Bell+Howell DNV900HD Night Vision 1080p High Definition Digital Video Camcorder with 3.0 Inch Touch

I really hate to give such a bad review, but this item has earned it. If I could I would have given it a negative 5 star rating! Remember making a pinhole camera in grade school? Well now you know the abilities of this camcorder. In daylight shooting, everything has a purple tint. In night vision mode, if you're more that about 18 inches from your subject, just shut off the camera because you won't see anything anyway. I even bought the Phantom Lite external IR light, which has capabilities to almost 60 feet and I still only got images from about 3 feet, then total darkness. The battery lasts about 20 minutes, after cycling it through about five full charges and discharges. No website for support, supplied driver to use this for a webcam does not work with Windows 7, after three uses, the HDMI out port stopped functioning! Needless to say it's on it's way back to Amazon for a full refund.

DO NOT BUY THIS CAMERA.

JUNK JUNK JUNK.

I really like this unit. It's a little on the small size for someone with big hands. Easy to use. The camera is really 5mp, interpolated to 12mp. The zoom only works for stills, not video. The IR source is a little weak for outdoors use, but is as advertised. That being said, the unit is easy to use and produces good images. It comes with all cables needed. I was surprised with the image quaility when played back on a large LCD TV. I would recomend this, The extra SD slot and dual power option are cool, as is the IR mode. If you have teenagers in the house you might need two of them, Really big hit with them. Is it my turn yet?

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The main issue is that under any light except florescent light, the image on video and still camera turns everything purple or blue. Simple example: In my kitchen with florescent light, Blacks come out black and browns come out brown. In the living room under normal incandescent light bulbs my Dark Brown couch is bright purple. I took some video of my friends band and they looked like blue Smurfs on stage. I reset the camera to defaults and still same issue. I really think mine came with a defective ambient light sensor or something. Also, not all the commands or buttons work plugged into my TV with the HDMI cable. I have to start the video I want from the LCD then plug it into the TV and if I even try and fast forward or pause with the buttons it does all kinds of crazy things. There was no instructions on how to playback even when plugged into HDMI. The good side is that the video is not bad in 720p. You cannot use the zoom if in 1080p, I'm guessing it's all digital zoom and no optical? It is very small and lightweight, which is nice. I really haven't seen any issue with the battery as of yet. The infrared is cool, and if you're complaining about the distance for night vision, then you need to invest in a bigger IR light to connect. You can't expect much from that little IR light. Every ghost hunter knows to have a powerful IR light if you want to see all the way down a hallway. I called support and am sending it in. They were very helpful at 1 -800-647-2290 and have promised to rush me back a new camera and reimburse me for my shipping to them. If I get a replacement camera and all is well then I'd say you get a pretty good product for the price. The dual 32GB SD card slots are nice, just don't let stores upsale you on SD10 cards, because the SD4 card I used worked just fine.

Read Best Reviews of Bell+Howell DNV900HD Night Vision 1080p High Definition Digital Video Camcorder with 3.0 Inch Touch Here

Phenomenal 1080p Camcorder. Works in total darkness with the IR (infrared) mode. Takes either the supplied NP-40 lithium rechargeable batteries, or standard AA batteries. Also has 2 SD card slots = 64gb maximum total removable memory. The touchscreen is also a breeze to use. Very clear picture. Nice, sturdy, and firm build quality. Very impressed.

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It is a nice little camera with night shot, but even with extra IR illumination the battery's life is very short. Is it worth it for the money no it doesn't even have a lens cover.

Philips DVDR3505/37 1080i Upscaling DVD Recorder with Built-In Tuner

• Built in digital SDTV tuner to receive HD boradcasts
• Dual Media play and record in DVD-R-RW and DVD+R+RW
• 1080i upscaling for HD picture performance
• i-Link for easy connection to camcorder for play and recording
• Plays MP3/WMA, CD-R-RW, Video CD's

The Phillips DVDR3505/37 has the best "digital tuner" picture quality out of the two other DVD recorders that I have tested with "digital tuners" (Panasonic and Samsung). The Phillips DVDR3505 produces an amazingly clear OTA digital picture on my old 27 inch Sanyo analog "box" TV using an indoor antenna. The Phillips 3505 and the 27inch TV are connected with regular "composite cables". The resulting OTA digital picture is amazingly detailed and clear with little or no annoying "dot crawl". Another important feature for me in selecting the Phillips DVDR3505 is that it allows you to choose "4.3 pan & Scan" to view OTA digital programs in full screen on a "box" TV (no black bars caused by "HD" OTA programs). In the 4.3 pan & scan mode the OTA digital picture is shown in full screen but is not distorted looking (no long and stretched faces) and the picture framing matches the full screen picture seen on my analog OTA TV in a side by side comparison. In addition the picture clarity/sharpness in the "4.3 pan & scan" full screen mode is superb! The same effect should be achieved when watching a purchased or rented "widescreen" DVD movie on your "Box" TV in the 4.3 pan & scan mode. The cons for the Phillips DVDR3505 are its slow channel change and slow recording set up. One additional problem I have experienced is that the unit looses its channel set up under certian conditions. At this point in my life, the quality of the picture that you see from your cable, Sat, or OTA programs is what is most important to me and my family when watching TV. The truth is that I have put up with poor reception using analog TV with "rabbit ears" antennas long enough, so the amazing picture quality of the Phillips is what sold me. The Phillips DVDR3502 wins hand down in that category and is the main reason that I sent the other more expensive feature rich DVD recorders back to the store. My family and I have been able to work around or forgive all of the "cons" reported about for the Phillips DVDR3505 and because we are basic users the Phillips meets our needs for recording OTA TV programs while providing a "Wow factor" in picture clarity when watching "real time" OTA digital TV through our analog "box" TV. Also, a "Wow factor" is achieved even when watching OTA digital program recorded on DVD using the Phillips DVDR3505. Image reproduction is excellent in two highest image recording modes. Before buying see if the features on the Phillips DVDR3505/37 matches your basic needs. If viewing pleasure has been lacking for OTA broadcasts then get ready to receive the "Best Picture" award from friends and family when using the Phillips DVDR3505.

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I purchased the Philips DVR3505/37 refurbished (the new ones being either too expensive or unavailable) from J&R store through Amazon so I feel obliged to write a review about it because there were a handful of questions I would have wanted answered before I made the decision to purchase it. I was thinking I would, more than likely, have to return it, and lose some money mailing the damn thing back. But as it turned out, I didn't have to return it after all.

Keep in mind that I paired the device with a 42 inch plasma TV and connected the audio out through the coaxial output to my home theater receiver as well. I'm giving you this information because I think it is relevant for people with a home theater system with a free coaxial input or a free optical audio input (you can get powered coaxial to optical audio converters on Amazon if your receiver doesn't have a free coaxial-in but has an optical-in instead. That is what I did and the home theater receiver even displays the DTS or Dolby Digital logos when DVD sound from the DVR3505 is played on the home theater receiver and DTS or DD is selected through the DVD menu. In this case, the sound becomes 5.1 surround sound when watching movies with DD or DTS tracks. TV can also play the sound when watching DVD or TV since it is connected to the TV via an HDMI cable and HDMI cable is able to send both HD picture and sound. Without having the receiver turned on, you get a decent stereo sound on your TV and some TVs have better sound than others. Mine has decent DD stereo and SRS Surround that can produce an OK virtual surround sound but connect the unit to your home theater receiver to get great sound during prime time TV shows which are broadcast most of the time with 5.1 surround sound, or to watch DVDs with 5.1 surround sound tracks.

Others questions in Q/A format.

Is Philips DVR3505/37 an HDTV tuner?

Yes. Using the HDMI connection, it outputs 1080i (720p and 1080i are two different HD resolutions that most HD programs are broadcast today) signal, so that makes it an external HDTV tuner. It will also up-convert 480i and 720p broadcast and send them out as 1080i signal if it is connected to your TV via an HDMI cable.

If it is an HDTV tuner, why does the product description say it is an SDTV tuner?

Unfortunately, most people who make these products don't actually use them themselves. At one point, it might have been more marketable to call it an SDTV tuner since more people had standard televisions and let's face it, most TV stations were broadcasting in SD/Analog formats. And yes, it is an SDTV tuner if you happened to own an SDTV today. Let's say it is an external TV tuner with both SD and HD output capabilities.

I have an HDTV with an unused HDMI input, will this until connect to my TV via an HDMI cable?

Yes, it has an HDMI out. That will connect to your TV's unused HDMI-in.

My TV is a standard analog TV, will this thing work?

Yes. It has AV-out (Yellow video cable and the red and white audio cable a.k.a RCA cable). It will be sending out analog signal directly to your TV. You need not use a government coupon type converter box.

Will I need to make separate connections for DVD and TV?

No. Connect with whatever suits your TV and that connection is used to both watching TV and playing DVDs. Just one connection out from the unit to your TV for everything the unit does.

Will it display analog stations?

Yes. There is a DTV/TV button on the remote control to switch between analog and digital stations.

I have a 16:9 HDTV, how will my picture look like?

Great. Go to the unit's setup menu and set your TV type to 16:9. With your TV's remote control, set your aspect ratio to normal (or natural) and HD programs should now appear wide screen, at least during prime time. ***Important*** Most users have complained that the unit didn't record on 16:9 mode, or rather, it recorded 16:9 programs on 4:3 mode. This is not true in my case. Once you have set your TV type to 16:9, wide screen programs will be recorded the way they were broadcast. Programs broadcast with black bars on the sides of the screen will also be recorded with black bars. You might stretch your screen in case of annoying local stations that are in love with side black bars that ultimately could cause plasma screen burn in if you own a plasma TV.

If it can record shows on wide screen, why does the user's manual say the unit can only record on 4:3 mode?

Again, the user's manual is wrong. Probably written by some underpaid college intern. If your TV is 16:9, and you have set your TV type to 16:9 on the DVR's setup menu, then wide screen programs will be recorded in wide screen and 4:3 will be recorded panned and scanned, unless the station broadcast them with black bars such as letter-boxing and postage-stamping. In this case, it will record the shows with the black bars included.

Will my clock reset itself and record wrong programs overnight?

Yes. But go to the clock setting, set the time, and turn off auto clock setting and turn off daylight saving options. It will stop doing that until you lose power next time.

How much material will it fit on a DVD when recording TV programs?

High Quality (HQ): 1 hour; and Standard Play (SP): 2 hours. I am not going to bother with other lower settings that are supposed to give me up to 6 hours of recording time on a single disc. You might play around with it. Use a Rewritable disc so that you can reuse it again and again.

Will this unit connect with an external device such as a VCR?

Yes. There is one A/V line-in in the back and there is another on the front panel. The front panel also have a DV-in slot for your video camera.

Does the unit have component-out?

Yes, it has the Y/Pb/Pr out and audio stereo out for it. Component and HDMI cables are not included in the box.

Does it play DivX?

Yes.

Does it play DivX through a USB slot on the Front panel?

No. This until does not have USB slot like my two other Philips DVD/DivX players do. You can play DivX files after transferring them to a DVD.

Will it play DivX files that are burned on a DVD Rewritable disc so that I can delete them and reuse the disc later?

Yes! Burn your DivX files onto a rewritable DVD. Burn with 4x speed. I have no problem. I use a free program called IMG Burn and it formatted the rewritable DVD right before it burned them the first time the DVD was inserted into the computer. You might want to try that program. That burning software is amazing.

Will it give me 5.1 surround when I watch shows like 24 or when I watch DVDs?

Yes, if you have home theater receiver with a digital coaxial in. The unit has a digital coaxial out. This option will send 5.1 channels from this unit to your home theater receiver with a use of a digital coaxial audio cable. If your home theater receiver just has an optical-in, use a digital coaxial to optical converter. It works great for me as I mentioned earlier. I vouch for it.

I have a plasma screen. Will this unit give me ghost outlines in place of black colors?

Yes. It is a common problem with plasma TVs. I had crazy ghost images in the beginning when watching channels through this unit, especially when actors were wearing black color clothes. Go to the unit's setup menu and go to HDMI setting and change your color output from RGB to Y/cb/cr. It truly took care of that problem for me and I am very happy with it. If you have plasma screen instead of an LCD screen, and if you can live with it, reduce your brightness and contrast to 50 or less in order to avoid burn-ins or ghosting. Programs with black bars on the sides or top and bottoms also could cause ghosting in your plasma screen. If your TV allows you to change picture size (this is not an issue when watching HD 16:9 broadcast) use it to increase it until black bars disappear. Don't pause movies for longer than 20 minutes if you have your DVD screen saver disabled. If your plasma TV has picture shift option, turn it on. It is meant to shift the picture when it becomes static, preventing phosphor burn-in.

Will this unit record shows on a DVD?

Yes, DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW. It will not record on CDs.

Does this unit have a hard drive on it to record shows?

No. You can only record shows on recording media mentioned above.

What does the record timer look like?

It allows me to pre-program 8 shows, that's it. There's no option for recording the same show daily, weekly, or anything. There are these 8 blank lines that show up when I press "timer" on the remote control, and I just have to punch in the date, time, channel, sub-channel, record begin time, record end time, and recording mode. You have to do this five times if your program is aired 5 nights a week. There is no option for programming something and then choosing "daily" option. The user's manual says something about repeating the program by pressing the side arrow key, but I realize that the user's manual shows the menu different from what I saw on my unit's setup menu. So there must be a couple of different models floating around under the same model number. You might get the matching one with the user's manual. I also got a different (probably worse) remote control from what was shown on the user's manual.

Does changing channels really take a long time?

Yes. It could take up to 7 seconds to change from one DTV station to the other. On my unit, it takes about 4 seconds. You might want to press the channel numbers on the remote control to jump channels. There is no previous channel option on the remote control, at least not on mine.

Does it really take forever to read DVDs?

No, I thought not. It takes longer than a regular DVD player, but it isn't as long as some of the reviewers are complaining about on Amazon.

Do I have to finalize the disc in order to play it on a different DVD player?

No. I put the disc without finalizing into a different DVD player and it played just like it would play any other discs. Some DVD players are pickier than others so try it without finalizing and see what your DVD player has to say. I tried playing the recorded show un-finalized using two different DVD players. Both played without a frown. Yeah!

Can you tell me other things?

Yes. The fan is quite noisy. You can actually hear it during audio-less moments when you watch TV or watch movies. Sort of like a laptop fan. I don't know if you are bothered by that kind of things. It is definitely worth mentioning. DVD pictures from HDMI look great on my plasma screen. Empty out your disc before going to bed so that your show is sure to be recorded on the empty disc at night. Don't rely on the unit to overwrite your existing recording.

Would you recommend it?

Yes. It has some flaws but it is great for what I needed to do, record programs that are aired too late at night for me to watch them. I am only recording one or two programs a day so I am not a heavy user so I am perfectly happy with this until. If you are thinking about recording crazy amount of programs, you might want to consider the one with a hard drive.

Are you happy with this unit?

Yes. I needed an external tuner for my older HD ready tuner-less plasma TV. The fact that it does that plus record shows on DVD RWs and plays DVDs makes this product perfect for me. This unit also gives people with analog TVs a DVR in addition to allowing them to watch DTVs without having to use a converter box.

Explain your 3-star rating. You said you are happy with it, right, so why not a 5-star rating?

It has a few, but significant flaws: a very-very user-unfriendly remote control that is absolutely difficult to see even for someone with a 20/20 vision; very out of place play/skip/ff/stop/pause buttons on the version of the remote that came with my unit; and a noisier than normal cooling fan. I give the product a generous 3-star.

Thank you for reading. Leaving a comment on the review if you have a specific question. I will reply, promise.

Update: As you can see below, someone pointed out that I omitted the fact that it does not have a built-in QAM tuner. Product says it has Built-in ATSC tuner and never claimed it has QAM tuner. It doesn't make coffee and clip your nails either. Should I have mentioned those facts in my review too?

Having said that, the reason I had no reason to mention the QAM part was that I do not have a cable running at my home. However, on the unit's menu, when you first do your channel scan, you have choices of cable, digital cable, or air to scan from. I don't know if that qualifies it as QAM. Not all of you might have this option since there are a couple of different firmware versions floating around under the same model. Even if the unit tunes cable channels, and your service provider uses two or three digits subchannel numbers, the unit won't be able to handle anything more that one digit subchannel number. For example, if you service provider has channel numbers such as 18.233, it won't display. Whereas it will display 18.2, 18.3, and so on. This was mentioned by another reviewer. I have not the opportunity to test it myself.

Please refrain from writing rude comments. I am not getting paid a penny to write this review.

Read Best Reviews of Philips DVDR3505/37 1080i Upscaling DVD Recorder with Built-In Tuner Here

The picture is wonderful. The features are terrific. The ease of use is astounding. FYI I'm a James Bond fan and own a few titles. One of the movie channels had a Bond-a-thon a few days ago, so I decided to put my Philips DVD recorder to the test. I recorded one of the titles that I already own from the movie channel broadcast to my DVR. The next day, I recorded the movie from my DVR to a DVD. I then had my family watch the first 10 minutes from each movie on one of our other DVD players and, based upon picture, sound quality, etc., tell me which one they thought was the store bought version and which one was the recorded version. My wife and all three kids picked my recording over the store bought version of the movie. Truly remarkable. The primary reason that I bought the recorder is to build upon our DVD collection without having to fork over the big $ to buy the movies from the store (the HDMI connection and upconverting were icing on the cake). At $180 for the recorder and about $1 per blank DVD disc, the thing is going to pay for itself with 10 recordings and then it's all gravy from there. Also, I travel a lot and have about 80 hours of programming on my DVR that I never seem to have enough time to watch. Now I'll be able to burn those programs to a DVD and watch them on my laptop when I'm on the road! How awesome is that?!?!?!

Five stars for the Philips DVD recorder no doubt. I had tried a few other DVD recorders before I found this one (including a tunerless Philips) for most, I had paid more and received less. For those of you with complex audio/video setups, beware of DVD recorders that don't have a built in tuner. I don't need the tuner for OTA broadcasts, I need it to make my A/V life hassle free. I'm sure glad that I found this baby...

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Accepts almost all media types, has lots of features, DIVX, HDMI with good upscaling picture quality, and the SD channels come in clear.

This recorder does have an integrated QAM tuner that allows free reception of unscrambled digital programming sent "in the clear" by your cable provider. The instruction manual does not state this fact and neither does most websites.

The only down side is that in my area Comcast provides cable service and ABC, CBS, and NBC are on channels 86-431, 85-433, and 86-432.

This recorder's tuner only accepts two digits of the sub channel number. Therefore if you have three digits like in my area you have no chance of watching or recording any of those stations.

The digital channels I am able to get do come in clearly and picture quality is an A+ on recordings. If you don't have this problem in your neighbourhood then this is a great recorder for the price.

I did end up returning this unit for the Panasonic DMREZ27K because of the problem with the two digit sub-channel.

The Philips DVDR3505/37 DVD Recorder records ONLY in a 4:3 aspect ratio [full screen]. It will NOT record in a 16:9 aspect ratio [wide screen]. Rather, it chops off part of the picture on each end. I had wrongly assumed that it would record whatever was received through the inputs without modifying the aspect ratio. This information was not made readily available or I would not have purchased the unit. I found the info buried in a note box on page 38 of the User Manual. Otherwise, it is a pretty good recorder and has good video quality. But, if you are going to watch the DVD recording on a wide screen TV don't buy this unit. The lack of 16:9 aspect ratio recording is a deal buster for me.

TEAC CD-RW890 CD Recorder with Remote (Black)

• CD-R and CD-RW Recording
• FL Display with Level Meter
• Center-mounted Drive Mechanism
• Program, Repeat, Shuffle Play
• Remote Control

I've only used this unit for a brief period of time--so I can't assess its longevity. However, I could tell right away that it has some really disappointing limitations in its basic functions.

The most obvious limitation is the lack of an input level volume knob. If you're accustomed to doing manual fade-outs (or fade-ins), then you have to use buttons (which, of course, only adjust the volume in increments that don't transition quite as smooth). Oh--and you can only adjust the ANALOG input level. Yup--the Digital Optical input level is FIXED. (Yuck.)

If you're recording something and you want to separate tracks during a continuous piece of music, it creates a short DROP-OUT (!) in sound when you hit the button to create a new track number. Wha??? That's right. The manual even mentions this--I guess so you don't think it's broken. I kinda wish I realized this issue before I bought the thing.

The input level Display is kinda choppy...

and I think it may also be a bit innaccurate about hitting above 0 dB.

Overall, this thing probably should not be used for anything really critical like burning master discs in a home studio. It seems to basically be useful for (1) making first-generation digital copies of existing CDs or (2) making compilation discs from various CDs using Analog input.

It's not that bad--but it's not that good either.

It would be OK if it only cost $100-$130 ... Unfortunately, it sells for about double that price

and it may be the last component of its type available on the market these days.

So if you're desperate for a new stand-alone CD recorder-and you can't spend for "professional" gear--

this may be your only option. Just be prepared to feel underwhelmed and probably disappointed.

Oh--I almost forgot--the Pause button isn't as sensitive as it should be...

so if you need to end a track at a PRECISE moment-then you better hit that button really hard!!

_____________________________________________________

*** UPDATE April 4, 2012 ***

I have an update for this really REALLY disappointing item...

When you make a direct digital copy of an entire CD via Optical input,

the recorder tends to slightly lag when creating track ID numbers.

Of course, this means: when you play each burned track individually,

approximately the first decisecond of each song will be missing

(because it was left at the end of the previous track).

In the end, this item has been entirely unacceptable...

and I'll probably only ever use it as a overpriced CD player.

(Currently, it's been banished to the closet, out of my sight)

I don't even have the audacity to try and sell this junk for

$40.00 non-returnable to some unsuspecting sucker on eBay.

In the end, I suggest that you stay away from this item.

Buy TEAC CD-RW890 CD Recorder with Remote (Black) Now

TEAC CD-RW890 CD Recorder with Remote (Black)

Although the teac cd-rw890 is simple to use and has an easy single disc loading feature with remote control to boot, it suffers from some aspects that may be important to the consumer who is articulate with what they record. The biggest lacking feature would be the fact that there isn't any modification of recording such as the EQ effects in some models. The second would be the lack of labeling a disc and or each song title or track title, since there isn't any remote feature or onboard feature for this. Although these functions are not available, this unit records full on with volume control and sync transfer and settings for track induction that may be wanted for silence inbetween tracks. For the price, it is still a viable recording deck.

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Like another reviewer, I bought this unit to replace my Sony 500C which has apparently been discontinuted. This is a good product overall except that the recording levels have to be set to the maximum in order to get satisfactory results. As much as I tried, I could not bring the sound levels past the halfway mark on the meter recording. With most tape or cd recorders, the levels will occasionally stray into the "hot" area when hitting a musical peak. There's not a chance of this happening based on my experience with this machine. Perhaps it's a defect in my particular unit. Any any case, Teac doesn't mention any phone-in technical support in the instruction manual. I wonder if anyone else has encountered the same problem with this model.

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I Was looking for a unit to record church services easily. This particular piece was affordable, and proved to be intuitive and easy to use, as well as having several unmentioned optional features that could be turned on or off as needed. Set up of discs was simple and the recordings came out well. Brought this church into the 21 century.

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This is a great cd recorder. It is easy to hook -up and is user friendly. I am using it to record all my records on to cd's. If you have alot of viynl, this is the way to go. Nice unit.

Sony Electret Condenser Omni-directional Flat Tabletop Microphone For Conference Meeting Recording

• Desk-top Electret Condenser Microphone
• Omni-Directional
• 100 to 15,000 Hz Frequency Response
• Effective Output Level:-51 <+->4 dBm
• Requires CR2025 Lithium Battery (not included)

DO NOT BUY THIS MICROPHONE IF YOU CARE ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT YOU ARE ACTUALLY RECORDING A SESSION OR NOT. Steer clear!!! These mikes might look great, but of what use are they when they need a battery and there is no low battery indicator? There is absolutely no way to know that you're not getting a recording until you try to play something back and there's nothing there or it's faint sounding. What a useless microphone!! You also have to turn the microphone on and off on the bottom which is difficult to do because of the switch design and if you forget to turn it off, you'll run your battery down. Arrh!! This is the worst waste of money of my whole life... Thankfully, I only bought two, and they are not terribly expensive.

As a court repoorter, I'm always looking for new equipment and thought I would try these mikes for court as they looked low key and would be a nice addition to my microphone stable. I didn't see in the specs that they also require batteries (which by the way, don't come with the microphones) and I bought them only to find they would be of no use to me in my work as I can't run the risk of not getting a perfect recording each time.

Do not buy these microphones -any microphone that needs independent batteries and doesn't have a low battery indicator is worthless. I highly recommend the Labtec VERSE 333 MON MOUNT MIC ( 980184-0403 ) which are available on Amazon and are cheaper than the Sony. They have identical plugs and are about the same size. I have three of them and they work great. I have never had a problem. I take down courtrooms, public meetings in large rooms, depositions -and I get everything clearly enough to be able to provide a perfect transcript to my clients.

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First of all, you can't blame the seller for this. They delivered what I ordered on a timely basis and it looked like it looked in the ad. Exactly like the ad. So if you're expecting the common size of omni-directional microphone to cover a conference table, this isn't it. Instead this is a mini-microphone to go with your mini-recorder. I'm sure it will be worth the $18 or so I paid for it, but if you're looking for something of a more professional nature, you need to be prepared to pay a professional price.

Read Best Reviews of Sony Electret Condenser Omni-directional Flat Tabletop Microphone For Conference Meeting Recording Here

This product does what it's suppose to do for the price you paid for it. It collects the sound from all directions fine, but when playing it on the computer, it only comes from one speaker (the left one for me).

When you pay for a cheap product you get cheap results, I'm just glad it was my boss that paid for it.

There is no indicator whether the battery is low or not, or even if it already died. You best have a quarter in your pocket or turning the thing on or off can be a touch of a challenge.

It works, not how I'd like it to work. it collects sound, but you can only hear it from one side, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who wants some quality results.

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I can't say this item is very impressive. Granted you get what you pay for and this was a low cost item. If you are right on top of the microphone the clarity is good. However I turned my laptop into a phone and was able to perform conference calls and take notes when I am not in my office. I don't have a built in microphone on my laptop so I wanted to start with something that was not expensive but a brand I can trust. Sony usually is a strong brand and if I was doing this for personal use opposed to business it would probably be good enough. The unit is very small so it is able to travel which is a plus but the disadvantage is the performance. I would not purchase this item again for business reasons.

Tried this item for a business related conference, new battery, new Sony digital recorder. Found the mic on the recorder alone was far superior to what this product could do. Very disappointed. As other reviews state, you get what you pay for. Absolutely true statement. Definitly does not perform as the literature suggests. To me, it is not even worth the cost of the battery they do not supply.

Blue Microphones Yeti Pro USB Condenser Microphone, Multipattern

• Three custom condenser capsules and four different polar pattern settings: Cardioid, Stereo, Bidirectional and Omnidirectional
• Cutting-edge A-D converter chip and separate analog circuit path for use with professional studio mixers and preamps
• Built-in headphone amplifier for zero-latency monitoring, and direct controls for headphone volume, pattern selection, mute, and microphone gain
• 15 Hz-22 kHz frequency response
• 192 kHz/24 bit Sample/Word

I'm a musician and singer/songwriter who has recorded in home studios of varying quality and price for years. I currently have a Pro Tools setup on my main music computer but I bought the Yeti Pro because I wanted an easy, portable solution to use with Garageband on my laptop in order to record parts with other musicians on various songs. I have to confess I was skeptical about the quality of a USB mic, but after using it tonight, I may not ever go back to my analog mics. I recorded vocals and acoustic guitar directly from the mic to my laptop with no preamp and the sound is crisp, clear, and brilliant, and captures the nuance in my vocal performance as well over the complete spectrum.* It's also heavy and solid feeling, and gorgeous to boot. If you don't need a professional recording, this mic is probably pricey and not necessary. But for professional podcasters and particularly recording musicians, I can't recommend this mic more, and it's a steal at this price.

PS -this is the first time I've ever been compelled to post a review about ANYTHING. It's that good, folks.

*Note that I'm a female singer with fairly limited range.

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This is the best USB mic ever made. The quality is outstanding. Some people say it doesn't sound any different then the orginal Yeti, and I thought that too when I first used it. But then I went to my Mic settings (on Win 7) and I found out the mic was being limited to 48Hz 16 Bit ! I quickly changed it to 96Hz 24 Bit and the difference hit me. It sounds perfect, the exact way my voice sounds. The only thing I don't like is that you need other software for it to work. So I can't just bring it to all my frinds' house and just plug it in to use it. But it is an exceptional mic. If you have the money I highly recommend it.

UPDATE 10/31/12

I've had this microphone for about 18 months now, and I couldn't be happier with it. I have noticed a lot of negative reviews complaining about a "gain" issue. Blue recognized this problem and offered replacements. That was a while ago, so there shouldn't be anything wrong with it today. My mic works wonders when the gain is at 40%. One thing I have noticed is that recordings may have some crackles if you plug the mic into a USB hub that has too many things connected to it. The mic demands a lot of power, and shouldn't be used when other powerful USB devices are connected to you computer (e.g HD webcams, other USB mics, ect.).

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A lot of people might look at the price of this microphone and get put off, but they'd make a mistake in doing so. If you are a musician, podcaster, or simply looking for great quality for your vocals, instruments, or whatever sound you want captured, the Blue Yeti Pro will more than do the job.

I'd like to start out by saying the sound quality on this microphone is simply amazing. It easily dwarfs any other USB mic before it, and can even compete with some professional condenser studio mics made by Neumann or Rodes. It's hard to believe this mic is an improvement from the original Yeti, but it is, and by at least 4 times, based on my personal estimation. For $250 this mic can't be beat. You get features in this mic you'd need at least 5 mics for. Oh, and did I mention it's also an audio interface that plays back at a 24-bit, 192khz sampling rate through the headphone port? And it sounds much better than it would on your laptop headphone port. This mic is fantastic and I recommend to anyone looking to do professional work at home.

Update:

For those of you disappointed in the audio quality of the Blue Yeti Pro I have some tips. First and foremost I would like you inform you that the Blue Yeti Pro is a flat response microphone. When you record you're not gonna get any sort of coloration to your input. You should be getting clean, clear, noise free audio. If not you have a defective microphone and I suggest getting it exchanged.

Now that we have that out of the way I'd like o give you tips on how to get a nice, rich, studio quality sound. Here's tip 1: Add gain. Tip 2: Compress. Tip 3: Equalize. Tweak until it sounds pleasant to your ears. Believe me, once you mess with the sound it will be a whole lot better. That's how I know the Blue Yeti Pro is a good microphone. Good microphones do not color your audio.

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I'm writing this to help save time for those looking to get a pro level USB mic as I spent quite a bit of time reading reviews (amazon and pro music reviews) listening to mic shootouts and leg work on USB microphones so I though I would see if I can help others save some time. I'm a bit retentive when it comes to my audio gear. I spent 10 years looking for the perfect studio monitors and finally found a slice of heaven in the ADAM s3A's.

Beware the negative reviews as it looks as though they could be user error. Im using on a mac and both mics were flawlessly plug and record nothing to do at all.

I have a professional recording studio and consider my 20 years of listening experience worthwhile in doing an unbiased review.

My goal was to find a usb microphone able to perfectly capture vocals and instruments without adding color (anything but the pure sound) to use with my ipad for audio work.

Microphones and monitors are very subjective in my opinion . Different people like the way different gear sounds. I was simply looking for sonic clarity and depth.

I settled on the Blue Yeti Pro and the MXL 009 and bought them both. I surmised these were the two top picks (based on user and pro reviews) out of the 5 or so at the top including the non pro yeti.

This is my first time owning a blue or MXL mic. I have a couple of Shure ksm44's and a few Neumanns

I ran a series of comparisons between the Yeti Pro, THe MXL 009 and my goto in the studio which is the ksm44 running through an Avalon ad2022 pre through an RME Fireface UFX into an 2011 Imac. I used two sets of headphones and my monitors to listen to the audio recorded. As set of audio technica m50s, and a pair of Sony MDR7509's and the s3a's. I recorded vocals, shakers and tuning forks at both 48k 16bit and 24bit 96k sample rates to see if it made a difference. It does make a difference but its slight and if you were making a song you probably couldn't tell in the mix. If you were doing a podcast or talkshow you woud notice slightly richer deeper clarity with the 96k 24bit setting.

The results were very surprising to me mostly because I was blown away that a $300 microphone can compete with 7K in studio gear. I think I need to tell Toto were not in Kansas anymore. Rating scale 10 = amazing 1=Sucks

The Yeti Pro If you are looking to get just one mic then this is your pick because of its feature set. Its built like a tank. Has the 4 different switching options which is very useful for getting different sounds. You could put it on a table for an interview and hear both people as an example. Also has standard xlr out, could be nice if you want to use it with standard gear. The stereo out is a nice feature (unless you want mono).

Features = 10

Easy of Use = 10 quick adjustments of gain and are forgiving if your not spot on.

Set up = 10 ( I literally just plugged it in and selected it in logic pro used to record the audio)

Sound Quality = 8 The MXL009 was a bit more transparent and honest with the sound.

Accessories = 9 desk stand is rock solid and cool looking

Look and Feel = 8 Very nice looking and solid feeling but kinda bulky. Sexy sitting on the desk if you care. They get -2 points as the Blue logo was slightly off level which most people probably would not or could not notice. (retentive)

The MXL 009 If you want the best sounding Mic and dont care about the rest this is your mic.

Features = 7 (lack of traditional xlr out limits to digital use)

Easy of Use = 7 You need to get your gain levels set prior to using or you will get pops and clicks in your audio. This could be a bummer if you just did a big long take and now have to edit to remove a few clicks. Set your gains and you will be without issue. ( would be nice if they had a clipping indicator on the mic since this is such a big issue). Maybe they will correct it with a soft or firmware update.

Set up = 10 ( I literally just plugged it in and selected it in logic pro used to record the audio)

Sound Quality = 10 The MXL009 was a bit more transparent and honest with the sound. It is really a beautifully accurate mic.

Accessories = 9 desk stand is rock solid but not as cool looking as the yeti. Its a basic stand. It comes with a cool metal case if you travel with your mics.

Look and Feel = 9 Very nice looking and solid feeling. The blue led is a nice touch to show its connected

The verdict is that they all sound amazing. If you were not doing a sise by side A/B you would miss the subtle differences. The Shure has a slight lead for overall sound but the MXL009 is not far behind and the Yeti pro is right up there with them. Its not quite as good sonically but as far as getting bang for your buck the yeti pro is an amazing choice for everything you get for less than $300. Unbelievable! My hats off to both companies for such great products.

I am keeping them both unfortunately as they are that great for different reasons.

First of all, I just want to say that this mic is definitely amazing. I will keep this as short and precise as possible.

PROS:

USB and XLR capabilities

4 pattern polar selector

Triple condensor capsule

microphone input jack

CONS:

Slightly heavy weight

Slightly flimsy pattern and gain knob

In regards to the gain being too low once the mic is put into the DAW, for some reason the great people at Blue had made the factory setting for the microphone gain to input at -23 dB. That is so low the vocals are barely audible. The only way to fix this (on a Mac) is to go into the UTILITIES under Finder and select the MIDI APP. Once in there select the input and output options and turn the MASTER VOLUME all the way to normal or 1. This should fix the problem on the Mac, there should be a similar solution to PC I will check and see shortly.

Hope this review helps!

Audio-Technica ATR-6550 Video Camera Condenser Shotgun Microphone

• 2-range settings: normal and tele
• 3.5mm connector plugs into video camera
• Designed especially for use with video cameras
• Freq resp: 70 Hz-18,000 Hz
• Imp: Normal 1000 ohm +/- 30% and tele 2200 ohm +/- 30%

The ATR6550 is a GREAT $50 mic. If you are going to interview others, or recording in a room with echo, USE THIS MIC! The video explains my reasons for choosing this one...

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I've used this mic on three different types of shoots so far and it's performance is pretty impressive for the price. Of course if you are an audiophile and you are comparing this to a top of the line $1600 sennheiser I'm sure you will find plenty of things to gripe about, but if you are looking for an affordable, immediate step up from your on camera mic, this works great.

I shot a scene in front of a courthouse a few days ago, and there were so many buses going by that I ended up screaming out most of the dialogue it was a little bit deafening. The performance of the mic on its regular mode was OK, but on telephoto mode it completely blocked out the sound of the buses (which were behind the camera).

Later that same day I followed a guy around on a busy street at night while he was performing some magic, and the sound (also on telephoto) was really good. I was far enough back with the camera that I couldn't hear a lot of what he was saying, but the mic picked it up clean, good volume, and intelligible.

Two warnings, make sure the mic wire is not touching anything or bumps into anything because it will get picked up on your audio. And if you are in a slightly loud environment use the telephoto. In fact, I'm sticking with the telephoto permanently for now on. I'm leaving 4 stars because I have only used the mic a few times and I don't know how it will hold up, but so far I am very happy with my purchase.

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The Audio Technica ATR-6550 is a Great Mic to Record Vocal and Guitar for Youtube. I bought 2 ATR-6550's, a stereo "Y" and the 12' extension cord because the mic only has a 3' coil cord. I set the camera on auto, plug directly into the camera and record. The mic also cuts out the echo in the room. See for yourself. Search Youtube for "A Country Boy Can Survive the on crack version". (it just means it's really jacked up lol)

For a $50.00ish mic with a lifetime warranty, you can't go wrong.

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This is a good option if you want to use shotgun techniques with a consumer video camera. It gives sound that, after compression for youtube-level playback, would be difficult to distinguish from a professional mic. The sound is comparatively thin, it generates a small amount of internal noise, and its cabling is subject to indoor electrical noise, so it would knock a project out of contention for broadcast quality. But it pairs well with inexpensive camcorders and is an improvement over on-camera mics, especially if you don't mount it on the camera. It balances in a shock mount better than others in this price range.

Its cable is 3 feet long and coiled, and it's hardwired to the mic, so it picks up more electrical interference than a straight cable of the same effective reach. Simply having a jack would allow the option boosting the signal closer to the mic before a long cable run from a boom, for example.

But its biggest flaw is that it's unreliable. Mine had a bad internal wire connection and failed in its first hour of use. I've seen this happen with other sub-$100 shotguns. Audio-Technica has a generous lifetime warranty, and it's great to be able to trust the manufacturer to make it right; but one needs to be able to trust the gear itself. I wouldn't take this mic on a shoot without a backup, and then it's not such inexpensive option.

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Listen to this test and decide for yourself if this mic is what you are needing. If you purchase this mic, you will need to buy a mono-female to stereo-male adapter to go directly into your camera and that part runs regularly for 3 bucks everywhere, radio shack ect. I used this on a T2i with no onboard volume control. I am going to run a juicedlink pre-amp on this mic and I think it will clean up nicely...

Q-See Q25DVR4ES 4 Channel DVR with 250GB Hard Drive, Motion Detection, USB 2.0 & 4 Color Day/Night

After using this system for about 2 weeks, the saying "you get what you pay for" holds true. The DVR works as expected without any issues, and there is good flexibility in the setup for recording based on motion or time periods. Video playback through a USB port is possible too, and the DVR can connected to the LAN via a USB network hub for reviewing the video on a computer. The camera performance at night is limited to a usable 10-15 feet because of the limited number of LED's. The camera performance is rated 1.5 Lux and 380 lines of resolution which is better suited for indoor security because of the limited range and resolution. I upgraded 2 cameras to have 480 lines and 0.1 Lux for the exterior views with a great improvement in image quality. If anyone thinks buying a entry level system like this will duplicate the performance of systems costing 2 to 3 times more, they will be disappointed. If I had to do it again, I would do more research and work with a vendor to buy upgraded cameras and get the LAN port for remote monitoring. However this starter system will suit my needs until I get the mega-house with the $3K video security system.

Ive had this unit for 1 day. the discription says night vision up to 30 ft. try 10ft maxx, after that, almost total darkness. I need to see whats going on not only day but night even more . daylight the cameras are ok, sending the unit back, disapointed....

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New Zagall DVR-200 Dual Lens Camera Car DVR that record two scene

Although the features of the camera are attractive, its quality is quite modest. My camera (which I bought from a different seller) came with a dead battery. Its battery is not standard so you cant find it in the market. The manual says there is a motion detection feature but actually there is no such feature. Without that feature, the camera is useless to me. Accordingly, the price is quite exaggerated.

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Equiso Smart TV

Stay away from this product is my advice, here is why. I backed this project on kickstarter, as it looked pretty good. When i received the product, i opened the box only to find the micro usb port in the remote had fallen out! Very cheap construction on the unit itself, and the remote. When i plugged in the unit to my TV, it would not connect to my wireless network. When i tried pressing the flimsy reset button on the side, it wasnt doing anything. It then became recessed into the unit, at which point i used a little screwdriver to push it. It stiill did nothing to reset the unit. Troubleshooting with them was a joke, and i was told to send it back. Once they received it, i got a couple of snarky emails asking me why there were marks on the reset button, which i explained to them. After 2 or 3 weeks, they finally emailed me to say that it was my fault, and they were not going to replace the unit. They offered me to purchase another unit from them! Needless to say, i was less than thrilled with their proposition.

I would like to save you all for making a horrible mistake in purchasing this product. I'm one of the original backers and it doesn't do nearly half of what they said it was going to.

The remote is cheaply made and I feel like I'm breaking it every time I use it.

The unit cannot use Plex even though they said it was going to be integrated. They do claim they will fix this in an upcoming software update...You know, the one we were supposed to get when we use it for the first time that now after almost a month is still not to be seen. (They did release a beta update but I can't tell a lick of difference)

YouTube works but you can't log in to it so you can't view your subscriptions. I couldn't care less about playing Angry Birds on this thing and that is hardly anything to use as a benchmark as just about any smartphone can play it. (Even the Nook Touch eBook reader can play it!)

Do yourself a favor and check out the comments on their kickstarter page. I'm not sure what the people who gave this thing a 5 star review were using but it likely is not the Equiso. (Either that or they work for Equiso)

Very dissatisfied with this thing and I would return it if I could.

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Product is great on paper, and some of the features are really good. But there are too many negatives, and the resulting product is a waste of money.

Good:

Remote/Keyboard is a great item. The gyroscopic movement is precise and easy to use. The keyboard is a bit stiff (the buttons are loud), but overall worked well.

Great for quickly setting up a TV to display a web page or Powerpoint slide deck.

Con:

Very poor/spotty wireless connectivity. I have 20 Mbps download on my wireless network using my laptop (that is sitting next to my TV). Equiso will barely break 1 Mbps. The result is you cannot watch high resolution videos that are streaming.

Slow processor. The hardware cannot run Plants vs. Zombies or Jetpack Joyride. The framerate drops off a cliff and no amount of tweaking options/settings will get the games to be playable.

Applications crash. The Android-native apps for Youtube, Hulu, and Pandora crash with too much frequency to be useful. Numerous other applications will display a "application not responding" error, but sometimes they recover without crashing.

Overall: Great concept but poor execution. Wait until the technology catches up so the promise of features can be delivered. Equiso aims high but misses the mark.

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I can't even give these away to my friends as they are unstable and build quality isn't great.

One of the Standard's USB ports fell off and if you search the EquisoForums you'll see Im not the only one. The Standards are plagues with wait/close popups and extreme lag. Even with root access, custom build.prop, speed tweaks it still runs horrible. The built-in WiFi is horrible so I had to use a USB Ethernet adapter but this kind of defeats the point of having such a portable device if I have to carry my USB AC Power adapter, USB Hub, USB Ethernet adapter, etc.

The Pro's on the other hand aren't laggy but thanks to the dual cores they run decent. The major gripe with the Pro's are they can't stream Netflix or Live Feeds across the Internet without major pixelation. Looks similar to 8bit resolution on a old PC.

Software updates:

Standard got a beta but it was pieces the community hacked up and they rolled it up into a update.zip file.

Pro Well, still haven't received anything.

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I got the standard version through kickstarter as it sounded like a great idea but when I eventually received the product it had taken so long that there were other products with better specs at around the same price if not cheaper.

Also the software on it is so buggy i could barely do the some things I wanted to do with it and other things I just plain couldn't do.

There are constant popups saying the application is not responding(wich you never see in any of the demonstration videos) which leads me to believe the device is underpowered for what its being asked to do, which leads me to why its bordering on a scam it was advertised as having a 1Ghz CPU when in fact the CPU is running at 800Mhz which they say is to keep the temperature down yet mine is still overheating even at a lower speed than it was advertised as running at.

When I informed them I was unhappy with the product and wanted a refund they simply said they are sorry Im unhappy with the product and left it at that.

So I am writing this review to give all fair warning that this is not a product to invest in and there are plenty of other products leaps and bounds better than this for around the same price point.

I hope this review saves others the disappointment it has caused me.

Samson SAC01UPAK USB Microphone and Podcast Package

• The C01U USB Studio Condenser Mic is an affordable mic with a USB interface
• It has cardioid pickup pattern
• It has large 19mm diaphragm

This is a great product. I create online training videos and this is ideal. The audio is crystal clear and is easy to use. This is not a light-weight cheapy throw away item if it doesn't work. I am very impressed with the quality.

Caution Your PC is fully capable of using this as a plug-n-play device. Don't waste your time on the SoftPre software described in the literature as you don't need it. I contacted the manufacturer and they confirmed by suspecion that it doesn't work and isn't required.

They do include some great recording software that is not SoftPre, so don't get those confused!

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This mic works well. Nice clear recording for voice over work. My only complaint is that I haven't been able to get the Sonar LE to work. It doesn't appear to be compatible with my sound card. The mic works well with Audacity however.

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I couldn't be happier with this setup. I purchased it with a PS01 pop screen (Samson) and it's become my staple for WBT voice-over via Sony Audio Studio. The microphone offers an affordable, authentic representation of the voice.

An outstanding value at this price!

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I am very happy with my new Samson microphone and it actually serves two purposes in our household. My wife uses it to record music and I use it for Web-based rapid eLearning. It's great to have such a versatile microphone that delivers such clean sound. Right out of the box, we were able to connect through our USB port and work with any audio software. The fit and finish makes this package a bargain, plus you have a couple of different choices for how you want to place your microphone onto it's included stand. I have not loaded the software that comes with it yet, because I have my own and it is not necessary to make this microphone function. Great job Samson!!!

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The Samson CO1U Recording/Podcasting Pak is perfect for me. I am trying to get into the voice over business and this equipment is the perfect place to start. Combined with the Sonar editing program and PS01 Popfilter (sold seperately) I believe it will be an invaluable asset to anyone wishing to record themselves for demos, projects, or just podcasting.

Panasonic DVD-LS5 Portable DVD Player

• Portable widescreen DVD-Video and DVD-Audio player with 5-inch LCD screen and built-in stereo speakers
• Plays DVD-R, DVD-RAM, CD, and recordable MP3/WMA CDs
• Multichannel optical digital-audio outputs with DVD-Audio, DTS, and Dolby Digital surround passthrough
• VSS virtual surround and headphone surround simulate surround sound from two channels
• Dialogue Enhancer, 2.5 hours battery life from included rechargeable battery; remote control included

Compared to the Chinese imports (Apex, Initial, Cyberhome, etc.), the Panasonic DVD-LS5 is definitely a premium model, and both the price and quality show. If you just want to watch DVDs on the road and don't mind teeny sound or blocky images, the low-end models will serve you well. In fact I love my 8-inch Initial. On the other hand, if you want to truly enjoy a mobile DVD experience, you gotta buy this product.

Better styling and build quality aside, the Panasonic has at least three significant advantages over non-Japanese players: 1) the screen is clearer and offers better viewing angles horizontally, so you can share the joy of DVD with another person; 2) the sound is just incredibly loud for a small player like this, unlike the low-end players -in fact it feels almost like surround sound in a quiet room; 3) the tilting mechansim is really cool and allows you to adjust the screen angle freely.

The battery snaps to the back (and raises the player a bit) and offers a little over 2 hours of viewing pleasure. All considered, the Panasonic player is also much more portable than the other ones; even with the battery installed we are talking something you can just grab and watch, as opposed to carrying in two hands.

Is the Panasonic worth the extra money over the other players? I definitely think so.

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For Christmas this year I decided on a portable DVD player as my present. I dont travel very much but I LOVE technology so I figured why not, and so began my quest. I went to various online sites and eventually went out to my local electronics stores to do some research and to see the different players. I visited the usual Wal-Mart and Target, which had decent amount of relatively inexpensive portables on display but none of which were working models. I went to BestBuy to find 3 models on the floor. The one which price wise, was close to the Panasonic, was a Toshiba sd-p1200. It was HORRIBLE, it looked like an Etch-A-Sketch playing a DVD. The other two models, one a Poloroid that wouldnt work, and the other a Mintek which like the Poloroid wouldnt work, looked very cheaply put together and not worth the money. So I decided to move on to Circuit City. Once there I came across this wonderful little DVD player. The Panasonic DVD-LS5. I didn't want something clunky or bulky, and this player fit the bill. It is about the size of a portable CD player. The screen resolution is amazing. It is like a nice LCD computer monitor (albeit a small one). But with just over 500 lines of resolution and a 5 inch widescreen display, it does the DVD's justice. It is lightweight and very quiet. I played two movies back to back (Terminator 3 and Indiana Jones and the last Crusade) and this bad boy didnt even work up a sweat. The entire unit stayed cool and whisper quiet 4 hours after I first turned it on. I used wall power as my battery was not charged yet. Later on I used the battery and got through one 2 hour movie. So the description of 2 hours per charge is accurate. It only takes 2 hours to charge the battery back up and since it is a lithium ion battery there is no need to fully discharge the battery. The swivel screen function is really very cool. It allows you to watch a movie in classic portable dvd player fashion (like opening a book) or you can adjust the height and tilt, or you can completely compact the unit by laying the screen flat on the player. Little rubber wheels on the bottom of the screen prevent the screen from scratching the player. Panasonic has thought of everything. I only paid $299 for mine and at that price I almost felt like I stole it! It is an amzing little machine that has phenominal sound too. I am a radio dj so I am all about sound. When the headphones are plugged in.. WOW!!!... I've heard sounds on the portable that I never heard on my full size DTS home theater system! The bottom line is, if you on a quest for a solid portable system, the quest ends here. I know that it is a little pricy, but considering some of the other models out there that are shotty construction and hit or miss as far as it working or not, for the money (and it was well spent money), the Panasonic DVD-LS5 is at the top of its class!

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After reading all the other reviews on Amazon and looking at everything in a few of New York City's major electrical stores (J&R, Circuit City, Best Buy) I bought the Panasonic DVD-LS5 portable DVD player for $329 from Amazon.

It was the most streamline and compact, solid feeling, good looking and highly recommended DVD player of this size. The screen looked sharper and brighter than it's competitors including larger much more expensive models.

6 months later, several friends and colleagues have fallen in love with this portable DVD player and after doing their own due dilligence, all chose the same model. Panasonic really seem to have gotten it right and the premium one pays for this consistently strong and reliable brand is well worth the money.

Size? I travel a great deal and wanted a very good tough small well made machine for around $350. The LS5 fits the bill and seems to stand alone in it's corner of the market. Larger portable DVD players start approaching the size of a small laptop and cost around $600 and up. Moreover, this model is perfect for a tray table even when the seat in front is reclined in your face. Ideal for the back of a car. Sits on my knee in the airport lounge. In hotel rooms I either connect my DVD player to the TV using the supplied cables or usually prefer it's crisp clean screen and awesome headphone sound.

Extras? The battery gives just over 2 hours of juice basically one movie plus change. I recommend people buy an additional battery: Panasonic's CGR-H601A/B extended life battery is good for an extra 3-4 hours (a very reasonable $69 especially considering most batteries cost more than a hundred bucks).

Sound? The headphone sound is absolutely amazing and the external speakers in such a tiny machine can't match their sophisticated range and power. So I recommend a really good pair of headphones don't skimp the sound is incredible! I can hear a depth and nuance in a movie's soundtrack and dialogue which I've never noticed before. A headphone splitter is a very good idea. Additionally I recently bought Sony's small and highly touted SRS-T55 travel speakers ($47.50) so that a small group could join the fun. Two or three people can all view equally well without losing quality from being off centre.

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I'm not much of an electronics wiz/enthusiast but I really love this machine. I do lots of travel by train and air and this device has been my constant companion for the past three months. I find I don't have much of a chance to watch the movies I want to watch at home (4 kids ages 2-15 tend to keep you busy) so investing in a portable DVD player was a must if I was ever going to see a real movie again. The picture quality is quite good, I'd recommend buying a good pair of headphones (good sound quality and comfortable!) since you'll need it if you're out in public.

I have had the Panasonic DVD-LS5 for two months now. It is awesome! I did alot of research and decided to go with the Panasonic. I got it for $198 after using the Amazon Visa for $30 off and $50 rebate and then a $50 Promotional certificate. I couldn't beat that price. I basically have to agree with all the positive details everyone else has written because I would just be repeating all of their findings. I do have one story to mention. My daughter and her friend brought both of their portable DVD players on a trip. His was a Cyberhome and if you read the reviews on that one I can tell you the Cyberhome did everything they said it would do also. It froze, skipped, and had no picture but had sound. Cyberhome may be cheaper with a carkit included but the Panasonic can't be beat. They ended up using the Panasonic and put the Cyberhome away. I just smiled.I was glad I did my homework. I did receive the carkit charger it was $125. I thought it was rather expensive but the quality is excellent and the cord goes from the lighter to the back of the van. Can't beat that. The Picture is just as clear as if it were hooked up to a/c. We are thoroughly enjoying it hooked up to our TV also. Thanks again.

Emerson EME-NR303TTC 4-in-1 Vintage Classic Turntable Real Wood Stereo System with AM/FM Radio, CD,

I liked its design (appearance) and the fact that it could play just about any media I own, from vinyl to CDs. I plugged it in and turned on the radio sounded good and got good reception, even of hard-to-get stations. Put in a CD could not read three out of four discs. I popped in a tape noticeable deterioration of sound quality. Ah well. I put on a record sound quality plummeted! At that point it sounded like distant music broadcast from a tin can. Since I'd bought it primarily to play records, I returned it to the store the next day.

The turntable sounds tinny. The CD player worked great for the first day, then the "Open" button wouldn't work on the second day. Returned it to the store the third day.

They don't make them like they used to they just make them look like they make them like they used to.

Come to think of it, I've bought a number of Emerson products over the years, and I've regretted every purchase but one. No more for me thanks.

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The sound quality is awful. The CD player stuck as soon as a CD was entered. This was supposed to be a cute stereo, A gift for my Mother and it turned out to be embarrassing! I had to by another stereo system to replace.

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This little unit is a nice find. The radio and cd play nicely and the sound is good. I have yet to play a tape in my unit. The record player sound isn't quite clear and sharp but at least it plays my records which I have been purchasing on Ebay. Previous reviewer ELENDEREL sums it up pretty well, "I put on a record sound quality plummeted! At that point it sounded like distant music broadcast from a tin can." Oh my God, I am still laughing because its somewhat true. But didn't all record players sound like that? I have an IPOD and a speaker system hooked up but I wanted this little unit to remind me when I was a kid and jamming to my 'Funkytown' & 'Girls Just wanna have fun' records. My only complaint is, (and I have yet to call Emerson to ask them) is that it cuts off a few songs before they are done like my Stevie Wonder 45, "I just Called to Say I love You." That 45 is over 4 minutes long so I don't know if that is the case when the needle comes up and returns to its stand. On a shorter song it played the whole tune. I pd 89.99 and got 10% off with a coupon so I think and hope it was a good deal. The records I guess do sound like it was coming from a tin can but I was a kid so I don't remember how great the quality was back then and I doubt I had a high quality system even then. Hope this helps.

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Love the product!

What I like most is that it has a HeadPhone Jack (which most others don't have) which I can plug into my computer (in-line) port and capture Vinyl, CD and Cassette music to convert to MP3 format.

It works great! The sound quality is what I expect from both cassette and vinyl.

I use my computer CD player to capture CD's for better quality, but it would work if it's all you have.

Roxio Easy Media Creator Suite 10 (OLD VERSION)

• Easily produce impressive multi-media projects that combine photos, video and music; share and enjoy on CD, DVD, the web or on popular portable players and cell phones
• Includes step-by-step video tutorials that lead users through the process of completing a wide range of personal digital-media projects
• Backup non-encrypted DVD-Videos or convert video files into preferred formats for use on an iPod, PSP, Windows Media portable device or mobile phone
• Powerful 32 track video editor with HD support and studio quality tools, effects, and transitions; edit and enhance photos, creating delightful photo projects and gifts
• New features and capabilities that are specifically designed to naturally extend the digital-media functionality of Vista

Creator Suite 10 does it all (or at least anything I could possibly want to do). Audio, video, data, photos, media devices, label creation and more. You can download directly from a camera, camcorder, iPod, cell phone and most portable devices. It has a sound editor to capture sound from DVDs and other sources. It even converts LPs and cassettes to digital sound from a stereo input. DVDs are easy to create and users can add soundtracks using their own music catalog. The program screens are well organized, with helpful wizards to get a user started with every feature.

I recently purchased a new HP tablet laptop with Windows Vista. Windows Vista does not work with older versions of many software programs. I already own Nero Burning Rom and Easy CD Creator 6. Neither would work with Vista. Creator Suite 10 runs perfectly with Vista. Also, older Roxio products do not do DVD burning and my version of Roxio will not rip from CDs to create MP3s (which is why I had bought Nero). I had never created DVDs before getting this program. But, it worked perfectly with the Lightscribe DVD drive, and I easily created a DVD from MPEGS, added chapter inserts and customized the menu. It played in our 5-disc DVD player with no issues. Burning CDs was just as simple.

So, why 4 stars and not 5? First, doing it all is great unless you're never going to use it. A $100 retail price is a little high for some users. Other than the DVD and CD burning, I am unlikely to use the product to do photo manipulation and the myriad other features available. I already own other programs that do these things, that I am more skilled at using. Second, it will likely not work in an older system. I tried loading this on my 2 year old Averatec laptop running Windows XP. I could not get the software to install. I ran DSKCHK when prompted by Windows, but the disk would run loudly in my drive and go nowhere. I did install it on a Dell GX620 system running XP with no problem, so it is the laptop (or drive), not XP, that's the problem.

If you have an older computer, or just want to burn CDs, you may want to go with a cheaper media program. If you've got a brand new system with Windows Vista, I cannot recommend Easy Media Creator Suite 10 enough.

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I will admit it, I have always been intimidated by the idea of purchasing and using video editing software. The very thought conjured a thousand questions/anxieties: How do I transfer my movies from my device to my computer? I know how to transfer movies from my digital camera, but what if I want to transfer movies from a camcorder, will they work on my computer? Do I need different software? If I edit the movie, will I permanently lose the scenes I cut? How much space will this software and these movies take up on my computer? Can I stitch photos together to make a movie?

Roxio Easy Media Creator 10 put my fears to rest. This easy to use software comes equipped with a great wizard program which acts as a tutorial, guiding you through the various procedures, step-by-step.

I am not a techie, so I can't talk about the technical aspects of this software program, nor can I compare it to other comparable programs.

What I can tell you is this:

I performed two functions with this software and was very, very pleased:

1. I shot a home video with my digital camera. It was a film of my children's musical recital. There was a lot of background noise which annoyed me and distracted from the performance. I was able to reduce the background noise without ruining the video.

I was also able to add a sound track to a soundtrack to some movies using SmartSound.

2. Using Mobile Phone Doctor, I was able to greatly improve the quality of some photos I took this summer at Disneyworld. I really liked the photos but was not pleased with the clarity. Using this software, I was able to sharpen the details to the point I was hoping.

The pro: This software is easy to use.

The con: This program complements Windows Vista, which I do not have. I think it would have been nice if it was advertised or marked on thebox that the user will be able to use a lot of features if they have Windows Vista...that it is a necessary complimentary program.

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I'm always a bit leery of Big Software: packages that try to do too much, install too many components, try to get their hooks set all over your system. So I was a bit leery installing the newest release of Roxio Easy Media Creator, which has been growing rapidly into bloat-ware in recent releases. It turned out that Ipleasantly surprised to find it more streamlined, cleaner, and professional-looking than previously.

Although one of the big "enhancements" in this release is Vista support, I tested this package on my Windows XP Pro machine, on which I was previously running Roxio Creator 9. I cleanly removed Creator 9 first since installing on top of an old version is always a bad idea, many software complaints seem to arise from not uninstalling the old software first. Install was straightforward if a bit slow to run on my Inpiron Dual Core system.

My primary purpose in buying Roxio, like many of you, is to create media. Burning CDs, DVDs, etc is the core strength of Roxio, and they continue to do this well. One of my frequent tasks is burning CDs from ISO images. Roxio did this with literally 4 clicks, nice and easy.

The master control panel has been streamlined and it's now easier to get to all of the functions of the package.

Some of the old bloat is gone (the "ringtone maker" is no longer included), although big extraneous components like the PhotoSuite photo editor and audiox mixing tools remain. Those may be useful to the neophyte, but anybody wanting to really tweak their photos is likely to fire up an Adobe product, or something that came with their camera, or with their computer, or some other full featured package. Including such superfluous programs in a Media Creator suite (when they are available from so many other sources) seems excessive, but I guess it lets the publisher lengthen the feature list.

Other major enhancements include support for Blu-Ray, HD DVD, and HD video, though I didn't have the equipment to check out that new functionality.

If you don't need the Vista support, or the enhanced DVD support, there's not a burning reason (pun intended!) to upgrade from Roxio Creator Suite 9 to Roxio Creator Suite 10. But if you're in the market, this is a fine product and does its core media work as advertised.

While I wish it were more streamlined still, the software works well, installs easily, and has become more streamlined than before. Recommended with a 5 star rating.

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Maybe it's my computer, although everything else except this runs fine. It took me over two hours just to install this, it kept locking up and stalling. I had to keep rebooting. Finally got it loaded, took forever to open it. Got it opened, started looking thru it's features and inadvertently closed it down, haven't been able to open it up again since. Have restarted the computer three or four times and the program just won't open.

I have an older version of this that runs great, this new version though is a total waste. I'll probably just end up removing it unless I can somehow get it to work. For now though it's just useless.

UPDATE: After getting a corrected copy of the software, I reinstalled it. The product does function similar to previous versions. I burned a copy of a DVD and it went smoothly and without problems. There are a lot of features in this software, unless you're a complete AV geek, you'll probably find that there's more here than you need. But some features are just good to have. The installation is apparently the most complicated aspect of this software, the instructions don't tell you, but you need to remove any and ALL traces of previous versions, most software will overwrite existing versions, this does not. I ended up having to save everything to my hard drive and install from there. This is a glitch that hopefully the people at Roxio will rectify soon.

Once you get over the hurdle of installation, you're on your way.

I used one of the very early versions of Roxio a long time ago and did not like their menu system so I switched to Nero, which at that time was a bare-bones simple CD burning application. I have used Nero ever since as I watched it get bloated with more and more "features" that had little or nothing to do with CD/DVD burning. Nero is truly several separate applications rather than a suite, and the CD/DVD burning portion is capable but very dated. My new computer came pre-loaded with Roxio Creator 9 so I have been using it for several months and had no problems with it. I liked some of the new features of Creator 10 when it was introduced but was completely scared away by all of the negative, and even hostile, reviews. Recently I was able to buy it for 39 after rebates and figured I couldn't go wrong for the price. After using it for a while here are my first impressions:

The variety and usefulness of the included applications is amazing. Even at full price I think it is one of the best software bargains in the world. I have tried each of the apps, though not in depth, at this point and they each work. My favorite is the audio capture function. Unlike everything else out there that requires several steps to capture audio, Creator 10 installs a widget on your screen in which you simple press a red "record" button to capture a clip. After the capture is completed you are taken to a very easy to use audio editing screen where you can trim and equalize your clip before saving it to a variety of popular formats. This application alone is worth the price of the entire bundle.

Also included are a competent backup program, nice media player (but come on, who needs another media player with Microsoft, Apple and Real dominating the market?), label creator, media manager (a cool app that catalogs all those unlabeled CD/SVD disks you have laying around), apps to easily create music and video compilations, a nice photo editing app plus a panorama photo stitcher, a pretty capable video editing program (although I'm puzzled why it can't read FLV files), a cassette/LP converter tool, and about 10 more highly useful tools.

Negatives? Well first of all I will semi-dispute what several reviewers have said about it freezing their system on installation. I thought so too, and then realized that a full install was loading over 50,000 files into my computer and even though I have a very powerful computer, the process took almost 45 minutes, making it the longest load time for any software I've ever owned. Where Roxio messed up is that the install screen only has a simple message that "installation may take several minutes". There are long periods ... like a couple of minutes at a time ... where the status bar does nothing and you would swear your computer is frozen. You just have to have a lot of patience and resist the urge to terminate the install, which may be why some people have had so much trouble with the software. Roxio could save a lot of frustration by making the install process a little more clear.

My other concern is that my anti-virus and anti-spyware programs (from two different companies) both identified Creator 10 as mal-ware. I would like to know more about what information Roxio is gathering from my computer and how they are using it. Software companies should be more open with their customers about such things.

Bottom line is that I don't think Creator 10 is as bad as some people make it out to be. Today's computers are incredibly complex and there seems to be a tendency to blame hardware or software for lack of understanding of how computers work. Other than your operating system, Creator 10 is probably one of the most complicated things you can install on your computer and there is no doubt it will have a noticeable effect on performance. If you choose to go with Creator 10 make sure you have a very capable system with plenty of hard drive space and as much memory as you can afford. I'm giving it 4 stars because I think overall the positives outweigh the negatives.