eForCity 25'Ft Digital Audio Optical Toslink Cable Lightpipe ADAT 7.6m M/M

These cables are as advertised, and work well. I have no problems with these, and I would recommend to anyone

This cable is so thin I was worried it would snap if i bent it. It does function properly, but the ends that are supposed to "lock" into the female receiver on the TV and the Receiver DID NOT FIT. They didn't snap in correctly on either end. i was able to wiggle them into a usable angle, but these things are pretty lousy.

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very impressed with quality/price. thin profile and good for locations where you don't need the protection of a thicker jacket for protection against abrasion or abuse.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Yamaha MCX-1000 MusicCAST Digital Audio Server

• 80 GB server supports wireless music transmission to anywhere in the home
• Communicates with MCX-A10 digital audio clients
• Functions as high-quality CD recorder with CD-R/RW compatibility
• CD-MP3 playback for high-quality music compilations
• Built-in CD recognition database and easy-to-use graphical interface

I bought one of the MusicCast systems as soon as it was available (after drooling over it at a couple of trade shows). The first thing I did was upgrade the harddrive to 200GB. Required a trip by my dealer to my house, but it gave me much more capacity. The interface is very intuitive. It's very fast at copying from cd to the internal disk. In the background, it converts from PCM to whatever MP3 compression level you've set for default (I always use 320KB). You can remove the PCM version to save space (I keep it for critical listening stuff, but my wife doesn't care, so her PCM's are deleted immediately :-) I have a couple of the MCX-A10 terminals scattered around the house. I've had them connect through ethernet and wireless and seems to work fine for both. Yamaha just released a software update that allows access to the MusicCast database through a web browser. This makes it very easy to fix titles, artists, etc. (You can plug a keyboard into the MusicCast, but it requires powering down which is too much trouble for me). I have to say that the most annoying thing about the MusicCast is the GraceNote CDDB database. Yamaha's implementation is great. The CDDB database is a mess. Album titles are inconistent, misspelled, etc. That's why having the browser editing is such a big deal to me. The best endorsement I can give is that my wife really likes the MusicCast. She was sceptical, but after seeing how it works and being able to browse her music, she's sold. Highly recommended for anyone who just wants to be able to enjoy their music without having to deal with PC's.

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I purchased the MCX 1000 Server and 2 Clients over a year ago. They have far exceeded my expectations. When I inquired about upgrading the hard disk, the cost was absurdly high. I checked with Yamaha and with Seagate (who make the drives for the Server) and then purchased a 300GB Seagate Barracuda ATA Drive. I now have over 350 classical CDs recorded in full PCM (That is how I play them over my Hi-Fi equipment and on one client). I have upgraded each of the clients by connecting to small amplifiers and bookshelf speakers. The fidelity is consistently high and bright in eith PCM or Mp3 modes. When combined with a Yamaha RX600 Receiver and speakers and a Yamaha Subwoofer, they deliver a highly respectable performance. When played through my higher-end A/V system, the sound is as good as any CD played on a higher end CD player. Bravo. Reservations: As others have mentioned, the Gracenote CDDB is remarkably inconsistent (especially with classical recording). The PS2 connection allows editing with a keyboard and with the correct connection you can edit on a PC.

Phase II: Just purchased a 750GB Hard Drive and will have Yamaha upgrade the MCX-1000. It currently contains 450 CDs in full PCM. I hope to increase this substantially. I now have it networked to three additional systems in my home. PCM by wireless on my main Hi-Fi (music only) system is excellent, with very litlle loss of signal or dynamic range. This remains a marvelous product.

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My MusicCAST becomes more of a friend to my music collection every day. Instead of begrudgingly digging for a CD and waiting for the CD changer to find the CD and song, I just scroll through the list and select the music I want to hear. The shuffle play is amazing: by artist, album, the entire collection all without the slow, clunking and grinding noise like a changer! As with others, I upgraded the hard disk drive so I have the full quality CD stored instead of MP3 format. I even found a guy on eBay that can copy the music so I didn't have to reload all 500 of my CDs.

Sandisk 16mb Smart Media Card 16 Mb Sm Card in Retail Package

This product works well, the only issue I have is with the availability and the high cost of this product for the amount of memory.

I purchased this for my mother for her camera. Her old one quit working. She is thrilled to be able to use her camera again. It came in the mail very quickly also.

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Sony HDR-HC3 4MP High-Definition Handycam MiniDV Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom

I have had this camcorder for about 2 weeks now. Overall I'm pleased. Most of my video playback has been done via a Pioneer 50" plasma HDTV so I do have a very nice playback source to judge the recorded video quality.

Disclaimer I am a novice photographer/videographer so people might correct my few gripes saying, "if you'd just set the flux capacitor settings to ...," but my review should be applicable to people that operate the camera in "easy" mode (all of my recordings have either been done in 'easy mode' or with the auto settings not quite sure what the difference is other than 'easy mode' doesn't let you adjust anything).

Pros:

Incredible detail & pretty good color reproduction when photographing outdoors. Seriously, it is almost (but not quite) as nice as watching cable/satellite HD when hooked up to an HDTV w/HDMI and/or component video connections (I've tried both, not much noticable difference between the two, although HDMI is more convenient). I don't believe (and I've read the specs on the format, so I'm pretty certain), that HDV format will produce true HD quality video but in the right lighting conditions, what is reproduced is definitely better than watching an anamorphic widescreen DVD on a progressive scan player so I'd say it's somewhere between HD and SD in quality (when the lighting is ideal).

Easy to operate. Great menuing system and the controls are easy to use.

Very nice LCD display & view finder

Compact, ergonomic design that fits well in your hand

Very sturdy, robust feel to the camcorder

Cons:

Picture quality degrades quickly in lower light conditions including normal indoor lighting almost to the point that I'm not sure if it's any better than standard DV quality (other than the nice widescreen format). I bought an external 3 watt Sony flash that helps at close range but even then, color reproduction is not as good as outdoors and I notice more artifacts (blurriness in certain images & patterns, pixelation, etc.). I'd probably venture to guess that if all of your videotaping is done indoors, you might be better served with a 3 CCD camcorder than this one but outdoors, there's no comparison.

Images with bright sources behind them get washed out. I videotaped a sunset and everything other than the sunset, itself, was completely washed out. I imagine this is one of the things that the white balance or exposure can correct but in Easy/Auto mode, no such luck (par for the course???).

Camera often requires two hands to hold steady to avoid jittery video. Maybe it's just the fact that the quality with this Sony is so sharp, but even my POS JVC mini-DV camcorder from 6 years ago seemed to have a better anti-shake mechanism. Those w/steady hands, tripods, or willing to use two hands need not worry.

Sony seems to be hiding driver/software support for the camcorder and the HDV format. There's little to no help in the manual about how to upload video to a PC in HD format unless "it's a Sony VAIO." I'm pretty turned off by it. Digging around, it seems that if you're a PC user, you need Windows XP SP2 or else you have to jump through hoops to get it to work. I hooked it up to my mother's Mac and had no problems capturing the HDV video using iMovie. I'd love to know what some of the other reviewers are using (hardware/software) to down convert the video for standard DVD (MPEG-2) format others have said they've had great results. When I down convert, the results look choppy, grainy, and there are compression artifacts everywhere (this really isn't the camcorder's fault, though).

Battery life this might be par for the course with camcorders these days, but I just got back from the zoo where I did lots of record/pause/record/pause recording for a few seconds at a time and the freshly charged battery only had about 35 minutes of recording life. I'll probably buy a second battery.

Some flimsy platic covers that cover the AV outputs and AC adaptor and seem destined to break off at some point in the future.

Unless you're a 'glass is half full' person, it's always easier to cite the cons of a product than its pros. Overall, I am very pleased and if it wasn't the few complaints that I've listed, I would've given this 5 stars. My only serious gripe is the video quality drop-off in lower light settings, but my old mini-DV JVC camcorder had the same problem (it was only $500, though). If they had a 3 CCD version of this for under 2K, it'd probably be perfect. Some form of HD MPEG-4 recording format would also be nice, but for now, I can't imagine a consumer HD camcorder in this price range being any better.

Bottomline, if you're eager to start videotaping in HD format and aren't a professional with at least 5K to drop, you should be pleased with this camcorder, but taylor your expectations for indoor/low-light recording and buy a nice a flash.

After recording and playing video all weekend, my simple conclusion is this video camera is AWESOME. Yes it is expensive, but, WOW the pictures is fantastic when hooked up to my hi-def plasma or played back on my iMac. It is as small and light as any normal video camera. It takes regular DV tapes, and is easy to use and easy to play back on the TV with either HDMI or Component cables if you don't have HDMI.

If you are considering a new video camera, GET THIS CAMERA.

It is absolutely worth the money.

I went back an looked at my old video tapes, video I once though looked good now looks terrible compared to the images from this sony camera. I haven't been this thrilled with a purchase in a long time.

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I have had this camcorder since Friday April 14th and have multiple opportunities to 'play' with it. Most of my videotaping has been in SD mode, not HD.

This camcorder is the perfect camcorder for users who want to position themselves for HD in the future. It is capable of HD recording and the recording quality is very good to excellent. The controls are plentiful for an average consumer. However, the prosumer or professional user may be disappointed that there is no mic or headphone jack as well as no separate controls for White Balance, Exposure, Focus or AE shift.

I would recommend that if you are doing any recording of music, that you purchase one of the microphones that are available for this camcorder. The built in mic is only adequate.

There is a technical review of this camcorder on camcaroderinfo.com that goes into a wealth of detail if you are interested.

So far, after 3 days and a church cantata, I am very pleased with the performance of this camcorder. Good job Sony!

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This is my 4th camcorder and I just love it.

I'm a big photo enthusiast, and despite I own a Nikon D70 Digital SLR camera, this summer on a 3 week trip to Europe (by train) I decided to travel light and left home my Nikon to use only my new Sony Camcorder: It's a great travel companion, light discrete and easy to use. Still photos are very acceptable. Video quality is simply breathtaking.

I've done editing on my G5 iMac using iMovies HD and it works just fine. Edited video needs to be recorded back to tape to keep the HD format, but I hope that problem will be solved in a few months, when HD DVD-R drives becomes more affordable.

In summary if you are looking for great video quality and performence, look no more. This is the best Camcorder you can get without going PRO.

As additional advice: get a case and one additional battery since the one that comes with the camcorder is rather small and doesn't last enough.

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Bought this camera way back in April shortly after when it came out. Bought it just in time for my first born to join us in the world. The reason why I bought this camera is because it was cutting edge, and at the time, I was in a time crunch and knew that if I bought a SONY camera, then it will be a good buy. Well... its been 6 months now and I can tell you that this camera does rock. here are some things I had to buy for this camera (which by the way I bought for 1499 way back. now look at it, it's only 1099. WOW!)

1) Bought the HD tapes (Bestbuy has these for 30 bucks for a 2pack, amazon has it for 20 bucks)

2) Bought a battery with longer life span.

3) Bought a firewire cable (any firewire cable will do) to connect it to my Mitsubishi WS55511. Found out that MitsWS55511 does not comply with this camera to my big dissapointment and I was about to return the stupid camera out of disgust. I can't believe I can't use the firewire connection with my HD tv. Ticked me off to be honest with you. I then took the camera to the BigScreen Store with a bunch of HD tv's and found out that all the new tv models that has IEEE input does work with this camera. I decided to keep the camera and basically use the component cables (my tv does not have HDMI input) and used that for the TV.

4) Bought a $100+ HD software (pinnacle software) to download the movie from the camera to DVD. $1499 camera and it does not come with download sofware?! C'mon!

5) Bought a Camcorder light and found out it makes a whopping difference with low light.

6) Bought a tripod but hardly use it.

7) Bought a 2GB Memory chip

Things I have issues with:

1) The camera does not have a stabalizer button, Supposedly its built in, however while watching videos, It does not seem the stabalizer is working.

2) The camera does not come with a shoulder strap. Again, $1499, it should come with this.

3) The camera does not allow you to record movies on the memory chip. This would've been a great feature for quick clips and all you have to do is take the chip out and download the file. All movies has to be recorded on the DV Tape.

4) Without a light, recording in low light conditions may affect the quality of your HD playback. Thus, the reason why I bought the Sony Light (see my other review).

Things I think is worth it:

1) The item is compact and light

2) The picture is OUT OF THIS WORLD. BEST PICTURE, BAR NONE!

3) The 4MP is pretty good. I love taking still pictures (widescreen and 4:3) with this thing. I dont have to lug around 2 cameras around.

4) The LCD touchscreen is wide and big enough for quick playback.

5) Zoom is awesome, especially in HD.

Overall, this product does deserve a 5 star. However the package it came with could've been better, esp with the price I paid. $1099 for this product is a steal! Of course the pictures I took with it is priceless. I attribute this to the timing of when I bought the product. Was in a hurry in buying a camcorder but at the same time I wanted something that would at least last me for a few decades. Now to get my ROI, it needs to!

LOL

Hope this helps!

Philips SA238/17 256 MB Digital Audio Player

• 256 MB digital music player with MP3 and WMA compatibility
• 128 MB of built-in memory and 128 MB Secure Digital memory card
• Stores up to 8 hours of high-quality music
• Digital FM tuner with 10 presets; digital voice recording
• Expandable memory slot; shockproof housing

This unit has surprisingly good features for the discounted price that I paid (sub-$100). Decent audio, light weight, acceptable supplied earbuds, and handy neckstrap + armband made a good package. Pluses are that it can be used to hold data files as well as mp3 as a mass storage device. Also, the FM tuner is pretty good.

128 MB SD card limitation DOES NOT apply on my unit, however it is not explained how to make it function with larger cards. Simply hold the center button down until the unit powers up! For the supplied 128MB card it only takes a couple of seconds, but, for a 1GB card, it takes up to 8 seconds or so, but it will work if you are patient. My guess is that the player has to build a database of files on the card before powering up completely, and the processor is a little slow. 1.128 GB of storage gives a lot of files to listen to during the day.

Cons are that the batteries do not last more than about 10 hours if it includes time consumed by much moving of data to/from the unit with the USB transfer. Also, the latch that keeps the back cover on does not seem to hold too tightly, but I have not had a problem with it, yet.

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This is my 2nd Mp3 player. My first is a San Disk Mp3 Companion which worked fine but has some of the same problems as this one. First this unit does sound good and the addition of the FM tuner and the Voice recorder is a nice touch. If you buy this for Mp3 listening, you need to realize there are limitations. My biggest problem is getting a playlist to work or even get an album to play in proper order. Here is an example of the order I have saved in Windows:

Black Sabbath 01 Turn Up the Night

Black Sabbath 02 VooDoo

Black Sabbath 03 Sign of the Southern Cross

Black Sabbath 04 E5150

Black Sabbath 05 The Mob Rules

Black Sabbath 06 Country Girl

Black Sabbath 07 Falling of the Edge of the World

Black Sabbath 08 Slipping Away

Black Sabbath 09 Over and Over

After syncing with the Philips Rush here is the order it plays:

6Country Girl

5The Mob Rules

9Over and Over

7Falling of the Edge of the World

1Turn Up the Night

2VooDoo

3Sign of the Southern Cross

4E5150

8Slipping Away

The limitations are frustrating and Philips customer service is a joke. I talked to 5 different people last weekend all giving me dead end solutions. Some reps were giving info that was contradicting other reps. One said this unit doesn't support playlists, yet the product manual decribes a step by step process (that doesn't work at all by the way)to create a playlist under Music Match software. The most laughable was a rep said keep checking on their website for firmware upgrades, since they are always coming out with new updates. Last upgrade was August 2004!!! Over a year ago!!! Looks like they aborted this baby...

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Purchased for use @ healthclub. Upgraded the drivers and works like a charm. Allows me to download unlike other users and plays exactly the songs I want. If people actually READ instructions, bad reviews on good products would not happen. I have used several other brand SD cards w/o issue as well. My only problem is switching songs because I have big fingers, but simply reprogramming my card to delete the songs I dont want works for me. Battery life is amazing. Its on week 3 with one simple AAA. We are purchasing a second one for my husbands use. The SOUND IS incredible! Comes with software you dont need as well but are nice to have. Just drag and drop songs onto memory card!

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I bought this item and started downloading all my music, but the only problem is, it will not let me download music to the memory card! I filled the internal memory with music, but can't get anything else to load. Any suggestions??

Otherwise, I LOVE this player. Sounds really great, and I can even use it in the car. Much better than hunting for CD's!

i read all the reviews on this page before i bought the mp3 player. well, i didn't see to many bad reviews so i bought it-big mistake! i have had two problems with this device. one, when i store songs on it it still does not recognize them. i went through my browser and opened the 2 mass storage devices to see if they were actually empty. all of the songs i downloaded to the mp3 player were listed-and yes they were all in mp3 file format. then a few days later it magically recognized them and started playing. now it has returned to its original non functioning state. when i turn it on it says, NO FILES! another problem i had with the device was with the SD card. i called Philips and they told me they just discovered in some units the SANDISK card does not work. well i guess i am just lucky! when i save songs to my sd card drive everything shuts off now. when i try and play only songs from my card only option, the mp3 player shuts off! so, buy it at your own risk, believe me i know how to read the instructions and even when i called Philips they acknowledged there are some problems. so i do not recommend that anybody buy this mp3 player.

Veho Muvi Pro Micro DV Camcorder with 4 GB Micro SD

I bought two of these as replacements for the similar unit I've had for about 18 months that has broken. One of the ones I bought would never sync up with my computer, and was returned at no cost to me to Amazon. The other one works fine, and has a better resolution than my original unit. I am a Police officer, and use them to capture video and audio on traffic stops, as well as anytime I have need of recording statements or actions. The audio on them is better than the in car camera I have.

I have also used one clipped to a hat band at sporting events to record video. It works well.

Veho VCC003MUVIPRO Muvi Pro Micro DV Camcorder with 4 GB Micro SD

I have to say I'm very impressed with this! I previously used a large Hi8 tape cam but it's very obtrusive. I use this 99% of the time I ride my bike as it helps me review and improve my riding technique. With this cam being so small and barely visible, I can leave it mounted when I park my bike. With the optional clip, it pops right in and out and It slips right in my pocket. I can even clip it to my belt while walking and no one ever notice. Sweet!

The PRO model is true 30fps. 4Gb is sufficient because it records for 2 hours and only uses half the memory. Add a 8Gb mini SD for under $30.

The only negative is how long it takes to upload your clips to a computer.

Something this small with this much quality you can't beat!

I removed the previous video and replaced it with two different views.

The first was with the cam mounted on the tank and the second half I was able to mount it inside of my helmet. I thought it came out pretty good and my feelings remain the same about the versatility of this little camera. And it would really be nice to have the option to disable the time stamp!

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Like most people, I bought this because it was small. It mount's to my vehicle's windshield easily and does not obstruct my view tucked up under my rear-view mirror. It seems well built, and easy to use. The included memory card provides a good amount of recording time, but it is very slow to transfer the videos to a computer through the internal USB, only about 1MB/s. You should get an SD adapter and use a card reader.

The main downside to this is the battery. It advertises a recording time of about 3 hours, but I struggle to get even one hour record time out of it. It can only fill the card if you stop to charge it between shooting, or if you run it on USB power. A $5 USB 12V to USB adapter works nicely for me, with a thin USB cable.

I found the included clip is nice, but it's not entirely useful. If you want to expand your mounting options, check out the RAM mount system. The RAM-B-238-VEN1U allows this to mount with a "B" size ball. Then you can stick it to almost anything depending on your base.

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On the plus side, this camera looks well constructed. There are two switches, one for power and the other to activate the sound activation feature. There is also a little button on top to start recording manually.

The problem I experienced was unbearable background noise with every recording. I contacted Veho technical support and at their request sent them a sample. They said my recorder *was* defective and that I should return/exchange it. The attached video highlights the noise problem with both the original camera *and* the one Amazon sent as a replacement.

According to the manufacturer, some amount of background noise is expected. Let me provide their explanation, directly from their FAQ:

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

Problem: There seems to be a lot of sound interference (buzzing) on my recordings, even in a quiet room. Why is this?

Resolution: The level of noise that you are experiencing with the camera is normal. Due to the sound activation function on the Muvi Pro the microphone is extremely sensitive therefore it will always pick up noise even in a quiet room.

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Me, I think it's nonsense. What noise, exactly, would a microphone pick of from a quiet room: Ghosts?

Another aside, mostly for people who already own this recorder is about the date/time stamp. It is permanent and cannot be remove (which goes back to it being permanent). It's also impossible to set unless you know how and nearly impossible to find out how. Here's how... Create a file named time.txt in the top level of the camera's memory. That would be alongside the folder named DCIM. You write in that file the date and time in the following format: 'YYYY.MM.DD HH:MM:SS' Leave off the quotes, don't put a "return" at the end, and the only space is between the two digits for the day (DD) and the two digits for the hour (HH). Turn the camera off and back on. If you did everything right the file will be gone and the time will be set.

BTW, I feel that honest, effective reviews, accompanied by detailed videos, can take the place of first-hand experiences that are often lacking in online shopping. I've always appreciated the help I've received from other reviewers and try to return the favor as best as I can. Please let me know if found this review helpful and the video at least entertaining. If there was anything you thought was lacking or unclear leave a comment and I'll do what I can to fix it.

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I bought this camera for recording on-board video from my race car, and I'm not disappointed. After a half-season of racing, the Veho Muvi Pro is still going strong after being pelted with mud lap after lap. The video quality is very impressive for a camera of this price and size. Video wise, the only drawback seems to be that it struggles in low light. Usually this is not a problem for my purposes, as track lighting usually provides sufficient light, but a couple of times this year I have had grainy footage due to poor lighting and mounting location. When used around the house, sound can sometimes be a bit muffled, but when racing, the camera does an excellent job of capturing the sound of my engine, with little to no wind noise. Others have mentioned the video skipping just a bit, I've had a bit of this with the memory card shipped with it, but it's usually minor, and indications are that a better memory card eliminates this issue. Overall, this camera has done what I wanted it to do, and is at a low enough price that I can afford to put it in peril on the track. After seeing my videos, one of my competitors has already bought one for himself, as has an ultralight pilot that I know. The included video is a compilation of clips in different lighting conditions, to give you a real-world idea of how the camera performs. All in all, in my opinion it's a fine camera at a great price.

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Mede8er MED500X High Definition Multimedia Player 1080P DTS MKV

• Play just about everything ....on your TV
• Direct Transfer from your Camcorder to the Mede8er
• Real easy Home Photo slide show with music.
• Modern and simple HD User Interface.
• Listen to Live Internet Radio

This is an excellent media player with top notch support. It can support up to a 2TB SATA II hard drive. You can also stream right from your computer over your local area network. I would suggest if you are going to stream, find a free NFS server like Hanewin. You can stream over UPNP, but the NFS server sends the data faster so you will have very few glitches. The server is easy to setup and there is a lot of info over at the med8ator forums, the company that makes this device. The only files that ever glitch over my wired network are 1080p blu rays at a very high bitrate and true-hd audio or DTS-HD master audio. These are the lossless highest quality audio files just like what they play at the movie theater. This media play does support these files as well so if you have an amp that supports these latest formats it will play them in full quality and not downsample them like some of the other media players out there. Any that are too high of a bit rate to play through my network, I just copy onto my 2TB hard drive I installed in the unit. Takes about 5 mins to install. I have read that with the wireless n dongle that is an option for this unit it will stream just as well as a wired network, but I cannot verify this as I already wired my house with CAT6 cable to have the most stable connections possible to all of my various devices in the living room. You can also copy to a usb stick or external usb 2.0 hard drive as the unit has 2 usb 2.0 ports and they are plenty fast enough to play any video file perfectly.

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This is a wonderful media player and makes life much easier. You chose a hard drive of preferred capacity and enjoy the show! The hardware buttons and an optional keyboard is all a nice addition.

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I bought this product expecting to have a excellent multi media player for a good price.When I received the product I plugged it in and guess whatnothing. There is no internal hardware installed.I went through the ad and nowhere does it state that the hard drive is not included.Which makes this product very expensive and not worth buying now.

New Zmodo Surveillance PKD-DK0855-500GB 8Channel Complete DVR Camera 500GB Retail Box

I now have three of these units and have recommended it to everyone who see's the cameras I have up.I just wish the instructions were more accurate and complete but once you fully understand the technical end of it you will love them and the ability to remote view from your android phone is fantastic!I have had no problems with outdoor cameras unlike some of the other brands I read about.If you want an affordable system then this is the brand to get Zmodo.

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Philips 9173 Lapel Microphone for Digital Pocket Memos and Digital Voice Tracers (LFH9173/00)

This little microphone does a good job of being inconspicuous while delivering a clear voice recording. When I received it, the mic clip was on "backwards," with the wire on the outside, in front of the clip, which makes the wire more obvious to the audience. So I carefully pried the clip off of the wire (be careful, the wire channel is so tight you could damage the wire), flipped it over, and reattached it to the mic wire. Now it's even more unobtrusive.

I have another mic that uses batteries, but checking the batteries before each recording session is a pain, so this unpowered mic is a fantastic convenience! The cable length is perfect for slipping the recorder into your pants' pocket. If you have a stereo recorder, just remember to set it to Mono. If you leave the recorder on Stereo, you will only get sound on one side (the Left channel).

Bought this mic for a wedding video business. I plug this into my Zoom H1 and let it record at level 70-80. Works like a dream. The small tiny capsule is a gift from god to the wedding videographer. I never use the the wind screen bc i'm always in doors. Very Very durable and the cable is the exact length I need. I pop the recorder in the inside jacket pocket and let it roll. The audio quality is crisp and more often then not can pick up the person standing next to the them as well.

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I'm going to give this tiny microphone good points for durability. I got it to use with a mini-recorder. I keep the mic plugged in, with the cord wrapped around the recorder, in my purse. I fully expected the foam windscreen covering on the mic would be lost or torn almost at once, but it is staying on very well, and in good shape, despite the somewhat rough treatment. Likewise the clip and wiring is very good though it's taking some battering being unprotected in my purse.

Very decent omni sound quality. Using it in my vehicle, it's picking up the truck noise, but my voice--with the mic clipped at chest level--is perfectly clear. It's very much a step up from using the digital memo recorder's internal mic.

The cord is more than long enough for me to put my recorder in my truck's cupholder and clip the mic at chest/neck level. As someone else mentioned--and it's this way with my recorder, too, so probably a mic-specific issue, rather than recorder-specific--recorder needs to be in mono or you'll only get one channel.

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Exactly what we ordered. Just wanted we needed for church recordings. Nothing further needs to be said about this item.

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I am not audiophile, I just wanted an external mic for my Zi8 and this does a great job. I just wish cable was a little longer.

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Panasonic PV-GS180 2.3MP 3CCD MiniDV Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom

I bought the Panasonic PV-GS180 2.3MP 3CCD MiniDV Camcorder to replace an earlier Panasonic model that I had had to send to their repair facility twice for various problems, and when the tape transport quit working, I decided to go for a new camera rather than send it in a third time. So I was a little concerned about the reliability of Panasonic camcorders. But I wanted to jump to 3CCD technology, and this was one of the lowest price camcorders offering that feature.

I have had this camera for three months, and it has worked flawlessly for me so far. It is more compact than my previous camera, and thus by necessity the controls are closer together. This took a bit of getting used-to, but the thumb-activated joystick control is very easy to use, and enables the user to change the camera's settings quickly. The zoom control is more sensitive than the one on my previous camera, and I still occasionally zoom in or out faster than I intended, but I just have to remember to be less ham-fingered.

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and resolution of the still images captured using the photoshoot function. Before I owned this camera, I was constantly juggling between my still and video cameras when recording the activities of my grandchildren, but now I often just use the video camera for both still and video shots.

I don't notice a great deal of difference in video quality between my earlier 1 CCD camcorder and this 3 CCD one, because the colors and resolution were and are very good on both. My videos seem to exhibit less jerkiness with this one than the previous one, however, due to the EIS (Electronic Image Stabilization) function (which can be turned off if you find it makes the images a bit blurry I don't), and also to the fact that it is smaller and thus easier to hold steady.

All in all, an excellent product, which I hope will continue to work well.

When I was looking for a camcorder, this seemed like the best bet: it had almost all the features I wanted, although I was concerned about how it would deal with low-light situations. Still, I was discouraged to read all the descriptions of how the camera worked with Windows; would it work with my Mac? I emailed Panasonic to find out, and Panasonic told me I'd need to hook the camera up via firewire.

So my parents got me the camera for Christmas, and they let me open it early so I'd be familiar with it when Christmas arrived. As I glanced through the manual, I noticed with trepidation that there were more references to Windows.

My husband gave me iLife '06 for Christmas and set it up before I tried out the camera. I relaxed a bit as I used the camera; it was easy to figure out how to do stills (even while shooting video), switch between widescreen and fullscreen, record, play back, etc. The sound seemed to be doing well, too. So I had my sample video and still shots--would I be able to retrieve them easily in OS 10.4.8?

Importing the video was a piece of cake, I found. I plugged the camera in with the firewire we bought (it's not included, since Windows users only have to use USB), and iMovie offered to import the video as soon as I launched it. As I played the movies, iMovie even interpreted where breaks were to make separate clips. I exported the first three segments as a QuickTime file with medium sound quality, and my husband and his friends were still raving about how fantastic the quality was. I was pleased with how the camera dealt with light in an indoor situation--it produced significantly better video quality than my mom's digital camera (which, admittedly, is primarily intended for stills).

The USB cable is still necessary to transfer still photos to the computer. My first impression is that stills shot during video recording are not as high-quality as stills shot separately. A flash might help, too; the still shots give the impression of less light than the movies do. The images aren't shockingly better than the ones produced by our hand-me-down ~2.1 MP still camera, but I'm sure they are a bit better.

Figuring out the menus can be a bit confusing if you don't initially realize that the different settings on the camera (like motion vs. still) have different menu options. We had to look in the manual to figure out how to set the time. The most basic camera functions, though, are very intuitive.

With a bigger battery than the included battery (maybe twice the capacity?), I probably got at least an hour of total operating time; I used the LCD screen for most of that time. The viewfinder is electronic, so I can't think that it really sucks up a lot less energy than the flip-out screen, but I haven't experimented with their comparitive energy suckage.

Overall, I'm extremely pleased with the camera; it's just what I was looking for. Now I just need the disk space to support it!

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It's a great, light little camera. Very handy for field work. I'm very pleased with it. it can take still photos. I find the USB 2.0 video transfer very useful: saves me the trouble of buying and installing a firewire card.

It does not get the full 5 stars because, unlike many, if not all, the previus models of the same line, it DOES NOT include the hand remote control. Too bad, because it woould have been a mayor bonus. A friend of mine has the GS65 model, which has less megapixels 'n such, BUT DOES include the remote. Heck, my manual talks about the remote and everything, kinda throws it in your face a bit. Oh well, It's still a very good camera for the price, I mean, 3 ccds, that's just too cool.

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Great camera . . . one of the few lower priced cams to keep the mic jack and the headphone jack, but beware . .. . this camera does NOT come with a lens cap, and NO remote control. other sources state that this camera does NOT have a Leica lens. This camera does NOT have A/V input. No flash, no hot accessory shoe (though it has one which has no power). No widescreen LCD. It does record in widescreen but no image stabilization in widescreen.

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I bought the GS180 prior to my trip to China. I also bought a 4 hour after-market battery; I've since bought another one. That's what you'll need if you are touring all day and using the LCD screen all of the time. With the battery, the viewfinder becomes just about useless since it doesn't tilt up.

Another review says that the camera doesn't come with a lens cap; mine did. I've had a remote for my Sony Digial 8 but have only used it a few times. This camera does haves some options that are only available through the remote, though, such as audio dubing and variable speed search. It is an aftermarket accessory,

Picture quality is very good. Stills taken in sunlight are also very good; however, they are subpar for low light situations.

Contrels are fairly self-explantory. Outdoor stills are very acceptalbe; you can produce them while shooting video which is nice when you see something that you kow will make a good still. With a large SD card, you can shoot 1000's of these. I had an opportunity to shoot a lion dance and just fied way, clicking constanlty, getting great sitills while capturing video.

I only havea couple of functions that I need to learn from the manual; the cmaaera is fairly straagiht foward. The joystick works great for moving around on the tapes that you have recorded (I avoid doing that on one I am working with so I don't mess up the time code). It really beats the membrane control panel on my old Digital 8 which is beginning to fail.

The size of the camer makes it easy to carry and put ito your carryn computer bag for the plane.

I shot 15 hours of tape in three weeks. The only times I was diappointed was when the battery died before the end of a long tour day with no break to return to the hotel for recharging. With an extra batery bought in Beijing, I am prepared for further excusions.

this is a great camera that is easy to use and produces good quality pictures.

4GB Spy Bug Ear Voice Audio Recorder USB Flash Drive Memory Stick

It's more of a toy, the idea is cool. It's like an introduction to covert listening devices. The run time after a charge is not long enough for for practical use. I still like it.

Pinnacle PCTV HD PCI Card 23040

Go with Hauppauge. Pinnacles support service was terrible. The card works OK in XP but not very well in 7. I gave it away and went back to Hauppauge.

I've been using Pinnacle tuners for about 5 years now and they've always been great. This card is no exception. It's everything you need from a t.v. tuner so you can watch TV on your PC. Priced fairly, works with Windows Media Center and it's made to last! If you need a PCI tuner card for your PC, you can not go wrong with this one.

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I'm running the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, and when I installed this card, Windows 8 immediately recognized it, and installed the appropriate Pinnicle drivers. No need for the drivers on the included CD-ROM.

The only reason I rated it as 4-stars is because of a bug in the DirectShow filter. I'm using the S-Video input with left/right audio inputs, but the crossbar wants to match the audio inputs to the composite video input, not S-Video. So everytime I start-up my software (Flash Media Encoder), I need to reconfigure the crossbar. Not a big deal, but it took me a few hours to troubleshoot my loss of sound.

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6 PAIRS (12 Pcs) Mini CCTV BNC Video Balun

These are perfectly competent video baluns, and honestly described in the product description.

However, all purchasers of such items should be aware that while such inexpensive passive baluns will provide the desired impedance matching and common-mode rejection, they do NOT provide any sort of isolation at all -they are wired in an autotransformer configuration.

As a result, they provide ZERO protection for the video ports on your camera/DVR/whatever.

You can see this yourself without gutting one by simply using an ohm-meter to measure the resistance from the balanced line terminals to the BNC terminal -you will discover that one of the BL terminals is directly connected to one of the BNC terminals, and the other has a very low resistance between it and the other BNC terminal.

Or you can go to the Wikipedia article for BALUN and see a schematic of a typical balun, right under the subtitle: "Types of balun"

If you are running video over twisted pair, I sincerely recommend using some sort of grounded lightning/surge protection device between the BALUN and your more expensive widgets, like a DVR. The newer, inexpensive security DVRs do not seem to have much in the way of internal protection on them, and a nearby lightning strike or whatnot can easily generate voltages on the twisted pair that will fry an input port. Cameras seem to be more durable.

Bought this item to test it out and, it works ok for the price I paid for.

just make sure not to move the balun from DVR once you get it to work

otherwise it will loose signal.

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Items work as promised. However they are cheap. The spring on the locking ring is weak and the fitting is loose. If you wiggle or bump them the video goes OUT or becomes noisy. This is a pain if you put the balun into the camera housing and later have to disassemble the camera again to wiggle the balun. If I had to do over, I would buy better quality baluns. The size is good and the fact that there isn't a cable hanging of them is also a plus to me. However they do work as long as you dont touch or wiggle them.

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These units were priced to sell. They do what a Balun is supposed to do. Match a Balanced signal to an un-balanced connection. Balun.. Balanced to Unbalanced.

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These baluns work flawlessly. Just as good as any other $10/a pair passive balun at a fraction of the cost.

Promotion TaoTronics TT-CM001 USB Portable Tape Cassette To MP3 Converter Tape-to-MP3 Capture Adapt

• Plug and play USB device convert your old mix tapes and cassette to MP3 to Playback on iPod / MP3 player or burn to CD.
• Flexible battery or USB-powered operation.Comes with tape converter software to guide you through transfer.
• Portable design fits in virtually any bag and enables you to play and transfer anywhere.Audio editing software included.
• Audio output enables you to listen on your stereo, headphones, or other speaker system.
• Features Auto Reverse.Rediscover your old cassette tapes on the go.

This item works as advertised. It's no frills but it gets the job done. It will play the tape and then auto-reverse so you don't have to turn the tape over.

Once you have the setup done, just pop in a tape, start audacity, hit RECORD on audacity, and then PLAY on the unit. The tape will play at the usual speed, this is not a high-speed dubbing unit. Note that audacity will save the file in its own format, but you can then go in and select sections and export them in MP3 format.

HOW TO DO IT

If you have a Windows 7 PC, go to Audacity's website and download the Win7 version, and install it BEFORE you plug in the Taotronics unit.

Now plug in the TaoTronics unit. Skip Windows looking for an update to the driver.

After a pause, you should be informed that the unit is installed and ready for use. Subsequent uses on my Win7 PC did not acknowledge that the unit had been plugged in but it still worked.

Run Audacity. These are the settings that worked for me on a Windows 7 PC:

For sound level, you can either work with the microphone input level, or you can use the Volume wheel on the unit.

The unit will do an "auto reverse" which means it will play the entire cassette, sides 1 and 2, and then stop. It also has a setting that looks like it is for "endless play".

The player will stop at the end of the tape, but if you rewind/fast forward it appears to just wait for you to hit "stop" so I wouldn't do either of these and leave the room or you might stretch your tape.

Readers Digest walkthrough:

1. Install audacity.

2. Plug in the Taotronics unit.

3. Put the tape in the unit. If you haven't played it for a while, you might want to fast forward and then rewind to make sure the tape isn't wound too lose or too tight.

4. Hit the record button on audacity.

5. Hit the play button on the Taotronics.

6. Make sure you have the unit set to just play two sides. The player will stop at the end of the tape, but Audacity will keep recording so you have to stop Audacity yourself.

7. If you want MP3s, you will need to:

a. save the file as an audacity project

b. select sections of the project in audacity and "export" them in MP3 format. To do this you will need to download the Lame encoder and let Audacity know where that file is. I suggest you put it in the Audacity folder.

c. keep doing b until the end of the audacity project file.

UPDATE: Audacity will automatically export tracks for you!

Using audacity to automatically split and save your album tracks

Go to the beginning of your project and delete all but about 3 seconds of silence. Do the same at the end of the project and in the middle of the project (between the album "sides"). Don't delete it all, as audacity will be using the silences in your project to split the tracks. You will have to make sure of enough silence before the first track or it won't be recognized.

Select Analyze / Silence Finder. Accept the defaults and click OK. Audacity will now find the spaces between songs using the silence areas.

Audacity does a pretty good job of finding the spaces between tracks but it's not perfect, so you should take a look and make sure there aren't extra tracks were the silence between songs was too long. You can delete a label by editing its name and just backspacing until it disappears. NOTE: you will almost always get a label at the end of the project.

Now put in the names for the tracks in the label markers. Do this with Tracks / Edit Labels.

Now set up the MP3 tags for the files. This is how an MP3 player can show you the title, album, etc. when you play an MP3:

Go to Edit / Preferences and untick Show Metadata Editor Prior to Export Step.

Go to File / Open Metadata Editor and enter the performer name and album name.

Go to File / Export Multiple.

Set the format for your exported files (Mp3 usually). Audacity should remember this after the first time you do it.

Set the export location (audacity can create a folder if it doesn't already exist.)

Select "split files based on labels"

Select "numbering before label/track name" (to insert the track number so the files sort properly)

Select Export

Wait

Hope this helps everyone. Please consider doing a "how to" like this in your own product reviews!

Buy Promotion TaoTronics TT-CM001 USB Portable Tape Cassette To MP3 Converter Tape-to-MP3 Capture Adapt Now

Summary: If you want a device that just provides the audio source and gets out of your way, this device is perfect. If you need things a little more automatic (to do the recording and noise reduction for you), it may be a little *too* basic for your needs.

There's not a lot to this device, which makes it incredibly simple to use. When I plugged it into my Windows 8 PC, it identified it as a "USB Microphone". All that's required to use it is the sound recording program of your choice. (The enclosed CD contains an older version of the program Audacity -a newer version is available from and is completely free to use.)

Because it's so simple and doesn't try to do anything "fancy", there are a few manual steps you will have to do yourself to get a good recording. The more difficult part was balancing the volume levels on the unit itself and the recording level on my PC, to get the maximum volume without distortion. Then, once the whole tape is recorded, you have to use your software's noise reduction feature to eliminate the tape hiss.

While I prefer a device to just do its basic functions, so it doesn't get in my way, novice users may find it difficult to do all of these steps manually.

The whole unit, from the mechanical latch to the buttons, feel like one of the more cheaply-made portable tape players I had back in the 1980s, but the unit has so far made it through my entire collection of Harry Potter books on tape and is working on the Lord of the Rings, and it hasn't faltered once.

As an added bonus, it has a standard headphone jack and a battery compartment, so it can be used as a standalone portable cassette player. (Batteries are *not* required when connected to the computer; it is fully powered by USB.)

Some negatives:

I have run into issues with insufficient shielding, where I hear the telltale signs of cellphone interference (whether that's from the player, the cable, or internal to my PC, I'm not sure). I have to unplug my USB mouse (which was connected into the USB port right next to the tape player) and keep my cell phone at least a few feet away when recording.

When recording audio books, I like to take the entire book and save it as a single file. Audacity does not do well with 8-hour or longer sound files -it sucks down disk space in its "temp" directory, and it slows down and eventually crashes before I can save the file. I instead use the program GoldWave (but again, since it's just a generic audio source, any program will do). Audacity *does* work just fine for a typical 2-hour cassette, and its noise reduction feature works just fine.

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Overall, this is a great product to save my old tapes (those were never released in digital format).

I am surprised with the recorded sound quality; the mp3 file (320kbps and changed other settings to best quality) sounds as good as the tape. If your audio tape has a lot of hiss, the recorded file will be a mirror image. I got this only for a day, so I have not played with other audio effects such as amplifer, noise reduction, echo, etc. I am not sure if these effects will yield better quality than the original tape, but I can accept if it is at least sound 100% like the tape, no less.

The CD came with this converter is useless for those who has Windows 7 (me included). ..Just google "audacity", download and install the file for Windows 7 OS. With this file compatible with Windows 7 OS, it will link you to the website where you can download codec for converting your sound "project" into mp3 format (the mp3 decoding is not built in).

Also, expect to play around a little bit to get any recordings...I first followed the instructions which told me about changing the drop down bar to "USB audio device"...that never showed up on my list...i had to spend sometime to get it to work because of the settings.

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First of all the instructions do not tell you that if you have Windows 7 you must upload Audicity from the Audacity.com website for the latest version. We found that idea on the Taotronics website. So after we finally did that, then next problem was getting it to realize that the tape player was connected to the usb port. Once we finally did that (by unplugging and replugging into the usb port several times and opening and closing the audacity program several times) then we started a recording. Well, about 5 minutes into the recording, all of a sudden, the Audacity program did not recognize the tape player. So, we went back and repeated the plugging in and unplugging, etc and finally got it to recognize it again. Then about 15 mins into the recording, all of a sudden Audacity did not recognize it again after it had already recorded about 15 mins of the tape and we restarted again. Well,,, by now you know the story. This piece of junk is going back to Amazon tomorrow!!

This thing most definitely needs a driver!!! Don't buy...piece of Junk!!!

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product started out great, i completed about 20 cassette and then it simply stopped working. the cassette player still works, but when i hook it up to the computer it squeels... the cable of connection is bad... i really looked forward to this and was enjoying it until it broke...

Mygica USB QAM HDTV Tuner, Clear QAM and ATSC with Bonus Antenna

I am using this on Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit.

You may hit one website where this is documented and where you can download the latest drivers, meritline...Here are some helpful hints and what I was able to get to work and what you may not want to try because it doesn't work. The only reason I am giving this one less star is because I had to compile information from everywhere and the remote is useless i.e. they should just send this product without remote, it doesn't work, DOA, bad design, well known problem. Of course don't expect tech support, well written manuals. If I am rating this as a novice user, I would give it 3 stars.

Connected the tuner to my usb port, driver failed to install. As suggested, do not use the enclosed DVD for anything except the Remote IR driver. If you can't find it, wait till you install the new Win7 driver from meritline. Do not use the driver from the DVD else it will default to antenna, no cable, and therefore no QAM.

Note, if you mess up, you will have to go into settings (tasks) in media center to further configure TV. Regardless, Media center will complain that signal or something could not determine (don't remember the exact message). Ignore it and choose configure manually; cable or antenna manually (in my case, comcast so I chose Cable). Wait a long time, could be 2-20 minutes while it scans the channels. If you find no channels, you may have a driver issue or bad cable.

You can install the drivers manually or extract the zipped file from meritline and run setup (32 or 64 bit depending on your os). In my case, the driver release date is 11/17/2009, version 11.20220.176.201. In device manager you should see HDTV Stick Digital Capture under Sould controllers. If any of this doesn't match your conviguration, deinstall all drivers associated with this and start over (maybe use the system restore so create a restore point as an option before you continue for the first time).

Just use the right driver and the rest is a breeze; expect 10-20 min the first time you scan. I am in Chicago and getting about 50 channels. Unfortunately, Comcast here just went encrypted so for all practical purposes, I am only getting OTA channels but they come in Dolby and clear with no stutter. As I said before the IR and remote are useless so time to get another remote or use the wireless mouse. I needed cheap to test, my next one will be a cablecard setup so to me this was money well spent.

I also tried to use the NTSC driver to see if I could setup ch. 3 or 4 and use the comcast box (which works on my ntsc tv and I get all channels because it's a digital set top box). For some reason, I couldn't get it to work. I have always wondered so now I know it's a no go unless I write the driver myself, ain't happening.

I also played with the ATSC driver for OTA digital channels. The included antenna is a joke. I tried the outdoor antenna and the picture was decent and I could get all local ota channels.

Summary, only good for the tuner, the rest is frivolous. For $25, why not. I'll wait for Ceton to come down a bit.

When I first received the HDTV MyGica USB Tuner I first tried it in my DELL laptop which was a Core 2 Duo laptop running Windows XP, which I first purchased in February 2008! I experienced CONSTANT choppiness in the picture and it was NEVER consistently showing a clear moving-picture of the TV station (though the audio was always in-sync).

I was getting ready to contact the company to request an RMA and a refund but something told me to wait on that.

Three to four months later, I purchased a NEW laptop which is a Core I-7 laptop (with Windows 7 installed) which has a blazing fast processor! Guess what? I installed it the same way I did in my old DELL laptop AND THERE WAS NO CHOPPINESS in the picture whatsoever!

LESSON LEARNED: Make SURE you have a strong enough processor to use ANY USB tuner on your computer/laptop, for this product will not work if you are using an old computer or old laptop. Well it will, but it will be unbearable to watch.

On my Core I-7 laptop, the picture, is clear, and beautiful with in-sync video and audio with NO ISSUES!

The only thing you have to do is adjust the mini-antenna (just moving it on your desk a centimeter or two until you get more "green bars" of reception). But that's something you have to do with ALL OTA stations any way!

So to conclude, please don't think this product is defective if you get choppiness in your TV signal. It's probably that your computer processor can't support it!!!

I'm very glad I kept it and didn't return it. It works like a charm on my new laptop.

BTW, the small mini-antenna that came with it IS VERY POWERFUL. It picked up 9 stations; I couldn't believe that teeny-tiny antenna was JUST as good as a larger antenna I temporarily hooked up to it. As a matter of fact, the mini-antenna did a better job than my Radioshack antenna!

Have fun.

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For $24, it is a nice piece of equipment. Maybe the digital signal make design much easier, this small dongle is quite solid built comparing to an analog USB I used a few years back.

My systems are WinXP, WinVista, Win7 Pro 32b, all work perfectly. The enclosed player is actually better than Media Center on Vista or Win7! MC is kind of slow when playing full screen on my 3 years old laptops, but the enclosed player runs on full screen without issue.

As for the sensitivity, it is better than a 3 years old PCI card! Again, digital signal processing makes the day.

I gave it 4 stars because the recording pull down my system performance and gives only mpg file. The MC can record in HD but it asks for much more video card power hence not practical on older machines.

Overall, I am watching only ATSC, but I assume clear QAM should work just as good. Very satisfied.

Final words, as for all HDTV these days, get a decent signal is more important than working with analog before. I am using rabbit ear with good amps about 10dB. No amp, no signal.

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This was the cheapest USB tuner that I could find with an antenna. It not only has an antenna, it has a USB extension cable so that if you knock the tuner stick, you aren't putting stress on your USB port. All USB dongles should come with an extension cable, but most don't.

Pay close attention to what the other reviewers said about drivers. I also had to go to the Meritline site. (Windows 7)

When I first got this tuner, I couldn't get it to work. I downloaded the driver & still could not get the computer to recognize the tuner. For some reason, I decided to SWITCH USB PORTS, and wouldn't you know it, the stick worked perfectly. This tuner stick only works on one of my 3 USB ports. I don't know whether the other ports don't give it enough power, or what. I don't have problems with other devices on the other ports.

Note this tuner doesn't work with a Mac running OS-X, period. It doesn't claim to run with a Mac, so no demerits there. Some tuners will work with a Mac even if they don't make any claims.

A couple final notes: I've never used the remote. Apparently the remote does not use the protocol that Windows Media Center expects. The included software comes on a mini-sized CD-Rom. Since most users will use this with a laptop, the software disc is pretty useless.

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when this product came in the mail i was very exited that i would be able to record tv. i turned on my win xp pc and ran the software to get it going. all the drivers installed and seemed to be fine but when the arcsoft recording softare came up, it asked for a cd key, which i could not find anywhere enclosed in the package or on the dongle. basically i punched in every number i saw enclosed in the package and none worked. after that i realized i could get 3rd party software and it wouldent be a problem. i plugged in the device and it installed as a digital audio device. when i went to device manager it appeard as a speaker even though it says also supports video. ignoring all of that i went to download.com and found some free trial for digital recording software and when the time came to configure the video device it was listed AS an audio device therefore no video at all. this is the worst product ive ever purchased from amazon and im so ashamed that companies can package somthing with no website with drivers,no telephone numbers, no manual and no product key for the packaged software. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME.

Stem IZON IOS WRM-WA0-00 Remote Room Monitor

UPDATE: After spending some time with it I have decided to update my review. This device quickly became an absolute nightmare when that glitch appeared in their system that kept replicating the cameras. After weeks of going back and forth with support via e-mail I was told the following.

1. You shouldn't have your SSID hidden.

2. You shouldn't have any dashes or underscores in your SSID.

3. You should consider using basic WEP.

?!? Keep in mind that it worked fine just the way it was before their weird back end glitch. They deleted my account and we restarted from scratch several times. That device is now a paperweight. And a bad one at that since it is so tiny. $130 wasted. I'm leaving one extra star because I really like that it uploads to YouTube and hope other companies follow suit.

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The Good: The best thing about this device is that it works. Once you have it up and running it records video and audio. The motion and audio alarms are a little quirky but they do work. The YouTube compatibility is a MAJOR PLUS. All other alternatives are much more expensive. The camera is surprisingly small and well built. The magnetic stand is cool and I prefer it to those screw based tilt solutions that loosen after time.

The Bad: The monitoring limitation. It limits you to 5 minutes at a time when you are viewing remotely which I don't understand. You tap it again and it starts over. Perhaps its a heating issue? Worse part of that is that it rarely works for the full 5 minutes anyway. It disconnects even when you have 4 or 5 bars seemingly at random.

The Ugly: The setup leaves a lot to be desired. When you first configure it, the device opens a unsecured wireless hotspot (it doesn't give anyone access to anything but itself) that ANYONE can connect to which is a little unnerving. If someone recognizes that type of device it isn't beyond the realm of possibility that they could figure out how to connect and then have access to your camera. I don't know if the camera can be registered on multiple devices. Once it is set up correctly you can place it on a secured network but its those first few minutes of vulnerability which could be disastrous if you are using this for home security.

The Summary: Some little problems take away from the overall package BUT it really is the BEST solution in this price range right now. I rarely connect to view for extended periods of time but that YouTube recording makes up for it. Saving to a private remote account really is the safest bet for home security and for $130 you really can't beat that. The closest alternative is Dropcam which starts at $200 for video ONLY and NO RECORDING AT ALL. You can pay $9 a month for 1 week of motion activated backups or $25 for 30 and that really gets expensive very quickly. iZON does that for free, with audio and for $70 less for the hardware alone! I only hope they develop a budget outdoor night-vision capable solution soon that is as discreet and easy to use as this camera.

I bought mine directly from Stem at a slight higher price than Amazon. The camera works very well for the price. I have very expensive Axis cameras that are a nightmare to setup this isn't. You log directly on to the camera's own WIFI to setup then log back into the primary WIFI of your house. Setup a account with Stem and your done. All setup done directly from my iPhone.

Cons:

video/audio lags about 20 secs.

Software locks up on occasion (google "end task on iphone" to restart just the app) *as of 4-5-2012 this is no longer an issue both IOS app and camera firmware (1.3) has resolved issue.

Pros:

Inexpensive

Great design (especially the magnetic base)

Looks cool

Easy setup

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This is a pretty good camera, much better than I was expecting after all the bad reviews. It took a little while to set up, but after that it works well. Also, it took awhile to get the remote access to work on my iphone, but after an update to the app it works well now. The picture is good and the motion and sound sensors work well. I really like that it records automatically to youtube when there is motion or sound so I can see what is happening throughout the day. It's everything I was hoping for. Now I can keep an eye on my dogs throughout the day which gives me peace of mind.

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Funny the folks at Stem Innovation / iZon are a little thin skinned and deleted my original post about their customer service.

...so I ultimately got my answer from Chris Doran at iZon. Despite the cameras completely stopping any recording merely 60 days after I spent $264 on 2 cameras, and not having any ability to record for the last 60 days, iZon refuses to stand behind their product. How companies deal with situations like this is what differentiates great companies and products from poor ones. iZon, based on this experience, is a poor one. I would avoid buying any of their products.

Amazon may want to pull them and discontinue the relationship.

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I didn't have any trouble with the initial setup (all wifi served over a Time Machine) and used the iPhone and iPad apps from as far away as Australia with no real hiccups.

This is perfect for my needs.

Minox DM1 Multi-functions Digital Camera/Camcorder 9 in 1

Disappointed by my recent purchase of a Sony Cybershot DSC-T10 digital camera I made a gift of it and bought a Minox DM1 digital camera, which is a shirt-pocket-size miracle. In addition to taking digital pictures (with an option to print the date on each shot or not, a useful basic feature that the hyped Sony Cybershot DSC-T10 lacked), it is also a video recorder and player, a web cam, a voice recorder, a flash light (!) and a quality MP3 player. The camera comes with an 128 MB internal memory (more than double the 56 MB of Sony's high-end ultracompact digital cameras) which can be augmented if you buy an easily inserted SD card of up to 1 GB capacity. Thus, you can take your pictures in the generous internal memory and store approximately 350 MP3 songs on the SD card. (Playable file formats: JPEG [EXIF2.2]/ ASF [MPEG4] / WAV / MP3 / WMA). The quality of the sound is at least as good as that of an IPOD when using the supplied earbuds but, unlike the need to buy external speakers to play an IPOD for others to listen also, the DM1 contains an amplifier and a speaker that yield an acceptable sound.

You can recharge the Li-ion battery using either the supplied AC/DC power adapter or the supplied USB cord that doubles as a USB connector and charger. The DM1 also came with A/V cables to show photos or videos on TV. Finally, unlike the IPODs that force you to buy a lot of unsupplied accessories, the DM1 came with a padded case. Also, unlike Apple's undesirable "proprietary" restrictions that code the contents of your IPOD so that you cannot use it readily as a USB flash drive, the DM1 is also a plain flash drive allowing you to move up to 1 GB of data through the SD card and another 128 MB through its internal memory. The DM1 also plays music through a car's audio system with the accessories such as a cassette connector or an FM transmitter.

CAVEAT: The DM1 is NOT a point-and-shoot camera but is more like a professional camera. If you set the shutter to Automatic you may get blurred images in low, even medium, lighting conditions. The key is to change the shutter speed from Auto to 1/125 sec. Then check the scene on the 2" LED screen and if it looks right, take the picture. If it looks dark you can increase the Exposure from 0.0 gradually up to +1.8, and/or increase the ISO value from 100 to 200, even 400. Conversely, if the picture looks too bright, reduce Exposure and ISO value. So, what you see is what you get.

DISADVANTAGES

Nobody's perfect, so the DM1 came with two disadvantages.

(a) Uncertain availability of service and parts for Minox digital cameras in the USA; however, one could check with MINOX USA Inc., 438, Willow Brook Road, Meriden, NH 03770, Tel.(603) 469-3080, before giving up. I did not get any warranty from my first US seller, but the US seller of a second DM1 camera I bought did send me a manufacturer's warranty card that still lists Leica Camera as a USA service contact, although Leica and Minox parted company in 2005. Of some warranty consolation is the legendary Minox quality that promises flawless performance.

(b) The supplied manual I got is in German with a skimpy Quick Installation Guide in English, which urges you to download an English manual from Minox's German site. The web address given produces an "error" so you then access the Minox site in Germany, click on the English flag for the English language version but you see no window for service or downloads. You do a site search for manuals and you get a list of manuals not including the DM1. Desperate you do another search for DM1 inside the Digital Cameras Manuals page and, lo and behold, at last you see Minox DM1 (deutsch) and Minox DM1 (englisch), the latter being what you need.

You download it in .pdf format and print it; however, even though it is 56 pages long it is more a collection of the DM1's numerous features and specs than instructions on how to use it. For instance it does not explain the difference between Light Meter Center (measures light in the very center of the picture) and Central (measures light in a wider area in the center of the picture). Finally, Minox's German web site invites you to submit technical questions by email. I did but got no reply. Nevertheless, as the DM1 is cute as a button, you set aside some weekend time and fiddle with it until you learn how to use it by trial and error.

These disadvantages are the price to pay for something that runs circles around Japanese ultracompact digital cameras and IPODs.

I bought it on a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt for my wife, over her objections that she would never use it. Within a week I had to buy another memory card ! It's very easy to use almost "intuitive" in that things do what you expect them to do, and fully lives up to all the expectations created in the product blurb.

Pros in addition to all the advertised goodies, the battery is a standard phone battery, so you can get spares and recharge them in advance using a phone charger !

Cons if you're taking stills in lowish light, get some practice at standing still before hitting the shutter button !

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I originally was looking for a cheap camera.(I own Olympus and Pentax only for price and quality). All I read was 3 star reviews on Vivitars. Then I came upon the Minox D1 and yes the instructions are in German and the charge cable is a Europe socket(can't be used in America). You can charge it using a laptop or any computer and it last.

1st. Its a camcorder, camera,mp3 player,microphone recorder, player, bright high lumens blue flashlight,and web cam.

2nd. The directions in English are little but you can figure out the Minox yourself. You simply push the mode button for what you want camera mp3 player etc.. scroll down or across the window icons with the dial and push the dial. To start cam-cording or take a picture you push the button on the side of the unit. The lens rotates full circle so you can film yourself and while still recording flip it to record your friends or whatever. This is one of the best features I have ever seen and can't help but wonder why all cameras are not like this. When your finished with the lens you rotate it to the close position which protects it. You never need a cap on the lens.

3rd. The camera does need a steady hand out of the box but the menu options allow you to create the camera you want. The thing that really killed me about this was reviewing the pictures I took. I took a picture of a far away image in the distance it came out discernible. This camera has a zoom after the pictures taken so you could zoom in after the shot. You can choose any zoom you want and print it. You ever take a picture and say boy I wish I was closer. The Minox makes you closer after the shot. That Image on zoom was crystal clear.

4Th. Everything works on this camera. Nothing is difficult but you may want to download your country origins directions from the Minox site.

The Minox D1 for 49 bucks is killer, this multi-entertainment tool does is backed up by the examples Minox installed on this unit. In the right hands and for people who read and are willing to download directions the Minox is a steal. I feel like a thief. This is one of those products missed by the masses. Is it an Ipod, 49 bucks come on. I gave this 4 stars because Minox D1 should of had some Wi-Fi and the screen a little bit bigger. Those features would make it 5 stars. For a he or she who is knowledgeable of camera's D1's a little but sturdy product.

Remember I was looking for a cheap 25.00 camera which would satisfy me, none exist, so the ante went up to 50 bucks. The Minox came to my door with the idea of something that can be abused and not be missed because it could be replace. I can't replace this Minox. The Minox is used more than my Olympus or Pentax. Granted the Olympus and Pentax kick its butt in picture quality but your going to pay $50,00 to $200.00 or more for them. This is a $49.00 camera that does more than anything else out there for "that" price effectively, 5 STARS! period! If your someone who doesn't own a cell phone, Minox is for you. (No Internet.not a phone). Thank god, it's yours....

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I does all it's modes well but none great. For $48 dollars that's all you get.

problems ac adapter may be German 240 two prong and English manual is a download from Minox

It does have a lot of cables witch is almost worth the money.

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I have given this a good test and I have to say I am not impressed. Even when I am very careful to hold it steady, the pictures are still fuzzy. The audio recording is not clear. The photos and videos are about what you would expect from a cheap cell phone. Each function works about as well as a single function product you would get for $9.95. It is a jack-of-all-trades, but master of none. On a positive note, if you consider it as primarily a pocket media player with all the other functions as free extras it is not a bad deal, but it will never replace your iPod.

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