Zoom H4n Portable Digital Recorder Bundle with PAVA Stereo Carrying Case with Speakers, DSLR Camera

Like you, I've been shopping for the best package for the H4N and I finally pulled the trigger on this deal. For $30 more than the loan recorder I received some really nice add-ons. First the bag. I saw the thumbnail for this bag but didn't realize it had a built in stereo speaker hidden in the front pocket. I tossed in the free batteries and plugged in my iphone for some pandora, and guess what, this little bag can rock. It's actually not bad at all for being powered by two AA batteries. Next, the mounts. The camera mount and the stand mount are built very well, and alone are worth half the upgrade. Then there is the memory card and the Don King wind filter, not a bad bonus. The stand... Well I had one of these with my camera kit and they are fun to play with but not something you would use for anything worth over $100. The H4N it self is very nice, but it is bulky and not great for quick recording changes. For instance there are no external buttons or switches to change low cut on or off nor mic sense settings. If you wan this and a more compact recorder try the Olympus LS-10

5 stars only because this is the Zoom H4N. The accessories are useful (3 stars only) but their quality is kind of "toys"

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This recorder has more options than most I have seen in the market. This one also had more attachments. Good

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Fantastic product. Great recording quality. The accessories are very helpful and I haven't found the need to purchase anything else. This package is certainly all inclusive.

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It's amazing what this small mic can do, and this nice package is complete the jop.

For interviews, short movies, reports and more.

U really should try it.

LG BP620 3D Blu-Ray Player with Built-In Wi-Fi - Black

At the time of this review I have the latest firmware (version BD7.341.00).

The BP620 is LG's 2012 blu-ray player model that replaces the LG BD670 from the 2011 lineup. The new 2012 BP620 model comes in at the same physical size as last years. I personally like the build quality of the player compared to the 2012 Sony BDP-S390 model, which while smaller feels very cheap.

The user interface is virtually identical to last year's model. At times last year's BD670 model suffered from delay reaction to the remote control. This is not the case with this year's model. The exception to this is during the first 20 seconds of the player booting up (turning on).

In terms of blu-ray playback quality, it is up to par compared to all sub-$180 players on the market today. The disc load times have improved on the model compared to last year's LG BD670. DVD up-scaling to 1080p is well done on the BP620 too. One feature missing across all video playback formats is the zoom feature. While I never really took advantage of zooming in on my video, I know of some people who will miss it.

The included remote control is almost exactly the same as the model included with last year's BD670. The big difference is the lack of the "marker," "search" and "zoom" buttons neat the bottom. These three buttons have been replaced with a "music id" button to have the player access GraceNote for disc info and a dedicated "Audio" button to switch audio tracks. This was a button last year's model did not have. Before you had to hit the "Info" button and scroll down to audio and then toggle to the desired track. A dedicated "subtitle" button has also been added to the remote.

Compared to the 2012 Sony blu-ray players, this LG streams a lot of video file formats from my local network: AVI, DIVX, XVID, MKV, MP4, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 & more. The Sony BDP-390 would not see or play any of my video files. This LG sees and plays them all. The one thing I miss is the "search" function that the LG LD670 had. It made fast forwarding though a long video much quicker to skip ahead. The BP620 would not see my home Seagate NAS as the BD670 did unless I turned on the DLNA Media Server function of my NAS. Not really an issue. Just worth mentioning. When fast forwarding or rewinding video was much smoother than when doing so on the BD670. Also, if you stop playing a video file then go back to playing the same file again it starts all over instead of picking up where it left off like on the BD670.

The BP620 features only a 2.4Ghz wireless radio card. This year's model lacks the 5Ghz wireless radio which I liked on the BD670.

In terms of steaming services, at this time there are a few less available than the 2011 BD670 model. Some people have written in reviews of Netflix issues. I have not experienced any to date. As of 3/14/12, the BP620 has: Netflix, vudu, hulu PLUS, Pandora, CinemaNow, AccuWeather, AP, vTuner, YouTube, Picasa Web Albums & viewstar.

Lastly I will say that the unit runs fairly warm. There is no fan in the rear or ventilation in the rear. I opened the unit up to find a very low end heat sink on the main board.

** UPDATE **

Sony has released firmware version M11.R.0211 for the BDP-S390 and while it is not listed in the updated items in the release notes from Sony, this firmware seems to have corrected the issue mentioned eariler in my review about the Sony 2012 units not seeing video files (MKV, AVI, XVID, etc) from my DLNA Certified NAS.

Disclaimer: I'm writing a review on an identical model sold by Costco (LG BP620C).

In the past 4-5 months I've tried several Blue Ray DVD players; several models by Samsung, a Sony and as of late, this LG. I've had different issues with each of the previous units which is why I kept trying other ones. My Conclusion is that the LG is the best (from my stand point). It is the only one that played anything and everything I throw at it. It played all MKV files (even the one that a Sony unit complained was corrupted), it was able to recognize and display both subtitles embedded in the MKV as well as added subtitle files within the folder. It did so both from a disk and from a connected USB device. It even played DVDs that were encoded in PAL (!!!), something none of the others could.

So, I'm sticking with the LG BP620C.

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Hard to believe, but it was just a few years2006, actuallyago that Blu-Ray players cost $500 or more for even the most basic units. Now you can get a fully-functioned unit with WiFi, Internet connectivity, and players for Netflix and other services that didn't even exist in 2006 for a fraction of the cost. So how good a player do you get for under $150?

Pretty good, actually. I've never used a really high end player (you can spend well over a thousand dollars for a high end unit) but I can't image the images they produce are significantly better than those I get from this box. I started my evaluation by putting the manual aside and plugging the player into the wall and my LG TV. I turned it on with the remote, and the on-screen instructions led me painlessly through the setup procedure and software update. I tried a few discs, which played with no problem, and then turned my attention to configuring Netflix. This went even more smoothly than the Netflix setup on my LG TV, although there was one odd glitch. When I entered my Netflix id and password, I got an "ID or password not recognized" message, and then the player connected to Netflix without further problems. Curiously, I had exactly the same error message with my LG TV. Other than that I had no problems with that function. The user interface once you launch Netflix is very goodbetter than that in my LG TV, I think. It scrolls more smoothly and more quickly than the TV set based player.

The up-scaling feature that reprocesses ordinary DVDs to full 1080p doesn't appear to deliver significantly more resolution with the ordinary DVDs I've tried, compared to my old Philips player. I tried both older movies originally shot on film as well as brand-new videos of current TV series, but neither showed that much improvement on my 1080p set. The various Internet streaming functions, like YouTube and Hulu worked without a glitch. One curious omission from both this unit and my TV is a player for Amazon Prime videos. Amazon has a full writeup on their site on how to input code numbers from LG equipment to enable Amazon Prime video playing, but it doesn't appear to be supported on those units I've looked at. Some reviews say that previous models of this player did have Prime support. I checked an FAQ at LG's web site and read that Prime support "may possibly be made available on a future update" but there is no timetable to do so. Pity.

Other than those few quirks, I didn't have any problems with this player. The BP620 may not have all the functions I'd like, but it's still a very good deal in a basic Blu-Ray player, and includes a lot more functionality than even top line DVD players of just a few years ago. I'd say it's a good choice for anyone looking for a not-too-expensive entry into Blu-Ray technology, or a good all-around DVD player with Netflix streaming.

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Let me start off by saying that many of these reviewers are correct in their assumptions about this blu-ray player, even the negative reviewers. I did not care much for this blu-ray player from the start but with my experience with electronics I decided to be patient and wait for all the proper updates. After about two weeks of the blu-ray player locking up and having to unplug it I gave LG a call and they told me they were aware of it and they were working on fixing it. Now, I'm no nuby to electronics and I try to stay realistic and patient. In this instance it paid off. I also have a LG 7600 tv that had some issues, but like with blu-ray player, the updates fixed everything.

A lot of times these companies get a wee-antsy when trying to push their yearly products out, and this blu-ray player was no exception. On the other hand, now that it's fixed it's the best blu-ray player I've ever owned (and I've owned a few). Not only does it play blu-rays and DVDs great, but it also streams at extremely great levels. I can't tell the difference between the streaming quality and blu-ray quality sometimes. It's crystal clear and runs 1080p very smoothly.

The Blu-ray player itself is very quiet in comparison to earlier blu-ray players. Some of you are familiar with loud blu-ray players and it can be very annoying. This blu-ray is as quiet as a church mouse.

One negative mark that is pretty minimal is that the blu-ray player is a bit slow. It is slow in loading and it is slow with the remote when you are trying to type out a title for a show you might be looking for on Vudu or Netflix. It's nothing major, but it is evident.

Overall this blu-ray player has been very good to me (minus the first couple weeks). I got this back in April, so I have had it for a little over 9 months. It's running great and I am 100% satisfied. Hope this helps. Take care

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I gought this as a companion to my LG55LM7600 3d tv. It's my second 3d blu-ray player, and it compares well to my first, a Samsung product. I hooked it up to my newly-mounted tv just 12 days ago. Haven't used the wi-fi yet...need to get a router. I've watched a 3d movie, several 2d blu-ray movies and some dvds. The 3d is fine, no ghosting, no trails, smooth motion. 2d movies are extremely sharp, but I don't know whether to credit the player or the tv for that. One thing that startled me was the picture I got when playing non-blu-ray dvds. Almost indistinguishable from blu-ray.

The player hooked up easily they all do and looks great, all slim and shiny black. One other thing: it operates much faster much than either of my two SONY blu-ray players. I'd recommend this unit.

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Alesis VideoTrack Handheld Recorder

• Create web-ready video that's perfect for sharing
• Upload to social sites such as YouTube and Facebook
• High-quality stereo condenser microphone set
• Quality video lens and advanced DSP image processing and zoom
• Runs on internal, replaceable, rechargeable battery, or plugged in

First, let me say I like Alesis. They have created some great and innovative products for great prices. I own many.

Now... I bought my VideoTrack in Dec 2010 from another retailer, but what I have to say here is about Alesis, not the retailer.

Overall impressions, the video quality is pretty bad, but I was ok with that. The device design is ok, and the stereo audio is pretty decent. All those things were fine for the price point... and if the device worked, I probably would not be writing this.

I noticed immediately that the recorder would stop recording randomly. Could be 5 min, could be 30 min. I tried with the supplied 2GB card and also a high quality 16GB card for video that might go longer than 45 min (like a whole band set). There were problems on both memory cards.

I actually lost valuable gig recordings more than once because of this (I know, I know ... crazy that I actually used it as intended...).

I went to Alesis' website and located the firmware update. I am a computer support person, so I am capable... and despite my exact performance of their steps. The device told me "incorrect FW" every time and refused to update. I can only guess that I already have the latest firmware, but there is no (known) way of knowing

since they don't tell you how to find it on the device screens and I couldn't find it myself either.

I sent at least two detailed emails to Alesis support and never even got an acknowledgement. After several months, giving up and frustrated with the VideoTrack.. I decided to call Alesis directly. I spoke to a rep that acted like he never heard of this problem before (yet I see it all over the web on even in these Amazon reviews). After instructing me that they would RMA the device (RETURN SHIP AT MY EXPENSE!) I agreed. I spent over $10 to ship this piece of garbage back. I waited over a month... no communication. I emailed the tech support contact and he replied "shipping soon".

Well the device arrived about another week later. I immediately inspected the "new" device and was already disappointed to see that it had a serial number LOWER than the one I sent back (I kept a copy of my original serial number)... I know this was not proof of anything, but did not instill confidence. Seems like they must have a stockpile of old ones.. not surprising to me given my experience.

Anyway, to wrap this up... I unpacked, charged the unit overnight, setup and set on a tripod to record (pointed it at a movie playing on my computer screen for some non-still recording). Recorder stopped after 5 min. Test 2 seems like it made it until the battery ran out, but not sure because apparently if the battery runs out it does not save any file. Argh. Recharged. Test 3 stopped after abour 40min with battery bars clearly visible.

I tried the whole firmware update process AGAIN...same results as original recorder.. "incorrect FW". Same problems...I am done wasting my time!

I think Alesis has made a lemon and they are just hoping to sell these units to people who will eventually just give up trying to get them to work reliably. I am way past the point of getting a refund from the retailer, and RMA's just cost me MORE money in return shipping. I am done throwing good money after bad.

Thanks a lot Alesis... I will remember this next time I have to to between you and a competitor. I guess I can still use this for 5 minute movies of things that don't have to record reliably (????).

Don't get burned... I did twice on this thing... avoid the VideoTrack at all costs... there are others way more deserving of your money even if you have to spend a bit more it will be worth it.

UPDATE AUGUST 2012:

Well, my unreliable VideoTrack was in the box for months since I had given up on it. I happened across a post where some people had found a firmware update 1.46 that actually worked for them. I located it on one of the Alesis support boards, and was pleasantly surprised that it actually loaded (where previous firmware updates had all failed with "incorrect FW" messages). I verified the FW was indeed updated to 1.46 and also saw the new AUDIO ONLY mode. I then tested several hours of recording both with battery and while connected to USB power. The "intermittent recording stop" seems to be cured. I seem to be able to record about 4 hours on battery power before it shuts down, but I also successfully recorded over 6 hours on USB power without a glitch. I think the battery indicator may be a bit misleading because it seems after 3-4 hours of recording it still shows 2 bars right up until low power shutdown. I thought maybe the recording problem was back... because it still showed 2 battery bars at shutdown and when I powered it back up, But then I realized it quickly goes to "no bars" and shuts down. OK.. I can deal with a misleading battery indicator. Anyway, I thought I would share my experience to maybe get some usable life out of my VideoTrack and maybe you can too with firmware 1.46. I only upped my star rating to TWO stars however, because my overall experience was terrible and Alesis support remains inexcusable... More evidence? The official Alesis support webpage still has the old firmware (1.24?) posted and customers have to fend for themselves to find this fix. C'mon Alesis.. you actually have a fix and you can't even update your support page?

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When the recorder stayed on it worked as expected. However, the first time I used it, it stopped recording a 45 minute performance after 2 minutes. (I had it on a mic stand up in the air). I thought maybe I should upgrade firmware. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME! (They make a big deal about following the instructions exactly and when you do it doesn't work).

Around 8 times over three weeks, I tried recording a one hour live performance and it stopped every time during the recording. I had to get someone to stand on a chair and start the recording every time it stopped, which varied from 2 minutes to 22 minutes, sometimes during a loud section with activity.

Don't waste your time!!!!! Way too frustrating!

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The VT is a simple to operate camcorder with "above average" sound quality. I noticed that the VT gets many mixed reviews online and I honestly think that a lot of it is because the user guide is so minimal-not to mention how small it is to read. I have downloaded the user guide from the internet which came in PDF format, that allowed me to see it without going blind. Now for the details: You need to connect the headphones after you turn on the VT, and not after you record cause you will not hear the recorded audio in both sides. Many costumers thought that that is because one of the mics is a defect, so the VT records only in mono. I wish Alesis would also tell us that you have to transfer files to iMovie using only the original size, or the program will crash..even Apple could not figure this out, but that should be Alesis job to print on the VT user guide.I cannot complain on VT overall quality, keeping in mind that it is a very simple interface to manage. I also thought that the VT's construction is rather sturdy, but the ultralight weight of this camcorder could raises some questions regarding it's overall street price, which should be lower. All in all I got what I need: easy drag and drop so I can post my playing on Youtube with no rippers or converters, while the sound is better than my older camcorder. Alesis really sacrificed their name and reputation because of this product and that's a shame.

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If you read the negative reviews, most are nearly a year old. New firmware fixes the random shut off problem and adds an audio only option. My videotrack came with firmware version 1.24. To find out your firmware version, hold plus and power when the unit is off. It will power up to a self test mode, and show the firmware version at the bottom of the screen. I didn't have any issues with the few recordings I made, but I went ahead and upgraded to firmware version 1.46 which adds an audio only mode. You'll need to search the alesis community forum for the latest firmware. You'll find a link to dropbox with the new firmware. The download includes the instructions on how to install it.

I had a zoom Q3, and while the Alesis is much lighter weight and probably less well built, the results are very comparable. Video quality on both the videotrack and Q3 is substandard, which is why I sold my Q3. The audio on both is good, but not as great as a dedicated audio recorder. For the current price of the videotrack, I'm willing to accept the results. For the price of the Zoom Q3, the results just weren't worth it. The videotrack is OK, not great, but it's cheap enough for what it is.

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For the $40. 00 I paid it's worth it. My problem is there is no way to edit video. If I record say for an hour and I would like to use 2 minutes, no way to do it. Sound quality is terrible. I am a bass player and it just does not pick up the lower frequencies.

Creative Labs Zen Sleek Photo Digital Media Player (White/Silver)

• 20GB storage
• 1.7-inch OLED screen with 262,144 colors
• FM tuner
• Voice recorder
• Syncs with Outlook for transfers

I got my Zen Sleek Photo about a month ago. After continuous use (seriously) I have to say Creative did great by this one. I purchased a refurbished unit.

So far, I have not had more than 1 issue with it. The only issue being that at 192kbps WMA (Napster to go) my battery life ia about half of the rated 19 hours.

But...since I work on a computer and have open USB slots, that's never a real issue.

Pros:

Sound Quality Set your EQ, turn off the bass boost and you'll get great results

20 GB of storage

FM Tuner with recording

Picture viewer (included software automatically resizes pictures for optimal storage)

Hybrid controls (Touch and tactile) this one makes it easy for driving. Set to random all and skip as needed.

Customizable menus only what you want or need

Cost-Current day price for a refurb with 12 month warranty from Creative. I only paid 70 bucks!!

Cons:

No video

No slideshow while playing music

Battery life at 192kbps with EQ on drops quite a bit (Still about 9-10 hours)

No removable, user replaceable battery

Slightly heafty (but I particularly like the feel/weight)

For those small cons, I couldn't be happier.

I use my cell phone for videos and games so video isn't a need.

The music with slideshow has never been a deal killer, but would be nice.

Overall, a great player for a great price.

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I just bought this 3 weeks ago, but for the time I have used it has succesfully fullfilled my expectatives. For the price it's awesome the things that it has, mic, radio, photos and the best of all: 20 Gb for mp3! the ipod nano cost the same as this one, but it's only 4GB, I don't know why creative hasn't gone to the charts of popularity with this great price.

You better buy this one, 'cause the ipod and the new generation of ipods will sell you the music and it's gonna be way to expensive to hear music.

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I got my Sleek Photo a few weeks ago. I've had mp3 players before, but never used them as much as I use this one. I think the key is the interface. It took about a day to get used to, but now I can browse through a few hundred CD's with ease.

The only features I wish it had would be a user replaceable battery and a little less weight.

It has a proprietary connector, but it didn't take more than 5 minutes to find a spare sync/charge cable online.

A great player at a great price.

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I've had this MP3 player for a good while.... Got it new for over $200 dollars and after watching the market for almost two years I realize what a bad deal that was. I suppose it is worth the $129 price. My main problems with it were the following:

1. small screen. The screen boasts a ton of colors, but the screen is small and rather old looking.

2. horrible battery. they say it is a 19 hour battery, but nay. after about six months it's down to ten and after a year and a half... It won't last five hours. no joke.

3. Buggs up.... alot. About every month or two you will need to restart it because it freezes up. It then takes over ten minutes to 're-build library'. whatever that means. You also can't view photos at the same time as playing music... expect the music to stop when you touch the photo button. While on the subject of photos, it pauses waaaay too much when viewing photos. expect to take anywhere between a minute and ten to view ten photos.

And I will add that the screen is a magnet for dust. After having mine for two years it gets increasingly bad... I can barely make out the screen. with any light coming in it's invisible, but in the dark or if you shade it with your hand, it is rather acceptable.

4. Not very pretty. It's smaller than the Zune and iPod but rather clunky, box-like structure.

Overall, please don't get this. It's outdated. I wouldn't suggest an iPod either since it is, from my experience, a gift suited for preteen girls and people who are not into music that much, if you know what I mean.

I am most likely getting the Zune next, after some research it seems the best. Not only is the screen beautiful and large, It isn't nearly as big and clunky as it looks (I've handled one, trust me). It also plays video in a more widescreen format unlike the medium size screen of the iPod. The siliconized rubber on the outer edge is a nice touch.

If you're into heavy (for it's size), buggy (undeniably, and may I add customer support for anything is HORRIBLE), brake-in-a-week-earphones (buy some skullcandy) type of MP3 player this is for you. It was great in the beginning, but the player wears out fast. Kind of sad.

I absolutely love my Zen Sleek Photo. This is by far the best mp3 player that I have ever had. My Zen is 100% better than a IPOD.... I am very happy with my purchase..... I would recommend this MP3 player to everybody.

2.0 inch LTPS 720P HD Car DVR Black Box with Separate Rearview Camera/Sticker Mount/Night Vision/SO

• HD 720p high-definition video.
• Dual separate camera.
• SOS urgent file protection.
• Motion detection. Built-in G-Sensor (car accident case of emergency save, will not be deleted).
• Recorder will automatically start video when connect the power.

This is the second i1000-style camera I have bought.

The Good: This camera from Amazon Prime arrived in 1 DAY! Wow! It was new, with plastic covers over the lens and screen. It came with both camera lenses, fwd and aft. Battery life is about 20 minutes after charging, so plan on using the cigarette charger. It properly overwrites old files when the SD card gets full, it powers up and down with car ignition. It will stay on about two minutes after the engine is off, or you can keep it running with the key in "accessory" position. (assuming your cig lighter is powered like mine) The video display shuts itself off after about 3 minutes so you don't have the light shining in your eyes. The blue "power" and blue flashing "recording" LEDs are too bright for nighttimeyou must employ a piece of black tape. The suction mount is very small and stable, the "permanent" sticky back mount is even smaller. The whole camera mounts on the windshielf behind my mirror, completely hidden from my sight by the mirror. Cables are about 6 ft long so you can snake them out of view behind trim panels in your car. The video resolution is not clear enough to read license plates until you are stopped-at-a-traffic-light distance away. I plan to read the license plate number out loud if the need ever arises, and let the sound recording remember it for me.

The (not so) Bad: **Update** I FINALLY discovered that this camera DOES record sound. It uses an unusual encription for the sound track. Neither Quicktime or Windows Media Player would play the sound track. You must find an enhanced codec package and install it on your PC. I used K-Lite from Cnet now I can hear the sound tracks. The sound is good, but not excellent. I can hear engine revs and conversations inside the car. This particular model watermarks the date/time onto the recordings with green letters in a black box in the upper LH corner. I have read that other similar looking cameras show the date/time watermarks with white outlined letters. I don't know how to tell which version you are ordering the green date/time or the white outline date/time. I suspect the white date/time version of this camera is the "original design" camera. For the record this camera's firmware is Ver: 007 F20_212111.

Summary: Overall I'm very happy with the camera. Good price so I won't cry if it gets stolen from my convertible. It runs reliably without any fiddling. Turns itself on and off and keeps a nice record of shenanigans on the highway.

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It arrived two days ago. It's a nice toy. But, the quality is not very good. The microphone does not work out of the box (I used the right setting. It is broken.). I saw a review on the internet before I bought it. They showed a different rear camera and a remote in the box. This one came without the remote. The manual is horrible. They should hire somebody who is a native English speaker.

The box does not say anything about the producer or the origin.

Edit: I tested it today under perfect weather conditions. Picture quality is poor.

I return it.

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Just got the recorder cam, worked good for first day. Then, who would've thought, that this little device like all electronics, does not react well exposing to the summer heat. I live in Chicago where hitting 90 degree is common. This device when overheated, will not record at all until it has been cooled off. I cant really sent my unit back because i wired the charging unit through dashboard to fuse box (should've waited). Oh well, seems like a nice device but dont buy unless you live in canada or russia i guess.

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For the price it works pretty awesome! (So far no issues since I bought it in Jan 2013. I'll post a sample video in the future. I'll update my post if my unit stop working in any way. Paul.

Sony Ericsson K700i Unlocked Cell Phone with MP3 Player--International Version with No Warranty (Si

What can I say? Read the online reviews and you will find that this is one GREAT phone. The screen is gorgeous. Reception is WAY better than T610 on exact same network. A lot of people complain about battery life. With the newest firmware (R2L0001) this is not an issue. Bluetooth is fast and reliable. Syncs out of the box using iSync on the Mac. Menu navigation is fast and responsive. Get this phone, you will NOT be disappointed.

P.S. I use it with T-Mobile in the US

This phone will work with both T-Mobile and Cingular in the U.S. (all you need to do is take the sim card out of your current phone and transfer it into your new phone)

I have owned this phone over a year now and I still love it. I had a steep requirements list that is still not met by many other models. I paid over $300 to buy it slightly used from europe, now it can be had much easier and cheaper.

It replaces my previous Handspring/Palm Treo. Via Bluetooth, it easily syncs all my contacts and calendars with my computer. I never needed to enter a single phone number.

I made custom ringtones simply out of mp3s and assigned them to different people who are calling. No need to have an annoying phone that plays a computerized version of a song, this one plays the real thing. You may wish the convert the mp3 to mono and 56bps to conserve space.

The phone comes with 36MB of space which is still much more than almost every other phone on the market, more than enough for the average user. Once you take photos and videos, you can easily transfer them to your computer via bluetooth.

Another big plus is the thousands of free java games that you can download and place on the phone from the internet. Get away from the horrible selection and charges that your phone service makes you deal with.

This phone is small, durable, has a beautiful screen, more features than you need. The camera and video quality is much better than other phones of the same resolution.

Th FM radio pulls in more stations than I think any other radio I've used. That said, I never use it, because you are required to use the included headphones which I never bother with.

Someone mentioned this does not have a speakerphone. It absolutely does have a speakerphone and it is loud and good quality. It uses the same rear speaker for listening to music and its excellent mp3 ringers.

Mac users can use its bluetooth out-of-the-box for syncing and transferring files.

PC users can download free software off of sony's website to do the same. With the additional USB charging cradle, you can also update the phone's firmware to keep it up-to-date. (Ignore earlier reviews of a slow interface and short battery life, these have all been fixed with free firmware updates)

Buy Sony Ericsson K700i Unlocked Cell Phone with MP3 Player--International Version with No Warranty (Si Now

i bought this phone on 6/11/2004 and works perfect! this is the best phone i ever had, because it got all the things that you need just name it, the only thing that not have is memory slot, but for me is not a problem.

PROS:

1-features like radio, camera, ui icons, screen resolution, infrared, bluetooth, connectivity, video camera, media player, reception, keypad works great!, pc sync, sounds, call quality, mp3, memory of 41mb, design, the quickly response of the keypad and the user interface with 3d icons, the calendar rocks, small size and the phone games.

CONS:

2no memory slot, and the batery life is not as they say. the phone with bluetooth discharge in about 2 days, but without it the charge is 5 and a half days.

i had a motorola v600 and the phone freeze and have alot of bad things, then a E398 is a v600 but is not a clam shell design and have memory slot of 64mb but freeze too, then samsung E715, then a nokia 7610 and i have to say that nokia hit a homerun with this phone is great but not as the k700i, and now i got the sony ericsson k700i and i have to say that the SE k700i is the best of all.

Read Best Reviews of Sony Ericsson K700i Unlocked Cell Phone with MP3 Player--International Version with No Warranty (Si Here

I've had this phone nearly a year and have, up to this point, been very pleased with it. As all the reviews before me have said, this phone has many great features, looks good, and is a great buy.

I am disappointed though that my center joystick button has been getting progressively less functional over the last 2 months, and has finally stopped working entirely. With that button out of commission, I can't access any of the features of the phone (except the camera), including my phone book, messaging, calendars, etc. The phone is thus useless.

That said, I am looking for another of the same model to replace it and praying for better durability this time around.

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But make sure you get the latest firmware (R2AY004). The unlocked K700i I bought online had 13 month old firmware (R2AE033) which was never updated. This caused a hissing sound on voice calls and made the phone lock up every time I disconnected the bluetooth on my Palm T5 and Zire 72 after surfing the web on these PDAs. Rather than returning the unit to the online retailer, I sent my K700i to the Sony Ericsson repair center in North Carolina. SE updated the firmware (for free)on my K700i and I got the phone back a week later. I no longer have any issues and the phone works great.

What a phone! This phone has lots of features. The screen is absolutely gorgeous. Reception is great on the T-Mobile network here in NYC and suburbs. On my T610, I was only getting 1-3 bars in my house and sometimes I would get dropped calls. Now I get 4-5 bars at all times and reception is great. Moreover, with the updated firmware, Bluetooth works great on my PDAs and bluetooth headset.

Some people complain that there is only 41MB of memory on this phone. This is more than enough memory for me since I'm not using this phone as a PDA. I have transferred via Bluetooth a few of my MP3s from my PC to the K700i and use them as ringtones. The K700i is a great MP3 (or MP4 and other formats) stereo player. This is why people would love to have an expansion slot on this unit: they want to turn this phone into their MP3 player. Furthermore, the FM radio works pretty well too. But you need to use SE's wired headset (which is included) to get stereo sound from them. As a bluetooth geek, I don't like wires. But you may not mind. The camera is a big improvement from the T610 and actually takes decent pictures. Setting up wap and MMS on the phone was simple. Just go to Sony Ericsson's website and answer a few questions and you'll get all the settings for Wap, MMS and Email. SE sends a text message within a minute straight to your phone. I set up my Email manually as I didn't want another Email address. IMAP4 and SMTP works fine, as well as the Wap browser. I'm shocked by how well it works. Battery life is not that great. I have to charge it every day for 90 minutes. But then again I keep the bluetooth on at all times. Fortunately, all my accessories from my T610 work on my K700i, including my car charger.

Again, just make sure you get the firmware updated to the most recent version. At the moment, that is R2AY004. If you do that, you'll discover that this is one magnificent phone. I'll never buy a locked phone again.

Panasonic DMP-BD89 Wi-Fi Blu-ray Player

• Fast Booting and Loading
• DVD/CD/JPEG playback
• Energy Star Qualified

I bought this from Bestbuy about a week ago. Major selling point was the access to Internet via the web browser Viera connect. However, I found out that this model does not have Viera connect at all, even though Best-Buy, Panasonic.com, and every other site selling this product claims that it does.

Quoted from the pansonic.com support page for the DMP-BD89:

"We regret to inform you that this player does not have VIERA Connect capabilities. We will update our website to reflect this." -AM

.

Other than that MAJOR disappointment, the apps are nice, and I have had no problems connecting to Netflix or HuluPLUS. I am still having some issues with connecting to Pandora though.

I am just sorry to have spent the money expecting an Internet browser in addition to everything else. 3 stars for false information from Panasonic (and through them, every other business selling this product). Otherwise, this is a very good blu-ray player with decent apps built in for the price.

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This is my first blu-ray player, and my primary interest is in playing Netflix on my TV. I find the player slow to "boot up". Then I have to navigate back to Netflix each time I turn it on. When I get to the Netflix screen (handy Netflix button on remote), it seems slow to connect to the web site, and then it has an annoying screen asking whether I want the regular Netflix or Netflix for kids. You have to answer this every time you turn it on. Then the Netflix menus are not the easiest to navigate, and it's easy to accidentally start a video you're not interested in.

I tried leaving the player on, on the Netflix screen, but it turns itself off after some period of inactivity good for energy savings, but it means I have to navigate back to Netflix all over again.

Another oddity with Netflix. The player has an on-screen keyboard to enter a password for your wi-fi network, and for searching within Netflix. But the on-screen player is nowhere to be seen when you need to enter your Netflix user name and password. You'll have to find a way to attach an external keyboard for this part of setup.

Read Best Reviews of Panasonic DMP-BD89 Wi-Fi Blu-ray Player Here

Had the Blu Ray player for three weeks, they send a forced update to the player. Now Blu Rays don't play. Call their support, and their answer is? You need service.

Absolutely poor customer support, upgrades that will kill the "blu ray" in you Blu Ray player, and forums that just offer apologies.

Hidden Covert Infidelity Mini Spy Camera DVR + SD Slot

I had to return this item when, after trying their install instructions many time and also working on the phone with their trech people I still could not get it to work properly. Not sure if it was a defective unit or not but was not going to give it a second try.

Sony BDP-S470 3D Blu-ray Disc Player

• 3D-ready Blu-ray Disc player for enjoying Blu-ray Disc movies in Full HD 1080p; upscales standard DVDs
• Ready for the future of home entertainment with 3D capabilities (when paired with a compatible 3D HDTV)
• Quick Start/Load function enables you to watch movies faster than ever
• Access to BRAVIA Internet video; USB port for photos, music and video playback; Wi-Fi adapter ready
• Connections: 1 HDMI, 1 component, 1 composite, 2 USB, 1 Ethernet, 2 digital audio (optical and coaxial)
• 1 HDMI, 1 component, 1 composite, 2 USB, 1 Ethernet, 2 digital audio (optical and coaxial) connections
• 3D-ready Blu-ray Disc player for enjoying Blu-ray Disc movies in Full HD 1080p
• Access to BRAVIA Internet video with Wi-Fi adapter andUSB port for photos, music and video playback

I was excited to get this player. I had been waiting a long time for one that had a good set of features and a reasonable price. Overall, in the 2 weeks I've had it, I've really loved it. I'll go over the good and the bad of this Blu-ray player.

First the bad:

The remote, like all Sony remotes, are very basic. It handles the Blu-ray player functions fine. It also has built in TV remote functions as well. I have a Sony Bravia TV that is about 2 years old. However the remote doesn't work for about half of the functions, making this remote useless for controlling the TV. The remote can be set to a handful of TV brands. You would think that it could at least handle a Sony TV properly.

NOTE: When registering the device on the Sony site, this model is not listed (as of this review). I selected the model S570 instead and that worked for me.

When playing a Netflix movie, one time the movie locked up the player. It didn't respond to the remote, then completely restarted itself. Of course it didn't remember where it had stopped in the movie and I had to search to find where I was to finish the movie. Hopefully this doesn't happen often.

At the time of this review DLNA has not been included with the player and will be available later, so I could not test this out. Being that it isn't relly a new thing, you would think that they'd have this already included.

AVI file playback is only avalable to Canada players.

The buttons on this box are tiny and the labelling is just as small and hard to read. Pale white print on black is always hard to read. In a dark area it is nearly impossible, even with the little light that it shines on the lower button panel, so using the remote is the way to go. Don't forget it when you go to load a disc. You'll probably end up memorizing button locations if you like to use the buttons on the player itself.

If you are playing a disc and decide to stop play for any reason, it exits disc mode entirely, connects you to Gracenote, and returns to the Xross menu. Forget about returning to where you stopped. You have to go back to the very beginning of the disc loading process.

You have to point the remote directly at the player to get it to do anything. It's very picky about this.

The good:

This is a very nice machine. It oozes high-tech. It is small and lightweight and no bigger than the slim Sony upconverting DVD player it had replaced. They could have used the exact same case for it.

Load times are excellent. There is a setting that can have it load even faster if you don't mind keeping it powered in standby mode.

The Sony Xross menu system makes sense and is easy to navigate. The menu is in 1080p, so it looks smooth and not cheap like other older players have done.

Setup was a breeze. Plug in your connections and power it on. You're ready to go. You just have to register the device with Sony and Netflix and Amazon if you use those services. Simple and quick. Sony already had a software update for the player, so I had it do the update and it was done after a few minutes.

There are a number of on-line sites you can visit for music, music videos, a handful of movies and other misc. on-line video content. Assuming that the original on-line content is in good quality, the video picture quality is very nice.

You can use your DVDs to play your own content. You aren't restricted to using the USB connection. If you have a supported video or audio format stored on a disc, you can play it on this player. Really awesome.

I look forward to the DLNA support coming later. I'll be able to connect to my PC where I have my own video and photos stored there.

Standard DVD playback is excellent. This is not just upconverted playback. It also puts it in 24p and it also appears to have cleaned up the DVD picture quality, so it's seriously close to Blu-ray quality. For your regular movie you'll start to ask yourself if you really need those Blu-ray discs after all.

Blu-ray disc playback is, of course, excellent. If you haven't had one before, you'll see colors and depth that you've not seen before on a TV screen. Details are sharp and it's performed without the slightest hesitation in this area.

3D support is coming later for this player. I probably won't use this, but it's good to know that it's going to be there if I do decide to go that route.

Overall, this is something that I've thoroughly enjoyed and I expect I'll be using for years to come. Some of the issues can be overlooked and some can be fixed with software updates if Sony decides to do so. A universal remote is in my near future. I'm very happy with this purchase.

Update: April 12, 2010

Sony has sent out a firmware update for this player. It mainly gives you some enhancements to Gracenote and for the photo slideshow feature. Still no DLNA.

I have a SanDisk Cruzer 8GB USB device where I have some video. I tried using this in the front USB input in order to play my video. However I got a message that the USB device is not compatible. Apparently you can't use just any USB storage with this player. The manual says nothing about limitations in this area. My old 2GB drive works fine.

Update: June 11, 2010

Sony has now added an update to play 3D discs! You may turn the 3D it on or off or keep it in auto mode.

Buy Sony BDP-S470 3D Blu-ray Disc Player Now

Hello, all. This is a 9 min video review for the Sony BDP-S470. I made it because I thought most people looking for speed and performance in there players would be impressed by this one. Because amazon limits the size and length of the videos, the quality in this one isn't all that great. Also if you want to see the Netflix connectivity in use I posted that video on Youtube. Needless to say, I'm very impressed with the build quality and performance of this product, and I think you will be too. Hope this review is helpful.

Read Best Reviews of Sony BDP-S470 3D Blu-ray Disc Player Here

The player loads fast and looks amazing. Very happy with this purchase. Not 100% sold on the Xross menu layout, can be a bit counter intuitive at first, but you can pick it up quick enough.

The picture quality is ridiculous. This player really cranks through some heavy scenes. I have a 1080i and a 1080P TV in my home and it looks damn near perfect on the 1080i and better than real life on the 1080P.

The Dobly/dts audio tracks are earth shattering. I have yet to upgrade to a True HD compatible receiver but it handles the lossy 5.1 tracks beautifully.

The streaming capabilities all look and sound great (wired directly too the ethernet port). I noticed none of the Netflix streaming issues I have heard about on past Sony BDPs (HD streaming Netflix looks as good if not better than most upscaled DVDs on this system, and that is not a crack on upscaled DVDs). I really hope that we get Pandora soon on the Sony players.

"BD Remote" for iPhone works flawlessly (so far) and is a great secondary remote for when Im too lazy to reach for the remote on the coffee table.

You will need a USB flash drive if you want to access any BD Live content (no onboard memory). I have yet to dl any BD Live stuff but speaking of USB drives, streaming music/videos off of them looks/sounds great. Note about USB drives, dont buy a "U3" enabled flash drive. I had no idea what the hell U3 was and didnt even know I purchased such an option until the player refused to recognize it. After much frustration and good ol' "google research" I figured out my mistake.

This player is also 3D ready, which seems silly and all but its nice to feel like I have a little bit of security if I happen to find it in the budget to upgrade any time soon.

Overall this player packs a ton of features for the price tag. If you're debating the PS3 purchase but aren't huge on the gaming then save your money and get this player. When all is said and done with the PS3 (Remote + extra controller + 2 yr warranty) you will end up spending well over $400. I got this player (with a 4 year warranty) for $220. Worth every penny.

Want Sony BDP-S470 3D Blu-ray Disc Player Discount?

This is a great entry level BD player. Great price for all the features. Plug-and-play setup. My only complaint is its insistence on using a Sony wireless adapter I plugged in several name-brand ones and they were all rejected as incompatible. The Sony wireless adapter is almost half the price of the player itself a travesty when every other wireless USB adapter out there is $20. Ultimately I ran a cat-5 ethernet cable to it and it worked fabulously. The menu's user interface is a little goofy and takes a minute to get used to, but the content is rich.

I purchased this Blu-ray player for the up-scaling of DVDs and the Netflix streaming, as I don't have any BD media at this time.

The good: we were all impressed with the quality of the picture when up-scaling DVDs. The picture was very good with few artifacts. Also, the Netflix was picture quality was very good, as compared to my Dad's Roku, but I'm not sure if it was the unit or the fact that my cable modem is faster than his DSL modem. I attribute a lot to the connection speed.

The bad: Some DVDs didn't play properly (e.g., Star Trek IV and Star Wars Episode I). Mostly thing were fine; however, about 80% of the time, the audio would disappear on the menu screen, and when going to a scene, the 5-10 seconds of the movie (audio & video) were dropped.

My one son and I are rather picky about things being right, so I returned the unit after talking to Sony. (They offered no useful solution.) I decided to try the BDP-S370 (same features, but no 3D), and it had the exact same problem. I believe there is a firmware issue in the new series of Sony Blu-ray players.

Canon XH A1 1.67MP 3CCD High-Definition Camcorder with 20x Optical Zoom

I use this camcorder now for all my filming (capturing with Final Cut Pro) and I highly recommend it.

I looked at this camera the Panasonic hvx200, the sonys, the jvc 200, and even Canon's bigger brother the X1. I found this one to have fantastic reviews on DVinfo.net, a great video forum. My concerns about 24f vs 24p were addressed to my satisfactionthere really isn't a difference. I like tape vs the HVX's expensive storage solutions. One concern I had was, will it look like a pro camera? That is important in some situations where your equipment gives you added credibilty with clients and talent.

As soon as I opened the box I was in love! This is a really substantial camera. Especially with the opt wide angle from Canon and the matte box provided, this does not look like your mama's camcorder.

I really like the manual controls, so that you don't have to go thru menus to change parameters. The layout of everything is great. I really like the dual on/off and zoom controlstop of handle plus rear right side. Holding the handle for low or medium height shots is very, very comfortable and the controls are perfectly positioned.

Only down sideand it is incidental. The matte box is a bit flimsylightweight plastic. That helps with weight, but I worry about breaking it. Some may say that HDV codec is not as good as DVCpro, but my eye does not see it. The colors are magnificent and it blows away many other cams in low-light.

If you are looking for point and shoot, this is not your baby, but if you want a pro quality camera for a really great pricethis is it!

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About 1 year ago I bought an XL-H1 and a Sony HVR-A1U to do work on a documentary. Though the Sony has proved to be a great camera in its own right, it doesn't cut well with the XL-H1, and the image quality in bright light was near as good, in darker settings, things just fell apart. So I bought this camera XH-A1. I thought when I bought the XL-H1 I would end up buying a second when I could afford it, but I found no compelling reason on a couple of counts. (1) Jack pack is wonderful if you are planning to haul around a RAID array and a generator. I'm sure this would be allot of fun for the run a gunner like myself ;-) (sarcasm). Even though I have heard people criticize the HDV format for compression and artifacts not seen as much with the uncompressed format you get from the HD/SDI output.. I personally think maybe its 1 person in a 1000 who could tell the difference in the end (and they might be faking, I can't). This pictures is NOTHING short of Stunning period. (2) I thought having two cameras that I could syncronize with the clocks would be really needed.. but its really not that difficult to do in an editor by just finding a synchronizing frame (like a handshake, etc) and going from there. (3) I wanted the TC output to drive an external 24 bit audio recorder (this camera doesn't have it the HL-H1 does). Well, after getting it to work, I never used it.. I did lots of 24 bit recording, but like the video, it was easy enough to synchronize externally in the editor later. The autofocus on this camera is hugely improved over the xl-h1. I NEVER run the XL-H1 in "auto" anything, this camera I do as it seems to have more smarts, though I STRONGLY suggest putting the gain into "LOW" not auto and setting it for -3 in the menu setups. Also, Always do manual white balance. I still favor running about everything in manual as its better control and fewer unexpected problems, but I would trust this camera far more than the XL-H1 in auto.

DOWNSIDES:

For me, there are only two downsides to this camera (1) Wide angle lens I know there is a screw on available, I haven't tried it.. but the $3K canon wide angle lens (almost the same price as this camera!) is just amazing, I wonder how great this one is. (2) Power of the big camera.. as much of a joke as it may sound.. I have gotten several interviews and in several places because the XL-H1 is huge, expensive, and professional looking. I have walked though security at events because the guys "assume" I am with something official (just an independent doc), and have seen them stop guys with huge expensive still cameras, etc.. its actually very funny, but if you understand human nature.. it makes people take you seriously. The XH-A1 performs every bit as good, but lacks that effect to the same degree (though it still looks pretty "professional"). I hope that helps.

Last comment, unless you're going to film (I think 24F is pretty bogus) try 30F, looks much smoother and better. People fell in love with the distortion of vinal recordings, but it was still distortion. 24F (p) is the same thing.. looks jerky, maybe more like a movie, but if you have a better technology why on earth would you like something inferiour? My 2 Cents.

Read Best Reviews of Canon XH A1 1.67MP 3CCD High-Definition Camcorder with 20x Optical Zoom Here

I just got this in May 2007. I was a still photographer all my life, but now deceided to incorporate videos into my work, so I went straight to the quality camera rather than trying out inexpensive versions, despite being quite a novice when it comes to complicated video camera operations (I'm used to just push/zoom/record when it comes to camcorders).

This camera takes great quality footages, and if you're like me (don't know how to operate it to it's full potential), it's still easy enough to use and get a great shot while you're still reading and learning from the manual. I ended up buying the DVD explaining this specific camera, after reading the manual 3 times and found it more complex than I had imagined. Might as well learn all the tricks after investing in this great equipment, right?

I tape professional concerts on stage, so 20x zoom is thankful, but sometimes even that's not enough for my work! Does anyone have a suggestion as to which teleconverter attachment I should /can use for this?

I also attend red carpet events and interview people at publicized functions. Being a girl, it's bad enough to fight the big boys from the prominent press to grab the celebrity's attention. However, this camera commands attention, and people actually make way for me when I walk around with this professional looking machine. I even succeeded in grabbing Michael Moore and Joan Rivers to talk to my camera for a very brief interview before they had to walk away to the next bigger camera (CNN had I not been next to their HUGE intimidating camera, perhaps I would have had more time with those celebs? ).

The spotlight mode on this camera has been helpful in filming stage performances where my second camera (Sony) I roll simultaneously from another angle can't seem to handle the crazy changes in the stage lighting as well.

There's much more upsides, but I think people already know that.

The fact that you can adjust just about anything manually makes this camera the bar-none winner!

One of the few non-professional camcorder that comes with microphone jack input as well as headphone jack! Both very much appreciated.

So, the DOWNSIDE:

The still photo capability is nice, but the images come out grainy in higher resolution, but okay in the lower res setting. Outdoor photos faired better. For photography art, stick to your real camera.

The manual that comes with the camera is NOT easily deciphered by a novice like myself, when it gets into the deep and technical aspects of customizing the setting (what, why, and how). A novice would probably end up shooting in auto mode (such a pity) due to it's complex programming involved for custom setting.

Weight: for a girl (115 lbs), I always need a tripod because it's quite heavy after holding it for 10 min and by the end of the event, my arm/shoulder is aching. However, the image stablizer works fantastically when hand-held.

Microphone invest in external microphone if you're doing serious work. I bought wireless lavs and mics, and I finally get the sounds I'm aiming for. Otherwise, it's great for home video kind of audio (good enough for many cases), with couple of tweekers to enhance it a bit.

Want Canon XH A1 1.67MP 3CCD High-Definition Camcorder with 20x Optical Zoom Discount?

After careful review and hands-on comparisons of Canon's XHA1, the Sony V1U, Panasonic's vastly overrated HVX200, and JVC's HD110, I opted for Canon's XHA1.

Surprisingly, the V1U was quite "noisy" in all settings, appearing no better in quality than my obsolete TRV900. Apparently, 24P on the V1 is at this moment un-editable in most NLE's except Sony's mediocre "Vegas" software. And until a 16GB or 32GB P2 card is introduced at a drastically reduced price (unlikely) the HVX vs film camera comparisons seem justified only in that the cost of each precious minute is as astronomical as the cost of celluloid. JVC lacks an auto focus feature, which is fine as long as you've got a camera crew in tow complete with a professional focus puller.

Bottom line, Canon's optics are second to none. The XHA1 is the low price answer to Canon's flagship XLH1, and from the same camp, the far superior camera in this bunch.

A standing ovation to Amazon for overnight delivery of the XHA1, which arrived in pristine condition on time as promised.

Zmodo PA-105 5A Power Adapter

I bought this product just recently and it lasted me less than 3 months. I BOUGHT A CHARGER THAT LASTED ME 6 Months. This goes to show how poor the quality is on the charger. I would recommend you put down the extra $5 and buy a better charger that last you a longer time.

Flip Digital DVR Camcorder Black Video Cam Small LCD

Purchased this as a dashcam solution for my new sporty-type car to detail the travels we're going to have.

The product arrived on time and in good shape. Nice solid packaging. Received an e-mail from ElectroFlip advising that they were "going green" and that the documentation was on their web side. A couple of nice links were provided. So far, so good.

Opened product and reviewed contents. All appeared to be present and in workable condition. I set about laying out the product in an organized manner to proceed with review and assembly.

Issue #1: Battery compartment door is VERY difficult to open and require the gentle use of my knife (Gibb's Rule #9: Never go anywhere without a knife). Used sharp edge to release the door catches and, voila, the battery compartment was open. Inserted battery and connecte provided cable to cam and laptop USB ports to charge the battery.

Issue #2: Windshield camera mount is made plastice with metal hardware (screws and nuts). The screw making up the cam mount point is set in plastic at, what I thought at time, a tight a secure position. As Lee Corso often says, "Not so fast, my friend". Whilst attaching cam to cam mount and attaching the assembly to windshield, while adjusting the angle of the cam to look straight ahead, the screw in the mount point became separated and cam ended up on my dashboard. To correct this, I replaced the screw into its original upright position and applied Super Glue to secure said miscreant screw. All secure now.

Issue #3: Once the battery was charged up through the USB port, I turned on the cam to check out the little bit of video I recorded. This seemed straight forward, up until the point Windoze wants to load the device driver for the storage device (32GB SD/MMC). This all looked good until the system complained "Device driver software was not successfully loaded". The result is that I cannot see the iDrive2 as a disk drive to view files. Used the ElectroFlip "Knowledge Base" to research this anomaly, but nothing was found. I then submitted a message to ElectroFlip Support using their web form. Next business day, I was advised via e-mail of two solutions: "When connecting the iDrive 2 to your computer make sure that the device is turned off. However, there are instances that the computer will not be able to successfully download the driver required for the device which is normal and does not mean that the device is defective. This normally happens when the computer does not have the updated driver compatible for the device. If in any case this happens you may just use a card reader to view and transfer the recorded video on your computer." Helpful and informative. It also resolved my issue.

Issue #4: Random lockups and non-responsive behavior. No real pattern as of yet and I cannot easily reproduce the behavior. These lockups and non-responsive behaviors are easily resolved by opening the battery compartment and performing a hard power cycle (much like a WindowsME PC use to be).

Overall, not that impressed. But, I that could change over the next couple of weeks as I put it to more rigorous use. On the plus side, by two interations with ElectroFlip (once voice and one e-mail) were pleasant and very helpful. Too bad the product isnt as good as the people who work there.

I am half tempted to get a GoPro3 and see how it fairs.

See ya in the funny papers.

*****UPDATE******12/24/2012******

Still "working on it". After some fiddlin', I'm starting to figure it out. Not a bad product, but the lack of documentation is bothersome. Thanks God for "poke and hope". So far, I've been able to chronicle my ongoing mission to explore new worlds from the captain's seat of my 'vette. Thanks to video editor, I have some interesting short vids soon to be posted on YouTube.

Lorex LW2711 Wireless Video Monitoring System with Remote Viewing

Not being a tech girl, I opted to find a wireless security system to allow viewing of outside my home. I didn't want to pay monthly charges for someone to do what I could do. This fits the bill. Plug it in to a power adapter and your set. Mount the camera where you want it, inside or out. I have had mine a little over 2 weeks, and you have the option to record motion only,certain times of day only or opt to record constantly. It does a great job, particularly during the day time. Night time, maybe if I had it installed outdoors it would pick up further, but for now, it is on my patio and picks up about 25-30 ft at night, I think it is due to the infrared reflecting off the screened patio. Daytime is pretty awesome. Can you tell what color someones eyes are, no. But you get the general description of the person or car, and the closer they get the better. I have had no issues like others complaining about the monitor having to be right next to the camera or missed recording. I have moved mine throughout the house and it works fine. Stucco walls. Read some reviews at Best Buy and they have mostly good things to say about it, like picking up from a barn. I picked mine up from HD just in case there was an issue I can look someone in the face or return it if need be. I did opt for a 16gb which I purchased and it records for about 3 days continuous and you can mark it to overwrite day after day as it fills up. I generally go in and view the files on my lap top, erase what I don't need and have 3-4 days of files. I got mine due to recent burglaries in the area, and without some kind of description around here, your case goes to the trash bin. You get a cd/cable to use with SKYPE to monitor from you phone or office computer. I am very pleased with it and will be purchasing a additional camera soon. You do have to place this near a receptacle, hence why mine is indoors on the patio. About 6 ft comes with it, or you can special order a 15ft. No interference from my cordless phone about a foot away. No interference from by cable modem or internet. I constantly get 5 bars for signal strength. With the 2 gb that comes with it, you can record about 4 hrs straight and then it is full or you can set to overwrite and it will keep going. I use the 2gb as a temp while reviewing the files on my 16 gb. You can speak to people via the camera without opening your door to strangers. Just press a button on back of monitor and ask what they want, release for them to speak and then push to talk back. I turned the beeps off that alert for motion detected, but you can leave it to attract your attention. Monitor comes with wall mount or as a picture stand. It has built in photos, 5 of them, that you can set to make it look like a picture frame instead of viewing whats recorded. For the price, you get quite a bang for your buck. At least I think so. Also the price listed on Amazon is one of the best I have seen so far for this unit.

I purchased this Security Camera system 07/21/12. I received the package 07/24/12. I had no problem setting it up as instructions indicated. I liked the Monitor because I could keep an eye on everything out my front door all the way to the street, including my car and front steps and still watch TV. On 07/25/12 I pulled the SD card and watched all the videos that I set up under Motion Detection, but realized it had recorded me putting cat food out at 6:44 am, and an automobile driving by at 7:07 am; however, it did not record me walking down my steps, getting into my car and backing out of my driveway around 7:00 am. As someone had broken the locking gas cap off my car recently I need this camera to pick up anyone walking up to it or approaching my front steps. I called customer service that day (25th) and was 14th in line @ 1:14 pm. 9th in line @ 1:18 pm, 6th in line at 1:22 pm and 3rd in line @ 1:25 pm then a man came on and wanted my phone number and they would call me back. I told the man I wanted to hold because I did not believe they would call me back; he said he had no way of putting me back in the Que so I gave him my name and phone number. At 9:14 pm CST (I was going to bed) I received a return call. After explaining what was wrong the man said he would replace the camera but he would need to send me an email telling me all the information they would need and I would have to send them a copy of my sales receipt. I told him that was no problem. I did not receive an email from him. I called them back the morning of the 26th, left my number for a return call and was called back in approximately 2 hours. I once again explained what was happening with the camera not recording properly and that I had not gotten the email. I received the email while this new man was on the phone. As of today I still have not heard back from the email I sent them on the 26th which means I will have to call them again and wait again for them to call me back and explain everything all over again. I guess I'm expecting too much to be able to call a company and get service or for a product to work as advertised. I do not recommend this company to purchase from.

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The Lorex Digital Wireless Video Monitoring and Recording System is a nice product. It is easy to install, and very easy to set up. However, since I installed it my Wifi on my office computer does not work. I have had to hard wire (cat5) my PC to make it work. The interference is very bad. It cuts out the WiFi on a constant basis. If you have WiFi in your house, you need to be really careful where you locate the camera. Other PC's and tablets in the house are picking up Wifi ok, but their coverage range has been reduced. Lastly, the SKYPE for remote viewing is not easy to install. I have yet to get the USB driver to load; hence my remote viewing is not working at the moment. All in all a good product for the price, but you have to be aware of the pitfalls.

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Piece of junk, it wont record anything unless its within 10ft of the camera, did extensive testing over a couple hours. Within 10ft it records fine, beyond 10ft and any movement, including my wife frantically waving her arms and jumping up an down, never triggered the recording feature, picture quality is poor, but for the price the picture quality wasn't the primary reason why I sent it back. Really need the motion recording, but if it only records within 10ft of the camera its worthless to our family for any type of protection.

Take Care.

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This product is great. The day and night view and very accurate. My camera records when motion is detected from approximately 20 feet, but does not include minor things (such as a bird flying or mosquitoes). Installation was about thirty minutes because I had to drill through concrete to get the camera's cord through my wall to plug in, but other than that it was very easy. The wireless feature is superb because I did not have to run wires through my attic or drill more holes in my house (something big to consider). Overall, I would highly recommend this and have already added a second camera. By the way, the power cord for the camera is about 7 feet, which is something I was hoping someone else would mention to take into consideration for the camera mounting location.

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Memorex MB2054 Digital Voice Recorder

I picked up the Memorex MB2054 at a local Target store on clearance for $17.48. I've been looking for a reasonably priced VOX digital recorder for a while and the price was right. The unit has microphone and earplug jacks on top with the typical controls on the front. On the back are three switches for mic sensitivity, VOX, and a hold to lock the controls on the front. Pressing the REC, PLAY or PAUSE button powers on the recorder and it automatically shuts down after thirty seconds of idle time. This model advertises four hours of recording time, but that is at the lower-quality LP mode. Selecting SP mode will give thirty minutes. The installed flash memory holds three separate folders with up to 99 messages each. Finally, it is powered by two AAA batteries and the LCD readout does show battery strength, which is a nice feature to have. The manual states a fresh pair of batteries should last 6-10 hrs. As far as performance, the LP mode (4 hr.) is disappointing. Playback is somewhat garbled and I find it usable only if dictating verbal notes to myself. The SP mode (30 min.) is much clearer and is of better quality than any tape-based recorders I've used in the past. To sum, this recorder has a good display panel and it's very easy to locate, play and erase specific messages. I'm pleased with the features offered, although I would like to have seen a shirt clip added since the unit is very lightweight. There is a small opening in one corner that would allow you to add a thin strap, but none was included. If you have modest recording needs then the MB2054 is a good value.

As usual, many expect too much from a voice recorder. LP mode is usually unusable, even from most expensive brand; SP mode is where it counts, clear enough for taking note in a small class room. This model is slightly cheaper than other brands, and the build quality is OK, it is plastic, don't abuse it, it will last long time. It does what is should and well, but if you want something flashy, pay more for other brands.

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I find the quality of the recordings to be very poor. I can hardly understand what's being said, and there is a lot of noise in the recordings, even in the SP mode. About the only thing it's good for is if you are one of those ghost hunters who record the voices of ghosts. You'll get plenty with this unit. If you're going down to this price level, you might as well just go back to tape.

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I picked up the Memorex MB2054 at a local Target store on clearance for $17.48. I've been looking for a reasonably priced VOX digital recorder for a while and the price was right. The unit has microphone and earplug jacks on top with the typical controls on the front. On the back are three switches for mic sensitivity, VOX, and a hold to lock the controls on the front. Pressing the REC, PLAY or PAUSE button powers on the recorder and it automatically shuts down after thirty seconds of idle time. This model advertises four hours of recording time, but that is at the lower-quality LP mode. Selecting SP mode will give thirty minutes. The installed flash memory holds three separate folders with up to 99 messages each. Finally, it is powered by two AAA batteries and the LCD readout does show battery strength, which is a nice feature to have. The manual states a fresh pair of batteries should last 6-10 hrs. As far as performance, the LP mode (4 hr.) is disappointing. Playback is somewhat garbled and I find it usable only if dictating verbal notes to myself. The SP mode (30 min.) is much clearer and is of better quality than any tape-based recorders I've used in the past. To sum, this recorder has a good display panel and it's very easy to locate, play and erase specific messages. I'm pleased with the features offered, although I would like to have seen a shirt clip added since the unit is very lightweight. There is a small opening in one corner that would allow you to add a thin strap, but none was included. If you have modest recording needs then the MB2054 is a good value.

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I bought this Recorder on Amazon for $ 19.99 and have never had any problems with it. The recordings are extremely audible in SP mode and I especially appreciate the noise filter switch which filters out background noises. You can't go wrong with this one.

Philips DVD726 Progressive-Scan DVD Player

• Plays DVD-Video, video CD, audio CD, JPEG image CD
• Compatible with CD-Rs and CD-RWs loaded with MP3 files
• Offers progressive-scan output with 3:2 pulldown for distortion-free viewing of 24 fps movies
• Optical and coaxial digital-audio outputs pass Dolby Digital and DTS surround signals
• Both PAL and NTSC compatible

Very nice player... and, the best thing: Has a hack to play all DVD's regions! Just turn it on, open the tray, press 9 9 9 9 0 and you will se "Region Code 0"... That's enough! You will be able to play dvd's from all regions!!!

The only bad thing is that it doesn't have optical output... if it's not necessary for you, buy this!

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WOW!! What a great DVD player! I just bought this ... and hooked it up to my TV and stereo today. The picture is excellent and the sound is First-Class!

I own a JVC 3 disc DVD player that couldn't play my CD-R music and I needed a player that would. This DVD player plays ANYTHING I put in it! It even has a NTSC/PAL decoding capability so I can play European formats and don't have to be careful when buying some of the rare DVD's only available in other countries!

I love my JVC DVD player for it's video and sound reproduction, but I love this Philips player even more!!!

Anybody out there looking for a used JVC 3 disc player??

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The DVD 726 has performed adequately as a region free player since January '04. One caveat--it has only had to play regions 1 and 2, both PAL and NTSC.

Out of hundreds, the only DVD that the 726 has so far balked at is Trancers 6 (a region 1!). Since Full Moon has got a warehouse full of VHS tapes to unload before they burn the Trancers series on DVD, the glitch with playing their discs is only a minor problem.

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I bought this DVD player for my run-of-the-mill 19" TV expecting average picture and ok sound, given that my TV is neither progressive scan nor digital. But I was amazed at how wrong I was, the picture and sound, even though they're analog, have the quality of digital. The price, too, is really good, especially with the free Die Another Day DVD I got with it. This DVD player is definitely a good buy for anyone who wants good quality for a good price. My only complaint is the layout of the front panel. I was pressing the power button for a while before I realized that it was the power button. The label is very discrete and it is in a bad place, right next to the disk tray. I should expect that an eject button would be there and the power button would be on the opposite side of the DVD player, were the eject button is. Overall, it is a great deal!

My first gripe is it takes so long to start up. It takes about 5 seconds until you can open tray. Plus, you can't open the tray until the unit is turned on. Most DVD players allow you to open the tray w/ unit off, thereby turning on the unit at that point. Not this player. You have to turn the unit on, wait 5 seconds, then open the tray. This is not a typical Philips DVD player. Now, of course, this player is outdated with its features/technology. Unless you don't care about the newest and greatest sound and picture features and it is practically being given away, get a different player.

Sony CCD-TR818 Hi8mm Camcorder

Wow. What a buy for the price. This camera has most all the options of a way more expensive camera, but it for only (this price). People complain about it not having an LCD, I do not like those, they result in shaky photography (not with this puppy though and its Image Stabilization, which is great.) and it drains the battery. So I didn't care about that. If you really want an LCD, you can move up to the next level, which is 50 dollars more. But in the process you lose the Image Stabilization, so really this camera is the better buy. It come with great features. First off, the battery lasts for a long time, you can get 90 minutes of footage which it, even with auto-focus and zooming in and out. Its great. And its easy to recharge, in fact the camera tells you how many minutes left until a full charge. Also, it tells you the minutes of camera battery you have left, instead of one of those battery meters, which can be misleading. It comes with cool features, one where it outlines the subjects in the picture, and makes it turn into a cartoon. You can make black and white movies, and even record in 16:9 mode. It comes with a titler, so you can label you movies. You can chooose the location, size, and color of the title, and it has capibility to write in 22 lanuages...which was handy on my trip to Mexico. The NightShot OLux was too cool, even when it is pitch black, the thing can record and see everything. It has 20x optical zoom, and 460x digital. I don't like digital, it just enlarges the pixels to zoom, so the 20x optical is all you need. It inlcudes 5 types of faders, which are all neat. The camera can record any play my old 8mm tapes. For the price, this is a wonder. If you are looking for any eaasy camera to use, chucked with all the options, get the Sony CCD-TR818. Make sure before you use it to turn of "auto-date" which automatically puts the date on the first 10 seconds of a shot. It can be easily turned off in the user-friendly menu system.

This camcorder is wonderful! I tried one to film a small movie for my sons softball team and found myself making several movies. I love the viewfinder and the many picture effects (Mosaic, Solarization, Monotone, etc.). And you can insert custom titles in 22 different languages. The Lithium-Ion battery lasts forever and recharges. This model comes with Sony's Nightshot which makes it able to shot movies in total darkness. This really is a great camera.

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I finally bought the Sony 818 the other day after looking around for a camcorder for some time.

I decided on the 818 over the Cannon ES60 because the 818 comes with more features like night shot, steady shot, and a fantastic feature that tells you how many minutes of battery life you have left.

The camera was a piece of cake to learn to operate. It was very self explanitory and the bit of the manual I did read seemed very helpful.

The 818 does lack some features which may be important to some people. For one, it does not have a side mounted viewfinder like the next model up. It also does not have a built in light. However, the viewfinder is color (the next model up is not although it does have a side mounted viewfinder) and you can purcahse a light and mount seperately from Sony for about 100 Canadian Dollars. If you are going up to the next level specifically for the light don't bother! Buy it seperately and buy the 818.

The quality of the footage on my 26 inch TV does not seem the best. The audio is alright but does pick up "white noise" like most camcorders.

The 818 is the lowest model of Camcorder sony makes. The third lowest, which is about 300 Canadian Dollars more, is exactly the same as the 818 except for the built in light, and the side mounted colour viewfinder (which the more expensive model has If these features don't excite you go for the 818! You get the same camera the same quality, the same lense, the same everything except these features.

I suggest the 818 to most people but if you are very concerned by "white noise" and a slightly fuzzy picture then go to a digital or otherwise much higher model.

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this has all you need for a good video, although not as fancy as a digital camcorder. plenty of special effects. a great ease of use. and you can even edit your videos as well. this is a must-buy.

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This is my first camcorder. I was intrigued by the special price run on it. I bought it online on my lunch break and stopped by Circuit City on the way home from work and picked it up.

It is a Hi8/8mm recorder and does not record in stereo, but it is very nice! The battery says it lasts for 2 hours, but I have gotten around 3 on a charge. The camera is very simple to use. I have figured out most of the options just by playing around with it. It shoots in very low light and even has a low light feature which will work in almost darkness. The picture and audio quality are outstanding! It is worth every penny in my opinion. It is a great beginner's unit, but if you want something more high-end then I would look at a digital camera.

There are a lot of options for accessories including a 20-hour battery. The unit is very lightweight and compact, which makes it easy to carry and easy to do precision filming with. I highly recommend this unit to anyone looking to venture into the camcorder market.