Sony ICD-UX512RED Digital Flash Voice Recorder

I use this in my line of work as a police officer. The recorder picks up my conversation with people no problems at all. I do have a quiet voice, yet it still seems to work fine. Even better when I hold it closer to my mouth, rather than hanging from my lanyard.

The recorder works exceptionally well in a quiet room when conducting an interview.

It is easy to playback files both on the computer and on the recorder.

Overall, a good little recorder. I like it.

The recorder is much smaller than I originally thought it would be. It came with the recorder, a USB data cable (in addition to the slide out USB that slides out from the device), a battery and a small battery case that I thought was a nice touch. Also included is a pair of Sony earphones but I prefer earbuds so I don't have any use for them, as of now. The charging time is a little long at three hours but compared to the recording time, it's really no difference at all. It's a great product for your money and the red color is especially flattering, not cheap paint at all.

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I bought this for college and it does great, I sit in the back of the classroom and it picks up the professor's voice very clearly. I highly recommend this digital flash voice recorder. A+!

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I'm not sure when I bought the first one, I think it was about 10 years ago. I still have it and used it 2 weeks ago (Model: ICD-P320). It works great but I wanted to update to get the noise-cancellation feature. It appears the new model (ICD-UX512) has also enhanced the "divide" feature my old unit has. Before the user would interactively decide (either during recording or playback) exactly where they wanted to divide a file. Now, its a 2-step process. First the user creates a "T-Mark" (track mark) and then uses the menu option to divide the file at that mark.

SIZE: The unit is "thinner" but a just a tad wider than my old unit. Standing it up, the new unit is also much shorter. So the overall dimensions are great and actually rest in a shirt pocket much nicer than the old one. More inconspicuous.

BATTERY: There seems to be a lot of misinformation about the unit, including the fact about the battery. There is ONLY ONE battery. Sony includes one rechargeable battery in the packaging. Recharging is only done through the USB connection so unless you already have a universal USB charger, you will be left to charging the unit from your PC. Fortunately, the battery charger I bought for my mobile phone came with a USB connector built in, so I'm covered.

MANUAL: The user manual is 126 pages long! But that includes a friendly 3-page index. The front matter (all the legal mumble jumble) is only 4 pages long. To it's credit, the unit is, for it's basic operations, fairly intuitive, so unless you need to get into managing folders, listening to MP3 music or podcasts, managing records beyond record, play and delete, you can be up and running in very little time. I was able to set the date & time on the unit without reading the instructions.

SETTINGS RETENTION: Regarding the date/time function. On my old unit, once you replaced the battery, you have no other option than to reset the time. With the new unit, IF you need to replace the battery, you are given 60 seconds to do so and the unit will retain the time. However, after 1 minute, the memory will fail. However, seeing as this is a rechargeable battery, I do not anticipate needing to replace a battery that often. What MIGHT occur is that I kill the rechargeable battery on an extended session and need to insert a non-rechargeable battery to continue whatever I am recording. But note, this is only for settings. User recordings are NOT affected. The recordings will still be there even if you waited a much longer time before inserting a battery.

DISPLAY: I almost forgot to mention this: I do not know why all the images I see for this product show an orangish looking display. It is not orange. It is a light green and I've uploaded an actual image. (The fake display sticker that is normal for most digital products is even orange, but it makes no sense.)

MISC: I've always enjoyed reading reviews by others that have a pro/con list. Since I just got the unit and haven't had a chance to test it out, I can't really comment on that right now. But I hope the above provides you ample information to make an informed decision on. BTW, I want to thank those of you that have written me as a result of other posts I've made. I feel good about being a valuable resource to others. Take care.

Addendum: January 18, 2012

Here is somewhat of a "con"....

PLAYBACK VOLUME: The newer (UX512), at its maximum volume, is considerably softer than my older P320 model. To test this, I had both units side by side and equal distance from the sound source (my voice). Recording simultaneously, I provided an equal playing field for both units. In fact, I actually disadvantaged the older unit because I faced the mic away from me, whereas, per the instructions on the new one, I had it's mic facing me. Also, due to age and use, I noticed (after the recording) that the mic on the old unit was partially blocked from dust. So the older unit really out-performed the newer one in providing a clear recording and playing it back loud and clear.

NOISE REDUCTION: This seems more of a gimmick than useful functionality. It does NOT record using noise reduction. Instead, in playback, it does what it can to eliminate the noise(s) that it recorded. Since this is a lower-end recorded for the average consumer, I can't really be picky about this. It is just that when I read what I could find about the product, I thought it was interactively reducing noise while recording. Since I regularly move recordings to the PC & subsequently cut CDs for distribution, the implementation that Sony chose for this device is useless to me. (I haven't searched sourceforge to see what may exist for fixing noise on the PC after uploading.)

I have yet to try this in a auditorium setting. I'll have that opportunity very soon.

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I received the product on time as expected. I've started to use the product though I'm not in school yet. I especially like the CD that comes with it, it allows you to upload the files and even burn them to cd if you want. I will be burning to cd to use in my car because the volume on this device is not as loud as I would like. Great product all around though.

DIGISTOR 50GB Blu-ray Disc Recordable BD-R Blank Media, 6X (25 pack)

Summary: Burns at 2.4x 4x on LG WH10LS30K (in NexStar NX NST-530S2). I haven't had a single issue and have been able to play the media on every blu-ray player that I have tried (Panasonic, Sony, Vizio, Samsung, PS3) Fantastic buy!

This is my first review, I just felt the need to defend these discs. I recently purchased LG's WH10LS30K (Burner), Vantec's NexStar DX NST-530S2 (5.25 External Case) and went searching to the best deal on BD-R 50's. I stumbled across these and was hesitant to purchase at first. There aren't enough reviews, and the ones that are posted are mixed results. I figured why not give it a try and post my results on here.

Using my LG WH10LS30K, I burned all 25 discs flawlessly @ 2.4x-4x. I have since purchased two additional spindles with the same results. I'm buying the 100 pack next time I order to same some extra money. I highly recommend these discs.

If you are having issues with these discs it's more likely an issue with your computer/burner than the discs themselves.

Here are some helpful tips.

Ensure your drive's FW is updated

Slow your write speeds. I burn at 4x, sometimes 2.4x (on images over 40GB)

Set the layer break. Most errors occur as your reach peak write speed and the edge of the disc. Leave 1-2GB of free space on the first layer to prevent this.

Close unused background applications/processes.

DO NOT touch, move bump or use your computer after pressing that "Burn" button. Burning large amounts of data takes resources, why risk a $5 disc just so you can check your email or facebook? As soon as you click "Burn", just walk away.

At first I was concerned because this is a really low price for 50GB blu-ray media.

I have read where Blu-ray media from different vendors may or may not work with various Blu-ray writers. So I emailed Digistore to see if this media was compatible with my new LG Blu-ray writer. They said it was, and indeed it is.

So far I have had no problems. I also liked the fact that their support people answered my email so fast.

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These discs are a great value and made to a very high standard. I have had discs manufactured by Memorex in the past (that were twice the price) and a few of them had failed due to manufacture defects (tiny dimples on the write surface of 4 discs in two spindles of 25). The only issue I have had with these discs is that they are not compatible with some LG drives. I just use my LG burner now for 25GB discs and bought a Pioneer BDXL drive for the dual layer 50GB Digistor discs. They write quickly and playback without a hitch. I have bought Digistor discs in the past and they have always held up to my needs.

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I have used 20 of these blank discs so far copying on my LG WH12LS30 internal blu-ray burner. I burn at speeds over 5X (burner is set to choose the burn speed automatically) and have used the entire 50GB (actually you get a little over 50GB) available on the disc with no problems and no coasters. They have all played on my stand alone LG blu-ray player, Play Station 3 and computer. I read e-mail, browse the web and download files while I am burning discs and sometimes the file downloading seems to be a little slower than normal or hangs for a second or two. I suspect Windows 7 manages resources to make sure the disc burner has the resources it needs first.

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I give this product 5 stars. I have burned about half the pack with no problems what so ever. At the same time I have been using Verbatim brand, and Digistor seems to work just as well. I am burning in an internal LG burner, and playing disks on my computer and my Playstation 3 console without any problems. I have been trying both 50GB and 25GB, with both Digistor and Verbatim brands, and I can't tell any difference at this point. I give the same review for single and double layer. As for longevity, well there's no way of knowing at this point which brand holds up better over time. 50 years from now I will update this review and let you know the answer to that question. I'm sure I'll still be alive at 99 years old. Quick Tip: To avoid any potential issues, always burn at about 3/4 maximum speed.

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Abacus24-7 OPTICAL TOSLINK DIGITAL FIBER OPTIC AUDIO CABLE-12 feet

This optical cable is a bargain especially for 12' long. There's really no need to spend a ton of money on an optical cable such as the Monster cable brand. Either the digital bits go through or they don't and this cable does just fine transferring those optical bits into my receiver.

Perform the following test Get this cable and a monster cable, both around the same length. Compare the sound coming from each. Then, continue to buy the parts express cables, because you won't notice a difference other than the fancy packaging is missing and your wallet will be fatter.

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I got this as a backup for a 3' optical cable i purchased in the same order, and i haven't needed to break it out yet. Considering that i got two cables (a 12' and 3') for under $10 and that a similar cable from Monster would have costed me over $30, i don't consider it a waste. Some customers have complained of high shipping costs when compared to the cost of the items shipped. This is only the case when buying one or two items at a time. If you buy multiple items (i purchased 2 optical cables, 2 s-video, a dvi cable, and a plethora of rca cables), it is worth it.

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I used two 12 foot cables with a coupler for a 24 foot PCM connection between my satellite receiver and my home theater system. The Dolby 5.1 is excellent.

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Works without flaw, The price is spectacular! I also use a monster cable optical cable in my home theater and there is absolutely no performance difference.

8GB USB Flash Drive Digital Voice and Audio Recorder Spy Recording Device by SpygearGadgets

This recorder has worked perfectly, I leave it in my dress shirt pocket and it records everything. I can listen to conversations in my office easily, and have even recorded conversations in restaurants and while walking outdoors i just need to turn the volume up to maximum when playing it back, but it recorded the other person's voice just fine. It interfaces with all my various computers easily enough, just plug and play the wav file.

The recording USZB flash drive was repackaged with a slip of paper added for instructions. I tried recording and plugging into my Win-7 PC, but could never get it to register without an error saying "Please insert disk". Supplier is in China and the time and money needed to send it back isn't worth it, but maybe that's the idea?

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Sony 2GB Flash Memory Digital Recorder

Much easier to use than the mini-tape cassette types that were around when i was in grad school. Simple to use (without instructions) and reliable. What else you want??

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Sony DNE509 ATRAC3PLUS CD Walkman

• Sonic Stage Simple Burner Software Icluded.
• Bookmark playback fuction for easy programming
• 1 line dot matrix display
• Supports ID3 tagging and CD Text
• Up to 490 Songs on 1 CD

The previous review was just dissing the small display, he/she was ignoring everything else this player has to offer. I bought this player mainly because of its 490 song cd capacity, but also because I trust the Sony name. It has a dot matrix display, a display that uses a number of tiny dots to show the letters and numbers, instead of the usual long, parallel, and perpindicular lines. This means you can put more than just letters and numbers on your MP3 or atrac files. The display is small, which is still very readable thanks to the dot matrix, to conserve batteries. This is one reason for its 77 hour atrac3plus battery life, untouchable at this price range. Battery life is 72 hours for Mp3 cds recorded at 128 kbps and 48 hours for regular audio cds. The main reason for it's remarkable battery life is, this CD player just spins for the first 15 seconds of an MP3/atrac3/atrac3plus cd to read the rest of the song, and then stops turning the cd completely, really! It stops reading off the cd and starts reading from its memory. It takes about three seconds to read every new song since it has to start spinning the cd again. That is about the average of regular cd players. I played an atrac3plus cd with the lid up to see if this was true, and it did exactly as I described. There is no way to make a atrac3/atrac3plus cd skip after the first 15 seconds because, well the cd is not spinning! Even taking the cd out won't make it skip. Trust me, it is very hard to make a a MP3/atrac3/atrac3plus cd skip for even the first 15 seconds. There is also 2 modes of G-Protection for regular cds.

Ok now about the software. I installed it cleanly on xp home. I started putting in my cds and converting them to atrac3plus 64 kbps, equal to 128 kbps MP3 quality because of atrac3plus' higher sound quality. Those who are stuck on mp3s don't know what they're missing out on. You can have an atrac3plus file with the same sound quality at half the bit rate and file size as an mp3, plus retain cd quality sound at 64 kbps. In other words, you can double your song capacity and still keep the same quality as an mp3 that is twice the bit rate and file size of an atrac3plus. You can convert your mp3 collection to atrac using SonicStage. SonicStage only burns atrac cds, so you have to use a another program to make mp3 cds. It takes a long time to convert cd tracks to atrac3plus. I got to my about 10th cd and then it wouldn't read the cd because it was too scratched. I pressed "stop", and tried to put in a different cd but it wouldn't read it either, even though the cd was not scratched. I wound up having to restart and start all over, very annoying. It took me a little over three hours to convert 22 cds to atrac3plus, including the restart.

When you start SonicStage, there are two columns. The left side where you get your music and the right side for the atrac cd. You have the choices of atrac3 at 132, 105, and 66 kbps, or atrac3plus at 64 (the default and recommended) or 48 kbps (to get about 490 songs on a cd). Atrac3 compresses your music roughly 1/10th its original size, while atrac3plus compresses your music about 1/20th its original size. Remember, atrac is very high quality music compared to mp3 at its bit rates. You start at the left side, where you have the choice of getting your music off of a cd or from an mp3 folder on your computer. You must register with CDDB to have your ID3 tag information entered automatically when you put in a cd. You can edit the track and artist info after they appear on the left side. When you have the music album you like, then you convert them to atrac. Your music then gets moved over to the right side. You can keep adding as many albums as you like. Once they're on the right side, you can make your final touches with your artist and track info and then burn to cd. Please note, you can't change ID3 tag info after its burned to a cd, but can come back to SonicStage with a cd that already has atrac songs on it and keep on adding music. This player can handle up to 99 sessions per cd. A session is the number of times a cd has been through SonicStage to add music. A handy, accurate meter at the top tells you how much of the cd you have burned and how much music is to be added.

Back to the player, the sound quality is unbelievable. The bass is really emphasized on the "Sound 2" mode using the supplied headphones. You can really turn this player up, too, unlike the panasonics. The battery compartment is under the cd player lid, which I find to be useful if you seem to have your batteries popping out of your cd player. There isn't really any other benefit for that except I fooled my cousins that it didn't have any batteries when I showed them the bottom of the player. Talking about the bottom of the player, the hold switch is there, don't know why. It could have easily would have fit under the open button. When you close the cd lid, the player automatically reads the cd. Don't worry if there is no cd in it, it will read for a few seconds and then turns itself off. You then have to press play to start playing your music. You could of had it off and pressed play and it would have started playing. You have to press play either way. The "Auto-Read" feaure is also a possible energy waster. For example, if you had a cd in the player, close the lid, and put it up, the player would be on for quite sometime without you knowing it. When I had my cd player put away with a cd in it, the cd started reading and spinning by itself, and nothing pressed any of the buttons. Luckily, I was there to stop it. I don't recommend leaving your cds in this cd player, unless you put it on hold. I think that is ridiculous though, turning on hold to put your cd player away. I think the "Auto-Read" feature is something I can do without.

You can search backwards and forwards through an mp3 file as smooth as a cd audio track. You can't say the same for the other mp3 cd players near this price range. You can do the same with an atrac, but it won't be so smooth. Sony has brought back the pause button some users complained about Sony players not having, but it keeps its resume feature, which I like. You can now turn off those beeps you hear when you press a button. There's AVLS for which I have no reason to use. This cd player does have programming. Sony calls it the bookmark feature. You can program your favorite songs and this player remembers them on your cds. You can program a cd in any order you like. The bookmark feature eliminates the need for having to program your favorite songs everytime you put in one of your favorite cds. When you put back in a cd with favorites on it, this player will remember the favorites you picked, and can play them back if you like. You can program up to 99 songs for each regular cd, and this player can remember your favorites on up to 10 regular cds. For MP3 cds, you can program up to 400 files and this cd player will remember your favorites for up to 10 MP3 cds. For Atrac, you can program up to 999 songs per cd, and it'll remember your favorites for up to 5 atrac cds.This is CD-RW compatible unlike my previous Sony cd player, the D-E220. It also plays MP3 cds from 16-320 kbps, including variable bit rate (VBR). Yes, it is ID3 tag and cd text capable, not seen on some other players for around this price. Overall, tremendous quality and value.

Buy Sony DNE509 ATRAC3PLUS CD Walkman Now

IMPORTANT: For some reason this CD does not appear in the MP3 CD Players page. Do note that this is a MP3/CD PLAYER!

Choosing the right MP3 CD Player was a pretty tedious task for me. I went through so many CD players, comparing prices, features and reader reviews, but I could never find something that fit my needs. I was ready to get a Panasonic, but by reading some of the reviews and speaking with some friends I was informed that they generally have lower sound quality, and most important, lower volume power. Being the music freak that I am, volume level is not something to underestimate. My trusty Sony Minidisc (MZR-55, ancient history) was always suplying me with just the right volume, but how do I know if I can trust Panasonic? So I held myself from getting one, and again was very perplexed by which model to choose.

That was all over when I stumbled upon this Sony's model, the DNE-509. I was very surprised to see that Sony actually made an affordable model! This is a relatively new one, and when I came across it I just knew this was going to be exactly what I needed.

So on with the review itself.

Features/Pros:

* 77 hours of playtime in MP3 with only 2 AA battaries!

* 12 play modes, including shuffle through whole disc or folder only, repeat, favorites play (you can tag your favorite songs, and program the CD to play those only! It'll also remember your favorites in up to 10 CDs!). You can also play MP3 list files, which comes in very handy.

* Will read just about any MP3 file, from 8~320kbps, including VBR!

* An awesome design :)

* Has 2 G-Protection modes, "Mode 1" and the enhanced "Mode 2". Mode 1 is for walking and Mode 2 for more active sports. Basicly, you won't be able to make it skip. I am fully content with Mode 1, it had never skipped for me even once.

* You can enhance your bass with "Sound 1" and "Sound 2" mode. Very high-quality boosting.

* An outstanding volume output and sound quality. Make sure you burn high level MP3 for best results!

* Hold button :) (yeah, some CDs don't even have THAT).

* You can flip through albums (folders) with ease. Also, you can Fast Forward or Rewind in the song itself (yup, many CDs don't have that function as well! Just check the reviews on some of the CDs here).

* Sturdy! Being the dumbass that I am, I've managed to drop it on the floor it twice from the table, and nothing happened.

* If you're worried about what type of CDs the player would read (I know I was), then fear not. It reads just about any CD/CDR/CDRW. I use some cheap korean CDs and the player reads them wonderfuly well.

* 1 line Dot-Matrix display, that supports all ID3 versions. In MP3 CDs, you can view the song's name, artist and album. Very comfy :)

* Such an affordable price! This is absolutely the best you can get for that price.

This CD supports ATRAC3 and ATRAC3plus formats. Those formats undoubtly have better quality over MP3, but generally it is a pain to start converting all your MP3 to ATRAC3. When you want to rip some CDs though, better encode them to ATRAC3, for best quality. The DNE-509 comes with a software called SonicStage. It's an easy-to-use software that enables you to convert your CDs to ATRAC3 files, and burn them. The only disadvantage of this program is that you can't add files after you burn them (no multi-session support). But with regular MP3s it's just fine.

Cons:

Basicly, I fount only 1 cone that is disturbing at times. There's this 1 second delay that the player adds between each track, so when you hear tracks are are supposed to be connected (many CDs have these "connected" tracks). This only happens in MP3 CDs though.

Some people might dislike the fact that the CD has no Radio, and no wired controller like some expensive CDs, but I personally think these features aren't really needed. The CD lacks a backlight display as well.

Note also that the player, like the other ones, does not recognize *.mpc files. You will have to convert them to MP3 or ATRAC3.

So, to be conclusive, if you don't really need a controller or a radio, and not that high on budget, this is absolutely the thing for you. You will not get dissapointed, that I promise :) This proves again that Sony quality is not to be underestimated.

Read Best Reviews of Sony DNE509 ATRAC3PLUS CD Walkman Here

Sony DNE509 is a great product and is worth buying. It plays normal cds, MP3 cds, and Sony's proprietary technology Atrac 3Plus. However, the only problem with this equipment is lack of backlit display! I am sure whoever buys this player will agree on this part.

Anyway, you take this point out of your mind and Sony DNE509 comes out to be excellent product in terms of build quality as well as sound quality.

Atrac 3Plus software supplied is something that really adds the worth of this product as it very easy to use and make Atrac format CDs. I personally found the Atrac format's sound quality much better than MP3. Also, a regular 700 MB blank cd can hold music playable up to 77 hours unlike 52 hours of MP3 format.

The stereo headphones supplied are exceptionally good and prevent from buying more expensive additional headphones. However, they are not much useful if you plan to use these headphones for workouts or brisk walking. "Behind the neck" earphones are better option for that.

Again, the placing of buttons is very thoughtful and easy to operate. The " Hold" feature on the back side of the player makes things perfect as it disables all the other buttons and prevent the player from getting accidental button-press during movement or walking.

I checked many options from Koss, Panasonic, and iRiver but the Sony DNE509 comes out the best in terms of :

1.Build quality

2.Sound quality

3.Atrac 3Plus music format Sony's proprietary technology

4.Battery backup. (lasts almost 65 hours of non-stop play on 2x Duracell AA size)

A quality and value for money product! Happy Buying

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The reviews that gave this Walkman less than 4, even the ones who gave them 4, are mentally ill. The LCD screen uses a dot matrix, which lets it display much more than numbers. I, personally, don't think it's too small. I can read it from a few feet away. Here's a list of pros and cons

PROS

------------------------

great sound quality

can store a bunch of CD's (I have 30 in 1 with room)

great info display

can crank the volume way up

lots of dif. play modes

3 sound modes, with dif. bass

AMAZING battery life

a hold button

CONS

------------------

display could have been backlit

it takes about 15 seconds to load a CD when you put it in

it takes about a second for an atrac3plus CD to change songs

The sould quality is great, and this CD player, if you are playing an atrac3plus or an mp3 CD, NEVER skips. The CD doesn't spin! That's why it has over a 70 hour battery life playing atrac3plus CD's. It's also why it has to load for 10-20 seconds before playing the CD, but it's definitely worth the battery life. You can easily look through your CD's stored on an atrac3plus or mp3 CD without any hassle.The last review said that he couldn't push the buttons easily. This person must have in the words of The White Stripes, "a brain that felt like pancake batter." They can be pressed as easily as you can on any Walkman. The last review also mentioned that there was an annoying beeping sound when you had it on pause or if you pressed a button it would make an annoying beeping noise. That's true, but you can easily turn it off. I think that people should learn to read the manual. For the people who don't know what it is, it's the freakin' booklet that comes with it! Anyways, for $60 this is probably the best choice of a Walkman you can get. In fact, I think it's probably the best for up to about $100 or more! If you have even the SLIGHTEST intrest in getting a Walkman, get this one.

As many have said, this is a very nice CD/MP3 Walkman.

Pros

+ Very solid and reliable, in a small package.

+ The battery life is amazing. I use NiMH batteries, and they last for days.

+ Very nice full sound.

+ If you hit the Stop button, it powers down in 10 seconds. When you power back up, it remembers the spot where you left off, even in the middle of a cut. I like this feature a lot, as I listen to a lot of recorded messages.

+ It's a Sony! They're always great.

+ It WILL play MP3Pro files, and they sound great, even though MP3Pro is not necessarily supported.

Cons

Display is ridiculously small. I don't know what Sony is thinking on this one. If you want a similar Sony CD walkman with a very good display, try Sony's Psyc® ATRAC® CD Walkman®

D-NF400PSGRAY (check Sony website). I wish I knew about that one before buying this one.

By default beeps with every button press and beeps constantly on Pause. However, this CAN be easily disabled, as documented in the instructions.

EXTREMELY slow FF and RW functions. This is irritating if you want to skip forward or backward in an extended recording.

Further observation

I haven't tried the SonicStage software, based on the very negative reviews here. I'm using MusicMatch Jukebox Plus, encoding everything MP3Pro 96 khz with great success.

Overall, I'm very pleased with this player. Yeah, you need an electron microscope to read the display -but beyond that it's great.

Polaroid DVG-1080P High-Definition Digital Video Camera with 2.5-Inch LCD Display

I bought this camcorder mainly because it was the lowest-priced 1080p (full HD) camcorder I had seen. I have a point-and-shoot digital camera with standard-definition video. I also have a DSLR which does not have video, but I don't want to fork out the big bucks for one of the DSLRs with full HD 1080p video. As long as you do not expect really high quality from this camcorder, you will probably be more or less satisfied with the results. Video recording modes include 1080p (30 fps), 720p (30 fps), WVGA (60 fps), VGA (30 fps), and QVGA (30 fps). This camcorder performs well outdoors where the video is clear and sharp. For indoor video recordings, performance starts to drop off noticeably without the window coverings wide open. If you don't have adequate sunlight from outside, even with all the lights turned on, the images begin to get grainy, even if you use the built-in light source which is not very powerful. One nice feature is the 60 fps option at WVGA resolution. The main disadvantage in my opinion is that the image stabilization works at all resolutions except for 1080p and WVGA. I took a few still photos and found the quality to be mediocre, even with adequate lighting, but I am accustomed to the image quality from my DSLR. The menu controls are not intuitive, but I got used to them pretty quickly. All in all, if you're on a budget but would like 1080p video, this would be a nice entry-level option. Do not buy this camcorder if you demand high quality in your video recordings, especially indoors.

Finally, I wanted to comment that I am a Mac user. I have both a 1GHz G4 Power PC iMac running Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) as well as a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo iMac running Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard). I was initially unable to play the videos via QuickTime on my Power PC iMac, as it said I was missing the video codecs. So I installed a freeware plugin called Perian (w w w dot perian dot org), and it now plays the video although it is choppy because the processor is not fast enough to display the video at that resolution. On my Intel-based iMac, videos at all resolutions play smoothly with QuickTime and Perian.

HD-1080 + OPTICAL Zoom. Compact in size and features (not too much, not too little both are undesirable). Worked fine with PC. Simple switch for HD versus smaller (Web) file size. Audio was solid. Low light could have been better (but I really taxed it). Install CD wasn't readable on one PC, but switched to another and copied CD to a thumb drive. Need their viewer for .avi codec. Good resolution for still photos. Great videos/pics of Amsterdam!

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I purchased this thinking I would use it mainly to record live music at local venues. (not loud punk music or thrash...but jazz, blues and maybe some medium volume classic rock/funk bands). I also wanted to use it with my drumming students. I wasn't expecting high quality audio reproduction at all....(nothing better/worse than a typical camcorder).

That being said....The audio is terrible.....it distorts easily....and anything recorded over 40 decibels is worthless when played back.

Honestly....I've heard better audio quality from CELL PHONE video cameras.

The video is clear and ok....but it get's jumpy sometimes. I attribute that to a low quality product.

All in all....for what I wanted.....it was a complete waste of money.

If you want to film birds outside...or someone reading a book I'm guessing the audio would be ok. But if the bird you are filming is loud...or the book reader subject sneezes you'll probably distort the sound.

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I got this as a gift from my mom from Target over a year ago or so. It was on clearance for $75.

It gets some pretty decent visual quality in good lighting, but in lower light it gets almost unviewable due to darkness and noise. You can set the ISO to auto, 800, or 1600. But, it doesn't change much besides how much grain the picture has. There are few manual controls in general I can change, forcing me to edit the video later to remove as much of the noise as I can and brighten the picture in general to the point you can watch it.

There's also some scene modes: skin, night, backlight, black & white, classic (sepia) & negative. I don't notice any major difference or improvement between the night, skin, and backlight modes (and even tested it by shooting shots of the same things and comparing colors), so it seems pointless to change those unless you like the more artistic modes: classic, black & white and negative.

You can also take still pictures with it at up to 4000x3000 resolution (12MP). The quality will come out as good as it does in video depending on the lighting. However, you cannot seem to put on Image Stabilization (IS) to take pictures... strangely. It's only in the video modes. So, unless you are very steady when you click the shutter button or you have a tripod, your pictures will come out blurry. The camera will not stand up on it's own due to the screen tipping it over, so you'll need a tripod to keep it up.

Most of the controls are set in menus as well except for a light button (the camera has a decent light on the front of it) which seems to boost the noise too, the video button, the picture button and the zoom wheel. (you have to press the "OK" zoom wheel in the center to access the menus) White balance (no manual white balance may I add or any exposure compensation) and IS have to be tweaked before shooting unless it comes out good in auto. The only things that stay in memory is the ISO setting, the camera's sound and the resolution. Otherwise things revert back to the defaults after you turn off the camera... some even after each shot like the auto timer.

The audio is also on the weak side as if it picks up something that is a bit too loud for it, the sound distorts and gets very staticy, sometimes to the point where you can't hear what was spoken. This is very easy to do as well because it doesn't take much to make the sound distort. What I have to do to film as clear as possible, is keep the camera fairly far away from the sound source to lower the sound it picks up, like 2-3 feet away, then boost the volume in my video editor later.

This camera also has no lens cap or any way to get it one. But, the lens is glass and recessed a bit into the camera, so it's unlikely it'll get scratched or damaged unless you're careless with it.

All of the bad points in this camera I talked about make it seem like this camera is bad, but really it's OK for the price. Don't pay more than my mom did. I've seen it for like $130 and for that price you can get a better camera with more manual controls like a compact Canon or Nikon. Just very clunky and inconvenient to use quickly, a bit weak on the audio and lacking in the manual control department. It feels good in your hands to use, feels very sturdy and it gets the job done providing you use it as I described to get the best quality you can. The rotating screen is a big plus when you want to film at an otherwise awkward angle you couldn't do with a stationary screen on the back of it.

The more I use this camera, the more I want to upgrade to something with more manual controls and buttons so I can tweak video and photos without having to sift through menu screens and do it more precisely. But, I think that may be because I've gotten to a more advanced level of filming and photography since I got this camera and outgrew it. Though, I'd recommend this camera to a new video or photo enthusiast that wants an entry-level camera just to see if you'll like it as it's not complicated to use.

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First time I got this camera I was so excited but then I hook it up to my tripod and the screw fell off and still can't find that screw!

Canon FS200 Flash Memory Camcorder w/41x Advanced Zoom (Misty Silver) - 2009 MODEL

This review is for people who have common sense about this technology and have done even a TAD bit of research before buying. I have been in the video/film/animation industry for 15 years and have used tons of equipment for everything from multimillion dollar productions, to rogue gorilla documentaries. This camera is for people who want to flip open something small and compact, shoot some video for memories and thas that. Pretty much ALL camcorders under 800 dollars are going to shoot interlaced video, and this one does as well. it has complete manual overide for focus and exposure. I read a review where a lady was complaining about filming a recital and the camera was going in and out of focus. No problem, set it to manual and problem fixed. There is no more .MOD file problems.. all files are read as .mpeg files now (you can download the newest software from the website) **EDIT** its come to my attention that some people are still getting the .MOD files extension. I am running windows XP service pack 3 on a PC and the program it installed is pixela imagemixer 3 version 4 and it automatically shows up as .mpeg 4 files.. so i dont know whats up and why that works for me, as i did nothing special or extra for that to happen..

now onto quality.

It is acceptable. Low light gives you grainy pictures and some ghosting. You will get this on pretty much ALL camcorders in this class. do NOT expect that if you spend another 100 dollars you will get a difference. If you want to see a noticable difference you will need to step up to the 800-1200 dollar range. Im sorry but thats just the facts. Another thing to be on the lookout for is called a frame buffer. Which EVERY camcorder over 100 dollars Should have.. you know, that telltale sign in video where when the camera moves back and forth the picture starts "waving like a flag in the wind".. we're good with that. The zoom on this camera is CRAZY good.. in general, optical zoom is good, digital zoom is bad.. this cameras optical zoom rivals most everything out there.. things i dont like. When you play your recorded videos on the camcorder, it will just play the next file without stopping, in one long stream.. this is cool, but i dont like not having the option to view one at a time. you HAVE to plug it in to the wall power when you transfer files to the computer. i dont like the record button on the end of the barrel.. the way i ALWAYS end up holding this camera is like how you hold a glass of water if you were pouring it out.. with my thumb on the top of the barrell.. i NEVER hold it "properly" (like a glass of water that im drinking).. its so tiny that holding it like that is almost cumbersome and unecessary.. In short i LOVE this thing for the convenience.. on standby it will boot up in 2 seconds.. AWESOME.. no tape, the small size, good battery life, relatively big LCD screen,external mic input and headphone all good.. needing a plug for computer connection, bad low light performance, bad management of video playback not so good.. all in all i REALLY like it...

if you want the convenience of a TINY camcorder available at a moments notice, recording to a card instead of tape, a regular def video (most everything i shoot is for web or regular DVD which is regular def anyway) and a price thats not bad. this is for you

Now, if you want a video camera for capturing high def home videos for permanent memories to keep forever and possibly burn to blu-ray, seriously, buy a high def, 3ccd progressive scan camcorder. Expect to pay around 1000+ dollars, but thats what you get. i dont understand the complaints that this is whats expected from this camcorder. You cant drive a civic around complaining it cant go from 0 to 60 in 2 seconds..

I bought this camera a couple of weeks ago and it is small. Smaller than I expected, but that is not a bad thing, it is easy to carry around in a vest pocket or coat pocket. I didn't download or use any of the software provided with the camera, I have Sony Vegas on my computer. One thing that I do recommend is downloading the free SDCOPY software you can find on the net. Check the widescreen box and it will convert your .MOD files to mpg files lightning quick. Now you should be able to work with them in just about any editing software. Use a card reader for the SD card instead of connecting the camera to the computer, makes life easier. I use a cheap one that came with my SD cards.

Zoom is good, and a steady hand or tripod is highly recommended for longer shots. Quick to start up, the auto lens cover is great, battery life also great.

I really see no problems with this great little camera, other than low light filming could be better, but not many of these cameras are great in low light.

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I have several Canon digital cameras, so when I decided to purchase a camcorder I immediately went to Canon. I waited a month for this new version. I wanted a small camcorder--and this is definitely small.

I am a bit disappointed in the quality of the videos. For movies taken in full light I can hardly tell the difference between these movies and the ones I take with my Canon PowerShot A570 IS digital camera! Although, the sound is definitely better with the camcorder. For movies in dim light (I filmed my son's Jazz concert), there was a huge difference so I decided to keep the camera.

I would agree with the previous reviewer in that the control buttons on the LCD screen are practically useless in dark settings. I couldn't see them during the concert I filmed.

I also have a bit of trouble holding the camera because it is so small. I removed the "grip belt" strap it came with because I could not get it to fit securely and still allow me to adjust the buttons at the same time. It felt like the camera was going to slide off my hand. I now use the extra wrist strap that comes with the camera and while it doesn't look as "cool", I'm not worried about dropping the camera.

My biggest hassel has been that the camera saves the movie files as MOD files which are a pain to work with! They will not import into most video editing programs (including Adobe Premiere Elements!), and the widescreen videos will not play correctly in Windows Media Player unless you convert the file.

The camera comes with a software program to transfer, edit, and view the movies--but it is awkward to use and even with the conversion I still could not get the movies to import into Camtasia Studio 6, which is the program I use the most. So, after two days of internet searching this is what I found that works for me.

1. I use a card reader to transfer the movie files onto my computer. This is much easier for me than using the program that comes with the camera.

2. I downloaded a free copy of SDCopy, and I use it to convert the MOD files to mpeg files. If I check the "widescreen" box on the converting window the converted movies will play widescreen in Windows Media Player.

3. The converted movies will import into Adobe Premiere, but they will not import into Camtasia Studio 6 (which is my goal). I can use Adobe Premiere to convert the files to avi files, but the process takes too long for me so I found a better and easier way.

4. I purchased a MOD converter. The one I decided on was Daniusoft Mod Converter for $29. It works well. With a MOD converter, I can convert the MOD files to a bunch of other types that will import into other programs as well as play on other devices such as an ipod. I use it to convert the files I converted with SDCopy into .avi files that will import into Camtasia.

Bottom line: Do your research and decide if this is for you. The FS100 received so many good reviews that I can't help but wonder if the video quality of that camera is better than this one. Perhaps someone will post information that answers that question.

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I ordered this so I can record our vacation to the beach on my husband's leave from Iraq. I'm not terribly familiar with various camcorders but after much research I decided on the Canon FS200 and I'm quite pleased. I LOVE that it has flash memory as I can easily carry extra cards and swap them out as needed. It didn't take too long to charge and has a great battery life. The picture quality is great, mic picks up sounds well and the zoom is fantastic. I love how small and lightweight it is. The price is good too. I'm very happy with this camcorder.

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I bought this camcorder on May 15, 2009 to replace my Canon ZR200 camcorder that stopped playing tapes about 5 months ago. I loved my ZR200 and the plethora of tapes that I filmed using it. I still believe that tapes are the best form of archive known today!

This review will focus on the features outlined at the product's web-site. I congratulate Canon's marketing staff at providing this outline.

1. Ultra-Sleek, Compact and Lightweight Design

The product is very sleek, compact and lightweight! The UPS scale at my office weighed the camcorder, battery and SDHC card at a mere 9.8 oz.

I love the Red color and waited an extra month until this color was available. Due to it's light weight, I recommend that you always use this w/ a tripod or monopod to provide the best video quality.

2. Canon Exclusive: Genuine 41x Advanced Zoom

This zoom feature is only available in the wide screen mode. It provides a wide-screen effect, giving you an extra 20% viewing area w/out an additional lens. In std (4:3) mode, you the best optical setting is 37x, which is almost as good.

3. Canon Exclusive: DIGIC DV II Image Processor

This processor has been around for several years now and delivers a superb shot and video using the optical zoom settings. Using the digital (2000x) zoom settings it does not seem to help as much. However, I was able to capture some good video at approx. 500-1000x zoom using the digital setting. Thank you canon!

4. Superb Shooting Control Video Snapshot, Quick Start, Quick Charge, Dual Shot and More

The shooting control is superberb. However, you have to turn the dial to change between video and photo mode. I believe my last canon allowed simultaneous filming and picture taking.

5. Stunning Digital Photography

The photo's I took were as best as I could have hoped for at 1024x780 resolutions. As you would expect from Kodak, the colors were fabulous and the light recognition was very good. I still haven't figured out how to get the 5 pics / second (burst mode) working.

6. 2.7" Widescreen LCD

This helps a lot in video play back. I have 20/20 vision and can clearly see the clips I just took. I also LOVE the replay mode, which moves from clip to clip until you press the pause button or reach the end.

7. Pick the Color to Suit Your Style

Sunrise red is HOT. I'm glad I waited a few extra weeks for it.

8. Additional Features...

The lithium Iron battery lasts 3-5 hrs, depending on camera use. I still bought 2 extra batteries for $35 total and don't have any plans to start using them soon. 3-5 hours is amazing in comparison to the HD camcorders, which give you an hour of footage at best.

The USB high speed terminal is nice, but it took me a few hours to figure out that you need to put the camcorder in PC transfer mode. The default mode is DVD burner mode, which I find to be an oversight by the focus group. They should know that 90% of US customers want to import the clips into their PC, not Canon's DVD burner. This oversight dropped my review from a perfect 5 stars to 4 stars.

I discovered that the headphone terminal outputs a mono signal, causing the right earphone to emit an irritating buzzing sound. Thank goodness I was not wearing a head set.

I have not tested the audio input jack. However, I anticipate better results than their output jack.

I only tested the Pixel's software video capture feature, which failed to capture my wide screen video correctly. Thanks to the SDCopy shareware utility, I was able to capture my Wide Screen footage correctly. I hope they provide this feature in their sofware soon!

After doing some testing I discovered that you can film almost 5 hrs. in low quality (3 mps/sec) mode, lmost 3 hrs in st. quality (6 mps/sec), and approx 2 hrs. of footage at high qualify (9 mps/sec) at the setting on an 8GB SDHC card.

I did not purchase the extended warrantee because there aren't many moving parts.

I congratulate canon's product design staff for providing a product that I will enjoy using for years to come.

When you capture the video into your PC, you need to have it plugged into the power jack. Otherwise, it will not work. Hence, I suggest that you purchase a USB/HD Card reader with this device.

With the cost of a 16 GB class 6 SDHC card at $40, I don't know how canon expects to sell their FS22 (32 GB internal memory) or FS21 (16 GB intenal memory) at the price they are asking.

This is truly a fabulous product!

Samsung x495 Phone (T-Mobile)

Does everything it is supposed to do and does them all well. Just received the x495 as a backup phone (to my P910a) ... no camera, MP3 player, add-in memory cards etc but for a new cell phone user or someone needing a solid phone "that just works simply and solidly" this could be the one.

Pros:

+ Usability is excellent, simple & straightforward

+ strong RF (signal), perhaps not as strong as a Nokia or my P910a but pretty close.

+ excellent speaker-phone

+ clear audio for you & the caller

+ sharp, vibrant screen

+ menus are simple, easy to follow

+ 3 different alarms, great as an alarm clock even works to wake you when the phone is powered off.

+ does WAP/ T-Mobile t-zones nicely

+ good battery life, 2-3 days between charging

+ Outside screen "can" be seen easily in the dark, just hold volume up side button for 1-2 seconds

Cons:

+ no email

+ no easy syncing to get address book, tasks & calendar entrees to/from a PC

Still a "5/5" and a great entry-midrange phone ... it just works, no glitches at all (so far).

This is a basic phone with the added plus of having a SPEAKERPHONE. Unfortunately though the speakerphone seems rather staticky compared to turning it off (so it is not really a reception thing).

Another plus is an external volume control. However, this is on the side of the phone. For me, it is right where I hold the phone, so I seem to be turning the volume up and down a lot unintentionally.

There are only two very bad games. There are a couple pictures on the phone. There is a calendar, alarm clock, timer, and voice recorder (which is nice).

It is small, but the keys are well placed. It is not hard to use at all.

BATTERY CHARGE TIME FAST! It fully charges in about 2 hours. Unfortunately, after 1 day and 3 calls (all under 5 minutes) it is already showing less than half charged. So, I think the battery life may be less than indicated. But, still better than my ancient Nokia.

BUT, POOR, POOR, POOR reception. I am SHOCKED! I thought at first it could be the carrier (T-mobile). To test this, I stuck the SIM card into my old (3 years old) Nokia. Well, on the samsung I had no service to 1 bar but not enough to complete a call on the Nokia I had 3 bars! I placed a call, and no static! Sheesh! So, no, not the carrier it is the phone.

If you search the CNET reviews for the Samsung X475 you will see it has poor reception as well. I took a gamble and hoped this was updated on the 495. But, I guess not.

It is an attractive phone. I like that the time, date, day of the week, battery remaining, and signal strength are all displayed when the phone is closed. But, since I got the phone to actually make/receive CALLS not tell me the time of day, I have to rate it accordingly.

I am going to return the phone and maybe try the Motorola V330 or something else with some kind of antenna.

Buy Samsung x495 Phone (T-Mobile) Now

When deciding how many stars to give this phone, I decided it really depends on your frame of reference. If you are lining up all the phones currently in production, then you can arrange them in ascending order based on a number of factors. The factors we use to judge a phone naturally include the number of features. So in our hypothetical lineup, there are certainly other phones with more features, and those are likely to occupy some of the top spots. BUT, another way to judge a phone is to ask how well the phone measures up against what it purports to be. This phone has no camera, no bluetooth, and no email client. If those are the features you are looking for, then this is not a 5 star phone. However, this phone, to me, makes a statement abot its intended purpose by virtue of its selective inclusion -and exclusion -of features. While it doesn't have all the bells or whistles in today's spectrum of wireless gadgets, what it DOES do well is act as a phone. And in that context, it is a great PHONE -having those features you would likely want in a device for making and receiving calls. A large, easily readable screen font; a very lightweight housing (made lighter, no doubt, by not including extras like a camera lense); nice key layout with excellent tactile feedback (i.e. the buttons are easy to find and press, and feel good doing so); pretty good menus; excellent color display that can be viewed well even outdoors; a very solid feeling flip (the hinge is strong and pivots smoothly); teriffic battery life; and the phone comfortably cradles your face with it's angled v-shape when open. Although I don't need a camera, I DO prefer to be able to sync with my numerous phone contacts on my PC. I would have liked bluetooth for this reason, but a cable and software is available that I am going to try -I will be satisfied using a cable interface if I can get some good syncing between the phone and PC. Overall, I am conservatively rating the phone 4 stars, because the sky's the limit when it comes to gadgets, and in today's ever-evolving gadget marketplace it is hard to call anything perfect. Bottom line, great phone.

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This is my 4th Samsung cell phone with T-Mobile. S105, E105, X475 and now the X495. I love T-Mobile because they upgrade phones cheaply as long as you extend your contract 12 months as opposed to other carriers who require 2 years. I paid 40 dollars but they gave me a 50 dollar rebate. -10 dollars to get a new phone! Have not had any reception issues as stated by the other reviewer. I love the look and feel of Samsung flipphones. None better. This phone has a clean and unique look, although slightly feminine with the white plastic insert.

Speakerphone is awesome. I can hear clearly and they can hear me. Speakerphone plays through the earpiece but has convenient volume control on the side. Screen is bright but on the compact side. Phone is a little bulkier than most other samsungs, but not annoyingly so. No external antennae so it is clean. Best of all I really enjoy the feel and function of the buttons. Nice separation and also raised off of the body to ensure accurate dialing. Great Battery life. Have had the phone on for 3 days now and one hour of talk time and I am showing 2 bars out of 3 left. No camera, but I think camera phones are overrated anyway. Can't go wrong with this one.

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I bought this phone to repair an older Samsung model. I've had this phone now for a month and it has not given me any problems. I did not need a phone with fancy gadgets. All I wanted the phone to do was to call and receive phone calls without static. A nice added bonus was the speaker phone which works fairly well. Another benefit of this phone was that you could transfer your phonebook and old text messages that were stored on a SIM card staright to this phone. The included ringtones are a bit cheesy but was not a bid deal since I all I wanted was a cheap phone that works well.

VuPoint Solutions (DC-ST00-VP) 3.1 MegaPixel Digital Camera

I actually got this as a christmas present -and I haven't put it down yet.

The picture quality is amazing you can get up to 5MP for a picture or video capture!! 5MP! Most Digital Camcorders are around 3MP... so that'll bring a smile to your face.

I have recorded several videos and transfered them to DVD, and it is crystal clear when viewing it on TV. The only problem is keeping my hand steady, but a tripod fixes that in no problem.

Easy to use software, and camera menus. You even have nifty Black and White or Sephia settings. Also have web cam and direct print capabilities.

But for any first time buyers, if you get a digital camera must buy a memory card. Once you start taking pictures/video you won't want to stop!

Motorola EM326g Prepaid Phone (Net10)

I bought this phone from Target after I inadvertently cracked the LCD screen on my LG 300. This phone has some very nice features: Bluetooth, Digital Camera (1.3 Megapixels), microSD Card Slot, MP3 Player, and FM Radio. It also has a Browser, but you can only access the Net10 site with it; access to all other sites are restricted.

I'll briefly touch on each of these and other features:

Bluetooth

The bluetooth works surprisingly well. I can connect the phone to my iPAQ 111 Pocket PC using bluetooth for transferring files between the units. I also have no trouble connecting the phone to my Garmin Nuvi 360 GPS unit and my Plantronics Headset. Once my Nuvi is connected to the phone, I can use the Nuvi as a speaker phone. I can also use the Nuvi to dial and receive phone calls. SWEEeeet!

Digital Camera

The quality of the picture taken with the 1.3-megapixel camera is pretty good. Each JPEG file is typically less than 100 Kb.

microSD Card Slot

The microSD slot will only read a microSD card (2 GB or less), not a microSDHC (microSD, High Capacity 4 GB or more). If you insert a microSDHC card, you will get the message: Please remove card and insert again.

MP3 Player

The sound quality through my Sony earphones is decent enough. The MP3 player, unfortunately, doesn't have an equalizer.

FM Radio

The FM Radio reception is as good as any portable radio. Since your earphones function as an antenna, the FM Radio won't work unless you have your earphones plugged in.

Browser

Internet access is restricted to only the Net10 Web site. (Interestingly, some people reportedly have full (unrestricted) Internet access on the browser.) I tried a few URL's (e.g. google) but each time I got the error message: HTTP error forbidden.

The Net10 Web site has links for Sports, Weather, and News. The page loads are excruciatingly slow! It can take a few minutes for a page to load, if at all. Sometimes, the page just hangs. You would have to be pretty desperate to want to use the browser!

e-mail

I tried to e-mail an attachment a couple of times but had no success with it. 3.5 minutes (1 minute standard rate + 2.5 minutes e-mailing rate) were deducted from my account on _each_ attempt, even though the e-mail failed to get through! The error message: Sending failed: Connection error.

o Miscellaneous Features

The phone has all the "standard" features that come with most cell phones: polyphonic ring tones, games (e.g. Need For Speed Carbon), and tools (e.g. calculator and alarm clock).

o Usability

Service: The standby battery life is about 2 to 3 days. Cell phone reception from the Net10 service is decent enough (Net10 actually uses the AT&T network). It comes with 300 minutes of free airtime (a 30-d0llar value).

Volume Control: I really like the volume control buttons on the left side of the phone. You can quickly set the phone to Silent, Vibrate, or one of seven volume levels without having to wade through the menus.

Form: The phone is very compact. It is the same size as the LG 300.

---

The biggest gripe I have about the phone is the crippled browser. Other than that, I don't really have very much else to complain about it. For me, an absolute must-have on a phone is bluetooth and this feature works flawlessly on the EM 326g. Overall, I'm quite happy with it. For the price, it's really not a bad deal. If you're looking for a prepaid phone, this one's definitely worth consideration.

My Net10 LG300's keyboard died so I replaced it with this phone. I find it to be an excellent "cheap" phone. And it has a standard micro USB port for charging....you don't have to buy a confounded proprietary car charger. Highly recommended.

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The phones activated without incident...I bought three of these...One the sim was in backwards.

Sometimes the phone coulnt find a signal...Under tools hitting Network twice restored service.

This is a good phone for making calls and dont use the text feature...Highly recommended.

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this is the coolest phone for under $9.00 with the memory card included. This is perfect for teenagers to learn responsibility before spending lot for them to break.

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nice cell phone with this price. but does not include 300 minutes free airtime from NET10 which I thought would.

BTW, net10 website also sell this phone for $39.99 (free shipping) if you live in specific area like California.

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NEW WP6800 Pink Waterproof 18MP Digital Video Recorder/Camera(compatible with micro SD card)

this camera is a total ripoff. picture quilty is realy bad. i will never buy from thise pepole again. the camera is not worth $10.00 it is total junk.CAMERA IS NOT 12.1 MEGAPICELS IT LOOKS LIKE 2MP.

It is waterproof.

It does have a short battery life.

It does take one of the worst pictures ever, it is not 18mp. it look like a 2mp photo take with my laptop. Hopefully I bought for my daughter then it is ok for kids but it is no a real life camera.

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I thought that this would be a great learning camera (waterproof, etc) for our 7 year old granddaughter. NOT.

The flash setting is ridiculous goes back to no flash each time you turn off the camera. Eats batteries so quickly, we went through 4 just trying to set it up on Christmas Day.

Instructions are miserably wrong, could not get this camera to take a decent picture with 6 adults trying to figure out what to do next.

Grainy picture more like you'd expect from a toy camera you get in one of those claw machines at the supermarket.

Even if someone gave me this camera, I'd give it back and say no thanks. This is WORTHLESS and such a disappointment to all of us boo hiss.

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The camera is brand new people..it comes in a box well plastic wraped. I am very satisfied with the quality. Very good deal.

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Sony TX Series DSC-TX9/H 12.2MP Digital Still Camera with "Exmor R" CMOS Sensor and 3D Sweep Panora

I've only had this camera for a few hours, but I had to rush to give an initial impression. In one word, WOW! For a compact point and shoot, Sony has the market leader. First the photos.... Very good. For a point and shoot camera, I can say that the photo quality is as good as most of my previous canon point and shoot cameras. The photos have good color saturation and clarity and focus, and there is little shutter lag. Now video...... AMAZING. This little camera has as good video quality as my Sony CX-12 AVCHD video camera. The video is sharp, clear and the sound is excellent. The difference is this finally combines a decent camera with excellent video capability. Another great feature is the wide angle lens, it gets the whole shot it without needing to back up. I was unlikely to tote my video camera on every trip, but now I don't have to be concerned about pocketability. The only downside is that because of the small form factor, camera shake can be an issue. The OIS steadyshot is good, but could be better. Also, you cannot make changes to settings while shooting, such as increasing the exposure, you have to stop shooting and then make the change. Overall, those are small prices to pay for such a compact camera that I can take anywhere and play videos on my 55" LCD that are jawdroppingly good.

For comparison:

I am currently using a Panasonic ZS3, which had average photos but very good video. To me it can't compete with the Sony. The Sony has better photos and much crisper video (both use AVCHD, although the Panasonic uses AVCHD lite). I recently bought and returned the Canon SD4500IS. I went back and compared photos between the canon and the Sony. Both are close, but the edge goes to canon for clarity (although the Sony does handle white balance better in the auto setting). Where the Canon failed was in the Video: No wide angle lense, and the quality was below that of the Panasonic ZS3, very grainy and fuzzy.

UPDATE

After playing with this camera for about 8 hours I am quite impressed with the image quality from photos and the video remains stellar. In comparing to the Sony WX5 (which I also have at the moment) the video is slightly softer, but the TX9 handles camera shake better, picks up sound more accurately with the mic on the front rather than the top, and does not have zooming noise from the lens moving while shooting video. Taking photos, this thing blows away my Panasonic ZS3: Photos are constantly clear and vivid and the white balance is spot on. Shooting outdoors or in a room with adequate light, the shot to shot times are excellent. The only downside I see to this camera is the shot to shot times when using the flash. It takes at least 3-4 seconds to take another picture with a flash, due to the charge cycle on the flash. It also seems to take the camera a bit longer to process the image after a flash, so that adds time. I will say the photo quality with the flash is astonishingly good. When using the ZS3, it was hit or miss on flash photos (either white balance was off or the photo was overexposed), with the TX9, just about every flash photo looks great. Overall, this is a great camera that takes excellent video and photos. I forgot to mention one great feature is the intelligent auto which picks the scene automatically for each shot, so far every picture I have taken (which is close to 400) has been very accurate with little post processing required.

UPDATE 2

Took the TX9 on a trip to Disney and it performed without flaw. Took close to 700 pictures and a little over an hour of video. Of all of the pictures that were taken, I'd say maybe 2 dozen would have been tossed, the rest turned out very nice with excellent color, sharpness and saturation. The video taken on 17M FH setting are stunning. I have no need for my Sony CX12 video camera anymore since this camera is ultra portable. One reviewer noted a significant fisheye effect because of the wide angle lense. I will say if you look for it you may see a slight effect, but I have not seen it very often.

I used the TX9 on my Cabo vacation and it is hands down the best camera I have ever owned. It's panoramic pics are breathtaking and the 1080i video is eye poppingly good.

But the TX7 is very similar, the main 2 differences are 1. that the TX9 has an extra 3D mode which is gimmicky, it looks like crap and so I don't use it and 2. The sensor is 1/2.4 instead of 1/2.3 which translates to virtually no difference in quality (yes there are more pixels). Save yourself the $100 and get the TX7.

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The TX9 comes with no memory card, but it does accept SDHC cards formatted to FAT32. With the 32GB card it the camera predicts that I can take around 6000 photos in 12M Pixels.

The touchscreen is not bad looking, it is reflective like the Ipod screen which makes image looks clear but at the same time it is also more prone to glare. The touch screen is resistive, not as responsive as the capacitive screen we are used to with the iDevices. This is conform by the fact that it came with a slim plastic dog tag looking contraption with a pointy end. My girlfriend ask what it was, we were puzzled until I went to read the manual... apparently it is a stylus. Only resistive screen can use random plastic object as stylus.

Besides the camera, the package came with a small docking station and a battery charger. This is a nice touch apart from the fact that is doesn't come will all the accessories for the docking station to fully function. It needs a separate AC adapter with Sony's own proprietary plugs which cost no less than $39.99 from Sony's website. Model AC-LS5, I included this, because I personally had a hard time finding this oddball adapter. The docking station has a HDMI and a AV connector, the package only comes with the RCA cable, so again you need to buy your own HDMI cable. I ordered the Amazon Basic ones, since Best Buy loves to insanely overprice these HDMI cable after Circuit City disappeared. With the HDMI cable, the TV out function is very nice. The picture displayed on the screen is amaziningly sharp and clear in 1080i HD and you won't need to bring a computer to show your photos to your friends on HD Television. On the down side you will not be able to recharge your camera on the docking station if you don't buy their AC adapter. Personally I find this really inconvenient. Update: I purchased the adapter, and it does not seem to recharge the camera's battery.

The basic modes of Photo on the Tx9 is Intelligent Auto Adjustment and Superior Auto Adjustment. The Intelligent Auto adjustment is the classic point and click and forget mode, the new superior mode take multiple photos at once then process it to improve picture quality. This does create noticeable clarity, but it needs around 5 second delay after each photo for processing. So this is not so useful if you have impatient friends that wants you to snap quickly.

There are only a few buttoms on the camera, as most of the controls can be done on the touchscreen, the physical buttoms are there for fast access. Photo Mode, Video mode, Shutter, power, zoom and thats it. There are some primitive editing tools on the camera but they seem way too simple to be useful on a small resistive screen. It is more of a gimmick.

There are 2 3D modes, the sweep panorama 3D photo which requires you to have a 3D TV to view and the Sweep multi Angle Mode which appears to changes prespective on the screen when you tilt the camera, similar to a holographic sticker. Since it depends on you to accurately perform the sweeping motion to get good photos, most of the time the 3D photo don't look correct. I also did not find a way to view the Multi Angle Mode photos outside of the camera.

The photos are automatically organized onto a calender very similar to the way Nintendo DS does it. I found this to be a nice feature. The include photo software for the PC was not so useful, it decided to scan all the photo's from my other drives on the computer instead of just the camera, which made a mess of things.

All the previous function are there, iSweep panorama,auto shutter on smiley face, etc, but unlike the TX5, the TX9 is not waterproof. I found it funny that Sony would called their trademark feature "iSweep" panorama. Without knowing the facts, if you have to guess which device the feature "iSweep" came from, Apple or Sony, which would you guess?

All in all the strongest Pro on this camera is the point and click photo quality. It can do 1080 HD movies, but it's not the best of quality, however it is very good for it's compact size (The sound seems to be too loud when recording movies). On the down side, it doesn't include everything you want right out of the box, it only includes what you need, (minus the memory card) and buying Sony proprietary accessories isn't cheap.

Update:

I don't have a 3DTV but I found a zero cost alternative for viewing the 3D pictures on your computer, at least for novelty purpose. Is the use of Nvidia 3d Vision. You just need a blue and red anaglyph glasses (came free with a one of the issues of maxim) and Nvidia 3D translate the photos for you into 3D. Note that at the time of writing, this does yet work the Nvidia release drivers, it only works with the Beta video drivers, which probably would've already been released by the time people read this.

Even if you were going for the more expensive 3d option from Nvidia (with 3D vision kit kit + 120hz monitor) it is still marginally cheaper than buying a 3DTV, plus it has the added option of playing games in 3D. But the main attraction for me was being able to view the 3D photos from the TX9 at almost zero cost, as long as you already have a PC computer with a nvidia gfx card.

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This camera has turned me into a total geek after just a few days of use. My friends and family are tired of me showing them pictures and talking about my new camera. I am not one to easily fall in love with a product, but I'm in deep lust with the TX9 so far.

The camera functionality is a little confusing at first because there are so many options, but then I came to realize that if I just leave in the automatic it does a great job on its own selecting the best mode for the shot. Plus after just a few minutes of really playing with it, the functionality and features started to become very intuitive and make a lot more sense (e.g. switching from playback to camera to video with just one button).

It's been 5 years since my last digital camera purchase, so perhaps some of the features/results I'm wowed by are now pretty common place, but to me they still are amazing. The most obvious difference from my old camera to my new is the ability to capture action shots. Please look at the shots I uploaded to the product gallery (canon fire and girl jumping into pool) to see how the camera allows you to make good-quality still images from the full 1080 HD video and high-quality images in 'burst' mode. Those two features alone make me happy I bought this camera. I never was able to capture such action before.

The regular photo mode is fool-proof. Just point and click and 90% of the time your image quality is going to be top-notch no matter the lighting or scene. You do have the option to select certain modes like "beach" or "twilight" but I haven't seen a noticeable difference from the automatic mode. There's even and underwater mode which I haven't a clue how that's useful. One problem I had initially is that my finger would sometimes get into frame. It took me a few days to learn to hold the camera different so my finger wouldn't end up in frame.

The camera also touts 3D capabilities, but I have no use for that technology yet. Perhaps it will be practical one day for me, but for now it's just a sorta cool extra that I have no way to view outside the camera. In other words, don't buy it for this feature alone unless you have a clear plan on what you need it for.

Pros:

Full HD video is beautiful and sounds great

Image quality (12.2 MP) consistently delivers vibrant, beautiful photos

Low-light shooting is far, far better than I have experienced from older cameras

Automatic mode is very intelligent

Features are easy to use

Huge display screen (note: I had very little trouble viewing subjects even in bright sunlight)

Size and weight make it easy to tuck into your pocket

Cons:

Battery goes pretty quick (I was able to get a full day of shooting and video on a family trip but had to recharge before uploading images to computer)

File sizes are huge (ballpark 500MB for a 30-second HD video and 4-5MB per image) and will really eat up space on your memory card and your computer. You will probably need a long-range storage plan like an external hard drive or something.

The power cord for the dock costs extra ($40). I chose to buy and extra battery.

Uploading your media to a Mac has been a little confusing so far. I somehow uploaded my photos twice at one time into iPhoto causing a management headache. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it, but it's not as intuitive as my old camera. Video is uploaded to iMovie not iPhoto.

Overall

Despite some minor annoyances and unanticipated extra expenses (cost of high-capacity memory card, extra battery and eventually more computer storage), I am thrilled with this camera. The functionality, results and compactness make this a worthwhile purchase. I will be able to capture many family memories with this for years to come.

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We currently own a Sony HDR CX12 camcorder. It takes excellent 1080i AVCHD videos as well as good still photos (but only in good lighting). Most of its indoor shots and low light outdoor shots are disapointingly out of focus. After doing some resesarch, I narrowed our choices down to Sony TX9, alpha 55 DSLR, or alpha NEX-5. My primary goal is to have a camera that can take 1080i AVCHD video as well as still photos, particulary in the low light setting. Most of our pictures are of our children and family events.

I decided to buy a TX9 becuase of its low-light picture capability. After using it for about 1 month now, I'm very happy to report that my indoor low light still photos are great and in focus. I have it set on the Superior Auto Adjustment mode most of the time. It takes 6 pictures rapidly (if necessary) and combines them to give you the best result. With this mode on and the flash turned off, pictures in low light settings almost always come out great and in focus. There is some fishbowl effect occassionally, but not noticeable to my eyes. This camera also has a large and bright LCD display which allows you to easily tell if your subject is in focus. There are very few buttons on this camera as most features are activated via its touch screen LCD.

The TX9 also takes excellent 1080i AVCHD videos (but its audio is 2 channel stereo, not 5.1 digital like the CX12). It takes some practice to hold the camera steady for video shots (when compared to a camcorder like CX12) due to its small size. Its video quality is so good that I won't be needing my CX12 any further for home videos. The 4X zoom is more limiting when compared to the 10x zoom I was used to in the CX12 camcorder, but transitioning to 4X zoom was easier than I thought.

I was able to compare the TX9 to my sister-in-law's Sony alpha 55 DSLR; both take great shots; but portability was much more important to me, so I decided to keep the TX9.

I did purchase a seaparte spare battery as others have reported that it does not last as long. A spare battery actually makes sense as this camera cannot charge its battery when it is inside the camera. It requires you to charge the battery outside of the camera via a small wall charger. Overall, I'm ecstatic that I finally found a small portable camera capabile of taking great HD videos as well as great still photos in low light settings. If it wasn't for the zoom, limited to 4x optical, I would have given it a 5 star rating.

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Sony M-675V Microcassette Voice Recorder

This is a great little recorder. We have used many brands of recorders in the past, and this is among the best. The learning curve was also very small, and we were able to start using it within a few minutes of opening the box.

The microcassette works well enough in fast speed but has a bit of wow and flutter in low speed for extending your recording time. Cue and review is located in an awkward position for my use. However, although this recorder is pricey, hopefully it will hold up under use. The AC adapter and NIMH battery charger are a very useful included item with voice activation on the tape recorder itself. Recording and playback work well as does fast forward and rewind. Very light in weight and can be carried in a pocket.

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In my opinion this recorder offers everything you need if you use microcassettes. This model like the one below it offers a separete microphone input and the built in mic. 2 recording speeds and the actual ac adaptor. Yes, Sony is a bit greedy with their proprietary ac adaptor inputs in just about everything they sell, but you don't have to pay full price at Amazon to get the whole package. For my needs this is perfect and at Amazon, competetition drives price.

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I was very disappointed in this item. It claims to be voice activated--I've followed the instructions but I have never had this feature work. When I have recorded a message the playback is very noisy either though there is no background noise when the recording is being made. I would not recommend this item.

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The Sony M675v is the exact same model as the Sony M-670V which you can purchase for 20 dollars less than this but it comes without the battery charger and rechargable batteries. I purchased this thinking it was a higher model than the 670V and I feel sufficiently ripped off and tricked. I had no need for the charger or batteries but thought it was a nice plus with what I thought was a superior corder. Save yourself some headache and get the M-670 if all you need is the recorder. As far as performance. Decent at best. Giving two exact models different product numbers is sneaky and I didn't appreciate it one bit. I paid 50 dollars for this recorder when I could have spent 30 if Sony had not advertised it so confusingly.

Mad and disappointed.

Edit to this review: 365 USA customer service email does indeed work and it was my clumbsy mistake for that comment. I did get through and got a very timely reply. Although I wish the customer service rep had a magic wand that could time travel me into last week before I purchased this item. He was fairly nice although not really as enthusiastic as I was to burn stuff and pillage.

All in all this is a Sony disappointment as they are the one packaging the M-670 as the M-675 ... There is no model M-675.