Sony DVP-NS575P/S Progressive Scan DVD Player, Silver

• Single-disc DVD player with support for DVD-Video, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-VR, CD-R, CD-RW, MP3 CD, and JPEG image CD
• Progressive-scan video output renders seamless, flicker-free images on high-definition and HD-ready TVs
• Precision Drive 3 improves readability of damaged discs
• 12-bit video DAC with 54 MHz processing for pristine video (through component-video, S-video, and composite-video outputs)
• Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1-channel digital surround decoding and output (for use with compatible AV receivers and speaker systems)

I've had this player for about a week now and am reasonably happy with it. I bought this player to replace my 3 year old Sony DVD player that couldn't read my burned DVD-R or DVD+R media.

Not a problem with this unit -I've thrown DVD+R, DVD-R, and DVD+RW disks at it and it's had no issues whatsoever, nor has it had any problems reading the several Netflix rental DVDs I've thrown at it. So far, so good.

The picture on my 4:3 tube TV is excellent, as you'd expect, although it seems slightly darker than what I'm accustomed to, even after fiddling with the various cinema modes.

Startup time to read DVDs is definitely longer than with my 3 year old player although if it buys you the ability to read almost any disk format, it's not a big deal if you have to wait 10-15 seconds to get started.

The multi-disk memory is an excellent feature, allowing you to remove a disk and play others and when you put the disk back in, the player will take you right back to where you left off.

The only disappointment so far is that when presented with a moving, intricate picture with fine lines, the lines tend to 'wiggle' as the picture moves. (This is noticeable in the rails and fine lines of the buildings in the opening of Mystic River as the camera pans across them). My 3 year old Sony did NOT have this issue but my understanding is that this is a very common issue with DVD players.

Given that this is an (...)$80-$90 player that will do progressive video (which I'm not using yet) and seems to be happy with whatever media you throw at it, I'd suggest giving it a shot.

October 04 update -the "wiggling lines" problem I noted in Mystic River turned out to be very unusual -I think I've only noticed it in one other movie out of the 50 or so I've watched since writing this review. It's not a big issue.

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Let me start off by saying that I didn't buy this DVD player to play burnt DVDs or SVCD, I just wanted a good DVD player to play my regular DVDs when my old Sony died. The picture quality is very impressive and I DO NOT have mine hooked up progressive scan just S-video so I am sure that progressive scan would make it that much more impressive.

Pros

-Great Picture

-Great Sound

-No problems with any movies so far and plays Friends DVDs flawlessly (I had read some complaints about TV season DVDs but it hasn't happened to me.)

-Great, Easy to use remote

Cons

-No optical out (just digital coax)

Bottom Line is that if you want to play everything under the sun with progressive scan get a Phillips DVP642. If just want something to play your store bought DVDs with great picture and sound quality this model is for you.

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I made the mistake of purchasing this unit without knowing that it contained a major design flaw. I own a 16:9 widescreen HDTV. Most people have 3 types of DVD's: Anamorphic Widescreen (Inhanced for 16;9 TV's, Widescreen DVD's (not set up for widescreen TV's), and 4:3 pan and scan (full screen) format. When playing the 3 different types on one DVD player you need to switch from Progressive to normal for proper playback. My last progressive scan (Philips) DVD player allowed me to do this via the onscreen menu using my remote. But this unit only has a progressive/normal switch at the back of the unit next to the cable connections. In short, when I need to switch from one to the other to accomodate the type of DVD I am using I have to pull the Sony NS575P out of my entertainment center to switch the button. I mean, it is not even on the front of the unit. Nobody buys a DVD player to have to flick buttons on the back of the machine. Nobody that is, but me. I made a big mistake in buying this thing but think twice before you do.

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This product had great picture, almost no skipsbut broke for no reason whatsoever after only six months of use. Definitely would not recommend and will not be getting another, despite the good qualities. Not dependable enough.

I had the exact same problem as Dan Romig (see below), and at about the same time. Bought it in July, everything fine till New Years, now it "Cannot Play Disc," no matter which disc I put in. On to another brand!

Cowon A2 30 GB Portable Multimedia Player

• 30 GB multimedia jukebox plays and records music and video; 4-inch widescreen LCD
• Compatibility with wide range of audio, video, still image, and text file formats
• Record video from camcorder, TV sources; programmable PVR function for television programming
• FM tuner with record capability and voice recorder; line-in recording to MP3
• Internal rechargeable battery; compatible with Windows operating systems

The A2 provides the perfect traveling device to enjoy music, videos, photos and FM radio. The text feature is limited for use until it can use more common reader software. The user friendly nature, sound quality, screen quality and overall versatility is at the leading edge. I have 500 photos, 2000 songs, 10 full length movies and I still have over 30% of the drive to use.

Some have argued that the battery should be replaceable. This is not a major problem since few offer such a feature, and when you have the battery life of 15 hours one does not have to replace the battery to keep using under normal activity. People have to complain about something. It does not have a video camera like the Archos AV500, but who really needs that for the typical use of this type of entertainment product. One should look at the ease of use, the range of capabilities, the quality of how it works. Another reviewer said they had problems. I have not with either the A2 or the XL5 by iAudio. All electronic devices are going to have a few lemons. Complaints have been made of the customer service, but since I have not needed them it is hard to rate them. Their website has an excellent international chat room that provides much of the knowledge of issues and applications, as well as accessories available. The A2 has a greater international following due to longer marketing in Europe and Asia.

Their firmware updates every few weeks addressing many of the issues raised by customers. The A2 now has greater features than the AV500 at a much lower price. One problem is the newest features such as DMB (Digital Mutlimedia Broadcasting) is not able to be used in the US with our antiquated technology.

The earphones are only mediocre. Consistent with trying to break from the lemming pack, try the Ultrasone headphones (iCans or HFI700, I have both)from Germany. They provide a sound quality that the A2 can support with open, accurate and balanced frequency response.

The biggest weakness is that iAudio (Cowon) does not effectively market their products so more people can become familiar with their products.

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I have had the Cowon A2 for about 3 months now and absolutely love it. To keep things concise and purposeful;

Pros:

-Amazing audio quality playback

-Unique and excellent audio enhancements with 5-band equalizer

-Supports more codecs than any PMP available in the U.S.

-AC3 audio codec support!! (only PMP available in the U.S. which

supports this so far and ALL of my digital movies use AC3 audio)

-Sharp, crisp screen with 12 brightness level adjustment

-Recording function works well with high quality video (early

issues of poor quality video fixed with newer firmware)

-TV out function very handy and simple with just 1 A/V cable

-Astonishing battery life (I consistently return approximately 8

hours for video and 15 hours for audio at volume level 20/40

and screen brightness 7/12)

-Well built, leather-like carrying case included

-EXCELLENT technical support with CONSTANT firmware updates

Cons:

-Needs enhanced WMV support

-GUI could be more intuitive, but it's not terrible

-TV recording function could be more intuitive

-Mediocre voice recording

-FM radio useless without headphones/earbuds (act as an antenna)

Overall, I love the Cowon A2 and purchased the product over its main competitors the Archos AV500 and Creative Zen Vision because of the A2's excellent value, feature set, and beautiful screen.

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My daughter just saw my A2 for the first time, (she's 22) and BEGGED my to buy her one. So much for first impressions. The unit is small and sleek and easily transported in a pocket or purse. But let's begin with the manual. It's flawed, to say the least. It doesn't explain all the functions and fails to address several issues.

For example, it shows an item called a DMB and a tv logo. But this is for a Korean who wants to access a tv signal in Seoul. Since I'm in Arizona, that's a problem. The main function button allows things like fast forwarding of videos, yet this is not even mentioned. The manual type is very small and hard to read. The illustrations, likewise. But the player is pretty intuitive to use and playing with it for a while allows you to figure out most of the functions.

Now for the best parts. The screen is crisp and clear. Downloading from a DVD player or the tv is easy. I can also copy a DVD to my computer and download using the USB to the A2. And I have a Mac, which they says won't work with the software. W-R-O-N-G! It works just fine with my iMac G4 without any special softwware. Downloading does take a while, but so what? You can move items into folders and rename them at will. I dumped the Korean subway maps that are included as photos and popped in my own photographs in the jpg format.

I also have a tip: download the manual in PDF from their website, convert it to a txt file, and move it into the text folder. Then you'll have it on the screen if needed. I figure you can load about 28 2-hour DVD movies and 500 mp3's, which are also a breeze to load. And still I have room for 100's of photos. The sound through the earphones is good and better with better earphones. I can't wait to take it on airplane trips to avoid the in-flight movies and pick from dozens of my own, played on MY schedule.

A final word. It would have gotten 5 stars if not for the poor manual and tech support guy, who told me it wouldn't work on Macs and not to even try. I did a lot of research before choosing the A2 for it's size, price and features. I wasn't disappointed and if I ever am, a know a certain girl that will love to inherit it.

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This is the best PMP in the 4" market for video playback bar none. This is the only one with an LCD of 16.7M colors & low latency. And it shows. I can also play any file (with latest, 1.81 firmware), from mpeg-1/2/4 to xvid and divx and WMV. And the included software is also great if you want to encode for example a larger mpeg to a smaller compressed xvid. I compared this to the Archos AV500, Zen Vision, Ipod Video, Epson and a couple of others. This one is the best for video playing, by far. And I get about 9.5 hours on a single charge! If you want something for commutes or for when you're on the exercise bike to WATCH videos this is it. It also is fantastic as a radio and mp3 player, although these aren't the primary reasons I bought it. Hope this helps!

In looking for the best media player, I had a very short trial of the Video iPod. The screen was way too small. Then I thought I had found a great player in the Archos 604 WiFi. Much better, since I like to watch movies, but I decided to give this one a try. After a few days, the Archos is going back to the store. Here's why:

Screen: The Archos screen is good, but not nearly as bright at the highest setting. There's an anti-glare coating on the screen, which makes images much lower in contrast than the Cowon. The Cowon screen must be seen to be believed. It's better than my television. The shiny surface of the screen can be a bit of a problem in bright light (seeing reflections), but that doesn't come up very often.

Sound: The Archos has decent sound, but it's not loud enough. Turn the volume all the way up, and it's just barely acceptable (for me). On a plane, forget it. The Cowon sound blows away the Archos... there are many settings for sound enhancement, quality is noticably better, and the volume goes much higher.

Video: What bugged the heck out of me was that Archos wanted me to pay $20 for decoders for common video formats. The Cowon plays everything I throw at it, for free. And it comes with a cable that allows me to play videos to a TV. On the Archos... yep, it costs extra.

Recording: If you want to record on the Archos, get set to pay extra for the necessary bulky accessory. With the included cable on the Cowon A2, you can record off the TV... even set it to turn on and record something on your favorite channel, then turn itself off, just like a DVR. Amazing!

I must say that this is THE most impressive electronic purchase I've ever made. Passes the time at my kids' sports practices, and cool for lunch breaks at work. When I travel, the battery lasts long enough for a cross-country flight. The Archos died in a few short hours.

Defender SN301-8CH-002 8 Channel H.264 Smart DVR Security System with Coaching iMenu and 4 Hi-Res C

I take my security pretty seriously. Be it cyber security, home security, identity theft security, etc, etc...I've taken proactive steps harden myself and my family as a target. For that reason, I've always wanted to have a robust home video surveillance system. Having bought my first house (been a lifelong renter until then) a few months back, I figured now was the time. So, my research began.

Home surveillance seems to break down between two camps: IP cameras that operate over your home network...or CCTV (Closed curcuit TV) surveillance. Defender builds CCTV systems.

I have had 3 different models of the very popular Panasonic IP cameras in the past. They were ok, but did not have night-vision IR capabilities, their video storage capability was very limited, and they were rather complex...especially when it came to managing multiple cameras. I would classify them more as nanny-cam in terms of their capabilities, rather than true security systems.

I had looked at some of the other more advanced IP cameras, particularly the Sharx Security cameras. The Sharx cameras seem to be extremely capable, get great reviews, and their customer service is reputable. They appear to be the best IP Cameras out there, and I strongly considered them...but I ultimately decided to get a CCTV system for several reasons. Primarily of which was cost. I wanted 5 cameras, and with the Sharx running ~$400 each...it was prohibitive for me. But, if you have only 1 or 2 spots you want monitored, definately give the Sharx cameras a look.

I eventually decided to go with this Defender DVR system for my particular situation. They routinely get pretty solid reviews and their systems seemed very well integrated. I bought the one with the four cameras included because I wanted to use a different camera than the one that is included (more on that later).

While it is fairly time consuming to setup all the cameras and string the wires, the setup of the DVR system itself is pretty straight-forward. The DVR and its corresponding user interface is VERY good. It's quite intuitive and simple. Searching for events during playback is easy and quick, and there are multiple options for live viewing. I would give the DVR itself 5 stars for recording, playback, and searching. It really is that good.

The cameras included with the Defender system are simply ok. Not great. Not bad. Just ok. The clarity is pretty decent, the IR illumination at night is acceptable, but the color accuracy is lacking. Brown looks blue, gray looks green, etc. They'll do a good job of detecting movement and recording the event...but getting an accurate description of people and/or vehicles could be challenging. I'd give the cameras 3 stars.

I've actually purchased several of these cameras to use with this defender system.VideoSecu 600TVL Outdoor Day Night Vision Home Security Surveillance Camera Vandal Proof 1/3" SONY CCD with Power Supply B6Q. While these are more expensive than the cameras included with the defender system, they are more clear, have better IR, and the color accuracy is much better. Not to mention that they are more stylish when mounting outdoors...which greatly enhances the WAF (Wife Acceptability Factor) of having a bunch of cameras mounted outside.

While I like this system, and have no buyers remorse...by far the greatest WEAKNESS of this system is the mobile integration and the security of remote viewing. Enabling remote viewing requires you to open a port on your router and enable Active X...but it only supports short, weak passwords. Furthermore it does not support HTTPS, so there is no encryption. I can only imagine that hacking the password on this DVR would be pretty simple...and sniffing the IP traffic would be pretty easy, as well. Granted, the odds of your home security DVR being targeted is probably pretty slim. But...if you believe yourself to be a likely target, or are borderline paranoid like myself...it should make you nervous, especially if you plan to access the DVR from public wifi. To get around these weaknesses, I use a PPTP VPN server (A spare DD-WRT router I had lying around). That way my DVR is behind a much stronger password, and the traffic is encrypted.

Overall, it's a good system, especially if you want to use it as a stand alone system in your house that you will check in the event that something happens. For a few more dollars, you can get better performance by getting better cameras. I'd recommend buying the DVR by itself and getting the cameras separate. I would also caution against using the remote viewing capability outside of your own network...the security (cyber-wise) is questionable at best.

This did the trick for covering all the ingress/egress points of my home. The video display is ok during the day and night vision depends on if you are getting glare from the night vision lights. I have one camera that was perfect at night, but a small adjustment caused glare from an overhead beam that dramatically shortened the distance I could see and caused major wash out of the image. Unfortunately, I couldn't get that sweet spot back, but was able to correct the issue for the most part.

I did purchase an extension cable for one camera out in front of the house. Keep in mind that if you are using the cameras that come with this kit you have to use the Defender extension cables, not a standard BNC CCTV cable. Defender DF10W 60ft Camera Extension Wire

The biggest frustration with this product is lack of support on iPhone. The app they recommend is absolutely terrible and doesn't work. I really wanted this to work on my phone, but I didn't test it out before spending the hours setting up the system in my home. I wish I would have and I would have returned the product.

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The only thing i can say bad about this product is the flimsy camera mounting brackets. after using some of the foam shipped with the product, the camera's actually stay in set place, instead of finding their balanced weight when top mounted or shooting skyward when bottom mounted. Oh, yea don't pull too much on the 60ft camera cord, they will break internally. out of 1200ft only 1, 60ft section didn't work. Other than that, i think its worth every penny, compared to namebrand systems, such as honeywell or sony.

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I specifically purchased this unit because of the e-mail alert feature, and was very disappointed to find out it wasn't true. The product is advertised to generate e-mail alerts to up to 7 e-mail addresses. I have yet to get it to work with one address, and more than one is impossible. This is a quote from the Defender support center; "Unfortunately there is no resolution to the issue, it appears there was a typo in the manual and on the website. We are looking into resolving this discrepancy right now but unfortunately, I cannot see a resolution to this issue in the near future, if at all, so if this will not meet your needs you may want to look into returning for a refund."

If you don't require this feature the unit appears to operate normally. It could not have been a "typo", it was obviously false advertising.

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I used to own 4 Logitech WiLife wireless cameras. They don't work anymore since I replaced my ATT 2Wire moden/router, which went out a few month ago. I replaced it with the Linksys EA6500 now but this new router won't recognize the WiLife cameras. After calling to the Logitech and the Linksys tech support services, they won't be able to help me. Thus, I decided to find a new camera system.

Based on cheap price and some reviews, I decided with this product. The pictures are bad. During the day, my green trees and lawn will be seen as purple. A person with a black shirt seen as purple. Green car will be seen as green. At night, the night vision is fine. The pictures are just distorted for further distance. You won't be able to see whom or what kind of car is parked in front of your house. However, you know someone is in front of your house that for sure.

Unless, like me, you want a cheap product then this is for you. If you want a better picture quality, this is not for you. Find a better products out there.

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New-LG Smart TV Upgrade Web Browsing - ST600

When I ordered the product I had read the reviews; which to say the least scared me. When I received the product my worst fears had been confirmed. The remote that came with this is so hard to use. It took hours just to log on to Youtube, and it didn't come with HuluPlus which we had just ordered. We bought it to watch HuluPlus, so this really disappointed us. I started playing youtube and it seems all the videos work pretty well. Setting up the device was also very frustrating, I could barely figure it out. Once the device was set up it took 4 hours to get onto HuluPlus which doesn't work. When it asked me to install the Adobe I knew I was in trouble. I installed the Adobe but, it still didn't allow HuluPlus to work. We aren't going to return this, but we are still very disappointed.

The product worked very well for my situation. The ST600 was only about 15-20 feet from my wireless router and went through one floor. My ISP provides 15Mbs (FIOS) and we had little to no delays in watching Netflix movies.

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Works great if all you want is to watch Netflix. Also nice for watching your tube. The web browsing is tedious at best since typing is not the easiest thing to do with this device and browsing is very sluggish.

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We found that we cannot play the Video content from TV shows that we wanted. The Remote Cursor is difficult to control.

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For a device that uses HDMI and not an RCA cable, the result is the worst.

On 1st use there is no set up screen. The Home screen has 5 options: movies, photos, music, premium, and settings. From 50 feet away it picked up 1 bar of WiFi on the 2nd scan. Under premium, I choose YouTube from a grid of a dozen insignificant applications. Every click from Home requires time to load. The YouTube application itself took awhile to fully begin. The remote only has arrow keys to type with and I could not search for people's channels, only video titles. However I did not log in. The HD YouTube videos looked terribly like expanded low resolution videos.

Disappointed with the YouTube, I plugged in a USB and accessed Home > Movie > USB. Surprisingly my recorded 720p home videos (.mp4) were again very blocky on the 40" TV. Although it remembered where I stopped a video, there were no buttons to skip to the middle or end of it; my only option was to fast forward.

In the end this media player does not thrill me in the slightest. Videos played on TV look terrible and it is very slow.

Sony MZ-N707 Net MD Walkman Player/Recorder (Black)

• MP3, WMA, and WAV audio-format compatibility; selectable data compression (ATRAC/ATRAC3)
• USB port allows 32x music data transfer from PC; Ultimate Skip-Free G-Protection guards against skips during active use
• Optical digital-audio input, stereo analog line input (.125-inch minijack), microphone input
• Aluminum upper lid, 1-line dot-matrix LCD, stick-type LCD remote control with editing functions
• OpenMG Jukebox Version 2.2 offers Windows XP capability, title editing; includes car kit and tons of other accessories

What I like about it : the complete packaging with all necessary cables, the rechargeable battery, the nice design, the remote control, the cheap price of minidiscs compared to MP3 players memory cards, the overall quality.

What I don't like so much : this thing cannot read MP3 files, these have to be translated to ATRAC3 files before being "checked out" to the player. This takes a lot of time and disk space, which is a pain. The result is good if you use 128 kbps MP3 files to start with, but from 96 kbps MP3 files, the resulting sound is dramatically downgraded and really horrible. As a consequence, I have to re-rip all my CDs to 128 kbps. The software is not so bad but very very slow. Many people complain it crashes or hangs too often, but I haven't had any problem under Windows 2000.

What I dislike about it : if you hope to use it as a digital recorder, you'll be very disappointed. I was able to record myself playing clarinet using an external mic, and this was fine, and very easy to do I must say. But then there is no means to export the result in a digital format. To generate an MP3 file from there, you must re-record the track using the headphones plug as line-out to the AUX input of your PC's sound card. With a significant loss of quality (and time). Really frustrating, a stupid software limitation...

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Well, I read all of the reviews, here and elsewhere, and I still decided to get the 707 despite what everyone said. I am so happy that I did! This device is not only very easy to use, it is also very fast. The conversion from MP3 to ATRAC is fast...Others must just have slow computers as mine transferred a whole playlist in less than 5 min! That's faster than my CD burner runs when it's not converting file types! The software that comes with the 707 is also reliable (version 2.2) and seems to work fine with Windows XP.

One of the reasons that I bought the 707 was so that I could record my drumming lessons for playback later when I practiced. I bought a decent digital mic and a recording I went with much success!

CAUTION: If want a device that allows you to record audio like concerts and than upload the audio onto your computer, don't buy this unless you are satisfied with analog conversion or have a MD deck on hand. If you want to record onto MD via microphone and don't care about uploading to PC or editing, then the 707 is for you!

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I've enjoyed my player for about two weeks or so. I was actually about to return it due to the lack of Usability of the OPEN MG software that came with the unit but read that the Real One Player supports the recorder. So I downloaded the free Real version, clicked on add a new devicegot the download from Real and off I wentnow file swapping is a snap!

I'v recorded in LP2 and LP4 mode and notice no degredation in the sound quality either.

I would suggest this unit as long as you use the real player software.

Cheers!

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I just got this today and I have to start with the negative unfortunately. I record with a stereo mike, live music. The player automatically defaults to auto-level every time you stop recording and you have to change it back to manual every time. I will get over this but it should be known. Also, there is this annoying "group mode" that must be shut off every time I use it. Ok, now the good. Live recordings made from a stereo mic with this sound excellent, the playback sounds somehow better than it did live. The sound quality is perfect. I have yet to use the long playing mode, but I'm thankful for that feature as well. It comes with every conceivable accessory to play everywhere possible. ...

The MD unit is very sturdy and I haven't had any mechanical problems with it at all. It's a very nice unit, but I have to warn you that if you are looking for a portable device to play your MP3s then you should not consider any NetMD player that uses the OpenMG software. This software is the only means to put MP3s on your MD player and it has a check in/check out feature that limits the number of times you are able to transfer one song (in MP3) to your MD player. If you do a search on this subject you will find alot of negative comments on the OpenMG software. For me, I convert my MP3s to wav format and burn them onto CDs and then use a CD player with optical outputs to get them onto my MD player. If I had known how bad the software was I would not have bought a NetMD player at all.

SanDisk SDMX18R-004GK-A57 Sansa Clip plus 4 GB MP3 Player,Factory Refurbished (Black)

• Store up to 1000 songs, 2400 photos or 12 hours of video
• Memory card slot for pre-loaded cards
• Digital FM tuner with 40 presets
• Rechargeable battery lasts up to 15 hours
• Built-in clip for easy carrying

In my opinion this is the best mini mp3 player on the market (however they have a newer model that looks great!) I bought this refurbished mp3 to replace my clip+ that I had for about 2-3 years. It seems as if the batteries have failed so I am just replacing it for as cheap as possible. I have an 8gb card in the player so I can hold 12 gigs. It is perfect for running and I love the clip too! A great player and a great alternative to an expensive ipod player or annoying itunes software. This player is drag and drop so it makes updating music as easy as it could be! I highly highly recommend this mp3 player!

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First, the only downside, and it is close to universal for small media players: the battery can not be replaced. Once the rechargeable cell reaches the end of its useful life, the entire unit becomes junk to be recycled. Sad but true, this is typical of portable players.

Otherwise, this is a lot player for the bucks. Interface and loading could hardly be easier in Windows environments, and scarcely more trouble in Mac.

Fidelity and stereo imaging are great. Battery life is outstanding. Picking and choosing tunes or options is intuitive and simple. For those not sold on, or do not need, the Apple "mystique" the Sansa is money well spent.

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cheap, small, sturd, GREAT sound with the right amount of bass (can be boosted up with the EQ settings).

FM is good, music plays well, battery life is good.

i didn't know you can even record what's being played on FM, great feature!

also has voice recorder, good for taking notes.

30 bucks for a 4GB mp3 of this quality is worth it!

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For the $$, this unit is hard to beat.

Lot's of functions for volume, music, radio,video and music lists, which sync with your PC.

After going through so many players that break after falling, this unit is very rugged and can take it.

You can put pics and video on this player, you just need a computer to view them.

The addition of an external card is a great feature, as your music lists will know, no bounds!!!

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This is my first mp3 player. I bought this so I could listen to music while in cardiac rehab after a heart attack. Rehab was tedious and boring. But one day I listened to some music I had stored on my cell phone and realized I needed a player to do it right. I know I'm probably the last one to purchase a player but I really didn't think I needed one. Well, this little (and I mean little) toy about blew me away. I've loaded a number of CD's and mp3's on it and it's like exercising in a new world. IMO the tone is great. I tried it yesterday while working out and the time went by so quickly I was trying to figure a way to extend it. All music came through loud and clear from Classical to Talking Heads, the Stones to Mannheim Steamrollers. Exercising to music is so much easier. Wish I bought this a long time ago. And as I said, it's sooo tiny. Good thing it has the built in clip to attach to clothing or pocket. Now I just need to find a better headset because, as anticipated, the ear buds that came with it have a tendency to fall out. Better yet, wish this was blue tooth.

Toshiba SD-5000 1080i Upconverting DivX Certified DVD Player

• Upconverting DVD Player
• Video Upconversion Displays a Pure Digital Signal at 720p or 1080i
• HDMI is a Convenient Single Cable Connection
• Multiformat Playback Capability
• 4.80 Lbs (WxLxH) 17.00" x 9.50" x 2.16"

I tried this model out with my Sony HDTV using the HDMI connection. Watched a recent movie with quite a few dark scenes and was surprised at how bad the picture was. It almost looked like a cartoon. At one point the playback slowed, became very blocky and froze! It was so bad I had to stop the movie and try the disk in our Sony Playstation 2. The picture from the PS2 showing the same scenes was fantastic and it doesn't do up-conversion of course. On the positive side the Dolby and DTS sound from the Toshiba was great. I returned the Toshiba and purchased the Sony DVPNS75H and now am very pleased. The picture quality on the Sony is far superior much brighter and sharper.

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I formerly owned the SD-6980, but the device failed while under warranty. I liked that device a lot, especially its card reader port. I received a new SD-5000 from Toshiba to replace the obsolete SD-6980. The DVDs upconverted to 1080i really look like the images I receive from HD cable. The SD-6980 did a good job too, but you could see grainy areas or images that weren't perfect. I love the SD-5000 . The downsides I found from this device are no Optical port for audio, and of course no card reader. I used coax for my surround sound and its fine. The quality of the picture easily outweighs the cons.

In dark scenes though, the blacks tend to pixelate...likely and upconversion issue. Also the player has an issue where it may lock up for 5-8 seconds during playback. Its annoying, but you can live with it.

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I bought this nice looking, upconverting DVD player for $70 from a large electronics retailer. Thankfully, they had a good exchange program.

I was really excited about this DVD player even though I currently only have component cables and wouldn't get the full benefits of the upconversion. My old Philips DVD player crapped out after 4 years and I needed a new one so I went with the Toshiba SD5000 because it was small and inexpensive and had a sleek black glossy look to it.

I got home and plugged it in, really easy to set up and everything, watched ONE movie, and then *POOF*... the DVD player wouldn't play another DVD. Every DVD I put in after the first DVD would not be read. I tried with 3 DVDs. Exasperated, I put back in the first DVD that I had already watched and that one wouldn't work either!

Based on the other reviews, I'm guessing the SD5000 had some quality control problems and the experience has made sure that I'll stay away from Toshiba for the time being. Buyer beware!

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I found that it skips here and there. It also freezes here and there.

It can be very annoying..

If I knew about this quality of dvd player, I should have bought phillips for $40 instead of this $80 sd-5000 toshiba.

HDMI resolution option is there but it didn't really make a lot of difference in pic quality between the 3 settings. I cannot even tell if the option is really working.

Well, I couldn't bear the frequence of these instances, so I ended up returning. The return shipping was free.

Picture quality at 1080i is good. However, there aren't many other pros. It won't resume a disc where you stopped, it has no time display on the front, plastic case feels cheap, no forward/back buttons on the main unit, and worst of all, every disc we've watched pauses for about 3-5 seconds. It must be the layer change, but I've never seen one that long. I think I'm going with the Sony NS75H, given it's stellar reviews. Too bad it doesn't come in black. Maybe I'll spray paint it. lol

Samsung SCX105L MPEG4 Sports Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom

I plan to use the Samsung sc-x105l for cycling (MTB, Road and Motorcycle) trips. I've had the unit a few days and familiarized myself with the controls. Fumbling for setup and features is always a battery burner so I try to be proficient before giving a real-life judgement on battery life.

I did a road bicycle test yesterday in 56 degree weather, starting with a full charge (I had cycled the battery once prior to this), the image quality was set for 352 dpi at "normal". Two higher quality settings are available this is the lowest and most battery efficient. Electronic Image Stabilization was turned on which also uses more power. The LCD display door was closed and I used the external remote camera.

According to the manual, I should have gotten ~80 .minutes, the varible was the EIS, there is no mention of how much that lowers battery life. My actual battery life was 48 minutes. About half of what the manual stated.

Image quality at 352/normal was fair. When a car zipped past me, the image was not clear enough to read a license plate from 30 ft away during playback, even going frame by frame. Recording at higher resolution should help this but more testing required.

The good news was how much of the 512mb internal memory I had used in 48 minutes, which was only 95mb. I feel by increasing the resoltuion (which uses way more memory and some battery) an equal amount of memory and battery can be consumed yielding about 30 minutes of quality video.

30 minutes may not sound like much but frankly, 30 minutes of home moives is usually more than most people can take. I'll carry a spare battery and 1G memory stick top tranfer during longer trips.

BTW, the unit is amazingly small and light, build quality is sturdy. That is a big plus for the intended audience of this unit.

This thing is awesome. It's smaller and lighter than my RIM Phone! Easy to throw on the charging station, grab and go. Something that never happend w/my old Video Camera. Had to grab the whole bag, overnight charge of the battery, etc... This thing charges in an hour or two. Quality of the LCD is excellent, even on the soccerfield under direct sunlight. Quality of the video, even on normal (has 2 higher settings) is good.

Downsides: only 2 I can come up with. Definitely need to buy extra memory cards. If you are going to take on vacation w/out your laptop to download the video to, then you'll probably want to buy another 2GB's. That would give you 2-3 hours of video over a week trip. Also, you'll need an extra battery. It's only good for about an hour (I run through it in a single 8yr old soccer game). Problem right now is that I can't find an extra battery to order anywhere. Accessories aren't really out yet (as of end of May). So, plan on another $300 to make it really livable. That all said, it's the coolest gadget I own. Haven't tried the helmet cam yet, but am already planning it.

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I was very excited to receive this camera. My intent was to use it for skydiving video, after all I first saw the advert for it in Parachutist magazine. Anyway, I had it for about 1 week before I sent it back. It went through batteries very quickly and captured relatively grainy and dark video and stills. It takes several seconds to ready for video or stills and if I kept it in the ready mode for too long (20 min) the battery was about gone! The lense provided a pretty narrow field of view. It is good for standard back yard applications but as an "extreme sports cam" it is not ready for the quick and constant action of up close "extreme sports". Only the external optical cam eye is water resisitant. The rest of the cam will break if exposed to heavy moisture/rain/water. Another point of contention, I early purchased this unit from Amazon for $699. By the time it was delivered the price was already down to $569.00 from Amazon! Bottom line.....Wait till it is improved and the price settles down.

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I got this to record ATV riding adventures. It was this or the new super small Sony mini dv cam. I went with this because I think the mini dv cam would not hold on the trail with all the dust.

I have had this for a few days to play with so far. I bought a 1gig scan disk card with it. It will record 63 minutes on the lowest 620x480 setting with the 1 gig card. The video quility is good on the lowest setting. I edited it with I-movie on my Mac and burnd a dvd and it looks great on the normal tv.

I could not get it to work with my windows vedio editing softwere ( Pinnacle and Screenblaster) but It does work with windows movie maker.

You may want to bump up to the super fine setting if you want HD quality. I only get 22 minutes with the 1gig card on the higest settings.

The external lens is cool. It come with a head and arm band. The extrem sports guys will love this for recording thier crazy stuff.

Overall I'm happy with it.

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I bought this in July immediatly before I left the country for an extended vacation. I have been using it for paragliding and snowboarding since then. Overall I think it's a great idea, but suffers in the execution. I would not recommend buying it. Unfortunately I was away too long to be able to return it.

The good

size

simplicity of helmet cam

codec plugs into Apple framework no requirement to use imagemixer if you're a mac person

The bad

video quality

battery life (internal & external)

DivX codec conflict (I had to delete all other codec's before installing imagemixer to make it work)

can't copy files back to the camera

provided straps don't fit any of the helmets I use

weather proof case doesn't close properly if camera is oriented to mount on top of helmet

photo quality

Even at the "super fine" setting, the video quality is extremely poor. Colours are muddy, frame rate is jerky, white balance and exposure levels are terrible, and the lens distorts around the edges. My canon SD400 "still" camera does MUCH better video in it's VGA mode. I would rather that it didn't do stills, mp3, file browser, etc and just did good video. I don't think that's asking too much.

Hope this helps someone.

Harman Kardon HD990 CD Player with RLS III (Black)

• CD-Text support
• HRS (high-resolution synchronization) link
• MP3 playback with ID3 support
• 24-bit/384kHz sample rate converter (SRC)
• Direct digital signal processing (DSP) mode

I bought this over a month ago, from another online retailer. Some friends think I'm crazy for investing this much money into, of all things, a CD player at this point in time, but I've never been one for compressed MP3 music. Call me old-fashioned, but I still prefer physical media. The HK 990 does not disappoint. Finally, my CD's sound just as lush, warm, and rounded as my vinyl, without any of that cold harsh metallic sound that plagues most CD players! Paired with my HK 3490, the sound quality is stunning. What more can I say? Controls are easy enough to handle on the machine, yet standing a just a few feet away, no buttons are visible at all on the front face of this marvelously minimalistic design. (I use a universal remote, so I can't comment on the ergonomics of the HK-supplied remote.) To date, the machine has played every kind of CD I've thrown at it with ease; even CD's that skip on other players due to scratches don't skip on this one. The extra bonus of the HD 990 is that there are digital in and out jacks so that you can route the sound from a bluray or other player through its audiophile quality DAC in order to benefit from the upgraded sound (which insures that this machine will still be relevant and useful long after CD's are no more). When I bought my HK3490 two years ago, I wanted this CD player but Harman didn't sell it in the US. At one point, I even thought about importing it, but dealing with the voltage converters would have been too much of a hassle. I'm glad Harman Kardon finally decided to bring more of their audiophile quality music equipment to the US market. Even if it doesn't sell as well here as it does in Europe, it reminds customers of Harman's commitment to good old-fashioned, never-out-of-style stereo music.

Update 12/11: I'm taking a star off my review. I've used this CD player for a year, and it still sounds great. However, I've noticed that with certain discs it has an annoying tendency to vibrate loudly while the disc is spinning, so loudly that I can hear the machine during the quiet sections of the music. I suspect this is due to a very lightweight cabinet without enough sound or vibration dampening material. For the price of this player, HK could definitely stand to beef up the build quality.

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My first CD player was a Harman Kardon, bought in 1990, and it served me well for nearly 10-years. In the intervening years I've bought fewer CDs and played them on a DVD player, but increasingly downloaded music in AAC or MP3. But these compressed formats are just not that good, and lately I have developed a passionate hatred of the restrictions imposed by the Digital Rights Management (DRM) associated with such media. So it was time to go back to solid, tangible media where I know where I stand as regards where I can and can't legally play it.

Next question; where to buy? I did what would make most audio-evangelists splenetic with grief. I bought my HD990 and a Harman Kardon receiver (HK3490) from Amazon, without having even listened to them. Why? Over the years I have suffered buying audio equipment from up-market Hi-Fi dealers. I'm over being treated like an ignorant peasant because I'm not prepared to spend $1000 on a cable. Audio equipment obeys a law of diminishing returns. A $5000 CD player does NOT sound ten times better than a $500 one. Maybe spending that much money just makes you want to believe it does?

Not surprisingly, the HD990 has 100% fulfilled my expectations. It was dead simple to set up. The front panel controls and remote control are simple, and elegantly designed. There are both analog outputs and digital (optical and coaxial) outputs. I'm using analog because cable distance to the receiver is very short. You even have the option of exporting playback to another DA converter, but I'm not sure why you'd want to do this.

And the sound is just lovely. There is no transport noise during quiet passages. Listening to a selection of R&B, jazz and rock, I think it handles acoustic better than electric, but then this could be my speakers.

Well done HK, and well done Amazon for the keen price.

Read Best Reviews of Harman Kardon HD990 CD Player with RLS III (Black) Here

Purchased in December 2011. The things I love about it:

--it will play just about any CD with no problems, no skipping, no trouble reading format info, etc.

--displays text across the display. song names scroll across. i love that

--integrates very nicely with the HK 990 amplifier. the HRSlink is very cool. I'm not sure it sounds any better than digital coaxial or digital optical. But it's cool and does sound better than analog. there is an increased clarity that is what I'm all about when it comes to listening to music. i can also control it with my HK remote with no programming

--fast load and play. I DESPISE playing CDs in my bluray player, it's so slow. that's why i bought this.

THE PROBLEM:

Not long after I got it, I'd say within a few weeks, I noticed that every once in a while it would start vibrating during playback. Imagine the sound of something that's out of balance and then some component inside is vibrating as a result: a very fast Du-Du-Du-Du-Du-Du-Du-Du. And it's LOUD. Loud enough that I can hear it when the music is turned down to background volume. I contacted HK's customer service and described the problem. They quickly sent me an RA to replace the unit. I got the new one inside of a week delivered to the front door via UPS. I opened 'er up and got it set up.

And guess what...

Same thing. Search around on the interwebs and you'll find other people reporting the same thing. If it was a $50 CD player I'd say oh well you get what you pay for. But this is supposed to be an audiophile CD player. What the heck good does REAL TIME LINEAR SMOOTHING do if the damn thing vibrates when you play CDs?

Maybe you will get lucky and yours won't have this problem. But two in a row is too much of a coincidence. At this point I figure what am I gonna do send it back again and get another one that does the same thing? If you can't find anyone else saying the same thing then ignore me. But you will find at least one other right here in the Amazon reviews who say the same. Personally I don't recommend taking the chance on it since there are a multitude of great CD players out there.

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I would start by saying that I can understand the frustration expressed by some with faulty units; this is possible with any brand of any electronic device, especially if you have it shipped via common carrier.

I was one of those lucky enough to have a problem free unit, and for the last 6 months it has been performing great!

I use it with an HK3490 which I got to replace an old 70's HK integrated amp. I was looking to replace an old Kenwood CD 5-disc carousel player that I had for around 15 years or so. It was getting stuck and the outputs would sometimes short out, so I did some research and was surprised by the range of units out there. I was tempted to get another cheap-o unit thinking "what's the big deal, it's just a reader, the amp is what counts". Then I saw reviews for this and other higher end models, and decided that maybe it was worth giving it a shot.

I was shocked, to say the least. I thought of the reviewer who advised if you wanted a good laugh, do a A/B with your old unit. I set it up to do it even though it was a bit awkward, and I sure laughed alright. I couldn't believe the difference in clarity, it was almost like listening from another room on the old unit!

The sound is what makes this, and while there are some features I'd like, I am glad to give them up in exchange for the sound quality. It would be nice to have a display of the number of tracks, and to have a carousel, although my research seemed to find that most carousel units were not as good of sound quality.

I would mention that it did shut down once when it overheated; I had it underneath a tape deck. I shut it down and put it on top instead, and the additional airflow has helped as I have not had a repeat since. All of that technology generates some heat, and this baby needs to breathe...

I bought an optical cable to connect direct to a digital input, and I also have an analog connection running through a Pioneer EQ. I find that older discs (ie: non-remastered discs) sound better through the EQ as they tend to have more of that sharp digital sound which I can adjust the EQ to approximate a vinyl/turntable organic quality .

Newer discs, when run direct through digital, sound almost unbeleivable. My Pioneer HPM900's never sounded so good. I recall playing Opeth's Heritage and did the audio equivalent of a stare, it was jaw-dropping. I know I heard qualities and subtleties that were not evident on the old set up.

In closing, do some research and consider HK's history of quality in your decision. I don't think you even need to have audiophile or even entry-level equipment to appreciate the difference this (or one similar to it) can make.

As a former skeptic I can attest that a quality CD player can freshen up any CD, and if you can do a digital connection it is even better.

Just bought it to replace my 10 year old Cambridge Audio D500. I'm very impressed that the HD990 plays CDs that skipped in my former player. The sound quality is simply awesome breathtaking at times. I'm hearing subtleties and nuances that I never knew existed on stuff I have listened to for years. Who would think that a CD player could make such a profound difference? This is well worth the $400 I spent.

Pioneer GEX-XMP3 Portable XM Satellite Radio Receiver w/ Home Kit

I bought an Xmp3 player from Amazon about a week ago. I have to write that it became almost difficult to buy one because I read all manner of both rave and poor reviews. In the end I took a leap of faith and bought one despite identifying with some poor reviewers. The principle poor I read here was absolutely wrong and I want to address that here because the leap of faith I took was in deciding that the poor review was written by someone who likely didn't know how to operate the device.

The poor review stated that you had to view all the channels and could not save favorites so that you could easily go to the channels you like easily. Frankly I couldn't believe that, bought one anyway, and found the feature the review stated was not there in all of 5 seconds. And I am first-time XM device owner and subscriber.

So I want to accomplish two things in this small review. I want to say if you are too stupid to use the device, don't bother writing a review about it. You scare me and anyone else looking for credible information on a device. I just can't stand it when write bad reviews with less then all the facts. This rotten reviewer could have spent a few seconds with the device without even reading the manual and found the settings. It's right on the menu and so I am lead to believe this person has some ax to grind because no one is that stupid to miss the feature.

I do have some complaints, but for the most part, anyone would like this device.

The xmp3 has a very simple menu system on the device itself. You start off by being able to see all channels in a long list or seeing them by group. Once you find a channel you like, click options, then click Add to Favorites. It's so simple I don't know how one bad reviewer missed it. There is a paper channel guide sitting on top of the manual too. So if you just want to type in a channel, like 129, just press the keypad button and type it in. So in just 2 steps you are into whatever channel you want. I know CNN is 122, so I can go to my favorites, or just punch it in. I can't see how to make that any easier.

Someone here mentioned signal problems. I very much want to cover this because that also scared me. I live in San Francisco. And I take public transportation all the time. Buses, BART, I walk, etc. Some city streets allow just 2-way traffic. One lane for cars in each direction. If I walk on those narrow streets with 2 to 3 story houses on both sides, then the signal cuts out. If I want on wider streets, it's fine. And there are two kinds of signals. Terrestrial and Satellite. You can get one or the other, or both. And there is a setting in the options that shows you both signals while the music or news plays. So you will see how little signal you need to get the programming. Unlike regular radio, a limited signal does not mean poor quality. It's all you need to get the full experience. It's digital, so it's perfect or it's not. It doesn't need full strength to get a perfect audio output. This is important. Now, the Xmp3 came with a home kit, and I bought an extra one for work. I didn't have to mount the antenna outside at all. Just place it on a window ledge and watch the antenna signal. Aim it around and watch the signal response. It's stupid-easy. I did the same thing at my office. So when I am home or at the office, I plug the xmp3 into the doc, which is already plugged into the external antenna and I get great audio. It comes with a remote control with every home kit. A pair of self powered $20 speakers is all you need to use these with the home kits. It works fantastically and you need only the one device.

Some wondered if you can truly record more than one station at a time. Yes, you can. Keep this in mind because it's important and I'll explain why in the next paragraph where I explain the battery issues also raised in review.

Some complain the battery only lasts for 4 to 5 hours in live mode. First, live means you are listening to Xmradio live, and not recorded. The XMP3 player can play MP3s, WAVs, and recorded XM radio, plus live XM Radio. There is an easy way to extend the use of the radio to meet anyone's enjoyment needs. I have owned 5 iPods, 4 Zunes, 3 Zen Players, and 2 Rios, plus a Sansa. I have listened to over 200 audible books. I listen to podcasts more than anyone I ever met. I've been listening to portable audio for over a decade. So Xmp3 has a lot to live up to. I'm just as tough on a device as anyone else.

I want to give a quick example of how I use it and you can apply this to the battery issue. Because my method solves all the problems of battery, signal, etc in my opinion. So open those eyes wider and pay attention. The reality that this records 5 stations at once is the key. In the morning before the New York Stock Exchange Opening bell, I am up and getting ready for work. I record CNN, Bloomberg, and CNBC at the same time for about an hour. I can mostly listen to one of those live as I get ready for work, but the other 2 are recorded at the same time. When I hit the street to take my bus, I listen to the other recorded programs to avoid any signal issues. The information is still fresh, and I get no signal problem as I did record this while the unit is mounted into the external antenna. Playing back recorded programming, audible books, or mp3s makes the battery last 16 hours. So my point is, when you are listening to something live take the opportunity to record other stations so you maximize your listening time. It's easy, and it works well. And you get to use the device all day. Again at 4:00PM at work I set it to record the stations I want for an hour. So that at 5:00PM when I leave, I am listening to recorded shows from 1 hour ago and again, little battery drain, and no signal problems on the way home because it's recorded playback. What's the difference in listening to 1 hour ago programming? In fact, it's better. Let me explain why. When you record a channel for 60 minutes or more and then play it back, you can skip ads as easily as you can hit the "Next" button. The recorded shows are divided up by every change. If a ad comes up, it's considered a segment which can be skipped in playback. So when I listen to record news, I can quickly listen to the news by skipping ads. And it's even easier than a tivo! Just one tap of skip, skips one ad. If there are 3 ads in a row, you can skip 1, 2, and 3 times to skip all three ads. Easy as pie and you'll love it. So believe me, you want to take advantage of recorded shows when you go for a walk. You skip the bull, get perfect audio, and can listen just like live or skip ads. Up to you.

So I have to say, in terms of the device itself, it's a 5 star device. After reading poor reviews, I'm glad I tried it anyway. If you are on the fence, go for it. You will see as I have see that the device is fantastic. That's where the rave reviews come from. Those are from those folks that have a brain in their head and don't have some ax to grind.

Now I do have gripes, but they have to do with the XM2Go Music software. This software is not a music manager as you might think. It should not be compared to iTunes or Media Monkey, because it's honestly not a music manager at all. It's more of an upload tool to upload mp3s or WAV files to the device. Read on...

I thought the XM2GO app would be a full music manager, but rather what it does is allow you to easily setup a program record time if that's what you want. You can use it to upload music to your SD card. But the best way to do this is by organizing what you want to upload to the device into a single folder before you upload it. If you already have a full music collection on your hard drive that is stored in the file system by artist and you want a small subset of favorite tunes, you're going to go crazy with XM2GO because you will have to pick one by each song using a director tool in XM2GO to hand pick each song and choose upload. It's insanely stupid.

I use Media Monkey instead of iTunes. And in Media Monkey, I can take my favorites playlist and sent a copy of the songs in that playlist to a folder on my desktop in Windows. Then I use XM2GO to upload the contents of that single folder to the SD card. This gives me my favorite MP3s on the XMP3. I find this the fastest, easiest way to deal with the extremely lousy XM2GO software, which didn't even come with my player. I had to download it. The one real complaint I have with the XMP3 player is not with the device. It's with the Music app from XP / Pioneer. These two companies absolutely blew it on the software. You can work around this as I said, but it would have been great to have a more full-featured music app so that you can easily manage podcasts and mp3 playlists on the device. The way it's done now makes me want to visit with Pioneer and XM and slap these stupid programmers. I don't know why it is so hard for these companies to see what needs to be done to make something simple and enjoyable to use. It's as if they have no brains in their skulls, and know that's not true. It's not a show-stopper. I'd buy the device all over again even knowing what I know now.

You can add audible content to the Xmp3, but not on the SD card. It goes on the devices built in memory. And recorded XM radio also goes on the device memory. So the SD card is truly good for MP3s and WAV files.

Now a few other points for first -time XM people. If you use the web app to play content online you can click a button and buy the song from Amazon. I love this feature. So listening via a laptop over the internet is a good idea and can help you discover new songs to buy. BUT! And I mean BUT, some stations are not available online. No Bloomberg or CNBC for example. Don't count on every station being there exactly the same way as on the device. Because of this, I strongly recommend getting a home kit for your home and office. If you just think it through a little you'll find that the battery, being mobile, etc are all not a real problem. Even for those walking around dense cities as I am.

This is an awesome device.. when it is working.

I loved mine.

Then it gave me the "powering up" or "please wait" signal of death.

This isn't uncommon.. check out the xm fan message boards to see more.

I used mine pretty heavily.. gym, office, car, home... probably 8-9 hours a day

My wife has a unit too.. .i can only wonder how long it will be before it dies.

Pioneer will replace the unit.. then XM will try to charge you fee to switch the subscription, so then you have to fight them to waive that.

I love XM, and I really want my XMP3 to work, but it is not a reliable product... a good product, but not reliable.

Update: Pioneer did send me a replacement unit.. but get this.. I bought my unit in April, I got my replacement unit 11/12/09. The warranty isn't going to be 1 year from 11/12/09 though.. it's still from April. So basically now i'm down to 6 mo. warranty with what I assume is a refurb.

If you are going to buy this product, this is one time I would HIGHLY suggest purchasing it from a place where you can get an extended warranty.. and i'd buy the most warranty I could possibly get on the product.

It's a great unit.. but reliability is TERRIBLE.

Buy Pioneer GEX-XMP3 Portable XM Satellite Radio Receiver w/ Home Kit Now

REVISED 10/21/09

If I could reduce my Amazon rating of this product to one or fewer stars, I would. The Pioneer GEX-XMP3 has failed for the second time is just a hair over ten months. The first time around, Pioneer took far more than a month to replace it and Sirius/XM customer support was worse than useless. It took five people there to finally tell me that I needed to contact Pioneer for warranty support. Pioneer immediately lost my request for an RMA. Sirius/XM would not credit me for the month of service where I had no receiver.

A bit more than a year ago I had three XM accounts. Changes in programming after the merger led me to cancel two of those accounts. If I wanted to listen to moronic AM music stations, I'd tune in on the radio, not a service I'm paying for.

Now I have one XM account and as soon as I get this GEX-XMP3 replaced by Pioneer, I will have no XM accounts and the radio will be offered for sale.

I am totally down on Sirius/XM and Pioneer. With all the alternatives, both companies are a bad deal.

REVISED 6/15/09

Durability of this product is questionable. The unit I purchased on 12/15/08 died a few days ago. Trying to get a replacement from Sirius XM is a nightmare. The first call, the rep hung up on me because I asked her to speak louder. The second rep referred me to XM's online shop. The third rep referred me to a "product specialist" that turned out to be the general number for Pioneer Electronics which was closed at the time and doesn't provide any information on its website for XM radios. Five calls in all without a tangible result except to convince me that canceling my other two XM subscriptions was a good idea.

All the calls were handled by offshore personnel who spoke heavily accented English that was difficult to understand.

Sirius XM programming has deteriorated to the point where the classical station I listen to most now carries a great deal of NPR and WFMT-FM programming, which I can receive for free on an FM radio. Why should I pay for it?

At this point, I cannot recommend Sirius XM for any reason. The programming is awful. The customer support is terrible. They lost 400,000 customers last quarter and I suspect that is only the beginning of a flood of subscriber losses.

I had a high opinion of the GEX-XMP3 initially, but it frequently loses its activation which is irritating and, as I said, it died on me a few days ago after less than six months of use.

My advice: stay away from Sirius XM it is not s company you want to do business with.

Original Review:

The Pioneer GEX-XMP3 Portable XM Satellite Radio Receiver is a technological marvel. The unit, however, has no useful existence without the companion Sirius/XM service and I have grave reservations about the newly merged service which I'll address below.

The XMP3 is a vast improvement over the original INNO. It is smaller, lighter and has more features. The unit measures 2 x 3.6 x 0.6 and weighs 3.1 ounces: definitely shirt-pocket sized. It has a 2.5" screen that displays information such as titles and program guides in vibrant color. (Unfortunately, the screen is useless for displaying your own photos or video as will be explained.)

The battery supports 4 hours of live XM playback or 16 hours of recorded audio playback. A second battery or backup power supply is a must for active use when playing live XM. I recommend the Tekkeon TekCharge Rechargeable Li-Poly Battery for this purpose.

The XMP3 feature list is long and impressive:

It takes microSDHC cards up to 8GB. With 128kbps MP3 audio, that's enough space for about 120+ hours of recorded music. Because the XM service cannot be dependably received in buildings and some other locations, you will definitely appreciate this capacity.

The 2GB of internal memory will store 75 hours of programs or 10 hours of songs. I have no idea of why this peculiar limitation exists, though it probably has something to do with the RIAA.

You can record up to five channels simultaneously. Recording setup is quick and easy. There is also an interesting automatic recording feature which will "learn" your music listening preferences and automatically record up to 30 hours of programs from five channels.

Another very neat feature is the ability to pause live audio and then playback up to 30 minutes. Kind of like an audio TiVo and very handy if you have to interrupt your listening for a short while.

The user interface on the XMP3 is delightful. Four physical buttons, a scroll wheel and four touch sensitive buttons. Menus are explicit and very easy to follow for all available functions.

There's a 3.5mm audio jack and the volume is sufficient to ruin your hearing, if that's your choice. Audio range is adequate, but not outstanding. There is, by the way, no built-in speaker.

You can tune in the XM program guide, which is helpful, and there are TuneSelect and GameSelect features. These latter two features allow to find your favorite artists whenever they are being played on any XM channels. You can input up to 30 names.

There a bunch of other features that I don't have a lot of use for, but you may. You can play audio books, make up playlists and more. There is also well designed software to managae your XMP3 music from your PC. Best to visit the Pioneer website to get all the information on the XMP3.

XM reception with the built-in antenna is surprisingly good, but if you get one of these, expect to use it as a pre-recorded music player much of the time when depending on the internal antenna.

What don't I like? My biggest dislike is the merged Sirius/XM service which I'll get to momentarily.

I don't like the fact that the unit is so expensive. I bought mine through a special XM promotion with home and car docks and while it represented a considerable savings, it is still too expensive in my opinion. Pioneer and XM put outlandish prices on the docks, in my opinion, to discourage users from using one receiver in multiple locations. A dock costs as much as a year's second XM subscription. Considering that they sell many perfectly adequate XM receivers for just a few dollars or even give them away free occasionally, you can see their logic: they want you to buy multiple radios, each of which needs its own subscription.

I'd rather use one radio and have one subscription XM does all it can to discourage that approach.

Second, I think XM really limits its market by not including photo and viewing capability in this unit. I'm not an engineer and I have no idea of what it would take to add such capability. But I do see many other reasonably priced personal media players that include music, photo, video and even FM tuner capabilities at one-half or less the price of the XMP3 and don't require a subscription. In fact, as I wrote this paragraph, I have to question why I own this unit especially considering what has happened to the once superb XM service.

Sirius and XM recently merged. I had never been much interested in Sirius thinking that any station that paid Howard Stern hundreds of millions to be vulgar wouldn't have much to offer me. XM offered truly wonderful programming. Their programmers or disc jockeys or whatever they were called loved their music and it showed.Almost every channel was an adventure when you first tried it. You might not like the genre, but it was apparent that whoever compiled the playlist loved what they were doing.

When the merger took place, most of the XM programmers were apparently let go and Sirius programming was put into place. Sirius programming isn't much different than what you would find on any AM or FM station. It is dull, uninspired and often permeated with way too much talk. For example, where XM had commercial free classic rock, Sirius has Wolfman Jack in some form or other (I don't know if it's the real Wolfman Jack or an imitator). I didn't care for the screechings of Wolfman Jack when I was a kid and I sure don't like them now. I'm paying as subscription fee to listen to music, not the rantings of some guy.

Even the country music XM channels are now polluted with insipid talking. Same for the classical stations.

In short, the once truly fine XM programming is now utterly dumbed down Sirius programming.

Not only the programming suffered as a result of the merger, so did customer service. Deactivating an old XM receiver and adding this one to my account took more than an hour, dealing with people speaking heavily accented English and reading from a script. Some of the questions they asked were irritating, such as demanding to know why I was switching from one XM radio to another. Talk about stupidity.

A letter of complaint to Sirius management went unanswered.

In short, Sirius is not XM and, quite frankly, I am considering cutting back to one subscription and giving it six months to change for the better before dropping Sirius/XM altogether. Personally I don't think I'll be alone in this. If what I read in user group forums is at all accurate, satellite radio may be in for a short and dim future as result of this merger. Time will tell.

So, the XMP3 itself is a five-star product. There are a couple of things, most notably photo and video playback, that I'd like to see in it, but I am reviewing the product in its actual state, not my wish list. The revised XM programming since the merger with Sirius merits not more than one-star. Sirius/XM service rates one-star as well.

Thus, if you are really considering this technological marvel, consider the other two factors first.

Jerry

Read Best Reviews of Pioneer GEX-XMP3 Portable XM Satellite Radio Receiver w/ Home Kit Here

The Inno was the best portable xm radio until now. This improved version is thinner, lighter, has a bigger, beautiful screen, can record several channels simultaneously (!!), has more memory (75 hours), an sd card slot, and the best of all, now lets you look at the program guide on the screen so you can see what programs are coming up. The old push buttons have been replaced by a touch wheel. Pioneer does it again!

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I received this as a gift and I've been very happy with it. It's not perfect by any means but it does just what I need, play's music! =)

I never thought I'd subscribe to XM/Sirius. Why spend money on music you can get free over the radio? I travel frequently even within my own area of the country (NYC) and I always hated the fact that I'd lose radio reception of my favorite radio stations as I would go from one area to another. As such I would strongly recommend a portable XM unit to anyone who travels frequently and likes hearing the latest music w/o buying individual songs.

That's where this little unit comes in. I've had it for a couple of days and I can say the audio quality is pretty good. Audiophiles who demand crystal clear high def audio might be disappointed but for everyone else it's definitely better than FM radio.

As far as reception goes, I have trouble receiving a clear signal in my apt. It does come with a home kit which allows you to attach an antenna (included) that you can place on the nearest south facing window and that takes care of the problem.

The nice thing about this unit is the recording features. I love how I can set it to record several stations continuously. This way if I'm on a flight or train ride with a weak signal, I can turn off the antenna and just listen to pre-recorded music. (It also allows you to insert an SD HC card of your own music and play that too) Works for me.

A few gripes about this unit as some others have mentioned is that although it allows you to record individual songs or programs, it has an annoying fade in/out 'feature' that you can't turn off. It fades in at the beginning and fades out at the end. It's annoying when listening to a playlist of songs you've recorded from the radio.

Unlike an Ipod, it doesn't show you the album art. Not a big deal but with such a crystal clear color screen, it would be nice if it took advantage of it to show something other than the default backgrounds.

The navigation could be improved as it takes several clicks of different buttons to get to the features but I got used to it after a while.

Overall, nice unit. Not quite a 5 star but it's good enough for me.

UPDATE: 1/16/2009 a new firmware for this unit v1.18 resolved the fade-in/fade-out annoyance. It makes playing back all the recorded songs and programs so much more enjoyable! Love-it!

UPDATE: 11/15/2009 I've seen a lot of people talk about faulty units. I must be lucky or they must be unlucky. Mine has taken a few (unintentional!) drops and bruises and still keeps on ticking. Noticed a few times the loading screen of death or the no power up scenario but holding down the power button for a few seconds, leaving it off and then trying again worked for me. That or putting the unit in it's home base unit to charge got it back to normal. Battery hasn't been an issue for me. The most recent firmware for the unit does a good job of turning off the antenna when listening to recorded audio so that saves a lot of battery. Even after almost a year of use it still lasts me 3-4 hrs. Enough for a train ride from NYC to Boston. I still keep my 4 star rating.

Belkin HDMI-to-HDMI Cable (4 feet)

I've seen many reviews advising not to buy "expensive" HDMI cables because there is no difference in quality. It's probably true that you won't see a difference in picture quality, but you will see a difference in build quality.

These Belkin cables have solid connectors and a strong woven jacket. If it gets pinched or bent it will hold up.

I've had many Belkin cables over the years, and I've never had a problem with any of them.

These are somewhat less expensive than Monster-type brands, but the quality (image and construction) are definitely on par. You won't go wrong.

I am very happy with this cable. It replaced a Monster Component cable, I do not remember the exact model, but I had purchsed a few for all my TV's about 6 months to a year ago at Circuity City. I remember them being in the area of $150. For 1/3 of the price the build quality matches that of Monster and the picture is better, though only slightly. Have purchased new Belkin cables for all my TV's now. If you are thinking about it, do it.

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Quite frankly, I don't know if this cable transmits information in a "cleaner" fashion than cheaper alternatives. However, it is very well constructed and works great with my high end component home theater installation. This Belkin cable seems to be a good compromise between the inexpensive and outrageously priced alternatives.

Read Best Reviews of Belkin HDMI-to-HDMI Cable (4 feet) Here

I don't have too much more to say than this cable does what it was built to do. I am not any kind of expert when it comes to these types of things, but I get a great, crystal clear picture from my DVD player through this cable. I bought it because it was cheaper than the equal Monster cable, and I don't regret the decision.

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I have owned my Belkin HDMI for about 6 months. In the past few weeks, I have noticed that the cable is falling out of the TV socket! Since it is mounted perfectly horizontal, I can only assume the cause to be all the excess weight of the very well insulated cable. I wonder if the even higher priced cables, with their "super" insulation have the same problem. Since HDMI is supposedly the BEST connection, why don't manufacturers insure a good connection with thumb screws or snaps at connections like computer manufacturers? ...just a thought! Anyway, I'm now using my cable providers' very light, vinyl clad HDMI, with just as good viewing results!

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TASCAM DR-100mkII 2-Channel Portable Digital Recorder

• Locking XLR inputs accept balanced mic or line inputs
• Two sets of microphones for cardioid or omnidirectional pickup
• Dual battery systems for hours of recording
• Stereo S/PDIF digital input
• Rugged aluminum construction

I've used the DR-100 on several shoots so when it came time to purchase another audio recorder the mkII was an obvious choice. First off, I primarily use the XLR connections but in regards to the onboard mics, both cardioid and omni, I can tell you the noise floor is definitely improved. As far as XLR, the inputs have been upgraded to add a locking mechanism. Not that the cables slipping out was ever a problem but it's a welcome addition.

As with the previous model I use this for DSLR shoots. It has a rugged body, records in 96/24 WAV and has both a headphone out and a line out. Another huge bonus for me is the ability to run off a charged battery and still use AA's as a backup. I've only had a Sound Mixer tell me once that they forgot to charge the batteries but having the ability to toss in normal, everyday AA's was a lifesaver.

Extra background: I typically use a variety of shotgun mics (NTG-2) or lavs (Sennheiser G3) and then sync up audio with PluralEyes in post. Obviously the sound difference between this and the onboard mic in a DLSR are worlds apart. I've tested the Zoom H4n and my only cons would be lack of dual power sources and it looks a bit like a toy. I know there are loyalist on both sides and I'm not particularly die-hard in either direction but this is hands-down my go-to audio recorder.

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starting to do video interviews, looking for good sound (as opposed to superb) and simple to use. i want to see how far i can get without having to spend $100's more. i am working solo, so i need a compact, portable solution that i can implement on the field without holding up the works too much.

compared this against the h4n which also gets great reviews.

overview:

in my inexpert opinion, the dr100mk2 is a simpler device concentrating exclusively on the basics (and some not so basics) of sound recording. the h4n tries to as much as is electronically possible in a single device.

the dr100-2 is a much easier device to use (imho). i'm kinda old fashioned, and i like the fact that most of the controls are mechanical switches. even to the tune of the input levels being a dial.

the h4n has mostly electronic switches and are a touch more fiddly to operate. they work just fine, but are not as nice, again imho.

sound:

i'm not looking for magic and i don't expect pro sound from a

Mini Gadgets Inc Hat Cam 6 4GB DVR

The instructions are very difficult to follow; apparently the instructions were translated to English from somebody who does not speak English well. Like a computer translation type. I need to put it to work first before I place my final review or/and decided to keep it or return it. I am not sure yet because the instructions are not helpful at all. I need good instructions either in English or Spanish please.

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Sony DVM63HDR 63-Minutes HD DVC Tape

As of this review the product information page here is quite bare, so here's additional information about this tape from sonystyle.com:

Sony's new DVM-63HD HD DVC tape offers the highest quality recording media for the consumer or prosumer making the step-up to an HD camcorder. It is the recommended media for Sony's new HDR-FX1 prosumer camcorder. Independent film makers, advertising agencies, and other videographers will appreciate the improved image quality, and the professional 63 minute tape duration. The DVM-63HD features 90% fewer errors and 50% fewer dropouts compared to DV Reference tape (tested on standard Sony DV VCR). Get the good stuff... go for High Definition.

* High Definition Video Recording

* Designed for 1080i or 720p HDV recording and playback.

* 63 minutes recording time of 1080i video

* 3dB higher carrier-to-noise ratio vs. Premium DVC tape *

* Conforms to the MiniDV standard, yet is manufactured with much higher tolerances while incorporating the new AME II technology.

* Key Benefits:

* 90% fewer errors due to 40% increase in carrier-to-noise ratio*

* 50% fewer dropouts*

* 50% less tape shrinkage*

* 3db higher carrier-to-noise ratio*

* The additional 3-minutes on the DVM63HD tape is for test recording. This helps the user calibrate the camera for best results. You can record the full 63 minutes of 1080i video. When recording in 720p HDV or in DV mode, you can record 94 min in LP and 63 min in SP setting.

* New lubricant improves tape stability running under a wide range of operating conditions.

* * vs. Reference DV tape (industry standard) tested on standard Sony DV VCR

Yes, you can use ordinary mini-DV tapes in this camcorder but there are two good reasons for paying more:

1. The video encoding format of hdv cameras (MPEG2-HD) can have problems recording fast motion. This leads to "drop-outs" but you can reduce these by using better tapes.

2. Different tapes have different lubricants. If you use different tapes in your camcorder, you can end up jamming your tape transport. Decide on one product that best suits your needs and stick with it. This tape has a special lubricant so it's probably not a good idea to mix 'n match it even with other Sony tapes.

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Sony recommends this tape for the new HDR-HC1 High Def. video camera. I just bought the camera and a dozon of theese tapes. So far I have no problems at all and the video image is the best I've ever seen from a mini-dv. (too bad my video photography was not improved by these tapes). I have read other reviews that state that any Mini-dv tape can be used for high Def. but why take the chance?

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Before I begin, let me say that I have had engineers tell me that there is very little different from this product than from Sony mini DVCam tapes. It is slightly more stable which is very important when dealing with HDv as the distortion of one frame could destroy a second of footage.

This is due to how HDv encodes footage. Whereas miniDV records each frame at the same resolution, HDv uses a Group of Pictures (GoP). Basically the first frame in a GoP is full resolution, then every other frame in the GoP uses that as its reference, and changes resolution as needed.

All that to say, I only buy these tapes for professional purposes; and mainly for my clients. It's more of a piece of mind thing for them then it is for me. I would not recommend buying these for personal memories, as it would be overkill. They just cost too much for personal use. Use other Sony tapes. But do use Sony tapes; they have less gunk than most others (except Panasonic, which I hear are pretty clean).

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Came quickly, rattling around in outer box, but no damage. Seems to be price collusion in US on this product, however, as everyone has virtually the same price in the US, yet the very same thing is under 50% of the US cost in the UK!

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