fabulous. Has a great sound and with headphones even better. Have connected speakers and these compliment as well. As we live in Australia had to buy a step down converter but no problem. Would like the manual to have the specifications.

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The concept is great, transferring 45 records onto a CD. Unfortunately, it doesn't work. Approx. 26 records can be recorded on one CD-R. It is time consuming, but fun to listen to the old records. After about record 23, the machine "announces" disk error and will not allow you to finalize the disk. I lost five disks and hours of time. ION suggested using Sony disks as opposed to the Memorex disks. Same problem occurred. Other problems: the turntable plate was off balance, creating a nasty rumbling sound and after a few hours of play, the tone arm no longer returned to position after playing the record. To add insult to injury, I had to pay $20 to return a defective machine!!!

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So far so good. I have made a trial CD that played on another player, and am now experimenting with adding tracks.

JVC Everio GZMG255 2MP 30GB Hard Disk Drive Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom (Includes Docking Stati

In 2007, I have compared the three camcorders side by side: JVC GZ-MG255, Sony DCR-SR82, and Sony DCR-SR80. I compared for the ability to videotape in low light or natural night light conditions, and without video lights, and in Automatic mode. The JVC GZ-MG255 is the winner and takes best low light videos because it has the largest F 1.2 lens, and largest 1/4 inch CCD. I still have the videos to prove this.

JVC GZ-MG255 has largest F1.2 lens, and the CCD is the largest 1/4 inch, and 2.18 MP Gross Pixels, 1.23 MP Effective Pixels. Bright light videos are great, and low light videos are the best. I still enjoy using my JVC GZ-MG255 to record in low light.

This is a short video clip from my JVC GZ-MG255 camcorder that I took in April 2007 at a dimly lighted nightclub at closing time, and this is a great low light video.

Zoom: Do not get fooled by the manufacturer's current optical zoom "game" or "contest". The better, more expensive, camcorders will have 10X zoom (and that is fine with me).

JVC GZ-MG255 GOOD THINGS:

-JVC GZ-MG255 has the largest F1.2 lens which captures two times more light than the other smaller F1.8 camcorders, and larger 1/4 inch, 2.1 MP CCD for great low light video recordings.

-JVC GZ-MG255 has a built-in great very bright white light Flash for taking still pictures. And with a 10 second Flash self-timer. (The Sony DCR-SR80 and SR82 do not have a built-in Flash for still pictures.)

-JVC "Mod" files are no problem. "Mod" files are actually newer, but are still standard MPEG format, but which some older software may not recognize.

I rank my JVC GZ-MG255 camcorder as #1 and the best because it takes great low light videos due to its largest F 1.2 lens, and large 1/4 inch CCD. Here below is a comparision of 20 other camcorders,

My Rank # 1: Best, Superior Low Light Performance.

-JVC GZ-MG255: Zoom 10X. F1.2 lens; 1/4 inch CCD, Effective 1.23 MP = 1280x960, (Gross 2.18 MP).

Rank # 2:

-Sony DCR-SR200: Zoom 10X. F1.8 lens; 1/3" CMOS, Effective 1.08 MP = 1200x900, (Gross 2.1 MP).

Rank # 3:

-Panasonic SDR-H200: Zoom 10X. F1.8 lens; 1/6" Three-CCDs, Effective 0.64 MP X 3CCDs, (Gross 0.80 MP X 3CCD).

-JVC GZ-MG155: Zoom 32X. F1.8 lens; 1/6" CCD, Effective 0.69 MP = 690KP = 960x720, (Gross 1.07 MP).

-Sony DCR-SR85: Zoom 25X. F1.8 lens; 1/6 inch CCD, Effective 0.69 MP = 960x720, (Gross 1.07 MP).

-Sony DCR-SR65: Zoom 25X. F1.8 lens; 1/6" CCD, Effective 0.69 MP = 960x720, (Gross 1.07 MP).

-Sony DCR-SR82: Zoom 25X. F1.8 lens; 1/6" CCD, Effective 0.69 MP = 960x720, (Gross 1.07 MP).

-Sony DCR-SR62: Zoom 25X. F1.8 lens; 1/6" CCD, Effective 0.69 MP = 960x720, (Gross 1.07 MP).

-Sony DCR-SR80: Zoom 12X. F1.8 lens; 1/5.5" CCD, Effective 0.69 MP = 960x720, (Gross 1.07 MP).

-Sony DCR-SR60: Zoom 12X. F1.8 lens; 1/5.5" CCD, Effective 0.69 MP = 960x720, (Gross 1.07 MP).

-JVC GZ-MG365: Zoom 35X. F1.8 lens, 1/6" CCD, Effective 0.34 MP = 640x480, (Gross 0.68 MP).

-JVC GZ-MG360: Zoom 35X. F1.8 lens, 1/6" CCD, Effective 0.34 MP = 640x480, (Gross 0.68 MP).

-JVC GZ-MG335: Zoom 35X. F1.8 lens, 1/6" CCD, Effective 0.34 MP = 640x480, (Gross 0.68 MP).

-JVC GZ-MG330: Zoom 35X. F1.8 lens, 1/6" CCD, Effective 0.34 MP = 640x480, (Gross 0.68 MP).

-Panasonic SDR-H18: Zoom 32X. F1.8 lens; 1/6" CCD, Effective 0.34 MP = 640x480, (Gross 0.68 MP).

-Sony DCR-SR45: Zoom 40X. F1.8 lens; 1/8" CCD, Effective 0.34 MP = 640x480, (Gross 0.68 MP).

-Sony DCR-SR42: Zoom 40X. F1.8 lens; 1/6" CCD, Effective 0.34 MP = 640x480, (Gross 0.68 MP).

-Sony DCR-SR40: Zoom 20X. F1.8 lens; 1/6" CCD, Effective 0.34 MP = 640x480, (Gross 0.68 MP).

-JVC GZ-MG130: Zoom 34X. F2.0 lens; 1/6" CCD, Effective 0.34 MP = 640x480, (Gross 0.68 MP).

-Panasonic SDR-H60: Zoom 50X. F2.0 lens; 1/6" CCD, Effective 0.40 MP = 640x480, (Gross 0.80 MP).

-Panasonic SDR-H40: Zoom 42X. F1.9 lens; 1/6" CCD, Effective 0.40 MP = 640x480, (Gross 0.80 MP).

My footnotes for these Technical Specifications Facts:

-"Effective MP" is an industry "standard" used for comparision; and is the actual pixels through lens for recording.

-For fair comparison, only listed "Effective MP" for 4:3 Aspect Ratio. ( And not 16:9 Aspect. )

-"MP" = Mega Pixels = 1,000,000 pixels = 1,000 Kilo Pixels (KP).

-"Gross MP" is total pixels on CCD sensor, but all used for lens recording, and should not be used for standard comparisons.

-F1.2 lens is larger aperture hole than F1.8 lens. F1.2 lens captures two times the light than F1.8 lens.

-Only comparing video recording in full "Automatic" mode; and not using any "Manual" or "low light" settings.

-Only comparing mid-priced hard disk drive camcorders in "Standard Definition"; and not comparing "High Definition".

-For equal comparisons, I am only listing "Optical" Zoom; and not "Digital" Zoom.

Let's start off with the good.

GOOD

----

1) Easy to use. The learning curve for the menus and actual operation is pretty shallow. 15-20 minutes tops.

2) Solid AV quality.

3) Compact and sturdy construction.

4) Joystick-based menu controller. None of the fears of LCD breaking that's associated with touch screens.

5) Easy to download any video files to your PC, with or without the software

6) Included Dock

7) Still camera flash

8) MOD video files are simply renamed MPGs, which makes editing easy as pie.

9) Lots of space to record

10) Built-in USB

11) No recorded noise (that I could detect) coming from either the HDD or the zoom.

12) 16:9 widescreen recording. Great feature to have access to even if its not hi-def.

An now for the bad...

BAD

---

1) Included battery only lasts 1hr 15min. You'll definitely need to shell out $150-$200 more for a longer lasting battery and a separate charger.

2) Flash for stills, but no persistent light for video.

3) Low light shooting enhancements come at a price, mainly aperture speed.

4) No viewfinder.

5) MOD files have a small bug that improperly sets the 16:9 flag. The widescreen tag can be easily fixed by a free 3rd party tool though.

6) Placement of the power knob makes turning the unit on or off awkward. The problem stems from an inset push button lock in the knob. Simultaneously pushing the lock and turning the knob is usually best done with your free hand. It's just easier that way.

7) Somewhat flimsy feeling to the AC adapter.

8) Digital zoom is pretty much a waste of time. Compared to the optical, why bother? Way too grainy and over-processed. Then again, what would you expect from digital zoom?

9) Image stabilization for handheld shooting could be better. The jumping becomes more noticeable as you zoom in. A good tripod or monopod is a must.

10) 10x optical zoom is nice, but some people might wish for more without investing in a telephoto lense.

11) It's small. REALLY small. Almost toy-like in size actually. Imagine stacking 3 or 4 iPods. =) Some newbies might be scared of breaking it, even if it is quite sturdy feeling.

12) Only 1 CCD.

With as many drawbacks as I mentioned, you'd think I'd rate the camera lower. Nah. It's a good product. The drawbacks are relatively small and easily forgiven in the grand scheme.

As far as price is concerned, for what you do get, the GZMG255 is actually worth the full list price of $700. So, at the sub-$550 price that many resellers are charging, the GZMG255 is a steal.

Not a pro camera, but definitely not a budget camera either. Spec-wise, it performs nicely in the mid-range. If this is your first camcorder then you could do far worse than the GZMG255.

One particular online review (cnet) was harsh on this camera (6.4/10). I firmly disagree. The GZMG255 is not meant to be a pro-level camera and shouldn't be judged by those standards. Based on a simple price to feature ratio, I'd give it a solid 4/5 (8/10 on their scale.) I might even give it a 4.5/5 or 8.5/10 based solely on practical use.

The GZMG255 offers a high degree of bang for the buck, more so at the recently discounted prices. Not an average cam.

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Although missing from the product description, this camera (via the included dock) has Firewire. So I got a 4-pin to 6-pin firewire cable, hooked up to my Mac, and iMovie instantly recognized the camera and imported the clips. No conversion or intermediate steps required. This capability also comes standard with the GZMG155, but the 255 has superior resolution and a flash instead of the light. I started with the GZMG130, but the still camera was worthless. The 255 has great capability for video and stills. The USB port is still available for file transfer, and iPhoto opens right up when you connect.

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I use this camera for recording my daughters' gymnastics and basketball/volleyball events. Works great and I can just throw it in my digital camera bag. As stated in other reviews, the still camera feature is OK, but not great. Fine in a pinch.

Unfortunately, the thing that makes it so sweet (compact size) also works against it, if only slightly. For any man with man-sized hands, this camera will be slightly difficult to operate. When your right hand is holding the camera through the grip, your fingers and thumb will extend past the button positions. You'll have to bend your fingers to work the controls. Because of this, starting and stopping the recording feature is sure to introduce a little shake into the video. Use your other hand to steady the camera or use a monopod. Very much a keeper as far as I'm concerned.

Because each recording creates a different file on the enclosed HDD, be sure to stop and start the recording more than you might on other tape-driven cameras.

Windows Media Player will play the .MOD files created with this camera. Windows Movie Maker (included with Vista) will also read these files and allow you to easily add text and transitions. A utility mentioned in another review, SDCopy Beta available from Sektionschef, is a must if you record at 16x9. It's the only way I've been able to set the 16x9 flag on the files and have them play back in the proper format.

Windows Movie Maker will also rotate the video if you take it vertically instead of horizontally.

Using the dock to transfer files to my PC is a snap. It also charges the battery (but not at the same time as the file transfer). Camera must be switched ON for file transfer, OFF for battery charge.

VERY happy with this purchase.

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I rarely post reviews like this, but I put allot of time into purchasing this camera and I am sure there are other people out there in the same boat as I was. I wanted a camera for the primary purpose of shooting some video of my newborn son. I wanted to be able to quickly edit the clips and I wanted to be able to easily get the clips onto sites like YouTube. Compared to what is out there I am not aware of a better camera for this purpose.

This is the first camcorder that I have ever purchased. I have used many, even going all the way back to ones that recorded on a full size VHS tape and hung on your shoulder. The times surely have changed. For my purposes this camera is absolutely perfect. I have a few very minor gripes, but overall I could not be more happy with it.

PROS: Controls: They are easy to navigate and make sense even to a novice.

Size: This thing is as tiny as people describe. It fits into the palm of my hand and even fits into my pocket with ease.

Connections: Everything from a flash card, to USB, to firewire. I am not aware of another camera out there with as man connections as this one.

Price: The cost of this thing has dropped considerably. I picked mine up off of e bay for 340. A pretty sweet deal I think. When you start to factor in the cost of other formats, tapes dvr's, etc. I think it is a no-brainer to go HDD.

CONS: The dreaded .mod file. This next paragraph will save you hours and hours of time. Yes, this camera records in .mod in some apparent trick to get you to commit to JVC's software package which based on every review I have read stinks more than seeing the Giants win the Superbowl. Fear not though, because I have spent the better part of a snowy day bashing through this dreaded format. Do some searches and you will find more than enough information than you need to circumvent this file issue, but if you want to save your time searching here are the steps that I use.

1. Rename the files from .mod to .mpg A program such as (better file rename) makes this time consuming task an absolute breeze. You will have it done in seconds.

2. Delete the .moi files (you do not need them).

3. I have successfully been using NeroVision from Nero 7 Ultra Edition. It works well and is quite simple. You can edit your clips, add effects, and do whatever you want with them. I believe you can obtain this version on the cheap now.

4. The pause button. When you pause and restart it starts a new file, so later you end up with many files if you pause often. (This a minor annoyance).

I have read this camera getting pretty negative reviews other places and I just cannot see why. Granted I am not a professional, nor do I calim to be one, but for what I wanted, this camera is perfect. I would not hesitate to purchase one again. If you are on the fence, look no further.