Panasonic HDC-SD1 AVCHD 3CCD Flash Memory High Definition Camcorder with 12x Optical Image Stabiliz

This is my first Amazon review. In the past I've had two Sony Hi-8 camcorders, a, Sony Mini-DV (DCR-PC1) and two Panasonic 3-CCD Mini-DV camcorders (PV-DV953 and PV-GS120) and now this HDC-SD1 will be my 6th model. Having had the last 2 weeks now to familiarize myself with the ins-and-outs of the HDC-SD1, I'd like to pass on what I've learned of this little dynamo. There are some limitations I had to accept in order to feel confident about making a smart $1100 purchase. First and foremost, be warned that the MPEG-4 H.264 Codec is not currently supported by iMovie HD, Final Cut Studio, Vegas, or any other popular NLE, though revisions and plug-ins are expected probably around summer 2007. If you can live with that for now, then be prepared for the output from this machine to knock your socks off.

Personally I was willing to live with not being able to edit the footage for now because I wanted to capture the first months of our 7-week old infant in the best quality available, and this meant either going AVCHD using mini-DVD (Sony HDR-UX1), AVCHD using a hard drive (Sony HDR-SR1) or AVCHD using a chip (Panny HDC-SD1). HD camcorders recording to DVD were the first to be taken off the list because of its annoying disc formatting and finalizing times and the brevity of recording length. I took the tape-based HD camcorders out early on due to my own experience with the frustration of locating footage using a linear recording format. More on this later. I also did not consider HDV-based HD camcorders as ingesting HDV footage (MPEG-2) is onerously slow and no piece of cake for one's hard drive. To be fair, HDV is a mature (more dated?) technology while AVCHD is still relatively embryonic with a huge upside still to come. So after lurking through a few forums and thumbing thru @500 page views of info, I gave the nod to the Panasonic. Absolutely no regrets. Even with the just announced HDC-SD3 coming in a few months stateside, it didn't look much better spec-wise to the HDC-SD1 and my baby might already be walking by then so I'm glad I got this now. I'm also in the process of purchasing an 8th or 9th generation plasma to match the output (1080i/60) from this little wonder as my current set doesn't support 1080i.

Unique advantages compared to other models in its competitive set:

+It has a high design aesthetic and is the smallest 3-CCD HD consumer camcorder on earth. It's as long as a dollar bill and just as wide. (I measured)

+With the Quick Start mode activated, the camcorder fires up and starts recording in about 2 seconds after the screen is opened. Never miss your baby's first steps with this guy.

+Built-in option of having virtual guidelines superimposed on the display for better compositions and more level horizons. The camera gives you three choices, horizontal lines only (my favorite) a big grid, or a small grid (egg crate) for the truly anal.

+German designed Leica Dicomar lens contains three aspherical elements that keeps chromatic aberration in check, with almost all surfaces multicoated.

+Simplicity of button layout and U.I., even though most advanced functions still there and easily accessible, like iris and shutter controls, fades, etc.

+Optional color bar indicator for tonal checks on your TV for calibration, normally seen only on professional broadcast camcorders.

+An option called 'zoom-mike' that focuses the sound on the area that you've zoomed into up 12X, great for surveillance work I guess. Or stalkers.

+Built-in HDMI to connect right up to an HDTV with no signal degradation, with one cable handling both HD video and 5:1 Surround Sound if connected thru an HDMI receiver.

+Weighs about one pound with media and battery. The girth and weight of the HDC-SD1 is almost exactly the same as a 16-ounce can of Coke.

+Package includes a 4 Gb SDHC class 2 media card that can hold between 40 minutes and 90 minutes' worth of footage depending on compression, when most camcorders don't even come with a $5 tape.

Unique disadvantages compared to other models in its competitive set:

-The multifunction joystick is on the small side and can be confusing in use. For some people I can see how this might hamper recording effectiveness. On the other hand, it's no better or worse than the joystick on the Panny PV-GS400/500.

-USB 2.0 is nice but the the lack of a firewire/iLink connection is a bit of a bummer.

-Camcorder battery will not recharge in-camera, nor will it recharge if AC adapter is utilized (plugged-in) at the same time.

-Included software that handles rudimentary editing functions works only on PCs.

-Resolution of still images taken is below par when compared to other models in its competitive set (like the Sony HRD-SR1 or Canon HV10/20)

-No tactile focusing ring if you like to verify the focus, a distinct advantage with the Sony camcorders in general and even its brother the Panny PV-GS500.

A quick vent. What bugs me with tapes, whether Hi-8, Mini-DV, etc is the time needed to peruse through vast amounts of media to get to a specific footage. It is entirely possible to spend up to 5 or 10 minutes jogging back and forth on an 60-minute tape to find the 30-second clip of something you're actually looking for. Recording to either HDD or an SDHC card, not only can clips be played at a glance in any order, erasing a clip is just as easy. For example, you have two 15 minute clips of primo footage with a 15 minute clip of some pointless recording in between. With a tape, it is much safer to keep all 45 minutes of footage to retain the good 15 minutes' worth on the end. With an SD card, the middle 15 minutes can be deleted like a photo in your digicam, and you're left with another 15-minute chunk of space for better footage. The analogy I can make between the HDC-SD1 and its HDV rivals would be akin to comparing an HD camcorder spawned from the iPod (flash memory) and an HD camcorder fathered by a Walkman (tape-based) and I personally would never go back to using my Sony Walkman when I can slip a Nano in my pocket. I probably sound like an anti-tape nut by now but it's only because I have over 50 Mini-DV tapes in our collection that nobody has touched in the last couple of years. I mean, why not settle for true random access if it's available? Good luck to all in your purchasing.

This camera delivers great picture quality and is very easy to use.

If you are looking forward to editing and publishing your videos taken with this camera please note, at the time of North American release, software packages that can handle AVCHD digital format encoded using MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 (m2ts) are only starting to show up.

The software included with this camera, Leadtools HD Writer Ver 1.0E for SD1, is capable of only basic operations such as scene preview, split, merge, and delete. Using this software you can backup your videos on a DVD-R disk, but you won't be able to play it back, unless you have one of the new Blu-ray disk players.

The software situation will improve with time, and there will be more high definition video options in the future.

To hookup this camera to a high definition display you can use provided component cables or the HDMI output (HDMI cable is not included). Standard audio, video output is also available for older TV sets (cable included).

The computer interface is USB (cable supplied); it works only when the camera is hooked up to the AC/DC adapter (included). By the way, the battery will not charge inside the camera; charge it on the adapter disconnected from the camera.

Videos and pictures are stored on an SDHC card (some SD cards can also be used, but SDHC class 2 or better are recommended). A 4 GB SDHC card (one included) is good for about 40 minutes of recording in the highest quality HF setting; this is also about as much as the stock VW-VBG130 battery can handle. For more power on the go an optional VW-VH04 battery pack holder can be used. You can use additional SDHC cards, or dump data to a laptop computer via USB cable, or use optional VW-PT2 or similar SDHC media storage device.

The battery is loaded from the bottom. When using the camera on a tripod, load the battery first.

In addition to videos, this camera can also take still pictures. The quality of still pictures is so-so with some digital artifacts showing up; but it is fine for occasional snapshots. On the positive side, the still picture trigger on this camcorder functions like on real picture cameras: you can pre-focus depressing the trigger half way.

Thanks to the powerful 3CCD sensor architecture and optical image stabilization the videos this camera takes are very good, even in sub-optimal light conditions. There is an automatic mode, and a manual mode for more advanced control. One of the features I especially like is the Grid that can be displayed for better shoot composition.

HDC-SD1 is one of the first consumer high-definition cameras from Panasonic, it's a great start and sure to please customers looking so save the moving pictures of unforgettable moments in life.

Buy Panasonic HDC-SD1 AVCHD 3CCD Flash Memory High Definition Camcorder with 12x Optical Image Stabiliz Now

This is an excellent piece of camcorder. I was blown away by the Video Quality of it. Here are some of the Pros and Cons

Pros

1. Excellent Video Quality and Auto White balance I can see the exact color in my video in good light. Low light performance is also not bad.

2. 3 CCD chip Excellent colors and saturation, I compared my old Sony HC40 and Panasonic SD1 side by side shooting the same scene at the same time in Auto mode mounted on Tripods and Panasonic has great colors & Sharpness

3. Leica Optics Optics are much better on this one

4. Manual Options Can set White balance, Iris, Shutter Speed to get more manual control, has separate option for backlit subjects.

5. High Definition I don't have a high definition TV, but video looks sharp on my computer and TV. I am completely satisfied with it.

6. Size Perfectly sleek and light

7. Comes with separate charger and remote control

Cons

1. No iLink inside the Camcorder

2. No View Finder

3. Video Outputs (except HDMI & USB) are not available outside without lifting/bringing the LCD Screen out. LCD screen can break if camera accedentaly falls and i want my LCD panel to be closed when I am watching the video

4. Comes with filter thread, but the filter hood should be purchased separately

5. HDMI cable is not presented

6. Only 40 Mins video at highest quality on 4GB SDHC Card.

7. I was not able to copy using media copiers to backup and download this card which i can use to backup my digital images while I am on the field.

8. Joystick on the camera can be better, You have to get used to it.

9. Less/Complex Editing options as this is AVCHD

Every camera has a drawback and is not 100% perfect. I consider Panasonic a very good buy for people looking for 3-CCD, and a little manual control.

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I have the HDC-SD3 model of this camcorder (which as of 6/30/07 is available only in Japan). The SD3 is physically and functionally identical to the SD1 except that the highest bitrate recording mode on the SD3 does full 1920x1080i (the SD1's three recording modes all top out at 1440x1080i).

As someone who works in computer graphics, I am particularly concerned about image quality and was a little wary that this camera's top bitrate of 13 Mbps would still be too low to achieve acceptable results using the AVCHD H.264 codec. I was pleasantly surprisedthe quality is surprisingly good! There are no obvious motion artifacts. The captured color is vibrant and accurate, especially in good lighting. (Low light performance is decent too.) I was very impressed at how nice the image looked connected to good 1080i and 1080p displays over component and HDMI. The image is a tiny bit more contrasty than I would have dialed in, but other than that, no complaints. The average tech-savvy family shooter buying this camera will be perfectly happy with the picture.

I'm particularly impressed with the excellent optical image stabilization, build quality and autofocus performance (which is important since there is no focus ring and only an awkward joystick-based means of focusing manually, should you ever need to do it). Like all consumer HD cameras, the flip-out LCD doesn't have enough resolution for fine manual focusing, and I plan to use the camera mostly for casual family use anyway. Although not specifically documented as such in most product listings, the zoom control on the SD1 is variable speed. It is very responsive. You can do subtle, slow zooms quite easily despite the lever's small size.

A few downsides: the running time is limited on the ONE size of battery this camera supports the camera can shoot for a little over an hour on a charge, less than the 83 minutes (at best quality) I can get on an 8GB SDHC card and well short of the shooting times at the lower bitrates. The SD1 also lacks a progressive shooting mode and a choice of framerates... 1080i is it (look into the HV20 if you must have a 24p mode). The audio quality is pretty good but not extraordinary (possibly due to the microphones being placed on TOP of the camera instead of in front... the 5 channel Dolby Digital it records is sort of cool (more of a gimmick, I think) but does make the footage more complicated to edit. I would have preferred a PCM 48 KHz/16-bit stereo mode. There is no accessory shoe on top. And finally, the editing solutions for the AVCHD clips this camera records are only now beginning to emerge (though with Nero, Ulead, Pinnacle and Final Cut Pro already supporting it, the situation is only bound to get better).

If you're looking at this camera, you may be debating between it and the Canon HV20. I'd urge you to go with the SD1. The image quality from both cameras is very similar, but with the SD1, you'll never lose a shot due to tape dropouts and you won't have to spend hours capturing footage in over Firewire (the SD1 appears to your computer as any other flash drive... just copy the files off, one per clip). The build quality and handling are slightly better than the HV20's, and the optical image stabilization is the same or perhaps slightly better too. I agree with those who believe MiniDV tape will be dead in a few years, as recording to flash memory offers numerous speed and reliability advantages, and we are hitting that crossover point where you no longer have to give up any quality to go with a flash-based product.

If you're debating between the SD1 and one of Sony's AVCHD cameras, be sure to compare picture quality and color accuracy before going with the Sony... Sony's cameras rated well behind Panasonic and Canon products in consumer HD camcorder shootouts.

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I bought this camcorder for a recent trip to Italy with the following reservation:

1) Price continues to drop.

2) No editing sw available yet.

3) Storing SDHD while traveling, and eventually archiving onto DVD.

4) Quality of still picture.

5) Its size, it's compact but not that compact.

I bought along 2 more 4GB SDHC and a 100 GB Woverine storage. After 2 weeks trip, here are my fbacks:

a) PQ relating to capacity: The "middle" shooting mode PQ is stunning when view on 50" HD plasma. The "lower or extended" mode show pixels occasionally. Due to the capacity constraint, I've learned to compartmentalize the content in shorter chunks. This is a change of mindset for me...

b) The pluses: size could fit into my pants' pocket so I dont stand out as tourist; I also use the SD1 for still pictures and ended up didnt use my digital SLR at all; The stills printed-out OK but not-HD quality when viewed; the built-in lens cap and the recess lens work great in dusty and or rain situations; operating firmware is intuitive; 2 lux is amazing for indoor and low light situations eg. inside the Panthenon without flash;

c) The minuses: Screen panel has to be in opened position when access component out/power outlets during playback; There is no MUTE while playback thus trying to review discretedly in quite areas is not possible eg. on a plane; There is no INSERT function to compartmentalize unwanted sections for deletion; There is delay in PAUSE thus the fadeout has few more seconds than needed/wanted;

Overall, this toy is probably one of the most-fun toys I've purchased. Eventhough there were reservation, I'm now satisfy, the PQ is so great that it overides all other insufficiencies. I re-live my experiences in Roma, Florenze, Milano, Venezia, Pisa, Zurich... and smile everytime I watch those moments in HD.

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Pyrus Electronics 2GB Touch Screen MP3 /MP4 Player with Digital Camera

I bought this as a Christmas present for my 8 year old son, after charging the device and loading music, it worked fine for the first half hour. After that, it was turning itself off and on even though the battery was full charged. Device would play a tune then would have errors that that tune couldn't replay.

This thing had a lot of good reviews under different sellers and slightly different product names. We got 2 different Payus Electronics MP4 players for our kids for Christmas and they are both terrible. The main problem is the touch screen on them both, which makes it virtually impossible to do anything. They are made out of cheap plastic casings. The resolution on the video and camera are horrible. Don't waste your money.

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This item was not a good item screen did not light up properly (it blinked off and on). This camera was horrible just was not my type of mp3/mp4 player thx but no thx.

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I bough this for my daughter for x-mas. the touch screen is slow. it's build with a plastic casing. it looks like a toy. I was surprise about the camera it wasn't bad for a cheap device, the camcorder wasn't bad either my daughter loved it until I went to download music and it didn't turn on anymore it lasted 3 days. still trying to get over the disappointment. you get what you pay for.

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this MP3 player is not the best out there, but it is not bad.

however, there are several things that i would like to correct from other peoples, reviews. i read a lot that you have to press extremely hard for the touch screen to work. that is not true, you just have to lightly touch the screen with you finger nail or a pencil or something sharp. another thing that i read that is not true is that you can not organize your own music, that again is also not true. if on the menu you go down to Dir List, you will see a list of your music or files exactly how you put it on.

Pro.

you can put in a mini sd card for more memory.

you can listen to music while it is charging.

an indented screen means that the screen will not crack. ( i dropped it from a 3 story building to prove that.

extremely good base (if the MSEQ mode is on)

Kaaaans.

the touch screen is not that accurate.

the battery does not last long,

not good sound quality (especially if the volume is high)

can not go that loud.

if you are looking for an Mp3 player that has a good battery, good sound quality and good base, and is not expensive, I recommend coby

Zmodo 8CH H.264 CCTV Security DVR System with 500gb HDD & 4 CMOS 480TVL 30ft IR Outdoor Surveillanc

Not a bad setup. Very easy to setup. The DVR is very basic and simple to use, however the network and remote access are somewhat complex. Daytime viewing and recording are good but night vision is TERRIBLE

That is the biggest reason for only 3 stars. Do yourself a favor and upgrade to the 24IR cameras instead of these 12IR. Other than that subsystem is good for the money.

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Toshiba Camileo H30 Full HD Camcorder - Silver/Black

Taken during a nice sunny day (but not the kind of harsh very bright sunlight) about 3 pm. As you can see, colors are on the high saturation side with decent dynamic range on contrast. This camera is okay for the price and IMO gives good value for entry level full HD camcorder. It can fit in your cargo pants pocket or hoodie pocket for convenience.

CONS: Before you buy this camera make sure your video editing program either works with or can concert 1080p in AVI format. I use Pinnacle Studio HD 14 and it works well with this camcorders files but only if I video in 720p. It can't work with the 1080p files and I have to use another programs to either render to 720p or convert to 1080p mp4.

Don't buy this if you plan to use the still photos. They are very average quality (if not below) and needs optimal lighting conditions for acceptable still photos. Compared to photos taken by this camcorder, I favor photos taken with my 10 year 1.2 megapixel Fuji than the photos this one takes. But hey it's an excellent value for a camcorder and it's just an average point and shoot if used as a camera. You'll get better photos by grabbing screen frames from the full HD.

To contribute to the the review stating the video looked horrible when hooked up to his HDTV, when hooked up to mine it looks great. No distortion or pixelation at all.

If your looking for a budget HD camcorder, this is a great buy with some great features at this price. The zoom is adequate but requires a very steady hand even with image stabilization on 720P mode. Red and blues look a little over saturated but not too bad. Stills look just as good as the video but also requires a steady hand.

I gave it 4 stars based on performance for the money. I'm very happy with my purchase and would recommend to anyone looking for a sub $300 HD camcorder.

Also, here is a good review as well.

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this is a full hd camcorder with a 5x optical zoom for $180 so be too critical on it would not be fair! it is better than the standard def jvc everio i just got rid of. it strong point that it take 10 megapixel still photos that look quite good, if you can hold the camera completely still! if not they get blurry quickly. and one thing i do not understand is that if i take hd video and put it on my computer it looks really good, but if i hook the camcorder to my 42" hdtv to veiw it looks really hideous i mean really grainy and pixelated for some reason? i have not tried to convert and burn on a dvd yet to see how they will look, but that will be my next project. the software that comes with it is ok at best! but hey it is free and is usable! so my verdict is! for youtubing this would be an excellent choice. for a videophile or someone who make their own blu ray disc's look else where because this camcorder will probably dissapoint you? and like i said the photo's and video's look really horrible on an hdtv through the hdmi port. :o)

Read Best Reviews of Toshiba Camileo H30 Full HD Camcorder - Silver/Black Here

As soon as you take this camcorder out of the box, you are going to be scurrying around trying to find random things to film with it to test it out. When you consider this camera is quite a few years old and the incredible price for the feature it offers, surely the quality must be terrible. After taking the time walk around my house with it and test it on random things for the past few weeks I must say, I am really impressed. The camera is not going to shoot the same quality you would see in a professional movie which is to be expected. The image stabilization only works in the 720P mode and not the 1080P modes, however 720P looks just as good in almost all scenarios so this does not bother me very much. The fact that the camera comes with a mini hdmi to hdmi cable is pretty awesome. You could easily spend 20 bucks on one. I am using an 8GB sd card with the camera and it is working very well. The camera does struggle in dark lighting. It works in dark lighting but things like details on something that is painted black or brown are going to be lost. When using the camera in the middle of the day it really excells. The slow motion feature is pretty cool to play around with. If you have never owned a camcorder before and you are considering one, look no further.

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I bought this cam and I must say it is an excellent little cam the only thing I don't care for is the 5x zoom and yes it can take any kind of HD TV but some of older ones need an adapter.

Now what you may not know about this cam is it has the new Digital Video Format AVI, H.264 in it...

Now what I like is that the touch screen can also be used with the toggle switch as well so fingerprints don't cover the screen I like that also there is no battery sticking out the back I like that the best

Love the Macro mode motion detection mode for surveillance, slow motion, and time elapse all work well.

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Verizon LG VX-5400 Cell Phone

Bought this phone because it was Verizon compatable and twenty dollars. It works fine and do not have any problems with it. It is no thrills but works. It is a get me by phone until I get something better. Old timey texting...Would recommend for an emergency phone or for someone that does not text or talk a hugh bit. It is my everyday phone and I only talk for maybe a hour total in a day and it is fine.

Great price and does all the things I need, very simple. I just want to talk, text, and use the calendar. Works great!

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1. This phone lasts 2 weeks on stand by!!!!!

2. Water will not stop this phone!

I have had this phone for 3-4 yrs every night in my humid bathroom showers before I was informed by Customer Service Representative, that I probably should not be doing that. Humidity is the same as dipping the phone in water, I guess? well, ah, I did that too... : / ah.. ahem.

The phone has fallen in the child's bathtub and the little purse belt clip would get soaked before I realize it to remove the phone from the soaking wet purse. This phone is amazing! I have never DL games, APPS, or Music tones, but I believe they are available, I just do not know what website to visit to obtain such things? My one half complaint, is that I have trouble working the Blue Tooth (My phone has blue tooth, I do not see this listed here for some reason¿?) but the trouble could be user error or the fact that the phone was consistently next to the shower with me every night for three years. I have Never operated Blue tooth functions in my life, and I'm not even sure I have the correct password. (This: depends on your talk/data plan with verizon,) .. but My phone has no memory card to remove photos, they must be upload to Verizon Pix Place at 25 cents per photo or txt pic to a friend to email back to your PC. Other that Blue Tooth, I could not see a way to get the photos off my camera phone. It seems to have pretty good memory for the price! I have over 560 photos on my phone with more memory available. My phone is not capable of carrying MP3s, however, I am sure Zune is available "live" via the web browser, just can not DL the songs due to the somewhat less than stellar memory size.

Recently, I even accidentally left the phone out in the rain. Literally. rain. I knew it was going to rain that night. I dropped the phone! Eek! I searched and searched! I could not find the phone in the dark, as it was still in "standalone mode" for movies, church and stuff. plus it is always on Vibrate. In the morning dew/rain (I am pretty sure it did rain as predicted). There was the phone! The screen even lit up for me when I opened the phone! Wow!

Finally, I am upgrading now to a new phone for a better camera.

I love this phone though! I really do! Wallpaper on main screen and front is not static. It is set by the user. I like this phone! It's simple, yet I always find some interesting new function hiding somewhere on the list. Such as "add... graphic" of small cute yellow smiley face, or even animation to boring txts. My friend sat on and broke his smart phone. I can't help but ask "How smart is your 'Smart Phone' now, mister?" : ) no, really, I had two friends that had to repair smart phone and i phone, (the iphone actually places random calls when in my friend's pocket! ! Really!! really!!!) I never did trust those touch screens. I have crushed my LG phone by laying down, my hip, my entire body weight on my friend's carpet more than once. It keeps functioning just fine. This makes me very nervous to buy a new phone! Why would I give up such an amazing phone???????? I've held on to this phone for 3 years! I love this phone! What if my next phone is not this wonderful?

My plan was pay-as-you go, with $1 per all day internet access (only on days you use it), $1 talk all day verizon to verizon, and ten cents per text message (without incurring the $1 daily use activation fee). $15 was sufficient for my texting needs. (including many 25 photo text messages, my favorite fun...).

I believe the SAR rating was like 1.2 .... for my phone, .. this Amazon phone (although same model number as under my battery) may be some version of upgrade. I don't see the blue tooth function listed. My phone even has voice recognition Command "call ____" function. I have not used this, but it seems wonderful. I've seen my friend use this with his Iphone over the car speakers. Yes, I have the same technology on my phone. Blue tooth???....Anyway, That's pretty neat, from 4 yrs ago, technology.

Read Best Reviews of Verizon LG VX-5400 Cell Phone Here

This company's service was unbelievably great. This particular phone could not get service. I called and they sent a label and another phone immediately. However this one did not work for me either. They sent me another type and it was great. The service was fantastic.

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I bought 2 (used) cell phones (included 2 chargers...home and auto) from this supplier. Both units looked very good, but while one worked like new, the other had some intermittent operating issues. I called the vendor customer service number and a replacement phone was sent without any hassle. The replacement phone arrived the next day, along with a prepaid mailer to return the unit with the intermittent problems. I will be looking for this suppler the next time I need phone stuff.

Roku 3100AB 1080p 2 XS Angry Birds Limited Edition Streaming Player - Red

• 300+ channels with movies, TV shows, music, sports & more
• High-definition streaming up to 1080p HD
• Works with virtually any TV
• Enhanced remote with motion control for playing games
• Built-in wireless (Wi-Fi b/g/n) and wired Internet connectivity

I recently got a WD TV Live and i love it because it plays literally all the media files i have saved on my external hard drive. I decided to try the Roku 2 XS because i needed an extra media player for my living room, as i was using WD for my bedroom. I think the Roku XS is a great device for streaming media from channels (NBC, Netflix, CNET, etc). But don't think you are going to get every episode of everything for free. Content from free channels are limited. The Roku is NOT flawless, it does have some pluses and minuses. I think the user interface on the Roku is slightly better than the WD because it is a bit more fluid, doesn't have that extra one second lag when performing easy functions like typing and searching. It also has more channels than the WD. However, WD has YouTube and Roku doesn't, but then again Roku has Amazon Prime streaming, and WD doesn't. So each device has its own perks. These two devices would be perfect if i could smash them into one ultimate media player. What one has, the other lacks.

Setup for the most part was fairly easy, but immediately after setting up wi-fi, Roku must do a software update and for some reason, it wouldnt download it so i kept fiddling with this thing for over an hour. I plugged in my ethernet plug and then it FINALLY downloaded, only when wired. Yes, this does require the buyer to disclose their credit card information. It doesn't charge the customer, but they save it on file for future use when customers want to buy certain channels, etc. I was a bit annoyed because a lot of the channels included required a log in name and password. After awhile, it just got plain annoying. Even using the Roku requires one to sign up and create a Roku account. Also remember that with the Roku player, having a solid wi-fi connection is a must. If not, just get the high-end XS model and plug in the ethernet plug to avoid buffering issues. I really wanted something simple to plug and play. The Roku doesn't play movie files that are just ripped from a DVD. The movie must be formatted and will play in MP4 format (all my movie files are in MP4 format). Overall, i am pleased, but i think if i were to get another streaming media player i'd go with WD.

Pros:

Semi-easy setup

Nice user interface

Some nice free channels (CNET TV, Anime, etc)

Small and compact size

Angry Birds

Plays MP4 movie files

Pandora, Amazon Prime, HBO

Fast Fowarding on movie files is a breeze

Plays movies from USB memory sticks

Plays movies from external 2TB hard drive (2TB max, can't do 3TB)

Cons:

Doesn't play AVI movies files

Can't play Windows Media Player movie files

Only 1 USB slot

Media folders from external HD are not in A-Z order

Menu customization is a bit limited

Advertisies 300 plus channels, but i don't see that many

Doesn't have YouTube

Doesn't have VEVO

Doesn't have progressive scan (when you go back to a movie you were in the middle of, it will start from the very beggining as oppose 2 where one left off)

**Keep in mind a solid wi-fi connection is a must or one will encounter many buffering issues and streaming movies not playing at all. I don't know if this is a Roku thing, or if people have cheap wi-fi routers (i am pretty sure it is a Roku thing), but i encountered many issues and the only way to avoid this is by connecting an ethernet plug into the device. I encountered no issues when the device was wired.**

Buy Roku 3100AB 1080p 2 XS Angry Birds Limited Edition Streaming Player - Red Now

I have to say I was skeptical when I ordered my first Roku Player last year but I have been very pleased with it. I have since purchased one for my Mother and my Father-in-law and they both love them also. My Father-in-law even got a couple to give as gifts. Not everything is free on Roku but there is a lot that is including G XXX rated material.

If you get one you need to look on the web for all the Roku channels, there are many and a huge variety of programming. I find it easy to use and the picture quality is very good. I use it for Netflix and Amazon streaming videos all the time. I do not have a Hulu Plus account but I would think that would make it even better.

I received an Apple TV for Christmas and I have to say I did not like as much as the Roku so I returned it and I am getting another Roku instead.

Pros:

Easy to set up

Easy to use

Lots of channels to watch

Lots of services to enjoy

Low cost

Cons:

You can't watch everything you could with cable or satellite TV

Some channels do cost

Not publicly traded (because I want to invest!)

Read Best Reviews of Roku 3100AB 1080p 2 XS Angry Birds Limited Edition Streaming Player - Red Here

We recently got the Roku2 Angry Bird Edition as a gift. We were pleasantly surprised to see how easy it was to setup. There are so many channels to select from. The content is amazingly well-constructed. The Netflix player functionality is quick with no lag. The kids have lots of fun playing Angry Birds. More importantly is that the portability is awesome!!! We took it on a family trip and hooked it up to the hotel's TV. It worked out well for the kids. Roku rocks!!!

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I also own an apple tv that sold for the same price. I much prefer the roku to to apple. There seems to be many more channels available for free. Picture quality is excellent. Sign up for the Amazon prime at $79 a year, it is well worth it.

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Bought three of these angry birds edition ROKU boxes for my kids. I have other editions of the ROKU, but this was my first with the games.

As always, easy setup right out of the box. Within minutes, had it all connected and set up.

Games worked well. I bought PACMAN in addition to the free angry birds game. If you buy it once, you can play the game on all your ROKUs so that was a great bonus.

TaoTronics® TT-CM01 3.5-inch Digital TFT LCD Car Rear View Monitor for Reverse Backup Camera

Bought it for my backup camera. Ordered on Sunday, Tuesday I received it, shipping is impressive, very fast and timely. Couldn't wait to install it on the dashboard and test it with the camera. Everything works fine. Picture is vivid, not the kind of super definition, but perfect for rear view video.

There are two AV interfaces out of the monitor, one is to connect to the DVD Player (I also connect it to my GPS), and the other is to rear view camera. The monitor displays DVD or GPS picture first. But once I backup, the video will automatically switch to the rear view. That's cool!

However, if you want to buy a monitor for special purpose on a DVD or other media player, this item may not satisfy you, for the screen is too small and the resolution is not that ideal. But for rear view camera, it is brilliant and competent.

Very satisfied with this purchasing！

Worked great for me. I stick it right under my rear view mirror using pair of strong magnets.

You can also use glue or put it on the dash or any other suitable place .

Great for parking when reversing when used with rear parking sensors.

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This is the only LCD monitor in its price range (AFAIK) that delivers 640x480.

It works like charm with my RaspberryPI

Read Best Reviews of TaoTronics® TT-CM01 3.5-inch Digital TFT LCD Car Rear View Monitor for Reverse Backup Camera Here

Kind of a disappointment. This product never worked right out of the box. I would say that the quality leaves much to be desired. Had it worked, it would have been a good value for the price, but sadly the quality control failed in my experience.

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I finally got this working with a multi-AC adapter (not included) and it's exactly what it looks like: a tiny LCD screen. I can't speak for it's use as a back-up camera or in-car screen, but I needed a tiny screen for my RaspberryPi and it serves my needs. I cannot get over how low the price is (bought at $18.99)!

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1080P HD 140 Degrees View Angle Car DVR with 270 Degree Rolling Display Panel

• With 2.0 inch LTPS 270 degree optionally rotating high resolution display panel. with full HD 1080 x 1920 HD resolution. With HDMI output line, support HDMI out put.
• With 140 degree wide view angle 5.0 Mega Pixels high definition lens. Besides, something special, the lens can rotated 180 degrees, thus makes the views angle becoming much wider than before.
• Support Motion detection, loop recording, auto recording when start up.support auto night mode.Support Micro SD card Up to 32GB.
• With built-in double LED light, With built-in microphones and speaker.With both English and Russian user manual, a best reselling item.
• Characteristic: Support Video, photograph, loop recording, Auto recording when start up, HDMI output, Photos play back, video playback.

This camera is better than expected in color quality. The instructions left something to be desired but with a bit of time and experimentation you can get this camera up and running. The only bad point on this camera is the sound quality in the playback mode on the camera. It is static and grable and you cannot make out any voice or sounds from the background when it was recorded. It is best to get the 32 Gig disc, otherwise I am happy with my purchase.

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Wow, I thought this was a cheap device, but to my surprise, this is an awesome recorder. I drive 18 wheelers and this device performs well in the truck. The playback is great. I'm going to buy another.

Read Best Reviews of 1080P HD 140 Degrees View Angle Car DVR with 270 Degree Rolling Display Panel Here

I like this camera. It works fine. I have even downloaded some video on my laptop. I would buy another one for sure.

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1. There is no useful english manual, the broschure contains only a list of menu options, whose anyhow can be seen on camera.Russion manual is so stupid and ridicoluos that can be used in stand-up show.

2. Write now it records in random intervals, instead of 10 minutes which i choosed in menu. I have no idea how to fix it.

3 .The vacuum holder simply does not work, the camera fails after 2 minutes of being adjusted to window pane. I had to fixed it with glue.

4. The video quality is degenerative. I don't care if it's HD or not, but registration numbers can be seen only in almost perfect light conditions and near-zero distance.

Summary

I didn't return the device, becouse dealing with the return process worth less then 60$, since i'm outside US. I think in a case of accidet it's better than nothing. If considering to by camcorder, choose another one

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Trying to figure out how to make it work properly is quite the chore. Works well with a high volume memory card untill its full . Did not format card and keep working. Sent it back !

Panasonic SDR-H200 30GB 3CCD Hard Disk Drive/SD Palmcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

I took the plunge and bought two of them (One for my brother). My reason for this is:

1. the predominance of editing software available for MPEG2, MPEG4, AVI, etc. as well as the ability to play on practically any regular DVD player. My Aunts, Uncles, relatives and friends do not care for, nor ever will buy a BluRay Player and a 42"+ Panny, although I do (more about that in a sec). Thus sharing compatibility is more important to me than obtaining the latest AVCHD, although I may for other reasons in the future. I know I can down convert but the extra steps, increased price, limited industry supported software (for unconverted .mt2s files), the new h.264 compression standard and the increased horsepower required for PC use are all compelling reasons to stick with SD in the home and for sharing not only the finished product but also raw footage with others and having zero complications.

I have a 2GB RAM, P4, 3.0 Ghz, etc. laptop but 8 out of every 10 others I know use centrino technology, 1.8 Ghz, 256-512 RAM, etc. which just isn't gonna drive h.264 footage nicely is it. Same goes for desktop setups. Try downloading and watching 720p video from the Windows Media HD Video website if your computer leans more towards the latter to see what I mean. SD footage won't encounter these snags. Once again, I am speaking from the point of view of sharing with the people I know who for the most part will never upgrade to the latest PC / Home theatre (or at least not in the next 5-10 years).

2. USB 2.0 Hi Speed Transferring, i.e. 100 MB files transferred from card/ HDD in about 15 seconds. Editing, Rendering, Authoring is a breeze.

3. I wanted a MEMORY MAKER, not a home movie studio. This unit fits in the palm of your hand (almost bordering on too small) and easily slips into a LowePro camera bag.

4. I have a 32-bit PCMCIA SD/SDHC card reader (not 16) that I bought to replace my laptop 4-in-1 media reader. Standard readers that most people have today on their desk or built in to their laptop will not read the new SDHC cards available at 4GB+ capacities. More mention of this should be made in my opinion. Also, these new cards will not work in older devices that do not support SDHC. The SDR-H200 does support SDHC.

I experimented recording to the card and then transferring footage to my laptop. The 32bit cardBus adapter is 10-16X faster than USB 2.0. It is just awesome. The reason I mention this is because of the 1 major gripe I encountered, Namely...

...Transferring HDD footage requires disconnecting the battery from the unit and connecting a DC cable to it from the AC power adapter. Then USB 2.0 cable out to computer. Sooooooo, this means always needing to be around power instead of just turning on the camera and transferring the HDD footage randomly anywhere. It's not that big of a deal but I like having Zero restrictions ;) So using SDHC cards frees me from that restriction, hence the mention of the 32bit cardBus reader (YES they exist interfirm http://www.synchrotech.com/products/media-adapters_01.html)! ***If you follow suit and get this adapter make sure you download and install the correct driver from the website because there's no Windows XP/ Vista substitute that will do it for you like we're used to!!

Another Note if you transfer files directly from the card they show up as .mod files. Windows media player 11 recognizes them and plays. Other players don't, so you simply change them to .mpg. Sektionschef created a great program that automatically converts multiple .mod files (i.e. all of your stored clips) to the .mpg extension all at once! Very cool. It's called

5. 3CCD over single chip, this unit uses 3CCD RGB, nice. A handy F1.8 for dimly lit environments works pretty good. The 10x optical zoom is very smooth, speed contollable by the amount of pressure used on the toggle switch and there was no focus hunting in Auto mode. The O.I.S. doesn't help much when zoomed in on a subject and you're moving around so staying wider helps unless you're into using tripods. But zooming in fully on a WestJet airplane taking off produced good results.

Another nice feature is the auto fade in and fade out when you start and stop recording. It effectively smooths over those slight but noticeable camera movements that sometimes occur when the record button is pressed non-gently, awkwardly, haphazardly or whatever. This setting can be switched on or off. I like it, but you may not want to use it if you're into utilizing post-editing software because you can't remove an already recorded fade.

Here is a few clips I uploaded you can check out. I recommend downloading and playing the clips on your computer video player over using the website streaming player because the web player compresses the video resolution...

Indoor, Available Light, Auto, Setting = XP (higest SD quality) Outdoor light is completely overcast.

http://files.filefront.com/MOV007mp...;/fileinfo.html

Outdoor Auto, Zoom in on airplane, XP, Completely overcast sky

http://files.filefront.com/MOV009mp...;/fileinfo.html

Low Light, Indoor, Coffee Shop, XP Mode, Auto

http://files.filefront.com/MOV002mp...;/fileinfo.html

Finally, does the footage measure up? YES. There is no comparison to watching footage on the laptop as compared to a monitor, TV or Plasma. When I watched it on my laptop I was like hmmmm, oh yeah, that's pretty good. But when I ran my footage from the camera through a Yamaha RX-V2700 Receiver with 1080i/1080p upsacling to a 42" Panasonic Plasma via HDMI I was blown away! You will be extremely PLEASED if you run your footage through a home theatre HDMI setup. The same goes for a DVD disc.

I also tried S-Video out directly to TV with included AV cables (no HDMI/ no receiver) and I would still rate the footage as GREAT. Fortunately, you can do this running on straight battery power and a remote control is included! I also ran it through my 23" Samsung LCD HDTV computer monitor and... you guessed it, great. In all cases the picture turns out to be very crisp, clean and vibrant.

So although I love the new HiDef footage, etc. I took my chances in sticking with SD for home video purposes and am more than pleased. No regrets. The unit shoots in 16:9 or 4:3 and has no problem saturating my entire 42" screen. Even my mother who is expecting plenty of baby footage from my brother was more than impressed and could tell that it was a quality pic.

So, if you are looking for a memory maker and anticipate bringing it along on trips or to the ball game or whatever you'll be happy to own this unit.

The menu is simple and clean, and you can easily switch from recording to HDD/ SD/ SDHC card at the push of a button. There is plenty of manual settings you can tinker with but auto mode does the trick nicely.

It is simple, handy and fun which is exactly what I wanted. This unit delivered that. 4 out of 5 stars for not being able to transfer HDD footage to computer without power adapter (but to its credit, the adapter is conveniently small). Since it also holds 7 hours of highest quality footage this shouldn't be too much of a bother unless you're a frequent downloader. I peronally will buy an 8GB SDHC card (110 minutes) off of eBay and leave it in the unit so that I'll have options baby :)

The unit comes with ImageMixer editing software and is very easy to use and import your video with directly from the camera it's a good added value piece of software.

This is my first review here and always appreciate when others have taken the time to share their experience with new products that I'm interested in buying too. I hope my taking the plunge this time helps. Enjoy!

One more thing... READ the manual you lazies, there are things you should and need to know.

P.S. It takes decent one push 2MP still photographs too in a pinch (not outstanding but not too bad it's nice knowing that it's there if necessary)! You can find a still I posted here...

http://www.pana3ccduser.com/showthread.php?t=14208&page=4&pp=10

Bruce

I just purchased a JVC Everio GZMG130 last week, and was so upset by the 1CCD, 1/6", 340 effective pixel, piece of crap lens and camcorder that it was. First off, the colors were awful. As a graphic designer and artist, I am trained in color theory. It's so obvious that this JVC lens wasn't producing a accurate colors. Also, the finished movie files, even at highest quality, are really really grainy. This camcorder was just awful. So anyway, I decided to upgrade. It was between this Panasonic SDR-H200 and the SONY Handycam DCR-SR200. I knew this would be a hard decision, and I had to do my research. Considering it's very hard to find reviews for this Panasonic camcorder, I hope my review will answer any of those questions you're asking yourself. First off, the SONY has a CMOS lens (CCD is slightly better quality than CMOS), but the SONY has a large lens (1/2") so it seems it'd be good for dark shots. WRONG! Panasonic has a 1 LUX rating (meaning the minimum amount of light to get a shot) while the SONY has a 1&1/2 LUX rating... hmmm.... wierd that the Panasonic has a smaller lens but can take in more light. If you're wondering what the deal is about a 3CCD lens, it produces much more accurate colors than a 1CCD or CMOS lens. Each of the 3 filters in the lens filters in the blue, red, and green colors. After trying both the SONY and PANASONIC outdoors and indoors, it was obvious why they say a 3CCD is used for Professional Broadcast. The colors on the Panasonic were just perfect. The auto WHITE BALANCE is great too. No shots are too bright or too dark. The SONY is a 4 mega pixel, and the Panasonic is a 3 mega pixel. The 3CCD's color quality more than just makes up for that missing mega pixel. The color is close to accurate on the SONY's Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens, but just not nearly as nice as the Panasonic. Both camcorders have full manual capabilities (shutter speed, aperture, manual focus... etc.). The only difference is that the SONY can do a slower shutter speed manually, but the Panasonic makes up for that with the MagicPIX feature, which slows the shutter speed. You will want a tripod for this feature or else it will probably come out blurry. Obviously this is the same with the SONY. The Panasonic is much nicer to hold and it's only 1 pound heavy. The SONY's battery extrudes from the back and its very awkward to hold. I can't stress enough how amazing the Panasonic's OIS (optical image stabilization) system works. Even at a 10X Optical zoom, and no tripod w/ shaky hands, the OIS gets rid of the shaking very well. The SONY shakes like crazy when zoomed. Not good... The Panasonic also comes with a 512 MB SD card, which allows you to take 3 mega pixel still shots while recording video. The video will save on the 30 GB hard drive, while the photos save on the 512 MB SD card. So cool! The macro mode on the Panasonic is so much nicer than SONY's. You can get closer (by like 20-30 mm) than the SONY and the quality is so gorgeous! There is very little graininess in both camcorders. The only time you'll see it is in low light situations, and the SONY is worse off. To be honest, both camcorders are kind of a pain to connect to the computer. The Panasonic connects through USB and it has to be powered by the AC Adapter (can't use a battery because the AC Adapter and USP port are where the battery goes which is very weird). The SONY is even worse, because it has the station that it has to connect to. Why can't either just be as simple as battery powered and one USB connection? Lastly, the auto and manual focus on the Panasonic is soooo much better than the SONY. For some reason, especially when zoomed, the SONY will take many seconds to adjust focus, while the Panasonic is instantly. The Panasonic has a pretty bright light for close shots, while the SONY only has a flash for still images. You will also really notice the difference between a 3CCD versus a CMOS/1CCD when you're outdoors. The colors from plants, the sky, clouds, soil, etc. are so close to what you see with your own eyes. Like I said earlier, the SONY's colors are not as nice. The only thing I can really notice that makes the SONY better than the Panasonic, is its resolution for the finished movie. It's not better quality for say, it's just a higher resolution. Also, the SONY saves .mpegs to your computer while the Panasonic saves those annoying .mov files. To easily convert the .MOV files to AVI, DVD, or DIVX, use CyberLink PowerDirector. It is so easy to learn and does a great job. Also, it keeps the wide screen ratio. In my opinion, & for the price, the Panasonic SDR-H200 is the best camcorder you can buy. I give it a 9.5/10, while the SONY DCR-SR200 lacks behind with a 8/10. Don't get me wrong, the SONY is a nice camcorder, but for the same price, you should get the 3CCD lens, because it's soooo much nicer. Hope this review helps, and enjoy your new toy!

Buy Panasonic SDR-H200 30GB 3CCD Hard Disk Drive/SD Palmcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom Now

I am NOT very good with electronics or trouble shooting. Just your typical 30 year old consumer.

Like you, I research products until I'm nauseous before I buy them; for camcorders, I looked at customer reviews (and official reviews) on: camcorderinfo.com, Amazon.com, CNET, circuitcity.com, to name a few. Camcorderinfo.com, by far, has the best professional reviews. CNET is best for providing general guidance (which format, HD or Standard def, etc), but comparing to camcorderinfo.com, their reviewers clearly know less than they should.

After purchasing this camcorder and having trouble editing the footage, I researched the same websties for comments on video-editing software, and was disappointed at how little info there was. I want to share my limited experience as a non-technical person. (I'm not going to review the camcorder itself; suffice to say I'm satisfied.)

The included software, ImagePixeler, didn't work; the Core Duo PC computer I have is fine, it's the software's fault (or my fault). Editing with it was very slow, and edited footage was severely degraded in quality. I wasn't able to burn what I edited, got some error message, and I'm not saavy enough to de-bug it or diagnose the problem.

I tried Windows Movie Maker had other problems, wasn't able to edit it.

I downloaded Sony Vegas it didn't recognize either the .mod nor .mpg file extensions.

I acknowledge that my inability to use these programs may be due to my ignorance and lack of know-how with de-bugging/diagnosing problems.

I downloaded Womble MPEG Video Wizard DVD and it worked GREAT. Kicked as5! I quickly cut out parts from my footage, did slow-motion, applied transitions, made basic titles, added MP3 music, edited the music and music volume, etc. I picked a DVD menu, edited the menu text, and picked out the background image for the DVD menu. I burned the DVD, and it worked! (hard to describe how happy I was)

From downloading the free trial version of Womble MPEG Video Wizard to burning the DVD, I spent a total of maybe one hour.

I later found several websites saying that this program is among the top 3 MPEG editors (if you search for editing software for this camcorder, google "MPEG editor", NOT "video-editing software", which will yield high power programs not specifically for MPEGs such as Adobe, Ulead, Sony Vegas, Ulead, Pinnacle etc). The other top programs for editing MPEG are TMPGEnc MPEG Editor, and VideoReDo MPEG Editor.

Here are some useful links:

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/TMPGEnc_Xpress

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/MPEG_Video_Wizard_DVD

www.VideoReDo.com

Standard video editing software "re-encodes" your finished product after editing, and this process results in some degradation in quality. The best MPEG video editors do NOT re-encode any footage that has not been edited. From what I understand, the above products do not re-encode unnecessarily.

Always try the free trial version before purchasing any software.

If you are not very saavy with video-editing software or trouble shooting error messages, and have had trouble with editing/burning your footage on the Panasonic SDR-H200, here's what I have to offer (my idiot's guide):

1. download SDCOPY, which converts .mod files to .mpg files:

http://zyvid.com/smf/index.php?acti...ic=280.0;id=153

2. download Womble MPEG Video Editor DVD:

http://www.womble.com/products/dvd.html

3. ensure that you have a program on your computer that can burn a "data disc" to DVD-R or DVD+R. Nero or Roxio or Sonic should all work.

4. copy your footage from your SDR-H200 hard drive onto your desktop by dragging the appropriate files (extension will be .mod) onto your desktop into a designated folder

5. Use SDCOPY to convert the .mod files to .mpg

6. Use the Womble MPEG Video Editor DVD to make some basic edits; this make take a while to figure out. Do something basic for practice. Then you click DVD to burn to DVD. Take note of the name of the file folder where the DVD-video files are saved. (this program does NOT burn to DVD, but it makes the files that go straight to the DVD)

7. Use your disc-burning software to burn the contents of that file folder containing the DVD-video data onto a DVD disc. There was no "video DVD" function on the program I was using, so I picked "create Data disc".

It should work when you pop it into your DVD player.

Good luck.

Last thing: I started looking into external motion stabilizers. Try:

http://www.levelcam.com/media/levelcam%20features.htm

http://littlegreatideas.com/steadycam/

these cost $40-50, shipping not included.

Read Best Reviews of Panasonic SDR-H200 30GB 3CCD Hard Disk Drive/SD Palmcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom Here

We bought the SDR-H200 for my church to use in our multimedia program and couldn't be more pleased. The 3 CCD imaging system gives you an excellent picture--sharp and clear with vivid, true colors. Image stabilization keeps minor shakes and jitters from making it to the screen.

The files on the camera's hard drive are easy to transfer, though the included software is nothing more than OK. It won't tempt you to give up your current editing program, whatever it is.

We have a variety of folks using the camera. It's easy enough to operate that our amateurs can pick it up and start shooting, but has enough extra bells and whistles that some of our more proficient volunteers are happy with it, too. All in all, the SDR-H200 has been a great investment.

My only complaints, both small, have to do with design. In order to access the USB port, you have to remove the battery and run the camera on AC power. And while the LED screen is large and bright, I'm just a relic and miss having an optical viewfinder to use.

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EDIT #2: I can no longer recommend this camera. 2-stars. What first was a minor annoyance has become irritating to the point where I wish I had not bought the camera. Panasonic uses their own spin on the MPEG2 format, which means files from their cameras don't always play nice with anything other than their included software, which is BASIC. I have used Pinnacle Studio for years with good resultsit can't process the audio in these files properly. Without a 3rd party utility (SDcopy) I couldn't get any programs to recognize the wide angle aspect (16:9) and still other programs, despite conversions etc, never had any sound at all. I recently moved to a Mac. It will work with iMovie ONLY if you download the files off the camera directly into iMovie. Sounds simple, but if you have other MPEG files you downloaded previously they are useless. And since you can't put them back on the camera, you're stuck with some type of conversion process which degrades the quality. It also makes archiving footage on the mac a little more painful.

If you're not doing any PC editing, and you're only watching movies through the camera, or if you just want the basic included software, then get the camera, the quality is still good. If you want to make some polished home movies with a 3rd party program, look at a camera that uses a more standard format.

EDIT: The only thing I couldn't test before was how the picture looked on an HD screen. I didn't go with HD because I didn't have the software or hardware to edit it anyways, and then you can't put it on a Blu-Ray or anything yet anyways. And, at the time, I didn't have an HDTV.

Since I bought the camera, I have purchased a Samsung 50" 720p plasma. The pictures from the camera over the S-Video are amazing. They look great. Some of that depends on the TV, I know, but very happy. After processing and burning a DVD, the image quality still looks great (again, software variables as well). But the bottom line is: I have no problems viewing this video on a HD set. It looks great. Still very happy. I will say, the low light (indoors at night) is a little grainy which is from the smaller 3 CCDsbut well lit scenes and outdoor scenes are brilliant. No need in my mind to fool with an High Def camcorder until they figure out a reasonable way to put the video on a medium you can play back on your HDTV. Playing it back through the camera is cumbersome at best.

Original review:

I won't repeat everything said below. there are some very comprehensive reviews out there. I'll put the most important first:

The thing that pushed me the most towards this Panasonic were:

1) JVC has gotten less than stellar reviews with their image quality, so they were out.

2)Compared to other HDD cameras, this one will record full video to the SD card as well, so if you do end up with a full HDD, you can still use memory cards like "tapes" or miniDVD discs and keep going. I think a 4GB SD card will hold ~45min or so at full quality. More than the miniDVDs (1.7GB) It's not the ideal way cost wise, but at least you're not stuck. personally, I've never recorded more than 7 hours of video at one event. It sure beats carrying around 7 tapes. But with other cams, when you're full, you're done.

3)Comparable Sony cams were $200+ more.

This is my second camcorder, I switched from MiniDV and I'm not looking back. The image quality is great (I was initially concerned about MPEG compression) and looks stunning on a regular TV (I don't have HD). Colors are amazing and crisp. The color indoors suffers a bit if you don't have lots of light, but the grain is barely noticable and the picture is still very good. the optical image stabilization is a plus, electronic stabalization on other units looses some image quality. the zoom mic feature is pretty cool and works well out doors. Video transfer and backup to DVD are easy and fast.

you'll need to get your own video editing software, or use windows movie maker, to do any type of real editing. the included software is pretty basic, but that's pretty much standard for any camera.

For typical home movies with the occasional special event, you can't go wrong.

Clear Glasses Hidden Camera by Brickhouse Security

These work wonderfully, are light weight, so easy to wear and the camera quality is excellent. There is also some audio capability, primarily useful if you want to audio record your location or other information, but certainly not strong enough to pick up other sounds (except background noise).

Panasonic RR-US351 Digital Recorder and Voice Editor

I am very disappointed with this product. I bought it for the voice recognition feature and software. I find it will only handle voice recognition in HQ mode which only gives 33 minutes of recording time. Nowhere does it tell me this in any of the promotional material or on the package. I had to use it to find this out and finally found a mention of this limitation deep in the software manual. 33 minutes isn't nearly enough recording time. I returned it for a refund.

True, you have to use the HQ (33 minute) mode for VR, but Standard Play (65 minutes) is great for most of my purposes. I used the RR-US351 to record my Dad's stories shortly before he passed away, then transfered to PC & shared with his grandchildren. Later, I used it with the self-timer mode to help identify a Nile monitor lizard that was terrifying a neighbor.

Note that the included software converts only to bulky WAV, so if you want any kind of compression you'll some other audio processing software. LP mode (210 minutes) does not compress well.

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Coby CAM5005 720p HD Camcorder/Camera with 1.3MP, 4x Digital Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD Screen, Black CA

After buying a set of Coby noise cancelling headphones for around $20 that are better than my much more expensive Sony noise cancelling headphones, I thought I would give this video camera a try. I figured it was worth trying since it is only around $50. The camera looks great. It comes with a USB cord, a wrist strap, an audio cord, a clothe carrying case, battery and an instruction booklet. You will have to purchase an SD or SDHC card and if you want to play video directly to your television, you will need to buy a mini HD cable. The ads say it comes with Muvee video editing software but mine came with Magix video editing software. There is supposed to be someway to use the camera for a webcam but I haven't been able to figure out how to make that work.

The camera is small and lightweight and has a large viewing screen. It has a light for low light filming. There are three different quality settings with HD being the top setting. For $50 you pretty much get what you pay for. The lens is a fixed focal length but the camera does have a 4X digital zoom. The picture is extremely grainy in wide angle and when the camera is zoomed the grain becomes even more pronounced.

If you think you are going to get HD quality for $50, you will be sadly disappointed but for that amount of money you'll pay for this camera, the picture will do. I would like to see Coby offer us a REAL HD camera with a multi-focal length lens at some great savings.

My daughter said she wanted to start making video diaries. She is only 10 and I wasn't sure how responsible she would be with a digital camera. This was perfect!!! Inexpensive, sturdy, and works great!

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I just can't find anything wrong with this cam, it's touchscreen, HD, thin and it's only 50 bucks!! Everything works perfectly.

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the quality is so poor that i dont expect it to last the year. flimsy and poorly built. I wish i would of spent more money for a better one

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JVC GRSXM260US Compact S-VHS Camcorder with 16x Optical Zoom

At first the camera looked like it was just a odinary one until i tried it. Wow everything was just so great 700X digital zoom could almost take any distant shot with just a click of a button. This Camera is fully loaded with image stabilizes and inbuilt light the rotatable lcd was simply facinating and it was very clear to me that this camera could take evryshot very clearly especially the image stabilizer comes in handy when you are travelling in a RV or a Car toshoot the outside Nature.

WOW THIS CAM IS REALLY WONDERFUL.

I'm really hard on stuff....I take a lot of those crazy action shots with my JVC and it does a great job with sound and picture. It's a pretty tough little camera too. I actually broke my first one and am purchasing another of the same because my videos came out great!

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I bought this camera thinking since it was VHS it would perform better in low light (as did my older 8mm)than a digital one. WRONG. It also will drain the battery in 15 minutes. Resolution is poor with VHS mode and svhs tapes cost too much. Noisy tape makes me weary. Don't waste your money on this old"last of the mohicans" format. Just get a digital camcorder and buy a light.My $299. digital Sharp blows it away. I can't hardly give it away. Want mine for $150?

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I own a number of JVC products so when I saw this unit on sale, I ordered it. I was well pleased. It is easy to use and setup. If you need a camcorder to begin on, then this is the one!

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After using our old camcorder this is a dream. The size and weight make it so nice. I love the features too! Take the time to read the manual. It will make it easier to figure out the functions quickly.

KGUARD All-In-One Surveillance Combo Kit 4 Channel H.264 DVR with 4 CMOS Cameras (OT401-4CW134M-500

Great product-kit has it all and can easily be set up by anyone. The picture on the monitor is clear and color is good.The DVR has all kinds of ways to run the cameras. I will by another if I ever need to.

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VideoSecu Built-in 1/3" SONY CCD IR Night Vision Outdoor Home Security Camera Weatherproof 3.6mm Wi

The connector to the TV is one I have never seen before and it requires a power adapter that is NOT included. You need $70 worth accessories BNC to RCA adapters and an RF adapter and a 25 foot coax cable and a coax to rca cable and lots of other stuff. Cameras at other stores cost only $70 and come with a free 100-foot cable as well as an RCA connector a pretty common one that plugs straight into your TV.

For the price, this camera is a good deal. It is very well made and the mount is very versatile. The daytime color is a bit washed out and bright backlight is a slight problem. The night (infrared) vision works well and I have caught a visiting wild fox on video tape with it on several occaisions. Overall, for the price, I'd say it's well worth it.

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These are good cameras if you need faces from 10 -15 feet,bodies up to 40.

I expected more from the larger lens. A good quality camera,and they are small.

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I put this camera in the attic gable above the garage. It worked great for about a year and a half. Great color and good night vision. I could see everything in my cul-de-sac. The camera finally went out. The heat in the attic may have caused it to go out. I don't know. It was around 119 degrees in the attic many days during the summer. But it was a great camera while it worked. I have used many cameras over the years and this was one of the best budget camera's I owned.

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I have at least three of these cameras. The quality is not bad both day and night. My main issues is to be able to see the persons face and clarity of theimage. What I found was that I have had to replace them after about a year. I am not sure why, but three of them on different occasion no longer have the night vision. the IR lights no longer work. Maybe they are not waterproof as they claim!!!

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Square Perfect 12 Inch Light Tent Photo Cube Softbox with 4 Colored Backgrounds For Product Photogr

If you sell tiny jewelry stuff on the internet you really want to invest in one of these little guys.. I't small enough to take up lots of desk space but big enough to give you a nice clean backdrop allowing the buyer to focus on the product and not your living room curtains or bath tub scratches. All you need is a dinky tripod for your camera and you're good. When you're done, just squish it up and shove it in a drawer till the next time.

you just will not get good pictures without one of these no matter how hard you try.

i do not even use fancy external lights, just a desk lamp that i position the light right over the box.

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Bought this light tent to photograph small items of jewelry that my wife makes to sell. It does what I need to do. My only con , is that it is difficult to fold back into case. I do wish I had ordered the larger one, it would have been more useful. Recommend to anyone needing photos of small items. Great product, great service from company.

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Maxell 630011 700MB 80 Minute CD-RW (10pk Case)

ugh, These Cds are horrible.

Pros

You can rewrite them

They come with their own cases

They can hold up to 20 songs

Cons

They have errors on them

They can't play on a car stereo or Stereo

They are easily breakable.

I felt that I made a bad decision buying these, and I hope I stop you from buying these with this review.

i was looking for a cd-rw for my standalone cd recorder for my stereo system which took "audio recordable disc only". even though this says "music" on the front of the package it didn't work. i did end up buying the tdk brand music recordable discs.

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Got the error message when trying to burn mp3 as data

Not even letting me erase the disk getting an error message at that step as well

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Maxell 630011 700 MB 80 Minute CDRW(10 Pk Case)

I Have been using this CDRW for years and have never found fault.

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This product is no good to burn music. Music kept skipping. Just a poor quality CD. DO NOT BUY THIS!

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USB 8x DVD+/-RW DL Notebook SATA Burner Drive for Gateway MS2285

Great product, but do be aware that you will need to save two parts from your old drive:

1. The faceplate (bezel)so you can have it fit flush with your laptop. If you do not have the faceplate it is still okay,but it sits back in there a bit...

2. and most important the REAR MOUNT bracket from your old dvd drive in order to secure this part in your computer. Without that, it will just fall out. Nobody wants that!

As long as you have the parts it will be perfect for the Gateway NV5302u/ MS2258.

GE DGE100N DVD Player

• MP3 and JPEG CD playback
• Reads DVD-Video, DVD+W, DVD+R, DVD-W, DVD+RW, DVD-R
• Composite- and S-video outputs accommodate most televisions
• Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1-channel digital output for immersive surround sound when used with a compatible AV receiver
• SRS TruSurround simulates surround sound from any two channels (speakers, headphones, TV)

Purchased product at [store]. I am using this unit with an eight year old 31" dirct view TV made by Mitsubishi (4:3, no high def).

Exterior appearance of the DVD player is very clean. Remote control lacks backlight, but is well laid out and comfortable to hold. Good video quality, especially at [money] price point.

Very impressive reading of MP3 and JPEG files on homemade CD-R's. This machine was able to read discs that several Toshiba, Philips anad Panasonic units were unable to read. However, the user interface for non-DVD features is disappointing:

-Unit only displays the first 11 characters of MP3 and JPEG files. Since most of my files names have 40 characters or more -they include the artist and song title -this restriction made it difficult for me to navigate my files.

-Unit does not support 'random play' or 'play lists'. This makes the unit inflexible during parties or for background music.

-When you want to play, say, song 24, you must press 0-2-4 on the remote. If you press 2-4, the unit plays song 2, then jumps to song 4. This operation frustrated me.

This unit can also display JPEG files. I found this feature exciting; it let me see pictures taken with my digital camera on my TV (after I burned them to a CD, of course). High resolution files loaded quickly, but they flickered a bit on my screen. I don't know if this was due to the DVD player or my TV or my interconnects (S-Video).

Like MP3 files, JPEG file names are restricted to 11 characters. This was less of an issue for me, though. Generally I view images as a slide show without jumping from picture to picture.

My opinion: if you only want to watch movies and have a non-HD setup, this machine offers great value and good performance. If you demand flexible audio controls or have a large collection of homemade MP3 discs, this user interface on this unit is limiting.

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I purchased this DVD player a week ago and find watching movies a very frustrating endeavor. This machine refuses to play some DVDs; abruptly stops an hour or so into the movie; and locks up randomly. When it does play a DVD, the picture quality is very good as is the sound. I attempted to contact customer support but was foiled by the inability to speak to a live person. They refer you to the RCA.com website which is also useless. If you wish to talk to someone, they refer you to a non-tollfree number. Having had many GE products in my five decades, I guess I expected a better product and at least customer support for one's questions. Now I am looking for a better quality DVD player and one which also offers customer support.

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It looks like there is a common bug on the chip in this machine. I bought a DGE100NA at Circuit City so I could play a VCD a friend sent me and because the Apex DVD player I had could not read the VCD, even though it was supposed to be able to. The GE was able to play the VCD.

This DVD player does NOT resume properly from Pause. But I've found a work-around. When you are ready to resume, press the Pause button and immediately press Stop. Then press play and the movie will USUALLY start from the place where you paused. If you try to resume by just pressing Pause, the unit locks up, and as the others have said, the ONLY way to get it to re-start is to pull the power plug even the Power On/Off button is frozen.

The fact that it sometimes also randomly starts movies in the middle is another annoyance. This unit will PLAY a DVD, but it is sadly lacking when it comes to reliable functionality.

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Bought this machine for [X] and expected minimum features and performance. I was pleasantly surprised. I read the instructions, hooked it up, and was playing a movie within thirty minutes after opening the box. Nice machine!

I don't know if this player is still being sold but if so, steer clear of it. When it works, mine works reasonably well but it rarely works. Most of the time it gives me a "no disc" message when it has just spooled up a DVD that works in every other player I have.

More interesting is GE's response to this. They don't acknowledge that it even exists. Could it be some kind of illegal copy, I ask? No response. I think they know there's something wrong with it.

The only good thing about it was the price, but on a per-play basis, I probably should have bought a different player. What also bothers me is what this says about GE. Would this be true of all their other products? I wonder.