Polaroid DVG-1080P High-Definition Digital Video Camera with 2.5-Inch LCD Display

I bought this camcorder mainly because it was the lowest-priced 1080p (full HD) camcorder I had seen. I have a point-and-shoot digital camera with standard-definition video. I also have a DSLR which does not have video, but I don't want to fork out the big bucks for one of the DSLRs with full HD 1080p video. As long as you do not expect really high quality from this camcorder, you will probably be more or less satisfied with the results. Video recording modes include 1080p (30 fps), 720p (30 fps), WVGA (60 fps), VGA (30 fps), and QVGA (30 fps). This camcorder performs well outdoors where the video is clear and sharp. For indoor video recordings, performance starts to drop off noticeably without the window coverings wide open. If you don't have adequate sunlight from outside, even with all the lights turned on, the images begin to get grainy, even if you use the built-in light source which is not very powerful. One nice feature is the 60 fps option at WVGA resolution. The main disadvantage in my opinion is that the image stabilization works at all resolutions except for 1080p and WVGA. I took a few still photos and found the quality to be mediocre, even with adequate lighting, but I am accustomed to the image quality from my DSLR. The menu controls are not intuitive, but I got used to them pretty quickly. All in all, if you're on a budget but would like 1080p video, this would be a nice entry-level option. Do not buy this camcorder if you demand high quality in your video recordings, especially indoors.

Finally, I wanted to comment that I am a Mac user. I have both a 1GHz G4 Power PC iMac running Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) as well as a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo iMac running Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard). I was initially unable to play the videos via QuickTime on my Power PC iMac, as it said I was missing the video codecs. So I installed a freeware plugin called Perian (w w w dot perian dot org), and it now plays the video although it is choppy because the processor is not fast enough to display the video at that resolution. On my Intel-based iMac, videos at all resolutions play smoothly with QuickTime and Perian.

HD-1080 + OPTICAL Zoom. Compact in size and features (not too much, not too little both are undesirable). Worked fine with PC. Simple switch for HD versus smaller (Web) file size. Audio was solid. Low light could have been better (but I really taxed it). Install CD wasn't readable on one PC, but switched to another and copied CD to a thumb drive. Need their viewer for .avi codec. Good resolution for still photos. Great videos/pics of Amsterdam!

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I purchased this thinking I would use it mainly to record live music at local venues. (not loud punk music or thrash...but jazz, blues and maybe some medium volume classic rock/funk bands). I also wanted to use it with my drumming students. I wasn't expecting high quality audio reproduction at all....(nothing better/worse than a typical camcorder).

That being said....The audio is terrible.....it distorts easily....and anything recorded over 40 decibels is worthless when played back.

Honestly....I've heard better audio quality from CELL PHONE video cameras.

The video is clear and ok....but it get's jumpy sometimes. I attribute that to a low quality product.

All in all....for what I wanted.....it was a complete waste of money.

If you want to film birds outside...or someone reading a book I'm guessing the audio would be ok. But if the bird you are filming is loud...or the book reader subject sneezes you'll probably distort the sound.

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I got this as a gift from my mom from Target over a year ago or so. It was on clearance for $75.

It gets some pretty decent visual quality in good lighting, but in lower light it gets almost unviewable due to darkness and noise. You can set the ISO to auto, 800, or 1600. But, it doesn't change much besides how much grain the picture has. There are few manual controls in general I can change, forcing me to edit the video later to remove as much of the noise as I can and brighten the picture in general to the point you can watch it.

There's also some scene modes: skin, night, backlight, black & white, classic (sepia) & negative. I don't notice any major difference or improvement between the night, skin, and backlight modes (and even tested it by shooting shots of the same things and comparing colors), so it seems pointless to change those unless you like the more artistic modes: classic, black & white and negative.

You can also take still pictures with it at up to 4000x3000 resolution (12MP). The quality will come out as good as it does in video depending on the lighting. However, you cannot seem to put on Image Stabilization (IS) to take pictures... strangely. It's only in the video modes. So, unless you are very steady when you click the shutter button or you have a tripod, your pictures will come out blurry. The camera will not stand up on it's own due to the screen tipping it over, so you'll need a tripod to keep it up.

Most of the controls are set in menus as well except for a light button (the camera has a decent light on the front of it) which seems to boost the noise too, the video button, the picture button and the zoom wheel. (you have to press the "OK" zoom wheel in the center to access the menus) White balance (no manual white balance may I add or any exposure compensation) and IS have to be tweaked before shooting unless it comes out good in auto. The only things that stay in memory is the ISO setting, the camera's sound and the resolution. Otherwise things revert back to the defaults after you turn off the camera... some even after each shot like the auto timer.

The audio is also on the weak side as if it picks up something that is a bit too loud for it, the sound distorts and gets very staticy, sometimes to the point where you can't hear what was spoken. This is very easy to do as well because it doesn't take much to make the sound distort. What I have to do to film as clear as possible, is keep the camera fairly far away from the sound source to lower the sound it picks up, like 2-3 feet away, then boost the volume in my video editor later.

This camera also has no lens cap or any way to get it one. But, the lens is glass and recessed a bit into the camera, so it's unlikely it'll get scratched or damaged unless you're careless with it.

All of the bad points in this camera I talked about make it seem like this camera is bad, but really it's OK for the price. Don't pay more than my mom did. I've seen it for like $130 and for that price you can get a better camera with more manual controls like a compact Canon or Nikon. Just very clunky and inconvenient to use quickly, a bit weak on the audio and lacking in the manual control department. It feels good in your hands to use, feels very sturdy and it gets the job done providing you use it as I described to get the best quality you can. The rotating screen is a big plus when you want to film at an otherwise awkward angle you couldn't do with a stationary screen on the back of it.

The more I use this camera, the more I want to upgrade to something with more manual controls and buttons so I can tweak video and photos without having to sift through menu screens and do it more precisely. But, I think that may be because I've gotten to a more advanced level of filming and photography since I got this camera and outgrew it. Though, I'd recommend this camera to a new video or photo enthusiast that wants an entry-level camera just to see if you'll like it as it's not complicated to use.

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First time I got this camera I was so excited but then I hook it up to my tripod and the screw fell off and still can't find that screw!

NEW WP6800 Pink Waterproof 18MP Digital Video Recorder/Camera(compatible with micro SD card)

this camera is a total ripoff. picture quilty is realy bad. i will never buy from thise pepole again. the camera is not worth $10.00 it is total junk.CAMERA IS NOT 12.1 MEGAPICELS IT LOOKS LIKE 2MP.

It is waterproof.

It does have a short battery life.

It does take one of the worst pictures ever, it is not 18mp. it look like a 2mp photo take with my laptop. Hopefully I bought for my daughter then it is ok for kids but it is no a real life camera.

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I thought that this would be a great learning camera (waterproof, etc) for our 7 year old granddaughter. NOT.

The flash setting is ridiculous goes back to no flash each time you turn off the camera. Eats batteries so quickly, we went through 4 just trying to set it up on Christmas Day.

Instructions are miserably wrong, could not get this camera to take a decent picture with 6 adults trying to figure out what to do next.

Grainy picture more like you'd expect from a toy camera you get in one of those claw machines at the supermarket.

Even if someone gave me this camera, I'd give it back and say no thanks. This is WORTHLESS and such a disappointment to all of us boo hiss.

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The camera is brand new people..it comes in a box well plastic wraped. I am very satisfied with the quality. Very good deal.

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Motorola KRZR K1 Unlocked Phone with 2 MP Camera, MP3/Video Player, and MicroSD Slot--International

I just upgraded from a RAZR phone, and this new KRAZR is exceptionally nice. The phone has great reception, the sound quality & volumn are very good, the menus are very easy to get around,it fits your face well (not too short as many phones now are) and operating the phone is simple. This phone is clearly evident of Motorola's evolution in the cell-phone industry. By the way, you can customize the "soft-keys" to be whatever you want them to be. Likewise, you can customize the menus to appear as you would like. They have really thought of the user and have made this phone very User Friendly as well. It seems that the majority of the people I talk to aren't as interested in "whistles & bells" as much as they just want a plain old GOOD phone. This is it! However, if you want more, you can load your MP3 music on to it, you can use the calendar, you can take a picture, and if you are really adventurous, you can access the internet, and also retreive your email! By the way, this phone is capable of taking advantage of the Cingular/AT&T EDGE network which gives you 'faster than usual' internet. I highly recommend this Good Looking, Well Working phone.

Pros:

Exclusivity. Nobody has this phone/color combo.

Killer looks. The glass front is mind-blowing. Photo doesn't do it justice.

Killer size. Left to right it's thinner than the RAZR but slightly longer and slightly thicker front to back.

Sturdy. This is where it shines. When you close it, it feels like a luxury car door. Very solid; lightyears ahead of the RAZR.

Sound quality is top-notch. Excellent reception.

Camera is actually very, very good. I was very, very surprised.

Works with all my old RAZR accessories.

Cons: (barely justifiable to even call them that)

A couple of the included games/java apps were in Chinese.

The phone language. "Centre" instead of "Center", Personalise instead of "Personalize" Not really a big deal. Must be a UK English vs. a US English thing.

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I hung on to my old v60i in the hope that Motorola would fix their user interface, this one is substantially different, but the bad features of the v60i remain. The side buttons.

As of 5/22/08 I'm about ready to hurl this from the roof. The UI is just too inconvenient. I've also had to replace the battery once.

6/13/08 Enough already! I replaced it with a Nokia E51. On the E51 the side buttons are not too sensitive, they require deliberate use, and all buttons are automatically locked after a timeout period anyway. The E51 is nearly twice the price now but 10 times the phone (GSM quad band, WCDMA dual band, 802.11g an FM radio and god knows what else that I haven't found yet). I have temporarily given the KRZR to my significant other, but I'll be replacing that and the daughter's phones with Nokia phones when we change the plan to use the E51's data capabilities; why would I inflict on her what I wasn't happy with myself?

Let's do the good first: The voice quality in both directions is good, the talk time is good and the standby time is good enough that I am surprised when it needs recharging. I use it quite a lot and that still only seems to be twice a week. The ring tones are the usual selection but the maximum volume is considerably higher than in my old phone. Signal handling is much better, it holds on to calls that AT&T could previously be relied on to drop, but there are still issues where it fails to roam to the next cell, though I strongly suspect that is due to lame network software rather than the phone (symptoms are that after a dropped call with no signal the signal strength immediately maxes out). For someone who travels to Europe the quad band GSM is indispensable, I keep a spare SIM for UK visits because it gives me calls to the US for about 1/10th of the cost of allowing AT&T to roam to Europe. The music player is fine, but you are going to have to either buy bluetooth headphones, which you can't use on a plane, or buy the USB adapter which should have been included for the trivial cost in such an expensive phone. It makes an excellent alarm clock and is loud as hell.

The not so good: The iTap text entry is slow and not as good as the old version, whatever that was called. I guess I'll eventually get used to iTap, but the old predictive text had some advantages.

The Ugly: the joker who came up with these side buttons that can't be disabled should be fired. It's the easiest thing in the world to brush against the phone and fire up the crummy voice entry (below) or, with a bit more of a rubbing motion, switch the ringer from one more to another. So you can silence the phone and drop it in your pocket only to find it ringing in the middle of a movie. Or you eventually notice nobody is talking to you and check the phone only to find you have a couple of missed calls and the phone has been set to silent. Somehow. Then there's the voice entry, the best you could say is that it's not good. If you brush against the voice button it thinks about it for a good while and then some awful woman say "say a command". Now you have to try and convince it to call someone based on the phone's attempt at pronouncing the name you used in the phone book. Since I work with a load of Indians and Chinese that's about as much use as a chocolate fireguard. It was much more useful to be able to program the nicknames.

But would I buy it again? Yes. There aren't many neat phones like this and if there's another one with quad band GSM too I didn't find it.

But if someone comes out with a quad band GSM phone with good signal handling and no side buttons you'll see my KRZR on Ebay the next day.

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This is a great phone. What impressed me most about it was several things. One was its sleek design and feel. If you liked the RAZR, this phone will really knock your socks off. It's not quite as wide as the RAZR, which makes it easier on the hands, and it's solid construction makes you feel like you're holding a quality product. I love how it snaps shut after you finish a call. It's satisfying. Two, it has better reception than the RAZR, or at least it seems that way to me. I don't have any data to support this claim, but I have fewer dropped calls on this phone, and the volume is much better. I don't find myself pressing the phone against my ear like I used to do with the RAZR, which is really nice. Three, I dig the MP3 and multimedia features. I popped a 2GB card in the phone and loaded about 50 of my favorite songs and about 75 family photos in it. It's great because now I can set the phone alarm to wake up to my favorite songs, or set ring tones to whatever tune I have loaded on it. Also, I setup a playlist and listed to it while jogging the other day. I was most impressed. I also created a family album on the phone and showed it to friends in a slideshow format. It was funny. Rather than complimenting me on my beautiful family, they focused their comments on the photo quality of my phone. I was like, dude. Anyway, if you like cool phones, I totally recommend this one. Yeah it's pricey, but from my perspective, it's worth it. One last comment. I'm a Cingular customer and they, if you haven't noticed, haven't offered the KRZR K1 phone to their customers yet. Well, that's okay. You can still use this phone on thier network. All you have to do is take the phone out of the box, pop in your old SIM card from your previous phone, then call Cingular and ask them to activate it. They will ask you for the IMEI number located on the box and within minutes, you will be connected. It was a snap. Enjoy!

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This particular unlocked version seems thinner than the ones being sold by cell phone carriers. My initial impression was this phone was very tiny. It is smaller than the RAZR V3 in overall dimensions. I use this unlocked phone with Cingular in the Los Angeles area.

The good:

1)Small and cool looking. Most people who have seen it seems to be enamored with its design and form factor. It is definitely an eye catcher.

2)Call quality is great. The volume can be turned on VERY loud. So if you are hard of hearing or just like to hear loud voices over the phone, then this phone will probably fit the bill.

3)Speaker phone. Motorola managed to incorporate a great pair of speaker phones. It is loud and clear enough to have a conference call in a small room full of people.

4)Comes with more than basic ring tones. It comes with several (around 12) musical ring tones. Better yet, the ring tones comes out in a full stereo mode (or at least sounds like it).

5)Camera is good (2MP). Although it will not replace your digicam, it will be more than adequate for emergency uses.

6)Battery life. My informal test on this is that it can handle upto 4-5 hours of talk time.

The Bad (mostly due to it is unlocked):

1)You need to configure EVERYTHING on the phone. Nothing comes preconfigured. This includes the default language, time, date, voicemail, email, IM etc. This can get rather tedious since Cingular does not support unlocked phones.

2)You may lose some functionalities. For example, I have noticed my web browser functionalities do not work with my cingular SIM card. This is no biggie for me since I never browse the web using my phone

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Craig Micro Cassette Voice Recorder with LED Recording Indicator (CR8003)

This little recorder really surprised me a bit. I expected that it would record and play but I really didn't expect it to sound as good as it does. It has a very slight hiss level but this isn't really as bad as a lot I've used. I was really impressed by how well it worked in a large room and in smaller areas. In a recorder in this price range, I really didn't expect much but this recorder was far better than I expected. For a general purpose use recorder, this should serve most people well.

I ordered two of these microcassette recorders so that I could record bedtime stories to my grandchildren who live in Germany. One of the recorders did not work from the start. It would not rewind or fast forward the tape. I tried the other recorder and the sound quality was so bad that I decided to spend a little more money and ordered two more recorders made by a different company.

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For a low cost recorder, this one acts like a high priced digital. Using it on ghost hunts. Got audio results on my first one (no, it was not background noise).

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Got this to listen to some of my dads old tapes, really made me happy I could hear his voice again. Great price and was shipped very quickly.

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this recorder does exactly what i need it to do! i use it to send my voice to my husband in afghanistan

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QC444 Video Surveillance System

I bought this DVR about a week ago at a local store on sale for about $120 + tax, it did not include a hard drive and did not include any cameras, I already had these items around the house and just wanted a cheap starting solution to monitor the house and be able to get the video or at least alerts on my iPhone. this unit had the access I needed and the ability to put the Drive size I wanted into it, so it was a good choice.

Now, I am impressed with this unit! it was easy to install the Drive (SATA Drives are simple anyway) I installed a 250GB drive I had lying around that took all of 2 minutes total with removing the 6 screws and replacing them being included in the time spent. then simply plug in cameras (using BNC connectors, you will need adaptors if your camera is a RCA connector type, like a video camera or whatever.).

once everything is plugged in, you turn it on, log in(using a mouse on a virtual keyboard which is small on the sreen but still usable) and you can setup the cameras to record in any number of configurations, from all the time to using motion detection, and a whole lot more.

if you are on a network you can setup the network and then connect to the device from a Web Browser, or smart phone, again I use the iPhone, and the free version of the application used to connect to the system is enough to get real time video of the system, if you want to get snapshots and some extra features you need to pay $.99 for the pro version of the app. but all-in-all the free one works fine for me.

the web app is free but can be tricky to setup as you need to relax the browsers security to install it, but then it works great! this unit can even connect to other units to link DVRs together, in the web app or the desktop app you can watch more then 36 cameras from different DVRs around the globe if you set it all up. and also IP webcams can be added as feeds!

I am using a combination of old Sony webcams and some older Radio shack B/W night vision cams and the system is Wonderfull with all of them but you can tell it's camera quality not the DVR if your picture is not the best. on one channel I have hooked up a networked Media player with web media capability and I set it to the weater channel and I can monitor my local weather all day from wherever I am from my phone. I cannot say enough good things about this unit (specificly the QC-444 DVR)

if you are looking for a good quality DVR to have some security around the house or office then this is a great cost effective way to go. I really don't think you will be dissapointed. there are way too many features for me to get to them all, but again it's loaded.

I will try and update this review with some pics or video as soon as I can.

Samsung DVD-VR330 DVD Recorder

• Combo DVD/VCR with capability of converting VHS tapes to DVD; measures 17 x 3.1 x 10.6 inches (WxHxD)
• Full-function VCR; timed and one-touch VCR and DVD recording
• Records to DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, dual-layer DVD-/+R, DVD-RAM; plays CD-R/RW discs and MP3, JPEG files
• Connections: 1 component out, 1 composite out, 1 S-Video out, 1 Firewire in, 1 RF in, 1 RF out
• Digital optical and digital coaxial audio output for home theater surround sound

I've had this player/recorder for about 2 months. I found it at my local Ckt Cty for two-hundred twenty plus tax. I have recorded some of my older VHS tapes (Kung Fu stuff that is not on DVD and may never be) onto blank DVD-Rs and DVD+RWs. Both discs worked fine and I did not wait an inordinate amount of time for the discs to be finalized (maybe 2 minutes). The picture quality was just as good as the tape (no loss) as I expected. (I figure DVDs will last a lot longer than those ratty VHS tapes I had been keeping, that's why I transferred them.)

The recorder is supposed to handle pretty much any type of DVD media and it records at 4 different speeds for DVD. For VHS, it records at the standard 2 speeds (SP, SLP, EP). The manual claims slowest speed for DVD can save up to 8 hours on a standard single-sided disc; VHS can get 6 hours from a 2 hour tape (3X), just like other VCRs.

I have my recorder connected to cable and a powered antenna with a splitter. The tuner works fine for both sources, even with my cable source being split off for Internet. I have time-shift recorded using both disc and tape and was happy to see that works well, too. I recommend recording stuff with commercials to a VHS tape first since there is a record pause button that I like to use for eliminating commercials before I commit shows to disc. The chapter breaks for DVD are automatically set for every 10 minutes, but I wish there was a way to (on the fly) chapter stamp where you wanted to. You can edit chapters afterward, but it sounds too complicated and time consuming in the manual.

So far, I have had no reliability issues. Each time I have performed an action the player/recorder has worked as expected. I have also gone the other way and recorded DVDs to tape (mostly as a test, but also because there is no way to record from DVD to DVD). Note: I am not suggesting breaking the law, merely pointing out what is possible.

The player starts tape and DVD playback quickly and you can switch back and forth between VHS and DVD very easily. I sometimes record a TV station and watch a DVD at the same time, too. My only complaint besides the chapter thing would be I wish the DVD section played at least 3 discs since most TV series have 3 (sitcoms) or 6 discs (dramas) and I wouldn't have to change discs so often.

Update: Thanks to a question by a reader of this review I went back and tried my homemade discs in other players. Turns out the Samsung will definitely not make working copies of video recorded on 8x discs. The 4x DVD-RWs play fine, though. And make sure you've finalized the discs. This can be done later if you forget at the time you make the disc. Read and re-read that manual!

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I tried a Sony RDR-VX511 for 3 months and found the DV input was flakey and it would not play DVD+R dual-layer made on my computer even though finalized and would play on my laptop, a Panasonic and also this Samsung. The Panasonic (forgot the model) will not record the second layer of a dual-layer until you close out the first layer! This is ridiculous if you want to record on a dual-layer. Luckily a small note on the box warns you of this but I didn't see it until I read the manual.

This Samsung works very well for me. The DV input works and as a bonus will send commands to the DV output on my Sony camcorder. Very handy for dubbing from the DV tape camcorder.

The other bonus I found was it controls my Samsung TV. It can be set for other TVs too, a real plus.

The only disappointment so far is the lack of an S-Video input on the front AV2. That would sure help dub from my Hi8 analog tapes. Too bad, I could have rated 5-stars otherwise.

One other worrisome point is that it takes forever to finalize some disks, my dual-layer for example. It goes to 95% for as long as nearly a half hour. The first time I thought it was frozen so I unplugged and restarted. The DVD seemed to play OK but this was bad. The second time, I just left it and started looking on the internet for any clues. Then all of a sudden after around a half hour it completed the last 5%. Very weird.

I will try to contact Samsung on this. I do not see any software update yet for this model. (You burn a DVD with a downloaded file and the player will update its flash memory..Good plus.

Layout of the remote is a bit crowded and the unit itself won't win any beauty contests but it's the best I've found for my purposes.

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Since I make DVDs for some customers, I would like to think that I understand these type of gizmos to a certain extent.

Most of the complaints on the reviews were caused by customers who do not understand how the DVD burning process works. I can refute almost all of the complaints.

The quality of transfer from video to DVD is outstanding. I could not see any loss at all on my 37" television. It took all of a second for me to do it. I pressed the "to dvd" button. That is all it takes. DVDs do have to be finalized in all of these console units if you want to play the DVD elsewhere. Your computer burner/software likely does this automatically.

Like all high tech items, it has presented some interesting findings. DVD+R discs have to be initialized. The unit tells you what to do so this is easy. DVD+R discs seem to take longer to finalize but that could be due to a slower write speed on the DVD+R disc that I used. I do not seem to be able to pause a recording without flat out stopping it. If that problem continues, I will be upset. I suspect it is me not knowing what to do. Playback on a disc that has had recordings stopped goes much better on the Samsung than on other units. Using the SVHS input requires that you go into the menu and instruct the machine to use the SVHS input. I called Samsung and talked to a rep who did not know too much before finding what I needed in the pretty lenghty instruction manual. The manual seems OK....it is just...big. Accessing the A-B repeat function could be better, it could be worse. The remote is a good design except that the skip chapter button is 1/4" from the fast forward button. That is a matter of finger dexterity I suppose. If you transfer a DVD to video, the loss in quality is noteable. That is why DVDs are replacing video however. I like the fact that the highest quality mode allows for 1 hour and 14 minutes to be put on a disc. Better chance of putting an entire event on one disc with the highest quality. Also easy to use dual layer discs which almost double recording capability. Also plays SVHS tapes and I have a few lying around. I really like the function where a graph shows you how the tape is tracking in the Samsung. It automatically picks the best tracking and units are supposed to do that. But this machine shows you if your tape has tracking issues that require significant automatic adjustments. I believe the Samsung also allows manual tracking adjustments which is pretty awesome.

I bought the machine to mostly transfer old movies to DVD and I could not be happier with its performance in that critical respect.

I've only had the unit for a day. I wrote the review mostly to straighten out some erroneous complaints. It is incredily easy to use for dubbing video to DVD and that is what it is made for. Just remember that the disc has to be finalized if you want to play the disc in something beside the Samsung.

I think Pioneer likely makes the best DVD recorders. They are priced accordingly. I bought the Samsung because it is a bigger bang for the buck for me. This unit has several features that separate it from a unit simply made to make and sell cheap. It is for the person who can appreciate some quality features they may not have expected in a unit of this price.

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I spent weeks trying to find a DVD recorder, and finally decided on the DVD-VR330. I'm very happy with the operation of this unit. I wanted to transfer our old VHS home videos to DVD, and the process is very easy, and it works very well.

Samsung is NOT known for their easy-to-follow instructions, so it takes some time to interpret them and you may need to experiment for a while to figure out exactly how to work all the features, but all in all, this is a very nice unit.

I purchased a Samsung DVD-VR330 on November 24, 2006. It would never recognize and record on DVD+R or DVD+RW media that I tried from the get go. DVD-R media 4X seemed to work the best. However after a few months it started having a hard time reading blank DVD-R and even ones that had been recorded on in the DVD-VR330 itself. I would put the discs in and have the unit eject them several times before finally detecting them. I had pretty much given up on using it as a DVD recorder using it only as a player to play movies which it has continued to do fairly well.

Recently I tried recording again on DVD's using some TDK Brand DVD-RW 4X media, that I have had for a couple of years, with success. The disks are P/N DVD-RW47CCB25, 25 Pack. I have recorded TV programs, used recorder to cut out commercial segments, replayed them, erased them, and recorded again on the same disks with no problems. I once again tried DVD-R's, DVD+R's and DVD+RW's all of which it still will not recognize. The problem with my unit appears to be a media/firmware compatibility problem or possibly corrupted original firmware. I have found that DVD-RW 4X media is getting harder to find and if you do you can not trust that it is actually DVD-RW or even manufactured the same as the media bought 2 years ago. I have read reviews on TDK Brand DVD-RW media that the consumers actually discovered was DVD+R media labeled incorrectly as DVD-R when they put it into their recorders.

The manual for this unit indicates "Not all brands of discs will be compatible with this unit." However Samsung will not provide media brand recommendations. They want the consumer to spend all kinds of money buying and trying different media until they find something that works. The manual also indicates "The latest firmware upgrade to improve recording & playback quality can be downloaded from our web site." Samsung has never posted any firmware updates on their web site for the DVD-VR330. Apparently Samsung never planned on providing firmware updates, which is required to keep up with the rapid changes in available media. They want you to buy their products, throw them away and buy new when they become obsolete which is just after a few months.

This was my first Samsung product and I will never buy another. In fact I have since bought two LG Brand LCD computer monitors, one Panasonic Brand 50" plasma TV, One Sony Brand Blu-Ray Player and LG Brand Clothes Washer and Dryer which I am very happy with. My new Sony Blu-Ray player is connected to the internet and its firmware is easily updated which has been done twice, once at first installation and once about a month and a half later. Samsung, you should be ashamed of putting out such an unreliable product. However, it's your loss!

Onkyo DV-CP706 6-Disc DVD Player (Black)

• HDMI out with 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p output
• Chain Mode for Successive Disc Playback
• Vector Linear Shaping Circuitry (VLSC)
• Optical and Coaxial Digital Out
• Slow Motion DVD Playback (1/2, 1/4, 1/8 speed)

As previously posted, this unit will NOT play rental (or even mildly scratched) DVDs. Which is a problem because a number of our DVDs are kids movies and they get scratched with repeadted use. All the problematic DVDs play perfectly fine on a cheapo ($20) DVD player but this "high-end" unit is too much of a prima donna for these DVDs.

---------See Update Below

January 2010 UPDATE:

Took the unit to an authorized repair shop and they honored the warranty (I originally purchased it from Amazon). After the repair, the unit is AMAZING! No problems whatsoever and the sound and picture quality is far superior to cheapo DVD players! Repair center said some parts with laser, etc. tend to come loose with shipping and handling from online retailers. Took them a week to get the required parts and repair... all for free and worth the wait! If you're having problems with this unit definitely try taking it to an authorized repair shop! Would give it 5 stars if it came this way out of the box!

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We've had this product just a few weeks, but are quite pleased with it. The only snag was when we hooked it up to both our receiver (with RCA analog jacks)and our new HDTV (with an HDMI cable)so that we could play our CD's through our receiver and our DVD's through the television. The problem was in hooking up the TV. We received a picture but no sound. Talking to our tv technician was of no help. We figured the problem out through trial and error, namely that the Onkyo's menu had a variety of sound options, to include some that we had no idea what they were for. One option, I believe it was the "PCM" option, did the trick when we turned it on. Apparently this option lowers the kHz frequency of the output so that it is compatible with the television (whatever all that means). Once I clicked that option on, the sound came through the TV. These instruction booklets all assume that consumers understand these technical terms, so you have to be something of a detective to finally figure it all out. Now everything (finally) works.

Read Best Reviews of Onkyo DV-CP706 6-Disc DVD Player (Black) Here

Purchased for parents who are not tech-savvy (was somewhat of a worry with setting this up), and are huge movie fans. (They like movies so much, they even sleep to them...) I wanted to make sure the DVD changer supported both their new TV (HD) and their old, CRT tube TV. And this certainly fit the bill.

The setup is very easy. (I was able to help with the setup over the phone in minutes.) However, the ease of setup doesn't mean that it is lacking options; there are plenty of options that are available to tweak the sound, the picture, etc. But for just getting the machine playing DVDs (maybe not optimally, but playing nonetheless), it's simple.

When visiting, I was able to see and hear this player in action. It's mostly silent itself, and had a picture/audio quality that was adequate for how it was hooked up using the composite cables ("RCA cables" red and white for audio, yellow for video.) When using an HDMI connection, everything really came to life, stepping into the modern world.

On a side note (in regards to some negative reviews here) Amazon.com *is* an authorized seller of Onkyo products (the "refurb" version part Warehouse Deals or whatever, likely is not.) If there's a problem, I can't see how you wouldn't be covered by either Amazon or Onkyo. I had actually purchased this same unit from another online vendor, and the DVD sounded like it was going through a meat grinder when it was playing. Returned it, bought from Amazon and the new one is working great... bottom line: Onkyo is a very quality and reputable brand, but no brand is going to be perfect 100%.

Would definitely purchase again.

****************UPDATE, September 2009*********************

This unit is now receiving "Cannot Read Disc" errors pretty randomly. It may not work on a disc, but the next time you try, it works fine. We tried cleaning all the discs, but after purchasing a few brand new DVDs and having the error, it's going to head back to Onkyo. Meanwhile, the $30 backup cheapie DVD player still works... bummer.

****************UPDATE, November 7, 2009****************

We finally got around to taking this in for warranty work. The nearest authorized service center was King Audio/Video (Redmond, WA.) The service folks were very pleasant and professional... after about 10 days, they called us up to come pick it up. (Apparently, Onkyo also covers shipping charges once the item is repaired, but we decided to just pick it up.)

Now, this is back to being a fantastic player. It's quieter than it was before, and it plays ALL DVDs, even if you can see some visible damage (scratching and such) on it.

If others are experiencing the disc read errors on older/scratched DVDs, I'd recommend getting it repaired while under warranty. (The problem eventually gets worse to where it won't even read a brand new DVD.) Yes, it's unfortunate that you have to get it repaired. But on the other hand that's what the warranty is for, and now this this is working GREAT.

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Does a nice job upconverting DVDs to HD, plays data CDs and DVDs as well; it's nice to have a few dozen hours of MP3s on a DVD and an on-screen menu to navigate them all. My only complaint is that the Onkyo set-up menus are somewhat low-tech in look and feel, but they do the job. All in a all a great little machine at the price.

One thing to keep mind with my review: I've been an Onkyo owner for quite some time and am partial to the brand and in addition, I am using this component in a set-up with all Onkyo equipment (including the Onkyo 876 AV receiver), so that set-up might improve the performance I get.

Reduces the number of components you need, plays everything you thow (I've thrown) at it (DVD+/R, DVD DL+R). Interfaces with my Onkyo Receiver seamlessly. Picture quality is top notch. Just double check the spec this player is lot deeper that most components.

Mega Mini Pro Spy Camera with Built In Recording by Brickhouse Security

The red/blue indicator lights do not tell you when the device is fully charged. In fact, I could not find any battery life indicator anywhere. After charging the battery overnight, the longest recording I could make was 43 minutes until the battery died. I charge the battery at least overnight each time I use the camera, but I only get 20 to 30 minutes of recording before the thing shuts off. 43 minutes was the longest recording. Too bad, 20 minutes is long enough sometimes, but I could really use something that records for a couple of hours, even if there is no motion or sound for a long time. The picture quality and sound quality seem to be pretty good for such a small device.

For this spy cam to be so small, it packs a lot of punch. Both the video and audio are crystal clear and this thing can slide into any little spot. Also, retrieving your video could not be easier. It is so user-friendly. I AM NOT technologically savvy but I managed to figure it out just fine. If you are shopping for the perfect spy cam, believe me when I say this is the one.

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Nokia N79 Unlocked Phone with 5 MP Camera, Wi-Fi, and MicroSD Slot--U.S. Version with Warranty (Sil

I will try to summarize how excellent this phone is.

I'll begin with the cons

*OS Symbian can be slow sometimes but I think It can be fixed with the Software Updater

Pros

*Excellent call quality and Signal reception

*Nice design(for me it's the best for now for a N Series Phone)

*Camera quality is really good: maybe not the best of NSeries but it is really good for quick shots...As I always say; a camera phone is not a replacement for a real camera(see my customer images. Pics from my city)

*Very good sound quality and Mp3 player

*Easy to customize

*Nokia PC Software is very useful

*At first, keyboard is hard to use but later, You will get used to it and you will see how it's easy to use

*Several useful applications

*Nokia Maps works great

*Comes with a 4GB Memory/can be upgrated up to 8GB

*3.5mm jack, so you can use any head/earphones

*Great Web browser

*WI-FI works excellent and It's very easy to use for people who are not used to that

OVERALL, An EXCELLENT Phone... Pros are more than cons...

I really recommend it!

This is my first Nokia, and my first unlocked phone.

I've had the phone for a little over a week and these are my impressions:

It's built really well. It feels solid and the screen seems pretty scratch resistant so far. The buttons are also really nice and the number keys are god for texting. From my research it seems to be a characteristic of N series phones. The design is clean as well. It seems well thought out and there's not much missing (an external play/pause button would be nice, but it comes with an inline remote to plug your earphones into), but nothing extra that I could do with out either.

It looks great. I got a white version (even thought the product description says grey) which I actually prefer. There is also a black version of the N79 that has been released recently as well. The changeable backs are cool (I received the white, red and brown covers), but I don't know how much I will change them personally.

The features as you've read in the product description are incredible. And honestly it does all of them well. The music player is good. The camera is decent (Not the best 5 mp pics I've ever seen, but for a phone the pics are awesome, and it has an automatic flash). I wasn't expecting a whole lot from the video recorder, but the quality really surprised me, in a good way. The gps is awesome. You get a 90 trial of the turn by turn voice navigation, I'm not sure how much the subscription costs, but if it's not outrageous, I would absolutely spend money for it. The FM transmitter is a really cool feature, I travel a lot and am in a lot of rental cars and it works like a charm. At this point in time this phone seems to have about every feature out there. It's pretty amazing considering it's size.

I've never used a symbian phone before and there is a bit of a learning curve. It took me a few days of moderate use to get comfortable with it. The N79 was a bit buggy out of the box. I was also disappointed with the software support for Macs. You have to buy a plug in for iSync to work (not yet supported) and even then it recognizes it as an N95 8GB, but it does work. I hope there will be more Mac support in the near future. Nokia has recently released a firmware update and with the amount of things that were improved, it makes you think that Nokia kinda rushed this phone out the door a little. After I updated my phone the OS is much more solid and a little faster and more responsive. If you purchase this phone, updating the software should be your first order of business.

I can't think of anything else I could possibly expect a phone to do that this phone doesn't. I chose this phone over the N82 because of the looks and because it supports US 3G unlike the N82. The N82 supposedly has a better camera, but for me I'd rather have the 3G.

*Update*

This phone is on v20 of it's firmware and MUCH more stable. I've used this phone day in and day out for 6 months, and there still isn't a phone this size that can do everything this phone can.

The only negative thing I'll say is that the battery life is not what I'd hoped. It will only last for one day. Granted I do a lot with it in one day. Music, GPS, Internet, some pics all while it keeps 3 email boxes up to date. I guess you can't have everything.

One big bonus I've recently discovered is that this phone supports a 16 gb micro sdhc card! I recently purchased the 16 gb class 6 card made by Trancend Transcend 16 GB microSDHC Class 6 Flash Memory Card TS16GUSDHC6E [Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging] (The is one that comes with an SD adapter, not in the Amazon packaging, that's the one I bought) and it works perfectly.

I'm happy with this phone.

Buy Nokia N79 Unlocked Phone with 5 MP Camera, Wi-Fi, and MicroSD Slot--U.S. Version with Warranty (Sil Now

Outstanding functions, takes fantastic pictures with great Macro and high-speed capture.

But the keyboardyikes! No sensory feedback at all; it's actually tiring to use the keyboard. I had this phone for two weeksthe first week I toyed with it until I got an inexpensive case to protect it. The second week it was my full-time carry phone.

I just couldn't live with the keyboard which is a crying shame considering the functionality of the device. I'm not a huge guy, but I just couldn't keep from hitting the wrong keys and it was painful after a while even trying.

Pros-

~ Outstanding photos

~ macro, high-speed modes work great

~ Fast focus, multiple shot modes

~ Typical great Nokia reception, holds 3G really well

~ Big, crisp screen

~ Snappy OS

Cons-

~ Unusable keyboard

~ Navi-wheel is nifty gadget, but is only implemented in a handful of places in the OS and not at all in 3rd party apps. Too sensitive.

Read Best Reviews of Nokia N79 Unlocked Phone with 5 MP Camera, Wi-Fi, and MicroSD Slot--U.S. Version with Warranty (Sil Here

I've just bought the phone. I was looking for a phone which I could use for Skype and WLAN. I've upgraded the phone OS as soon as I take it out of box. I've never owned a Nokia before so I hadn't use a Symbian phone. I was using Sony Ericsson phones for ages. But since Nokia is the top seller I was expecting a very good phone.

First of all the screen design is not impressive and very classical. The SE has nice animated themes for like ages. But Nokia does not have any. The only interesting thing here is the Nokia N79 comes with 3 different clip on back covers with a sensor at the back so that the phone can understand what color back cover you are currently using and can adapt screen background color according to cover color.

My first experience with Symbian was not so promising. First of all anything you launch be it Phonebook, SMS box etc are actually small applets and takes up some memory and if you don't quit it explicitly using Exit from the menu it just goes to background when you switch to menu. In time applications take up so much memory and the phone menu handling starts to slow down and even after some point some applications especially GPS tends to lock-up easily when lots of applications are running. In all menu system is complex and an application could be launched from different menus and there's not a single key which could terminate an application when hit (like Sony Ericsson's back key). There's not a built-in facility to display how much memory an application currently occupies or some way to kill an unresponsive applet). In all Symbian is similar to your average windowing OS but not having adequate functionality to support running applications like your OS does.

GPS software have always locked up whe I tried voice navigation and I've tried it like 10 times. The only thing good about it is the cold-boot time for the GPS receiver is extremely short when compared to a pocket GPS device like Garmin etc.

The design is impressive and with the silver bright frame it reminds the older generation iPOD. Screen is just plastic which could easily scratch. My older SE k790i had a mineral screen which is hard to scratch. Keypad is consisted of strips of single plastic stripes containing three numbers in a line which makes tapping extremely hard. It is not easy to switch between typing modes like caps, small, numeric and extremely hard to add a new word to T9 dictionary. With the SE there was a dedicated soft key for adding to the dictionary.

I've really surprised to see that there's no numeric charge level indication that comes with the phone. With the SE phone status info includes the battery charge level as numeric percentage. But I've even could not find an external application which would display charge level in numeric. But the battery life is acceptable and it can survive up to 2-3 days when WLAN is enabled.

The picture quality of the 5.0MP cam is similar to my SE 3.2MP cam and it would be impossible for me to understand which pic was taken with which phone. In fact the problem with built-in cameras in phones is not the the capacity of the sensor but the optic lenses or better the lacking of them due to size limitations. Night shots are very noisy like most phone cameras. I don't think they could replace point and shoots at any time soon. Also I could not find an easy way to turn on cam light to use as a torch in the night. Thanks to incompatibility among different patch levels of the Symbian. The ones I could find did not work on S60 Patch 2.

The screen is full of very small icons and it is not easy to understand the status it indicates easily. The screen is not very bright in the sunlight and it is very hard to read the screen under the sunlight. The back is covered with reflective paper it improves visibility to some degree but my SE was again better in visibility under daylight.

The phone has some burrowed parts from iPod. There's this position sensor and it changes the screen orientation automatically when you hold it in horizontal or vertical. But the sensitivity is not so good. It sometimes switch the screen when tilted slightly or might not turn back to portrait mode again when turned slowly. The same goes with dial wheel. When enabled the wheel does not operate on the initial screen and works only when you launch the menu. then it works erratically when you launch the phonebook in that it sometimes works when you first launch or sometimes it won't work before you tap a key. Then again it is not compatible with every application that comes with the phone or later you download.

Speakers for music playback is loud enough but not very high. The music output is stereo with some useful wide stereo effect. I think the sound quality is acceptable for a phone. The radio applet is well organized and it comes with RDS which is new for Nokia. I'd never understood why Nokia refrained from using RDS for such a long time. The phone has also a phone transmitter with RDS output. It displays "Nokia" on RDS when tuned. But it would be nice if it had broadcast the song id instead. Transmitter eases stereo streaming from your phone wireless without using Bluetooth A2DP which N79 supports but most car stereo equipments are currently lacking.

The built in browser is good and it supports Adobe Flash which iPhone lacks for copyright considerations. So it is very easy to browse any web site using the phone. Somehow it is not possible to understand at any time whether it is connected through WAP/GPS/3G or WLAN. There's no icon for it on the immediate display. You need to browse to connection settings from the menu to check the current connection. It is true for all the other applications that comes default apart from GPS. It indicates the connection type.

In all, though Nokia tried some new features on it it seems that they are not tightly integrated with the OS. Smybian is not mature enough to be the OS of choice for smart phones. So I want to replace my phone with a SE G705 as soon as possible though it lacks some of the functionality of N79 like dial button, and FM transmitter.

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I got this phone as a present from my brother and I have to say, im pretty impressed with this phone. it has a lot of cool features and has two cameras with 5 mega pixels and autofocus. since when did the iPhone had auto focus on its camera, maybe in 5 years but nokia n79 brings tomorrows technology today. love this phone its the best and nokia is the best.

Toshiba SD2715 5-Disc DVD Player

• Carousel changer holds and plays up to 5 DVD-Videos or CDs
• Plays DVD-Rs as well as MP3-encoded CDs
• Includes standard composite- (yellow RCA) and S-video (for use with compatible TVs) outputs
• Up to 500 lines horizontal resolution (well exceeding VHS quality)
• Features 24-bit, 192 kHz PCM audio and 10-bit video digital-to-analog converters for optimal sound and picture quality

I researched MANY DVD players, and after much deliberation, I decided to give the Toshiba SD-2715 a try.

I had it connected to my TV and up and running in just a few mintues. The picture and audio quality were great. I had never used a "zoom" mode DVD player before, and this feature was a nice surprise that might come in handy once in a while. You can pause the movie and then zoom in to check the monogram on a shirt button, or just let the movie play while you zoom in and pan around the screen with the navigation arrows. Very cool.

The first negative thing I noticed was how SLOW this player is to identify and load a disc. It literally takes 20 seconds to figure out what kind of disc it's reading and to start playing. I tried VCD's and MP3 CD's created with my CD-RW drive on my computer, and a variety of different DVD's. So far, it has played EVERYTHING I've thrown at it... but again, the load speed is excruciatingly ssslllloooowwwww.

The only other negative is that it won't play MP3 files in random order. Who wants to listen to an MP3 CD with 250 songs on it in the SAME ORDER EVERY TIME? I'm glad it plays MP3's at all, of course, but I don't know how often I'll use this feature when there is no way to randomize the playlist.

Post purchase, I've done some research online... and so far I've only found ONE other DVD player that will actually play MP3's randomly (APEX 1500). I'm sure there are others, but I doubt that they will have all of the other positive features of this player. It's a good buy.

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The Toshiba SD2715 is a 5-disc carousel-type DVD changer. As majority of new DVD players, it plays MP3, CD-R and CD-RW.

Setup

The setup process is greatly simplified by the "First Setup Menu". Not that it is rocket science otherwise :-) ...

Styling

The changer looks quite plain, although it has a lot of buttons on the front panel. The display is located above the large tray (the tray holds 5 discs in a carousel-type changer).

Connections

The player has the following connections available:

Video: a composite-, an S-video and a ColorStream component video outs. Of course, if your TV has the component-video input, it is the best way to connect the player to it. This bypasses both TV's comb filter and color decoder. The S-Video connection produces picture quality, which is almost as good.

If your TV has an S-Video input, connecting to it using a composite video would be a major mistake, as it will introduce cross-luminance artifacts and rainbow-like Moire patterns. The difference between picture quality using composite video connection and S-Video is apparent. The S-Video is much better and allows you to bypass comb filter and feed the separate chrominance and luminance information directly to your TVs color decoder.

Given a choice between S-Video connection through the cheap cable and composite connection through the most expensive one, the former will provide better picture than the latter.

The changer has a feature called "parallel video out". It allows you watch the movie on several TVs/Monitors at once by connecting to them using S-Video, component (ColorStream) and composite outs. Why would one do something like this is a mistery to me.

Audio: The changer also has coaxial and digital audio out as well as analog stereo out.

There are two ways to get real surround sound (in addition to the fake "spatializer" that creates an illusion of surround sound from two speakers):

1. Use digital audio connection and a receiver or sound system with Dolby Digital/DTS decoder.

2. Connect analog out to Dolby Pro Logic equipment

Picture and Sound

The picture and sound quality (both digital through connection and using player's DAC) are excellent. With analog connection, the sound quality depends on the player's DAC and it is very good. Since the changer will probably also be used as a CD-player, it is a good thing that it plays CDs well.

MP3, CD-R And CD-RW

The changer plays finalized CD-R and CD-RW discs (including CD-Audio and discs with MP3 files). The SD2715 is also CD-Text compatible. It also plays DVD-R and Video CD.

Features

The changer has other, virtually "standard", DVD features: programmed playback, bookmarks, parental control, CD-audio playback, camera angle select, multi-language and multi-subtitle select, Spatializer N-2-2 Virtual Surround Sound, four slow motion forward/reverse speeds.

There is 4-power zoom and still mode, 2x playback. The supplied remote control is well laid-out.

Bottom Line

The Toshiba SD2715's is an inexpensive and feature-rich DVD/CD changer. It plays CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R and MP3. At [amt] (J&R) it is a very good deal. However, check out Panasonic CV51, if you want something that looks better.

Read Best Reviews of Toshiba SD2715 5-Disc DVD Player Here

I'm more of an audophile than a videophile so the CD handling was important and thus the reason for the carousel. Sound quality is quite good for this level of player with transparent highs and nicely filled out harmonics in the bass range. My quibble is with the carousel. Unless you select the repeat mode, it only plays one disk and stops. So every time I load cd's I must press repeat twice to get it to go through all the disks. Even the disk skip button moves it to the next disk but stops playing, despite what the owners manual says! And my last quibble is with the buttons on the cd player for repeat, random, disk exchange, and skip disk. Although conveniently placed, they're sooo small about the width of a piece of lead in a wooden pencil! I'm really worried about they're longevity in daily use. Well that's it. Great sound but questionable ergonomics.

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When our 5-disk CD player finally conked out, we replaced it with this slick DVD/CD player. As a DVD player it works just fine, but I doubt most people are looking to shuffle between 5 DVDs. Like us, most people are looking for it to do double duty as the home's primary CD player as well. If so, you might be disappointed. Two big problems:

(1) It is too slow in scanning CDs and responding to commands. If you just want to play a CD, you'll hate waiting around for it to be ready to accept your next instruction.

(2) The random shuffle mode is poorly designed. If you just hit the "random" button, it will play the tracks on one CD in random order and then stop. Huh? If you are able to get it into the random2 setting, it plays the tracks on the first CD randomly and then the tracks on the next CD randomly. Huh Huh? If you're like me, you want the random function to play the tracks on all CDs in the machine randomly. This DVD player can do that, but it's very hard to get the setting correctly because it involves hitting the random button three times. Now that doesn't sound difficult, but it has to register three hits. That means that you have to do it slow enough that the slow machine registers the hits, but fast enough that it doesn't think you're done -all this without any indication from the machine of how many hits it has registered. Hint: if you turn your TV on in DVD mode, it will actually tell you which random setting you are on. That's convenient -NOT.

First I would like to say if you have this player do not buy a Yamaha reciever to go with it. If you do get a new DVD player or at least the firmware upgrade. What happens is this. If you use digital sound it will make popping noises when switching between menus ..very annoying. Also after the firmware upgrade I have now had some srious problems with this player skipping scenes...also very annoying.Also,can you say slow? This has to be one of the slowest players I have ever come across. It does play everything but it sure takes its time getting going.

on the plus side it has a very good remote and as a whole the dvd player would be awesome if I could just be sure that I was going to see the whole movie everytime. I thought the cutout scenes were suppose to be in the menu not during the movies...at random!!!!!!!!

Do some research first. BUY WITH CAUTION!!!!!!!

Philips CDR770BK CD Recorder

• CD-R (write once) and CD-RW (rewritable) compatible
• CD Text and text-entry capable
• Coaxial and optical digital inputs
• Recording-balance adjustment
• 99-track programming

I made my purchase based on the reviews posted here, and I wound up with the first truly bad electronics purchase I've made in 40 years. I hate this machine. OK, as others have noticed, the sound quality is fine. (I should hope so, we're copying digitally!)

The instruction manual is virtually useless. The main control,. the jog shuttle, is a real pain to use. Many functions are only on the remote, so should you misplace it, you're up a creek.

The auto track setting is TOO long. It's the rare CD that has the required 1.7 second spaces between for the AutoTrack function to work, so you often wind up with CDs with songs clumped in threes and fours, or even no separated tracks at all. Resetting to manual is not only awkward and confusing (and not helped by the instructions), this means you wind up having to babysit your recordings and putting the track separations in.

Worst of all, if you don't finalize your CD at the time of recording and take it out of the machine, or if you simply forget, or put it off to later, you can't go back and do it. The machine keeps telling you there is no disc. There is nothing in the instructions that forewarns you of this, nor is there any direction of any way to override this. This means wasted time and wasted money on blank CDs that you can't do anything with, not to mention SERIOUS aggravation if you've just spent seventy four minutes clicking spaces in for records you've recorded.

My advice? Shop around. Get the facts before you make a four hundred dollar investment. You've been forewarned about a couple of major flaws!

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I've had two CD burners in my lifetime, the first was a Pioneer, and frankly, out of the two, I like this one a lot better. My band and I made a demo CD, and we sold it to one of our friends. I came to his apartment one day, and he had it on. Our songs were so clear, it was unbelieveable. I asked if he had a new stereo, and he answered it was the same one (he is notorious for picking out bad equipment). It must be the burner, I thought. Today, I can mix and burn my own CDs, and take them to clubs, and the audio will just be unbelievable. The mixes are easy to stop, unlike some stereos, and you can easily turn up one instrument and turn down another. A good item, with wonderful sound.

Read Best Reviews of Philips CDR770BK CD Recorder Here

I had only one problem with this Philips CD Recorder that I wish that they could put a track increment button on the CD Recorder because if you lose the remote control you can't change tracks manually on analog recordings. I thought CD Recording was very hard to do, but Philips made a very easy to use CD Recorder. I highly recommend this CD Recorder if you are beginning to do CD Recording.

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Somehow the 2.5 seconds delay for track switching was the decision of some Exec. that never recorded a tune, songs clumped together is what you get if you don't sit thru the recording session with the remote in hand for 74 min. The "disk error" in middle of the recording with no apparent reason is another pain, when this happens you can trash the disk because it's useless (can't finalize or continue recording). I've played around with it enough so if one way of recording doesn't work I try another till I get it to do what I want, but nevertheless it's frustrating at times. Really overpriced and not easy to use for any first timer. But once the bugs are known I still got some excellent sounding CD's done from all sources. LP's, Old Cassettes, etc... Nobody mentioned in these reviews but some of the CD's tend to skip for no apparent reason, never in the same place. Has anyone else had this problem?

RFinal note do your Research or wait for the 5th or 6th Generation Burners.

i got the phillips recorder 3 days ago.i was thrilled.one day after having it the sound when i played a disc was all distorted..awful sounding.after turning it off for a minutes it went away.then i recorded a song in fast speed..after playing the disc i noticed the sound on the recorded cd was all distorted on the last track..so i wasted 74 minutes on junk.then today i returned it ......came home plugged it in and the tray on the right side will not open,no matter what i do..i called the philips 800 help line they told me to return it...AGAIN!!!!!!!!if this doesnt make you decide not to waste your money i dont know what will.

RCA RP3503 "Shoebox" Cassette Voice Recorder

• Compact design has the features of a full sized cassette recorder in a slim package
• Automatic level control provides a constant recording level regardless of the volume control setting
• 3-digit tape counter for easy tracking of your location on the tape
• Retractable carry handle
• Includes external stand-up microphone, AC/DC adapter

I'll preface my review by stating that if I were searching for a high quality voice recorder I would have gone with a brand other than RCA. However, I needed an inexpensive unit which my two young children could operate without much difficulty, and one that played music cassettes. This one does the trick. It is light, compact and easy to use, the sound is decent, the microphone keeps them entertained since they can record their own voices on tape, and the unit operates on both battery or A/C which means I can tote it along in the car to keep them busy. I searched all over for the actual toddler tough versions of these tape recorders which were sold a few years back, Fisher Price or Playskool I believe, but it seems that technology caught up to even the little kids' toys and the units are all CD or MP3 now, which my children don't yet use. This cassette recorder suits our needs just fine for now, and at an affordable price.

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The RCA cassette recorder which I purchased from Amazon for $24.99 did not work after several days of sporadic usage. I tried different tapes and had the same non-working result.

Audiovox is listed in the manual as the distributor, but it states that I must pay/ship the defective recorder to a "Product Exchange Center" in Texas. The RCA warranty does not cover such things as (1) Customer Instruction...and allows the Exchange Center to charge me for "service not covered" whatever that may be. Additionally, it also allows the Exchange Center to ship me a "refurbished" unit.

This entire ordeal has soured me on buying anything but books from Amazon. It would easier to buy a recorder from the local Best Buy and be able to return a defective item for a new one or my money back.

Read Best Reviews of RCA RP3503 "Shoebox" Cassette Voice Recorder Here

I purchased this inexpensive unit solely for the purpose of using it to record individuals that I would be profiling in the local newspaper. Since the purchase this summer, I have been satisfied with the quality of the unit's performance.

For those seeking something of a higher standard, then money should be spent. However, for a basic recorder/player, one can't pass this one up.

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I recently purchased this tape recorder, only to be quite disappointed by its quality (or complete lack thereof). Not only was the recorded sound awful, but the playback was pitch-warped and jumpy. I should have trusted my Dad, who says this brand is the pits. My mistake! I have since used the Sony TCM-929, and it is excellent...it does what it claims to do.

Don't waste your money on this one!

I loved this product, when it was working, then one day, less than 2 months since I got it, it just stopped, went dead.

Checked it, had someone else check it--but no, it's just not working anymore.

It's inexpensive, yes, but when it stops working so soon, it would have been cheaper to have paid a little more for something with higher quality.

RCA used to be a reliable brand... too bad...

VIAVOICE PRO REGULAR (WIN 98,ME,XP,VISTA)

The real-time speech recognition of IBM ViaVoice 10 is extremely good. It is possible to get 99% accuracy. Possible is the key word here. In order to do that, you need a good microphone (better than what is included) and you will have to teach it words that it doesn't know (i.e. Plantronics, uncommon names). And you'll need to be in a supported product like Microsoft Word. If all these conditions are met, you're in like Flint.

I, unfortunately, was trying to use Internet Explorer, and the support was less than stellar. The voice command "surf the web" did launch it and the "home", "back", and "forward" commands worked well to do the obvious. But the undocumented commands became key to navigation. To tab from one field or link to the next, you say "next field". "Previous field" is like a shift-tab to go backwards. "next line" and "previous line" seem to be equivalent to the down and up arrows.

The microphone included with this package is the Andrea NC-61 along with the Andrea USB pod, which is a half of a sound card (microphone side only) that connects through your USB port. I found the quality of the pod to be excellent. Andrea advertises the NC-61 headset as using noise cancelling technology, but I found this microphone to not even be directional, and pretty much useless in any environment in which anyone else was speaking, however softly, in the same room. I did purchase separately an Andrea ANC-750 microphone and the noise cancelling on that microphone was quite good. (note: there is some white noise in the background that is audible if you use the ANC-750 to make a recording, but this should be ignored, as it is part of the noise cancelling system.)

The best performance was when I used a high quality studio microphone in a quiet environment to create my voice profile by reading their text. The recognition accuracy was amazing. I used an AKG C-3000 (needs phantom power), but I've heard that a Sennheiser MD431 II is another excellent microphone, and has noise canceling properties as well. The best performance I got from my ANC-750 headset was when I used the voice profile created with the C-3000.

I give the voice recognition part of the software a 5, the navigational ability a 2, and the included microphone a 2, hence my rating of 3 overall.

Installed ViaVoice 10 in Windows XP Pro...

And sometimes it opens and sometimes it doesn't. Mainly doesn't.

Then I find this...via Google..

Problem:

After launching Dragon or ViaVoice and clicking a link in one of the menus, the system locks up or freezes. Other symptoms include Dragon NaturallySpeaking's Select-and-Say or ViaVoice's dictation and commands fail in Microsoft Office XP applications, such as Word and Microsoft Outlook.

Cause:

Microsoft Office XP's "Alternate User Input" installs a background process called CTFMON.exe which can interfere with Dragon or ViaVoice. The following information was taken from the Microsoft website:

"...Ctfmon.exe monitors the active windows and provides text input service support for speech recognition, handwriting recognition, keyboard, translation, and other alternative user input technologies...."

And you can get NO, repeat, NO, help from ScanSoft.

DO NOT BUY!

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An earlier ViaVoice installation 3 years ago went fine and the product was pretty useful and accurate enough for my purposes.

ViaVoice version 10 however has been a nightmare. I still have not been able to install it on a Win2K-SP4 computer. I am a fairly advanced computer programmer/systems person with 20+ years of experience.

Support is virtually non-existent from Scansoft. My 30 days of free support from IBM where I purchased the product has not been honored. All support has to come from Scansoft.

Great features, if you can access them. I am seriously thinking of demanding my money back. Washington State has some very consumer friendly laws regarding "Fitness for Purpose", one more reason I am grateful to live in the Northwest.

Read Best Reviews of VIAVOICE PRO REGULAR (WIN 98,ME,XP,VISTA) Here

I have had ViaVoice 10 for several years. I finally had to uninstall it because it ran so slow, meaning the whole computer. I use technical terms and it was so complicated to get the words recognized by the software. It was like being in training with it for ever. Then a week ago I installed Naturally Speaking 9 Preferred. This is so great. It runs fast and it is simple. The nice thing is I am able to use my headset mic from ViaVoice which is USB and it is smooth as silk and extremely fast and accurate. As for building a vocabulary, where with ViaVoice you have to pronounce each word, Naturally Speaking simply scans all your emails and documents and pulls the words into your vocabulary. I have a brain injury so it takes me awhile to get it figured out. I guess I need to do the tutorial a few times, but that is maybe 30 minutes a time. I had no problem registering my copy. It went smooth as silk. It is one of the best things I ever got. A friend first told me about Naturally Speaking several years ago and how his son was writing these great papers for school in no time at all, and I was crawling around with ViaVoice. I should have taken a hint too, as all of the colleges and universities around here have used Naturally Speaking for years and years. A much better product.

If ViaVoice did not have IBM's name on it no one would even pay any attention to it. Plus v.10 is old. Forget it. Let it go. They simply did not develop it to the extent necessary. But Nuance did, and so much the better, man! Get Naturally Speaking but you might need a better microphone. The one that came with mine was junk, but I did not need it and I got a great price on eBay. Can't be happier that I got the sense to get rid of ViaVoice. It was like dragging around a ball and chain. Naturally Speaking is like freedom--at last! Light is coming through the windows as the ease of using it and its effectiveness makes itself better each day I use it.

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I wondered why there were so many bad reviews and so many good reviews,for this now excellent product, Usually when you get one stars then something was set up wrong so we bought it, because we had the standard edition for one of my other computers and I really liked it, I just needed to do some files off of MP3 files on the computer (transcription of college clagsses)

and I think I know the answer to the bad reviews.

When I installed Via voic (We have the USB edition) we had horrible trouble with the recognition and it didn't even act as good as the standard edition (We installed it on a newer laptop running XP)

and it took long time for words to be typed as if it was really working,and thinking much too hard. I tried different mikes, USB and everything and it would not do well.

So I used Cool Edit to see what the matter was, the mic sensitivity was almost off!

Evidently when the program installs it uses whatever mike sensitivity you have set and xp comes with the mike almost OFF! and leaves it, while Dragon naturally speaking must set it appropriately.

This is easily fixable.

I turned the mike to half gain and it was blasting into the red and did poorly, so I turned it to 1/8 to 1/4 on, and it has been doing excellent!

go to START/control panel/sound and click on microphone setup and advanced. there is a super amplification switch, turn that off, then turn the mic cgain to about 1/3. the best is when I plug it right into the speaker and mike ports in the Laptop.

Runs GREAT!

I bought both via voice PRO and dragon poreferred.

You dont need the USB mike just plug it into the laptop directly with the above mike settings

GREAT!

I like how via voice functions better but my college age boy likes dragon cause he can train it a bit more detailed.

If I speak normally it hits all of my words and even some scientific terms and is great at new words. It is better than previous editions and very little correction needed its either all good or it wont type hardly anything. We installed dragon and I like this one better, for minimal fuss and training.

BUT HERE IS THE FINAL SAY

VIA VOICE installs right from the hard disk and you can run it right away. No PERMISSIONS REQUIRED! Just like the early days of computing when we were treated like humans. I don't cheat and steal I always buy a specific copy for each computer, because that is what I would want others to do to me. If I don't like the program I trash it

Dragon, you have to have an internet connection, and we had to go to the library to even activate it, that was no fun. I have had other programs that need activation and some are reasonable, and some treat you like a criminal.

About Dragon, if you computer crashes you have to authorize, and some programs you can't reinstall, I have had to buy 3 dopies of auto-tune already tough nuts, and I cant wait for a competitor to come along.

I dislike all programs that need hand holding on the internet, I like privacy and I don't like to be treated like a crook. I like to be able to run programs without getting permission from engineers who are trying to go to pay per use programming on the internet. The latest programs don't even belong to you, you just have permission to run them for a while till they discontinue it, then you'd have to buy the next version. This has happened to me already.

And I don't appreciate it.

Soon you will not be able to even run your computer without internet, and continuous payments. The new operating systems won't even run programs unless they have been OK'd by the big boys.

. Well, we dont like or appreciate that, and we son't support them either..

I still have my original disks from Office 2000,and 2002. Office 2003 Is too controlling I never bought it and it wont run with via voice USB another good reason to buy

Via voice, they are all right in my book.

Word L&H translating, cool edit and now via voice and I have a lot of money invested in windows 98 SE and it runs just fine. I love how you can hit alt-ctrl-del and stop all spyware dead in its tracks, I here vesta will have shadowed memory that will allow programs to run and even your operating system won't be able to detect it or something like that. Count be out.

Using Norton Ghost I can have a pristine system up and running in ten minutes all new installed.

I will stay with that, it can crash every 2 years so what. Start fresh.

the only program that sucks is an auto tuning program, which I have had to buy several copies already cause they dont allow you to reinstall once you crash and I still need it for a few weeks. Pain in the behind.

and can affordbelieve when your disk crashes, soon I will trash that program too.

Any way VIA VOICE ROCKS and it will be installable for the next 100 years even if the company goes bankrupt and it works WELL!

thanks!

(I think I will buy an extra copy just for a backup before they go to internet monitored run time, I will still be dictating just fine for the next 8 years.

Logitech 961-000391 Alert 750N Indoor Security Master System and Add-On Camera (Gray)

First of all the SETUP is very easy. The on screen prompts will take you though the steps.

1. Install the software.

2. Plug the master network adapter into the power outlet and plug the Ethernet cable into your router

3. Plug the camera into power outlet and click yes to update firmware (adapters and camera).

NOTE: Do not unplug the camera or the master adapter during the update.

Wow that was easy. It took less than 15 minutes to get the system up and running.

You can even use your neighbors WiFi signal (please ask first) more below.

PICTURE QUALITY

The picture quality is great (but not HD and not what you have come to expect from a digital camera) during daylight hours but not so great at capturing clear pictures of moving objects in total darkness. However in my case I have a flood light with motion detector that comes on when someone enters the area at night making the video bright and clear.

MOTION DETECTION

What I like is that you can draw areas on the actual image from the video camera to trigger recording. In other words you can eliminate false recordings from cars going by or movement outside your property.

You set up each camera individually providing ultimate flexibility in alerts, sensitivity and recording. In addition, once you have created a LogitechAlert account, you can select which cameras triggers an email alert.

EMAIL ALERTS

You set the LogitechAlert account up from the Settings Menu (the gearwheel icon).

From here you can enter several email addresses. I have mine set to send a text to my cell phone (as I don't have a smart phone with email and web access).

Most cell phone providers offers an email address starting with your cell phone number that will be forwarded to you as a text message.

Please look the email address up on your providers web page. I can not put them up due to Amazon posting regulations.

You may get charged for each text by your cell phone provider so make sure to set the Alert Frequency and Motion Filter conservatively (from within the Settings Menu Alerts-Advanced).

As mentioned above, I have not received one false alarm although my system is still set using the default values.

RECORDING WITH PC TURNED OFF THIS IS A GREAT FEATURE.

The camera(s) stores all motion triggered activity regardless if you have the PC on or off. To review all recorded activity, start the PC and click the "Enter Playback Mode" icon. A very intuitive calendar and timeline shows up indicating recordings. Point to a time and click on play to see the activity.

UPDATE:

You can review/playback history from only the dedicated PC on your network.

Logitech suggests not loading the software on more than on PC on the network.

If you do, you can only watch live video but review/playback will not work from the other PC's (also unexpected results may occur).

NOTE: You can view the real time images from anywhere on the web with the free Logitech Web Alert Viewer. To get full control with playback via a remote PC you must purchase the Logitech Web and Mobile Commander for an annual fee* of $80 (at the time of this writing).

Unless...

You keep a PC turned on all the time and control it from any PC (or web enabled phone) on the web using Teamviewer or LogMeIn (both are free for private use you can download the programs from Cnet.com). Then you can access the Logitech Alert Commander interface as you normally do from home.

UPDATE 1: I am using the free version of LogMeIn and it works great. The only disadvantage is that you can not hear audio from the home computer. But you can see the live video feed and use playback along with camera adjustments etc. Actually you can operate your home computer just as if you were sitting in front of it. You can access it from work or anywhere in the world via the internet.

UPDATE 2: I have now used both remote programs for over a month. Logmein appear to be unreliable with respect to video quality. TEAMVIEWER IS THE WINNER (To get perfect video quality: select "View", "Optimize Quality" from the TeamViewer screen on the remote computer). TeamViewer will also let you transfer recorded video files (or any file for that matter) when you are away from home.

Cost for leaving your home computer on all the time.

The cost for a 40 Watts consumer** 24 hours per day, 365 days per year = $35/year at $0.10 per kWh.

However, LogMeIn allows you to use "Wake Up On LAN" so you can turn your home computer on from the remote computer (Too much to cover here).

* Come on Logitech!!! Reduce it to a $50 one time fee and sell more systems to happier customers.

** One UPS manufacturer estimates 40 watts power consumption from an entry level desk top with a 20 LCD monitor. Turn the monitor off and bring the cost down even more. Also set the hard drive to turn off if not in use via Windows "Power Options Interface". You may also be able to set the home computer to "Wake up on LAN".

INSTALLATION OF THE CAMERA'S POWER/DATA ADAPTER IN THE ATTIC

First of all I wanted to hide the wire to the camera.

Logitech's instructions show the power/data wire going from the camera to a power outlet on the side of the house.

Consequently a thief can easily unplug the camera.

Solution

Pull an extension cord from a power outlet in the attic (or somewhere else) and connect it to the grey power supply/adapter for the camera.

IT WORKS!!!

NOTE: WHATEVER YOU DO WHEN PULLING WIRES MAKE SURE THEY ARE IN COMPLIANCE WITH LOCAL CODES.

I know Logitech Customer Service had told another reviewer "The adapters CANNOT be installed in the attic".

Logitech may be concerned about high attic temperatures present in some climates.

My attic does not get very hot; in addition I mounted the adapter just above the lower perimeter soffit vent where outside air constantly flows in.

The power/data Ethernet cable to the exterior camera (mounted under the roof overhang) is now routed through the soffit to the camera adapter in the attic.

Drill a 9/16" (14 mm) hole to allow the Ethernet plug to pass through the soffit. Mount the power adapter over the soffit vent with the power cable coming out at the top as shown in Logitech's instructions.

NOTE: I used a 100 foot grounded heavy duty extension cord plugged into a grounded power outlet. I don't know if using a grounded outlet and grounded extension cord matters because none of the adapters are equipped with grounded plugs. You may not need a heavy duty cord as the camera adapter uses very little power.

PREVENT BLACKOUT DURING POWER OUTAGES USING A UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply)

I still want the surveillance system to work during power outages or if the power line to the house is cut.

The Manual tell you it will not work if you use a surge protector or UPS.

Solution

I already have the cable modem and the wireless router plugged into an APC BN600R Battery Backup (UPS), so all I had to do was to plug the black Logitech network adapter into the UPS and pull an extension cord from the UPS to the grey Logitech camera adapter. All the equipment is fed from a single UPS.

IT WORKS!!!

The disadvantage is that you have to pull extension cord(s) from the UPS to the camera adapters. In my case it was not a problem because the extension cord would drop down from the attic between the studs in one of the walls to where I have my router.

I am sure you can use a higher capacity UPS as long as ALL your Logitech adapters are connected to it.

WHATEVER YOU DO WHEN PULLING WIRES MAKE SURE THEY ARE IN COMPLIANCE WITH LOCAL CODES.

SOUND/AUDIO

Out of the box there was no audio from the camera.

Solution

To turn the sound on:

1) Un-mute from the Command screen (slider at the right hand bottom) and

2) Click on Settings (gearwheel icon) and click on the camera name (your camera(s) will be listed by the name you give them during setup "Entry way", "Hall way" etc.)

Then check the box Enable Audio (after accepting the legal notice).

Note: If you have more than one camera, you have to Enable Audio for each one.

GOOD QUALITY PRICE RATIO

Overall I will rate the Logitech 750e a quality system for the money. As an alternative, you can purchase professional systems that will cost thousands of $ but is unlikely that they have the remote access this system has.

Perhaps Logitech have "beefed up" the mounting hardware for the camera. My hardware is rigid and of good quality. Another reviewer had problems with the hardware.

(I tightened and pre-adjusted the holder/adapter and added a drop of Locktite (blue) to the threads prior to installation. It is easier done on the ground as compared to the top of a 15 foot ladder).

UPDATE: The mounting plate is covered with a rubber cover. You have to tighten the holder rod FIRMLY to the base to ensure a rigid mount (or else the camera will wiggle).

Also, one of the cameras would turn freely no matter how hard the thumbscrew was tightened. It turned out that there is a phillips screw hiden inside the short rod which is being clamped by the thumbscrew assembly. The phillips screw was loose. Simply remove the thumbscrew completely to take the assembly apart. Then tighten the phillips screw and put it back together.

Logitech, QA/QC you need to address this issue. This is probably why so many people are complaining about the camera mount.

ALARM SYSTEM Section added October 7, 2011

Before installing the system I had tried a couple of alarm systems with wireless sensors on the windows and doors. It was a lot of work to set up and configure but I could have lived with that if it wasn't for the false alarms. THEY DROVE ME AND THE NEIGHBORS CRAZY.

Now I use the Logitech camera-setup as a silent alarm system. The email/text message alert tells me if a camera detects motion and I can immediately check what is going on over the internet via my Android phone (I finally got one) or from the PC in the hotel lobby.

This way you can actually watch what is going on in and around the house before calling the police.

Suggestion: Add the number for the dispatcher at your local police station to your phone book. (Calling 911 from Florida will probably take too long if your house is in Maine).

Here is what I have learned.

A camera MAY report motion (and send an email/text message*) if the shadows from clouds etc suddenly moves across the area the camera is set to monitor. I say MAY because it very seldom happens.

The solution is to exclude these window or potential "moving shadow" areas from the cameras trigger area(s).

A camera WILL report motion if a large insect or flying leaf moves over the trigger area. Even a small chipmunk on the ground will trigger the camera. Consequently I do not use an outside camera to send me text messages if motion is detected.

When an outdoor camera is operating in night vision mode insects are attracted to it like a regular light bulb. Fortunately it is only a special type of insect that triggers my camera. It looks like a white flying spiral worm that is one to two inches long and 0.5" in diameter (I have not observed any other type of insects trigger a camera).

* Providing you have armed the system.

HOW TO CONNECT WITHOUT CABLE, DSL or ADSL INTERNET SERVICE Section added February 21, 2012

We have a cabin without wired internet service and without 3G broadband signal. The good news is that my year-round neighbor has internet service and a WiFi router. The signal from the router is very weak. However I managed to get EXCELLENT signal strength using the Alfa AWUS036H 1000mW 1W 802.11b/g USB Wireless WiFi network Adapter with 5dBi Antenna and Suction cup Window Mount dock for Wardriving & Range Extension antenna connected to the USB port on my computer.

Next step was to get the signal into a router. Again, Alfa to the rescue; they make a small but very sophisticated router that connects to their antenna (or a 3G USB adapter). Alfa R36 802.11 b, g N, Repeater and Range Extender for AWUS036H can also be used as a 3G Router Enables you to Extend to Signal that is picked up by the AWUS036H and distribute the internet to multiple Users (Desktops, Laptops, tablets, iPods or iPad...

It was very simple to set up: WiFi signal from neighbor -> to Alfa Antenna -> to USB port on the R36 router -> to the black Logitech network adapter via Ethernet cable -> to PC running the Logitech software (this last step is optional).

NOTE ALL COMPONENTS MUST BE POWERED DOWN AND UP AGAIN FOR THE CAMERA TO BE FOUND AND BECOME LIVE VIA THE Alert.Logitech.com website.

That was easy...

... and my neighbor did not have a problem sharing his WiFi signal in the spirit of neighborhood watch and safety.

BONUS

Now we have our own private LAN with full WiFi and internet access for all our WiFi gadgets throughout the cabin.

Ever wondered how to set up a PRIVATE LAN using your neighbors WiFi signal NOW YOU KNOW!

SUMMARY

Very easy setup

Great picture quality in daylight but not in total darkness

Motion detection is very reliable

Flexible email alert settings

Workaround if you don't have a phone with email or web access

Recording with PC turned off great feature

Workaround to avoid paying $80 per year for remote access

Attic installation of the camera's power adapter

How to connect "Battery UPS backup"

How to turn the sound feature on

Using the cameras as a Security System

Connect the system to the internet via WiFi or 3G

I hope this review helps you. The system is very easy to get up and running. YOU CAN DO IT!!!

I've been waiting for an inexpensive HD security system to come out. This system is pretty good and, for the most part, does what I want it to do.

SETUP: Setup isn't too bad. Just remember to read the directions but there are a few gotchas such as, you can't plug the camera side or the network side plugs into a power strip because of the circuitry screws up the data making it out of the power strip. This leads to the first problem I have. You have to use a dedicated outlet for each plug. In my older house, plugs are few and far between.

SOFTWARE: The software installation was quick and painless. Immediately the software updated the firmware for my camera which was nice. The software controls are OK. It's missing some key features in my opinion. There is no "record" button. So it only records if it detects motion. I want the ability to be able to record on demand.

MOTION: You can select up to 6 zones that trigger recordings and alerts when there is movement. The downside is, the zones are only square. I wish you could make angles as well. The motion is too sensitive imho. I have it all the way down and it finally seems to be only pick up large movement.

CAMERA: The camera is of very high quality. It is all metal and it feels solid and like it will last a long time. I was surprised on how well built it is. It also has a microphone that works really well. It picks up everything. The last thing is the night vision. It works pretty good. The image quality is pretty good. I give it an 8 out of 10 when looking at the picture in the software. To my surprise, the image when viewing the videos manually are better!

REMOTE VIEWING: Viewing the image on my iphone is pretty cool. There is about a 5-10 second delay, which is to be expected. Viewing the image at is decent, though you already know from the other reviews that there is no sound with remote viewing.

ALERTS: The email alerts are cool but I wish they would send you a screen shot as to why there was an alert. So imagine you get an alert, you log onto or view the picture on your phone and now whatever it is that triggered the alert is gone, so you have no ideas what happened. On top of that, the free viewing doesn't have any way to rewind to see what's going on, so you'll have to wait until you get home. One workaround is, if you have remote software for your PC, you can remotely connect to your PC and view the software that way, but most users will have no idea how to do this.

The other alert is right on your desktop, which seems cool at first, a sound is made and then a small picture pops up. the problem is, you can't click the picture to make it bigger, it just disappears after a few seconds.

OTHER: The cord that comes with the camera is not long enough. I think it's 25ft. Which is decent, but they should give you 100ft for the money that you pay. You can buy more cord but I feel you shouldn't have to with the first camera.

All in all, I like this setup though it could use some improvements here and there. I plan to keep mine and add more cameras hoping they improve the software.

UPDATE: After doing some research over the weekend, I realize how bad the Logitech software really is. Instead I decided to go with software called, "Blue Iris" which is worlds better than the Logitech software in every way. So much so, I paid $50 for it. After that, I realized that the appeal of the Logitech camera system starts to fade since I could literally buy any camera and use it with Blue Iris. Currently I am running Blue Iris with one Logitech 700e and my Logitech C910 HD webcam and it works flawlessly. Admittedly it's not going to be as easy for normal folk, but for a techie like me, it's more than worth the effort. Bottom line, if you decide to get the Logitech camera, don't waste your money on the "System" package and just get the camera and purchase Blue Iris instead. Or, do what I plan to do, research similar cameras and see what my options are.

BTW If you want to just connect to your camera, download VLC player and then use the "Advanced File Open" menu and type "" or " Cheers!

11/5/2011 Update: OK, I've had the cameras for almost a year now. I've been really happy with them. For the price, you can't beat it. I raised the stars back to 3. I still ding it for a few things. I really wish it was 30fps, but I guess it would be a lot of bandwidth over the internet, so they probably made a decision to chop it 15fps to conserve bandwidth and to save a little money on the camera side. I still use Blue Iris for 99% of my recording(I record 24/7 for 7 days). I actually use the email alerts with Logitech over Blue Iris since Blue Iris has a bug where it spits garbage onto the screen and falsely sets off the motion. I mentioned in my earlier review that there are no pictures with the email alerts. I was wrong, there is! I have caught somebody casing my house(they ended up robbing my next door neighbors house), I caught an accident, and a couple of drug deals. I see which critters walk around my house at night(raccoons, cats, and skunks), and catch everything from spiders to birds to every solicitor that comes to my door. I love knowing when people are coming and going. I see when packages are delivered and all with great clarity. If Logitech could add 24/7 recording, diagonal blocks on the motion page and lower the price of the yearly subscription, I would give them a 5. Anyhoo, just thought I'd post again since I felt my 2 stars were a bit low.

Buy Logitech 961-000391 Alert 750N Indoor Security Master System and Add-On Camera (Gray) Now

We have always been Logitech users and strong supporters so choosing their outdoor security camera seemed to be a no-brainer. Unfortunately this was not the case. We don't know whether it is just this product group or a corporate change in direction butThis product is poorly thought out, the support is all but non-existent and overall experience is regrettable.

Others have mentioned the sad state of the bracket. I did not imagine it could be so bad. It is worse. It is weak and flimsy and, if the extension arm is put on, destined to fail.

The product description says: "Complete outdoor digital video security system, easy to install, no new wiring or networking needed". While possibly true in some cases, it certainly was not in ours.

Few of us have a free wall outlet within a few feet of our computer yet you must plug a giant power supply/HomePlug bridge into a wall outlet by your computer. It cannot plug into a surge strip or UPS and, if you place it in the upper outlet (as illustrated) it will block the lower. If you try to hang it off the lower outlet it is unsecured and is constantly trying to fall out. So much for dependabilityno backup and limited stay-in. And you are out one entire outlet.

The power supply/HomePlug bridge then is supposed to plug into your router with a short, flimsy flat CAT-5 cable. If you are wireless you are out of luck. It is "wireless" meaning it uses HomePlug powerline carrier but not 802.11 Wi-Fi.

If you have anything else plugged into your router you may also be in trouble. I have a network printer, streaming DVD , satellite dish and a DSL modem which all got along fine before. When I plug in the Home-Plug device the whole network goes down. Tech Support might help me trick it into functioning but they do not call back or answer emails.

The outdoor installation is interesting, too. The HomePlug bridge/power supply plugs into a right angle adapter that cannot fit in an outdoor box with anything else. It also wants to rock out of the outlet and must be secured. You are out one entire outlet.

The two circuits for the two HomePlug adapters have to be free of other devices that might interfere. If it doesn't work the instructions say to "just" plug it in to another closer outlet. So you have the "freedom" to mount it anywhere you have a dedicated outlet that has nothing else on the circuit. You cannot, necessarily, place the camera where you wanted to place it. I had an electronic outdoor lighting timer that could not coexist with the HomePlug. You are now out one entire circuit.

The outdoor supply/bridge is on a 2 foot cord and can be placed anywhere. Anywhere, that is, within about a foot of the box in a single acceptable orientation at the same height as the box and with a drip loop below. It cannot mouth sideways right or left, above, or upside down. And then for the best partit cannot be mounted in the sun! You just bought an "outdoor" system that cannot be mounted in the sun!

The camera once mounted on the aforementioned flimsy bracket is then wired with an equally flimsy flat CAT-5 cable. The camera and the power supply have to be opened up to receive it. Oh, by the way, the camera cannot be mounted in the sun either! Their outdoors must be different than my outdoors.

After it doesn't work you call Tech Support and hold for half an hour if you are lucky. The guy then tells you that he thinks you have a bad camera but that he has to escalate to Second Tier Support who work sometime Monday through Friday. They do not call or answer your email.

My wife and I are both technical people in the electronics industry. We are not intimidated by technical issues and know quality when we see it. We haven't seen it in this product.

Read Best Reviews of Logitech 961-000391 Alert 750N Indoor Security Master System and Add-On Camera (Gray) Here

Will it be a good system one day? ...probably it does has tremendous potential but honestly, it's not ready for prime time having spent almost $2000 to buy and install this system, I'm committed and just hoping that one day soon Logitech will issue a MAJOR software update (and some firmware improvements too) that lifts this camera up to the level it deserves. RIGHT NOW, the cameras are substantially under-served by the software, which is almost so elementary it's pitiful. And if I were to go away and the power flickered, even for ten seconds, I'd have 0 access to my system and no way to reset it. Again, RIDICULOUS!

I finally managed to get Logitech's attention with a rant on their forum (like so many of us have had to do) and they actually had a L2 supervisor call me we had a nice discussion but basically nothing great came out of that except a lot of promises for future enhancements if they are true to their word, I may ultimately be a very happy user, but so far, I could have gotten twice the cameras for half the price in another brand probably not the video quality but acceptable. That is Logitech Alert's saving grace: video quality during daylight hours, is excellent. At night, not so much.

Wake up Logitech! You have a great product with lousy software (and even worse "support") time to get your software engineers off their hind ends and get this nice camera system working like it should! It's taking way to long and the general lack of "response" from Logitech on the forums is at best, limited and contrite. After spending nearly 2 G's, I expect better than that.

Oh, one more thing: if you want to have "full function" access on your Iphone or via a web browser, you will have to pay an annual fee not very reasonable at $89/yr especially when the only thing it brings is ability to playback "motion alerts" (of which there will be MANY if it's raining or snowing or the wind is blowing because their sensitivity controls are not able to adjust for these normal, almost daily "events" and cannot distinquish between rain falling and some unauthorized human prowling around your home or business. AND you cannot have full control of your cameras if you install this system on your laptop and go on a trip you must leave the "Commander" on the network for it to work otherwise you are limited to your SD recordings (all 2 GB of them, which can be a day or so if it's raining!)

Good luck but if I was you, I'd wait until you see some glowing reports about improvements and software enhancements before spending this kind of money. It's just not quite ready for prime time.

Want Logitech 961-000391 Alert 750N Indoor Security Master System and Add-On Camera (Gray) Discount?

As others have already mentioned, this is a great system for people that want to set up a good quality surveillance/monitoring system but don't necessarily have the technical skills to do so and/or don't want to run the wires all over their house for a CCTV setup. The powerline adapters make it easy to install the cameras anywhere you want as long as there is a power outlet nearby. There are some limitations there, but it should work for most common applications. In my particular case, I didn't use the powerline adapters and have my Alert cameras running from a POE (Power-over-Ethernet) switch, so the cameras are fully POE compliant. I won't go into pros of the system since they have already been covered by other reviewers earlier, but I wanted to mention a few things that are not necessarily cons of the system, but something I would have liked to have available:

The desktop Commander software can only be used from one computer on your network; if you have more than one computer at home, you will not be able to manage or monitor your cameras from other computer(s), unless you use the web version of the Commander on that other computer(s). If you only want to monitor your camera from another computer, you can just use the free version of the Web Commander for that, but if you also want to be able to manage your cameras, you will have to pay the annual fee as if you were doing it remotely. It would be nice to be able to manage your system from any computer on your network.

It would be nice to be able to schedule email alerts for only certain hours of the day. I only want to receive motion alerts from my cameras when I'm not at home, and I want them to stop when I get home because otherwise the system starts "spamming" you with emails from each camera every few minutes as you and your family keep moving around the house and triggering the motion detectors. It got to the point where I have to manually turn off the alerts when I get home, and remember to turn them on before I leave in the morning, which is easy to forget.

It would also be nice to have the Commander software included with the add-on cameras, or simply make it available for download from Logitech's website. It would save people that want to run the system via POE (without using the powerline adapters) a few dollars by not having to purchase the Master System since they don't need anything that comes with it other than the software.

Maybe someone from the Logitech's team will read this review and decide to incorporate some of these requests into the future releases of the Commander software.