Showing posts with label digital voice recorder pen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label digital voice recorder pen. Show all posts

Saturday, November 1, 2014

Safety Technology HC-ARPUR-DVR Air Purifier Hidden Camera With Built In Dvr

Safety Technology HC-ARPUR-DVR Air Purifier Hidden Camera With Built In DvrI purchased this hidden camera because I believe my property manager is sneeking around in my apartment whenever I'm not here and I want proof in case any incidents may occur in the future. She is such a nosy witch!! I wasn't sure if it was working so I decided to pull the SD Card and put it in my laptop and see if anything was on it after owning it for about 2 weeks.

I should remember to turn it off when I'm at home. Over 100 videos taken of me with very little clothing!!! It is DEFINITELY motion sensitive and does NOT continuously run. It works absolutely great!!!! I am very pleased because you CANNOT tell that it is running; just what you want in a hidden camera!

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Sunday, October 19, 2014

Panasonic HDC-DX1 AVCHD 3CCD High Definition DVD Camcorder with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

Panasonic HDC-DX1 AVCHD 3CCD High Definition DVD Camcorder with 12x Optical Image Stabilized ZoomYou really have to be in the Blue-Ray camp to enjoy this camera fully. If you have a Sony Play Station 3 you're set for playback and the future with Blue-Ray for High Definition movies. Otherwise you will need a Blue-Ray player for playback of the miniDVDs and any other regular DVDs you record to. Also, so far it's one of the last camcorders from Panasonic with 5.1 sound and High Definition recording, which is a big plus for sound. It's seems the newer camcorders are actually going backwards with 2 channel sound instead of 5.1. With Nero 8, which you'll have to buy separately, you can copy movies to your computer for editing and burning back on to a larger size regular recordable DVD, i.e., DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD+-RW or DL disks (they don't have to be Blue-Ray recordable DVDs). The camcorder records Blue-Ray format to regular DVDs. You just have to remember that they still won't play back on a regular DVD player, you'll need a Blue-Ray player or a Play Station 3. There have been complaints about this, but you're recording High Definition video now, so why would you except to play it back on a lower quality DVD system? This camera is for the future. If you want a DVD recordable camcorder, there are cheaper, less capable models that that do that. But if you want High Definition recording, with 5.1 sound, then this is the camera to get. One other thing to remember, the recording process to a miniDVD whether it's with this camera or any other miniDVD camera is different than with tapes. The miniDVD will have to be finalized if you want to use it outside the camera on a DVD player (Blue-Ray or not). There is an extra step involved from tape recording. Some people just don't understand this and complain. The one thing about this camera is that you can only finalize using the A/C charger and not with the battery in the camera. This means you'll probably shoot video and finalize the disks at home, not outside where you are shooting. Other miniDVD camcorders may allow finalizing with battery power which may be more convenent to do, but I don't find not having this a drawback for this camera.

I bought this camera to compliment my 46 in. Samsung Full HD LCD TV. The picture was very nice although the 30 mins. limitation of the DVD writeable media and the need to finalize the disk was a setback. I donot have the Blue Ray player yet so I connected my LCD TV using DVI to HDMI cable to my HTPC Windows Vista running on Dual core AMD 64 and an HD video card to view the HD picture taken from this camera and I am really pleased.

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I purchase the HDC-DX1 about a month ago and have been very happy with the picture quality, the picture enhancement features, etc. I was disappointed to find out after my purchase that I needed special software to download the content to, and edit it on, my computer and probably need a Blue Ray DVD burner to be able to create edited disks. I haven't worked with the software yet, so be sure you understand the implications of buying a camera with a format that is not the standard format used by most digital cameras.

Read Best Reviews of Panasonic HDC-DX1 AVCHD 3CCD High Definition DVD Camcorder with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom Here

I bought this from Amazon over two weeks ago and used it to shoot about 2 hours of video in different places and conditions. I would rate this an excellent camera for the Price. Sure, there is stuff out there but considering the price that this is the cheapest Hi-Def. camera at nearly half the price. 3CCD really make a big difference in dynamic lighting conditions and this camera took on the challenge. Playback on Sony Grand WEGA 50" at 1080i was excellent. Be mindful that Cameras' used in Discovery/National Geographic are in the range of $30k $45k. The marginal gains are un-economical for my purposes. Again, extremely pleased and would Highly recommend it. Thanks Panasonic. A+.

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Forget about posting your videos to the Internet. The format it records in won't play in browsers. And there's no software anywhere that will convert it. Be prepared to wait for the door to open any time you need to take out a disk. Wait about 30 seconds. The door pops open. Insert a disk. Wait another 30 seconds. OK, so take your videos and the disk is full. Now wait again, because the disk must be finalized to play it in the camera. Want to play it outside the camera? OK. Remove the battery. Plug the adapter cord into the camera. Plug the other end into the charger. Plug in the charger. Hunt through the menus until you find the option to finalize the disk for playing elsewhere. Now wait 10 minutes for it to process. Want to transfer videos to your computer? Make sure you use the USB cord supplied. Make sure no other USB devices are plugged into your computer. Make sure you're using Windows XP. Computer won't recognize the camera? Sorry. That can happen--the camera isn't guaranteed to work with any computer.

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Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Creative Labs NOMAD MuVo NX 128 MB Flash Drive MP3 Player

Creative Labs NOMAD MuVo NX 128 MB Flash Drive MP3 Player
  • 128 MB of flash memory holds up to 4 hours WMA or 2 hours MP3 music when recorded at 64 kbps (WMA) or 128 kbps (MP3)
  • Works as a USB Flash Drive with any PC or Mac with USB 1.1 port, holds the equivalent of 176 floppies
  • Built-in microphone records up to 8 hours of high quality monaural voice recording
  • Connect to any Creative Speaker system with the M-PORT interface for instant music playback through your speakers
  • Compatible with Windows 98SE, 2000, Me, and XP

I first purchased the RIO sports mp3 player (the red one). Anyway, it was a piece of junk. I took it back and got this one! This thing is the best! the detachable portion that holds the battery is replaceable, which means if you drop it, most likely it will fall on the detachable battery until and leave your player in tact. I just can't say enough about this player,, in the 50 hours of use I have used it, I have not had one problem! It has suffered swet, drops and general abuse and has held up wonderfully!

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I have my MuVo NX 128MB for 6 weeks now and I can't fault it.

I find it strange that the 256MB version of this product gets 5 stars and this 128MB version gets 3. It's the same product with a different memory configuration.

I see one user , Emir complaining about the uneven length of the earphones. This is normal. The longer one is supposed to go behind your neck. I've seen this with Sony & Sennheiser earphones too.

I also see someone else complaining about the sound quality. This unit has a Signal To Noise Ration of 98dB. This is much hihger than any other MP3 player. If the music doesn't sound good then the chances are that it's your MP3 recording which is at fault.

Read Best Reviews of Creative Labs NOMAD MuVo NX 128 MB Flash Drive MP3 Player Here

This MP3 is AWESOME! It also doubles as a mass storage device. I particularly like the fact that you can put ANY music format on it. I put FIVE albums with .wma format, and listen for hours with one battery (I usually don't crank the volume past 21). Emir Causevic rated some problems with the device, but the solutions follow: First, you have to PRESS & HOLD the play button to power the device up. Same to power it down. This protects against inadvertant operation. Second, the earphones are SUPPOSED to come different length, because when you wear the device on your arm, the distance to the further ear is greater, so the extended cord reaches over, so you don't have excessive cord dangling about. Comes with arm band and red AND silver casing. This MP3 ROCKS!!!

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i've owned the device for 5 mo now, and it's done a beautiful job as a "walkman" and a usb storage device (ppt files, etc.). having read every review on amazon, i was a bit concerned about the 'lasting quality' of the device, but i haven't had any trouble, even after having dropped it a few times. the factory headphs are undeniably bad; i bought a pair of sennheiser mx500s as a replacement. the irivers obviously have a solid reputation when it comes to these "compact mp3" players, but i couldn't deal with having another connecting cable (from mp3 player->computer) on my desk. the built-in plug on the muvo and its size just makes it an all around convenient little gadget. to echo a previous reviewer, if you're concerned about the 'order' of your uploaded songs, use the "copy to device" function in windows media player. oh and for those that are just doing +/-30-min workouts, 128mb is more than enough storage space.

finally, if you're really paranoid about warranties, etc. look into your credit card options visa (platinum) said it would double the manufacturer's warranty, so that took my muvo from 3->6 mos. if that's still not enough for you, then look into buying an iriver from best buy and purchasing the additional 1-2yr coverage direct through best buy.

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I have always wanted to have a MP3 player + USB Flash drive combo. Creative Muvo was a step in that direction, but it had its drawbacks: cheap plastiky look, max memory of 128MB, no LCD.

Then along came Muvo NX with all these issues fixed. One of the best things you'll like about this player is that it does not require any drivers on the Windows 2K/XP (maybe other versions also but I haven't checked). So you can practically work off any computer. Just drag and drop your MP3 or WMA into the player and you are all set...

It sounds great and is light-weight enough to put in your shirt pocket and not feel it. At 256MB storage capacity, I can simultaneously have sufficent number of songs on the player to last me a long trip as well as have a number of work-related documents to carry between workplace and home.

You will need to get a good headset, though. The earphones that come in the box are uncomfortable and slippery and would just not stay in the ears.

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Sony MHS-CM5 bloggie HD Video Camera (Violet)

Sony MHS-CM5 bloggie HD Video CameraAmazon is obviously filled with fake reviews from either fanboys or competing company employes. I bought this camera, and even reviewed it, compared it to other cameras like the Kodak zi8 (search google for "letsfindjesus bloggie" to find videos of my review). The Sony is the best under $200 camcorder on the market. Its auto focus is quick, the colors are rich and accurate, and the mono mic actually sounds good. It has a built in usb plug (which is also used to charge) and pretty good face detection. The still camera (unlike the pocket cams) actually takes decent 5 megapixel photos. It has a playback speaker which is loud enough. The 5X optical zoom is smooth, and the digital zoom is well... a digital zoom. Bottom line, for the price the picture quality and build is mighty good.

There is some negatives, I listed them below, none are deal breaking.. more of a wish list. The biggest feature missing for me is Steady Shot (image stabilization) on the 1080p and 720/60 frame modes. The Kodak zi8 has this, but it looks like crap on 1080p so I guess I would rather not have this feature if the hardware is too slow to process the steady shot. Which is why im guessing Sony didnt include this feature on the higher quality modes.

Pros:

-Very acceptable video quality

-Good sounding mic

-GREAT accurate colors

-5X optical zoom

-for once a decent still camera

-quick zoom

-SD memory card capable and Memory Stick Pro Duo

-Record and upload.. its in a format that just.. Works.

-Mac and PC friendly

Cons:

-Battery lasts a little over an hour (buy an extra!)

-Steady Shot is only on 720P (30 Frames/sec) and VGA

-lens cap instead of hardware lens open/close

-mic is mono (but its not bad)

-no manual focus

-low light (like all low cost camcorders) isnt the best, and the focus is slow/struggles in low light

I bought this camera as we prepared to go on spring break. We didn't have a whole lot of time to figure things out before we left so we had to learn on the fly.

The good:

Lightweight, easy to use

Good picture quality overall

Color does shift with different light levels though

The bad:

An issue I found was with the image stabilizer. Honestly the images look better with it off. The picture is too jumpy and struggles to frame things up and focus with it on. Seems counter-intuitive but I can't explain it any other way.

The Ugly:

The Sony web site indicates the unit comes with a charger wrong

In typical Sony style the customer service agent tried to imply to me that the charger was only included if I bought it directly from Sony. The problem is that if you intend to travel and do not have a computer to hook the USB cable up to you are out of luck for charging the battery. After multiple calls to Sony pointing out their website is wrong I finally gave up and called the local Sony Style Store. The manager looked up the website info and agreed that it was wrong. He had me come by the store and gave me the charger needed to charge the battery without a computer. A huge thanks goes out to him, I hope Sony corp customer service can learn something from this.

Amazon buyers please be aware your package will not include a battery charger. It will only have the USB cable to charge the camera.

Overall:

Don't expect quality on par with a $1000+ camera. But as far as this camera goes it's pretty good and a good value

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I bought the CM5 after trying out a couple of other HD camcorders. I just wanted a basic, easy-to-use camcorder that films in 1080p and was easy to upload to YouTube, Facebook, etc. This camera met all those requirements. It is very easy to use, takes great quality video and uploading to YouTube was a snap with the included software. I've never been a BIG fan of Sony's imaging products because they use the Memory sticks but this camcorder will accept either the Memory sticks OR SD cards. It was easy to setup. The camera has software built-in (like the Flip does) but it also comes with a more feature filled version that you can install on your computer. It transfers and uploads easily. The only drawback is that it won't stand up on its own whereas, based on the location of the flip-out USB connection, you would "think" that it should. It has froze a couple of times but not while recording, only when trying to turn it off. I had to pop the battery out and back in and it worked fine again. Certainly not a deal-breaker for me. The mic is good also despite being a mono mic. The camera has an image stabilization feature but it is NOT available at 1080p. That being said, I did not encounter too much shaking (that wasn't my fault) when filming in 1080p. Nice things about this camera vs the Flip (as that is obviously what it's trying to compete with): it films in 1080p/30fps (no Flip does that), it has removable memory (SD or Memory sticks)so you can bring along extra memory, and it has a removable battery (so you can bring along an extra battery without having to recharge it). The view screen is a little hard to see unless it's angled right at you. Other than that, I really like the camera. If you are a non-techie that wants an easy to use camera that films in 1080p, you should get this camera.

Read Best Reviews of Sony MHS-CM5 bloggie HD Video Camera (Violet) Here

For those of you that think $200 will get you results of a $1500 video camera, you can forget that! For the price, this is an excellent camera. It's small, easy to use, starts up quickly, and takes great video. It does struggle in low light, but most cameras do. The picture looks great on my Sony 1080P TV.

A great feature the camera has is the ability to zoom while recording. Many point and shoot cameras do not allow.

As for it being 1080P. Of course it's not Blue Ray quality 1080P. But the resolution is there. It does have a sharper picture than the 720P Sony DSC-W290.

This camera is worth every penny. And this is coming from someone who installs home theaters for a living.

As for the review about the 1080P complaint. You need to learn that it's more marketing than anything. There is a difference between low cost 1080 sensors and expensive 1080 sensors. Yes it shoots great videos. No it's not as good as a high end $125,000 piece of equipment. And yes you will get better video if you spend $1500.

As for taking still images, it's your average camera phone quality. But that's what the DSLR is for.

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I purchased this camera and only tested it briefly before going on vacation to Disney World.

It performed beautifully in many sutuations, including the fireworks show. It is slow focusing in low light, but the quality of the videos, once focused, is very good. I also tested the 5MP stills and the quality was very good.

My only complaint is the screen. As with all cameras w/o an eyepiece, or even your cell phones, it is very difficult to see in sunlight. Even with the brightness up full, you must try to stand in the shade to get some idea of what is on the screen. One suggestion is to throw a towel, jacket or whatever over your head and camera, that should help. p.s. I did not try that.

The software supplied is something else. I still haven't gotten it to work correctly and video downloads will not run within the PMB program supplied. I have to use a quicktime video program to view on my PC.

However, that said, the videos play beautifully on my HD TV.

Buy a minimum of 16GB SD class 4 card and another battery and you are all set. USB charging is horrible, agonizingly slow.

Buy a charger and you will get a full charge in 90 minutes and not hours and hours that the USB hookup takes.

Enjoy! It's a fun camera.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

EasyCap DC60 - USB 2.0 Video Capture Adapter with Video Editing Software

EasyCap DC60 - USB 2.0 Video Capture Adapter with Video Editing SoftwareIt works... I have no idea how other people could not find the product key... It's clearly on the cd case.

This was awesome, and works as promised :)

I bought this to be able to rip old video cassettes to a format saveable to DVD.

Everything connected up easily. The picture you get through this connector/adapter is ok, and the software that comes with it does permit some basic picture adjustment. However, the audio quality is full of static and hiss and is completely unacceptable.

I wound up having to use an older RCA to stereo mini jack adapter to go right from the VCR into the line level input on the back of my PC. Then, the sound was perfect. No static or hiss.

I will be trying to use this device to do my ripping, but the audio connectors should work flawlessly, and they do not, so I can't recommend it.

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Don't get me wrong, it works to a certain extent but I have tried just about everything I could to get it to work fully on Windows 7 (even though the CD itself said it was compatible) and the best I could do was get audio but no video. So my more powerful and convenient laptop was rendered useless with this device. My PC with Vista worked a little better but since it's the cheap knockoff version, it doesn't work with audio very well at all. The video was what I expected but the best I could do with the audio aspect was to use my USB microphone to record game footage, which understandably was of low quality.

I like how the "listed price" is $39.99 for this when it's actually the listed price for the real EZCap.... if you plan on adding your own custom tracks to the final product then this is a great great deal, if not then you better go elsewhere or find a workaround that fixes the audio.

The real EZCap can be found here:

Read Best Reviews of EasyCap DC60 - USB 2.0 Video Capture Adapter with Video Editing Software Here

If you have Windows 7 you need to download Win7 drivers to get this to work (it doesn't come with the package & doesn't install automatically either). There are some good instructions on YouTube on how to set this up and gives the link for the Win7 drivers (go to YouTube and do a search for "Easycap windows 7 driver"). After doing that I eventually got this to work. However, I found the quality of the captured video to be a little choppy. It's still viewable but just a little choppier than when the video was captured via the firewire port.

So if you get this device, I suggest you compare with the video quality via a firewire connection (if you have one). In my case the firewire connection was significantly better.

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My son ordered this item and when it arrived and wasnt compatible he contacted the sellar and they were more than happy to exchange it for the one he needed. They were very helpful and the compatible one arrived quickly. ALl I suggest when ordering this for you laptop just make sure to read what it is compatible with. But if you purchase it from the sellar we did you will have no problems even if you accidentally order the wrong one.

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Friday, July 25, 2014

Motorola SLVR L7 Unlocked Cell Phone with Camera, MP3/Video Player, MicroSD Slot--International Ver

Motorola SLVR L7 Unlocked Cell Phone with Camera, MP3/Video Player, MicroSD Slot--International Version with Warrantyi have had so many problems with this phone and it has only been two days. They sent a European charger with a converter so when my phone wouldn't charge, I figured that was the problem. After spending $25 on a new charger, I learned that it was the phone that had the problem. The user's manual is in French (luckily I know some French) so it is no use to most buyers. The phone came with a warranty, but no contact info to act on it. My sister and brother-in-law both bought SLVRs from AT&T and love them, so I would recommend that route. DO NOT order it from here.

I didn't buy this through Amazon; I got it through Verizon 2 years ago. It was the best phone I owned, and I wish I could have kept it if it didn't wear out. It is thin, has great sound quality, and the ringtones/ringer were crystal clear, even two years later. Only downside was the phone would freeze once in a while and I'd have to pull the battery out, but that would happen only once every few months.

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I love my Slvr L7 it looks great, it works just fine.. small, convenient, easy to use and cute. I had some big problems with my seller that I'm STILL trying to resolve (MobilePC, if you're interested). For one thing, I didn't realize that "International version" means there's no US charger which they later told me about. For another, I hear the Slvr's can be kind of temperamental and the first two I received from MobilePC absolutely were. After I found a good seller, I got one that works with my SIM and is everything I could've hoped for!

Read Best Reviews of Motorola SLVR L7 Unlocked Cell Phone with Camera, MP3/Video Player, MicroSD Slot--International Ver Here

The Slvr is not worth buying.

My SIM card kept slipping out of the bracket that is supposed to hold it in place. The camera is less than impressive although it does have zoom. I thought it would be great to have a phone compatible with iTunes, but the lacking functionality of the phone overall made it hard to enjoy. I also thought the clarity of the screen and images was very poor. The phone had terrible reception in areas where I normally have no problems and I was using the same provider.This was all relative to whether or not my SIM card was actually registering as having been inserted. Bottomline...I was disappointed with the Motorola Slvr. I'm sticking with my LG for now.

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Sunday, June 15, 2014

Samsung YP-E32 Yepp MP3 Player

Samsung YP-E32 Yepp MP3 Player
  • 32 MB built-in memory with SmartMedia memory expansion slot
  • 7-mode audio equalizer with 3-D audio setting
  • 3-line LCD screen
  • Records up to 2 hours of voice audio
  • Telephone directory stores hundreds of contacts

The YEPP is a good MP3 player (I have the 64MB version). I couldn't get it working on my Windows NT notebook, but on my Win 98SE machine the install was a breeze. The magnesium case is nice, and the voice recording feature is quite handy. Sound quality is good, but not great. The player can play at a decent volume.

Some things to consider before purchasing (I'm comparing this to a friend's RIO 500):

-the headphones that come with the YEPP are absolutely terrible. Then again, the RIO's headphones bite as well.

-the parallel port transfer isn't very fast (~140 kb/s .. about 7 minutes for the entire 64 MB). Compare that to a USB RIO which takes about 2 minutes to transfer 64 MB.

-the 3 line LCD screen is not backlighted and in MP3 mode one line is wasted by displaying the EQ setting (I'd rather see the line used for information about the MP3). The RIO's screen is much nicer. Granted, I don't look at the screen that much.

-the YEPP uses 2 AAA batteries, versus the RIO's single AA battery. If you plan to use Alkalines, the RIO will end up costing you alot less (2 AAA batteries aren't cheap .. especially with a battery life of ~6 hours).

If you can live with the drawbacks, this is a very good MP3 player. It can do voice recording, and is quite a bit cheaper than the RIO. Skip the 32MB version and head right for 64MB.

Did I mention that MP3s and these MP3 players are awesome?

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I first heard about MP3 players a while ago, and thought they seemed like a fairly cool idea but wouldn't have considered buying one (impoverished student, the usual... :), although I have about a hundred MP3 files of varying quality on my HD. However, I won a Yepp in a competition about a week ago and I am hugely impressed! I can't be too objective as I hadn't surveyed the market beforehand, but I am very pleased with the Samsung. The gadget itself is tiny, sparkly and pleasantly understated, and the sound from it is brilliant: very low background noise, accurate reproduction of the file's quality (it plays files with a variety of conversion rates) and 7 different preset EQs (of which, to be honest, I have only used "normal" and "rock", although it has 3-D sound capabilities). My biggest complaint would be with the earphones that came with it, which were pants, but once these had been replaced with a pair of my own I could better appreciate the player. It is very small, very shockproof and sounds great, as well as having a large amount of that mystical "gadget value" I'd definitely recommend it.

Read Best Reviews of Samsung YP-E32 Yepp MP3 Player Here

I bought the 64MB version of the Samsung Yepp. Why did I choose Samsung over the others? Well, I crossed the RIO 500 off my list early on because it lacks the voice recording capabilities of virtually every other mp3 player in the market. Sure, not essential, and USB connectivity might be more useful than a voice recorder, but hey, the Yepp is supposed to have a USB cable in the pipeline.

So why the Yepp and not the Nomad or RaveMP? Well, the Nomad has a FM tuner, but it's not upgradeable important since 32MBFlash cards are probably going to be dirt cheap in a year or two. And the RaveMP has an ugly design in my humble opinion.

So what did I think of the YEPP when I got it? It's a great wee player. Loud enough for even the soft music I listen to, VERY compact unit with a good belt clip (Which the RIO and the Nomad lack). Battery life was less than expected, it's more like 6-8 hours. Button interface is very logical and easy to use, I like the erase on the fly button, allowing you to free up memory for voice recording while "on the road". Sound quality was excellent, and as expected. However, the headphones really suck, hardly a revelation.

If I liked the player so much, why did I just give it 4 stars? Well, my player SKIPPED like crazy sometimes several times during a track. I'm quite sure it is a flash memory problem because it skips in the same places each time you play it, and in the same way. I've just sent my unit back for replacement, and hope the flash memory problem is not a common one. I've looked around for reviews from people with the same problem without much luck, so I felt compelled to warn everyone to check that their unit doesn't skip Samsung emailed me to say that the problem I described pointed to a defective unit.

In the end, I can't be too harsh, because I quickly fell in love with my YEPP, and would highly recommend it above others on the market. The Rio is good if out of the box USB is vital to you, but you should seriously consider the YEPP for it's additional features over the Rio. Just be careful with flash memory problems.

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To begin with, when I fist bought this little player, there was no review on it, so I was a little bit scared to buy it. But I did it, and I didn't regret. It has an easy to use software if your computer supports ECP mode. The good thing is you can run software on NT (My friend has an eiger lab mp3 player and its software does not run on NT, so everytime he wants to copy mp3s to his player, he needs to switch his OS) One of the best things about YEPP is you can record sound for about 2 hrs. The energy consumption is good, I am using my player extensively since last week and its battery is 2/3 now, but keep in mind that it uses 2 AAA battery. You can also store your telephone entries in your mp3 player but I believe that mp3 player is not the right tool to do such a thing (I'd prefer a palm). The worst thing about YEPP is its earphones without discussion, so if you plan to buy a YEPP player, add an additional earphone cost onto it for a realistic cost analysis. In summary: Pros: EQ modes, sound recording, design, low battery consumption, easy to use software (also works on NT), low cost/benefit ratio Cons: Low Quality Earphones, the navigation button makes sound

I've been using cd players for a while, but since i'm fairly athletic, i was constantly annoyed by skipping! (even though my discman was an esp2) I was also frusterated cuz I had to carry around like 10 cd's wherever I went just to get my favorite songs. I considered buying a cd recorder, but those usually run steep, and you have to wait like an hour to burn one cd. So, while browsing on amazon, I found the Yepp. It's the coolest, lightest, best-sounding player I've ever used! Songs are free, and if you encode your cd's at 56kbps, you can fit up to 80 minutes of music on it. People say it'll sound cruddy, but really, it doesn't. The voice recording feature is also really cool, as is the phone directory. The +'s: lightweight, super small, NEVER skips, sounds great, lots of features, easy to use software, big LCD display-the list goes on. The -'s: no mac adapter(yet:), needs to ship with a better manual. Overall, this is the best MP3 player I've seen on the internet for what you pay. Definitly worth the money! Don't waste your bucks on a mini disc!

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Iomega 35045 ScreenPlay TV Link DX HD Media Player

Iomega 35045 ScreenPlay TV Link DX HD Media PlayerFirst this is awesome player with huge I TB capacity.

You can dump all your personal photos, videos, movies, songs and watch/listen at a click of button. Included remote (mini keyboard) is good but it will take some time before to get used.

I tried with MKV, JPG, AVI, BMP, MP3 formats and it works well.

Sometimes it is struck but that is fine we can't expect powerful processor for less than $200. Not yet tried with Netflix.

But for web browser it is like basic only you can't read text as letters are very small.

PROS:

1. 1 TB hard disk

2. Runs almost all formats with Ease

3. Bearable starting and running speed

4. Can run Music and photos simultaneously

5. Include WIFI USB which is good if you are setting home network.

6. Included HDMI cable

7. Joystick (Player Control Pad) is awesome when you are watching YouTube or searching.

8. Can run for older TV's with composite AV cables

9. Pretty fast when copying files to hard disk. Copied 60 GB in 1 hour.

10. Good YouTube app but some times alignment goes crazy may be video issue.

CONS:

1. Provides beta web browser i.e., you can't play anything out of website which ruined my happiness. If it supports Flash it would have been instant hit.

E.g. can't play any video from CNN, CNBC!!!!

This reduces 1 point in rating.

2. Struck when it can't run file types. But "Eject" button is helping to move back to home screen.

3. Very very small letters when you are typing. Literally invisible. Just assume you are typing correctly! Could have been better if input window enlarges when typing.

4. No Zoom functionality except for photos.

Nice-to-have

Could have provided home screen back ground music.

Printed Manual atleast for some items like key board, navigation, home network setup.

Lengthy cables like power cord, HDMI, composite cables.

[Update: December 2011 IOmega pushed out a software update that returned Netflix to useable and added VUDU support. I should also apologize; I had stated the previous update broke my HDMI connection, turns out it was just a loose connector. So I am now returning this to 3 stars.]

I was happy to take delivery of this product. I have my old HDTV relegated to basement duty and this media player promised, and delivered on the amount of content I could deliver to it. Specifically, I needed a Netflix player, and a player capable of handling the high definition over the air recordings hosted on my Linux MythTV server (and delivered via the UPnP AV protocol). And, ideally do so without too much wasted standby power.

So, yes, the hardware has shown itself quite capable of playing 1080i and 720p MPEG2 video streams, and put out Dolby Digital over its TOSLink optical port. And it has a Netflix player. In addition, the recent software update brought support for VUDU with its high bitrate HDX format. This is a superior format that lower powered devices like Roku or Apple TV are apparently unable to handle for pure performance reasons. And it logged into my Pandora music account, and has player apps for several other online services. Setup was plug and play easy. Energy usage was pretty good. And yet I'm not satisfied.

The software is not competitive with other devices. I have a Roku and an Apple TV in the house and both of those platforms are beautiful, consistent and easy to navigate. This ScreenPlay is just a mess. Navigation varies between apps, such that the way you get out of the UPnP app is different from the way to quit the Netflix app, which is different from how you get around in the VUDU app. Transitions are slow, User interface elements are primitively drawn. While you can store photos on the device, and it has a slideshow feature, it is embarrassingly simple and ugly compared to the gentle or eye catching transitions on other devices or PCs.

The strongest bit of software is strangely, the newest. I like the VUDU app quite a bit. It's well organized, feature filled and delivers what is reputably some of the highest quality streaming content available. As an added bonus, I got a free HDX movie rental when I activated this device.

This unit comes with a Terabyte hard drive, which can be used as a NAS and to store content for internal playback. Unfortunately, I'm at a loss to setup a secure username/password of my own choosing. Apparently, there is a standard username/password pair, but that seems intolerably insecure. Similarly, I have media files on a password protected network share and the ScreenPlay can't see them because I'm never asked for my credentials. Luckily, my mythtv server can see them and provides them via UPnP although that seems a bit roundabout.

Energy efficiency is pretty good. Not 2nd generation Apple TV good (the Apple TV gets along on a single Watt playing NetFlix), but pretty good. Playback tends to use about 11 Watts, while instant on sleep drains 8 Watts. Alternatively, you can setup the machine to basically turn itself off when you hit the remote's power button and that is immeasurably low power (as measured by a Kill-A-Watt). You lose instant on, non-instant on takes 40 seconds, but it's a nice option to have for an infrequently used device. I'm particularly impressed because my other 1080i MPEG2 capable HTPCs are Intel Atom based machines that soak up 30+ Watts on idle, a sickening waste of power.

Related to energy efficiency is fan noise. The fan is noticeable if not oppressive. One more reason to turn off the unit when not in use. It's unfortunate they could not get the power usage low enough to passively cool.

The remote is sort of cute, but infrared remotes are notoriously unreliable for typing, and this is no exception. Be prepared for any given keystroke to be lost during text entry. I'm also taking some time to getting used to using the right circle of navigation arrows, when my hands seem to always want to use the left media playback control circle. Also, for having so many buttons, where is the dedicated Netflix button?

The device comes with a browser. Don't bother. Browsers on the wall are a bad idea, and the implementation doesn't convince me otherwise.

So to summarize, a nice piece of hardware driven by substandard and uncompetitive software. Its only competitive advantage for me comes from its ability to play high bitrate video formats like VUDU HDX, and over the air MPEG2, something neither Ruku nor Apple TV are likely to gain on their current generation hardware. Also, it has an optical audio output, which my Roku XS does not have.

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This seemed like more than the WD Live as it has a Browser, that was the reason for my ordering it, along with a cool, full keyboard remote.

Sadly the Browser is useless, slow and quirky and really serves little purpose. I was also hoping that one could assign a VPN to the box allowing access to streaming media from the UK. Which it doesn't.

It did pick up my network, but does not recognize a USB hub, so you are limited to what you can connect to the 3 USB ports.

My reasons for giving it 2 stars, rather than 1, are it actually comes with a wireless dongle along with an HDMI cable. Many other manufacturers do not include this.

It will not playback BluRay files, again a drawback. But others seemed to stream over my network without any hiccups.

There is so little information about this product, even on iomega's website, which is why I ordered it in the hope it would work with my set-up.

So in conclusion, it's basically the same as a WD Live, it has Netlfix, Pandora, Mediafly etc. So if that's what you want and it fit's your needs, then choose whichever is the cheapest !! But if you are buying it for the browser, better you opt for GoogleTV.

Read Best Reviews of Iomega 35045 ScreenPlay TV Link DX HD Media Player Here

Setup was easy. Updated firmware and connected via ethernet. Netflix worked fine, but what I bought it for was streaming video from my PC. Some files worked...but froze more than I found acceptable...others were not compatible even though they were formats listed on the box (and Iomega's site) as playable formats.

The remote was horrible. Sometimes you hit the center button of the directional pad to select something, sometimes you don't and it's MUCH smaller than pictures make it appear. I'm no technophobe at all and was really hoping this would work as advertised...sadly it doesn't. I sold it and await something better...though I'm close to going with the Boxee Box. I had thought about considering the Iomega TV with Boxee (settop box not yet available), but with the way this Iomega product disappointed me, I doubt I'll go that route.

If all you want to do is watch Netflix or load Divx files to the hard drive and watch them, this unit might satisfy you. Anything more than that most likely will disappoint...

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In the last 6 months I have had nothing but problems with this product. The wireless adapter went out about 2 months ago and then the remote went out so now its a big brick sitting on the shelf that cant be used... Thanks Iomega I will never purchase product from them ever again... DO NOT BUY!!!

Sunday, May 4, 2014

EasyCAP DC60 - USB 2.0 Audio/video Creator Capture High-quality Analog Video

EasyCAP DC60 - USB 2.0 Audio/video Creator Capture High-quality Analog VideoFirst off, let me tell you This is an amazing deal. I have 3 computers, and while this doesn't work with two of them (It gets a scratchy audio noise, I think it's a problem with NVidia chipsets), it works with the third one. The problem most people are having is that it doesn't "display video correctly". After installing it, it should be recognized as a Syntek STK1160. You'll need to change the video from PAL to NTSC (If you live in America or Japan). Go to Control Panel -> Scanners and Cameras -> and right click on "Syntek STK1160" and select "Video Decoder Property". Change it from "PAL_B" (Or whatever it is) to "NTSC_M" (for America) and "NTSC_M_J" for Japan. You'll know the right one when it says "Signal Detected: 1". Enjoy ^_^

It doesn't work right with VirtualDub, but you can use AMCap (Google it) to record your video, and VirtualDub to edit and produce it.

Enjoy your AMAZING deal :D

I purchased this to try to capture some old VHS tapes and then burn to DVD. The instructions are awful. Since my old VCR can only reproduce a maximum of 270 lines, I did the following: Load the Easycap driver on my XP machine. Insert the Easycap into a USB 2.0 port (without the extension). Go to System in Control Panel and Hardware and locate Imaging device and insure that it is there. Next (don't even load their old software) run Windows Movie Maker, click capture device, go to camera settings and make sure you have NTSB-m selected. Next click video settings (I used 320x240 good enough for my VHS), and continue following instructions to capture your movie.

Note: I did NOT get this to work on my Vista machine!

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I bought this because I wanted a cheap way to get the movies from my DVR onto my computer. Also, I wanted to be able to lend this to my in-laws so they could transfer ALL of their VHS to DVDs. I played around with this thing for a good 3 hours and I almost returned it. I had tried the aforementioned suggestions but they weren't working for me. I finally saw a video on YouTube that showed how to configure it. I was able to get this to work on Windows Vista and Windows XP using 3 different computers (2 laptops and 1 desktop; all different video cards). Here's what I did:

1. I plugged in the device. When windows asked where the driver software could be found, I directed it to the disk.

2. After it was done installing the drivers, I installed the "Video Studio" software they have.

3. After my computer had restarted, I opened up their software (Ulead Video Studio SE DVD).

4. I clicked on the "Movie Wizard" button. (Windows Vista: If you get a message saying the color scheme has changed; ignore it)

5. I clicked "Capture"

6. From the source drop-down, I selected "Syntek STK1150"

7. Then click "Options" --> "Video and Audio Capture Property Settings"

8. Make sure "Input Source" is "Video Composite" (or "S-Video" if thats what you're using).

9. Make sure "TV System" is "NTSC" (or similar)

10. Make sure "Audio device" is "Digital Audio Interface (USB Audio)"

11. I also checked the "Preview audio USB device".

12. If it didn't appear already, you should see a live preview on the right-hand side.

13. From here, I was able to use Windows MovieMaker, AMCap, VirtualDub, Ulead, etc.

Currently, I'm using this to play game-cube games on my computer (as in right now).

Read Best Reviews of EasyCAP DC60 - USB 2.0 Audio/video Creator Capture High-quality Analog Video Here

I don't know how the EasyCap works on a Vista machine, but on my XP laptop (with only a 1.8Ghz Centrino processor) it works very well for turning VHS tapes into DVD's or ISO files. The Driver is simple and straight forward to install, and I am certain that the majority of people that have complained about poor audio quality haven't taken the time to set up the Capture or Burn settings correctly. The Audio Capture settings default to 64kbs Mpeg, which will result in poor audio quality. The Audio Capture setting needs to be increased to at least 128kbs, or better yet LPCM Audio. It is easy to overlook this, and it is critical for good audio performance especially for concert tapes. The Ulead software takes some time to master, but it works quite well after learning it, and the quality of the DVD's or ISO files (including motion menu's and chapters) it burns/generates is very good.

It's an amazing hardware/software package for the money. If you take the time to learn the software and configure it up properly, you will be very satisfied with the results.

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This product came out around 2004 to 2006. The program it comes with (VideoStudio SE) is no longer supported by Ulead. I cant even run the auto update after registering it. You need to search the site for whatever old patches there are and it is NOT listed under Videostudio SE. I've yet to find it.

Program from disc itself is easy to install and it is a good price for an old product that does somewhat run (doesn't always pick up a live feed).

However if you want something that's going to last awhile, before you buy this or any other video capture deveice, check its age. Wish I had....

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Honeywell Video HD51P Super High Resolution Vandal Resistant Dome Camera

Honeywell Video HD51P Super High Resolution Vandal Resistant Dome CameraSeems to be a good little cam. We use it to identify faces, if needed, at a pharmacy drop off location. The camera is about 20 feet away and is very clear. I cannot attest to the performance of the dome and camera is outside though.

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Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Ceton InfiniTV 6 ETH - 6-channel Cable TV Ethernet Tuner for CableCARD

Ceton InfiniTV 6 ETH - 6-channel Cable TV Ethernet Tuner for CableCARDI purchased this to replace my original Ceton I4 tuner. I pulled my old Ceton tuner out of my Windows 8 HTPC today and then re-paired my Time Warner cablecard to the new InfiniTV 6 ETH. The call took about 10 minutes. I also updated the Ceton software to the latest version. Make sure you uninstall the Ceton software before you install the new version. I didn't uninstall the old version before installing the new version. This caused a few issues for me when I tried to update the firmware on the I6. After uninstalling the ceton software, rebooting and reinstalling it, I had no further issues. I'm now watching live TV on my Xbox 360. This product paired with Windows Mediacenter is amazing.

This tuner is simple to setup and for people new to MCE should be a breeze to setup as the PC doesn't need to be opened. The packaging is perfect with a very comprehensive quick start guide follow this and you will have it working in no time. Just be clear to use the phrasing on the quick start when you ring your cable provider to activate the device.

Only downsides were it didn't come with the latest firmware updating could be confusing for anyone new to firmwares.

Bottom line, I have 3 PCs on my network all able to show live HD TV and record in HD just what I wanted.

Alex (Scyto)

Don't forget if you need help to use the forums http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/viewforum.php?f=68

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This is the CableCard tuner the Windows Media Center enthusiast like myself have been waiting for. Especially those of us whose cable companies went to switched Digital that require the bulky tuning adaptors. Finally it's possible to ditch the cable companies crappy DVRs (and the monthly fees that come with it).

The beauty of the InfityTV6 is that this device is entirely self-contained and gigabit Ethernet based and supports dynamic tuner pooling. This eliminated the requirement to have a host PC which the tuner and Coax would be tethered to. Now households that only have Windows laptops or tablets like the Surface Pro can use those devices to watch and or record their digital cable channels and roam freely without being tethered to the Coax. You could also use virtualization and consolidate hardware by installing Windows 7 or 8 Media Center in a VM and run it on the same box as you Windows Home server, or Windows 2008R2/2012 using HyperV, or of course Virtual Box or VMware.

The previous Ceton USB and PCIe tuners, did support network sharing of the tuners... But it required an always on Windows 7, Windows 2008 R2, or Home Server 2011 server and the tuners would have to be permanently assigned to any portable device wanting access to the tuners. This static tuner assignment is no longer required with this model.

My prior setup consisted of dual quad InfinitiTV tuners that required a cable splitter, 2 cable cards, and 2 tuning adaptors all tethered off the main recording PC. With the InfinitiTV6 I was able to return one cable card and tuning adaptor back to the cable company and hide the new device (and the remaining tuning adapter) behind my living room couch where I have an unused coax outlet and access to our lan removing the clutter from around our computer desk. Since I no longer have to statically assign tuners dropping from 8 to 6 tuners was not a problem as we never really required more than 6 simultaneous tuners anyways.

There is one major con that I encountered. Ceton's drivers do not support Windows 8 32 bit... So a Windows 7 32 bit computer that is upgraded to Windows 8 (or does a clean 32 bit install) will lose the ability to use their Ceton tuners on that machine unless it's rebuilt as a 64 bit machine.

Other Pros:

The Ceton drivers increase the 4 Tuner limit for both Windows 7 and Windows 8 so you can fully use all 6 tuners (or up to 12 if you have multiple InfinitiTVs).

The InfinitiTV6 comes with a mini USB port for use with a tuning adaptor where required... Ceton includes the special cable for this purpose in the box.

Note for best results... You should make sure you have a gigabit wired networking in your home in order to support the bandwidth required for 6 simultaneous HD streams. This means having good gigabit switches and CAT 5e/6 cables on the lan segments between the InfinitiTV6 and any media center PC acting as a DVR. For wireless devices it is strongly recommended they utilize Wireless A, or at a minimum be in the 5GHz band for Wireless N.

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Great Product 5 star I first want to say that I did purchase the infitnity ceton 4 and was nothing more than trouble never found the tuners but this item ceton 6 is amazing my xbox HTPC works flowless all my recordings on point.

Cons: Price customer service is poor but with this item you don't need customer service just obtain your cable card update the drivers and done.

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I preface this review by saying that I have owned multiple Ceton products and will continue to purchase Ceton products off the strength of their customer service offerings. That said there are some flaws that one should be aware when purchasing this item.

1. I have owned several pci-e versions of the InfiniTV4 since they first came out and outside of a few flaky drivers early in it's product life the tuner was rock solid (once I learned and troubleshooted all the various wiring issues, splitters, and amplifier needs within my house). the 6ETH is no different in this aspect, if your wiring in your house runs through too many splitters or poor quality splitters or an inline amplifier provides too much signal you could easily get poor reception from this tuner. So first step is to make sure that the feed has as few splitters as necessary and that the signal strength is higher than a standard cable box but not too high.

2. Since this is a network connected piece of hardware I ran into problems that I did not have with a previously stable system that had the pci-e InfiniTV installed. I had to purchase a new gigabit switch and replace all the wires with cat6 which resulted in for a brief time period anyways, all 6 tuners working flawlessly and with no pixelation.

3. Unfortunately after several days with help of Ceton customer support helping to trouble shoot we all came to the agreement that there was some issue within my wired home network that was causing pixelation and no tv signal errors to regularly pop up once more than 4 tuners were in use. I would have continued working with Ceton to find the issue but the wife and family would have frowned upon extended downtime of their main TV source.

In short, if your network and cabling do not cause ill effects then this is an amazing piece of hardware. But I for some unknown reason was unable to fix whatever my network issues are enough to have a rock solid stable setup.

So be aware that issues in getting this item to work might be in the network itself. I ended up going back to pci-e tuner instead (InfiniTV4)

Friday, January 17, 2014

ABC Products® Battery Charger for Li50B Li-50B Li50C Li-50C suits Olympus Mju 1010, 1020, 1030 SW,

ABC Products® Battery Charger for Li50B Li-50B Li50C Li-50C suits Olympus Mju 1010, 1020, 1030 SW, Mju Tough Series 6000, 6010, 6020, 8000, 8010, 9000, 9010, SP-610UZ, SP-720UZ, SP-800UZ, SP-810UZ, SZ-10, SZ-11, SZ-12, SZ-14, SZ-20, SZ-30, SZ-30MR, SZ-31, SZ-31MR, TG-610, TG-620, TG-810, TG-820, Smart D-750, D-755, D-760, VG-170, VR-340, VR-350, VR-360, XZ-1 Digital Camera etc + DM-3, DM-5 Voice & Music Recorder etcI purchased this charger to accompany the battery I bought in another review. I don't like charging batteries in the camers.

The charger is compact and yet versatile, works great. Great company to buy form.

This works just fine. It didn't take too long to arrive. Has a lot of different options, so very helpful! Not expensive at all! Anyone can use it.

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Sunday, January 5, 2014

Elgato 10020511 Eyetv 500 Digital Video Record

Elgato 10020511 Eyetv 500 Digital Video RecordI have the EyeTV 500 hooked up to my Dual 2.0 Ghz G5 Powermac. I had trouble receiving HDTV over the airwaves, but that is because I am in mountain terrain far from the broadcast towers. When I can get a signal locked in, the picture is great.

However, with the newest software the EyeTV 500 can decrypt clear QAM. This means that if your cable company does not encrypt their HD channels, the EyeTV 500 can decode it. Oddly, you have to hook up the cable to the "antenna out" jack if you are goihg to try to decode cable HDTV. On my cable system, I get ABC, CBS NBC and Discovery Channel HD.

The picture quality is superb and recording is easy (but it takes many gigabytes per hour). I find myself wanting to watch TV on my Mac now because the picture quality is so good.

Playing back full HD requires a G5, but G4s can play it back at a lower quality and it still looks really goood.

Interestingly, recording itself is not processor intensive. It mearly dumps the data stream over the firewire port. But playback requires processing the data, which takes power. But in theory you could set up a recording station with an older mac.

What I now want is a set top box that can stream HD content from my mac and display it on an HDTV. Such a device exists now (the Roku Labs Photobridge), but I have a strong suspiscion that newer and better devices, possibly even from Apple, are around the corner.

Followup: The newest version of the software is a Universal Binary and is reported to run great on Core Duo Intel Mac Mini, displaying full High Definition content with no problems.

I bought the EyeTv 500 as a solution to my TV needs. Being a European in the US i miss very much widescreen broadcasts that i am used to there and so the HDTV option was the obvious. I have it running on a 20" 1.8Ghz iMac G5 with 1.26GB RAM and a 250GB HD (also another same external). I live in a ground floor apartment which has no external aerial hookup so i have indoor (rabbit ears) antenna plugged into it (i may get up on the roof later and see if i can patch into the antenna). The reception is not fantastic (though the strange thing about DTV signals it that you get no fuzz. it's a fantastic picture, but it can drop out for a few seconds at a time. it's not variable, it's either there and great looking or its not there.) The system requirements shouldn't really be so low. It really does require a dual G5. Unfortunately you can't live downsample the HDTV signal to a 720 or SDTV signal to suit your machine. HDTV signals are choppy. Not really an ideal viewing solution. Great if you have a dual processor G5 i'm sure. But for anything less, don't expect much. My solution is to record the HDTV programs (which is not proceesor intensive), then downsample and compress them (which still ends up looking better than a regular analogue US NTSC signal on a regular TV) and then watch the recorded downsampled programs.

Note: EyeTV software only records the unadulterated HDTV signal. If you want to compress or change format you can export it (in EyeTV) to another format. But beware this encoding take a long long time. Turning a 30 minute recorded program into a MPEG-4 640x360 movie (which still looks really good from a TV viewing distance btw) it will take 4 hours (on my system which ain't the slowest by far!)

To be honest with you i bought this unit to replace my previous solution of downloading bittorrents of HDTV recorded programs. These torrents have becoem less widespread due to certain file sharing law suits. I like to be able to watch only the programs i like. Most of the rest of american TV browsing i find to be depressing. I do have a solution in this. I now can replace these downloaded TV programs with a Legal alternative, however i now realise the work that the kind person who recorded those programs and compressed them and put then on the internet did.

Result: If you've got a dual processor G5 and a good antenna hookup then get one of these. If you've got a lesser Mac and need to have a widescreen program (as i do) then get one but know that watching live TV won't be so good, and you'll have to wait a while before you can watch your recorded programs (a similar time it might be noted was required to download a program over the web). If you want TV on your lesser mac and don't care so much about widescreen signals, then get one of the normal non-HDTV EyeTV tuners (the 200 i think?).

If your bugdet is not small.... fork out and get didicated hardware. i.e. a real HDTV and DVR. It may be much more expensive but you won't have to put in so much work to watch your TV programs!

I'm not disappointed. But i am very techy and very Mac oriented. I wouldn't recommend this to someone who doesn't spend so much time playing around with computery things. If you already have trouble programming a real VCR then purchasing one of these is gonna result in your having less hair.

hope this helped you. Sorry if i waffled.

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unbelivabley easy to setup..almost plug and play....great picture and sound....very nice feature set.

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Don't have a TV but you do have a Mac? The EyeTV 500 is an HDTV PVR box that allows you to watch & record HDTV content on your computer.

This EyeTV 500 was hooked to a Comcast cable and I could watch un-encrypted digital channels (Clear QUAM).

The EyeTV 500 is a fully digital product. It does not have connectors for analog video it does have a composite video input port.

EyeTV 500 support closed captioning, and all aspect ratios are supported. The window size is adjusted on-the-fly if a channel switches from 4:3 to 16:9.

Another great feature, you can export EyeTV content to any format that QuickTime supports, such as MPEG-4 or DV. You can also save content as MPEG Program or Elementary streams.

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You will never know what wonderful is until you use that massive computer on your desk to gain control over the media that comes through your TV to your office or house. Amazing, what a wonderful product.

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Sony DVPNS75H Single Disc Upscaling DVD Player

Sony DVPNS75H Single Disc Upscaling DVD Player
  • Upconverting, single-disc DVD player; measures 17 x 1.75 x 8.25 inches (WxHxD)
  • Support for 720 and 1080 high-def display resolutions as well as standard 480 progressive
  • Compatible with DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, CD-R/RW and SVCD disc formats as well as JPEG photo and MP3/WMA audio files
  • Connections: Composite (1 out), S-Video (1 out), Component (1 out), HDMI (1 out)
  • Dolby Digital and DTS decoding; digital coaxial and optical audio outputs

I must say this player is a marvel to see. The picture to me is just as outstanding as its' predecessors but without any of the NS70H's warts. Everything that was good with the previous model is intact on the this one. It seems to be a tad faster than the than the older one, it's not blindingly fast mind you but it does seem to respond to commands and load the disk a bit quicker.

I hope folks who buy this unit to integrate with their home audio system take the time to go through the book and menus to set the audio portion correctly. It comes dumbed down in the box with Dolby Digital and DTS turned off. Additionally it's set to 48khz instead of 96khz. Once those three items have been activated this baby produces some of the most outstanding sounds I've heard. I fear most folks will simply buy it, plug it in and hit play never knowing what they are missing. I did confirm that it will pass the 6.1 DD-EX and DTS-ES audio streams also.

The only real errors Sony keeps making is not providing an HDMI cable (umm why?) and not allowing "on the fly" resolution changes. You still have to stop the DVD that's playing and migrate through several menu screens to get to the one that allows resolution changes. I suppose you'll most likely only do this once though. You'll put it where you like it and then leave it alone.

The only other minor issue I have is the super bright blue "HDMI" light that's on all the time when hooked up to a HDMI display. Sure it can be dealt with with a small piece of duct tape but it would have been better if Sony chose not to put a Xenon bulb in there!

Having been through several upscaling players (Oppo, Samsung, Zenith, RCA) I can honestly say this is best player to date that I've seen. The picture sparkles and the sound is to die for. If you've been on the fence wondering if this is the one to get it's time to get off because you won't find a better player for the money. It's that good.

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I had to replace my old DVD player because it simply couldn't handle the DVD-Rs that I have been collecting. You know the problems: freezing, gross pixilations, hanging VERY annoying. I tried the worst disc I had, and this player played it flawlessly you would never have known it wasn't "perfect". Another great but understated Sony feature is the player "remembers" where you left off on up to six discs. If you stop or eject a disc, the player will begin play at that point the next time you load it, with up to six different discs in between. The remote has better human factors than previous Sony models, too, so it's much easier to work in lower light levels. A superior value in every respect. If you are into DVD-R or RW, give this player a try.

Read Best Reviews of Sony DVPNS75H Single Disc Upscaling DVD Player Here

Reasonably priced DVD player with excellent video and audio quality. It plays all the discs I threw at it, including the DVD-Rs I burnt on my Mac. I tested this player with my best DVDs Spider-man 2 (Superbit), Lawrence of Arabia (Superbit) and Ben-Hur. The picture and sound quality blew me away. I could see details like the wrinkles on the actors' faces and stray hair on their foreheads. Unbelievable! Outdoor scenes had rich color and excellent clarity. This DVD player is an excellent choice until the HiDef DVD format wars end.

I am stepping up from a 2 yr old Sony NC665P DVD player connected to a 51" Hitachi rear-projection HDTV. The improvement in picture quality is significant through both the HDMI and Component video connections. When I switch between the HDMI and Component connections I see a slight difference in picture quality the HDMI picture is sharper, with more detail, while the Component picture is softer. In any case, you will see a significant improvement in picture quality if your current DVD player is more than 2 years old. The only quirk I noticed is that some discs take up to 30 seconds to load.

You will see the greatest improvement in picture quality from this up-convert DVD player if you have a CRT-based rear projection HDTV or an older Plasma/LCD. You will not see any improvement in picture quality if you connect this DVD player to one of the newer, top-of-the-line HDTVs. These TVs contain better up-convert circuitry than you would find in any DVD player in this price-range. They do a much better job of up-converting the incoming signal to pseudo-HiDef than this DVD player. This is why some reviewers with older TVs rate this product highly, while those with newer TVs do not see any improvement in picture quality. As other reviewers have noted, you need to change the settings on this DVD player to get the most out of it. The default settings do not make the most of this player's capability. Read the manual and change the settings. It is worth the effort.

One word of caution: Do not waste your money on the outrageously priced HDMI cables from companies like Monster. There is absolutely no reason to pay more for the cable than you did for the DVD player itself! Since HDMI passes a purely digital signal any cable that gets the signal to the TV will produce the same quality picture. There is no basis in reality for Monster's claim that their exotic cables yield a better picture than any other quality cable. I bought a $10 HDMI cable on the internet and it performs as well my friend's $140 Monster cable. Save your money and buy your wife some nice gifts. She just might forgive you for spending all that money on home theater gear!

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I recently purchased the Sony DVPNS75H. I am very pleased with the quality of the upconverted dvd video.

I noticed in other reviews that people are saying it takes the dvd player a very long time (sometimes 2 to 3 minutes) to read dvd's, and that is definately not the case. I have loaded 5 dvd's to this dvd player and it has taken an average of 20-25 seconds for it to load. I have no idea why anyone else's takes any longer than that.

When I purchased this dvd player it was $106, and at that price it is clearly the best looking upconverting player in that range give or take $30. I also ordered HDMI cables for $20, and believe me there really is no reason to spend any more than that when using HDMI. The picture quality is unbelievable. I had no problems at all setting the output to 720p or 1080i, and setting up the correct sound settings were very easy also.

If you have an HDTV with an HDMI connection this dvd player is worth the money.

I bought this DVD player because I wanted to get the best picture quality possible on my LCD projection TV without having to break the bank on the high priced High Def players currently on the market. After two months, I can say I'm very happy with the purchase. Upconversion really does make a difference. I can't speak to how the picture quality for this Sony compares to other upconvert players but I can tell you that there is a noticeable difference when compared to my previous set up which was a Panasonic progressive player with Monster component connections. I actually had both players connected to the TV so I could do a comparison. However, I didn't get the best picture quality by just taking the player out of the box, plugging it in and pressing play. I'm no video expert by any means so it took me awhile to figure out what I had to do to optimize the video.

The most important thing is to make sure your TV is calibrated, which doesn't necessarily mean you have to hire someone to do it or buy a calibration disc and spend 10 hours calibrating. has a great article on basic do-it-yourself calibration. I highly recommend getting this article if you're a beginner and have never calibrated before. Its very informative and easy to follow, the only tough part is finding time to actually do it. I won't get into details but the cnet article has some excellent insights and tips to follow. You don't have to follow the article to the letter but if you use the article as a guide to experiment a little I think you'll find it will make a difference. Also, certain THX DVD's will have a THX optimizer program as a menu option. This is another useful tool to use. Like I mentioned earlier, I'm no videophile and so I'm sure that my TV isn't calibrated to perfection but the basic adjustments I performed made a HUGE difference.

The other adjustment I had to make was the video output feed from the DVD player, in other words is it sending out a 720p or 1080i signal to the TV? The Sony default setting is "Auto" which means it'll detect the highest compatible format and send it. As I've come to find out, this is not always a good thing. My TV is 1080i compatible but the native resolution is 720p. In other words it will accept 1080i signals but will "scale" it so that it fits into the confines of the TV. This is important because the best picture quality is when the signal is compatible with the native resolution. Think about why regular analog cable signals look better on an old school tv when compared to a $2000 plasma hdtv. The Sony player detected that my tv accepted 1080i signals and so that's what it sent. This produced an ok picture quality. The video was too soft and didn't have any impact. When I manually changed the option from Auto to 720p on the player, the quality improved dramatically. If you have one of the newer HDTV's then you won't have to worry about this since the native resolution these days are typically 1080i or 1080p.

As for the DVD player features, it's a very nice design. Slim enough to squeeze into those entertainment centers that are crowded. Another plus is that it has a digital optical audio output (my old Panasonic DVD player didnt have one). I think the sound quality is much better using digital optical vs. regular coaxial. It also plays burned DVD single and dual layer discs without problem. The only negative I can think of is that you have to go out and buy the HDMI cable separately so be sure to include this in your budget if your planning on buying this player. The cable can potentially cost more than the player itself.

Sunday, December 15, 2013

GE 24959 8 In 1 Universal DVR Remote, Infrared Black

GE 24959 8 In 1 Universal DVR Remote, Infrared BlackFirst let me tell you I was very skeptical about buying another cheep-o Universal Remote, but I got this at an online auction delivered for $12 so I thought "Why not?" Normally I'm one of those people who would buy the $100 remotes because "they must be better."

The light is very bright and you can control whether or not it even comes on. The buttons are logical however some are smaller. The remote is light weight but feels well constructed.

The code's provided were 100% on 2 of my devices but 2 were partial and 1 did not work with a code at all. The Learning Mode work flawlessly to get all the non-functioning buttons working in about 15 minutes. You can also set functions as forced, so no matter what device is selected that button always works with a particular device, for instance my volume and mute are always on my Amplifiers control. This remote does not script so I have to tell it to turn on each device and select the correct input for my amp (still all on the one remote.)

The manual was misprinted with mine, again not purchased from Amazon and probably the reason I got it discounted. But I can read page 15 before page 13 no biggie.

I have no doubt every device in the house will work with this remote.

The devices I configured are as follows:

Samsung Plasma TV

Samsung Blue Ray (Netfix, YouTube and the like controls all work also.)

Yamaha Receiver

Mediacom HDTV Cable Box (Motorola)

Acesonic Karaoke player

I was able to show the wife in about 3 min and now I have 1 remote to rule them all.

Have you ever had the conversation about where the remotes are in your house? Me too, and they are all over the place, so I thought I'd give this one a try Amazon has a great return policy if things don't work, so what do we have to lose really?

I can't believe it but it really works.

I have:

Sony TV, first code worked for that.

Verizon FIOS DVR first code worked on that too (and all buttons are logical on the remote for DVR, channels etc).

Sony multi disc DVD Blu Ray first code worked (but special functions like editing names of discs I will use regular remote for).

Vizio Soundbar (horrible remote with this one) used the LEARN feature and programmed the buttons we use for sound.

Sony picture frame used the LEARN feature with the frame's remote for this too just to switch on and off.

Also programmed the sound to default to the AMP setting (where I put the Vizio soundbar) so that I don't have to press AMP every time I want to change the volume or mute the TV doesn't matter what the remote is on, TV-DVR-AUX etc volume works across the board.

Considering how long it usually takes me to figure out WHICH remote to use and then where it is, where the buttons are, and the fact that most do NOT have backlit buttons this remote is worth it's weight in gold. No more fumbling around with the wrong channel buttons on a night.

Have yet to find someone with an Xbox 360 remote control so that I can LEARN from that for rented DVD playback (the Xbox controller is a pain to use for just DVD playing), and have not found a solution to the ROKU issue but hey, I'm down to 2 remotes that I use frequently from the 6 I was previously using.

Buy GE 24959 8 In 1 Universal DVR Remote, Infrared Black Now

I cannot even remember the last item I bought that had a GE label on it. After ordering and using this 8 device capable remote, I'm a little mad at myself, that I didn't get a universal remote sooner. This is a very nice, very light and easy to use remote. The buttons are all good size and backlit a pleasent blue color. I have bought two of them and connected them easily to seven devices, including two TV's, two dvd players, two receivers, and a Tivo.

I haven't had the remotes too long yet, but so far no complaints. For under $20 if these remotes last a couple years, it's more then worth it. In my opinion they are nicer then any of the remotes they replaced.

I also looked at the RCA RCRN08GR which is another 8 device capable remote also for under $20. The GE is a little more peanut shaped, but I would have probably been happy with either.

I cannot imagine why anyone would pay $50-$300 or more for a universal remote, when you can get either of the above remotes for under $20.

And on top of that, if you don't want or need an 8 device capable remote, there are numerous similar 3,4 or 6 device capable remotes for around $10.

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We have a remote for the TV, dvr, receiver, blu-ray player, HD TV live. This remote learns and works for all of these electronics. You don't lose functionality; all of the same functions still work. For the price I would recommend this particular remote to anyone on a budget looking for a universal remote.

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So, I was just coming off of a Harmony 300i Universal Remote. I was definitely spoiledthat remote's PC based setup is phenomenal, easy and the layout/buttons all worked great. However, the Harmony 300i did NOT work with my Next Generation IR Remote Extender, which for me, I reluctantly decided was a deal killer.

I needed a remote for the Denon AVR-3310ci receiver, Panasonic P65S1 TV and XBox 360 (for DVD, DVR, Media Center, Netflix, etc.) that also worked with my Next Generation Remote Extender. I also didn't want to spend a lot of money trying to accomplish this. Really $30-40 was about my limit.

Enter a trip to Target (sorry Amazon) and I saw this thing (GE Universal Remote model 24959) for about $15.00 or so and thought I'd give it a try. I was almost positive it wouldn't work with the XBox 360. Many Universal Remotes simply don't for some odd reason.

Anyway, I brought this home, entered the codes and it worked on everythingalmost.

Allow me to save you XBox 360 users some headachesyou will need to adjust the console settings for this remote to work. Go to My XBox --> Console Settings --> Remote Control and set it to "Both Remotes". All of a sudden, after doing the above and spending lots of time trying the recommended codes from the manual and the code search functions, this remote worked with the supplied Microsoft Code. It does not lay out everything properly, however. Up, down, left, right, Select all worked, but sometimes you need other buttons (Notably the 'Menu' button designated on the controller with the big green light-up 'X'). So, I went and picked up an old XBox 360 Universal Media Center Remote used at GameStop for $8 and used the learning feature to teach the GE Remote. Voilaproblem solved. Worth the extra $8 (all-in cost at $23) in my opinion. I mapped the color-coded buttons to the buttons of the same color on the Xbox 360. Now it works nearly flawlessly with XBox 360 and Media Center.

I seriously expected this product not to work with my stuffbut it did. Now it's easy. Fast forwards, plays, records, and is so much better than using the game controller. Really works very well. I've used it with Netflix, streaming video, DVR'd content from WMC. Works well.

If you have an audiophile receiver like my Denon, you will inevitably have to do some 'learning' on the remote with that feature. It's really not a big deal and pretty easy once you've done it once, but your receiver will undoubtedly have some major features that won't map from the GE codes alone. For example, I have multiple zones that I need to turn on and off, and the remote just isn't set up for that kind of thing with just the code entry from the manual. Everything mapped to the GE remote with the learning feature, though. I really only had about 4 functions I needed it to learn. Some things didn't quite work as logic would've dictated them to after the Denon code was entered, but again the learning feature saves you when there is the occasional "mis-map" of buttons. You can pretty much set any button (almost) on the GE remote to do anything your original remote could do (excepting macros).

TV mapped to the remote no problem with the right code. That device was super easynothing but the standard code from the manual needed.

Overall, I still can't believe this thing worked. Never thought it would but it does. It's a little quirky but most remotes like this are going to be.

Pros:

Works with XBox 360

Works with Next Generation Remote Extender

Learning Remote makes solving problems easy (ish)

Backlit

Controls up to eight devices if you need that

Feels sturdy enough, good size

Cons:

Button presses don't always register and you may have to hit stuff twice or press the button hard. (Doesn't sound like a big deal but this can get kind of annoying.)

Up, Down, Left, Right pad circle is placed too close to the channel up/down and volume up/down. Easy to hit those by mistake, and sometimes the pad doesn't quite register correctly. Sometimes if you push a direction and you're not exactly on the right spot the wrong direction will be sent. For example, if you push the circle at 2 o'clock (as if on a clock face), it should register as "Right" but might occasionally register as "Up".

Not sure why, but this remote just looks a bit goofy to me. Not a very 'refined' look, but whatever. It works and it's $15.

Doesn't work seamlessly even if the absolutely correct programming code was entered. Expect to use the learning feature to get everything exactly like you want it, even if just for a couple of buttons here and there.

No macro capability (the ability to program a series of instructions with the touch of one buttoni.e. pressing one button will turn on your cable box AND TV, AND set the TV to your favorite channel, etc., etc.)

If you are using with an XBox 360 you really will need to have a XBox 360 Universal Media Remote handy to teach the GE Remote the proper codes (X,Y,A,B,Media Center launch, Menu Button). Hopefully you can borrow one or find one used.

Other:

The Harmony 300i (you can usually find it for about $29.99) is a much, much better remote and worth the extra $15.00. Better build quality, ease of programming via PC and macro capability. No backlight on the 300i if that's important to you, though. However, if you are really cheap (ahem... cost conscious) and can't stomach the extra $15 then this GE remote is really quite good. But do NOT buy the Harmony if you use a Next Generation device in your system.

If you do use the Next Generation Remote, this GE Remote WILL WORK. The Logitech Harmony 300i will NOT work. This was a huge deal for me as switching to some other remote extender system would've cost me well over $50.00 (in addition to the $30 I spent on the Logitech Harmony 300i, which has since been returned). I also would've needed to find a good spot for an IR reception port, etc. The Next Generation product uses RF so everything stays hidden and my remote works from all over the house. A big deal.

Summary:

I needed one remote that would work with the XBox 360, a Denon receiver, a TV and my Next Generation Extender and I wanted an under $30 solution. You'd think it would be easier! (It's not easytrust me.) But this GE Universal Remote does the trick. It has its flaws but it works on 95% of what I need it to do. Overall an impressive little deviceespecially considering its price.

Monday, December 9, 2013

Lorex Wireless Accessory Camera LW2031AC1

Lorex Wireless Accessory Camera LW2031AC1This add-on camera is the correct model for the Skype Lorex camera kit. It looks just like the camera that comes in the Skype kit.

Added this camera to existing set up, picture is good, there is more feedback from this camera compared to the one the system originally came with. I have tried moving it and it still has the same problem.

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I purchased this a few weeks ago and received it by mail today. I love this set and all the features blew me away! Crisp sound, night vision and connects to Skype when I'm away from home, and to a small handheld device when I'm in the house. I can connect 3 more cameras to my device and strongly considering it. This was an amazing find and I'm so happy to say farewell to my cheap audio monitor. The setup was simple and fast. I recommend ths to any mom with a mobile infant.

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Originally received this product and the battery was not working. No matter how long we plugged it in for we could not get it to work. However, the customer service was awesome and we had a replacement battery in two days. The first must have been a dud, because the product works great now. Clear reception and good battery life.

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