Sony 2GB Flash Memory Digital Recorder

Much easier to use than the mini-tape cassette types that were around when i was in grad school. Simple to use (without instructions) and reliable. What else you want??

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Sony DVC Cleaning Tape

I was really angry when my Sony mini DV player stoped working after only a couple of months. It seemed unlikely that the heads could have gotten so dirty so quickly. Turns out I ran into trouble because I bought some cheap DV tapes at salvage store. Acording to the blogosphere different tape brands use different chemicals which when mixed gets you into trouble. Much to my reliefe a few runs with the cleaning tape and it was back to taping my baby girl.

I have two different MiniDV cameras that both came up with errors for "dew" and "head needs cleaning" respectively. I bought this tape, popped it in, ran play for 10 seconds, popped it out.

Messages gone. Cameras work perfectly.

Couldn't be simpler.

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There's really not much that can be said about a head cleaner, but I wanted to pass on that this particular one worked well for me. After the first cleaning, I had a noticeable difference in clarity on my video work. This tape is good for multiple uses and stays in my camera bag to called upon on short notice.

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A month ago my Canon camcorder had these blocky lines going across the view finder. I use my camcorder ALOT and had this ZR500 for over two years. I thought it was malfunctioning due to my high usage and it's age. So I brought a new one but when I stuck one of my old tapes in the new one those same old lines would show up again. NOW WAIT A MINUTE! THIS IS A NEW CAMCORDER! Since the camcorder was new I was eligible for free tech support. When I called Canon they told me that the type I used was contaminated from the old one and I needed a MiniDV cassette cleaner. They had one to sell me for over $35. No thank! So I did some research on amazon.com and saw the great reviews on this Sony cassette for half the price.

I just used it last week on both camcorders and now they both record and play back fine. Here's the caution........... all tapes that were used in the dirty camcorder prior to cleaning need to be thrown away. I noticed that when I tried to transfer the date from the miniDV to my computer the thick lines were back. So after trail and error I regrettably had to throw all the contaminated MiniDVs away. Once I cleaned the old camcorder again with this Sony cassette I used new MiniDV tapes afterwards and never tried to reply any old ones. I am happy to say that it's working good as new. Now I have two camcorders when I could have just cleaned the first one. But I learned a valuable lesson and hope others will learn from my mistake.

This tape is TOP NOTCH!

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I bought the Panasonic one at a local store. When you open it, the instructions say don't use this to clean your heads unless your picture quality is already suffering. Yikes!

The Sony product can be used before your images start suffering.

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Poseidon - Waterproof 720P HD Sports Action Video Camera + Remote Control

Video:

the footage is very blur on my motorcycle. It make the HD recording pointless.

Audio:

It is deaf! The sound has to really loud to be recorded!

I thought it will be ok since my bike is very loud. But it completely replaced the humm of my bike with some intolerable noise. I was forced to add background music to all my videos.

I dont recommend this for any biker. Its better to go for some well known brand even if its a few extra bucks.

EXCELLENT camera.

the other motorcyclist review must have mounted the camera to the handlebars.. the WORST place for a camera! so much vibration it blurrs everything, the sound becomes crap as the noise vibation through the bars drowns out everything.

If mounted the helmet clip to my Viper Rsv-131 helmet with a couple cable ties and it works great! the footage is VERY crisp, easily as good as a GoPro or stealth camera. Its also completely waterproof without worrying about any annoying covers to protect your cam.

As a Helmet camera it works VERY well. Its a bit big but does have more controls than smaller camera's. The sound can be "tinny" while recording normally as the microphone needs to be waterproof so is inside the casing, however this did help with the wind noise that i got with other camera's. I havn't even bothered taping some foam over the microphone, as my voice is easy to hear even at 30mph (not bad considering my visor was down, and the camera's outside in the wind).

The only dowside to it is its a tad bigger than i would like, but its not big enough to be annoying i forget its there on my helmet.

Spare batteries are common on the internet too £2 on ebay and because its easy to change the memory card, (20 mins of footage = ~1gb) you can just swap the battery and card out to continue recording for however long you like.

I bought this camera for a great price and it did more than everything i needed it for:

Crisp, clear video (not so clear sound but works great on a motorbike)

very easy and simple to use

great quaity feel

loads of mounting options (with the large rubber strap you can just wrap it round anything, and the shape of the camera and brackets mean cable-ties are awesome)

CHECK OUT BedfordshireBiker on Youtube for a video on how I've used it and some sample footage.

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The camera worked and produced a video but the picture and sound quality was terrible. It came with a remote that did not work. The laser sight is a distorted dot. The overall construction was terrible. You will be much better served spending more money and finding a much higher quality camera.

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This item was delivered faster than expected and was exactly what I was expecting to receive.

Only problem I had was the plug for the charger was a European plug. Luckily I have a universal charger so it wasn't a huge deal.

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Sakar Spongebob Squarepants 3-in-1 Digital Camera Yellow Blue - Sakar 88062

Junk. I'm a tech person and the camera & software are of the poorest quality. Should have bought a fisher price one instead. Nickelodeon folks should not even endorse garbage like this.

It's a really cute camera... but it didn't work from the first time we put batteries in it. I bought it several months before Christmas, so I wasn't able to return it.

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Got this for my niece for Christmas a year ago and it's still working great. Not the greatest pictures, but the camera is durable and does a pretty good job for something that can take a beating from a toddler daily. Arrived quickly and happy with the purchase!

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I was very pleased to receive the camera in two (2) days, in time for Christmas for my grandson! However, the packaging had a highly offensive odor, smelling like urine. It was on the inside of the padded mailing package and all over the plastic package the camera was enclosed in. I was very dissatisfied with that.

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Cerevo LiveShell PRO - USTREAM, LiveStream, YouTube Compatible Professional Grade Live HD Video Bro

The quality is better than the first version but it still has issues with wireless streaming to providers like uStream, Elite Live Broadcasting and livestream. It works good when streaming from a LAN and the h264 with aac is a plus but I'd rather stick with streaming from my pc until they correct that issue.

RP3536 Mini Cassette Recorder 5 Button Silver

Average but suitable for job intended, Average but suitable for job intended, Average but suitable for job intended, Average but suitable for job intended

Vivitar DVR880HD-LICHD Digital Video Recorder Video Camera with 2-Inch LCD Screen (Black)

First let me say the camera only gets any stars one because Amazon doesn't let you zero star items and two because the seller sent my camera in a timely fashion and because my camera came in one piece...but...I don't know how Vivitar has the audacity to price people $40 dollars for this, if I wasn't getting a deal by only paying $18 for this I'd be highly pissed with the fact that I wasted any type of money with this camera! This camera is total garbage!! I mean like yea it takes pictures and things like that, but the quality is awful, I actually had a cell phone from the early 2000's with i think about 1.5 megapixels and it shot pictures a little better than this camera does, and God help you if you don't have the perfect lighting, you won't even have a shot, if this is a camera you need quick for the money, get it because it at least takes pictures, but if you have the time, and the money, it's definitely worth spending the extra few bucks to get something that isn't total crap like this one. The material is one thing, but the quality is just horrid...and what's worst, and this is what angered me the most, it doesn't have any internal memory, don't be fooled, they don't like to tell you that little tid bid, you have to get one of those flash drive things, I'm not sure what they're called, just so you can take any pictures...yea one of these little guys here:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=sandisk

all i'm saying is don't let them fool you, it has no memory of its own and on top of that you have to buy one of those memory cards and then on top of that you have to buy this holder to put the memory card in so that it can properly fit into the camera...either way this is my experience I know the megapixels were crash but the price was only a fraction of what other people were selling it for and I was 10 months pregnant and my son was coming and I needed to get a camera quick, I wanted to capture the first few moments of his life for a cheap price, even if it was on a crappy camera, and that's exactly what I got a crappy camera, I haven't even picked it put since the first day I used it, I hate it, total waste of money, I'm just happy I hardly spent any money on it, too bad I didn't spend the money on something else, like some formula!!!

I purchased this item recently and it turned out to be one of the best finds ever. I needed a camcorder ASAP for my son's graduation and Amazon had this to my door within 2 days. The built in USB makes it a lot easier to connect to your computer without having to have a separate cord. I would not hesitate to buy one of these again. Versatility + Ease of use + great price = Tremendous Value

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Sony DVP-FX950 9-Inch Portable DVD Player

• 9" Inch Portable DVD Player, high-resolution screen and widescreen display.
• With up to7½ hours of battery life, the Sony DVP-FX950 portable DVD player lets you watch multiple full-length movies
• A convenient180-degree swivel and flip screen allows you to watch your DVDs from almost any angle.
• Allows for easy displaying of photos and music using the screen and speakers of the DVP-FX950.1
• View movies and photos and listen to music with multiple format playback

This is a well-designed player which has loads of good points. Best of all is the picture quality, which is nearly perfectly smooth. The other 5 players I compared it to in the store were grainy. With headphones plugged in and the brightness on minimum, the playing time is 7.5 hours, as Sony advertises. Without phones and with the brightness on max, playing time is 5.25 hours. Charging time is 6 hours, though the first time only took 2 hours, which is normal for batteries. It has lots of volume, and with a good set of headphones the sound quality is quite nice. The screen swivels 180 degrees and then folds flat against the base. The field of view is 180 degrees. You can connect it to your TV. It plays picture CDs, music CDs, and mp3 and jpeg files. If you stop it while playing and turn the power off, when you turn it back on it resumes playing where you stopped it. You can plug it into a wall outlet or a cigarette lighter outlet and use it without the battery in. You can adjust the brightness, hue, contrast and color while it is playing.

There's only one thing I don't like about itno mute button.

This is one of those rare items that you can buy without even checking out the competition and know that you are getting the best that is available.

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I love to go camping on the weekends, but my truck camper is limited on power for operating the TV and DVD player, so rather than invest in an expensive power system or listen to the generator, I decided a portable DVD with good battery life would solve the problem. So, I shopped and after reading reviews and viewing the advertised battery life, I ordered the unit. I am very pleased with it. This past weekend I watched two complete movies, and some special features, approximately 5 hours and had battery to spare. The weather was lousy, so I needed the entertainment. The sound was great, especially with my headphones. The picture is terrific and I really love the easy touch screen controls. I am unsure if I will use the swivel screen, but it will make it versatile, if needed. I had a cheap portable with a battery life of about an hour and a half, if you are lucky, but the quality difference is amazing. A great buy and I felt spending the extra 20 bucks or so to get the extended battery life would be worth it, and the battery, even though powerful adds little or no bulk.

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I use this Sony DVPFX950 9-Inch Portable DVD Player on my treadmill by rotating the screen 180 degrees, placing the unit on the treadmill's angled bookshelf, then tilt the screen for good viewing. I leave the player open and on the bookshelf (but covered with a light cloth to keep dust off), so just powering up resumes the movie from the point at which I last stopped it. When I'm done with the treadmill, I just press the player's front panel "Stop" button, power the player off, and toss the cloth over the unit.

Rotating the screen 180 degrees puts the player's screen hinge at the "bottom" or "downhill" side of the bookshelf, which means the player's weight is concentrated at the bottom of the shelf and therefore the player isn't going to accidentally tip over the top edge of the bookshelf.

The player seems to be unaffected by the very little vibration created by the treadmill no pixelation or pauses or skipping in the video or audio.

The mechanical/physical controls at the bottom edge of the screen are not back-lit or illuminated in any way, so they are a bit difficult to see in dim lighting.

Overall, this player works great. I've not noticed any problems with it.

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I have used several car DVD players with low sound, fuzzy pictures and won't play some of my home-made DVD's. I went looking for a better picture, ability to play more formats and bigger sound, remote control, swivel display and USB port for jpeg pics. --This Sony, machine won HANDS DOWN! -- Especially when I found it also had control buttons on the front of the display/monitor under the monitor that swivel with the monitor. That has been a real plus. It's as though Sony intentionally made this machine to order just for me. And the price was very reasonable too! My 4 year old granddaughter can adjust the volume herself from her car seat without asking for the remote. And if she falls asleep during the drive, we simply turn off the machine with the remote while driving. Now if you're still not impressed ----check this out ----when she wakes up and we turn the machine back on, it automatically pics up with the show just where it left off. I couldn't be happier with my choice. Jim in Oklahoma.

UPDATE: The replacement machine I received has now completely croaked after only four monthsand out of warranty. It made a grinding noise and just froze completely. And again, I hadn't even taken it anywhere yet. I am VERY disappointed in the Sony brand and having the same problem in two machines is no accident. DO NOT BUY THIS at any price. Here's my old review... Great picture. Only problem is that it was noisy when running the DVD. Guess that was a predictor of what was to come. All of a sudden it was on the DVD menu and wouldn't accept any commandsstuck. Tried turning off, turning on, etc. but it just stopped. We hadn't even had it a month, had treated it gently, and we hadn't even carried it anywhere. I had read extensive reviews before choosing this one, and I noticed that some Cnet reviews said the same thing. So I chose to purchase from Amazon, in case of a return. Which was a good thing, since it has been returned. If you still want to buy after reading this, know that it is a bit noisy and the button for fast forward/rewind is a bit touchy and hard to work. I noticed a greater lag time between inserting the DVD and playing. Maybe I just got a bad egg, but I have seen other reviews that say the same thing. Beware!

AZDEN EX503 Omni-Directional Lavaliere Microphones

With lav mikes running anywhere from $10 to $250 these days, it is nice to find a $25 unit with tie clip and wind screen. Sound quality is excellent and works fine with wireless systems. It does, however, require a bias voltage to work properly as do most condenser mikes. Most all systems (azden, sennheiser, etc) provide this bias on the connector to make the mike work so it is not a problem. Be sure your jack has around 5 volts or so on the mike terminals and you are good to go.

FYI the price of the whole mic is less than the tie clip and wind screen bought separately, so if you need to replace a lost part just buy a new mike!

The title should say it all.

PROS Good sound, quality alligator clip, right-angle connector.

CONS The windscreen falls off on occasion.

MENTIONABLE The microphone is mono. A lot of people think microphones are only good if they are stereo. Stereo simply means two channels and mono means one channel. Check your recording device to see if it's a mono or stereo. If it's mono, they you are good to go. If it's stereo, you are still good to go. Plugging this into a stereo recorder means you will get sound only in the left channel. Post-production editors all allow you to clone the left channel to the right for pseudo-stereo sound. If you want to record to both channels at once (on a stereo recorder), you can also go to Radio Shack for $4 and buy an inline mono-to-stereo adapter.

These microphones require power to be supplied by the recording source as they do not have have a battery port like some other models. Do not purchase this expecting it to work in your laptop. Your laptop won't provide power to the mic.

The cord length is just fine if connecting the recording device (audio recorder or wireless pack) to the users belt.

This will work as a replacement mic on the Azden wireless packs.

I use these to mic up documentary actors by connecting them to voice recorders (Olympus 8100PC) for untethered video production.

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Great price. I bought this for a video shoot. I plugged it in to my computer... and it sounded really shallow and noisy. I plugged it in to my Panasonic dvx through a really bad mini to XLR converter. It sounded very noisy again. So I blamed it on the cnverter.

Then... I plugged it directly into a Canon 5D. I was amazed! It really sounds good. On top of that, is is shockingly noise-less. Good full bodied voices. Not tingy or shallow. Ultimately, I am really happy with it. We'll see how it performs tomorrow during the shoot.

P.S. it comes with a little wind shield. You cant beat that with a stick for 17 bucks!

I'll try to add a video demo soon.

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I liked the pickup quality when I used this on my video camera and my wireless system. The clip is very strong and hold well to clothing when it is placed in any spot. The wind screen stays ON...many of these small ones don't over time. So far I have enjoyed using this one.

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This mic replaced another major brand lavalier that I had bought several years ago but was not happy with. That other brand had very restricted frequency response. The Azden mic on the other hand sound excellent with good highs and lows. The audio quality is very natural sounding and of very high quality. The alligator clip holder is very solid and of metal construction compared with the plastic clip of my previous mic. So, if you need a wired lavalier mic at a very reasonable price you can't go wrong with this one. I highly recommend it.

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Vivitar 8400YL ViviCam 8 MP Compact System Camera with 2.4-Inch LCD Body Only (Yellow)

Just got this camera, and so far find it to be a fantastic value. I was drawn to this camera by it's price and megapixel size (of up to 8.1). This price I got it for is very competitive with similar cameras of lower 3-6 megapixel ranges (I snagged it for about ninety dollars).

But please do keep an eye on the prices because I've seen the price on this change very frequently (in a matter of minutes) and vary about $15, since I started writing this review.

Why else did I get it? I'm going on a trip to the Bahamas in August and don't want to take 35mm underwater disposable cameras with me. Airport X-ray machines can ruin the film if it's in your carry on (since most of those cameras use ISO 800 film) and that's the only luggage I plan on bringing. So I wanted to take a digital camera since I'll be snorkeling while I'm down there, as well as have it not get ruined if it fell off a kayak or it started to rain. I'm too terrified to try one of those underwater pouches for my primary camera (a Samsung S700) due to lack of reviews on the pouch-type it would require and fear that if it got ruined I'd be out my favorite camera so I've opted for this camera and so far I am SO glad I did! Vivitar seems to have fit a lot of nice features into this point & shoot camera.

But if you're looking for a professional camera, let me stop you right now and tell you to look elsewhere as this probably won't be anywhere near your expectations. This is by no means considered a professional camera. However, if you're looking for a better option than a 35mm underwater disposable... then it CERTAINLY provides better results than a 35mm film underwater point and shoot camera. I say this with experience from using those 35mm film underwater disaster cameras but from also working in a photo lab where I've seen the vast majority of what those cameras produce at water parks and the Caribbean... and the Vivitar Vivicam 8400 camera is by far so much better.

I tested it in my friends pool yesterday and it had no leaks around the gasket/closing mechanism and the pictures were surprisingly clear! I will add some sample photos to the product gallery as soon as I get some I'm willing to share with the public at-large. Overall, I give it a 4 out of 5 and that's because I'm nitpicking.

Pro's:

Water resistant up to 30 feet!

Supports an external SD memory card in up to 8GBs in size! This was great for me as I already have plenty of this type of card from my other camera. And this type card is generally inexpensive compared to other size cards. Just to give you an idea of storage capacity I put a 4gb SD card in the camera and it said I could store 1596 pictures at the highest 8.1mp setting OR 1 hour 37 minutes and 15 seconds of video! Obviously, you can do a combination of each if you switch between the modes.

Uses AA size batteries. I've been using energizer rechargeables in this and got a decent amount of life from them from STEADY non-stop use. My suggestion would be to use the photo lithium or the rechargeables as I'm sure that just like all other digital cameras on the market, that they would probably suck the life out of the cheaper basic alkalines.

Reasonably large LCD screen on the camera at 2.4 inches.

Can record photos AND video.

Comes with an adjustable wrist strap so it's easy to secure to your wrist--however, should it come off your wrist the bright yellow color of this camera makes it easy to spot to retrieve unlike the blue model.

Sinks somewhat, so you won't have to deal with too much resistance to keep it staying underwater.

Has the screw hole on the camera's base for mounting to a tripod.

When powering off the camera it clearly displays "Bye-Bye" on the LCD screen.

Easy 1 touch "Mode" button to switch between capturing still photos or video.

Lightning bolt button easily lets you change from auto-flash, flash (for all photos), or no-flash.

Can take photos with Super Fine, Fine, or Normal settings.

Although the camera is 8.1MP, you have the choice of shooting photos in the following resolutions (8M, 5M, 3M, 2M, 0.3M)-This can be great if you're limited on how much space is on your memory card.

You can adjust the white balance in Still Photo mode OR in Video mode. It defaults to "AWB" (auto white balance) but if you know how you're lighting will affect your photos you can change it between Auto, Day Light, Tungsten, Fluorescent, and Cloudy.

There are 3 Color Effect options to shoot photos in: Color, Sepia and Monochrome.

There's the option of changing the exposure setting from (-2.0 to +2.0): -2.0, -1.5, -1.0, -0.5, Auto, +0.5, +1.0, +1.5, +2.0

It offers a Self Timer of either 10 seconds or 20 seconds.

Date stamp is optional.

A "Burst Snapshot" feature allows you to set up the camera to take 3 continuous images as you move the camera.

Video's are recorded in *.AVI format which are compatible with most Windows type movie-maker programs (ex: Windows Movie Maker, Corel VideoStudio, and many others)

You can change the resolution of the video recording from 640x480 or 320x240. AND change how many frames per second it records (15fps or 30fps)

You can "lock" the pictures you've taken to prevent them from being accidentally deleted.

A Rotate option allows you to rotate photos taken at a 5M resolution or lower, on the camera.

English not your primary language? No problem. There are 7 language options to choose from on the submenu: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese.

You can set the light frequency from 50Hz to 60Hz.

The beep/buzzer sound on the camera isn't annoying loud, but you can disable it if you'd like.

Comes with a USB/TV-out cable so that you can play back your photos on the TV or even take photos or video's while hooked up to the TV! Just use the USB cable provided, plug the small end into the camera and then the yellow jack to your yellow jack on your TV, and then turn on the camera! (I've never had this feature before and I think this is awesome!)

Con's (and most of these are me nit-picking):

There is a very apparent shutter-lag. The image you THINK you took will freeze on the screen after hitting the shutter for a couple seconds but in actuality it captures your picture about 1-2 seconds later and the actual captured image will flash on the screen for about a 1/2 second.

It does not capture photos well at night or in dark areas.

The locking/closing mechanism on the camera for the area where the SD card and battery compartment is feels a little cheap to me. I think a better material could have been used than plastic clamp/lock. So I would advise closing and opening it with care. You have to push a small black arrow right first to release the long plastic lever, pull that lever all the way down, and then the hinge will release to open the compartment for the batteries, SD card slot, and USB connection.

Buttons on the camera seem a little stiff to press down on, this is probably due to the type of engineering required for this type of cameras purpose.

The Vivitar 8400 is a little larger and heavier than my Samsung S700.

There's no lens cap to protect it when not in use.

No separate "delete" button function. If you want to delete a picture on the camera during playback mode you have to hit the "OK/Menu" button and navigate to the delete option.

After taking a picture, there is very little delay and it disappears very shortly off the LCD screen so there's no time to check it. You have to use the playback mode.

No sound on Video recordings which I think is a bummer given that the lower grade model-though priced higher (seen here: Vivitar VIVICAM-6200W 6.0 MegaPixel Underwater Camera with 4x Digital Zoom 2.0" LCD) had the sound in its video recording option.

No regular viewfinder like on standard cameras so that you don't use up battery power with the live-view LCD screen. And the screen can be somewhat difficult to see underwater.

When switching from auto-flash, flash (for all photos), or no-flash mode using the lightning bolt sometimes it "hangs up" and gets caught switching and the screen will go blank and a blue light beside the screen will flash.

The Rotate option does not allows you to rotate photos taken at the highest 8M resolution, on the camera.

The 61 page user manual is on the CD that comes with the PhoTags software. I realize this is a greener alternative but I would've liked to have had it already pre-printed.

The Photags Express software is not compatible on Macintosh computers.

Does not come with batteries.

***UPDATED*** 09/07/2009

I just wanted to update you all on my experience with this camera in the Bahamas... and quite frankly, I think it worked out great during all 6 days of snorkeling and swimming! And would still give it 4 stars! NO LEAKS--Even after opening it every night to access the hub in the camera so I could play the pictures and video back on the TV using the video cable that comes with the camera and re-closing it! I used Energizer Lithium AA batteries in it and did not have to change them at all the whole trip. I've added a few pictures from when I went snorkeling to the customer gallery... and one of the great reasons why I still think this was better than a 35mm underwater disposable... I took some great video as well! (I'll add a compilation of video clips I shot to through a "video review" as soon as I figure out how to). However I did want to make some tips/notes for potential buyers or current users...

TIPS & NOTES:

DEFINITELY preset the white balance before entering the water or taking ANY pictures! It makes a big difference as to how your pictures and video will turn out. Do not trust the "AWB" aka "Auto White Balance" feature. I found that on sunny days that should be shot under the "daylight" white balance setting would appear blue-ish if you used the AWB setting.

YES the screen can be difficult to see underwater, HOWEVER I was able to see the screen enough on a bright sunny day where the water was pretty clear and easily switch between video and picture mode. The cloudier the water is, the harder it was to see in general and of course distinguish what was on the screen--not to mention, when the water is cloudy, you can't expect pristine pictures--that's just silly to expect that.

Do not attempt to take pictures of anything less than 3ft in front of you as you are guaranteed to get a blurry/out-of-focus picture. The fixed focus on this camera is just not designed for pictures that close. Take your picture 3ft away for a clear shot and then crop it later. The camera has digital zoom-not optical zoom so you're not going to gain any quality advantage to zooming when taking your picture vs. cropping it later. At least if you don't zoom in, if something moves you have a greater chance of still capturing it.

How to play back VIDEO in the playback mode: Once you've found your video clip on the playback screen press the shutter button like you would if you were taking a picture. This will get the video to start playing back on the screen for you. You can hit the shutter button again to stop it.

In VIDEO mode: Be sure to hold the camera steady and move it SLOWLY underwater when you're in video mode. Otherwise the video will probably make you feel sick when you play it back later as it will seem like it jumps all over the place.

Make sure you rinse the camera well with salt-free tap water after bringing it in the ocean. The salt can crystallize in parts of the camera later making it difficult to close the camera's memory card/battery hatch without risking breaking the hinge. If you close your camera gently and visually inspect the closing latch on the side to make sure it is completely down and the "#1" arrow latch is to the left, so that everything is lined up where it's supposed to be... I don't see why you'd end up with leaks.

The pinch clip on the wrist strap to tighten it around your wrist has shown some signs of rusting internally. However, it still works well at tightening.

With all that said, if you're looking for a more thorough technical review, I'm sorry--just not an area of my expertise. However the "Technical Specifications" information below is straight out of the user manual and may be of use to you.

Image Sensor:

5 Mega Pixel CMOS Sensor

Image Resolution:

8M, 5M, 3M, 2M, 0.3M

Video Resolution:

VGA 640x480 ,QVGA 320X240 at 30fps or 15fps

Monitor Display:

2.4'' TFT LCD

Capture:

Single, Continuous shot

Internal Memory:

64MB Flash

External Memory:

SD card up to 8 GB

Sensitivity:

Auto

Lens:

f=7.4mm, F=2.8

Shutter Speed:

Electronic shutter'1/20 ~ 1/6000 sec

White Balance:

Auto, Daylight, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Cloudy

Exposure control:

-2EV to +2EV in 0.5 step

Photo effect:

Color/Sepia/Monochrome

Flash:

Auto, On, Off

Digital Zoom:

8x

Self-timer:

10s/20s

File Format:

JPEG, AVI

TV out:

NTSC / PAL

Interface:

USB 1.1

PC Camera resolution:

640 x 480

System Requirements:

Windows XP, VISTA or MAC OS9 in Mass Storage mode

Battery:

2*AA Alkaline batteries

OSD Language:

English/French/German/Spanish/Italian/Portuguese/Chinese

Auto power off:

Disable, 1 min, 3 min, 5 min

Working Temperature:

0 to 40° C

Storage Temperature:

-20 to 60° C

Was a little hesitant to purchase after reading some poor reviews but thought I'd give it a shot; I just wanted an inexpensive digital camera I could take to the pool. I took about 30 photos first time out and was able to achieve results good enough to post on my blog. The reason so many reviewers get blurry shots, and the trick to taking good photos with this camera is simple (though a little annoying). There is a very long shutter lag time from when you push the button to when it takes the actual shot. However, and this is the annoying part, there is NO lag time from when you push the shutter button and when the screen freezes the image. So when you push the button the screen freezes immediately although it has yet to take the picture and you must wait for the screen to go back to live motion to know that the picture has been taken. The first couple of pictures I took I would begin to lower the camera just after the screen froze and that would be when it would actually take the picture thus making it blurry shot from my quick hand movement. So when you use this camera and want good results, push the shutter button, the screen will freeze and THEN the shot will be taken and the screen will go back to live motion. Enjoy, it's a good one, just have to get used to the long shutter lag.

Buy Vivitar 8400YL ViviCam 8 MP Compact System Camera with 2.4-Inch LCD Body Only (Yellow) Now

Given that the camera leaked water and died on my second day of snorkeling, I consider my 3-star rating to be extra generous. I've returned the camera for repair/replacement under the terms of the warranty.

The photos that I recovered from the 1st day were pretty good...certainly better/more convenient than using a disposable camera. The video quality is also decent, though there is no sound recording, which is fine for most underwater videography. Considering the camera's low (tempting) price, the photo & video quality were just about what I expected, if not a little better. A negative is that it is somewhat difficult to use underwater: the view screen is hard to see, and the image of the photo you just took remains on the view screen for barely a second. On land, I found some of the functions non-intuitive (such as reviewing and deleting images), and the camera sometimes "froze," requiring me to turn it off and on again to reset.

Overall, I find the ViviCam 8400 serves as a relatively inexpensive, moderate upgrade to disposable cameras. If it hadn't leaked water and died on me, I might have even give it 4 stars given the low price. I'll be interested to see if other reviewers experience issues with water leakage.

UPDATE (March 2011): My rating has steadily dropped. It was a huge hassle to get a replacement camera from Vivitar. First, they sent me an incredibly cheap NON-waterproof camera (total junk). After much pestering, I finally received a replacement. Looking past the fact that the camera leaked water, I'm surprised I was so kind in my original review of photo quality. Don't be fooled by the 8 MP specs; photos look more like they are taken with an old-school 1 MP camera and are often blurry. And that's on land! I thought I might have bought a lemon originally, but the replacement has the same problems, often freezing up...very frustrating and annoying. My new recommendation: if you want a toy for your kids, this might suffice. But if you're hoping to take nice vacation photos, look elsewhere and be willing to spend a little more. I'm looking into Intova products, which seem to combine quality at a good price.

Read Best Reviews of Vivitar 8400YL ViviCam 8 MP Compact System Camera with 2.4-Inch LCD Body Only (Yellow) Here

Please note that this is the same as the yellow Vivitar 8400, and see that the one-star reviews dominate. I saw the bad reviews, but I gambled and bought this horrible camera. What a joke. We never even got to use it, because after turning it on the screen would go grey after only a few minutes and it would freeze up couldn't even turn it off. This camera wasn't a lot of money, but we wound up on our tropical vacation with no underwater camera! Please be smarter than me, and notice that the most common ratings for this camera are for only one star. Sure a few people got one that seemed to work, but most people did not, so odds are you won't either! Don't waste your time and money, and don't risk the frustration of not getting what you need for your vacation.

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Ok so I read alot of review and I bought this camera and there are basically 3 important things you need to know.

-The First is that this is a camera that goes under water. you have to take care of the seal. I work on multi million dollar sub for a living and the one thing that is always true with anything that goes under water it's that it needs a greased seal. No matter how good your O-Ring you need to keep it from being Dry. This camera has 2 major seals that you have to take out and grease up. I recommend Dow 111 Silicon gel it's available for $16 and comes in a tube that will last for about 1-5 years of use. compared with the cost of a new camera thats dirt cheap. Alternatively you can use Vaseline or most any marine grease.

So you will want to open up the the data port on the side and remove the seal in there and set it aside. You will want to remove the the door that held the seal to get at the other seal. Simply push the hinge pin up and out of the door and set the pin and door aside. This can be done with a jewlers screw driver or a metal coat hanger. Now remove the 8 screws on the back of the camera and lift the back off of the camera. Now just remove the seal you find in this cover.

With the 2 seals out all you need to do is smear a thin film onto the seals and reassemble. you want a wet look but no clumping. You will want to repeat this with the small in the data door before ever dive, but the lager seal won't need clean and re-greased more them once every 6 months or so.

With that don't you should be leak free as long as you own the camera.

--Second you have to let it air our. This one is simple but you won't think of it on you own. When you put the camera away after a dive leave the camera open.

---Third and this one is my only complaint. This camera has a fixed focal length. That means that you have to be about 4 feet away from what ever you want to take a picture of, or it will be out of focus.

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1/3" CCD 480 Line Color CCTV IR Motion DVR (records itself via microSD/microSDHC slot) Waterproof S

i bought this camera and found out very poor documentation , if they had youtube installation link probably it would help a lot warranty info is there but no address or web site to register so how you can return it or fix it , sd card can be only taken out if you screw out the cover , my main reason to buy it was it can be used with my laptop only , but you need tv terminal to set it up so had to return it to amazon.

Pyle Home PTTCSM60 Turntable Boombox With CD/MP3/Radio/Cassette/USB and Vinyl-to-MP3 Encoding

• 150 Watts Output - USB/SD Slot - Play MP3s and Encode Your Vinyl To MP3
• Front-Loading CD/MP3 Player - 3.5mm Auxiliary Input For iPhone, iPod, Android, Or Any Digital Audio Player
• Three Speed 33/45/78 RPM Selectable Turntable - Color: Black
• Analogue Tuning Radio (FM) - Dimensions (Main Unit): 12.49'' x 11.39'' x 10.53''
• Double Cassette Recorder - Dimensions (Speaker): 5.73'' x 6.28'' x 8.84''

I was given this system to review and I've had it for about a week now. I've pretty much mastered the controls already. I found the manual to be a bit wordy, so I just jumped right into it. It was pretty easy to pick up the controls without the instructions, but it was still nice to have them there in case.

I like the retro look of this unit. Looks like my first stereo/ boombox, but has the updated features of a modern sound system. It is a boom box, so it's compact in size and the sound. Good for a small space, but if you want a larger sound there is an aux out in the back.

You don't see boomboxes with this many features. The system has a turntable, dual cassette player, cd player, am/ fm radio, and slots for both usb and memory cards for both listening and recording mp3's.

The turntable is nice and compact, but can still play a full length album (33). Having a dual cassette is nice for someone like myself. I have tons of old mixtapes and live bootlegs that haven't been heard in years. Not only can I hear them again, but I can make mp3 copies as I listen.

This brings me to my favorite feature, the built in mp3 encoder. All you need to do is plug in a flash drive or memory card, hit record, and press play. Couldn't get much easier to get mp3's of your old records, cd's, and cassettes.

In conclusion, this system is for anyone who has an assortment of music media. With this boombox, you have a central place to listen to all your music and convert to mp3's as you listen.

Buy Pyle Home PTTCSM60 Turntable Boombox With CD/MP3/Radio/Cassette/USB and Vinyl-to-MP3 Encoding Now

I'm very much enjoying this system. My only gripe is that it is cheaply made. The slider controls, tape deck mechanisms, and other elements are a bit flimsy. I have to question the longevity of the unit, but for now it works wonderfully. The sound quality is also slightly poor because of the cheap speakers, but those can always be replaced. I'm very much enjoying it, and I plan on treating it with care. This is NOT a unit that a kid should be using.

It also looks fantastic. Most retro all-in-ones are recreations of photographs or old radios. I love the 80s look of this thing.

The USB and SD card functionality is cool. The recording features are difficult to use but are very impressive. The remote control is only used for the those features.

For anyone interested in seeing all the features of this unit, I recommend reading through the poorly translated manual. It outlines everything in detail (manual tab):

If you are looking for a unit that is as solid as your old component systems from years ago, this won't cut it re: quality. But if you are like me and simply want to play vinyl, tapes, CDs, radio, USB/MP3 with recording all in the kitchen you will certainly enjoy the convenience. It's a conversation piece.

Read Best Reviews of Pyle Home PTTCSM60 Turntable Boombox With CD/MP3/Radio/Cassette/USB and Vinyl-to-MP3 Encoding Here

I was so excited about getting this little stereo set. I'm a vinyl noob, so I was happy I found this nice all in one set. I'll review each function of the set.

Turntable: Great Turntable works flawlessly (so far..). You can play any size record on speeds 33, 45 and 78. I've tried out all my records and they play fine.

CD: Horrible CDs play fine, put the system seems to have trouble reading the discs sometimes. I usually have to take it out, turn the power off and on a few times and turn it on again. It's a hassle. But, when they do play, it's flawlessly. [UPDATE: It seems like the CD player has no problems anymore, I guess it just needed some breaking in. Bumping the system from 2 to 3 stars now because of this.] [UPDATE #2 (1/19/13): Now the CD player barely reads discs at all, and when it does, it now makes this really loud rattling noise. Must be faulty, so I'm going to return the system.]

Cassette: HORRIBLE I love cassettes and I was super excited about this function. The double decks play fine, until they EAT YOUR TAPES. I've tried three cassettes, and both decks have gotten some of the tape stuck in them. I even had to splice one of my favorite rare ones because of it. VERY DISAPPOINTED. STAY AWAY.

Recording Function: Great This works well. It's nice to have your vinyl on MP3s so easily. It works with CD, Cassette (but don't do it..), Vinyl, but not radio, which isn't a problem for me. MP3s sound crisp and clear.

Speakers: Cheap I'm no audiophile, but even I can tell these speakers aren't that good. They'll get the job done, but I recommend just using a better brand of speakers.

Radio: Okay Radio sounds fine but the tuning knob isn't very good. It gets kind of stuck and you have to turn it a lot to make it go to another station.

UPDATE 1/19/13: Overall, after less than a month of ownership, this system is already breaking down. I'm very disappointed with Pyle. I'm going to try to get a refund and try my luck in getting an Audio-Technica turntable with some Polk Audio speakers. So please, for your own good, do not buy this stereo system.

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The unit shipped immediately and arrived 3 days after being ordered. This compact unit plays CDs, tapes and records with an integrated USB for record to MP3 transfer. Sound quality is poor with the included speakers, but they're easily replaced. The manual is rough in parts likely due translation issues, but still conveys the necessary info. Unit worked out of the box and sounded much better with old Teac speakers. A tidy package for people who still have vinyl, and tapes who may want to transfer them to MP3.

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It is a good product made with quality materials mean, for a person that uses it carefully. it is ok.

NAXA NRC-171 PLL Digital Dual Alarm Clock with AM/FM Radio, Snooze and Large LED Display (Black Lac

I purchased this specifically for one reason: the digital tuner. The manual tuners just do NOT get good reception and the signal is constantly going out even if the clock hasn't moved, so this one has been perfect. It does exactly what I purchased it for. I haven't used the alarm (it's in our living room, music for the dog really) so I can't comment on that, but the tuner and sound are great!

Save your money & time... this clock/radio sucks!

The first clock/radio purchased would not turn on or allow programming.

Amazon replaced it... second one started working fine, but after several hours when I tried to re-program the preset stations it went crazy.... started flashing and scanning all of the preset stations. After unplugging the power, letting it set for several hours, it would not let me program the time or presets. Sometimes it would let me turn it on but not off.

Returning it to Amazon for refund. Will definitely continue shopping at Amazon.

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This dual alarm clock is loud! Just what I was looking for. However, I can't figure out how to turn off the alarm on the weekends! I've read the instructions and it only gives information about turning off the alarm after it sounds. When I was trying to figure out how to turn it off for the weekend, I kept getting the radio. Now I unplug it on Friday nights and reset it Sunday evenings. So, if you want to turn off your alarm to sleep in on the weekends, find another dual alarm clock, unless you figure out how to turn it off. I'm keeping it cause it is loud and is the reason why I gave three stars.

Read Best Reviews of NAXA NRC-171 PLL Digital Dual Alarm Clock with AM/FM Radio, Snooze and Large LED Display (Black Lac Here

I hate it, very hard to set and the alarm is very very very very quiet even on the top setting. would return if I could find the box.

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I bought this clock because it has digital tuning which is what I needed. The functionality is awful and it somehow sets an alarm to go off at midnight every night and it is impossible to reset the alarm so I have to unplug it every day. It was cheap so I guess you get what you pay for.

Zoom Q2HD Handheld HD Video Recorder + APQ-2HD Accessory Pack + Hosa Microfiber Polish Cloth

Before I bought this, I was a Flip user. My friend recommended me Zoom for my often use of a camcorder as a concert documentary. The Zoom Q2HD is light-weighted, small, and easily portable, good for indoor and outdoor use. The sound quality is good enough for a handy recorder, even though the volume is not very easy to control. I don't recommend any preset mode such as auto-gain or so.

The webcam color is fair, and the "wide screen" doesn't have enough pixels. This says, you need locate the camcorder further to be able to fit the screen such as a music performer. However, recording from a further place results into more environmental noises and less timbral and dynamical delicacy. The HD (max:1080/30) video file is huge but fair quality: not bad, but not great.

The AC power cable is short, but the battery doesn't last long when recording videos. You need to either plug the AC power close to the power supply, or always prepare multiple spared batteries.

ION Profile LP Vinyl-to-MP3 Turntable

This turntable made a great replacement for the 20 year old one I had been using. The turntable itself was very easy to set up; the included manual outlined the entire process. I did have an issue with the attached RCA cable being very short, only about 3 feet in length. I had to extend it using another RCA cable. The power cord is much longer though, and should reach the nearest outlet easily. The sound is very clear, even on my age-old system. I was, however unaware that the turntable has a pre-amp installed in it, so I was unable to hook it up to the Phono Input in my home theater system; I had to use one of the Aux/CD/Video imports.

I used Audacity to digitally record my albums on a Dell Inspiron running Windows 7, and the device was recognized and configured instantly. PLEASE NOTE that some of the settings may need to be altered, depending on what system you are running (the set-up guide explains this in detail). Other than a couple nuisances, this device was an excellent buy.

I had to download the installation file from their website rather than from the CD (outdated) but once that was installed, I was golden. I wasn't prepared for the mp3's to sound as good as they did. Very, very easy to record songs & they sound great!

Buy ION Profile LP Vinyl-to-MP3 Turntable Now

The turntable works great and is so easy to use. Plug in the power, plug in the USB cable, install the software on the CD, push record and start playing and it records the music. Then comes the slow part, the conversion. It takes forever to convert after you're done recording so be patient!

One nice feature is the automatic new track sensor. The software can tell when one track stops and another starts and will automatically start recording a new track for you. After recording, you only have to type the artist and album names once, then you just type in the track names and bam it goes in your iTunes all nice and organized. Sound quality is as good as you can expect from vinyl.

Read Best Reviews of ION Profile LP Vinyl-to-MP3 Turntable Here

This thing works great except it comes with a saphire tip stylus. My recommendation is to order the ict04rs 2 diamond tip replacement stylus' at the same time, it will cost about 30 bucks and this definitely is not wasted money. Trash the saphire tip. Audacity as a recording tool works fine. If you really want perfect conversions go to Kagi.com and get Denoise and ClickRepair and you enjoy your music till your last day here.

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I ordered this turntable to replace an old one because the price was right and the software sounded user-friendly. True in both cases, and the audio quality is genuinely good. I was very pleased with the purchase, until, about two months after purchase, it started malfunctioning. I would go to play a record, and as I was moving the arm to the record (there is no "start" button, only a "stop" one-a definite issue that I wish I'd been aware of), I would feel something catch and it would push the arm back to the cradle. Time after time, it would keep pushing the arm back to the cradle, over and over, no matter if I lifted it high or low. It got, needless to say, very irritating. When I contacted the manufacturer, I was told that it was a mechanical issue and that I would have to return it to them for repair--on my dime, and which would take two to four weeks. Instead, I contacted good ol' Amazon, who of course sent a free replacement right away.

That one worked for about two weeks, until I started noticing a decreasing quality in the sound of my records-odd volume modulations, distortion, etc. At first I thought it was my speakers or receiver, but when I switched to radio or CD, they sounded great. Nope, it was my wonderful Ion turntable again.

I'm returning it for the second time, this time for just a refund, which I'm applying towards the purchase of a Sony. What a POS. You get what you pay for, guys.

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Pioneer DVR-XD09 External Slim Portable USB 2.0 DVD/CD Writer

I bought this drive last week from Best Buy's for $70.

It's cheaper here, but the Best Buy one was made on Dec. 2009, not June 2009.

I only used it for 2 days, so here it is:

**Portability: 10/10

It's as light as a thin paperback book!

Go find one & hold it. Can you get any lighter than this with $60?

**Ease of Use: 9/10

You could use it with Windows XP, Vista, or 7.

If you have Windows 7 like me, you have to wait about 10 minutes while it installs drivers and such.

After that, it's "plug-n-play".

**Additional Software: 7/10

The Nero 8 Essentials seems fast and took 15 min to download while the "Nero securediskviewer" took about 12 min.

I'm sure you could do without the Nero, but I wanted to try it out. (I still haven't, but I'll update this in a few months.) I still thought that the Nero took a little longer than I would've liked to download.

A small warning: The Nero 8 does take more space than I would've liked. (I like to keep my D drive as empty as possible.)

**Sounds & Heat: 8/10

There is NO heat.

However, it makes this annoying humming and high "whoooo" sound when it's working hard.

**Design: 10/10

Unlike most usb external optical drives, this one opens up!

You get to see what you're working with and adjust the cd/dvd accordingly.

The "Open" button doesn't work when there's isn't any power, so turn it over and find the little button on the lower back of the drive, press it the opposite way, and and the drive cover should kinda click up.

I like it this way because it's safer when a cd/dvd jams up & freezes -you could just yank out the 2 usb cables from the computer/laptop, WAIT until you hear the disk stop spinning, and take it out (using the way I just described).

Plus, it is NOT a fingerprint magnet. You can see oily fingerprints if you tip it at a certain angle, but other than that, the somewhat metallic gray finish hides everything.

All in all, I give this drive a 9/10.

It's thin, well designed & built, portable, and is at a decent price.

(I highly recommend it for beginning to intermediate computer users.)

Buy it! You won't regret it!

(at least most of you won't)

Unfortunately, this unit just isn't reliable. The first one I had quit working after a week (it would spin and stop, spin and stop). Second unit (replacement) did exactly the same thing.

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This Pioneer DVD drive is the smallest/lightest/thinest of the ones i bought/tried. I have tried the HP which is good but a bit more pricier. I tried an old LaCie which works sometimes. I'm using it on my Apple MacBook Pro 15", 3,1 A1226 Mid/Late 2007. So far the drive is working perfectly. Since i have an Apple computer, i cant run the included software, but Nero is generally a good company and their software is top notch, if you pay for it, free ones will do the job but limited.

The bottom of the drive is metal and the lid is plastic. Bottom will attract some fingerprints but the top is matte so it looks and feels good.

The only problem i have and kind of hate with all these drive manufacturers is the USB cable that is bundled, doesnt work for me 95% of the time. My problem actually lies with Apples's design. Apple being Apple, put USB ports on either sides, having one of each side. Good if you have a huge thumb drive. Bad if you want to use DVD drive.

The LaCie had two separate cables a power and a usb which was good but it didnt work well with my Mac. The HP worked good but the USB cable is a Y-Cable with two USB ports on the end. The cable was just long enough for it to plug it if i ran it over the top keyboard, which made typing inconvenient and putting it on the bottom might cause problems because the aluminum bottom gets HOT. So for the Pioneer DVR-XD09 has a Y-Cable too. unfortunately, its even shorter with the total distance of 5". Yeah.. now I'm running it using an usb extension cord.

Its a good drive and since the built-in drive is broken on my laptop, i have no other choice and it is one of the better choices out there. Should try to find a shorter extension cord than my current 3' long one.

The drive pictured isnt the XD09, should be the older version.

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1. cord too short. (2 USB Connection cord)

2. have to manually eject by hand.

3. does not plug and play.

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I bought this primarily to replace the cable for the unit I already had. For the price I now have a back up (assuming I don't loose the cable again)

Philips LFH9380/27 Professional Digital Pocket Memo 9380 with Slide Switch (Silver)

Second purchase of the item. The earlier version used push buttons instead of the slide switch which were far more awkward to use and frustrating. This newer version is far superior. I highly recommend the system.

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JVC 1.5-Megapixel 1080P High-Definition Everio Digital Video Camera (Black) GZE10BUS

I bought this camera a couple of months ago after my kids left my JVC 8mm tape camera outside in the rain! I was going to write a lengthy review about this camera but decided to just mention a few things, keep in mind that I upgraded from an old 8mm data tape camera,(which i was happy with btw). And I'm not hip on the latest and greatest technology. I had my reservations about buying a camera this cheap that promised so much. That said I am totally surprised !

I like: Quality is excellent, sharp, clear colors, sometimes almost looks 3D in the right settings. I use it to tape my kids birthdays and school plays etc, walks on the beach and things of that nature. I love just uploading the video to my PC and deleting the SD card, and burning a dvd! No more messing around with 8mm tapes. It's light and comact. 40x zoom is the bomb. I can't babble about resolution and pixels etc, but it doesnt matter, it far exceeds my expectations of a $200 camera. Performs outstanding outdoors, i cant say enough about the daytime outdoor quality, love it. I would HIGHLY recommend this to a friend or a casual family archiver. In my opinion if there are any negative reviews, they probably got a defective camera or they were expecting hollywood quality camera.

I don't like: It doesnt perform to its best in low light or dark indoor settings, doesnt have a still camera shot (which was rather annoying on my old cam anyway) but you can extract a still photo from any frame in the movie using the software. You should probably use a tripod when possible, it can get a little shaky. Battery life leaves a lot to be desired, as does charging time, (of course you can buy an extended battery if desired) I don't like the manual lens cover, it should open and close auto, eventually someone will leave it open and the lense will get scratched! The little menu buttons take some getting used to with my big fingers but my kids zip right through them.

All in all I love this camera, it was inexpensive and perfect for the type of videography I bought it for. Don't hesitate buying this camera! If you have any questions feel free to email me at beachbums@capecod.com

Terry the Dad

I bought this at a local retailer for under $200. I wanted to use it as a secondary camcorder for my piano recordings. The primary camcorder is a higher-end, but older, Canon HG21.

I didn't expect much from it at the price, but I thought it would do OK as a secondary camera.

I tested it for 2 weeks, only indoors, at night, in a large well-lit room, with the AC adapter (not battery), and on tripod.

What I like about this camcorder :

how compact it is

40x optical zoom is nice

support for SDHC/SDXC cards

What I didn't like :

resolution is not really a full 1920x1080 HD as claimed. The sensor only has 1.5million pixels. This is then upscaled to 1920x1020 . It is noticeable. This is very disappointing, and borderline fraudulent on the part of JVC. The picture quality is still much sharper than anything you would get from say, a miniDV camcorder. But it just should not designated 1920x1080 as it is on the box.

image quality. There is just too much noise in the picture, even when using a tripod and turning off the stabilizer.

indoor performance was poor, even on a tripod and wide open. Only about 1/5th as bright as the Canon, when I alternated clips from both camcorders, shot from the same viewponts. Either the "super lowlux" needs improvements, or the lens does

it's not possible to attach anything to the front lens, there is no thread even for a UV filter. And the lens cover is manual. This will inevitably lead to the lens getting damaged in the long run.

I am returning it today while I still can. I will pay the retailer's restocking fee. I have resigned myself to the fact that my needs cannot be met in this price range.

If JVC did not market this as a full HD 1920x1080 unit, then I might be more inclined to add another star. I also would not have purchased it in the first place. Buyer beware.

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The battery on the lowest recording setting last around 40 minutes. If you put it on the highest you will literally get around 8 MINUTES! It says on the box to buy a spare battery. WTF?

40x optical was good. Not true 1920x1080, but it was fine.

No internal memory at all.

I gave this a low review because I can't record with a battery like this. I'm going to return it.

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If you're looking for a cheap camera with hd this one works. With indoor applications it's too far and too yellow. Very few settings to adjust like white balance to get a better result in outdoor light it's great. You get what you pay for.

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This so far is one of the best camcorder I have purchased in years...no nigh vision though oh well knew that when I purchased it...pic quality is HD as advertised...

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Blackmagic Design H.264 Pro Recorder, Distributes H.264 Video Files to Websites, YouTube, iPhone, i

If attempting to use this on a Mac, PLEASE be sure to read the system requirements. As of this writing you need to be running OS 10.6.8, which none of the computers at my work are running yet. So that was the first speedbump in testing out this product. We ended up installing on a Windows 7 system which seemed to go fairly smoothly after a few "Updating Software" downloads....even though we had JUST downloaded the newest software from the BlackmagicDesign website. A couple computer restarts and we were ready to go.

Note * Don't believe the documentation that came with the unit when it says where to go to download the software (there is no CD included in the box, you MUST download the software from the website) I typed in the URL and came up with the 404 page not found error. Nice. Finally ended up navigating all through the support website to find what I needed.

The next thing I noticed warranted a "Seriously...?" comment, the fact that it did not come with a USB cable. Seriously...$500 for a piece of equipment and it doesn't come with a $4 USB cable?? We dug around our facility and found what we needed. (Mini USB)

Once we plugged everything in we were able to connect our Sony EX-1 to the HD-SDI in and could start testing. There is a 3 second delay while the unit encodes the video to H.264, so what you see in the camera viewfinder shows up on the computer screen about 3 seconds later. That is to be expected, but would have been nice to know before we bought it. The software is a no frills capture/playback tool. It looks like it has machine control (RS-422) for capture/layback to a tape deck but is not necessary for our project so it is untested by me. As stated in the name, it captures only H.264 so...that's it. Don't plan on using this to capture high quality uncompressed video for editing.

You have several recording options in the "supplied" software including presets for YouTube. I was disappointed to not see a preset for Blu-ray, but for what we need to do right now it's not a big deal. For future projects it would be nice to be able to capture to a Blu-ray compliment stream in real time.

The quality is very good in our tests. Capturing at 1080p 10Mbps was more than enough for our purposes, the bitrate maxes out at 20Mbps in the customization area for capturing. We were able to capture without dropping frames even to an external USB hard drive.

We still need to test in on a Mac but overall I think this is a good unit if you need to capture H.264 files in good quality....fast.

Black magic did a great job with the ease of use and video quality. I'd give the H.264 Pro Recorder 5 stars but its lack of an included usb cable and the flexibility of the audio options bumps it down to 4. Overall it is a good product but could have easily been a great one.

As others have mentioned it didn't come with the usb cable. At first I didn't care much (as most people have them lying around everywhere) but we happened to grab the first one we saw. We grabbed a 6 foot un-shielded usb cable and after several weeks determined it was the source of video corruption. Our videos had lots of random H.264 corruption (green artifacts ect) and we finally figured out it was the usb cable. After switching to a 3 foot shielded usb cable all that went away. Had it come with a usb cable we could have avoided all of that.

My second complaint is that you cant capture digital video with analog audio (None of the product descriptions mention this). We intended to capture video via SDI and analog audio but there is no such option. We ended up having to convert the SDI video to component.

Lastly is also came with a disk speed test program that was obviously designed for uncompressed video rates. It's pretty misleading and tells you that you need a hard drive that can write at 180MB/s when the highest quality 1080p h.264 option is 20MB/s. We ended up upgrading our hard disks for no reason because of this tool.

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I've only used the H.264 Pro Recorder to capture HDMI source on Windows 7 64 bit OS so far. The video audio quality is pretty good. To use the the device though, besides the default software that comes with the H.264 Pro Recorder, you must also install Apple's Quicktime player. Apparently it uses Quicktime's codecs or something, I am not exactly sure. Its not that big of a deal but I thought I should mention it.

The unit comes with a modular power plug, so you can use it almost anywhere in the world. The unit it self is very small, not much bigger than a 2.5 inch laptop hard drive. It gets quite warm as long as it is plugged in, even when the unit is not in use. Something that kind of troubles me, as we all know the cooler a piece of electronic is, the longer the lifespan of the unit. At a MSRP of $499 USD, it only comes with a measly 1 year manufacture warranty. As another reviewer already mentioned, no USB cable is included. Make sure you have a USB A to USB mini cable.

The software is really straight forward. It literally is a "for-dummies" type of device. Open up Blackmagic Media Express and click the capture button to start recording. The H.264 Pro Recorder automatically detects your input source. It is not something you can select in the software. All you have to do is select the bit rate which you want to record at, and the destination of which the video will be stored at. The min and max bit rate you can record at is 2 and 20 mbps, respectively. There is no hot-key outside of the program, so you must start capturing before you switch to another program. I have recorded an extended session of video in excess of 2 hours and the video and audio stayed in sync throughout the recording.

It will down convert your 1080p video to 720p at the same time as you are recording. Thus no post processing is needed if you want to save some hard drive space. This device can capture at 1080P at 60 FPS. There aren't a lot of capturing devices which can do this at this price range. The manufacture's page states 12 bit HDMI color precision, but the videos are encoded at 8 bit.

Enough about the pros, and lets talk about the cons.

First, because the H.264 Pro recorder automatically detects your input source, you cannot record video with HDMI input and audio with analog input. Their support personnel have indicated that it is not a hardware limitation but software restricted.

Second, there aren't a whole lot of software that will work with the H.264 Pro recorder. As far as I know, there are only 3 software compatible with the H.264 Pro recorder at the time of this writing. 1st being Blackmagic Design's Media Express that shipped with the unit. 2nd is the Livestream's streaming software. 3rd being MxLight, an ambitious 3rd party software with streaming features and increased max bit rate of recording to 30 mbps. However, it only works 1/4 of the time and it crashes a lot in my experiences.

I know I am just rambling on now, so I'll stop here. let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.

PS

I highly recommend that you have a separate, dedicated hard drive for capturing your video. Not just for this device, but for any video capturing devices and applications.

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We use Ustream & come out of a Sony Anycast into a laptop with a usb port. The Blackmagic software would see the video input but our flash encoder would not recognize the device. Would not work with other players we tried. After research we found that it will only work with 2 encoders neither of which we could use with our existing service. Very Limited when it comes to Live streaming video over the web.

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The Blackmagic Design H.264 Pro works great. It was a plug and play solution. I have only used the SDI input so can't comment on any of the other inputs yet. The image quality from the SDI input is fantastic. We are using it with the included Blackmagic Design software. The software could use a few improvements but considering it is included free I'm quite happy with it.

We are simply converting live video over SDI to video clips and then transferring them to a playback device.

If you are looking to convert or encode video to H.264 format this is the device to get.

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Canon DC410 DVD Camcorder with 41x Optical Zoom

This camera has many flaws that are important to understand before buying. First is a limitation of the DVD in recording length. 30 min is the default with 60 minutes max at the sacrifice of video quality.

Consider that Mini-DV tapes will support 60 min at highest quality.

These 3 inch DVD disks are difficult to handle under perfect conditions. I wanted to use this camera for outdoors events but it would be too easy to get fingerprints on the recording surface to take chances without clean hands and dry conditions. The disks are small and have to be forced onto the spindle without touching the recording surface.

Another limitation is that the least expensive DVD disks are DVD-R write once only which makes it impossible to edit what you shoot. They can't be erased. Scenes deleted so be sure you don't record anything with them you might regret later. It supports DVD-RW Write Many format also but considering how easy it is to mess up the recording surface don't expect them to last forever.

The greatest problem with this device is that the DVD drive is limited to only three brands of disks. This makes the DVD recorder not very well supported for using with the video.

The DVD drive does not support all DVD formats available. THIS IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW: YOU MUST USE ONLY DVD-R, DVD-R DL, or DVD-RW FORMATS. Notice it is a MINUS not a plus +. (Amazon.com bundles this with a 3 pack of DVD+RW disks which are not ever going to work with this camera so don't include it like I did.)

To make matters worse you cannot just use any 3 inch DVD-R disks. The camera claims to only support 1-layer Hitachi-Maxwell HG series disks or 2 layer Canon DVD-R DL54 and Verbatim DVD-R DL disks. (Not Sony, which is the brand Amazon.com recommends.)

If you decide to risk it and use an unsupported disk, every time the camera is turned on you will get a dire warning that using this disk is not supported and you run the risk of damaging the camera or end up with poor/no video. I could only find Maxell DVD-R DS and TDK-RW at Rite-Aid. Both will work with the camera but the warnings are enough to make me believe I should try to buy disks it won't complain about. It is very annoying that it doesn't support both and + formats like most dvd recorders to start with. I would suggest that if you want a DVD camcorder, look for one that can use both +/if possible and supports all manufacturers disks.

The camera also lacks a firewire port so you can't use it with a computer to capture the video stream. The model 410 has an AV port and microphone jack. It does not have a USB port. The model 420 USB doesn't support the video just the photo feature and takes the place of the microphone jack.

The last disappointment with this camera is the image stabilization feature is awful. The video becomes so shaky that people will think you have been drinking or you are filming an earthquake. Even on a stable tripod the video was not stable even if focused on inanimate objects.

All the reasons I wanted to get this camera are total disappointments for me. I wish I would have chosen a different camera with better DVD support or one that records to flash memory, and probably not from Canon.

P.S NO software with the camera for editing the video or the photos!

We bought this camcorder to document the lives of our children. So far we've had no trouble. It takes a reasonably clear video and we really like the zoom. I've been a fan of Canon since my old AE-1 in high school so we knew we weren't going to be disappointed. I read the other reviews and wanted to make a clarification: This camcorder (DC410) does NOT have a USB connection to the computer. There's a jack for a microphone and for AV out. The av out can go to a TV or to a computer if you have the right setup but will not connect to the average computer. This didn't really bother me since I never planned on storing terabytes of video on the laptop!

The DC410 is very easy to use if you spend a little time reading the instructions. You might want to get an extra battery, I was lucky since it uses the same one as my digital camera (Rebel XTi).

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Before buying a camcorder (1st camcorder purchase in 17 years) I checked Consumer Reports which listed this model as a Best Buy. Because of the multitude of choices out there, I leaned on them for guidance. But as usual it comes down to Sony and Canon slugging it out with JVC a distand third. For me, quality of results, affordability, ease of use and features are important in the order listed. This camcorder seems to strike a reasonable balance (at least for me) on these features. I was able to become fairly proficient in the operation of this camera within 1 hour and am pleased with image stabilization, audio and video quality. Low light level video is grainy but that is typical of cameras in this price range (

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