Motion Detect Car Dash Video Camera Recorder DVR

• 2.5'' Big LCD Screen
• Video recording with sound,Photo taking
• High speed recording,Motion detect function,HDMI output
• Real Time & Date display on video/photo
• 3 file playback modes: On camera, on Computer, on HDTV

This camera had a good price, but it is a disappointment. Note that this is an older model; the latest models have an HDMI port and fewer bugs.

* Not 720p / JPEG encoding artifacts: -1 Star

The CCD in this camera is natively 640x480. If you choose the 720p recording mode, then the camera just does pixel-doubling in software.

This dashcam records to MJPEG files. You won't be able to read license plates or recognize most faces because of compression artifacts. The firmware lacks an option for changing JPEG quality.

* Stops Recording When SD Card Is Full: -1 Star

When the dashcam needs to rotate files on the SD card, it stops recording for up to two minutes, but an entire accident can happen in less than two minutes. The actual amount of offline time seems to depend on the speed of the SD card.

* Can't override poweroff: -1 Star

This dashcam always powers off when external power disconnects, even if the internal battery if fully charged. I want my dashcam to continue recording after an accident.

* Can't run from a USB Port / Can't be used as a webcam: -1 Star

Connecting the USB port puts the camera into disk mode, which means that you must power it from the 5v connector. You cannot power this dashcam from an in-vehicle USB port. You cannot use this dashcam as a webcam.

* Can't invert or rotate the video: Annoyance

The firmware doesn't have an option for changing the recording orientation.

* Can't change the recording overlays: Annoyance

The only overlay option is a timestamp.

* Nearly ideal form factor: +1 Star

The size and shape of this dashcam is nearly perfect, and it uses a standard threaded mount, like on a regular camera tripod. It is much smaller than the stock photography makes it seem. The built-in folding LCD is probably the best feature.

* Adequate performance in a variety of lighting conditions: +1

Sun flaring is minor. Quality is okay at night with street lights and head lights.

* Additional Notes

This camera records to MJPEG AVI with 8 kHz PCM mono audio. Audio quality is poor; you can't hear conversations over white noise while driving, and it is unlikely that you would get all of a conversation while stopped with a traffic cop.

Wake-up on motion detection is pretty good.

In standard quality, this camera uses 2GB per hour.

Power draw is less than 5 watts at 5 volts, so you can run this camera off of a car battery for a long time.

This camera seems to be running an embedded BSD. A firmware update could get me to add one or two stars to this review.

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I use this camera to protect myself from the lousy/agressive drivers in our area that seem to be growing by leaps and bounds. I have been using the camera for about a month now with an 8 GB card. Using the default video settings (mid range for capture) the 8 GB card stores about 3 hours of good quality video. The 120 degree field of view can capture the traffic lights even if you are at the stop line. Very Strong Sun Glare did not harm the camera although the objects were all darkened since they were all backlit. Night time capture is adequate based off of the headlights but don't expect daytime capture. (The IR cameras are described as not being able to go through the glass windshield so not much of an option.) The auto start/stop and auto rollover works as advertised. The products instructions are really poor. (I suspect that the unit is made in Russia since the only other instructions are in Russian, but so is the Mig-29!) If you want to change the defaults (e.g. I wanted a 15 min. capture window and setting the date.) You need to fumble with the buttons on the left first pressing MENU twice and then rec/snap to get the camera into the change mode and then use the buttons on the right to get the values to change. If you miss the right year you need to go past 2034 and then it rolls back to the start year. They need a definite rewrite.

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I bought this camera to protect myself against reckless and aggressive drivers and liars in San Antonio, where most drivers don't have insurance and drunk wrong way drivers are # 1 on the list. This camera works great as described, very good video and sound recordings. Very recommended at this great price. The video was edited with Nero and lost some Quality, also if I cleaned my windschield before the view was much better, at the video you will see a vehicle turned to the right on red, and almost was hit by another driver. Just be prepared and protect yourself :-)

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I bought this Car DVR recorder with fairly low expectations, both given the very low price and the very mixed reviews at Amazon. After a thorough test and break-in, I am positively surprised. I would recommend this as a low cost way to record evidence for unexpected cases where it is useful to replay the past accurately.

The DVR is produced by an unidentified Chinese company. It is surprisingly good for something that's made and designed in China. There is a flip-down LCD screen of decent quality that can be used for setup and instant playback. Opening up the small unit revealed a clean printed circuit board with just 2 chips: a Korean memory chip and a CPU chip of unknown origin. Control is through 6 buttons on either sides. Its not as convenient as a touch screen, but it does the job. The included suction mount was bulkier and less flexible than the one on the picture. This design does not allow mounting the using behind the rear-view mirror, so I need to look for some more compact suction mount.

The unit runs on it built-in battery power for at least an hour. This allows the camera to be used in the same was a a flip camera. Its small and light enough for use as a spy cam or on board of a model airplane. Plugged into the cigarette lighter adapter, the DV starts recording automatically when the car starts, and stops about 30 seconds after the ignition is cut. This is the desired behavior for a 'black box'.

The included manual is terrible, as expected. Special highlight is the final section "Small tip to save you big headache" which describes the many blessings of the reset button. The manual is not adapted for the different versions on the product, describing features that do not exist (such as HDMI output, frame rate selection, audio on/off) and omitting some useful options that are supported. Using some trial and error, however, its not too hard to find your way.

Video quality is indeed nowhere near HD standard. I could not see any difference in resolution between the 'XVGA' and 'VGA', so its best to stick with basic VGA which results in a 30% smaller files and a higher frame refresh rate. The camera sensor is likely the culprit. The lens is wide angle, producing a decent panoramic view with the usual distortion around the corners. Color reproduction is weak. Given the 'black box' application we don't care too much about that. Low light performance is passable. Though not HD, the quality is still better than the standard resolution camcorders of only a few years ago. Sound quality is poor, with lots of hissing, but conversations in the car are easy to understand.

The DVR performs decent image stabilization, which causes the movies to be quite smooth, even on bumpy roads. That is a very useful undocumented feature. Other undocumented features include digital zoom and a few image viewing options. The picture includes a date and time stamp for record keeping. The built-in clock turns out to be stable and accurate.

The DVR records .avi movies in segments of up to 15 minutes. There is only a short 1 second gap between the segments. The gap was a major complaint in most other reviews, but its pretty good on my unit. Apparently the new firmware improved this. Each 15-minute .avi file is about 720Mb which should yield about 11 hours of total recording on a 32G SD card before old files are overwritten. The LCD display shows the estimated remaining recording time, though the value is on the optimistic side.

Playback on the built-in LCD screen is decent. This feature could save your day, for instance instantly proving to a cop that you are not on the cell phone while driving. There is no fast forward, unfortunately, which makes it a pain to find the proper scene. Plugging in the unit in a computer mounts the SD card as a hard drive. The USB data transfer rate cannot keep up with the video bit rate in my experience. I am not sure whether this is caused by the SD card I am using or whether its due to the USB interface. Its not a big problem, as files can be copied to the PC for smooth playback. Playback on using video signal on a TV possible, but its just not very useful.

Overal, this DVR does the job for very little money. Compared to the other options (such as Itronics), it does nearly the same job and sports a built-in screen at a fraction of the price. It lacks HD and GPS, but neither of those are really essential for a car 'black box'.

Update May 2013 (1.5 year later): The dashcam is still working flawlessly, faithfully recording whenever my car drives. Same product now costs even less.

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I have been using this for a few days now. First, it took them till the end of the 3rd day to ship it which caused total delivery time to be around 9-10 days. I received it and it is one of those Chinese drop ship items. It has a surprising range of features for the price, such as auto on/off and auto record triggered by power from the cigarette lighter adapter. When the sd card is full it will loop the record and overwrite the oldest files first. The built in battery allows it to properly close out the files when the power from the adapter is cut so, in an accident, losing power will not cause you to lose the current file; which may be the most important one. The unit I received did not have a hdmi port like the photo but the opening is still cut into the casing; found this after the inspection sticker fell off after the 2nd day of use. Playback is not possible on this device. I have used 2 sdhc cards which says on the box are supported; one Kingston class 6 4gb card and one transcend class 10 16gb card. Trying to initiate playback with either card results in "one moment" appearing on the screen followed by the word "one" disappearing leaving half of the "o" yet, nothing else happens(waited up to 5min). Occasionally it will indicate "fwd 1x" but still not play, pressing the up button sometimes causes it to display "bwd 1x" but nothing plays. In the whole playback attempt process it will randomly give 2-3mm wide vertical lines of distorted picture over the still image of the first video frame. Another thing to note is the video format of the files it creates are AVI. A 4gb card will give 2:20 hr:min of record in VGA format and 1:22 hr:min in D1 and SXGA. 16gb card increased the VGA to over 9 hours. When transferring the video files to your computer you better use a sd card adapter because the maximum transfer speed that this thing can handle is apparently 1 mb/s. The video seems clear enough to see what is going on in a wide angle area in front of you but is not sharp enough to read the license plate off of the car in front of you sitting at a traffic light. I have not used when fully dark but twilight recordings are good in detail except oncoming headlights cause moments where the camera is basically blinded. The video displays on the lcd so it is right side up when the unit is mounted with the lcd folding down when opened, with no option that allows you to change this if you choose to mount it in any other orientation; like mounting it to your dash with the lcd folding up when opened. Conclusion, it's much better than nothing at all in providing piece of mind, but you get what you pay for in the quality of the video and craftsmanship.

Zmodo 8 Channel CCTV Surveillance H.264 Real time DVR Outdoor 8 Security Camera System - 3G Mobile

Eveythink was OK, I buy this pruduc before, ZMODO have very good product. The only probleme I see with the product is the camera,the angle of vision its limited. I like to have dome camera but I can't not change the model of camera.

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JVC GR-AXM17U Compact VHS Camcorder w/20x Optical Zoom

We bought one of these a few weeks ago and were quite disappointed. The battery only lasted about 7-8 minutes, and YES, I refreshed and fully charged it and did everything I was supposed to. I don't know if it was a bad battery or if someone had used up it's life and returned it, but I have yet to get a response from the company about it. The picture quality was very grainy as well. It is a cheap camcorder, but in my opinion you don't get even get $200 worth out of this one. I took it back and bought a Sony TRV 280 for a little more and it is AWESOME! Long battery life and great picture quality. Well worth the extra $50!

It was not clear that the item was reconditioned and did not come with any instructions, battery or lens cover.

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The product I received worked very good and the service was great. All the help I received was very good. I will buy again.

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SainSpeed 4-LED Car Dash DVR With Night Vision, 2.5" TFT LCD Screen Display, Microphone Inside

I have been though about six DVR and this one seem to be the best out of all the other ones for the price. I have not used the night

vision yet but day time is nice and clear but sometimes the screen get a little dark if the DVR screen it is not turned right.After loading it on my PC, the picture, well it's okay. For the price how much can you get.

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GE 73311 15-Feet RG6 Video Cable, White

This cable is long and so you don't have to worry about it getting pulled out. It has a quality plug as well.

It is fine for what it is---not the highest quality as you would guess due to the price. It is what it is

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Good quality, have not seen any signal loss. Good for moving your your cable (Internet/tv) providers end point to a different place in the house. It is stiff like every other coaxial cable but once you bend it at an angle it maintains the angle pretty well, suitable for corner runs.

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Very good basic coax cable. The price was excellent and the free shipping I received tagging it on to another order made it worthwhile ordering.

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That's about I can say. It arrived quickly and it works. Much less expensive than at the big box stores.

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Sony HDR-CX220/B High Definition Handycam Camcorder with 2.7-Inch LCD (Black)

This camcorder is an excellent camcorder for someone who is looking for a cheap option for HD recording and HD playback. It is light-weight, compact, sturdy, and very user-friendly. I will go through different portions of this camcorder in my review. If I miss something, please feel free to ask me in comments, and I will add it to my review.

NAVIGATION

The menu and options on this camcorder is a breeze to use. Next to the 2.7" display are two buttonsa play button and a cursor/select button. The play button is only used to select between recording and play-back. The cursor/select button is used for 99% of the navigating on this camcorder. The positive side of this is that it is easy to use and feels natural. It acts as a joystick for scrolling but also pushes inward for selecting options. This makes navigation very easy for a beginner, since your finger never has to leave the same button, while operating the menu on this camcorder.

MENU

Sony has done well by making this camera easy to use and operate. The menu is separated into six different categories: Shooting Mode, Camera/Mic, Image Quality/Size, Playback Function, Edit/Copy, and Setup. It is simple to change quality of recording, switch between recording and playback, change time and settings, check battery status, and switch between still shots and HD recording.

HD RECORDING

First, let my start by saying, this is an entry-level camcorder with a price-tag of $200-$250. That being said, the HDR-CX220 shoots excellent quality movies and clips. Under the Image Quality/Size category, there is several options that can be used to change the quality of recording to what the user preference is.

There are two different frame rates that can be selected from: 60i and 60p. Without getting technical and taking up a lot of time describing the difference between the two, I'll simply state that the i stands for interlaced and the p stands for progressive. With 60i, the frames basically overlap, which equals only 30 frames per second. With 60p, this is the higher resolution, which equals a true 60 frames per second. The 60p setting creates beautiful recording, but also consumes more baterry life and uses more memory storage. I'd suggest using the 60p setting while making home videos and storing on your personal computer. But if you plan to post online, I'd suggest using the 60i setting. This will allow for faster and more hassle-free uploads. I generally use the 60i setting, because it allows me to shoot more videos on my 32GB SDHC card.

You can choose between HD recording, SD recording, and MP4 recording. This will also shorten or lengthen your record time.MP4 quality being the lowest quality. When recording in HD, there is four sub-categories that can be chosen from: Highest Quality, High Quality, Standard, and Long Time. Any user can fine-tune exactly what quality they want to record at.

How did this camera record for me?Splendidly! I have used this camera in several different situations to put it to the test. I live in a very snowy area, which basically means, a lot of light. I have recorded my kids sledding and it looks beautiful. The still shots in a well-lit area also look very good. The user has the option to take still shots while recording video or to use the camcorder as a camera only. But the real question was, how did this camcorder work in low light?The answer is: Much better than I thought. I went down into my basement and recorded my kids playing with only a lamp on. The Exmor R CMOS Sensor in the CX220 works very well. This camcorder detects low light and gives the best HD recording possible. The one main Con that I found with this camcorder is the still shots in low-lit areas look grainy, but are still acceptable.

The 32X zoom also works vey well on this camcorder. I was suprised just how well it worked. While standing across my half acre yard, I zoomed in on my dog, and it looked as though I was standing right on top of him. This, in combination with the Steady Shot feature, makes a very nice steady HD recording. (Even with a beginner camera man)

The Zoom Mic feature also works quite well. While recording with the Zoom Mic on, the subject being recorded is very audible and the background noise is muffled away. It doesn't amplify the sound of the object being recorded, but it more or less mutes the unnecessary, needless side noise. This is a very nice feature and Sony has done a good job with it.

PLAYBACK

The playback feature is incredibly easy to use and operate. It is as simple as this: plug your mini HDMI cable (which is provided by Sony, with the purchase of the CX220) into the camcorder and then into your TV. Everything that you view on the 2.7" LCD screen, is also mirrored on your HDTV. You can then either scroll through your menu, or push the play button. Then select the video clip you wish to view, and wada-bing, your watching beautiful HD homemade movies in 1080p. It looks great on my Sony 60EX645 LED 1080p TV.

COMPATIBILITY

I have decided to add an addition to my review, because it is a fairly common question. Is the CX220 compatible with PAL video format? The answer is no. The HDR-CX220 is designed to work with NTSC video format and HD. There is a process and select programs that can convert NTSC to PAL, but it is fairly complicated. My suggestion is thisthere is an alternate version of this camcorder. The model number is HDR-CX220E. It is the exact same camcorder, but it is specifically designed for PAL video format. It can be found on Amazon(UK) or directly from Sony. If you are interested in recording in PAL video format, this would be a great option.

DIRECT COPY TO HDD

Copying to an external hard-drive is as easy as it sounds. Plug your camcorder to your hard drive using a Sony VMC-UAM2 cable (not provided). Your CX220 will recognize the HDD and give you step-by-step instructions to copy to your HDD. I have a Toshiba 320GB hard drive and it worked perfectly for me. Toshiba 320GB Toshiba Canvio Basics 3.0 Portable Hard Drive in Black (HDTB103XK3AA) One thing to note is this: a VMC-UAM1 cable will NOT work with the CX220. It MUST be a VMC-UAM2 cable. This cable is not sold on Amazon, but is sold at B&H Photo or Sony.

PC USERS

The CX220 is compatible with Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. I am currently running Windows 7 (64bit) on my HP Pavilion. Using this camcorder with my PC was as easy as plugging my CX220 into a USB port, Windows automatically recognizing it as a Sony HDR-CX220, and then installing the proper drivers. But if you want a great software program, install Play Memories from Sony. This program is fantastic. It allows the user to combine video clips, downgrade quality (if needed), make DVDs from even HD recordings, and much more. I highly recommend this program.

MAC USERS

The CX220 claims that it does not work with MAC OS, but it does work with iMovie. What this basically means is that you cannot simply plug the CX220 into your MAC and copy files.You must first download iMovie, and then all recordings can be stored to your MAC very easily. iMovie is a great program and very easy to use. There is a great post on YouTube that is titled: HDR-CX160 directly to iMovie. This is the same method for storing videos from your HDR-CX220 to your MAC. It works very well.

MEMORY

The CX220 does not have any built-in memory. This camcorder is compatible with SD, SDHC, and SDXC cards. I purchased two Transcend Class 10 32GB SDHC cards with my CX220. They both work very well. When recording in 1080/60p, a 32GB SD card will hold approximately 2 1/2 hours of content. When recording in 1080/60i High Quality (which is what I usually use), a 32GB SD card will hold approximately 4 1/2 hours of content. This, in combination with Direct Copy, should allow for recording large events or vacations. (Transcend 32 GB Class 10 SDHC Flash Memory Card (TS32GSDHC10))

BATTERY LIFE AND CHARGING

The NP-FV30 battery that comes with the CX220 is lacking, in my opinion. While recording in HD, the battery lasts for less then two hours. I would suggest buying supplemental battery packs. I found a great combo pack from the seller Big Mike's, here on Amazon. It is a third-party 2 pack NP-FV70 batteries and charger and is every bit as good as the OEM batteries. Each NP-FV70 battery lasts for over four hours, while recording in HD. Here is the product link for the battery/charger comboSony Handycam Camcorder Battery and Battery Charger Kit Includes Qty 2 NP-FV70 Batteries , AC/DC Battery Charger , LCD Screen Protectors , Micro Fiber Cleaning Cloth

One thing to note, the CX220 does NOT come with a wall charger. It does however, charge very well from the built-in USB cable. It also comes with a USB extension cable, for more convenience. The majority of people already have some sort of USB wall charger from an iPad, iPhone, iPod, tablet, android phone, Kindle, or various other devices. These will work with the CX220. If you do not have a USB wall charger and do not wish to purchase a battery pack/ wall charger combo, Power Gen sells a very good USB wall charger for $10 here an Amazon. Here is the product linkPowerGen Dual Port USB 2.1A 10W AC Travel Wall Charger White

The CX220 also has a DC port under a tab on the right side of this camcorder. The camcorder can be ran solely from an AC power adapter, but this will involve an additional purchase. The AC adapter needed is the AC L200. There is an official Sony adapter and some third party AC L200 adapters sold on Amazon. If a person wanted to operate the camcorder using an AC wall outlet, this could be a solution. Sony Customer Support also claims that this will charge the battery, but I have not tried this myself. I do not own an AC L200 adapter. If you are interested, here is another product linkSony AC L200 Power adapter

CONCLUSION

All in all, I would definitely recommend the purchase of the HDR-CX220. It is a lightweight, compact, well-built camcorder with excellent features. It shoots beautiful recordings and has a price tag of less than $250. If anyone has questions, feel free to ask me, and I will try my hardest to find the answer and incorporate it into my review.

Been using this camera for the last few days and have been very happy with the Video quality and the sound of the CX220.

Looks great on my HDTV ( My TV is a 720P ) Wish I could test it on a Full 1080P TV.

Inside video is decent. Better then most camera's I have used. But not the same as outdoor sunny day..which is to be expected.

Menu is easy to set up and navigate.

Camera is small and light. I can fit it in my large coat pocket.

Comes with a built in USB cable for charging and transfer ( which was nice!) , as well as a USB extension cable and a HDMI cable for your Tv

No built in memory, you will need a SD card. But they are cheap.

I use by phone wall USB adapter to charge.

Battery life is about 1 1/2 hours.. Not bad, but wish it was longer.. I will be ordering a second battery at some point.

Files worked just fine with my Corel Video Studio X5 for editing and movie making.

Will be taking some skiing video on a cloudy day today. Will try to update review with the white snow and less light then normal.

Happy with this Camera so far.

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I don't want to be a videographer. So I went kicking and screaming into the reality that I would have to create a 5 min soccer highlight video of my son to send to college coaches. To that end, I've returned two hd video cameras so far. One was a Toshiba, terrible. The other was a sony extreme sports camera, too extreme for me. But this one is perfect. High quality video, easy to use with logical menus, comes with an actual menu rather than a mere pdf, records in mp4, can add just about as much memory as you want with a memory card (I added 32 gb), playmemories software makes it easy to upload to computer and edit into highlight clips, re-charges using usb cable (but I also purchased an ac adapter so I can plug it in), batter life is fair but I purchased another to be safe, and I also purchased S-video cable to transfer video to my home dvd recorder/player. Very happy that I can purchase everything I need from after market here on amazon. It all cost me around $350 with tax. What a relief to finally solve this headache.

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This model (CX220) is capable of true HD at 60p. The camcorder is surprisingly light weight and compact.It is both fun and easy to use. It has no internal memory but takes an SD card. I chose not to have internal memory to avoid possible complications while adding really nothing. Start up is very rapid and focus response is fast and accurate. I love the feature of still shots automatically taken when ever a smile is recognized. The result is some very pleasing photos of people. Now, why did I not give a 5 star rating? ...

1) It does not come with a power charger, just USB charging from your laptop. I bought an available wall charger at extra expense.

2) It uses electronic stabilization, and that is good,but better,optical stabilization, is available on more expensive versions.

3) color is generally good, but filming in close up mode, in the LCD it shows pink as blue. (an isolated but repeatable experience.)

4) no external microphone jack.

Generally I am very satisfied with the camcorder and would recommend it to a friend. I would rate it at 4.8 out of 5.

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It didn't come with a transfer cord, and it took me awhile to find the charger (It's in the handle, a usb built-in cord), but all in all it's a very nice camera for the money. The high definition files take up a LOT of space, but on Mac, Quicktime converts them to manageable formats in just a couple minutes. No more long rendering times. In fact, when I Export the file in Quicktime, it takes a four minute video about 3 minutes to render for Wi-Fi, and it goes from nearly a gig to 11 Mb. There are choices above and below in quality as well. Good zoom, great mic, not the best at dark settings, but OK. The still picture function is pretty good, too. 8Mb pics, my facebook border looks good taken from this still camera. Lots of extra functions. I like this little camera, I hope it lasts a long time.

Sony Bravia XBR KDL-40XBR6 40-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV

• 16:9 Full HD 1080p Resolution (1920x1080p) LCD Panel
• DMex compatible; allows seamless feature upgrades
• BRAVIA Sync (Enhanced HDMI-CEC)
• BRAVIA Engine fully digital video processor
• Advanced Contrast Enhancer circuit (ACE)

I wanted the biggest set I could buy and fit into the built-in opening in our home (my wife's only requirement). I knew I would be paying extra for a Sony, but decided to make the plunge, since other 40" screens were several inches wider. This set is slim and atractive.

I have only had this set for a weeks and am still learning about it's many functions. My set is attached to cable, a blu-ray player for DVDs, and an older Denon A/V amp via S-Video for sound output.

Before buying, I researched features availble in a 40" LCD set in the store and on-line. This set led the pack in many ways. The picture is incredable. Plus, if you are into adjustments, you have a great deal of control over the picture settings. I have viewed in a highly lit room as well as in the dark. It's high contrast ratio makes it easy to watch in both situations. I can not detect the blurring, many LDCs suffer from in action sceans.

It packs all the latest video inhancements but most importantly, 120Hz, 24p. The built in speaker is even good, and makes a reasonable attempt at surround sound considerng it's is a single source speaker. Of course when hooked up to a A/V reciever, it makes movies come alive. I have not connected to a LAN yet, but am curious to try, soon.

It is loaded with input options (HDMI, LAN, USB, Composit, S-Video, etc). The only thing I would like to see is a more versitile USB port, so I could plug in a wireless reciever. This system has to be hard wired to a LAN. It would be nice if the computer input ports were on the side of the set, so it did not have to be pulled out to make these attachemnts.

The stand could be improved, it does not allow for any adjustment. It was not a big deal for me, since the set sits at eye level, but if it was sitting anywhere else, you would need to purchase an adjustable mount, which are axpensive for a set this size.

The manual is somewhat limited. There are many set-up options that are not full explained. I called Sony for a setup question. They answered fairly quickly. The first rep had me try several different things, but was not much help. Then he passed me on to the "blu-ray" expert, who answered my question in seconds.

Overall, this is a great set, I deffinately recommend it.

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When the price of this Sony dropped to $1429, I jumped on it, when it launched it was $2299, not that long ago either.

I got my XRB-6 two days ago, the picture quality is amazing! I have never seen colors so vibrant and clear.

I must say though, like I read about clouding issues with other Sony sets, well to my disappointment, it's true, when the screen goes black, there are visible clouds, it's not really a big deal, but since I've been reading about this problem for some time, I would have expected Sony to correct it. Not sure if I'm going to keep this set or not, other than that it's close to perfection, just not sure I can live with this defect or not.

My previous set was a cheap Polaroid 37" 1080i, it had no clouding issues though, this problem seems to be exclusive to Sony.

Gonna try to adjust the settings, this set has many controls to adjust settings, and there is a control where you can reduce the backlight, which is what is causing this problem.

Right now though, I have very mixed feelings, I never had a problem with a Sony before, so I expect perfection.

Will update after I make the adjustments to see if it helps any.

Update: I made adjustments to the backlight control, if you lower the setting 3 levels, and turn the tv to power save mode, the clouding issues are mostly gone, but your overall picture is much darker, a trade off for getting rid of the clouds.

My clouding issues were not too bad, other owners reported clouding covering 50% or more of their screen, my clouding was minimal, sets with this problem seem to have different levels of clouding.

Bottom line, I've decided to keep the tv, the pros far outweigh this minor issue.

I can't help but wonder if the XBR-8 priced at 5 grand has this problem too.

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The XBR is more or less the "Mercedes" of the TV industry, while everyone else compares their product to the Sony, it remains the pinnacle of the LCD game. I looked at both the Samsung and the Sony, both were spectacular. In fact, Samsung makes the screen for the Sony, so it makes sense they are the same. Bottom line, there is simply more "coolness" to the Sony name.

The TV is great, but Amazon's white glove shipping stinks. I bought the product, and it sat on several docks for days, finally got through to the shipper, scheduled for Saturday. But guess what? no TV. Have to schedule multiple times I guess free shipping implies "worthless". The drivers are late, never call back, and all you get is an answering service. I would have bought this product somewhere else if I had known....

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Purchased the 40" Sony Bravia XBR6 LCD TV hoping that this newest release of the XBR series would be "mura" free. Mura is the technical term for a cloudy looking background image appearing on an LCD screen in dark or black scenes. The mura in the set I purchased covered a good 60% of the total area. Sony agreed to replace the LCD display panel after it was examined by a certified technician in our home. I decided NOT to go that route as the set was only one week out of the box and one month from its manufacture date. Besides, my research uncovered that the cost of the part was twice the cost of what I paid for the new set in the first place. Amazon customer service department and CEVA/Eagle shipping were both very professional and responsive to the problem, and I was promptly credited the full purchase price.

Since we've happily owned a 42" Sony plasma flat screen TV for three years now, we decided to stay with plasma technology. LCD technology has certainly improved over the years, but mura problems still exist, even in the newest models. BUYERS BEWARE save ALL original packing materials for at least two weeks after your new set arrives. MURA DOES NOT SHOW UP IMMEDIATEY OUT OF THE BOX. Carefully examine the screen during "blackouts" on the screen; between commercials or channel changes. AND, sit low to the screen and look up at a slightly upward angle during the examination.

We expected to be blown away by the Sony XBR6, especially since so many people rank it even with or better than the Samsung 750. And the picture is great when you get all the adjustments fine tuned. The Steelers trouncing of the Browns game was gorgeous! We highly recommend it but with a few cautions:

Not the set for the "set it and forget it" type. Many adjustments required but it is beautiful when you get done.

Sound. We heard many complaints about the sound from LCD sets so picked the XBR6 specifically because it has an internal subwoofer. But we found the subwoofer made little difference even when set to maximum, especially if you put the TV in a cabinet where the sound gets trapped inside. We fixed this by hooking up an external powered subwoofer to the sound output jacks on the rear of the set. Made a phenomenal difference I highly recommend this if you can't use a surround sound receiver. And you can't do it on the Samsung (see below).

Network upgrades. Features are evolving fast on LCD TV's so we wanted one that had the Ethernet cable jack to download the latest firmware versions over time. But according to Sony customer support their website that checks for new firmware is down, and even if it was working you still have to do the upgrade by downloading it to your computer and moving it to the TV via the USB port. I think they are wrong but did not have time to debate it with them.

Signal diagnostics. According to Sony customer support this option only tells you the signal strength of broadcast TV. The website and manual make you think it looks at each signal coming into the set to tell you what resolution it is, etc. Again, I think the support rep was wrong but not a big deal.

Not all USB devices work with the XBR6 USB port. To Sony's credit they state this clearly in the manual, but it was still frustrating to move a lot of pictures to a USB drive and then not be able to view them on the TV.

Digital Media Port. This seems to be a confused option. The reviews have way too many complaints about what works and what doesn't when using it to connect iPods, etc. So instead of using the DMP we bought the Apple iPod composite connection cable and it works very well even when playing movies from the iPod.

Pros:

Feature set. All the benefits of 120 Hz, 24p, higher contrast, etc., are real and work well on the XBR6. Be ready to turn the 120Hz off at times (motion enhancer) because it works so well movies can end up looking "artificially good" (soap opera looking is the term we heard). But turning it off and on is easy.

Picture is more natural than Samsung. The Samsung 750 can be stunning in the store but the color intensity can actually be fatiguing when you get it home. You can adjust it, but we liked the natural color of the Sony XBR6 better. The "Vivid" mode on the Sony can still crank up the color when you want it.

Variable sound output. The Samsung only has fixed sound output jacks. The Sony XBR6's can be set to be variable. This made it possible for us to feed a powered subwoofer and control the sound level at the same time as the TV speakers with the remote control. Very nice effect without the complexity of a full surround sound receiver set up.

Slim design. The width of the frame around the screen is the smallest we saw. This enabled us to fit the 40" XBR6 into our exiting entertainment center. Also minimizes the frame when hanging the set on a wall. The Samsung frame is much wider and has that "touch of color" tinting that we think distracts from the TV screen.

No "cloud" effect. Not sure what this is but other reviewers mentioned it. We had no problem.

Many, many input jacks including USB, LAN, HDMI on the side, etc.

Deals can be had. Shop! We originally paid $1700, which was the best deal at the time. Then got a price match to $1560 just before Christmas. But the final deal was the combination incentive with the Sony s550 Blu-ray disc player which put the set at just over $1000! (If you don't need the Blu-ray you can resell it easily for more than you pay in the combo deal.)

ZMODO 8CH H.264 CCTV Surveillance DVR 8 Outdoor Day Night Waterproof Security Camera System with 50

this is one great setup for a security system, easy to install and priced reasonable, thanks Zmoda for your product.

The product is excellent for the low price, it is very comfortable despite its menu to Venezuela buy wine in English language and immediately switch to Spanish, the installation very easy, highly recommend this surveillance kit for those who want something comdo and easy to install

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Canon ZR30MC Digital Camcorder with Built-in Digital Still Mode

As a novice to the camcorder world I was very concerned and confused about the wide range of features and prices available in the market so, unusually for me, I took a little time and did my research.

Boy am I glad I did, and I am especialy pleased with the result. The Canon is perfect and does everything I want. It's easy to use and the results have been extremely good, especially considering that I am really new to all this.

It seems from the reviews I have read that most camcorders with built still photography features lack the quality of purpose built digital cameras, and while this is also true of my Canon, its not really an issue as I have several still cameras in 35mm and digital formats that I like to use.

The quality of the video on the Canon is really very good. I do not have the needs of a serious hobbyist or professional but I still want something that gives good quality and I am very pleased.

I am also very happy with the overall ergonimics of the camera and its ease of use. One of my first outings was a car trip out of NY city and I shot a lot of city shots from the car. The results were very satisfying.

I have only used a few of the special features and have not done any editing yet but on first glance I found the instructions a little confusing but I put that down to my lackof experience.

I really have no negative comments, my only small niggle is the hinge on the little door that covers the DC power seems very flimsy and I sense it may snap one of these days but apart from that the camera is really sturdy

In terms of value, after much research I feel I got a very good product at a fair price. I compared it to Sony and JVC products and felt that I bought a lot of quality and flexibility and saved over 200 dollars over the Sony without losing any features that I needed.

So this has been a very gratifying experience and I look forward to using the camera for a very long time. I strongly recommend it.

I recently purchased a ZR30MC and am thrilled with the output and the design of the Camcorder. I read many reviews on the net on the ZR10 and have heard many complaints about filming in low light conditions. The quality in low light is just fine maybe they fixed the problem with the ZR30mc. I do have a friend who has a Sony TRV20 that handles low light significantly better but it is almost double the price. On outside video I cant imagine the quality being any better.

As for design Canon has a real Gem with this one. It is small and ergonomically designed. The quality of the Still photos leave something to be desired But I have a regular Digital Camera for that purpose.

All in all Canon has made an excellent small Digital Camcorder with a nearly perfect design !!! Would definatley recommend the whole ZR20,25,30 series.

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My original goal in purchasing this camcorder was to record a festival in Russia where I would need a reliable battery between charges, good low light shooting,and plenty of space on tapes so I wouldn't run out.

In my first week of shooting, I tried various scenarios. I interviewed a friend in low light conditions. I was very impressed by the quality of the sound both hers and mine as I was interviewing. The picture quality was good better than I had been led to believe by reading other customer reviews.

I agree with others that the digital zoom is useless. I tried to film deer in a pasture that I could clearly see, but since it was out of range of the analog zoom, all I got was jitters and smeared video. Evidently the image stabilizer does not work above 10 power or with the digital zoom. Wish I had known this before I purchased the camera.

My other complaint was that I never got accurate readings on battery life. So I could never tell when to re-charge. The battery symbol was always empty, even though the camera was clearly full and worked. I assumed that this is a defect in the camera, called Canon Tech support who confirmed this, and am now getting a replacement.Question for other users...Do you remove the battery every time you stop shooting? It does say to do this in the manual. Just asking.

My final goal is to edit digital video and make a movie, saving it on a CD. This is because, as some of you may know, our video ( NTSC) is incompatable with European video standards (PAL). By editing the video and saving it to a CD it should be playable in Russia and elsewhere.

Read Best Reviews of Canon ZR30MC Digital Camcorder with Built-in Digital Still Mode Here

Great size, excellent video quality and very easy to use. It's nice to not have to haul around a big video camera. This one fits in a coat pocket, a purse, or a back pack and doesn't get in the way. Don't let the small size fool you though! It has a lot of nice features, but keeps it simple...

I'm a satisfied customer!

--Mike from Portland, Oregon

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I must apologize for my previous review of the Canon ZR30. The review was rather negative, but the problem was in my ignorance--not the camera.

I had complained that the recorded picture was too pixelated--That anything with hard edges was represented by over-sized wobbly digital blocks. This temporary problem, I since learned, resides in my iMovie editing software.

iMovie cannot reveal the true quality of the digital footage. It simplifies the images to save processing power for editing. After reading "iMovie: The Missing Manual", I learned that the only way to see the true glory of a digital camcoder's video is to hook it up to a real television using an S-Link connection. By the way, videos edited in iMovie WILL still look great, but only after you dump the project back to the camcoder and then play the resulting DV through a real television. Merely exporting to Quick Time doesn't do it justice.

Well, I finally tried the obvious and connected the ZR30 to my real television (duh?). It was a very pleasant surprise! Gone where the jagged pixels. The picture was very smooth--and I have a large screen to boot.

Probably the main difference between the look of my footage and pro footage is in the lighting. Don't forget, real TV shows are shot under perfectly manufactured lighting conditions. My stuff shot in my house looks like... well... my dark house.

I still find that the ZR30 requires more tweaking than my older Sony TRV did. The Sony was really idiot proof: Hit the red button to record. While the ZR30 does offer automatic modes, I don't feel that they work as well. On the other hand, you can manually adjust many of the parameters and get better results that way.

The image stabling is of the optical variety. It's great because it doesn't interfere with the picture quality. It doesn't respond to bumps quite as quickly as electronic types, though, so some jerking still gets through. Just leave it on and try to be careful.

I'm feeling really happy with my ZR30 now. Sorry if I mislead anybody with the previous review

Coolerguys Dual 50mm x 20mm USB fans

Build quality appears to be very good and I have to put my ear right next to them to hear any noise. These are being used for a custom application where I needed to cut the corners off the outer part. While working on them I inadvertently pulled a wire loose from one of the fans. Thought I ruined it but it easily disassembled so I could solder the wire back on. After reassembly it was good as new and still quiet. I'll be buying another set soon.

I was surprised how much air these fans can put out from just usb power...but they are really loud. That is why I gave it 3 stars. Good, but loud.

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Sony DCR-HC62 1MP MiniDV Handycam Camcorder with 25x Optical Zoom

A big part of the reason I bought this camera was for its smooth interval recording (time-lapse) feature. Strangely, Sony's higher end high definition camera HDR-SR5 does not have this feature. I have been quite satisfied with this feature's flexibility and user-friendliness. For some reason, the smooth interval recording has a 12 hour time limit, so if you want to do time lapses longer than 12 hours you have to stop the recording a couple times a day and re-start it and it will go for another 12 hours.

For regular video usage it's a good camera. The 2000x digital zoom, if you haven't guessed, is comically useless (not that I expected anything more). The tele-macro capabilities are pretty impressive.

As others have mentioned, it does not come with a firewire (IEEE 1394) cable that is required if you want to download video to your computer. I knew that before buying it and picked up a standard 4-Pin/6-Pin FireWire cable from Amazon through a third party seller (Phoenixgold) for under $ plus shipping, so not a big deal. I could see how that would have been annoying had I been unaware that this cable was not included.

P.S.

The "audio sample in an outdoor environment" clip was shot with an Opteka .43x fisheye converter not included with the camera. Also, the audio was significanly compressed after I uploaded the video so it's not quite what you would hear straight out of the camera.

Edit:

I added a low-light performance test video to youtube (search for "Sony DCR-HC62 low light test"). There is also a higher quality version of that video at http:// albums.phanfare.com/4434655/2011492#imageID=43138119.

Although this is my first camcorder, i am very impressed with this model. For $300, you get a lot, night shot plus, image stabilize, 25x zoom, many available accessories that will make your productions profession looking. The video quality is really good, along with audio, the colors are true and the camcorder focuses well. The battery they give you lasts a while, but i would recommend the FH70, it lasts a lot longer. Overall i am pleased with my purchase, it got here on standard shipping in 2 days, thanks amazon!

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We wanted a compact, easy to use camera with a reasonable optical zoom and this camera is just that. No bells and whistles (no audio inputs, no manual controls) but easy, nice pictures, and most important it's small. You must get a longer-life battery.

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The video quality is great as is the audio. I use this camcorder for blogging and drum videos and it has not disappointed. Importing footage via firewire (sold separately for 10 bucks on Amazon) is seamless via Windows Vista.

Other than a minimal battery life that comes with the camcorder, it's great.

Cheers

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Great value! If you want great picture quality just less than HD, miniDV is the format. Think again about your priorities before buying a non-HD DVD or HDD camcorder as MPEG formats are lesser than miniDV in pic qty besides their other limitations.

*** The dcr hc-52 is widely available in stores. But look at hc-62 specs(much better resolution) and spend $50 more to get a much better product.

Put a filter over, yr lens will benefit a lot.

EH1008H Hybrid Dvr

Ok...truth be told, first. The buyer has to provide and install a SATA HDD (Hard drive) for the unit to work. That said, installing the HDD is easy. It takes less than 5 minutes.

The DVR is an excellent product and, when set to motion detection, it can record for weeks. The GUI and specs are almost exactly like AVER's discontinued NV5000 capture card and Software bundles, which were excellent DVR platforms. Unfortunately, with the release of the EH line AVER has decided to target small retailers, instead of professional security integrators (like me). However, there is nothing lacking in the EH series as it pertains to performance. The only caveat is the limited back up capability of data/events. Otherwise, the EH series is a good performer. And worth the price.

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ZMODO 8 CH CCTV H.264 Security DVR System + 8 Outdoor IR Waterproof Camera With 1TB Hard Drive Pre-

The ZMODO 8 ch CCTV H.264 camera system was as advertised. The IR does work just fine in the dark. The system is very easy to set up. Plug and play so it takes very little effort to figure out the set up. I had the system up and working in mere minutes. As with all cameras the picture is much, much clearer with light. The daytime picture is very clear and you get a much better night pic with an IR light. I use them for ghost hunting and for a lower cost type system it performs very well. You sure can't beat the return on the investment. For home security purposes it works great too. Nice system for the price.

I am a certified Electronic Engineer, have been working with CCTV systems for over 15 years, i have used products from a vast number of manufacturers and suppliers, but it the first time we purchase ZMODO.

Purchased this item for a customer of mine, for the price i was expecting a cheap product, however the quality is below of what i was expecting.

The item is way small and so are the cameras, the images portray a larger and more robust unit.

The quality of the materials are not very good, i have purchased other Chinese manufactured DVR systems in the past, and have never seen one like ZMODO, honestly if you need security, please spend some more and get a unit that you will be able to depend on.

Mine arrived dead, does not work, and , 4 channels don't work, video playback is choppy, and the quality of the image is very low.

ZMODO customer support, thats another thing i have been trying for 3 days now, they seem to have just one person or many customers with problems, because it is almost impossible to get support.

Bottom line... please consider other brands, not recomended.

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M-Audio Micro Track II

This is a great unit for what it is. The recording quality is amazing with the right microphone(s) and the true 48 volt phantom power makes every microphone a viable option. Even the included t-mic sounded fair to good when recording in high resoulution (WAV / 24 / 44.1 or higher).

What I like Ease of use. One touch recording is a snap and navigation the file is easy once you get used to it. It ain't no iPod. It's small, light, built well and has a low learning curve. Additionally, one of the BEST features that this unit has is the analog limiter. A loud peak in your audio source will cause distortion but the limiter corrects it before it even gets to the DAC. This is a huge plus for recording live music. The 1/4 inch input makes connecting to a mixer or a condenser mic a breeze. One warning though.. it should be a balanced 1/4 inch (TRS) connector. Don't use and unbalanced input for 2 main reasons. 1. it will not pass phantom power to the condenser mic, and 2. it will be a bit noisy for signals such as an instrument or other unbalanced inputs.

What I don't like It ships without memory so you'll have to buy your own. I bought mine at the big guitar store and a 512MB card cost me 40 bucks! I have since found it online for a MUCH better price so memory is not that big of a deal but would it hurt them to throw a small card in the box? There is no stand for the unit as well so you're gonna have to be careful where you place it for your recording. You also can't change the battery so when it dies, you have to send it in.

All in all, I compared it to the Edirol, the Zoom, and another smaller Yamaha unit and this is hands down the best of the lot. The Edirol was a close second because of the remote. The sound quality is about the same.

Good Luck!

I've recorded for years. Mostly live jazz or piano at home. As background I still have Revox open reels and larger digital recorders. I tested this mike in several settings using the included mike and a pair of Shure SM81s powered by the Microtrack IIs phantom power.

Recordings were made at 16 bit 44.1 and 24 bit 96K. Bottom line is the recorder has a very natural analog type sound. The mid range is full bodied and the recording is liquid sounding and rich in acoustic information regarding placement and room ambience. What I mean is the recorder has the resolving power and quality of electronics to capture suble detail.

Some other units I've tested are a bit drier in sound.

This unit is simply superb if your focus is sound instead of features. The phantom power drove the SM81s well and the noise floor was reasonable.

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This small "miracle" really does the job. I'm a singer for more than 50 years, and it's the first time that I have very clear digital recordings.

Very easy to handle. M-Audio MicroTrack 2 is really the solution for my recording problems.

The sound is studio quality.

GREAT! THANK YOU!

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This is one nifty little device. Sound quality is great.

HOWEVER, M-Audio may be misleading consumers. You cannot just connect the MicroTrack II to any audio equipment at home. Microphones are never a problem, but for other uses, it's best to connect the MicroTrack II to what is known as a *balanced* output. Normally, consumer equipment such as CD players have UNbalanced outputs, the usual RCA phono connectors that consist of only two conductors per channel (i.e. there is the left and right channel for stereo). There are technical problems connecting these to the MicroTrack II, and sound quality may be impaired or even worse: you may DAMAGE your equipment.

M-Audio is being irresponsible, and in their knowledge base recommends users to just connect unbalanced sources to the 1/8" input jack. There is a 5V microphone power on this jack, that CANNOT be turned off! I confirmed this by measuring the voltage, on a new MicroTrack II bought in March 2009. So beware that in the worst case you will damage your equipment's output stage.

For those who know what they're doing, the MicroTrack II is a greatly recommended digital recorder for its price.

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This unit is extremely unpredictable.

When it works, it works well and is a great portable recorder.

Most units lack a digital input which I think is a critical component for the application i use it for.

However I have had several instances where the unit stops recording for no reason when it should be recording.

I'll start a recording, put the hold button on, it will be recording fine then out of the blue it just stops the recording.

It does not happen all the time but it is a big problem when it does happen as i'm taping a live performance.

M-Audio technical support is clueless.

Creative Zen Micro Photo 8 GB MP3 Player Dark Blue

• 8 GB digital audio player/photo viewer in dark blue weighs under 4 ounces
• Compatible with MP3, WMA, Janus, WAV, IMA ADPCM, and PlaysForSure DRM WMA
• Vibrant, cutting 1.5-inch OLED screen provides sharp details and clear colors
• Built-in FM radio (32 presets) with record function, voice recorder, USB mass storage
• Removable, rechargeable Li-ion battery with up to 15 hours of continuous play

I chose the Creative Zen Micro Photo over the IPod Nano for several reasons:

1. Storage space Micro Photo has 8 GB, Nano has 4 (and costs more)

2. Rechargeable AND Replaceable battery Unit charges through the USB cord whenever connected to your computer (this is a PLUS, because you spend a lot of time connected to your computer managing your music library). Micro Photo holds the charge for at least 12 hours, maybe more. And unlike the Nano, the battery is replaceable, so you can purchase extra batteries if this one dies, or swap batteries to keep music playing on long trips.

3. Compatibility with online music stores This feature was #1 for me. I'm a big fan of Comcast Rhapsody, and this player (NOT any IPod) is compatible with their Rhapsody to Go service, which lets you have UNLIMITED downloads from their catalog of over 1 million songs for $14.99/month (as long as you have the subscription, your songs will play in your MicroPhoto). ITunes can't beat that. I no longer buy CDs. The day they come out, they are on my MicroPhoto.

4. Price do your research, for an 8 GB compact-size mp3 player with a color display, this price is a steal.

I haven't even used the Photo features, but I'll love having an album of pictures on my mp3 player to show my friends and family at anytime.

The unit is very small; about the size of my flip-style cell phone. That's bigger than a Nano, but very lightweight and a comfortable fit in the palm of my hand. I didn't necessarily need a credit-card size player. I wanted the storage space and the Rhapsody-to-go compatibility.

Negatives (and there are only two minor ones):

1. The world is made for IPods, so there are not as many accesories available for Creative players as there are for IPods. However, has a nice selection.

2. The touch controls are very sensitive and take some getting used to (I figured it out within 2 days).

My husband has an old Creative Zen Nomad (30 GB and the size of a small brick) and although it's no longer "in style" it works well. I know my Micro Photo will hold up well over time.

Friends, family, and coworkers were critical of my decision to purchase a Micro Photo instead of an IPod. Now, many of them want to trade their IPods for one. Do your research the Rhapsody-to-Go compatibility and 8 GB hard drive were enough to sell me on the Micro Photo.

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For anyone that has at least half a brain and realizes that, not only are they not all called iPods, there are other brands out there that produce incredible portable mp3 players, this unit is for you.

First, what most people disregard as minor, this is one of the only mp3 players that charges with the same cord it uses to transfer files. To top that off, it's a standard USB cord! That means Universal Serial Bus, silly... it's the cord that comes with every computer, digital camera, blackberry, etc. That means you probably already have several of them! So what, you ask? Now you can charge your player and transfer files from any computer! This is no minor feature!!!!

Besides this feature that I love (that is so hard to find in other players), the Creative Zen Micro Photo also features a replaceable battery. To all of you iPod owners that have to charge your iPod every 4 hours I don't need to emphasize this. Top it off with great battery life!

What else? The quality of the picture on the screen is tops; the sound quality is great (the earphones are good too); the size is perfect; and the backlight is too cool. It looks great and is the best mp3 player on the market, bar none.

Read Best Reviews of Creative Zen Micro Photo 8 GB MP3 Player Dark Blue Here

Disclaimer: I had an iPod before switching to the Zen Micro.

Features I love

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

1. Looks.

There are those who buy things because others got it. But there're things in life cooler than military-issued white. In fact, I got my Sony MDR-EX71 ear-buds in black because white ear-buds are so passe now.

2. Uses standard USB cable.

This might seem like a small thing, but really appreciate the fact I just need one cable when travelling to sync and charge my MP3 player, cellphone, and digital camera. No more tangling mess of cables and charges, and I can always buy a USB line almost anywhere for less than $5 if I forgot to bring one.

3. No drivers required. Works like thumb drive.

The most significant consequence is that I can plug the Zen to the USB port of any PC, and be able to use the Zen like a USB thumb drive. My previous iPod needed to install drivers, which is a luxury I don't have with other people's PCs, or office PCs where they restrict your admin rights.

4. Music Subscription.

This is the best invention since iPod itself. I have been die-hard fans of only 2-3 artists, die-hard meaning I buy every single album and singles they produce. For everyone else, there are plenty of songs I 'kinda like' but I didn't feel they were worth the money to buy.

With this subscription thingy, I get to download entire albums simply to try out entirely new songs and artists to see if I like 'em. I doesn't bother me I lose them if I stop my subscription they are songs I probably won't pay in full in the first place. But sometimes, not buying a song doesn't mean not worthing listening to it once in a while.

5. Solid construction.

The Zen has a solid metal casing that not only feels sturdy and resistant to scratches, it can actually survive a four-feet drop without injury. (I've actually tried this, though not intentionally.) Couldn't say the same about my iPod. (My experience positively confirms that an iPod cannot survive a swinging knock against the subway door while inside a shoulder bag.)

6. Ease-of-use.

The menu system is customizable and intuitive just like in iPod. (In fact, I heard the patent for the iPod menus are held by Creative Labs.) Synching songs is also piece of cake. Just plug-in and either WMP or Napster can sync up my library. This is probably standard feature now after iTunes set the standard.

At the end of the day, I can always resort to drag-n-drop straight from my windows explorer, for not only my music files but also data files. (See point #2 above.)

8. Battery Life

I do 10-hour shuttles from the West Coast to the Other Side of the Pond at least once a month, and the iPod used to just flat out with less than 10 hours of playing. The Zen can not only sustain the entire trip, but also the train rides to/from the airports ony each side. And I bought an extra battery in case I miss a chance to charge up in between. The "stamina" of most batteries decreases with such consecutive high mileage use, and with the iPod I wasn't able to do anything about it other than to buy a new one or send it back to the factory. With the Zen I have an immediate solution for $30 in the local Circuit City.

Features I don't like

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

1. No dedicated volume button. Need to go back to "Now Playing" screen to adjust the volume. Can't do it while I'm tweaking other things in different menus.

2. No podcast aggregation in Windows Media Player. Ok. This is more a WMP shortcoming than the Zen's. iTunes has the best podcast browser (though not the largest selection), so I continue to use iTunes to subscribe to podcasts, and let WMP automatically detect the new files and add to my player. It can be done, but I wish it can be done in one-step, one software.

These two dislikes mean it's not perfect for me, so, four stars.

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I've had my Zen Micro for a little over a month with no catastrophic problems, which is a relief to me after reading some of the reviews concerning the unit itself being defective, not being compatible with PC software, etc.

Keeping in mind that my opinion could change at any time and that anything with technology is prone to dissapoint, here are my observations thus far concerning this Mp3 player...

*~THE PROS~*

* A whole rainbow of colors to choose from depending on your personality. (While I know that technically it's color does not determine whether or not it is a good product, I'm a girl and therefore love the choice of color!)

* Uses a standard USB cable to connect to you PC.

* It seems to have a solid construction. It's heavier than you would expect from the picture and the metal casing gives a sense of comfort for a clumsy person like me. I haven't dropped it yet but I've read other reviewers that have and it came out unscathed. Some people have said that you cannot workout with this player, but I take mine to the gym all the time. Just switch the power switch to the locked setting so you don't bump the touchpad.

* HUGE 8GB of storage space! I moved my whole music library (a measly 2GB), created several playlists, and stored lots of photos and I haven't even used half of the storage space yet.

* It plays all WAVE, Mp3, and WMA format files.

* Bass boost and smart volume especially are great features.

* It's smaller than it looks in the photo, about the size of a credit card but thicker.

* The battery is rechargeable and replaceable, which is great if you take long trips and don't want to worry about finding somewhere to recharge your player. Just pop in another battery and go!

* The menu screen is customizable. You can put your personal photos as wallpaper and choose from 8 different color schemes.

* I LOVE MAKING PLAYLISTS! That has to be one of the best features. If you have albums that you absolutely have to have at the push of a button make it into a playlist. I have all of Dave Matthews Band's albums arranged separately. Also if you workout a lot you can put songs that motivate you into a playlist, switch the power switch over to the locked setting so that you don't accidentally bump any buttons, and you're all set!

* FM Radio with programmable presets. I've read some reviews regarding the inconsistancy with the FM signal on their players and admit I've experienced it myself but there is a scan button that searches for the strongest signals. You can also save your favorites. I wish that there was an AM frequency too so I could listen to Coast to Coast at night but then maybe I am being picky.

*~THE CONS~*

* THE TOUCHPAD IS EXTREMELY TOUCHY! After quite a bit of practice, and also turning down the sensitivity, you can learn to master it but it is very frustrating, especially when you first get the device. It took me a half an hour just to get to the menu to turn down the sensitivity, hit the wrong button, and had to start all over. This is definately going to be a huge problem for people that are very push button, but you do get the hang of it after awhile.

* You cannot look at pictures while listening to music. This isn't a big deal for me since I hardly use the photo feature, but for some this could be dissapointing.

* If you take this player out in bright areas, especially outside in sunlight, the screen is very hard to see. I found that if I put a dark wallpaper on the screen it's easier to see, but not much.

* This player and it's software are Windows XP compatible only!

* While the length of the cord on the headphones is really nice for putting the player in your pocket, etc. the ear buds themselves are HUGE and hurt my ears after only having them in about 10 minutes. I threw them away and am back to my trusty Sony earphones...ahhhhh much better!

* The "protective pouch" is a JOKE! Seriously it's a drawstring bag that probably cost the company about a penny for 10 of them. Don't even waste your time trying to use it except maybe for long storage periods. I'm currently storing jewelery in mine!

* With as much as this player costs, Creative could have included a AC adapter. While being able to charge the player through the USB cable is nice when you're at home, if you travel it becomes a nuisance to find a computer to charge your player with.

* I've experienced the player trying to "idle shutdown" on me, usually when I'm listening to the FM Radio. This is mildly annoying and will stop if you just touch a button on the touchpad. I've read other reviewers having a similar problem so I think it's probably a bug in the product.

* Also sometimes when I've gone to connect my player to the USB to charge, it either doesn't recognize the player or something but it will not charge or let me organize files until I restart my computer. Again, mildly annoying and probably a bug in the product.

Overall I'm happy with my Zen Micro. The missing star is for the things that Creative overlooked or could have done better. Hope this review helped you.

This MP3 player puts all others to shame...especially Apple's line of iPod products. Why bow down to a company that gives their hapless customers zero flexibility when you can buy a wonderfully crafted, superior (in every way) product such as this? Just do the research. This little baby gets you everything you want for less money and more value.

The earphones are very nice. Don't use this machine's bass boost with them, though. They're fine without it, and suffer with it turned on.

Don't bother using the pouch that comes with it. The MicroPhoto will simply slide out of it; the pouch's strings to not stay tightened with travel.

The controls are a little difficult to manage at first, but within ten minutes of playing with it, I was able to use it like a pro. Between my husband's large hands and my own small hands, neither of us have any problems with our two MicroPhotos.

The display and the interface itself are both absolutely amazing. My one qualm with this little gadget is that its battery indicator will lead you to believe that one third of the juice has been sucked out of it within an hour or so of use. Apparently the indicator only goes by thirds, so even if you have 95% of the bugger still ready to go, it looks as if you should already begin to worry over the battery being drained. Hopefully this nuisance will be solved...other than that, I'm one satisfied customer!

Creative's products have always been dependable, of course.

Roku 2 XD Streaming Player 1080p

• 600+ channels with movies, TV shows, music, sports & more
• High-definition streaming up to 1080p HD
• Works with virtually any TV
• Free app for iOS and Android
• Built-in wireless (Wi-Fi b/g/n)

I love Roku and the whole Roku experience. It allowed me to "cut the cable" and save a good bit of money each month. It gives me plenty of programming, most of it free. It's also adding new channels all the time, about 360 or so at the moment.

I current own the previous Roku XD 2050x and love it. It's not a perfect product, but it's a darn good one.

This review is on my current purchase, the Roku 2 XD. It's not a perfect product either and it's just been released. It's also not quite ready for prime-time, but almost...

There are some differences between the XD and the Roku 2 XD. Most are good, but I do have two gripes. The original XD had both a wired connection and wireless available. I use wireless, but wired can be handy. When I first received my original XD, it wouldn't properly connect with my router. So, I hooked it up with an ethernet cable, which allowed it to receive a quick update. This update fixed the problem and I haven't had any problems since. The wireless worked great.

Now, the new Roku 2 XD only has a wireless connection. If you want a Roku 2 with an available wired connection, then you have to spend 100.00 to go up to the XS. I think this was a bad move on Roku's part. I have no desire to play games on my Roku and I especially don't like "Angry Birds" which is the main selling point of the XS.

My other gripe is that the new Roku 2 XD no longer has the "rewind/replay" button. This neat little button will give you an instant replay of the past several seconds, allowing you to take a look at a movie scene you might have missed or a sports call you might want to replay.

The original Roku XD had this button, but the new Roku 2 XD doesn't have it. Again, if you want this button, then you have to move up to the higher priced XS. Again, another bad call on the part of Roku in my opinion.

As I mentioned previously, I think they might have rushed this product to market a bit too quickly. The main reason is that there are a few common channels (and popular private channels) that won't run on the new XD, while they run fine on the previous generation. Roku is working on the problem and releasing updates, but still, this shouldn't have happened on the scale that it did. For example, currently, Food Network Nighttime won't play at all and all of the NASA programming will actually crash the Roku and cause it to reboot. When the Roku 2 was first released the problems were worse, but the company has been working to correct it. However, with so many glitches at release, they really should have waited to refine the software before releasing it to the public.

Now, I'll move on to a quick list of Pros and Cons for the Roku 2 XD

Pros: 1. Overall faster performance especially in menus

2. Wireless range and signal seems better than the previous models

3. Better looking menus and color schemes

4. Smaller Roku footprint.

Cons: 1. No wired ethernet port on XD and HD, only on the XS

2. No rewind/recall button on remote of XD and HD, only on the XS

3. Seems to run a little warmer than previous models

4. Too much common content (and some private channels) won't work and can possibly crash/reboot the Roku

Overall, it seems as if it'll be a great product, like the previous models, once they work out the glitches.

I do wish they'd have kept the wired ethernet port on the XD at least, as well as the rewind/recall button.

If you have a previous generation Roku XD, stick with it for at least the next couple of months. Hopefully they'll have corrected the video/streaming problems that are plaguing it currently.

Also, if you need a wired ethernet connection, then either stick with or track down a previous generation XD. Otherwise, if you're willing to spend the extra money on the XS, then do it.

Buy Roku 2 XD Streaming Player 1080p Now

My favorite quote from the slim setup manual: "Step 3 establishes your network connection and bring out your inner geek. You can do it!" Well, setup is about as easy as it could possibly be and there's really nothing geeky about it. Choose your wifi network name and enter the password. No requirement to choose the encryption standard (WEP, WPA etc) or anything more technical than username and password. You will need a computer to create an account at Roku and associate it with your new box.

Once setup is complete, driving the user interface via a very straightforward IR remote is intuitive. IR is quite directional and you might want to position the Roku box where you most naturally point the remote. This should be easy because the Roku is remarkably small at just a couple of inches square. I think you could velcro the box to the side of a TV if that was convenient to you.

My inner geek is an energy miser! I did my initial testing using a Kill-A-Watt power meter and was delighted to find power consumption runs around 1 to 2 watts even when streaming (I'm compensating for a satellite TV DVR that sucks an outrageous 50-60 watts, 24/7). Great job!

There are dozens of stream feeds preprogrammed into the Roku, most of which appear to be free of charge. Streaming of the most recent NBC newscast looks to be useful. I plan to look around at the others when I get some time. My main intended use for this is to stream video from Netflix. That is working fine and is very similar to my Samsung blueray player and rather faster in operation.

I use an HDMI cable with both a 720p and a 1080p TV and image quality is fine; I didn't try the analog connections. When you order, just remember that no HDMI cable is included; Amazon's own-brand cables work fine and are very economical (there's that miser, again!)

Overall, this is a fine implementation of a streaming video player. Usage is tailored very much to normal people; geeks might want to get their thrills elsewhere!

Read Best Reviews of Roku 2 XD Streaming Player 1080p Here

We recently bought a Roku XD box (right before Roku 2 came out) and we absolutely love it. Hundreds of free channels from all over the world. Buy Roku once, and -as long as you have a TV (even an old one, like ours) and an Internet connection -you have free television shows and movies... lots of them.

See, absolutely anyone can create a channel for Roku and -as long as they have hosting to meet bandwidth demands -they can place the channel on Roku, free. (Assuming it meets Roku's quality standards, of course.)

As a result, there are all kinds of great niche channels created by enthusiasts for things like surfing, rock climbing, old-time drive-in movies, etc.

Lately, we've seen a lot of Christian programming added, which makes Roku attractive for many people who want more faith-friendly programs. Menorah TV is also on Roku. And, BYU-TV just added their channel, which means we can see "Dogs with Jobs" every evening... among other cool shows, like genealogy shows, history programs, and sports.

More recreational and fitness programming is arriving, and there are so many (mostly English) channels from Asian countries, they have their own category among the hundreds of Roku channels.

I love watching France24 news and other international news shows, live (and in English). My weather channel is now Roku's feed from Weather Underground... so it's for my exact town instead of the nearest city, complete with fresh-every-five-minutes satellite and radar images.

Though it's only part of what we watch, we have Netflix on our Roku programming. It costs the same as Netflix does on your computer (if you already have Netflix service, you don't pay anything extra), and you can also add things like Hulu Plus and Amazon's streaming programming.

But, except for Netflix, everything else we watch is free. That means, after buying the Roku box (less than a month's cable TV bill), we pay nothing extra for our TV service. It's saving us over $100/month in cable TV bills, with far better programming and crisper images. Most channels have little or no commercial interruptions, too. Almost all of them are on-demand, as well.

We can also access things like Picasa, Pandora, and Facebook via Roku. Lots of options!

The only negative to this -and we hope this is short-term -is that there's no closed captioning. (However, the hundreds of anime features on Crackle have subtitles... and that programming is free.) I'm pretty sure the channels and Roku are working on this.

All in all, I have no idea how cable TV will compete with things like Roku. Between the price (free) and the range of great programs we can watch, we will never go back to cable TV.

Roku + an Internet connection + a TV (even an old one) = free TV!

Want Roku 2 XD Streaming Player 1080p Discount?

Peter G McDermott unboxes, reviews, demonstrates and teaches you how to use the Roku 2 XD 1080p high definition (hi-def) set top box for your television. All you need is a TV, power source and Internet connection to get started.

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I've been an avid user and fan of Roku's first generation player since it was first released in 2007. I bought this model to add it to another television in my house. When it first arrived, I was SHOCKED on how tiny it is! The first generation player is already small; this one is about a quarter of the original size! I mainly use this player for Netflix, but also use it for many other applications (40-50 different ones) such as Amazon Video and even Facebook. I have a high-speed Internet connection, able to stream 1080p HD picture.

I don't know why other people have had so much trouble with this player. Setup was complete in less than two minutes: just plug it in and follow the on-screen steps. You definitely need your network password if your wireless is secure. Also, as a new requirement to add channels, you need to create a free account on Roku.com. In order to create an account, Roku requires that you add a credit card on file for any purchases that you make in the channel store. This was not required with the old player. I was not worried at all about this; I do not plan on buying anything from the store so there will be no charges. A 4-digit PIN is required to purchase anything, so there should be no problems with children trying to buy something unauthorized. As an added convenience once you create an account, Roku will upload all the channels that you already have on your old player to your new player. So once I logged into my Roku account from my new player, all of my channels that are on my other player were automatically added. This saved me a lot of time searching for and adding the channels that I wanted.

There are a few obvious changes in this model from the first gen HD player. It's a matter of opinion if these changes are good or bad. I personally think that most of these changes are improvements.

The main changes are:

1. No Ethernet port (available in first gen), wireless is the only internet connection option

2. No Optical Audio Out, S-Video input, or Component input (all available in first gen). The only two options are HDMI (not included) & Composite (included)

3. There is now a Micro SD slot for added memory for anything: pictures, video, games, apps, music (not available in first gen)

4. Immediately I noticed that loading time for Netflix is significantly faster (5-8 seconds from 15-20 seconds), but video begins pixelated (low quality) and quickly buffers itself while playing to 1080p HD in about 10 seconds. What results with this change is no more stopping to reload video if the Internet connection becomes slower. The video will automatically improve if connection improves or decrease in resolution if connection becomes slower.

My only complaint about this feature is that you no longer actually know the picture quality of what is streaming. In the old player, it would say the strength of the wireless signal (when I would stream something HD, it would say HD). Ultimately, this lack of knowing the quality is not really an issue, since everything I've been watching from Netflix that is labeled HD has so far had an exceptional picture quality, even better than the 720p HD first gen. player.

5. The new remote is a little longer and lighter than the first generation remote, but more narrow. In contrast to the first gen. remote, the new one feels a little cheaply made. The first gen. remote is solid and sturdy, while this one feels too light and the plastic feels thin. Also, the up,down,left,right and OK buttons on the new remote are all connected in one pad, unlike the individual, separated buttons on the previous generation remote. In my past experience, remotes that have one solid pad for 5 actions usually have more malfunctions than a remote that has separated buttons for different commands.

For example, when pressing the left button (which is the most commonly pressed button since it is used to scroll through everything on your Roku) on the old remote, there was no possible way to do anything else but press left since it was its own separate button. Now, in the new remote, when pressing left it is possible to accidentally press up or down if you are not pressing the absolute correct section of the pad. Luckily, both remotes work on both players.

6. The size of the player is drastically smaller than the previous generation. I mean TINY. It is so small, that the HDMI cable can lift it up if the cable is not perfectly straight. Conveniently, it can fit almost anywhere since it is only about an inch high and 3 inches wide/deep. (first gen. player was about 2.5 inches high by 5 inches wide/deep)

Overall, I highly recommend this player to anyone with a Netflix account, although there are HUNDREDS of other useful and fun applications that are available besides Netflix. If you don't have a TV with Netflix connectivity already included, this player is an inexpensive way to get the most out of your Netflix subscription. It has completely changed the way my husband and I use our television.