Oppo DV-981HD Universal DVD Player with HDMI, 1080p Up-Converting, DivX & SACD

• Offers HDMI interface, with Faroudja HD upconversion output up to full 1080p
• Multiple playback formats, including DVD-Audio, Super Audio CS, Audio CDs, HDCD, WMA, and more
• Outputs in stereo, or in 5.1 surround sound
• S-Video out, digital coaxial, and optical audio outs--no component out
• Built-in equalizer, channel trim, and channel delay functions

Unbelievalbe picture quality like all other reviewers are saying. Changing the player to Region 0 (all region) is easy: 1. Press Setup on remote control to access the setup page, 2.Enter 9210 on the remote 3.A service menu will pop up, 4. Select a region: 06 in region code. 0 is all-region. Press Setup on remote again to exit. It should play all region and PAL discs. Hope that helps.

(added 12/18/07)

I've been using this player for a year now and I still LOVE it. My friend gave me a DVD with several movies in AVI and an XVid formats. Typically, I would have to watch these movies on my PC. I was pretty psyched to find that Oppo will play the files. When I popped in the disc, I see a blue menu with all the files. The player decodes each selected file and it had no problem playing 3 out of the 4 AVI files. For some reason, one of the AVI files won't play. The XVid file played fine. The quality of these compressed AVI files, as you can imagine, isn't great. But depending on the source of the AVI file, the output quality to a 46" HDTV is almost as good as a DVD and much better than VCD or VCR quality.

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We do movie reviews very frequently, so having a high quality DVD player is very important to us. As you probably know if you're into DVDs, the resolution on a DVD is higher than regular TV can show, but less sharp as a high definition TV. That's why Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs are coming on the market, to provide true high definition quality.

However, many of us with high definition TVs have a substantial library of regular DVDs that we still wish to watch and enjoy on our higher quality systems. In many cases these are DVDs that may never be released in a high def format, or personal videos that are simply not in high def format. That's where upconverting DVD players come into play. They help to convert the lower quality signal on a DVD into a high def level of quality, as best they can, by interpolating the existing signal and filling in the details.

We've tested several upconverting units as they get released, and to be honest in most cases the TV did a better job of this task working with a regular DVD player, vs having a DVD player that tried to do that task for the TV. So we approached the test of the Oppo DV-981HD with some trepidation. Would it really work well?

First off, the packaging. We were VERY impressed with how this came shipped! I've got to say it's one of the best packed electronic items we've ever seen, and being game reviewers and electronic gadget fans, we get quite a lot. Kudos to the shipping team for this. "Brilliant", says my boyfriend.

The unit itself is extremely nicely designed. We have several other slim items in our shelves and this really takes the cake. The lights and displays are still easy to read, but the height is extremely short. Perfect for people short on space. It stays nice and cool, too.

The remote has great, glowing buttons that make it very easy to use in the dark. The fast forward / reverse buttons have a great range of speeds. We've got probably 8 remotes on our table and this really stands out as being one of the easiest to use.

All of this wouldn't matter if the picture was awful. But we were really impressed with how *lovely* this made regular DVDs look on our high def TV. Blacks were lush and deep. Colors were vibrant. On a title screen with metallic letters, the regular DVD player had them looking lifeless and flat but with the Oppo they really did look three dimensional and metallic. Facial textures in particular were extremely nice. Yes, it's still not *true* HD but that's not the point here. You get a HD player to play HD discs. This is for handling the library you already have of DVDs.

You really do get spoiled if you're going to watch your existing DVDs, why not watch them with the highest quality image that you can? This will make it harder to test out other upconverters in the future.

Now, this unit isn't 100% perfect in every day. Case in point the menus. These have got to be some of the worst looking menus I've ever seen on a unit. The letters are kludgy and fuzzy looking. Some menus have options off the bottom of the screen but there's no scroll bar or other indication that there are more items down there. You just have to page down and see if anything happens.

Also, while I'm reviewing DVDs I often want to get a screenshot of an image to use. When you hit "pause" on this unit, the pause icon stays on the screen. With pretty much every other DVD player I've seen, the pause icon vanishes after a few moments. Not here! I'm also not overly fond of the logo floating around on the screen but heck, you just turn that off. The tray itself is super thin and fragile, to go with the thin design. However, our PS3 and Wii all have a simple insert slot which works perfectly. Why didn't they use that here?

Really, I can airbrush out the pause lines from my screenshots, so really the only thing I'd want them to switch for a new version is to make it trayless. For an enhancement, we really would love to see a unit with a hard drive recorder as well, so that we can both play DVDs as well as record shows. This combo would make this our primary entertainment unit. Still, until then, this is a fantastic buy for anyone who has DVDs they'd like to watch. Highly recommended.

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If you have a rear projection TV, you may want to consider the DV-980H instead. I have a Sony KDS-60A3000 rear-projection TV. In the forum on avsforum in the Sony KDS-XXA3000 thread, a user posted this message from Oppo customer support:

"LCoS in the SXRD systems is still prone to macroblock enhancement errors. It is not as pronounced as DLP, but it still exists. For this reason, we never recommend the use of the DV-981HD for RPTV, as there will likely be blocking errors.

Secondly, the previous generation SXRD displays did not respond well to the output of the DV-981HD due to bad handshaking errors with your display and proper colorspace. This causes some users to see "green push".

For your display we would recommend the use of the DV-980H. This player will produce the cleanest, sharpest picture on your RPTV display.

Best Regards,

Customer Service

OPPO Digital, Inc.

453 Ravendale Dr, Suite D

Mountain View, CA 94043

Service@oppodigital.com

Tel: 650-961-1118

Fax: 650-961-1119"

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There are lots of excellent reviews of this player here already. I'll try not to repeat the many comments indicating this is an excellent DVD player. In general I agree.

I recently bought a Panasonic 50-inch plasma (720p resolution) from Amazon and I bought this player to go with it after reading excellent reviews here and on Cnet.com as well. I wanted an upconverting player and I also wanted a region-free/PAL DVD player so I could play DVDs from Asia and Europe without problems.

My older DVD player is a 5-year-old Sony progressive scan unit which only outputs 480p resolution. The first thing I did when I got the Oppo was pop in my Criterion Collection DVD of Kurosawa's "Ran". I borrowed the same DVD from a friend so I could compare the Sony directly to the Oppo. (It wasn't a perfect comparison because the Sony only has component output, while the Oppo is using HDMI output).

I was somewhat surprised to find that the differences between the two players were noticeable, but small. The Oppo -upconverting to the higher 720p resolution over HDMI -delivered slightly better detail than the Sony, which of course was putting out 480p resolution through the component connection. I doubt whether someone who wasn't looking specifically for the differences would have noticed.

Still, I give good marks to the Oppo for a slightly better picture.

Overall though, my advice is that if you don't care much about region-free/PAL playback, and you aren't a big stickler for the absolute best picture, and you want to save some money, you will probably be completely satisfied with the current upconverting DVD players from the big brands such as Sony, Panasonic, etc. which cost about 1/3rd of what this player costs.

As well, note that this player isn't the most user-friendly in some ways. What you have here is a good example of how Chinese product design has not caught up with the rest of the world in terms of refinement and ease of use. The remote is poorly designed with tons of small buttons and tiny print. I have a programmable Sony remote (model RM-VL600, very inexpensive, here's the Amazon link: 8-DEVICE Universal Learning Remote) and I "taught" the Oppo commands over to the Sony remote so I don't have to use the Oppo and I can use just one remote to control the DVD player, TV, and sound system.

Probably the most bizarre omission in the software of the player is that if you stop a DVD from playing and then turn the player off, when you turn the player on again it does not remember where you stopped the DVD. I rarely have time to watch a DVD all the way through in one sitting, so this is very annoying to me. Most strange is that if you EJECT the DVD, and THEN turn the player off, it DOES remember where the DVD was when you ejected it. So there's no question the player has the capability I'm talking about. Problem is, this adds to the wear and tear on the tray opening mechanism.

I emailed Oppo and they responded to me within a day and on a Sunday no less telling me the workaround for this omission: hit the Eject button and then immediately hit Power to turn the unit off. If you do it quickly enough that the tray does not open before you turn the unit off, then you've dodged the problem of the wear and tear. When you turn the 981 back on, it will load the DVD and show onscreen "Resume from saved position". Hit Play to continue where you left off.

Once again, a programmable remote is a big help here; I programmed my Sony remote to send the Eject command and also turn the unit off with one button. That workaround works just fine.

All in all though, who wants to go through all this trouble just to make a simple DVD player work the way it should? That's Chinese software for you. A good example of the fact that they do little actual, daily-use product testing in China. It's not a customer-friendly society.

On the plus side, here's a little noticed advantage of this player: on many DVDs, it will skip past the FBI warning and such and leap directly to the main menu, or to playing the movie itself (it depends on the DVD). Here's how you do that: put the DVD in the player and press play. As soon as the player recognizes it as a DVD and says "DVD-Video", hit the Stop button, then the Menu button. You may have to hit the sequence twice for it to work. On some DVDs this does not work, but it's a nice feature.

I would give the player 5 stars if the software were more user-friendly. As it is, it's a good player for those who want the best-quality picture for much less than the cost of a super-top-quality player from a major brand. Kudos to their American distributor, however, for excellent customer service. I hope they work with the Chinese manufacturer to make this DVD player all that it could be.

Just for reference, I'm including the information about how to make the player region-free as well:

1) Press "Setup" (on the lower left of the arrow buttons on the remote). 2) Enter the numbers 9210 on the keypad above the arrows. 3) A new menu comes up. 4) Press the number 0 to make it region-free. 5) Press "Setup" again. 6) You're done!

Are you gun shy from having lost platform wars of the past?

Perhaps you bought into Betamax, MiniDisc, or maybe even a Rio right before the iPod launched? I'm certainly ready to let BluRay and HD-DVD battle it out until one's left standing! But this could take awhile... In the meantime, get yourself an Oppo Digital upconverting DVD player ASAP! These are The Best Value on the market today. But you already know that which is why you are reading this, isn't it? And you know there are other upconverting players out there...

But Oppo is the clear victor in today's marketplace. I recently acquired a Sony 46" XBR2 LCD and love the image I get with HD broadcast across my Verizon FiOS service. Just stunning. I sought similar results with DVDs and after much research I had about settled on the Oppo OPDV971H, which is their highly rated upconverting player (up to 1080i) be sure to check with Audioholics and HomeTheaterHiFi sites for reviews and ratings buzz. Fortunately I was smart enough to visit the Oppo Digital site to find this newly released player that stretches the previous technology all the way up to 1080p!

We've had ours a couple weeks at this writing, and is it ever worth it! First of all, unboxing this feels high-end as it is both wrapped and protected quite well in the shipping box. Set up was a breeze, as this comes with HDMI connectivity, including a gold-plated cable. Even switching over to 1080p upconversion was simple. The remote is nice, much nicer than the older versions that have been panned so badly. Build quality, while not Fort Knox, is still decent for the price point, and the black finish is a nice change over past players. I like the blue lights, but for those that don't, they can be dimmed or turned off.

On to the important stuff. The image is quite simply stunning. Oppo has made great use of the available DCDi technology from Faroudja. As my wife and I tested various DVDs from our collection, we got so caught up in the viewing experience that we found ourselves watching whole movies when we intended to just view snippets. From our latest DVD additions, to Pixar animation, to the Three Stooges B/W, to collections of old B/W silents of Buster Keaton, the output is very impressive.

Other nice features include all of the various disc formats that are handled. Specifically, it will convert between NTSC/PAL, and also play most audio, video, and picture formats.

Finally, Oppo has a reputation for being a customer responsive company, and has made their players software upgradeable, and with this, have addressed previous concerns raised with their past players. Another example with this unit, is the new remote which is a direct response to customer feedback.

The Good/Great:

1. Image Output Quality is stunning

2. 480p/720p/1080i/1080p upconversion

3. HDMI cable is included

4. Price

5. Customer Service

6. Upgradeable

7. Excellent Audio capability (added 2/1/2007)

The "Okay":

1. Oppo logo sceensaver (it can be turned off)

2. No component video output (but it truly was not intended for this purpose. Oppo intends it for use with HDMI or DVI interface)

The "Bad"

1. None at this time

Stop searching and buy now, you've found the Holy Grail of today's DVD players!

***Updated 2/1/2007***

For starters, with another months' experience with this player, I want to emphasize that we are VERY, VERY pleased with this unit. The video continues to impress -I don't want to mislead, it won't make a miracle of a rough transfer, but for sound standard def DVDs the upconversion is INCREDIBLE. What we've had further experience with that has been equally stunning is the audio performance. This unit handles it all (CD, SACD, DVD Audio, etc) very impressively, and as a result I must re-emphasize the value quotient. Short of Bluray and HD-DVD, this unit will handle virtually any disc in your collection. Thanks Oppo!

(Also available direct from Oppo)

AGPtek® GS5000 270 Rotation 5.0MP H.264 Full HD 1920x1080P 30FPS Dashboard Car Vehicle Camera Vide

• 1920x1080P FULL HD high quality resolution, advance H.264 video compression technology 5 Mega Pixels, 4X digital zoom, ranges from 12cm to limitless distance, 1.5 inch high resolution LCD, can watching while shooting, 5 resolution forms can be changed for video recording, 30/60frames per second for smooth video flow.
• Matching LED for supplementing light at night, Support HDMI high quality video transmission, equipped with special auto suction cup holder, conveniently fix and use.
• Built-in GPS, record traffic speed, driving track, G-sensor to keep records of sensor data and real-time display on the player.
• Powerful document protection, even in the recording process, the occurrence of sudden power outages, machine damage, etc., video files will be intact, seamless continuous recording, will not miss any data, adopt auto cigarette lighter power supply, to make the video recording while driving.
• To start the auto automatic off; to start the video recording function, set the video recording time, stop recording when the setting time is up, automatic circulating video recording, being able to set the record time for each file.

The video are very blurry at 1920*1080 even worst at others setting, and the software came this product not even working. I'm not even bother wasting time to return this product just going to get a different one. First dash cam what a lets down. Bummer

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Power button not functioning properly, have only had it for just over three weeks.

Design of device is wrong, the windshield attachment device interfers with either the power port or the power button so that it is not possible to have both the power port and the power button clear, you have to pick which side of the device you want the turn knob located to free up either the port or the power button but you can't have both at the same time.

Software programing is worthless, does not have GPS integration, in fact, to my knowledge, there is no way to integrate the GPS data with the video data. A GPS text file is created, good luck on actually using it. Directions were worthless.

Since I am not able to return the device I am stuck with it. Do your homework and get a device that has good software integration and has all the function buttons/ports accessible.

Finally, device needs to be told when to switch to infrared, this is annoying as it should be smarter and know based on programming.

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It's a nice camera, pretty small and easy to handle. The video is nice, clear, continuous, a bit washy maybe. The bad parts: battery lasts a little over 30 minutes and GPS doesn't work. You better keep the camera plugged in and if you don't mind driving with a wire hanging in front of you while charging, it's a good camera. Let's say I recommend it.

PS. I don't know why, but the clarity of the video uploaded to Amazon is way worse than the original. I will post a link from YouTube.

PIONEER DVR-A08XL Internal 4x Double-Layer DVD Writer - Black Bezel

A fast 16x burner from Pioneer with a easy to use and versatile software suite included with it. I'm now a fan of Ulead's CD burning and DVD conversion/burning software. It requires little exploration to burn a DVD from nearly any video file. 16x media isn't out yet so a 4.7 GB burn takes about 7 min at 8x. The black bezel matches with my custom case too.

The speed of this drive and software was much better than the other DVD burner and Intervideo software I had. pcmag.com rated this drive very good which seems to be accurate. There was a sound problem I had when playing back some recorded piano music, I reported the problem on the ulead web site and they responded in a day with the existing fixes available on the web site; however, I am still having a sound problem on certain videos. I think it is because I changed the amount of sound bits in the middle of the recording and the software cannot handle it, but software should not fail when this happens. I have now purchased Adobe Premier Elements and Photoshop Elements together instead and it was able to detect the sound bit change. The ulead software is the current release which is good at least.

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I was unable to use this DVD drive and had to return it because the tray is too wide. Most DVD drives give you about a 1/2" clearence on the sides, but this tray gos compeletely to the edge. Once I put the case back on the computer, the tray could not eject. If they would redesign the tray to be more compatible with Dell PC's and others, then this would be a good drive.

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I bought this recorder three weeks ago and it works well. A previous reviewer complained about the tray being too wide. I ran into that problem on my Dell. I had to make sure the recorder was pushed all the way to the front of my computer so I could move the flexible frame of the computer a little to allow the tray to open. It worked and opens and closes, however Pioneer should have seen this coming and designed better. The player recorder works just fine, but the software makes me mad. You will likely have to buy new software and I feel cheated by Pioneer and Ulead for including software that is only lacking in handling Dolby. If you have a recording with Dolby audio the software will not handle the audio. Why do they do that? If I buy new software it definitely won't be Ulead because I feel cheated by them. All my recordings on my TV settop DVD recorder are in Dolby so how am I supposed to edit, etc. DVD's recorded on my settop DVD recorder?

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Sony ICD-U50 All-In-One MP3 and Digital voice recorder 256MB

I bought this as a replacement for my other voice recorder that I lost in school. The sound quality is very inferior compared to my old Olympus. It is advertised as stereo but there is only one mic input. So, what you hear in your left ear is the same as in your right, no stereo imagery. Plus, Sony's DVF file sucks. You can only play it on the Windows Media Player, but only if you downloaded the included plug-in. My old Olympus's output are WMA files. So everywhere I go, I can use any PC with Windows Media Player to listen to my files.

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Centon Movex MP3 8GB - Black (8GBMP3-001)

• Centon moVex MP3 8GB - Black (8GBMP3-001)
• Hard-drive-mp3-players
• Leather stand case 5 60 GB BK

EDIT: I have, since this original review was published, purchased another of these for my wife and was greatly disappointed. Not the same software as in the unit I reviewed, and in fact, there is a media management program on the drive that is a real P.O.S and difficult to get around. In addition, it lasted exactly one month and a day before it lost its programming, and Centon does not provide any sort of support for these things, so no firmware updates or even backup versions of the software are available.

The unit I reviewed was purchased through Comp USA, and the players now available are through another company, so I'm forced to conclude there were different versions sold through different companies. If you can get the Comp USA version, I'd say go for it. Otherwise, the COBY MP315-4G Coby Micro MP3 Player MP315-4GBLK (Black), while only a 4Gb player, not only uses the software I reviewed here, but is so much better made and so much more reliable that the smaller memory size really doesn't matter. ANY of the COBY 300-series battery powered MP3 players easily outstrip this CENTON, hands down.

END OF EDIT

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I've used a lot of MP3 players over the past few years and this one is a piece of junk. The controls are poorly designed and it kept freezing so that it couldn't even be turned off without removing the battery. I'm going back to a Coby player they're better than any by Creative Zen or Sansa.

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Because I like the form factor of a built-in USB connection, I purchased one of these and one of the jWIN audio players at the same time, to see if either was a good product. They both appear to have the same user interface/menu, and might be produced by the same companyhowever, I'm not certain of this. I am a seasoned user of audio players, and have been successful with a variety of products (Creative, Apple, Samsung, etc). Unfortunately, the menu/user interface and navigation capabilities of this product are virtually impossible to use, making it worthless as a music player.

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I was looking for a low small and low cost musinc player for running. Because of the abuse I give these devices, I didn't want to spend much, as any of the previous music players I have used only gave me about a year of service. Sweat, rain and regular impacts with hard objects take their toll. This one was as good as any I have owned before, was fairly easy to drive and is still working years later. At 8GB it will hold about 1500 songs, good enough for many miles of happy cruising.

John@JcGilmour.ca

I bought this about a year a ago when it worked i liked it but now the buttons on it stopped working had to replace it

Cables Direct Online- BLACK 20ft PREMIUM QUALITY PRE-MADE SECURITY CAMERA VIDEO POWER CABLE RG59 +

This is a very good item. I used it immediately when it came in the mail. I would recommend this product to my friends and family.

These were just the length I needed (would have like to buy 15 ft ones but they are not available), but when I went to buy more they were not available, so I had to buy the 38 ft ones and they are too long. I'm able to use the 38 ft ones, but I've got a lot of excess cable. All in all, considering the quality/price ratio of these items, I'm happy!

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Sony RK-G136 Audio Connecting Cord

I bought this cable to use in my car. I have a 2006 Scion xB with an AUX plug for MP3, CD & Tape players. This is just the cable for me to be able to use our Dell DJ's in my car. The sound quality coming through the radio is great with no distortion or static. It's long enough that backseat passangers have control of the devices without having to reach. I am very happy with this product.

This cable is doing a fine job of connecting my iPod to my car stereo. I had a more expensive cable doing the job over the last year, but after sitting in the car for a year, the shielding deteriorated and the sound started to get all screwy (technical term).

As far as this one is concerned, it sounds just fine (which is a big deal for me) and it's very flexible, which is a plus. Whether it can withstand more than a year in a car is yet to be proven, but initial quality is very good.

I recommend.

EDIT 2011:

...and it lasts in a car directly in the sun for years as well. Just thought I'd add that.

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I use this cord to connect my mp3 player to my car's sound system via an aux/mp3 jack. It's long enough to reach the back seat for passengers, and the sound quality is great.

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Why anyone would ever walk into a high-end electronics retailer and throw down $20 for a simple mp3 connector cable when you can get the same exact thing on Amazon for less than six bucks is beyond me.

I ordered one of these bad boys 14 months ago, and it's still going strong. Never any problems; never any complaints.

A caveat to this product is that it looks and feels like it's much higher quality than other comparably-priced mp3 connectors (which, given the Sony brand name, really doesn't surprise me at all).

I feel I'm quite qualified to opine on this kind of product given that I've also purchased two other mp3 connectors along the way, including the BELKIN F8V203-06-APL Mini-Stereo Audio Cable (it sucks like an anteater with a punctured snout--one of the male 3.5 mm prongs broke off less than two weeks after I got the connector in the mail) and its de facto replacement, the Recoton ACW 343 Audio Stereo Mini Cable (nice quality, i.e. immensely better than the Belkin connector cable, but I haven't had it long enough yet to give it the bulletproof, ringing endorsement I'm doling out to this Sony Audio Connecting Cord).

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I bought this to connect the headset jack on my Slacker G2 portable player to the single Aux jack on my Altec Lansing T621 portable stereo system in my office at work. It works great. Same excellent result when I connect the headset jack on my BlackBerry Tour to listen to music.

This product has quality written all over it. Not only does it use gold plated plugs, but consists of a "double wire" (like in an electrical extension cord) rather than a single wire. The sound quality is superior with no distortion or loss of quality, and the cable is sturdy and durable.

I have used various audio connecting cords over the years and like this one the best for connecting a headset jack to a single Aux jack. Note that on a stereo system that has both red and white audio jacks, you need to buy something different to get stereo sound. This product is only for when you are connecting to a single Aux jack.

For the price this is an excellent buy. I recommend this.

SmartGuard 120W 4-in-1 security system: motion activated light+camera+SD card memory+audio warning

I am pleased with this product and the price. I set the camera, lights, and audio to turn on/record when motion was detected except for daytime when I set it for only the camera and audio to turn on/record. It's really nice having the options of the different settings. It was relatively easy to assemble, program, and install. Considering I'm a 50-year old mother of three, I had no difficulty installing it in place of the flood light over our garage. I like the way you can position the lights and the motion sensor/camera to just about any position you want. It was also easy to remove the memory card, an allen wrench is supplied to open and close the cover, and of course a ladder was necessary since I installed it above the garage. The videos were crystal clear when I viewed them on the computer. I don't know yet if the memory card (2gb) that comes with it will have sufficient space, but so far so good.

Just installed my SmartGuard E120CA-1. All seems to be well, with so-so instructions. But things are so simple you really don't need much of that.

The problem lies here: It's a hassile every time you need to view the content on the SD card, you need to grab that funky wrench, open the access panel, remove the SD card and bring it to your computer to see the video clips. SO, I tried to be smart and stick an Eye-Fi card (Connect X2 4GB) in there, thinking I can retrive all the captured video wirelessly, and therefore no more disassembly before viewing any video. Well, it did not work. This camera is recording in ASF format, and seems like Eye-Fi is not supporting it. I understand this is not a problem from the SmartGuard itself, but are there anyone out there that have experience in dealing with this and willing to help?

Many thanks in advance.

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Wow, I don't believe how good this product has been for the price. It came about a week ago and I installed it right away. For the price, you can't beat it. It cost about twice as much as a motion light without a camera. The pictures are very good and the light comes on at night when there is a motion too.

It was just a little confusing to set it up, but not too bad. The mounting plate wouldn't fit my existing junction box. All I needed to do is cut some of the plastic away from the mounting holes and that problem was solved. I have tried single shot, burst and video. I can't decide between the burst and the video, both are good. I downloaded the pictures directly from the camera onto my laptop with the provided cable. It couldn't have been easier. I didn't want to remove the SD card because the instructions said I had to shut off the power to do so. Shutting off the power means that you have to reset the date, time etc... I put in a new 1GB SD card that I had which may fill up in 2 weeks with all the times somebody walks by it.

No problem with that, it should just put the new pictures in the spots where the oldest ones were. If there was a burglary we would check the card before the pictures or videos were replaced. A note about SD cards, they are now selling a lot of SDHC card. They don't work in many products that require SD only. I am not sure if that is the case with the Smartguard Security Lighting Camera, just use a regular SD to be sure.

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Now this is the coolest device that I have ever seen. I comes complete with everything you need. The product installs in just minutes and set-up is a snap. Packed extremely well, ships lightening fast. The product records activity so that you can review it and turn it over to the police if need be. A picture is worth a thousand words and I could write more about this product. However, incredible and amazing works just fine. Congrats to the vendor and Amazon once again. Thank you very much for a excellent product and service.

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Works as advertised. Illumination is sufficient though a little more wattage might be better.Camera is impressive. Mounts easily. Some people may need to make some alterations as I did since the base diameter is a little large. The batteries may require a little work to replace since the base is flush to the electrical box you mount it to. Mounting the unit obviously requires it to be at least 8-10 feet above the ground to prevent tampering. Not American-made. Is anything ever made here?

Alarm Clock Security Hidden DVR video CCTV Camera Motion Detector mini covert DV Camcorder + webcam

I ordered this because I wanted to catch my roommate stealing money from my room. Within 24 hours of it being delivered, I caught her!

The video quality seems to be pretty good. I'd probably compare it to a decent laptop webcam. After searching through the options on Amazon, I found this gem. Many other models of alarm clock camera seem to have smaller batteries and a smaller Micro SDHC card capability. While recording, it breaks up the files into 20 minute increments ... which is nice. You'll need a decent sized SDHC card for extended use of continuous recording. The first video shot was about 57 minutes long and took up a little under 2GB, so my 16GB SDHC lasts about 8 hours in continuous record mode. Supposedly, the battery lasts 12 hours in continuous record mode w/ a full charge. For $30 w/ shipping, I'm happy with my purchase. Now that I don't have a problem with a thieving roommate, I have a decent travel clock!

Cons:

*Needs to be charged via USB cable. No battery compartment and no dedicated power cord. Must flip open 'secret compartment' to access USB port for charging. So it's not really 'hidden camera' material while it's charging and the TF card slot and ON/OFF button is exposed.

*Motion detect mode is one of the reasons I bought the camera. But when you set it to motion detect, the blue LED blinks like crazy when it detects movement and goes back to a solid blue LED light when no motion is detected. NOT a good feature for a 'hidden camera'

*Instructions were a lot better than expected, but I still can't figure out how to mute it. For some reason, it shouts out the time on the hour, every hour.

*DO NOT loose the remote. Without the remote, you have no access to the camera controls. I wish there were mirrored controls in the hidden compartment. So it would be possible to control the camera's 'secret features' without the remote.

Tried to use this when I went out of town to see whether my bedroom was being occupied or tampered with. I wish it had a power cord because the changing light in the room burned up the entire time allowed in one day. I do like that it is totally undescript and doesn't draw attention to itself. I just need something better because I did have a boobie trap set off so I know someone was in my space. I did not catch a picture of them because the battery was dead or the time had run out for a recording.

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Great price. Works pretty well, actually a little better than expected. Limited range on the camera direction. Affordable and helped me get the answer I was looking for.

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Piece of crap! When inserting the mini SD card, would not lock in place. Also, when the battery went dead, I plugged in to charge into the computer, would not charge, even though I left plugged in for hours!

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Alarm clock is working, but the security video part is not working, it is a waste of money, do not buy it.

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Sony DVP-NS57P/S Progressive Scan DVD Player, Silver

• Precision Drive, 3 System For Flaws in DVD Discs
• Progressive Output (480p)
• Multi Brand TV Remote Control*
• Dolby® Digital Decoding Compatible
• Tunerless

I've had this DVD player a few weeks now and have watched a couple dozen DVDs. None have given me any problems, including scratched DVDs and DVDs burnt on cheap media which would freeze and skip on my old econo DVD player.

The pros: The user interface is excellent. It seems solid, quick to respond, and well made. I love the speed up/slow down feature, very cool. It's sleek and compact looking, excellent remote control response range.

The cons: The remote will not program for too many TVs, there's only about a dozen codes and none of them work for my older TV. I'm sure it's fine if you're TV is from the last 5 years or so, or a very common older one though.

This model is one of very few DVD players I looked at that wasn't made in China, definitely a plus in my book (although many other Sonys are).

I can't yet speak for long-term use, but overall, I'm very impressed.

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I can't believe people are writing negative reviews on this player at all. I have seen some of them, and quite frankly some of them are just plain absurd. What do you want out of a sub $60 player?

It has played every dvd i have burned flawlessly. No pixelization as you might get with some older or cheaper players. It also played a random Mp3 disk i put together with no problem...and even listed the tracks.

The picture and audio are fantastic as well. Sure it doesn't have a ton of "bells and whistles" to it, but i was just looking for a basic player that would just play my dvd's flawlessly and this player does a great job of it. If you want a dvd player without the high price tag that will deliver great picture and sound, this is the one for you!

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NOTE: This review is a copy&paste of my review for the 2005 SKU/model/version of this player ... Sony DVPNS50P. After that it became the "55" model before this year when it became the "57" model.

DECEMBER 2005: I have only had this item for about three weeks or so. I am hoping that it "holds up" over time, unlike a lot of other DVD players on the market that apparently fail so quickly they are practically disposable in nature.

The "pros" on this item (so far) are:

* sleek, slim, uncluttered look of the unit

* comes in either black or silver, so you can match it up to your other devices.

* easy set up. There's a electrical plug, trip-RCA jacks and an S-video jack. Hook-up is a snap. Hardware-wise, the device, then, is really uncluttered.

* seems to be a good deal for the price.

The "cons" (so far) are:

* as said elsewhere by other reviewers... it IS slow. Slow to boot a disc. Slow to re-start a disc that has been stopped. Just slow.

* the display readout on the front of the box. It scrolls words like "welcome," "open" "close" and "no text." The firmware engineer was apparently out to lunch on this one. There's not even a clock display. It will display the time the DVD has played, thank goodness.

*the on-screen menu is pretty lame. Must have been the same engineer. The menu choices are only displayed as cryptic graphics, and the choices for each graphic are brief and uninformative (as in "on, off, auto" or similar types of statements). You will absolutely have to work through the manual to figure it out. And you won't find a lot of useful functionality after you do. It is a pretty bare-bones box.

* The remote control could use a good bit of improvement. The text is large enough to read ... but the buttons barely protrude from the face. You have to grasp this thing firmly, get your finger right on the button and apply a good bit of pressure to score. And a lot of the buttons can't be pushed while the thing is sitting on the coffee table ... the back of the device is beveled at the top, so if you press on the buttons near the top -common usage buttons like TV on/off, box on/off and open/close -while it is sitting on a level surface, the thing just flips up in the air. And the range is horrid. It can't handle getting its signal over the edge of my coffee table three feet away from the box. You've got to pick it up and aim it directly at the device if you want the box to respond. There's no facilitation for using the remote at night (no glow in the dark, backlighting, light-through, etc.) AND the remote came in silver. Who at Sony thought that I would want a silver remote if I bought a black box? Was molding cases for the remote in two different colors too big a challenge for them ... or did it just make it easier for Sony to manage its inventory?

* The box has already told me "no disc" incorrectly a couple of times. Jogging it opened and closed resolved the issue. Either the tray is not designed to align the disc 100% when inserted ... or this is an indication the device is going to have read problems down the road. Time will tell.

Still, IF it is quality, IF it is durable, then it's worth what I paid for it.

UPDATE: September, 2006. After owning one for almost a year ... and buying two more this summer ... I can still recommend this unit. Every once in a great while, it gets confused enough so that I have to unplug it from the wall to "reboot it." It has tracked flawlessly on almost every DVD ... just a freeze here and there on some heavily used Netflix rentals. I do not see any evidence of dual-layer freezing.

UPDATE December, 2007. All three units still working fine and still recommended.

UPDATE March, 2009. No problems! Recommended!!!

NOTE: The "57" does NOT have S-video input; the "50" does. I replaced the remote with a Sony RM-VL600 'trainable' remote. $20 and well worth it. Check it out.

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I am the type of person who likes to get the most value for the money I spend. This Sony definitely gives you the most value for what you get!

We have a room for the kids and they love to watch Disney DVDs and can sit for hours entertained and immersed in a good video. Superb video and audio quality makes it more enjoyable for them.

I decided to get a good versatile DVD Player that would provide the best picture and audio quality for the children. I did not want to obtain the higher end dvd players with 780p, 1080i, or 1080p high definition because the television in the childrens play room is only capable of 480p at best. Therefore, if you are looking for a DVD player to use for your 1080i, or 1080p flat screen TV...then do not read any further...this DVD player is not for you. Always remember your high definition television is limited by what you connect it to. This progressive scan DVD player provides much better quality than standard television and is considered enhanced definition, but by no means high definition.

Now check this out! For less than $60, you get a player that can play MP3s, CD, DVD, CD-R, SVCD, CD-RW, DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RW, DVD+R DL, DVD-R DL, Video CD, JPEG photo playback and now combine that with Progressive scanning for an awesome 480p Enhanced Definition Picture! WOW!!!

I found this particular player could play the childrens scratched DVDs, while my other more expensive DVD player could not. I also found this player to have produced the best sound quality on the childrens television I have heard, coming from their tv set. The money I spent for this DVD player definitely is worth every penny. I am so happy with this DVD/CD player.

The remote is very easy to use. The functions for playback, resume and scrolling through chapter scenes is effortless. The only reason I don't switch out my other more expensive DVD player is because my living room TV is a 1080i flatscreen. Otherwise, I would exclusively have this DVD player on all of my televisions.

My experience with Sony products have always been good. This time it is more than good. The quality and performance--plus the cheap price for this type of DVD/CD player, makes it the most excellent Sony product I have encountered up to this date and time. It's great to find a quality product, but to have both quality and value...now that's something to be happy about!

I purchased this dvd player for a small hd tv. I have had good experience with other sony electronics products and this experience was also good. It only took about 5-10 minutes to hook the dvd to my tv and set it up. It plays old dvds that I recorded 3-4 years ago from old vhs tapes as well as my rentals with no glitch.CD capability is good.No complaints. I am pleased.

New 4gb 2.8-inch Touch Screen Mp4 Player with Camera Black

I debated between 4 or 5 stars because there are quite a few things that could have been done much better, but I can't believe all the features they crammed into this for just $28 (including shipping).

If you're looking for a high quality device, this might not be right for you, but if you want a cheap device that does one or more of these functions adequately, it could be quite the deal. While there are a few usability annoyances, most of the features do appear to be at least useable. I've encountered a lot of ultra-cheap devices that have a log checklist of features, but they are implemented so poorly that they can't be used. While the cheap hardware does put limits on the function and some of the interfaces could be improved, most do seem usable.

Here are a few features and specs that aren't mentioned in the product description:

The ear-buds are white. This is a genuine iPod wana-be.

The camera takes pictures up to 1280x960 resolution (defaults to 1024x768, but can be adjusted up or down). It appears to only save images as very low quality .jpg's. A 1024x768 image was 100kB, a 1280x960 was 150kB.

Video recording 320x240 resolution with audio.

Comes with stylus (but no good place to store it).

Can operate as a USB PC camera (not tested)

Built in speaker (not high quality sound, but handy on occasion).

Switch to lock out the touch screen.

Other Apps included:

Calculator (simple, not scientific)

stopwatch

calendar: just displays a calendar with a few major holidays. This is not a planner.

Games: Go, Chinese Chess, "road" (shuffling blocks to get the big block to the exit), Minesweeper

Notebook (A simple text editor). This has an on screen keyboard and handwriting recognition of English and simplified Chinese. The English recognition doesn't seem to work very well, but it appears that with some practice one could find the way to write each letter so it would be recognized. The keyboard has a bug where pressing the shift key prompts to "Clear all text", so I haven't found a way to make capital letters except with handwriting recognition. Trying to make a capital C can be difficult. One way to work around this was to "return" to Chinese character entry mode and select "all" instead of simplified Chinese. then when you draw a character, it will display a large number of characters it thinks you might have typed (both Chinese and English), and you can select the one you want. For some reason however, when entered this way, the characters have spaces between them that can't be deleted. The notepad application has locked up on me twice, requiring resetting the device. Reset can be done by poking the stylus in a well-marked hole in the side of the case. It reboots in less than 15 seconds. So this app appears to not be too useful, but looked impressive at first.

Touch screen:

The touch screen is pressure sensitive (not capacitive), so don't expect it to work like an iPhone. With the included stylus, it works pretty well. Some operations can be done with finger touch, but the accuracy isn't good enough for a lot of the small buttons, or buttons near the edge. This could be an annoyance. Since there is no slot to hold the stylus, I probably won't bring it with me, so I'll need to improvise. The ear-bud plug can be used in a pinch.

Manual:

The printed manual appears to have been based on a different version of the software than is on the device. It comes with a CD that might have more info, but I haven't gotten around to looking at it yet since it is a small CD which I can't put into my CD drive without tipping my PC on its side. The most important part is the instructions is to hold the power button for three seconds to turn it on, which I might not have guessed without the manual, but it doesn't mention that it's a slider, not a button, and you have to slide it the correct direction. Sliding the other direction is to lock out the touchscreen.

The Display is adequate. It looks like 320x240 resolution. The viewing angle is pretty bad (only one person can really look at it). I haven't tried it in daylight yet.

Quality:

lightweight

It arrived with the Mini-SD card slot cover detached. I was able to put it back on, but it seems to fall off when I open it. The SD slot cover is hard to open.

The case has a slight misalignment, but it doesn't look too bad.

I noticed a lot of static on the radio as I was listening to the radio in the background and doing other things. I'm not sure if it's whenever the screen updates or when the processor is working.

Quirks:

Up down arrows. to increase a number, press the down arrow. To decrease, press up.

The play/pause/stop button shows the current state, not what will happen if you press the button, which is different than most apps I'm used to.

This product is overall good. It weighs much less than I anticipated which is nice. Some things about it are not what I had thought when I bought it. This media player looks like an iphone, but does not compare in performance. The touch screen is very difficult to work at times. And not all videos can be played on the player. But what music I do load onto the player plays very well. And is much smaller than an iphone, which is nice.

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The product arrived on time and was exactly as described! My son got this for his birthday and loves it. The instructions were very easy and he was able to download music, videos, and pics, by himself.

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I received mine 2 weeks ago. It is perfect for me, was able to download music easily, and pretty fast. The only thing I can not figure out is how to download my TXT file books on it? I have books to add to it, but I can not figure it out, seeing that the user manual does not give details. If anyone knows how I download games, and e-books onto the MP4, can you please share? Thank you in advance :)

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It is cheap plastic and you have to bang the crap out of it to get the touch screen to work

IndochineTV Media Player

Great service!!!

I bought this media Box together with one TV Package called Indochine package from Indochine TV, the box has so many functions that I still on my way to learn how to use. I watch live Vietnam TV from the box, play my own storage movies on TV screen rather than on my laptop, and I found out I also can play music, pictures slide, and still on my way to discover the box, lol.

Roku SoundBridge M1000/M1001 Network Music System

• Wireless digital music receiver for streaming music from a PC or Mac to any home stereo or surround sound system
• Native support for Apple iTunes and Rendezvous, Windows Media Player, Windows Media Player 10, and Rhapsody
• Compatible with Windows Media DRM 10 music services, including Napster, MusicMatch, and Walmart.com
• Easy-to-read 280 x 16 vacuum-fluorescent display with 4 EQ music visualizers; built-in WiFi and Ethernet interfaces
• Ultra-fast 400 MHz Blackfin DSP; measures 10 inches wide by 2.37 inches in diameter; 1-year warranty

Note that there is no functional difference between M1000 and M1001. Also, both devices are equipped with 802.11b which is perfectly adequate, so not having 802.11g is probably irrelevant. The following are some observations:

Pros:

1. Intuitive UI design for browsing.

2. Attractive industrial design.

3. Able to play internet radio without the computer on.

4. Natively supported by Media Player 11. No additional software needs to be installed.

5. Good sound quality. Optical port is a plus.

6. Painless firmware upgrade. It is done directly over the network. No need to disconnect or reconnect anything.

7. Reasonably priced.

Cons:

1. Does not support double byte languages.

2. Could have given better diagnostic messages when media server is not found.

3. LED of the optical port is always on, even in standby mode. I wonder if it will wear out.

4. Standby mode still draw 3 watts of power. Most of my other gadgets draw only 1 watt of power at standby.

You need some knowledge of wireless network setup and firewalls to get this device working.

Yeah, it is still a 5 stars product. Despite imperfections, it is still more fun than chore. That is a lot more than I can say about a lot of other hi-tech toys I own.

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I bought a Roku SoundBridge M1000 last month with two objectives: Firstly, I wanted to listen to the MP3s on the stereo in the living room (without resorting to CD-R), and secondly, I wanted a to turn my PC into a "media center" and get out of the business of trying to find a CD in a cupboard of hundreds of non-alphabetized CDs. The Roku SoundBridge achieved both goals, though not without difficulty.

The SoundBridge appears to be solidly built and looks stylish on the sideboard. No need to hide this one away!

Initial set up was straight forward. It worked with both Netgear and Linksys wireless routers with WEP, and within about 30 minutes I had achieved objective #1.

Sound quality is very good, and herein lies the problem MP3s that are great through PC speakers, sound lack-luster through a good stereo. The problem is inherent with MP3. I needed loss-less compression. SoundBridge, in conjunction with the excellent and free FireFly media server, can play FLAC format and sounds absolutely spectacular when it does every bit as good as the original CD. Unfortunately, the configuration is not straight forward. It took me several days to figure it out and maybe beyond someone less technically savvy. Roku should add native support for FLAC and remove this burden from their customers.

Another gripe the WiFi is "b" and not "g", was not robust enough to run from one side of the house to the other, especially with high bandwidth material e.g., loss-less WAV and would "rebuffer". I gave up on wireless and ran a wire and plugged it in. With CD's ripped as FLAC and a wired connection I achieved objective #2.

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Since moving into our current house and with the establishment of our wireless network, I've gone through some grief trying to connect the family computers' music collection to the central sound system in the main family room / den. Our setup consists of a Motorola broadband modem wired to a Linksys Wireless-G router wired to the two computers in the study. There is one wireless access point in the den, as well as a new, third computer, which connects to the wireless network via a Linksys WMB54G Music Bridge (I'll explain).

Last Christmas, I bought the Linksys Music Bridge for my parents, with the idea of broadcasting music to it from the computers located in the den. I had read about the problems encountered with trying to make it work, but I saw it as my only real option at the time and decided to risk it. Following some of the user-created tutorials here and elsewhere on the net, I managed to get it working for periods at a time.I say periods at a time, because inevitably, it would lose connectivity and the bridge software would not be able to pick it up, requiring me to tinker with it to try and reestablish a connection. Recently, it seemed to stop connecting altogether.

I read about the Apple Airport Express, so I picked one of those up. I brought it home from Best Buy and plugged it into a socket just behind the main entertainment system's cabinet. It has one light that blinks amber if there is a connection issue or solid green for an established connection with the network. Going through the configuration routine a couple times, I was able to get it to connect to our wireless network without nearly as much trouble as I had 8 months prior with the WMB54G. The only drawback to the Airport Express is that you can only access it with iTunes, which, when an external speaker connection is detected, creates a dropdown box in the lower area of the main window that lets you select which external speakers or Airport you would like to output to. To me, this felt a bit limiting, but I would probably have lived with it, had I not encountered an anomaly:

Now, I was planning to junk the WMB54G, but we had just bought a third computer (den), which of course needed a way to connect with the network. On a whim, I plugged it into the Linksys Music Bridge. Lo, and behold, it was able to use the Music Bridge like a wireless modem! (so it wasn't a total loss, after all). However, opening iTunes, it was somehow unable to see the Airport Express, and despite my efforts, I never could get the dropdown box to appear. I wasn't about to have a 2/3 solution, so back the Airport Express went. I scanned the isle, and there was the Roku M1000. It looked promising and well-made, so I bought it.

I cannot describe how cool this thing is! Setup of the Roku M1000 to the network was a real pleasure, for a change! In the first place, all setup configuration is performed at the Roku itself, using the remote and the display, which sure beats the heck out of going through a setup routine at every computer on the network! The Roku is an electronic Einstein compared to the others. It found and displayed the network name on the screen. I told it to connect. It immediately acquired all the right IP/gateway information without me having to baby it. Awesome!

Second, the Roku is smart enough to be able to scan for and find music sharing servers on the network by itself, without any additional software installed on each computer. I have not tried WMP specifically yet, but so far, whenever I have had one or all of the computers running iTunes with sharing enabled, the Roku would always find and display their library names on the screen. Sweet! Then it's just a matter of choosing one, and deciding which browsing method to use. That simple! It also will connect to hundreds of internet radio stations, right out of the box! So, even if you have not set up a music collection on your PC, you can still use it. It also shouldn't be overlooked that, unlike other devices, you don't have to go to the computer to play music from it. Since the Roku has its own display, you can browse and change the music right there, using the remote.

When I contrast my experiences regarding other devices, such as the Linksys Music Bridge and Apple Airport Express, both of which are more limiting and more prone to setup issues, with the Roku M1000, I feel that everyone wanting to get music from their PCs to their home stereo system should be made aware of this little guy, as it is by far the easiest and most versatile solution out there.

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Being able to play the music in my PC anywhere in the house is killer. My CD collection is in the basement and that's where it's going to stay. In the past I'd connected my mp3 players to my home system, which worked well, but they had to be loaded and recharged, and they couldn't carry ALL of the music stored on my PC, which made them somewhat limiting. All of that is over. With a wireless network music player, I can listen to EVERYTHING, whenever I want, anywhere within the range of my network.

The Roku Soundbridge is a great addition to my collection of gadgets. It was easy to set up and connect to my PC. I initially connected it through Itunes, which allows any Itunes radio station to by played through it in addition to all COMPATIBLE format music files. I have also installed Windows Media Connect in my PC, which also works very well for sharing files on a wireless network (which the Soundbridge is connected to). Media Connect starts with the PC startup and runs in the backround, and it doesn't eat a ton of memory like ITUNES does. So if you don't have or don't like ITUNES, that won't stop you from using the Soundbridge. But I haven't spent any time yet trying to get internet radio through Windows Media Connect, so I can't tell you how accessible internet radio is. For now, when I want to listen to internet radio, I start ITunes, then shut it down when I've finished, even though my PC can easily handle Itunes in the backround. I just don't like to keep it running when I'm not using it (just a personal preference).

Wiring the unit to the stereo system is very easy. Browsing the Soundbridge is fairly easy, and it has a great sound. You'd never know it's wireless. The adjustable volume feature is KEY, because you don't have to keep the volume control for the reciever handy. Just keep the receiver set at the loudest you want it to get (with the Soundbridge at 100%), then control the volume with the Soundbridge.

It has a cool, compact look and bright (dimmable) display, which allows it to be either the center of attention, unobtrusive, or hidden, depending on your preference. I like gadgets, so mine will be very noticable.

JUST DON'T LOSE THE REMOTE!!

I was very excited to get this for X-mas last year, but instantly became disappointed when I was unable to get a wireless wi-fi connection outside of the room with my router. All of the other wi-fi devices in our house connect well, especially with the Linksys booster in the kitchen, but not the Soundbridge. I have given up on wireless, and am now trying to figure out how to directly link it to our stereo, which is currently far away from the router. On the plus side, the configuration and controls are great when it does connect, but this unfortunately doesn't help me. Beware of this device if your goal is a wireless connection across any distance.

Samsung DVD-P190 Standard DVD Player

• Progressive Scan
• Advanced 14-bit video DAC
• Multi Format Playback ? DVD, DVD±R, DVD±RW, CD, CD-R, MP3, WMA, JPEG, MPEG-4 formats
• EZView Letter Box Eliminator
• Super Scan Playback

This DVD player was a perfect choice. We were looking to replace our old DVD player because it fritzed out and wasn't playing any of our Netflix videos, much less, any of our home ones. We weren't prepared to spend the several hundred dollars for an upgrade to a more expensive Blu-ray player. So we started looking around and found this player. The price was right and I gotta tell ya it was a really good buy. It plays well on our flat screen and the picture is amazing. Not as amazing as the Blu-ray, but, much better than regular t.v. We had simple integration with our home theatre system as well. Overall this was an excellent value for our money.

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We bought this DVD player after our other one started having all kinds of problems after several years of serving us quite well. This DVD player works well. At first, we couldn't figure out why it was playing our widescreen movies at full screen, but figured out that we had to stop the movie and reset our TV type in the DVD menu, and that fixed it.

It works fine for us. We have a non-digital TV and just want something to play our movies.

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The DVD player is claimed to give you near HD picture. I compared to my HD signal from my cable provider and the DVD player does not compare. I am not sure how they can make this claim, most likely they found a technical way to legally claim this but I wouldnt buy this player expecting anything near the HD quality of a 1080i (and obviously not 1080p) output. Overall it is a good buy though. Looks good, slim, light. Good buy for the price.

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Though technically correct, it has very small remote control with small buttons spaced out only 9 mm (less than 3/8 inch) horizontally and 10 mm (13/32 inch) vertically quite difficult for pressing with fingers even of average thickness of men in Europe or USA. It is lacking fast forward and reverse speeds between 4X and 64X, of which 8X and 16X are very useful, needed, and desired. It also does not have the search function and it does not show the total play time or remaining play time on its poor display. The graphical interface (menus) is substandard and scant. All together, it is poorly designed player though functional and quite sturdy. By far the worst is the remote control.

Instead, Toshiba SD4200 offers a better remote, but Toshiba SD7300 has an ergonomic remote, richness of functions, intelligent menus, and a legible display.

Does the job, but with little kids the remote is hard to keep track of sometimes. The unit does not have FF/RW buttons on it, so apaprt from loading the dvd everytime and sitting through the previews it is a good little player for the money. TAPE THE REMOTE SOMEWHERE SAFE!! :)

DIGISTOR 50GB 6X Blu-ray Disc Recordable BD-R Blank Media, White Inkjet Printable Surface (10 pack)

10 discs cost almost 40 $ comparing to 25GB which are only 30$ per 50. To me is extremely expensive. I will buy them again unless they bring the price down. Can't complain about quality though, no coasters

Just burnt one blu ray from this stack and it came out great i use a external LG super multi blue with the original burning program it came with recognized the disc no problem burning it and it works on my sony blu ray protable dvd player.

Just burnt a second blu ray movie and it is also flawless great product

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They work fine. What else can u say about blank Discs ? I tried them in my LG internal burner and they worked great.

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The discs came in a cake pack (stack) vs. individual envelopes as pictured more convenient, IMHO. I burned several discs in my Samsung SE-506BB, all of which played fine in my Sony BluRay player. Given the low price for these 50GB BD-R discs, they are an excellent value. I'm very satisfied.

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Disc manufacturer CMC in China. Got great BD-R disc from CMC before, this is my first BD-R DL disc, that wasn't in a single package. I burned a file of 38GB on two different disc, one @ 2x (forgot to change to 4x), the other @ 4x. Disc is rated to burn up to 6X. Both disc showed perfect surface and verification checks, afterwards. This will my BD-R DL printable choice, unless some one beats their price with the same quality. Can't wait to buy more. Will experiment with the 6X burning later. I used Maxell BD-R DL disc previous. They a were great, but too expensive. I think they were also made by CMC. I'm using 14x LG BR burners. So good so far.

LG BD530 1080p Network Blu-ray Disc Player

• Blu-ray, DVD and CD disc playback
• Full HD 1080p output makes the most of your HD TV
• Standard DVD up-scaling to 1080p makes your existing DVDs look great
• Access internet services YouTube, Picasa and Accuweather without your PC
• Access real time Blu-ray extras via BD-Live

This Black Friday, Blu-ray player was on my agenda, I have a 46" Samsung LCD HDTV with internet options. I did not want to go for internet enabled Blu-ray player to play netflix or Picasa or Youtube as I already have it in my TV. I wanted a best to the price and awesome quality Blu-ray player which has a brilliant blu-ray as well as DVD upscale conversion for HDTV resolution.

I bought this LG BD530 and Sony BDP-530 at the same time because Sony had the highest ranking in terms on voting on many sites including bestbuy,com. After connecting both players to my TV i used Bly-ray and it played very well on both player, I tried same Bluray disc on both player couple of times alternatively and could not see the difference. Bluray played brilliantly

When i came to DVD playing, after couple of runs with same DVD on same TV (with same settings) I found that LG has a excellent DVD upconversion as compared to Sony, Sony pics were a little more blurr as compared to LG BD530. I tested 2 different DVD movies (lord of the rings and American beauty) to check the DVD quality and I have to admit, LG was awesome. Also somehow I felt the LG remote is much user friendly than Sony remote, but that's a matter of individuals preference.

After carefully reading Sony's review I figured out that it;s sony blu-ray players internet abilities which took it;s rating so high and not the DVD upscale conversion qualities. If you have an old TV with no internet on it and want internet connectibility to watch netflix online, then probably Sony is your candidate. But if you have a new internet enabled TV and have a huge collection of DVD which you wanna keep it for a while and wanna enjoy over and over again, then LG is your best candidate.

I am returning back my Sony BDP-370 player tomorrow to Bestbuy. I hope this review helps to reader.

Santosh Gaikwad

Buy LG BD530 1080p Network Blu-ray Disc Player Now

I got this at sears when it was $65, it will be on sale again, try walmart if amazon doesn't lower price. It plays all my discs and most of my multimedia files. It will not play wmv files and doesn't seem to like my AAC files (plays MP3's okay), but will play H264/mov files if you rename them as .mp4, a common trick with these cheaper players. It powers my two external portable hd's and will play one of my two pen drives, but not both. Its upscaling of 420p material from the usb side not as good as my WD or my PS3, but plays native 1080i/p files with very impressive results.

It does have the BD live function if you want to plug a pen drive into it since it needs external storage. It has limited internet options right now, who cares about accuweather? LG updates their firmware online and my other LG equipment has seen third party hacks that improve it so I look forward to when this is hacked to provide either Netflix, or better yet Playon support.

It did freeze on me at least once as other reviews have noted, have to pull the plug to reset it.

Only 4 stars since it did freeze for no good reason, and I too will need to keep my WD Media player for awhile, but it this had netflix would have given it 5 stars, as for the price it just can't be beat. I will update when I have played with it a bit more, only had it the week so far.

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I have used this Blu Ray player for more than a week and it plays the following without any issues directly from Blue Ray disc as well as DVD, CD and USB:

DivxHD (Divx HD 720p and 1080p profile that create files with Divx extension) NOTE: DivxHD Plus profile creating mkv files seems not working

AVI ( I haven't tried all codecs but whatever I tried worked without any issues)

MKV

AVCHD

I was successfully able to play couple of 720p 4.35 GB mkv files with that's encoded with H264 & DTS audio with subtitle without any issues. Subtitle worked perfectly fine.

Files with DTS audio plays flawless directly on TV speakers without requiring any additional DTS receiver.

Very responsive remote control.

Played lots of MKV files of size 8GB and greater with h264 and DTS audio from an external USB drive and they all played very well. Subtitles were supported and no jitter in playback.

MKV playback is awesome and Up-conversion works great.I can clearly see the difference between regular playback and upconversion (the files I have used were IMAX HD documentaries and Disney Pixar movies i.e. quality of the original file was good to start with).

I tried Verbatim LTH some very cheap media from Meritline and Optical Quantam BD-R burned using IMGBURN in my LG WH10LS30 Blue Ray burner and everything worked flawless.

I tried about 20 of dirt cheap DVD media Dynex, Teon, Playo etc. which had avi files with variety of codecs recorded about 5-6 years ago and they all played without any issues.

Blu Ray disc loads really fast the picture quality is crystal clear. Also quality of You tube and picasa is great.

Overall, it's great inexpensive player that played many media from various sources. It played various file formats not even supported by Philips 5982 Divx player but I still can't retire my WD Live as its picky about codecs i.e. not all mkv files plays flawless and MOV doesn't work at this point.

UPDATE: I was successfully able to play Blu-Ray video files (m2ts) directly from hard drive via. USB connection. Menu is not supported but the files played successfully.

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I bought this player (despite my future purchase of a Playstation 3) mainly because I wanted a Blu-Ray player that could play MKV files. That let's me store a ton of content on an external hard drive, high definition content, and play it "on demand" without ever having to change a disc.

As far as MKV playback goes, it's hit and miss but for the most part MKV files work. It doesn't matter what size it is.

For MKV files that did NOT play I (and others) pinpointed the problem: if a file is encoded with level/profile 4.2 or higher it will NOT play on this player. If you get a file that does not play, run it through MKV2VOB. It has to transcode a lot of movies which takes time but there are a few that don't need transcoding. Playback is good and depends on the speed of your external hard drive. Controlling files can be hit or miss; some let you control things such as speed/fast forward/rewind etc while others will not. I have noticed a few lockups at times.

As far as Blu-Ray playing goes, once you get into the movie it's great. Other than that I think there are some options that were leftout of this player and its remote control that I would have liked such as title program (for discs and files).

The main problem with this player is its frequent lockups and freezes. There is also considerable lag with the remote and sometimes it takes over a minute for the player to respond in certain menus.

The internet connectivity is weird with this player. I have tried WB (Warner Brothers discs) and BD-Live does not work. Universal discs do work but you have to have the internet plugged in before you start the disc. If you do have it plugged in, it takes over two minutes to load up to the disc's menu.

I will update with other things I think of but for the price I think it's a good blu-ray player. It's actually better in a few respects (MKV file playback, DVD up conversion) than its older brother the BD550. On LG's website and the manual this player is referred to as the BD551 so if that tells you something.

UPDATE 1: As far as BD-live goes, a forum member on AVSforum found a method to get it to work. Welcome to a whole new world of commercials and unwanted trailers.

DJPOJACK:

"I was getting all those messages like the player needed to be hooked up to an internet connection or "coming soon"...etc..

This is how I got BD-LIVE to work:

-format USB thumb/drive (fat 16 or 32)

-boot up your LG 530 (without disc and without USB inserted) so it goes to main on-screen menu..

-go to setup

-go to others

-go to initialize

NOW...insert USB drive/device

You should notice that "BD Storage Clear" is now selectable...Select it and confirm "yes"...It will do a momentary "clear" (even though your USB drive is already empty).

Now, you leave that USB drive in there and load any Blu-Ray movie with BD-Live, and when you run the BD-Live features, it should work....

At least it did for me....

If you leave the USB drive in the slot, you can eject and load different Blu-Rays and BD-Live should still work (until your USB drive is full, which then you can initialize it again!)...

P.S. If you format or use this USB drive on any other device, it will probably corrupt/overwrite the BD530 BD-Live data....So, it's probably best to have a dedicated drive just for the BD530 (I.E. Just leave it in the USB slot FOREVAHHHHH!)

good luck

-drew"

I am not sure what are the negative reviews on here are all about, its possible some customers may have received a defective product from LG but mine has been working great! First off let me say I am not going to complain about the player not having Netflix, Rhapsody, Facebook ect. My TV has wifi built in that allows me to access Netflix so I had no need to shell out the extra money for a fancy player that could surf the full extent of the web. Those who wanted a player like that should have looked for something else. This player clearly states that its features are limited to Youtube, Picasa, and AccuWeather. To buy it and expect otherwise is poor shopping on the consumers' part. As far as video quality, I don't own a vast collection of Blu-rays so my experience has mostly been with upconverting DVD's, which the player does an excellent job with. Unlike the Memorex I own, this player minimizes almost all of the DVD grain and blur to the point that it almost looks as good as a blu-ray. The Blu-rays I have played also have shimmered in pure 1080p HD with this player. The real attraction for me though, is the USB drive. All you have to do is pop in an external hard drive or memory stick and the player is ready to play the contents whether it be video, picture, or music. I have watched two movies this way, one MPEG4 and the other AVI, and both played without a hiccup. Some reviewers have reported freezing and locking up, but I have experienced neither with my player. I haven't updated the firmware, though, so who knows if the new updates may actually be the cause of the problems. The player does take a little time to initially boot up, but I hardly consider waiting a few seconds to be an inconvenience. Overall, the LGBD530 is a great value and a player I recommend for anyone who's looking for a solid player to watch movies on via DVD, Blu-Ray, or USB. If you want something to play your Netflix with, look elsewhere.

Olympus VN2100PC Digital Voice Recorder

Previously I recorded classes using a mini tape recorder. It was an acceptable method but it left a lot of room for improvement. I purchased this model because of the download feature. I record and later download both class lectures and music samples for college classes. The ability to download these recordings and play them on a larger system has greatly enhanced studying, especially for music class.

The recorder is easy to use and set up. The instructions allowed me to have it set up to my needs in minutes. The only problems I have had with it is that the play and record buttons have accidentally been turned on when the recorder was in my purse and also when in my backpack. If you don't have to carry this recorder to and fro, it won't be a problem.

The erase feature on the recorder itself asks you if you are sure you want to delete a file. The software for download does have options to delete files that you have downloaded. I believe in that option it asks you if your sure you want to erase files also. I have not had problems erasing these files with either of these methods.

The software was relatively easy to use and the help feature quickly helped me identify problem I was having with set up. After downloading the files, I simply copy the .wav files over to other folders.

The quality on the mic and the playback is remarkable. It says in the product description that you can get around 30 hours of record time on it. That's true, but it's on the lowest quality. On a quality level that you would actually set it to you can expect about 6 hours of record time. The quality is amazing, the mic is super sensitive, and you can't beat the price.

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I'm a reporter for a newspaper and as such, I sit in town meetings almost every day. These towns are full of mumbly, old, low-talkers that I can't even hear a lot of times myself. I gave the VN2100 its first real challenge, sitting in the second row of such a meeting. I expected this to work better than a microcassette recorder, but when I popped it in my computer (which works flawlessly) afterwards, I could hear EVERYTHING perfectly. And you have no idea how low these men spoke tonight. I can't get over how amazing this recorder is and I can't imagine giving it any less than 5 stars. I expected it to work, but I never expected it to work this well. Buy it.

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Had been thinking of getting a digital recorder for a couple of years but probably procrastinated because of the bad impression that I had of the tape recorders I remember from my college days 25 yrs ago.

After researching various recorders I was optimistic about this model but it has exceeded my expectations. I've only had it for a week but use it more and more as the days go by. Really comes in handy at work but also at home and while I'm out and about.

Very well made; small/light enough to keep in a shirt or pants pocket, well thought out controls and excellent battery life. Good sound quality on playback, even when I lay the recorder down on my desk while transcribing notes; even better if you download to a PC and playback thru speakers. The folders are handy and mgmt of folders and recordings is straightforward.

I only use it for dictation and keep the sensitivity set to low to reduce ambient sounds and also use the voice activation feature, which really helps to eliminate dead space if you get lost in thought while speaking. Haven't used the index mark feature except to test it but I imagine they'd come in handy for longer recordings such as meetings.

I doubt if it makes much difference for recording voice but I have mine set for the highest quality sound. This reduces recording time down to about 3 hrs but this is more than sufficient for my needs. Might be a factor if you download .WAV files to your PC; lower quality would reduce file size. If you do download voice recordings and file size is an issue though, just get hold of one of the many free .WAV to MP3 conversion utilities that are available. If you don't care about downloading to a PC, save yourself $15 and just get the VN2100.

Only improvement I can think of would be if the recorder had a backlight but the record and stop buttons are easy enough to find in the dark so I guess I can manage with this one deficiency. Overall though, I couldn't be happier with my purchase and highly recommend this recorder.

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This cool-looking, petite but not-too-small-for-human-thumbs device goes with me everywhere in my car to record those thoughts that only reach their crytalline brilliance in the shower and behind the wheel.

Because I follow David Allen's Getting-Things-Done approach of relieving my brain of remembering stuff so that it can do the creative and productive thinking it does best, I need to transition other thoughts immediately to a safe written or recorded medium that will allow me to return to them at the right moment. Written communication from behind the wheel of a car has always been a little precarious, so I've sworn off it entirely except at red lights.

How? By investing in this little gizmo and keeping it within handy reach of the driver's seat.

It's almost too good to be true. This Chinese-made Olympus product allows you to record into four separate archives and also has available voice-activation. You can also use it as an alarm clock, stopwatch, and other common functions of electronic gizmos.

Mobile phone technology is rapidly overtaking self-standing electronics pieces like this one, but for my money this digital voice recorder is a Godsend.