Car Camcorder DVR Car DVR Full HD 1080p Car Video Camera DVR Car Car Black Box 5.0 Mega with Dual L

• Built-in Li Battery supports to take videos while charging
• built-in gravity sensor
• Supports :4GB -64GB Micro SD card, but it doesn't support 2GB or 1GB Micro SD card (not included the TF Card)
• Supports to take videos automatically once the engine starts
• Supports to delay the startup in case the transient pulse current when the engine

I like it in one way coz for dual cam, but the angle is not wide enough the way I want it, but still is good, Like to recommend this to my other friends.

2GB Mini Clip Small Voice Recorder Voice Activated Audio Recording Device Tiny Micro + 72 Hour Batt

its great for picking up voices 8 -12 feet away, but the extended life battery back does not do its thing when i inserted the triple AAA batteries into the battery back. easy to operate,

The product did work as advertised, however the instruction manual did not explain the functions adequately. Excellent customer service more than made up for the deficiency of the manual.

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I haven't had a chance to use it yet, but expect that it will work just fine. Will know in a month.

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Sony HDR-SR10 4MP 40GB High Definition Hard Drive Handycam Camcorder with 15x Optical Image Stabili

I bought this camera from Circuit City on the day I was to fly out on a 2 week vacation. I have a Sony HI8, but I wanted a better quality camera to archive my children's activities.

Overall, the camcorder is light, highly functional, and meets my expectations. However, I will probably return the camera. I'll go through my pros and cons:

Pros:

Lightweight

5.1 sound is great

still pictures are nice, but don't use the zoom. Zoom stills are grainy

touchscreen lcd is nice and intuitive.

Quick power on is a nice feature.

Cons:

The required codec to play the files are tough to comeby. I found that Cyberlink's PowerDVD Deluxe is the only 3rd party application to play these files.

The included software is very basic and proprietary. It doesn't share the codec with media player.

The 40gig harddrive is not sufficient for the HD recordings set at the highest resolution. Why would you get an HD camera and record at low res?

I used my laptop to download. Later, I found trying to play those downloaded files to be a pain.

Focus in low light conditions is poor. I found myself zooming in and out to try and get the auto focus to work properly. Looks like the SR11 has a manual focus knob.

The videos, although much better than SD, are not sharp and realistic like HD TV. The colors are dull and the details are not eyepopping.

Battery life: I bought the 5 hour battery and I got 1:30 life day after day.

No neck strap, but big deal.

The menus were not intuitive. Too many choices and screens.

All in all, for a $1000 investment, I didn't feel I got the best value. I am not looking at a Cannon HG10, but I wonder how the still pictures are?

This camera performs poorly in low light, as a matter of fact, when I used my 6 or 7 year old Sony TRV17 I could not tell a difference between the 2 pictures on my 50" Plazma TV. At least not for interior and low light video. Outside the picture was very bright and there was definetly a big difference between the two.

I returned this one and splurged for the SR11. You get a 60gig HD, 10MP digital stills, and just a huge difference in picture quality indoors and out. And with a 10MP still camera built in, I almost don't even need a digital.

The camera fits nicely in the palm of my hand, all the controls are convienently located.

The menu's can be a little confsing at first, but after a few minutes it becomes pretty easy to navigate around, and if you're not too tech saavy, there's always the "easy" button.

Oh also to save battery life and if you're recording in bright sunlight, the SR11 has a viewfinder which this model doesn't.

I guess I should be leaving this in the SR11 reviews pages, but definetly save a few more months, or just spend the extra money on the SR11, it's well worth the expense.

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I bought this camera with a little hesitation because of some of the so-so reviews, but was more than happy with the purchase. The videos look amazing. Using the HDMI cable to hook up to LCD TV makes it completly worth the money. Bought this to record my wedding and am fully satisfied. The only con is the AVCHD format is not widely supported yet. My laptop won't play the files without jumping like crazy, but you can still burn the movies directly onto a DVD and play them in Blu-Ray Players like the PS3 and loose no quality. I would not let a new technology hold you back unless you plan on keeping your older computer for an extended period of time. (Then you should prob look into VHS)

Great Camcorder

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Overall, it is very satisfactory.

Pros: Light weight Easy to learn and operate, Good video picture quality (I like the slow motion video quality), Big storage (40GB is big enough)

Cons: Included battery (FH60) is ok, but FH70 would be better. AVCHD format to MPEG is not perfect. Uploading from computer hard dist to camcorder hard disk is not possible (in order to play on TV, I need to bring my laptop to TV). No view finder (but, it is ok since the SR11 w/t view finder costs lot more than SR10).

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I got it for $750 at Dell actually, which was the best I found without a risk of using potential fraud-sellers I found on google selling it cheaper. I think it is a good entry model into HD filming. It is probably the cheapest of the decent full-HD ones.

I am satisfied with the quality of the video. I believe that the more expensive models might have better video quality supported by better sensors, bigger lenses and better lower compression/quicker memory write times, but I think it is a good toy that will allow me to watch family videos 20 years from now without laughing at the quality of SD camcorders.

I am not very satisfied with the quality of the stills, but hey, I have a compact Canon S3 IS for that, so I would not count it for the rating. My S3 also records videos that are decent, but not perfect that's why I am getting an HD camcorder. Otherwise I'd say the S3 beats SD camcorder.

The 40GB HDD allows for too many hours of videos and can be accessed as USB Mass Memory device, so you can put other stuff there too.

The battery life seems a bit shortish, but you can get a bigger replacement battery for $30 a cheap upgrade.

It also lacks a carrying case, so I recommend getting at least the cheapest sony one. Overall Sony accessories are very pricey, but you can get cheap replacements that work OK.

The AVCHD format does not have a lot support yet, but that will come eventually, since Sony seems to be winning the HD formats war. I believe new Macs should be able to play AVCHD. I also ordered Sony Vegas software for editing (less than $100), that looks OK from the trial version, so you might consider it, unless you want to convert to AVI/WMV before you do the editing in Windows Movie Maker and lose quality through repeated compression. I also considered Pinnacle Studio, but read the reviews with complaints about crashes and decided to get the software from Sony (through Amazon :) ).

There are probably better cameras, but they are more expensive. Sony wants to rip you off with its accessory prices, but that's their right and you can choose replacements. It's not perfect so I guess it is worth 4 stars

Remember to get that carrying case, a tripod and a battery somewhere. A mini hdmi cable might be of use too.

Western Digital 2 TB AV-GP SATA 3 Gb/s Intellipower 32 MB Cache Bulk/OEM AV Hard Drive- WD20EVDS

When I ordered a WD10EVDS drive to upgrade my Tivo HD, I was aware of the hanging soft reboot issue with drives manufactured after October 2009. The drive I received was manufactured in December 2009. Before putting the drive into service, I disabled the Intellipark feature that is reportedly causing the issue. I used the wdidle3.exe program from Western Digital to disable it based on info posted at as a guideline. I deviated from the instructions posted on the forum by putting the wdidle3.exe program on a bootable USB drive rather than a bootable CD. Also, the instructions stated that running "wdidle3 /D" would disable Intellipark. This did NOT work on my WD10EVDS drive. However, I experimented and found that running "wdidle3 /S0" did successfully disable the Intellipark feature. I had no issues executing the actual drive upgrade instructions shown on the same forum page. I used a USB/SATA adapter to connect the Tivo drives while running the WinMFS program. I verified that the Tivo does not hang during soft reboots.

I recommend this drive for Tivo HD upgrade only if you are computer savvy. I suspect that most folks willing to tackle a Tivo drive upgrade also have enough computer experience to disable Intellipark. The hardest part of disabling the Intellipark feature was creating bootable media to run wdidle3.exe. The instructions posted on the forum implied (or at least I inferred) that simply burning the ISO image to a CD would create a bootable disk. This was not my experience. None of the system files required for bootable media were present on the ISO. At that point I elected to put wdidle3.exe on a DOS bootable USB drive that I created.

I am VERY satisfied with this drive. It is extremely quiet and has performed well to date. I plan to purchase another WD10EVDS to upgrade a second Tivo HD unit.

After two years, my 500Gb WD DVR Extender started to give up the ghost the TiVO would randomly reboot about twice a day while watching television. So I decided to go down the path of internal drive replacement. There are other options to purchase a drive with the TiVO system installed, but they have their own bear traps.

This is exactly the drive to buy for a TiVO HD or Series 3. 1Tb is the simple size limit. There are incredibly detailed instructions on how to do the swap at TiVO Community. Critical pieces, you need Torx #10 and #15 drivers to open the case and remove the hard drive from the bracket.

There's one small nuance with this drive, it is a Green drive so it has a firmware setting that makes it slow down or idle when it is not in use. If this setting is not disabled, any time you restart the TiVO from the Settings Menu, it will not start properly. Simply unplugging the TiVO and plugging it back in will work just fine. It causes absolutely no other issues if you can live with restart by unplugging, don't bother with the firmware setting.

The hard part of fixing the firmware is finding a computer with SATA that can boot from a DOS CD. Once you download wdidle with the bootable CD image, burn the CD, connect the drive to a spare SATA port, boot the computer from that CD, and type in the correct run string; the fix is incredibly simple. I think it took about 30 seconds to fix the idle setting.

Using the copy tools listed at TiVO Community couldn't be easier. It's scary when the instructions are accurate to the letter. The place where the software is posted is kind of ancient and requires registration. It took about an hour or two before I finally got the registration activation email. It's a good idea to download all this before you open up your TiVO.

If you've ever upgraded a graphics card on a PC, you can very easily do this job. The cheapest path is to use a stray SATA port on your computer and not monkey with SATA to USB adapters. However, if you don't want to open your computer case, the adapters work just fine.

Opening the TiVO is pretty easy. There are a set of #10 Torx screws on the back. The cover pops off easily. You'll be amazed how little stuff is inside a TiVO. I was also surprised my 3 year old TiVO wasn't full of dust bunnies it was amazingly clean. The SATA / power supply secure connector pops right of the hard drive. Four #10 Torx screws hold the drive bracket down. Flip that over and four #15 Torx screws hold the drive to the bracket (there are rubber grommets to quiet the drive somewhat). Reverse all that with the new drive. Plug in the TiVO and it will be back up like new.

Honestly, the most difficult part of this project, trying to decide when to unmarry my extender from my TiVO. You lose all your recorded programs when you do this. There is no way around it. If you want to keep any programs, you have to use TiVO desktop, copy them to your computer, then copy them back when you do the upgrade. There is absolutely no way to save your recorded programs otherwise.

This is an upgrade I should have done long ago. The drive is fantastic, it flat out just works. And I have a bunch more hours of HD recording now.

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I have a TiVo HD with My DVR Expander. "My DVR Expander" broke after 1 yr. Decided to replace the internal 160GB with this. It's awesome!

PRO:

* Taking out My DVR Expander so 1 less power cord to deal with, less clutter in area

* Lower power consumption than the 160GB drive it replaced.

* Technically, according to spec, lower noise than the orig 160GB drive.

* TiVo UI is more responsive (though possibly, it may be bec the 1 TB drive is not full yet so TiVo is not busy doing background work to optimize).

CON

* None (other than the hassle of setting up your PC to do WinMFS).

This is the right type of hard drive for this type of application (DVR).

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I specifically orders this HD to replace another 1TB HD (Samsung F1) in my TivoHD.

The noise level is significantly lower with the new drive.

The TiVo is in my bedroom and I can no longer hear the drive spinning. Great product so far.

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I originally bought this hard drive with an intention of installing it into my third generation TiVo, but this undertaking turned out to be futile for reasons that I will not go into here. I decided instead to install it into my living room media PC and thus expand its storage. This turned out to be a bit more tricky than I had anticipated, since I already had an additional internal HD installed and there were no straightforward ways of adding a third drive. With a bit of tinkering, I was able to repurpose one empty CD/DVD ROM bay, make use of an unused SATA connection on the motherboard, and after some hardware hacking (sometimes quite literal it involved the use of power tools), my slim media PC became a storage monster. The HD seems to be very quiet and has not caused any perceptible amount of extra heating. For the past few weeks that I had been using it I have also been extremely satisfied with its performance, and have not come across any issues whatsoever.

Just a couple of words of caution: this hard drive is packaged in a bare-bones package, and comes with no instructions or other information. If you have never installed an internal hard drive, you may want to get some information online about what is the best way of doing it for your compute.

Q-See QSDR04RTC-320 4 Channel H.264 Real-Time Security DVR

It works a lot better than my old QSD004. I have it all configured and port forwarded to my Internet IP with its on port. I can view it from the Net anywhere I wish and can control the settings. One thing I did notice is the web manager interface uses ACTIVEX, which was a pain is the *** at first. Im a big firefox fan and use that browser..so now i have to use explorer to view my system. I bought a very cheap 500gb sata drive for this at newegg for 40 bucks. Good system for the price and lots of features. I recommend it, would have got 5 stars but email setup seems not to be functional at this time..see below.

Con: I can not get the Email Setup for motion detection to work at all, I have tried over and over, everything is configured correctly. It just doesnt work..I'll update later if this changes.

UPDATE: I just upgraded the firmware also, It gives a lot of options to view view smartphone..mine was an android. It works with my android phone great using the A-see app from the market on an android device. Okay..heres the bad news.. the firmware seems to have messed up the EMAIL notification..Buzzer sounds wont work anymore also.. My father has this model..we both have contact QSEE to find out if the problem will be resolved..but as some of the other posts on here..Their CS SUCKS... it used to be great when I had a previous model..but we got no answers..no returns AND still have a defective product with certain features not working...I've tried reflashing the same firmware again but have the same results in NO functionality with those features..... So the firmware has a plus for mobile phones but then negative and taking away needed features....

I'm about to go to a new brand of product perhaps when I look again for a newer one next year.

Good Luck..last post.

UPDATED!!!! Feb 2011..

Update on this item, I upgraded the firmware to the latest..when I did the email and buzzer stopped working.. I contacted customer service which actually upgraded the firmware in two weeks and posted it on there website with the fix from my problem. I was very impressed with what they did just from my problem. The email function works..but the buzzer doesnt still. I hardly ever use the buzzer function anyhow, this might be actually a device problem without the firmware upgrade i believe. I am not to worried with that fix as much as the email. I am updating this to give you more of an idea of how it has performed.. Also one other things.. when you have a residence with numerous trees outside which move or leaves..if you turn up the brightness on the the dvr for that camera..it filters out the movement and still gets any motion such as a person without false alarms. A little personal hack I found messing with the settings. :) Until later... :)

I bought this dvr to replace my dvr that died after 4 years of continuous use.. This unit runs 4 cameras which is plenty for me. I did some research for ease and price and this unit stood out.

All 4 cameras hook up easily and I had a picture up rather quickly. I did have to contact support because the directions were not specific enough for me to understand on how to make each camera work on motion only. When I first started up the dvr everything was being recorded. They were quick to answer with a email with directions i totally understood. So beside that little snafu everything went pretty well.

I have not connected it to the internet as of yet. That is next on my list. When I get time to do it I will repost my experience with that.

OH, one last thing the dvr has like a rubber coating on it. Its great for not slipping out of your hands but Im not sure about dusting it. I live in a horse town with so much dirt and dust everywhere. Its smooth but not like dust metal.

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Did a firmware upgrade and it bricked the DVR.

I copy pasted my live chat conversation with these folks but Amazon wouldn't post it. Suffice it to say that I was on hold for half an hour while I would occasionally hear such silliness as...."The System is slow today" or "I'm getting that information from another co-worker".

They would never come back on the phone after I got connected, or it would ring once and just go dead. I was finally able to get an RMA but they "forgot" to send a shipping label. The DVR was one week old.

I googled their customer service reputation and it was not good.

I returned it to the retail store where I bought it. I ended paying 30 bucks to do so.

I will say that before the upgrade the system worked great, but I needed the ability to view my cameras remotely through a Droid phone so I needed the new firmware. I build computers so a firmware upgrade is something I'm extremely comfortable performing.

Good product till you need service.

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Got unit in 3 days. Great service from Amazon...

Easy to plug in.

The one question I could not find anywhere in the maunal, or on line, was how long will it record for with the 320 ghz that is installed.

OK here is it. About 332 hours,with cid recording. I know someone else has been wondering.

Easy to use, Does everything my old lorex dvd unit does not. Easy to search.

I was not able to get the motion detection to work, but it could be me,or my camera's quality, and I have never seen it work on any of the other stuff I have that have the same feature.

Probably useless where I live with leaves, dirt, bugs, stuff being moved by the wind.

No loss.

Frank

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Olympus VN3100PC Digital Voice Recorder

This recorder is fine if you need to record notes but don't care much about the sound quality. It's strictly for utilitarian note-taking. It has 4 quality levels and only the highest (XHQ) even approaches the quality of my old Sony tape recorder. However, you can understand yourself in all modes, though I wouldn't try recording a lecture or conference in anything but the highest quality modevoices sound like aliens speaking through long plastic tubes in the other modes.

It records in 4-bit .wav format, which is low quality. Listening with stereo headphones (not included) you'll hear the sound only in one ear. Transfer to the PC is via the included program "Digital Wave Player." I found that I couldn't convert the .wavs (which take up a lot of space on the PC if you want to save them) to .mp3s using RightClickMp3 (a freeware conversion utility not included with the recorder) without first opening the files in Windows Sound Recorder and saving as CD Quality files. This is a bit annoying, considering some other players and recorders record directly to mp3. I think the technology of these things is lagging behind the rest of the electronics marketthis is the level that mp3 players were at a few years ago. Who buys a 128 MB mp3 player now for this price?

The recorder is easy and intuitive to use. The LCD screen is big enough to see clearly, but does not have a backlight. It does have an LED light between the STOP and REC buttons, which flashes green when you perform various operations. It switches to steady red when recording, and flashing red when paused during recording. It also beeps in various ways to let you know what operations you are performing (for example two fast low beeps when you stop recording, two slow low beeps when you pause recording, one high beep when you start recording). You can turn the beeps off if you want to. I like having visual and aural confirmations like that because I record outside at night.

The HOLD button is the only control on the side of the recorder besides the USB jack. This is a good feature. It functions as an on/off button. No buttons will operate with it on, but if you press some of the buttons it will show the date followed by the time brieflya handy feature. Take HOLD off and it shows the screen again at whatever file you last had it. When changing batteries, put HOLD on and it will save all your settings and files so you don't lose anything and have to reset it all each time.

It has voice activation, though I haven't used that, index marks, a timer record function, and an alarm which will beep and play a file that you select. The speaker is in the back in the recessed upper half, which leaves a nice step for your index finger when you hold it.

Overall it has nice features, an ergonomic feel in your hand, a comparatively long record time of about 5-1/2 hours in XHQ mode, and is easy to use. Improvements that would make this a five-star item would be better recording quality and direct-to-mp3 recording. If you need really good sound quality look elsewhere. I think that for the price, this should have much better sound quality. After all, that's the main feature in a recorder.

Maybe I'm just dazzled by this DVR's compactness and overall quality of recording -it is my first DVR, after all, and I'm seduced by how something so little can work so well. I can press Record, shove this little guy into the bottom of my jeans pocket, and walk around -and capture everything said around me in probably a 15-foot radius. (If my jeans are loose, I do pick up a bit of rustling noise as the jeans rub against the unit. But it doesn't detract too much.) I primarily use this DVR when I'm taking lots of photos -I record what each photo is about, so when I upload the photos to my computer later, I'm not scratching my head to remember. It's easier than writing down notes, especially when I'm in my car. My only complaint here is that s-sounds tend to come across harsh, even at the best recording quality.

I wish this DVR was configured so that my computer could see it natively like it does my USB thumb drive. Since it doesn't work that way, you have to load some software that always runs in the background to recognize the DVR and transfer files. My chief complaint about this is that I already have five or six things always running in the background waiting for the infrequent times I need them, and I dislike adding any more programs to that list where they just consume memory. The software is easy enough to use, though. It plays the recordings efficently, but you can use any .wav player if you want. The software not only logs the date and time you transferred the file, but also the date and time you recorded the file, which I find very useful. The only way to access the recording date and time is through the bundled software, though; when you view the files through your operating system, they are stamped only with the date and time of transfer.

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I love this recorder. It's clarity at XHQ recording quality is exceptional. However the lower quality settings(HQ to LP) leave a little to be desired. A slight swimmy sort of noise is introduced at HQ level and increases as the quality setting decrements down to the lowest setting. If all that is needed is recognition of voice, then the lower quality settings are useable all the way down to the lowest setting(LP). The XHQ setting is very good for even music recording. And with 5+ hours of recording time at XHQ, it is all I need, so I never use the lower quality settings.

The recording sensitivity is very good. I most always use the "HI" setting, but even at the "LO" setting you can still hear most sounds in a small room. Especially after downloading to a computer. Then the sound quality is greatly improved over the small built-in speaker. The speaker sound is very good as well.

Another great feature is the "slow" and "fast" speed adjustment. There is NO shift in the sound frequency for either setting. If listening to music, there is absolutely no note-change at all. This is a rare but significant feature, as the voices(or music) sound completely natural with no change except for speed. Some devices that offer a stable frequency speed-change feature, also introduce a sort of clicking artifact that is anoying at best. The VN-3100PC does not have that problem. The resulting speed-changed audio(slow or fast) is as clear as the normal speed exhibits. Look around. Lesser recorders are listed at significantly higher prices.

Rick

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I bought this product to record interviews for my master's thesis. I found that it works really well. The only thing is that the microphone doesn't pick up really soft voices that well. So you have to make sure that it is right next to the person speaking. The different levels of noise clarity are wonderful and it has loads of memory and different folders. Its hold button is also a great feature along with the index markers. The only thing I didn't like was the three speeds. The slow speed (for play back) really wasn't that slow. This product could use another slow speed that would be better for transcribing interviews. It does have a fast speed as well which was good. It was easy to transfer onto my computer and I burnt the recordings onto a cd easily as well. This product is great for interviews in quiet locations and probably for lectures but I would use it to try and transcribe anything. The other negitive feature is that you have to use the stop button to pause any playback. Everytime you hit play again it plays at the regular speed so you have to reset it to a different speed by hitting play again. The rewind and fast forward buttons are also touchy and if you don't hold them down properly, it will go back to the begining of the recording, which is why I set index markers after every twenty minutes or so. That way if you go all the way back you don't have to fast forward through like 40 or 50 minutes. All in all though I am happy with my purchase.

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Got one of these today. When I want high quality digital audio recording, I use a Sony mini disk recorder. Astounding quality sound, even if Sony has dumb way with controls (not intuitive at all). But this device here, I only want for very modest recording. Not for podcasting and not for recording anything that would become a quality audio cd or anything. Memos, meetings, etc., seems very good for. However, I am with the other reviewers here who consider it amazing that Olympus does not have driver downloads on their web. I have the disk that comes with it, so I do not have the trouble that the other reviewer has in this way. But, here's the deal. I do a fair amount with audio. I already have Soundstage, Sonic Stage, LameFE, and Sony Digital Voice Editor. I won't want yet another audio handling program on my computer. I only want a driver that will allow this unit to be recognized so I can transfer over wave files to do further work on, when desired, with some of the above programs. Olympus seems archaic not to be posting the simple driver that allows this to be recognized. I don't want to put their software on my computer. So, call me stubborn. The unit otherwise does have nice controls and is easy to use. If only Olympus were more in this age for simply posting drivers on their webpage. . .

LG ANWL100W Digital Device 1080P Media Streamer[Compatible with 2010 LG TVs

I purchased the LG 60pk750 a few weeks ago and love it. I have it wall mounted in a location which is VERY difficult to run wires to. Until now, I have had it temporarily hardwired to my DVR with exposed cable until I found a better way. Enter the "LG AN-WL100W Wireless Media Kit". I was skeptical about wireless HD, but decided to give it a try after reading the small amount of online reviews. Really not much info available about this product, but did find useful info at Crutchfield and home theater magazine. I hope that this review informs people about this product better.

Functionality:

Before I mounted my TV back on the wall, I decided to test the results through the AN-WL100W (smart, huh). I was actually very surprised... the picture was really good. I watched Discovery HD for a while, flipping between hardwired and wireless and saw NO difference. At times I thought I saw picture degradation, but I would flip back to the hardwired and realized that the source was the problem (broadcast HD is hit or miss). Don't have my Bluray yet, so this is the best reference I had. Sound was never a problem, though I was just using the TVs tiny speakersI can say that it sounded just like the hardwired. For this test, the head unit was about 4 feet away, directly behind the TV, behind a wall in my garage(drywall-studs-plywood-drywall).

Later, I mounted my TV with the wireless dongle connected and in place, and put the headunit where I planned to keep it, in a AV closet approximately 10 feet from the center of the TV, to the right front of the TV. This time I could not get sufficient signal strength to get picture. I could not believe it! The total distance from the headunit to the dongle was about 12 feetline-of-sight obstacles were a regular interior wall (drywall,studs,drywall), and the TV itself (since the dongle is mounted on the back). The screen would show that it saw the headunit and was tryng to establish picture, but signal strength was too low.

Form:

The product itself is really nice lookingno question. However, I have a huge issue with the dongle size and installation. The dongle is TOO BIG. The AN-WL100W was custom designed for these LG TVs, yet they still managed to allow the dongle to be the tallest protrusion on the back of the set! WTH?!? This is a problem if you are wall-mounting (why else would you buy this product if you were using a stand on a cabinet?). Similarly, the HDMI and control cables which plug into the back of the TV are not designed with 90 angles, so they get all bent and crimped up against the wall too. With so much design going into the electronics of the AN-WL100W, it simply blows my mind that they didn't make wall-mounting a slam-dunk by making the dongle just a bit thinner and supplying cables with 90 bends!

Summary:

I was hoping that going wireless (and paying $300) would simplify my location situation. I also liked the fact that it had nice IR repeaters and integrated switching controlled by the TV. The signal quality was good at very short ranges, but was useless at about 12 feet with a reasonable obstruction. I don't know how practical this is, because I think most people shelling out $300 for this are buying it because they might have an obstruction or distance situation. I would have kept fiddling with it if it hadn't been for the wall-mounting issues mentioned earlier. This sealed the deal for me to return it.

We have a cable TV set-top box in our master bedroom, along with a home entertainment system. We also have an LG 55LE5400 HD TV against a wall in our living room, with about 35 feet of open space and one normal drywall between the two spaces. I needed a way to get the HD signal from the bedroom, through the wall, to the living room TV, and this looked like it might do the job.

The product description on the LG website includes the statement "The kit sends an uncompressed, full HD 1080p signal to your TV from up to 50 feet away, even through walls and doors." If this statement were true, my review would read differently. Unfortunately, this did not turn out to be the case, and a red flag went up in my mind when I noted that the documentation provided with the device also included a "recommendation" to "place the Media Box and the TV in the same room". Since the distance between my living room TV and the Media Box was only 35 feet, I thought it might work adequately. However, mounting the dongle (receiver) on the back of the TV as suggested in the documentation led to an unusable signal strength at the TV, with frequent drop-outs.

After some experimentation, I have settled on positioning the dongle (receiver) flat on the tabletop under the living room TV screen, with the end with the LG logo pointed at the media box, which is behind the wall in the bedroom. The supplied connecting wiring is barely long enough to permit this, but it's workable, and with the dongle in this position, the signal drop-outs ceased, and picture quality is pretty good.

So, in summary, we're getting acceptably good performance from the system at a distance of 35 feet through one drywall. There are no other 5Ghz signals in this environment to cause any interference, and the distance between the Media Box and the dongle is all clear space with no furniture or other obstructions. My opinion is that the LG claim of a useful reception distance of 50 feet is exaggerated.

I rated all item "attributes" for this item midto -high except "Protection", which I did not rate at all due to lack of relevance.

Buy LG ANWL100W Digital Device 1080P Media Streamer[Compatible with 2010 LG TVs Now

This product is advertised as wireless HDMI so I was expecting that this product will not alter video quality.

Unfortunately it does compress video and shows artifacts even at very close range.

I did some further testing and saw that the video is not 1080p 60 but doing a 3 frame interpolation, so it is really doing 1080p at 20Hz, which mean it is lossy video compression, also colors are downgraded.

For a product at this price point this is not matching the quality expected from LG's product line.

Also be aware, the LG TV supports 3D but this product does not.

Anyway I can't find a good point about this item.

Read Best Reviews of LG ANWL100W Digital Device 1080P Media Streamer[Compatible with 2010 LG TVs Here

I got this free with the purchase of an LG Tv. It does exactly what is says, broadcasts HD without wires. I have it hooked up in my living room to my main cable box via an HDMI splitter and the TV is in my bedroom. The signal does transmit through the wall with out much trouble and the picture is normally perfect. I had some troubles after I mounted the wireless receiver to the back of the TV. LG reccommends the placement but you may want to play around with it before settling on a spot. I moved it a couple inches and now the signal seems to be coming in fine. I did have to get another remote from my cable company for their box, the LG remote wont work with it throught the wireless media kit, the cable remote does just fine. Over all I am really happy with this unit, especially since it was free!

------------------Up Date---------------

For some reason after several months the signal does not reach my television. Nothing has changed as far as location but some how the signal has become too weak to be recognized. Not sure what has happened...

----------------Up Date-----------------

Cut a hole in the wall and ran the wires from our living room cable box to the unit into our bedroom. Did not need to buy new cables, the onles included with the unit were long enough. Must have been a streaming issue with the wall blocking the signal. With the unit now in the same room on separate walls the TV and unit are less than 15 feet apart. Everything is working perfectly now.

---------------Up Date------------

The unit died again. It cannot send an uninterrupted signal to the TV even with the unit being in the same room as the TV and with a clear line of site. I loved the concept so much when it was working I bought a new unit, it was cheaper than sending it in for repair. Once installed the new unit acted the same as my old unit. The signal pulsed on and off and would not work properly. I sent the unit back for a full refund. I'm very upset as I loved how things worked when they were working. Back to the drawing board!

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This product is great! The picture quality is fantastic! Colors are stunning and the connection is rock solid!

I am streaming wirelessly full HD 1080p 60Hz from my Blu -Ray player to my new 55 inch LG LED TV and the quality is just as good as a top-of-the-line HDMI cable. In fact, I tested it just to be sure, and I could not tell the difference between HDMI and wireless. I can have all my A/V devices hidden in my media center cabinet and wirelessly send the video to the TV across the room. The receiver unit is small and hidden behind the TV, and it gets its power from the TV. So my set up is now clean of unnecessary cables and picture quality is superb.

Great Product! highly recommended!

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Sharp Aquos BDHP20U 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player

• Full HD 1080p/24 fps video output
• HDMI digital interface
• Quick Start Mode: enjoy content quickly without delay

I recently reviewed my Sony BDP-S300 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player, which gave me an insurmountable amount of quirkiness. In that review I commented at length about firmware updates (and more updates and more updates) to which finally spelled doom for my player. I also commented on replacing my Sony S300 with my newly purchased Sharp Aquos BDHP20U 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player. At this point I must say that this Blu-Ray player is exceptional Dolby True HD Sound, HDMI output to 1080p video, etc all the extras without the cost (without a HDMI cord included of course, but most players come without it).

Out of the box, this needed no firmware updates to play even the newest movie I owned (i.e. Superbad [Blu-ray]released the same week as this review) which my Sony BDP-S300 tried to load for 15 minutes before locking up (and this was with firmware 2.6 installed already firmware 3.30 was needed but it couldn't load due to a system error now my old player sits in Pennsylvania at a Sony service center). The load time on the Sharp BDHP20U for SuperBad was about 1-2 minutes, not too bad as you might know some players take much longer. The boot up time from off to on was only about a minute also.

The entire system seemed quick, and not to mention quiet. From the beginning I was completely happy. The system startup was simple enough I connected my HDMI and opened the setup menu to finalize my preferences. In less than 10 minutes of opening the box I was watching a movie that my previous Sony BDP-S300 died attempting to do.

For the money, this is a great player with fairly speedy load time. Compare that to the $440 I paid for the Sony BDP-S300 which I bought and now loathe.

12-29-07 update Player finally needed an update to play The Simpsons Movie [Blu-ray] not a problem though! Unlike the Sony S300 I mentioned before, the Sharp Aquos BDHP20U uses a USB port via any ordinary thumb/flash drive loaded to the back of the player to deliver the update files. No more senselessly throwing away DVD-R's and waiting 30+ minutes for updates, my Sharp Blu-Ray player updated in about 8 minutes. That little USB plug on the back and the 8 minutes are two good reasons I'm glad I purchased the Sharp Blu-Ray player. Honestly that's the real reason I like this player... it's design (inside and outside) is well thought out.

02-03-2008 update Encountered my first glitch problem. While watching Damages: The Complete First Season [Blu-ray] my player froze up. I stopped the disc and checked it for scratching or debris nothing, looked great. So, I instead checked the Sharp website for a player update since this Blu-Ray disc set was so new. The website showed that I had the most recent update already. I then decided to restart the disc. The player froze up again at a different point on a different episode. This time I knew something was wrong. I attempted to eject the disc and the player would not respond, it just powered down. But, it had no response to re-power on or anything else for that matter only thing that was happening was that the Standby light was flashing no other lights or responses. I checked the SharpUSAdotcom website, but it had no real error response information. So I checked the handy dandy manual that my player came with. There was information on the very last page of the English section which described power / static electricity / lightning strikes / other interference scenarios. I followed the steps by holding the power button down until RESET appeared on the front LED section. It then re-powered on perfectly another simple solution that was unavailable on my Sony S300 Blu-Ray player when it froze up.

Sure I might truly be comparing apples to oranges with this problem and my Sony problem, but when I originally asked the Sony customer service rep for help on my S300 she replied with this for resetting my system. She told me to unplug the AC chord and wait 2 minutes. When that didn't work, she said we could try it a few more times or possibly leave it off for a longer amount of time. She also mentioned that this system reset could cause my latest firmware updates to reset also (as well as my player preferences). With my Sharp Blu-Ray player, the reset only rebooted the system (within 20-30 seconds) all of my preferences and my latest firmware update were still intact. I must say this was much easier than I would ever guessed. Maybe Sharp needs a newer update for playing Damages: The Complete First Season [Blu-ray] and it plans to release it soon, who knows? Well not me. But I DO know this, the reset feature on my Sharp Blu-Ray player was better than sending my Sony S300 to Pennsylvania for over a month.

For those of you who have asked and those of you who are wondering, yes I did finish the entire season of Damages: The Complete First Season [Blu-ray] without any other problems. I am still not sure what caused the freeze up, but believe me I tolerated much worse from my Sony S300. I use this player usually three to five times a week and this has been my first "hiccup" since buying it. So all and all, I am still very pleased with my Sharp player and consider it among my smartest purchases of 2007.

04-14-2008 New problem that as of now is unfixable. When playing 30 Days Of Night [Blu-ray] there is no dialog in either English or Spanish, all of the background sound works and the other languages work as well. Apparently this model has had some trouble with the True HD sound on some of the newer discs and the only language tracks on this particular movie in True HD were English and Spanish, so in other words turning to any other non-True HD audio language fixed the problem... if you listened in Korean or French or whatever then you would have no problems. I went to the website to get any updates, which the latest firmware update claimed to address True HD problems (so Sharp is aware that something is wrong). But, the newest update still didn't fix the problem. I tried the disc on my Sony BDP-S500 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player and on my Playstation 3 40GB both of which played the audio perfectly. After contacting the Sharp customer service via email they emailed me 3 days later with no answers. So, maybe there is a new fix coming and maybe not, either way this makes the Sharp BDHP20U closer to a 3 1/2 star or 4 star until new firmware fixing the True HD audio problem is released. Personally I didn't mind watching the movie in another room, but not everyone has that option.

04-30-2008 There was another update listed on the Sharp website, this update again addressed the True HD problem. Fortunately this time was the trick to finally fixing the problem I had with 30 Days of Night. This movie now plays perfectly, so now everything seems perfectly once again. Back to 5 Stars!

04-07-2009 It's been a year since anything out of the ordinary has happened. The player recently started having trouble with some of the newer Blu rays we were renting. At first it wasn't a big deal, but eventually I decided to check for updates. The newest update (Oct 2008) was loaded but somehow it refused to accept the new firmware. So we had to call Sharp for help. They walked us through a few steps but soon realized that there was something wrong with our BD drive. We shipped our player to Sharp and they emailed us to keep us updated through the process. They had my player fixed, updated, shipped back to us within a week. They shipped it back via FedEx overnight and we were watching movies on the player within 8 days of my original phone call. I can't say that this player is perfect, but I can say that I feel very lucky to be dealing with Sharp. The Sony process for returning my player was very complicated and ended with me spending over $200 to receive a completely different Sony model. That was never an issue with Sharp. The woman at Sharp said what was going to happen and politely assured me that this was going to be a painless process. She was right. Thanks Sharp!

More updates to come...

Buy Sharp Aquos BDHP20U 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player Now

I ordered this player because it is well integrated with AQUOS TV product line. There are not too many differentiating factors among Blu-ray players from various manufacturers. This one is made in Malaysia, but SHARP says that all critical components are made by SHARP.

BD-HP20U is very sleek. Very easy setup menu. HD picture quality and sound quality is stunning!

The level of each 5.1 speaker can be adjusted via menu. It offers full 1080P output. The sound, even in 2 channel stereo mode, is great.

You can also setup the video output manually to 480i, 720P 1080i or 1080P.

There are mixed opinions about LCD TVs not accepting 1080P input signals (unless you have the very latest one).

When video output was set to AUTO, it selected 1080i for my LC45GD7U AQUOS TV. But when I manually set the output to 1080P there were no error messages.

Frankly speaking I could not tell the difference in picture quality between the two output modes. Regardless of the input mode the LCD TV will convert the signal to 1080P for display (because it does not draw alternate lines even of the siganl input is interlaced signal). So, do not worry over 1080i or 1080p signal output.

I hardly could tell the difference in picture quality between Component Video (Analog)and HDMI (Digital) connections.(The common remote feature will not work in case of analog connection).

In my opinion there is no need to buy expensive HDMI cables. The cheap ones sold for $10 also work great. Check amazon.com for good deals.

One good feature of this player is that it allows firmware upgrades using USB memory device. Instructions are to download files from internet site.

No upgrades are yet needed but I wish that SHARP offers something like this for 2005/2006 AQUOS TVs.

I highly recommend this player to anyone and particularly to those who have AQUOS TV sets.

Read Best Reviews of Sharp Aquos BDHP20U 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player Here

I ordered a Sharp Aquos TV and the Sharp Aquos Blu-Ray player to go with it. After they were delivered and set-up, it was with great anticipation that I put in one of the two Blu-Ray movies I had purchased. After nearly two minutes of "Reading Disk", I received an "Incompatible Disk" message. So I tried my second movie. Incompatible Disk. While disappointed, I wasn't surprised because I was aware that I'd probably need to a firmware update. This is were my nightmare started.

The Sharp Blu-Ray player is not internet capable, so all firmware updates need to be done through a USB port on the back of the machine. I went to the Sharp web-site, downloaded the firmware update and placed it on the root level of my USB Flash disk. I followed the on screen instructions for updating the firmware. After inserting the Flash disk, I received a message stating that there were multiple files on the disk. Okay, first major hurdle; my Flash drive contains the annoying U3 software that I can't delete.

I went to Best Buy to purchase a new Flash disk, but my Best Buy doesn't carry ANY flash disks without U3. I went to Wal-Mart and finally found a Flash disk without U3. Back home I tried again, and received the same error. After doing some testing I came across my next major hurdle. I am on a Mac and OSX loves to use invisible files in file directories. So even though it looked like the firmware update was the only file on the Flash disk, it wasn't. My solution: use an FTP client to move the firmware update to the Flash disk directly, by-passing the Mac OSX.

Back to the Blu-Ray player. This time I received and an error telling me that the Blu-Ray player couldn't find the update on the disk. Sharp's manual and web site was no help in finding answers, so I turned to the web forums. It was suggested that I needed to do a system reset on the player before attempting an update. Now this is a new player, why should I need to do a system reset, but I'd give it a shot. And lo-and-behold, it recognized the file on the Flash disk. I started the update and after a few minutes received a message stating that the update had failed and to contact Customer Service.

Of course no number was given for Customer Service. I couldn't find a number in the literature that came with the player (maybe I missed it, but I couldn't find it), so back to the internet. On Sharp's web site all I could find was an email form for Customer Service. I did a Google search and found a link to a page on Sharp's web site that contained a Customer Service phone number (It's 1-800-BE-SHARP (237-4277) by-the-way).

I called Customer Service and after 5 different menu options and being on hold for no more than 2 minutes I was speaking with a REAL LIVE person. I was impressed. I explained to the Customer Service representative all that I had gone through, he apologized and was surprised by the amount of trouble shooting I had already done. After answering some questions about the movies I had and conferring with his manager, he started to give me instructions to ship my player back Sharp for repair. I WAS NOT HAPPY! At the last minute he asked if I had tried unplugging the player. No I hadn't. He told me to try unplugging the player, wait and hour, plug it back in, do a system reset, and then try the firmware update. I was VERY skeptical, but what did I have to lose. It was either this or send it back in.

I followed his and instructions and the firmware update went through without a hitch. WOW! Was I surprised.

Now the moment of truth, I put in a movie, and waited, and waited. Nearly two minutes later: Incompatible Disk. I put my other movie; Incompatible Disk.

To say I was upset would be a GROSS UNDERSTATEMENT. I called Sharp back, was instructed that my wait time would be 13 minutes. 45 minutes later I hung up, called 6th Ave (the Amazon third party seller I got this from) and arranged to return my player. I was asked if I wanted a replacement or a refund. I went for the refund. Fool my once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. There was NO way I was going through this again.

I don't know what Sharp is thinking. I'm a pretty tech-savy guy and this player had me knocking my head against a wall. This player is not for the average person. The learning curve and tech knowledge level is just too high. I cringe to think of my mother or father trying to set this player up.

p.s. I want to say that when I did get through to Sharp's Customer Service, the person I spoke to was very nice, knowledgeable and genially seemed to want to help me. Also 6th Ave made returning this very easy.

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Like other reviewers, I purchased this player, my first Blu Ray, to intergrate with my Sharp Aquos TV. I set it up with HDMI cables in less than 5 minutes. The Blu Ray play back is excellent. Beautiful picture and sound. Standard DVDs look great also. Only dissapointment I have is audio CD playback. EVERY audio CD I play has slight, but annoying, hesitations and click sounds. I called Sharp and was informed my player does not need servicing. Also the player locked up on occasion during CD playback for no apparent reason. I had to hold down the power button to reset the unit. Other than these issues I would recommend this player. Sharp recently posted a firmware update for this unit on thier website which I installed in my unit. I have had no lock up issues since installing the firm ware.However, I am still disappointed at how my CDs play. I will keep updating my expierence with this player. Future Sharp models should only become better.

I ordered the Sharp Blu Ray player for two reasons First, I had seen overwhelmingly positive reviews both here and at other sites on the web, and second, I own a Sharp Aquos TV (LC37D62U) and I have been impressed with its performance. I just recieved it today, along with the BBC series Planet Earth (an excellent series).

Setup was a breeze, yes I know, there is no HDMI cable, but since I already had one that didn't matter and it sounds like most players don't come with one. As with most other HDMI devices you only need the HDMI cable to get going.

So far, I have been incredibly impressed, the picture is fantastic, and the colors are great. My Sharp Aquos TV is 1080p, however I had never had the ability to watch anything in 1080p because TV broadcasts are currently only in 1080i or 720p. There is a clear difference, and the picture is incredible.

It has been a great machine. If you have a Sharp Aquos I would strongly consider this player. It is obvious that Sharp had its TV Aquos users in mind when it created this player. I have not tried an audio CD and I doubt I will since I have a stereo for music.

Asus OPLAY_HD2/1A/NTSC/AS Digital Device - Black

Pros:

support all formats you can think of.

nice looking box with blue LED light at the bottom.

easy GUI control.

stream media files from network locations.

firmware update via internet is easy.

Cons:

can not copy files from networked resource locations.

copy files from external USB2.0 HD to installed internal HD takes very long time.

no multitasking. can't copy files and play media files at the same time. NAS features can only be turned on via GUI using remote control. imaging to FTP files to this device from your computer, you would need to turn on your Asus HD2, turn on your TV, turn on FTP service, ftp files from your computer. works for English titled files, will mess up Chinese titled files. changed file names to ???.

Web GUI is for information and status only. wish i could turn on NAS services via http.

indexing is annoying.

while navigating through GUI, resolution does not stay on 1080p. sometimes, it blows out of proportion, and it takes about 2-3 seconds to adjust it back to 1080p.

can not power off most of the time(latest fw loaded). GUI goes away, internal hard drive keeps spinning, LED light stays on. have to unplug power cord everytime.

I am happy with the purchase for $100. hoping Asus will work out the feature enhancements and bugs soon.

I have had a Patriot Box Office media player for about the last year and love it. I picked up this Asus media player mainly because it is currently 1 of the few that allows installation of a 3.5" HDD. Of the players offering that feature, I'd say the Asus one is the best I've tried. If you need 3.5" storage, this is your machine. Otherwise the Patriot Box Office (which allows 2.5" storage) is a much better option and is 1/2 the price!

Pros:

Plays everything

Allows installation of up to a 3TB hard drive!

Fairly small footprint

Good fast forward and rewind functionality

Good networking/online features

Ran it overnight copying files and it didn't have any overheating issues

Cons:

Has locked up a couple times when browsing files (latest v2 firmware is installed)

Interface just isn't as nice as the Patriot Box Office. For example, the Patriot shows you the file size and preview of the file you currently have selected (including movies). With the Asus you see none of that so if you have 2 files similarly named, you may not have any idea which is better quality or which you may want to delete unless you individually begin playing each one.

Interface is a little slower than the Patriot.

Patriot Box Office is smaller...but only allows install of 2.5" HDD so it's a trade off.

Patriot Box Office will restart a movie right where you last left off, the Asus won't. It does have a "goto" feature so you can jump to a specific time...but you will have to remember the time rather than the machine remember it.

Defaults to showing all files in 1 big list rather than a more traditional "computer-like" directory listing. That may be a pro for some...for me it's a con...and you can change it so the lists are more like individualized directories but you can't save that as a preference.

Overall it's a nice machine and I'm glad I got it...but I'll be sticking with the Patriot Box Office for my main player.

Buy Asus OPLAY_HD2/1A/NTSC/AS Digital Device - Black Now

Being a fan of Asus products I have bought many of their O'Play Media Players from Amazon. I bought the "Asus OPLAY_HD2/1A/NTSC/AS Digital Device Black" last month from ANTOnline and although I am happy that it was able to play more files than the previous version, this particular unit "resets and freezes" when I scroll the list of files. The wait for reset is very long and troublesome. Initially I wanted to return the unit and buy another but since I have read other feedbacks stating this similar issue, I don't want to go through the hassle of returning again. I am writing to you (ANTOnline) and CC'ing to Amazon to let you know I would like to return this product with a refund back. Per your statement on the Special Return Policies, "Please note that 99% of initially diagnosed "Potentially DefectiveProducts" turn out to be configuration or compatibility issues and are not "Defective Products". I am not an extreme tech savvy individual. If myself and others are having the same issue which disables us from scrolling a list, it is a defective product. Not happy with the return policy.

Read Best Reviews of Asus OPLAY_HD2/1A/NTSC/AS Digital Device - Black Here

The ASUS O!Play HD2 plays many formats and plays them well.

I primarily use NAS (Network Attached Storage) for my media storage. The ASUS found the NAS without any issue.

I had no problem playing .mkv, .iso and .vob files for video and .flac files for audio.

In wireless mode it had some problem playing high defintion .mkv files. There was stuttering and jittering. Switching to a wired network connection played all media smoothly.

The O!Play HD2 starts up fast from standby position.

My two issues have to do with accessing the media.

First Issue: The sort function does not seem to work. The ASUS has 4 sort options (A-Z, Z-A, Newest First, Oldest First). Depending upon which NAS drive or USB drive I used, the media files are presented in alphabetical order (A-Z) or COMPLETELY RANDOM! In either case, attempting to change the order has no effect. This is a biggie if you have hundreds of files in a folder and you are looking to play a certain one. Several people have complained about the sort order issue in the forums, but ASUS has not replied. I wrote to customer support and after several email exchanges and me pointing out that others have noted the same issue, I was told that I must have a defective unit and to return it to the retailer (not ASUS).

Second Issue: This issue has been with ASUS media player products for years. The media player does not remember the last location of media played. Every time you have to click thru the network and directory structure. In my case, because of NAS storage, it ends up being 6-7 clicks (and the several seconds pauses between the clicks) to choose the NETWORK, WORKGROUP, choose the NAS, choose the USB drive connected to the NAS and then 3 or 4 more clicks to get to the folder I want to play media from. After selecting NETWORK, there is a choice called My_Shortcuts, but it is of no use. The customer support person could not even explain what it is for. He did say that it is not for pointing to a specific folder. Since this issue has been around for years and many people have complained about it and ASUS has ignored it, I don't expect it to get fixed anytime soon.

I am debating whether to return the unit due to the above 2 issues or to live with them. I have had a Popcorn Hour A-100 and a WD TV Live. I like the ASUS better than the PCH A-100 in that it allows me to change settings while the media is simply paused and can continue from that moment once the settings have been changed. It also seems to work better in fast forwarding and rewinding video in .mkv format. Compared to the WD TV Live, the ASUS plays a lot more formats. The WD TV Live claimed to play .flac audio files, but it could not and it had trouble with many .mkv, .iso and .vob files that the ASUS just breezes through.

Compared to the Popcorn Hour, support for the ASUS product is much worse. The PCH people constantly monitor their forums and respond with answers and firmware upgrades. ASUS seems to completely ignore their forum.

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Micca EP100 1080P Full-HD Digital Media Player with 7.1 HD-Audio and Fast LAN Network Streaming (Re

This appears to be the lowest priced Realtek 1185 based player I've ever seen. Micca is not a big brand like Western Digital but I've seen their name mentioned on forums so they are at least "known". My AIOS player died and I wanted a replacement that also used the 1185. I don't have a 3D TV yet so the additional cost of upgrading to the Realtek 1186 was not worth it to me.

Unlike the AIOS, the Micca doesn't have an internal drive bay. I never actually installed a drive in the AIOS, but those who really want an internal drive bay should look at a different player. I stream my videos directly from my computer, and sometimes use a USB drive, and for that the EP100 is plenty good. Even though the LAN connection is 100mbps rather than full gigabit, local streaming worked like a champ and I had no issues streaming anything. Since the 1185 chipset is so mature, there were no surprises with the EP100, everything works in a familiar fashion, which is to say that everything plays and plays well. The remote control has great angle/range and the player's interface is simple and responsive. Like all Realtek network players, there are some Internet content links, but they are not really worth exploring. It would be far more productive to setup something like PlayOn DNLA server on the computer and use the EP100 to stream from that.

Build quality is great, like a solid hunk of aluminum, it feels very solid. The remote feels a tad light, but the buttons feel good. In all I don't see any quality sacrifices for the low price. I've played with it for a few nights now after receiving it earlier last week and I can be pretty confidently say that it's a great player that's powerful, well made, and stable.

I needed something that i could play my movies that were in avi mov mp4 divx etc. formats. And this truly delivered. It is so simple our 5 year old can use it. It is quick and easy, just a plug and play. It has other functions that I haven't used yet like a browser and Netflix. I bought this bc my ps3 or xbox 360 wouldn't play from external hard drives that are hundreds of gigabytes let alone the 1 TB passport i have. I think this goes up to 2 TB for external drives. It has 2 USB ports and the capability to copy and paste files in between drives (aka transfer files). For this price it is a deal hard to pass up. Extremely satisfied!

Buy Micca EP100 1080P Full-HD Digital Media Player with 7.1 HD-Audio and Fast LAN Network Streaming (Re Now

I have had many media players in the past from Roku to WD TV Live.But they all failed in terms of local media play. This player plays 720P and 1080P movies like butter. It is fast and smooth playback. The design of the media box is very solid. It does not feel like cheap plastic like on the WD TV Live. I returned the WD TV Live and got this because this media player is so much better.

This player supports full 7.1 audio. This media player has the realtek 1185 and at this price it is the cheapest 1185 media player on amazon currently. You will not go wrong with this media player. I currently have a 3TB WD mybook external hard drive attached to this. Works like a charm. This is the best media player for local media playback.

Read Best Reviews of Micca EP100 1080P Full-HD Digital Media Player with 7.1 HD-Audio and Fast LAN Network Streaming (Re Here

I have used media streaming for several years now, and my last purchase final bite the dust, so I purchased the Micca Ep100, not only was it worth the money, but I was delighted that it arrived so quickly. If you need internal drive inside the box, this is not the right product, but if you stream off the network...thumbs up.

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Micca EP100 DLNA SAMBA Mulimedia Player with E-SATA. My setup includes ZyXEL NSA-320 NAS which stores various media. Pushing media from PC is a great and Twonky beam on Android works well. For the money I paid for this player ... And yeah you can attach USB based DVD player or Blu-Ray and play your files you keep on good old physical media discs.

TnX!

P.S. Hope they improve GUI with more English based options (Mandarin or Cantonese is not my strongest point at the moment)

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VideoSecu High Sensitive Preamp Tiny Spy Microphone Audio Pickup Device Kit for Security Camera Sou

I use this microphone with other professional mics for bird and wildlife audio as well as general security. Please note LOUDNESS is determined by the gain (think volume control) of the security unit circuits not just this microphone. More about that below if you wish to read on. For now I will say that this mic, being "powered", has a low noise level and a high sensitivity in a 60 degree cone to the the general direction it is pointing. It is very transparent but does not have (or need) outstanding fidelity. It has AGC (automatic gain control) to even out the loud and soft sounds and that is a good feature. It is ideal for security uses and the price is right! Is it loud enough to capture the elusive noise you WANT to record with your security DVR? It depends on you DVR audio circuits and how quiet of a noise you EXPECT to record. You will just have to try it but I suspect that most "powered" security mics will record at about the same loudness. In a nutshell, this one seems to be a very good value.

Details My microphones all go through an audio mixer before patching into the security DVR or other recorder. Yes, I have meters to monitor and adjust loudness too. Also, I listen with headphones to avoid any chance of feedback loops. If I want any mic to be louder (more sensitive to faint sounds in the lingo of an audio engineer) I turn up the mixer's gain. In theory the more you amplify a microphone signal the fainter and more distant the sound you can hear but there are always limits in the real world, huh?

Turn any mic way, way up and you may hear the rumble from your home's fridge motor, furnace, AC, cars on distant roads, etc (a general low frequency rumble). Also, the more you turn it up the more "line noise" you hear. Line noise sounds like static and can become so loud that it drowns out the distant noise you want to hear. WARNING: Opening a door or speaking anywhere near the mic with the volume cranked up will blow the headphones right off your head and probably ruin your hearing too. Please note that most security DVR systems do NOT have an audio gain control or volume knob. Audio gain in a security system might be useful to folks who complain that a certain mic only recorded things a few feet away!

They do make expensive, professional microphones for videographers and film makers that are very sensitive to distant, quiet noises while keeping background static and noise to a minimum (think about recording roaring lions from 500 yards). Some use a parabolic collector (like a satellite dish) and some called shotgun mics are long, skinny things that listen to a very narrow tunnel of sound much like binoculars or a zoom lens that looks far away but at a very small area. Search Amazon for "parabolic microphone" to see such toy and professional microphones.

Back to this security mic. Actually this "powered, active electronics" mic has less noise and is better for security recording than some professional microphone costing hundreds of dollars. You see, security mics have high gain, low noise and AGC. For any audio geeks out there, this mic is much quieter with MORE gain than any dynamic mic but with less dynamic range. I would have to use a phantom powered or active electronics professional mic to get as much sheer gain with as low a noise floor as this cheap security mic!

In conclusion, for it's intended use this microphone is very good all that you need. But, can you record a grasshopper burp in the next block? Nope! Once again, your mileage (and mic sensitivity) will vary depending on the security DVR you hook it to but I suspect that most security mics will record at about the same "loudness". Try this one and see if it doesn't fill the bill for recording sound around the area your camera covers.

We hooked the audio up to the security system we bought for our home. It works as others said it would. Picks up sound well.

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This microphone is my first and I am very happy with the the way it works, the size is good for concealment.

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The procduct is what it was adverised to be and works very well, a great price and great product.

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This microphone is my first and I am very happy with the the way it works, the size is good for concealment. and i would like to thank

amazon for what they have for god customer services.

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Ultimate Travel Kit: Neoprene Dual Pocket Zipper Case (Black), Mini HDMI Type C to HDMI Type A Cabl

The HDMI cable works great, the rest of the kit is a dud for my Flip Video camera at least.

I don't know why the camera won't charge through the USB extension cables (not just the cable in this kit), but it won't . Eventually after trying to charge the camera for a week, the camera started locking up and eventually needed to be sent back to flip for repair. The replacement camera wouldn't charge with this kit either and would only charge if plugged directly into the USB port of the computer.

This is a pretty mediocre travel kit. The case is generic. Is this supposed to fit the flip slide? I don't think so. Everything is of the cheapest quality. I guess what you would expect when you receive 6 "items" for about $13. I would have given it 5 stars if they named it "mediocre Travel Kit."

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purchased this product mainly for the home/wall charger -totally frustrated it simply does not work car charger is ok case is skimpy but at least better than the other case i purchased from Amazon wedsite -have to find a way to return this or get another

wall charger how abt some help from amazon !!!!!!

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this was a great little kit for my flip camera! I've had it for a long time now, and I still love it!

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This kit was priced well but everything feels cheap. There's all kinds of goodies for use in many situations and places. If you want a good kit this is it but it might not last as long as you'd like.

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Philips DVDR75 Progressive-Scan DVD Player/Recorder

• Combination DVD player/recorder with camcorder-ready DV (i.Link), component-video, composite-video, and S-video inputs
• Record from TV directly to DVD; up to 6 hours video recording per side (either DVD+R or DVD+RW)
• Progressive-scan output for seamless, flicker-free images on high-definition and HD-ready TVs
• Motion-compensated Noise Filter, Virtual Time Base Corrector (for better-than-original copies of old video tapes)
• Favorite Scene Selection simplifies editing of your home movies; VCR Plus+ simplifies timer programming

Ok, you probably read lots of other reviews by now, but here is a summary, of what you will get for your money. But first, keep two things in mind, when you read other 'low rating' reviews :

1. This DVD Recorder is by far one of the less expensive ones but what you get for your money is truly amazing.

2. In electronics, there are always 'lemons', but with Amazon's great customer service, it is very easy to exchange a unit, that does not work properly.

Ok, so here is what you get when you purchase this DVD recorder.

A DVD recorder that records on DVD+R and DVD+RW in amazing picture and sound quality. Depending on what quality level you choose, the picture is clearer than on a pre-recorded DVD or (on the lowest quality selection) as good as a VHS tape. The sound is truly amazing.

When you copy from DVC to your DVD recorder using the Firewire link, you might get some distortion when playing the recorded DVD on another player. But if you use S-Video and the highest quality setting (M1), then there is absolutely no difference between the original and the copy.

The reaction time of the DVD player is a bit slow, when you press a button. But once you get used to this, it really isn't a problem.

The DVD+RW discs do not need to be finalized in order to play them on another DVD player this is a huge advantage over the DVD-RW format. In general, DVD+R and DVD+RW is much more likely to be compatible to other DVD players than DVD-R and DVD-RW. DVD-ROM is really not a DVD format and is hardly ever compatible to another DVD player.

Even this DVD recorder does not have a hard disk, it is still cheaper, to buy this unit together with Tivo (the total will be about $ 600.--) than another DVD recorder with a hard drive. This way, you will get all the Tivo benefits and copying from Tivo to this unit is a breeze !

Operating this unit is extremely simple and it is very easy to organize your DVDs (titles, index pictures, chapters etc.).

The DVD player is excellent and supports the most recent sound systems. The picture quality is truly outstanding.

My verdict buy this unit ! It's a fact, that in 2 years from now, it will be as 'outdated' as the more expensive recorders that are out now but for the price, you really get your moneys worth ! And the DVD+R and DVD+RW discs that you record on this machine will still be 'top of the line', when it comes to picture and sound quality, in many years from now.

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Bought this June 4th, 2003

Earlier that day I also had purchased the Panasonic DMRE-50s. The Panasonic DVD-R / DvdRam unit is back at Circuit City.

I'm using the DVDR 75 as we speak.

There are a few things to like and some maybe not so.

1st of all, I love the format DVD+RW. The unnecessary task of finalizing the disk sells me. My first attempt was a few SpongeBob episodes. it went like this.

Inserted Philips DVD+RW disk into drive

Selected appropriate inputs and cable channel

Pressed Record

Pressed Stop

Split a few titles into separate episodes (very easy to do)

Edited the names

Assigned each title a custom image thumbnail (from a frame in the show) (Very easy to do)

clicked eject

took the disk to my daughters room and inserted disk in old DVD player

and prayed ..........

I was amazed. It took less than 20 seconds for the title screen (think DVD MENU) to show up.

All my little editing and naming and picture thumbnailing all perfectly intact!

One button got a selected title playing (daughter chose it from the picture)

There was no significant lapse for title to begin playing, NICE!

No formatting, No finalizing, No disappointed daughter, NO KIDDING

But, I did find a few disappointing features here:

There are no real helpful buttoms on the unit itself (Menu, Rec Mode,etc...)

So, if you lose the remote you'll need a new one

Component input was inviting, but it will not accept Progressive Scan?

So, my HDTV Cable Box is now a "Watch 1080i, Record 480i tuner" 1 star

I have used optical audio out for years, but welcomed the Coax Digital Out as it allowed me to get the recorder away from my receiver.

I Would've been 99% satisfied if this unit would record Progressive scan and if there were a few more facia buttons, but for the price I paid it's well worth it.

Honorary mention goes to the iLink (FireWire) front input

All things being equal, I like this far better than Panasonics DVD-R units. Despite the Panasonics having a few more unit placed features, it doesn't allow recording to a DVD-RW format besides RAM, and RAM to me is useless because I can't play it back on anything but the Panasonic units that record RAM.

DVD+RW is clearly the more user-friendly format and the Philips DVDR 75 handles it quite well

4.5 stars

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I think the Philips DVDR75 Recorder is wonderful. It is a welcome replacement to my VCR; this is my first DVD recorder (other than the one on my PC); I never owned the DVDR985. Connecting was truly easy. Cable provides my TV and all I did was physically replace the VCR and appropriate connections with this DVDR 75. [The cable signal goes from the wall directly into the cable box; from the cable box to the DVDR75; then from the DVDR75 to the TV]. Philips included a "DVD+RW" disc in the box (the unit is not designed for DVD-RAM or DVD-RW rewriteable discs) and that is what I have been using to learn how all this works. We recorded at the M1 quality (1 hour of recording) all the way up through the M6 (6 hours of recording). There is a noticeable difference between M1 and M6, but I assure you the M6 quality is far better than my deteriorating VCR. My next purchase is going to be the Sony KLV 30XBR900 30in LCD TV and I can't wait to see what happens then...

It is important when using the remote to WAIT after pressing a button or combination of buttons (like SYSYEM and then MENU) and to pay close attention to the message(s) on the unit as they are displayed. There is distinct processing time involved which needs to be respected (like on a computer, too much clicking too fast can cause immediate frustration)...

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For $399, you just can't beat it!!!

Here are the positives:

Very easy to setup, was up and running in 10 minutes

Impressive image quality even at M6 (6 hours recording mode per DVD), the quality was better than my VCR's, and I mean, A LOT better!!!

For everyday recording, M6 is great. If you want to keep them and get great image quality, use M4 (4 hours per DVD) or better (noticeable difference between M6 and M4).

Great compatibility so far has played every DVD's I've put in there, including the ones I burned on my computer without a glitch. My other DVD players have played DVD's burned on this one without a glitch either.

Same on the timer record function has been flawless

They have a very cool feature that allow you to hide chapters within movies, so if you make the commercial break a chapter, you can then hide it so it doesn't play during playback.

Love the fact that it uses RW's as well (My first recorder could only use R's).

Now for the negative

A bit difficult to navigate It does get some getting used to. The buttons on the remote are labeled strangely for what they do. I.e. while playing a movie or recording, the system button will show on-screen display. I was looking for a button that said display, silly me.

Though the 'hide chapters' feature is great, I wish you could delete them and gain the time back again to record. At this time, if you 'hide' 20 minutes of commercials in an hour show, though the time spent watching it will only be 40 minutes, it will still use one hour of your disc.

A bit of a delay when you push a button on some features (about half a second), which has a tendency to make you feel it did not get it. Not with every buttons, just some. A little weird.

If recording something, if you press the stop button, image will freeze for about 5 to 10 seconds, while it writes. Make sure you press the pause button instead, if you don't want to miss what is playing on TV at the moment.

480i on Component as opposed to 1080i

So with those negatives, why did I rate it 5 Stars?

Simple Bang for Buck! This is $390! I can't expect it to do everything I want for that price, and the negatives are more things I wish it had or did a bit better, not things that are of major concerns as far as what it does. If I had paid $490 for it, I would have dropped it to 4 stars, but considering the price, this is simply a great unit that does what it says it does.

I highly recommend it! The only ones I saw that did more things better started at $699 (ones that include a HD).

As far as the few negative reviews I saw here, I think every company has some bad units out.

My recommendation?

Just like anything else you buy, if it doesn't work right from the beginning, return it and get another one. You probably have a bad unit. Make sure you buy from a company that has a 15-day return policy. If it works fine for the first 15 days, you should be fine, if it doesn't, return it and get another one. Especially it it's a major brand. One bad unit doesn't mean every unit made is bad.

Just my 2 cents. Hope this helps.

I checked to see if it does what it advertises and I found it does a good job. However, I found that an old movie I had on a DVD+RW did not play anymore in another DVD player after I played it on the DVDR 75.

There is not as much lapse time when changing from one channel to another as in the previous Philips model 985. However, the remote control is not a universal one as the one that comes with the latter. This means I have to have another remote control for the TV volume.

The worse flaw is that when it is on it gets very, very hot. It has a fan built in (a fairly noise one), but it is not enough. I don't think this is going to do much for the life of this model.

Philips customer service, although very cordial and prompt, is useless because it is such a new model that they can't help you on anything especific to this unit.