Polaroid DVG-1080P High-Definition Digital Video Camera with 2.5-Inch LCD Display

I bought this camcorder mainly because it was the lowest-priced 1080p (full HD) camcorder I had seen. I have a point-and-shoot digital camera with standard-definition video. I also have a DSLR which does not have video, but I don't want to fork out the big bucks for one of the DSLRs with full HD 1080p video. As long as you do not expect really high quality from this camcorder, you will probably be more or less satisfied with the results. Video recording modes include 1080p (30 fps), 720p (30 fps), WVGA (60 fps), VGA (30 fps), and QVGA (30 fps). This camcorder performs well outdoors where the video is clear and sharp. For indoor video recordings, performance starts to drop off noticeably without the window coverings wide open. If you don't have adequate sunlight from outside, even with all the lights turned on, the images begin to get grainy, even if you use the built-in light source which is not very powerful. One nice feature is the 60 fps option at WVGA resolution. The main disadvantage in my opinion is that the image stabilization works at all resolutions except for 1080p and WVGA. I took a few still photos and found the quality to be mediocre, even with adequate lighting, but I am accustomed to the image quality from my DSLR. The menu controls are not intuitive, but I got used to them pretty quickly. All in all, if you're on a budget but would like 1080p video, this would be a nice entry-level option. Do not buy this camcorder if you demand high quality in your video recordings, especially indoors.

Finally, I wanted to comment that I am a Mac user. I have both a 1GHz G4 Power PC iMac running Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) as well as a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo iMac running Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard). I was initially unable to play the videos via QuickTime on my Power PC iMac, as it said I was missing the video codecs. So I installed a freeware plugin called Perian (w w w dot perian dot org), and it now plays the video although it is choppy because the processor is not fast enough to display the video at that resolution. On my Intel-based iMac, videos at all resolutions play smoothly with QuickTime and Perian.

HD-1080 + OPTICAL Zoom. Compact in size and features (not too much, not too little both are undesirable). Worked fine with PC. Simple switch for HD versus smaller (Web) file size. Audio was solid. Low light could have been better (but I really taxed it). Install CD wasn't readable on one PC, but switched to another and copied CD to a thumb drive. Need their viewer for .avi codec. Good resolution for still photos. Great videos/pics of Amsterdam!

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I purchased this thinking I would use it mainly to record live music at local venues. (not loud punk music or thrash...but jazz, blues and maybe some medium volume classic rock/funk bands). I also wanted to use it with my drumming students. I wasn't expecting high quality audio reproduction at all....(nothing better/worse than a typical camcorder).

That being said....The audio is terrible.....it distorts easily....and anything recorded over 40 decibels is worthless when played back.

Honestly....I've heard better audio quality from CELL PHONE video cameras.

The video is clear and ok....but it get's jumpy sometimes. I attribute that to a low quality product.

All in all....for what I wanted.....it was a complete waste of money.

If you want to film birds outside...or someone reading a book I'm guessing the audio would be ok. But if the bird you are filming is loud...or the book reader subject sneezes you'll probably distort the sound.

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I got this as a gift from my mom from Target over a year ago or so. It was on clearance for $75.

It gets some pretty decent visual quality in good lighting, but in lower light it gets almost unviewable due to darkness and noise. You can set the ISO to auto, 800, or 1600. But, it doesn't change much besides how much grain the picture has. There are few manual controls in general I can change, forcing me to edit the video later to remove as much of the noise as I can and brighten the picture in general to the point you can watch it.

There's also some scene modes: skin, night, backlight, black & white, classic (sepia) & negative. I don't notice any major difference or improvement between the night, skin, and backlight modes (and even tested it by shooting shots of the same things and comparing colors), so it seems pointless to change those unless you like the more artistic modes: classic, black & white and negative.

You can also take still pictures with it at up to 4000x3000 resolution (12MP). The quality will come out as good as it does in video depending on the lighting. However, you cannot seem to put on Image Stabilization (IS) to take pictures... strangely. It's only in the video modes. So, unless you are very steady when you click the shutter button or you have a tripod, your pictures will come out blurry. The camera will not stand up on it's own due to the screen tipping it over, so you'll need a tripod to keep it up.

Most of the controls are set in menus as well except for a light button (the camera has a decent light on the front of it) which seems to boost the noise too, the video button, the picture button and the zoom wheel. (you have to press the "OK" zoom wheel in the center to access the menus) White balance (no manual white balance may I add or any exposure compensation) and IS have to be tweaked before shooting unless it comes out good in auto. The only things that stay in memory is the ISO setting, the camera's sound and the resolution. Otherwise things revert back to the defaults after you turn off the camera... some even after each shot like the auto timer.

The audio is also on the weak side as if it picks up something that is a bit too loud for it, the sound distorts and gets very staticy, sometimes to the point where you can't hear what was spoken. This is very easy to do as well because it doesn't take much to make the sound distort. What I have to do to film as clear as possible, is keep the camera fairly far away from the sound source to lower the sound it picks up, like 2-3 feet away, then boost the volume in my video editor later.

This camera also has no lens cap or any way to get it one. But, the lens is glass and recessed a bit into the camera, so it's unlikely it'll get scratched or damaged unless you're careless with it.

All of the bad points in this camera I talked about make it seem like this camera is bad, but really it's OK for the price. Don't pay more than my mom did. I've seen it for like $130 and for that price you can get a better camera with more manual controls like a compact Canon or Nikon. Just very clunky and inconvenient to use quickly, a bit weak on the audio and lacking in the manual control department. It feels good in your hands to use, feels very sturdy and it gets the job done providing you use it as I described to get the best quality you can. The rotating screen is a big plus when you want to film at an otherwise awkward angle you couldn't do with a stationary screen on the back of it.

The more I use this camera, the more I want to upgrade to something with more manual controls and buttons so I can tweak video and photos without having to sift through menu screens and do it more precisely. But, I think that may be because I've gotten to a more advanced level of filming and photography since I got this camera and outgrew it. Though, I'd recommend this camera to a new video or photo enthusiast that wants an entry-level camera just to see if you'll like it as it's not complicated to use.

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First time I got this camera I was so excited but then I hook it up to my tripod and the screw fell off and still can't find that screw!

TDK Life on Record 77000015410 Sound Cube Audio System

• Two powerful 5 1/4-inch coaxial drivers deliver full range sound
• Play your iPod/iPhone music while charging using the USB to 30 pin Apple cable
• Using the rotary dial and front facing screen, play and control music directly from storage devices including USB flash and external hard drives
• Compact design and handle let you take your music anywhere
• Input options let you connect most audio devices and mix with an instrument

I thought it was very cool that TDK was releasing modernized portable radios, built with a high level of quality that generally hasn't been seen in radios for a good 20-30 years.

When I first plugged it in, I listened to FM (FM mind you, not a digital source), and after a short time said to myself... "this sounds as good as my Proton 300/301". For those of you who know about, or are lucky enough to own an old Proton, that's some fine company to keep. Is it as good? I don't have the equipment to test and prove so, but it's mighty close if it isn't.

I wished that on occasion, when going camping, to a picnic, etc... that I could take the Proton (and it's fantastic sound quality) with me. Well, now with a 12-pack of D-Batteries and a Sound Cube, you can do just that. The battery door is on the bottom, and screws securely into brass sockets mounted in the radio (you can use a nickel as a screwdriver). It doesn't have those typical flimsy plastic door clips you find on most radios; so you can put away that roll of electrical tape you use to patch the battery doors on your old radios. You also won't need to paste any foam on the door to keep the batteries from rattling, as the Cube already has a piece of well secured good quality foam (that won't rot from age). Nice touch!

How about features? The drivers are on the left/right sides of the Cube. The passive radiators are on the front/back. Granted, you lose some volume if you're in front of the control side (as the drivers fire sideways), but for stereo separation, that makes sense. Need more volume? Hey, it "goes to 11". Yes, it really does. There are two markings for the volume knob... "Off", and "11". Bonus point to the folks at TDK for having a sense of humor!

I definitely like the touch-screen control panel. Source selections are: 1)FM; 2)USB for flash drives and such; 3)AUX-1 for either the 1/8" Mini-Stereo jack for portable CD/MP3 players or the 1/4" Instrument jack; 4)AUX-2 to use standard RCA L/R jacks; and 5)MIX INST will let you mix a guitar in with a piece of music you're playing.

The EQ adjusts Bass/Treble. It would be nice if there were settings to tweak a wider range, but it does the job just fine; many modern radios don't have any tone controls, so I can't complain.

There are 5 presets on the touch-screen panel to save favorite FM stations, and of course the controls for playing MP3s (back/forward/play/pause).

The screen (OLED... nice!) shows what input you have selected, displays RDS info if the FM station you're listening too carries that (a nice touch, I didn't expect that to be a feature); and has a graphic equalizer that's thankfully subtle. Some equalizer displays are too bright/hyper; they're entertaining for a few minutes, but shortly become annoying. Someone at TDK had the sense to build in a graphic equalizer that won't become an irritation shortly after buying the radio (Thank You!).

OK... how is navigating a bunch of MP3s on a USB stick? Smooth sailing. I sort my music by band/album/song. The display shows icons for folders and lists the name of the folder, and displays the song titles when it recognizes songs. If you're scrolling through the list of songs, it shows a speaker icon next to the one it's playing. So navigating USB sticks is fast, easy... and 320k MP3s/VBRs work just fine (but it won't decode FLAC directly off a USB stick).

The top is rubberized, so your portable players won't get scratched up, and it helps keep them from sliding around. The FM antenna is easy to grab with your fingernails, and if you pull it out far enough, it will pivot. The carrying handle is sturdy, which is good as the Cube is a wee bit heavy when you fill it up with batteries.

The majority of the case is a flat/textured black (Hooray!). I'm tired of the smooth/glossy/fingerprint magnet cases that are so popular with electronics makers (but don't seem to be so popular with their customers).

The control knobs, speaker dust caps, and display are a subtle dark yellow/gold; the power-on light (on the volume knob) and currently active controls (such as play) are a "non-eye melting" white, which gives it a touch of class while still looking modern. I used to work in the art business so I couldn't help notice that the person who did the graphic design did a nice job. Usually products like this look "slapped together", so the effort put into its appearance is appreciated.

I like it much more than I expected; TDK has a sleeper hit here. For those of you scouring the "Bay" in desperation to find an old Proton radio in decent condition (and for a reasonable price), you might be happier with the Cube, which is also more capable.

Bonus: Looking for a carrying case to put it in to protect the drivers, and to keep it dry/clean when transporting it? Stop by your local "Mega-Mart", and look for the

cube-shaped, soft-sided, 36-can soda cooler (with the removable/washable hard plastic liner). The Cube fits -perfectlyin it, and the price is right.

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We purchased this cube for our 15 year old daughter, after reading a product-placement review at Wired. It is ergonomically far simpler than a full amp/speakers/subwoofer stereo system, easily moved room-to-room or used as a footrest, and it provides inputs for all of her music sources.

Note that there are actually two 5 1/4-inch coaxial drivers; the other two speaker-like ports are passive reflectors. So while this cube presents the illusion of being a subwoofer, two speakers, and a crossover circuit, it actually consists of two full-range speakers. There are physical limits to the subwoofer effect one can achieve with any 17 lb, 20 Watts RMS, 10" cube; this wouldn't be the right choice for a high school dance. There's little risk of the bass loosening one's deck screws, and anyone who knows the sound of a 200 Watts RMS 12" powered subwoofer could write a scathing review if they chose to be so clever. Given the physical limits here, I'm surprised how good this cube sounds.

In a 10' by 10' room the sound is remarkable. The 17 lb heft delivers. The bass is extraordinarily clean; the highs are quite clear but not the cleanest I've ever heard. With an inferior-sounding bass, a teen's natural reaction is to crank it up to compensate, and parents hears loud bass through the walls, of an embarrassing and disturbing sound quality. With this extraordinarily clean bass, there is no compensation reaction, and parents hear a tight, quieter bass through the walls that is far more pleasing. This is a nice bonus, and an argument to proceed for parents hesitating to so equip their teens.

With twice the budget, and a willingness to give up the ergonomic advantages of a single, portable cube, I'd go self-powered components from Audioengine, with extraordinarily clear highs to match the more powerful, actual subwoofer bass:

Audioengine A5 Powered Multimedia Speaker System (Black)

Audioengine AS8 Subwoofer 125 Watt black

Nevertheless, this cube fills its niche perfectly, and is a great value at its price point.

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TDK's Sound Cube feels very well made and sounds better than I'd imagined. The bass it pumps out is excellent given the woofer size. For the price, it's far and away the best portable speaker system I've heard.

Note: portability comes at a small price. If you take this on a plane flight, you will have your luggage searched every time. As a TSA agent said, "Man, that thing looks SINISTER on the x-ray."

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An excellent device with great sound, nice features and good looks.

But...Take batteries out after use. I spoke with TDK after experiencing the complete draining of my batteries twice (thankfully I use rechargeables). They acknowledged the problem and explained when you turn off the the Sound Cube it is actually going into standby mode and still drawing some power. There is no work around to this issue. Not a handy feature when running on batteries. If planning to bring on an extended trip without easy access to power from the plug. My recommendation is bring something else.

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Well, I have many portable sound systems in my larger home. I have bought a different one for every room to match the audio characteristics of the room (size and shape), and I found this approach to be a better alternative to re-wiring the house for built-in speakers or using a WiFi networked system (e.g., the Logitech Squeezebox family, which I also own three pieces of). From a sound quality perspective the TDK Cube is BETTER than all of them very clear, distortion free, and balanced. The Cube sounds just as good (if not fuller) than its sibling TDK 3-Speaker Boombox, it's only true rival. The 3-Speaker box is not portable but The Cube is easily portable.

How does it sound? Lemme tell you about the bass WOW!! It is so full and rich that you would be hard-pressed to tell it's not your home audio system with extra sub-woofer connected! But the big bass does not drown out the beautiful mids and highs. I don't know how TDK has made such a wonder for such a price (and why the others couldn't do it for more?) It plays louder than the TEAC SR-100i (2x50 Watts) and the B&W Zeppelin even though the TDK has "only" 20 Watts of RMS power (certainly the result of more efficient speakers). Even at max volume I cannot hear any distortion but it is hard to bear that volume in any room short of a dance hall.

Highly recommended you will not be disappointed with any aspect of this sound system.

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

The picture quality is outstanding (compared to my other cameras). The setup was relatively easy. The only negative thing I can say (and it's minor) is the monitoring software is not compatible with my other non Esky cameras. Also, it doesn't work well with my android phone app. But these are minor issues because I found a way to work around them. I

I'm returning this product. The hardware seems fine. The problem is the software. The camera resets its position every day, which means that I can't keep it pointed in the direction I want. The software is poorly written, which means I never know when the config has actually taken effect. Example: If you change the admin password (as you should), you're actually limited to something like 8-10 characters. But the interface doesn't tell you this. When I tried to configure a longer password, it took it, but then it wouldn't let me log back in to the admin interface. I had to manually reset the camera to factory defaults in order to get back in.

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We have been using the camera for few months and we really like it. There are so many iphone apps that are compatible with it. The only reason I gave it 4 stars and not 5 is because sometimes we have to reconfigure it. But to be fair, I am not sure if this is problem with the camera or with the router we are using. Most probably it is the router, but I just wanted to mention it.

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This product has ZERO technical service. I am an IT professional and could not get this product to work with a Mac. I would strongly encourage you to read reviews about this product from other sites than Amazon. If I had I would not have purchased. Oh, and it is impossible to return.

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Items were delivered within the estimated delivery dates. Items were packaged very well. These cameras are fairly simple to setup. Getting an email from the motion sensor has proven them worth the money spent. The cost is certainly reasonable. The image resolution is not high quality, but enough. Will purchase more of these cameras.

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StarTech.com PCI Express HD Video Capture Card 1080p - HDMI/DVI/VGA/Component TV Tuners/Video Captu

The video capture card works alright, however it wasn't specified in the product description that in order to get 1080p recording, the computer needs to have at least a quad core CPU in it, otherwise it only records in 720p.

I realy like it the picture quality is very good. When I'm recording HD Movie then playing it back its better then then watching HD TV.

The only thing is you need to buy a bigger USB Drive at leased a 32 gig so you can install on another computer because 16 gig is not big enough. So I bought a 64 gig so I know it will be.

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I just got it installed this morning but it seems to be working great. I like having HD capability now. The settings are fairly user friendly. There aren't a whole lot of options for recording with the program that comes with the card but its simple and user friendly. I just put it in the computer, inserted the install disc that came with it and had no problems.

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This particular capture card does wonders for me. I have a Sega Saturn which I wanted to capture gameplay from, but all of the normal cheap capture cards freak out when encountering a Genesis or Saturn signal. The fact that this capture card works so well with older consoles on top of the new ones means that I have an all-in-one solution for capturing videogame footage through component RGB cables, or HDMI, whatever I want.

I've been recommending this to other people as much as I can!

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This Product works perfect with my computer. I've never had a problem using it, easy to install and easy to use. I have TV everywhere I go with WINTV

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Toshiba SD-5980 Progressive Scan DVD Player with HDMI Output

• Upconverts DVD signals to either high-definition 720p or 1080i
• HDMI direct digital AV output and progressive-scan ColorStream component-video outputs for ultimate DVD and JPEG image quality
• MP3/WMA CD playback; 9-in-2 card reader supports nearly every known type of flash media
• Offers 3:2 pulldown, black-level expansion, power picture zoom
• Optical and coaxial digital-audio outputs pass Dolby Digital and DTS surround (to compatible AV receiver and speakers)

I now have either owned or own 8 different DVD players and am very familiar with idiosynracies of each. This is the second Toshiba that I have owned and partially decided to purchase this one because I had a very good experience with another much older Toshiba that is still running strong.

-Decision Making Process:

I bought this for the HDMI Up-Conversion after just having purchased a Panasonic 42" HDTV Plasma (Awesome TV). I had heard the HDMI hook-up was stellar and wanted to find out. The decision was between an LG, Toshiba and Saumsung. Although the Toshiba was priced $30 less at Best Buy, I initially opted for the LG due to its good looks and slim profile. Bad move on my part. The LG was not compatible with my TV (There are disclaimers saying this can happen. I tried every kind of hook-up (component, composite and HDMI) and none of them would show me a picture. After reading some poor reviews of Samsung and having another Saumsung DVD player die on me previously, I decided to go with the Toshiba. It's not a great looking player, but not horrible either. I'm glad I did!

Positives:

First of all, the positves way outweight the negatives.

1) Stellar picture with HDMI output. I'm using the freebie HDMI cable that came with the player and the picture looks significantly better than my other player with Component (a solid Panasonic DVD recorder).

2) Free HDMI cable. These things are expensive and even if it's not the greatest quality cable, it's good enough to reap the benefits of HDMI outputs and notice a difference.

3) Great sound. The sound might even be a slight improvement over my Panasonic, which I love.

4) Card reader is an very nice extra that Samsung does not have. Looking at pictures in "HD" with HDMI is awesome!

5) When you press "Display" it will display the time surpassed and the total time of the movie so you have an idea of how much longer you have to go in the movie. Too many DVD players do not let you know how much longer you have before the movie is over.

Negatives:

1) It's a little complicated. Like most players, you need to read the manual to make sure your audio outputs are correct so you will be able to hear your audio in Digital. This is standard on most players I have dealt with.

2) Pay close attention with which mode of HDMI you are in (there is an HDMI button on the remote that toggles between 420p, 750p and 1080i. I was trying to play DVD+R's that I had burned and finalized from my computer and the picture kept flashing on and off. The sound was fine, but the flashing was unbearable. I thought it was because they were burned DVD's and it wouldn't read them, but I didn't have that problem on either of my other 3 current DVD players. As it turns out, the shows I was watching are not able to be viewed in either the 420P or 750P mode and can only be viewed in the 1080i mode. Once I switched to 1080i, those DVD's worked great.

3) When I was using the card reader, I had the picture in 1080i and it blinked on an off again. Once I switched it to 420p, it worked perfectly.

4) The player itself is not really that attractive and the display is downright ghetto. I'm not sure what Toshiba was thinking when they designed this thing. Perhaps they really wanted to keep the price down, but the display literally only shows you the minutes that have surpassed on the DVD you are playing in archaic looking number. For example, if you are 31 minutes and 29 seconds in, the display will read simply "31." The chapter is not listed nor are the seconds nor can you change it to display anything else.

In summary, I strongly recommend this player to anyone that is looking for an upgraded picture via HDMI cable. The HDMI up-conversion IS for real. THe picture is great and so is the sound. Having an digital card reader is cool and the player overall is fairly likable. If you have the patience to work through some of its quirks and don't mind the so-so looks and absolutely horrible display, you should make this one a purchase.

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I have always trusted Toshiba products after consistantly good performance. Last year, I purchased their Upconvert SD-5970 model and that changed my mind. That model was just a complete disaster (hardly read disks, skipped, shut down/couldn't even turn it on at times-even by pressing the power button on the unit itself, froze up constantly, remote control did not respond at all or took 5 seconds to respond, disks wouldn't eject, etc.). You name it, it went wrong. I tried several replacements of the same unit and all of them had the same issues. Seems a lot of people had similar issues with that model from user reviews on the net.

The bad thing was, I ended up losing my receipt and had to put up with it when it went from bad to worse over the following months. I became a bit soured on Toshiba for releasing such a bad product.

About a month ago, I saw the SD-5980 advertised (The follow up to that model) and some positive word that most/all of the issues that people had with the 5970 were corrected now. I was hesitant at giving it a try. But long behold, after picking one up, they actually seem to be corrected.

I have had the 5980 for a little over a month and have not had 1 problem with it. It's really been like night and day between the two models and I really am pleased with the performance so far.

Picture quality seems about the same as the previous version, but it actually works now all the time. What a concept. Not a techie by any means, but the picture looks great and will get me by until HD-DVD comes out. I really have only tried previous Toshiba and Samsung upconvert models to compare picture quality on, so there may be something better out there and I have not seen it. I imagine it's probably on par with most of the other upconvert models available, though especially in this low price range of $149.00.

The build of the unit is extremely slim, again, and you still get the HDMI cord included with the unit so that saves you money right there. I also have not had any overheating problems with the unit after playing it during long periods, so that is better than the previous model, as well.

Reading various disks has gone smoothly so far, and this includes burned DVD's/DVD R's, so that seems fine, as well.

Remote control works flawlessly now and you will not throw it the way you did the 5970 model when that one did nothing. Very responsive and nicely laid out. Another nice improvement.

Really, even after a month, I am still amazed I can turn this on and get it to work flawlessly every time I use it, after having such a nightmare with the 5970 all the time. That model was that bad.

The 5980 model so far has been excellant and my faith has been restored in Toshiba players once again. Nice job on the unit and a very nice price for those in the market for these upconvert models. For price point, quality, and reliability/features, I gave it a 5.

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I was curious as to the quality difference the HDMI and brand name gives me in a DVD player, so I decided to hook up 2 DVD players, one cheap one and one expensive one, and see if I could tell the difference.

For this I used a Portland brand DVD player (cost roughly $39.99 at a large dept. store) and a Toshiba SD-5980 (cost roughly $135 here). I hooked them both up to my Sony Grand WEGA KDF-42WE655 42" HD LCD Projection TV. I connected the Portland via Monster S-Video cable, and the Toshiba via the provided HDMI cable. The DVD I used for this experiment was the BMW short films DVD available from the USA bmw site (also found in online format at bmwfilms.com)

And to be honest, it was tough. I thought *maybe* the Toshiba HDMI player was a little better picture quality, but wasn't sure. I also thought I may be subconsciously biased due to knowing which one cost 3x more, so I repeated the experiment in a blind test for my wife (I made her leave the room when I was loading up the DVD player and setting it up to a short film). And she picked the Portland as a better picture. Neither of us could tell the difference in the sound quality.

Maybe using a $200 third party HDMI cable would have made a difference, but I wasn't about spend that kind of money on a cable!

As neither of could tell the difference, we returned the 5980 and use the cheapo for all of our DVD needs.

There may be other differences between the two in terms of features, but as we don't use alot of advanced features, we didn't test that.

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You would think that for an expensive player, they would spend a little effort making sure the thing was easy to use. First, to even get it to play using the HDMI cable, you initially have to hook it up to your display using component cables, go into the DVD menu, adjust its output to HDMI, and then hook up the HDMI connection. Otherwise you just get a blank screen. It took me hours to figure out because the manual didn't say anything about it. Second, the tray that holds the DVDs is horrid the sides have no cutout, so it is tricky to take the disks out. And the HDMI output is always stretched to widescreen which is terrible because many of my DVDs are 4:3 TV series. It's hooked up using component cables right now (which look as good as HDMI anyway).

The player also has the neat feature of pausing or even crashing at the most exciting parts of movies. I'm sure it took some brilliant engineering on Toshiba's part to pull off.

Took less than a min for me to connect this DVD to my

HDMI compatible TV (Toshiba 52HM95) and it worked like

a charm. The picture quality is lot better compared

to a normal progressive scan DVD.

Inititally I bought a Panasonic S77S (after reading some awesome

reviews but unfortunately the HDMI did not work with my

TV, so I had to return it).

Another plus with this DVD is that it comes with a HDMI cable

so you don't have to spend 50+ dollars for the cable.

Bicycle Handlebar Camera & Camcorder Mount for Flip MinoHD and UltraHD , Kodak PlaySport , Sony Blo

A must for enthusiasts who roam the unknown path of cycling while capturing everything in its path....WHAT A DEVICE!

I LOVE THIS. Picture yourself riding your bike thru the trail videotaping your adventure just you'd reply it in your head but with 100% detail vivid picture and crisp sound coming from your well placed camera (I could indicate what brand and model but I'd rather not as I'm told by AMAZON) anyway it playbacks just like you were standing holding the camera with your own hands...The mount is SUPERB tool as important as my camera. I was able to film my afternoon ride like a PRO. the camera sways and turns just like I rode the bike. HANDSFREE yes and the vibration as the bike entered uneven ground was BRILLIANT like the screen tells you the earth was moving....ahh thats all I have to say as I must plan another bike video diary for tomorrow.

ps the video of my shadow casted on the ground infront of me while the sun was behind was like a major epic motion picture as i pushed the bike hard thru twists and turns...riding towards the sunset. LOVE to RIDE.

Thanks USA GEAR & AMAZON!

I was really excited to get this mount for my bike so I could take videos of the trails I ride. I tested out the mount and discovered a few things worth sharing.

The mount is very secure to the bike.

The camera, a Kodak Sport, connection however seemed to loosen as I rode. I cranked it down some more and used the knob to tighten it further. I was worried that I might have tightened it too much.

Most importantly however is that the mount transfers every bump in the sidewalk to the camera as you can see in the video. When I was on pavement it did better.

I would love to find a way to buffer the camera a bit better so it doesn't shake so much while riding

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I have wrapped handlebars on my road bike, so it was tough to find a spot on the bars where the mount would fit. I finally got it on, screwed on my Flip MinoHD and went for a ride. Love that it pivots into different angles and it stayed in place for a 20 mile ride. Not only will use this on my bike's handlebars, I can also see using it on a boom pole or mounting it elsewhere for secondary camera shots, b-roll or places where it's difficult to place a tripod.

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I received the camera handlebar mount quickly and it meets all my expectations and then some. The clamp is easy to adjust to accomodate differant size bars and clamps extremely tight.

I mounted it to the lower crash bar on a motorcycle and it performed perfectly.

Thank you

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Worked as anticipated. It needs an area on bike that is level to be fully adjustable. Very flexable mount but not enough tilt for my application.

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Philips DVD711AT DVD Player

• Dolby Digital and DTS output
• Component, composite, and S-video outputs
• Onscreen bit-rate meter
• Perfect still-picture frame advance
• DVD-video, Video CD, audio CD, CD-R, and CD-RW playback

I don't have a need for a very expensive DVD player right now. To be honest, I don't think the performance features are worth the price jump. I own some pretty serious audiophile equipment; however, I don't have a high-definition TV, so I can't comment on digital imagery. I've purchased many DVD cheapo units before, and to be honest, linear branching seems to be the most problematic trouble symptom for many players. Philips didn't necessarily outshine the competition, but it is a much more solid performer in general. You get tiny pauses between linear branches (dual layer switches), which are hardly noticeable and compared to the other DVD players that require firmware upgrades to fix the lockups, the Philips is champion. I owned the GE 1105P and 1106P and they were nightmares. They would skip over chapters and lock up, so I was very close to buying a very expensive unit.

I happened upon the 711 and boy am I glad I did. It isn't that it is a flawless machine, but what a lot of people don't realize is that it is upgradeable. This means, that if it can't run a DVD (which I haven't noticed and I've played all of the trouble makers) or a technology like VCDs, Philips can mail you a disc to pop in the unit and it will flash the BIOS and fix the problem. This should be a standard feature in all DVD players. What I'm hoping for is for an upgrade that will allow this unit to become MP3 compatible. I don't know if they will, but it certainly is possible, notice "Feature Upgradeable" on the box. Even salesmen don't have a clue as to what that means. People who are complaining about the unit struggling with CD-R/W and VCDs, most likely have a legit concern, but the good news is that it can be fixed without having to ship it to Philips or having to take it to a repair shop. In the long run, being able to download a patch off the Internet, burn it to CD and pop it into your DVD player will be much more convenient than having to ship the unit out. It is a brand new product, and with most brand new products, there will be a few bugs, but in this case they can be user-patched which is a big plus. Philips doesn't have any Web site up for this unit yet, but I'll be thrilled when they do. The thought of being able to upgrade to a new technology, format, or being able to troubleshoot discs that won't play, far outweighs the minor performance issues. I'm basing my review on DVD performance and CD performance. I don't care if it can play VCDs or CD-R/W flawlessly, because most DVD players in this price range can't play CD-R/Ws and VCDs at all. Philips gave us a dual-laser setup, so playing CDs is just as fast as an ordinary CD player. Taking into consideration that you can get this unit for sub $200, it is a bargain. My opinion is is as follows:

Who the heck buys a DVD player to play CD-R/Ws or VCDs in this price range anyway? It is just an extra bonus that it can play these formats as well as it does. Both of these issues could be addressed if people report it to Philips. Perhaps the person who said Philips responded by saying that these performance issues weren't problems, didn't give Philips a chance to explain why they weren't problems. All I can say, after dealing with Thomson Electronics (GE, RCA) products, is that Philips tech-support seemed real honest to me. Thomson Electronics wouldn't even admit that their players had performance issues. Philips seemed to acknowledge the possibility that future problems could arise. That's why this disc upgradeable DVD player is revolutionary. No problem is a problem when you can flash your own BIOS. Don't hesitate to at least check it out. You can spend $500 if you want, but think about what you really need. If you already have a CD-Player, you're not going to have any problems. If you do, call Philips for a patch or download one yourself.

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I bought this player to replace my DVD-ROM drive, which was hopelessly fickle about playing DVDs. The good thing about the Philips DVD711 is that it has yet to reject one of my DVDs. It is an inexpensive player with great audio and a lot of options for a player of its cost. That said, the system does have its flaws, though minor ones. It shows no indication of being able to support DVD-R, a format which it is said to be compatible with in the technical specification on Amazon, but not mentioned once in the manual. Additionally, the player seems chained to its remote control. If you lose the remote or it gets broken, you lose all access to the on screen menu and navigation capability, as there are no navigation or menu buttons on the player itself. Don't let what appears to be a fast-forward/rewind jog-dial on the front fool you either. Accessing the frame advance, zoom, and other advanced features means dealing with the sometimes cryptic hierarchical on-screen menu system. If a track has multiple angles, an on screen display in the form of a semitransparent box shows you which angle you're currently viewing. The only problem with this is that there is no way to disable it, and it invades the picture space like a Borg cube ready to assimilate your movie. That's a little harsh of course, but one would think the main purpose of a DVD player is to provide quality DVD playback at all times. This is not user error, the manual specifically states, "The angle icon remains displayed until multiple angles are no longer available." However, these are relatively small issues. Few DVD titles include multiple-angle tracks, DVD-R has yet to become popular, and most of us try to keep our remote controls where they can be found. If you're looking for a cheap DVD player that gets the job done, this is a good buy.

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I bought this unit after I had a problem with some other brands while trying to play foreign language (specifically Indian) DVDs. This unit had no problems playing all of the 'problem' DVDs. I do not like the remote control though. It needs too many keystrokes to access most of the features, and you have to coordinate between pressing different keys on the remote and looking at the on screen display to see where it is in the menu system. I also like the 'upgradeable' feature, where the firmware can be updated onsite by running a special CD from Phillips. I have not tried it yet.

However, overall a great unit. I would buy it again, if I had to.

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I am writing this review based on a person who owns a two-speaker system with an amlifier (didn't really use rears) and a twenty-seven inch TV with S-Video input.

Let's really face it here. It doesn't really matter how many more lines of resolution a Toshiba sd1600(540) has over a Philips DVD711(500). If you have a regular television, it doesn't even hold 500 anyway. I mean, unless you are the small percentage of people that have really keen eyesight and a great HDTV or better television, as far as the picture quality goes, if its a DVD player, its good enough. What I want to focus on here is the features and the sound performance of this thing.

As for its features, there is a heavy rumor that it plays DVD-Rs as well as CD-Rs and RWs. Lots of you would think that those are great features. But its not really a feature to look for. Some people here say that the menus aren't very good. To my viewpoint, that isn't true at all. Although it takes more than just one keystroke, they aren't taking over your life. It creates an on-screen menu of options on the top of the screen. To my opinion, the Video Black Level controls didn't really help in any of the viewing quality as well. Neither did the zoom because it--not like other dvd players with zoom--pauses after zooming. I guess it is to examine artifacts or bullets that are flying. To my opinion, zoom is supposed to let one be able to watch their movie as a full screen perspective for the people that have smaller TV sets. Its sound seems pretty crisp and clearer than other dvd players I have tried such as the Aiwa XV-DV370 by a little(highly recommended and costs the same and has this professional remote control, great quality virtual surround sound and sound in general with comparison to others at its price range--A definite five star in my book) and the Apex AD-660 by a lot(Highly don't recommend because of lack of sound quality although has good 2x zoom in options). With the TruSurround 3d, one would notice that you must also place the speakers an average of 6 to 8 feet apart in order to produce the effect. The effect of this feature is not so good either. The most it did was create a center channel, and not the other side ones. Spatializer N-2-2 seems to do a better job. The remote control seems as small as a regular cell phone--easy to lose. I didn't like how toy-like it looked and felt. It also has no missing connections as well. I mean that it has S-video, Component, two analog, optical, and coaxial outputs.

As for cons, the DVD711 has skipped once and placed me in different areas of a movie--which really sucks big time if you're watching something like the Sixth Sense. And as I said, it doesn't make a good 3D effect on sound.

Why do I give it four stars you ask? It is because its wonderful crisp sound(no matter what mode), its DVD-R capability, and the fact that its feature upgradable. Another thing to keep in mind is that when they say its feature upgradable, its just saying that it only upgrades when the player has problems with playing new DVDs. If you don't really like the control, just get another one. If one was to spend this much money on a DVD player, I would certainly suggest you guys go out and buy an Aiwa XV-DV370 (plays mp3s CD-Rs and RW), Panasonic RV-30 ($50 rebate makes $130 with Digital Cinema Mode which just changes the picture mood, 2+subwoofer output along with Dialog Enhancer, smooth scanning, but missing a coaxial output.), Sony SD360 (With Active Tilt control which helps read messed up DVDs and Smoothscan modes to help less jerkiness in fast-forwarding and slowing down and great looking remote control. Many different modes of cinema sound. Best rated out in the market with $50 rebate makes $200), Toshiba SD1600 (only one of these with zoom feature to fit screen. No optical output. Top seller here on Amazon, but I heard it skips and destroys DVDs sometimes if you got one in a hundred.), or the Philips DVD711 (Not really bad at all). I just hope that all of this was helpful. And by the way, the DVD711AT and the DVD711 are one in the same models.

I bought this system today and I am very impressed with what I got for under $200. The picture quality and sound are amazing. I tested out my only 2 DVDs (Jaws and The Sixth Sense) and they run great. So if you want a good, but affordable machine, buy this one now!

Americopy 100 Green Color Paper CD Sleeves with Window & Flap

Not much to say. I received exactly what I was expecting. I used these sleeves for my DVD collection that I hold in a series of CD boxes. I use different colors as an internal code to help locate stuff more easily. Shipped promptly.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

For the money, this is an excellent buy.

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

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

Car Black Box Kit - Includes Car DVR Camera Recorder with 2.5-Inch Screen and HDMI Out

• 1280x720 Color Video, Format: AVI, Speed: 30fps
• 2.5" Color display
• Real Time and Date display
• Automatically Starts recording when car is powered on
• HDMI output

Night video leaving a gas station. Not too great quality wise but I guess if you were involved in an accident, it would be better than nothing. Overall, the camera is decent. Daytime is alright. You can't really see license plate numbers or signs during the day, even on the highest quality setting. Those little details get blurred out. The highest setting isn't really HD, and playback is slow while on the setting.

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This product is far more than I expected! I bought this because I saw on TV where a father Installed one of these in his teenage daughter's car so he could see if she was driving safely. She had an accident and the insurance company ruled the accident her fault until the father played them the saved recording and the insurance company then ruled the accident was not her fault. We don't have any teenage drivers but the TV segment was enough for me so I bought this. It is not only a Vehicle camera like the police use but also a camcord and still photo camera away from the vehicle on the 3 hour rechargeable battery. Also an excellent audio/video tool to use handsfree to record any conversation that you may have with a Police Officer that pulls you over! If the device records an accident ahead of you or at an intersection just down load the recording to a DVD-R/VCR and sell the recording to a TV station. Yep I'm glad that I bought this and I also bought a 32Gig memory card but the device will accept a 64Gig card if you want tons of storage.

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I bought this camera in early Dec 2011 based on the reviews. It worked great at first but has slowly deteriorated to the point I may have to throw it out the window onto the Interstate. :) Mine is horrible now and of course it's past the point where I can return it. So, the cam locks up. There's a small reset button on the bottom but very dangerous to reset while driving as you have to get a small needle to stick in the reset hole. It also just stops recording for no apparent reason. I drove 4 hours to day and 4 times I had to turn it off, back on, then manual start the record. The "motion" options is basically worthless so I let it record all the time (which uses much more sdcard space. I highly recommend you avoid this dashcam.

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Works pretty good. Nice quality for daytime recording but night recordings are pixelated if your headlights are the only light source. If you are in town with street lights and building lights, not bad.

Camera physically seems to be pretty fragile. Feels more like a child's toy camera. The hinge on the display screen seems kind of flimsy.

I like the rollover recodings that replace the older ones as the card gets filled. I ran two 8Gb cards and was able to get 4 hrs on each card. Came in pretty handy a couple of times when accidents happened in front of me and for drunk drivers going along in front as well.

Controls are a little awkward until you rememeber which button does what then it's pretty easy to make settings changes.

The mount could be a little more flexible on the positioning. I tried to set mine to be flat but with the positioning "teeth" it had it pointing down a little. Still worked but just an annoying thing to me. The suction cup worked great. I have seen alot that will fail when it gets warm out and your item falls off while going down the road. This thing hung on great. I moved it once but before re-attaching it. Make sure the cup is clean and a little damp...will hold again without issue.

Definately not for professional or business use. I don't think it would stand up to the constant use. But great otherwise.

Good video quality. I liked how it buffered the video into segments and rotated the segments by overwriting the oldest segment. I got about 2.5 hours loop time of hi-def video from a 8gig memory. BUT.....The unit worked for only a few months before dying. It is a cheaply made Chinese item.

Professional Cable ST35MM-06 Stereo 3.5 mm 6 Feet M/M Cable - Black

The price on this item was great, however when I tested it in my car with my iphone I found that it only works correctly if you do not move the cable/plugs while in use. After plugging it in, as soon as I moved my iphone to set it down the sound started to cut out. I then tried to test it by wiggling the plugs on both ends, and it appears that the plugs aren't sturdy enough to make a good connection with either device. I currently have a Dynex brand cable for my car for this purpose and it works great with no issues....when it is plugged in, no matter how much you move the cord or plugs the sound stays strong and doesn't cut out...it is much thicker and the plugs much sturdier than this cable which I believe to be the reason it works so much better. This cable was going to be for our boat stereo, however I went ahead and ordered the Dynex cable for just a couple dollars more and will trash this one....not worth sending back for the cost. Hope this information helps anyone who is considering buying this item.

Upon measuring the cord, I found that it was truly on 5 feet long, which isn't a big deal for my purposes, but may be an issue for others looking to purchase. Other than that, it is a good product at a good price.

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I have had this now for a few weeks. The moment I took it out of the package and hooked it to my stereo i knew there was a problem. My reason for buying this was to use to connect my ipod to my stereo. At first I thought maybe a speaker was out. But no, i started to move the cord around when moving my ipod and the music was cutting in and out. Now I have to sit there and move it around until it finally works. I wouldn't recommend this unless you have extra time on your hands....

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The cable is quite thing and has very little if any shielding. The buzzing when plugged into the back of my PC was horrible. Another thicker cable I have had no issues.

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These cables do not work well. When I took it out of the package I was not impressed with the thickness of the wire. They seem very cheaply made. Considering the price, I guess it's not surprising. It wouldn't be a big deal if the cable actually worked. The sound is intermittent when connecting my mp3 player to my car stereo. The wire needs to be bent a certain way for the sound to work. I will be throwing it away and purchasing a different cable.

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Sony HXR-MC50U - Ultra Compact AVCHD Camcorder

I have had this cam right now for about 3 weeks. I was one of the first to buy it. Being a "pro" user (I have the PMW-EX3), I found a good niche for this cam. The real plus is the size and image quality you obtain for such a small form factor in this camcorder.

Pros:

Small SIze

Lightweight

Great video quality

Still mage quality better but still not as good as a DSLR

Steady shot is fabulous (makes many handheld shots look near or almost tripod steady! Best stabilization I have seen to date!)

Shotgun mic, directional picks up well

Touch screen LCD, 3" large

Has EVF (not great but i has one)

64GB internal memory over 300mins at max quality of shooting time

External mic jack

Ext headphone jack

"nightshot" IR mode and cam has IR light illuminator

HDMI out (HDMI mini)

Great optics

Full HD chip

Cons:

Manual Control very limited and menu based

Audio adjustment is just 2 positions attenuated and normal

No audio metering

LCD is fingerprint prone and needs to be wiped down after a few uses

EVF very small, cannot be used for focus adjustments

no progressive video

Many have wrote to me and said the HXR-MC50U is very similar to the CX550. I never used one so I can't say.

This cam is great for "run and gun" work, ENG, filmmakers, and news shooting. It should never be considered for your "primary" cam, but its a great derringer cam ready to be with you whenever.

And if your a still photo person, the still quality is the best I have seen for a camcorder, but it won't replace a full JPG shot with w DSLR like a Canon or Nikon.

Over all this cam gets 5 stars since it works great for what I use it for...run and gun, it stealth and works great for it's size.

Thanks

We just returned from a 19 day safari to Botswana and Zambia (Victoria Falls). Like the user above, I too have a SONY PMW-EX3, which is an incredible professional camera, but it was too large to carry on the bush flights within Africa, where weight is very limited! This little camera did everything SONY said it would and could do, and more. Carrying a laptop computer with me, I was able to transfer the day's video clips each day on to the computer with ease using the SONY PMB program which comes with the camera. and the videos were of the highest poossible resolution, full 1920 hi def. With very little study, and an available user's manual, I was able to master the lengthy menus which covered everything I needed to do to get great video in 793 clips. I also found it to be very sturdy and easy to handle under the most adverse of conditions, although it would be nice if SONY offered a rain cover to custom fit the camera, as the generic Petro case. which purports to fit this camera, was virtually impossible to use, especially at the end of the rainy season when you are likely to run into heavy showers, not to mention the massive clouds of spray at Victoria Falls. In my opinion, it was money well spent!

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Yes, I'm using one of these cameras, no I didn't buy it. Someone at work bought it that doesn't know much of anything about shooting video.

The pros are:

* Compact camera, easy to hold

* Big fold-out screen

* Lens hood

* Nice, sharp lens

* Battery lasts a long time

* Takes SDHC instead of just stupid Memory Sticks

* Has huge internal memory of 64GB

The cons are:

* Expensive considering the lack of features.

* No progressive modes (no 24p, no 30p)

* Poor low-light capability (just shot a night parade, and video came out pretty dark in non-nightshot mode)

* Many menu commands are buried deep and it's hard to drill down to the command you want (you can set-up a favorites menu but it still sucks)

* In high humidity conditions the touchscreen controls don't work properly, will often register a wrong choice.

* The 'shotgun' mic isn't very good or directional. I have a Rode VideoMic which really outperforms the Sony mic

* Only one manual control knob so you can have it do manual focus or exposure compensation but not both, bad placement for when the camera is on a tripod unless you have tiny long fingers.

* Using the touchscreen means you'll be jarring the camera while shooting.

* No hotshoe for accessories

The lack of a progressive mode is a real deal-killer. Do you want your videos to look like a weekend video guy or a filmmaker pro?

4/30/2013 UPDATE

A serious design flaw is apparent with this camcorder. The way the tripod socket is designed is incredibly weak. If a tripod screw is over-tightened it will bend the socket which cracks the bottom plastic cover plate. Now the screw-down tab of the tripod socket part has broken-off. The part is obviously made of cast aluminum which means it's weak, the socket is held in by a small screw (think slightly larger than eyeglass screw size)...only ONE screw to take all the force of being attached to the internal metal chassis. The bottom plastic plate obviously provides a little bit of hold-down force.

If you use this camera, absolutely do not tighten the tripod screw too much as it will break the tripod socket which is a custom socket. Sony ProParts says the 'Cabinet' replacement is $75. That's seventy-five bucks for what looks like a 25 cent cheap cast aluminum part.

I run a media center and we have like a dozen of these cameras and I can't be watching over everyone using them telling them to not overtighten. We tell clients to not overtighten but let's face it, I've got no control over them out in the field.

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This is a great little camera, the image quality is very nice. I've seen some complaints that it doesn't handle low lights well which is true unless you turn the auto focus off and adjust it manually.

This camera is lightwieght camera and great for me as a film student because I can easily take it with me anywhere and it handles well and at the same time delivers nice looking footage.

The only beef I had with it when I first got it is that to upload your footage you need a special program (which does come with the camera) that only works on PCs. I'm sure their are ways to get around this, just a heads up though.

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Sony HXR-MC50U Camcorder High Definition professional widescreen 6.6 Mpix optical zoom: 10 x supported memory: SD, MS PRO Duo, SDHC flash card I do a lot of shootings at demonstrations/protest type of events. Recently, I was at a rally in front of the White House. I was very pleased with the results. The video quality is first-rate and the mic/sound is more than adequate. In fact, for some of my scenes, I was placed, via crowd control, pretty far away from the focus of the action. Yet, the zoom on the camcorder did its job in a remarkable fashion. I found this camcorder very easy to use even for a first time right out of the box user. Kudos to Sony!

KYOCERA OYSTR PREPAID VIRGIN MOBILE CELL PHONE

Please note I'm reviewing both the Virgin Mobile service here and also the Oystr phone.

First the phone. I've had Virgin Mobile service for 2.5 years and have been using an old Audiovox flip phone which is very small. Lately the buttons on the Audiovox are getting a bit dodgy and my eyesight is getting worse too (I'm 43) so I wanted a phone with a bigger, brighter screen. I've been waiting for Virgin Mobile to have some decent phones and I was excited to see this Oystr phone available at such a decent price.

However I discovered that you get what you pay for. To me, this phone was only marginally acceptable. First off, the phone seems very buggy. Sometimes the keypad backlighting comes on, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes the screen remains lit througout a call (that surely accounts for part of the battery problems people have been reporting), sometimes it doesn't. Setting the backlighting to turn off after 7, 15 or 30 seconds made no difference on my phone; it always turned off after 2 minutes or so -when it did not stay on throughout a call. The messaging is buggy also -to give one example, the automatic capitalization works after a period, but not after a question mark or an exclamation mark. This latter bug doesn't seem limited to my particular phone. I emailed Virgin Mobile about it and they emailed me back to say they replicated this on their Oystr also. How it is that a phone aimed at young people doesn't have good SMS software is simply astonishing to me -it's not like this is a new technology. I've been using SMS-equipped phones for years in Asia, where most people send SMS messages more than they make phone calls. All of these bugs were giving me a queasy feeling so I decided to switch to the Nokia Shorty, which I am much happier with. Nokia has, in my opinion, the simplest and easiest to use cell phone software. The sound quality of phone calls on the Nokia compared to the Oystr is far superior, in my opinion.

This phone seems okay for someone who really wants a flip phone at a low price. But if you use your phone or SMS messaging a lot I think you will find the annoyances of this phone rather great.

Now let me talk about the Virgin Mobile service. I think it's very good overall. I have a special set of circumstances -I'm often working outside the US for months at a time. Therefore it seems a waste to me to pay a large monthly fee for a phone which I will not be using perhaps half the year. Virgin Mobile's service fits the bill perfectly. So far as I can tell, this is the cheapest large and well-established cell phone service. If you want a cell phone only for emergencies, to keep in the car, to use when you arrive at or are picking someone up at an airport, etc., then I think you can't beat Virgin Mobile. The minimum you can pay with them to keep your phone in service is $80/year -and that $80 goes toward call time. You have to add $20 to your account every 90 days to keep your account active. Then minutes are 25 cents/minute for the first 10 minutes on any one day, and 10 cents/minute after than first ten minutes (Virgin Mobile does not actively advertise this deal anymore, but it is still available if you ask them or search carefully on their website).

In contrast, Net 10 seems cheaper -10 cents/minute all the time -but you have to pay a minimum of $150/year to keep the service active (this is as of Sept. 2006 -plans change frequently, of course).

In addition, Virgin Mobile's customer support is exemplary. Every time I have called them with a problem, I got a knowledgable person who spoke English fluently and was very helpful and friendly. Their website is excellent and easy to use. I explored switching to the Net 10 service when I discovered the Oystr was such a poor phone -Net 10 has some nice phones available. But calling their customer service was a nightmare. It seems clear to me they have followed the trend toward outsourcing their customer service to offshore call centers in order to save money and it was very difficult to get basic information about their service. Net 10 as well has a reputation (do a search on Google) for having a difficult time switching a phone number over to their service. I decided not to risk it and just stay with Virgin and the Nokia phone. I'm glad I did.

Overall I give Virgin Mobile very high marks for their service, but poor marks for the phone selection. I do not know why they do not offer one good solid higher-end Motorola or Nokia phone to attract more adults (and smarter people) to their service. I hope in the future they see that they could reach a whole new market with their good service if they offered phones not just aimed at trendy high-schoolers but also at (slightly) older folks too.

Okay, so all the bad reviews for this phone almost made me not buy it. However, I needed a phone, and this one had nice features, and texting is cheap, so I went ahead and bought it, figuring I could return it if I didn't like it.

So, the first thing I notieced is that it is a nice phone. It is a perfect weight, comfortable to hold. The white case has a pearl-sheen to it, and is solid feeling. It is a study and tight phone, very durable. The screen is 128 x 128, and it looks muay nice. I've seen $50 phones with screens of lesser quality. You can change the brightness and contrast. I lowered the contrast one level, and it looks nice and crisp.

The phone is easy to navigate. It played with it for two minutes and figured out where everything was. It has the standard virgin mobile graphics [pig with wings, donkey, dragon, robot, etc.] and they aren't distracting or anything. The menu's are easy to navigate and see. The fonts are clear and easy to read, not cramped or odd colored. It comes with 4 backgrounds: swirls, diamond pattern, skulls & roses, and multi-colored eagles. On their site you can download more for $2. The phone comes with themes also, and you can download more.

The ringtones are nice. They've now added a 'Euro ringer' because the older generation didn't like the superphonic [song] ringers. The Euro ringer sounds like a normal phone, but just a tiny bit more fancy so as to not be boring. You can download hundreds of ringers on their site. I currently have Super Mario Brothers theme. The sound quality of the ringer has improved, it sounds loud and clear. No more tin box or static sounding.

The text imput is simple. You can disable auto-text and what not, and typing is fast. It is simple to navigate email, text, and inbox. Speed dialing, one touch, etc. can all be enabled, and they are simple to use. You can change sounds, including 'text recieved' alarms. You can add signatures to text messages, and graphics. The phone has both text AND picture messaging, even though the phone doesn't have a camera. Texts are cheap compared to most. A standard text is 5 cents both ways. However, even on the prepaid plan, you can sign up for a monthly texting plan [while keeping your prepaid plan]. You can get 1000 text messages a month for $9.99. Not a bad deal, best you will find for texting anywhere, especially for prepaid.

Web browsing is simple and easy to navigate. With one press of a button, the phone will pull up the number of minutes you have remaining. You can do this 5 times a day for free. If you are low on minutes, you can register your credit or debit card or paypal account on your Account through their site. If you check your minutes and it is low, then you can simply enter a dollar amount to refill, hit OK, and you have added more minutes. Very simple and convient; very nice since you don't have to go to a store to buy a card. All minute plans are 18 cents a minute no matter what, and this includes tax.

Oka, onto the matter everyone cares about: battery life. With the first Oystr's, battery life was terrible. Beyond terrible. Maybe 10 hours if you were lucky. Luckily, after so much complaing, VM has corrected this problem. With the older phones, the backlight stayed on constantly, even when the phone was closed, which drained the battery. Now, you have more options. You can go into Menu > Settings >Display > Duration. By default, the backlight will remain lit even when the phone is closed, though the screen goes off and the backlight dims. The purppose of this is so that if it is dark, you can see a faint blue glow coming from your closed phone, making it sylish and easy to find.

If you wish to stop this, go into Duration and select disabled. This will disable the backlight WHEN THE PHONE IS CLOSED. When you open the phone, the keys will light up just like normal. The difference is, the backlight NEVER stays on when the phone is closed. Battery life goes back to the stated 7-8 days. The only thing is that when the phone is open, it takes a full two minutes for it to dim. So that is two minutes of talking when the phone will be using a little more juice. But it doesn't make a huge difference. If you purchase an Oystr, do what I said [disable the backlight] and the phone still stays lit or the battery doesn't work, you ahve been sold the older, not-thought-out-too-well model. You need to contact VM and get them to send you a new one.

Reception on this phone is good. I'm yet to have a call dropped. The calls go through fast. Since you can pull up reports on your minutes, you don't have to listen to the robot tell you how many you have left. The sound quality is good. I can go into the very lower level of the school library, which is all stone, and I still get reception without a problem.

Rates on this prepaid plan are very nice, especially when you take into consideration the reception quality. Pay by the minute is 18 cents always. Texts are 5 cents always, both to send and recieve, UNLESS you want to sign up for the monthly texting plan [1000 for $10]. You can sign up for the text plan WHILE remaining on the pay by minute plan; VM is the only one with this. Another thing I like about VM is that I can switch between monthly plans and prepaid plans as often as needed. With other prepaid plans, once you switch to a monthly plan, you can't go back to pay by minute. With VM you can.

Overall, I really like this phone. It was dirt cheap, $20, and it is NICE. If it had a camera, it would be perfect. It is strong, crisp, has an Xcellent screen, nice downloads, good ringer, has song ringers which are also unheard of for a prepaid cell at this price, has excellent and strong reception, on-demand minute statitics, instant minute purchasing, etc. I hightly recommend this phone, as long as it is the newer model.

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My husband and I have been pre-pay cell phone users for about 5 years now, we were with Trac-Fone, the only reason we left Trac-Fone was because we got tired of carrying around a heavy phone and for some reason the flip phones available through Trac-Fone didn't work for us, we never had a problem otherwise with Trac-Fone or their customer service, but because I wanted a flip phone I decided to do some research on other pre-pay cell phones out there.

A few weeks ago we decided to go with Virgin Mobile Audiovox 8610 and were basically happy with the phone except the 1 complaint that many have expressed, the sound of the ringtone was way too low, other then that we were happy with the signal and customer service.

I decided to buy my mother a pre-pay phone and saw the Oystr on the Virgin Mobile website, she's not a big cell phone person either and we just wanted to get her the phone in case she needed it for an emergency, I got the phone and charged it and was amazed how great this phone was, the ringtones go to level 7 whereas the Vox 8610 go to level 5, the ring was so loud that I had to put it down to a level 3 for her and that's still loud, so I was happy about that, also this phone is easy to program and the speakerphone worked great, this phone also offers voice dialing, just program it and all you have to do is press the send button and say Home or whatever you choose and it dials it automatically.

We loved this phone so much that we decided to buy 2 more Oystr phones and are returning the Vox 8610's. We were able to buy the Oystr at Best Buy for $29.99. I can't find anything wrong with this phone at all, the outer shell is hard and seems less susceptible to damage, the ring is very loud, we get a great signal, and the phone notifys us if we have a voice mail message. You can also send text messages and browse the web with this phone but since we're not interested in that I can't comment on it.

You can also download ringtones etc. for this phone. I can't say enough good things about it, for the price we paid we got a really great phone. Virgin Mobiles customer service has been awesome also, we had no problem changing over the phone from the Vox 8610 to the Oystr.

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at first, the battery charge didn't last the entire day. the screen stays lit up EVEN THOUGH THE PHONE IS CLOSED. it NEVER shuts off. so i just changed the setting, battery stays charged all day. PENNY TEXTING is awesome! just 9.99 a month for 1000 messages. this is the easiest way to stay in touch as a family. way cheaper than calling and wasting minutes. unlimited plans are awesome too as nights start at 7pm. perfect time for my 12 year old to get home, do homework, eat dinner, and then call her friends. OH you can also text message to a land line and the message gets read to you AND you have the option of replying to that message! that feature has come in handy already. nice, simple, no frills phone with a plan to match. you can also earn up to 75 bonus minutes a month just by watching some ads on the website. it's called sugar mama, try it!

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The phone has gotten a lot of hits for battery life. I had the phone run down quickly once and quickly realized that if you close the phone on a select few functions it doesnt turn off the screen. It maybe a slight knock on the phone but if you simply look at it you can tell if the screen is on or not. If it is just reopen it and close it and the screen will turn off.

As far as the phone itself it has a few games a few ringtones and a few images. You can buy more, but frankly I dont care.

You can set it to vibrate or to vibrate and have a ringtone. It has plenty of functions for a inexpensive phone, such as web access, texting, speakerphone.

The best part of the phone however is the quality of the calls, my relatives have these ridiculously expensive phones with cameras and doo-dads and they sound like you're talking inside a toilet. This little cheap phone has 5x better sound quality than theirs. This is the little phone that can and I love it.

Sony HXR-NX5U NXCAM Professional Camcorder

I went straight to 720 60p and have not shot in anything else since i bought it... Its just so clear and sharp... I'm so happy with the image quality (out of the box), i have not even felt the need to start tweaking, plus i think i'm now a AVCHD convert too, seems to handle fast motion really well.

The real kicker is its just so nice to pop the SDHC card out and be able to instantly view the footage on my laptop, without the whole tape download/cineform convert/render thing ....

This is easily one of the best HD Cameras on the Prosumer level of any kind. The quality of the image, thanks to the Zeiss lens is incredible. I shot on the run in New Zealand in the middle of winter, and was able to get great definition from everything from the foreground to the background. Leaves and grass are clearly separated and not like in most HD cameras all bunched up together. Stunning. Audio real good, but you need to buy an extra mic/mix as the one that comes with the camera does not work for filming, but it's good enough for quick stuff.

To export footage into computer is a breeze, but time consuming. I use Final Cut Pro 7 and it took no time to get the footage into bins directly.

F-stops/shutter/focusing is manual, which increases the quality of the picture shot. Zeiss lens is incredible. Low light is beyond believe and we pushed the grain as high as possible, and the range is quite big. Great for low light situation. We pushed it as far as a night shoot in a moving car with only the inside light on, and you could still get definition on the blacks. Granted in the end the image is way too grainy, but this is an example of how far you can push the camera.

You can use up two mics at the same time. Cards are regular SD cards for media.

Overall an INCREDIBLE camera for most indies and even a b-camera for bigger projects. It's light and portable. Only negative, if you can say that, is that you can't change the lens but then again for under $4,000 this is FAR SUPERIOR to the EX1 series (obviously not as good as the EX3).

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I am not a professional videographer but have been creating and editing training videos in digital since 1998 or so. The camera is surprising light for it's size, easy to operate and has a wonderful variety of configurations for audio. I recorded some samples using a 32GB SD card (very cheap!) using the highest FX 1080i setting. when you go straight to a TV via hdmi to view footage it is absolutely stunning. Even with no lighting except indoor flourescents i found the video sharp and bright. Editing was a snap using sony vegas 12. It handles AVCHD files extremely well (hello, sony) and gives a staggering number of ways to render your master video. I found that even when things are compressed considerably (9mbps for DVD quality) the regular DVD produced is still remarkably good (for DVD mind you) What I like is that I can take the highest resolution video and use it to create either blu-ray or standard dvds. I also purchased the sony uwpV1 wireless lavalier mic and though it is pricey (500-600 bucks) it is easily the best wireless mic i've ever used. Works easily with the camera with the receiver mounting to the camera shoe. You can also use two sources at once (audio) and alter the levels. The camera is just a joy to use and even if you're not very sophisticated you can pretty much point and shoot using the standard presets. I like the dual SD slots too. If you use both slots and two 32bg SD cards (you can get two for under 100 bucks) you could record at the highest possible resolution and bitrate for something like 7 hours or so and transfer couldn't be easier, just pop out the card and pop it into a usb card reader and boom! I'm very pleased with the purchase so far!

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DV tape is a thing of the past. Tons of recording formats to choose from, personally love the 720P quality. Operating in full manual is a bit tricky but not bad. There are 8 preset buttons, 2 XLR inputs, plenty of outputs, which together make this camera AWESOME.

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Product Highlights

3 1/3" CMOS Sensors

1080i/1080p/720p AVCHD (@24Mbps)

Native 1080/24p, 720/60p

Wide Angle 20x G-Lens

HD-SDI & HDMI Output

SMPTE Time Code In/Out

Dual XLR Inputs

Simultaneous HD/MPEG-2 SD Capture

Uses Memory Stick PRO Duo / SDHC Cards

Built-in GPS

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