Protective Neoprene Voice Recorder Glove Case with Wrist Strap and Belt Loop for ZOOM H2 , H2N and

If, like me, you've got an Zoom H2 (or two) hanging about, and you want a way to protect it, while still having access for recording... Well, then this is the product for you. I travel over the planet, doing on-scene reports (travel magazine stuff), and this little package hugs my H2, and takes care of it.

I just picked up a Zoom H2N, and of course one of the downsides to buying the N over the original H2 is that it doesn't come with any of the accessories. The Zoom accessory pack is expensive, too, and most of what I needed was a carrying case.

Enter USA Gear's Neoprene case designed to fit the H2N. My case arrived promptly from Accessory Genie and I put it to immediate use. The case is nice and sturdy, just enough neoprene to give it some padding and with solid seams. The H2N has a little bit of breathing room in the case; something slightly bigger could fit in its place, though my recorder wasn't swimming around or anything just about the right size.

If I have any reservations about this case, it's the side pouch. It's a bit too tight for my tastes, especially right at the zipper opening. But it's still more than workable, especially if you're just storing SD cards in it, which is what I do. If you have an H2 and want to carry extra batteries, perhaps its a bit too tight; for the H2N and some SD cards it's fine.

Buy Protective Neoprene Voice Recorder Glove Case with Wrist Strap and Belt Loop for ZOOM H2 , H2N and Now

Excellent glove case with wrist strap for my Sony digital voice recorder. The zipper zips around the top and partial side, which is very secure for my recorder. I ordered another case, similar to this one, which unzipped completely around the top and side. Unfortunately, my recorder almost fell out while I was working with it. That is why I ordered this type of case. I highly recommend it.

Read Best Reviews of Protective Neoprene Voice Recorder Glove Case with Wrist Strap and Belt Loop for ZOOM H2 , H2N and Here

Great little pouch to Zoom H2. Nice snug fit, even with neoprene skin on Zoom. Front pouch holds spare batteries, and/or spare sd card. Good product, good price, prompt delivery.

Want Protective Neoprene Voice Recorder Glove Case with Wrist Strap and Belt Loop for ZOOM H2 , H2N and Discount?

This case is not bad. I would recommend it for anyone needing a spare case for their Zoom H2 recorder

Save 45% Off

SmartDigital® Brand HDMI Cable 6 ft Premium Gold Grade v1.3 Category 2 CERTIFIED HDMI to HDMI Cabl

I buy from amazon a lot so I don't have to hassle with the feedback of that other place, but every now and then a purchase really needs a critique, this one does.

I'm not too sure of this deal. As far as I have seen the better cables are made of much thicker cabling; this cable is very very thin. It is slightly smaller than the speaker/audio cable that you would plug in to the back of a computers sound card. How can they put all those HDMI wires in such a small cable? There must be skinny magnet wire in it or some such single strand stuff. And no way could there be room for shielding, not of any worth anyways. To provide for quality signal transfer you need wires of size to transfer that quality signal. Also, the shielding needs to insulate not only the overall cable from outside interference but it needs to insulate the individual wires themselves from each other. And as I said, this is the same size or thinner than a standard audio wire for your computer.

Also, as stated previously in a review, there is no documentation saying who made this, what this is or any applicable warranty information as was in the description.

It came shipped in a white plastic shipping bag no padding.

I think someone might be cheating. Not worth the hassle of sending it back. I'll just chalk it up as lesson learned. We'll set up to compare it with a known good cable in the next week or two. But it certainly isn't what was expected when I purchased it.

Originally bought Monster HDMI Cable.. had my LCD TV set up and the picture is superb.... Then I found out about this product, much less expensive than the "Monster" brand. Performs exactly the same, I returned the Monster cable and saved myself about $50.

Buy SmartDigital® Brand HDMI Cable 6 ft Premium Gold Grade v1.3 Category 2 CERTIFIED HDMI to HDMI Cabl Now

It works great with my PS3. Haven't had a problem with it since I got it. Came in the mail one day and I unwrapped it when I got home and plugged it in. No worries since.

It's got a good length so it should be able to reach just about anything at all near your TV.

Nothing else I can think of to say now so . . .

Read Best Reviews of SmartDigital® Brand HDMI Cable 6 ft Premium Gold Grade v1.3 Category 2 CERTIFIED HDMI to HDMI Cabl Here

Cable was fine and seems to be good quality but was not shipped with any type of documentation whatsoever. I based my decision in purchasing this specific cable on the lifetime guarantee and HDMI Cat 2 certification but unlike what is advertised, nothing was shipped stating this. The cable was shipped only in plain shrink wrap and nothing else. I consider this misleading to say the least.

Want SmartDigital® Brand HDMI Cable 6 ft Premium Gold Grade v1.3 Category 2 CERTIFIED HDMI to HDMI Cabl Discount?

It does exactly what it's designed to do, and the price was great. We hooked up a Roku to our 32 inch HDTV LCD. zero complaints. looks great, no issues...

Samsung DVD-VR330 DVD Recorder

• Combo DVD/VCR with capability of converting VHS tapes to DVD; measures 17 x 3.1 x 10.6 inches (WxHxD)
• Full-function VCR; timed and one-touch VCR and DVD recording
• Records to DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, dual-layer DVD-/+R, DVD-RAM; plays CD-R/RW discs and MP3, JPEG files
• Connections: 1 component out, 1 composite out, 1 S-Video out, 1 Firewire in, 1 RF in, 1 RF out
• Digital optical and digital coaxial audio output for home theater surround sound

I've had this player/recorder for about 2 months. I found it at my local Ckt Cty for two-hundred twenty plus tax. I have recorded some of my older VHS tapes (Kung Fu stuff that is not on DVD and may never be) onto blank DVD-Rs and DVD+RWs. Both discs worked fine and I did not wait an inordinate amount of time for the discs to be finalized (maybe 2 minutes). The picture quality was just as good as the tape (no loss) as I expected. (I figure DVDs will last a lot longer than those ratty VHS tapes I had been keeping, that's why I transferred them.)

The recorder is supposed to handle pretty much any type of DVD media and it records at 4 different speeds for DVD. For VHS, it records at the standard 2 speeds (SP, SLP, EP). The manual claims slowest speed for DVD can save up to 8 hours on a standard single-sided disc; VHS can get 6 hours from a 2 hour tape (3X), just like other VCRs.

I have my recorder connected to cable and a powered antenna with a splitter. The tuner works fine for both sources, even with my cable source being split off for Internet. I have time-shift recorded using both disc and tape and was happy to see that works well, too. I recommend recording stuff with commercials to a VHS tape first since there is a record pause button that I like to use for eliminating commercials before I commit shows to disc. The chapter breaks for DVD are automatically set for every 10 minutes, but I wish there was a way to (on the fly) chapter stamp where you wanted to. You can edit chapters afterward, but it sounds too complicated and time consuming in the manual.

So far, I have had no reliability issues. Each time I have performed an action the player/recorder has worked as expected. I have also gone the other way and recorded DVDs to tape (mostly as a test, but also because there is no way to record from DVD to DVD). Note: I am not suggesting breaking the law, merely pointing out what is possible.

The player starts tape and DVD playback quickly and you can switch back and forth between VHS and DVD very easily. I sometimes record a TV station and watch a DVD at the same time, too. My only complaint besides the chapter thing would be I wish the DVD section played at least 3 discs since most TV series have 3 (sitcoms) or 6 discs (dramas) and I wouldn't have to change discs so often.

Update: Thanks to a question by a reader of this review I went back and tried my homemade discs in other players. Turns out the Samsung will definitely not make working copies of video recorded on 8x discs. The 4x DVD-RWs play fine, though. And make sure you've finalized the discs. This can be done later if you forget at the time you make the disc. Read and re-read that manual!

Buy Samsung DVD-VR330 DVD Recorder Now

I tried a Sony RDR-VX511 for 3 months and found the DV input was flakey and it would not play DVD+R dual-layer made on my computer even though finalized and would play on my laptop, a Panasonic and also this Samsung. The Panasonic (forgot the model) will not record the second layer of a dual-layer until you close out the first layer! This is ridiculous if you want to record on a dual-layer. Luckily a small note on the box warns you of this but I didn't see it until I read the manual.

This Samsung works very well for me. The DV input works and as a bonus will send commands to the DV output on my Sony camcorder. Very handy for dubbing from the DV tape camcorder.

The other bonus I found was it controls my Samsung TV. It can be set for other TVs too, a real plus.

The only disappointment so far is the lack of an S-Video input on the front AV2. That would sure help dub from my Hi8 analog tapes. Too bad, I could have rated 5-stars otherwise.

One other worrisome point is that it takes forever to finalize some disks, my dual-layer for example. It goes to 95% for as long as nearly a half hour. The first time I thought it was frozen so I unplugged and restarted. The DVD seemed to play OK but this was bad. The second time, I just left it and started looking on the internet for any clues. Then all of a sudden after around a half hour it completed the last 5%. Very weird.

I will try to contact Samsung on this. I do not see any software update yet for this model. (You burn a DVD with a downloaded file and the player will update its flash memory..Good plus.

Layout of the remote is a bit crowded and the unit itself won't win any beauty contests but it's the best I've found for my purposes.

Read Best Reviews of Samsung DVD-VR330 DVD Recorder Here

Since I make DVDs for some customers, I would like to think that I understand these type of gizmos to a certain extent.

Most of the complaints on the reviews were caused by customers who do not understand how the DVD burning process works. I can refute almost all of the complaints.

The quality of transfer from video to DVD is outstanding. I could not see any loss at all on my 37" television. It took all of a second for me to do it. I pressed the "to dvd" button. That is all it takes. DVDs do have to be finalized in all of these console units if you want to play the DVD elsewhere. Your computer burner/software likely does this automatically.

Like all high tech items, it has presented some interesting findings. DVD+R discs have to be initialized. The unit tells you what to do so this is easy. DVD+R discs seem to take longer to finalize but that could be due to a slower write speed on the DVD+R disc that I used. I do not seem to be able to pause a recording without flat out stopping it. If that problem continues, I will be upset. I suspect it is me not knowing what to do. Playback on a disc that has had recordings stopped goes much better on the Samsung than on other units. Using the SVHS input requires that you go into the menu and instruct the machine to use the SVHS input. I called Samsung and talked to a rep who did not know too much before finding what I needed in the pretty lenghty instruction manual. The manual seems OK....it is just...big. Accessing the A-B repeat function could be better, it could be worse. The remote is a good design except that the skip chapter button is 1/4" from the fast forward button. That is a matter of finger dexterity I suppose. If you transfer a DVD to video, the loss in quality is noteable. That is why DVDs are replacing video however. I like the fact that the highest quality mode allows for 1 hour and 14 minutes to be put on a disc. Better chance of putting an entire event on one disc with the highest quality. Also easy to use dual layer discs which almost double recording capability. Also plays SVHS tapes and I have a few lying around. I really like the function where a graph shows you how the tape is tracking in the Samsung. It automatically picks the best tracking and units are supposed to do that. But this machine shows you if your tape has tracking issues that require significant automatic adjustments. I believe the Samsung also allows manual tracking adjustments which is pretty awesome.

I bought the machine to mostly transfer old movies to DVD and I could not be happier with its performance in that critical respect.

I've only had the unit for a day. I wrote the review mostly to straighten out some erroneous complaints. It is incredily easy to use for dubbing video to DVD and that is what it is made for. Just remember that the disc has to be finalized if you want to play the disc in something beside the Samsung.

I think Pioneer likely makes the best DVD recorders. They are priced accordingly. I bought the Samsung because it is a bigger bang for the buck for me. This unit has several features that separate it from a unit simply made to make and sell cheap. It is for the person who can appreciate some quality features they may not have expected in a unit of this price.

Want Samsung DVD-VR330 DVD Recorder Discount?

I spent weeks trying to find a DVD recorder, and finally decided on the DVD-VR330. I'm very happy with the operation of this unit. I wanted to transfer our old VHS home videos to DVD, and the process is very easy, and it works very well.

Samsung is NOT known for their easy-to-follow instructions, so it takes some time to interpret them and you may need to experiment for a while to figure out exactly how to work all the features, but all in all, this is a very nice unit.

I purchased a Samsung DVD-VR330 on November 24, 2006. It would never recognize and record on DVD+R or DVD+RW media that I tried from the get go. DVD-R media 4X seemed to work the best. However after a few months it started having a hard time reading blank DVD-R and even ones that had been recorded on in the DVD-VR330 itself. I would put the discs in and have the unit eject them several times before finally detecting them. I had pretty much given up on using it as a DVD recorder using it only as a player to play movies which it has continued to do fairly well.

Recently I tried recording again on DVD's using some TDK Brand DVD-RW 4X media, that I have had for a couple of years, with success. The disks are P/N DVD-RW47CCB25, 25 Pack. I have recorded TV programs, used recorder to cut out commercial segments, replayed them, erased them, and recorded again on the same disks with no problems. I once again tried DVD-R's, DVD+R's and DVD+RW's all of which it still will not recognize. The problem with my unit appears to be a media/firmware compatibility problem or possibly corrupted original firmware. I have found that DVD-RW 4X media is getting harder to find and if you do you can not trust that it is actually DVD-RW or even manufactured the same as the media bought 2 years ago. I have read reviews on TDK Brand DVD-RW media that the consumers actually discovered was DVD+R media labeled incorrectly as DVD-R when they put it into their recorders.

The manual for this unit indicates "Not all brands of discs will be compatible with this unit." However Samsung will not provide media brand recommendations. They want the consumer to spend all kinds of money buying and trying different media until they find something that works. The manual also indicates "The latest firmware upgrade to improve recording & playback quality can be downloaded from our web site." Samsung has never posted any firmware updates on their web site for the DVD-VR330. Apparently Samsung never planned on providing firmware updates, which is required to keep up with the rapid changes in available media. They want you to buy their products, throw them away and buy new when they become obsolete which is just after a few months.

This was my first Samsung product and I will never buy another. In fact I have since bought two LG Brand LCD computer monitors, one Panasonic Brand 50" plasma TV, One Sony Brand Blu-Ray Player and LG Brand Clothes Washer and Dryer which I am very happy with. My new Sony Blu-Ray player is connected to the internet and its firmware is easily updated which has been done twice, once at first installation and once about a month and a half later. Samsung, you should be ashamed of putting out such an unreliable product. However, it's your loss!

Philips Blu-ray Disc Player, BDP7200/37

• Blu-ray Disc 1080p DVD Player
• 1080p at 24FPS for cinema -like images.
• DVD Upconversion to 1080P via HDMi.
• Play CD, S(VCD), DVD, DVD=R/RW, DVD-R/RW,DivX, MP3, WMA and JPEG digital camera photos.
• HDMI for simple AV connection

having read the negative reviews i felt i had to defend the philips bdp7200 ive had this player for 5 months and have not endured any problems so far! maybe i lucked up on getting one that actual does work but this player plays beautiful blurays, is very quiet, and has played every bluray i have put in it over 50 so far including the new releases without stopping or having to go through the hazzle of upgrading firmware like i have had to do downstairs with the samsung1500 i highly recommend this player!

Buy Philips Blu-ray Disc Player, BDP7200/37 Now

Have owned/installed dozens of DVD players.

Comparing this one with Sony 301, BX1, Toshiba A2, E500, Philips 5992 and Oppo 970HD.

Blu-Ray ok. If you must have a BD player, this may be a nice choice. Especially if you need Divx compatiblity. No Ethernet tho.

SD DVD Upconversion is typically poor, as is most BD players. Not as good as HD DVD, E500, or Oppo. Even $39 5992 is superior.

Divx poor resolution, compared to 5992. Subtitles are not well formatted, compared to LG/Zenith Divx compatible players.

Pros:

Cheaper than sony BD players up til now.

Cons:

No ethernet, poor divx quality/compatibility. typical BD sluggish remote command response. Remote is long, heavy, button layout is horrible.

5992 has much better remote.

Summary:

I returned this unit. Too many drawbacks. Especially at this price. Will wait for a player that make me happy in all respects. If I had to buy something now for a HDTV HDMI setup, it would probably be the $39 Philips 5992. Great value and performance.

Reviewed using a 50" PDP 1080i using HDMI connection.

Read Best Reviews of Philips Blu-ray Disc Player, BDP7200/37 Here

This is my first Blu Ray player, and I second "Wewa's" comments. I've got a 50" 1080p tv and the picture is fine, when it works. The Philips BDP7200 takes around two minutes to load the movie, and often will stop playing in the middle of the movie.

There is nothing worse than settling in for a great movie, and then having the scene freeze 20 30 minutes in. Eventually, you can get it going again by reloading (2 or 3 times) but it really throws you out of the movie.

Avoid it.

Want Philips Blu-ray Disc Player, BDP7200/37 Discount?

I am like another reviewer who feels like I have to defend this product. Almost could not believe it when I saw the average review of only three stars as I write this. Did a lot of homework before buying this and when I saw it on sale for just under $200.00 at a competitor of Amazon.com, I had to pull the trigger. I am very glad I did, because the very minor flaws I have encountered thus far (after three weeks of ownership) seem insignificant to me.

Don't compare a player in this price range to one that has double the retail price. To me that is unfair.

I am a guy who has a decent Dolby Digital 5.1 sound system. I don't care if this does not have the latest Dolby TruHD or DTS HD decoders built in, because I am not going to take the plunge into a new AV Reciever thank you. The 5.1 sounds excellent via the optical input. I have a feeling that Philips knows who they are building these things for.

As for Picture quality, I could not be happier. I have it hooked up via HDMI (with the audio off so I can send that via Optical) to a Panasonic 42" Viera plasma (which accepts 1080P24 signal). Blurays look absolutely stunning if you have a TV that can accept 1080P24, and I have not had any of the freeze issues that some others talk about after viewing approximately a dozen bluray titles so far. DVD's look excellent as well (maybe not as good as Oppo), but MUCH better than my previous Samsung DVD player ever produced. Another selling point to me is the fact that it plays all DVD formats. Not just the minus only, some others in this price range. If you have any family stuff, home movies, etc recorded on Plus format dvds, watch out. You might end up not being able to watch them on your new player.

Lastly, If you look at some "big time" reviewers like CNET for example, you may be wrongly swayed against buying something that is not at the absolute top of their list. That would be a shame. I think they got it wrong when they gave this one an average rating.

I really like mine a lot, and I can't imagine that most people would not feel the same way if they picked one up.

Bedtime Stories (Plus Standard DVD + Digital Copy + BD Live) [Blu-ray]I've owned this unit for a few months now and it works like it should however I contacted Philips to make aware that the newer release from Disney "Bedtime Stories" will not play the main feature. It gets though the previews but when it starts to load the main feature it sets back to the white screen with PHILIPS in blue screen and repeats the previews. I have the latest firmware update so I'll just have to wait...

Other than that it plays the rest of my collection just fine. I'm very happy with this purchase and understand that their are mishaps like this and thankfully they make firmware updates to address issues like this and the changes to certain formats in blu ray discs. The player takes it loner to load the movies than I'd like but I'm totally aware that there is alot of info on these blur ray discs to process and the clarity is worth the wait. It seems to load longer when you have company over and your both staring at the screen waiting for the movie to begin but really not a big deal. All in all great player. It's quiet when it runs so no distractions or, "what's that loud humming noise" coming from it.

Mace 8-Channel 500GB DVR with 4 Color CCTV Bullet Camera System Kit MDIY-DVR084CKIT

I compared all 8 channel DVR/Camera kits in this price range and found this MACE product to have the best set of features for the price. The cameras are good quality and have a surprisingly good viewing angle. They look very nice mounted since the hole for the cables is centered under the mount and not visible. This is also one of the only 8 channel DVRs in this price range that has 8 audio inputs if you want to add upgraded cameras with mics. Cameras also use BNC connectors so it's easy to use cameras from other manufacturers. The user interface is pretty intuitive but the instruction manual is weak. I had to call and get some advice on setting up the remote viewing feature but it does work. Overall its a great system that's been up and running continuously for a month now.

Save 18% Off

Sanyo VPC-PD2BK Full HD Pocket Movie Dual Camera with 10 MP Digital Photos and 3X Optical Zoom (Bla

Contrary to most reviews here that trash the VPC-PD2BK, I just spent 3 weeks with it and I have very few complaints. I know HD video. We've shot our family videos in HD since the Sony HDR-HC1 first came out and currently use the HDR-HC7 as our primary camcorder. I've literally shot hundreds of hours of HD video with our Sony camcorders and this Sanyo model does most things almost as well as they do. I say most because the Sanyo obviously lacks the internal sophistication and optics that are present in the Sony models...But it's also a fraction of the cost and fits comfortably in your shirt pocket. I'm not sure exactly what previous reviewers were expecting when they purchased this Sanyo unit...But it sounds like some of them wanted one of the Mino or Kodak models and probably should've just purchased that in the first place.

Most of the complaints of poor video quality can probably be traced to trying to view HD video through Quicktime on a "standard" PC...It is terrible. But that's NOT the fault of the Sanyo (or any other HD recording device). For example, the video clip that I uploaded was recorded in the Sanyo's 1280 x 720, 60fps "HD-HR" format. However, when you try to watch it through an internet connection with the Flash player, it will start, then stop, then start, get blotchy, freeze frame again, etc. Understand going in that this unit shines by mini-HDMI connection Abacus24-7 Mini-HDMI to HDMI Cable, 6 feet to a flat screen HDTV. THAT'S how you view the photos and video captured by this Sanyo. Trying to watch HD MPEG-4 video with Quicktime or Flash or Windows Media Player or VLD, etc on a 3 or 4 year old Windows PC is an invitation to disappointment! I didn't upload the video clip to show the VPC-PD2BK's video quality. It's there to show why most people complain about a device like this as "not working" and "horrible video" and so forth. You simply have to hook it up to an HDTV through HDMI (or to a Mac with iMovie) to adequately judge the quality of the video.

So, our HDR-HC7 recently "flipped-out" (literally) as the LCD screen started rolling and wouldn't stop/stabilize. I had purchased a 4-yr ext warranty when it was new, but had to send it off for repairs. Of course life doesn't stop happening until your camcorder comes back repaired. I needed something to record HD video and take decent still shots of youth football games, a military honors funeral ceremony and a Disney World vacation. This Sanyo did not disappoint and I would buy it again for the $159 I paid at buy dot com a few days before it was even available on Amazon. I will review the VPC-PD2BK considering several factors that are important to me. I also uploaded a few sample photos...But keep in mind that what you see on your PC/laptop screen is not what you see when the "cameracorder" is connected to an HDTV through mini-HDMI with output set to 16:9, 720p. Amazon's upload software took files that were originally 3MB is size and reduced them to around 115KB which is obviously nowhere near 10MP in quality.

* Optics 5/5. The 3X optical zoom really does make a difference compared to the software interpolation accompanying a 3X digital zoom. Photos taken at 10MP are crisp and clear and video quality is exceptional for something this compact when connected to a 50" plasma HDTV through the mini-HDMI connection. There are also no problems viewing the 10MP photos on a PC with basic photo editing software like Picassa. I have no idea why people are complaining about photo and video quality here. There is nothing wrong with it.

* Video 5/5. I haven't even tried to view any video on our PCs, since they don't have the horsepower to edit this kind of footage. But when connected to HDMI on an HDTV, the video quality is superb and comparable to anything shot with our Sony HDR-HC7. I shot our video in "HD-HR", which is 1280 x 720, 60fps HR. Our plasma has 720p native resolution and the video is crisp and clear. No complaints here.

* Audio 4/5. This one is tough. I love the twin microphones (stereo) capability of this Sanyo. Why would you want to record HD video and then watch/listen to it in mono sound anyway? The microphones are super sensitive, perhaps to a flaw. I dock a point here because there is a low level hiss that is apparent in video with extended periods of silence. The optical zoom motor sound is also picked up and is noticeably loud when zooming in and out during video. I find these things unacceptable. On the other hand, these microphones can pick up the sound of passing cars at 50+ yds away when not even facing the highway. If someone in your video farts within 30 feet, it will be forever captured to video. When focusing on the negatives here, I could give it 3 out of 5...But I could just as easily give it 5 out of 5 for the stereo quality of recordings and the sheer performance factor of these twin microphones picking up everything and I do mean every sound of whatever you're recording. You'd think an external mic was used.

* Photo Quality 5/5. Now understand that I normally don't take photos in place of video. I prefer to video what's happening. But I found myself actually taking more photos than usual with this Sanyo. I was PLEASANTLY SURPRISED to find that, like our Sony HDR-HC7, this Sanyo takes still photos (at a lower quality of 1280 x 720, or approx 300KB per photo) DURING video recording. This is a big deal for me. If you have the latest & greatest PC with the capability to capture stills during HD video editing, then this may not be so much for you. But by the time you boot up your PC, load your software and SD card video, select your image capture and then invite everyone into your PC room to show them your lovely picture on your PC screen, I've already shown a complete photo slideshow on the family HDTV with the accompanying video clips showing the entire scene with action...Plus I've gone out and returned with dinner for everyone. Snapping photos during video recording is a CONVENIENCE that doesn't fall flat with me. I'm used to it and I appreciate it. I still haven't printed any still photos (which might alter my opinion of photo quality), but they sure do look sharp and clear on our HDTV. No complaints. [UPDATE: You can press the photo button while video recording to capture a still shot, but I found it's not even necessary. After you've shot a video clip, you can view it on the Sanyo's screen, then pause and move it forward/back frame by frame until you find the exact scene you want to capture. Press the photo button and a separate photo file is created. It will be at the same resolution as the video format you originally used to shoot the footage.]

* Flash 5/5. This is what's been sorely missing on so many handheld video recorders, while it's a given on digital cameras that also shoot video...But this Sanyo provides a fairly powerful flash that's proven useful both inside in well-lit areas and when shooting stills outside at night. I found that using a forced flash produces superior results in 10MP capture when inside, even when ambient lighting seems sufficient. Without a forced flash (i.e., on "Auto Flash"), photo captures can be somewhat blurred and washed-out...Sort of what you would normally expect from using a digital camera or another model of handheld camcorder inside and without a flash. Using the flash inside produces crisp and even vibrant captures. Sanyo deserves kudos for including this feature where others lack it.

* Intangibles 4/5. While the above are what I consider primary performance factors in a unit like this, there are also the intangibles...Things that aren't "primary", but they still affect performance and/or ease of use. For example, this Sanyo has an automatic lens cover. Turn it on, it opens up. Turn it off and it closes to protect the lens. This is pretty huge for anyone who puts a cameracorder like this in your pocket with keys, change and any number of items that can scratch or just dirty up an unprotected lens. You won't need a lens cloth every time you pull it out of your pocket. Another intangible is weight. When you get to items this small, weight is somewhat relative...But I can hold the Kodak Zi8 in one hand and this Sanyo in the other and there is a NOTICEABLE difference in weight. The Sanyo is so much lighter it almost feels "empty". Also, this Sanyo is relatively quick to load. You can take a still shot or be shooting video within roughly 4 seconds of pressing the power button on. That's quicker than our full-sized Sony HDR-HC7.

* Problems I have with this entire category of cameracorders. This is not so much about the Sanyo specifically, but these shortcomings affect this category of electronics when you're used to full-sized camcorders. First, I know I'm in the minority, but I prefer the Sony mini-DV tape system. The thing that bugs me most about all of these slick new handhelds is a lack of a PAUSE button. This means when you're shooting a video with pauses (like a youth football game), each time you press "RECORD" to start and stop recording, you have created a new FILE on the SD card. In the end, you're left with a series of intermingled photos and videos on the SD card instead of watching a mini-DV tape of the event that provides seamless video resulting from pausing and then restarting the record function. This bugs the heck out of me. I haven't figured out how to combine the individual files into a "complete game video" yet and this is a deal-breaker for me when considering what type of events to video with this Sanyo and which ones to video with our HDR-HC7. It knocks these portable SD card-based recorders out of many events because I don't want to end up with many disjointed files instead of a complete video in the end. Understand this limitation when purchasing any of these handhelds. Another is no DV-out. All of these handhelds include some USB connector...But there are a variety of limitations when outputting captured video/stills using other methods. For example, if you visit that relative who still has the 19" color TV with rabbit ears, then you won't be able to hook this Sanyo up to it and show off your captures. You need HDMI. Other brands/nodels have this capability with a "video" jack and even include the cables to connect to older TVs...But none of them I've seen have DV-out, which is how I easily make DVDs from our HDR-HC7. These handhelds also use Electronic Image Stabilization while most larger, higher-end camcorders use Optical Image Stabilization. This means you need to pan much more slowly and be particularly steady when shooting video, especially when zoomed in on the target. EIS is better than nothing, but your video will still show a great deal of "shake" if you aren't steady or using a tripod. Also, don't expect detailed user manuals or sophisticated editing software. Most of the user guides/manuals are PRE-LOADED onto the unit itself and only accessible after you connect via USB. Any editing software is quite basic. For example, the Sanyo software makes it easy to upload to Facebook, YouTube and Picassa...But there's no way to EDIT the video/photos prior to upload. Now how much sense does THAT make? Imagine a world where Facebook and YouTube are littered with completely unedited video and photos. Obviously there are a lot that are unedited already...Now imagine if ALL of them were!

Finally, the merciless piling on with the ridiculous reviews here is unwarranted. Does the battery compartment cover easily slide off when pulling the Sanyo out of your pocket? Yes it can. But it doesn't come completely off in your hand. It is still secured with a rubber/plastic tab. If this causes you so much pain that you feel compelled to write a 1 or 2 star review of this item, then perhaps you should leave the videoing to others who are more tolerant. For example, the Kodak Zi8 has an SD card compartment that is insanely difficult to open. It can only be opened by inserting a thumbnail and pulling it open, and that doesn't make a whole lot of sense either. Anyone trashing this unit because of an apparent lack of video/photo quality has probably never even shot HD video before. If you are considering the purchase of one of these handhelds, I suggest you do as I did. Buy 2 or 3 different models and try them out head-to-head before deciding which one to keep. I already took the JVC PICSIO GC-FM1A HD Camcorder (Black Ice) back for a refund. It was HORRIBLE. I'm boxing up the Kodak Zi8 even now for a return. It's a decent handheld that I was prepared to live with before this Sanyo was just recently released...But I've decided to keep this Sanyo for all of the 4/5 and 5/5 reasons given above. For the $25 more I paid over the Zi8, this Sanyo model does almost everything I need and does them better...When I don't want to lug around a full-sized HD camcorder, this one is just a pocket away from capturing the action when needed.

Recently, I took this dual camera for a test run during the tour with my wife in Japan. I am so happy with all the results taken, either 10 MP photos or 1080p videos. It is so easy to use and I collected about 40G memory during the 9 day trip. The qualities are not only excellent but also more than I can dream of. I definitely agree with one of the reviewer that regular PC is not the tool to play 1080p videos since regular PC simply is not powerful enough to do the job. The better way is to use HD media player via HDMI connection to your HD TV. If you have done so, you will agree with me that the qualities are exceptionally good from this small pocket movie dual camera.

The only shortcoming to me is that a third party software is required to join the video segments together. I use Magix movie edit pro 15 plus to get my 1080i iso join files. I still would like to get 1080p iso file if I can.

I compare photo quality taken from PD2 (10 MP) with my Nikon coolpix P5100 (12.1 MP). I found no visual difference. I also own Sanyo first HD camcorder, VPC-HD1A for 5 MP photos and 720P videos. Trust me VPC-PD2 is many many times better especially under regular room light or low light condition.

I can only conclude that Sanyo VPC-PD2 is an exceptionally good quality dual camera and I would recommend it for non-sophisticated users.

And I give it a 5 stars.

p.s. I bought two from Amazon.

update: 12/08/2010

Magix Movie Edit pro 15, that I own, can join MP4 1080p clips via "export movie" as different formats and MP4 is one of them.

Recently, I bought Roxio creator 2011 and I can join MP4 1080p clips via "export as" function to original file type i.e. MP4.

Hopefully, these are useful for you.

Buy Sanyo VPC-PD2BK Full HD Pocket Movie Dual Camera with 10 MP Digital Photos and 3X Optical Zoom (Bla Now

I waited for a few weeks to post a review on this unit, such that I could get a pretty solid, real world, feel for this pocket camcorder. I think posting a review very soon after an initial purchase can result in a review that is somewhat biased and influenced by an initial perception.

All that being said, if I had to make one overarching comment about this unit, I would point out that this is a Pocket Camcorder first and a Camera second i.e. the strength of this unit is in taking High Definition H.264 videos. While the still shot aspects of this unit are pretty decent, I would say that, clearly, its strength lies with its video capabilities. From my perspective, its important to point this out so that others considering this unit won't confuse it with standard point-and-shoot still cameras that happen to have HD video capability.

VIDEO SIDE:

I have been using the unit for video at 720p/60fps as opposed to 1080i/30fps, primarily for three reasons (a) I have an older DLP set with a 720p native resolution, (b) 60fps is supposedly better at handling motion than 30fps (though this intuatively makes sense, I have yet to independently verify this, on this particular unit), and (c) the obvious, file sizes are smaller.

I think video quality is superb on the VPC-PD2 with one caveat, it is quite susceptible to lighting conditions. In daylight (full or partial, even indoors), the quality is absolutely superb. When light levels fall, so does quality. The camera seems to try to compensate by boosting the ISO level, which makes the video quality somewhat grainy/pixelated.....if I had to describe it, I would almost say that low light material tends to look more like Standard Def, even when capture in HD. I would add that the low light performance of this unit is no worse than any other pocket camcorder that I've played with, in fact, I would say its probably better than most.

People, you have to be realistic and realize that this is ultimately a pocket camcorder that, no matter how well implemented, will ultimately be restricted by its hardware. This camera is using a very small CMOS sensor and, hence, there is only so much that can be done with the given hardware (on the plus side, CMOS sensors tend to do better than CCD sensors). With proper lighting, I would say this pocket camcorder can easily rival a decent handheld HD camcorder, which, I think, speaks volumes.

Another very strong point is the audio side (I read some reviews to the contrary and am VERY puzzled by the same). The twin mics do an excellent job of picking up audio and, very crisply, I might add. I do agree that you can hear the optical zoom mechanism during playback, but (a) it does not bother me since it is for such a short duration (a second or two), and (b) I really don't use the optical (or digital) zoom much as I like the wide angle lense of this unit and tend to simply walk closer to my subject is I need to "zoom" in. I also think that zooming in tends to reduces the amount of available light that gets to the sensor which exacerbates the unit's weak point, low light shooting.

I think the optical stabilization works quite well. While I haven't done a close comparison of the unit with the optical stabilization on vs. off, (I turned it on as soon as I received the unit) the videos are quite stable with no noticable (or sickening) motion while playing back on my HDTV.

STILL CAMERA SIDE:

I have the camera stills set to 10MP. Using the 12MP with interpolation makes no sense to me as (a) the raw data simply doesn't exist (the camera sensor maxes out at 10MP), its being artificially created,and (b) it reduces the no. of stills that can be taken.

Taking stills can be done in two ways (i) firmly pressing the still shot button and waiting for a second or so for the shot to fire or (ii) pressing the button down halfway, letting the camera focus, and then pressing it down fully to fire the shot. So long as your subject is not moving significantly, method (ii) works better as it enables you to greatly reduce the shutter lag by pre-focusing, if you will.

The flash on this unit -all I can say is wow! It is a powerful flash for such a small unit. The VPC-PD2 is one of the few pocket camcoders out there with a flash, and I think it greatly enhances the units ability to take still shots. The flash effectively enables you to compensate for the lack of low light performance. Again, very impressed with the flash capability from such a tiny unit.

Overall, I would say the still shot capability is quite decent. This is by no means going to replace a DSLR or even a decent point and shoot, however, it will still allow you take very decent still shots if you don't want to lug around you main camera.

OTHER:

I think the build quality is decent. I was expecting the unit to feel very plasticky and it doesn't. Yes, it is quite light and, no, its not going to feel like the magnesium body on your high-end DSLR, however, I still think it feels good in the hand. It has enough heft to it such that doesn't feel chinzy....don't know how else describe it. Yes, the door that covers the battery and memory card can feel a little loose, but, honestly, it doesn't bother me. I am a bit careful with the USB slide out connector, but again, this doesn't bother me. I'm generally careful with my things, especially electronics. If you're going to let your 5-year gnaw at the unit or throw it around, then yes, things will break.

Having the lense automatically retract and cover itself is nice in terms of dust/dirt protection and longevity.

TIPS:

Some handy tips if you don't feel like reading the manual:

1. Pressing and holding down the "Set" button will take you to the "Self Timer" mode for stills.

2. This is a good one.....holding down the "Rec/Play" button, BEFORE the camera is powered on, will allow you to view your stills and videos, without the lense deploying!! I really like this as previously, I was using the on/off button to turn on the unit prior to viewing my pics/videos, which would deploy the lense, making the unit more cumbersome and increasing the risk of damaging the lense.

3. If you hold down the "up" arrow button while powering the unit on, you will get to the "Operation Beep" menu, which will allow you to turn the beeps on or off.

CONCLUSION:

If you're in the market for a pocket camcorder and are realistic about the capabilities of a pocket unit, I think this unit will not disappoint...in fact, I think it will surprise you. My focus was on Video/picture quality and easy of use....the VPC-PD2, in my humble opinion, stands out. If you don't care of about picture quality (which begs the question of why you're spending your money on a camera/camcorder) and form factor is your primary/sole criteria, then consider one of the Cisco FLIP units. I was interested in a unit that performed first and was pretty second. This was the one for me, hands down.

DON'T FORGET:

1. The mini HDMI to HDMI cable. The videos on this unit look great on an HDTV via HDMI. I actually think they look better than viewing the files directly on a PC, at least with Windows Media Player.

2. The case. I picked up the Caselogic Pocket Video Camcorder Case (TBC-312) and it fits beautifully. Very nice case. Please don't confuse this case with the other Caselogic pocket "camera" cases. This is their pocket "Camcorder" case. Use the model no. and you'll be set.

3. Picked up a Transcend 16GB SDHC card. Works just fine. I went with a Class 6 card, given the HD recording. No speed lag issues whatsover. You may be able to get away with a Class 4 card; I haven't confirmed.

THE REAL KICKER:

Picked the Camera up for $142.00 here on Amazon. 6 days later I see the unit on sale for $99. Was pretty bummed. Called Amazon, they refunded me the difference immediately.....now that is called service!! This camcorder is excellent of $142 and an absolute steal for $99. Yes, I would pay $142 for it again.

STAR RATING:

Why 4 stars? Simple, I am judicious with my star ratings. To me, only a perfect product deserves 5 stars. Is the VPC-PD2 a perfect product? No. Is it a very good product? Absolutely. Therefore it gets a 4 star rating.

Read Best Reviews of Sanyo VPC-PD2BK Full HD Pocket Movie Dual Camera with 10 MP Digital Photos and 3X Optical Zoom (Bla Here

Pros:

1) It has great audio pickup. I was definitely impressed as it picked up slight sounds (detectable on playback on a PC).

2) As some others have said, this camera is unusually light. Depending on your perspective it could be good. Some prefer a heavy device in hand to reduce the amount of shakes. On the other hand, its nice to have less weight to carry around. Yes it does feel like a toy because of its weight (don't give it to your kids) but it will make you scratch your head as to how such a light product records HD video.

3) 4 video quality modes, 3 of them widescreen. They record fairly well.

4) 3x optical zoom, not as much mechanical noise noticed while using it as some other customers mentioned.

5) I like the fact that the lens is automatically covered up while it is turned off.

6) Menu takes some getting used to, but once you do get used to it, it's pretty straighforward.

Cons:

1) There is a slight hiss in the audio that becomes noticeable when there isn't any other background noise. This definitely needs to get addressed.

2) The battery compartment door is too flimsy. But even if it comes off, it is still attached to the camera with a rubber strip. Also the SD card, battery remain secure even if the door comes open. This is definitely an oversight on the design, but it amounts up to an inconvenience.

3) On playback on the camera LCD & on PC, the video appeared grainy. As someone commented, this may very well be because its video is meant to be played back on an HDTV via the mini-HDMI port. (the other commenter had success with this). I would still expect that at least on the LCD it should not appear grainy. [makes me wonder if I just happened to have received a defective version of the product]

4) Low-light recording is not too impressive.

5) I don't always read the instructions first, but I do consider myself very tech savvy, and this device was not straightforward out of the box. Be sure you start out with an EMPTY SD-card and format it with this camera itself. For some unusual reason (perhaps internal data transfer) it takes its own time to set up a secondary virtual drive on plug-in with a PC to provide access to some internally stored software. It's a bit mind-boggling as to why it did not show this virtual drive on the first few times I connected it to the PC. Also keep in mind that your camera has to be turned ON before you plug it into the computer, otherwise it just shows up as an inaccessible "removable drive."

UPDATE: 1 month after use and test.

Pros: 7) Crystal clear playback on an hdtv with a separately purchased mini-hdmi to hdmi cable.

8) Photos are great if you can get enough light and solid platform to avoid shakes (not the fastest shutter speed, but considering I gave up my camera to use this, gotto work with it). Flash control works fine. Finding the controls took some learning.

Cons:

6)grainy video for PC/facebook/youtube use. I might experiment later with downgrading video resolution to see if that improves video appearance. As of now, I've received comments about how videos are blurry.

7) Only digital zoom is available during video recording, which is okay, but does make grainy-ness worse on zooming in.

Want Sanyo VPC-PD2BK Full HD Pocket Movie Dual Camera with 10 MP Digital Photos and 3X Optical Zoom (Bla Discount?

When you obey the rules of small sensor cameras, this one will take a good picture. It should not be used in place of a good point-and-shoot camera on vacation, but it has it's place. I would use this camera in conjunction with my favorite camera for the video only. The camera shutter speed need to remain above 1/100 to take a good out-door picture. This means that you need good sun light. The iso needs to stay at 50 if you want a decent jpg.

The video aspect of this camera works about the same. With good lighting, it will do a good job. Indoors, the iso will rise, causing noisy videos. Sometimes I can live with the results sometime not, it just depents on how important the video is.

I will not be hard on this camera because it's greatest advantage is it's size. If you just want to capture video of day-to-day life, it's size will make it very easy to take along. If you prefer very good picture quality at all times, well you might need to keep shopping. I give it a (B-), but it will help if you know a little about photography to understand when to use it, and when not.

Panasonic SDR-H200 30GB 3CCD Hard Disk Drive/SD Palmcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

I took the plunge and bought two of them (One for my brother). My reason for this is:

1. the predominance of editing software available for MPEG2, MPEG4, AVI, etc. as well as the ability to play on practically any regular DVD player. My Aunts, Uncles, relatives and friends do not care for, nor ever will buy a BluRay Player and a 42"+ Panny, although I do (more about that in a sec). Thus sharing compatibility is more important to me than obtaining the latest AVCHD, although I may for other reasons in the future. I know I can down convert but the extra steps, increased price, limited industry supported software (for unconverted .mt2s files), the new h.264 compression standard and the increased horsepower required for PC use are all compelling reasons to stick with SD in the home and for sharing not only the finished product but also raw footage with others and having zero complications.

I have a 2GB RAM, P4, 3.0 Ghz, etc. laptop but 8 out of every 10 others I know use centrino technology, 1.8 Ghz, 256-512 RAM, etc. which just isn't gonna drive h.264 footage nicely is it. Same goes for desktop setups. Try downloading and watching 720p video from the Windows Media HD Video website if your computer leans more towards the latter to see what I mean. SD footage won't encounter these snags. Once again, I am speaking from the point of view of sharing with the people I know who for the most part will never upgrade to the latest PC / Home theatre (or at least not in the next 5-10 years).

2. USB 2.0 Hi Speed Transferring, i.e. 100 MB files transferred from card/ HDD in about 15 seconds. Editing, Rendering, Authoring is a breeze.

3. I wanted a MEMORY MAKER, not a home movie studio. This unit fits in the palm of your hand (almost bordering on too small) and easily slips into a LowePro camera bag.

4. I have a 32-bit PCMCIA SD/SDHC card reader (not 16) that I bought to replace my laptop 4-in-1 media reader. Standard readers that most people have today on their desk or built in to their laptop will not read the new SDHC cards available at 4GB+ capacities. More mention of this should be made in my opinion. Also, these new cards will not work in older devices that do not support SDHC. The SDR-H200 does support SDHC.

I experimented recording to the card and then transferring footage to my laptop. The 32bit cardBus adapter is 10-16X faster than USB 2.0. It is just awesome. The reason I mention this is because of the 1 major gripe I encountered, Namely...

...Transferring HDD footage requires disconnecting the battery from the unit and connecting a DC cable to it from the AC power adapter. Then USB 2.0 cable out to computer. Sooooooo, this means always needing to be around power instead of just turning on the camera and transferring the HDD footage randomly anywhere. It's not that big of a deal but I like having Zero restrictions ;) So using SDHC cards frees me from that restriction, hence the mention of the 32bit cardBus reader (YES they exist interfirm http://www.synchrotech.com/products/media-adapters_01.html)! ***If you follow suit and get this adapter make sure you download and install the correct driver from the website because there's no Windows XP/ Vista substitute that will do it for you like we're used to!!

Another Note if you transfer files directly from the card they show up as .mod files. Windows media player 11 recognizes them and plays. Other players don't, so you simply change them to .mpg. Sektionschef created a great program that automatically converts multiple .mod files (i.e. all of your stored clips) to the .mpg extension all at once! Very cool. It's called

5. 3CCD over single chip, this unit uses 3CCD RGB, nice. A handy F1.8 for dimly lit environments works pretty good. The 10x optical zoom is very smooth, speed contollable by the amount of pressure used on the toggle switch and there was no focus hunting in Auto mode. The O.I.S. doesn't help much when zoomed in on a subject and you're moving around so staying wider helps unless you're into using tripods. But zooming in fully on a WestJet airplane taking off produced good results.

Another nice feature is the auto fade in and fade out when you start and stop recording. It effectively smooths over those slight but noticeable camera movements that sometimes occur when the record button is pressed non-gently, awkwardly, haphazardly or whatever. This setting can be switched on or off. I like it, but you may not want to use it if you're into utilizing post-editing software because you can't remove an already recorded fade.

Here is a few clips I uploaded you can check out. I recommend downloading and playing the clips on your computer video player over using the website streaming player because the web player compresses the video resolution...

Indoor, Available Light, Auto, Setting = XP (higest SD quality) Outdoor light is completely overcast.

http://files.filefront.com/MOV007mp...;/fileinfo.html

Outdoor Auto, Zoom in on airplane, XP, Completely overcast sky

http://files.filefront.com/MOV009mp...;/fileinfo.html

Low Light, Indoor, Coffee Shop, XP Mode, Auto

http://files.filefront.com/MOV002mp...;/fileinfo.html

Finally, does the footage measure up? YES. There is no comparison to watching footage on the laptop as compared to a monitor, TV or Plasma. When I watched it on my laptop I was like hmmmm, oh yeah, that's pretty good. But when I ran my footage from the camera through a Yamaha RX-V2700 Receiver with 1080i/1080p upsacling to a 42" Panasonic Plasma via HDMI I was blown away! You will be extremely PLEASED if you run your footage through a home theatre HDMI setup. The same goes for a DVD disc.

I also tried S-Video out directly to TV with included AV cables (no HDMI/ no receiver) and I would still rate the footage as GREAT. Fortunately, you can do this running on straight battery power and a remote control is included! I also ran it through my 23" Samsung LCD HDTV computer monitor and... you guessed it, great. In all cases the picture turns out to be very crisp, clean and vibrant.

So although I love the new HiDef footage, etc. I took my chances in sticking with SD for home video purposes and am more than pleased. No regrets. The unit shoots in 16:9 or 4:3 and has no problem saturating my entire 42" screen. Even my mother who is expecting plenty of baby footage from my brother was more than impressed and could tell that it was a quality pic.

So, if you are looking for a memory maker and anticipate bringing it along on trips or to the ball game or whatever you'll be happy to own this unit.

The menu is simple and clean, and you can easily switch from recording to HDD/ SD/ SDHC card at the push of a button. There is plenty of manual settings you can tinker with but auto mode does the trick nicely.

It is simple, handy and fun which is exactly what I wanted. This unit delivered that. 4 out of 5 stars for not being able to transfer HDD footage to computer without power adapter (but to its credit, the adapter is conveniently small). Since it also holds 7 hours of highest quality footage this shouldn't be too much of a bother unless you're a frequent downloader. I peronally will buy an 8GB SDHC card (110 minutes) off of eBay and leave it in the unit so that I'll have options baby :)

The unit comes with ImageMixer editing software and is very easy to use and import your video with directly from the camera it's a good added value piece of software.

This is my first review here and always appreciate when others have taken the time to share their experience with new products that I'm interested in buying too. I hope my taking the plunge this time helps. Enjoy!

One more thing... READ the manual you lazies, there are things you should and need to know.

P.S. It takes decent one push 2MP still photographs too in a pinch (not outstanding but not too bad it's nice knowing that it's there if necessary)! You can find a still I posted here...

http://www.pana3ccduser.com/showthread.php?t=14208&page=4&pp=10

Bruce

I just purchased a JVC Everio GZMG130 last week, and was so upset by the 1CCD, 1/6", 340 effective pixel, piece of crap lens and camcorder that it was. First off, the colors were awful. As a graphic designer and artist, I am trained in color theory. It's so obvious that this JVC lens wasn't producing a accurate colors. Also, the finished movie files, even at highest quality, are really really grainy. This camcorder was just awful. So anyway, I decided to upgrade. It was between this Panasonic SDR-H200 and the SONY Handycam DCR-SR200. I knew this would be a hard decision, and I had to do my research. Considering it's very hard to find reviews for this Panasonic camcorder, I hope my review will answer any of those questions you're asking yourself. First off, the SONY has a CMOS lens (CCD is slightly better quality than CMOS), but the SONY has a large lens (1/2") so it seems it'd be good for dark shots. WRONG! Panasonic has a 1 LUX rating (meaning the minimum amount of light to get a shot) while the SONY has a 1&1/2 LUX rating... hmmm.... wierd that the Panasonic has a smaller lens but can take in more light. If you're wondering what the deal is about a 3CCD lens, it produces much more accurate colors than a 1CCD or CMOS lens. Each of the 3 filters in the lens filters in the blue, red, and green colors. After trying both the SONY and PANASONIC outdoors and indoors, it was obvious why they say a 3CCD is used for Professional Broadcast. The colors on the Panasonic were just perfect. The auto WHITE BALANCE is great too. No shots are too bright or too dark. The SONY is a 4 mega pixel, and the Panasonic is a 3 mega pixel. The 3CCD's color quality more than just makes up for that missing mega pixel. The color is close to accurate on the SONY's Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens, but just not nearly as nice as the Panasonic. Both camcorders have full manual capabilities (shutter speed, aperture, manual focus... etc.). The only difference is that the SONY can do a slower shutter speed manually, but the Panasonic makes up for that with the MagicPIX feature, which slows the shutter speed. You will want a tripod for this feature or else it will probably come out blurry. Obviously this is the same with the SONY. The Panasonic is much nicer to hold and it's only 1 pound heavy. The SONY's battery extrudes from the back and its very awkward to hold. I can't stress enough how amazing the Panasonic's OIS (optical image stabilization) system works. Even at a 10X Optical zoom, and no tripod w/ shaky hands, the OIS gets rid of the shaking very well. The SONY shakes like crazy when zoomed. Not good... The Panasonic also comes with a 512 MB SD card, which allows you to take 3 mega pixel still shots while recording video. The video will save on the 30 GB hard drive, while the photos save on the 512 MB SD card. So cool! The macro mode on the Panasonic is so much nicer than SONY's. You can get closer (by like 20-30 mm) than the SONY and the quality is so gorgeous! There is very little graininess in both camcorders. The only time you'll see it is in low light situations, and the SONY is worse off. To be honest, both camcorders are kind of a pain to connect to the computer. The Panasonic connects through USB and it has to be powered by the AC Adapter (can't use a battery because the AC Adapter and USP port are where the battery goes which is very weird). The SONY is even worse, because it has the station that it has to connect to. Why can't either just be as simple as battery powered and one USB connection? Lastly, the auto and manual focus on the Panasonic is soooo much better than the SONY. For some reason, especially when zoomed, the SONY will take many seconds to adjust focus, while the Panasonic is instantly. The Panasonic has a pretty bright light for close shots, while the SONY only has a flash for still images. You will also really notice the difference between a 3CCD versus a CMOS/1CCD when you're outdoors. The colors from plants, the sky, clouds, soil, etc. are so close to what you see with your own eyes. Like I said earlier, the SONY's colors are not as nice. The only thing I can really notice that makes the SONY better than the Panasonic, is its resolution for the finished movie. It's not better quality for say, it's just a higher resolution. Also, the SONY saves .mpegs to your computer while the Panasonic saves those annoying .mov files. To easily convert the .MOV files to AVI, DVD, or DIVX, use CyberLink PowerDirector. It is so easy to learn and does a great job. Also, it keeps the wide screen ratio. In my opinion, & for the price, the Panasonic SDR-H200 is the best camcorder you can buy. I give it a 9.5/10, while the SONY DCR-SR200 lacks behind with a 8/10. Don't get me wrong, the SONY is a nice camcorder, but for the same price, you should get the 3CCD lens, because it's soooo much nicer. Hope this review helps, and enjoy your new toy!

Buy Panasonic SDR-H200 30GB 3CCD Hard Disk Drive/SD Palmcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom Now

I am NOT very good with electronics or trouble shooting. Just your typical 30 year old consumer.

Like you, I research products until I'm nauseous before I buy them; for camcorders, I looked at customer reviews (and official reviews) on: camcorderinfo.com, Amazon.com, CNET, circuitcity.com, to name a few. Camcorderinfo.com, by far, has the best professional reviews. CNET is best for providing general guidance (which format, HD or Standard def, etc), but comparing to camcorderinfo.com, their reviewers clearly know less than they should.

After purchasing this camcorder and having trouble editing the footage, I researched the same websties for comments on video-editing software, and was disappointed at how little info there was. I want to share my limited experience as a non-technical person. (I'm not going to review the camcorder itself; suffice to say I'm satisfied.)

The included software, ImagePixeler, didn't work; the Core Duo PC computer I have is fine, it's the software's fault (or my fault). Editing with it was very slow, and edited footage was severely degraded in quality. I wasn't able to burn what I edited, got some error message, and I'm not saavy enough to de-bug it or diagnose the problem.

I tried Windows Movie Maker had other problems, wasn't able to edit it.

I downloaded Sony Vegas it didn't recognize either the .mod nor .mpg file extensions.

I acknowledge that my inability to use these programs may be due to my ignorance and lack of know-how with de-bugging/diagnosing problems.

I downloaded Womble MPEG Video Wizard DVD and it worked GREAT. Kicked as5! I quickly cut out parts from my footage, did slow-motion, applied transitions, made basic titles, added MP3 music, edited the music and music volume, etc. I picked a DVD menu, edited the menu text, and picked out the background image for the DVD menu. I burned the DVD, and it worked! (hard to describe how happy I was)

From downloading the free trial version of Womble MPEG Video Wizard to burning the DVD, I spent a total of maybe one hour.

I later found several websites saying that this program is among the top 3 MPEG editors (if you search for editing software for this camcorder, google "MPEG editor", NOT "video-editing software", which will yield high power programs not specifically for MPEGs such as Adobe, Ulead, Sony Vegas, Ulead, Pinnacle etc). The other top programs for editing MPEG are TMPGEnc MPEG Editor, and VideoReDo MPEG Editor.

Here are some useful links:

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/TMPGEnc_Xpress

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/MPEG_Video_Wizard_DVD

www.VideoReDo.com

Standard video editing software "re-encodes" your finished product after editing, and this process results in some degradation in quality. The best MPEG video editors do NOT re-encode any footage that has not been edited. From what I understand, the above products do not re-encode unnecessarily.

Always try the free trial version before purchasing any software.

If you are not very saavy with video-editing software or trouble shooting error messages, and have had trouble with editing/burning your footage on the Panasonic SDR-H200, here's what I have to offer (my idiot's guide):

1. download SDCOPY, which converts .mod files to .mpg files:

http://zyvid.com/smf/index.php?acti...ic=280.0;id=153

2. download Womble MPEG Video Editor DVD:

http://www.womble.com/products/dvd.html

3. ensure that you have a program on your computer that can burn a "data disc" to DVD-R or DVD+R. Nero or Roxio or Sonic should all work.

4. copy your footage from your SDR-H200 hard drive onto your desktop by dragging the appropriate files (extension will be .mod) onto your desktop into a designated folder

5. Use SDCOPY to convert the .mod files to .mpg

6. Use the Womble MPEG Video Editor DVD to make some basic edits; this make take a while to figure out. Do something basic for practice. Then you click DVD to burn to DVD. Take note of the name of the file folder where the DVD-video files are saved. (this program does NOT burn to DVD, but it makes the files that go straight to the DVD)

7. Use your disc-burning software to burn the contents of that file folder containing the DVD-video data onto a DVD disc. There was no "video DVD" function on the program I was using, so I picked "create Data disc".

It should work when you pop it into your DVD player.

Good luck.

Last thing: I started looking into external motion stabilizers. Try:

http://www.levelcam.com/media/levelcam%20features.htm

http://littlegreatideas.com/steadycam/

these cost $40-50, shipping not included.

Read Best Reviews of Panasonic SDR-H200 30GB 3CCD Hard Disk Drive/SD Palmcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom Here

We bought the SDR-H200 for my church to use in our multimedia program and couldn't be more pleased. The 3 CCD imaging system gives you an excellent picture--sharp and clear with vivid, true colors. Image stabilization keeps minor shakes and jitters from making it to the screen.

The files on the camera's hard drive are easy to transfer, though the included software is nothing more than OK. It won't tempt you to give up your current editing program, whatever it is.

We have a variety of folks using the camera. It's easy enough to operate that our amateurs can pick it up and start shooting, but has enough extra bells and whistles that some of our more proficient volunteers are happy with it, too. All in all, the SDR-H200 has been a great investment.

My only complaints, both small, have to do with design. In order to access the USB port, you have to remove the battery and run the camera on AC power. And while the LED screen is large and bright, I'm just a relic and miss having an optical viewfinder to use.

Want Panasonic SDR-H200 30GB 3CCD Hard Disk Drive/SD Palmcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom Discount?

EDIT #2: I can no longer recommend this camera. 2-stars. What first was a minor annoyance has become irritating to the point where I wish I had not bought the camera. Panasonic uses their own spin on the MPEG2 format, which means files from their cameras don't always play nice with anything other than their included software, which is BASIC. I have used Pinnacle Studio for years with good resultsit can't process the audio in these files properly. Without a 3rd party utility (SDcopy) I couldn't get any programs to recognize the wide angle aspect (16:9) and still other programs, despite conversions etc, never had any sound at all. I recently moved to a Mac. It will work with iMovie ONLY if you download the files off the camera directly into iMovie. Sounds simple, but if you have other MPEG files you downloaded previously they are useless. And since you can't put them back on the camera, you're stuck with some type of conversion process which degrades the quality. It also makes archiving footage on the mac a little more painful.

If you're not doing any PC editing, and you're only watching movies through the camera, or if you just want the basic included software, then get the camera, the quality is still good. If you want to make some polished home movies with a 3rd party program, look at a camera that uses a more standard format.

EDIT: The only thing I couldn't test before was how the picture looked on an HD screen. I didn't go with HD because I didn't have the software or hardware to edit it anyways, and then you can't put it on a Blu-Ray or anything yet anyways. And, at the time, I didn't have an HDTV.

Since I bought the camera, I have purchased a Samsung 50" 720p plasma. The pictures from the camera over the S-Video are amazing. They look great. Some of that depends on the TV, I know, but very happy. After processing and burning a DVD, the image quality still looks great (again, software variables as well). But the bottom line is: I have no problems viewing this video on a HD set. It looks great. Still very happy. I will say, the low light (indoors at night) is a little grainy which is from the smaller 3 CCDsbut well lit scenes and outdoor scenes are brilliant. No need in my mind to fool with an High Def camcorder until they figure out a reasonable way to put the video on a medium you can play back on your HDTV. Playing it back through the camera is cumbersome at best.

Original review:

I won't repeat everything said below. there are some very comprehensive reviews out there. I'll put the most important first:

The thing that pushed me the most towards this Panasonic were:

1) JVC has gotten less than stellar reviews with their image quality, so they were out.

2)Compared to other HDD cameras, this one will record full video to the SD card as well, so if you do end up with a full HDD, you can still use memory cards like "tapes" or miniDVD discs and keep going. I think a 4GB SD card will hold ~45min or so at full quality. More than the miniDVDs (1.7GB) It's not the ideal way cost wise, but at least you're not stuck. personally, I've never recorded more than 7 hours of video at one event. It sure beats carrying around 7 tapes. But with other cams, when you're full, you're done.

3)Comparable Sony cams were $200+ more.

This is my second camcorder, I switched from MiniDV and I'm not looking back. The image quality is great (I was initially concerned about MPEG compression) and looks stunning on a regular TV (I don't have HD). Colors are amazing and crisp. The color indoors suffers a bit if you don't have lots of light, but the grain is barely noticable and the picture is still very good. the optical image stabilization is a plus, electronic stabalization on other units looses some image quality. the zoom mic feature is pretty cool and works well out doors. Video transfer and backup to DVD are easy and fast.

you'll need to get your own video editing software, or use windows movie maker, to do any type of real editing. the included software is pretty basic, but that's pretty much standard for any camera.

For typical home movies with the occasional special event, you can't go wrong.

Olympus® VN-701PC Digital Audio Recorder

When pressing "record" button it goes into some sort of "pause" mode -but it doesn't tell you that. You have to press record twice in order for the device to start recording. Really annoying!

Mini Gadgets DaySpy DVR Hidden in Tissue Box

It recorded as indicated when just set to record with the remote. Records Movie minutes, filled the memory card over night, it did seem to work well even in low light. What I wanted to do was use the IR feature to start taking single frame pictures when movement was detected. To properly configure it you had to have a device that would accept RCA jacks to be able to access the programable memory system. Very few use RCA jacks these days, a USB connection would have been easier and less expensive. I had to by a converter to take it from RCA to a digital format and then a cable to connect the converter to a monitor. Yes you can just pull the memory card out and plug in to a computer but you still have to be able to program it to do what you want.

I'm very pleased with this product, it works very well. And is very easy to use....It works well in low light.

Buy Mini Gadgets DaySpy DVR Hidden in Tissue Box Now

I think everyone should have one of these in there home, We bought this for our elderly parents, who were having issues

where they live, and this solved the problem, caught in the act .

Read Best Reviews of Mini Gadgets DaySpy DVR Hidden in Tissue Box Here

Great quality video, but unfortuantely has no sound built in.. Either way, works great as a hidden security camera for a room or office. Very discreet, and better than those hidden camera movement sensors...

Want Mini Gadgets DaySpy DVR Hidden in Tissue Box Discount?

Sony BDP-S370 Blu-ray Disc Player

• Blu-ray Disc player for enjoying Blu-ray Disc movies in Full HD 1080p; upscales standard DVDs
• Quick Start/Load function enables you to watch movies faster than ever
• Access to BRAVIA Internet video; USB port for photos, music and video playback; Wi-Fi adapter ready
• DLNA wireless streaming of photos, videos and music; BD Remote app available for iPhone/iPod touch and select Android devices
• Connections: 1 HDMI, 1 component, 1 composite, 2 USB, 1 Ethernet, 2 digital audio (optical and coaxial)
• Access to BRAVIA Internet video and USB port for photos, music and video playback
• BD Remote app available for iPhone/iPod touch and select Android devices
• Blu-ray Disc player for enjoying Blu-ray Disc movies in Full HD 1080p
• DLNA wireless streaming of photos, videos and music

I already own a Sony BDPS-360 downstairs as our main Blu-Ray player, but wanted a streaming player for upstairs (an Xbox360 takes care of that downstairs). Since I won't have a 3D TV for quite some time, and have wired ethernet running to the appropriate room, the 470/570 offer me nothing over this player, so I bought the 370.

Blu-Rays are very quick to load. Checked out Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl, and the biggest delay in getting to the movie was skipping the previews up front. Menu was up in just a few seconds, and the movie launched very quickly after that. Maybe 30 seconds from putting the disc in until I was watching the movie.

The remote does have an Open/Close button on it. That was not a big deal for me with the 360, but others complained about it so I thought I'd mention it.

Streaming takes a bit of setup, with the biggest item of note being that you need to register your Blu-Ray on internet.sony.tv before activating the streaming features. I had fits trying to create an account directly on that site, but creating a SonyStyle account first and then activating here worked much better. This works similar to Netflix activation in that you get a 4 symbol code from the player, enter it into your account, and now the Blu-Ray is activated. I then needed to go through the typical Netflix activation, getting another code from the player and entering it into my Netflix account. Amazon VOD linked directly to the Sony account and was then available on the player. Instructions for each of these are included in the screens on the Blu-Ray player, where it will provide the codes and the website address, and you then go the computer and finish linking from there.

Netflix works only off your Instant Queue, so you need to add movies to that queue on the website (or from the Xbox360 or other device with a full browser). Amazon VOD seems to have a fairly complete browser included. Netflix HD quality was reasonable, but most importantly about what I get on the computer or Xbox360; the player does not interfere in any way. This player was my first experience with Amazon VOD, and I must say the Sample HD clip (Superman Returns) was a lot higher than I expected, and actually better than most OnDemand offerings I get from my cable company (TWC NC).

So for Blu-Ray playback and Internet streaming, the box does a really good job. I wish the Netflix interface was more robust like the videogame consoles have, but actual playback and access to the Instant Queue works fine.

(Updates for this paragraph below) The big disappointment, and the one that keeps it from getting 5 stars, is that the SonyStyle page for the player lists DLNA as a feature. This is the standard for letting media devices connect to your computer and stream video / pictures / music over the network. Services like PlayOn also support this. DLNA, however, is not actually active on the player. From checking other sites, no one knows yet if this will be available in a future firmware update, or if the site is incorrect. If DLNA support is critical to your decision making, you may want to hold off until there is some answer on the DLNA picture.

Aside from that, I'm really happy with it as Blu-Ray player and Netflix/Amazon VOD streamer.

I have not yet tried a standard DVD, or any of the music streaming services. I'll update this review if anything changes as I use the player more.

UPDATE MARCH 1, 2010: Sony has updated the product page and changed the footnote for DLNA support. It is now due in a July 2010 firmware update. That's good news, and once the firmware ships I'll try to remember to report back on how well it works. If it works well the review will probably bump to 5 stars, as this is a pretty full-featured, fast, stable Blu-Ray player for under $200, especially if like me wireless and 3D are just not important to you.

One other bit of info for those who buy the player: if you have a Vizio TV, the remote code to use appears to be "04". It's not in the manual, but I tried this after a web search revealed others using the code for other Sony remotes, and this works for turning the TV on and off and changing the volume. The INPUT button does not work for me, though. The manual also seems to be missing the instructions for changing the TV code, but thanks to the manual for the S360 I have downstairs, the instructions are to hold the TV power button on the remote, enter the code, then release the TV power button on the remote.

UPDATE JUNE 9, 2010: The long-awaited DLNA firmware is now available for download. This is working great with my Windows Media Center (from Windows 7), with all my pictures, videos, and music available. One gotcha here is that the Sony has separate menus for all 3 categories, and you must play content from the correct category, even though all files show up under all options. So, for example, if you select your Windows Media Center server from the Video section, it will also have a folder for Pictures and Music, but every folder under those will show "no playable files". All the videos will play fine. It will be similar if you go to Music, except that only the music folder will have playable files.

However, at this time PlayOn is incompatible. The PlayOn server shows up, and you can browse and select videos, but all videos return a "This file is corrupt or unsupported". I've submitted a help request to PlayOn, and from the PlayOn forums it looks like others are as well, so we'll see if PlayOn can make a change, or if this needs to be reported to Sony. My Xbox360 streams the PlayOn stuff fine, so it's not a global issue with my setup.

On a different note, I've also since tried several standard DVDs and done some music streaming, and those features work fine. Others might be picky somewhere about DVD upscaling, but I've never really noticed an issue with this or any player, so I wouldn't worry about it. You do need to be aware that there are settings in the video setup to control the aspect ratio, so if you want a 16x9 picture (not letterboxed), you need to change the aspect ratio settings off "original". Aside from that, DVDs have played perfectly for me. And streaming music seems to work okay with the little I've done.

UPDATE August 9, 2010: PlayON has released updated software that fixes the streaming issues with this and potentially other players. Now that the DLNA support is working for all the stuff I want to stream, I've upped my review to 5 stars, as I have no complaints at all with it.

Buy Sony BDP-S370 Blu-ray Disc Player Now

This is my first blu-ray player. Well, technically, it's my third, but I returned the other two and decided on this one. I returned the Samsung BD C6500 and got this one, for cheaper. Anywayhere's a review for my fellow technophobes:

What I love:

1) I had it set up in just a few minutes.

2) It automatically detected all of my connections and cables, and I confirmed them in the set up.

3) Connecting to the internet via ethernet cable was so much easier than the Samsung!

4) I updated the software, and after entering a code on Sony's site, I was given a Netflix activation code and was watching netflix in minutes.

5) This works with my older non-High Def system and will allow me to slowly upgrade.

6) There were other Sony apps I haven't had an opportunity to check out (except I did check out some Michael Jackson videos.)

One minor annoyance found thus far:

Netflix Streamingyou can only access your instant queue.

And for all those hesitant to upgrade to Blu-Ray because your system is old, here's my system:

My set up:

Tube television (Toshiba 36AF4I, 9 years old), 3 piece stereo acting as a receiver (Panasonic something or other15 years old), Sony Blu-Ray S370 connected to ghetto TV via component video, and to internet via ethernet cable to a router.

What I was looking for:

To replace my dead DVD player and would work on my old system but would work on a flat screen in a year or so. Also, streaming netflix a bonus.

Read Best Reviews of Sony BDP-S370 Blu-ray Disc Player Here

I'll start with the bottom line about this player-it just works! If you're looking for a nice, fully functional Blu Ray player that's going to just WORK as you'd expect it to, on anything you throw at it, this is a nice, safe buy. You'll have no problems upgrading from a normal DVD player to it.

Like a lot of people, my first Blu Ray player was my Playstation 3, which I bought last year. If you don't already have a PS3, that's worth considering instead of a stand alone player, because it doesn't cost much more, handles Blu Rays (and DVDs) well, and of course plays Playstation 3 games.

I even toyed with getting a second one, but decided a stand alone player would be a bit cheaper, and I didn't really need the second Playstation 3. (I've also since bought a Blu Ray drive for my computer, so I can watch Blu Rays on it too.)

Impressions of the s370:

-Audio and video are excellent. I can't notice any difference from my PS3.

-The unit is physically SMALL. It's actually smaller than my two stand alone DVD players (though is the same width as normal stereo components, so fits in fine)

-The unit is very quiet in operation-quieter than my two stand alone DVD players in fact. I don't think I can hear it at all except when it's first starting up, loading up a disc (and that only if the room is dead silent). Interestingly, the disc drive's seek sounds sound IDENTICAL to the drive in my Playstation 3! I'd be shocked if it's not basically the same drive.

-Performance is very good. I think it takes SLIGHTLY longer than my PS3/PC to load the fancy interfaces some discs use (some discs replace the normal fast forward/rewind interfaces with their own themed interfaces, and loading that interface adds a few more seconds before the disc's ready-so far I've only run across this on two discs, and it's kind of pointless, but this player DOES seem to handle them just fine). Rewinding/fast forwarding on this isn't quite as smooth as my Playstation 3, but it works as you'd expect a normal DVD player to.

-Power usage is very low-the unit says it draws a *MAX* of 22 watts in operation

-It has all the features and ports you'd expect from a unit like this, and has an excellent menu system, that's ripped straight off of the Playstation 3 and Portable (of course once you've set it up with the settings you want, you'll probably never really use the menu again, but it's easier than any DVD player's menus I've ever used).

I'm probably forgetting something I'd like to mention, but honestly I could have quit after the first paragraph. If you're like me and just want something that WORKS without hassle, this is a great choice.

Want Sony BDP-S370 Blu-ray Disc Player Discount?

I just went to my local Sony Style store and tested/played with this new BD player (S370 model) and I must say I was/am very impressed! Before looking at the player in person, I was thinking, what did Sony strip down from the previous models (S350 & S360) to make this one thinner and less expensive? But after going in the store and playing around with this BD player, I was pretty blown away with the quality, quick loading times, looks/size, and price. I actually brought in with me a few discs to try (I brought "The Dark Knight" Blu ray, "Resident Evil" DVD, & also a few burned CD's & DVD's just to make sure the player would read them). I wanted to try "The Dark Knight" Blu ray because on my old S350 Sony BD player, the load time for this Blu ray is quite long (about 30-45 seconds). So I first turned off the S370 player, then turned it back on. Start up time was very fast (about 3-5 seconds at most). I hit the eject button, put "The Dark Knight" BD in, closed the tray, and the load time for this player was maybe 10 seconds max! I couldn't believe how fast it loaded up and began playing the movie ( and "Dark Knight" is a BD that usually takes a while to load up). Next, I put in my "Resident Evil" DVD, to see how fast it loaded & most importantly, how well it up-converted. Load time was obviously extremely fast, since it was fast on a BD, it's even faster on a DVD (although, not by too much, that's how quickly the BD's load up). Now, I purposely selected the older/original/first "Resident Evil" DVD as I knew that the picture quality was not as good. Of course, up-converted, on this older movie, it did not look like a BD would, but nevertheless, it was decent/watchable. Another notable thing to consider here is that Sony had this player hooked up directly to their TV (the new NX800 model) with a HDMI cable (of course). That's it. The S370 was not connected to a high end receiver or anything (just directly to the TV), so keeping this in mind, if you have a high-end A/V receiver or video processor, the up-converting will end up looking even better! Lastly, the burned CD's, DVD's. They worked flawlessly. Again, since Sony didn't have this player hooked up to a receiver/speakers/etc (just to the TV), I was not able to tell how good the sound quality of the CD was, but I just wanted to be sure the S370 would play burned discs. The other things I looked at were the menus. Very nice X-Bar menu system (a bit more colorful than before). I was not able to check any of the streaming/Internet options since Sony did not have it hooked up the the Internet (kind of a bummer). I wish Sony had the player hooked up to their network as one other thing I really wanted to try was the iPod touch/iPhone BD remote app. I brought my iPod touch in, but sadly, the player was not connected to the network for me to try this feature out. Because of the fact that I was unable to check out this feature and the streaming/online features, I am unable to give this player the full 5 stars at this point. But for the features I was able to check/test, it passed with flying colors and easily takes the 5 star rating. Hopefully I'll be able to test out these other features and update this review soon. However, if anyone that actually owns this unit & tries these other features, please let me know.

First off, let me say the Blu-Ray player seems *potentially* awesome so far. All of the online content works well. Firmware update was a snap. Up-converted DVDs look good. I will check an actual Blu-Ray out tonight but I'm not worried based on other reviews I have already read.

It's disappointing that Netflix supports Instant Queue only (you can't browse all available titles). From what I read this is fairly standard for most Netflix-enabled players, although some let you browse the top 100 titles in each genre. So, I have to use my computer to find/add titles to the queue and the titles I added immediately show up on the Blu-Ray player. Integrating Netflix browsing would earn another half star... :)

My only other big gripe is that DLNA is NOT currently supported. The Sony site did NOT make this point very obvious, but it does indicate that it will be supported in a July 2010 update. I look forward to that update greatly and will likely increase my rating once it happens.

My only other gripe was nearly a show-stopper. The UI would not recognize any AVI or DIVX files on the USB drive. However, there is a very easy workaround. Simply rename your files from *.avi (or *.divx) to *.mp4 and they will play just fine! Apparently, the firmware does support the AVI container and the DIVX codec, but it hides the files (MPAA probably thinks that blocking DIVX will cure piracy despite the millions of perfectly legal uses for the codec). Anyway, it works. If Sony should "break" this in a future update, I will lower the review to 1 star and promptly eBay the box. However, I am hopeful that Sony realizes how stupid it is to block a single container/codec when piracy can & does exist in every possible format. :)

Hopefully, with the DLNA update, they will come around and realize that blocking AVI/DIVX in any way is a bad move and allow you to play the files without renaming them first.