Panasonic DVD-LV55 Portable DVD Player

• Portable DVD/CD/Video CD player with built-in 5-inch LCD screen
• DTS and Dolby Digital compatible
• 5-speed smooth scan
• Built-in stereo speakers
• Superthin design for convenient travel

This little unit, while being on the small side in terms of screen size, is great. I travel cross-country on planes at least twice/week and have never been able to sleep while sitting in the ever-shrinking, upright, rigid airline seats; this device has made these sardine-can trips bearable!

Pros: better than expected sound out of little speakers; ease of hookup to full size monitor; easy-to-operate controls on both remote and unit top; bright picture, even in bright light conditions; electronic brightness and color adjustment controls; battery life (3.5 hours with a "0" brightness setting on a -5 to 5 scale) that averages better than listed in the specifications (2.5-3 hours); stands up to jostling and bumping of airline travel well (skip-free play sideways and inverted); extended electronic sound processing features (simulates theatre surround modes while using headset); healthy substitute for full-size DVD player in the home

Cons: battery cannot charge while unit is plugged in and in use (i.e., must be turned off to charge); remote cannot be used while unit is operating on battery power; manual is poorly organized, but after a couple of times through, the technically-challenged can operate this unit; no carrying case or headphones packaged with unit; lack of dynamic range dampening feature requires a quick finger on the volume control when using a headset; (not completely sure about this but) optical output jack on the back of the unit is not truly optical-cable compatible

Suggestions: for successful audio during air travel, get a noise-dampening headset that either covers the ear completely or some headphones/earbuds that insert into the ear canal; if you connect to external monitors routinely, invest in an S-video cable as well (not included with model, but RCA style video and audio cables are).

I compared this 5" model to the larger screen Panasonic model and found that the extra money for the latter wasn't warranted. With this unit roughly 15 inches from my eyes, the picture is crisp, but not too grainy ("liney") and I have yet to come across a movie where something wasn't resolved well enough on the screen to see it.

I give it 5 stars for overall quality and ease of use minus a star for not including a case and headphones. Bottom line: pros far outweigh cons, great bang for the buck.

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I bought one of these immediately after a particularly frustrating transcontinental flight, so I wasn't in the best frame of mind when I made my choice. I also only had a choice between this one and one made by Pioneer.

Nevertheless, after two very long business trips I have been extremely satisfied. I not only used it during the flights to watch videos, but also to listen to CDs. The battery lasts for slightly longer than 3 hours (just about as long as I want headphones on my head) and easily charges up overnight. (In the future, if I do longer trips, I might consider buying a second, backup battery.) Additionally, the unit seems rugged. I use a soft-sided totebag for travel, rather than a hard-sided briefcase, and it gets thrown/stuffed/mushed around a lot. I liked the fact that the unit was small enough, even with the battery pack, to allow me to cram a lot of other stuff in with it. (You know how we women are with our handbags and travelbags!)

The hotels I stayed at only had about 10 channels available for viewing on their TV, so I also used this unit in the evenings, for both DVDs and CDs. This allows me to catch up on all of those alternate soundtracks on DVDs -something that I'm often too busy to do at home.

One very small complaint I have is that the picture seems a little grainy. However, I could have bought the Pioneer unit sitting in the display case next to this one, which had both a very good quality picture as well as a slightly larger one, but cost ($) more. Obviously, price was a factor in my decision.

This unit didn't come with headphones, so make sure you purchase a set when you get yours. The unit's speakers sound pretty tinny but what else could you expect in a small DVD player? Use the headphones, which have a perfectly acceptable sound. And don't forget, you can select two settings that simulate surround-sound. I found that some DVDs had an improved sound with these settings, but some didn't. (There may be a technical explanation for this but I can't tell you what it is.)

The unit comes with a remote but it only works when the unit is running off of a wall outlet. I found that for basic watching, the unit's own buttons can get you through any DVD menu selections, forward/freeze/reverse/zoom options, or player setup you wish to do. (Note that most home DVD players don't have enough buttons, and require the remote for accessing all of its functions.)

I found the instructions easy to follow -I'm the type of person who reads almost every page -and was soon able to navigate through the unit's setup menus.

Overall, considering this unit's price, the amount of features provided, and the enjoyment I've gotten with it, I consider this a very good deal.

One last thought. If you travel with a laptop, why get one of these? Well, if your laptop has a DVD drive, you don't really have to get one of these. However, I like how compact this unit is, allowing me a little more privacy. No...I don't watch any X-rated stuff, but I also do consider my fellow travelers who might not want to see any explicit scenes in their peripheral line of sight. I can also fit this along with a cup of coffee, a snack, or a book (when listening to a CD)on the seat tray. When listening to a CD, this unit fits into my lap or between me and my handrest more easily than a laptop would.

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The quality is second to none! Not only was I shocked at how wonderful and workable the five inch screen is when you hold it on your lap, it's the same ratio as watching on a 52 inch TV several feet away. The surround sound is incredible and really works even via headphones! I sit in my back yard late at night and enjoy great movies the overall enjoyment and relaxation is better then watching from a large screen TV in my living room. This is the best product I've ever bought!

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Though the LV55 is advertised as having a 5" screen, the actual viewable screen size is 4.8" diagonal, with a 16:9 width-to-height ratio just like a widescreen TV. There are several "display modes" that let you change the image size. One of them lets you enlarge a non-anamorphic image so it will fill the whole screen (albeit resulting in a more pixellated, less sharp display). One of the display modes turns off the display, so that you can save battery power while playing audio CDs.

The LV55 has a screen resolution of 280,000 pixels, which comes to about 700x400 pixels. This is less than the 720x480 resolution that a DVD is able to deliver, but it is enough to give a clear, sharp picture.

This player only lets you adjust color saturation and brightness, and not hue and contrast. Using "Video Essentials" and "Avia Guide to Home Theater" to test the display, I find that the display has a slight over-saturation of red, and cannot display certain grey scales (which could cause "dithering" in playing black-and-white movies). Also, the player has some built-in edge enhancement that strikes me as rather excessive, resulting in "halos" appearing around borders.

The display also has the common overscan problem, which results in a little bit of picture cut off from the left and right sides of the image. Overscanning is common on most consumer CRT and LCD displays.

The built-in speakers produce expectedly tinny sound, considering the player only uses 13 watts of power. A good pair of earphones or headphones is a must, but even so, the advantage of a 5.1 soundtrack is totally lost without 5.1 speakers. There is a "dialog enhancer" feature that raises the volume of the center channel sound, which is useful in a noisy environment. There is also a "dynamic range compression" feature that lowers the volume of loud sound if you feel the soundtrack is too overwhelming.

The LV55 is able to play DVD-Video discs with Dolby Digital or DTS sound, audio CDs, and Video CDs (VCDs). Although the manual says it does not play CD-R discs, it does play CD-R discs that are copied from audio CDs and VCDs.

The player can also send Dolby Digital or DTS signal to an external DD/DTS decoder's optical input, although you need to obtain a miniplug-to-Toslink cable yourself. It can send its video signal (via RCA or S-Video cable) to an external monitor. It can also receive video from, say, a camcorder, so you can view it on the display.

With the battery pack attached, the LV55 weighs 2 pounds and is 1.5 inches thick, which is a little too bulky for me. But I do like the fact that the screen can be flipped open to an almost 180-degree angle, and that the playback is not affected even if I don't hold the player horizontally; that gives me great flexibility in viewing positions.

I bought this unit to use for travel and it's turned into an invaluable and indispensible little unit. The unit has worked perfectly for my daughters to watch Jackie Chan movies on road trips and for me on business trips. Not only does the battery last for two movies (~3.5 hours+), but the picture is fantastic.

This unit cannot be beat for the money.

The only con is the lack of some sort of dynamic compression circuit. Many DVDs have too much dynamic range to be heard properly through headphones on a noisy plane. Invest in a noise cancelling set of headphones and you'll be VERY happy with this unit.

Creative MuVo TX FM 256 MB MP3 Player

• 256 MB holds up to 8 hours WMA or 4 hours MP3 music--weighs just 1.1 ounces
• Built-in FM and FM recorder with 32 presets
• Built-in microphone for easy voice recording
• Transfers music via USB 2.0;compatible with Windows 98SE, 2000, Me, XP
• Powered by 1 AAA battery; provides up to 15 hours of continuous play

This MP3 player is excellent. I like that there is not need for additional cables when connecting to a PC. It also has great sound and microphone quality.

Panasonic VDRM50 DVD Camcorder with 2.5-inch LCD w/18x Optical Zoom

I've had this camera for a few weeks now and have filmed over 10 hours without any problem. I film a lot of kid's sports (football, sailing, etc.) and the picture quality is excellent. I went with the Panasonic over the Sony because of the 18x optical zoom and I just don't think that the Sony name is not what it used to be. The last two Sony products I've bought had problems (computer is a piece of junk and the camcorder's viewfinder stopped working after a year).

If you are going to buy a DVD camcorder, I would recommend using a DVD drive to transfer video to your computer. It's simple and fast. I bought a LG burner and it works great. Editing software programs are a different story but this is a problem with and digital camcorder you buy.

Panasonic's technical support is definately not the greatest but neither is Sony. In conclusion, I'm very happy with this camera and love the DVD concept. I gave the camera 4 stars because of the lack of support from Panasonic and the included software is useless and the instructions are unclear. The software that came with the DVD burner is better but not perfect. At least I could edit and produce a video with music.

As far as DVD players, even if you buy a Sony, not all players support DVD rw, so you have to do your homework no matter what you buy.

I bought this as a gift to my husband before he was deployed to iraq so that we could take dvd's of the children for him to watch. The manual is useless. It is very vague and difficult to follow in most areas. Using the camcorder was easy but when we went to use it with the PC we had all kinds of trouble. The usb cable is really nonfunctional. Panasonic reccomends that you back up your discs to pc...we couldnt even get the hardware to work right on our pc (the tower is brand new) and after calling tech support for help..well..he gave up too and we lost all of the video in the process. (so my husband went to Iraq with just pictures and a major let down.)Then we couldnt uninstall the hardware that was installed improperly and tech support could not help. I am so disappointed with this product that I am returning it to the store where i bought it and trying a different brand.

In short..if your not mechanically/or computer inclined this product will be difficult to use and the directions even harder to follow. And dont dvd record anything you want to keep on this product. It has a problem with erasing or locking you out so you cant get to the images and those precious moments are lost.....

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The camera functioned well, but is in no way compatiable with Vista or and newer systems. Drivers are not available, so thusly this camera is an peice of junk. Would never recommend it or Panasonic to any one.

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PROs: Very easy to operate, even my wife handled it well :). Using DVD-RAM disks saved my budget since I've used a single DVD-RAM disk (app 20CAD$) for the last three years. Software that came bundled ('DVD Movie Album SE' and 'My DVD') is easy to install and easy to learn. Battery life could be better, but it works fine for me (about 1-1.5 hours, screen was on all the time). All cables (TV connection, PC connection, charger) are nicely marked, no confusion here. They even included an S-video cable for TV, so you have a choice of composite or S-video connection. Neat. I like that I can put the small DVD-RAM disk in my laptop, and do all the editing, I don't need to daisy-chain the camera itself to my laptop.

CONs: As you know, DVD-Ram disks need cartridges. For many people this is a hassle, but I'm used to it. I love the additional protection that cartridge offers. Original recordings are in 'raw' DVD format: .vro and they need to be reformated to .mpg. Not a big deal with DVD Movie Album SE, BUT: the size of finished movie in MB is huge. A 2-minute movie takes well above 100MB if you keep the default settings in the software. The price of recordable DVDs keeps dropping, but anyway, the movies could be smaller in size.

Overall, this is an excellent camera if you are an average computer user and know how to get around with movie encoding/decoding.

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Simple to use, great picture quality, and overall a good camcorder for amateurs! I've found the tiny dvd's that it uses to be compatible with most other systems, although not all. You can also re-film over the dvd's and use them as many times as you want before "finalizing" them. I would recommend this camcorder, even for users today. Great product, long-lasting and durable.

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SecuVox 4GB Motion Detection Night Vision HD Clock Camcorder and Player (Silver)

I bought this and returned it. I may have gotten a defective product that is why I am unhappy. The concept of the product is great but it just wasn't functioning right. I wrote a review in the sharper image website after being asked to rate the product but since I rated it low, they never posted my review.

So I am glad that it is available here at Amazon so I can let you know about this product. The concept of the item is great. But it is not well made. The buttons on the unit itself does not react right away when you press it. The remote can be confusing to use because instead of saying what the buttons are for, they are just marked A B C. So you have to keep guessing what those letters mean. It uses this really oversized rechargeable AA battery that when you put it in the unit, it is difficult to take it out. There is no AC adapter and you have to keep charging the unit using your computer but the unit won't fully charge that is why I think it was defective in the first place.

I suggest you purchase a better item at Amazon which maybe a little bit more expensive but may have better reviews than what I am writing for this product.

I have mixed feelings about my purchase of this device. It works as advertised. The buttons are a little clumsy to use, as one has to press a button for "eight seconds" for a command to register. Additional buttons may have been helpful. However, the real Achilles heel of the device, at least in my case, appears to be the battery. I charged it repeatedly, but the whole thing dies after a few days. It works for an afternoon, certainly, but when I leave it somewhere for a week, not only is its dead, so is its memory. I really think that given the design parameters and the need for cheapness, its engineers must be commended for their efforts; however, its usefulness would have been greatly enhanced if it had either an outlet plug-in or a double battery to enhance its longevity.

But, hey, it works.

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I purchased the Clock camcorder for my room, when I am gone to work. The first day, it kept cutting itself on, but no one had entered the room, and nothing had moved. No open windows, where wind could blow. I even covered the numbers on my cable box, so that the time changing wouldn't activate it. The second day.... I got much of the same, it just kept activating itself with no movement detected. The third day..... It just stopped working altogether. The instructions do not include troubleshooting tips, nor does it have a customer service number. I wouldn't even purchase this junk for novelty reasons. Nor would I ever dream of connecting it to my computer. I would not recommend this to anyone, not even as a gag gift. Back to the drawing board for me.

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this s*** does not work don't f****** buy it

it says it has night vision camera and it doesn't and the it says it has night vision camera and it doesn't and the camera doesn't even reach that far the description really sucks because its not what it says is gonna be

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I would not waste my money on this item. The construction is inferior, the documentation is confusing, and the thing does not work. The SIMM card is flimsy and there are no instructions for how to insert the card and no way to know when it is properly seated. The instructions tell you to push buttons that do not exist. A fully charged battery lasts only a few hours, so overnight surveillance is not possible. The playback feature is useless.

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Plextor PX-TV402U-NA ConvertX PVR Personal Video Recorder for PC

I was nervous about getting any converter after reading reviews of quite a few of them here. I have never done any video conversion or editing before, and I had about 2 days to transfer an analog videotape and clean it up for a work project.

The Plextor installed and ran perfectly under XP with absolutely no problems. Since I had the unit, I also took the opportunity to convert about 15 VHS tapes I had to DVD :) with no problems on any of them, even older ones. Specifically, I had no video or audio sync problems with anything, commercial or non-commercial origin. If I could give a separate rating to hardware, I'd give it a 5 and give the included software a 3.

Intervideo's WinDVD comes with the product and is generally usable, but has installation issues, at least one persistant bug even with the current update, and a generally non-intuitive interface (YMMV). Please note that, contrary to common practice, the product serial number contains the letter "O" and alphas *must* be in upper case. I couldn't get font size changes on title screens to stick--they looked right on author playback, but reverted to the default (huge) size when the DVD was actually recorded. Otherwise, most basic stuff appears to be there if you click around, and the help isn't bad.

Completely met my needs. Thanks to prior reviewers for the info I needed to make my decision.

Still embarking on spooling off all the Hi-8 tapes I have, but I've been VERY satisfied with the Plextor unit so far. First thing I did was to spool one Hi-8 tape and then make a DVD, using the functionality of the bundled WinDVD Creator software. Good news: it worked, and a few hours after I started, I was watching the DVD I created, on my bedroom DVD player. Bad news: the software is full of minor and sometimes more than minor annoyances. It may be that I'm still climbing the learning curve with it, but I think it's just not very good. I'm looking into other solutions, such as Pinnacle, Adobe Premiere Elements, etc. Meanwhile, I keep spooling.

I haven't yet tried the TV capture in any depth. It looked like it worked, but again, with some annoyances on the software side. Plextor could improve this offering vastly with the addition of some better bundled software.

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I was seeking a fairly inexpensive method of doing it all with video capture: getting cable televsion, VHS tape, and old DVD footage into the computer. After some tweaking and playing, I've successfully accomplished all of the above using this products' HW and SW package. Although DivX is the best format for recording off of cable TV, remember its 4 GB file-size limitation. The biggest concern for most home video editors is the ability to edit your footage in the common editing software applications. So far, I've not been able to edit my VHS-now-PC-(MPEG 2 & 4)footage in Pinnacle 7, but I'm hearing it might be possible in Adobe Premiere and Pinnacle 10.

Nevetheless, the product works, and has proven itself reliable.

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The hardware is very good. Software is easy a bit buggy and leaves room for more control. I can watch TV on my computer with the USB2 connection and capture like a VCR. I can capture 3 hours of video input on a DVD with OK quality. With the best quality of capture to DVD directly you can fill two hours on one layer DVD much better than I as able to do with my JVC camcorder software.

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I have been looking at these capture units for a while. I have only used one before this. [Dazzle] As mentioned before the Ulead software is a flop. I'm using Easy Media Creator 8. My DVD 8 sees the capture unit, and works great with it.

One little quirk is that there can be nothing else USB plugged in while the unit works. It will not work on a hub. But I can work around that. I have had no audio sync problems and the video quality is as good as the tapes I have been feeding in. I have noticed that if I feed in more than two tapes at a time however the size of the output file often exceeds 5-6 gig. This for a 100 minute tape seems excessive. I can restart the computer and do it over and the output file will fit a DVD-R5 disk. Someone smarter than I will have to figure that out.

Overall this was money well spent and I would do it again.

brite-View BV-980H Digital HD DVR (for Antenna and clear QAM use) ,with 320GB HDD Built-in, EPG Sup

I think this high definition single-tuner hard disk recorder was a great concept on paper, but I think it was rushed to market before the user interface was thoughtfully created and tested. I ordered one and tested it extensively for two weeks, and ultimately returned mine. Mine got returned MOSTLY because it was apparently defective (so said brite-View technical support when I explained the problem I was having -which was that it was not receiving a solid signal, so my video had pixelation in it, which in turned interfered with successful recordings -recordings would end unexpectedly midway through recording). And no, I didn't have a bad feed or bad wiring. All my other digital devices (1 HDTV and 2 other digital recorders) worked flawlessly.

I was using the unit to record not from antenna, but from cable TV (it will work with either). It does work well (assuming you don't have a defective unit like mine apparently was) to record "QAM" digital cable TV signals -that is, HD cable TV signals that are not encrypted by the cable company and do NOT require a cable company set-top box to be connected to your digital recorder or HDTV. I am just a "basic cable" subscriber and do not need/use a set-top box. My cable company (as many/most do) provides unencrypted HD channels of all the local broadcast TV channels in my area, plus a few others like community access channels. All that with no set-top box and for "only" about $20/month.

My unit's defect notwithstanding, the unit made beautiful HD recordings (when it could lock onto the cable signal).

However almost everything else about USING the unit was difficult. The menu's are not thoughtfully laid out and it takes lots of navigation to get from one feature to the next. The process of scanning for available channels, and then customizing your own list of usable and favorite channels is buggy and unfriendly. It took me LITERALLY 4 hours one evening to customize my channel list after an auto-scan of my cable feed.

Even simply trying to "channel surf" while watching live TV through its own tuner or while setting up a timed recording was frustratingly slow. It takes 2-3 seconds to go from one channel to another, so if you need to flip through 10 channels to get to another channel you want, you better not be in a rush -it could take you 30-60 seconds or more, just to change the channel! The "favorites" channel feature would help speed up that channel changing process -if it worked properly, which it does not.

Setting up timed recordings (and then later retrieving the successful recordings) are also more difficult than any other recording device I've ever used. First of all, all timed recordings are set using military time. If you are unfamiliar with military time, you have to keep making the conversions in your head (or use a cheat-sheet which I created) just to get it to record at the right PM hour (what real time is "17:30" again??)". Then finding the resulting recordings in another section of the menu system is difficult, because the resulting displayed file names are written/formatted in techno-geek code (again including military time references in the recordings' file names), and again you have to do some mental decoding to interpret which file is which. Nowhere in the set up and then the recording of programs can you simply enter the program's actual name for easy reference. This unit is nowhere even close to the ease of programming of say Tivo (the gold standard), or even of Windows Media Center, or how my Panasonic digital recorders work. Even 1980's era VHS recorders made program recording easier!

So, even though the unit makes an excellent actual recording of an HD signal, I have to give it a thumbs down ultimately, due to its other many shortcomings in its user interface. If you don't care about an easy-to-use intuitive interface, and are a VERY VERY patient individual, you might actually like this recorder.

If you are seriously considering buying this unit, I strongly recommend that you first read through the "AV Science Forum" which has a long thread of discussion about this unit from those who've purchased it. Google "AVS Forum" and then at site, search "BV-980H."

Probably like several other users, I heavily rely on digital OTA channels and netflix to feed my TV in the daily life. I found brite-view DVR might be a choice since it supports EPG schedule recording and usb port for increasing recording capability.

First, I have only used it for few days so I wasn't able to test out all of the features but I did get to test out the basic ones. Here are some thoughts:

1) the size,weight and built quality is decent enough.

2) user manual is not that useful and you probably need to download newer version on their website.

3) after finish initial setup, you have to press "menu" button on the remote to scan TV channels.

4) remote control is not really responsive.

5) it takes between 5-10 secs to load EPG and you can view detailed program description from EPG.

6) video quality is good. (I am using RCA ANT1650 with BV-980H)

7) takes too many steps to play my recordings under file management. (got the email form them and they will add shortcut on the menu for ME :)

When I emailed and called technical support to ask how I should scan OTA channels from 980H (not showing on instruction), they also told me they will update new firmware to fix some bugs and improve the performance by end of July. So far, it works as advertised to get 4 stars. I will wait for their new firmware and upadte my review later.

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I tried two of this item & neither was satisfactory. I returned the first one for a replacement. Now I am returning the second one for a refund. Both units had the same problems. The timer record function on both units was unreliable. They would often fail to record the scheduled time frame. The sound was also a problem. There would often be no sound when playing a recorded program or when viewing real time. I could get the sound to come in by toggling the source button on the remote (can not toggle this during play back, so I had to make sure the sound was working before starting play back.) This is not a game I wanted to play. The unit is not user friendly. It takes too many steps to find & play a recorded program. When viewing the list of recorded programs, there is no thumbnail preview. There is no provision to delete multiple programs at one time. There is no provision to lock (protect) a recorded program so that it does not accidently get deleted. These are the most irritating problems. There were more. I do not recommend this product.

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Great idea, extremely poor execution.

I would only recommend this to someone who wanted to waste time and money. I returned mine.

Some of the problems:

1. Manual is nearly worthless. Eg, does not tell you how to play back what you have recorded. No support contact info in the manual.

2. The firmware that came with the unit is aweful. Must have been a 7th grade school programming project.

3. The firmware upgrade is not that much better. Must have been an 8th grade school programming project.

4. Could not get it into Pacific Daylight Savings time. No matter what I did, it would never show the right time. Finally gave up and let it be Pacific Standard time. This required a lot of conversion just to set up a recording time.

5. Twice I left the unit alone for a couple days. Turned on the TV. Unit had locked up on its own. This required a reboot by unplugging power.

6. Rebooting from turning power off and on caused some of the programming to disappear.

7. Program guide that loads on the screen is slow to load and slow to respond to the remote control.

8. Support is pretty much non-existent. My second call was never returned.

There is a need for a high-quality device to record over-the-air TV. Whichever company can actually make it happen will be a big winner. The company that put this device together is unlikely to be the big winner.

Interestingly, LG made an LCD digital TV with a built-in DVR that gets program information over the air. A friend has one of these and uses it only with over-the-air TV and it is fantastic. It is an LG 42LD1DR. Why LG does not produce a stand-alone digtial receiver with DVR is beyond me, because they obviously know how to make it work well.

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Written October 24, 2011:

It gets the job done... barely.

It does some things very well:

I can't tell the difference between the original broadcast and a recording.

If you record to a USB Drive, you can move the USB drive to a PC and play the recordings back or (using your own software) burn a DVD for your Aunt Millie. (You have to set-up the USB Drive recording in advance, it`s not possible to copy programs between the internal hard drive and a USB drive after the fact.)

If the power fails: The settings and recording schedule are remembered.

However, after playing with the brite-view bv-980h for just a couple hours I found...

Live TV

----------

The info button displays the Date/Time, Channel Name, Program Name and etc, but does not display the Episode Description. (The Episode Description can be seen from the EPG by highlighting a program.)

If you pause Live TV: When you start to play again, a large overlay banner is displayed at the bottom of the screen until you exit the time delay function.: Really annoying.

While recording a TV Show from the schedule , a large overlay banner is displayed at the top of the screen: Very annoying if you want to watch a show while it is being recorded.

Electronic Programming Guide (EPG)

-----------------------------------------------

I *assume* that all single tuner DVRs must tune to each channel to retrieve that channel's guide information. That would explain why it takes about 15 seconds to display each 6-channel page of guide information.

However, the brite-view makes this issue worse, because:

1) It does not remember *any* EPG info. If you page forward, then back, you still have to wait 15 seconds for the first page to reload. It should remember the entire guide for at least an hour.)

2) It uses the tuner to display the currently selected channel (It should use the tuner to retrieve the EPG info for the *next* page.)

3) You can not jump to a channel within the EPG by entering the channel number on the remote. Obviously, you should be free to jump anywhere within the EPG by entering the channel number.)

4) It does not have page-up/page down keys. If you want to display the next page, you have to press the Menu Down key six times, and each time, you have to wait a couple seconds while it tunes to that channel. (The channel up/down keys should move a single channel. While the menu up/down keys should move an entire page.)

I can receive 30 channels. Working as fast as I can, it takes me almost 2 minutes to bring up the guide and page down to the last (fifth) page.

While viewing the Electronic Program Guide, you can set a recording by highlighting a show and pressing the record button. However:

1) There is a bug: If I page backwards from the first page to the last page, then highlight a program on the last page and press record: It will record the wrong channel. (It will record the channel from the same position on the first page, not the channel from the last page.)

2) There is no way to record a series from the EPG. (You can schedule a single recording, exit the EPG, go into the Menu and change the scheduled recording from single time to repeating Daily/M-F or weekly. That process takes about 15 to 20 button presses.)

3) If you attempt to record a program that has already started, you will receive the message "Date/Time not feasible". (You can record a program that has already started by pressing the record button from Live TV.)

4) You can not tell what shows are scheduled for recording from the EPG (After pressing the record button, a red dot is initially displayed in the episode description area, but the dot is lost as soon as you move off the episode.)

Menu System and Settings

---------------------------------

In my time zone (EST), it's not possible to set the clock to the correct time. Manually changing the time has no effect. Turning Daylight Savings Time (DST) on and off has no effect. There are only 6 Time Zones to select, EST is the east most. The Automatic Time set is off by an hour. At least people in other time zones can correct the time by setting the box 1 time zone to the east.

It takes *seven* button presses to display the list of recorded shows. (There is a nice big "Source" button that toggles between Live TV and Video In. It should rotate between Live TV, Recorded Shows and Video In.)

Editing the Favorite Channel list has no effect.

It's not possible to go directly between the EPG and the Menu. (You have to exit to Live TV, then enter the other.)

The menu button is not consistent. It should always toggle between Live TV and the home screen of the menu. However, if you are viewing the list of recordings (a menu sub-screen) it will toggle between that and the home screen of the menu.

Remote Control

--------------------

There is no button to directly access recordings.

The EPG button is small and buried amongst the skip forward and skip backward controls.

Conclusion

--------------

The bv-980h was released over 6 months ago, and there have not been any firmware updates.

brite-view should show some pride in their product and fix some of these issues.

============================================

Update: I could not take it anymore. I'm returning the DVR. Instead, I'm going to use my office PC as a DVR.

My Office PC has an HDMI output. Also, I already have a USB ATSC tuner and a media center remote control. I've purchased a 25 foot HDMI Cable ($5), and a 30 foot Active USB extension cable ($12), I'm going to run both cables from my office into my basement celling and into my living room.

Wish me luck!

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Panasonic AM-4PA/4B Alkalineplus AAA Batteries, 4 Pack (Black)

We ordered the batteries as an "Add On" as we were ordering an electronic item for our granddaughter. The premis of the "add on" was that it would be shipped at the same time so as to lower the cost of shipping. The batteries were sent seperately and arrived the day after the rest of the gift. Good thing she waited until her actual birthday to open her gift. I suppose this is more of a customer service complant that a review of the product it's self.

Pinnacle Studio 500 USB Version 10.0

• Comprehensive and easy-to-use home video editing software; includes 500-USB adapter
• Quickly adds spectacular effects, transitions, titles and music to videos
• Image stabilization feature and color correction tool helps you enhance video quality
• Create DVDs with menus and custom navigation on the fly without copying your files to your PC
• Imports videos from non-encrypted DVDs for added enhancement and re-mastering

Be prepared for a 30+ minute install on this application. I hate the fact that it loads so many 3rd party applications. It also installs the .NET 1.1 framework. Not only do you have to enter the product key to install, you have to wait for an email and enter other keys just to get other components working.

I run this softrware on a RAID 0 3.4 GHZ 1 GB Ram computer and it still runs slow. It takes almost 30 seconds just to load the program and I have the best hardware money can buy right now. Program has crashed and hung several times but that can be expected since it's not a solid product written by a single company.

I've had better luck with Sonic Studio. I only purchased this for the hardware that allows composite and S-Video inputs to USB 2.0 port. That seems to be okay, it's just the software I don't like.

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Tried to load this software on two different computers that are top of the line as far and speed and memory. Both computers expereiced major problems but had completey different issues. You have to get a special key on everything they try to advertise as free. None of the support tricks they offered worked. Its buggy to say the least. I'm going to try to get my money back. Nothing worked, and very frustrated.

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I did an upgrade from Version 9 to Version 10. I loaded the software three times and could not get the "features" unlocked. The software runs very slow on a computer that ran the older software well. The online support suggestions don't work and noone answers the support line.

I am asking for a refund.

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While this product has been advertised as "simple" and "easy-to-use", it is actually slow, buggy, and completely useless. I purchased this so that I could burn DVD's from the video I record with my Canon ZR200 digital video camera. I've encountered nothing but problems and frustration with it. First of all, the USB connection from the product will simply disappear while I am capturing video (and this is after the 10.5.2 version is installed). Then, if I get lucky and am able to capture any video, the DVD creation fails every time. Of course there is no error message or troubleshooting information to explain why the DVD creation fails. This isn't to mention the extreme slowness of the application. Do yourself a favor and do not buy this piece of junk.

The software won't install. It keeps freezing up and crashing. But the hardware devise was recognized by my computer and is working with Windows Movie Maker.

Esky® Clothes Hook Hidden Camera For Home security

The item does no work propely and what can i say, i have to retund the item thats it..stop selling this items

I needed to catch a thief and did not want to spend hundreds on a security system to do it. This camera did the trick the video quality was pretty good for what it is and it even has sound. The downside to the camera is its short battery life which they don't tell you about. I found the battery lasted about 2 hours when in the motion sensing mode. They should also mention that you need to purchase a micro sd card which is not included with the camera. About 20.00. Overall I am very happy with the product.

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The battery goes dead within ~ 30 minutes in motion sense mode.

This is not long enough for most purposes. I returned it.

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My daughter wanted a camera to try to catch a thief at work. She says It takes awesome, clear pictures.

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I purchased the spy cam to catch a neighbor who I suspected was entering my apartment while I was away! After I figured out how to use the motion detector function, it was only a matter of time he was caught stealing food from my pantry!! I downloaded my incriminating evidence and printed up some still shots and slipped them under his door!! Wow the man moved the next week!!

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Stealth Cam Prowler HD IDVR with 54 Infrared Emitters, 60 ft Range

I live in the Northeast in a heavily wooded area, and I purchased the camera to take videos of critters visiting our backyard late at night. I mounted the camera on a large tree, low to the ground so that it's at the level of the animals. I've gotten great videos of red fox and coyotes in the yard. The images are high resolution and a lot of fun to watch. Low light sensitivity of this unit is excellent, and the weather seal is sturdy (the camera is right in the path of one of our backyard sprinkler units but has shown no sign of leaking despite being pounded with water 15 min/day, 3 days/week over the summer). This is a pricey, top-of-the-line, item, but if you can afford it, you'll get good results.

This is the second Stealth Camera I have owned. The first was stolen after two years of great pictures. The Prowler HD IDVR takes very good pictures. Night pictures are clear enough to count points on a 5X5 point Bull at 35 ft. The day light pictures are nice color and show all the detail you need for a scout hunting camera. The only thing it lacks is a viewer. You must have the SD card or the camera to view the pictures. I like this camera and would buy it again.

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The video quality is excellent as you would expect with the HD. Having audio makes it so much more amazing to watch. Really makes it feel like you're out there in the woods. Battery life seems excellent so far (I've been using the same set for well over a month and the batter indicator still says full).

The issue I have with the camera is the trigger definitely seems more sluggish than with my other two cameras, which are Stealth Cam Rogues that I bought a few years ago. I've repeatedly put both the Rogue and the Prowler in the same spot, one after the other, and the Prowler gets far, far fewer videos. If you're a hunter looking to get only deer then it'll probably be fine because they seem to be big enough and slow enough to trigger the camera. If you're trying to get any and all wildlife that goes in front of your camera, like I am, then this camera is not for you.

Here's a summary of what I've gotten with each camera having put each of them in the same spot three times:

Prowler: deer

Rogue: deer, coyote, red fox, opossum, porcupine, gray squirrel, bobcat, house cat

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This is a top quality camera, that has proven reliable over the last 5 months of use. It doesn't leak, has plenty of battery life, and takes outstanding audio and video of its surroundings. The optional battery is a must if you want lots of videos, and I suggest it. Currently, I'm using it for animal wildlife research, and it has proven to be very informative.

The only downside is that the trigger is a bit slow, and the temperature sensor seems to be inaccurate. Overall, a very good camera for the money.

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We like the camera. Just takes a little time figuring it out. Good night pictures. Well worth the money. Happy Hunting everyone!

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Sanyo Incognito Prepaid Phone (Boost Mobile)

Bottom Line: a good phone at a reasonable price if you do a lot of mobile e-mail and prefer a physical keyboard. It is as useful for e-mail as a Blackberry, at a much lower price.

I wanted a cell phone that had a large physical keyboard for writing e-mail when I am away from my computer. The Sanyo Incognito has the largest physical keyboard that I have seen on a pocket size phone and it is easy to write even a lengthy e-mail at a good speed.

I have service through Boost/Sprint and have had no problem getting a strong signal, even indoors, in the Houston, Texas area. The Boost version of the Incognito comes with a good app for texting, and it took just seconds to set up my Gmail e-mail account.

The Incognito can be used as a phone with the cover closed. It is an invisible touchscreen until you release the screen lock...then it lights up so you can dial a number. I have set mine to auto re-lock so that the phone doesn't dial numbers while sitting in my pocket...so I have to remember to release the screen lock to answer incoming calls. It also works well as a speaker phone. Open up the phone (it looks like a mini-netbook computer when opened) and you can use voice recognition to call numbers in your contact list. The speaker phone mode works well even if I am five or six feet away from the phone.

The internet browser included with the Boost version of the Incognito is very basic. It works best by setting all of your favorite websites as "Favorites". That way, you can go directly to websites instead of through the clunky browser. I also downloaded the Opera Mini 5 browser and installed it as an app. It works well with many websites, such as ESPN or Google News. Some websites connect as "mini" version formatted to fit a phone screen. Others connect as the full-zize version, and Opera lets you scan across the page and then zoom in to the section you want to read. Opera would not let me enter numbers from the Incognito. The basic Incognito browser would let me enter numbers, such as entering a password for my Amazon.com account.

Videos from YouTube work well, but the Boost Incognito will not play video at sites such as the New York Times because it can not use Adobe Flash.

You can buy a mini-SD card to transfer songs from your computer to the Incognito. It has a very basic camera without a flash. You must open the phone into its "mini-computer" configuration to use the camera and the lens is positioned where your hand is sure to get in the way. That makes the camera pretty much useless.

If your primary use for a cell phone is mobile e-mail, the Incognito is a good alternative to a Blackberry, at a much lower price.

This was our first foray into Boost Mobile space to take advantage of the very reasonable all-you-can-eat service (web, talk, text) rates. The phone was chosen because of the advertised touch surface and fold out keyboard with a full color internal screen for web and texting, pics. The experience of using the phone when closed takes a bit of a acclimation period. The numbers fade out of view after a certain time which can be perplexing on any manufacturer/utility company's support line (Press 1 for English now). The calls were clear and sounded great. The main use for the phone was texting which was a joy with this keyboard. It provides solid feedback when keying in a reply and the spacing between the keys helps for accurate input. The built in web browser and default menu choices on the phone are fine but we opted to install Opera's Mini web browser for a much faster and modern look and feel to browsing (use the directional arrows on the keypad and the two main buttons under the screen for most actions). The biggest drawback is the somewhat plastic feel of the body, we invested in a screen protector for the outside face (recommended) and internal screen. Overall a solid phone!

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I had this phone for 7 months before the charger spot quit working and the phone was useless. However that being said it is a great phone. It plays youtube videos and has an mp3 player built in. Sound is good too. For $50 a month it was great. Im buying another one to replace the broken one so its well worth the $100 or less to buy this phone. And we live in the middle of no where and get great signal.

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I've had this phone for a little under a year. It really is a good phone, sturdy, reliable. It has AIM, Yahoo, and MSN along with Email and Youtube.

I bought it when it was relatively new and a bit more expensive then it is now.

Overall, Good phone for a good price.

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This phone has a fantastic keyboard and loads Youtube videos and Facebook very quickly, making it useful when you're bored and want to kill time. However, the phone isn't too great when it comes to doing what phones are supposed to do: making phone calls.

The touchpad disappears and has to be controlled by the user. I've missed quite a few calls because I didn't get the touchpad to appear quickly enough or had it fail to respond when I pressed the answer button. Going through an automated system is a nuisance with this phone because of how fincky the keypad is. It is very sensitive to smudges and sweat on the keypad, and won't work too well if either are present making it a less than ideal phone for Florida in the summer which is what led me to replace it after a short 4 months.

My phone also had frequent "system errors" when I closed the slide out keyboard and took several minutes to recover.

This phone also had really really lousy service, even for a Boost phone. We live in a semi-rural area and my husband's (also boost but different model) phone had significantly better signal virtually everywhere we went except right in the middle of town.

All in all, for 80 dollars, I was not happy with the phone and wanted to get rid of it within a month of purchase.

EarlyBirdSavings EASYCAP USB 2.0 DVR Video Capture Adapter With Audio for Windows XP Win7(32)

I bought a easy cap from you and might i say your a scam. I found out it was not working right so i open it and guess what it looks different then the others and has the worst video i have ever seen in my life i want my money back or send me a real one dont buy this its a scam

It works! no complaints and the price was very cheap. The timer is useful so you that it turn itself off.

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Got to me withinh 5 days, fast shipping.

It;s a real pain to get working. I've tried everything.

I use it on win 7 and hook it up to my DirecTV Receiver and un-installed the ULead Video program not want I wanted.

I actually use MPC-HC video player with FFDshow, it always comes up in composite mode but S-Video looks better.

After playing a TV program for a while the sound gets out od sync. It also has a stuttering of video at times.

Overall you get what you pay for. I will soon get a decent video capture card and put this thing away in a drawer.

I have never tried to capture to disk so can't say if it works or not.

Bottom line it does work but not great or even good.

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I need software for windows VISTA !

I need driver for windows VISTA !

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Lexar MS256-40-431 256MB Platinum Memory Stick Pro

I was looking for a storage disk, and this one was priced very economically. It can be used to store a variety of media.

Our older digital camera needs this memory card to work and it is not a common size and that made it hard to find except on Amazon. Installing the new card gave life to our camera that otherwise would have been trashed.

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The Memory Stick Pro format has gotten quite expensive. This stick was available for a reasonable price and allowed me to get a used camera working so I could give my son his first camera.

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Propellerhead Reason 4.0 Recording Software

• Thor Polysonic Synthesizer: Thor is a semi modular synth with interchangeable oscillators and filters. With its six oscillator types, four filter types and endless modulation possibilities, this synth comes with a sound like nothing else on the planet.
• RPG-8 Monophonic Arpeggiator: A powerful arpeggiator with multiple play modes, pattern function and much more.
• ReGroove Mixer: ReGroove mixing is a way to work creatively with grooves, timing and feel in real time. Hands-on access to 32 channels of groove parameters will make this an essential tool for any musician who is serious about their beats programming.
• The New Reason Sequencer: With a whole new look, a ton of fresh features and a completely new way of handling sequencer data, the Reason sequencer still offers the streamlined workflow Reason is famous for, but with a new level of sophistication.
• Thor Polysonic Synthesizer: Thor is a semi modular synth with interchangeable oscillators and filters.
• With its six oscillator types, four filter types and endless modulation possibilities,
• ReGroove Mixer: ReGroove mixing is a way to work creatively with grooves, timing and feel in real time.
• Hands-on access to 32 channels of groove parameters will make this an essential tool for any musician
• The New Reason Sequencer: With a whole new look, a ton of fresh features and a completely new way of handling sequencer data
• The Reason sequencer still offers the streamlined workflow Reason is famous for, but with a new level of sophistication

Reason Version 4.0 Mac Review 9-15-2008

In order to give a meaningful review of Reason 4.0 and the major improvements in this latest version of Propellerheads' music creation software package, I first need to state exactly what Reason is, and what it is not.

The most descriptive definition of Reason is that it is basically a "virtual rack mount studio", complete with a built in sequencer, faithfully simulated in a single software package.

For those who are familiar with rack mount studio units, Reason incorporates most (if not all) common hardware rack mount units you would find in a typical recording studio. This includes mixer boards, effects processors (such as reverb, distortion, chorus and flanger units, etc.), two very robust digital samplers which can use samples and wave files as instrumental components, a drum sequencer, a drum sequence sampler/playback tool, and several analog synthesizer units as well and much, much more. Each of these devices can be "cable patched" into one another within Reason in almost any conceivable combination, and all of the units look and act like their hardware counterparts would in an actual recording studio.

Also, you can "create" as many of these virtual hardware components as you need and the only limitation you have on how many you can effectively use is limited only by your computer's processor speed, RAM, and the sound card hardware in your computer. Since Reason 4.0 uses software to simulate the functions of these virtual hardware units, having a high-end soundcard is NOT necessary to get the most out of the Reason package. Any decent PC or Mac sound card or chip is capable of getting near perfect sound quality out of this package even the basic sound hardware found in a standard off the shelf Mac laptop such as the MacBook Pro will do just fine.

As a digital music creation platform, Reason has been very good for years, with one noticeable feature missing: The ability to record "live" instruments, such as guitars or vocals.

While this lack of live recording ability has always made Reason a questionably "complete" DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) software package, what it lacks in recording capability it more than makes up for by what it does best: Be a one-man-band/studio in a single box. For those who are already using another software package such as CakeWalk Sonar Studio for live recording, Reason does have the ability to be "rewired" into other packages that support rewiring, such as Sonar. As an add-on component to other DAW software packages, Reason adds a some huge capabilities to other programs and can more than stand on it's own for creation of any conceivable type of electronic music from hip hop to classical to jazz and far beyond.

If you are looking to do a lot of live instrument recording, you might want to look at another software package, but if you are doing something "instrumental", say composing a music piece for a television commercial, look no further. Reason has you covered in a very big way.

This basic description of Reason as a "one stop recording studio" was accurate for version 2.5. While Reason Version 2.5 was very robust, there were several features that were noticeably missing:

The ability to easily combine samplers or synths into "layered" instruments (more than one type of sound being controlled by a single sequencer track)

A coherent and robust piano roll / track view with typical visual components (e.g. as found in other DAW packages such as Sonar)

A mastering suite of tools for controlling final mix down of tracks into a final polished and well engineered song

The ability to change tempo within a music project by measure

A very robust and complex synthesizer capable of producing a huge range of different sounds

Starting with the last drawback first, Reason 2.5 and 3.0 contained 2 main synths: The Subtractor Analog synth and the Malstrom Graintable synth. Reason 4 also still contains these two instruments. While these two synths were plenty capable of producing a host of "vintage" style synths sounds, they lacked the kind of customization that can be found in other high-end digital music packages such as Apple's Logic audio software, making music such as "trance" or "techno-electronica" style music incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to do in Reason. This has now changed in a radical way for the better. More on that in a minute...

Reason 3.0 was a huge step in the right direction for Reason users. There were two major advances in Reason 3.0:

The addition of a FULL suite of recording and mastering tools including a parametric EQ unit and a compressor unit, (among others). The mastering suite units were a huge leap forward for Reason because they allowed composers to control exactly how a finished song should sound and even how individual instruments within the song should sound and these units also greatly reduced the occurrences of audio-clipping which can ruin a digital recording. As with all other Reason "hardware units" the user has the ability to create and use as many mastering units as needed for any given project, limited only by processor speed and the amount of RAM in the user's computer.

The addition of a new rack unit called the "Combinator". The Combinator was another giant improvement on the Reason package because it allowed users to "group" any other kinds of Reason units into 1 "package" or "group" and then assign the entire group to a single sequencer track. This meant that a user could now throw a mixer, some effects units, and several instruments into 1 package and treat the entire package as a single instrument from within the sequencer. Obviously, this stretched Reason's sound producing capabilities much further and allowed the user to create multi-layered polyphonic instruments with ease.

Reason 3.0 was a great leap forward, for sure, but there were still the problems of having a somewhat limited synthesizer capability (there were still only the 2 synth units, and Reason was still fairly limited in that respect), you still couldn't change tempos mid song (you were pretty much stuck with one time signature per song) and the sequencer still had several problems that made it difficult, frustrating and often time consuming when working within the sequencer itself. With respect to the sequencer issues, there were several other problems, but rather than go into all the details of what was still wrong with Reason 3.0, let's just get to the new version of Reason: Reason Version 4.0 and go over how any and ALL drawbacks of Reason 3.0 are now completely eliminated in Reason version 4.

Reason 4.0 is probably the first version of Reason that has finally eliminated any and all potential weaknesses with this software package, and Reason 4.0 is truly a devastating creative tool for musicians looking for full-featured music creation, recording and engineering package for less than a thousand bucks. This is especially true if you are looking to do any kind of techno, trance, or industrial music as the new "Thor" polyphonic synthesizer utterly SLAYS anything previous versions of Reason had in terms of synthesis of sound or synchronized sequences of sound.

Probably the biggest instrumental leap forward for Reason 4.0 is the addition of the "Thor" Polyphonic Analog Synthesizer as a new instrument found only in Reason version 4.0. The Thor synth is an amazing piece of "virtual hardware" that allows the user to create literally thousands (if not millions) of possible combinations of sound generators, oscillators, filters, envelope controls, and even automated or hardware controlled sound parameters, which can handle almost any aspect of sound generation. While Reason 4.0 ships with a fairly decent amount of Thor "instruments presets" pre-created, these prefabricated presets really only scratch the surface of what Thor is truly capable of.

When the sequencing hardware found within Thor is combined with various parameters of the Thor sound generators and controllers, Thor completely blows away any kind of synth found in previous versions of Reason, and now the Reason software package has the capability of producing the deep and complex types of sounds and sequence loops that are often only found in hardware synths costing nearly two thousand dollars or more. The sequencing generator in Thor can be used to create delays, arpeggios, small instrumental sub-sequences and all other manner of complex sound effects found in a lot of high-end keyboard synths, and this places Reason 4.0's synth sound generation and control squarely in Apple's "Logic" audio software territory as well as now putting Reason 4.0 on the same turf as higher end Korg and Roland keyboard workstations. By using Thor in combination with Reason's Combinator and the already built-in digital samplers, the sky is no longer the limit for sound creation in Reason. The Thor Polyphonic Synth is a HUGE addition to Reason version 4.0 and alone is well worth the price of admission by itself, but Reason version 4.0 doesn't stop there.

The second, and another very significant upgrade to Reason version 4.0 is that all of the previous drawbacks of the Reason 2.5/3.0 sequencer have been completely eliminated in version 4.0.

Like previous versions of Reason, you can color-code your track labels with a right click on the track header. You can now toggle between track view and sequence piano roll view with a single mouse click; each of the tracks can now be viewed with the sequence elements (such as note placement in the piano roll now visible in track view as well) as well as effects controllers and note properties fully visible with a mouse click or two. If you are a person who uses the visual cues of your sequence elements to keep track of what is what in your song, Reason 4.0's sequencer is now on par with the robustness of other software packages such as Sonar Studio. Also, you can now actually see the instrument (or Combinator unit) as a visual element of the left hand side of track view very clearly, and each track is now expandable individually, or as a whole. Also, all of your automation tracks are now controlled by "automation lanes" contained inside the track header for quick and easy navigation of automation channels within each track. Just these changes alone make working with Reason's sequencer fun, easy and very intuitive, and all of the sequencer controls now make sense from an ease of use and robustness standpoint. You want to open up a sequence segment in piano roll? Simply double click the sequence and Reason takes you right into piano roll, and places you exactly within the right measures Reason even color codes and highlights the appropriate measures in question so no more hunting around for "those particular measures" you want to edit.

There is also one other consideration here: You can now toggle piano roll in your main reason rack-mount view window easily. This is a huge feature enhancement for Reason 4.0 because now you can test your patch creations within the main rack mount window simply by playing the keys in Reason's piano roll, and you can switch between track and your Reason hardware units with a couple of mouse clicks without ever having to leave the main Reason window. This almost totally eliminates the need to hook up an external MIDI controller keyboard to test out your new sound creations. Of course, Reason has always included MIDI-capable hardware control via an external controller such as a MIDI keyboard, but now you don't need one to edit your sounds quickly and efficiently.

Another welcome addition to the Reason 4.0 suite of components is the brand new RPG-8 Arpeggiator which allows you to create custom arpeggios that can control various aspects of other Reason instruments. This is another great tool for people looking to create techno-trance music or musical effects for instruments, and again extends Reason 4.0's capabilities further.

Having said all this, I haven't even touched on Reason 4.0's continuation of previous strengths such as the built in vo-coder, the robustness and flexibility of the NN-XT built in digital sampler unit, the Dr.Rex drum sequencer, the myriad of effects processors and the incredibly intuitive and visual design of the virtual hardware units in Reason. What Reason has done extremely well with previous versions is now a whole lot better in version 4.0 while still retaining all of the elements that made previous versions of Reason great.

At $400, Reason 4.0 is an absolutely incredible value being basically an entire recording studio in one box and its previous weaknesses have been seen, faced, and dismissed outright. If Reason 4.0 supported live recording and VSTi compatibility, it would basically do anything and everything you could possibly want, no matter what type of music you are looking to create. Even with these two features missing, $400 is still a "steal deal" for this software package. For $400 bucks you basically get a $2,000+ keyboard, oh, and that keyboard also happens to come with a complete recording studio.

Try and beat that, for the price? You can't.

If all of this still isn't enough for you to get the job done, it is worth mentioning that there are literally hundreds of free downloads that you can get off the internet to "plug in" new pre-created instruments into Reason's various components and there are many commercial packages both from Propellerheads and other companies that can add whole new dimensions to Reason's sound capabilities that go far beyond the basic package you get from Reason "straight out of the box". Not to mention the fact that Propellerheads also have several other software packages that expand Reason's capabilities even further not that you would need any of them if you learn how to use Reason itself, but even a great program can get even better with add-ons.

If you are a beginner just getting into the hobby of digital music creation and recording on your PC or Mac, Reason 4.0's intuitive and visual interface can get you into music creation easily, and is a worthy product just based on that. However, even a seasoned professional will find Reason to be a hugely flexible, robust and powerful application for professional quality sequencing, recording and engineering. And, while Reason may not be able to record vocals or live instruments on its own, Reason's powerful re-wire capabilities and sampling units can easily integrate Reason's powerful features with your existing DAW software. For example, you can create your instrumental tracks in Reason, then simply export the loop you created (or even the entire song) as a *.wav or *.aiff file for use in another application. Conversely, you can record your "live music" audio files in another application, export them as *.wav files, then import them into Reason's NN-19 or NN-XT digital samplers and then engineer and mix down your entire song in Reason alone. Bam! Done.

When you are done with all of your hard work, you can export your entire song straight to a *.wav or *.aif file and go from there. Sadly, Reason 4.0 still doesn't have a direct song to *.mp3 encoder, but that's not really a big deal since most computers these days have some easy (and often free) way to convert *.wav or *.aif files to *.mp3 format or to CD audio tracks. Mac OS X, for example has a free *.mp3 converter as a feature of ITunes.

All of that aside, Reason 4.0 is still an awesome program and a significant upgrade from version 3.0, and Reason 4.0 probably gives you more bang for your buck than any other digital audio workstation package out there (minus the live recording and VSTi compatibility issues). Reason is an amazingly powerful, robust, flexible and comprehensive music-making package worthy of addition to any home/PC-based recording studio.

The bottom line? Believe the hype.

Buy it, and try it, learn it, love it.

Reason 4.0 aims to please, and you won't be disappointed.

One final note: If the geniuses at Propellerheads give Reason 5.0 the power to include live instrument recording and native support for audio tracks it might be "game-over" for the competition. Competitors take note...

Buy Propellerhead Reason 4.0 Recording Software Now

Reason 4 is possibly the best "production" software in the market today. The new additions (you can look at the item description) are a very helpful, specially the ReGroove function. Which lets you apply a groove (swing) to your tracks.

I can keep going on and on about the new sequencer, Thor, the new Automation and time shift capabilities. But to the the most underrated addition to Reason 4, is the revamped "sound driver." That alone is worth the price to update.

The new sound is warmer and richer. This is what separates Reason from other apps, the sound and "sounds" that are built in.

The sounds are so much warmer and richer, I've stopped using refills and soundfonts. I can't say enough about the quality of the sound.

I demoed a couple of expensive RTAS and VST instruments. And the same instruments coming from Reason sounded as good and in many cases, better than those from the RTAS and VST's.

Buy it now!!!

Read Best Reviews of Propellerhead Reason 4.0 Recording Software Here

If you check out what people were saying about PROPELLERHEAD Reason 3.0 ( Windows/Macintosh ), then you'll get an idea of what this software can do.

Reason 3 gave a lot of bang for the buck if you're a first timer, you get Reason 4 for the same price, and that's a steal.

True, you still can't run VSTi plug ins or record live (miked) sound in Reason.

But the addition of the Thor synthesizer and RPG-8 Arpeggiator plus the significant enhancements to the already well laid-out sequencer make Reason 4 a tool/toy that will keep you out of trouble for a long time to come.

The new features add to the learning curve, but Reason's rack analogy still make it one of the most intuitive applications of its kind. For the most part, it's just like noodling with real hardware (watch your volume levels).

I would suggest that anyone running this program should have at least 1 gig of ram, preferably more, because Reason 4 has finally started moving the CPU meter on my 1Gb pc for some projects.

Other than that, you can't go wrong with this miracle of software design.

Want Propellerhead Reason 4.0 Recording Software Discount?

If you see this product on sale for $279 from a seller named Musician's Advocate, be advised, it is the ACADEMIC version. When I bought it, I emailed to double check and received a response telling me it was the full version, but when I received the confirmation email with the tracking information, it gave the product code for the academic version. I called to verify and was told it's the same as the full version. This sounded too good to be true, so I called around to double check. I found out that the academic version is limited in that you have to repurchase the software when upgrades come out. So when Reason 5 comes out, instead of buying the upgrade for $130, you have to buy the whole thing all over again. There may be other limitations I'm not familiar with, but this is what I found out from people who actually know what they're talking about.

Why this academic version is listed under the actual product and not the academic product, who knows? Just be careful you don't get scammed.

P.S. You can buy the academic version much cheaper than what they're selling it for and probably get free shipping, too.

Reason 4 Academic

Save 40% Off

I've always been into music, from the days when I did pause recording with a double deck to mix songs, to mixing records and CD players, right up to video editing involving the laying down of audio tracks. I strayed from music for a few years and went into design and photography, but when i asked a friend how i could get back into it in a good way he introduced me to Reason.

I needed to be able to try my hand at beat production but without the expense of a drum machine and a mixing board, as I was unsure about investing that much money to find out I was just so so. When I discovered that Reason had elements needed to put music together and could also be linked to other professional software like Pro Tools I knew I found a gem.

Considering myself an amateur to music production Reason has taught me a lot about all the various tools and tricks that go into making music that people will want to hear over and over again. I recommend it for anyone looking to get into music production on a small budget and for professionals who want to scale down their business and still get the same sound that they have had for years.

Also with a laptop you can produce music with reason anytime the mood inspires you. That is a key thing because inspiration for creative people comes at any point and Reason 4.0 helps make it a reality.

WD TV Live Hub 2TB Media Center

As in Jack of All Trades :)

I want to begin by saying the 'I like' (but I don't yet fully 'love') WD's TV Live Hub and this earns it 4 (but not 5) stars. And I like it in spite of it lacking a few almost 'must have' features for a device in its class such as some storage redundancy (RAID-1 = disk mirroring) or at least a built-in backup utility or any significant security or, to a lesser extent (I'll explain) built-in Wi-Fi. And I like it even though bugs still exist such as the Hub's occasional failure to maintain/update its 'media library'. And I do like it even though the Hub's supported Web 'services' are few at this time because some of the 'major' ones are there.

___________________________

Note: (9/9/2011 update):

I am upgrading this to 5-stars because since the original writing of my review most of the bugs have been addressed and many important Web services and other features such as 'games' were added.

Because of its versatility, built-in storage, low power consumption and its ability to integrate with everything else the Hub is now the centerpiece (the true hub)of my entertainment center.

___________________________

WHY I LIKE IT

Some of the shortcomings duly noted above, I like the Hub because:

The Hub turns out to be a well connected, relatively easy to use and operate, low-power, physically small, versatile video/music/still photos player with the built in ability to store the equivalent of almost 200 DVD-quality movies on its built-in 1TB drive, expandable to many times more than that via an attached USB drive and capable to sync and play content from any accessible media server such as PCs, Xboxes or PS3s, Microsoft Home Servers or NAS (Network Attached Storage) devices.

The Hub can also go out on the Net and report the local weather, play YouTube videos, Netflix, Hulu Plus and Blockbuster movies, Podcasts and Pandora music (I compiled a list of supported Web services below).

I was able to add the TV Live Hub to my Harmony universal remote control setup and I was able to address the lack of built-in backup (running a scheduled Robocopy task off a Home Server) because the Hub's drive can be mapped and managed as any other computer drive through a PC.

The Hub plays content off existing media servers and it acts as a media server for other devices (PCs, PS3s, etc.) on the same network. It can be set to sync with whatever content it can discover on your home network and it supports iTunes (did not test iTunes support myself). And for the hard-core YouTube users, a USB-attached keyboard should allow for easy searching. Also, the Hub makes it easy to post content directly to Facebook and Flickr.

And, finally, the Hub is likely to do more and do it better tomorrow because WD is constantly updating the firmware and hopefully it will address some of the more annoying bugs soon and because there appears to be an active, lively, innovative, helpful and supportive user community. [Note: 2 firmware updates later, several new Web services were added and some bugs were fixed.]

________________________________________________________________

Here are the hub's features in a more organized format.

MEDIA PLAYER

Plays videos with full support for HD and multi-channel sound.

Plays music with support for playlists.

Plays movies/videos with filters for genre, rating and so on.

Displays photos, has slideshow capabilities.

Games section (added on 5/17/2011) has 'mind games' such as Sudoku, puzzles, memory games.

MEDIA HUB

Acts as a media server for other devices (PCs, PS3s, Xboxes). My PS3 'saw' the Hub and was able to play content off it as soon as it went online.

Plays content from other media servers on the local network. It saw 'everything' we were sharing as soon as we turned it on.

Plays content off NAS (Network Attached Storage).

Syncs with media found on PCs and has support for iTunes.

ONLINE SERVICES

Services availability is controlled by WD. As far as I know, you can't add or remove a service but that may change in the future.

Current selection is limited but 'big names' are supported: Netflix, Blockbuster, YouTube, Pandora, Flickr, Facebook, etc.

Grabs metadata (title, description, cover graphics) for music and movies.

Firmware is upgraded by WD remotely.

CUSTOMIZATION

Users can download or create their own themes and backgrounds.

Integrates with Harmony remotes.

Several styles of menus.

Additional storage can be attached directly through USB port(s).

Supports USB keyboards.

Supports certain Wi-Fi USB-connected devices (not tested by me).

SPECS

I/O ports: Optical, HDMI, Composite, RCA, 2 USB, gigabit Ethernet

Video (Full HD 1920x1080): AVI (Xvid, AVC, MPEG1/2/4), M2TS, MKV (h.264, x.264, AVC, MPEG1/2/4, VC-1), MP4/MOV (MPEG4, h.264), MPG/MPEG, TS/TP/M2T (MPEG1/2/4, AVC, VC-1), VOB, WMV9

Audio: (multichannel up to 7.1) AAC, AIF/AIFF, Dolby Digital, DTS, FLAC, MKA, MP3, OGG, WAV/PCM/LPCM, WMA,

Photo: BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, TIF/TIFF

________________________________________________________________

MY EXPERIENCE: SETUP

It was as easy as plugging in the unit, connecting to a network hub with an Ethernet cable (not supplied) and to a receiver through an HDMI (not supplied either) cable.

HDMI 1.4 is supported but composite (RCA), and component outputs are also available as well as an S/PDIF digital (optical) output. For best results, 'wired' network connectivity should be preferred. It's the only one supported out of the box and, if you expect to play or stream HD content, it's the only one that can support the load reliably.

Once the box is turned on it quickly updates itself and it's ready to use. Literally 5-10 minutes after powerup we were watching YouTube videos. Of course, additional setup is needed to fully customize it but the Hub can make itself useful quickly and there's no need to rush. Some of the Web services such as Pandora or Netflix require that you have an account but the Hub makes it easy to set yourself up if you don't have one. On the local network, as I mentioned already, the Hub became immediately visible and it was able to see and use the other active media servers running. From a PC it's easy to connect the Hub's drive and upload content. It's also the only way you can back it up.

MY EXPERIENCE: OPERATION

I've been using the hub to store and play DVD and Netflix movies and occasionally music. I've already uploaded several thousand photos, home videos, backed up lots of DVD movies and TV shows and some 700 songs and there's plenty of room for more. Video play off the local disk or from a Microsoft Home server we keep on our network was flawless. I prefer the Hub to PS3 playback because, the Hub lacking big fans, there is no audible 'hum' during playback. Music playing is okay, both off the disk or off Pandora and so are the photo slideshows. Some of the 'radio' and other content services don't look/sound so good but, since I've experience flawless HD playback on Netflix and music on Pandora, I'm blaming 'them' for the low quality.

As far as the other Web services, I don't have major complaints but it's annoying that YouTube recognizes the Hub as something that's attached to a TV and will NOT let you to see anything that's 'big media' produced. Netflix is okay and the latest firmware upgrade brought in the same great interface (Netflix 3.0?) I have on the PS3.

The Hub can make media watching and organizing as easy or as complicated as you are prepared to allow it. It has the ability to consolidate everything it sees on its local storage and on the network around it into a big pile of 'stuff' and the 'media library' will then show you all sci-fi movies you have (an example) regardless of where they are. Or, if you want things arranged in a certain way, you can create your own folders, name them any way you want and navigate to your favorite movies/shows yourself.

From a PC you can easily stream music off the Hub but, because all the movies I keep on it are at the highest resolution, DVD movies streaming can be a little jittery over Wi-Fi and HD doesn't work at all. The Hub works best when playing off its own disk or accessing/serving content over 'fast' wired connections. My home is not wired for Ethernet but I'm using a Western Digital WD Livewire Powerline AV Network Kit to pipe Ethernet over the power lines. It works.

I should also mention that the online manual is VERY well written, very well organized and very helpful. It comes with links to other online resources, including the very active Hub community board where you can find a lot of good advice concerning enhancements and bugs.

BUGS

On 'day one' after uploading some 5000 photos, a message informed me that the Hub was compiling its media library. It was still compiling on 'day two' and it didn't stop until I told the Hub to drop the library and then rebuild it. Rebuilding the library can take 10-15 minutes but it's annoying and I hope that the next firmware update will take care of it. Meanwhile, I learned to be careful as in "don't try to do something else while the media library is being rebuilt" and I only had once similar incident in the past month. I'm not sure whether this was because of the firmware updates or because I'm more 'gentle' when interacting with the Hub.

Another bug seems to be the 'queue'. You have the ability to drop movies or songs into a queue to play them later but it does not always work that way, the Hub reporting that the content couldn't be found. I'm not using the queue feature any longer because it sometimes seems to trigger the never-ending media library recompilation (see above).

I can't think of any other significant bugs other than the Hub rebooting itself a couple of times.

On the WD discussion board I learned that quite a few users had issues with the power button. Apparently it can cause the Hub to constantly reboot, making it unusable. I haven't experienced this problem but I never physically 'touch' the Hub except to dust it off. All operations can be done remotely and, since I've read about that problem, I am somewhat reluctant to physically interact with the Hub.

EVALUATION

I already announced in the first paragraph that this is a '4 stars' to me because 'I like it' and it's not a '5 stars' because I don't love it yet: bugs, not a lot of Web services. My PS3 does almost everything that the Hub does and some of it it does better AND it plays movies and music off discs and it plays games but I can't afford to keep my PS3 always on because it burns a lot of electricity and its fans aren't silent and you can't have 1TB worth of storage on it. The PS3 can also cost $100-200 more. In other words, the Hub has its place and even with a sophisticated machine such as a PS3 or a Microsoft Home server around it's going to see its share of use and playtime. I see how the consecutive firmware upgrades are making the Hub an increasingly versatile device and I won't be surprised if the bugs are addressed and more functionality becomes available.

_________________________________

NOTE:

The latest firmware upgrades added a number of great Web services and the new additions have enough depth to satisfy me. This is what was available at the time I wrote this:

AccuWeather

Blockbuster

CinemaNow

DEEZER

facebook

flickr

flingo

Hulu Plus

LIVE 365

Mefdiafly

NETFLIX

PANDORA

Picasa

tunein

SHOUTcast

YouTube

NOTE March 25, 2011

I tried a 'stress test' the other day. Playing an HD video on the HDMI-connected TV while, at the same time, playing a DVD-quality movie on a laptop which had a drive mapped directly into the Hub Hub has an Ethernet wired connection to the router, the laptop on 802.11n Wi-Fi. Output was flawless on both.

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>> Brush your teeth, it's the law!