Showing posts with label digital recording system. Show all posts
Showing posts with label digital recording system. Show all posts

Saturday, November 22, 2014

VIZIO 8-DEVICE UNIVERSAL REMOTE CONTROL (XRU300)

VIZIO 8-DEVICE UNIVERSAL REMOTE CONTROLThis remote is pretty decent for the money. I didn't get mine at Amazon, but I don't want others to be deterred by the only other review on this product. He rated this remote with only two stars yet the person states in their review that the remote worked perfectly for every single one of his devices?!?!

Funcionality:

This remote works perfectly with all of my devices I have a Samsung plasma TV, an LG soundbar, a cable/DVR box, and an Xbox 360. Yes, I did have to use the "learn" function for most of the programming, but seriously it took all of 10 minutes to set up all 4 of my devices to work perfectly with all functionality without a hitch. Yes, you do have to press each individual device mode to power on or off, big deal...the other reviewer states this is one of the main reasons for the low rating this remote doesn't have MACRO capability. Seriously?! Did someone expect that functionality in an 8-device universal learning remote that costs under 20 bucks? Perfect example of champagne taste on a beer budget. If you want Macros, automatic device switching, etc you have to spend more money. Period.

I did take of 1/4 star due to the fact that there is no "master volume" setting where you can have the volume always control a certain device no matter what device mode you're in. That would have been nice, but overall not a big hinderance.

Look and Feel:

First, this remote is fat. At first I thought it had a slide out keyboard or something because why else would it be so fat? It doesn't. It's just fat. I didn't take off any stars for it or anything, because due to it's relatively small size, the fatness actually helps it feel rather comfortable in the hand.

Second, the responsiveness and feedback "feel" of the keys is spectacular! This is probably one of my favorite things about this remote. When you press a button, there is no doubt about whether you pressed it there is a very nice, non-audible, non-distracting and yet satisfying "click". Every time. Love it.

Third, the backlight is white. Very white. Not blue, not orange, not red, not yellow-ish, but instead a nice vibrant white. And everything is backlit except the little "V" smart button in the middle, but it's the most tactile of all the buttons.

Fourth, 1/4 star because the buttons other than the four-way keypad and the "V" smart button are indistinguishable from each other by feel alone. In time, muscle memory will take over and you'll know where every button is without needing to look, but still a little bump on the "5" and on the "Play" buttons for example would have been nice.

UPDATE 2/15/13:

Had to downgrade my review to maybe four stars but let me start by saying that I still really like this remote. Reasons for the downgraded rating:

1) I have noticed that as the batteries start to degrade, my "aim" needs to be better obviously not huge but I have found myself having to click 3 or 4 times to get it to register. And this is just as the batteries are "starting" to fade. When they get further along you actually have to get closer too.

2) The battery life. Could be worse, could be better. I'm sure it's the awesome backlighting, but two months is about all I get out of a pair of batteries before the "aim" and the "get closer" issues become too bad to deal with any longer. I haven't actually used the remote until the batteries completely died, but I have the feeling that by that point you'd have to have the remote 2 inches away and clicking 5 times to get it to register.

3) Annoying but relatively harmless, the "V" button on the remote for TV special features (like smart TV menu) doesn't do anything for my TV AND it can't be programmed. Maybe if you have a Vizio smart TV it'll work, but on my Samsung it does nothing.

When I upgraded to Time Warner Cable, I thought I would be able to program their remote to control everything, but their remote sucked pretty bad. It wouldn't change the volume or power of my Sound Bar, it wouldn't change the Input of the TV. I decided to get this because I have a Vizio Sound Bar and felt pretty confident I would be able to control it using this remote.

The remote is easy to program, once you find the correct code, and depending on what equipment you have that's either very easy, or a little harder. I have a Sharp TV which has around 6-7 different codes, so it took a little while to find the one that set the buttons up correctly. Same issue for the Time Warner DVR too, it took a while to find the correct code. I couldn't find one perfect code for the TWC DVR so I had to use the Individual Button Program feature, which allows you to point your old remote at the Vizio whilst pushing the function you which to program and the Vizio will learn the function and assign it to a button you choose.

Overall, I was using Four Remotes before buying this (TV, DVR, Sound Bar & Apple TV) and the Vizio works perfectly with them all. I can now all the hideous remotes and just use this great looking singular remote. One small kicker, you have to point the remote at the equipment, it's not one of those ones that you can point anywhere. Small price to pay for ultimate control of all your devices for virtually no expense.

Buy VIZIO 8-DEVICE UNIVERSAL REMOTE CONTROL (XRU300) Now

After wearing out several of the cheap remotes that Time Warner gives out with their cable boxes, I decided to try something else and bought this remote. Overall, it's a good remote. All of my devices were easy to program and, while there were a few buttons on my TV and cable remotes that didn't work on this remote after doing the code-based programming, they were all easy to program using the smart learn feature. Basically, you just point the remote you are replacing at this remote, press the button on the first remote with the corresponding button on this one and this remote learns the signal.

The only downside is that the shape of this remote is fairly semetrical, so it's easy to grab it and point it at the TV the wrong way which can be a little frustrating.

Unlike the Time Warner remotes, which I seemed to need to replace every 3-6 months, this one's been going strong for about a year now with no problems.

Read Best Reviews of VIZIO 8-DEVICE UNIVERSAL REMOTE CONTROL (XRU300) Here

I have a vizio 42 lcd tv that came with the smaller remote that I did not like,so I ordered this one and it works fine

and I love the light up button feature. And it arrived at my house within 4 days.

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Would not work all my devices. Had to go back to a Logitech harmony to get everything working. Seemed cheap and the layout was really weird. Wouldn't even work my vision TV correctly. 2 stars for trying though. Logitech has never let me down. Even on the hardest to find devices.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Microsoft Plus! SuperPack for Windows XP

Microsoft Plus! SuperPack for Windows XP
  • Easily create amazing slideshows with digital photos
  • Personalize PC with 8 screen savers and 4 themes
  • Take a break with fun and exciting games
  • Easily create music CD/DVD labels and inserts
  • 50 video effects and transitions for Windows Movie Maker 2

I purchased this software thinking that I could take my digital images, create a slide show with music, and then burn it to dvd for the family to watch.

Unfortunately, the disk that I got gave me some error messages that when I called tech support (one hour hold time)they told me that my error message meant that I could create files, but they'll only run on my computer, not on my tv dvd player. In addition, you need to buy additional dvd burning software, because the dvd burning software imbedded in this software package will only create dvds that will run on a dvd player with the Microsoft logo on them. (The package says the dvds will run on almost any dvd player)

So I asked for my money back. However, since it took me more than 30 days to find all of this out, they refused a refund.

Buy Microsoft Plus! SuperPack for Windows XP Now

This software really shows off the power of your XP. Visually it is amazing. I am not so sure I would catagorize it as a must unless your computer is just for fun. For those of us with work to do the appeal wears off pretty quick.

Read Best Reviews of Microsoft Plus! SuperPack for Windows XP Here

This is the first time I have ever reviewed a product and I do it so that no one else will waste their money on this. It adds virtually nothing to XP. Too bad they didn't make it as interesting as their packaged media edition. That would have been worth the money, but old Bill who doesn't want to be the richest man in the world would rather you spend money on a new PC to get that product. The themes are nice but far too few for the price. The games are a gimmick since you have to pay to play the real things. The DJ is dumb and the dancers are cute but after a while boring. Hard to figure out how to use the music converter and photo stuff. Too bad could have been something but in its present form, not worth the money.

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This software works great, was easy to install and makes recording my old albums and tapes onto my computer a breeze. This is exactly what I was looking for and would recommend it to anyone interested.

Plus! clearly shows off some great visual effects. I have to confess that I have not yet fully explored the entire package, but wanted to share the fact that this software comes incomplete ... they are clearly using this to entice folks to buy more via upselling. For instance, the games show lots of "potential" effects that become available only if you purchase the remainder of that game. I personally don't appreciate being sold a partial package.

Friday, November 14, 2014

Motorola I265 phone

Motorola I265 phoneThe product has been very good. I had used this cell phone in one of my projects and it worked wonders. I will definitely recommend this to anyone interested in buying it....

GREAT PRODUCT THAT IS AS GREAT FOR NEXTEL AS IT IS FOR BOOST INSERT YOUR SIM & GO!

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I have been with nextel for nearly a year now I started out this time last year with the Motorola i205 and just upgraded to the i265 it is one of the best phones I have ever had the service is the best I have ever had I have no problems making or reciving calls. If you are considering nextel give it a shot they are in my opinion the best cell company out there.

Read Best Reviews of Motorola I265 phone Here

I just got it and have to say its easy to use, i can hear the person talking just fine and i have had no problems dealing with nextel.

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My problems with nextel did not stop when I canceled my service. I will get to the problems with the service. When I went to get a new phone a day before my contract expired, I of course wanted to keep my number. So as I went to get my Cingular phone (highly recommended), I had the old number switched to my new number. Today, I get in the mail my nextel statement for the month with a $200 early termination even though I had not canceled my service, but had simply got a new phone and switched my number over. This was on icing on the cake after 2 years of absolutely amazingy bad service from nextel. In my town, not a small town by any means, there are very few places that have any service. In the largest subdivision, you cannot get service anywhere. I constantly get comments from people trying to reach me that get the classic nextel line...Please hold while the nextel subscriber you are trying to reach is located. Most of the time I would not even recieve incoming calls, calls would go straight to my voice mail. Not only would I not get the calls, but often I would not even get the voice mails until days or even weeks later. When I did actually take calls (and call out), I cannot count the number of times I've had my call dropped. I recieved so many different error messages sometimes I wonder if they just spend all their time at nextel thinking of different error messages to program into their phones. That brings me to the selling point of nextel, the famed and well-loved direct connect feature. This is an absolute joke. Direct connect only works MAYBE half the time I tried to use it. Even then, in the middle of the conversation I would be greeted by the loud beep of my phone telling me I wont be talking to that person anymore. Of course, I would expect nothing less from the nextel network. Text messaging with nextel is next to impossible. If it did not take hours to send or recieve a message, it took days, or maybe didn't even come at all. The internet access was fine, it the rare instance that it worked. Of course, when you don't have service, you don't get the internet access either. I was constantly getting the message "network not available". Calling and trying to complain to nextel is futile. Trying to get through to customer service takes forever and once you get through they do nothing. My experience with nextel has been nothing short of a disaster and I write this trying to warn anyone considering nextel. Stick with Verizon or Cingular and you will be much happier in the end. Don't make the same mistake I did.

Monday, November 3, 2014

Samsung UN46B7000 46-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LED HDTV

Samsung UN46B7000 46-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LED HDTV
  • Ultra-slim 46-inch LED HDTV with full HD 1080p resolution for the sharpest picture possible
  • LED technology enables a true-to-life range of picture brightness; uses 40 percent less energy than conventional LCD TVs
  • Internet@TV online content service from Yahoo!, Flickr, YouTube via your broadband connection
  • Inputs: 4 HDMI, 1 component, 2 USB, 1 Ethernet, 1 PC, 1 optical digital audio output
  • Includes detachable swivel table stand; measures 44.4 x 30.2 x 10.8 inches (WxHxD) with stand

My requirement for a television is quite simple: plug it in to the cable box and have it work the first time; then turn on the sports event of the day, e.g. Mets or Yankees, Jets or Giants, etc. The Samsung 46 inch LED TV does that very well. You plug it in, it works.

This TV does more with less. It weighs only about 40 pounds plus another 10 pounds for the stand. Compare that with the older Samsung 950 model of the same size which weighs 70 pounds. The elegant stand allows for easy rotation. The TV is only a little over one inch thick! Power consumption has been measured by reviewers at about 105 watts. The 950 model comes in at 180 watts.

The picture is great. The contrast ratio, rated at 3,000,000 to 1, exceeds that of older LCD TVs. The black areas are dark and the picture has an almost 3D quality. There are four preset picture options. I chose the "normal" setting. The next higher setting, "standard", makes infield grass look almost dayglow. I do not think that there is a need to have any further adjustment done on the picture. However, there is an automatic dimming of the overall brightness for dark scenes. For instance, when the credits of a movie run against a black background the lettering becomes dimmer. This has no effect on sports, but does effect dark movie scenes.

The screen surface does reduce reflections but does not eliminate them entirely. The black frame is shiny and does also reflect some light. Rotating the screen to the best angle helps.

The remote provides choices for four picture size variations. I use "16:9" for the HD format or "wide" to make the non-HD, 4:3, video fill the screen. That loses some of the 4:3 picture at the top and bottom edges, but the picture quality is still good.

The sound also has four preset choices. Although, the internal speakers are not bad, I decided to use my sound system for the audio. The TV has an audio output connection, but the TV remote volume control only allows variation in the sound level for the internal speakers. The audio output stays at a constant level. I got around this by taking the audio from my cable box directly to my sound system and controlling the level with the cable remote. This works.

Although Samsung provides a version of the instruction manual on a USB drive with the TV, I found it easy to download and print a pdf of the manual from the Samsung support center. Having the printed manual is helpful. See my comment for the web address of the support center.

After one month, I still really like this TV. It is great for sports. An added bonus is that my electric bill has actually gone down.

Note: This review was written for the 6000 model. The 7000 model differs from the 6000 model in its I/O capabilities. Recently some people have reported that the 7000 has a better picture. If you do not need the extras, go with the 6000 and save a few dollars.

Buy Samsung UN46B7000 46-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LED HDTV Now

I won't go into as much detail as some others, but I do want to say that I've had this TV for 3 weeks and I absolutely love it. One thing I noticed on all TV's my friends have is when the scene goes dark, you can see the entire screen glow and most LCDs will only go so dark. Due to LED technology, which does not disappoint, this TV will go pitch black on dark scenes and very bright on light scenes.

One thing I do want to mention is that Samsung's Auto Motion Plus (AMP) is something that takes time to get used to, if you choose to use it. The funnies thing I've read about this TV is a person who paid over $2k and then sent the TV back because they said TV made everything they watched "look cheap, like a soap opera", so they rated TV one star, shipped it back to the store and bought a different brand. As soon as I got the TV hooked up, I popped in Matrix II into the DVD player and I did notice what that person was talking about. Entire movie didn't feel quite like a movie, but more like someone was holding a video camera and was following all the car chases and everything else. It did remind me of those "cheap" TV programs, but is also looked kind of like you are actually there. I read more about it and realized that if I turn off AMP, the TV will show everything "normally" and there is absolutely no reason to send it back if AMP is not your thing.

However, I read more about AMP and from what I can tell, it is the imperfections in normal movies and motion blur that we are all used to. What AMP does is figure out where all moving objects are, "unblurs" them and actually plays back the scene at 120fps instead of 24fps. Extra frames are extrapolated based on object motion in the scene. The result is that everything is extremely sharp and clear and motion blur is almost entirely gone. I've seen Matrix II about 8 times and when I watched it with AMP turned on, I noticed extra cool, little details which I've never even noticed before when watching it on a regular TV.

Read Best Reviews of Samsung UN46B7000 46-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LED HDTV Here

This TV has produced a lot of controversy. After having spent a lot of time wading through it, passively and actively (debating it in threads), I came to the conclusion that I would get this set for a number of reasons:

1. I was not convinced by the people who were claiming that there were serious issues with this TV. One reviewer claimed to have seen trails in large dark objects. I went to the store and found NO ability to see it, and it was right next to the 750 (and a lot of other sets). As to the LED being edge and thus the lighting being inconsistent, ditto. I am not saying that it's all lies and local dimming is useless. I am saying that it's not something I can see right now (and that's really all I care about).

2. This set is INSANELY thin. I have a space for mine where this actually makes a big difference.

3. I like to vote with my dollars. This is the lowest consuming television ever made. The CNET list of sets showed that the range was 8:1, which is pretty phenomenal if you think about it; in cars, mileage is not even that spread out. This is a REMARKABLE achievement and it's a drag to hear people whining about dumb little imperfections that 99% of people would never see while they are buying from the other end of the spectrum. Of course, the amount of energy less you are going to use is not going to make a revolution, but a tiny percentage of all TVs using this amount would make a huge difference (game theory 101).

The biggest difference from my prior set (Westinghouse LCD) is this one actually has blacks.

The controls, menus, remote, etc., are all fine (I use a universal remote). Having a bunch of HDMI ports is great. I plugged in the connection to the web and looked at the Yahoo Widgets. Calling them useless at this point is an understatement. Should be interesting to see what is coming from that direction.

The argument that if the 750 looks just as good, save the money and get that is a compelling one. In terms of value overall, I paid ~$1500 for my 42" Westinghouse 3 years ago. I just replaced it because it had developed background noise (patterns you could see). If this set lasts 2 more years, it will have exceeded the prior value in size and savings of energy.

Again, this is a remarkable achievement in an industry that had told us we'd all be using power sipping OLED by now, this is a hybrid strategy, here today.

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I bought this TV about a week ago and have been fairly impressed. There is a lot to like about this TV, but there are also a few problems.

The Good:

The picture is great; very clear with both HDTV and BluRays. The black levels and contrast are very good. The sound isn't terrible (with some tweaking), but it isn't anything to write home about. The settings are very intuitive and easy to work with.

The Bad:

I've already mentioned the sound, but it bears repeating: the sounds levels are just okay. You will not be able to turn the bass up to what I would call an acceptable level without making the speaker housings vibrate which can be very annoying. This wasn't a deal killer for me as I paired it with a surround sound system, so I barely hear the TV speakers.

This TV is terrible for gaming. I should qualify this: This TV is terrible for playing music type games. There is considerable input lag using a Wii, even with the game mode turned on. I attempted to play Guitar Hero: World Tour after connecting the Wii to the TV using the new composite cables I had to buy (more on that in a minute), and found it to be unplayable. Because there is considerable lag, the strum does not register until just after the notes have passed, resulting in a missed note... many, many missed notes actually. This is not acceptable for me.

There are not enough inputs for gaming devices and there are only inputs for HD devices. While this may seem like a stupid complaint, remember that neither the Wii, nor the PS2 (outdated I know, but bare with me) have an HDMI output. I had to go buy HD Composite cables for both and a switch box because there is only 1 composite input on the TV. These cables aren't really cheap, so that was another $60 I had to shell out. Also, there are only 4 HDMI inputs total, so if you have multiple gaming systems, a BluRay player and a cable/satellite box, you may need to buy an HDMI switch to get everything to work.

The Ugly:

You will need to take quite a bit of time to calibrate this TV to make everything look the way it should. Here is a quick tip though: if you don't want everything you watch to have the quality of a commercial, turn off the 120Hz options (located in Picture Options > Auto Motion Plus 120Hz). Some people may like the ultra crisp effect that this adds to movies and programs, but I just feel it makes everything look very plastic and without depth.

All-in-all, this is a decent TV, that could be great for some... but terrible for others. If nothing I listed will bother you, this is a great TV for the money and will not disappoint.

I was eyeing this tv the day it was introduced and had to put it off for a while because of my upcoming wedding.

After that was over though, I was right back to salivating over this set. I was ready to pay retail for this at a certain blue big-box store. Never even thinking to check Amazon for it. Long story short I did and I am in LOVE with this set! It has been worth every penny so far.

I have been drawn to Samsung LCD's ever since they came out with the Touch of Color. We ended getting this one in the red because it brought a really good balance of color to our living room. This tv is also available in TOC gray at the aforementioned big-box store. But why get something this beautiful in a color that won't make it stand out?! Of course the profile only being a little over 1" makes this look incredible mounted with Samsung's slim wall mount kit. With the kit it only stands off of the wall about two inches and is easy enough to install. I love when people first come over and see it. I get comments on how nice this tv is every time. And that's before I even turn it on!

Hit the power button and WOW, the colors are just incredible and the blacks are actually black. No issues have been seen that have been mentioned in other reviews(ie: inconsistent backlighting). I was afraid I was going to have to adjust the settings like crazy to get the screen as good as it looked in the store. Boy was I wrong. I changed maybe two sliders slightly in the menu. Speaking of which.... the menu's are very easy to use and are laid out thoughtfully. Everything seems to be customizable too, including the standby light and little jingle when you power on and off(Nice touch, Samsung! I cannot say the same for the Vizio in our bedroom.). Tons of connections in the back too.

I also cannot get around the fact that this tv just flat out saves us money too!! It's power consumption is insanely low. We use the DLNA Technology in this to access our home server directly and watch movies, listen to music and view photos we have saved. So it is on almost all the time in our home. I was intending to do this with whatever tv I purchased so this one is essentially paying for itself over a standard LCD. And of saving money makes my wife happy! :)

Two things that bug me though:

The internet features that seperate this model from the 6000 series seem to be of limited function though. I check it occasionally to see the new content that is available, but nothing has really seemed to interest me yet. I will keep watching though, I have heard of some promising things on the horizon for this.

The glossy finish on bezel is EXTREMELY SCRATCH PRONE!! I knew this, my wife did not. With luck though, I realized that Zaino show car wax fixes the bezel back to better than new. Much better actually! It almost looks liquid now! I have yet to take a good picture but look at the Nissan 350Z on their home page and you'll get the idea.

I would say that covers all of the major stuff with the Samsung UN46B7000. I have owned this tv for about four months now and would say that if any other annoyance would be popping up, it would have happened by now. Thanks for reading and hope I helped you decide to pick up this amazing television! Please rate!!

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Maxell 3.5 1.44MB IBM MF2HD High Density Preformatted Disk (10-Pack, Assorted Colors)

Maxell 3.5 1.44MB IBM MF2HD High Density Preformatted DiskI actually have customers that are still using a DOS based Point-of-Sale system that I wrote back in 1988. Therefore, I still have a 25 year old DOS computer that can only be backed up via flex disks. I recently moved and felt that I really needed to back up the computer before I even thought about moving it, due to its age. Therefore, I was very grateful to see that I could still buy new 3.5 flex disks since my older ones failed everytime. Needlesstosay, the move went well and the software is still safe on these new diskettes. I can't give these disks any higher rating than pure perfection because they came through when I needed them the most!

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Friday, October 10, 2014

Remanufactured Magnavox MSA2025 2GB MP3/WMA Digital Audio Player

Remanufactured Magnavox MSA2025 2GB MP3/WMA Digital Audio Player
  • Direct USB for easy file transfers without cables
  • Stereo earbuds included, and an equalizer for optimized sound to suit your music style
  • MP3 and WMA playback, voice recording to take notes or record anything, anytime, and an FM radio with 20 presets for more music options
  • Drag and drop your songs easily (no software needed) with plug and play functionality with fast downloads from your PC via USB 2.0
  • Manufacturer refurbished with 90-day manufacturer warranty; includes earbuds, quick start guide, AAA battery and user manual on CD-ROM

This item worked for one week, then died like the hopes of a first time voter.

Buy Remanufactured Magnavox MSA2025 2GB MP3/WMA Digital Audio Player Now

During the time that I had this device, it was reliable, easy to use and an inexpensive music player. 2GB is definitely adequate for the good majority of us. I highly recommend it. Although this device does not support playlist functionality, this is one product Magnovox succeeded with. (Their DVD players suck; stay away from them.) This thing is also suprisingly durable. I had dropped it dozens of times and it even went through both the washer and dryer! I accidentally left it in the pocket of my jeans; it survived and still played as well as it always did. Unfortunately though, it just died today. I believe its something to do with the firmware. When I tried to reload the firmware... my computer did not detect it. Hard to fix if you can't pull it up through the only repair channel. Overall, its a good getting started device if you are a person who doesn't want anything too fancy or complex or if you want to teach kids responsibility. Once they have proven themselves... you can always upgrade to something more fancy later on. Only other thing is to make sure that the firmware stays up to date otherwise risk having it die out on you like it did to me. Would have probably lasted years more if I had kept up to date with it.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Sharp BDHP210U Blu-ray Disc Player

Sharp BDHP210U Blu-ray Disc Player
  • Sharp BDHP210U Blu-ray Disc Player
  • Full HD 1080p/24 fps video output
  • HDMI Up-scaling - BD Live 2.0 Profile
  • 7.1 Ch digital audio output
  • Quick Start Mode: enjoy content quickly without delay

Other reviewers warn to stay away from this player, so I thought I'd balance things out with somewhat more positive comments. The trouble I had in the past with the BD-HP21U consisted of:

1) Inability to play certain discs

2) Slow to very slow loading times

3) Poor performance by the remote controlhad to be very close to the unit to operate

Each time that I encountered a disc that wouldn't play I upgraded the firmware (have done so 3 times over 15 monthsright after purchase and 2 other times), which took care of the playback glitch. However problems 2 and 3 remained. About 2 weeks ago the movie "Ponyo" wouldn't play, so I upgraded the firmware for a third time and voila! All 3 problems solved! Movie played, loading is now MUCH faster, and the remote works at the same distance as other remotes. I went from being at best lukewarm on the unit to quite pleased.

The most recent firmware is available at . Hopefully that link will displayif not just go to sharpusa and navigate to the customer support/product downloads section. You'll have to manually enter the model number in the appropriate box since this model isn't listed in the drop down, but after you do this the correct firmware download is displayed (which is Version PN9110600).

Are there better/less bulky players out there for the money? Perhaps. But if you can find this at an attractive price, I think that you'll be more than satisfied after you upgrade your firmware.

Buy Sharp BDHP210U Blu-ray Disc Player Now

Thought i was getting a good deal on a bluray player. This product is very bulky and obviously a model several years old.

Right out of the box the player has issues about 50% of the time, displaying a flickering image. Also loads times are exteremly slow, and some discs will not play. I would recommend spending the extra $30 to get a current model player.

Read Best Reviews of Sharp BDHP210U Blu-ray Disc Player Here

I received this as a gift...personally I would not have purchase a sharp product. I gave it the benefit of the doubt. Initially compared to my PS3 is was very slow to load...I could let that slide if everything else worked...but it didn't. Right out of the box about 1 out of 5 Blu-Rays did not play "Cannot Read Disc". All of these discs played just fine on my laptop and PS3. I don't know about DVDs. I tried to update the firmware but Sharp had the wrong firmware posted for my equipment. I finally found the correct one under a different model number. That did not help and was definitely not a user friendly process. I am currently in the process of getting help directly from Sharp since the store I purchased from will not let me exchange or return. We will see how it goes, but I am very skeptical.

Bottom line...Stay away

Sharp BDHP210U Blu-ray Disc Player

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My first experience w/ a Blu Ray Player was not a good one. The first few times I used it, it worked fine. My only issue was an incredibly slow loading time. I understand Blu Ray takes longer to download than MPEG-2 DVD, but I'm talking 1-2 full minutes to read the disc and produce the menu screen. Then one day, it would not play a brand new Blu Ray movie. It would load, but then do nothing. It would not respond to anything, other than turning the device off.

I was learning to live w/ my diappointment, until I started to buy and rent more blu-rays, and this was happening to nearly half the discs. With some discs, the device would completely freeze. The only action it would respond to was actually unplugging the machine. The coup-de-gras come one day when the machine froze as it was acustomed to, so I unplugged the device, and when powered back up, I got the error message "rear panel fan not working", or something along those lines. It completely stopped working at that point. Cleaned the fan and everything. Fortunately, Sharp had great customer service and sent me the next model up from this one free of charge. I believe they discountinued this model. Amen.

Stay away from this pice o' junk!

I bought this in Jan 10 and to date it has performed well. I read the manual and found one of the settings that speed up the start up and gets the dvd to play the movie within 10 sec. I am not sure what is the problem others are experiencing, but you have to consider the technical demands on a technology that requires a lot more of bandwidth and processing power. I will try upgrading the firmware later on. Just today connected it to a HDTV (Sharp LC-46SE94U) and the Aquos link used on sharp products automatically recognized the BD input and labelled it with the unit's model number. Later when I placed a dvd on the unit the TV turned on automatically and switched to the dvd input, saving me a few seconds on the process.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

TiVo Phone Line Adapter for TiVo Premiere and Premiere XL

TiVo Phone Line Adapter for TiVo Premiere and Premiere XLI could not have been able to connect to TiVo "mother ship" via phone line without it, and it was certainly a less expensive workaround than reconfiguring "this old house" for WiFi or whatever it is the kids are using now.

It basically didn't work. Call after call was terminated prematurely with a "call interrupted" error message. I bought a 50-foot ethernet cable and connected the TiVo to our router with that, and the problem was solved, but not without spending money on a product that was worthless to me.

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Tive adapter connect to the phone line very easily, when tested . But when connect to down load it was to slow and would disconnect before all the programs were loaded, thus nothing is down loaded. Contacted Tivo they blaimed the phone line. AT&T checked the line twice. The AT&T repairman said he has run across this problem before. I finally connected to the internet I now get my downloads. If Tivo was up front and stated that you must use the internet instead of selling me a worthless $40.00 add-on Iand such poor tech support.

Read Best Reviews of TiVo Phone Line Adapter for TiVo Premiere and Premiere XL Here

What can I say? Plug it in and it works. Not a fan of the new TiVo, however. Wish the old one hadn't gone kaput!

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This item is required for Premier and some other TiVos. Buyers of the applicable items should be advised that is needed or those items will be unusable.

Friday, September 12, 2014

Zoom H4n Handy Mobile 4-Track Recorder and MP3 Player + 8GB Accessory Kit

Zoom H4n Handy Mobile 4-Track Recorder and MP3 Player + 8GB Accessory KitI purchased this for recording autio during board meetings with 35+ in attendance. The sound is great! The only problems I see with it is that the microphones I purchased didn't work with the recorder. I could use the extra microphones but then the microphones on the recorder did not work. I thought needed to purchase the more expensive microphones but I tested it out without any extra microphones and it worked great! The battery life on the recargable batteries was ok. If you wanna use the power cord the recorder doesn't stand up... big bummer. But all in all I love it!

Love my Zoom!!! So many features... Sound is great, almost too good. The mics are very sensitive and pick up a bit more of the room than I would like sometimes. Other times it sounds just right. But don't let me confuse you, This is a great piece!! Recommend using the wind guard pretty much all the time. I was really surprised once I got a file into my computer and touched it up a bit. It sounded incredibly clean and true. Live percussion with a little reverb added, sounds amazing. The effects are cool too. Well worth the price. Incredibly handy to keep in your bag and a whole lotta fun!!! It's simple.... Buy one!

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Thursday, September 4, 2014

Portable DVR 200 + Sony 580 Helmet Camera ExView HAD CCD V 2.0 . Factory Integrated Stereo Micropho

Portable DVR 200 + Sony 580 Helmet Camera ExView HAD CCD V 2.0 . Factory Integrated Stereo Microphone for Extreme Sports & tactical - military use. Long cable reach. Waterproof / Fogproof for motorcyle, bike, skydiving, car racing, gun cam, paintball, airsoft,The camera is well made and works good. The DVR battery is crap and only seems to last an hour before its dead. The DVR is very cheaply made and comes with hilarious engrish instructions. I like the fact you can power the camera with the dvr but it kills the battery that much quicker. If you want a good quality helmet cam look somewhere else.

This system has what is Needed to get the Video that is needed, but there are still some questions...

Like can we use alturnative Power,what is the max gig's on Chip Size ???

For BMX you only want 40 minent run time but for Quad Touring, you want a full 8 hours, I mean I want as much as I can Get, that is why we edit...

I might buy this system, but there is much research to do yet...

However it dose look like a REALLY GOOD DEAL!!!

Buy Portable DVR 200 + Sony 580 Helmet Camera ExView HAD CCD V 2.0 . Factory Integrated Stereo Micropho Now

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Yamaha POCKETRAK W24 Pocket Recorder

Yamaha POCKETRAK W24 Pocket Recorder
  • Quick startup - 4.5 seconds
  • Long battery life - 38 hour of PCM and 56 hours of MP3 recording
  • Two great practice aids: Tuner and Metronome
  • Extremely sesitive top quality X-Y stereo microphones
  • Wireless remote control included

The most important point is that the musical quality of the recordings from this tiny device is awesome. Full frequency range, very clean, and you can set the EQ for both input and output. It's got lots of options, but is still pretty user-friendly. The small screen is very readable, but is not a touch-screen--all controls are by buttons and switches, for positive action. One reason I chose this one is that it comes with a remote control. You can set it up out front when you're playing, and remotely start and stop it, and adjust the volume level, if you see the peak light flashing too much. At outdoor music festivals, I mount it on top of my straw hat, with a short bolt coming up into the 1/4-20 thread on the bottom. Yes, I am a geek, but it works great!

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It is easy to use and adjust depending on your personal needs. Clear sound. It does not make any difference if you are seated far or near (a professor) in an auditorium or laboratory. You can hear your recordings directly from the pocket or download them into your personal device at your convenience. I definitely recommend it!

Read Best Reviews of Yamaha POCKETRAK W24 Pocket Recorder Here

I was thinking to purchase the Sony one, but that is more expensive($500) and doesn't support SD card. The Yamaha is more cost effective. Before received this, I was wondering what I could get for 2xx dollars.

The appearance of the device is pure plastic, looks cheap. However when I turned on have few try to record my Guitar play, I was shocked about the sound quality. Excellent!

The problem is from the plastic feel device appearance, I don't know how long it will last. Anyway, half of the SONY price, I could buy another one if it's broken.

I reviewed the feedbacks on the web before purchased this one. I didn't find any negative feedback, that's why I bought this.

For more device information, there are few advertisements on you tube.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Koss KS3101 Progressive Scan DVD Home Theater System

Koss KS3101 Progressive Scan DVD Home Theater System
  • DVD player and 50-watts-per-channel audio/video receiver with 5 satellite speakers and a subwoofer
  • Plays DVD, CD, MP3 CD, JPEG Picture CD, DVD-R/-RW, and DVD+R/+RW
  • Progressive-scan video output renders seamless, flicker-free images on high-definition and HD-ready TVs
  • FM/AM stereo tuner with 20 station presets
  • Includes full-function remote control and all requisite cabling

Got the Canadian version KS3102-2 from a membership warehouse store and it was highly recommended by the staffs there even over some Japanese systems. The biggest surprise was the wonderful sound, which at 300w is more than enough for a home setup, as I found now. The system makes movie watching very enjoyable and if I close my eyes, it feels just like I am at the theater. In my option, the price is worth the sound system alone (very powerful amp, great sub and speakers for the size) and the progressive scan DVD player is just a Huge plus. The dvd playing is smooth even for dvds/vcds that I had problems with my new-ish Panasonic. Simply, a very amazing and user-friendly system that I hope people weren't discouraged by the Koss label.

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I just got this system and the sound quality really is great, especially for the price. Its one of the few systems in this price range to have digital optical input, which is necessary if you're connecting certain components for dolby digital suround like an x-box. Although there is a setting called "Prologic", I'm not sure that it actually has a prologic decoder since the manual only says that it gives out prologic sound if hooked up to a prologic receiver. I'm only giving it four rather than five stars because I've noticed that sometimes it will read no disc when there is a disc there so it has to be ejected and restarted. Otherwise, its really a nice system.

Update11/29/04 My system died like many other reviewers. Can't recommend for that reason.

Read Best Reviews of Koss KS3101 Progressive Scan DVD Home Theater System Here

The price is definitely right, looks nice, sounds great. Unless you're setting it up in a closet you'll need much more speaker wire though. One big problem with mine, however while playing DVDs the audio will mute at random times during playback, usually 3 or 4 times. Simply hitting the volume button on the remote brings it back, but it's quite annoying. Perhaps it's overheating (I have it set up in an entertainment center, not a lot of airflow) so it could be that the problem is on my end. If that's the case I would give it 5 stars for value for the money.

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The reason I wanted a home theater was the built in radio tuner. Since, I wanted to buy a dvd player anyway, I thought why not have the whole package eliminating the need for a hifi system.

So, bottom line is that I love this thing. Probably my ears are not the most sensitive ones but I find the sounde perfectly clear.

It was very easy to set up.

You can even make it region code free if you search the net a bit.

Enjoy

My first review, and it's because I dislike this product so much I have to break the silence. I got the KS3102 nine months ago. Good speakers, lots of options, I thought it was a great deal. After 60 days, the sound went out completely. Tech support had me unplug the unit and wait. The sound came back but it never was the same again: DVD subtitles would be enabled sometimes when I powered it up to watch a movie, or the speaker levels would reset, or sometimes the Digital sound wouldn't properly use all speakers if I had been playing Playstation II in Stereo.

Now it's been 9 months. and it's completely broken and out of warranty. No sound comes out even with resets. The Front-Left channel started buzzing, then the center channel too, and now nothing works.

This unit is a piece of junk. I'm going for a Sony receiver now; I should have just paid a little more and done that the first time. I'll use the speakers from this Koss system and that's about all it's good for now.

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Tivax HiRez7-DS Docking Station for HiRez7 Widescreen 7-Inch Digital LCD TV (Black)

Tivax HiRez7-DS Docking Station for HiRez7 Widescreen 7-Inch Digital LCD TV
  • With boosted speakers
  • Recharges the TV when plugged in
  • Can fit 8 AA batteries to provide up to 2-hour playtime when no power source is available
  • 0.45 lbs weight without the batteries

Does what it's supposed to do to power the little TV when you don't have any other power source other then AA batteries. Also, the sound is enhanced.

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So far this product works as advertised. It is unique in that you can use rechargeable or non-rechargeable AA batteries. This feature makes the Tivax HiRez7 a "must have" during power outage or other emergency situation. The docking station provides a sturdy platform for the TV and improves audio output. I have not tried with AA batteries yet, but would give 5-star rating if it works as advertised. I would most definitely recommend this TV and the shipper (5 stars).

Read Best Reviews of Tivax HiRez7-DS Docking Station for HiRez7 Widescreen 7-Inch Digital LCD TV (Black) Here

The ability to use AA batteries is nice, and the extra speakers are ok as well. Calling this a docking station is a bit of a stretch, though. It is more a "setting the TV on the top of it and manually connecting the power and sound cords" station. A little disappointing at the $28 price, but at least it didn't cost more.

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Recently purchased the TiVax HiRez7 Portable TV, the optional Antenna, Docking Station (herein), and even the TiVax Carrying Case to protect the TV while using it away from home. This review is about the Docking Station only, I have other things to say regarding the TV itself for another Review. This Docking Station is a "must have" item. Primarily because it is the ONLY way you can Power Your TiVax TV from a source OTHER than the TV's internal Batteries, external AC120/12vdc adapter, or a Vehicle 12vdc adapter. This Docking Station holds (8) eight AA Batteries to provide that extra source of power if all your other means of power are either gone, or not available. This Docking Station unit also "charges" the large squared NiMh Batteries that come with the TiVax TV when plugged into an AC adapter, or 12vdc Vehicle outlet.

So, now you have (8) AA Batteries, the (2) NiMh TV Batteries, and an Audio Cable that goes from the TV to the Docking Station which incorporates two (2) small Speakers on the front face L/R sides for an additional Stereo effect. When the TV is placed in the Docking Station, and you are getting power from the (8) AA Bateries, or the charging Squared NiMH Batteries inside the Docking Station, power is sent to the TV via another small cable that comes out of the Docking Station, and into the TV itself. All in all it is very versatile. Only one drawback... it is made rather cheaply. The "tabs/flanges" that lock the covers/doors for both types of Battery compartments are "paper thin". They do not allow the covers/doors to fit very tight, and they are so cheap that I ultimately expect them to break at some point. BOTTOM LINE this device has many positive features of utilization however, the quality of the Plastic Materials used, and their fitting is so poor that even the Chinese must be embarassed. Also hope that the (2) LiIon Batteries that come with, and power, the TiVax TV can hold their CHARGE. These Batteries are made of POOR quality even though they physically appear substantial.

Save 53% Off

I bought this to have the options of running the TV on AA batteries during a power outage. It works great and I checked it out, by taking out the batteries in the TV and then running on just the batteries, great results.

Friday, July 25, 2014

Sylvania SDVD1332 13.3-Inch Swivel Screen Portable DVD Player with USB/SD Card Reader

Sylvania SDVD1332 13.3-Inch Swivel Screen Portable DVD Player with USB/SD Card Reader
  • 13.3-Inch Portable DVD Player, 16:09 Wide Screen Format
  • Swivel Screen to 180 Degrees and lie flat
  • Built in USB and SD Card Reader to play all your digital format entertainment
  • Play Music, Movies and View Pictures - Compatible with DVD +-R/RW, CD-R/RW, MP3, Jpeg
  • Includes Built in Rechargeable Battery, AC and Car Adapter, Remote Control, Ear buds

This appears to be a new item at this time, can't find any reviews anywhere, and even manufacturer's information seems incomplete. But I found the owner's manual at curtcoint dot com (spelled out so Amazon doesn't delete it), in case anyone is interested. According to the manual, it appears the unit does have resume play memory (can be disabled); barely 2 hours run time with earphones (included) so probably less using the speakers, battery is an internal Lithium Polymer unit (manual shows location, disassembly required for replacement).

It includes a remote, but it's the small flat type with roundish bumps for buttons like those common on small players, all bunched together. I'm still deciding whether to order one, but the remote would be pretty useless for the person I'd buy it for, they need one with regular buttons in more logical positions as on typical TV remotes. It can play PAL and NTSC standards.

UPDATE 5/16/2013: I took a chance and ordered one. Seems to have a problem with the sound going up to full blast every time it is powered on. I've tried different audio as well as video (just in case) settings and it's still the same, regardless of the kind of disks being played. I tried a few different file formats to see how it does: mp3, mp4, flv, rmvb, mkv, jpg, wma, avi, mov. Only the mp3 and jpg formats are supported out of this list. Sound is on par with small cheap electronics; a little tinier sounding and a narrower frequency response range than the Sony DVPFX980 9-Inch Screen DVD Portable it is replacing. The Sony also has better black level and wider viewing angle, and also no light bleed that I noticed. The Sylvania has slight light bleed across the bottom edge that's noticeable only in black backgrounds. Sony also has a better remote. The only advantage on the Sylvania over the Sony is the much larger screen (big advantage, no pun intended), and it supposedly support the PAL broadcast standard but I haven't been able to test this yet. Oh yes, the Sylvania also supports SD cards beside USB drives, and the power cord is normal length instead of Sony's approx. 40" cord that everyone complaints about. I have not tested battery life, but not expecting much given the large screen. It is very light-feeling; the Sony feels like it weights the same subjectively, and feels and looks especially better made.

I just now found out I cannot access the Preference tab in Settings, where there is an option to reset the unit back to factory settings, among other things. Would like to try a reset to see if it helps with the sound level issue, but it won't go into this tab for me.

Amazon sold a bunch of these by now. I'd appreciate hearing whether the full blast sound on power on problem is common, or maybe just my unit.

UPDATE 5/23/2013: I requested an exchange from Amazon because of the issues above. Unfortunately the replacement was the same: sound goes to max every time it's turned on, Preference tab in the settings is not accessible. I'll try the manufacturer, if they can be contacted, but I find these kind of experiences usually frustrating and a waste of time and so have been putting it off.

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my wife, the flight attendant, when she is on trips, loves to play movies when she is in the hotels. a few years back, she bought a small lap top that didn't have a cd/dvd device installed.(in fact, it has a smaller screen than this does). some hotels don't have wifi, so streaming movies are out of the question. so she wanted a nice dvd player, rather than a laptop upgrade. we looked at various models, at different price points, and was rather impressed with the size and the functions of this new item. loved the design, great screen format and size. the only down side, was it felt a bit cheap; very flimsy plastic used on some parts, and the opening door was really hard to open and close; the worse part, was the really cheap and nasty old style slide on and off switch on the side; please people, a 2 cent part you can't upgrade to this nice designed unit? i love the ideas of the unit, just off the mark in a few places

Read Best Reviews of Sylvania SDVD1332 13.3-Inch Swivel Screen Portable DVD Player with USB/SD Card Reader Here

HD?? DVD's look pretty grainy, but the screen is bright. The player is attractive and perhaps useful, despite the flimsy, but rigid plastic case and switches. The 90 day warranty does not show much confidence by the manufacturer. After 90 days, you pay shipping to and from. It may be a good investment to take out the inexpensive add on warranty. I did not and may regret it, especially since the item arrived in a tight fitting box from Amazon without the customary bubble or air wrap. The inner box was crumpled, as was the ship box exterior, but the player itself was well packaged by Silvania. The cardboard box containing accessories was crumpled. I will re-rate later if there are issues or concerns.

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When I bought this DVD player, I didn't have a lot of expectations because of the low price. This is an amazingly high quality player. Its very light weight, has a crystal clear picture and even without external speakers it has a nice sound quality, there's no buzzing or raspy sound at all. The swivel screen is a nice feature and its very easy to set up. I haven't tried playing it yet on just the built in battery so I can't say how long the battery lasts.

For the money, this is an excellent buy.

Love the quality exlentit sound and big screen plays hd movied just can't say enough

My wife did a great job picking this item for me.

iriver H120 20GB MP3 Jukebox

iriver H120 20GB MP3 Jukebox
  • Play MP3, WMA, ASF, and WAV formats
  • Includes built-in FM Tuner, voice recorder, and optical In/Out
  • MP3 Encoding
  • Backlit remote control with 4-line display
  • 20 GB of internal storage

Dont get me wrong...the ipod is great. It is by far the best design on the market, but it does fall short in some areas and the iriver picks up that slack.

I decided to look at brands other than the Ipod because most of my files are WMA's and i did not feel like converting all of them. I did a LOT of research and got it down to two players; the Rio Karma and the iRiver iHP-120. I went with the iRiver because it had many features that i was looking for that the Rio did not.

I have had it now for about a month now and let me just put it like this: the Ipod is not the only heavy hitter anymore. If someone were to offer me either right now...free....i would take the iRiver. Here is why:

What the Ipod has over the iRiver-

-Cool design

-User friendly interface (scroll wheel)

-Firewire (although iriver does have USB2)

What the iRiver has over the Ipod-

-4-line LCD remote so that you can see what is happening

-16 Hour Lithium-poly. battery (Ipod has a 6 hour)

-WMA compatable (for windows users)

-no software needed (shows up as an external hard drive. just drag and drop onto or from ANY computer without drivers. This includes non-music files)

-recording from any source (has optical in/out and comes with an internal AND external mic.

-music is laid out the way you want it to be because you put it on there how you want it

-FM radio tuner built in

Bottom line is that it lookes great, sounds great, has a great remote and lots of features that you dont see on most players.

This is not a review to say that Apple is no good. I am just saying that too many people seem to go into the search with blinders on and not see what else is out there. In my opinion.....the iRiver iHP-120 is, becuase of all the reasons i listed, the better player for me and i am very glad that i got it instead of the Ipod. If you are a PC user you NEED to check it out before you buy.

Hope i helped.

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I recently bought the iRiver iHP-120 (H120), at Best Buy. I had a 10% off coupon, so bought it for $300. At the same time my roommate had bought a 15 GB Ipod. So, I had ample chance to play with both the players. I must tell you that I love the iRiver player. This has got lot more features, quality for lesser price.

Things I liked :

1) The quality of the music is amazing.

2) It plays all the formats that I generally use.

3) The radio is very clear.

4) Feels robust.

5) Small (almost the same size as iPod).

6) Comes with all the accessories. ( My roomate had to buy leathercase and USB cable)

7) Can be used as an external harddisk. No drivers needed. No software needs to be installed. Just plug n play.

8) The recording feature. Though I havent used this feature yet, online reviews tell me that, the quality of recording is just awesome.

9) Awesome battery life.

Things I did not like:

1) The leathercase has a belt clip, through which you have to pass a belt, to keep it on your waist. In the gym , I wear gym shorts and I dont wear a belt. so, I have to hold it in my hand and run. I would have liked a clip-on type belt clip.

2) The ear-phones that come with the set are not the best.

3) The LED is kind of dim (comapred to the iPod).

iPod Vs iRiver

1) iRiver comes with radio, recording and accessories. The iPod does not.

2) In iRiver I dont have to install any software and arranage all my songs. I can just drag and drop all the folders in the player. I like this arrangement compared to the ID3 tags. In iPod you have to arrange all your songs using ID3 tags. My roomate spent the whole Memorial Day weekend arranging his songs :-)

3) Ipod can not be used as an external hard-drive. iRiver can be used as an external hard-drive, no drivers need to be installed. Just drag n drop.

4) The quality of music is about the same in both the players (best quality).

5) iRiver's battery life is double compared to iPod( 16 hrs to 8hrs)

6) The iPod looks cooler and I loved the button placement, sensitivity of the buttons of the iPod.

7) The iPod's ear buds are too cool.

Bottom line : If you want more bang for your buck, and looks dont matter that much, go with the iRiver.

Read Best Reviews of iriver H120 20GB MP3 Jukebox Here

I've been using this player and it's great! Although there are many choices out there iriver did a great job the second time around (iHP 100 was the first cut). Some of the features I like are

**Remote a must have since it's really inconvenient having to take out the main unit in order to change settings like the volume or songs

**No drivers or software needed to copy over songs it can be a big headache when you have to install software just to move files over when all you want to do is a copy. One of the reasons why I didn't go w/ Creative is due to their bloatware. Since it looks like an external (toshiba) hard drive when you plug it in it's can be used for external storage. There's 20GB and I wasn't able to fill it up with songs that *I like*. I've used up only 5GB so far. The extra space is great for use as a portable hard drive. If your computer supports USB-HDD you can boot from it too.

**Upgradeable Firmware OS The nice thing about this is that no MP3 player is perfect the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd time around. having this upgradeable firmware allows them to add/fix features. I've already submitted a few nice to haves to iriver (although I haven't received any response) such as on the fly playlists, deleting from the player directly, statistics like running time, clock feature, smaller fonts, etc. I hope they'll be able to put this into the next firmware upgrade. They're currently on version 1.17

**Many formats This can play almost every format (mp3,wma,asf,wav) available and even ogg!

**Many extras It comes with a nice leather carrying case to protect the iHP that has the holes for the buttons (although you won't use them often since everything is accessible from the remote), a very decent set of earphones, usb 2.0 cable, line-in cable, external microphone and a 2 inch headphone extension cord since the plug on the remote is recessed in a bit. It's nice that you plug your headphones into the remote as opposed to the main unit because this accomodates short headphone cords like my sony fontopia earbuds

**Solid design & construction When you first put this in your hand you know they didn't skimp on the materials. Everything feels solid (not that cheap and light plastic is a bad thing) and made from metal. Even the glass on the remote is extra thick so you don't have to worry about pressing too hard on the lcd and breaking it.

**Optical out and In I used to store MP3s on my hard drive but now I store it on the iHP. When I put it on my desk to charge I plug this into the Klipsch 5.1 system via the optical outputs and the sound is crisp and there's no distortion because it's digital. The optical outs also doubles as analog in/outputs. The leather case covers up these openings to keep them clean.

**Many configuration options (and many more to come) that can be accessed from the main unit and from the remote! You can configure the equalizer to use SRS,WOW, TruBass and even can't the presets. Even the scroll speed is configurable.

**Sounds good The sound is also very loud and crisp w/ more than enough bass. It even has a feature that will fade in the song so that you don't get a sudden loud start in the song. I've placed a request to them so hopefully in the next version they might have some sort of normalization between all songs.

**FM/AM Tuner The tuner on this unit gets great reception. Because I live in NYC I have a lot of stations. I have enough presets from all of the stations I want. You can also configure different backlight options when it's connected to an adapter and when it's connected by battery, sleep time, fade-in,

**Many repeat options Repeat or random shuffle by 1 song, 1 directory, all directories

**Crisp LCD display on main unit and remote The fonts and display are very sharp.

**Good battery life I get over 10+ hours so far on a single charge. I haven't listened to them any longer that so it might of gone longer. After 10+ hours I still got 1 out of 4 bars left.

**Search by genre, artists, album, song title This feature is really nice when you have songs scattered throughout different folders. I can say I want to hear all songs from even if they're in different directories. This features requires you to build a ScanDB from the computer but it's easy. You'll just need to right click from the computer the iHP drive that shows up and select generate DB. This is the only feature that requires a driver installation. Note: your songs need an ID3 tag for this to work



**Song queuing you can queue a song while another one is playing. This is a minor feature but extremely useful.



**USB 2.0 This is really important when you're transferring over hundreds of songs. Using USB 1.1 (12Mbps) it would take over several minutes to transfer ten 5 MB songs while it takes USB 2.0 (480Mbps) 10-20 seconds.



**Displays non-english ID3 tags This can display chinese ID3 tags.

**Playlist support It can use up to 200+ playlists (.m3u) so you can create a playlist of your favorite songs from winamp and use it on the iHP.

Some cons although minor

** Can't play music while plugged into the USB port. This might not be too bad since you can play it off w/ winamp when it's plugged in.

** Using the search by genre/artist slows the boot up time by 5 -10 seconds. If you don't need this feature you can turn it off.

**No docking station not a big deal since remote can stand upright by itself on the table.

** 20 GB drive I'm sure there's a way to replace the drive with a bigger one but this size is more than sufficient

** More expensive than most other 20GB players.



You can see all the time and effort they've put into this mp3 player. Although some of the features are minor it is the time they've put into details that make this a great player. If you want the "BMW of mp3 players" you gotta pay "BMW prices". Overall, the feature set and quality (sound and hardware-wise)are perfect. Most of the minor issues and features can be fixed with future firmware upgrades. You can't go wrong w/ this! :)

Want iriver H120 20GB MP3 Jukebox Discount?

Like virtually all of you, I considered this & the 20 GB iPod. Those iPod commercials look so cool & it's so hard to see something about iRiver. But I first decided on the iRiver iHP 120 because the battery life is awesome. Li-polymer is MUCH better than Li-ion (iPod). It comes with all these cables and attachments you wouldn't expect. I was afraid I'd have to buy additional accessories, but there's nothing else I'd want, except maybe a cradle (which they don't make). BTW, the case is awesome; there's nothing I'd change about it. The sound quality is awesome, especially if you adjust the settings to your liking and upgrade your headphones. (My personal recommendation & favorites: Grado SR-80. Awesome bass. Not cheap headphones, but an outstanding value for audiophiles & I love the retro look. Read about them. You'll be amazed how much better your music sounds with good headphones/speakers.) It's tough to try out the unit since it's not carried in many stores, so let me mention the only things that I don't like about it. Read someone else's review for the positive aspects; there are SO many.

1) It's database-tagging system only recognizes .mp3 format files (I like using WMA), but since it's firmware and database software upgradeable, I'm "hoping" iRiver will come up with a newer version that will address this. Regardless, I like leaving my music on random shuffle, so it's not a huge problem for me.

2) iPod has cute little side features & games. iRiver is for music only & file transferring (but it does these two main things better than the iPod does). iRiver's "drag & drop" functionality is awesome.

3) iPod's slide-wheel interface is cooler than iRiver's joystick.

4) It doesn't play protected audio files downloaded from pay services like MusicMatch. Of course, you could use the iRiver's in-line ripping to output your protected file from your computer's music card to the iRiver to rip directly (which it does). This will (SHH!!) bypass the protection on your music by doing this, but I don't know what changes in music quality this may result in. I only listen to music from my CD collection that I ripped legally; you should too. I'm pretty sure you can even use an optical line to do ripping of protected music files, though I haven't tried yet.

5) It ain't cheap. Then again, iPod = iRiver + 10% cost battery life extra-detailed audio features.

Anyway, I've got tons of positives, but I thought I'd give you the major negatives on it, because those are so hard to figure out until you try the unit yourself. It doesn't get the publicity the iPod does, but it keeps a really picky electro/audiophile like me happy.

This is by far the best jukebox player/portable hard drive out there. I got it last week, and i'm very impressed with features, quality of contstruction, and fantastic sound. The first thing you notice and really appreciate is that all you need to do is open the box, plug it into your computer, and it's recognized as an external drive immediately. No need to mess with complicated software to updoad-download stuff. Also, doesnt' have the propietary thing that Ipods have that you can only upload stuff into three designated computers. So, just using your Windows Explorer you do all the uploading-downloading-deleting tasks with great ease.

It works very well as a portable hard drive, so I don't need to burn disks with data anymore, to carry stuff from work to home. I just put whatever files I need in my IHP, whether it's just a text file, or a huge amount of digital images and videos, the 20 Gig is a lot of space.

Talking about space, I put about 70 CDs in there, and only used 1.5 GIG as of now, so no worry about running out of space anytime soon.

You can use this device to record from external sources, and you have an internal and external microphone option. This is great to record all those great songs that we still have on cassette tapes, and convert them to MP3s.

I was very impressed with the sound quality of the internal microphone. You can use this as a mini recorder to record memos to yourself, meetings, classes, etc, and the sound is excelent.

For listening to music, sound quality is excellent too, and you can adjust the equalizer to your liking, for a really great listening experience.

The radio tuner is nice, and for stations that you get good reception, works well. I like classical music, and recorded a full concert from my classical music station, and on playback, it sounds very decent.

After doing a lot of reading and research about which device to get, I decided on this one, and I'm happy I did.

Overall, an excellent product.

Monday, July 21, 2014

720P HD MOTION DETECT CAR VIDEO CAMERA RECORDER DVR 2.5" TFT LCD Screen 1/4 color CMOS HD Sensor

720P HD MOTION DETECT CAR VIDEO CAMERA RECORDER DVR 2.5' TFT LCD Screen 1/4 color CMOS HD Sensor
  • 720P HD MOTION DETECT CAR VIDEO CAMERA RECORDER DVR 2.5" TFT LCD Screen 1/4 color CMOS HD Sensor
  • Color Video
  • Color display
  • Time and Date
  • Format: AVI

I had purchased an almost identical model dash camera from the same supplier almost eight months earlier. Which really did exceed my expectations, just as this model it contained no IR led's which can cause window glare from within. This model doesn't have the low light level of sensitivity as the earlier model, also the fisheye lens and smaller magnification takes some getting used to. The camera though it doesn't have the same IR sensitivity which actually gives a much better color picture, I kind of liked the purple hue to the trees in the previous model. You cannot really get any idea of the true picture quality through the small screen provided and that's not really its intended purpose. When reviewing the video on a computer, this model had much better pixilation definition; you could actually read a license plate of a car into front of you, unlike the previous model. But once again the magnification is somewhat less, though the fisheye lens does provides a great view of the area in front of the vehicle. Overall, I like it; it does exactly what I need it to do with acceptable quality. If I was to say one more thing, this past summer here in California, we had some exceptionally hot days during the summer. The model I purchase previous was subjected to some very sever heat in the car, and hence the plastic case deformed quite a bit. Surprisingly the device still works perfectly, though I made my own sun visor mount to keep the camera out of the window and away from direct sunlight. Making your own will greatly increase the life of your dash cam.

Buy 720P HD MOTION DETECT CAR VIDEO CAMERA RECORDER DVR 2.5" TFT LCD Screen 1/4 color CMOS HD Sensor Now

This unit does work and records video. I have it set to the highest quality video setting and set to record 15 minute intervals with the audio turned off. Each 15 minute file is about 1GB in size.

Pros:

1) Does come on and record when power is applied via 12V adapter.

2) Fairly wide field of view (via a fish eye lens). I haven't measured it but the advertised 120 degrees may be a stretch.

Cons:

1) very poor video quality. The camera is by no stretch of the definition "720P" as advertised. I couldn't make out the license plate number of the vehicle that I parked behind on a sunny day. When driving down the road, the camera sees a large portion of the sky causing it to darken the rest of the picture making the road and surrounding area very dim. When stopped at a traffic signal, you might be able to tell if the signal was red or green. To get an idea of night recording quality you could put on your darkest pair of sunglasses. On the plus side, it picks up the traffic lights a little better at night.

2) fish eye lens captures a large portion of sky and dash. I have it mounted on the windshield so the camera is at about the mid point and adjusted so that the passenger pillar is just barely visible. About 25% of the video is of the dash and about 25% is sky. That leaves about half of the video recording actual useful information. The only time it's an advantage is when going through traffic lights the signal is on video as you pass almost underneath. The main reason that it's an advantage is, that's the only time that you're close enough to the signal that the recording actually shows what color the light was.

3) "reset" button puts language into Russian. Fortunately, I had been through the menu once and I remembered where the language sub-menu was.

4) audio is just about useless. I just turned it off.

5) view screen has very narrow view angle. This isn't a major drawback since you only use it to point the unit initially and then fold the screen up.

Summary:

You might be able to use the video from this unit to prove that you didn't run a red light or that you stopped at a stop sign or that the other guy pulled out in front of you. If you need any level of detail, then this camera is not for you. I give it one star (okay 2 stars but let's be honest, the first star doesn't count because amazon won't let you give it zero stars) just because it does the basic functions. I'll be looking for a better unit and I might put this in the back window.

Read Best Reviews of 720P HD MOTION DETECT CAR VIDEO CAMERA RECORDER DVR 2.5" TFT LCD Screen 1/4 color CMOS HD Sensor Here

Power connection was flaky and internal battery would not charge causing all settings such as date & time to be lost when powered off.

Want 720P HD MOTION DETECT CAR VIDEO CAMERA RECORDER DVR 2.5" TFT LCD Screen 1/4 color CMOS HD Sensor Discount?

Well I just got the unit. I'm almost surprised that it works at all for such a low price for what it is advertised to do. My first big hurdle will be to decipher the menus as they are all in Chinese. No manual was included so this will be a big guessing game. Hmmm, do I press button one while holding button two, or just push button one for 3.35 seconds. LOL :)

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Because I use ratings to make my purchase decisions I am paying forward on the idea with a review myself.

took a while to get used to the screens/menus/controls as the instructions were no help. resolution is fine, you must let it format your card to get the various record times. I bought this cheap one for proof of concept but have not felt the reason yo upgrade.

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Sony DCRTRV50 MiniDV Digital Camcorder w/ 3.5" Touch Panel LCD, Mega Pixel Video/ Still, Memory Sti

Sony DCRTRV50 MiniDV Digital Camcorder w/ 3.5' Touch Panel LCD, Mega Pixel Video/ Still, Memory Stick &  Network Capabilityif you are planning to buy a good handycam go for trv50. if you are planning to buy trv950 or sony vx2000 please have a look this camera too. i bought this camera last month....it is really nice. picture quality is excellent. still mode is wondeful and touch screen is very useful. the only gimik is bluetooth technology, but other features are just fantastic...you cann compare trv50 with trv950 only.the difference is only 1ccd and 3 ccd. but otherwise you will not feel much difference. i recomend this handycam to semi professionls too.

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Teac DV-H350 DVD / CD Player

Teac DV-H350 DVD / CD Player
  • User selectable multiple display aspect ratios
  • Digital zoom function (2x, 4x Still and Moving Pictures)
  • Multi-speed scan and slow motion
  • Resume function
  • 96kHz/24-bit D/A conversion for finest quality audio

Pros:

-Wonderfully small form factor, so it's easy to move between different rooms, houses, etc.

-Component, S-video and Composite options

-Very easy to make region free and does PAL/NTSC conversion on the fly ( no SECAM but does any player do that or need to?), so perfect for the fan of UK/European and elsewhere DVDs.

Cons:

-Sucker gets HOT! If it's in a stack of Teac components (they do a whole line in this form factor) make sure its on top or on a well vented shelf.

-The player can be a bit finicky: superbit or just really loaded DVDs can take quite some time to load and may not be initially recognized. We often get 30-45 seconds of spinning, followed by a "no disc" message. Pop the disc out, load it again, no problem. These issues happened before any fiddling with the region settings. We will sometimes also get player-based freezes on discs that do not skip in any of our other systems. Again, I think this might be part of the heat issue.

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Axion LMD-6708RY 7-Inch Widescreen Portable DVD Player (White)

Axion LMD-6708RY 7-Inch Widescreen Portable DVD Player
  • Seven-inch widescreen portable DVD player with hi-resolution and hi-brightness display screen
  • A/V input/output jack with in/out switch
  • Built-in stereo speakers; hi-fi stereo headphone output
  • Built-in lithium-ion rechargeable battery
  • Includes AC adaptor, instruction manual, remote control, car adaptor and A/V cables

I received this model free from Directv as a thank you for being a customer and thought it was a pretty cheaply made DVD player. However, after trying it out I was surprised how clear the LCD screen was! Axion is actually a leader in LCD screen technology and this one has great resolution for a portable player. I have a Panasonic portable DVD player too and it's screen has a much lower resolution than the Axion...which really shocked me. The battery life for this device is only a couple hours and may not make it until the end of a movie. But the convenience of having a sharp portable LCD screen for testing video scources and testing playback of DVD material is excellent. Not sure if $88.00 is a great price for it...I don't think I'd spend that much on it, but it was certainly a nice gift from Directv.

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We just received this DVD player two days ago (quick shipping!)as a purchase for an upcoming vacation with a 4+ hour plane ride. We have a 4 year old and an 18 month old. We have been borrowing DVD players from friends/family and decided to buy one of our own. We were very happy with the size and durability of the product when we received it. It plays great and can stand up to my 18 month old dragging it around without even skipping the movie! Our only problem now is that we need another one! I didn't give it 5 stars because the color was a little "off" but after using the menu to adjust the color it was not bad. It is also lightweight and small which will be perfect for us traveling with two small children.

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I thought when I first purchased this that it would be of 'ok' quality and not much functionality. I was WAY WRONG. For what it is this machine is exceptional. The screen resolution is great, the features you get such as volume control, the remote, and screen brightness make it even better. The sound is pretty good also. For the price I think its perfect.