Showing posts with label digital recorder dvd. Show all posts
Showing posts with label digital recorder dvd. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

8GB Spy hidden Watch HD 720P DVR Camera Video Mp3 from Flylink-sc338

8GB Spy hidden Watch HD 720P DVR Camera Video Mp3 from Flylink-sc338Doesn't connect to PC anymore. I get an error message that says the file system is corrupt. No customer support and I'm not sure how to fix it >:(

This watch is just great, it has good video quality, and the mp3 sound and microphone quality is very good. I would recommend this to everyone!

Buy 8GB Spy hidden Watch HD 720P DVR Camera Video Mp3 from Flylink-sc338 Now

it works as advertised, easy to set up. I would probably buy another one for my brother in law hehe.

Read Best Reviews of 8GB Spy hidden Watch HD 720P DVR Camera Video Mp3 from Flylink-sc338 Here

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Sanyo VPC-SH1R High Definition Camcorder and 10 MP Camera (Red)

Sanyo VPC-SH1R High Definition Camcorder and 10 MP CameraI just got the Sanyo VPC-SH1 yesterday so these are first impressions. But I've spent quite a bit of time with it already.

I'm a single guy who will primarily use this camcorder to share short clips online, and occasionally burn a DVD. I'm not filming family opuses, doing any kind of advanced video editing, or even plugging it into an HDTV. So for me here are it's pros and cons. They may not be yours. I'll go into detail later.

Pros:

1. Fits in my jeans front pocket. I call it a pocketcam (barely... and you ladies may not.)

2. Fantastic video quality for a pocketcam.

3. Large wide angle lens.

4. Manual settings for practically everything including ISO and focus.

5. AVC/H.264 format (for ease of use, file size, fast transfer, and because it's common and everywhere. Plus I'm a PC guy).

Cons:

1. Monitor doesn't close flush with the body of the cam.

2. The four way directional "set" button is too small for a guy's hands.

3. Anti-shake could be better.

OK we're off look out!

First off, the only thing I have to compare this Sanyo to is a Sony Webbie (the traditionally shaped one that's very similar in size) that I bought a year ago. Since anything would probably take better videos than that, you might want to take it into consideration when you read this review.

Size is very important to me, and this thing is small. This diminutive camcorder is not just the product of some whacked out Asian obsession with miniaturization. It really is a full featured camcorder with a decent lens that can fit in the front pocket of a man's jeans. And that means that I will actually use it. It would stay here at home most of the time unless I can slip it into my pocket. It's widest point is 1.6" and that's just around the lens area. Most camcorders of this type are well over 2" wide, which really disqualifies them as something you can slip in your pocket easily. The Sanyo VPC-SH1 is kind of a unique product right now, having more features for it's size than anything else currently on the market that I know of anyway.

I ran around for a couple of hours with the Sanyo in one hand, and the Sony in another taking videos outside, inside, up close, far away, and at night both indoors and out. I dumbed the Sanyo down to 720p so they would be on an even playing field. No matter what the conditions were, on my computer monitor the Sanyo videos looked much better. The differences were not subtle. They were dramatic.

It couldn't have been more dramatic than in very low light. The Sony videos would be nothing but a black screen while the Sanyo's would still be quite watchable. Grainy yes but I'll take that. I'm not expecting miracles out of a cam this small.

On it's own the Sanyo does all right in low light, but if you manually run the ISO all the way up to 1600 or 3200 things really brighten up. It won't go that high if you leave it in auto probably because of the grain issue but that's a trade-off I'll make anytime.

I set this up as a one button shortcut, along with manual focus, auto focus lock, and display info on-off. These shortcuts are user configurable to whatever you want them to be and it's simple to set them up. I haven't cracked the manual for anything yet, and I'm hardly a video nut.

Optical zoom goes all the way out to an astounding 30x. There is no way that this is usable unless you have the camcorder set on something solid or on a tripod. I tried zooming to some windmills five miles away and they were shaking in and out of the frame like we had been hit with a magnitude 8 earthquake!

But the cool thing about this zoom is that it's speed is dependent on how far you push the lever. If you slam it you will go to it's max in about three seconds, easily outrunning auto focus. However with a gentle nudge you can slow zoom way down.

Speaking of auto focus, I think this Sanyo does all right most of the time. You can fool it in low light if you suddenly go from something near to something far, but for the most part if you behave yourself it does it's job. It also helped when I went into it's settings and changed the default multipoint focus to spot. You do have AF lock which can be engaged anytime if you need it. Manual focus unfortunately is not available when you are shooting, so you have to adjust it beforehand if you want to use it.

Image stabilization is electronic and pretty weak. I tried walking around with it on and off and it did smooth things out somewhat. But it seemed to have little or no effect at all when zooming in on something, and that's when things are really shaking.

The wide angle lens really does take in a huge panoramic view. I'll appreciate it more this summer and it should make for some great scene shots. The downside is that you end up having to use zoom for more normal stuff just to get your subject in the frame properly.

For the most part the OS is pretty intuitive, but there are a few head scratchers. You can delete a photo file from the set button, but in order to delete a video file you have to dive into the menu system. Audio wind reduction is not in "sound" but bunched with the video noise reduction settings.

I took a few pictures. It works but that's not my primary interest. Still I'm glad it's there because you never know when -

This camcorder behaved perfectly when I hooked it up to my PCs. On both it came up as an external drive named Xacti (a nice touch that Sony missed) and it was fast and easy to locate and copy the files to the hard drive for editing. On my Windows 7 notebook I put together a short video using several clips in Windows Live Movie Maker without a hitch. In fact this is going to be my video editing and sharing program from now on. It does everything I'll ever want to do (trim, join, add titles and music, fade out), and will send the finished video anywhere right from the program. You don't have to ask Youtube to go to your hard drive. This program goes to Youtube or anywhere else you want it to online. And the program is free what more can you say?

I also plugged the Sanyo into my desktop PC running Windows XP, and once again no probs. There I made another clip in Nero Vision throwing in some old files from the Webbie for good measure, and it came out perfectly. That's what's sweet about AVC/H.264 BTW.

I haven't installed the included editor and probably won't.

The biggest drawback this camcorder has (to me) is the hardware. In the interest of sleek styling Sanyo didn't make the body of the cam so it would be flush to the monitor screen when it's closed. The two back edges really hang out there. That's why I wouldn't recommend this camcorder for teenage kids. I don't think it would survive in one piece for long with a 14 year old skateboarder. It's really for adults who hopefully would be a bit more responsible with it.

The "Set" button, which is a four way directional and enter button, is also way too small and sensitive for a guy's thumb. The way I've found to use this very important button is to not put my thumb on it, but engage each direction by gently pushing it from the opposite side. It works but it's not optimal.

In spite of that, I'm giving it five stars because it does everything that I want it to do and very well. It really makes the videos I took on my Sony Webbie look like they were taken with a toy. It cost $150 more than the Webbie but is worth every cent of it.

My five stars may well be someone else's three though. If you prize optical image stabilization you are going to knock off a couple of stars right there. (I don't because optical stabilization adds bulk and size, and it isn't all that important because of how I'm using this camcorder. If I use two hands and hold it at my waist it's pretty easy to keep steady anyway.) It all depends on what you are doing with your videos. Experienced videographers my snub their noses at camcorders like this, but I love it!

-----------------------------UPDATE MARCH 26 2010------------------------------------

Since there seems to be a difference of opinion about what constitutes acceptable low light performance for a small flashcam in in this price range, I thought I'd put up links to a couple of Youtube vids of a low light karaoke bar to help people decide for themselves. I know it's Youtube but it will still give you a good idea. The first one I made myself and it includes both my new Sanyo Xacti VPC-SH1 and my old Sony Webbie MHS-CM1:Here's another vid of the same karaoke bar (with the same singer) made a few months ago by another guy. His camcorder is a Canon FS100:For the purposes of this vid, I left everything on Auto. I purposely chose the same singer (a mutual friend) because I knew the other vid was up.

My original enthusiasm for Windows Live Movie Maker has dampened a bit after using it for a couple of weeks (not worth going into that!) but not for this camcorder. It's just a champ!

I will qualify this reveiw by saying it is my first camcorder. I am a semi pro photographer however. The things I liked are the lens. It goes from 35-1000mm (in 35mm camera terms)with very little distortion at wide angle. Of course to take advantage of the 1000mm end of the range will require a tripod to limit shake. To be expected. The lens zooms fairly smoothly once used to using it. It also auto focuses while zooming reasonably quickly.

Another positive aspect is the build quality as compared to the lower priced Sony,JVC, and Panasonic units that are more expensive if HD than the Sanyo.

Apple users (like me) will find these easy to use with iFrame. Files are downloaded as MP4 files. Sony and Canon are just now coming out with iFrame compatible units this season, while Sanyo had this for a year. Previous versions of the Canon, and Sony had problems had problems with thier image stabilization being compatible (according to iMovie guide). So, credit to Sanyo for being a leader for iFrame compatibilty.

Now for the downside. I'm concerned with the ability of the Sanyo to do well indoors or heavy shade. I took some footage inside a moderatly lit building and the results were quite grainy. According to the specs, the unit switches between ISO speeds while in the Auto Mode. The max it uses in Auto is 400. If it is grainy at 400, the higher ISOs accessible in Manual would be aweful. The footage I would want are only going to be availible outdoors in full light. Too bad. A fatal flaw for me.

Also worth mentioning, The photos are not 10MP but 3MP interpolated to 10MP if you look closely at the specs. So its camera function has limited use.

In conclusion, if you want a camera to shoot high res video and pics and are using it mainly outside, consider the less expensive Sanyo GH1/GH2 or CG100/CG102 that have a true 14MP. If you want a camcorder that will shoot better indoors, the Canons have better low light specs.

Buy Sanyo VPC-SH1R High Definition Camcorder and 10 MP Camera (Red) Now

I just got the camera last night. I've only done a few tests on it. I'll play with it more this weekend. It appears this camera supports iFrame. This is an apple format that equates to 960x540 at 30p. The reduced dimension format actually takes up more space than the max 1080i setting. I think its a different flavor of mp4 that has less compression than the other HD formats supported on the camera. The idea is that if you bring this format into iMovie on the Mac, the files work natively with the app. On the video settings, this is the star symbol. I'll do a test later tonight, but I'm pretty sure this is so.

Without shooting, I can tell you that this camera is tiny. Like William, I also was looking for a camera that would not be a burden to carry around. I have been shooting on a Flip and an iPhone. The quality isn't great, but the iPhone is always in my pocket. I won't always have the Sanyo with me, but when I am going to an event, or know I want to shoot something specific, this camera's size is near perfect. It does not come with a memory card (The onboard memory is 50MBkind of a buffer i guess). But you would end up throwing away the small capacity card they give you, so this is not an issue. It comes with USB, but no HDMI, but this is not really a big deal either.

All told, without extensively testing the camera/video quality, this camera is pretty amazing. If you are spending over $150 for a flip with no features or controls, its a no brainer to get this tiny camera for $350.

More on the quality at a later date...

Read Best Reviews of Sanyo VPC-SH1R High Definition Camcorder and 10 MP Camera (Red) Here

I was looking for a compact HD digital camcorder that also takes good pictures on SD cards so I don't have to carry a camera with me out on trips. After extensive research, I found this Sanyo Xacti VPC-SH1 is the only one in the ~$300.00 price range with large CCD. All others, including Canon, Sony, Panasonic, and JVC, have small CCDs which can't produce good quality pictures in low lights. This camera is also capable of taking 10MP pictures while others can't even come close. No wonder it is called a Dual Camera.

I have had it for a month. I took videos and pictures both indoors and outdoors. I even took pictures of fireworks on 4th. of July and indoor circus show. All came out good! To save memory space, I only set the camera at 2MP but the picture quality and resolution are every bit as good as those taken from a digital camera. This camera/camcorder also allows you to take snapshots while taking videos. Some expert reviews had issue with the on-screen menu but I find the menu to be easy to use. I am pleased with this purchase.

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I bought this because we wanted a dedicated video camera instead of using the video function on our digital camera. The things that drew me to this:

* Low price

* HD quality video (though only 1080i I think, not 1080p)

* Small size

* Still camera function

* Big optical zoom

How did it live up? Well, for sure it is inexpensive, much cheaper that approximately equivalent Sony & Canon that I've been looking at. And it is small. It is scarcely larger than some dedicated point-n-shoot's. In fact, on a 2 week trip, I often just stuffed it into my shorts pocket, and it was fine even hiking through mild forest trails.

To really put it to the test, I almost exclusively used this camera on a 2 week trip, mostly for stills and some video.

* The battery life & startup time are excellent. At first I turned off the camera, but then, I just shut the viewer to put it to sleep. 2 weeks later, I still had battery left after video and almost 300 still shots.

* It was comfortable and easy to handle (I have relatively large, though not chunky, hands). Those with even bigger hands than me might find it a bit "cramping" to try and hold such a small camera in the usual camcorder grip. You may want to opt for the VPC-C* series with the unconventional format.

* Low light performance was not great (I understand Sony & Canon are significantly better), however, it still beat a Canon SD850 in real-life situations. Although it might be a bit grainy, it was at least fast enough to capture a shot without blur. In fact, comparing the the SD850, I only had 1 or 2 bad shots lost to blur or low-light, which is a LOT better. By low light, I mean bright dinner table candle-light.

* Lots of setup options, but a very easy to use system. Very nice. It basically stayed out of the way and let me do the shoot. The 2 dedicated still or video buttons in 2 positions are great.

* Solid! It got dropped on hard floor, rocks and pavement and it survived with barely a scratch and nothing broken or loose.

As a video camera, it did okay, it got the shots and met expectations for a camcorder at this level. Video's looked clear and no problem with the sounds. Even though often windy, I never noticed it in the shots, only the conversations.

As a still-camera replacement? Tougher answer, at first when I download the shots to my laptop, I was quite disappointed with the colour and "vibrancy" of the images vs. my memory. Some noise reduction artifacts are visible if you are looking for it. It is a "true" 4MP sensor only, so I mostly stayed at the 4MP size and the wide-screen 7MP format. I took some test shots at various resolutions, and sure enough, can't really tell much difference. I recommend you stick with the high quality 4MP setting unless you need the wide-screen setting.

The zoom works as advertised, it is pretty amazing (beat even my DSLR with a 28-105mm zoom) though it did not do as well as a decent pair of binoculars. And yes, you need a very steady hand to use the zoom. However, to be fair, in bright sunlight, I did manage to use maximum zoom in my hand and it grabbed the shots without blur.

When I put the photos up on a 42" plasma, and the pictures are excellent. If this is your preferred viewing format, then I would be very satisfied with this camera, especially for vacation shots. The image colour looked great, the images looked sharp and clear. Unless you're a hard-core camera enthusiast, it's hard to imagine being disappointed with this camera. If you are printing large-format paper, you may be disappointed as well, but I'm not sure. I took some test shots on the trip using a Canon DSLR and the Canon (with a significantly better lens) is sharper and clearer with better colour reproduction, but you have to be really looking for it or put it side-by-side to notice.

Things that are not so good:

* Holding strap management, the extra length is supposed to fold back on a little clip on the strap, but this is next to useless and the strap often flew out in front of the lense.

* The lens cover is "stupid", it only fits in 2 specific orientations, so it makes it finicky to put on.

* Low light performance could be better (but for the price...)

At this price point, I would highly recommend this camera. In a year or so, I might upgrade to a better low-light camera or the waterproof version, but for now, it is an excellent camera. I would even take just this and replace my still digital camera.

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Xerox Phaser 6500N Laser Printer-Color-600x600dpi Print-Plain Paper Print-Desktop-24ppm Mono/24ppm

Xerox Phaser 6500N Laser Printer-Color-600x600dpi Print-Plain Paper Print-Desktop-24ppm Mono/24ppm Color Print-250 sheets Input-LCD-Gigabit Ethernet-USBI like this printer. It is replacing a Laser Jet 2600n that is showing its 7 or 8 year age. The printing is great. The price was good ( caveat I haven't had it long enough to buy toner which can be pricey ). However, ...

The setup process is awkward and not helped by the fact that the only documentation you get in the box is a large ( 19 inch x 25 inch ), multilingual ( 15 EU language ) two sided sheet of paper with diagrams that can be difficult to interpret. There simply isn't enough text there to clarify what some of the diagrams are trying to tell me. Since I make my living supporting complex software on UNIX and Windows I have lots of experience with interpreting software manuals. Diagrams and hardware however are not my strong point. There are 12 short sentences to give you an idea of what these diagrams are intended to represent. After a lot of comparing diagram to printer, trying to figure out how to open some of the component or get at some of the ports, I was eventually successful. A bit more text and a bit less white space would have simplified this process significantly.

The print output is great. The text is crisp, clean and very true to the fonts that I have run through the printer. The graphics are spectacular. I printed a picture taken on my Panasonic Lumix FZ-40 on a regular sheet of paper. The color match was impressive. It looked more like a professionally developed photo than something printed on regular paper with a laser printer. I did not specifically measure the time taken to print either text or graphics. Text seemed satisfactorily fast and the graphics time was better than the LaserJet 2600n.

The bottom line is that this printer gives impressive performance at a bargain price. If the installation process were better documented, I would rate this at 5 stars. If that is not an impediment for you, consider it a 5 star printer. However, keep in mind that I have not attempted to buy supplies. You are looking at mail order since your average local store is not going to carry toner for your Xerox Phaser 6500N.

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Initial IDM-7110 7 In Portable DVD

Initial IDM-7110 7 In Portable DVDExcellent product, comes with rechargeable battery, car adapter, a/c power cord and remote control. You only need a carry bag, for the price was a great deal.

Can someone who owns this item, please make a posting to indicate if it will play CD-G format disks and PROPERLY SHOW the video?

Thanks.

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Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Esky C5900 H.264 IP Camera, Internet WiFi Wireless/Wired, Pan Tilt, 2-way audio, Build-in DVR, Moti

Esky C5900 H.264 IP Camera, Internet WiFi Wireless/Wired, Pan Tilt, 2-way audio, Build-in DVR, Motion triggered, IR cut, Mac/Windows/LinuxThe Esky 5900 has a lot of potential and software that kind of works.

Fine (not great) control features, good (not great) video and okay control software.

And the firmware is upgradable! Which is important to me because of the last problem with the 5900.

The biggest problem is you can't use it from the Internet. At least you can right up until the point someone who wants to pwn it takes it over.

From the Esky forum, a small list of security problems:

1: Port 23 is open for telnet with a login of root and no password

2: /mnt/config/login.cgi shows the administrators login and password

3: full busybox installed allowing you to do almost anything you want

4: /mnt/config/system.ini contains the entire configuration of the web setup, including the Wireless networks ssid login and password in the clear.

5: No way to change the root password as it is mounted read only.

6: /mnt/www is rw allowing anyone to modify the web pages since root has no pw.

7: without any authentication you can type http://webcamip/rebootme.htm and it will reboot the camera.

8: Same idea as 6, /mnt/www can store any file allowing it to host files for download without the need of a login/pw.

9: http://webcamip/status.htm does not require authentication

This is my second C5900 camera. I love that it takes a micro SD card (up to 32GB)which allows the camera to record continuously without the need for another device or computer. I can simply log on within Windows IE and watch any recordings that have occurred from any Windows internet enabled device. When on the road, I can watch live video via my Iphone or Android tablet. Plus, I have them set up to email me whenever either camera detects motion and the camera will also send a snapshot of what triggered the motion.

As my title suggests, this camera needs to be updated, both the firmware and embedded web UI to make it function correctly. Plus the latest firmware supposedly has closed the ability for hackers to get into your network. Please log onto Esky's users forum to read about this. The Esky support staff is pretty quick to reply to problems on the forum and offers useful advice.

Buy Esky C5900 H.264 IP Camera, Internet WiFi Wireless/Wired, Pan Tilt, 2-way audio, Build-in DVR, Moti Now

I had purchased this 2 weeks ago. Was a bit of a struggle to set it up (I am an IT professional) mainly because manual is not easy to follow and software is bit weird to set up. But camera works as expected. Can access thru wifi and i have registered for dynamic dns service (free) which allows me to access it from outside of my wifi network. Comes with company ddns but i was not in favor of using Somalia's url (http://xxxx.ipcam.so). Can access via Android but with very limited control options. Only big issue i have found so far is that i can't upload images and video both to my FTP server when an alarm is triggered (motion detection). It only uploads images. I have to store video locally. H264 is a plus. Image quality is good with daylight and/or at night (8-10 feet). Overall it's good but leaves room for huge improvements especially on software side. Support never got back to my email queries, website is a mess (everything on the site is 'coming soon'!!

Read Best Reviews of Esky C5900 H.264 IP Camera, Internet WiFi Wireless/Wired, Pan Tilt, 2-way audio, Build-in DVR, Moti Here

You will need to upgrade the firmware and also the web UI (interface) right off the bat. It's fairly easy to do, though the web UI is still odd and turns a lot of features off depending on your browser. Most controls only work on Internet Explorer, but if you want to view the videos on your SD Card, you have to use either Firefox, Chrome or Safari. Get used to it, because this is just the beginning of the inexplicable idiosyncrasies of this camera.

You'll almost need a Computer Science degree to get this camera set up. When you finally do get it working, your troubles only just begin. It saves the videos in a .h264 file type. I don't mean it saves them as mp4s which use the h264 codec. No. I mean the filetype is .h264, and won't play natively on QuickTime, Windows Media Player, MPEG Streamclip or VLC. In fact, that filetype isn't recognized on Windows or Mac OSX at all.

After hours and hours of trial and error (because the documentation with this camera is spotty and the forums aren't much better), luckily I found the files would play on MPlayer but not very well. As for Mac, no such luck. I had to use a random shareware video convertor to convert the files into a watchable format on Mac. Seriously, would it hurt the manufacturers to use a file format that's universally known such as mp4 or even avi? For this reason alone I'd recommend everyone to skip this camera. It's not worth the headache. Setup is difficult enough, but couple the file type fiasco and the fact that it will need to be restarted fairly often, I give this camera a big fat thumbs down.

Update: There is a way to view the videos in Internet Explorer. There's a little video playback icon at the bottom of the UI. It allows you to view and delete files from the IE browser. I missed it because the documentation on this camera is next to none. And because it's not well documented, I spent too long looking for workarounds for video playback and even bought a conversion software. So the one star stays.

Want Esky C5900 H.264 IP Camera, Internet WiFi Wireless/Wired, Pan Tilt, 2-way audio, Build-in DVR, Moti Discount?

This could be a great little camera, except that a couple of the main selling points don't work. I haven't been able to get the email or ftp alerts to work. These should both be no brainers, but no matter what I try, no joy.

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Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Coby CXR190-1G Digital Voice Recorder with Integrated Speaker

Coby CXR190-1G Digital Voice Recorder with Integrated SpeakerI bought this after looking at tons of reviews of other Digital Voice Recorders. Most of which were priced from $50 to $200. This one had the better features and I got it for $35 shipped.

I received extremely fast shipping. I think it was here in 2 days. I bought from the seller (UniversityStore.com) because they were the cheapest, even though the 93% positive results kinda scared me.

Pro's for buying this Recorder over ALL others (regardless of prices)

-1 gig of onboard memory

-Has a MicroSD slot up to 4gig

-Comes with a USB connector AND automatically converts to .WAV format for immediate listening and storage.(unlimmited storage this way)

-shiney :)

-has a HOLD lock button for when it is stored.

-has a headphone jack for better listening

-Microphone is PHENOMENAL

-Speaker is PHENOMENAL

-Requires 2 AAA batteries (ALSO A BIG DEAL)

-Can pause and resume while recording or while in play back mode

-Cheap and affordable for the price. I would have easily paid $50-$80 for this type of quality and mobility of recordings.

Con's

-The Pause/Resume button is the same as the Delete recording button and is hit twice to either pause/resume or to delete. If you aren't paying attention, you just deleted your recording. (major drawback, but is the only con I could find.)

So honestly, I was also put off that no reviews were written and decided this would be the first review I ever wrote and wanted to make it a good one. Trust this product. My wife and I love it so much, she is having me buy one for her. (I'm writing a book and I hate to have to sit at the computer the whole time, so I record it in 1 minute segments and type it all out later.)

After recording lectures for a few hours, the device refused to save anything I was recording with a mysterious error code 002. The frustrating part was that the problem surfaced not during the recording but after the fact when I tried to stop recording.

To their credit, their tech-support was readily available (at 8-9pm!) and was very helpful. Re-format the internal storage device per their instruction apparently resolved the problem. For now, though, I am carrying around an old fashioned tape-recorder as a back-up. I wish I didn't have to do that.

Other than this minor glitch, the sound quality is good enough for recording lectures and the device is easy to operate. I would prefer, though, a little more responsive buttons: You'd have to hold down a button firmly for about half a second.

Update on the glitch I had: The device failed with the same error code 002 for the second time after using only once for about 2 hours with the re-formatted internal storage device.

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It worked great. Great sound. Great playback. Plenty of storage.

I already used it to tape a meeting. It offers different file folders to place

my different tasks in for storage which is a plus. It is small but

powerful. Buttons are small but I used the head of a ball point pen

and it is no problem.

Read Best Reviews of Coby CXR190-1G Digital Voice Recorder with Integrated Speaker Here

I liked this when I first got it. No problems for the first 2 weeks. But the longer I had it, problems started occurring and more frequent with time.

Thats the problem. If it decides to turn itself off, then everything on that recording is lost (6 times a day). Or if it freezes up (twice a day), then the only way to unfreeze it, is to remove the batteries and lose the recording. The hold button doesn't work either. It refuses to delete single entries and skips directly to the delete all option.

I am happy with it and the sound quality, when it records and saves. But find it very irritating when it stops for no reason with full batteries. Which seems to occur at random. Sometimes after 2 min, sometimes after 43 min of recording, or any point in-between.

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I just bought this digital voice recorder and it works great!

Pros

It is easy to use, looks good and the speaker is great when you hear back what you recorded. The USB is very easy to use, when you plug it into the computer. Tells you the Day, Month, Year, and the Time, which is great! Also, the microphone you can set it to either "HIGH" or "LOW" setting. High for farther away, and Low for closer up. That is a great feature because the sound quality will be better depending on where you are recording.

Con:

The only con that I can think of is that when you move while using the digital voice recorder when your recording, it makes a static noise, so you cant move that much, or it will make a static noise which is hard to listen back to what you reordered.

I would recommend this digital voice recorder. It's cheap if you don't want to spend over $100 dollars for a nice one, that does just as great of a job for less expensive!

Monday, August 11, 2014

Sony MZ-N420D Psyc Net MD Walkman Digital Music Player

Sony MZ-N420D Psyc Net MD Walkman Digital Music Player
  • Store 5 Hours of music on 1 standard MiniDisc
  • Record MP3s or CDs at up to 32x speed
  • Uses high-tech, affordable MiniDiscs (1 included)
  • Up to 56 Hours battery life with 1 AA battery
  • The Psyc Net's recording features and bundled software are not compatible with the Mac OS operating system.

First I am a huge Sony Minidisc fan and have used md's for a long time. Entering the mp3 and wma time, I decided to get a net md to play these files. Unfortunetly Sony forgot to give their users an easy way to transfer their files to the net md. Here's why;

First even though the package says it plays mp3's and wma's, it actually means it will convert them to Atrac then store it to the player. Taking too much of your time.

Second it doesn't even convert all wma's or mp's. Most of my files are wma and it didn't even convert 75% of them.

Third the device soemtimes thinks it's full when not and heres the kicker, you must use batteries to to do any tranfers. Most mp3 player uses the power of your computer to do that.

Honestly I have never been so mad at sony. I do still love most of their products but they should have put more effort into this.

Sorry customers, but if you want an easy to use and better quality mp3 player look at anything other than net md. If Sony was smart they would have made the Net MD like a mass storage device and let the customer decide if they want to convert their music to atrac.

I ended up buying a 40gb Creative Labs Zen. Very easy and also lets me store files other than music too.

Buy Sony MZ-N420D Psyc Net MD Walkman Digital Music Player Now

I just bought this about a week ago, so take that in stock when you read this review. I plan to update it after I've owned it for longer. BUT here are my thoughts so far.

PROs:

--Over 5 hours of music on one MD

--Sound is very good, even at the highest compression rate it's just barely below CD-quality

--MDs are relatively inexpensive (about $2 apiece)

--Low price compared to most mp3 players

--Bass and treble are adustable

--Transferring music to MD is fairly simple and fast

--MDs can store track information (album name, song name, etc) and display it on the player

--Unit is very small (it fits quite comfortably in my pocket WITH my cell phone)

--HUGE battery life when playing music

--MDs are very easily rewritable

CONS:

--MD has limited memory for storing track information (normally not a problem but if you go much beyond about 80-90 songs it may not store names for all the tracks or albums)

--Actual transferring of songs to MD takes up quite a bit of battery power

--"Shuffle" setting does not shuffle among different groups (albums), but only in one group at a time (probably not a big deal to most people)

--No voice recorder (I don't care, but some people probably do)

--Very small display screen (but I got used to it pretty fast)

--Headphones are crap--use another pair

Read Best Reviews of Sony MZ-N420D Psyc Net MD Walkman Digital Music Player Here

A good value. The battery life (1 AA) is incredible. All files (MP3 etc.) must be converted to the Sony file format but the included software does this. There are two programs. "MD Simple Burner" is the easiest and fastest way to get music from your audio CD's burned on a MD(3 to 5 minutes per CD.) "Sonic Stage" will convert various file types (mp3, wav, wma) to the Sony format and transfer it to the MD. There are 3 different transfer modes, SP, LP2 and LP4. SP provides the best quality while LP4 the smallest file. I don't download music from the internet so I can't verify this feature. The Good: It is cheap (mine was $100,) reliable, small, each disk holds 70-80 songs (5 hours of music) in LP4 form, good sound quality, disks cost less than $2, good battery life and has good anti-skip protection. The Bad: Sonic Stage is slow, awkward and unstable, tiny display, confusing manual, other than headphones and a MD, no other accessories are included.

It is smaller and much cheaper than an IPOD and has much longer battery life. I use an inexpensive rechargeable NiMH battery. I use it in my car (a Miata) with a wireless FM transmitter. It is small enough to lock in the console and plays through the radio well.

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I was given this as a gift and especially since it was given to me, I love this thing. It's the poor man's ipod, who wants to spend $200+ when they could get this for like $60-80. It holds up to 50*almost* 80 songs per disk I believe (each of my disks have a different amount-depending on the length of the songs),is skip proof, sound is great, and it's easy to transfer music onto. I find no fault with it. I've had it for over a year and it's held up beautifully, even with being dropped. So personally I think it's a great gadget to have if you can't afford or don't want to splurge on the oh so hyped ipod.

Just the type of quality you would expect from a Sony product. This MiniDisc player is durable, sleek, and gets the job done very nicely. The only complaints I have is with the SonicStage software, but none from the Player itself. My problem with the software is just something that gets on my nerves, the fact that once I convert to LP4, I can't transfer it back to my library. Everything else in this is great, I can fit over 3-5 hours of music, less if I want to keep the full titles of songs, and amazing battery life. I listen to my MD Player about 1-2 hours a day, and have to replace the batter about once ever 1.5-2 months (one AA, how awesome). The MD Player is small, light, and doesn't skip (not that I've experienced) so it is PERFECT for joggers that don't want to risk the harddrive of an MP3 Jukebox. MiniDiscs are really cheap and easy to take in and out, come in cool colors, easy to store, and pretty durable. Also, MiniDisc players can stand more extreme temperatures. The only thing I wish that this had that it doesn't is a backlight, but that would ruin the good battery life.

Seagate Pipeline HD 1 TB 5900RPM SATA 3Gb/s NCQ 8MB Cache 3.5 Inch Internal Bare Drive ST31000322CS

Seagate Pipeline HD 1 TB 5900RPM SATA 3Gb/s NCQ 8MB Cache 3.5 Inch Internal Bare Drive ST31000322CSAnother reviewer gave this drive only 2 Stars and complained that it was too slow to install Windows 7 on. Well, DUH ! Read Seagate's description it's intended for use as video storage in a DVR-type situation. And it can stream several recorded programs at once! That's what you pay for, plus it's intended to run 24/7 unlike a regular PC hard drive, OK?

THE GOOD:

This drive runs very cool, is quiet, and is designed to run 24x7 under harsh conditions (Seagate says it is rated to operate for prolonged periods of time at up to 75 degrees C).

THE BAD

So slow that it's almost unusable as anything other than a secondary drive for storing content. You really don't want to put Windows 7 on this thing. Trust me.

I ended up buying an SSD drive for the operating system, and keeping this drive for storing recorded TV shows (Windows Media Center). Seems to be good for that.

Overall this is a good drive if you know what you're getting, and don't intend to use it as a fast desktop drive for your OS.

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I bought a "used, like new" from the warehouse and it had almost 2 years of 24-hours-a-day usage according to CrystalDisk. NOT like new; I returned it...it may be the used one for sale... Buyer beware.

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Monday, July 28, 2014

VideoSecu Outdoor Security Camera Day Night Vision Built-in 1/3" Sony CCD CCTV 28 IR LEDs Wide Angl

VideoSecu Outdoor Security Camera Day Night Vision Built-in 1/3' Sony CCD CCTV 28 IR LEDs Wide Angle View Lens Weatherproof Vandal Proof 1NSThis is a good rugged camera. Working great. The construction is all metal so it has a nice solid heavy feel to it. Images are decent in day and night operation. And the price is nice. It includes the power supply brick and a camera surveillance sticker. Don't forget to order cable... I ordered 100 ft Video power Siamese BNC RCA cable for CCTV Security Cameras CBV100 1JE they also have this in 50ft, but I got the 100ft for more leeway. Shipping was fast and it arrived neatly packed from Warehouseseller.

I purchased this camera as an addition to my video security system. This camera is more waterproof and weather resistant than the standard bullet cameras that came with the original system. The camera is very heavy for it's size, but that is an indication of the quality material that it is construction from.

Installation is very easy as one side of the cable is the video feed and the other is the power connector. The lens in this camera has a wide range of view to cover a wide area. If you need greater distance, Warehouseseller has other models with 4-9mm lens, that will increase distance. I know because I just purchased one.

I mention Warehouseseller because there has been reports that some companies have been selling bootleg VIDEOSECUR cameras.

Warehouseseller is NOT one of them.

I checked with the manufacturer to ensure that my camera was legitimate despite the lower discounted price Warehouseseller charged!

The only person that is going to regret this purchase is the homies crusing my hood.

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This is a wide-view or fish-eye type camera. Works well day and night.

This model when placed over the front (ceiling mount) door will cover about 10ft of the pourch left and right, and about 10-15ft of the steps and walk. This camera is

also good for covering most of the backyard or the street. For the driveway or other

narrow area you want a non-fish-eys lens (bullet type): there are several choices like the videosecu 1Z (advertised as fish-eye, but is NOT).

Night viewing can get murky if there is no ambient lighting. The infrared LEDs

work well over a small area, like your front steps or porch. If you want to see out

into the street, 25-50 feet, then it gets a little murky if you don't have a street light.

No you can't read license plates at 50ft with this: for that you'll need to spend a lot ($$$) more.

I've bought six or these cameras and some others. I've set up my house, my brothers house, and a friends house; someone was messing with his cars: not anymore. Get a four or eight channel DVR to record and view.

The output of this camera is TV friendly; just plug into the TV's composite (RCA) input with a BNC-RCA adaptor (about a buck and some cameras come with one).

I mounted two-of these fish-eys camera on the second floor and I can see up and down the street: my entire block (no trees).

These cameras use a BNC/power cable (all-in-one) you can get 25ft-150ft: cost $10.00 to $15.00 depending on length and quality. The power supply plugs in inside the house (near where you plug into the TV or DVR; the other end runs to the camera to get the video feed and supply power.

Mounting the camera is easy, just a few screw into the shingle, aluminum siding, or porch roof. Runing the cable and aiming the camera takes a litte time. You can run the cable through a window (open a crack with some foam insulation to keep out the cold), or if thats too cheesy then drill a hole where you cable TV goes in the basement.

Video survaillance won't stop anyone from doing anything, but most people when they see visible cameras will go somewhere else to do it. That includes dog-walkers.

Want to know what time your kids really came home last night or who they had over?

Big Brother is watching us. Linden, NJ already has 3 camera controled intersections ($85.00 to run the red).

MK

Read Best Reviews of VideoSecu Outdoor Security Camera Day Night Vision Built-in 1/3" Sony CCD CCTV 28 IR LEDs Wide Angl Here

I just received the camera today, but when I googled the model number on the box VD22B the maker, Videosecu. Their site says it's designed for indoor use, not outdoor use like on amazon. "Designed for indoor use the IR Dome is constructed of die-cast aluminum." Going to hook it up anyways and see how long it lasts.

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I have used Video Secu cameras and they are good cameras, however this particular camera is not so good. I took down a night owl (great cameras) to replace it with this wide angle so it would cover my entire backyard. I hooked this camera up to my 8 channel Zmodo (that I have had for 3+ years) video recorder with 6 other camera's and I was not very happy. With the specs this camera has, (700 TV lines, Sony 1/3, 28 IR lights) you would think this camera would shine. None of my cameras have 700 TV lines and they are all great cameras. This camera is very grainy day and night. The IR would probably be ok if the camera was not so grainy. I have two night owls with only 20 IR lights and 420 TV lines that I have had since I bought my Zmodo recorder that are still working great, that out perform this camera by a long shot.

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Thursday, July 17, 2014

F900LHD Full HD Car Black Box DVR Camera 1080P LCD

F900LHD Full HD Car Black Box DVR Camera 1080P LCD
  • Having a wide range of use and being convenient to video anytime, anywhere.
  • Anti-shake function. Motion detection recording.
  • Support for the SD (SDHC ) card with high power capability.
  • This subminiature high-definition digital video camcorder is aimed at the market demand, with many leading functions as high-definition digital video recorder, photograph, highspeed USB data transmission and, USB charging.
  • SD Card not included.

One thing I don't like is if the LCD is closed and recording and you pull out the cigarette lighter power, the unit shuts off (even if the battery of the camera is fully charged). If the LCD is in the open position and you unplug the cigarette lighter, the battery in the unit keeps running and recording. It has good definition, but I'm not sure why when I use a 32gig Micro SD card with adapter it keeps shutting off. It won't work with a 64 gig sd card. I have found the 16 gig standard SD card works and at 1080p resolution will hold just about 2 hours of video before it starts to record over itself. I'm going to try a 32 gig SD card and see if it will work and give me more recording time. The lower resolutions suck pretty bad so I'd plan on recording with the resolution set to 1080.

The audio recording works good. Window mount is good and secure. Plenty of cable. Wish it plugged into the unit form the top or back rather than the bottom.

I've bought a couple other camera's and this is the best of them so far. I think there is a better unit out there, I just haven't found it yet.

Video shows visual, and audio capabilities. Lets your read license plates. It does have a 4x zoom but you never really think about it.

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Unit records nice with pretty clear video. The manual is awful, just finding where the battery went was a challenge if you go by the manual, ex " turn the battery knob towards the mark to open cover" not at all how it works. Open the LCD screen squeeze the sides of camera and pull up. Using the menu there is a button that is like a joystick and moves 4 directions and you can push it down. Took a while to figure the buttons out. Also when you set for auto rotate the image it only auto rotates the LCD screen not the camera. So it you mount it on the windshield as it suggests your videos will be sideways on your computer. A 7 minute video on 780 dpi used 1 meg of space

Read Best Reviews of F900LHD Full HD Car Black Box DVR Camera 1080P LCD Here

this camera is fun to use if you can understand the manual that comes with it,some guess work went with this when trying to operate it.but the picture it takes is very sharp and clear

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I rate this product 4 stars. I bout it because it was cheaper that I can buy it at home.It enough good for this money.

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This 15 MP camera has very poor picture quality which is worse than my 1.3 MP phone camera which I got it for free and very flimsy (not even close to 480P CAM PERIOD!!!)

THE WORST CAMERA I'VE EVER BOUGHT IN MY LIFE, PERIOD!!!

Monday, July 14, 2014

TViX High-definition Digital Network Multimedia Player w/H.264 decoding

TViX High-definition Digital Network Multimedia Player w/H.264 decodingPlays any kind of video I can throw at it in perfect 1080p and Hi Def Sound. Very easy to use.

edit: if there is a problem with the video at all the whole player shuts down and has to be rebooted. very annoying.

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

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

Cables Direct Online- BLACK 20ft PREMIUM QUALITY PRE-MADE SECURITY CAMERA VIDEO POWER CABLE RG59 + 18/2This is a very good item. I used it immediately when it came in the mail. I would recommend this product to my friends and family.

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

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Friday, June 27, 2014

LG BD690 3D Wireless Network Blu-ray Disc Player with Smart TV and 250GB Hard Drive

LG BD690 3D Wireless Network Blu-ray Disc Player with Smart TV and 250GB Hard Drive
  • Enjoy 3D Blu-ray Disc movies in Full HD 1080p
  • Smart TV enables an easy way to access limitless content, thousands of movies, customizable apps, videos and browse the web all organized in a simple to use interface
  • The 250GB hard drive allows for easy storage and instant playback of music, photos, personal videos and VOD content available through the Vudu movie service
  • Integrated Wi-Fi Connectivity allows you take advantage of Smart TV from any available Wi-Fi connection
  • Standard DVD Up-Scaling delivers exceptional image quality from standard DVDs with 1080p up scaling via HDMI output

Received it and it worked fine for about 15 minutes. After downloading the update, the bd690 shut down and the HDMI port quit working. The component and composite outputs worked fine. After testing two HDMI cords and connecting the bd690 through my Denon 3808 receiver and directly into the TV it was obvious that the problem was the bd690. LG customer service was very quick to answer but the service was average at best. The person was helpful, but was definitely reading from a script. After telling her everything I had done she started asking me to test other HDMI cords, etc, which I had already done. They even had me download the incorrect update file the first time around. Will update when I get my replacement. Hopefully the firmware update doesn't blast the HDMI port every time...

Update: (5/8/2011)

Called LG about replacement on 5/7 as I still have not received it. This time around they tell me I'm not getting a replacement but that they are in fact "repairing" my unit. Not what they told me on the phone 3 weeks ago, and so much for the 7-10 day window. LG customer service falling quickly in my eyes.

The conversation went something like this.

Wondering when my replacement will come?

We are repairing it so it will take a little time to go through service

I was told I would get a replacement in 7-10 days

I don't see that in the notes

So I'm not getting a new one?

Yes you will get that as soon as possible

But you just said I was getting it repaired

Yes

So I'm getting a repaired one?

Yes.

Divide by zero at this point and hung up!

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If the main reason you would select this guy over another unit is the fact that it has its own internal hard disk you should be aware that usage is very unreliable. I've only loaded video off my camera so copyright protection should not be an issue. I can load some videos; play some videos; rename videos -or do just about anything and then all of a sudden the BD690 totally freezes up -I can not turn this guy off via the remote or even using the switch directly on the unit -the only option is to unplug it from the wall. This isn't a once in a blue moon occurance -it happens a lot.

Read Best Reviews of LG BD690 3D Wireless Network Blu-ray Disc Player with Smart TV and 250GB Hard Drive Here

OK...so I purchased the LG BD590 because I don't have a 3D television or plan to get one anytime soon. However, I purchased it at a great price from Amazon.com ($199). Returned it because it wasn't upgradeable without problems...look at the reviews for the LG BD590 and you'll see that there is a bug everytime anyone tries to upgrade the software when it prompts you to do so. Also, the Netflix on the BD590 is simple...a few genre's listed and categories and you pick from them or your stored que...you can't search for movies by title. With the BD690, it is different---you CAN search by typing in words like you would on a Wii or Xbox enabled Netflix. Also, I haven't done it yet but it says on the BD690 you can hook up a Iphone or Ipad and use the keyboard to enter data. Also, the customer service rep I spoke to at LG told me the app for MLB.COM wasn't working on the BD590---I tried it and subscribed on the BD690 and the picture is so incredible...this blueray player must upscale something because the baseball game looked incredible and lifelike. Now, welcome the LG BD690---another reviewer commented that there isn't any Amazon VOD on it...that is true...but, when you do the upgrade it prompts you to do, you have it and a few more things including a Google portway to get on the internet and use your TV as a full internet ready setup...WOW. This unit cost me $50 more than the BD590 but was well worth it...including the ability to do Hulu Plus and other stuff---games, puzzles and more...I LOVE this player...and even though it was $50 more, it also came with a FREE $5.99 credit for Vudu to watch a movie on them....great right there...Get this player and you WON'T be disappointed!!! LOVE IT.

******---*********

UPDATE: Upgraded the software about a month ago...now, Netflix will not play...contacted LG and they say they are working on it...so, until a software update fixes this problem, I'm stuck NOT watching Netflix...it freezes up and no audio when trying to watch Netflix...everything else seems to work but there must be some compatibility issues with the software upgrade and Netflix.

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Have had the player for about 3 months now and am still waiting for LG to correct the problem. Spent a month waiting for them to come up with a new software update to correct the problem to no avail. Finally they said to send the player back for service. Have now done this twice and every time they send it back with the same problem. Now they refuse to replace it with a new unit with a new warranty. They want us to send it back for service for the third time. I have spent hours on the phone trying to talk to someone with the authority to replace the unit and have just been given the runaround. Thing is they know there is a problem with this player but won't, or don't know how to fix it.Product was great at first. Was very easy to hook up (under 5 minutes and was streaming)Problem was the software updates. First lost all the icons in the premium apps. Called LG. They told us to download an update for the software,this brought back the icons but totally made the audio distorted. Called them again, and again, and again. Been at least three weeks and still no solution for the screw up. Blu-ray discs have no problems with audio distortion, only any apps involving instant streaming. Can resolve the problem myself by changing the resolution in the network app everytime the player is restarted after powering down. Changing from 720 to 1080 or vice versa everytime you power up the player fixes the audio problem. A real pain. P.S.FIVE STARS FOR AMAZON. THEY STEPPED UP TO BAT AFTER EXPLAINING THE SITUATION AND OFFERED A REFUND ON THE PLAYER WHEN THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO. THANKS, AMAZON

I purchaed the 690 from Amazon several weeks ago. I received it on time and hooked it up quickly. I'm using 1.4 HDMI to my Panasonic 50GT25 and optical to my Yamaha receiver for 5.1 sound. It updated flawessly, wirelessly with a Netgear dual band router (my router is about 30 feet away in another room). Connection was no problem at all just push the button on the router and away you go. It was much less fussing than my Panasonic blu ray in the other room. I played Avatar on Blu Ray first and found out I had to go thru the settings on the LG and place it on pass thru to allow it to work with the encoder on my reciever. It came set for pcm stereo. The pass thru setting allows it to work with anything DTS, Dolby, whatever. Avatar was fantastic in blu ray, the sound was incredible just like you were in the middle of the jungle surrounded by wildlife. I next played a DTS audio recording of a band I had which my previous Sony and Panasonic players had problems with. No sweat, great sound. That got me really interested in seeing what it could do. I had a Dvd recorded of the Highwaymen live from 1990. This reissue was made in Austraila and was Pal encoded for all regions. My previous players, even one that was all regions capable could not play it. Played wonderfully in Dolby 5.1. I could find nothing that said it was all regions. The only thing I watch over the internet is Netflicks and I can actually select new movies to watch with out going to my PC. My Panasonic BD100 won't allow that. I have yet to watch 3D, no glasses and I'm in no hurry not much selection yet. One caveat, you really need to either view and read the 74 page manual on disc to understand set up terms (like pass thru) or print it out the way I did.

Sunday, June 8, 2014

PIONEER DV-220V-K 1080p HDMI UPSCALING REGION FREE DVD PLAYER w/ USB Input

PIONEER DV-220V-K 1080p HDMI UPSCALING REGION FREE DVD PLAYER w/ USB InputI will only buy region free DVD players. This is super easy to use, weighs next to nothing, and doesn't take up much space in my cabinet. I plays DVD's from Germany, the U.S. and just ordered a DVD from Amazon UK. I have a few DVD's that are slightly scratched and haven't had any skipping with this player like I did with my older player. If you ever think you might be purchasing a DVD outside of the U.S. this is the economical player for you.

There are actually 2 different models of this Pioneer DVD Player, it's a bit confusing, but let me try and clarify...

There's the DV-220V-K (US Version) and the DV-220KV-K (European/Asia Version) aka "K" Version. Please note, the extra "K" in the second model stands for Karaoke and will come with a microphone Jack and echo effects knob in the front for optional karaoke. For whatever reason they are both listed as just the DV-220V-K on the title page, but if you double check on the product details & model number below, the region free one should indicate DV-220"K"V-K.

Here's where it gets a bit technical...

Some of the "K" versions from Europe (Region 2) were originally designed to handle 220v-240v (this is not what you want for use in the US). But most "K" Versions from Asia like Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia or Singapore should indicate on the back of the unit that it will handle voltages ranging from 110v-240v just like most laptop adapters do, making them more suitable for international usage. The K Versions comes standard with an European/Asia Pin type Power Cord, but the sellers should give you a U.S. Prong adapter Plug to fit into U.S. Socket Outlets, because it was not originally intended for the USA. Also note, The US version (Region 1) can only handle 110V.

Tech Bonus...

The "K" Version also has a twin wave laser pick up system,(which reduces noise and increases the units durability, since 1 laser is dedicated to playing CDs and the other laser is dedicated to playing just DVDs) and it's the only "TRUE" Region Free Player, because it has the Dual system Playback ability to handle both NTSC (USA DVVDs) and PAL (European & Asia DVDs) disc formats. The US Version can only handle NTSC, but not PAL format.

This would explain why some buyers who purchased the player and got the US Region Free version, complained that it wouldn't play some of their discs, b/c it's probably a PAL formatted disc and you need a region free that handles both NTSC& PAL, so be sure to check the seller's note to make sure you're getting the region free K Version, aka DV-220"K"V-K.

Buy PIONEER DV-220V-K 1080p HDMI UPSCALING REGION FREE DVD PLAYER w/ USB Input Now

I have several region "0" DVDs which will NOT play on my older Toshiba DVD player plus a few region 2 which won't. After reading the reviews on this product I purchased it from World Wide Distributors. It arrived in 2 days complete with an HDMI cable (you DON'T need to buy it separately if purchasing from this company) which is of no use to me as I have a SONY WEGA TV, before HD days. Simply pluggged the included red-white-yellow leads into the player and the TV, powered it up, and immediately without any adjusting it played a region 0 which would not play on the Toshiba player, a region 1 of course played fine, and then a region 2 played as well. A friend has a recent model player from another company, much more expensive, in which you must enter a variety of codes to make it play the various regions. Not so with the Pioneer insert the DVD and the player figures out what to do to make it play. It will also play my photo CDs a nice bonus. What more could you ask for in this price range! Fantastic, highly recommended!

Read Best Reviews of PIONEER DV-220V-K 1080p HDMI UPSCALING REGION FREE DVD PLAYER w/ USB Input Here

I bought this to play .avi / divx files and the upscaling feature is incredibly good for the price. My old player would show the pixels if the file was of a lower quality but this player delivers a high quality version.

I did a lot of research before buying this unit and it paid off.

Spare yourself some time and go with this one if you are looking for an inexpensive multi-media dvd player.

My wife also likes the easy to use remote control.

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Other reviewers have discussed the more technical aspects of this DVD player, so I'll confine myself to the following:

Why buy an all region player? Because there are many good movies that are not available in Region 1, or in NTSC format. It's as simple as that. And this player has features that many do not:

1) When you press PAUSE or PLAY, this is indicated on the screen for a few seconds; then the indicator disappears, so it doesn't interfere with the picture.

2) The keys of the remote are of the soft touch type, making it easy to use.

3) You can advance or reverse the picture one frame at a time. (When doing this, the player will occasionally freeze. When this happens, just press the OPEN button, then close the tray again, and the DVD will be playing normally.)

4) The display button shows time elapsed and time remaining for the entire movie and for each chapter. And it's easy to read.

5) The slow motion feature can be set to run at 1/2 speed, or 1/4, or 1/8, or 1/16 -forward or reverse.

6) In addition, the Pioneer has the standard options of variable fast forward and jumping to the next chapter.

My only reservation is that the times are given in MM:SS, not H:MM:SS. So if you see 112:43 it means 1:52:43. Once you get used to this you can enjoy playing DVDs from anywhere in the world, on a quality player, at a price that's a bargain. Highly recommended.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Xtreamer Ultra 2 DELUXE HTPC - Home Theater PC Includes: 32GB SSD Preconfigured with XBMC on OpenEl

Xtreamer Ultra 2 DELUXE HTPC - Home Theater PC Includes: 32GB SSD Preconfigured with XBMC on OpenElec, USB 3.0, Gigabit LAN, Built-in Wifi & Bluetooth!I made the mistake of purchasing this device directly from the manufacturer. When it finally arrived, I soon found out that the ethernet port wasn't working (and what good is an HTPC if it can't be connected to the network?!) The only option to contact them is via web-chat. After two tries, somebody finally instructed me to open a return request, which I did. After not having heard back from them after more than a week, I wrote to ask about the status. The brief email that followed was harsh and they suggested I read their returns policy (which is hidden deep inside their site) and that it will take "up to 10 business days" to get the return approved. Of course, after two whole weeks I still hadn't heard back from them. After having written another mail, I finally received word that I will have to ship the item to HONG KONG and that I would have to pay a restocking fee in case I want a refund!!! This is really incredible! I want to warn everyone out there not to buy anything from this company!! The product is lousy and the support is non-existent.

I bought Xtreamer Ultra 2 Deluxe more than a month ago from UK. It comes with beta XBMC openelec software.

The XBMC as many of might know, has an excellent interface with so many options.

The problem is that this device failed to do what it is intended for playing movies!!! I have 1080p MKV movie files and this device failed to play them smoothly from my gigabit server, and even from usb-3 and usb-2 drives. I haven't tried 720p MKV files. So, for sure this device has a buffering problem even it comes with massive 4GB rams and, I assume, good video card.

I tried so many other version of XBMC software, Frodo, Ubuntu, and many. Still fails.

Also, cooling is another engineering failure of this device. It heats alot because the air flow is not properly thought of.

For continues play of movie files (one after another), there is no way, but to use the keyboard. I tried my best but couldn't figure it out.

Xtreamer forum is full of those who bought Ultra 2 seeking help with no results. The forum administrators and experts, and support services, will keep telling you that this is a PC! Which means that you HAVE to install windows 7, use the device as a PC, and play movies from there. In their advertisement, they say you can use the device and "Enjoy watching your media files" OUT OF THE BOX, while windows is just an option. However, after you buy it, they will tell you have to install windows if you want to watch HD movies. This means you go and buy windows 7 and try! maybe it will work.

I highly recommend not to buy this device until it comes with proper firmware/software, and not this poor beta version that causes alot of stucks, not allowing audio through HDMI, not able to watch HD movies, and many other technical issues that the people in the forum are complaining about.

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I bought this product for two reasons:

1) I didn't want to tinker with drivers, search hardware components, build my own device, read forums, etc.

2) I wanted a well supported and open media center, to address future codecs, add-ons, new builds, etc.

Ad 1)

yes, you get a fully assembled device with everything packaged in a compact box. It looks fancy, I like the style.

OpenELEC is compiled for Xtreamer Ultra 2. I got it working well and I got frequent updates from OpenELEC. The fan is a bit noisy, I would expect a passive cooling device though, without a fan. Also, you cannot expand the box, you need to connect your DVB-T or DVB-S/S2 to a USB port.

Ad 2)

I connected the device to my Hitachi HDMI 1.3 TV. It worked well, except that every 15-20 minutes I got a gap in my audio and sometimes video. The audio was jerky and I used the device for several months without a solution. Why? Because Xtreamer's support is non-existent. I wrote them several times and got no response whatsoever. Their support web-site is locked, you need to get a username and password (why? to search read forums?). However you cannot request a new username/password. Their web site is not working anymore.

Finally, I fixed it myself, reading posts on forums, I reconfigured my audio. This is exactly what I didn't intend and want to do. Now everything works flawlessly.

My verdict? I paid premium for a good device, but their lack of support completely undermines this great device. Xtreamer they have great marketing with all the bells and whistles, but when it comes to customer support, don't expect anything.

Think of other products with passive cooling, like Arctic. Check forums for good support.

Read Best Reviews of Xtreamer Ultra 2 DELUXE HTPC - Home Theater PC Includes: 32GB SSD Preconfigured with XBMC on OpenEl Here

The headline summaries the drawbacks I have for this box.

Pro:

Remote, 32GB SSD and 4G RAM.

Con:

I used it only for streaming so I need as fast as networking as possible, that means 802.11n 5G supports. I have 4 WiFi routers, all support 5G so I used it to cover every floors of my house for streaming videos. I have three of them 802.11n 5G only and one 802.11 mix 2.4G.

I have a lot of Wifi devices: iPad, iPhones and Galaxy S2, two Touchpads, four laptops, smart TVs and AppleTVs and a smart Thermostat etc. Only my iPhone 4 and thermostat does not support 5G and I did not expect a 1 year old Xtreamer Ultra 2 does NOT support 5G.

I use OpenElec 2.99.1 so I don't know whether this is due t OpenElec or the device itself.

2. The box is too BIG and can not stand up right inside my entertainment console so I have to lay it down and the charger is too big with EU adapter.

3. Plastic makes it looks cheap.

Considering it is only $160 different from a much better looking, smaller and faster Mac mini, I think the drawbacks make it not very worth $400.

Updated: after near one month, I decided to return it. It is a capable HTPC, but it is just too big, plastic and the remote did not work properly with XBMC, the only purpose I used it for and it did not support 5G 802.11n.

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excellent product because it runs full hd video without any problems, besides being quiet and fast. advise paenas lead to a person empowered to configure windows on it if you do not want to use Linux. the only problem is the control that used the windows all the keys do not work, but is there a way to configure.

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Thursday, April 17, 2014

GO VIDEO Replacement Remote Control for 00002N, 00058E, AC5900058E, AK5900002N

GO VIDEO Replacement Remote Control for 00002N, 00058E, AC5900058E, AK5900002Nis no longer available, this is as good as it gets. The buttons under the cover are way too small, and there are way too many of them, some that do absolutely nothing and others that 'lock up' the machine which requires unplugging it and resetting everything.

Would have been nice if the larger buttons worked the controls instead of the tiny ones under the slide out cover.

It's a remote control, designed for a combination DVD/VCR. I know, no one uses a VCR anymore, but you can use this one to burn DVD's of your favorite tapes before they fade into obsucrity. The buttons offer a multitude of functions (some of which you'll probably never use) but it's good to know that they're there, just in case. I bought this for my elderly mother who never likes anything I get her, and she liked it... so what does that tell you?

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Sunday, April 6, 2014

Zmodo 8 Channel Security CCTV Surveillance DVR System With 1TB Hard Drive Pre-installed - Real Time

Zmodo 8 Channel Security CCTV Surveillance DVR System With 1TB Hard Drive Pre-installed - Real Time 3G MobileGranted, this DVR comes with a sizable learning curve attached. Since i'm heavy into computers and the like, this wasn't terribly hard to get the hang of, but I can imagine someone like my mom or dad who just wants a minor surveillance system installed in their homes. This DVR is great, but can baffle a novice. IF you still want to try it out, be ready to do a bit of trial and error. Even I had to deal with some trial and error. And for the money, it was worth it.

It is very easy to install and works good. It is not very user friendly when it comes to reviewing video or live feed on your smartphone.

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I READ ALL THE REVIEWS AND DECIDED ON THIS ONE. MY I.T. PERSON HAPPENED TO BE IN THE BUILDING WHEN IT CAME SO HE HAD IT UP AND RUNNING IN 10 MINUTES. HE WAS IMPRESSED FOR THE PRICE.

Read Best Reviews of Zmodo 8 Channel Security CCTV Surveillance DVR System With 1TB Hard Drive Pre-installed - Real Time Here

We are very happy with value of this product. The recorder is as advertised in product description. Would purchase this product again.

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I bought two of these DVR, they work perfectly and the installation is very simple. I used to have my cameras working in my PC (with a hard disk dedicated) and this was very unstable, now with this DVR I solved the problem. If you do not need a professional and very expensive equipment, this is a very good option for home and small business.

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Thursday, April 3, 2014

4GB Spy Bug Ear Voice Audio Recorder USB Flash Drive Memory Stick

4GB Spy Bug Ear Voice Audio Recorder USB Flash Drive Memory StickIt's more of a toy, the idea is cool. It's like an introduction to covert listening devices. The run time after a charge is not long enough for for practical use. I still like it.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Griffin Technology iMic USB Audio Device

Griffin Technology iMic USB Audio DeviceLike many others before me, I bought this unit to digitize some old audio cassettes. (In my case, old radio shows from 1930-1950.) I initially tried this with a cassette player and the analog audio input on my Mac but the results were disappointing; there was a tremendous amount of humming in the finished audio. My friends at Tekserve recommended this device instead.

Installation is just a matter of plugging it into the USB port; the Mac required no drivers and saw the device as another audio device. QuickTime Player, GarageBand, iMovie, the Sound preference panel and Griffin's own "Final Vinyl" application immediately recognized the device.

I connected my tape player to the iMic, launched Griffin's "Final Vinyl" application, and got to work. The results were stunning, like night and day when compared to the analog recording I'd previously made. There was absolutely no hum to be heard. I experimented with other audio cassettes and detected no hum, static, or other problem that could be attributed to the iMic device.

The device has two standard mini stereo ports (audio in and out), and a switch on the side to change between line input and microphone input (this is important -if the switch is in the wrong place you will be disappointed with the results). It also includes a mini-to-RCA adapter cable which I thought was a nice addition. The USB cable is rather short (about one foot long) and is hardwired to the unit so don't break it.

As was previously pointed out, the "Final Vinyl" software needs work and is inarguably the weakest part of this package. (Truthfully, if Griffin DIDN'T bundle "Final Vinyl" with the iMic I would have given this a five-star rating.) It is a COMPLETELY bare-bones application. I get the strong impression that "Final Vinyl" started life as a quick hack that a programmer wrote up in a couple of hours so that they could test the iMic device, but someone in Griffin's Marketing department saw it and decided to make it part of the package. It is not very intuitive (highlighting a segment of audio and hitting the DELETE key does nothing, forcing you to go into a menu to select DELETE which also has no keyboard shortcut), offers almost nothing in terms of audio editing capabilities, is surprisingly slow, and it crashes quite a bit. (Although I think Griffin knows this; when you relaunch the app after it crashed, it remembers the audio you had previously recorded and offers you the option of using that data or starting from scratch.) Fortunately the app doesn't crash (*knock on wood*) when importing audio; the crashing seems to happen when you're trying to open or save a file AND do something else with another application at the same time.

The only other thing about this unit that bugs me is its awkward design. It's about the size of a silver dollar and perhaps 3/8" thick. The short cable means you can't keep it plugged into the back of your machine and be able to easily access it, particularly if your machine is on the floor (like mine is). The rounded shape of the unit means you can't set it on edge and tuck it into an otherwise unused bit of space, and you can't easily attach it to your computer (i.e., with a zip-tie). I have mine plugged into the front USB port on my computer with the cable looped over the handle but it's an awkward placement at best, and I have to move the cable over whenever I want to open the CD drawer. It's not REALLY horrible since I'll likely rarely use the iMic once these tapes have been digitized, but I think Griffin could have done a little more to make this unit a little more elegant.

I have a large collection of yodeling songs (yes...yodeling) on LP's and wanted a way to record them onto my computer and transfer them to disk and to my iPod. I searched around the internet but most applications require you to connect your turntable to your stereo (or other amplifier) and then to your computer. Since my stereo and my computer are in separate parts of my house, I didn't really want to relocate either of them. Other solutions were far too advanced (read expensive) for my purposes. I stumbled on the iMic and it sounded like just the thing.

According to the Griffin website "iMic allows you to connect virtually any microphone or sound input device to your iBook, PowerBook, PowerMac or other Mac or PC systems with a USB port. iMic supports both mic and line level inputs via a selectable switch, as well as a variable level output for connecting speakers or headphones" All you do is connect your turntable directly to your computer. It works perfectly! Combined with the free recording software Final Vinyl it make recording your LP's a breeze.

RC adapter cables are included. iMic is compatible with both Mac and PC but Finyl Vinyl works only on Mac's. You can use other recording software for PC's.

(Note: iMic and Final Vinyl work great for those who simply want to record to their computer. You can do some fine tuning, but you will want a higher level of technology if you also want to "clean" the sound of your old recordings.)

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It should go without saying that the iMic is not a professional recording device. It might also go without saying that it is just fine for the purposes for which it is intended: recording from vinyl or other similar mic or line level to your computer. I bought mine because my MacMini doesn't have an audio in (what was Apple thinking?!). Generally speaking, it does its job of getting sound into the computer, and is fairly transparent while doing so, acting much like a piece of built-in equipment would.

What should not go without saying, though, is that there is no ASIO driver for the iMic. So, it is incompatible with any recording software that requires an ASIO driver, particularly Steinberg's Cubase. As far as I have been able to find out, neither Steinberg nor Griffin have any plans to do anything about this. Note that Griffin does produce an ASIO driver which only works under Mac OS9, and there is a third party driver which will make it work, but it costs more than the iMic itself.

For the price, you can't beat the iMic. In fact, it's the lowest priced external audio interface I was able to find. And there are precious few bits of gear that fill the void between its price point and the $100 mark. Just be aware of its limitations before buying. I ended up spending another $180 on a more apropriate piece of equipment, and now my iMic is lying on my office floor.

Read Best Reviews of Griffin Technology iMic USB Audio Device Here

If you want to move your precious vinyls into your Mac or iPod, this item does the job quickly and inexpensively.

Given that audiophile external DACs for your computer may be in the two to three thousand dollar range, this little gizmo does a lot for the money for about one percent of an external Dac's price.

I have been using it with my MacBook Pro 5,1. The audio gear attached to the iMic is a good turntable (Ariston RD90), an Audiomat phono pre-amp, and a Benz Micro wood-bodied L2 cartridge. The connecting cables are high-end Cardas (cartridge to pre-amp) and high-end JPS (pre-amp to iMic).

Best lesson I learned is that the supplied software, Finyl Vinyl, works fine, but is glitchy and occasionally crashes when you set out to save the tracks individually. It also does zero noise reduction wizardry. Finally, it is not terribly accurate in doing auto-mark to divide your file into separate tracks. Always double-check track separation using the slider that stretches the on-screen soundwave graphic.

To avoid the crash and the loss of the recording, my solution was as follows. After marking off each track, save each track separately. Do not just click on "Save as" in the drop down menu (that is where the crash sometiems occurs). Instead, make a right click while your cursor (a vertical line with an inverted triangle at the top) is in the space for that track. You will see a small box saying "Save track as______" Enter the track name and then press return. The program will then saves the individual track with your file name already in place for transferring to your media player.

Best quality I have found so far is recording at 44.1 kHz, 32 bit. Since the resulting files are large, you convert them later to Apple Lossless or another lossless format inside your media player.

Quality of sound? Since I am using relatively expensive audio gear, it seemed strange to use a little device like the iMic -I was afraid that it was going to act like a box of kleenex in the middle of the data stream. But, instead, what I got was high quality digital tracks that I can make into CDs, play through my computer into my amplifier, and transfer to my iPod Touch. Definition, clarity, transient response and musicality remain good with the iMic.

I have not tried out the recent turntable and cartridge combos that are selling for about $200. No system of digitization will ever achieve the magic of a direct listening to your vinyl. However, the iMic taught me that no matter the cost of the system, it is the music to which I listen. The iMic accomplished what I had hoped for: minimum interference with the analog signal provided.

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I got an iMic2 because I wanted to convert musics from my LPs and tapes to AAC/MP3 files, and my Mac Mini doesn't have an Audio-In port. It works great! It comes with adapter cables for RCA plugs, so no other equipment is needed to connect my turntable and cassette deck directly to my computer. I was a little worried that the built-in pre-amp wouldn't boost the turntable signal enough, but even that isn't a problem; the only adjustments I need to make when using the turntable as a source are to set the iMic2's input switch to "Mic" and crank my computer's audio input level all the way up. The software that comes with it, Final Vinyl (*for Macs only*), also works really well. I originally planned to use Roxio Spin Doctor to do my recording, but it freezes frequently for no apparent reason -so that was a waste of money; I just use Final Vinyl instead. It's really simple to use, and the special EQ setting for LPs mimics the EQ circuit provided by a stereo amplifier's turntable input jack (without that, the turntable signal has a "tinny" sound -but since that setting alone creates a kind of muffled effect, I like to add a second EQ setting on top of that, to boost the treble). I save the Final Vinyl AIFF files to my hard drive then import them into iTunes and convert them to AAC files there. They sound GREAT. What a nice surprise that my computer can do all this, with very satisfactory results, with just this little device and Griffin's free software.