Dell Optiplex 755 Tower Computer, Featuring Intel Insanely Fast and Powerful 2.13GHz Core2 Duo Proc

What a great seller!

Great selection, described so concisely that I could quickly select the best item for our needs. After ordering, I was notified that we needed the product sooner, so a quick email and followup phone call was all that was needed to change delivery date.

Super positive, kind and helpful on the phone...and the item arrived a day BEFORE I expected it!

Painless and timely...just what I needed!

I will definitely look for this seller when we need to shop again!

First off, if you are not planning on playing PC games with this then still get it, but do it from EZBuyCafe. They are a superior seller. The only thing I would recommend that you get, apart from the obvious monitor, is this service pack 3 upgrade on Ebay (search windows xp service packs 2 SP3. Awesome CD update XP ). The reason you want to get this is because you do get a factory reset CD for the Optiplex, but it restores it to SP2, when you would want SP3. SP3 is supported longer than SP2 so you get more recent updates that make the computer 10% 15% faster, safer from the newer viruses and hacks, and able to support newer hardware. So that extra $10 is well worth your investment.

Now, with that said, this computer is quite possibly the best gaming PC for your dollar. However, it is not like that out of the box so I will give steps to make it much better while keeping it as cheap as possible. The only drive that I found that I needed to replace was the video card as the one they give you is really lacking. The best graphics card for your money, and one of the best that can be put in this older motherboard is on newegg just search Sapphire Radeon 7750 HD 1GB low profile ). The install of the graphics card is simple. Just make sure you actually use the installation CD they give you instead of trying to find the most updated one online. It is plenty to get this computer running great graphics without having to purchase additional power wattage. I think this computer has only a little over 300 which is low, but it still comes out as a great purchase. This computer is actually playing Fallout 3 and Skyrim which are huge games and it is playing them on HIGH quality with 0 load times and no noticeable shuttering or texture popping at all. If you bought what I told then it should cost under $350 and compare to PC desktops out that cost easily twice that. This is due to the fact that everything it comes with is very impressive.

It blows my mind that I spent less money on this computer and the Sapphire than I did on my 360 and it runs the same games easily 15xs better.

I will be releasing videos soon with me playing various games such as any Bethesda game, or Rockstar game to show how this is quite possibly the best PC built under $350.

And with that use the steam store to download the games and you will get incredible savings on just about all games out if you do it before January 5th

Buy Dell Optiplex 755 Tower Computer, Featuring Intel Insanely Fast and Powerful 2.13GHz Core2 Duo Proc Now

Ordered the computer and it came in 2 days. It was all set up and runs great, and it was exactly as pictured.

Read Best Reviews of Dell Optiplex 755 Tower Computer, Featuring Intel Insanely Fast and Powerful 2.13GHz Core2 Duo Proc Here

The machine came as promised and was actually a faster version of the Core2Duo than advertised. I am quite pleased, but I have two suggestions for the company.

1. Two of the USB ports on the quad bay in the back do not work. This is not a huge deal as the machine comes with 8 total ports but it would have been nice if they tested them.

2. The bios rev was out of spec quite a bit, it came with A10 and Dell is on A19. Updating that as a part of their standard testing would be a nice touch.

3. The 160G hard drive is sufficient but an upgrade to a 250 would have been appreciated, or perhaps for an extra 50.00 offer a 40G SSD.

Want Dell Optiplex 755 Tower Computer, Featuring Intel Insanely Fast and Powerful 2.13GHz Core2 Duo Proc Discount?

The package arrived great and the tower works great. My husband is very happy with it and he says the graphics card is better than his old one. Thank you very much.

Azden SGM-1X XLR Shotgun Microphone

The Shotgun Mike is ideally suited for anyone picking up a prosumer camera and who needs a shotgun mike that offers excellent pickup at a reasonable rate. Be sure to pick up the 18" XLR-XLR cable and the 6" XLR-3.5 cables. The shock mount I received came with extra bands.

This is a good entry level mike for you. Couple this with a UHF lav mike (or two) if you intend shooting fiction or documentary.

A Gitzo boom pole & shockmount (sold separately) along with a Fostex data recorder can give you a killer sound recording kit.

Bought this for use with a panasonic ag-dvx100 and I haven't been disappointed--the audio quality I've captured is much better than that with the factory mic. I wish I had seen the two-barrel version of this earlier...oh well. It takes an XLR cable (well that should be obvious from the description) so a buyer should be clear that they have 3pin XLR jack on whatever equipment it is they are recording into. This is a decent mic for $150, it won't blow you away but neither will the cost. Comes in a little pleather pouch, with a foam windscreen, shock isolating mount which screws into the hot shoe adapter and is better in design than the one standard with my camera, as well as some replacement rubber rings for the mount. The mic takes two AA batteries if I can recall. It has an off /on switch, and it has a cardioid/super-cardioid switch. Pretty basic.

...I'd like to mount this on a boom eventually...

Buy Azden SGM-1X XLR Shotgun Microphone Now

For the money this is a very good consumer external camcorder mic. There are better (pro grade) mics out there, but not at anywhere near this price.

A couple notes to budding videographers:

1) Shotgun mics don't "pull in" sound from far away. Shotgun mics isolate the sound around the sides and behind the microphone so that the sound coming directly into the microphone from the front is more audible. Built-in camcorder mics don't do this. They accept sound from all directions.

With an external shotgun mic, if someone is 30 feet away, they will still sound 30 feet away. You just won't hear nearly as much of the surrounding ambient noise and reflections, and will hear more of what's directly in front of the mic, even if 30 feet away. The sound will seem more pronounced since side and rear noises are subdued. Given that, someone standing only a few feet in front of the camera, especially if shooting outdoors, will sound fabulous compared to using the built in camcorder mic. The external mic will make the video seem more professional because the audio is better. Really.

2) Video always seems to "look" better when it has good audio (and you don't shake the camera too much of course). Do yourself a favor, and get an decent external mic for your camcorder and you'll be amazed at how much better your videos look.

Read Best Reviews of Azden SGM-1X XLR Shotgun Microphone Here

This is a wonderful shotgun mic, for anyone on a budget. It's very powerful and it is a great step up from the built-in mic rigs on most consumer camera's as well as some prosumer cams. For instance, huge step up from the built-in on the Panasonic AG-VX100B (which I own). It has a huge range, and has two modes I always use the higher cut mode that removes slighter sounds. This makes the sound a little heavier, but keeps them very clear and not muffled.

Also, if you expect to record high pitch things, this isn't too great at consistently staying high. It is more whole from the low-mid range sounds, but does not fail at high sounds.

Another plus, is the fact that it won't drain your cam batteries because it holds a single AA battery to run. I prefer it that way.

The only problem with this mic, is that with a little more research--I found out that the X2 is only 50 more dollars (approx) and that the X2 can double as either an omni mic, or a cardoid--which is a great nifty feature for the extra 50 bucks.

If you don't think you even need an omni feature, this is a great mic to start with. (and keep for a very long time)

I believe this is the BEST shotgun mic on the market priced at the 150 range.

Want Azden SGM-1X XLR Shotgun Microphone Discount?

I bought this mic in Nov, 2010 for $152.00. I couldn't be happier with it. I'm a film student and the quality of this mic is great. It is a very strongly directional (cardioid) mic and gives me better results than mics twice its price (or more). Also, the included shock mount with extra bands was a nice touch. Mine came with a nice zip-up leather case for everything with it too. I used this and an adjustable painters pole for a short film project and it did excellant.

For any of you all who are interested, I used this with a Blue Microphones Icicle XLR to USB Mic Converter/Mic Preamp and a netbook/audacity to and had great results in combination with a Canon T2i. The only problem I had was that at times my recording was a little bit quiet. However, I'm not sure what part of my setup was to blame.

Save 2% Off

Flip UltraHD Video Camera - White, 8 GB, 2 Hours (3rd Generation)

This review is very similar to the review that I gave for the Flip Slid HD when it first came out. (Please see that review also...)

I have been a Flip camera user since they released the first gen. Flip Mino HD (not the new metallic model). I loved the camera. For what I needed it for it was everything I wanted. I soon became addicted to the Flip cameras and needed to purchase the newest one every time they came out.

I currently own the Flip Mino HD (1st gen) Flip Ultra HD (2nd Gen) Flip Slide HD, and now the Flip Ultra HD (3rd Gen with Flip Port). I also own a Canon GL2 and Vixia 30 video cameras and a Canon Xi digital SLR.

I got home from school on Tuesday and found my brand new Flip Ultra HD waiting for me. I had about 20 minutes to open the package, look and set up the features (time, date, etc.) before I had to leave for marching band rehearsal. During rehearsal I did some test shooting and I was very impressed with the quality of this camera, but I was worried about a few features.

I was reluctant at first to purchase this camera because of the 60fps feature. I did own a Kodak Zi8 and the 720p 60fps setting didn't not import into Final Cut Pro. I had to take it into compressor or some other software and change the file extension in order for Final Cut Pro to import it. Of course this causes a decrease in quality.

I was also reluctant because of the image stabilization feature. When image stabilization is added to a camera (of this size) video quality usually suffers. I know flips can be very shaky if you do not have a well trained hand. After a few hours a playing you will figure out the right movements that the camera can incorporate so your video will not come out shaky.

I don't use my Flip Slide HD because of the omni directional microphone. I can not record loud situations because the microphone distorts. This is my biggest fault with the Slide HD. I was a little concerned with the new Flip Ultra HD that it would have the same problem even though it uses a different microphone, but what really sold me on this new Flip was the accessories and the FLIP PORT.

Right off the bat I noticed all of the new accessories that they are pushing for the Flips, the aquapacks, the igo chargers, and my favorite is the magnetic Bower Wide Angel Lens. Flip and Cisco have finally started listening to its customers, but what put it over the top for me was Blue Microphones. Blue Microphones makes vintage and out of this world recording, studio, usb microphones. I own one of their USB Microphones called the Snow Ball and the quality of that microphone is amazing. When I found out that Blue Microphones was making a microphone (mikey) for the new Flip to be used with the new Flip Port, I purchased mine right away.

So the Review...

The Ultra HD has always been my favorite because of its size. I think the bigger it is the better control you will have and the less shaky video you will produce. The new Ultra HD is smaller, but not that much. It feels good in your hands. The controls and the screen are in the same place. It is a nice fit in your hand.

I was very shocked at how well the image stabilization worked. If you have used a flip before this one you know that the slightest movement will create shaky video. You can tell that this one has image stabilization. It still can produce shaky video but it might take a big jolt to do it.

The 60 fps was great. It was much clearer video and with the image stabilization it made everything much smoother and clearer in the view finder, even in low light situations. I did check when I got home and the 60fps does import right into Final Cut Pro for editing without any compression. (Probably cause the videos are in MP4 format)

Overall I think this is the best Flip Camera out on the market. I like this one better than the Mino because of the touch screen controls. Sometimes pressing the touch screen controls on the Mino will cause the camera to shake.

I hope this review was helpful. Please feel free to leave comments or questions.

See my comparison of my Flip Cameras below.

Flip Mino HD Good Microphone (2nd out of all of them), doesn't have as wide as a shooting angle as the Ultra's. Very small in the hand, at times hard to control.

Flip Ultra HD (2nd Gen) Good Microphone (3rd out of all of them) Wide Angle for shooting, Feels good in the hand, sturdy, wont break if dropped. Double A batteries only last a few hours, rechargeable battery pack has short life span. Unit can get hot when charging may even shut down.

Flip Slide HD Poor Microphone (in loud situations) its omni directional so it picks up all around the Flip not just in the front like the others. (4th out of all of them) Touch controls are better than the Flip Mino, however this has no hard buttons. The Slide does have the largest storage capacity and is second in video quality only to the new Flip Ultra HD.

Flip Ultra HD (3rd Gen Flip Port) Widest Angle for shooting, feels the best in the hand, has the Best Microphone and currently I believe has the best video quality. This also is the only unit that has the new Flip Port.

Thanks

Nick

This is a powerful, easy-to-use, fairly cheap video camera; it records @ 1280 x 720, 60 FPS, and can hold about two full hours of video at that capacity. It fits neatly in a shirt pocket and is pretty much ideal for recording anything that doesn't need to be professionally produced film, from home movies to recording interviews. It comes packaged with a basic editing program that's designed to make it as easy as possible to produce basic home movies and post them to the web.

So far as that goes, it's a great camera, especially at the price. The only real problem with it is that the overall interface is fairly dumbed down -for the sake of ease of use, they've traded away a *lot* of functionality. For example, it's easy to view the clips you've just recorded in the viewfinder, but you can't "fast forward" or "rewind" to a specific frame when you're not actively playing back videos, because there's only one set of "forward" and "reverse" buttons, and they also fill the "skip to next/previous clip" functions.

Similarly, the editing software is clean and easy to use, but lacks a lot of options. It's fairly easy to take a chunk of video, yank out a selection of favorite clips, and string them together into a movie, and maybe even put a title on the front and credits at the end, but anything more complicated than that ain't happening without third-party editing software. Perhaps most critical is the lack of a "resize" feature -because this camera records at such a high resolution, even fairly short videos taken with it can quickly reach prohibitively high file sizes (two minutes of video from this camera took me approximately two hours to upload to YouTube, over a DSL connection).

All that's an issue because it seems, to me at least, that the only reason to purchase a dedicated video camera, in an era when everyone and their brother's cellphone already has video recording capability, is if you're at minimum a dedicated hobbyist. And if you're such a dedicated hobbyist, I would suspect that you'd want more bells and whistles (like focus and exposure controls, or better bundled editing software) than this thing has. What it does, it does great, I'm just having a hard time figuring out who the expected market is for this -it records in higher resolution and better FPS than anyone who wants a casual camera for posting web videos really needs, and it lacks the advanced features that would make it appealing to dedicated hobbyists. The two-hour recording time and easy portability might make it very useful for people who want to record interviews or meetings, but archiving those recordings would be prohibitively difficult without, again, 3rd-party editing tools, due to the massive file size of the recordings this thing generates. The camera's best feature is probably the image stabilization, which works very well -indeed, so well that I forgot about it, and just waved the camera around without even worrying about image shake at all. Because of that, this camera might be ideal for hobbyists who already have a full suite of editing software and are looking to shoot in uncontrolled conditions without a tripod.

The video to the left is an example of the sort of thing it's fairly easy to turn out with this camera -you can see how it deals fairly well with indoor lighting conditions, has good color, etc., and you can see the "image stabilization" at work. I should note, however, that I did make two changes to this video using third-party software -I reduced its resolution from 1280 x 720 to 640 x 360 and converted it to a .wmv file so that it would fit within Amazon's file size & format requirements for video reviews.

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

EDIT: It's unfortunate that CISCO is terminating the Flip line, as I just finally discovered what this camera *is* perfect for: taking on vacations in foreign countries. I just returned from a trip to New Zealand, and this camera's high FPS recording rate made it ideal for capturing footage of wilderness, animals and birds that move quickly and are otherwise hard to photograph, and the like; it was easy to just take a half-second or so of video whenever I wanted a still photograph, and pull those frames out later with the Flip's software; it was easy and convenient to carry wherever I went, even along full-day hiking trails; and the camera's two-hour recording time was sufficient to hold all the video I took over the two weeks of the vacation. The lack of focus & exposure controls was still a minor issue -sometimes it had trouble with varied lighting in panorama shots and so forth -but the camera's automated adjustments were pretty good if not perfect, and I was able to grab a great deal of quality footage of my trip.

There was one minor issue with charging the camera's battery -the battery life, at about a half hour to 45 minutes, is significantly less than the recording time, and it can be annoying to travel with rechargeable cameras because of the need for socket adapters and the risk of short-circuiting your camera due to varying international voltage standards. Because the flip charges via USB, however, all I had to do was find a USB charger with the appropriate socket and charging became easy.

So, all in all, I'm upgrading this camera to a full five stars. I'd still consider it a niche product -traveling tourist videocamera -but it's pretty much an ideal camera for that niche.

Buy Flip UltraHD Video Camera - White, 8 GB, 2 Hours (3rd Generation) Now

I wavered between giving this three or four stars, but settled on four because it delivers what it promises in spades: EASY to use, high quality video recording in a small package. If I could, I would give a 3.5. There's a BIG "but" though:

The caveat here is that this is now a single-purpose, niche product, whose single purpose can be found on a number of different devices, from DSLR's, to point and shoot cameras, to smartphones (and probably non smart phones). You would be hard pressed to find even the lowliest point and shoot digital camera that doesn't record 720p video these days.

The one differentiator here is that this Flip shoots video at 60 frames per second, which is great if you are mostly going to be shooting outdoors, in bright light (because you SHOULD get smoother looking action, although most people can't see the difference). But it can actually be a disadvantage (vs the more standard 24 or 30fps) when shooting in lower light situations. I found this to be true as I compared several gadgets of mine (iPhone 4, Canon S95 digital camera, Canon HV30 HD camcorder), shooting the same indoors scene.

Just hard to recommend that anyone buy this today, knowing that almost every digicam on the market does 720p video now (and several of the new gen point and shoots do 1080p!) I shot the same scene (outdoors, but in very cloudy conditions) with my iPhone 4 and the Flip. The iPhone's video was slightly less contrasty, and a little more shaky looking due to no optical image stabilization like the Flip has. BUT at least I could focus on certain areas with the iPhone. With the Flip, I have no way to focus on a particular object, which is tough. I would bet MOST people would not be able to tell much of a difference in the picture quality between the two (unless you were watching them side by side, and even then, was difficult to determine a clear winner)

When these Flips first came out, they were a standout product because video in digicams was horrible at that time, and either nonexistent or poor on cel phones, but times have changed. For $200,today, you can buy an iPhone 4, or a point and shoot Sony digicam with a CMOS, low light sensor, that will shoot better video, plus you get the primary functions of those devices to boot. The video is just gravy.

PROS:

Svelte, easy to carry and handle, outside black soft touch material very nice

Good to very good video quality

SO easy to use and hook up to another device for viewing the results.

optical image stabilization works surprisingly well considering form factor, weight and small size of the Flip

60 fps great for outdoors/good light shooting

CONS:

Hard to justify price when you can get at least as good video in other devices that do more than just video

No ability to focus

I wish the lens had more protection, or even a built in lens cap/cover. Note it does include a soft case, but I mean something like you see on most camcorders these days.

Not great in low light due to 60fps recording (at least give the option to switch to something slower for low light situations?)

Read Best Reviews of Flip UltraHD Video Camera - White, 8 GB, 2 Hours (3rd Generation) Here

(2008 HOLIDAY TEAM)

This video shows the features of the Flip UltraHD, and it compares it to the original white Flip to show how far Flips have come. I demonstrate the features, size, video quality, and microphone sensitivity. Highly recommended -but it cannot be compared to full-featured digital camcorders. Note: I deducted a half-star for the inability to turn off image stabilization; sometimes the IS makes the video look jerky, like a series of stills.

-Debbie Lee Wesselmann

Want Flip UltraHD Video Camera - White, 8 GB, 2 Hours (3rd Generation) Discount?

This is now my 3rd Flip camera (they are all still in operation, I just can't help upgrading when a higher quality product hits the market). I always fall in love with my new Flip video camera and this one is no exception I prefer the design of the Ultra HD over the Mino because of the larger screen, and the new 3rd generation is noticeably thinner than last year's model which makes it lighter and easier to hold. HUGE HUGE HUGE improvement in video quality on the 3rd generation model image stabilization and now 60 frames per seconds (FPS) compared to 30 FPS in the previous HD model. This 60 FPS results in noticeably higher quality video and the ability to zoom more effectively. This model comes with a rechargeable battery pack so you can charge via your usb port on your computer, or if you are traveling and don't have access to USB the Flip Ultra also allows you to put 3 AA batteries for videographers who are "on the go."

Another A++ product from the folks up in San Francisco who design this product. Go out and get one it's time for an Upgrade to the 3rd generation of Flip!!!!

Nokia E90 Communicator Mocca Phone (Unlocked)

After using Blackberry, Treo...etc., I thought I would struggle w/ size of this phone. However, I really like it. I have Nokia's Mail For Exchange for Exchange email, latest Quickoffice Premier (excellent software) plus the rest of the software on the phone makes this a mobile office powerhouse. Once I got used to the BIG keyboard, I can fly. So I fly through emails and docs. The screen size is excellent as well. Last it is Nokia voice quality. I do use WiFi and wish the folks at Nokia would do some sort of 'smart sniffing' if WiFi available. Anyway, a bit expensive but a GREAT mobile office device.

The letters are small and the phone is heavy, not suitable for carrying in pockets or waist of trousers.

Buy Nokia E90 Communicator Mocca Phone (Unlocked) Now

Best phone ever. It is my second E90, as the first one was stolen. I did not doubt for a second to buy it again.

I love its keyboard to write SMS and edit E-Mails and documents.

Read Best Reviews of Nokia E90 Communicator Mocca Phone (Unlocked) Here

Full featured phone with clamshell form factor for business and network (browser/email) related tasks. Has been able to handle everything I've thrown at it including making VOIP calls via integrated Gizmo Project client, streaming Shoutcast internet radio, and watching TV via Slingbox.

The device has a Linux feel to its user interface. Not a lot of bells and whistles on the GUI, but solid performance. I'd have liked a more featured email client with the capability to load more than just headers on download, but it did support IMAP with SSL and authentication and works over the EDGE network in the US or over WiFi.

You aren't going to get a sexy slim form factor with this phone, but it is nicely designed and certainly full featured.

Want Nokia E90 Communicator Mocca Phone (Unlocked) Discount?

Cobra MR HH475 FLT VHF Waterproof Two-Way Marine Radio with Bluetooth

• Floating Waterproof Design and Orange Core Makes Retrieving Radio Easy if Dropped Overboard
• Bluetooth Wireless Technology & Rewind Say- Again Feature
• All NOAA Weather Channels & Emergency Weather Alert
• Tri-Watch Allows Monitoring of Three Channels at Once (2 user selected & channel 16)
• Unlimited memory channels allows programming for easy retrieval or scanning

After some research I found this radio very intriguing and purchased it. It had a high rating and a must buy through a sailing web site. Being into sea kayaking it is very important that the radios we use are water proof. Having the floating feature along with the burp feature is a plus then along comes the blue tooth capability, I was sold. I couldn't wait to get my radio. First day out on the water I want to see how well it floated and check out the burp feature. Well it floated great to bad it quite working with in a minute of being dunked. I emailed and called cobra and no response I called cobra again and talked to a live person who transferred me to factory service where I left a massage. No response. I called again and found out the return procedures and sent the radio back at my expense. Now I am willing to say that not everything comes out the way it should and that I was unlucky and got a defective radio. Well two weeks later I get a new radio. What do you do when you have a problem with a product? You go test it and see if it will fail in those conditions again. Well radio number two failed at being water proof to the JIS7 rating. This radio lasted a few seconds longer then the first one. Played the phone tag game again with Cobra. This time I made them pay for shipping so I had to wait another week for the label to make it to me. Sent radio number two in and three weeks later I received radio number three. So far this radio has lived up to the JIS7 water proof rating. I like the features it has. But I am just wondering if and when it will quit on me, if it does I am requesting my money back from Cobra, three times and you are out! Cobra could have done a better job communicating and calling me back. I never got a letter of apology about two radios being bad and I had to do all the work on trying to get the radios returned only once did they call back and that was after I left a message saying that I was not impressed with their product or customer service.

Buy Cobra MR HH475 FLT VHF Waterproof Two-Way Marine Radio with Bluetooth Now

I purchased this radio for using on my Security job, and it is fantastic. It offers the most features for a great price, amazing range, crystal clear voice communications, and since it's lightweight and waterproof, it's not a burden to carry around. Since I'm on search and rescues periodically on a lake, the bluetooth feature is nice, as I can leave my phone securely in its pelican case and not have to worry about the radio getting wet.

All in all, this is hands down the BEST marine radio I've owned.

(I've used 4 or 5 other kinds at work, and eventually got this one for myself to make my life easier, and it was well worth every penny. I'd do it again in a heartbeat)

Read Best Reviews of Cobra MR HH475 FLT VHF Waterproof Two-Way Marine Radio with Bluetooth Here

I have been using this radio for just under a year now. About 4 months ago I noticed that I was not able to transmit like I should, but I figured the range was just being interfered with by something. I use this in a kayak so I'm always sitting really low to the water. Today I went to my buddy's dive shop and tested this radio next to his. I could not hear anything coming through on his radio from mine. After doing everything I could think of to get it to work, with no success, I decided to open it up. Now, you aren't supposed to do this, but I did anyway. Upon opening it up I discovered that the entire circut board was covered in corosion. Waterproof? Hardly. Submersible? I wouldn't. You would be just as well off spending less money on a radio that doesn't advertise itself as waterproof, and keeping it in a dry bag or something. $100 dollars down the drain! Also, the bluetooth function never really worked like it should. I got it to pair with my phone ONCE. It never paired again after that. WASTE OF MONEY!!!!!!!

Want Cobra MR HH475 FLT VHF Waterproof Two-Way Marine Radio with Bluetooth Discount?

Good price/performance/functionality for a hand held to be used on a kayak or a small craft where occasional splashing is unavoidable. Blue tooth functionality lets you store your cell phone in a zip lock case for water protection while still be able to talk through the handheld for incoming calls. Blue tooth pairing with a Motorola Droid was straight forward. Weather and other channel scans help you aware of traffic in the area. Bright orange visibility, flotation with the rechargeable pack, and burp functions are very nice to have. Included is AA battery back pack that can provide additional talk time in case of emergency. Comes both with 110V and 12 V chargers and one charging crate. Could have used a second charging crate to secure on my 18 ft outboard. Include belt clip attaches to my kayak PFD and reduces clutter on a confined space sit on kayak while paddling and fishing. Easy to maintain, just rinse off the salt after using and use the burp function to self dry in a remote location.

Save 32% Off

Ill be short and sweet. Both radio's that I received had a malfunctioning mic. standing 20 feet away from harbor patrol, yelling into the mic, and they heard nothing. Take care and find another radio,

TiVo TCD750500 Premiere 4 Digital Video Recorder (Black)

I purchased this model because my original TiVo only has the ability to record one show and since the digital expansion, my splitter no longer allows me to watch a channel and record the other one. So I figured it was time to upgrade. Great decision! The interface is extremely user friendly (as with all things TiVo) and the HD is amazing. I can record four shows and the iPad app makes scheduling a breeze. I'm very pleased so far and recommend this model to anyone looking for a smart DVR!

This box has been an amazing performer in our new house, which only has FIOS. The FIOS service was fine, but the DVR was severely lacking. It had issues with conflicting recordings, and we missed lots of our favorite shows.

The Tivo is DVR as it should be. It records all of our shows and even suggests some. Setup and use is great. Like any system, there is a slight learning curve on the GUI and the remote, but both are largely intuitive.

It does require an internet connection; however, if you have FIOS, your regular coaxial cable is all it needs. It will use something called MOCA to seamlessly connect to your internet. That means that you do not need a wireless adapter or a dedicated hard line. It was new to me and I was quite impressed. Tivo and Verizon both hit the mark with that one.

In short, if you like TV, get this box. The monthly service fee is not that different than what the cable companies charge and the box is so much better and less restricted than theirs.

Buy TiVo TCD750500 Premiere 4 Digital Video Recorder (Black) Now

I was looking for a solid DVR that supported over the air broadcast that's when I bought my first TiVo Premiere, for Christmas this year me and my wife decided to get cable that's when I called TiVo up and got the TiVo premiere 4. I knew I could count on the quality and the customer support unlike the support from the cable company. I love your products?

Read Best Reviews of TiVo TCD750500 Premiere 4 Digital Video Recorder (Black) Here

I have utilized TIvo service since it first came out...and always have enjoyed its' intuitive functionality....Cable DVRs keep trying to catch up with the Tivo capabilities, but always seem a day late and a dollar short. Highly recommend TIvo service...

Want TiVo TCD750500 Premiere 4 Digital Video Recorder (Black) Discount?

I was sick of the DVR from TimeWarner Cable constantly failing to record my shows. I was having to reboot it weekly so it would record part of the time. My father has owned a TiVo for years, and my sister recently purchased two of them. My father doesn't have a pleasant history with modern electronics but I figured if after several years he hasn't thrown it away it must be ok. I love having my shows record like they should, especially with the ability to record up to 4 shows at a time. I only wished I had purchased a TiVo years ago.

Save 18% Off

Philips DCP951/37 9-Inch Portable DVD Player with iPod Docking

• 9-inch LCD Color Widescreen Portable DVD Player
• Included iPod Docking port for play and charge
• Doubles as digital photo frame
• Play CD, S(VCD), DVD, DVD+R/RW, DVD-R/RW, MP3, WMA ,JPEG digital camera photos, DivX & MPEG4 movies
• Up to 2.5 hours of playback with built in battery

I picked one of these up. I was psyched about the iPod dock. A great idea and from what I can currently find, also a unique feature. No one else has a portable DVD with an iPod dock. At the time of purchase I was torn between this Philips model and the Sony FX820. I'm a big Sony fan but the iPod dock really had me.

I got it home and popped my iPhone into the slide out dock. After fidgeting with it for a couple of minutes I was watching a movie from my iPhone on the screen. Cool. But.....then I noticed. Unless you are looking at this player's screen head on, you can't see a damned thing. If you change the viewing angle just a bit, the LCD screen becomes nearly black. Unviewable. Very disappointing. To me, this one fault makes this player useless. It's a shame. The iPod dock feature is cool.

The unit does feel VERY plastic-y. Also, this is an open faced design. You can't close it up. The screen is always exposed. The DVD loads on the back of the unit too. Kind of clumsy.

On a positive note. The unit didn't seem affected by any cellphone GSM noise.

A cool idea but flawed by seriously poor image quality. I would recommend the Sony FX820. You can hook up an iPod or just about any external video source using a cable. The Sony is far superior in material, build quality and picture quality. Sorry Philips!

Buy Philips DCP951/37 9-Inch Portable DVD Player with iPod Docking Now

I have an iPod classic with 80 GB. I carry my music and a lot of movies with me to watch during my commute on a busy subway system. I wanted a bigger screen to watch my iPod movies. This thing has adapters for virtually all formats. I am going to throw out the others but am keeping the iPod classic and touch/iPhone ones. The built in speakers are not very good quality. The headphones produce good iPod sound pass through.

I am a bit disappointed at the SD card format support. The SD card can only have MP3 sound files or JPEG pictures. This thing also supports DivX. I am not sure how this works. I am not interested either. MPG4 movie does not play. I was planning to use this card feature some times.

The DVD is OK type. The DVD door is extremely flimsy. Mine is already showing signs of wear after one week! The battery drains a little faster when running the DVD drive to watch movies. I am planning to take my movies mostly on the iPod.

Flimsy design, poor video image quality, and no battery gauge that is why 3 stars. I am otherwise very happy and would recommend this product.

Read Best Reviews of Philips DCP951/37 9-Inch Portable DVD Player with iPod Docking Here

Most of the basics have been covered by other reviewers. The very basic stuff you know and expect has been given the proper attention.

However there are a few things about this unit that are just plain wrong or misleading.

-This unit CAN read movies from the memory card slot. DVD's encoded as AVI's can be read. With a smaller screen you'll want to scale down to less than half of the original DVD resolution (320 width on widescreen format), but the files will be recognized by the unit and can be played on it.

-The iPod dock will ONLY act as a conduit for movies that are compatible with the iPod on models that support movies. This means that unless you can load the video into iTunes and watch it on your iPod then it isn't going to work on the DVD player. The unit is simply taking the video stream from the iPod and putting it to the screen. It is NOT decoding the video at all.

-Movies encoded for the iPod and loaded onto a memory card can NOT be read by the unit. It will see the files but it will be read as an incompatible format.

-Movies in AVI format can be burned to a CD or DVD and read in the exact same manner as using a memory card.

-The entire "DivX functionality" is only with DivX versions 4 and 5 for encoding media. As the current DivX release is up to 7, well, you get the idea. The integration of the unit with this name brand is almost exclusively so that they could push customers to buy movies from DivX. Don't think that you need to use the DivX encoder to make video media for this. It's also quite possible that the unit might not read newer movies encoded with version 7 from the Divx site. Consider this a warning to stay away from the notion that DivX is necessary or really much of an option.

The bottom line is that this is quite a good dvd player. The screen has one of the best pictures I've seen and has enough expansion to not have many limitations to it. The iPod integration is nice, but unless you've dedicated a significant amounts of time and energy to moving media onto one, it shouldn't really be seen as a selling point.

Want Philips DCP951/37 9-Inch Portable DVD Player with iPod Docking Discount?

Tried it, didn't like it. It's speakers are not powerful enough. The plastic of the disc door and tray are too flimsy. The curved shape of the case makes it nearly impossible to use the (also flimsy) stand. The unit gets too hot, it would be uncomfortable in your lap. The remote doesn't work more than a few feet from it and then only when you're facing straight to it. All in all, it's a neat idea just not very well executed.

This is a solid system for watching DVDs and iPod videos. Haven't tried the SD card yet, but the quality for DVDs and the iPod is excellent.

The only problem I had was using the controls on the system itself for fast forwarding iPod video. They were pretty clunky. However, if you use the remote control, there is no issue. All in all, it is well worth the money for people who enjoy videos on the go.

(5) Clear Quad 4-Disc Overlap Style DVD Cases / Boxes - DV4R14CL

I find these absolutely necessary.

===> * Replaces the current black ones that LOOK like they've been damaged by shotguns... to be eco-concience(!).

===> * Saves space.

===> * You can double-up (and BACK) since you can read labels from both sides...

I put two double disc movies in one case with the lesser {or part two} facing toward

the inside.

GREAT product!

Hauppauge 1213 WinTV-HVR-2250 PCI-E x1 Dual TV Tuner

I tried SiliconDust HDHomeRun Dual High Definition Digital Television HDHR3-US (Black) but had pixelation problems several times every show on two channels so I decided to try Hauppauge 2250 PCI-E Dual TV Tuner card and I am so delighted. Not only are my pixelation problems history, I also get better picture, FM radio, and analog channels for no additional cost!

This is my setup on Windows 7 64-bit. First let me say that installing the card and setting up the Hauppauge 2250 was the easiest part of my setup. I have TimeWarner cable and am paying $41/month for standard internet (10Mbs download and 1MBs upload) and basic cable. I have a three-way splitter on the cable coming out of the wall. One cable goes directly to the FM radio on this Hauppage 2250 pc card and I receive numerous FM channels which I can access through the radio player in Windows Media Center (WMC).

The second cable runs from the splitter to the TimeWarner modem to my ooma Hub VoIP Phone Device with No Monthly Phone Service Bills where I get a landline for free then to Netgear WNR2000 for wireless connection of printers, tablets, smartphones, etc and then ethernet out to Gateway DX4350-UR21P Desktop (Black) from where I can couch surf on Logitech Illuminated Ultrathin Keyboard with Backlighting, Logitech Wireless Mouse M505, and Logitech Wireless Touchpad with Multi-Touch Navigation (910-002345) which share one unifying USB receiver so only one USB slot is taken in my pc. I especially like the keyboard which lights up only when my hands come near for easy viewing in a darkened room.

The third cable runs to the TV tuner in this Hauppauge 2250 card. I did not install or use anything else included in the box as the ir cable was too short and I don't need extra inputs. The Hauppauge 2250 card is available on Amazon card only without all the extras Hauppauge 1229 WinTV-HVR-2250 White Box for System Builders Dual Hybrid PCI-E TV Tuner Board but I purchased the 1213 instead of the 1229 thinking I was going to use some of the extras which seemed like a bargain for only $9.40 but I ended up not using any of them.

The Hauppage CSR told me that the tv tuner was a dual tuner and that during installation I would have to decide between whether I wanted digital HD OR analog SD OR antenna. However, using Windows 7 64 bit Windows Media Center, I just followed the prompts letting it automatically install and W7 WMC found 2 digital tuners AND 2 analog tuners and I clicked that is correct and let it search for channels finding both analog SD and digital HD on ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, TBS, CW, HSN, and WGN as well as analog only on CNN, TNT, Lifetime, Nikelodeon, USA, MTV, FNC, SPIKE, TWC, AETV, AMC, DSC, BRAVO, MBNBC, CNBC, EP, Food, FX, KUSI, HGTV, TLC, HIST, SyFy, WEP, TCM, Comedy Channel, LMN, Toon, Disn, APLP, TVLAND, BET, and IONSATP. All of the analog channels I was unable to get on the HDHomerun dual tuner as it does not have an analog tuner. While I would prefer HD to SD, I like receiving all these analog SD channels that I did not get on the clear-qamm HD only tuner. Some shows I like are not available anywhere in HD and others are available in a variety of places in HD or SD for various prices. For example, I would not want to live without the Daily Show with Jon Stewart or the Colbert Report which I can watch on HuluPlus in HD for $8/month or on the Comedy Channel website for free or iTunes for $1.99 per episode which comes to about $32/month (tip, buy Apple stock not Apple products)or in SD with this 2250 card for free. So in Windows 7, this one Hauppage 2250 card is viewed in WMC7 as 4 tuner choices but only available to use two at a time with these two hybrid tuners able to free switch around between digital HD, analog SD, and FM radio automatically controlled by WMC7. WMC in Windows Vista was able to control only 2 tuners which may have been with what the CSR was familiar.

I control my WMC with my Logitech Harmony One Universal Remote with Color Touchscreen using the Infrared receiver in the Windows 7 Vista XP Media Center MCE PC Remote Control and Infrared Receiver for Home, Premium and Ultimate Edition with USB 2.0 Extension Cable Type A Male to Type A Female 6 ft, Black to get the receiver on top of my Onkyo HTX-22HDX Ultra-Compact HD Home Theater System (Black) with add-on speaker set making 5.1 surround sound without any tweaking on my Gateway DX4350-UR21P and then HDMI cable out to Samsung 52" HDTV. BTW, the code you need for your Harmony One remote to send signal to the IR receiver to control you W7WMC is Ortek VRC-1100.

It was much more of an ordeal than I anticipated to get this setup. I tried many products and found that all kinds of various electronic issues that were further complicated by no technical support or technical support that did not speak English or was not familiar with their products or was unable to solve their problems or with defective products. I remember the good old days when companies had their products checked out by TWO quality control departments before releasing to the retailer but now the consumer has to figure it out and return defective products within the alloted return timeframe. My FAVORITE technical support was Gateway who said "No Tweaking required, IT JUST WORKS!" So I am watching full 1080p with 5.1surround sound via the Hauppage 2250 tuner card and I am thrilled. My audio and video have never been better even when I was paying $100/month to Times Warner. My PC records faster and searches 1000 faster than the TW box I had to rent for $15/month Good riddance! If I want to pay for more additional channels such as ShowTime or HBO, I would need to rent a descramble box from TW and place it in the cable from the three-way splitter to the tv tuner in the Hauppage 2250 card. However, I like Amazon Prime Instant Video for movies better as there is more available to watch when you want to watch something and my Amazon streaming experience is better than I ever got from Netflix, Blockbuster, or HuluPlus.

I feel I have optimized getting the best tv entertainment experience for the least cost in my area and for my preferences. I think I am set now for the next year as Times Warner gave a 12-month price guarantee. Apparently 1080p will no longer be the best video quality out there when 4K is released this 3Q12 being 8 times better they say but it will be awhile before broadcasts, discs, and other video sources get up to that quality.

If my review was helpful to you in any way, would you please click on HELPFUL below?

Wow, I really dont know if I should give this product a one star or five star. I'll settle for a three for the pain it caused me.

First, my system: Core 2 Duo 2.53GHz, 4GB DDR2RAM, 256MB ATI graphics card w/HDMI out, 640GB HDD, Vista Home Premium 32bit. I am located in the mountains of SoCal, where OTA doesnt quite work, and so ClearQAM from TimeWarner is my only option.

Let me start off by saying if you are looking for a dual-tuner for digital/analog viewing, this is one of your best choices. However, expect to spend a night or two of surfing forums, updating drivers, installing hotfixes, etc... The problem is that Vista Media Center (initially) doesnt recognize the ClearQAM tuner, only the analog tuners. How to fix this? Well, my 8 hours of pain can be your simple gain.

Disclaimer: you will be adding a value to Vista's registry if you follow this review, so anything you do is on you alone!

1) If you've been trying to get the tuner to work, wipe all the tuner's drivers off utilizing the utility on the CD (select total and the checkbox below it) and restart Vista.

2) Update Windows.

3) Install the HVR-2250 and the BETA drivers from Hauppauge's USA website.

4) Install TV Pack 2008 (search online for it)

5) Install PC Ready Play (from MS download site)

6) Install the 2 hotfixes (KB951585 and KB950754 from MS download site)

7) Update Windows. (there will be a cumulative update for TV pack)

8) Open the registry (run/regedit)

9) Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\hcw89

10) Add a new Folder (key) and name it: Parameters

11) Add a new DWORD to that and name it: AllowQAM_PowerToy

12) Make that value for the new string: 1

13) *Repeat 10-12 for: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\hcwPrx89

14) Reboot Vista

15) You should be good to go. When in Media Center, the automated set-up might still tell you that it found two analog tuners, which you then select manual set-up and go through the steps. You should see a choice for ClearQAM!

*Notes: the hcwPrx89 folder did not exist in my registry, so I had to create the folder and then add the DWORD.

For $130, I would expect Hauppauge to have either better drivers or better support. Scouring the forums will result in similar fixes like I describe above. I guess something similar to this works for Windows 7.

Oh, the good: it works like it's supposed to (after forementioned).

Hope this helps and GOOD LUCK!

Buy Hauppauge 1213 WinTV-HVR-2250 PCI-E x1 Dual TV Tuner Now

Ok, I ordered the Hauppauge 1213 WinTV 2250 on Amazon. The device arrived promptly and the price wasn't all that bad. However, this was to the full extent of my pleasant experience with the product.

The Receiver/Blaster would not work even after installing new drivers from the manufacturer's website. I called tech support (which, by the way, is available M-F 9 to 6PM ET only) simply to determine that the supplied cable was defective. The tech representative-a fella named Brice Junior-assured me that he would send out a new cable and I should be up and running in a 3 or 4 days.

Seven days came and passed. I received no cable. I called back tech support and stumbled on Brice Junior again. Except this time, he had no idea who I was and had no recollection of his promise to ship me a replacement cable.

So we went through the same diagnostics again-as if this time the repair fairy had come to my house and repaired the cable. Well, again the WinTV did not work. Then, Brice assured me, again, with absolute conviction that he would send a new cable and usb adapter for the device as soon as he got off the phone with me. Another two weeks went by, and...a BIG nothing arrived.

As I did some research on the matter on the Internet, I begin to uncover that the company engages in a policy of systematic lies to its customers to avoid honoring its obligations under its warranties. The technic is simple. They give the customer a round-around for a few weeks at which time it's too late to return the device to the store of purchase. And, since they are out reach, you, the unhappy customer, chase after them until you get tired and give up.

Meanwhile, Brice Junior, their scum tech support, is happily doing the company's bidding by lying to customers.

So in conclusion, buy the company's products only if you are sure (a) you can install them on your own, and (b) you can return them immediate if something is wrong them. Ignore the promise of the 2-year warranty that you read on the box. It is NON-EXISTENT.

Read Best Reviews of Hauppauge 1213 WinTV-HVR-2250 PCI-E x1 Dual TV Tuner Here

This product works perfectly with Snap Stream Beyond TV 4. [.........]

I have 2 digital tuners and 2 analog tuners on my pc. This records multiple inputs and automatically downloads the cable TV and local TV program guide. The picture is great. The software takes some time to tweek to your inputs and program guide. You must be willing to spend some time.

Want Hauppauge 1213 WinTV-HVR-2250 PCI-E x1 Dual TV Tuner Discount?

I had 2 requirments for a TV Tuner Card. It had to be half-height and it had to be a dual tuner (so I can record one show and watch another). This card meets the bill. So far it has worked great. Sometimes when I tune to a channel in Windows Media Center the screen is blue and I have to change channels and then go back for it to appear. I don't know if this is because of the tuner or because of something else. Other than that I really haven't had any problems. Possibly a driver update will fix that problem.

Save 27% Off

Vinpower Digital USB 3.0 2.0 External Blu-Ray BD DVD CD Burner/Writer LGEXT3BDBNR

so far so good. this product has done a fine job so far. the lightscribe works very good. it is worth the money

The burner works very well but you need to go out and get software to use it. None came with it but what you need can be downloaded for free. Nice to have a burner/player to take camping for rainy days. Us it with a lap top.

Buy Vinpower Digital USB 3.0 2.0 External Blu-Ray BD DVD CD Burner/Writer LGEXT3BDBNR Now

Roku 2 XD Streaming Player 1080p

• 600+ channels with movies, TV shows, music, sports & more
• High-definition streaming up to 1080p HD
• Works with virtually any TV
• Free app for iOS and Android
• Built-in wireless (Wi-Fi b/g/n)

I love Roku and the whole Roku experience. It allowed me to "cut the cable" and save a good bit of money each month. It gives me plenty of programming, most of it free. It's also adding new channels all the time, about 360 or so at the moment.

I current own the previous Roku XD 2050x and love it. It's not a perfect product, but it's a darn good one.

This review is on my current purchase, the Roku 2 XD. It's not a perfect product either and it's just been released. It's also not quite ready for prime-time, but almost...

There are some differences between the XD and the Roku 2 XD. Most are good, but I do have two gripes. The original XD had both a wired connection and wireless available. I use wireless, but wired can be handy. When I first received my original XD, it wouldn't properly connect with my router. So, I hooked it up with an ethernet cable, which allowed it to receive a quick update. This update fixed the problem and I haven't had any problems since. The wireless worked great.

Now, the new Roku 2 XD only has a wireless connection. If you want a Roku 2 with an available wired connection, then you have to spend 100.00 to go up to the XS. I think this was a bad move on Roku's part. I have no desire to play games on my Roku and I especially don't like "Angry Birds" which is the main selling point of the XS.

My other gripe is that the new Roku 2 XD no longer has the "rewind/replay" button. This neat little button will give you an instant replay of the past several seconds, allowing you to take a look at a movie scene you might have missed or a sports call you might want to replay.

The original Roku XD had this button, but the new Roku 2 XD doesn't have it. Again, if you want this button, then you have to move up to the higher priced XS. Again, another bad call on the part of Roku in my opinion.

As I mentioned previously, I think they might have rushed this product to market a bit too quickly. The main reason is that there are a few common channels (and popular private channels) that won't run on the new XD, while they run fine on the previous generation. Roku is working on the problem and releasing updates, but still, this shouldn't have happened on the scale that it did. For example, currently, Food Network Nighttime won't play at all and all of the NASA programming will actually crash the Roku and cause it to reboot. When the Roku 2 was first released the problems were worse, but the company has been working to correct it. However, with so many glitches at release, they really should have waited to refine the software before releasing it to the public.

Now, I'll move on to a quick list of Pros and Cons for the Roku 2 XD

Pros: 1. Overall faster performance especially in menus

2. Wireless range and signal seems better than the previous models

3. Better looking menus and color schemes

4. Smaller Roku footprint.

Cons: 1. No wired ethernet port on XD and HD, only on the XS

2. No rewind/recall button on remote of XD and HD, only on the XS

3. Seems to run a little warmer than previous models

4. Too much common content (and some private channels) won't work and can possibly crash/reboot the Roku

Overall, it seems as if it'll be a great product, like the previous models, once they work out the glitches.

I do wish they'd have kept the wired ethernet port on the XD at least, as well as the rewind/recall button.

If you have a previous generation Roku XD, stick with it for at least the next couple of months. Hopefully they'll have corrected the video/streaming problems that are plaguing it currently.

Also, if you need a wired ethernet connection, then either stick with or track down a previous generation XD. Otherwise, if you're willing to spend the extra money on the XS, then do it.

Buy Roku 2 XD Streaming Player 1080p Now

My favorite quote from the slim setup manual: "Step 3 establishes your network connection and bring out your inner geek. You can do it!" Well, setup is about as easy as it could possibly be and there's really nothing geeky about it. Choose your wifi network name and enter the password. No requirement to choose the encryption standard (WEP, WPA etc) or anything more technical than username and password. You will need a computer to create an account at Roku and associate it with your new box.

Once setup is complete, driving the user interface via a very straightforward IR remote is intuitive. IR is quite directional and you might want to position the Roku box where you most naturally point the remote. This should be easy because the Roku is remarkably small at just a couple of inches square. I think you could velcro the box to the side of a TV if that was convenient to you.

My inner geek is an energy miser! I did my initial testing using a Kill-A-Watt power meter and was delighted to find power consumption runs around 1 to 2 watts even when streaming (I'm compensating for a satellite TV DVR that sucks an outrageous 50-60 watts, 24/7). Great job!

There are dozens of stream feeds preprogrammed into the Roku, most of which appear to be free of charge. Streaming of the most recent NBC newscast looks to be useful. I plan to look around at the others when I get some time. My main intended use for this is to stream video from Netflix. That is working fine and is very similar to my Samsung blueray player and rather faster in operation.

I use an HDMI cable with both a 720p and a 1080p TV and image quality is fine; I didn't try the analog connections. When you order, just remember that no HDMI cable is included; Amazon's own-brand cables work fine and are very economical (there's that miser, again!)

Overall, this is a fine implementation of a streaming video player. Usage is tailored very much to normal people; geeks might want to get their thrills elsewhere!

Read Best Reviews of Roku 2 XD Streaming Player 1080p Here

We recently bought a Roku XD box (right before Roku 2 came out) and we absolutely love it. Hundreds of free channels from all over the world. Buy Roku once, and -as long as you have a TV (even an old one, like ours) and an Internet connection -you have free television shows and movies... lots of them.

See, absolutely anyone can create a channel for Roku and -as long as they have hosting to meet bandwidth demands -they can place the channel on Roku, free. (Assuming it meets Roku's quality standards, of course.)

As a result, there are all kinds of great niche channels created by enthusiasts for things like surfing, rock climbing, old-time drive-in movies, etc.

Lately, we've seen a lot of Christian programming added, which makes Roku attractive for many people who want more faith-friendly programs. Menorah TV is also on Roku. And, BYU-TV just added their channel, which means we can see "Dogs with Jobs" every evening... among other cool shows, like genealogy shows, history programs, and sports.

More recreational and fitness programming is arriving, and there are so many (mostly English) channels from Asian countries, they have their own category among the hundreds of Roku channels.

I love watching France24 news and other international news shows, live (and in English). My weather channel is now Roku's feed from Weather Underground... so it's for my exact town instead of the nearest city, complete with fresh-every-five-minutes satellite and radar images.

Though it's only part of what we watch, we have Netflix on our Roku programming. It costs the same as Netflix does on your computer (if you already have Netflix service, you don't pay anything extra), and you can also add things like Hulu Plus and Amazon's streaming programming.

But, except for Netflix, everything else we watch is free. That means, after buying the Roku box (less than a month's cable TV bill), we pay nothing extra for our TV service. It's saving us over $100/month in cable TV bills, with far better programming and crisper images. Most channels have little or no commercial interruptions, too. Almost all of them are on-demand, as well.

We can also access things like Picasa, Pandora, and Facebook via Roku. Lots of options!

The only negative to this -and we hope this is short-term -is that there's no closed captioning. (However, the hundreds of anime features on Crackle have subtitles... and that programming is free.) I'm pretty sure the channels and Roku are working on this.

All in all, I have no idea how cable TV will compete with things like Roku. Between the price (free) and the range of great programs we can watch, we will never go back to cable TV.

Roku + an Internet connection + a TV (even an old one) = free TV!

Want Roku 2 XD Streaming Player 1080p Discount?

Peter G McDermott unboxes, reviews, demonstrates and teaches you how to use the Roku 2 XD 1080p high definition (hi-def) set top box for your television. All you need is a TV, power source and Internet connection to get started.

Save 2% Off

I've been an avid user and fan of Roku's first generation player since it was first released in 2007. I bought this model to add it to another television in my house. When it first arrived, I was SHOCKED on how tiny it is! The first generation player is already small; this one is about a quarter of the original size! I mainly use this player for Netflix, but also use it for many other applications (40-50 different ones) such as Amazon Video and even Facebook. I have a high-speed Internet connection, able to stream 1080p HD picture.

I don't know why other people have had so much trouble with this player. Setup was complete in less than two minutes: just plug it in and follow the on-screen steps. You definitely need your network password if your wireless is secure. Also, as a new requirement to add channels, you need to create a free account on Roku.com. In order to create an account, Roku requires that you add a credit card on file for any purchases that you make in the channel store. This was not required with the old player. I was not worried at all about this; I do not plan on buying anything from the store so there will be no charges. A 4-digit PIN is required to purchase anything, so there should be no problems with children trying to buy something unauthorized. As an added convenience once you create an account, Roku will upload all the channels that you already have on your old player to your new player. So once I logged into my Roku account from my new player, all of my channels that are on my other player were automatically added. This saved me a lot of time searching for and adding the channels that I wanted.

There are a few obvious changes in this model from the first gen HD player. It's a matter of opinion if these changes are good or bad. I personally think that most of these changes are improvements.

The main changes are:

1. No Ethernet port (available in first gen), wireless is the only internet connection option

2. No Optical Audio Out, S-Video input, or Component input (all available in first gen). The only two options are HDMI (not included) & Composite (included)

3. There is now a Micro SD slot for added memory for anything: pictures, video, games, apps, music (not available in first gen)

4. Immediately I noticed that loading time for Netflix is significantly faster (5-8 seconds from 15-20 seconds), but video begins pixelated (low quality) and quickly buffers itself while playing to 1080p HD in about 10 seconds. What results with this change is no more stopping to reload video if the Internet connection becomes slower. The video will automatically improve if connection improves or decrease in resolution if connection becomes slower.

My only complaint about this feature is that you no longer actually know the picture quality of what is streaming. In the old player, it would say the strength of the wireless signal (when I would stream something HD, it would say HD). Ultimately, this lack of knowing the quality is not really an issue, since everything I've been watching from Netflix that is labeled HD has so far had an exceptional picture quality, even better than the 720p HD first gen. player.

5. The new remote is a little longer and lighter than the first generation remote, but more narrow. In contrast to the first gen. remote, the new one feels a little cheaply made. The first gen. remote is solid and sturdy, while this one feels too light and the plastic feels thin. Also, the up,down,left,right and OK buttons on the new remote are all connected in one pad, unlike the individual, separated buttons on the previous generation remote. In my past experience, remotes that have one solid pad for 5 actions usually have more malfunctions than a remote that has separated buttons for different commands.

For example, when pressing the left button (which is the most commonly pressed button since it is used to scroll through everything on your Roku) on the old remote, there was no possible way to do anything else but press left since it was its own separate button. Now, in the new remote, when pressing left it is possible to accidentally press up or down if you are not pressing the absolute correct section of the pad. Luckily, both remotes work on both players.

6. The size of the player is drastically smaller than the previous generation. I mean TINY. It is so small, that the HDMI cable can lift it up if the cable is not perfectly straight. Conveniently, it can fit almost anywhere since it is only about an inch high and 3 inches wide/deep. (first gen. player was about 2.5 inches high by 5 inches wide/deep)

Overall, I highly recommend this player to anyone with a Netflix account, although there are HUNDREDS of other useful and fun applications that are available besides Netflix. If you don't have a TV with Netflix connectivity already included, this player is an inexpensive way to get the most out of your Netflix subscription. It has completely changed the way my husband and I use our television.

CAR CAMERA SYSTEM

Bought this unit from Costco. Installation was fairly easy on my 2001 Pathfinder. The camera is unbelievable, so much detail! I can see anything behind my truck from tail light to tail light, about 1 foot to 50 feet night or day. The problem I have is that the screen is evidently defective. It started out with about 5 veritcal lines of various colors on the far right side of the screen. Each time I use it it gains new lines, now about 25 vertical and about 5 horizontal. Needless to to say the image field is becoming more and more difficult to use. It's too bad because it's all I expected when it worked but if it keeps going I soon will have nothing but colored lines. I'll talk to the manufacturer and if they don't replace it Costco will refund it.CAR CAMERA SYSTEM

Nice product, relatively inexpensive, fairly easy to install. My only complaint is the field of view (listed at 120 degrees) could be a bit wider.

Buy CAR CAMERA SYSTEM Now

I have been in the security and investigations business for over 15 years. I routinely install pinhole cameras and such in businesses and private homes. I have to stay up on technology because of this. When I saw the cheap price on these I was skeptical. After receiving the camera, the installation was a breeze. My wife even put one on her vehicle herself, and had no problem with the install. I am impressed by the image clarity at night, as well as how far you can really see. I got mine for more of a personal safety thing, but it's great to prevent accidents from backing up as well. I have already recommended the camera to several clients.

Read Best Reviews of CAR CAMERA SYSTEM Here

Installed on 2003 Dodge Ram Quad Cab with short bed.

Good:

This camera works well and produces a clear picture.

Bad:

If you want to have a clean installation, be ready to cut and fabricate.

Video wire is not long enough for my pickup. Had to buy extension. Should be just fine for cars.

Even with adjustment rings, I could not get enough of an angle downward for my installation. The bottom of garage door is still about a foot away from the truck (see pic)

I installed this camera because it is difficult to see through 3 layers (back of cab, front and rear of cap) of tint though the rearview mirror. Wanting to install it similar to the new factory trucks, I first tried the handle but it would not fit. Though about the top of the cap but did not want to fabricate a enclosure. Did not want to install to low on the truck due to glare from other cars headlights. I installed it so that the camera can come on while vehicle is in drive, not just reverse. Since I wanted the camera to be concealed, I was ready to drill a hole in the back of the tailgate (not for the faint of heart).

Tip: When drilling, dont forget to prime and silicon the cut opening to prevent rust. I forgot and surface rust developed quickly.

Want CAR CAMERA SYSTEM Discount?

Bell+Howell 50174MO Extreme Kit Mini DV Eye Spycam/Camcorder with 2GB Micro SD Card and 720x480 Dig

Took decent video, but goes completely dead after charging, every time. Brought it back to life by connecting it to a USB port. No technical support available, company stated "model discontinued" after several calls to different phone numbers.Bell+Howell 50174MO Extreme Kit Mini DV Eye Spycam/Camcorder with 2GB Micro SD Card and 720x480 Digital Video Recording

Takes pretty good film,standing still will be trying it out soon on how it does when in motion great quality and accessories and like that it has a expandable GB that can be expanded to 8 very small and concellable,you can use in your car with the window mount that coms with it,also can be worn around your neck are can be clipped to your shirt. Trying to figure out a way to possess more battery life,hope to add more to my review soon.

Buy Bell+Howell 50174MO Extreme Kit Mini DV Eye Spycam/Camcorder with 2GB Micro SD Card and 720x480 Dig Now

as usual bell + howell quality productpictures quality in tiny camea is very good. size and price is reasonableno night vision

pictures bit blur in low light condition but still excellent spycam

Read Best Reviews of Bell+Howell 50174MO Extreme Kit Mini DV Eye Spycam/Camcorder with 2GB Micro SD Card and 720x480 Dig Here

Gemini CD-1800X DJ CD Player

Overall this is a very good unit by Gemini and it's their best seller by far. For what you get it is extremely economical but that's been Gemini's calling card for years.

It is jammed packed with features as you can see and very versatile with its ability to perform at about a sub-par level as a Pioneer CDJ 1000. But don't get carried away. It's still a Gemini and they don't cater to the upscale DJ that demands more from their pro CD players.

I like the fact that it has the hot cue points and mater tempo control. These seem to get used plenty in pro CD players. The instant start is plausible and the fact that its slot loading tells me that they really wanted to put out a solid unit the Gemini CD1800X.

I would have like to see the anti skip feature longer than 10 seconds. They should have given it more memory to handle a longer time. I would have also like to see a cleaner design like their CDJ-02 but because there are so many features to this unit and it's so compact I guess it's the best they could do.

Good job on this one Gemini.

Marantz PMD661 Portable SD Recorder

Update Notes: 10/2010: Another buyer asked me to look into the power draw for battery usage reasons. After using the TWO independent battery conservation modes on the 661 (turn off the leds and minimize the big display from 5 rows to just one row of data) the jumpy current waveform settled down to 315 mA DC +/15 mA. For battery usage, you can use a 315mA draw for conservative recording power usage estimates. So that perspective users of the 661 can get a feel for it I've uploaded 5 most often seen sample screenshots with notes in the pictures section above. The notes cover what each screen does and how the function keys work. The instruction manual shows you how to wire pushbuttons and resistors to the 4 terminal remote plug which is VERY hard to find (most are 3 terminal left/right/ground) you can use the 3 terminal because the only 2 points you need are ground and the tip, but here is the 4 pin version for $0.28 on amazon 6FT 3.5 mm to 3 RCA AV Camcorder Video Cable Sony JVC 6 with this cable and the instructions in the manual you can build your own remote with LEDs and extended switches beyond the marantz remote from the PMD660 Marantz RC600 Mic Mount Remote Control which could be operated by computer or other automated systems. Basically the 4 terminal plugs are becomming more common now. The resistor values chosen for pushbutton operation are common values and easy to find.

UPDATE 8-2010:

I've put alot of hours on my PMD661, made a custom case for it, and now I must report a MINOR negative about a whole class of products (the 661, the H4n, certain flashlights, etc)

While doing flashlight testing on the Fenix TK-40, 'Menace' pointed out that it seemed to drain AA batteries without being used AT ALL while a similar light, the TK30 did not. I confirmed his findings using an inline ampmeter a small amount of power was flowing with the light turned off. As I measured other products that used the AA NiMH cell, the problem proved to be a bigger issue than just one flashlight.

This "trickle" power is just like your car leave it in a garage at the airport for 30 days and don't expect the battery to be full when you return. The amount is small, but placing a plastic strip between a battery and the spring then routing it out of the battery compartment will stop the power from flowing. The "off" power is higher on the PMD661 because it has a timer and can turn itself on for play or record functions with preprogrammed times which other recorders can not do.

Update 9-12-2009 I just returned from a cruise ship using the 661. I used a Canon hs-10 avchd camera for capturing the main stage video and the 661 to plug into the ship's mixing board for audio. The ship's audio engineer was excited to see the 661 and hapily pulled out an XLR patch cord set to give me the house mix line level out, which was recorded in the same lossless format (24bit/48 khz) used by the camcorder audio making synchronization in adobe premiere pro a breeze. The final benefit was hearing the show audio as it left the mixing board to the amps instead of being picked up by the camera set on a tripod in the audience full of echo and laughter, clapping etc. The final production to blu-ray disc sounded like I was right on stage with the camera. The marantz ALC circuit performed better than expected and prevented digital clipping while maximizing dynamic range. End of edit.

[ACTUAL PRODUCT REVIEW BEGINS HERE]

When Marantz added a line level XLR input that bypassed the microphone preamps as opposed to just a mic level input in the 660 (prior model) I finally jumped at it. Since I work alot of mixing boards I have access to the final stereo mixdown at line level voltages. Whats the big deal? Recording at line level gives you 20dB more signal to noise thats 100 times better for those who don't speak dB compared to mic level xlr inputs. Also recorders that put an attenuator in front of microphone amplifiers tend to be noisy marantz is not built this way (the H4n I use for MIC level recordings is it is not well suited to line level input because it must attenuate the signal to 0.8% before recording it) If you look at your dvd player at home all the outputs are line level simply to get rid of noise. With such a fabulous recorder, why in the world would you want 100 times more noise in your recordings?

There are many other factors Marantz did that made the 661 the optimum professional recorder to get the display is bright and easy to read under all lighting conditions, they used a 1/4" headphone jack so the little 3.5mm headphones wouldn't pull out at the worst moment (another pro move) and they improved the case quality. There is also a digital input for people who are 100% digital already, however it stops at 44.1/48 KHz sampling.

Given these features, the PMD-661 sits head and antlers above all the other compact recorders out there offering professional connectivity at an economical price. It's also fully customizable the bright display is dimmable through 8 steps for indoor club use at night, and it features dual rca line level outputs for analog playback. About the only thing I would like to have seen would be a worldclock input for synchronizing analog recordings to digital cameras, but the size of the bnc connector would have nixed that option in this handheld product.

Prices are starting to drop I bought in early but you can save 50 bucks off the original price. Good job Marantz (from a former dedicated tascam fan!)

PROS:

+2 levels of power saving (dual VU meter cutoff and 5 line down to 1 line OLED display) both are independent of each other

+runs on AC power through a 5V converter and also runs off USB power when doing file transfers

+Easy to create multiple folders and levels within them using the 4-way rocker buttons for character selection in fact naming your settings is also easy.

+remote control is customizable with just resistors and switches if you know how to solder and need to operate it by computer or other external devices

+XLR ins are well designed and quiet compared to other products on the market.

+1/8" line level TRS input as well lets you use a 3.5mm trs male to male jumper for recording computer outputs

+digital input as well [COAX] I purchased a Cables to Go 40019 Optical to Coaxial Digital Audio Converter (Black) when needed for $13

+2 ea built in mics as the 4th source

+tripod mount

+pre-record buffer captures 3 seconds of audio prior to entering record

+standard SD card format can be ejected and read on a pc quickly instead of doing USB transfers

+easily updates firmware when improvements are made

+12 hour runtime on 2700 mah nimh cells with full power conservation recording mp3 from XLR in (tested)

+When batteries are exhausted it closes all files and shuts down politely.

+internal stereo speakers can be used to monitor recordings or 1/4" headphones

+rugged, well built design including the battery door which has a large latch to prevent accidental opening or loss

+ALC design is well engineered and not noticable in recordings seems like it uses fuzzy logic to prevent clipping.

+coaxial manual level adjustment allows for separate l/r level difference and ganged level adjustment of both simultaneously

Cons

-timer based recording draws more "off" power inserting an insulator made from a plastic battery case easily prevents draining batteries until you need to start if you do not use the timer functions.

-can not entirely shut off the display most minimal power usage is to shut off LED vu meter and just have one line of text in the OLED window with essential data on it.

-lacks a 1/8" mic in but has a 1/8" stereo TRS line in instead so all mic level voltages must go in via XLRs

-4 input sources but only 3 personalities means one input won't be used without reconfiguring (usually digital in)

-lacks digital out (other than USB and removing SD card)

Yes, the price on this baby is steep. You can get a pretty good Marantz HT receiver for this money.

But what you get for the price of two Edirol HDs is a leap in sound quality, build quality, and ease of use. Build quality may or may not matter in your situation. The way my stuff gets hit in the field, it's important for me. Camera tripod mount is great for this unit--it sets it apart from the mics on mic stands and helps others to notice the piece of high-end gear on the stand and try to be careful around it.

Data dumps are a breeze in Mac and Windows. I've had no file misreads yet, anywhere.

Line-in XLR allows full low-noise field mastering in a multi-mic stereo setup.

hi-res lossless is the selling point for many at this price level. There is simply nothing else at this price point that can do this resolution.

And because of the XLR line ins, your hi-res lossless recordings will have an exceptionally low noise floor.

None of the mid-level digital recorders can do this, and this is why I ponied up.

It sounds so much better than its lower-priced competition that it belongs in this price category beyond them.

If you want Edirol quality sound, Marantz makes the 620 for you, a thoroughly competent unit in its price class.

But if you have significant audio to record and you are willing to spend an extra 300 bucks to get far better audio quality, this unit will make you happy.

Buy Marantz PMD661 Portable SD Recorder Now

I'll be brief; First off I will state that I am very particular, and hard to please. I have been in the audio/music/broadcast business about 40 years

I have not used any of the other flash recorders. Prior to purchasing I did heavy research and the PMD661 fit my needs. This has the features I want, and the sound quality is amazing. I have used it with a Rode NT4 stereo mic, a Sennheiser shotgun mic, a Sennheiser broadcast headset, and direct from the console via spdf digital. All produced great recordings.

The internal mics will do in a pinch, but are not the best, and the preamp for the internal mic is noisy. The external mic preamps are clean and quiet. At first I though there was a lot of noise, but it turns out to be from the headphone amp. The actual files sound great.

Transferring tracks is a breeze

The design and build quality are fantastic

cons;

Headphone amp is VERY weak seriously. I would pay for a mod.

Software included is for Windows only

Internal mics pick up a lot of handling noise.

No timecode sync

Cost a bit high but then well you get what you pay for. This is suitable for professional work.

My purchase through Amazon was quick and easy as usual.

Buy one. You will not be disappointed

Read Best Reviews of Marantz PMD661 Portable SD Recorder Here

I'm from Brazil and I bought this item because i'm coordinating a sound bank project

here, in the context of a sound design school. The school bought zoom H4n with directional Akg mics

My setup is a Rode Ntg-1 Rode NT4, Rode Blimp and Marantz PMD661.

Some considerations:

1 The recorder is very good, very easy to use. Mutch better than Zoom in terms of sound quality

and built quality. Zoom though, comes with some very nice features, like a swiss knife.

Limiter is one of them that Marantz doesen't have and can be very usefull.

Other like a metronome is useless for me, but can be nice for bands or musical groups that want to record rehearsals.

2 I did some recording of the cheering for the first Brazilian match in the world cup with North Korea in São Paulo, with the NT4 and the internal mics. The difference is huge.

The Nt4 gives us a very nice sound stage. Since i was in a neighbourhood with lots of residential buildings we can here a lot of sounds coming from everywhere and NT4 delivers it.

The internal mics not. So, not good for ambience and similar sounds.

3 Well, I did a lot of research and MaRANTZ seem to be the best for me, considering i use it for also different purposes. I needed something with good quality for ambience and foley

and also internal mics that could be usefull(not like those of the Fostex Fr2-Le for instance). So i'll use the

internal mics just for rehearsals and interviews (i'm also a musical director for a theater company).

They are ok for that purpose.

4 When you use just one entrance in stereo recording mode, like a directional mic on L, the other Chanel (R) sounds very noisy in the headphone.

So using just one entrance you are obligated to use the true mono recording feature.

But on the other hand it's very nice, because you don't need to ocupate useless space in the sd card.

Well i loved it, i bought also the Marantz Carry case, it fits the unit perfectly and it has a lot of openings for the cables

and the entrances. But it just fits the unit, anithing else, like extra batteries and cables must be carried

in a extra bag.

Best Choice

Oh and excuse me for my English.

Want Marantz PMD661 Portable SD Recorder Discount?

I've owned this unit for a few weeks and I must say that Marantz really hit one out of the park with this one. I had previously owned a PMD660 and it was a nice enough unit, but I could never understand its wild popularity. It had a cheap feel to it and the sound was mediocre. The 661, on the other hand, is a tank. Think of the 660 as the rough draft for this finished product. Just about everything is done right this time and the sound through the improved preamps is significantly cleaner. I've read some comments that it may be a little large, especially considering how compact much of the competition is nowadays, but I think the size is perfect. You can easily hold it in one hand and the display is big, bright and easy to read at a glance.

The only improvement I can think of offhand, possibly in a 2nd generation unit (are you listening Marantz?) would be a color display. As easy as this one is to read it would be even easier if record mode glowed with a red "rec" and pause with a green "pause."

Highly recommended.

Save 19% Off