Bell+Howell DV5HDZ Touch Screen Full High Definition 1080p Digital Video Camcorder with 5x Optical

When I was a kid, the closest thing to a camcorder that was available were movie cameras that used either 8mm or 16mm movie film. Some had no sound recording capabilities for home use, and some did. Our family had a Bell & Howell 16mm camera, projector, and take-down movie screen on a tripod stand. The camera and projector were very good quality and a top selling brand at that time. This year's offering from Bell & Howell, the DV5HDZ Touch Screen Full HD Digital Camcorder follows in the footsteps of its ancestors for quality and features. Obviously, digital video is more complex than 16mm film, with the advantage that the user doesn't have to send anything to a lab for processing.

The Bell & Howell DV5HDZ Touch Screen Full HD 1080p Digital Camcorder has a 5x optical zoom with 4x digital zoom enhancement for up to 20x zoom range. I received the camcorder ahead of the estimated delivery dates and immediately opened it and read through both the hard copy of the User Guide and the PDF version. The PDF version is more detailed.

When I had set the time and date, tweaked the settings, and was confident enough, I tried out the camcorder, holding it in my hands rather than mounting it to a tripod. I panned around the room, zooming in and out on various objects, narrating as I recorded to check the sensitivity and quality of the mic and sound recording.

I first shot some footage using the "Florescent" white balance setting at Full HD (FHD) (1920 X1080, 16:9) resolution. The results were very good, with very good color, excellent resolution, even in the shadows, where the light was low, and excellent sound quality. On my 50" HD plasma TV, the images were in sharp focus, overall picture quality was very good, and the video played flawlessly. I discovered, however that my computer, with it's single core 2.53 GHz Pentium 4 processor and slower bus speed could not play back the video in Windows Media Player or InterVideo WinDVD without stuttering and freezing the picture mid-stream, even with the nVidia GeForce video card's GPU. The ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre media player that came with the camcorder played the FHD video just fine until I went to full screen. Then it couldn't keep up. Again, the problem was my old, slow motherboard and not the recording or media player's fault.

Next, I shot footage using the "Auto" white balance setting at FHD. This time, the color and overall picture quality was better than before, and again it looked very good on the TV screen. However, I still had problems with the video stuttering and freezing when playing the video on my computer except when using the ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre.

Next, I lowered the resolution to 1280 x 720 pixels, 16:9 screen ratio (HD), leaving the white balance on "Auto", and shot some footage. The color and picture quality were excellent, and the video played without a hitch on both the TV and computer. This time my computer had no problems playing back the video in normal and full-screen mode using WinDVD, Windows Media Player, and ArcSoft's TotalMedia Theatre.

The DV5HDZ camcorder's White Balance settings are Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent, and Tungsten (incandescent). It's resolution settings are FHD (1920 x 1080, HD (1280 x 720), WVGA (848 x 480) and WEB (320 x 240). Videos can also be shot in normal color, black & white, or sepia. For very low light conditions, there is an LED light underneath the lens, right beside the self-timer. The mic is built inside the pivoting touch screen, with a speaker on the camera's body underneath the touch screen.

Other features are too numerous to mention here, and the ArcSoft TotalMedia Extreme software that is provided with the camcorder offers further flexibility.

The Bell & Howell Touch Screen FHD 1080p Digital Video Camcorder has some built-in video memory, but also has a regular size SD slot and a micro SD slot beside the battery compartment, underneath the battery compartment cover.

The camcorder comes with a carrying pouch; Quick Guide; an HDMI cable for playing directly from the camera to the TV or for using the TV as a monitor while recording; a USB cable for transferring video from the camera and SD cards to a computer; a video cable with standard red, white and yellow phono plugs; a Lithium battery; a power adapter/charger for recharging the lithium battery; and a software CD containing ArcSoft TotalMedia Extreme, a PDF reader, and a User Manual in PDF format. SD cards must be purchased separately.

For the money, I'm happy with the Bell & Howell DV5HDC Touch Screen Full HD Digital Video Camcorder. I gave it a 5-star rating, because it does everything I need it to do at a reasonable price.

We got this about a week ago. It doesn't have any internal memory, but it does have the capability of holding up to 64gb of video/pictures/audio at one time through the use of it's two SD card slots. One fits a micro SD and the other fits a regular SD card. Each holds up to 32 gb. The video quality is crisp and it handles different lighting situations alright. The LED light on it is very bright. I have recorded about 3 hours of video. We first put an 8gb SD card in and it showed about 2 hours of 1080P record time available. with a 32gb it shows about 10 hours. Well more than I need. The only real complaint that I have is that it records in MOV file format but the program that comes with it doesn't have the codex to convert it to AVI or MPG which would be great. You can get a free converter to do that called FFMPEG if you need to convert it to any other format for streaming or burning to a DVD. Oh, a very very small issue is that most of the controls for browsing through the files on it and playing them are on the touch screen, but if it's plugged into a TV through the HDMI port it turns the touchscreen off. You can still make selections with the buttons, but it's a bit clunky.

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We had to return this item because the screen had a large lune through it that would not ho away. Amazon sent another camcorder of the exact same model and it's battery would not hold a charge. The one bright spot in this purchase was the service from Amazon.

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JVC GR-SXM520U Palm Size Compact Super VHS Camcorder With LCD Monitor

I really like this machine. The owner's manual is good and the features are useful. For VHS-C format, one has the option of standard-play for 30 minutes of recording or extended-play for 90 minutes of recording. The night vision feature is good I recorded shots in almost total darkness and the camera made it look like the lights were normal in the room. The LCD screen is really good so that the user can use it for shooting or for playback viewing. The zoom freaked me out at how sharp the picture could be at about 50 or so yards. The price seems okay and this camera is a pretty good deal for my purposes anyway.

it is very difficult to tell but i think it good

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Pharos Traveler 127 Unlocked Phone with gps navigation, Wi-Fi, Windows Mobile 6.1, 2 MP Camera, Med

Touch screen is not sensitive enough. GPS software (Smart Navigator software) that come with it is really bad. Smart Navigator has a very poor user interface compare to OCN8. I couldn't use any other GPS software (TOMTOM, Iguidance). You can install them, but they wouldn't start. Garmin XT (One of the worst GPS software) works and Finally made OCN8 working by doing some editing. Build quality is very poor. Feels plasticky. Very low call volume. If you are in the city you cannot hear anything. Poor battery life. Compare to HP iPAQ 910 Business Messenger it is very slow. In my opinion if you want a QWERTY keyboard enabled Windows Mobile device buy HP iPAQ 910 Business Messenger (it also has poor battery life).

From the specs, a wonderful smartphone. Except that voice dailing is unsupported. And that it apparently doesn't work with bluetooth certified devices. And let's not forget the GPS that can't find a satelite at night. Or the company's refusal to provide warranty support if you received one as a gift and therefore don't have a receipt.

Let's also not forget the poor battery life and the microSD slot only accessable with the battery cover removed. My advice: buy anything else.

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My experience with this phone is different from other users. My previous phone, a blackberry .. was my 4th blackberry in under 2 years so I have officially given up on the company. They don't make phones like they used to. That's how I discovered this phone .. I was looking for a phone that could do all my tasks at work and still handle a decent phone call or occasional picture. Some of the reviews for this phone were outstanding and others were down right terrible. I found a good deal for it on the internet, ordered it, and it arrived within the week. Its features are really good and it could do everything my blackberry could (at least on paper) and more. I have used blue tooth with it no problem. I used the gps at night no problem. It was a little clunky with regard to applications but I changed my sd card from a 512mb to a 2 gig and that fixed it. I even upgraded it to windows 6.5 using a nifty hack by Erick Will. This phone puts my blackberry to shame. Now on the other hand my girlfriend has a google phone that makes my phone a little prehistoric in comparison. But, a lot of the applications I get standard with my phone (courtesy of windows), she has to purchase from android marketplace so I reckon its a win/win for me. I recently had to contact Pharos tech support due to an intermittent microphone issue. Their support was outstanding and offered to replace my phone under warranty (thanks Natalie). Hows that for customer service? Now, my largest gripe for this phone is its lack of accessories. Try finding a case or cover for it. Impossible!

If Pharos still makes phones in the future, and I am still in a financial position to purchase a phone from them (since its a world phone it doesn't come from a cellular provider and must be purchased outright), I probably will get a Pharos phone again. That is a lot of "if's" especially in today's economy where no-one has any money and technology is getting faster and cheaper. But, if you are in a position to give this phone a try, I would say you should go for it. Its a very decent phone.

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Sony RDR-VX535 DVD Recorder & VCR Combo Player with 1080p HDMI Upscaling and Bonus HDMI Cable

I purchased this recorder to archive my old VHS tapes and recommended by Sony. I have been able to make DVD's from material stored in the cable box; very easy. The problem I have is that it won't copy my old VHS tapes to DVD; it claims they are copy protected. These are not movies or purchased tapes that might be copy protected. They are a mixture of items saved from TV broadcasts, files transferred from VHS recorders, and some tapes that came with merchandise.

I have called Sony and they said there is no work around. They say that if the recorder thinks they are copy protected, then it won't copy them. They said there is nothing they cando and nothing I can do about it.

I owned a Panasonic VHS/DVD recorder for nearly two years with very few problems. The upscaling of VHS and standard DVD's was ok with the HDMI cable and some standard def dvd's looked a little jaggy, but overall, it played DVD's/ VHS tapes fine.

However, recording from VHS to DVD what a nightmare!! First, when I inserted a DVD -R , the machine froze and it took several hours to finally remove the DVD; after that, it wouldn't play ANY dvd's previously recorded, commercial, anything. After several hours with customer support, I gave up. It would only play VHS tapes what an expensive VHs player this turned into!

So I saw Costco was selling this Sony that pretty much had the same features, but I especially wanted to be able to convert a bunch of old vhs tapes to dvd.

This Sony worked flawlessly from the beginning, and I was well on my way to converting nearly 60 old vhs tapes to dvd. No problems whatsoever with different DVD typesDVD(+-)(RW) were accepted . It won't record to DVD -RAM, but will play them. The upscaling feature on this Sony is also much better than the Panny, and so far it works great.

However, since it doesn't have a tuner built in, you'll need a connection to your cable/satellite box to record TV shows, but that doesn't matter to me at all since I'm not interested in taping TV.

Overall, I'm satisified.

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I needed a DVD player for my second TV. I really love my Oppo DVD player and was thinking of getting another for my second TV, but I saw the Sony RDR-VX535 Player at Costco and looked at the features and decided to try it out.

It took less than 5 minutes to set it up and figure out how to copy tapes to DVDs, the main reason I got the Sony instead of another Oppo. It does a great job copying and with the up scaling feature the visual quality of the dvd copied from the tape is better that the visual quality of the tape itself. I don't think the up scaling or video quality is a good as my Oppo but it's pretty good and the versatility and ease of use make it a good buy.

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We purchased this unit from Costco and returned it two days later. The unit pauses intermittently and sometimes freezes altogether while playing DVD's. Never got a chance to try the recording features, but if the thing won't play DVD's who cares. Sounds like a number of others have experienced the same thing. I would pass on this one.

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I bought this product hoping to transfer some VHS tapes to DVD. But the machine wouldn't allow me to do this. When I pushed the one touch dubbing button, nothing would happen. I got Sony technical support on the line and they agreed it was defective. The seller was nice enough to exchange it for another one, but the second one didn't work either. Once again, I called Sony technical support and after walking me through a few steps over the phone and determining that I wasn't doing something wrong, that everything was set up right, they said the second machine was defective, too. I sent this one to Sony repair in Laredo, Texas and they sent it back, saying there was no trouble found. They did absolutely nothing to fix it. And once again, when I tried the one touch dubbing button, nothing would happen. The seller was nice enough to refund my money for this second machine, but after paying a $30 restocking fee and two shipping fees, along with telephone bills for calling Sony technical support (not a toll free number) I'm down around $100 for this dubious machine. I agree with other reviewers that Sony normally makes a good product, but this thing, man, I don't know. And Sony repair didn't exactly impress me either.

Toshiba SD1700 DVD Player

• 10-bit video digital-to-analog conversion with 500 lines of horizontal resolution for startling image clarity and resolution far superior to VHS tape
• Component-, composite-, and S-video outputs accommodate a range of TVs
• Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound outputs feed digital surround signals to compatible AV receivers
• 4x picture zoom with 4 forward and reverse scan speeds
• Icon-based onscreen display, Spatializer N-2-2 virtual surround sound (simulates surround through stereo speakers)

I didn't want a DVD player to double as a CD player, or to hold up to 5 DVD's... the single tray here is fine, after all, I watch one movie at a time. I just wanted your basic DVD player with the standard features. This SD1700 by Toshiba delivers excellent picture quality (500 lines of resolution). Standard features like the necessary S-Video output, Dolby Digital and DTS output and various special effects... Zoom (up to 4x), slow motion, multi-language capability (if available on the DVD), and 3 speeds of fast forward & reverse (2x, 8x, 30x). The only special effect I personally haven't been able to use is the "multi camera angle"... I have about 50 DVD's and none of them offer this multi angle. The Toshiba is a sleek black box and the remote is easy to use with the push buttons well positioned. If you're looking for a basic unit to play your DVD's on this is the one. Great player for the price.

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After reading all the reviews about this DVD player and other compairably priced one's (130-230) it was a toss up between this model SD1700, the RCA RC5240P or the Panasonic RV31K. I went out to a local electonics store and compared all three on the floor and then took home the SD1700 and RV31K (picture quality on both was exceptional) and would return the loser. The toshiba played the Matrix with out a hitch, while the panasonic paused three times, test two involved DAS BOOT, even on VHS this movie has exceptional sound on an ordinary set of speakers, on DVD format the sound is awsome only if the player can properly process it and send it to your receiver. The toshiba did great for it's price, while the panasonic sounds slightly better than tape. For the price the toshiba can't be beaten. I will admit that there are other players out that offer more bell's and whistle's, but check out their reliablity and customer reviews. I personally have played 103 dvd's on this set and have only had one pause (the dvd was dirty). Give this dvd a try, it was made to play dvd's, not to be a jukebox (it does play cd's). It is a great intro or bedroom dvd player and you can't beat the price.

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After reading many, many Amazon.com reviews we knew that a true test of a DVD player was the ability to play THE MATRIX without skipping or stopping. We initially bought a Sony DVP S300 and it kept skipping at certain parts. Returning that one, we then tried the Panasonic RV31 but it was even worse...it refused to play ANY portion of THE MATRIX. We then bought the Toshiba SD 1700. What a difference! It handled THE MATRIX with no problems AT ALL. If you're wanting to buy a great DVD player for little investment...look no further.

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I selected the Toshiba because it had a few extra features like zoom that the Panasonic brands lacked. I didn't know if zoom would be useful but I figured it was a good feature to have. Now I'm glad the Toshiba has zoom capability. It allows me to enlarge the picture area from wide screen to full frame or near full frame on a standard 4:3 TV. Of course the picture sides get cut off but that's not a big problem for me. Karaoke and listening to CD's are not important to me.

That said, Hannibal froze up on me badly in many places. There was one spot I could not get passed unless I directly went to a second past the freeze spot. It must have froze up 10 times while watching it. The DVD was a rental but it played fine on my PC's DVD player.

Another reason I selected the Toshiba was the 10 free rental DVD's from Hollywood video. ... Go to toshiba's web site and search for the offer.

The Toshiba SD1700 DVD player is a successor to a well-known SD1600. For [a reasonable price] it features "Parallel Video Output" and DVD-R playback.

Looks

I don't understand what is wrong with Toshiba, but they continue to produce DVD players that look plain and cheap. If you don't think so, please do not read the previous sentence. Oh well, at least the looks do not influence performance.

The front-panel design has only buttons for basic functions, everything else is performed through the remote control.

Setup

Setup is quite easy, assisted by Toshiba's "First Setup Menu".

Picture and Sound

Both picture and sound quality are excellent. The picture quality is great, when the player is connected to the TV with an S-Video cable (to avoid Moire patterns). Toshiba claims the player features 500 lines of horizontal resolution. The SD1700 also makes a good CD player.

Video Outs

The player has the composite, S-video outputs and ColorStream component jacks. The best way to connect DVD player to TV is to use component-video outputs (if you have a TV that has this type of input), since this method bypasses both TV's comb filter and color decoder.

However, difference in quality with S-video connection is negligible, so S-Video is second-best method of connection. It allows you to bypass TV's comb filter (the device that separates chrominance and luminance from the composite video signal) and avoid rainbow-like Moire effects, which happen when the comb filter mistakes luminance for color information.

The difference between picture quality using composite video connection and S-Video is apparent, especially on TVs with cheap comb filters. And even 3-D comb filters have problems with moving images, so 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.

The player has a feature called "parallel video out" that allows you to watch the movie on several TVs/Monitors at once by connecting to them using S-Video, component (ColorStream) and composite outs.

PLUGE allows the player to pass "blacker-than-black" signals to your TV than needed, eliminating the gray color in places where the black color should be. You can see how "Black-Level Expansion" works from my review.

Audio Outs

Toshiba invented optical digital audio out, which is why it is sometimes called Toslink. Surprisingly, SD1700 does not have it, but rather features Dolby Digital and Digital Theater Sound (DTS) compatible digital coaxial output. Which provides the same sound quality, easier connection and allows you to use cheaper cable with RCA-type jacks.

Note: with coaxial digital audio out, it is recommended to use a cable that is designed to transfer composite video signal, since the bandwidth used is very similar.

The player also has analog (left and right) audio out (RCA type). To get surround sound you can either connect analog out to Dolby Pro Logic equipment or use coaxial digital out with Dolby Digital or DTS decoder. Or you can either use stereo sound from the analog audio out, using Spatializer feature when appropriate.

The SD1700 features Dialogue Enhancement mode, which boosts the center speaker sound level. The player is also CD-Text compatible.

Features

The player has other "standard" DVD features: parental control, CD-audio playback, camera angle select, multi-language and multi-subtitle select, Spatializer N-2-2 Virtual Surround Sound. But it also has some advanced features: 4-power zoom, x2 playback, 1/8x, 1/4x and 1/2x slow scan, x2, x8, x30, x100 Forward and Reverse high-speed scan and Time Search, Title Stop.

Remote

The remote is reasonably sized with good button layout Left/Right and Up/Down buttons are centrally placed, with the Enter button in the middle.

Bottom Line

The SD1700's looks can be contested, but the performance and features make it a good choice. However, there are better choices in the same price range.

Cobra 8 MP Digital Camera

I purchased this camera as my first digital camera. I was impressed that it was an 8mg camera at a reasonable price. It takes good outdoor pictures but does not do well indoors. It also does not do well with close-ups. I should have done more checking before wasting my money.

I paid nothing for this camera and I still feel like I got robbed,Do yourself a favor and stay away from this piece of crap. The pixels look like crap, the batteries drain faster than you can even get through the menu and change any settings. will help you with any questions you might have to get a quality digital camera for a fair price.

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We bought one for our son and I use it more than he does. With a SD card installed this camera has worked great for us. Have to have a still hand when snapping the shots so I would recommend some kinda tripod, big or small. The hole for the tripod mounting is plastic so it will strip out on you after awhile. I also recommend some rechargeable batteries. With the right lighting and a still hand youll enjoy this camera.

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Toshiba SD2800 DVD Player with Component Video Output, Black

• ColorStream component-video output for ultimate DVD picture quality (when connected with an HD or HD-ready TV)
• Optical and coaxial digital-audio outputs pass Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1-channel surround sound (for use with compatible AV receiver)
• MP3-CD (CD-R, CD-RW) playback
• Offers black-level expansion, multiple picture settings, picture zoom
• Dolby Digital and DTS surround output, Dialogue Expansion, simulated surround sound, and CD Text compatibility

We bought this DVD player about 6 months ago...so happy with it we're making sure to buy the same one as a gift. It's simple to hook up and understand, and very easy to use. One feature that we LOVE and that not all DVD players have, is that if we shut the DVD player off, it automatically restarts at the same spot we left off. My son's DVD player (another brand) does not do this...it's very inconvenient to have to remember where you were and fast forward to that spot if you don't watch a movie all the way through.

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I have owned the SD-1600, SD-2700, SD-2710 and when I was looking for another one, the SD-2800 was first on my list. The ColorStream component output makes your component capable TV look amazing. I would suggest calibrating your TV using the Enhanced Black level setting that this unit (and all of the above) offer. I tried Samsung, Sony, Phillips and I selected and will continue to select Toshiba. The features and picture quality outstripped units that cost far more! It is a true value for the money. The only real difference in this model compared to the previous ones is the controls built into the front panel that allow you to do everything without the remote if you need to. I have loved all of the Toshiba units I have had. I think you will too!

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The Toshiba SD2800 DVD player is the one I am currently using, and by far the best I have used so far. While it is far from top of the line in terms of features, it meets my need mightily. And the price was more than reasonable, considering what you get with this particular DVD player.

When I got the player, it was very easy to install (considering that I am not an electronics expert) and use the first time around. The audio and video jacks are color coded, so there is minimal chance of making a mistake. One thing I liked is the Digital output jack, so when I get a big fancy home theatre, the DVD player will be suited for it. The features are all very easy to understand, and the screen menus are easy to navigate. You get all the expected features: zoom, subtile selectors, camera angle selector, and a host of other features. The ability to use them depends totally on the DVD you get, but rest assured all the DVD features you would need are here.

Where is really counts is playback quality and reliability. I have read other reviews where people have had a few problems. I have experienced none of these, quite the opposite, it has been more reliable than I had expected. I use it extensively, and it has never skipped, stalled, or broken down. Picture quality is superb, sound quality is great (I recommend hooking it up to your stereo), and the colorstream feature unique to Toshiba DVD players makes a big difference.

My only qualm is the remote control, which is a bit cumbersome on the first few attempts. A backlit remote would have been a good idea. Often, I am looking to skip to the next chapter in the movie, and I accidently press the power button and shut off the player. A minor frustration, but one I expereince too often.

Toshiba DVD players have the reputation for being some of the best available, and I have bought two of them for my house (the other is a newer model). I have experienced no problems, and would recommend them to anybody.

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The Toshiba SD-2800 is a great, basic DVD player for the person not interested in spending a lot of money but still wants some of the features of those glorifed players.

This DVD player is very simple to set-up and use and has all of the necessary audio and video connections to hook up to any type of television and/or stereo equipment. The remote control is well laid out and won't take most users long to be able to use it in the dark.

This is my first DVD player and so far I am enjoying it tremendously. I believe that I got a very good deal on this player and highly recommend it to anyone who is looking to buy.

This is our first dvd player -we basically wanted something inexpensive that would work decently. Did some research online and this looked like the best deal. We've had it for about a year now with zero problems. It's pretty responsive, doesn't skip, and the sound and picture seem quite good. Very happy with this purchase overall!

Samsung HMX-H300 Full HD Camcorder with 30x Zoom (Black)

I spent a long time researching camcorders, read a lot reviews and looked at a lot of test footage before ultimately buying this model.

Many of the better reviews I read compared this model to models several hundred dollars more expensive, which I took to mean that this model was a significant value at this price.

It was a gamble on my part that I think paid off as I am very happy overall with this unit.

There are thee consistent criticism I have seen for this camcorder. I took them very seriously when I was deciding what unit to buy. Now that I have hands on experience with the unit I wanted to share my experience regarding these criticisms:

The camera records its own zoom: This is true but I don't find it distracting. In fact I find it to be a cool effect. You should really only be zooming with the camera on if you are intentionally calling attention to the camera anyway. This is a consumer camera. It is not intended for professional use. The "zoom sound" is really only audible in a very quiet room. I recorded some footage outside on a non-windy day and the ambient noise outside covered up the sounds of the zoom. For reference, I watched some footage I took with my miniDV camera and noticed that on all of the footage you could hear the whir of the tape motor. Probably the zoom would be more noticeable if the tape motor wasn't constantly going. At any rate the noise doesn't bother me on either camera and the miniDV footage was far noisier. I don't see how this issue would be a deterrent. If you are shooting a movie or any professional product you need a professional camera anyway and you also would be using a separate sound recording system.

The camera isn't great in low light: This is also true. The camera produces a better picture with more light on the subject. This is true of all cameras. Cameras record light. This camera doesn't come with a light for dark settings. If you want a camera with a light on it don't buy this unit. This also didn't bother me. I just turned a lamp on and the video quality was fine. Again, this is a consumer camera. Professionals bring their own lights anyway. To be fair though the camera performs much better in daylight than it does indoors.

There is no viewfinder and there is a glare on the LCD screen in sunlight: These things are also true. There is no viewfinder. If you want a viewfinder, buy a different model. As for the glare, you may have to put your hand over the screen to reduce the glare. Easy enough to solve.

A final note. I ran some basic tests and found the 720p to be sharper than the 1080i footage. It's super easy to switch back and forth (even on the same memory card) so play around with it and judge for yourself. I'm sticking with the 720p to because it looks better to me and it takes up less storage space.

I have also been having a lot of fun with the time-lapse setting a function I wasn't even interested in when looking for camcorder.

Overall I found this to be a great little camera. It records quality HD video has a great optical zoom and can be bought for under $300. The camera is tiny. If a viewfinder were added and the microphone was snaked further from the zoom lens it would be a larger camera. I found the issues above to be legitimate but not large enough problems to be a deterrent.

Just got this little thing of beauty tonight and I'm very very pleased. It completely blows my old-school camcorders away and is effectively 1/4 the cost in today's terms. Easy to use and full 1080p HD. Picture and sound quality look great on playback on my 51" plasma. File format works perfectly for playback on my PS3.

What a great little device! Oh and you can't hear the zoom as claimed by another reviewer there must be something wrong with his unit.

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Arived on time and in good shape. 30X zoom is good. I like that you can select 1080i, 720p, or even 480p. 720p looks fine on our 37 inch Samsung 720p LCD HDTV and the files are a lot smaller. I also like that you can drag and drop files directly from the SD card to your PC no conversion required. Screen on camcorder is very difficult to see in bright sunlight.

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This is a fine little camcorder for the money. It would be nice if there was a 'video in' jack, but then it would probably be two hundred dollars more...very easy to use with my Mac.

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30X zoom is nice, and video quality is quite acceptable, as long as there is enough light, and you are not zooming full range; not as good in low light. There are 2 things about this product, though, that made me return it, and give it 2 stars.

It records the sound of it's own zoom, and, to the lesser degree, the auto focus. If outside sounds are not laud, this sound is quite annoying, and spoils the video.

The image stabilization is not nearly sufficient when zooming beyond about 20X; it's clearly inferior in this respect to other camcorders with similar features, like my wife's Panasonic.

I wouldn't recommend this product. Samsung has to do a lot of work to refine it.

Canon ZR700 MiniDV Camcorder with 25x Optical Zoom

I've been playing with this camcorder for a few days now, and I must say that I am overall satisfied with its performance, especially for the price. The camcorder records in 16:9 (widescreen) aspect by default, although you can switch to 4:3 (normal) if you like.

This camcorder is small--easily fitting in your hand--but it's not too small. I don't have any trouble using any of the buttons or switches. It is also light, which is a big bonus if you plan to carry it with you regularly.

The zoom is more than sufficient at 25x Optical / 1000x Digital. However, as with all camcorders, it is almost impossible to use the camera at anything over 100x unless it is sitting on a solid tripod. Even at 50x, the image quality noticeably degrades. For optimal performance, keep it under 25x and do not use the digital zoom (you can turn off the digital zoom in the menu system).

The ZR700 includes a "video light" for low-light situations; however, it is a single LED bulb that emits very little light. In fact, it is pretty much useless unless you are in pitch darkness, and you need to film something that is less than 2 feet in front of the camera.

And speaking of low lighting, this camera uses a new image sensor that is smaller than those used in earlier Canon camcorders, and smaller sensors are typically less sensitive to light. While in normal daylight situations the new sensor is fine, once the lights start to dim, there is noticeable grain and noise in the image. Unfortunately I've found the noise to be a problem in most indoor situations, which means many home movies will have less than amazing image quality. And unlike many other camcorders, there is no low-light infrared mode (e.g. Sony's "NightShot").

The ZR700 provides three different methods for transferring video-RCA, USB and Firewire. The RCA and USB cables are included, the firewire cable is not. In addition, the ZR700 model allows for analog-digital pass-through. This means that you can hook up an old VCR to the camcorder, then hook the camcorder to a computer so that you are able to transfer video from the VCR through the camcorder and into the computer. This is a nice feature if you want to digitize old VHS tapes.

Finally, this model has a SD card slot for taking digital still pictures. While this is a nice feature, the resolution of the photos is quite low (~1 Megapixel). This is fine if you want to email the photos, but the quality is far too low to have made into prints. If you are hoping to have photos that you can print, you should certainly stick with a digital still camera--this camcorder is not a replacement.

Overall, I'm satisfied with the ZR700. It's a nice camcorder for a low price. It is the perfect camera for taking on vacations or just out on a picnic or sporting event. The picture quality is too low for anything other than personal use. If you're looking to film important events (weddings, etc), then you should probably look for camcorders with better low-light performance.

One excellent feature of the ZR700 camera which I have not seen sufficiently discussed is its ability to transfer home video from VHS, V8, Hi8, or any other video format which has an RCA jack system (yellow, red, white), to digital video (DV) on Mini-DV tapes. (I have a ZR200 and my father has a ZR700; this is a very similar review to my posting for the ZR200)

This feature is fabulous and dramatically easier to use than other methods I have tried. I did not discover it during nearly 1 1/2 years of owning the ZR200. I inadvertently came across a terse mention of such transfers in the owner's manual. (See Canon ZR200 owner's manual at page 79 for instructions, or page 72 for the Canon ZR700 unit with similar capabilities.)

Suffice it to say that the transfer process is very easy, assuming that one has kept the original cabling which came with the ZR200 (or ZR700) camera. It produces a video image which is superior to any other method I have tried. And I have tried a number of methods, including transferring video to a high-quality external video capture card to DV and ultimately to Mini-DV tape using iMovie on an Apple computer.

Upon careful comparison of like clips, this complex, multi-step approach produced good results, but only a nominally clearer image and it has tiny diagonal stripes running across it and a curling upper left edge from the video recorder heads; overall not as good. The color quality and image clarity that results from direct videotape to Mini-DV-tape method using the ZR200ZR700 built-in features is overall, smoother, cleaner and produces a full screen image without diagonal lines or the jagged tape-head artifact in the upper left corner. Direct transfer appears to eliminate this visual nuisance entirely, or at least it did so for me. This significantly improves the image appearance and eliminates an otherwise very distracting visual distortion.

In transferring 20-year old V8-tapes, I was stunned at the improved image clarity and vivid color, in some instances as if the tape had been shot the day before! It was a real pleasure to see clear images from the past now I only wish I had had slightly better camera skills.

I also recommend buying a cleaner for the heads of any video source you might use; Sony makes a good head cleaner for V8/Hi8 and for Mini-DV. As I cleaned the heads of the video source, the image quality and clarity quality improved significantly.

Overall, the ZR700 is an excellent camera and has some delightful hidden features, including 16x9 widescreen and direct video to Mini-DV transfer.

Five stars.

May 8, 2008: Strong Caveat for Apple computer users who plan to use Final Cut Express or Final Cut as the program to extract video streams: this camera does not seem capable of laying down a steady time-code on DV tape. While this does not have any effect on iMovie based extraction of the video stream, it makes the camera essentially unusable for Final Cut Express or Final Cut where the time code signal is critical for proper video extraction.

While this will affect only certain users, it is worth knowing in advance. One easy work-around is to extract video using iMovie as full DV and then import the clips into Final Cut Express or Final Cut. However, this does not produce the best possible quality as would be the case in a direct extraction.

On the whole, Canon makes good cameras so far as I can tell, but the time code feature of the ZR700 needs significant improvement. My ZR200 does not suffer from this problem and has been very satisfactory.

A large capacity battery is a wonderful addition. For a relatively small amount of money, a large battery will improve the utility of the camera considerably.

Buy Canon ZR700 MiniDV Camcorder with 25x Optical Zoom Now

We purchased this camera for taping live music shows. Our biggest problem has always been trying to work in low-light conditions. After reading reviews which were critical of this camera's low-light performance, I expected it to be similar to my old 8mm camcorder. The first show we taped was in a really dimmly lit club, and this camera captured it with no problems. This digital format is a big step above standard analog 8mm, so for me this is a very impressive camera. Technology has come a long way. Also, the still-image features are very useful. I've seen reviews bashing the photo quality as grainy, but since our photos are mostly for web pages anyway, it isn't that critical.The feature is great for our purposes. It even lets you put a screen capture on the memory card from the tape. Totally cool. This is my first digital camera after working with a standard 8mm for 25 years. The difference is night & day. I am very impressed with this camera.

Read Best Reviews of Canon ZR700 MiniDV Camcorder with 25x Optical Zoom Here

This is a great product. First of all, it is TINY! So small, and light... you really want to take it everywhere with you. While some people complain about grainy picture in low-light or indoors situations, I really don't have any complaints; the video quality is amazing. The menus are easy to use, and quick to figure out... and quite a few options are available. Also, the ability to capture in widescreen is nice, but what is even nicer is that this camera has easy-to-use modes to help use different video sizes depending on what kind of television you are hooking it up to. And, I love the fact that I can convert analog video (VHS, etc) to digital. Also, this camera worked very well with my macintosh computers, and iMovie... and it was even usable as a webcam in Yahoo messenger.

Overall, this is a great camera, and it is worth every cent. It is the perfect size, so you won't feel like you are "lugging" the camera along just to capture those special moments... and you can send things to VHS, or your computer for dvd... this is a great deal, and I would recommend it to anyone. I own many other canon products at home, and they are all great, and have lasted me many years.

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I have been very pleased with this camera. Other reviews will talk about the lack of this or the lack of that on this equipment, but lets be realistic, if you're looking at this camera, you most likely will be videoing small family moments not huge productions. And for that reason this is a great little camera.

I use a Sony Handycam HDR-FX1 HD Digital Video camera which has features that will blow you away (but a price tag to match) for work and this Canon has plenty of function and capabilities to keep me busy. The capabilities are awesome for the price, and the ability to transfer my old vhs-c tapes to digital for download onto my computer is what sold me.

I've always been hesitant to purchase electronics over the internet without physically getting my hands on the product, so this was a bit of a stretch for me but I'm glad I did. Would have given 5 stars, but like others said, the light doesn't do a whole lot of good. No problems with playback or transfer via firewire (which would be nice if it were included, but those are the breaks).

Upbeat Audio Boostaroo Revolution Black Unique Portable Pocket Amplifier Personal Audio Devices

Being hard of hearing, this is a product I had been waiting for all along. It is excellent value for money. I am able to hear very clearly even faint audio signals from my laptop. Fully recommended for people like me.

Just received my Boostaroo. I bought it to listen to videos on my treadmill which sometimes would be too quiet to hear otherwise on my tablet. The good news is that it adds enough volume for me to hear. The bad news is that it takes 2 AAAA (not AAA) batteries. I have AAA rechargeables. I'm not sure if AAAA rechargeables exist and if they do, because they are rarely used, they may cost more than the Boostaroo. Were I aware of the battery issue, I would have tried an alternative product first.

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Panasonic DMR-E80H Progressive-Scan DVD Player/Recorder with Hard Drive , Silver

• Built-in 80 GB hard drive
• Hybrid VBR (variable bit rate) technology lets you record up to 6 hours on a single-sided DVD-RAM disc
• Time Slip lets you watch from the beginning a program whose recording is still in progress
• Progressive-scan video output for film-like images on high-definition and HD-ready TVs
• Plays DVD-Video, DVD-R, DVD-RAM, music CDs, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, and MP3 CDs

First of all, kudos must go to Panasonic for insisting on sticking to the far superior DVD-RAM technology for re-recordable discs since the discs physical surfaces are fully protected and the data is apparently better organized.

I have to say that I absolutely love this device!

Record to HDD, then burn what you want to keep to DVD-R or the far superior DVD-RAM, and finally erase what programs you don't need.

The only limitation is that the DVD-RAM's will only play back on Panasonic DVD players, however, the DVD-R recordings in my experience will play on all modern DVD Players.

The remote control has been fully perfected as opposed to the one they had for this model's 40 GB predecessor which was a horror show.

I liked the look and design of the earlier 40 GB unit a little better and it also had a few more plug in ports for memory sticks and the like, but this one is far more functional in terms of button location, ease of use, and the remote control.

Realistically, you have to use SP or XP speed for best visual clarity so the 106 hours of storage it claims to record at EP speed is not something you'd really be using.

However, with the HDD to DVD-R or DVD-RAM transfer capability (It does this at higher-speed rather then playback speed) you can record, transfer, and wipe.

The next model should have more drive space but this will do nicely for most of us for now.

I will never record to VHS EVER again!

Buy Panasonic DMR-E80H Progressive-Scan DVD Player/Recorder with Hard Drive , Silver Now

This is a great recorder, the HD space of a Tivo (but no channel guide, bummer), together with the DVD-R/RAM disk read/write capability of the panasonic recordersa perfect match.

Correction for the posted specs:

the E80H model (w/ hard drive) does NOT have a digital Firewire input, and does NOT have coax digital audio out (optical only.)

The E60S (no hard drive) and the older HS2 model (smaller harddrive, more $$) have firewire input.

This player does play MP3s, and will actually also play DVD-Audio disks (but I think only in stereo , not 6channel sound.)

Read Best Reviews of Panasonic DMR-E80H Progressive-Scan DVD Player/Recorder with Hard Drive , Silver Here

This is a dual review, for the Panasonic DVD-R Recorder DMR-E80H and the Toshiba sd-h400. Hopefully it can help those deciding between the two. I had done the research and was on my way to collect the Panasonic when the video store I had called told me they were just unloading the new Toshibas. It was a hundred plus less than the Panasonic and included TIVO. My fiscal side took over and I figured I'd give it whirl. I have an extended digital cable box and the Sony KP57WV700 57" HDTV that I was going to interface this with, pretty straightforward system.

Here is the simple layout of what I wanted to do: 1. cable in to digital cable box, out via component cables [red, green, blue] to HDTV [this produces the best signal and HD channel output on the TV]. 2. cable in to Toshiba/Panasonic for recording basic cable Ch. 1-98. 3. Video [composite?] out from digital cable box to Toshiba/Panasonic to record HDTV or whatever channel is on, on the digital cable box.

First off neither the Toshiba or Panasonic boxes has component in, so they couldn't receive the best signal from the component out on the digital cable box.

The Toshiba touts and comes with Tivo basic, which gets you 3 days advance programming via their guide, chasing playback, etc. This was the first experience I had had with a Tivo product. The setup for the Toshiba took a long time [multiple phone calls and data manipulation], and compounding things it was required that a phone line be utilised for the connection. A bad thing if you don't have a jack around, so I had to string one across hallways in ungainly fashion. Not good. I should say, you can buy a wireless USB adapter if you want, or a USB Ethernet connector to get your updates if you want.

Second hit against the Toshiba/Tivo, and this is what bothered me the most: they do not allow recording / timer recording from a second video input source unless you upgrade to the Tivo Plus service. This bit of info is nestled in the middle of the manual during extended setup. So for my set up which had cable signal in via RF and composite video in from the digital cable box, it meant I couldn't record as line in from the digital cable box.

Finally, the recording quality of the Toshiba ranged between three levels, taking their appropriate chunk of the HD. The Panasonic offered more flexibility here with more levels and their times. Tivo also is constantly writing to the HD to maintain their `manipulate live tv' functionality.

The DVD playback output between the two was comparable, you can choose between progressive and interlaced if you have a TV that supports it.

So I took the Toshiba back and got the Panasonic which I should have done I the first place. It has a much more professional finish, there are no fourth grader designed graphics/buttons on it like the Tivo. The Panasonic allowed me to hook up three more video inputs and record against them and do timer recordings on them. Bingo. The picture quality is very close to source using the second to top recording mode which gets you 36 hours of record time, 104 for EP, 74 for the next, and 18 for the top of the line. The Panasonic also has the time slip functions that let you watch a prior recorded item from the HD if you're currently recording, and it lets you watch the beginning of a recorded item *while* it's recording. Nice if you show up for the program 10 mins. late. It also records to DVD-RAM and DVD-R if you want to dub your VHS tapes or something you watch on broadcast TV, but that's a secondary feature to me so I didn't get too into it.

And so, for my setup, the Panasonic was the superior choice I should have exercised the first go around. Be alert to the limitations of the Toshiba if interested in it. I'm definitely enjoying the functions and features of the new Panasonic and can recommend it highly.

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I've written some tips based on the reviews here and the problems that I've had. I hesitate to write them, because it makes the Panasonic DMR-E80GH seem so complicated. It's true that it is more complicated than a plain DVD-player, but it does so much more!

1.) The Panasonic DMR-E80H has a hard drive similar to a computer. So it helps to treat it like you would a computer. Get a high quality surge protector and plug the DVD player into it. If you turn the DVD-player off or unplug it, wait a minute or so before you turn it back on or plug it back in. You want to allow the hard drive to power all the way down before you ask it to power back up. I unplug it (and all my home entertainment equipment) during thunderstorms, just like I do my computer. Sometimes the DVD player needs to finish what it is doing before it will respond to a new command from the remote or a button on the machine.

2.) There are two important buttons: HDD (hard drive) and DVD. Whichever one is active will be lit (on the DVD player). So, if you press a button on the remote and you don't get the expected response, check to see which one is lit. For example, if DVD is lit, then pressing 'stop' then 'enter' won't stop a program from recording to the hard drive. So you have to push HDD first, and then 'stop' then 'enter'.

3.) Consider keeping the old DVD player hooked up for children.

4.) For DVD-Audio, the default setting is typically stereo 2.0, and you must go into the set up menu of the DVD *disc* to change to 5.1 or DTS.

5.) For playing some DVD-Rs, I've had to go into the DVD *player* set-up menu and select 'disc', then 'DVD-video mode', then select 'on'.

What I like:

Panasonic DMR-E80H has a higher quality picture than our previous two DVD players, one of which was progressive scan. The recording quality is much better than TiVo. I like the fact that it has several inputs. I have inputs from my vcr, two cable boxes, and TiVo. I love the editing functions (which TiVo lacks). When my brother-in-law was Iraq, he wanted news programs. I recorded a news show every day, edited out what he wasn't interested in, and mailed him the discs. He loved it!

I've used the cheapest DVD-R's that I could find locally (not on the internet). They work fine. I recorded a program related to work and passed it out to everyone at work. The discs played on everyone's DVD player. We've had no problems with compatibility (yet).

If you push play twice, it plays at 1 1/3 speed. It still plays the speech, which we can generally understand. This is great for watching something when we're in a hurry. Unfortunately, this only works in HDD mode, not on DVD's.

What I don't like:

It doesn't change the channel on the cable box like TiVo does. Once I wanted to record a program and I pushed the record button. Well, about 10 minutes later, it stopped recording the show to record a previously programmed show. It doesn't warn you (like TiVo does).

I highly recommend this DVD-recorder. I love it.

I had been waiting for DVD-recorder/HDD combo to come out for over 2 years. I had been following the market in Japan since DMR-HS1 and when HS2 came out, I almost bought it. The only thing that held me back was the 40GB HDD that some people seemed to be saying wasn't enough.

So when this DMR80E came out in Japan, I couldn't wait for it to come out here. And as soon as I found out it was out, I ordered it and have had it for 3 weeks.

This was exactly what I had been waiting for!

We record shows regularly and had been using VCR which was really irritating me for the following reasons:

searching for the right location in tape

tapes not long enough (I even used those 10hr tapes

but when I'm out of town that wasn't enough to

hold all the shows)

rewinding (imagine how long it takes to rewind that 10hr tape)

need to worry about overwriting

can't figure out what's in the tape unless i play it back.

All these problems are solved with the HDD.

I guess Tivo/Replay is the same and I did consider buying one previously, but I just couldn't agree to the subscription based business model. I know which shows I want to record, so why pay monthly fee (or ont time lifetime fee) for the service? And how many times would the thing really record shows I like that didn't know about??? Besides I have enough stuff shows to watch regularly that I don't need the machine to tell me about other shows.

Anyway, the DVD-RAM/R is handy for shows that you want to keep around. You shouldn't leave stuff on the HDD if you don't want to lose them. So the other reviewer concerned about the warnings should not be because ANY HDD based electronics has potential data failure against power outage.

Regarding DVD-R compatibility warning, I think that can also be said true for any DVD-R drives because some older DVD drives don't read DVD-R disks properly. Most recent models should be ok, but I think there's always that risk. Oh, be sure to turn on the DVD-R compatible mode when recording if you want to play it back on other players.

One note is that if you want to record stuff from HDD to DVD without re-encoding (ie loss of quality), you need to use the fast copy mode. You had to turn on the DVD-R compatibility mode in order to do this.

Mintek MDP-1770 7-Inch Portable DVD Player

• Compatible with DVD, VCD, MP3, CD, CD-R, CD-RW, and Kodak Picture CDs
• 7-inch 16:9 widescreen TFT color LCD display; antishock system; AC/DC power
• Analog, optical digital audio out; S-video, composite-video out; headphone jack
• Dolby Digital audio output; virtual surround; stereo speakers
• Measures 7.48 x 1.14 x 5.59 inches (W x H x D)

If you buy this, buy the Mintek 1770 Kit, also sold here at Amazon. With the new rebate, you get the kit for the same price, but in addition to the player, you also get the case, car power adapter, headphones and audio splitter. My kids have been using this player for 2 months, including one very long road trip, and so far no problems. I am a bit nervous given the number of very negative reviews here at Amazon (most of which were done after I bought mine), and the fact that the manufacturer is a small company (that's the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars). However, now that there is a $50 rebate bringing the price down to $200 (not available when I bought mine), and the set includes a decent case, car power adapter, and 2 headphones with an audio signal splitter, not to mention the tremendous functionality, it's such a good deal that it may just be worth taking a chance on. Amazon is always so great about quickly replacing or refunding defective products within 30 days, that at least takes away some of the worry. As for battery life, I let Return Of The King run on it and the battery died at just over 2 1/2 hours (not great, but Amazon sells extra batteries for this unit, and for the price, it's hard to complain). One great feature that the product description doesn't include is the A/V input. You can play video games on this, or view your digital photos straight from the camera, etc, since you can plug an audio and video source in. Depending on the type of game console you have, you may need to get an adapter to convert the RCA output from your game unit to 1/8 inch miniplug format to plug into the DVD player, but these are easily bought on Amazon or other electronics stores (ie, Radio Shack) for less than $10. If your game unit or other outside video source has RCA jacks, then you're all set because this DVD player comes with a cable that has RCA plugs at one end and miniplugs at the other. But if you have a GameCube (no RCA jacks, just RCA cables), or a digital camera with a USB-RCA cable, then you'll need to get the RCA-miniplug adapter (again, it's cheap). Here's how you can input video to the screen on this DVD player. There is a switch on the side of this DVD player that toggles the A/V jacks from output to input, thereby telling the screen to display the DVD or an outside video source. Just make sure you switch the A/V back to output before you try to watch a DVD again. If the switch is on input and you try to watch a DVD, all you get is a black screen. I thought mine was broken until I toggled the switch back to output, then the DVD displayed fine. I wonder if any of the other people who said their screen stopped working accidentally toggled this switch to input? Anyway, I won't buy a second one until this first one proves its durability a bit longer, but at two months old, it's working fine and is definitely the most loaded player around for under $500 (and Amazon is giving it away for $200!).

Buy Mintek MDP-1770 7-Inch Portable DVD Player Now

I am very happy with this dvd player. No problems at all, very clear full detailed picture. The sound is ok, but is better with headphones. If you buy ANY portable dvd player I whould advice you to buy a case because most people that dont get dust in the dvd players and will cause alot of problems.

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Purchased the mintek last year for Christmas...worked great for awhile but after six months the picture disappeared...no picture, just sound...take in for repairs and was told that was a common problem with Mintek and that it would be more to fix the player than to buy a new one...I am purchasing a new player but defintely not a Mintek!!

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This is definently a waste of $250. Even though the picture and sound are great, the player only plays very very few DVD's uninterrupted. It just stops in the middle of a movie and when you take the disc out and clean it, it still skips in the same spot. If you are a first time buyer and are looking for a cheap, good quality portable DVD player, DO NOT waste your money on a Mintek.

If you read the reviews carefully, you will notice a pattern that the positive ones are written by people who have had their products for only a short period of time. The people who have owned their units for a while are the ones who are negative because they have learned how unreliable these products are. My Mintek died after only 6 months of regular non-abusive use. No wonder the warranty is so skimpy -1 year parts but only 90 days labor, which is 90 bucks plus shipping. It's not worth it considering you can by another unit for a little more. DO NOT BUY A MINTEK! You definitely get what you pay for.

Samsung YP-E32 Yepp MP3 Player

• 32 MB built-in memory with SmartMedia memory expansion slot
• 7-mode audio equalizer with 3-D audio setting
• 3-line LCD screen
• Records up to 2 hours of voice audio
• Telephone directory stores hundreds of contacts

The YEPP is a good MP3 player (I have the 64MB version). I couldn't get it working on my Windows NT notebook, but on my Win 98SE machine the install was a breeze. The magnesium case is nice, and the voice recording feature is quite handy. Sound quality is good, but not great. The player can play at a decent volume.

Some things to consider before purchasing (I'm comparing this to a friend's RIO 500):

-the headphones that come with the YEPP are absolutely terrible. Then again, the RIO's headphones bite as well.

-the parallel port transfer isn't very fast (~140 kb/s .. about 7 minutes for the entire 64 MB). Compare that to a USB RIO which takes about 2 minutes to transfer 64 MB.

-the 3 line LCD screen is not backlighted and in MP3 mode one line is wasted by displaying the EQ setting (I'd rather see the line used for information about the MP3). The RIO's screen is much nicer. Granted, I don't look at the screen that much.

-the YEPP uses 2 AAA batteries, versus the RIO's single AA battery. If you plan to use Alkalines, the RIO will end up costing you alot less (2 AAA batteries aren't cheap .. especially with a battery life of ~6 hours).

If you can live with the drawbacks, this is a very good MP3 player. It can do voice recording, and is quite a bit cheaper than the RIO. Skip the 32MB version and head right for 64MB.

Did I mention that MP3s and these MP3 players are awesome?

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I first heard about MP3 players a while ago, and thought they seemed like a fairly cool idea but wouldn't have considered buying one (impoverished student, the usual... :), although I have about a hundred MP3 files of varying quality on my HD. However, I won a Yepp in a competition about a week ago and I am hugely impressed! I can't be too objective as I hadn't surveyed the market beforehand, but I am very pleased with the Samsung. The gadget itself is tiny, sparkly and pleasantly understated, and the sound from it is brilliant: very low background noise, accurate reproduction of the file's quality (it plays files with a variety of conversion rates) and 7 different preset EQs (of which, to be honest, I have only used "normal" and "rock", although it has 3-D sound capabilities). My biggest complaint would be with the earphones that came with it, which were pants, but once these had been replaced with a pair of my own I could better appreciate the player. It is very small, very shockproof and sounds great, as well as having a large amount of that mystical "gadget value" I'd definitely recommend it.

Read Best Reviews of Samsung YP-E32 Yepp MP3 Player Here

I bought the 64MB version of the Samsung Yepp. Why did I choose Samsung over the others? Well, I crossed the RIO 500 off my list early on because it lacks the voice recording capabilities of virtually every other mp3 player in the market. Sure, not essential, and USB connectivity might be more useful than a voice recorder, but hey, the Yepp is supposed to have a USB cable in the pipeline.

So why the Yepp and not the Nomad or RaveMP? Well, the Nomad has a FM tuner, but it's not upgradeable important since 32MBFlash cards are probably going to be dirt cheap in a year or two. And the RaveMP has an ugly design in my humble opinion.

So what did I think of the YEPP when I got it? It's a great wee player. Loud enough for even the soft music I listen to, VERY compact unit with a good belt clip (Which the RIO and the Nomad lack). Battery life was less than expected, it's more like 6-8 hours. Button interface is very logical and easy to use, I like the erase on the fly button, allowing you to free up memory for voice recording while "on the road". Sound quality was excellent, and as expected. However, the headphones really suck, hardly a revelation.

If I liked the player so much, why did I just give it 4 stars? Well, my player SKIPPED like crazy sometimes several times during a track. I'm quite sure it is a flash memory problem because it skips in the same places each time you play it, and in the same way. I've just sent my unit back for replacement, and hope the flash memory problem is not a common one. I've looked around for reviews from people with the same problem without much luck, so I felt compelled to warn everyone to check that their unit doesn't skip Samsung emailed me to say that the problem I described pointed to a defective unit.

In the end, I can't be too harsh, because I quickly fell in love with my YEPP, and would highly recommend it above others on the market. The Rio is good if out of the box USB is vital to you, but you should seriously consider the YEPP for it's additional features over the Rio. Just be careful with flash memory problems.

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To begin with, when I fist bought this little player, there was no review on it, so I was a little bit scared to buy it. But I did it, and I didn't regret. It has an easy to use software if your computer supports ECP mode. The good thing is you can run software on NT (My friend has an eiger lab mp3 player and its software does not run on NT, so everytime he wants to copy mp3s to his player, he needs to switch his OS) One of the best things about YEPP is you can record sound for about 2 hrs. The energy consumption is good, I am using my player extensively since last week and its battery is 2/3 now, but keep in mind that it uses 2 AAA battery. You can also store your telephone entries in your mp3 player but I believe that mp3 player is not the right tool to do such a thing (I'd prefer a palm). The worst thing about YEPP is its earphones without discussion, so if you plan to buy a YEPP player, add an additional earphone cost onto it for a realistic cost analysis. In summary: Pros: EQ modes, sound recording, design, low battery consumption, easy to use software (also works on NT), low cost/benefit ratio Cons: Low Quality Earphones, the navigation button makes sound

I've been using cd players for a while, but since i'm fairly athletic, i was constantly annoyed by skipping! (even though my discman was an esp2) I was also frusterated cuz I had to carry around like 10 cd's wherever I went just to get my favorite songs. I considered buying a cd recorder, but those usually run steep, and you have to wait like an hour to burn one cd. So, while browsing on amazon, I found the Yepp. It's the coolest, lightest, best-sounding player I've ever used! Songs are free, and if you encode your cd's at 56kbps, you can fit up to 80 minutes of music on it. People say it'll sound cruddy, but really, it doesn't. The voice recording feature is also really cool, as is the phone directory. The +'s: lightweight, super small, NEVER skips, sounds great, lots of features, easy to use software, big LCD display-the list goes on. The -'s: no mac adapter(yet:), needs to ship with a better manual. Overall, this is the best MP3 player I've seen on the internet for what you pay. Definitly worth the money! Don't waste your bucks on a mini disc!

Toshiba SD-2150 Dual Tray DVD Player

• Dual-disc capacity plays DVDs and CDs
• Dolby Digital and DTS output
• Spatializer surround sound simulates surround from 2 channels
• Coaxial digital-audio ouput for optimal hookup to a surround receiver
• Parallel video and audio output for multi-room applications

I spent many hours on-line comparing DVD players: considering price, quality, features, and reliability. I also shopped at many electronics stores in the area. I finally came up with the Toshiba SD2150 DVD Player. Why, you ask? Well most consumers picked the SD220 as the best buy, and I would almost agree with that 100%. The SD2150 has everything the SD2200 has, but with a $100.00 difference in list price. Oh yeah, the SD2200 has two audio features the SD2150 doesn't: a dolby digital decoder and an optical digital output both features you don't need, because you should get the dolby digital decoder feature in your audio receiver instead. Plus the 2150 has a bitstream/PCM audio output that will provide digital audio to your digital receiver or TV. ...For excellent picture quality and superb audio, you can't beat Toshiba DVD players!

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With DVD machines hitting all time lows in cost its easy to get caught up in purchising a poor unit in the 150 dollar range at Walmart. Don't fret, spending the extra 50-75 dollars on this unit will be well worth your money. This nifty machine does it all! It has digital sound, zoom feature, 30x Fast forward or reverse, dual tray disk, and the all important component video output. The component video output will be the standard in years to come in viewing movies. (Basically compare HDTV to regular TV and you get the picture) The draw back to the component video function is that you have to have a TV with component inputs. Toshiba is known for very bad remote controls, on this unit they surprisingly got it right. Its Light, small, and to the point. I have two Toshiba TV's, and have been very pleased with them. So when shopping for my first DVD unit I was naturally drawn to them. But after comparing this unit to others like the Sony, and Panasonic the Toshiba price was more affordable, and the functions more abundant on this model compared to the others. Making this little beauty part of your entertainment center will be money well spent!

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I did a lot of research before buying my (primary) DVD player, please read on. The dual tray is a great option. The biggest thing this player has going for it is 540 lines of horizontal resolution. If you have a TV with component input, but it doesn't support anamorphic, nor does it support progressive scanning, getting a higher resolution output is your only method of improving your picture.

Composite video has a resolution of 380 horizontal lines. S-Video has a resolution of 420 horizontal lines. I do not know what coax (cable) is capable of. And component (three rca plugs of green, red, blue) can do from 480 and up. Most DVD players do 480 to 500 lines of resolution, but certain Toshiba players have the much underrated option of 540 horizontal lines. This may not sound like a big deal to you, but compare to 380 of composite (single yellow rca plug), and you are reaching over 150% the detail.

So if you want to get all you can from your slightly older technology TV set, this is the DVD player to get.

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I've owned this machine for less than six months, and it's gone through TWO laser pickups. With only a skimpy 90-day warranty on laber, this DVD player has so far cost me! There's either a terrible design flaw, or I've been unlucky enough to receive two bad laser assemblies. Personally, I think there's a design or manufacturing flaw involved. There's no reason why I went through two lasers in screening somewhere between 30 and 40 movies, between March 13 and July 25, 2001. STAY AWAY FROM THIS MODEL!!

I bought this machine when it was a little more expensive and I am generally happy with the features and capabilities. This is also the second Toshiba DVD player that I have owned. The only thing that is a drawback (and it's a big one)is the warranty service. The machine' remote suffered a melt-down after being used for two months. After conferring with Toshiba's customer service about warranty support for the remote I brought it to their designated service center in my area. -Remotes are not serviced, they are just replaced. After replacing the remote (under warranty) Toshiba changed the text of their warranty and decided that they weren't going to honor their previous warranty and had the service center bill me (...) Beware the service and get their promises of support in writing. If you never use the equipment, it will never need service.

Canon XF100 Professional Camcorder with 10x HD Video lens, Compact Flash (CF) Recording

Having had an XA10 briefly before buying the XF100 I was able to make some direct comparisons.

Bottom line is that the XF100 offers more hard BUTTONS, a huge advantage to any semi-pro user or above, because digging through the menu on site is tedious and time consuming. The codec is also MPEG2 50mbs 4:2:2 color, which means the color accuracy is MUCH better than the XA10 and editing will be much faster and easier to render. It actually meets minimum broadcast specs for the BBC which is pretty amazing for the price range. A more flexible but finicky image. At each shoot, you'll be spending a little more time getting white balance, lighting and picture settings just right vs the XA10's simpler use.

OUT OF THE BOX SHOOTING: No, don't do that. You'll want to do 2 things right away. Google "Custom Picture Profiles" and use the ones called XF1MOJO, HI-GAIN and TRUVID to start. They alter many different aspects of the picture to allow for great looking footage. If you don't do this, you're likely to get grainy footage even in good light and night shots will be unusable. You'll also want to set the LCD screen to BRIGHT if you want to see in in the sunlight while shooting.

LOW LIGHT/NIGHT SHOTS: Use a custom picture profile setup for this and most importantly DO NOT go above 9db GAIN. Auto mode will rocket up to 24db instantly and produce one of the grainiest pictures you can imagine. Keep it below 9 and you'll be pleased. I hooked my camera up to our HDTV and lowered the light while toying with different settings, this was very effective for me to learn what worked and how in that setting.

EDITING: Using both XA10 footage (H264) and XF100 (MPEG2), Adobe CS6, W7x64 still lagged badly and took roughly 2-3x as long for any renders using an 8 core system. The XF100 footage flowed easily and smoothly and rendered faster than realtime in HD on my system while the the H264 not only took longer but caused some odd glitches in Adobe from time to time.

SMALL POINTS: The build quality feels more solid than the XA10, which is also pretty good. The XF100 is very light and while that's nice, it also means you'll be relying on the image stabilization a bit more, which for the most part works well. Full size HDMI out. New firmware (which you probably won't need is out so make sure yours is up to date, do this 1st as it erases all presets). It adds some useful features and is worth doing at canon's website.

WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE: 60p in 1080 mode, as it is, you can get there but only in 1280x720, which is still a pretty good resolution, no other camera in the class offers it either at the present time. How about a wireless remote that doesn't require pressing TWO buttons to use, I couldn't believe it, absolutely useless in the field, buying a LANC remote for this need is pretty much required due to this. More Custom Picture Profiles would have been nice, they offer three hard presets, which I've yet to find a use for. SDcard options, currently no internal memory and you must buy the pricey Compact Flash Memory. The x400 Transcend works fine BTW, it's the cheapest so far. Adapters for SD cards don't work so don't bother.

WHY STILL GET AN XA10? If you're in need of XLR audio and don't want to step up to the XF100, I guess it makes sense. For my money, I'd just get the Vixia for $700 less and you'll have almost the same thing minus the inputs. If you are an AUTO type of shooter, the XA10 will please you, but if you need to adjust lots of settings, it WILL be a little frustrating. The OUT OF THE BOX experience with the XA10 is pretty good, the presets it offers are very usable and produced excellent quality with little fiddling, while the XF100 will require more setup and fine tuning.

I've spent only a week with each camera at this point so keep that in mind as you consider what I had to say about these cameras. Overall, they're both excellent, but just serve different needs. I make a living with my cameras, so what's important to me might not matter much to others.

UPDATE: Dec 7 2012: After a few months using the camera and shooting a half dozen commercial shoots with it, I can say it's produced very nice footage. Outdoor shoots on sunny days I've been able to go full auto and get outstanding results with absolutely beautiful color reproduction. Low light still requires the settings above but have also been very very good. Auto focus works fine but I've had a few instances where it wanders, can't fault the camera really but manual focus with the MAG button makes this a breeze in the field (thank you Canon).

I've since gotten a x600 card to go with x400s and they work together but you have make sure to set them up properly in the menu and that they have "green" lights on both or it won't automatically start recording on the 2nd card when you need it Pay attention the first time and you'll know what I mean and avoid losing any shots. I've learned the x600 is really only necessary for overcranking as I've had not a single error with any of the x400s @ 1920x1080 30fps, at double the price it's something to consider.

AUDIO: I use a non XLR Rode mic 99% of the time but the onboard audio is usable in a pinch under the right conditions. XLR is the way to go so if you're getting new gear look into it.

Finally, I picked up a 2nd battery, a larger Wasabi and it's been fantastic, I know some people said they didn't get accurate remaining times, but I had no problems at all and at a fraction of the price of Canon batteries, you just can't beat them. No little lights on the back of the battery but other than that you get a lot more juice for your money.

I spent about four months comparing the Canon XF100 to the Canon 7D, and several Sony video cameras. I used mutiple lens on the Canon 7d...testing for depth of field, low light comparisons, etc. For the Indy movie we are shooting now, the Canon XF100 became the perfect choice. Ease of use, 2-3 hours of battery use, double slots for the compact flash cards (one for backup), great low light, the ability to continue a shot for more than 12 minutes (Canon7d), the ability to chose MF or AF, and no need to purchase all the peripherals that you need when you use a DLSR for video. If you can find this camera, its incredible and easy to use. The only drawback is the editing. If you have a 32 bit Windows platform, you will have to upgrade to a new computer for 64 bit if you plan on editing with Adobe Premiere Pro, Avid, or the earlier versions of Final Cut Pro. FCPro X at this time is not set up for the Canon XF series.

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If you're looking to step into the beginnings of a professional level video camera, the XF100 will do the job. Among the features I like best are: 4:2:2 color space, XLR audio inputs, and a versatile zoom lens. These are just a few, there are many more. To provide a thorough review of the XF100, I made this video, which includes an un-boxing, a look at the features, and a short, actual test of the camera. I immediately noticed an improvement in my productions including my video blog and YouTube material, not to mention material submitted to professional news organizations. For a high-quality stream of this review, see my blog, which is mentioned in my Amazon profile, or can be found through my website. The higher quality version was far too large to load here.

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I was looking for a camcorder to improve upon the image and sound quality that I got from my Canon VIXIA HFS10, and after a lot of research I decided on this one. I haven't been disappointed.

For me the most important feature was the dual XLR inputs, because for documentary shooting, where the voices of my subjects are critical, I can't rely on the onboard microphone. I need at least to add a shotgun on top, or on a boom pole if I have someone else to operate it. Additionally, it helps to have a wireless lavaliere set up and the ability to record both inputs to different channels, and control their levels independently. All that's possible, and quite easy, with this camcorder.

The image quality, also, is a serious step up. I can get good shots indoors as long as it's not dark, and excellent quality during the daytime and at night in a well-lit street. This will record up to 50Mbps, using Canon's XF Codec, which can be edited without difficulty and without the need for conversion using Adobe's Premiere Pro CS6 but should be usable in almost any up-to-date semi-professional editing program.

It records onto compact flash cards, and can hold up to two at once. It can be set to record sequentially, so that as soon as the one card is full it will begin recording to the other without any time lag. You can also remove and replace the card that's not currently recording even with the camera on, so you could keep recording for as long as you like. I use the SanDisk Extreme CompactFlash 32GB Memory Cards, and they work great. It also holds an optional SD card for recording photos and for storing customized camera settings, that can be selected from the menu.

The battery this comes with shoots for about 3 hours, but you can pick up an additional battery that will keep it running for over 8 hours. They've done a good job with providing custom buttons for commonly used functions, and there are ten additional buttons that can be customized to a wide range of additional functions that you'd otherwise have to access through the menu. You can set the focus wheel to manual focus, zoom, or iris and adjust its sensitivity levels to fit your needs. I set one of the custom buttons to the peak function, which shows me where I have sharp edges and helps me when I'm focusing manually.

There's an eyepiece for those who prefer to shoot that way but the LCD screen contains the menu features, and can be rotated in all directions. There's a removable microphone mount on top I found that my shotgun mike didn't fit in there snuggly, so I went to the hardware store and bought three rubber o-rings to place on my mike. Now it fits in there nicely.

I've been shooting with this for a couple of months now, and have gotten great results. There's a lot more that I could say about it, but most of what you need to know is available lots of other places. I wish it had better image quality in very low light situations, but it's better at that than any camera in its price and feature range that I've come across. Like I said I think it's ideal for the low-end and independent documentary filmmaker and other similar uses, such as commercial videos and weddings. Because it is light and has a smaller profile it would also be quite useful on a higher level production when shooting needs to be somewhat discreet and not call attention to itself or scream that a movie's being made. It's worked great for my needs as a low-end independent documentary filmmaker. I've been very happy with it.

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Bottom line. Its a three thousand dollar camera with 422 and 1920x1080. Makes a fantastic cheap second camera next to my 5d. XLR imputs. Thinking about purchasing another. Its maybe too light, but that isnt necessarily a bad thing. Shoots very well in low light situations. I just shot a video in a one room school house with no electricity at dusk and was able to get the shots without using the infrared. Ya it was a little bit grainy, but I got the shots and I got paid. Ya you can find things to complain about it, but its a three thousand dollar camera. Simple plug in to work with FCP7.