These DVD cases were perfect for storing all of my DVDs. They seemed to be great quality and the plastic that holds the covers didn't seem cheap or loose like some DVD cases that I've ordered previously. I'm very satisfied!they worked great will be ordering more in the near future. thanks for the fast service as well look forward to getting more
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
200 STANDARD Black Single DVD Cases 14MM
These DVD cases were perfect for storing all of my DVDs. They seemed to be great quality and the plastic that holds the covers didn't seem cheap or loose like some DVD cases that I've ordered previously. I'm very satisfied!they worked great will be ordering more in the near future. thanks for the fast service as well look forward to getting more
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Sylvania SDVD7027 7-Inch Portable DVD Player with Car Bag/Kit, Swivel Screen, USB/SD Card Reader (P
I am very pleased with this player, the portable size and quality are great and it plays just fine. I have a nearly one hour commute to and from work each day and the player lasts through both trips on one battery charge. I love the color too. This is a great value for the money because you get everything you need all in one package. The unit comes with a car charger and cables to plug into a television set. It comes with earphones and a remote control also. The only thing I don't like is the case, which as others have mentioned, is very thin and not too great at holding the player in place in the car. I am searching to buy another case but for the price paid and all the accessories this unit comes with, it is well worth the price. My almost two year-old is excited about watching her movies in the car and this will be a life-saver!I bought this portable dvd player for a road trip and not only did it occupy my child for many hours, it has now become her favorite toy. Thank goodness it is so durable because she takes her "computer" from room to room and can be entertained by it during my long hours taking online courses. When she wants to watch the big screen she doesn't have to touch my nice player since she only needs to plug in the color coordinated audio/video cables into the television. I was skeptical about making such purchase for a toddler but the incredibly low price was a deal I couldn't pass up.I've been volunteering at a local dance club to play music for a women's line dancing group one day a week and originally hooked up a karaoke player with a 7" video screen to the club's sound system for that purpose. After about a year of lugging my portable karaoke/dvd/cd player, I decided to use my android tablet for the same purpose, but missed not having a cd player for those less often requested musical selections not currently on my sd card ... thus I started carrying my portable karaoke player with me as a backup. Well, last week I thought seriously about buying a portable dvd/cd player instead to do the job of both units and came across this unit. I ordered prior to labor day and received delivery promptly as estimated while taking advantage of the free shipping option.The bonus of not only being portable but also having a built in battery good enough for 2 hours of play time and the capability of not only reading from the usb and sd ports were the best selling points for me. I ordered one for now and I couldn't be happier. The video and sound quality is excellent! For my purposes, the built in speakers are adequate but when the unit is coupled with a studio grade sound amplifier/mixer through the headphone jacks ... the result is just great! Just for my own curiousity I used the supplied a/v plug to connect the player to the tv in my livingroom and the picture is more than acceptable for something that isn't blu-ray or hd. BTW for those interested ... the unit will also play karaoke cd-g discs flawlessly too!
For the money, the 7" screen is a better deal than the 9" same brand unit also sold here at the Amazon site and more than ample for my alterior needs. The only drawbacks to using this player in lieu of my android tablet or karaoke player is that you can't seem to alphabetize or customize your mp3 music or video playlist through the usb/sd card ports. For my purposes, the included remote is not really necessary but a very welcomed convenience. The unit is a no-brainer to use, so should someone be called in to substitute for me for whatever reason ... it wouldn't be rocket science to figure out what buttons to press.work well, easy to pass around, u can view movie from ur memory card, flash drive, or dvd files, i buy it againWe bought this DVD player for our 2 1/2 year old for our long car rides to my parents' house. After reading other reviews I was a little hesitant, but I gave it a try for the price and swivel/flip function. I love that it can be flipped around and folded so it's similar to a tablet and all of the buttons are covered from our toddler's curious fingers! In anticipation of the carrying case being low quality (according to other reviews) I also purchased the "Car Headrest Mount for Swivel & Flip Style Portable DVD Player," which was a good call! The DVD player itself worked very well. I was happy with the picture and sound. I'm not sure what issue other people are having with the sound because I could hear my son's movie over the sounds of the car, with the A/C on, and radio playing quietly. When he's used it in the house, I've actually gone and turned the volume down so that it's not quite so loud. I have to agree with other reviewers complaints about the carrying case. It's pretty terrible and doesn't hold the dvd player in very well with the oddly placed elastic straps. The material is very lightweight and flimsy, similar to the fabric some reusable shopping bags are made of. The only use I can really see for it is putting the extra cords and Dvd player in for storage between trips. I absolutely wouldn't trust it to hold the DVD player up on a head rest like it claims. We mounted the DVD on the headrest in the car using the car headrest mount mentioned above (available separately on Amazon). I was able to pause, stop, and play the movie using the little remote from the front seat of the car (dvd player behind my head). One downside is that the car adapter cord is really short and was not long enough to reach the dvd player mounted on the headrest. As a solution he would watch one movie, I would take it and plug it in for a while, then put it back for another movie for fear that the battery would die if I didn't. One thing I find myself missing is the ability to turn off the player and turn it back on and pick up the movie where it left off, though with our toddler it didn't really matter since he was happy to just watch it here and there. At this point, I haven't had the occasion to try the USB or SD card reader and don't know that I ever will. We're fine just using DVD's.
Diamond VC500 One Touch Video Capture Device
Luckily, I didn't listen to the other reviewers here and actually checked the reviews on Newegg. Glad I did, this product is awesome! The quality is great (however, you must change the the output settings to something other than default of VCD [read the manual on how to do so]). It doesn't have Vista support (but being a gamer, I am staying on Windows XP).The VC500 is great for recording gameplay on videogame consoles.
It's best if you do install the Software that comes with it. Movie Maker has a hard time capturing from this device, but the software that comes with this works a lot better.
If you are trying to decide whether to buy the Pinnacle Dazzle or this, I would suggest you buy this because:
1. It's cheaper
2. The quality is the same, if not better than the Dazzle
3. The Live Preview allows you to play console games in full screen
4. The software is high quality
5. Comes with a RCA Audio/Video Cable (which is one less purchase to make)The Diamond VC500 capture device is awesome!
Load the driver program, open the program, plug in the device in the USB, connect to A/V outputs on a VCR or a DVD player, start to play your source (VHS or DVD) and you will see it on your computer screen and hear it through your audio card. Then, when you see the scenes you want, press the record button on the device or on the program and you are capturing.
The tool command on the program allows you to adjust picture capture quality and output mode (and quality).
After years of handling videos by direct transfer from VCR to VCR in order to make a composite, now I can do the editing on my computer. The files created can be used and edited directly in Windows Movie Maker (the device comes with another editing program, but I find WMM to be easier to use with a wider range of output files).
As a person using clips from many movies in an educational setting to illustrate my topics, this device has made my life much easier -and the quality of what I get is much, much better!!!!!
And all of this for a price much less than the usual video-capture internal card.
(and a hint you can use this device with sources such as phonographs or tape decks to capture and edit the sound through your USB port without having to delve into the audio input ports on the back of your PC.)
Buy Diamond VC500 One Touch Video Capture Device Now
I couldn't be happier with this. I'm not a professional video person, but someone who just wants to transfer VHS tapes onto disk. A professional might find some objections to this device, but it works and does exactly what I needed it to do. Plug it into the VCR, plug the other end into the USB port, start up the VCR hit the record button and Bingo! My VHS movie is now a MPEG movie. No problems with the software or hardware. Well worth the price.Read Best Reviews of Diamond VC500 One Touch Video Capture Device Here
I bought this product to capture VHS tapes onto my computer, which I would then edit in another program. I am running Vista. I installed the software with little difficulty and was up and running in under 10 minutes. However, over the course of using the product, I discovered that the video and audio frequently get out of sync...just enough to be annoying. The audio somehow gets ahead of the video, so after a few minutes of capturing, it gets out of sync and boom, it's worthless (unless you don't care about that, but I personally find it annoying when people's mouths aren't moving in sync with the audio). For me, this is enough to get rid of the product, it doesn't do what I need it to do. I gave it two stars instead of 1 because if you're just trying to capture something small, like 30 seconds long, it should be fine. However, for anything longer, forget it.I also found that the software that comes with it is a bit buggy with Vista. It changes the color scheme when you open it up, which causes your screen to go blank for several seconds. Then, if your computer goes to sleep while you're recording, you can't get it to wake up and have to completely restart which is a huge pain. But then again, if your computer is set to go to sleep after 20 minutes, it won't matter because by then the video and audio will be WAY out of sync (it gets progressively worse as time goes on, starting to be noticeable after 3-4 minutes).
Want Diamond VC500 One Touch Video Capture Device Discount?
My system: Toshiba L505 laptop with AMD dual core processor & Win 7My person: Middle-aged guy who has been swapping out guts of computers and dealing with software issues for 2 decades.
I had been waiting for a gadget like this for a long time. A few years ago, you would have had to buy a box to do this job, so I was pleased to see an inexpensive way to get this done. I really read the reviews thoroughly before buying this item, so I wanted to address some of the issues that worried me when I read them.
First, if you used a tape that cost you $2.98 for 17 of them, don't be foolish enough to think that turning the video digital is going to perform magic tricks. My old camcorder tapes were expensive master tapes, used with a high-end [for the time] Panasonic PV330 camcorder. When I captured video from tapes of lesser quality, it was immediately evident.
I read people saying that they experienced out-of-sync conditions. With my Win 7 system, I saw no such thing. Then there are installation and documentation issues. The documentation is quite lacking, especially when you consider the problems that some users mentioned. Primary among these was the first time I installed the software, I had already plugged in the device. When you do this, Windows automatically searches for a driver and will find one! When you start the software installation, the first step is to load a driver from the disk. Don't do it! If windows has already loaded a driver, SKIP this step, otherwise it will really mess you up! After I had to go back and restore my computer back to an earlier date, I let the win driver load, loaded up the CD and skipped the driver on it and everything was fine. Also, there will be a green bar across the bottom of the screen in the software where you view the captured video so like one reviewer already said, just close the software, start it up again, and everything is fine. That's where the documentation comes in they have no business not addressing these issues in their manual. Granted, there isn't much to this product, but issues like these need to be addressed so the user knows that she/he is not doing something wrong. With the driver, I think we have gotten so use to the installation taking care of conflict issues that we don't even think about this stuff any more.
As far as the software is concerned, it is pretty rudimentary stuff. I always capture in the MPEG (DVD) format on to an external drive, 'cause the files are big. For editing, the Ulead stuff isn't worth too much in fact I've had it stop working all together a few times, so I don't use it. Actually, Win 7 has enough built in do do most of the flat-out basic editing and burning. Just capture the video, close down the One Touch (the file will already be saved in whatever folder), and use whatever editing software you want. Also if you are using software that lets you capture, I don't think you have to use the button on the VC500.
Sorry about all the blabber, but there are problems with this gadget, but they can be worked around. It's a shame that there is any guessing involved. And for me, it's worth the 30 odd bucks to capture 20 year old videos of the kids on a DVD.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Zmodo PKD-DK0863-500GB Outdoor Security Camera
I live in rowhome/townhome with a common driveway in the rear. We live in an urban area. A few weeks ago, someone walked into my yard and stole a bike that was locked to my fence. I was more concerned than angry as it was located near my back door and I was home at the time. What's to stop them from coming inside next?I've been thinking about getting a security camera for some time. After the theft, I started checking Amazon and found the Zmodo system. The reviews were all 5 stars at the time of my purchase. At around $200.00 for 4 cameras and a 500GB DVR, I figured I couldn't go wrong. If you search Zmodo on that popular video sharing site, people claim the 500GB will hold about 30 days of video and it can be set to overwrite. Once set, you can basically leave it alone and review an incident if needed.
As of this writing, I have two of the four cameras installed. I have them both mounted on the rear of my home and pointed towards the drive. I've never owned a security camera before, so I have nothing to compare them to, but I am very satisfied with the clarity of the cameras during the daytime. From where I have them positioned, I can see my yard and beyond. I don't believe I can read a license plate, but my next door neighbor has a cargo van and I can read his advertising. Our back drive is very dark. Nighttime viewing is ok, but not great. However, I have a motion light mounted to the rear of my home and when it goes on, I can see my yard quite clearly.
I've been using the system for about a week. Overall, I am quite pleased with my purchase. It does exactly what I need it to do at a very affordable price.
Pros: It comes with 4 cameras and you can add 4 more. It's easy to install, the camera picture quality is good. It comes with everything you need to get started right away. The DVR has 500GB of memory so you don't need to add a hard drive. You can set the system for remote viewing. (Either from other computers on your network or remote viewing using a mobile device.) I can't comment on the remote viewing as I don't have it set, but plan to do so in the near future. I'll update my review once completed.
Cons: The print on the directions is small and not easy to read. However, it comes with a cd that allows you to view them on your computer. The mounting brackets are ok, not great. If you need to monitor a very dark area, you might want to add a motion light or some other form of outside lighting to improve the performance. You can adjust the brightness on the camera if extra lighting is not available, but daytime viewing may look washed out unless you adjust it each day.
Lastly For me, the value was in the DVR. I didn't want to spend a ton of money upfront. My thought was I could always add better cameras if needed. The included 60' cables are basic quality. I suspect if I upgrade to coaxial, the picture quality will improve. I have it hooked up to an old computer monitor, but you can also connect it to a newer TV. By doing so, you may improve the picture clarity even more. In order to use this system remotely, you'll need to connect the DVR to your router via a c5 cable or wireless bridge. I plan on doing the latter as I am trying to avoid running c5 cable through my home. For areas where you might not be able to run wires, you can add a wireless camera to the system such as the Lorex LW2110 Lorex LW2110 Wireless Digital Security Camera, but you'll still need to supply the camera with power.
If you are looking for an affordable starter security system and don't mind running some wires, the Zmodo PKD-DK0863 works well for me.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Update 12/05/2012
As mentioned previously, I wanted to set this up for remote viewing. In order to do this, I needed to connect the DVR to my router. You can connect via a Cat5 cable. If your router is not near your DVR, and running wires through you home is not easy/possible, you can do like I did and add a wireless bridge. I recently installed a Cisco/Linksys WET610N bridge. Set up was fairly easy. I can now view my cameras from any computer on my home network. In addition, Zmodo has an app that allows me to view the feed from my Iphone. It works very well and I'm pleased with the picture quality. If you search Zmodo remote viewing on Youtube, you'll find several videos that will help make the installation easy.I am a professional installer of CCTV surveillance system and I recently purchased this for a customer who wanted a very low budget system. As the saying goes you get what you pay for. I ended up using the DVR and replaced the cameras from another supplier.
PROS: The DVR is usable, customer service is excellent ( to make up for the quality of the product), very easy to network system. PRICE
CONS: Camera resolution very low and dose not produce true colors (I will upload some pics to demonstrate), if the camera is facing any type of shrubbery they appear as a light purple haze and not green. The IR distance is less that 25ft.
This system would be suitable for a commercial area as a store or quick shoppe about 30' x 30'. With the cameras installed no higher that 8ft. Would not recommend it for outdoor surveillance.
Buy Zmodo PKD-DK0863-500GB Outdoor Security Camera Now
This security camera system works pretty well, view angle is amazing in every light condition, the installation was easy, I installed them in my restaurant we move all the cables throw the ceiling without issues. If you are looking for some system that delivers efficiency, easy install and a fair price I think you're on the right way for sure. Some things you must consider is to buy extra long cables if you need to cover big areas like me.Speaking about the software...pretty easy to use, we only experiment some delays on remote access config because our Internet provider is a mess (not ZMODO fault's).
I think if you buy it, you'll not be disappointed.
Thanks!
Read Best Reviews of Zmodo PKD-DK0863-500GB Outdoor Security Camera Here
I ordered this to get proof a neighbor was "peeking" at me from around the fence I put up. For the price I am very happy. Would I have upgraded the cameras had I any clue what I was doing? Maybe. Would I have gone wireless so I dont have to belly crawl my attic? Maybe. I have more time than money so this system was exactly what I needed yet could afford. I dont have a clue and this system was SOOOO easy and when I messed up the settings I just reset to factory settings and started over. Simple. I'll admit, I didnt even read the installation or directions it was so easy.I have an alarm system and I can wire this into it if I choose. I can add 4 more cameras if I choose. I just upgraded to a smart phone and I will be setting up the system to view on that. Isnt technology great? Whats even better is someone like me can install, set up, monitor this system with practically NO technical skills.
Thank you Zmodo and Amazon!!
Want Zmodo PKD-DK0863-500GB Outdoor Security Camera Discount?
I read a lot of mixed and negative reviews for this item and similar models and was skeptical, but decided to take a risk anyway. I'm glad I did, for under $200 it is a great buy. It is not professional grade, nor did I expect it to be. The image quality is actually better than I expected it would be, even in total darkness it renders an acceptable image and the motion detection is almost too sensitive that I had to cut it back. Many of the complaints surround installation and setup. The included printed instructions are a bit lacking, but a search of FAQs on the manufacture's website will yield better information and step by step walk thru. The setup itself is pretty simple but if you want access over the internet it is a bit more involved. Like anything techie, you need a basic understanding of computers and networking, You need to open a DNS account, open router ports, and configure the NVR, all of which is easier than it sounds if you just follow the directions. I had a few issues and frustrations but found them to be more the fault of the ISPs, Time Warner & AT&T in my case, who block ports and generally don't seem to like to play nice with each other at the expense of their customers. If you are accessing from within your owns network rather than across the web with multiple ISPs this should not be an issue. Again most of the complaints deal with the setup, not the product itself, and we should not blame product for the problems caused by the 3rd party providers. There are workarounds, and once resolved it was a fairly quick and easy process. If you lack the tech knowledge, just get a 9 year old to do it. PROS: good image, can view directly, via the internet but I can't access from my work, I think it is port blocking again (but this time by corporate security) but fine form every other computer, iPad, iPhone and there is also an android app for those who have not upgraded yet. Image is fair to good, even in total darkness. CONS: needs to be hardwired to the router with a cat5 cable which may limit where you can place the unit, although a wireless adapter might work. I used wired cameras, however wireless models are available. The wireless camera isn't 100% wireless, it connects wirelessly to the router, but it still needs AC power so it must be close to an outlet, they don't exactly mention that. The software is a bit rudimentary, but it works. I can see they are improving the GUI. BOTTOM LINE: For a low cost video surveillance system this is the ticket and in my opinion a fine product that has been unjustly treated by reviewers.Thursday, October 30, 2014
Zenith ZPA-314 7" Wide LCD Portable DVD Player

- Long Lasting Play with up to 3.5 Hours Battery Life
- Ready for Road Trips with the supplied car Cigarette Lighter Adapter
- Play Movies Anywhere on the 7" LCD Screen or the Audio Video Out Jacks
- Input games Systems or other video with the Audio Video in Jacks
- High Quality Audio from Built-In Stereo Speakers, Earphone Jack or Digital Audio Optical Out Jack
Buy Zenith ZPA-314 7" Wide LCD Portable DVD Player Now
I decided to purchace a portable DVD player for road trips to NY city, driving for 5 hours gets boring. So at the store, saw this nice Zenith player for only 90 bucks, and excellent!Now, having tested it out for a few trips, its a nice DVD player. Good layout, pictures looks fantastic. Adapters let you use it in the car or plug-in.
But there was one problem. Unless you have high quality noise reducing full headphones, or are in a quite place already, the low volume on the unit will be bad. How bad? Well, using it in the car, with basic headphones, with max volume. I could not even hear the DVD's over basic car noise with the windows up. The volume was just not close to being loud enough to use this in a car without high quality headphones. So I had to return the unit, and tested out some others which had good quality sound.
So, for the price, its a nice unit, but note before you buy that the volume is very low compared to other units. I would spend an extra 20bucks or so and get a higher priced unit with better sound.
Read Best Reviews of Zenith ZPA-314 7" Wide LCD Portable DVD Player Here
THIS IS A GREAT PRODUCT, A MUST BUY/HAVE I AM REALLY THINKING OF BUYING MORE.GREAT PICTURE, PERFECT FOR TRAVEL OR JUST NORMAL LEISURE, SOUND IS PHENOMENAL, YOU WON'T GO WRONG/ BE UNSATISFIED ONCE YOU BUY THIS!!!
Want Zenith ZPA-314 7" Wide LCD Portable DVD Player Discount?
THIS IS AN ABSOOOLUTELY LOVELY DVD PLAYER!! THE OTHER GUY WHO GAVE A LOW RATING DOES NOT EVEN HAVE THE RIGHT/ CORRECT ITEM, BRAND AND NON THE LESS, ACCURATE MANUAFACTURER, THIS IS FOR ZENITH BRAND DVD PLAYER NOT SAMSUNG? (as he states) duhANYWAYS, FOLKS, THIS IS A GEM OF A TREASURE TO HAVE AND I AM ALSO THINKING OF BUYING 3 MORE!!!!I bought this DVD player last Xmas for about $100, and it's still running fine and we love it have found lots of uses: When out to eat, in the car on trips, kids take it to their room when they have friends over, when we want to watch different movies.
PROS: Price is awesome. Reliability has been great. Sound is reasonable. Picture is good. 7 inch screen is great for 2 people and OK for 3 kids. Controls allow you to adjust the brightness and color to extend battery life (awesome!). Has several other controls (menu, title, angle), but we don't use 'em. Also has a remote, but we don't use that either. Runs quietly.
CONS: Speakers are not quite as loud as some of the more expensive ones, but it's always been acceptable. Battery life has degraded a bit after use, but still we can get in a movie. The battery is easily removable, so I assume it can be readily replaced, but haven't tried.
I'm probably buying a 2nd one this year for Xmas.
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Panasonic HDC-SDT750, High Definition 3D Camcorder
I bought this Panasonic 3-D camcorder based on the fabulous features it shows in the description.Zoom 12X with 18X capability and High Definition full 1080P.
It has many features usually found on Professional models but when you connect the supplied 3-D attachment the buck stops here, or should I say the value.
When shooting 3-D you do not have HD-1080P. In fact, your shooting in 3:2 instead of 16:9 which means the High Definition quality is gone and you have a black border surrounding the screen.
There's no Zoom.
The Fuji W3 may only be 720P but at least if has a 5X optical zoom and plays in 16:9 format.
The Fuji W1 and W3 both shoot 16:9 3-D still photos.
Even the cheaply made Aiptek 3-D camera takes photos and Video in 16:9 format and it's only $200.00 but the quality is really bad.
As for the Panasonic. it does not shoot still photos at all in any format with the 3-D attachment.
I am lost for words on how Amazon and especially PANASONIC avoids any mention of these facts.
They certainly lead the consumer to believe the fabulous features of the camcorder are available while shooting both 2-D and 3-D.
There should be a big warning: THE FEATURES OF THE HDC-SDT750K CAMCORDER SHOWN IN THIS DESCRIPTION DO NOT FUNCTION WHEN SHOOTING 3-D.
Also, Panasonic should not claim that the consumer will be able to shoot 3-D video just like Hollywood with this statement:
POWERFUL TRUE TO LIFE 3-D VIDEO JUST LIKE HOLLYWOOD MOVIES.
This is false because the depth of the 3-D does not come even close to reality of a really devoted 3-D camera such as their professional model or the old Toshiba.
Panasonic makes a great professional 3-D camcorder priced at $21,000.00 and they could make a consumer model for much less by merely making a 3-D camcorder specifically designed for 3-D only.
My old Toshiba 3-D camcorder works great because it's devoted to shooting only 3-D and the lenses are farther apart so it has the proper depth of field.
It's too bad Toshiba was ahead of it's time with limited resolution of standard VHS tape.
I will say when shooting close ups the Panasonic does a great job with 3-D but beyond 20 to 30 feet the 3-D is more like 2-D.
One other positive feature is that after you put your 3-D video on a disc it will play directly on your 3-D TV just like a Bluray 3-D movie, but only in 1080i 3:2.
When will Sony come out with a real consumer 3-D camcorder like Toshiba did 20 years ago?
What are you waiting for SONY.
UPDATE 11/25/10
If you own any laptop or computer with NVIDIA 3-D you will not want this Panasonic 3-D camcorder because it is not compatible with NVIDIA 3-D.
The best 3-D camera you want is the AIPTEK 3-D camera priced on Amazon at only $189.00.
It's a cheaply made camera and the quality is not as good as Panasonic but Aiptek includes NVIDIA 3-D in their softwear. (PLease read my review on the Aiptek 3-D camera)
It's really an insult for Panasonic to allow this cheaply made Aiptek from China to be ahead of one of the biggest consumer electronic company in Japan and the world.
Please read my important update below dated 9/4/11
IMPORTANT UPDATE 5/15/11
I finally got the new Sony HDR-TD10 3-D camcorder I've been waiting for so long (Priced at $1,498.00) and what a disapointment.
It will not allow 3-D copying to disc like this Panasonic.
The Sony direct DVD copier does not recognize the SD memory card from Sony's new 3-D camcorder but the Sony direct DVD copier does recognize and copy the SD card from this Panasonic camcorder and makes an instant 3-D AVCHD copy ready for immediate viewing on any 3-D TV with a Bluray 3-D player, just like a Bluray 3-D movie. Sony does not allow any copying in 3-D, you cannot view 3-D in a computer designed for 3-D viewing such as the Toshiba laptop with Nvidia 3-D or any of the Acer 3-D laptops.
In fact, the only way you can watch 3-D with the new Sony is to watch your 3-D video directly from the camcorder with the HDMI connection.
You can transfer your 3-D video to an external hard drive but then must return the 3-D video to the camcorder in order to watch it in 3-D.
Sony praises the fact that when you shoot 3-D video you're able to watch what you shoot later in HD 2-D and so when you do transfer your 3-D videos to a computer you can watch it in 2-D. BIG Deal!
If I want a High difinition 2-D camcorder I can get one for a lot less then $1,498.00, even a model made by Sony.
Sony does have nice 3-D quality with a little more depth but I'm sending mine back for a refund because of the lack of other features.
I hate to say it 3-D enthusisits but I now appreciate this Panasonic more then ever because it is the only 3-D camcorder which allows your 3-D videos to be copied and viewed on a Bluray 3-D player.
Perhaps Panasonic's claim that it's just like Hollywood 3-D movies isn't completely false after all as I previously stated in this review.
By the way, the new JVC 3-D camcorder is the same as the Sony. It will not allow any 3-D videos to be copies to a disc and the only way you can watch the 3-D video you shoot is with the camcorder connected to the TV with the HDMI connection.
I read this in a review posted at B & H. so I'll save my money for some one to do it right!
SPECIAL UPDATE JUNE 2011
I was curious about a cheap CODY 7 inch portable 2-D to 3-D DVD player actually manufactured by V-ZON model TF3DVD7019 so I decided to check it out for $118.00 here on Amazon.
I was expected to be disappointed and I was at first because it would not play any 3-D from the Fuji W1, Fuji W3 or of course any of the AVCHD DVD's from this Panasonic 3-D camcorder but was I surprised when I played a copy of a regular 3-D DVD made from this Panasonic 3-D camcorder that was not AVCHD.
It plays pretty good in 3-D.
There's a little ghosting now & then and there's no 3-D adjustments but it works!
I made the regular type of DVD without AVCHD by connecting the audio/video cable supplied with my Panasonic 3-D camcorder directly to the input of my DVD recorder.
If you attempt to make a copy with the Panasonic softwear you will only get 2-D if you choose to make a regular DVD copy. Only AVCHD copies are in 3-D.
I did notice slight pausing every few seconds when playing the DVD on the Cody player so more testing will have to be done but it's atill a way to view your 3-D videos when you're away from home.
Don't expect HD quality and keep in mind you must be directly in front of the Cody 7 inch screen in order to view 3-D properly.
I am not a big fan of CODY or V-ZON products as they usually bite the dust after the warranty is expired but I'll take a chance on this product because it's the only way to watch my Panasonic 3-D videos without a 3-D TV.
IMPORTANT UPDATE 9/4/11
You will be happy to know that the latest version of Stereoscopic player available from 3dtv.at features ways to view 3-D files from this camcorder and new Sony 3-D camcorders.
I have a Toshiba 3-D laptop and the Stereoscopic viewer has various options for viewing Side By Side 3-D including Nvidia 3-D which is installed in my Toshiba so for the first time I am now able to watch 3-D from this Panasonic camcorder on my computer.
Please see my other reviews.Basics: The camera is a SMALL (good or bad depending on your needs) unit that takes very nice HD video and has some cute & trendy features such as face recognition etc.
It records to an SD card. It has HDMI output. It works. It takes nice stills. Not bad.
But the main reason to own this camera is that when you attach the front lens unit it engages the camera both structurally AND functionally. Functionally it shuts down EVERYTHING that isn't straight forward 3D. So don't worry about how to use facial recognition in 3D, you can't. But that's OK. Or is it?
I happen to know a whole bunch about 3D and especially 3D video as I have been doing it for over 20 years. That's right, and it matters. I'll explain as I go.
This camera is both a breath of fresh air and a cold shower.
To do real 3D you need two cameras each one assigned to one eye a right and a left properties of living human beings. The mechanism is thus subserviant to how human beings observe and react and perceive.
So to understand the problems imagine your subject a nice red car parked dead center on a very large lazy susan that extends many yards beyond the subject. On the far side of the lazy susan we have a microphone stand. near us on the near side of the lazy susan is a vertical coat rack. Both of these non car objects are there just to enhance the 3D experience.
What do we see? If we are looking at the car (the director's intention), then if we are really there where the camera would be, we see the car. Duh. But we don't really see the other two objects so well, they are blurry as they are out of OUR eyes focal lengths for looking at the car. Hollywood movie makers do this with normal movie making to bring the eye naturally to the point of the DIRECTOR'S interest.
Key concept : SHARED INTEREST You must share the interest of the director. Out of focus works well. That's how we see anyway. .. until we decide to check out the other stuff.
While looking at the car if we close one eye then swap to the other eye, the car does NOT move. Both images are nearly as one, just subtly altered by the angle, but not displacing as you blink R L R L...
The two objects jump right and left or left and right, what's far goes one way, what's near goes the other. THINGS NOT IN SHARED INTEREST JUMP SIDEWAYS, one way for far the other way for near. It is as if you turn that lazy susan a bit one way then back the other way. What is at center does not move much but the far & near objects go in opposite directions as you oscillate the platform.
Now, as seen in 3D video, if somebody does something really bizzarre with that far microphone and you want to check it out in life your eyes NOW converge on that far location and the car becomes a jumpy object. But if the director's interest remains on the car then your desire to check out that far thing has your eyeballs going nuts. YOUR point of interest won't stop jumping left and right as if you can't converge. You are relying on the convergence of the video system which is not attuned to your new curiosity.
Guess what? This camera does NOT converge. Cold shower time. But the breath of fresh air: to converge really I had to use two cameras that were mounted to control them to converge and which put out a dual video monitoring stream one each with a video marker at dead center and mixed with a video mixer to overlay the two views and keep the two cursors superimposed on the intended object of interest. Both f-stops had to adjust depth of field in unison. Do you know how much junk you need to do that? How heavy all that stuff is?
So they compromised they even tell you this as a big HINT as to how to get nice 3D (withn this unit). Have your subject at 4 to 5 feet away. PERIOD. The camera has an amazingly sharp super depth of field which can make you really sick if you are shooting one thing and somebody far away is doing something distracting. There is no getting near and far out of focus. Everything is in focus. That can make you sick as your eye will wander through all the tid bits but only that fixed spot 4 feet away does not jiggle. The facial recognition, which COULD HAVE been used to focus and converge is not used at all. The lenses are what they are. One fixed point of interest. If you want to be interesting then you have to be at that point of convergence.
So after the birthday party at the gymnasium with kids having a ball on parallel bars, jumping into the pit, skinning the cat, walking the bar .. all in 3D.. how did the begoggled grandparents react that night?
WHOA! THAT'S GREAT! It was a hit. No doubt about it.
Panasonic made compromises, but they enabled the process, with constraints, at a price real people can afford. I can't imagine what the pro 3D camera will cost (which handles all the stuff above). Just don't tell me.
Buy Panasonic HDC-SDT750, High Definition 3D Camcorder Now
After attaching the 3D lens you lose the function to zoom, take photos. The video quality is not good in 3D.I bought this Cam only for it's 3D capability, and i am very disappointed.
But I have to mention that as a 2D Cam you have every thing a super quality and features.
Read Best Reviews of Panasonic HDC-SDT750, High Definition 3D Camcorder Here
This is my fourth camcorder (2 Sony's and 2 Panasonics) and first HD. It is equal to or exceeds my expectations for the picture quality. The audio, from the embedded microphone, is pretty good too. I can't say I'm crazy about having to access so many settings via the touchscreen, but it works. Other reviews have covered the camera adequately, so let me talk a minute about the "deal".This is virtualy the same camera as the Panasonic TM700, except 1) it has no internal RAM (32GB, worth about $50); 2) it includes the 3D lens and firmware (the MSRP for just the lens is $500); and it supposedly has slightly better image stabilization. The TM700 lists for $1300 and is selling for around $900-1100. The SDT750 lists for $1400 and is selling for $700-800. It looks like the 3D version isn't selling too well (not too many folks have 3D TVs to display it on). So buy the SDT750 even if you don't need/want 3D and get the equivalent of the TM700 at a huge discount. The newer Panasonic camcorders that support 3D don't include the lens, so I'm going to try to sell mine for a couple of hundred dollars, further lessening the real cost.
Want Panasonic HDC-SDT750, High Definition 3D Camcorder Discount?
I'm a professional videographer and I was looking into buying the Panasonic TM900 or TM700 because of its great low light and 1080/60p abilities that are very uncommon at the moment in the camcorder world. Then after researching those cameras I came across a review of the SDT750 and it turns out its almost exactly the same camera as the TM700, the only difference is that it has a slightly better powered stabilization system and it it comes with the 3D adapter. However it also lacks the 16gb of internal memory so you have to buy that separate, but for the difference in price between the 700 and the 750, the 750 is way more value for your dollar. I'm 100% satisfied with this purchase. For those who are looking to do some extensive editing look into Adobe Premiere or Sony Vegas, because right now those are the only two editors that support the 1080/60p format from this camera.Saturday, September 6, 2014
Panasonic PVGS15 MiniDV Compact Digital Camcorder w/24x Optical Zoom
This is the second Panasonic camcorder that I have bought in the last 4 years and my first MiniDV camcorder. I was trying to choose between the Sony DCR-HC20 and this model. Both retail for the same price and there were some reasons I chose this one over the Sony:1. This camcorder has 24x zoom while the Sony has only a 10x zoom.
2. There were many reviews about the problems with the Sony's touch screen especially when viewing it outside in broad daylight.
3. I have read some reviews that the included software with the Sony is very difficult to use and install.
4. The Sony camcorder has no photoshot button or memory card, the Panasonic has both. The Panasonic photoshot allows you to capture low-res (640x480) digital still pictures with the touch of a button.
5. The viewfinder on the Sony is Black and White; the Panasonic has a color viewfinder.
6. The Sony has an included 1-hour battery. This model has a 3-hour battery included instead.
It was for these 6 reasons I went with the Panasonic instead of the Sony. After using the camcorder now for 2 weeks I have found out some drawbacks that I previously did not know about:
1. The included software for the Panasonic can only be used to edit STILL images NOT movie images. If you want to edit the movie images you have to buy additional software and a firewire cable. Also be careful if you have Windows 2000 because the optional Panasonic movie editing software is not compatible with Win2K.
2. The Panasonic has no in-camera movie editing capabilities. You can dub the movie to VHS tape but that is about it. You cannot copy a VHS or VHS-C to MiniDV by using this camera as you can with the Sony model. Also, the Sony camera is able to control most VCRs in order to make editing easier if you don't have a PC.
3. The supplied USB cable that comes with the Sony allows you to stream the movie onto a PC whereas the USB cable that comes with the Panasonic cannot do this. The Panasonic USB cable only allows you to copy the STILL images from the SD card or a STILL movie image, NOT the movie itself. With the Panasonic if I wanted to copy the movie to my PC and then burn a Video CD, for example, I would have to buy a firewire cable, and additional software. On the other hand, right out of the box the Sony can do this with the INCLUDED software and the included USB cable.
4. The supposed Panasonic 1.3 second "Quick Start" actually keeps the camera in "Standby" mode and uses quite a lot of battery power. I actually had this mode on for 4 hours and when I finally used the camera I was only able to shoot for 18 minutes before changing batteries. Be careful using this. In any case the camcorder comes on rather quickly without it.
Other than the 4 reasons mentioned above the Panasonic does have a lot of nice features such as the 24x zoom, the zoom mic, the MagicPix function, wind noise reduction and a Soft Skin Mode. I would say that overall I am pleased with the picture quality and sound of the movies I have made with this camera. For the price of this camcorder I would say it is well worth the money, provided you can live without the 4 things I have mentioned previously. If you are willing to spend an extra $100 you could buy decent Movie Editing software and a firewire cable, thus closing the gap on the two camcorders. Although, if you were going to spend another $100 anyway you could buy a Sony DCR-HC30 which has most of the features the HC20 lacks, such as digital still images and a color viewfinder; it still has a 10x zoom, but no camcorder is perfect, right?This is the first camcorder I have bought in 10 yrs my Sony 8mm finally died. I have had the camera about 1 month and have shot in various conditions and settings. Overall, I am extremely happy with my purchase, and have only a few nitpicky wishes. I don't intend for this to be a long expert review, just my impressions to help you shop. Some comments:
VALUE: This is a great buy for price/performance. I think I got more than I paid for. I love features but I'm not rich enough to pay for perfection. I had planned on the $400-$600 range based on reviews, hands-on at Sears, etc. Sony has the night-shot (which I really would have liked) but I didn't like the touch screen LCD. Canon 65/75/85 units did not seem as user-friendly to me.
Zoom: The 24x optical is SPECTACULAR. Turn the digital zoom off unless you are on a tripod and have very good full-spectrum lighting, then only 50x. Hard to hold still at 20x and above, even with stabilization. The variable speed zoom control is easy to use and easy to control the speed.
Sound: Built-in zoom mic picked up chirping of little birds over the sound of waves at the beach. Little to no motor noise. If you are shooting and talking, your voice is somewhat muddled. I'm sure an ext. mic would improve sound.
Picture: Colors seem very true to my non-expert eyes with default settings. Better (not just brighter) light makes better video. In imperfect outdoor light, colors not very saturated using auto WB. I will try some adjustments for clouds/fog or filtered sun. Auto WB mode is pretty good indoors, incandescent or flourescent. LED light is useful only within 4-5 ft depending on ambient light. There are 2 LED light modes, one with slower shutter and one with normal. LED can also be used with MagicPix, but I don't think it would help much. MagicPix is for very slow scenes in low light, although zooming or motion may produce interesting psychadelic effects.
Controls: The new model no longer has the menu wheel; a menu button is placed inside the viewfinder door. You use a 5-key directional pad (which doubles as the VCR control) to navigate menus. Simple enough, but defintely a 2-handed task now you cannot hold still enough to change menu options while filming. There is no one-button toggle to show/hide the date in your recorded video. Other than that, controls are intuitive and relatively simple. Zoom control is great. During VCR playback, zoom button controls volume from the tiny (but adequate) speaker. When playback is paused, zoom button acts as a single-frame jog wheel (nice feature, but slow). VCR searching is too fast for my taste, but still usable. In recording mode, there is a handy "check" button to review the last 2-3 seconds of video.
Photos: 640x480 good only for e-mail or monitor, otherwise worthless to me except in an emergency. The included 8mb SD card holds roughly 45 pix in fine mode. You can snap a photo live or from already-recorded scenes.
Ease of use: My wife is technophobic, so if she can operate it, it passes the test. She shot a few minutes of video using all automatic options and seems comfortable with it. I can fiddle with options when I choose, or shoot in auto if I want. Most people will be fine operating 1-handed. I was most comfortable using 2 hands, right hand close to right shoulder to minimize bending wrist backward. Boot-up time is very fast, 3-4 seconds without using quick-start feature,
Buy Panasonic PVGS15 MiniDV Compact Digital Camcorder w/24x Optical Zoom Now
Friday, September 5, 2014
Neuros MPEG-4 Recorder 2 Digital Video Recorder
I've been converting videos for my ipod since November, and just started converting for my PSP a month ago. I've converted hundreds of hours worth of video and used at least 3 different programs for each device. Nothing has given me anywhere near the video quality that this does.I've bought TV shows on Itunes and watched them on my 27" TV and been amazed at how good the image quality was, but I've never been able to do as well with videos I've converted myself until now. At the highest quality setting the recordings look just as good as anything I've bought on Itunes, and with 60GB of memory on my ipod file size isn't an issue. (I recorded before and after I installed a very recent firmware upgrade if you buy this, go to Neuros' site and get the upgrade, it makes a difference)
Converting for PSP is easier than with any program I've used. You record directly onto the memory stick, and then just pop it into the PSP and there it is on the video menu. You only have to deal with the PSP's #&%$@# file naming requirements if you want to move the files off the stick to archive them.
The other big advantage this has over everything else I've used is that this is a one step process you record it and you can watch it on your device immediately. Everything else I've used was 2 step: you recorded or ripped in real time, then you converted, in real time or longer. This is half the work.
There are only 2 real downsides: You have to hook up the video out to a tv because it has no display of it's own, and it has no memory you can record onto you need a memory stick or cf card. A potential third issue is the remote you need it to do everything, even turn it on, so you really, really don't want to lose it.
Overall, this thing is amazing. I wish I had bought it when I got my ipod. I could have saved over $100 that I spent on converting software, and a lot of time.The product does everything it claims. However, they could have spent a few more hours and bucks working on the instruction manual, adding another LED to actually let you know the product is active when you hit the on button (because of the slight lag time between functions), not to mention adding a key pad to the top of the device. It took way to long to figure out how to set up this simple device, a couple of extra hints in the instruction manual would be of help, like: video output is on video one, etc. All in all the device is great once you've figure it out. The only items which keeps me from rating this device as the next best thing to sliced bread is the instruction manual and the lack of a attached keypad to the top of the device.
Buy Neuros MPEG-4 Recorder 2 Digital Video Recorder Now
The Recorder 2 makes it trivially easy to get movies and TV shows onto my PSP. You pretty much just press the record button and it does the rest. Recommended!Read Best Reviews of Neuros MPEG-4 Recorder 2 Digital Video Recorder Here
The Neuros Recorder will record video from any video source in MPEG4 and 3GP format. This device is the easiset way to transfer video content to your Ipod or your PSP. Maybe you have a stack of old VHS tapes and you want to transfer them all to MPEG4 format. Hooking the Neuros up is a snap. Connect the AV cables to your input and output devices, plug in the AC adapter, and insert your memory cards. Instead of buying video content from the Itunes store, you can record it yourself for free.Want Neuros MPEG-4 Recorder 2 Digital Video Recorder Discount?
If you are tired of downloading multiple shareware programs and other buggy software to make your PSP perform as God intended, this is the product for you.Works great right out of the box. I was up and running in 15 minutes. Easy, clear instructions and reliable hardware make this a real winner, imho.
Nothing is quite as cool as unlocking the true potential of my PSP. Now that I can watch the tv and movies I want to watch, instead of the couple of dozen psp titles on release, I can never go back.
Friday, August 29, 2014
Sakar Spongebob Squarepants 3-in-1 Digital Camera Yellow Blue - Sakar 88062
Junk. I'm a tech person and the camera & software are of the poorest quality. Should have bought a fisher price one instead. Nickelodeon folks should not even endorse garbage like this.It's a really cute camera... but it didn't work from the first time we put batteries in it. I bought it several months before Christmas, so I wasn't able to return it.Buy Sakar Spongebob Squarepants 3-in-1 Digital Camera Yellow Blue - Sakar 88062 Now
Got this for my niece for Christmas a year ago and it's still working great. Not the greatest pictures, but the camera is durable and does a pretty good job for something that can take a beating from a toddler daily. Arrived quickly and happy with the purchase!I was very pleased to receive the camera in two (2) days, in time for Christmas for my grandson! However, the packaging had a highly offensive odor, smelling like urine. It was on the inside of the padded mailing package and all over the plastic package the camera was enclosed in. I was very dissatisfied with that.Want Sakar Spongebob Squarepants 3-in-1 Digital Camera Yellow Blue - Sakar 88062 Discount?
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Sony VRD-MC6 Compact DVD Recorder
Save me a lot of time and money to make a copies from tapes to DVD.Works very good to copy from my Camcoder to DVD.The best recomendation.It works great! Read the instructions first and it is easy! i just hook up my video recorder to it and it tells you when it is done and picture quality is the same!
Buy Sony VRD-MC6 Compact DVD Recorder Now
has many possibilities for use can even transfer files recorded in PAL system and pass the American system, in addition to the possibilities of recording memories, you also can record in high definitionI'm using this to make DVDs of old 8mm movies. It works perfectly! Easy to follow directions. Great results! Just what I wanted.purchased this unit refurbished at a very good price. very happy with this item and i would reccommend it to everyone.Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Olympus 142015 - DS-2400 Digital Voice Recorder
I have used Olympus products for years in my transcription service business. They have been very reliable and user friendly. I am disappointed as they keep discontinuing machines and having new models and with this one specifically they changed the software entirely and got rid of some features that the person using the machine now has to do in a manual fashion. The 2300 machine's program would allow the program to be set to automatically upload the recorded files and also automatically delete them from the handheld unit. Both of these features are not available on this new software. I wonder if Olympus is trying to promote their more expensive units now listed under "professional dictation" (several hundred dollars more expensive) in order to have these features as well as promoting voice recognition. In the face of obsolescence this will soon not be an issue.I've been using the olympus recorders for the better part of a decade now it's always in my pocket, it's a work horse I use it every bit of 10 times a day. My only complaint is that there is no auto advance to the next message it requires you to manually forward to the next message, you also have to do the same thing when recording a new message, or it will continue recording under the same record.
Monday, August 11, 2014
Patazon(TM) EZTV645 USB DVB-T DAB FM Digital TV Tuner Receiver Stick (Latest FC0013 Chips)
This tuner does not work for US digital tv. It will not work in Region 1 or United States.The Tuner is a SDR, but software does not have a selection for United States. If you select 6 Mhz, it will select the correct frequencies, but will not find any of the US channels. Looks like it would work good with other software for making a SDR receiver to listed to frequencies like HWM or Public Safety.
Monday, August 4, 2014
iLuv I182 Video Recorder and Converter for 5G iPod

- Records video onto the hard disk drive of iPod with video capability or onto a USB device, Memory Stick, MMC or SD memory card
- Accepts AV or S-Video input and converts it into the digital format for playback on iPod
- Simple 2-button user-interface with start/stop and pre-set recording
- Works with 5G iPod, PSP, USB storage devices and memory cards
- Includes USB/memory card adapter, AC adapter, AV cable, docking adapters and AV patch cable
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Direct TV TIVO SAMSUNG SIR-S4080R SERIES 2 80GB-70 HOURS DVR
My original DirecTV Tivo receiver died on me, after nearly ten years of heavy usage. I have been trying to wait until DirecTV and Tivo renew their contract but the 'release date' has been set and reset over the last two years. I was reluctant to 'replace' it with an exact same model but the seller had such good reviews I trusted it would be okay. It's been great! The product was priced fairly, as described and came quickly. I'm back in Tivo heaven...and for your DVR lovers, please trust, Tivo is far superior. It was worth it. Thanks again!
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Adobe Premiere Elements 3.0

- Easily assemble your video clips in the Sceneline
- Edit and preview in one convenient place - the Monitor window
- Share your videos on mobile phones and handheld devices
- Import video from virtually any device, including HDV and DVD camcorders, web cameras (WDM analog), MPEG-4 video recorders, and mobile phones
- Use Stop Motion Capture to create your own time-lapse movies, claymations, and other animations
Having messed with numerous products including Pinnacle Studio (very buggy and contains huge compatibility issues), WinTV's Win2000 (comes with their card lacks usefulness), VirtualDub (free and having huge potential with numerous features, but unless you're willing to spend a tremendous amount of time working with it, have the exact hardware the fan-community is using, and have superior knowledge of the technology, you won't find it useful), etc... in the end, Premiere is the best. It is professionally done, VERY compatible compared to other software packages, powerful, easy to use, and easy to understand. If you want to do video editing on the PC, this is where you should start everything else just creates too many headaches.
So, what can you do with Premiere Elements 3.0? You can combine multiple video clips into a movie; you can narrate a video; you can create video for your blog (if you have a camera); you can burn professional-looking DVDs with full menus that will blow people away. Whether you are making home movies of your kids, compiling a highlight reel of your best sporting moments, or making a movie on an extremely tight budget, this is the best software out there in the price range.
As to what 3.0 improves from 2.0: To the casual user not a lot. There are a few more minor options, but the big advantage comes when burning DVDs in 2.0, my sports DVDs looked terrible with a great deal of "jumping" (I'm assuming this was caused by the software not using enough compression keyframes, but don't quote me on that) in 3.0, everything is extremely clear and smooth. There are also more exporting options and more useable codecs, though the software still lacks the ability to switch to any installed codecs (a major flaw, IMO, but one most other programs at this level share).
Note: In order to make DVD templates (DVD Menus) for 3.0, you need Photoshop Elements 5.0 earlier versions do not seem to work (or, at least, I can't get them to work properly). While you can make very good DVD menus within Premiere, you can't save them from Premiere for use in other projects. If that is something you might want to do (and, quite honestly, it may not be for many users), pick up the "bundled" version of Premiere and Photoshop and save yourself some money.
Now, a few things that Premiere Elements can't do/doesn't do very well:
Capture video from "legacy" devices like VCRs. Premiere can capture video from some devices, but it doesn't work particularly well with many capture cards (nor is it really designed to). Either send your VCR feed through a digital camcorder or use another recording method ("Tivo" or a capture card with useful capture software).
"Mega" special effects. Premiere Elements has numerous effects like dissolve, fade, time-stretching (slow motion), and distortion it does not, however, do major CGI-effects. You might be able to pull of a Star Trek "beam in" effect, but you'll need another program for most others.
Post-capture video improvement. Premiere Elements can do some video enhancement, but it is more of a timeline editing tool if you want to significantly improve the quality of your captured video (removing major noise, massive high-quality zooming, etc..) you'll need another program.
To address a few other negative reviews...
"Just a quick warning: trying to deal with Adobe is a nightmare. I spent 45 minutes on their customer service line today, waiting for someone to answer. Twice, I was disconnected and had to call back."
I've never had to deal with Adobe's customer support, so I don't know whether or not this is true I do know, however, that CS in other retail companies in this market is terrible.
"I imported some video from a DVD that I made myself, and the program shut down. It said I had to go to a website and type in a 20-digit "encoder activation" and the site would give me another number that I could use to activate the MPEG2 part of the product. But the site won't take the number. I keep getting an invalid code message when I type it in."
This situation is true you will need an internet connection AND you'll have to register a code to enable certain compressors. However, all you need to do is copy and paste the code from the software window and into your web browser (there's even a button that will copy the code you just have to paste it in). No one I know has ever had the problem described above though it could occur.
"No web support or patches on Adobe site to date. "
There are numerous plugins available on the Adobe website and a patch just go to the updates section of their webpage.
In conclusion: Premiere Elements is the best software out there for most users. Other reviewers should feel free to post if there is a better software package available.
Buy Adobe Premiere Elements 3.0 Now
I have been frustratingly using Pinnacle for years. I started with Pinnacle 7.0 and had problems with it locking up. When Pinnacle offered Pinnacle 9.0 with claims that all its problems were solved I bought it. It was as bad in fact worse than the 7.0. It had many features that were locked and could only be opened using a credit card.I received Adobe Pinnacle Elements 3.0 from Amazon this week and it is perfect! It has many features Pinnacle lacked and works perfectly! No locking up and the sound is synchronized with the video unlike Pinnacle which usually ran a ½ second off. You would hear the hammer on its upstroke. Speech was irritating too.
I have had good luck with Photoshop Elements for several years and when Adobe offered a product for video editing I was happy to get it. Adobe is a class act.
Read Best Reviews of Adobe Premiere Elements 3.0 Here
Having used Pinnacle9 and NeroUltimate7 and a few other video editors, I was ready for disappointment and frustration when I masochistically bought yet another video editor Premiere3.0, and I was not disappointed. I have a fast laptop with lots of hard disk and 2G of ram but it barely is able to run this program. I have been able to make actual DVDs with it, using collections of 30 second AVI clips from a digital camera, but it is a tenuous process and you never know if you will be able to get all the way through without something going kaflooey. Some observations:1. DVD markers dont stick with the scene, when you add stuff you have to move the markers all over again to sync up with the scenes. This is positively boneheaded, yet is described in the manual as a 'feature' not a bug.
2. RAM usage goes up pretty fast. Once you get more than 30 or so 1 minute clips in the workspace you could easily be up over 1.4G of RAM usage, incredible as that may sound. At which point Premiere will tell you it is getting low on memory (on a 2G RAM machine) and warn you to shut down. (It is hard to believe any of the Premiere software developers ever actually used the application for anything other than 1 minute long projects, as it seems barely able to handle an hour-long project with lots of clips and still jpgs etc.)
3. Editing the DVD menu text is painfully slow, the CPU goes to 100% and response time is like 30 seconds when you try to do a simple thing like change the menu text of a DVD menu screen.
4. Adding clips to the workspace is painfully slow, it must process each clip for scene detection and can take tens of minutes for adding like 20 1 minute long AVI clips. I am not sure what their assumptions were about typical content users might use, but 20 1 minute long AVI clips seems not an unreasonable amount for a DVD, yet it brings Premiere3 to its knees.
5. 3.0 Crashes on Vista. A patch must be downloaded, which I didnt find out about before deinstalling it from Vista, so I dont know if it works at all, and am not tempted to try it again on Vista.
6. DVD and MPEG export require a web page authorization scheme which is locked to your PC. One authorization, maybe is OK, but no, there are at least two and who knows maybe more. Try to export to mpg, up pops the authorization, so I do it, then go to export to DVD and voila another authorization! Oh joy. I guess this means you cannot install 3.0 on multiple PCs as the keys are locked to the PC MAC code.
7. It is fairly easy to crash. I have a 20 minute long project, nothing fancy, no transitions, no narration, just 30 or so 30 second clips and some titles. It will crash after about a half hour of working on the project, even with nothing else running on the PC. So I am nervously saving every minute or so and rebooting the PC every hour to start over again.
8. Project save does not work after two or more saves. Fails with some meaningless error and requires you to do a 'save as' with a new name.
9. All that griping aside, there are a lot of neat features not found in Pinnacle9 or NeroVision7, and the program menu structure is fairly easy to use. I am just a nervous wreck when using the program never knowing if all my editing will be suddenly lost when it crashes.
10. Update: after my last experience of trying to make a 40 minute dvd with about 50 short avi clips, I would revise my review to 2 stars if Amazon would let me. I got numerous low memory warnings loading my project (with 2G of ram), it sat there for minutes at 100% cpu before I could even select a menu option. So I stopped trying to edit the content and just burn it before Premiere went up in smoke, it started the encoding ok, at 1.4G of ram used, finished encoding a mere 4 hours later, then started the burn, and a mere 1 hour later finally crashed with a meaningless 'unknown error' message. Oh what fun!
I cannot believe Adobe has any software QA department at all. How this program could have ever been released is beyond me. How the phrase 'rock solid' ever got into the blurb hype above is also beyond me. It may be, as others have said, that this app only runs on certain hardware. Also, it appears that for lengths greater than 10 minutes one must use the strategy another reviewer described of making multiple sub projects, exporting them to mpg, then merging them in a separate project, or even a separate program ie one of the numerous simpler DVD authoring programs out there that actually work for hour long compositions.
11. Update AHA! apparently there is some fine print somewhere saying that it only works with Intel processors. I have an AMD CPU laptop which may be the problem. This should be made more obvious to the average consumer. I will try it on my Intel desktop, hoping that the web authorization will allow a second install.
12. Update #2: Reinstalled it on a new HP Vista PC, with 2G ram and dual core Intel CPU and fast hard drive. The program now is actually usable as far as GUI responsiveness compared to running it on a laptop. I was able to burn a 20 minute long DVD of AVI clips with no problem. However, the program locked up and I had to kill it with task manager when I tried to do an hour long DVD with about 50 AVI clips.
Want Adobe Premiere Elements 3.0 Discount?
Despite reading the reviews that said that it had many powerful features, I purchased Premier Elements (PE) expecting a fairly basic, wizard driven application. The out of the box experience was indeed simple. My first DVD project was about as basic an experience as using Windows Movie Maker (pretty easy). After doing more projects, I have come to realize that PE really does have numerous high-end capabilities.Adobe has done a good job of hiding the more advanced capabilities beneith the surface until you are "ready" for them. For instance, the default view for the project is "Sceneline", which is a very basic, clip by clip representation of the movie's progression. Much of PE's power, however, lies in the "Timeline" view, where multiple audio and video tracks can be composed. Title, audio, and video clips have properties that can be associated with keyframes, the "tweening" done between points in time. For instance, to have a title gradually grow larger between points in time, a keyframe is inserted for the size property at one point in time, than another keyframe is inserted after navigating to the second point in time. Once the text is enlarged at the second point, PE will grow or shrink the title between the points. The same principle applies to other base properties such as position and opacity, as well as properties based on effects that can be placed on each clip. Though I know the full version of Premier has many more bells and whistles, such as particle effects, PE seems to have the essential elements (pardon the pun) to compose professional looking videos. Another surprise was the variety of output options. Though the software has great DVD support, it can also export DVD image files (I don't mean photos), several video file formats, as well as just video, audio, or stills.
A final point of raving for PE is for the quality of title and DVD menu templates. Most of the templates are cleverly conceived, and thankfully they are truly templates in the sense that you can pretty much re-build or adjust about anything you might need to. That said, don't expect full blown DVD menu authoring, the program *is* limited to the basic play movie/scene selection paradigm.
Down sides: Adobe has always had a way of building user interface "gizmos" that are less than intuitive. There are several-not-so obvious user interface scenarios among the more advanced features of the software. I am not too critical of Adobe over these, however, because everything about the basics of using the program is quite simple.
Stability has been a bit of a problem, but only since I installed Vista (RTM). Both times PE crashed, its auto-save feature prevented me from losing any work (if I had lost work, I would feel obliged to dock a star). Hopefully Adobe will release a patch to address this.
Probably thanks to inheriting code from the full version of Premier, it is clear that PE represents many man years of effort, something that anyone in this products price range will have a difficult time competing with. All I needed was a program to help me transfer my Mini-DV tapes onto DVDs; what I got was a surprisingly rich application. Everyone likes a pleasant surprise.I do a pretty good bit of video production. I have used let's say most of them in the quest of finding a video editor that would do the real things I need. Ulead Video Studio 10 Plus is pretty good, but it lacks in the audio section. Pinnacle: not worth the bucks I paid for it at Best Buy. Magix: nice but seriously lacking the depth needed in the audio section.
I had used Premiere Pro before and liked a lot of the features provided in it but the price, my god, was just too much. I found Premiere Elements on Amazon and hoped that it would do the job. It did.
Elements 3 has almost and I say almost features as does Premiere Pro. Some features have been streamlined for the amateur but learning to use Elements has been fun and productive.
I would recommend Adobe Premiere Elements 3 to any intermediate to advanced video editing person.
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Philips PB9011/37 9-Inch 1080p Portable Blu-Ray DVD Player

- Blu-ray Disc playback dual screen for sharp images in full HD 1080p
- 22.9 cm (9") high density (800x480 pixels) LCD display
- Single cable connection for quick installation in the car
- Expand movie enjoyment with dual TFT LCD screens
- Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Link plays video/music from USB flash drive
I love that the children can now watch all of the blu-ray movies we've bought on road trips, whereas before we had to stick to only DVD's. (You may be wondering what kind of a parent I am, but in my defense, my children are only 4 and 6 so their DVD collection is pretty recent and blu-rays are a little more durable than regular DVD's so why not?) And like I said, they look very nice now. On our older one, it was painful for us parents to watch anything on them when we traveled. These look fabulous and even have HDMI outputs so we can hook it up to a larger tv when we travel and there is no DVD player, or blu ray player, available.
Also there's an elaborate (for a portable DVD player) menu that will allow you to access different types of media or games. We probably won't be using it for this though.
Other people have mentioned the case and, yes, it's nice. It's like other Phillips cases: cheap material but made to fit the specific system. There's even a pocket for the remote in the dividers that hold the cables.
So, I like it and they're great. Here is my beef with them:
1)They p[lay off of the same movie and I really like it when they can play two. But, that involves way more money so it's something I can get over
2)This is the really big issue for me: only one wall a/c charger was included and each screen is powered separately. That means I had to go through our old Phillips players and had to pull out another charger. Why would they only send one? It makes no sense! The car charger is split into two cables so that shouldn't be a problem.
3) we've only used these a handful of times but as far as I can tell, when the power goes off, it does not resume play where it left off. it starts over from the beginning. this is pertinent if you're using it in the car and have to stop for gas and turn it all off.
So, except for the fact that only one wall-charger was included, the other two are pretty obvious imperfections for entry price points. But, since we use our DVD players for occasional sleepovers, we need two wall chargers and that is seriously annoying for me.
**update 7-31-12**They just all of a sudden stopped working on our last road trip last month. a very long road trip. a road trip where watching movies in the car would have been extremely helpful. I've heard of Phillips systems doing this, but our previous Phillips DVD players never gave us an issue and we logged many more hours on those. These probably didn't get used for more than 12 hours. I can hear aggressive spinning noises that stop and restart for a period of time and then it tells me that there is no DVD in the player.
Buy Philips PB9011/37 9-Inch 1080p Portable Blu-Ray DVD Player Now
These days, if you drive kids on long trips, a DVD player can verge on essential equipment. In my opinion, portable DVD players are better than built-ins because (1) I can take them out when I park, (2) I can often use them to watch DVDs at my destination, (3) they're inexpensive enough that even if i need to replace one, I can buy several for the cost of a built-in, and most importantly, (4) I can take it out for SHORTER trips, so that my kids don't beg me to watch Bolt during trips to the store.Summary: The Philips PB 9011/37 is a nice player, compatible with Blue-Ray, standard DVDs, and with USB input. It has a second screen that you can mount, so that both headrests can show the same movie. It will play to a TV through HDMI out, and the remote control is nice. My only major gripe is that it doesn't have a battery, so it won't play when unplugged.
What's Good:
In my opinion, the primary benefit of this is that it's Blue-Ray compatible. Unless your kids are videophiles, they probably won't feel strongly about the increased picture quality, but if you have a Blue Ray collection that you want to be able to watch on the road, you need a Blue-Ray compatible player. That said, the picture is great.
The main unit is nice and thin. Instead of having a clamshell lid like most players, it's a tablet-style unit that splits slightly open to admit a DVD or Blue-Ray disk. It mounts well to the headrest with a nice, simple strap.
It is very nice to have two units in the car -with only one unit, you need to fuss with trying to set the unit up on the center console or hang it between the front headrests somehow, and even then, nobody has a good viewing angle. (On the other hand, if your family doesn't like watching the same stuff, you might be better off getting two less expensive units and some headphones so that everyone can watch their own thing.)
I like that the unit has USB input and HDMI output. When you get to your hotel or wherever, you can plug this into an HDMI compatible TV. (Note that an HDMI cable is NOT included -we ended up ordering the AmazonBasics 2 meter cable, which works great.)
What Could Be Better:
As I've said, my biggest complaint is that there is no battery in the main unit. When my car power is off, so is the show. I appreciate that that choice made the unit lighter and thinner, but it can be a lifesaver to let the kids keep watching their show on the shuttle bus to the plane, or on the plane itself. With the 9011, you need to be someplace that can power the car or wall charger, or you're out of luck.
Conclusion: I think this unit is right for some people. If you have a Blue-Ray collection you want to watch on the road, have two or more kids sufficiently close in taste that they will watch the same thing, and don't have a need to watch this without a power source, then it's a great choice and highly recommended. If not, I'd recommend looking into getting units with battery power, and possibly into getting two less expensive units rather than one dual player.
Read Best Reviews of Philips PB9011/37 9-Inch 1080p Portable Blu-Ray DVD Player Here
I know this is a weird thing to lead off with, but I was really surprised that this dual-screen Blu-ray player comes with a travel case. I've owned more portable DVD players than I can count and every time I get a new one it seems like it's a big hassle to find a case that works. The case they included with this player is amazing. Everything fits perfectly. I can't believe what a difference it makes when the case is specifically designed for the player. It's big though. These 9" screens are big, so the case needs to be big too.But enough about the case...
The product description for this item is surprising to me. I'm surprised they call it a "Portable DVD Player", because that's too modest. Sure, this plays DVDs, but it's a Blu-ray player. The ability to play Blu-ray discs on the road is a huge step up.
I've owned this product's predecessor, the Philips PD7012/37 7-Inch LCD Dual Screen Portable DVD Player, Black, for about a year now and I'm thrilled to get this new and improved version. The new 9" 1080p display is a big improvement. And of course the ability to play Blu-ray movies on the road is fantastic too. The other new enhancement is that it includes a remote.
What's included:
* Two 9" displays (one master unit with the player and one slave unit with a display only).
* Patch cord to connect the two units.
* Hanging straps to attach the displays to the car seat in front.
* 12v power cord (cigarette lighter plug)
* 110v power cord (residential power outlet)
* Remote control.
* Carrying case (pure awesomeness!)
The master unit includes inputs for alternate sources, for gaming systems, etc. There is even an HDMI input for high-def input sources.
The picture quality is great. The audio is decent, but it's better if you have a way to play it back through another source, like your car stereo.
I've had a love/hate relationship with Philips. They don't seem to make any average products, just stellar ones or complete eWaste. I've been very happy with our older 7" DVD player and now I'm even happier with this new 9" Blu-ray.
Want Philips PB9011/37 9-Inch 1080p Portable Blu-Ray DVD Player Discount?
The Philips PB9011 portable Blu-Ray DVD Player is a pretty good option for the back seat of a car, but it doesn't offer much more than less expensive players unless you are committed to Blu-Ray discs.Pros:
They generally do what they are supposed. They provide an ok movie watching experience for the back seat.
9" screens are on the bigger side for portable players intended for the car.
The carrying case fits everything perfectly and easily. No jamming stuff into place or having to figure out what should go where. It really is well done. With kids, it is important that things can easily be put away properly.
As the name says, it plays Blu-Ray discs. In reality, the quality on this player doesn't allow Blu-Rays do much more than a DVD, but if you already have a Blu-Ray disc, you can still play it in the car with the PB9011. In the past, we had to limit ourselves to DVD's just in case we wanted to watch the movie in the car at some point. Nice!
Cons:
You can only watch one movie at a time. The second screen is only a slave to the primary. The other (much less expensive) portable DVD players that we have can work as a pair or independently.
The volume control is a physical dial on the side of the player, so it can't be controlled by remote and it requires a little more fidgeting than a digital volume control.
The sound is ok but not great. It sounds much more like mono than stereo and doesn't get very loud without deteriorating.
The screen washes out in sunlight. In the back seat of a car, it is tough to control going into and out of sunlight. These screens don't do well with that.
The cables are quite a mess in the back of the car, but that is hard to avoid with a pair of portable screens.
The remote control feels flimsy. We'll see how it holds up.
The screens don't tilt on their backings like our other players do. If the angle is off for the person watching the movie, you have to play with how it is strapped to the headrest instead of just tilting it up or down.I imagine most people will buy this, throw in a few blu-rays/dvds and be satisifed... I bought it because it was the only decent player that had dual screens plus the usb drive functionality. I have a lot of movies backed up to a usb hard drive. Why lug around a bunch of discs?
The only file format that I have been able to get this thing to play is AVI files... Apparently it only supports AVI and DIVX. And, after a lame conversation with Phillips "support", I found out that it only supports movies with a resolution of 800x480 MAX -> hardly HIGH DEFINITION.
If you're looking to keep your kids quite on a long drive and you got a bunch of discs to play, go with the cheaper one that doesn't have the USB capability.
The only really good thing about this is that my child doesn't really care about getting a 1080p picture.

