Cowon X7-120BL 4.3 TFT LCD 120 GB MP3 Player (Black)

• 4.3 TFT LCD, 16 million colors, res. 480x272, ultra portable
• Play all your digital entertainment: movies, TV shows, photos and music
• Touch sensitive interface
• Bluetooth, Voice recorder with internal microphone, FM radio, TV-out supporting composite connections and built-in speaker
• Maximum 10 hours of video playback and maximum 103 hours of audio playback

I agree with others that the unit is slightly heavier than previous MP3 players I have had but in my opinion, it is a desirable benefit. The sound is fantastic, loading took a bit of time but I was loading over 32 gigs. Still exploring the other features.

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This MP3 player works wonderful. I received it as a Christmas gift and so far I don't have any problems with it.

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I bought one of these two years ago (2011), and I still enjoy using it almost everyday. The biggest attractions for me were the variety of formats it supports, the storage space, and the battery life. Some people might scratch their heads as to why the device has no WiFi support, but it's a media player, not another smartphone. I am not convinced, though, that a touchscreen is the best interface for a unit like this, but it works.

The user's manual is a bit light on some of the features I never use, but using the video and music features is pretty straightforward, and that's about all I really want from such a device. The built-in speakers are better than I expected, and, together with the microphone, have been quite useful when trading language lessons and conversations with others.

As of this posting (2013), Cowon still appears to make updates to the firmware. Unfortunately, it seems only bugfixes are made, and no new features are being added.

Overall, I give the X7 4 out 5. The unit itself is fantastic for music and videos, but occasionally the interface is slow to respond, booting and copying files can be really slow, customizing the unit is not well explained, and the unit becomes very bulky if you carry it around in a case of some kind. That, and the background for the radio is kind of girly too. Still, though, it's a great player, and I am glad I bought one.

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With all the space available I was hoping to put my extensive collection of 60GB MP3's and 30GB movies on this. It would theoretically take all of it, but apparently the operating system and/or hardware is so incredibly slow, it would take many days to transfer from my PC. In other words, even though there is a huge amount of space, from a practical standpoint it is of no use whatsoever. You might as well save the money and get an 8GB for size and practicality.

HP Deskjet 1000 J110A Printer-Color-4800x1200 dpi-USB-PC,Mac

Cheap, did what it was supposed to for a while then presented an 'out of paper' error that wouldn't go away no-how; must be a sensor error. It didn't last long. Also, the screws have a strange star head, not allen, not phillips so not home-fixing-friendly. It wasn't worth buying, to me. That'll teach me. 2 stars instead of 1 because it did work for a while (6 months maybe?), I don't know whether I got my money's worth though. Just a note, it worked fine with Windows but the Linux drivers had trouble with it. That's not its fault though. Just to be clear mine is the J110a sub-version, it says so on the bottom.

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Evertech CCTV Security Camera - 700 TVL, 36 IR, 2,8~12mm Wide Angle ZOOM Vari-focal Lens Metal Dome

This camera works really well and the wide angle is great for covering the entrance area. The IR works better than the Swann and Zmodo cameras I have. I would buy another one and probably will to replace one of my others. The other review stated the Zoom didn't cover things well. I zoomed it in and out but decided to leave it zoomed out in order to get the full coverage of the wide angle view of the area in question. It has a clear picture and works really well for the security of my business.

This is fundamentally a good vandal-resistant NTSC dome camera, but with two important limitations. First, it is quite difficult to adjust the field of view and focus unless you temporarily run a cable from the back of the camera to the front of the camera, and have a wrist mounted video monitor to obtain real-time feedback. Second, the documentation is poor, and written in "Chinglish". The one sheet of paper which comes with each camera has no installation instructions, and is pretty much useless. The one sheet "installation instructions" PDF available on the Evertech USA website is both misleading and incorrect. I had to call Evertech (NJ) for assistance. The camera is easy to disassemble, install, and adjust once you have done it once. A good price for a good quality NTSC camera, but you may need installation help.

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[Evertech CCTV Security Camera 700 TVL, 36 IR, 2,8~12mm Wide Angle ZOOM Vari-focal Lens Metal Dome Camera for Indoor & Outdoor 36 Ir LED Color Home Security Surveillance Dome Camera]

I purchased this camera from Maxvision CCTV in Sept 2012. Right out of the box (the very day i received it) I noticed an interesting problem with the camera. With the lens set (via the zoom dial) at the widest view angle of 2.8mm focal, the camera image would simply NOT focus ! The image was **COMPLETELY** blurry at this wide angle setting and adjusting the focus over the entire range of the focus dial would not fix (focus) the image. The image could only be focused after I zoomed IN well past the camera's widest angle setting. This essentially means that to use the camera, one has to give up the widest view angles advertised for the product.

It may be that I simply received a defective unit. I can't say for sure at this time -Sept 10. I have contacted the Seller and will post an update after getting closure. If the issue is addressed and/or my experience with the camera is improved, i will re-rate this product accordingly.

9/15/2012 Update: Seller (MaxVision) offered apology and replacement but I opted for a refund since i was spooked. A camera with issues right out of the box might just be a simple stroke of bad luck or a sign of poor quality product. I wasnt interested in finding out so i returned the camera. My rating of the product stands at 1 star.

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GoVideo DVR4400 DVD player and VHS recorder

First of all this machine from 2002 is the only one at present still alive and kicking.

IT HAS A VOLUME CONTROL

IT HAS A MUTE BUTTON

YOU CAN PLAY CDS DIRECTLY INTO AN AMPLIFIER USING YOUR REMOTE. AND CONTROL EVERYTHING.

IF YOU WANT A MACHINE THAT WORKS THIS IS THE ONE.

IT DOES NOT DO WELL WITH STICKY PEANUT BUTTER / JELLY FINGERS NOBODY MAKES THAT ONE.

HOWEVER IF YOU READ REVIEWS FOR ANY OTHER MACHINE AND THE HORROR STORYS. YOU KNOW THAT RELIABLILITY IS THE BIG DEAL THIS ONE IS REALLY GOOD. I BOUGHT A SECOND ONE FOR ANOTHER ROOM AND STILL ANOTHER ONE FOR A THIRD ROOM . THERE IS A REASON WHY A TEN YEAR OLD MACHINE SELLS FOR MORE THAN IT DID NEW.

iKEY AUDIO HDR7 Portable Digital Recorder

The product performs exactly as stated both online and in the owner's manual. Also, I'd like to say that for the money it's hard to pass up; especially if you'd like to record .wav filesthis is where I believe you'll realize the biggest value. Finally, I purchased this device to help me rip all my old vinyl LP's but one word of caution here: If you purchase this for that purpose don't forget to buy a preamp for your turntable as this is needed because although the unit has a 10db gain it's just not enough to get the job done; however, it's great for increasing the gain beyond the range of the preamp.

This product has been discontinued by Ikey. That is why the price is sooooooo low. Even at double the price, this would be an excelent value. The value for the reduced price is superior. Ikey will still support the product for the full warranty so there is no risk.

Recording is very easy, much easier than on my TASCAM. The sound is just as good or better than the TASCAM. It has more features than the TASCAM. It is more solid/ substantial than the TASCAM. I has better battery life compared to the TASCAM... still not great but noticably better. It has phantom power for mics which is a positive.

I use it for voice recording and it does this VERY well. Mics are very responsive and live.

It comes with 1GB SD card but suggest upgrading to 4 or 8GB. It is very convenient to drop the card directly into the computer. It also uses flash drive which is very convenient.

It comes with AC power cord and I have had to use it in an emergency. Very helpful. It also comes with tripod, all computer cords and windscreen.

The extras are good, but the recording sound is better.

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I've owned the HDR7 for about 2 years. I only use it on special occasions when I need an external recording to usually a video recording. The battery life is 2 hours max. When the battery starts getting low it starts recording pieces of words, kind of like it drops out frequently which makes the recording kind of useless. Lately it started a new quirk. I was recording a wedding and I wanted to hear the bride and groom actually say their vows so I put the HDR7 up very close to where they were going to do that. After the wedding I retrived my recorder and pressed stop and it went through the file saving process. When I went to play my recording it said unkown format. I had recorded as an mp3. I was really upset that I had lost that recording. When I looked on the card for my file it had no file extension. It made the difference between a good project and an excellent one. (I had to rely on my video camera michrophone 100 feet away.) This past weekend I needed to record a conference that lasted for 3 hours actual time. I changed the batteries half way through and I still got a lot of partial words. This last instance was the last time this recorder is going to let me down. I'm ordering a new recorder and it won't be an Ikey-audio product.

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This item is extremely noisy. There's as much hiss as on a tape recorder. Very sub-par for a digital. I'm looking to replace my Tascam DR-2D. This isn't going to do it.

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This unit is outstanding. I have used many recorders in my day and this one tops them all. Easy to use, hook up is simple. Nice manual explains everything. If you need a rackmount digital recorder this is your only choice. Make sure you watch the price. It can fluctuate between $140 to $229. Buy low and this is a great deal.

Naxa NDL-400 7-Inch TFT LCD Display Portable DVD Player with Digital TV TUNER, AM/FM Stereo Radio,

• Portable 7" LCD DVD Boombox
• Built in Digital ATSC TV Tuner
• Built in USB/SD/MMC Slot
• 3 Way Power: UL/ETL Approved AC Adaptor, DC Battery Power & DC 12V Car Cord

I had no idea how hard it would be to find a satisfactory boombox that also had the tv/dvd player built in. This looked the best of the three models I could find on Amazon and was the first of the three devices we tried, each with frustrating shortcomings in the design or quality. The other two were GPX BT780B 7 Inch LCD Portable TV/DVD/AM/FM Boombox and the Coby TFDVD7091 7-Inch DVD/MP3/CD Player and ATSC/NTSC TV Tuner, Black All three could be harshly described as cheapo third world junk, but for the money we were not expecting audiofile quality and manufacture. But design decisions torpedoed all three at fulfilling what we wanted from the devices. I don't like hassling with sending stuff back to Amazon, but all three were returned and we ended up settling on separate devices for the portable cd/tv/dvd functionality that we wanted. If these could have been examined in store we likely never would have bought any of them.

I had three main intended uses for this boombox and this one device appeared to have it all, plus it was the only one I could find that had battery, AC, and car adapter DC power options (a huge plus for our intended uses). It turned out to not be particularly good for any of our three main purposes.

First, we wanted it to play audio cds upstairs where we have no stereo. Though it is billed as a boombox, the dvd player does not play audio cds! This may be the unit's biggest flaw and it is hard to fathom it not playing an audio cd but playing dvd. I know cds are on their way out and digital downloads are in, but it has a disc player already installed! And it is a boombox!

Secondly, we were going to strap it to the console of our van for the 12 hour trips we take to visit family and use the dvd to keep our daughter's attention when she got road weary. The sound for FM radio music seemed okay, not great but listenable without wincing, but when playing a dvd the male voice dialogue was hard to discern. They sounded muffled and the only solution was to turn up the volume more than we wanted it. We could find no tone or EQ settings to try and boost the mid-range and figured it would be nearly impossible to understand dialogue over the road noise in our van. The screen image was also brighter and better than the other two models we tried.

The third reason we wanted this was for emergency tv/radio. While we never bothered to attempt the tv because we knew it was going back, the analog FM tuner was very touchy and difficult to dial in stations as if it was an afterthought in the design. But the battery power was a plus for emergency tv and radio if you need them for that.

Comparing the NAXA and the GPX, the build quality appeared reasonably stout on the NAXA and didn't scream cheapo electronics as badly as the GPX model, which is odd because the two models share several design elements and probably schematics for the button controls as they were nearly identical. These probably come from the same Chinese contract factory. The GPX was flimsier but to it's advantage it has a front load disc drive and the NAXA is a top loader after you flip the screen up.

If you don't care that it does not play music cds or may be hard to hear in a moving car, it might work for you. It has a lot of features for the money, but the quality will obvious challenge a long life for this device.

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For what it worths you won't be disappointed and it made a wonderful 12-yr old boy's birthday gift...guarantee to be better than sliced bread. My reason to puchase this particular item was preparation for emergency items since our last experience with San Diego's blackout and with this plug in batteries and you will be uptodate with the Jones's (radio is good and this will be better). Also a magnetized base for TV antenna is provided so it will be in place for better reception. Bad thing is the volume drop lower in tv/dvd mode but compare to the price it is okay. Hopefully the next one in the market will be better.

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this Naxa NDL-400 7-Inch TFT LCD Display Portable DVD Player with Digital TV TUNER, AM/FM Stereo Radio, USB Input and SD/MMC Card Slots is nice looking and nice sounding and work great love it!

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I'm using this in my workshop as a radio/dvd player with the occasional live football on tv thrown in. Does the job great. The plastic is a bit brittle as indicated in another review, but doesn't feel cheap. My only wish would be for a better out of the box TV antenna and maybe a digital radio tuner instead of an analog one (so I could use the remote to change radio stations). All around, not a bad little unit!

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It picks up stations pretty well in a major metro area of Southern California, but it does better in the morning than at night. I've tested the 8C battery usage for the DVD player, and the batteries 'lasted' (using DURACELL'S with a remaining shelf life of 3 years, which were bought 2 years previously), a total of 3 hours of DVD playtime. In another test on another product, using (in that test), a BRAND NEW SET of Duracell's, hot from the big box store, and never stored, I tested a Magnasonic boombox DVD player for DVD playtime (which had no TV). But in that test, I used 'super-fresh' (never stored) Duracell batteries which give me 6 hours of DVD playtime. But we're comparing apples to oranges here. The Naxa was tested with never used, but 2 year old Duracell's; the Maganasonic was tested with super-new, fresh from the big box store, Duracell's. Maybe the Naxa would have played longer if I had used super-new Duracell's like I did in the Magansonic test. (You'll have to draw your own conclusions from those above facts.) Note also: a word of caution about the remote....in 'my' Naxa, the battery does not make good contact with the lower contacts inside the 'remote'. I had to slip-in one thin sheet of aluminum foil (without putting-in the foil TOO far so as not to touch the front battery contacts as well...to prevent creating a 'short'), in order for the remote to activate each time I pressed a button. All-in-all I'll keep this unit as the digital TV stations were pulled-in so well in my area. I'll use the Magnasonic to play DVDs in a power outage. [Oh, one more thing I just found out: this unit's TV works even better with the SuperSonic Flat Digital Antenna VHF/UHF that Amazon sells for about $14. It enables the TV to pick up the lower frequency channels in my area much better than the NAXA supplied antenna. And, at least those 'lower' channels(which are CBS; NBC etc.) stations, and are broadcast in the language that 'I' speak'...while the higher frequencies/channels are mostly non-English speaking channels in my area.]

Olympus VN-240 Digital Voice Recorder

Functional, but no USB capability. It is exactly as described, so no fault there. Will probably give it away, as I now have another Olympus (WS-802) with the USB function.

Protective Hard Shell Slim Camera Case for Canon PowerShot N , A2300 IS , ELPH 510 HS / Nikon Coolp

This vivitar universal case does not come close to fitting the Nikon AW 100 camera. If it did...the workmanship is poor quality..I would not recommend to anyone...

I knew a soft shell cover was not for me. In doing my research for camera case that could survive being in my handbag probably covered by a cell phone or magazine or book or keys I new that this was the case for me. Never have I retrieved my camera to find it accidentally turned on and the battery dead. My only negative review is that I wish it came in other colors.

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I really love this camera. Is easy to pack and take with me. It is not com plicated to use at all. A great product.

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SpygearGadgets Motion-Activated Camera with Night Vision and 10-Day Battery Life

The camera works OK as a motion sensor camera, it's small enough to be hidden in day time, ah but the glowing Infra Red led lights beat the whole purpose of the hidden camera (not hidden anymore)

The manual it's in well explained English, simple and detailed with some graphics to help you understand better the functionality of the device,

also what the other guy said about the 5 seconds trigger video it's TRUE, the manual states 2-3 seconds (Lie) it's actually 5-6 seconds after the cam has been triggered to record something

plus the glowing led lights, let me put it this way.

You open the door,

Motion sensor detects you right away(in half second IR led lights turn on) that doesn't mean the cam is recording.

you have now 4 seconds to close the door and the camera would record just an empty room for the time you set the camera to record

The camera works

Video Quality is good

FPS are smooth

Audio/Mic is good and clear

Trigger time is 5-6 seconds

Customizable settings are just a few:

Time recording:30,60,180/s

Video Resolution:640*480, 320*240

Video Quality FPS:10,15,30FPS

Time/date stamp on video

Indicator Green light On/Off while recording

Description of the camera on video I guess (in case you have several around the house to see to which camera corresponds selected video)

What it misses in the settings or should've been added too:

On/Off IR led lights

Select # of IR led lights to be activated on triggered cam: 0,1,2,4,6 or the whole 8,

(seriously, the 8 IR led lights give great illumination to the night vision camera(more than enough I would say), but they show to the intruder the camera location and what it is at first sight)

and that beats the whole purpose of the SPY/HIDDEN camera,

so,

NO, this is not a night vision "SPY" "HIDDEN" cam,

maybe a daytime spy cam or just a motion sensor night vision camera,

Battery Life is stated to last about 10 days,

Haven't get thru that yet, I'll review that Later

It took some time to find exactly what I needed and fortunately this little gadget fit the bill precisely.

It works exactly as described. It's early days yet but it seems to be robust and well made to last a long time.

The short videos it creates are time stamped which is what I was looking for and can view something in absolute darkness.

The videos are a bit over exposed as they need to be to catch the tiniest of light sources. I don't intend to do anything

except keep track of animal movements at night so the videos are just fine for me.

The instructions are clear. But, they tend to assume that the reader is completely aware of what they are referring to.

In order to set the time and date stamp (which works very well) you need to create a small .txt file and transfer it into

the folder of the camera.

For those confused by this on a Windows machine (sorry can't speak to what is needed on Macs, . .) in the 'Accessories'

folder in the programs of the Start Menu, you should find 'Notepad'. This is what you would use to create the .txt file with the

current date & time. (The text you type in and save is completely spelled out in the instructions, . . .)

Once created and saved you drag and drop it into the camera folder after you have connected the camera to ]

your pc. That's all there is to it.

One note this may be tripping up some trying to set the time and date The time that needs to be set is based on a

24 hour clock (which most of the world uses, . .) as opposed to a 12 hour clock that we use in the States. So 5PM is

written as 17:00. This may be one of the reasons setting the time hasn't worked for others.

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I bought this camera to put into my car and everything works fine except the motion activation takes too long to activate. If you walk at a normal pace past my car then the activation is too slow to catch the motion. If you linger for more than 5 seconds, only then will it will catch the motion. I have an internal motion activation system in my house that senses motion instantly even in the dark. I guess I am used to INSTANT motion detection and this camera has 5 SECOND DELAYED motion detection. I was able to set the date very easily, the battery does last for over 50hrs continuous before recharging as promised and it does film in complete darkness.

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After seeing evidence of a rat, and no luck catching it, I decided to try using this camera to capture it on video, if not in a nice, baited trap.

Upon arrival of the camera, I was initially disappointed to not see any option for adjusting the sensitivity of the IR detector, as I had seen on other cameras advertised (I was worried that the factory adjustments wouldn't be sensitive enough to detect something as small as a rat). Oh well, I thought, I'll give it a try and if it doesn't work I can always throw it into the vast pile of other useless electronic junk that I seem to be addicted to buying off of the internet.

Using the factory settings for video capture time (30sec), I mounted the camera on a tripod, in our kitchen, and aimed it in the vicinity of where we've been seeing evidence (droppings, puffballs of fiberglass insulation, etc). I turned the unit on at 11pm and went to bed not expecting much.

After waking up the next day, I went about my business, not being overly excited about the camera; still convinced that it couldn't possibly be sensitive enough to detect a rat. I finally got around to retrieving the camera and attaching it to my PC with the included video cable (BTW, my unit did not come with a memory card, and had to purchase a 4GB one from Best Buy for $13 + tax. Be sure to buy one from Amazon as the price can't be beat).

Anyway, after attaching it to my PC, I opened up the camera's folder, and there were 15 videos, ranging in time from 30 sec to 90sec. Could the camera have actually caught one of the little son-of-a-guns?, I wondered? With anticipation, I opened up the very first video file and was pleasantly startled to see what I saw. There it was in all it's tiny glory, skittering around my kitchen floor, thumbing it's wiggly little nose up at me!

Based on my new-found knowledge of his whereabouts, I'm in the process of putting together a party for my little friend a party from which he'll hopefully never return!

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I've been using this for a few weeks to watch for people snooping around my work cubicle after hours. So far I'm fairly impressed the device works as advertised.

Pros:

Excellent battery life, I have left it unattended for several days at a time.

There is a tripod mount on the back of unit, but I haven't tried it yet.

Very small package does not look overly conspicuous.

Included rubber stand allows for easy positioning

Incredibly easy to use once configured just turn the switch "on" when you want it active.

The night vision, while I have only tested it once, is surprisingly pretty good.

Cons (mostly already covered)

The instructions are not very clear.

The field of view is not very wide I'm only able to capture about 1/2 of the area in my cubicle.

When in pitch dark, the IR LED's light up for the night vision to work. The IR's are not invisible they emit some low red light, which to me was clearly visible in a mostly dark room this makes it somewhat conspicuous in the dark.

There is a definite delay in time to start recording. This is the price for long battery life the device is in "standby" until it detects motion, so there's a delay for things to get rolling. Typically a person is fully in frame by the time recording starts. I don't think it's a big deal personally, but expect the first 2-4 seconds of an "event" to be missed.

Connecting it to my PC is rather flaky using the built-in USB port. I usually remove the microSD card and use a separate microSD reader to access the stored videos.

And here is a rough setup guide that may help those who struggle with the included directions:

1) Acquire a microSD card that is at least rated as "Class 6" I bought a 16 gig one from a different online site. It is NOT included.

2) You must be able to access this microSD card as a drive on a Windows PC either by following the included directions for activating the "removable storage" on the camera, or the much easier method use a microSD USB reader. Many microSD cards come with a reader.

3) The camera comes with a small CD containing a setup executable (.exe) file. You must copy this setup file to the microSD card. Do NOT launch the setup program from the CD copy it to the microSD card, and then put the CD away you won't need it anymore.

4) From the microSD card, launch the setup program that you just copied. Here you will set resolution, frame rate, and date/time. Click the "save" button.

5) The program will instruct you to reboot the camera. If you are using an external card reader, take the card out and put it into the camera remove the battery cover and gently pull the battery aside to expose the microSD slot. If you are not, then disconnect the camera from the USB cable and thrn it "Off".

6) Wait a few seconds, then, turn the camera switch to "On". Set it somewhere, dance around in front of it, whatever, to test it. I would recommend running it for several minutes, some of that time spent moving in front of it, and some of that time spent out of the field of view, to give it a thorough test. The camera generally will NOT save the video it is CURRENTLY recording, so if you just turn it on, move around, and turn it off, the camera will not save any videos. You must allow it to reset to standby at least once for it to write the video to the card.

7) Turn the camera off and move the microSD card to your reader (or, follow the directions to put the camera in mass storage mode). Open the "VIDEOS" folder on your SD card. There should be folders sorted by date, and then videos within for each motion detection, the file name being the timestamp. Make sure you can play them.

MINIX NEO G4 Android 4.0 Dual Core RK3066 DDR3 1GB RAM / 8GB ROM Google TV Box Mini PC Dongle Wi-Fi

• Running Android 4.0.4 ICS OS (4.1.1 Jelly Bean upgradable)
• Rockchip RK3066 Dual Core Cortex A9 Processor
• Quad Core Mali 400 (Open GL ES2.0/1.1, Open VG1.1, Flash 11.1)
• 8GB NAND Flash ROM, 1GB DDR3 RAM
• 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, USB 3G Dongle support (not included)

I have a secondary computer that I use for web surfing, watching streaming video and listening to streaming radio stations. When the computer died last week it occurred to me that I could save several hundred dollars by replacing the broken machine with this little Minix Neo G4 "computer on a stick" instead of a traditional full size box computer.

Most people buy the Minix Neo G4 as a way to turn their TV sets into "smart TVs" or in other words to make their TV Internet capable. What tends to get overlooked is that this little device is actually a fully functional computer, capable of doing most, if not all, of what many of us ask of our home computers.

When I received my Neo G4 I found that all the parts that I had saved from my broken computer worked fine with the new little device. My monitor had an HDMI plug, which the Minix requires. It also had an earphone jack, into which I could plug external computer speakers in order to hear the sound. (the Minix itself has no audio out jack, so it is important that your monitor has either speakers or a headphone/audio out plug). My keyboard, mouse etc. all had USB plugs. The Minix has only one USB port, but that is no problem as I had a powered USB hub. Belkin 7 Port Desktop High Speed USB 2.0 Hub with Power Supply I just plugged all the USB devices into the hub and plugged the hub into the Minix device.

The Minix uses the Android operating system. Folks who have Android phones will be right at home navigating around and using apps, etc. This is a full version of Android, with the Play Store. Apps that you already have on your playstore account can be installed on your Minix, along with the thousands of apps in the store.

I installed the Chrome browser, Netlix streaming movies and most of the apps that I already had on my phone. Now I can do just about everything with the Minix that I was doing before on the old computer. All for less than $100!

You may have read in the news recently that sales of PCs are down. Folks are balking at paying $500 or more for full size computers when they can do pretty much everything that they need to on a much less expensive tablet. Well, I have a tablet, and while it is fine for a lot of things, there are still quite a few chores (such as writing this review) that I much prefer to do on a full size keyboard and with a full size monitor. This is where, in my opinion, the Minix Neo G4 shines. It costs just a fraction compared to a full sized computer, it draws much, much less power. It uses an operating system that I am already comfortable with and lets me use my existing smartphone apps, and yet has the advantage of a full size screen and keyboard. This certainly works for me. It just might for you, too.

Buy MINIX NEO G4 Android 4.0 Dual Core RK3066 DDR3 1GB RAM / 8GB ROM Google TV Box Mini PC Dongle Wi-Fi Now

Wi-fi is the big thing with these devices! ... most every other device has antenna/soldering issues ... even then, with the wi-fi chipset they use, they're 65mbps, max!

This is one of the very few that use a different wi-fi chipset to afford up to 150mbps ... I have two routers ... one for DSL ... one for streaming recorded TV ... the latter is about 1/3 the distance, and probly better quality, as well ... at times, I've seen it dip down to 75mbps ... but usually it's pegged at 150mbps!

I'm now streaming recorded .wtv from WMC to Skifta/MXPlayer ... probly a dropped frame here 'n there ... but audio is in-sync ... and video's much higher resolution than Netflix (on my AppleTV, Roku, or Sony BD)! Speaking of which, I installed the free Netflix app, and that works every bit as well as all them other devices!

I've got three of these, now! ... on every one, first-use, I think it auto-updates "Play Store", and sometime shortly thereafter, "Play Store" locks up ... simply reboot ... no more issues!

Before this, I had an MK808 ... flashed ROM's ... tried my hand at soldering ... what a nightmare!

Oh ya ... plan to get a wireless keyboard ... I'm using the Logitech K400, with no issues! The (included) remote is basically a throw-away! ... don't know of any other such device that even includes such a thing?!

Supposedly, the new 4.1.1. firmware update affords XBox and PS3 controllers ... I don't have one ... and after the MK808 nightmare, I'm feeling somewhat less brave!

ETA: ordered the Logitech m325 Thursday... with 2-day free shipping... it came !... works perfectly!... I'm about 10ft away... it's like it's wired!... I checked out the range (but I have no mouse pad, so with a better surface, ya might get better results... at 10ft, I use the armrest of my leather chair)...I'd say it's still very good, to 20ft... past that, it starts to get jerky... it's responsive at 30ft, but probly not a lotta fun, at that range!... no conflicts using the k400 (on a different device, in the same room, at the same time)

With the k400, I was using the trackpad about 99.9% of the time!...bear in mind, this is just like any Android tablet/phone... when ya click on a text field, the on-screen keyboard will automatically pop-up... at which, ya can use that, with a mouse, to enter what ya need!... if you're gonna be writing dozens of love letters every day, on your TV, I'd go with a keyboard... at that, something quite a bit nicer than the k400!... it's fine for $30... but it's smaller, and a few keys ain't precisely where they should be!

For signing onto your Wi-Fi, one time, and your gmail, one time, and searches in the play store, or even navigating the interlinks, and moreso, for navigating Netflix, playing angry birds, or just general navigation/use of Android, itself... with this G4, I'd strongly recommend a wireless mouse (not Bluetooth, though... that don't work)... but, the Logitech m325 works perfectly!

A trackball might also be a real good way to go!... I saw a nice one for around $30... I might give that a try, at some point!

Zmodo 4Channel Security Surveillance Video Recorder DVR System - 3G Mobile 1TB Hard Drive Pre-insta

The first one I received showed dates back to 2009 when I did a device log query and was suspicious about the hard drive being used. I was told those dates were just system default dates but their customer service was excellent and they quickly exchange it for another one. After reviewing the device log on the second one it too has the 2009 dates so I am taking their word that they are default dates when the unit is setup. I am satisfied with the unit and the hassle free customer service.

I purchase this produce since my mail packages was stolen from front door more than once. Surveillance video recorder monitor the area, and hope this will stop missing packages. Zmodo technicians are great. I called for set up for surveilance video recorder. They done the job. I will recommend this for any one.

Buy Zmodo 4Channel Security Surveillance Video Recorder DVR System - 3G Mobile 1TB Hard Drive Pre-insta Now

The Zmodo 4Channel Security Surveillance Video Recorder DVR System 3G Mobile... works great after contacting Ed at Zmodo Support for network problems. I wanted to install the unit where I had no hard wire connection to my network. Ed was able to get around this with a Netgear WNCE3001 Wireless Bridge. He took over remotely and set up my notebook and iPhone 4S with the ability to monitor my Zmodo VDR viewing remotely with the notebook and iPhone. Zmodo support staff is outstanding in helping their customers. They are one of the best that I have used. I highly recommend their products and support staff.

Read Best Reviews of Zmodo 4Channel Security Surveillance Video Recorder DVR System - 3G Mobile 1TB Hard Drive Pre-insta Here

Received this and set it up with 3 cameras. Performs as expected so far after two days. I have the 1 terabyte pre-installed. The user manual is thin, small print and not the clearest. Pretty crappy truth be known. Still trying to hook the unit to the internet. Website is some help although it is hard to identify the model as there are no model numbers on the unit.

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Unable to backup to computer. DVR was recommended by Brother-in-law.

His unit is simple to back up, and take pictures

My software: 1.6.3.51

His: V1.3.8 build 20120601

Please advise, Tks Ken

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Harman Kardon DAL 150 EzLink Computer to Home Stereo Interface (USB to Coaxial DA)

• Connect your PC to your home audio system
• Connects from Windows PC USB port to coaxial digital-audio input of an AV receiver or surround processor
• Converts MP3 to linear PCM (CD format)
• Passes native MP3 or bitstream signals to outboard decoders
• Includes USB and coaxial digital-audio interface cables

These are going cheap these days and the main reason is that many computers now ship with built-in digital sound ports. If you have an older computer you can update the sound card to provide digital output pretty easily. The benefit of these other options is that *all* audio output is then digital, not just mp3's that you play through a USB port. (Note that this device doesn't support audio formats other than mp3). Now that I have built-in digital ouput, this thing just sits in a box.

Buy Harman Kardon DAL 150 EzLink Computer to Home Stereo Interface (USB to Coaxial DA) Now

It does not support Winamp only windows media player 7.1 :( If you lose the install cd you are SOL on getting drivers since they are not available from their website. Otherwise it is a functional product that works quite well and is easy to operate.

Read Best Reviews of Harman Kardon DAL 150 EzLink Computer to Home Stereo Interface (USB to Coaxial DA) Here

Sounded like the perfect go between my computer and my HK Receiver. I LOVE the 7.1 sound I get from the system, but the DAL150 only works with WM 9.0 or earlier. My computer had 10.0 and won't support DAL150, version 9.0 is no longer available, and there are no updates for DAL150...so pretty much a bust. It's just hanging under the desk and no way to use it.

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This unit is great, but limited. If you just want to play MP3's on your stereo in your living room via Windows Media Player only. This unit is for you. Like most electronics in the past they tend to get replaced or outdated. An updated driver would have kept this unit with todays market making it very useful as just a USB to digital audio coaxial converter but the driver does not exsist.

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The maximum word limit for this review is 1,000 words, however, I think that this product deserves something short and sweet...Because that is how easy it is to hook your computer to your home stereo system! All my music is organized according to genre, artist, etc. and I love the jukebox-like functions you achieve with the windows media player, but the boston acoustic junk that came with my computer can't handle the jams...buy this product and walla! Your makin' your neighbors crabby with the style and variety of your ecclectic taste in music pounding through your good 'ole home stereo!

HONEYWELL INTRUSION 5898 WIRELESS DUAL-TEC MOTION DETECTOR

This dual-tec device is one of the best. You would have to do something pretty stupid to get it to produce a false alarm. You can test both the PIR and the microwave functions separately if you need to. During normal use they work together prefectly. The microwave is k-band so it stays in the room really well...and no there is no way it produces enough energy to hurt anyone no matter how long it's in service. This is the best motion sensor technology to date.

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Ematic EMS004PN eSport Clip MP3 Video Player with Video Recorder

• 4GB Flash Memory
• 1.8 inches Color Display
• 5MP Camera with LED flash and Video Recorder
• Sports Clip
• FM Radio

The easiest mp3 player I have used. It is really nice to be able to drag and drop files from my music folder to my mp3 player folder.

If you are buying a 4gb mp3 player with a camera and tuner for $22, you better bring your sense of humor with you. I bought my eSport for $30. Since I had my sense of humor handy, I decided to get the pink model. I like the color. I think it sets my dark running shorts off nicely.

When I plugged the player into my computer, it worked! It actually started to charge. To make things better, my Linux Mint operating system recognized it. I was so shocked my mouse hand went numb! I opened up a random music folder and dropped the whole thing into the mp3 folder and the player took it. When I looked at the folder, it contained both mp3 and ogg files. Ogg is the open source music format. Since it took the music so easily, I got cocky and drug an avi file over to see what would happen. To my surprise, all of the music played. As an added bonus, the Japanese music showed up on the display in Kanji. The video did not work because I did not resize it.

The music player worked. The buttons are extremely clunky but navigation is possible. The player comes with a cheap little speaker that works. It is kind of neat to clip it onto the back of my bike jersey and listen to poor quality music. When I am going up the side of a mountain, it is nice to have a tempo to help set a pace. I don't really listen to the music but the tempo is there. I listened to the player through some Bose headphones with satisfactory results. It was not like listening to the music from a PC with a $200 sound card but the sound was okay.

The video camera works. With 4gb of available memory, you can record for a while. The camera works. It has a flash but I am not sure it does anything. Half the time when I take a picture, I am not sure if I took the picture or not. ¾ of the time when I take a picture, I am not sure if I am in the camera mode. The pictures and video transfer to my computer by drag and drop.

I am currently using it as my car mp3 player. It has about 6 hours of battery use and still going strong. When I turn it off and back on, it remembers the track it was playing. Every time I throw it back into its hole for the trip, it changes the song from the touchy controls that are only sensitive when you don't want them to do anything.

Pros:

It is cheap

It works!

Very easy file transfer

Plays variable formats, mp3, wav and ogg. I did not feel like looking for Apple files to drag over.

Lots of memory storage

Expandable memory

Nice colors

Comes with a cool video about a rabbit

Cons:

It is cheap

It is slow

Navigation is frustrating

I can't figure out where the buttons are located

It is big

Final grade Pass

It is a $30 mp3 player. It does what I want and some extra stuff. It is easy enough to figure out. I did not read the instructions and managed just fine. The buttons do not work very well but they get the job done. I will not cry when it breaks. I bought a cheap mp3 player so I could sweat all over it and not cry when I get caught out in the rain. Remember your sense of humor when use something like this.

Buy Ematic EMS004PN eSport Clip MP3 Video Player with Video Recorder Now

This player is frustrating to use and impossible to navigate. Worse still? It broke after the first use. Avois this product!

Read Best Reviews of Ematic EMS004PN eSport Clip MP3 Video Player with Video Recorder Here

I bought this for my 9 year old daughters birthday so she would quit using my MP3 player. It is cute and has more features than my Sony does. The feel is a little cheap and plastic but everything works even after being dropped a few times already. The only complaint I can come up with is the battery life, it lasts about 2 1/2 to 3 hours and needs recharged again.

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It is easy to load music on to this player however that is the only good thing about it. When you push a button it doesn't respond immediately, which is very frustrating. It's difficult to make play list or even to play all your music at random. I would not waste my money on this. Wish I had never bought it.

Worked for 10 minutes then it went dead never to play again. Even though the price is good as well as the stated specifications the product is like a child's toy.

Nokia N8 Unlocked GSM Touch Screen Phone Featuring GPS with Navigation and 12MP Camera--U.S. Versio

I just bought this phone a couple days ago.

Comparing N8 photos vs iPhone photos:

iPhone screen is 960x640, while N8 screen is 360x640.

A picture when enlarged will look more blurry on the N8, compared with the same picture enlarged on the iPhone.

This doesn't mean the N8 camera takes blurry pictures.

This means the screen resolution is better on iPhone

This means the camera is better on N8.

The bad quality UI complaints are mostly due to the 3rd party widgets included from YouTube, CNN, BBC, National Geographic, Paramount movie previews.

My phone crashed (UI got stuck) due to some third party app, and I tried to remove the battery (as with most other phones) but couldn't.

I realized I did not need to remove the battery...just press the power button for 5-8 seconds and the phone will reboot.

BTW, if you'd ever need to replace the battery yourself, just use a small "allen key" type screwdriver.

The Nokia N8 multiple home screens are a great way to organize yourself and reduce phone screen clutter.

If you need a portrait mode qwerty keyboard, swype or dayhand maybe interesting options for you.

I personally need a qwerty keyboard in portrait mode.

Keep in mind that qwerty keyboard is just a burden for most people (esp. older people in Asia).

Such people will be content with just reading messages, sending a few "very short" messages with the T9 keypad...while making a lot of calls and taking a lot of pictures anytime anywhere.

Among the things I love about this phone:

1. N8 is able to play all sorts of vdo file formats.

2. Camera gives you 12MP pictures, and HD video! Just make sure to peel the plastic off the lens on the back.

3. Connectivity cables included (usb to thumb drive, usb to pc/mac, hdmi to tv is flawless)

4. Multi-tasking

5. Long battery life

6. Internet, Email, or Web Connectivity can be set to be via "WLAN only" or "WLAN preferred" or "3G only", etc.

You can minimise mobile operator fees as you like.

7. Combine Push Email with your choice of network connectivity via WLAN and you start to save money with the lower phone bill.

This is my opinion on the iPhone vs N8 issue...

US journalists/bloggers who write N8 reviews are mostly new to Nokia/Symbian.

So they will only "evaluate" their comfort level with the N8...for just a couple of days.

They admit (very briefly) that "I'm an iPhone user, I tried to use N8 for x days", before they start hammering the N8.

N8 gives you the gear to lower your phone bill

Hackers have traditionally been about lowering their AT&T phone bills. Many in Silicon Valley, including Steve Jobs, grew up with this mentality. Nokia probably realize this and gives you a choice...the press is not giving Nokia the credit for giving you the freedom.

Nokia N8 robust hardware will still be handy after many years of use and software updates.

Part of the "UI problem" is due to the less tightly structured Symbian UI development kit, by allowing 3rd party developers the freedom to create their own look and feel.

So each app on Symbian can have a different UI structure and user's experience may not very be consistent across different apps even though they are using the same device (N8).

The less tight structure of Symbian APIs has proved to be a strength as Symbian has evolved to support a much larger variety of hardware types with different phone form factors:

some touch screen

some T9 keypad

some qwerty keypad

Nokia, as a leading phone manufacturer, offers a larger choice of phone form factors for a larger customer base...that's the reason Nokia is a leading phone manufacturer.

Each form factor will be preferred by different types of users, since there is a much wider consumer base.

Many business users will prefer a qwerty keyboard.

Many users will prefer a T9 keypad and find the qwerty keyboard a distraction with too many buttons...for example, they usually do not do a lot of texting or type on a computer keyboard.

Many people like the "feel" of a touch UI...but that also means that each app is more likely to have "touch buttons" on a different location of the screen.

That means touch UI phones require the users to "look before you touch".

That means with the keyboard or keypad, users can "feel" as they "touch" the phone buttons without looking.

I bought this phone from Amazon, a week back and I own a Nokia N900 too. I wish to compare these two, as Nokia N900 is one of the greatest phones from Nokia.

1) First let me go to internet browsing.

Nokia N900 is the first phone to have full flash player and the major capability is it will play videos directly in the browser, for sites like youtube, facebook etc. Once facebook moved to latest flash player, N900 is not able to play the videos(eventhough there is a hack).

Nokia N8, does not have full flash player, but it has flash lite. I was expecting that the youtube and facebook will not be able to play the videos directly in the browser. To my surprise, both the sites played the video in the site itself, thats really great.

With respect to Nokia N900, every site determines it as a computer and hence will show the full page, instead of the mobile site, which is good, if the wifi or 3G is really good.

With respect to Nokia N8, every site determines it as a mobile and hence will first display the mobile site, but if you re-route it to the full site, still it displays the sites like charm.

Conclusion: with respect to internet browsing Nokia N8 does great.

2) Playing videos.

Nokia N900 has a resolution of 800x480, hence the videos look very good.

Nokia N8 has a resolution of 640x360, so I expected videos(good videos like HD videos) will look less attractive, but to my surprise, it looks great in Nokia N8.

Nokia N900 can almost play any video format directly, like wmv, avi etc, including flv. I am not sure whether any other phone can do/compete with this.

Nokia N8 on the other hand, has the ability to play any video format, but for avi and flv there is a little trick. When you copy an avi file, your PC may complain that this device is not capable to play it, but you can still use it as a storage and say yes to it. To my surprise, media player picks and plays well. For .flv files, after you copy, the media player is not going to pick it, as if it doesn't support it. If you go to file manager and click on this .flv file, media player picks it and plays well. I haven't tried .mkv file yet, as the mkv files that I have are all big and it is not allowing me to copy those.

Conclusion: Playing videos is very good in Nokia N8.

3) Camera.

Nokia N900 has 5MP camera and in this area, Nokia N8 stays way ahead with 12MP camera and xenon flash.

Nokia N8 has xenon flash, which normal cameras use, still even normal cameras cannot take good pictures in dim night lighting. Similarly N8 photos come good, if taken in close shots in night. In daylight, photos come really good. The beauty with N8 is its photo and video editing softwares out of the box, which are really good.

HD video recording in N8 is good, provided you don't show quick movements to turn the camera to a different angle and this is mainly due to the 25 frames per second video recording.

Conclusion: Nokia N8 camera and its capabilities are one of the best.

4) GPS.

Nokia N900 is pretty dumb in this area too, as it doesn't have voice guidance out of box. So lets directly jump to Nokia N8.

Nokia N8 has one of the best GPS with voice guidance, one major disadvantage that I came across is, it needs 3G connection to work(I am not sure whether this is correct, what I am quoting is just my experience). Once it connects, it works good. I just found two minor issues, one is it informs you to take a turn just when you are few feet away to take the turn, whereas Garmin GPS informs you well ahead. Similar way when you arrive at your destination, it says you arrived at destination, it does not say, whether your destination is on the right or left, whereas Garmin GPS tells which side your destination is going to be.

Conclusion: Nokia N8 GPS is definitely good.

5) Widgets.

Nokia N900 stands out with respect to widgets and its definitely the best in the industry. You can place the widgets whereever you want, even one on top of the other. Widgets are really useful in N900.

Nokia N8 on the other hand has fixed dimensions for widgets and you can't place it whereever you like. You need to place it in the designated places. The main drawback for this that I found is, in email widget, you don't get much required information from the widget, you still need to jump into the mail app to know what email came to you now. Still widgets look good in N8.

Conclusion: Nokia N8 widgets are still good.

6) Chat and Voip.

Nokia N900 stands out in this area too, as Skype worked with Nokia to have the skype integrated into the contacts. Like that, google, yahoo, even sametime all are integrated into the contacts itself. You just need to go to contacts to see who is online. You can call that contact through various options, like gsm call or voip call using skype or skype to skype call or skype to skype video call, same way for google, yahoo etc. It is very powerful, none of the mobile has it integrated like this.

With respect to Nokia N8, I believe it is not out of box and I am not sure whether I need to install anything to get a similar experience. I heard skype is still building an app for N8, so still I am searching for a provider who can offer video calling capabilities, so that I can use the secondary camera.

Conclusion: Nokia N8's capabilities in this area are not yet explored.

7) Social networks.

Nokia N900 has beautiful widgets and integration to contact well.

Nokia N8 is not less to this. It has widgets and integration to contact also well.

Conclusion: Nokia N8's social network capabilities are good.

8) Bluetooth.

Nokia N900 has the usual bluetooth version and it works good even with A2DP.

Nokia N8 stands out in this, with latest bluetooth version 3.0. The transfers are really fast compared to the older version. The beauty comes with out of box drivers to support bluetooth devices like mouse, keyboard etc. Imagine, I paired my bluetooth keyboard and mouse to the phone and it reduced the time that I spent to do the typing, a lot. I don't have a monitor to connect using the HDMI port, if I have, then it becomes a complete system.

Conclusion: This is one of the best in Nokia N8.

9) Battery life.

Nokia N900, in line with all the other powerful smartphones, with all the widgets constantly checking the internet and all the chat softwares too constantly checking internet, it comes for 75% of the day and you need to charge it after that.

Nokia N8, to my surprise even with all the above said things, it is able to withstand for atleast 2 days.

Conclusion: Battery is really good in N8.

10) WebTV.

Nokia N900 doesn't have this capability.

Nokia N8: need to explore in this area.

Conclusion: Need to explore in this area.

11) Micro USB capabilities.

Nokia N900, not much to say.

Nokia N8, can read your memory stick out of the box and will show it as a drive in the file manager.

Conclusion: Micro USB in Nokia N8 is capable of more things.

12) Speakers.

Nokia N900, has stereo speakers and it can produce loud sounds without any external speakers.

Nokia N8, doesn't have stereo speakers, but to my surprise the sound is equally loud as N900, but I found only one problem in this area, as the speaker is in the camera compartment which directly comes in contact to the ground. If you keep the phone down on a desk, you will not be able to hear any sound, as the speaker is blocked by the desk. Similarly even the mic is on the same side, so if you talk over phone handsfree, by keeping the phone on the desk, both the parties are not going to hear properly.

13) FM transmitter and internet radio.

Nokia N900 is outstanding in this area. If you find to get your popular radio stations URL from internet, you just need to grab the URL and give it to the media player, then N900 can stream your radio station live from internet either using wifi or 3G, which means even if you are in any part of the world, you will be able to hear your favourite radio station live. Using the build-in FM transmitter, you can transmit to your own car radio.

Nokia N8 has the FM transmitter, which is equally good to N900. Even though N8 has internet radio concept, it is basically app based, which means whatever stations the app is providing, thats what you are going to hear. If you want to do the same things as above(like grabbing an url and feeding it to media player), I am not sure how to do it.

Conclusion: FM transmitter is really good, but internet radio needs some improvement.

I hope, I covered the review of some distinct features apart from the usual ones.

Buy Nokia N8 Unlocked GSM Touch Screen Phone Featuring GPS with Navigation and 12MP Camera--U.S. Versio Now

What more can I do with it (compared to iPhone or Android):

1. Navigate anytime with a fantastic GPS module and free life time navigation (including turn by turn voice navigation with street names, lane guidance, speed limit warning, traffic etc.!!). Go buy crap GPS software for iPhone for a huge price (last time checked was more than 50$) and even then that won't even come close to Nokia navigation. Don't forget Nokia owns Navteq (the worlds largest map producer)

2. Transmit FM and play it on your car music system (iPhone doesn't even have a FM receiver)

3. The best camera (those of u who read the misleading review of endgadget, if u r really reading my review, then u r serious and go ahead to search on google to find zillions of unbiased camera review, comparing N8 even against DSLR)

4. Pentaband network support, which would let you use the phone with both AT&T and T-Mobile 3g network!!

5. Dolby surround sound output

6. USB on the go (which means you could connect your USB device with the phone!)

7. Bluetooth 3.0

8. The only OS that has a very complete bluetooth stack implementation (perhaps too technical for some of the readers) that allows u to even control ur powerpoint presentation with ur cellphone (using salling clicker). The poor iPhone guys, no ur phone doesn't have that functionality (crippled at OS level)

9. The OS that gives superb battery life (anyone using Symbian would testify for this)

10. The freedom that comes with an open OS (OK, Android is also open)

11. The most configurable and complete enterprise wireless stack (trust me, I never ever had any problem to configure my Nokia phones for the most convoluted enterprise wireless network!)

12. A built in completely integrated VOIP support. You won't even notice that u r using VOIP. And trust me, if u know how to use VOIP effectively, u could save a huge amount on your phone bill

13. The ability to work as Bluetooth HSPA modem (or even create Wifi hotspot with third party software)

14. The TRUE TRUE TRUE multi tasking. Yes that's three TRUEs. No one else (including the upcoming Windows Phone 7) supports true multi-tasking. If u ever use Symbian multitasking, u would hate to use others' sham multitasking

15. Many many ... can't list. Feeling tired :( Users are welcome to comment and add additional pros and cons. I am sure there will be Nokia fanboys and iPhone and Android fanboys.

What can't I do (or can't do so well):

1. The UI (yes iPhone and Android have better intuitive UI)

2. I can't fart with my mobile (but I do have all the apps that I would ever need: e.g. call screening software, office software, pdf reader, flash support, email solution, the entire Oxford, cambridge or a host of other dictionaries etc.)

3. Zillions of games that you may avail on iPhone, u may not have on Nokia yet (believe me it's changing fast). BTW, N8 has a faster GPU than iPhone4!

Now some misleading media propaganda:

1. N8 has only 680 MHz processor: Believe me Symbian is by born very efficient. If u ever own a Mac and try to run a Windows 7 in a virtual machine then u know how slow it is. Processor doesn't define speed. I started with a 233MHz pentium processor with 32MB RAM which ran Windows 98 extremely fast with all Office applications, a bunch of productivity apps and a host of games. To give a recent example look at Windows Vista, which runs very slow on the same computer compared to Windows 7 or Mac OS X!

2. N8 has only 256MB RAM: Again u don't need that much RAM. The Symbian^3 has "Writable data paging" which works like virtual memory. And don't forget, Symbian is built from ground up to be battery, memory and processor efficient. No other OS (including Android) claims that feat.

So, in conclusion, if u r looking for a very modern looking user interface, go for iPhone (or Android). But if u r like me who shops for functionality (and who dreams to carry only one gadget (no GPS, no camera, no Apple remote etc.)) then surely u should give N8 a serious thought. And don't let naysayers fool u with usability issues. Believe me, with just couple of days of use, every unintuitive UI would become intuitive (I am a Symbian veteran and it feels very intuitive to me).

Read Best Reviews of Nokia N8 Unlocked GSM Touch Screen Phone Featuring GPS with Navigation and 12MP Camera--U.S. Versio Here

I just bought this phone a couple days ago.

Comparing N8 photos vs iPhone photos:

iPhone screen is 960x640, while N8 screen is 360x640.

A picture when enlarged will look more blurry on the N8, compared with the same picture enlarged on the iPhone.

This doesn't mean the N8 camera takes blurry pictures.

This means the screen resolution is better on iPhone

This means the camera is better on N8.

The bad quality UI complaints are mostly due to the 3rd party widgets included from YouTube, CNN, BBC, National Geographic, Paramount movie previews.

My phone crashed (UI got stuck) due to some third party app, and I tried to remove the battery (as with most other phones) but couldn't.

I realized I did not need to remove the battery...just press the power button for 5-8 seconds and the phone will reboot.

BTW, if you'd ever need to replace the battery yourself, just use a small "allen key" type screwdriver.

The Nokia N8 multiple home screens are a great way to organize yourself and reduce phone screen clutter.

If you need a portrait mode qwerty keyboard, swype or dayhand maybe interesting options for you.

I personally need a qwerty keyboard in portrait mode.

Keep in mind that qwerty keyboard is just a burden for most people (esp. older people in Asia).

Such people will be content with just reading messages, sending a few "very short" messages with the T9 keypad...while making a lot of calls and taking a lot of pictures anytime anywhere.

Among the things I love about this phone:

1. N8 is able to play all sorts of vdo file formats.

2. Camera gives you 12MP pictures, and HD video! Just make sure to peel the plastic off the lens on the back.

3. Connectivity cables included (usb to thumb drive, usb to pc/mac, hdmi to tv is flawless)

4. Multi-tasking

5. Long battery life

6. Internet, Email, or Web Connectivity can be set to be via "WLAN only" or "WLAN preferred" or "3G only", etc.

You can minimise mobile operator fees as you like.

7. Combine Push Email with your choice of network connectivity via WLAN and you start to save money with the lower phone bill.

This is my opinion on the iPhone vs N8 issue...

US journalists/bloggers who write N8 reviews are mostly new to Nokia/Symbian.

So they will only "evaluate" their comfort level with the N8...for just a couple of days.

They admit (very briefly) that "I'm an iPhone user, I tried to use N8 for x days", before they start hammering the N8.

N8 gives you the gear to lower your phone bill

Hackers have traditionally been about lowering their AT&T phone bills. Many in Silicon Valley, including Steve Jobs, grew up with this mentality. Nokia probably realize this and gives you a choice...the press is not giving Nokia the credit for giving you the freedom.

Nokia N8 robust hardware will still be handy after many years of use and software updates.

Part of the "UI problem" is due to the less tightly structured Symbian UI development kit, by allowing 3rd party developers the freedom to create their own look and feel.

So each app on Symbian can have a different UI structure and user's experience may not very be consistent across different apps even though they are using the same device (N8).

The less tight structure of Symbian APIs has proved to be a strength as Symbian has evolved to support a much larger variety of hardware types with different phone form factors:

some touch screen

some T9 keypad

some qwerty keypad

Nokia, as a leading phone manufacturer, offers a larger choice of phone form factors for a larger customer base...that's the reason Nokia is a leading phone manufacturer.

Each form factor will be preferred by different types of users, since there is a much wider consumer base.

Many business users will prefer a qwerty keyboard.

Many users will prefer a T9 keypad and find the qwerty keyboard a distraction with too many buttons...for example, they usually do not do a lot of texting or type on a computer keyboard.

Many people like the "feel" of a touch UI...but that also means that each app is more likely to have "touch buttons" on a different location of the screen.

That means touch UI phones require the users to "look before you touch".

That means with the keyboard or keypad, users can "feel" as they "touch" the phone buttons without looking.

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Reception: Very good. Has two mics, one for talking and one in the back for noise cancellation, so call quality is very good on both ends. The speaker next to your ear is loud and clear.

Body: The screen is glass so you don't need a screen protector. The anodized/painted aluminum finish is sturdy, but way too slippery. I would strongly recommend getting a silicone case or something.

Camera: Shame on Nokia for cramming 12MP into a 1/1.8" sensor. I'd be happy with 8. This practice should be heavily frowned upon. The autofocus is very fast but not exactly razor sharp. ISO performance is decent, which is expected for a 1/1.8" sensor. The flash is pretty weak, so this camera has to crank up the ISO to compensate, which unfortunately degrades photo quality. I personally prefer a wider angle, around 28mm but that is just personal preference. That said, it is still probably the best camera available on a phone. Pictures come out pretty bland and soft on default settings. I hate that you can't save the default processing settings to "Vivid" and a little higher contrast. Every time you turn on the camera it resets these settings to factory defaults.

Interface: It often takes too many clicks to go places and type things. The touchscreen sensors aren't as well tuned as any of the iphones. I always feel like I could use more buttons. For instance, if you're using the music player, and the phone auto-locked but you want to change the track, you have to unlock it before you can do anything. Same if you want to turn the player off. On my old Sony Ericsson candybar phone, you can press the play/pause button because there is a dedicated play/pause button. If you want to change the track, you hold down the volume button and it changes track, or tap the volume button to change volume. On the N8 if you hold down the volume rocker it rapidly changes the volume. There is also a serious lack of dedicated "cancel" or "back" button, commonly found on almost all Samsung or Sony Ericsson phones. What's the point of having a touch screen you're still only going have two "soft keys" up front and hide most of the options in a submenu?

Organizer: I hate that you can't set an alarm to recursively ring on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Yes you can set it to ring on "workdays" only and then set the "workdays" but I like to have several custom alarms and this doesn't do it for me. The workaround is to set 3 different alarms on the calendar on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, and then make them recurring every week. The problem with the calendar alarm is that if it rings and you don't hit snooze in time, it will not ring again. It will auto shut off. Lame. And why, in the Notes app, do I have to click 3 different things to even begin typing? It should be one click. ONE! Or two at the most.

GPS Navigation: It takes about 10-20 seconds for the GPS to track down your location. It's great that you can download maps and use it offline, but the interface and user experience is much inferior to Google Maps, and the same can be said for the search feature. So, I just use Google Maps. But yeah if you're stuck in the middle of nowhere with no cell/internet reception, at least you can figure out where you are.

Web surfing: The default web browser is sluggish and annoying, but Opera Mobile is a very suitable (albeit buggy and crashy) replacement. Too bad Opera can't do Flash yet but at least it can do Youtube.

Texting: The keyboard is OK, not the best ever but I can live with it.

Battery Life: With moderate useage it will not last more than 2 days.

This phone will not satisfy your thirst for instant gratification. It will do almost everything, just not necessarily as well as you would like. $550 is a lot to pay, but who wants to carry around an extra camera everywhere? I suppose if you are of the purse-carrying variety, this should not pose a problem. Other than that, a mediocre picture is better than no picture, and a decent picture is even better. I think I will keep it, but if I had to do it all over again, I would do more research into other models.

UPDATE: 11/18 Just found out about an application called Swype, which makes the keyboard about a billion times better (only works in Landscape mode, Portrait mode is the same).

Apparently the alarm can only snooze for ~45 minutes, which is just plain sucky. I like a good hour and a half of snoozing, darn it! I suppose I could work around it by setting a second alarm 54 minutes after the first one... yes...

UPDATE: 11/27 Just found out you can set your own scene mode in camera settings and save it as the default scene mode, so yes you can save the settings.

Tripp Lite HT810ISOCTR Home Theater Isobar Surge Protector 8 Outlet RJ11 Coax 5700 Jls

This is a well made unit, although I did mark it down to four stars because of a design quirk. Normally, one would expect an optimal condition to be indicated by a green light. Not so on a couple of the monitored parameters on this unit. One is lit red to indicate correct function, and another is amber. I had to call Tech Support to clarify the issue. Other than that, I'm trusting it to provide the stated protection. Just be aware that it doesn't do any line conditioning, so is ineffective with regard to brownout conditions. It only protects against noise, spikes, and surges.

First off, please note the Amazon.com picture for this unit is not what this unit looks like. Check out Tripp Lite's website to see what it really looks like.

This looks nice with the A/V equipment it is supposed to protect. It is short... with the feet, about as tall as a blu ray/DVD player. It is deeper with the plugs plugged in, more like a receiver, however.

The big blue voltage display is cute, which brings me to my only criticism With such a nice display, it would be nice if other useful information could be toggled onto the display Such as amperage currently (so to speak) being used, or even better amperage currently being used by a selected outlet. You can dim the display if you don't want it to distract you, but I find the blue color is very non-distracting and subtle.

But assuming this protects from 5700 joule surges as advertised... I feel a lot better knowing my equipment is now protected.

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Purchased for the protection of some costly new home theater gear. The reason I needed the new gear in the first place was due to the fact that I had an unprotected rear screen projection set, amp, and DVR fried in an electrical storm recently. If you do not want to purchase electronics based on the vagaries of Mother Nature, you would be foolhardy not to use effective surge protection. There are many examples of this type of power center. Deciding which one to purchase can be quite confusing. I decided on this Tripp Lite unit based on my ownership experience with other Tripp Lite gear, its high power rating, and its appearance/low profile. I've been using it for 2 months, running a 65" plasma flat panel, A/V receiver, Apple/TV, DVR, PS3, and a wireless router plugged in. The unit has handled current flawlessly while remaining cool. Of course the true test of a power center is whether or not it actually protects your gear against surges. This Tripp Lite unit is well constructed, has a desirable power handling rating, a nice long power cable, and a robust warranty. So, what's not to like?

Read Best Reviews of Tripp Lite HT810ISOCTR Home Theater Isobar Surge Protector 8 Outlet RJ11 Coax 5700 Jls Here

Great product for the money. I wish it had a bit more protection (re: Joules) but it does a great job of filtering out "noise" from my HT system.

Only thing I found better was the $1000+ gizmos which is waay out of my price range.

Buy it over anything Monster has out there!

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Perfect for my theater system. Great rack mount. Fits Perfect.

Not only does it work well but it looks great.

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Belkin TuneStudio Portable Digital Multitrack Recorder

• uneStudio is an audio mixer that allows direct recording onto an iPod
• Four channels can be mixed simultaneously
• Records uncompressed WAV files directly to the iPod at 16-bit, 44khz
• Each channel has controls for 3-band EQ and pan and level
• Compact and rugged design makes it easy to transport

I was in the market for a cheap recording device that would let me record some conversations between two people, keeping each person's voice contained to a separate track. I also wanted something that would let me use XLR mics and would provide phantom power. I went to several stores and looked at several field recorders (from Sony, Tascam, Edriol & MAudio) and some desktop digital multi-track recorders (Tascam, Fostex & Boss).

However, I then came across this little mixer/recorder from Belkin, costing several hundred dollars less than the other devices I had been looking at. I already had an iPod that will work with the Belkin recorder, so I figured I would give it a try.

I was immediately very impressed with the quality and design of the device. As it happened, I was running late to my first recording session, so I didn't have time to work with the Belkin before I had to use it for real. Fortunately, the Belkin was extremely simple to use. The controls are intuitive, and the mixing board is well-designed and easy to read. (I should mention that several of the other recorders that I looked at were extremely difficult to use, with lots of menus and settings that didn't make sense.)

I then downloaded my recordings and started working with the audio. The audio is recorded as uncompressed WAV files at 1411Kb/s. The sound quality was excellent. There was no hum/hiss from the board, the control knobs did not create any noise when adjusted, and the on-board compressor did its job (there is an adjustable compressor that will keep the audio within the limits of iPod's recording capabilities).

Although I think I will still get a field recorder for true portability, the Belkin works wonderfully as a desktop mixer/recorder.

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Got this to do recordings without having to interface with computer. Does a good job of getting what you're singing/playing to digital audio. Easy to sync with itunes and then edit on your computer. So you still need a computer to edit your audio. Unavoidable unless you can hit record button, not make any extraneous noises and start playing, singing immediately. Also the file is saved on your ipod as wav file so it would need a computer anyway to be converted to mp3 which takes up much less space than a wav file. Also it is not a multitrack recorder. The 4 inputs are mixed together into one stereo track. The unit does require external power supply which comes in the package.

Didn't find out til I bought this that the recording button featured as being an ease-of-use feature of this unit doesn't work with the ipod classic. It's not a deal breaker but why don't they get it working or at least mention that it only works with 5th generation units? If you are releasing a product to record on ipods, you'd think it be fully working on current generation units.

Update found that when using condenser mic with phantom power, I was getting some buzzing noise in one channel. I only used this 4-5 times, now I'm sending it back. I did like the mixer part of the unit and the compressor. It did make make good sounding recordings before the buzz started. And it was easy to get the recordings into the computer for editing as it was just syncing the ipod. I might purchase another in the future.

Read Best Reviews of Belkin TuneStudio Portable Digital Multitrack Recorder Here

I've been recording four-instrument live performances with my MacBook Pro and Logic Express for a couple of years, using an M-audio FastTrack Pro 4 and a Behringer 802 mixer. Great control, but it was a lot of stuff to set up and get cabled, and goofing with the trackpad and on-screen controls was always a little tedious. And then exporting tracks to get iPod or CD rips was an extra post-production task.

The Belkin TuneStudio changes all that. A single box I can take to the gig, patch into the house audio or our own mics, and record everything without messing with a Powerbook perched precariously on a music stand putting out a ton of ghostly screen backlight. The TuneStudio is way more convenient, and although the recording quality drops from 24-bit 96 KHz to 16-bit 48 KHz, that's plenty good enough for cutting CDs or iPod listening. (In fact, I can't tell the difference, which makes me wonder if the M-Audio was really giving me 24-bit).

The build-quality is pretty nice for a box this cheap -a step up from the fit and finish of the Behringer and way cleaner audio than I was getting from the Behringer/M-audio combo. Pots are smooth but with minor fuzzing during motion -common in low-end mixers. The compressor is just plain wonderful -it's great at preventing distortion yet affects overall ambience very little. Separate headphone and monitor volumes are super convenient too for live work.

I haven't tried this hooked to a Mac yet, but I don't intend to use it that way normally. It's just refreshing to pull this one box out of a gig bag, plug in the inputs, and hit Record at the start of each set. Capacity will never be an issue -the 30GB 5G iPod I'm using holds 400 hours. Post gig I sync the thing with my Mac and it slurps the tracks into iTunes, where I can easily slice, dice, and burn to disk -or push to a web site or whatever. Way more convenient than Logic.

A few minor glitches: the "standby/recording" lights are three glaring white LEDs that I had to cover with black electrical tape (through which they shine with no problem but at least they're not so overpowering in subdued stage lighting). A couple of the knobs' center detents are off a notch. And as others have reported, the TuneStudio records only two tracks, despite having four inputs -even when connecting to a Mac via USB.

For studio work I'll still use Logic, but my Macbook and its cable snarling interface entourage stays home from now on!

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I purchased the Belkin TuneStudio after doing a LOT of research. This was the most affordable option to podcast from home. I work in broadcasting and the engineers helped me set up a telephone hybrid converter, so I could record telephone interviews for clients.

The system works great. It is very easy and intuitive especially for folks who have never worked with a standard board.

However, I have a buzzing noise in the back of every recording. It isn't terrible, but not great, either. I don't get that in the studio. I am working to see if I can get it to go away, but after testing with some engineers, we discovered that it does that with all telephones, all microphones, etc. We changed the mic cable from a plug to an XLR and that made a LOT of difference.

This little unit also does not have your overall channel on/off switch, so if you need to turn off your mic while someone is speaking, you have to manually turn the knob. This doesn't sound like a big deal, but it is. If you have to change your levels and forget to see the last level, you might not get it back in the same place. Also, the button is easier to push if you get a coughing spell. The knobs are close enough together that you could hit another one and jerk the levels when you turn it down.

I have had no issues working with the iPod Classic. Overall, it is a good unit for the price. It can definitely get you started. Would like to know if anyone else has the buzzing issue when recording.

Tunestudio works great, but realize it's limitations. The recordings are made with the voice note app in the ipod and are mixed down to stereo. Additionally the usb interface mixes all inputs to stereo. For recording jam sessions or live performance ( for very long periods ) it is terrific. It's easy to use, simple to set up and the mixer provides the functions you would expect from a device in this price range. Good product.