Panasonic DMP-BD10 - Blu-ray Disc player - upscaling

• Plays Blu-ray high-definition discs (selectable output resolution
• Plays DVD-Video, DVD-R & DVD-RW, DVD+R & DVD+RW, and DVD-RAM
• plays DVD-Audio, CD, audio CD-R & CD-RW, and MP3 CDs
• Plays digital photo CDs (JPEG)
• Selectable 720p/1080i/1080p video upconversion for DVD (upconverted video available through HDMI output only)

I have recently purchased the Panasonic Blu-Ray Player, and have been blown away by its picture and sound. Right off the bat, I downloaded and upgraded the firmware, carefully following the instructions, and it greatly improved the boot up and load speeds for discs. Aside from an poorly-designed cheap-feeling remote, Panasonic has really produced a stand out product here.

My journey into the world of Blu-Ray began with a PS3. I purchased a 60GB PS3 initially to play games and movies, thinking that it was a great bargain $600 for a fully featured Blu-Ray player and game system. The PS3 locked up three times during playback of "The Guardian". The add-on remote for the PS3 is Bluetooth, which otherwise would be great, but could not be programmed into my Universal Remote, and was extremely counterintuitive to use. There was no upconversion of my existing DVDs (I have a lot, so this was really a downer). The game on the PS3 that I was interested in purchasing (Resistance: Fall of Man) was a 720p title, and so it downconverted to 480p on my 2 year old 73" CRT HDTV.

The online service for PS3 was woefully inadequate compared to the XBOX 360 very little of interest to download in movies or games.

So I returned the PS3 and bought the Panasonic. I didn't feel that sinking in my stomach at having to return something cool it was much more like a relief to unload this turkey.

I fretted a little at the cost of the Panasonic, but elected to purchase it after seeing a demo, and knowing that I had a 30 day return window. I hooked it up in less than an hour, and fired it up. A big smile attached to my face when I started watching "Blackhawk Down" on the Panasonic. The image and sound were stellar. Same with "Flyboys". Same with "Stealth". Popped in the "Fifth Element" and expected a crappy picture, but except for some very early shots having lots of dirt, the rest of the film's picture quality handily blew away my Superbit version of the film. I also have the HD-DVD add on to the XBOX 360, and I can not see any appreciable difference between a well mastered HD-DVD (I would cite "Superman Returns" as an example) and a well mastered Blu-Ray.

Have not looked back on the decision with regret only joy.

Pros:

Astounding Picture and Sound Quality

Great Upconversion of Regular DVDs

True Theater Experience

After upgrading the firmware (1.4), much quicker boot up and load times

Worth twice the price of the PS3

Cons:

Remote should be lighted for this many $$$

Jog wheel TOO sensitive

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Forget about what others say about Blu-ray not having a great picture. There were some problems with the early Blu-ray titles released by Sony/Lion's Gate as they were poor transfers that used old Mpeg2 encodings. In some cases they even used dirty prints (The Fifth Element). They were simply rushed out the doors to make it to market the same time as HD DVD.It was a bad decision on the part of the BDA. Since then studios such as Disney, Paramount, and Fox have moved to encoding in Mpeg4/AVC and VC-1, the new advanced video codecs. Also, the first Blu-ray releases were on lower-capacity single-layer 25GB discs, which meant the video quality suffered. Fortunately, those days are over, and over quickly they were.

Now the dual-layer 50GB Blu-ray discs have finally arrived, and the 'BD-50' releases are beginning to pour out. 'Click' was the first, and there are more coming or out already from Fox, Warner, Paramount, and Sony. This higher capacity (HD DVD tops out at 30GB for a dual layer disc) will allow for higher quality video encodings, and more advanced interactive features and bonus features, also helped out by the higher bandwidth allowed on Blu-ray (48Mbps) as opposed to HD DVD (~ 32Mbps).

Now, on to the player itself:

This Panasonic player is not only far superior in picture and sound quality than the Samsung Blu-ray player which was also rushed to market, but it suffers from far fewer bugs and glitches than any high-def player on the market, and that includes the two Toshiba first generation models, which required a whole slew of firmware updates to run properly and they still have problems. This Panasonic when playing back Blu-ray titles that use the same encodings as the HD DVD release (speaking of the few titles that actually appear on both formats) looks identical, not almost as good. In some cases, it looks slightly better. This is most likely something to do with the hardware, and not a software issue. The blacks are black as coal, colours pop off the screen. Great Blu-ray titles look almost three-dimensional. The copy of Eight Below included in the box looks stunning!

The standard DVD upscaling also works quite well, making the DVDs look very good though not as good as HD.

The sound is superb . The player can playback 192/24 uncompressed PCM audio in 7.1 channels, but it also supports new audio formats like Dolby Digital+ and, soon as the registration card inside the box states -through a future free firmware upgrade (some say around January) the player will decode the new, lossless audio codecs Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, both up to a resolution of 192/24 at 7.1. This will allow for true high resolution sound well beyond Dolby Digital and DTS, and equal to uncompressed PCM, but utilising less space and less bandwidth than PCM, once again making more room for better video transfers and more bonus features.

Also for the audiophiles out there, it is worth noting that the Panasonic also plays DVD-As (and CDs), and the video circuitry can be turned off for pure audio listening delight.

This is a great player, with perfect picture quality when playing back well done Blu-ray titles. Don't blame the player for a bad title, just like you can't blame a DVD player for a bad DVD transfer. This player is well worth the price.

Read Best Reviews of Panasonic DMP-BD10 - Blu-ray Disc player - upscaling Here

Due to be replaced late summer with DMP-BD10A. Next gen player at $600.

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This is indeed a very fine Blu-ray player. The machine has the stability/reliability of a regular DVD player, and it also loads pretty quick compared to other hi def players. Excellent picture quality too.

The previously review mentions that new 10a model makes this one obsolete, but the 10a is the exact same machine as the 10 it just comes with the new 2.0 firmware, 5 free movies, and and MSRP of $599.

I purchased this Blu-ray player because I am a movie fan and I have a fairly large collection of DVD-audio CD's that this player will handle. The picture quality when playing a well mastered Blu-ray disc on this player is awesome! It also does a great job when up-converting standard DVD's. The sound quality is outstanding when playing movies or just listening to music. It has individual user adjustments for picture quality or you can just use any of the preset modes such as cinema, normal, fine, etc. for viewing. In other words you can tweak it as much as you like or just use the easy setup mode for your viewing and listening pleasure. It seems to be well built and plays everything it is designed to play without any problems. It is expensive but if you shop around you can occasionally find it discounted. In this case the old saying "you get what you pay for" is true.

DIGITAL PERIPHERAL SOLUTIONS Q-SEE 8CH H.264 DVR CIF/D1 REC PERP MAC OS COMP 1TB HDD SUPP(2) 2TB HDD

I spent 30 hours testing all the features. This thing is great. Alarm, snaps, audio, backup, configurable motion zones, email, dynamic dns, works through firewall as DMZ, Android support is awesome although I hope it gets upgraded to D1 eventually. Scheduling is very flexible, customizable recording quality. Easy firmware upgraded. I put this thing through the paces and it never crashed, exactly the what I would expect from a security device. Was a bit overkill actually, 30 fps for D1 running 24/7 will not sustainable.

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DVD player region free DVD player play all regions DVD player muli region DVD player(Lets you play

I am not technically savvy, but this had very straight forward instructions! Watched a film made in Italy and it worked perfectly!

the dvd player is perfect i have no issues with it .it works fine thank you. very much thank you again

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Western Digital 2 TB AV-GP SATA 3 Gb/s Intellipower 32 MB Cache Bulk/OEM AV Hard Drive- WD20EVDS

When I ordered a WD10EVDS drive to upgrade my Tivo HD, I was aware of the hanging soft reboot issue with drives manufactured after October 2009. The drive I received was manufactured in December 2009. Before putting the drive into service, I disabled the Intellipark feature that is reportedly causing the issue. I used the wdidle3.exe program from Western Digital to disable it based on info posted at as a guideline. I deviated from the instructions posted on the forum by putting the wdidle3.exe program on a bootable USB drive rather than a bootable CD. Also, the instructions stated that running "wdidle3 /D" would disable Intellipark. This did NOT work on my WD10EVDS drive. However, I experimented and found that running "wdidle3 /S0" did successfully disable the Intellipark feature. I had no issues executing the actual drive upgrade instructions shown on the same forum page. I used a USB/SATA adapter to connect the Tivo drives while running the WinMFS program. I verified that the Tivo does not hang during soft reboots.

I recommend this drive for Tivo HD upgrade only if you are computer savvy. I suspect that most folks willing to tackle a Tivo drive upgrade also have enough computer experience to disable Intellipark. The hardest part of disabling the Intellipark feature was creating bootable media to run wdidle3.exe. The instructions posted on the forum implied (or at least I inferred) that simply burning the ISO image to a CD would create a bootable disk. This was not my experience. None of the system files required for bootable media were present on the ISO. At that point I elected to put wdidle3.exe on a DOS bootable USB drive that I created.

I am VERY satisfied with this drive. It is extremely quiet and has performed well to date. I plan to purchase another WD10EVDS to upgrade a second Tivo HD unit.

After two years, my 500Gb WD DVR Extender started to give up the ghost the TiVO would randomly reboot about twice a day while watching television. So I decided to go down the path of internal drive replacement. There are other options to purchase a drive with the TiVO system installed, but they have their own bear traps.

This is exactly the drive to buy for a TiVO HD or Series 3. 1Tb is the simple size limit. There are incredibly detailed instructions on how to do the swap at TiVO Community. Critical pieces, you need Torx #10 and #15 drivers to open the case and remove the hard drive from the bracket.

There's one small nuance with this drive, it is a Green drive so it has a firmware setting that makes it slow down or idle when it is not in use. If this setting is not disabled, any time you restart the TiVO from the Settings Menu, it will not start properly. Simply unplugging the TiVO and plugging it back in will work just fine. It causes absolutely no other issues if you can live with restart by unplugging, don't bother with the firmware setting.

The hard part of fixing the firmware is finding a computer with SATA that can boot from a DOS CD. Once you download wdidle with the bootable CD image, burn the CD, connect the drive to a spare SATA port, boot the computer from that CD, and type in the correct run string; the fix is incredibly simple. I think it took about 30 seconds to fix the idle setting.

Using the copy tools listed at TiVO Community couldn't be easier. It's scary when the instructions are accurate to the letter. The place where the software is posted is kind of ancient and requires registration. It took about an hour or two before I finally got the registration activation email. It's a good idea to download all this before you open up your TiVO.

If you've ever upgraded a graphics card on a PC, you can very easily do this job. The cheapest path is to use a stray SATA port on your computer and not monkey with SATA to USB adapters. However, if you don't want to open your computer case, the adapters work just fine.

Opening the TiVO is pretty easy. There are a set of #10 Torx screws on the back. The cover pops off easily. You'll be amazed how little stuff is inside a TiVO. I was also surprised my 3 year old TiVO wasn't full of dust bunnies it was amazingly clean. The SATA / power supply secure connector pops right of the hard drive. Four #10 Torx screws hold the drive bracket down. Flip that over and four #15 Torx screws hold the drive to the bracket (there are rubber grommets to quiet the drive somewhat). Reverse all that with the new drive. Plug in the TiVO and it will be back up like new.

Honestly, the most difficult part of this project, trying to decide when to unmarry my extender from my TiVO. You lose all your recorded programs when you do this. There is no way around it. If you want to keep any programs, you have to use TiVO desktop, copy them to your computer, then copy them back when you do the upgrade. There is absolutely no way to save your recorded programs otherwise.

This is an upgrade I should have done long ago. The drive is fantastic, it flat out just works. And I have a bunch more hours of HD recording now.

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I have a TiVo HD with My DVR Expander. "My DVR Expander" broke after 1 yr. Decided to replace the internal 160GB with this. It's awesome!

PRO:

* Taking out My DVR Expander so 1 less power cord to deal with, less clutter in area

* Lower power consumption than the 160GB drive it replaced.

* Technically, according to spec, lower noise than the orig 160GB drive.

* TiVo UI is more responsive (though possibly, it may be bec the 1 TB drive is not full yet so TiVo is not busy doing background work to optimize).

CON

* None (other than the hassle of setting up your PC to do WinMFS).

This is the right type of hard drive for this type of application (DVR).

Read Best Reviews of Western Digital 2 TB AV-GP SATA 3 Gb/s Intellipower 32 MB Cache Bulk/OEM AV Hard Drive- WD20EVDS Here

I specifically orders this HD to replace another 1TB HD (Samsung F1) in my TivoHD.

The noise level is significantly lower with the new drive.

The TiVo is in my bedroom and I can no longer hear the drive spinning. Great product so far.

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I originally bought this hard drive with an intention of installing it into my third generation TiVo, but this undertaking turned out to be futile for reasons that I will not go into here. I decided instead to install it into my living room media PC and thus expand its storage. This turned out to be a bit more tricky than I had anticipated, since I already had an additional internal HD installed and there were no straightforward ways of adding a third drive. With a bit of tinkering, I was able to repurpose one empty CD/DVD ROM bay, make use of an unused SATA connection on the motherboard, and after some hardware hacking (sometimes quite literal it involved the use of power tools), my slim media PC became a storage monster. The HD seems to be very quiet and has not caused any perceptible amount of extra heating. For the past few weeks that I had been using it I have also been extremely satisfied with its performance, and have not come across any issues whatsoever.

Just a couple of words of caution: this hard drive is packaged in a bare-bones package, and comes with no instructions or other information. If you have never installed an internal hard drive, you may want to get some information online about what is the best way of doing it for your compute.

Sharp SD-AT1000 600 Watt Home Theater Audio System

the sharp sd-at1000 is by far one of the best home theater out there for its price(i got mine for 199). it has 600 watts or total power and can decode everything, dts, dolby digital, pro logic and pro logic 2. its also utilizes sharp's 1 bit technology which converts analog signals into digital, while its ultra-high speed sampling rate captures detailed, high frequency sounds that could never before be experienced. it also has 2 digital and 3 line inputs and a nice design. this system also doubbles as a am/fm radio with magnetically shielded front speakers. my only complaint is it does not have a dvd play but for the price i really wasn't expecting one. later models such as the sd-at 3000 and 4000 dv do contain dvd players but for a much higher price. i'd recommend this system to anyone, just buy a good dvd player and you're good to go.

I simply do not believe to my ears! This sound quality should be on triple price. Or more. :-) This Sharp system is crazily out of category. All the others I tried before on this price level are far far not up to this experiment.

May be I look too enthusiastic. But that's the reason of writing here. (Normally I don't.)

I bought it in Europe. Don't ask me the price, but I let you know that the European price level for these things are MUCH higher than the USA one. But it doesn't matter from the aspect of price ratios.

I love this world: With the technological advance things get parallel better and cheaper.

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Sony DCR-SR100 3MP 30GB Hard Drive Handycam Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom

Advantages:

1. No tapes or mini-DVD's; record straight onto hard drive

2. Many hours on the hard drive, even in HQ

3. Beautiful colors & resolution

4. Easy to delete and edit clips

5. Records standard MPEG video (easily edited/manipulated)

Disadvantages:

1. No firewire output to computer (USB only; see below.)

2. No headphone output

3. Included software easy, but not powerful

4. Comes with cheap composite video cable; premium S-video cable addn'l cost

I've sorely needed a camcorder for some time now, but I also wanted to avoid a future of buying and storing and fiddling with drawers full of tapes or mini-DVs... so I looked into hard-drive camcorders. Reviews of the exisiting hard-drive camcorders out there were quite mixed, at best problems with image quality, compression, adaptability to video editing software, etc. So I held on, (unfortunately missing the opportunity to film my kid's first birthday and first steps, etc.) and I bought this machine as soon as it was finally released (initially only to Sony stores) in mid-April. It is surpassing my expectations thus far.

I really do like shooting video directly onto a hard drive. I don't have to worry about wasting tape/miniDVD space, running out of tape, or finding the right spot on the right tape, etc., so I find that it really frees me up to shoot video whenever I'm inspired and just delete (immediately or later) if the clip isn't interesting. Very liberating. Deleting segments is very easy, just as easy as on a typical digital camera. The clips are organized automatically into folders based on date/time, and within each folder, clips are selected for viewing on the touch screen (or via included remote control), referenced graphically by the first frame of each clip. Simple. One can watch/listen to clips on the 2.7" screen (and speaker) integrated into the camcorder, or hook the camcorder up to TV or computer for playback/preview of unedited footage resolution is excellent on my 40" LCD TV. I was wondering if I'd be disappointed in the resolution on my big screen, especially considering that nice compact high-def camcorders are now in the $1500 and less range (none with hard disk drives, though), but I'm not disappointed at all; video looks great and crisp straight out of the camcorder especially since using the "premium" S-video cable I bought for about $35 (which should really be included in the package, I think.)

Creating quality DVDs was my real goal, though, ie. sharing the results with family/friends, and creating a long-lasting archive. Using the included software, I've created a first DVD of about 25 minutes of various length segments of video, mostly of my 15-month old daughter running around and being extremely cute. The DVD looks and sounds surprisingly clear and colorful and vibrant, even on my 40" LCD. The included software makes it fairly straightforward to import video from the camcorder's hard drive onto my computer's hard drive, for editing and authoring DVDs of video. It knows which clips have been imported already, and imports only those that are new. One you've decided what you want on the DVD, it comes out with menus and all, very cool. I haven't yet tried the even simpler "easy-DVD" burn feature, as I've been into editing the clips somewhat before putting them on DVD; I don't know what those results look like. Also, for Mac users, the instructions do include some comments about using the footage with Macintosh computers (I haven't tried that yet.)

Shooting with the camcorder is a breeze. Nice slow smooth zooms are possible, and become easy once you get the hang of it. I was worried that there would be a lag time to initiate recording (after pressing the "record" button) but there is none really. It feels pretty good in my hand. I haven't dropped it, and don't plan to, so I can't comment on whether the hard drive fails with trauma.

Some comments:

1. My computer doesn't have USB 2.0 input (which is the standard for the past three yrs or so), and I've had no luck with various adapters, so the lack of firewire output is rather annoying to me personally, and causes importing of clips to my computer to be rather time-consuming (though easy). It seems silly that Sony is abandoning firewire output on this machine, just like Apple has abandoned it on the newest Ipods. Sucks for me; though my computer is a great but oldish HP with fast Pentium 4 processing, it only has USB 1.1 support. For most of you, though, importing via USB 2.0, it should be quite fast.

2. Sound recording is very good, but I wish the camcorder had a headphone port. Oh, well. Perhaps it's a blessing, as now I have no reason to plug my head into headphones all the time.

3. The included software is really nice for getting the video from camcorder to computer, but editing is primitive at best. I'm waiting for my video editing software suite to arrive at my door (I chose Sony Vegas Platinum, based on reviews); I hope it works well. Compatibility should not be a problem, as the video files are saved, on my computer, as MPEG video files, which are a fairly standard platform.

4. You'll be tempted (like me) to start buying software and accessories (mic, extra battery, new computer with superfast processing speeds, etc.) so save a few hundred (or thousand) for those. Included battery lasts for almost 2 hours of use.

Overall a very nice machine, with a lot going for it. I'm very happy to own it, and I'm using it frequently with minimal problems thus far. I wish it had firewire output and a headphone jack, but it's great even without it.

My seven year old Sony DCR-PC100 miniDV camcorder is beginning to show signs of wear, so I figured it was time to buy a backup unit. I didn't want to relive the miniDV tape experience for two reasons: the multi-step and time consuming DVD transfer process and the inability to instantly access particular portions of the tape. I briefly considered DVD camcorders, but I don't trust their reliability (I'd hate to spend all day on a wedding video and then lose my footage to "finalization failure"). I also don't like the limited and tedious DVD editing process and I can't live with 30-minute recording times (I occasionally like to set my camcorder up for long-term unattended recording). The Sony SR100 appears to be the perfect solution. I can burn footage to DVD with the click of a button, or I can edit and then burn (the supplied "ImageMixer" software is pretty basic, but adequate for my needs). I can also access any of my clips instantly, as is the case with any hard drive. Of course I don't know yet how reliable the HD will be, but I've put a lot of mileage on a lot of hard drives and haven't had one fail yet. With the optional NP-FP90 battery, the Sony will record (unattended) for 7.5 hours in HQ mode! You could actually use it as a baby monitor cam. The NP-FP60 battery that came with the unit is providing about 2.5 hours of operating time. In terms of video resolution, sound and color, the SR100 is exceptional...clearly superior to my DCR-PC100. I would label still picture quality as "very good", but I won't be using that feature much. The zoom rocker is smooth and easy to use. The viewfinder is bright and clear. The menus are intuitive. I didn't think I'd like the touch screen, but I do. One nice feature is being able to designate which area of the scene you want to spot meter (or focus) on by simply touching that part of the screen. So far, I love this camcorder and would recommend it without reservation.

Addendum: The battery times I gave earlier are for "playback", not record. The supplied battery (NP-FP60) should provide about 1.5 hours of recording time and the NP-FP90, about 4.5 hours.

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I am very happy with the new camcorder. Buy one. I had first ordered a Panasonic VDR-D300 Mini DVD camcorder. It used the small DVDs and only stored 18 minutes on each one. Reading the manual told me I did not want that camera, so I returned it for Amazon (I love their service) and purchased the Sony-SR100

I took practice shots outside and inside, zoomed in and out, took close ups of flowers both in wide angle where you can get to 1/2 inch away and telephoto that you must be 2 feet away. Everything was always in perfect focus.

Each scene shows up on the LCD as a thumbnail. You can play time all or anyone of them, you can play the last scene instantly after you take it and delete if you want. You can make a play list by selecting only those scenes you want to play, and if you want you can rearrange the scenes in any order you want. Still pictures also are shown as thumbnails. You select which one you want to see.

This is all done on the LCD screen, which is a touch screen.

I then plugged into my 60 inch TV and played the pictures. They were crystal clear. MUCH better than those still pictures I took in Africa with my 6 Mega pixel Minolta. Those look good on computer, or printed, but not so hot on TV.

I then plugged the camera into laptop and made a DVD of all the scenes on the hard drive without loading them into the computer first. I then played the DVD on the TV and it was the same as when directly from the camera

I then imported all the images camcorder hard drive into the computer and edited them. You can delete or edit them as you wish. Each scene shows as a thumbnail and you can play each one. You can also cut out frames or a group of frames.

Great camera and easy to use. I figured out all of the above in about an hour.

If a person does not wish to edit, then you just point and shoot and put all the unedited pictures on a DVD and that is it.

The 30 gig hard drive will hold 7 hours of pictures, so that is more than enough for a long trip. I have two lithium batteries that each last about 120 minutes. They recharge in two hours. As you take pictures the readout is always showing you how much time you have left on the battery.

I am sure on my travels I will be taking mostly video and also still pictures with my 6 megapixle camera but a lot less of those than before.

This camera also takes still pictures and it also has a flash. They seem to be good quality when viewed on the TV.

For pictures when it is very dark, it has an infrared light. I have not tested that.

This is an amazing product, and I find dealing with Amazon to be the best. I had one price for this camera $300 less, but when I tried to buy it, they called and asked if I wanted the parts other than the body. They tried to offer it to me complete for $100 less then Amazon, but after that sad experience, I did not want to do business with them.

Read Best Reviews of Sony DCR-SR100 3MP 30GB Hard Drive Handycam Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom Here

I found this camcorder works great with a Mac -but you have to download and install two pieces of software first: (1) MPEG Streamclip for Mac OS X, which is free. Do an Internet search for the URL. (2) the MPEG-2 codeck for Quicktime form the Apple online store ($20); Quicktime Pro ($30) might also be required--not sure. I already have it. After installing both pieces of software, connect to the camcorder through the USB connection. The camcorder will show up as a hard drive "No Name." Find your video files on "No Name" and drag them to your Mac. Then use Steamclip to open your movie files. I use these settings: compressor h264 when converting to either .mov or mpeg-4. I get beautiful results.

The camcorder itself is great to use. Video is high quality. Even the 120 X digital zoom was not really so bad. The sound is terrific. Menus are easy to navigate, but I tend to forget where some settings are. Am getting better with practice.

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I am more than satisfied with my new DCR-SR100. It has exceeded my expectations. It is very easy to use and the video quality is very good. The still camera quality is not as good, but I didn't buy this camera to take still photos. I highly recommend this camera.

Samsung Digimax i85 8.2MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom (Red)

I purchased this camera after doing some lengthy research. I looked at Casio Exilim EX-V7(suffers from mediocre image quality) or EX-v8 (probably much more comparble to this camera) and Konica Minolta Dimage X1 (also medicore picture quality) models as well, with the criteria being a small, portable camera, with a non-protruding lens. In addition, I wanted video at least similar or better than the Flip Video Camcorders, which can do an hour of low quality video in a small package.

I've owned this camera for two weeks now and used it for still images, video cam, and mp3 player purposes. I have not tested it's ability to play videos (PMP mode) downloaded from the web.

It is compatible with Windows XP (tested), Mac OS X10.5.1 (tested), and Ubuntu Linux (tested). Windows requires the install disc which is included. Mac and Linux auto open their respective photo viewing software for import with no additional drivers and the camera shows up as a removable hard drive on your desktop. The included extra software only works in windows, but it is not essential except if you want to view videos downloaded from the web in your camera. It stores images in jpg format, videos in avi format, and music up to 320kb quality as mp3 format.

The image quality is excellent, with crisp, sharp pictures, and good, accurate colors. Of course it has a million override settings which also allow you more control if desired.

It's best two features are the ASR (Anti Shake Reduction) and Face Recognition capabilities. My hands are not as steady as they used to be and the ASR produces quality shots every time.

The camera is quick to shoot and there is no noticeable shutter lag (at least compared to my previous camera, a Sony DSC-S85, which is now retired). Those other reviewers who complain of camera lag or bad photos in dark are not using the appropriate settings. The camera has different settings, such as night, "cafe", fireworks, and other settings they may be what they need and they may not fully understand settings such as "ISO 1600", and so forth. I encourage them to read the very clear manual and try it again...

This camera uses standard SD cards and I use both a Dane-Elec 4GB 133x SD card and a 2 GB SanDisk Ultra II SD card. I have easily recorded one hour videos with these with room to spare. It has several settings for frames per minute and it can do 30fps at 640 x 480. This format is easily converted into a DVD with your favorite computer software.

The mp3 player produces great quality sound and has an equalizer which will adjust your music according to your preference, such as Rock, Jazz, Classical, etc. The only drawback is that the earphones included are not up to hi fi standards and if you want to upgrade the earbuds, the earphone socket is 2.5mm in size (a smaller size which is usually used by cell phones). If you want to plug in your Grado headphones you will need an adaptor (which is not included).

In summary, I highly recommend this camera/multi-device. If you are looking for an easy to use camera which will produce very satisfying results, this is it.

Pros:

Super compact, fits in your jeans pocket.

Nice size LCD screen for easy viewing.

Very fast start-up.

ASR and Face Recognition modes are a huge help.

Fast focus in most all conditions.

Movie mode is incredible.

Sharpness, colors, all are very pleasing.

Nice build quality, polished metal casing.

Cons:

2.5mm earphone jack is not directly compatible with most hi fi earbuds.

No carrying case included.

As another person has mentioned this camera has one big "con" when taking indoor pictures, especially of darker rooms or items, it can take an EXCESSIVE time after the flash goes off before you are able to take another picture. Either the green standby LED keeps flashing, and /or the word "Processing!" comes across the screen sometimes for up to 12 seconds, before the camera "comes back" and is ready to take another shot.

Another weird annoyance when the camera finally does recover from the last picture, there is a bug that sometimes happens with the shutter button it acts "dead" until you try pressing it 2 , sometimes 3, attempts, at which point it seems to "wake back up". Weird. You'd be really screwed at an indoor wedding if you were trying to take pictures of couples making their entrance, dances, etc.

10 seconds is how long cameras took in the early 90's to recover for "next shot" . Inexcusable today, with 4gig SDHD cards, huge internal memory, fast processors, etc.

Finally after charging the the (very unique) battery it went from 3(full) bars, right down to 2 bars really quickly (doing a mix of stills & video tests) and subsequently dying very quickly.

I used it about a half hour, and the battery was dead?!

Yes this camera has a combination of features and image quality, thats hard if not impossible to match (next closest thing is the rather poor-pictured Casio EXV8).... but there is definitely something funky going on with the i85 that really is a fatal flaw for indoor shooting.

I called tech support, and in typical corporate-speak, they "never heard" that complaint, said they would email the product team to get back to methat was only 2 business days ago. Maybe the next revision if the otherwise great i85 will fix these problems.

Buy Samsung Digimax i85 8.2MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom (Red) Now

I bought this for my wife for Christmas. She loves it. I researched several cameras and found this to be the best one I reviewed without paying over $300. The picture quality is top notch. I have read many reviews for many cameras about how quality is "grainy, blurred, blah, blah, blah". One review summed it up well. Most cameras will perform very well, you just need to get to know your camera. That is just it! If you don't know much about the manual side of cameras, then use the auto feature. Otherwise, learn about it and use your camera's full potential. This camera has it all. The sound is great, understanding that it is a small speaker in a digital camera. Don't expect to be on a train or a busy sidewalk and be able to hear very well. It does come with ear buds, so use them. Most people don't walk around with a loud boombox up to their ear anymore. You can watch movies on this thing, just make sure you buy a bigger sd card. I bought a 4GB one and it holds a ton of pics, mp3's and vid's. The quality of video is better than most Portable media players and don't forget the 3" screen size. The included software works great for converting movies to watch. And the biggest reason I went with this camera was its video recording capabilities. Awesome!!!! You can zoom in and out while you record, it picks up sound very well, and does a good job indoors and outdoors. I was just at a wrestling tournament for my boys and it recorded video very well. Over an hour and a half of recording with plenty of memory and battery left. Great buy, you can't go wrong!

Read Best Reviews of Samsung Digimax i85 8.2MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom (Red) Here

I really wanted to keep this, but, after a few days of missed pictures, it is going back.

Why?

The flash in low light is blinding! My kids are running away from me!

Sometimes when you push the button to take the picture, nothing happens!

(I have had to push it 3-4 times)

There isn't a way to adjust the red-eye manually

The lag time is unbelievably slow from the time you push the button until the camera actual takes the picture, 1/2 the time my subject has looked away or I have taken a picture of the floor!

Processing flashes across the screen after taking pictures, so if you are at a sporting event, forget iteven on the childrens mode which is supposed to catch them.

So, if you want an mp3 player that takes pictures, go for it. If you want a camera that takes a picture when you push the shutter button, look at Sony or Cannon.

Want Samsung Digimax i85 8.2MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom (Red) Discount?

This samsung camera is awesome. The picture quality is gorgeous colors are beautiful crisp and clear. The camcorder feature is a plus takes great movies sound quality is excellant. Tour guide, mp3 and text are also great. For a point and shoot camera you couldn't ask for more. I highly recommend this camera, easy to operate priced right. You will not find a camera with so many features at such a great price 5 stars and more

Philips PET710 7-Inch Widescreen Portable DVD Player

I was originally looking at two other models of 7" portable DVD player, the Samsung DVD-L75 and the Toshiba SD-P1600. After looking at both at a local Best Buy store, I was dissapointed by their lack-luster (literally!) LCD screen. But thinking that there was no better choice available around the same price range, I still bought the Samsung since it was lighter in weight than the Toshiba and had a better button layout.

When I got the Samsung L75 home, I was further put off by the inconvenient way to adjust the aspect ratio on it (I don't like images from my TV show DVDs being horizontally stretched out to fill the widescreen) you have to get in layers of menus to do it, and it doesn't remember your preference for the next disc. The final straw was that it also randomly stops (not just skips) in the middle of a show, so I returned the Samsung L75... and am SO GLAD that I did! Because the next thing I found was this little gem of a Philips PET710, which is MUCH better in many ways.

Pros of the Philips PET710:

best LCD screen amoung competitions

very good (and loud) speakers for the size

brushed aluminum casing, not cheap plastic

good user interface design (button layout and menu navigation)

can be made region-free (more on this below)

Cons of the Philips PET710:

no AV input ports (for gaming/digital camera/iPod/etc.)

loud spin-up noise when loading a disc

battery life is adequate, but not as long as I'd like

And here's the hack to turn the PET710 into a region-free DVD player:

1. power on

2. open the DVD tray cover

from remote control:

3. press "setup"

4. navigate to the "preferences" page

5. press "OK"

6. key in "2" "5" "2" "3" "1" "5"

7. press the left arrow

8. press the down arrow

9. press "0" when region code is displayed

10. press "setup" again to exit

I can confirm that this model works with home made DVD+R, DVD-R (although the "-" formats are not listed as compatible), VCD, SVCD (but doesn't seem to support SVCD subtitles), and MP3 CD. Have not tried DVD+RW or DVD-RW discs but they probably will work as well. Aside from being region free, it can also play both NTSC and PAL formats on its own LCD screen (but does not seem to be able to do conversions say if you want to play a European PAL DVD in the player and output to your North American NTSC TV set).

[Added 12/6: In response to another reviewer's comment on the screen being "not a true 16:9" it definitely is! You only need to take out a ruler to verify this. The actual LCD screen on this player measures 154 mm by 87 mm, which is compliant to the 16:9 ratio. The top and bottom filler black bands do still show up on some movies, because some movies are filmed in the 2.35:1 ratio, an "ultra-widescreen" if you will.]

This is a good portable DVD player for the mony, but it does have some negative points that you should be aware of. It has good build quality that seems quite sturdy, unlinke a lot of other portable DVD players out there. The video and audio quality is excellent. It plays all kinds of DVDs (including ones from other countries if you use the multi region code as described in other reviews).

The only reason I'm not giving it a great rating is because there are some real negatives:

-No AV inputs. You cannot connect your digital camera to display your photos, nor can you connect a video game system to this DVD player. Most all other brands do have this functionality, so Phillips needs to get with it.

-I wish the battery didn't protrude out the back of the unit (it should be under the player instead).

-No resume function. You will lose your place if you stop a DVD movie while watching it and turn the player off.

-Very loud spinning noise. This player is annoying loud when spinning the DVD.

This Phillips seems like a solid player that will last beyond what you would expect for the price, but you should be aware of the negatives. If you cannot get beyond these negatives, I would recommend going with a Toshiba which has all the features the Phillips is lacking, although is probably not quite as good in terms of display and build quality.

Buy Philips PET710 7-Inch Widescreen Portable DVD Player Now

UPDATE 5/20/2011

I junked this unit today. While the player itself still worked, the monitor portion gave out. A DVD player with sound but no picture is pointless. The funny thing is that I think I paid $250+ for this item in 2007. Today a similar unit is under $100. The way of technology...

ORIGINAL REVIEW 3/16/2007

If you are looking for portable DVD player that is durable and offers great picture and audio quality, and plays any DVD you can find, this is it.

I'll get the flaws out of the way first...

As other reviews mentioned, the battery is a little clunky in design, and the DVD player doesn't integrate with several devices. The other small complaint I have is that the fast forward function does not work well with burned or homemade DVDs. But this may be the fault of the DVD and not the player. The skip and rewind functions work fine, however, so sometimes I will circumvent this problem by skipping forward one scene and rewinding instead of fast forwarding. I don't have this problem with regular DVDs.

But the pluses are numerous...this unit is durable, nice looking, super-easy to use (a 3 year old could figure it out in 10 minutes), and comes with both AV and car adapters, as well as a mini remote.

The weight of the unit is very reasonable. I carry it around with me a lot.

Another big bonus is the extended battery life above and beyond the manufacturer guarantee. I can usually get at least 3 hours of use on one battery charge. The battery appears to fully recharge in less than 2 hours. Another reviewer provided helpful advice about purchasing extra batteries direct from Phillips at a pretty reasonable price.

Another big plus is that this DVD player appears to play any and all DVDs. It plays DVDs in any format I have tried, including burned DVDs and PC-edited home movies. It has played DVDs that my other DVD players have rejected (including my Panasonic DVD Recorder/VCR combo that I paid $300+ for). I can't say if it plays DVDs from other regions (like Europe or Japan).

But the biggest plus to me is the picture and audio quality. On a 9" screen, picture quality really counts.

I wish I could give this unit 4 1/2 stars. It's perfect except for a few flaws noted above. If you're ok with those, this unit is perfect for you.

Read Best Reviews of Philips PET710 7-Inch Widescreen Portable DVD Player Here

I debated getting the similar Polariod 7" player, before finally settling on this Philips model...glad I got this one.

It feels very sturdy, the case is made of metal rather than plastic. The picture is beautiful, easy to view from all angles, and the built-in speakers work fine (however, I use headphones for use in the car/plane rather than jacking up the volume...it includes TWO built-in headphone jacks...very nice). There is a surround sound option which is quite effective.

The battery life absolutely blows me away, especially considering the smallish size; the package stated 2.5 hours, but it lasted almost 4 continous hours on our first use! I don't know how to explain this; maybe it's a first time use anomally...we'll see. Regardless, I would buy this unit again in a heart beat...Great value!

BTW, if you want spare batteries (Philips OEM, rather than 3rd party batteries) you need to call Philips via their Customer Service number on their website (I searched the web high & low, nobody sells these Philips OEM batteries). I just purchased 2 more batteries from Philips for a total of $45 (including tax & shipping)...what a steal.

Want Philips PET710 7-Inch Widescreen Portable DVD Player Discount?

We have been using this DVD player intensively for about a month.

For the price you get a very decent and sturdy DVD player, with a relatively sharp screen (I've seen better ones though) and very good sound quality. In my case, the fully-charged battery last for almost 3 hours. As an example, my son was able to watch Finding Nemo and Toy Story II without the need of recharging.

Controls are very easy and intuitive and it also comes with a remote control with a decent range (I tried from about 9ft-3mts and still worked).

Another plus I can see is the fact that you are able to switch from regions and easily play DVDs purchased in other countries.

The only downside I found is that the power adaptor is only meant for 110 volts so if plan to take it with you to a country with different electricity parameters (i.e. any in Europe) you better think about buying another transformer. Having said that, you always have the choice to charge it via the car cigarette plug, this is what we did in our recent trip to France.

Would I buy it again? yes!

VideoSecu Full Motion TV Wall Mount for Most 37"-65" LCD LED Plasma Flat Panel Screen, 21" Long Ext

I bought a VideoSecu Full motion TV Mount (37" -55" with 27" long Extention Arm with DVD DVR VCR Mount bracket & a 7 FT HDMI cable , A conbination deal.TV Wall moount worked perfectly with my 50" Samsung 3D Plasma TV. I was able to hang it by myself.It was heavy, I would not recomend that people would try to do it alone.2

people would be fine. I am a handy man that's why I was able to do it alone ( don't try it alone, be safe for you

and your HD TV LOL).I give a 4 star for the TV Mount. The HDMI Cable is a 1.3 version come in a bubble wrap and it is good for the older DVD players , I won't recomend it for your 3D TV. I think you need a 1.4 HDMI cable

for your 3D TVs and your 3D Blu ray players ( better picture, sound,3D & speed Etc.However if you have older DVD

player a 1.3 would be fine.I can't complain about a 1.3 cable that was in the package.It's would be nice if it was a 1.4 cable. I give HDMI 1.3 cable a three star.It's look brand new even though it come in a bubble wrap.

and for the DVD Mount Bracket I can't rate it becuase the seller never send it to me yet. I tried to contact the

seller via Email. Each time the seller had issue with it , this and that Etc.I don't know if I ever going to get it eventually. I should try to contact Amazon and inform Amazon that this seller did not fullfill his obligation.

I hope this review would help. 4 star for TV Mount, 3 star for The 1.3 HDMI cable. No star for The DVD Mount bracket ( never got one).Amazon emailed me that I should write a review for this product. Thanks for reading this review.I bought a DVD mount from Amazon and will rate it here for you guy once I got it.Also update Amazon credited

my account for the missing DVD mount. Thanks.

Great product and good customer service. Somehow I accidentally ordered 2, with one going to my old address. When I noticed the mistake, the company was very responsive and cancelled the wrong order without any problems.

Buy VideoSecu Full Motion TV Wall Mount for Most 37"-65" LCD LED Plasma Flat Panel Screen, 21" Long Ext Now

OPPO BDP-83 Blu-ray Disc Player with SACD, DVD-Audio, and VRS Technology

• Universal Blu-ray disc player providing playback for a myriad of video formats
• Supports Blu-ray, SACD, DVD-Audio, DVDs, and CDs
• Two USB ports allow for playback of media stored on a flash drive
• Uses award-winning video processing chip for a clear, true picture
• Device measures 17.0 x 3.0 x 13.25 inches (WxHxD)

This is my second high definition player. I bought a Samsung BD-UP5000 when they were first released since it played both HD DVD and Blu-Ray discs. Poor support, lack-luster performance and the end of HD DVDs left me wanting something "better". I found what I was looking for in the Oppo BDP-83.

Oppo is a customer-driven company and conducted an extended beta test to uncover bugs. The beta testers had to accept the state of the player before it could be released! I've emailed Oppo support a few times and they are prompt to respond with real answers not just an automated or canned response usually the same day. I can't say enough good things about the company.

The '83 is rock solid. It has not frozen or even hiccuped once. It plays all the discs I've put in. (The 5000 had trouble with some and often required the discs to be fingerprint free and occationally locked up requiring restart to even eject a disc.)

To me, one of the important features of a disc player is SD DVD upscaling. Standard definition can look pretty bad on a HDTV. Even the networks and cable channels often do a marginal job up-converting. My 5000 had a very good upconverter (Reon) but the '83 is better something you'd expect from a company that focused on SD DVD players long after the introduction of HD DVD and Blu-Ray. Sometimes I forget I'm watching SD material!

Most high def players are sluggish, acting more like underpowered computers than audio/video gear. Boot and disc load times often exceed 30 seconds. Not the '83 it's responds more like a DVD player than a computer. The tray opens in under 3 seconds from pressing the eject button (with power off) and playback begins in under 10 seconds (for SD DVD). For Blu-Ray, play start does depend on what enhancements the content provider loads before playback can begin (custom menus, etc.). (Remember Blu-Ray discs allow the content provider lots of control over the player and playback of the content.)

The '83 decodes all advanced audio formats: Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD Master Audio, etc. So the lossless audio is available via 7.1 analog outs as well as PCM over HDMI. You don't need an A/V receiver that includes decoders for these formats the player does the work. Speaker management provided by the '83 makes the 7.1 analog outputs usable, but with some limitations: The bass management frequency is fixed at 80 Hz, and there are limitations to speaker distance delays.

The user manual explains things so that the user/installer can make important setup and usage decisions. For example, there is a section that explains the various output resolutions and which is best for various scenarios; and another that helps choose the correct "zoom" for various disc and TV aspect combinations.

So often, modern computer-based A/V gear is released without a complete set of features with the promise of adding them later. Again the '83 was released fully featured so there's little to wait for. But Oppo realizes there will be bugs to fix and new features to add as well as new disc behavior to support. They've provided THREE separate ways to upgrade firmware: via a network connection, via CD/DVD or USB memory.

I use a universal remote to control all my A/V gear and thanks to a document provided by Oppo, I was able to program my remote prior to receiving the unit. Most of the commands use the same data as their previous players so I was able to start with the configuration for an older mode. Oppo provided an Excel file with all the control codes in a format that can be imported into Universal Remote Control and Pronto remotes (maybe others). I've never seen this level of support from any other consumer electronics company and this material existed BEFORE product release. Where documentation was lacking, customer support provided the missing information.

There's been one (public beta) firmware update and a user manual update since the '83 was released at the beginning of June 2009. The firmware update was fast and painless (via USB memory).

My one compliant of the BDP-83 is it's power cord. It uses a 2-pin connector resembling an IEC connector found on many pro and prosumer equipment, however there is not sufficient holding tension and the cord has unplugged itself from the unit twice. I had to wrap the cord around one of the feet to prevent it from happening again.

Buy OPPO BDP-83 Blu-ray Disc Player with SACD, DVD-Audio, and VRS Technology Now

From the moment you unpack the Oppo BDP-83 Universal Blu-Ray player you realize that this is going to be a truly unique experience. Wrapped in a reusable carrying bag, shipped in a double-thick cardboard box, the fit and finish of the Oppo BDP-83 matches the quality of the packaging. And the good thing is that unlike many Blu-Ray players, the best-in-class experience continues from the time you power it on to daily use.

I was lucky enough to get in on the Oppo pre-order in late May, after reading the early reviews of beta units, and knowing the reputation of Oppo's upscaling DVD players. For me, the Oppo BDP-83 offered the promise of super-fast load times, outstanding video quality, and the ability to play high-resolution audio (my SACD library).

A bit of background I have a pretty high-end system configuration (Marantz SR-8002, KEF Reference speakers, Mitsubishi HDTV, Sony ES SACD player, Bang & Olfusen turntable). And I have pretty demanding standards especially for audio.

I waited to buy my first Blu-Ray Player (the very good Panasonic DMP-BD55K) until a standalone player offered quality and load times at least *close* to the PS3. And, although its load times and DVD playback are good, it still didn't quite meet my standards.

From the moment I connected the Oppo BDP-83 to my system, I was blown away by the experience. Extremely easy to setup (I literally unplugged my Panasonic and plugged in the BDP-83 using the same HDMI and component cables), very very easy on-screen instructions and setup. The remote is definitely much better than average with large backlit buttons of different sizes.

The speed of the Oppo BD-83 certainly grabs your attention:

BluRay load times are about 2x faster than the Panasonic BD55K it replaced

BluRay menu navigation, etc also very fast and responsive

SACD and DVD (Audio/Video) load times are nearly instantaneous

The SACD load performance really stunned me. My high-end Sony ES SACD player (remember, Sony co-developed the standard) can take 1-2 minutes to load a hybrid SACD. On the Oppo any SACD (stereo, hybrid multichannel, etc) loads in under 2 seconds.

But it is the video and audio quality of the Oppo BD-83 that truly sets it apart:

BluRay video performance is outstanding, but you come to expect that from the format. (I can't say I notice a difference here from my Panasonic which is also excellent.)

DVD video performance is stunning a noticeable upgrade in quality on your HD set. This is where you start to see the benefits of the embedded AnchorBay processor.

High resolution audio quality will blow your socks off.

I personally didn't notice a difference in high-res BluRay formats such as DTS-Master and DolbyTrue HD, but to be fair my Panasonic player is also excellent in this area.

For SACD, the improvement offered by the Oppo BDP-83 is simply stunning! My Marantz receiver can decode DSD over HDMI, and the audio quality is dramatically better than the analog 5.1 output from my high-end Sony ES SACD player. I didn't think the standard could be elevated, but was pleasantly surprised by this.

DVD-Audio performance is also outstanding. I never had a DVD-Audio player, so I've used this opportunity of having a truly "Universal Player" to stock up on high-resolution multi-channel titles that were never released on SACD (eg. Crowded House, Seal, Queen, Yes...)

There are other very nice touches:

BluRay Profile 2.0 with 1GB of onboard storage (my Panasonic made you buy an SD card for this)

two USB 2.0 ports (one front covered by a flat rubber port, another in the rear), neither port is recessed, so you can use standard USB memory sticks/adapters

analog 7.1 audio out

supports simultaneous HDMI and component video output (eg. you can send high-res audio over HDMI and video over component)

support for NTSC and PAL format DVDs, but they must be unlocked (this is a region-locked player, unfortunately)

IR in and IR out ports

optional RS-232C control port for professional installations

very heavy-duty removable power cord; even heavier gauge than the one Marantz shipped with my $2000 receiver!

nice onscreen menu system graphics and easy-to-use interface

What could be improved?

well, first of all, Profile 2 support is only through hard-wired ethernet (no WiFi)

speaking of Profile 2.0, the interactive services aren't particularly fast, but I have yet to find a BluRay title that actually has compelling Profile 2.0 content

no support for streaming services like Netflix, although there are rumors that the hardware *might* have the capability to support through a firmware update I wouldn't count on this though

the BluRay and DVD player are region locked unfortunately. (CD, SACD, and DVD-Audio discs are by definition region-free)

I personally couldn't be happier with the BDP-83. Certainly the best $500 I spent! It not only compares but blows away high-end players costing 4-6x greater.

Read Best Reviews of OPPO BDP-83 Blu-ray Disc Player with SACD, DVD-Audio, and VRS Technology Here

A year in the making, OPPO has finally released the BDP-83 Blu-Ray Player their first entry into the market. They have produced some of the finest upscaling standard DVD players, including the exceptional DV-983H. Thankfully, the BDP-83 uses the same Anchor Bay chip as the DV-983H, so your standard def DVDs will look as good as possible. On the Blu-Ray side of things, the audio and video quality are exceptional; on par with the best Blu-Ray players available. The BDP-83 also plays back DVD-Audio and SACD discs, making it a truly universal player. Anyone familiar with first-generation Blu-Ray players is all too familiar with their slow disc-loading times. Recent players have made great strides in this area, but the BDP-83's loading time is the fastest I have seen.

OPPO chose to forgo the trendy conveniences of YouTube, NetFlix, and Amazon Videos on Demand. I find these all to be quite convenient, but can't fault OPPO for sticking to their mission to create the best and most universal Blu-Ray player. Adding these features would have inevitably detracted from the performance of the machine.

OPPO has included all of the connections you may want. Along with the HDMI interface (which supports 1080p HD video output (with 24p), and TrueHD audio), the BDP-83 has 7.1 channel analog audio out, a dedicated stereo output, and both digital optical and coaxial outputs.

The BDP-83 also includes two USB ports (one in front, one on the back) to play back video and image files. It will even play PAL-formatted DVDs and convert them to NTSC on the fly. It also includes IR in and out ports to integrate into home theater control systems. Finally, the remote is a step up from previous OPPO models and easy to use with its back-lighting.

Bottom line: this is the best Blu-Ray player available. The image and sound quality is unparalled, the load times are fast, and it's ability to play any format of disc is a wonderful convenience. I can finally retire my dedicated SACD player!

Want OPPO BDP-83 Blu-ray Disc Player with SACD, DVD-Audio, and VRS Technology Discount?

I have owned this player since March. I was 1 of the 1st 50 that was chosen as a part of Oppo's Early Adoption Program. I had the player for about a month and was ask to vote on whether or not to expand the Early Adoption Program. The vote required a 70% super majority, but received and overwhelming vote of 96% with 2 owners not voting. Because of this overwhelming vote the EAP was expanded to 300 additional people as opposed to 100 as Oppo had previously stated. The 350 EAP participants had to vote again after several weeks of use. The 2nd EAP vote yielded a 92.2% (only required 70%) acceptance with 69 participants not voting. This vote led to eventual release the player to the general public.

The Early Adoption Program allowed Oppo to flush out most of the bugs and compatibility issues due to the diverse setups of the early adopters. This was a highly visible and bold move by Oppo to expose their product to the general public prior to release. This program worked to perfection allowing Oppo to flush out most of the issues prior to public release. What other manufacturers would expose their product to this kind of scrutiny? NONE!!!!!

My basic premise for wanting this player is because of my previous association with Oppo DVD players (DV-980H, DV-981HD & DV-983H) and their outstanding customer service department which left an impression upon me. I know blu-ray playback for the most part is very similar, but DVD playback can be night and day from player to player and the Oppo has one of the best solutions in the VRS by Anchor Bay ABT-2010 under the hood. I own several SACDs and DVD-As; over 100 blu-ray discs and over 600 DVDs and I want the best (though subjective) 1 box solution that I can afford. I also own 2 Pioneer BDP-51FD and a JVC XV-BP1 blu-ray player all of which are fantastic players and serve different purposes throughout my house. I've also owned players from Samsung, Panasonic and Sony.

First Impressions (Impressive)

-Player protected by a black cloth bag (nice touch)

-Spears & Munsil High Definition Benchmark Blu-ray Calibration Disc (video)

-AIX Records Audio Calibration Disc HD Music Sampler (Audio)

-Back lit remote (Alkaline batteries)

-HDMI Cable

-Composite cables

-Owners Manual (Best written manual that I've experience)

My Setup:

-Pioneer Elite PRO-950HD (sit 6' 8' from the screen)

-Denon AVR-3802

-Speakers: BIC Venturi DV62s (fronts) /DV62CLR-S (center) /DV52si (surround & surround backs)

-Velodyne Subwoofer

-Atlona HDMI 1.3b cables

-Analog cables from Monoprice

-Media Players: BDP-51FD, Oppo BDP-83, JVC XV-BP1

BLU-RAY PLAYBACK

I used the blu-ray discs the Dark Knight and Hellboy. The playback was excellent. The colors looked natural and the picture was not unusually sharp or overly vibrant. Some players at their default settings seem a little too sharp or bright in my viewing. Some may refer to this as the picture having more pop. The Oppo has the most neutral or natural picture of the players that I own in my opinion. Others have also expressed the neutrality of the Oppo. Blu-ray playback should be similar amongst most players for the most part. I would be skeptical of anyone seeing a night and day difference in blu-ray playback.

DVD PLAYBACK

For DVD playback I 1st used the disks from Star Trek The Next Generation Season 1. I chose this disc because I know is doesn't have the best rendering. I wanted to challenge the up-converting of the Oppo. The Oppo did a good job with this disc definitely improving the video. While it wasn't night and day there was definitely a visible improvement to my eyes. The picture was smoother with less noise. I also looked at other DVDs and the Oppo did a fantastic job with those also. The BDP-83 will squeeze the very last ounce of picture quality out of your DVD collection. I was initially going to replace some of my favorite DVDs with their blu-ray counterparts, but that number has dropped significantly with the addition of the Oppo.

AUDIO

I'm using the analog connections of the Oppo since my AVR is pre-HDMI. The playback of SACD and DVD-A is outstanding in my opinion. Also, multi-channel analog surround sounds very good decoded by the Oppo. I have not used the Oppo or any of my players for 2 channel audio since I have a dedicated CD transport that I am quite happy with. There are those who don't think very highly of the Oppo 2 channel audio or have another 2 channel analog solution, but the consensus seems to be that the Oppo 2 channel analog is very good. Also, listening to audio is too subjective given the various setups and room acoustics. Last, the Oppo uses the same DACs (Cirrus Logic CS4398) for their 2 channel audio that are found in the Marantz models SA8003 and SA-KI-PEARL SA-CD. Both are CD/SACD players. The DAC info is strictly for informational purposes only.

OTHER

The multiple zoom settings for both SD DVD and Blu-ray are fantastic. The "Full" zoom mode removes the black bars from the top and bottom of the video while maintaining the correct aspect ratio. You do lose a minimal amount of the picture, but not enough to be concerned about in my opinion. I know the video purist don't like this, but I do. Also, all the audio outputs are active all the time. This allows you to change the audio from your AVR or Pre/Pro without going into the setup menu. You can also make adjustments to the setup on the fly without stopping the player. There are a host of other features like being able to choose sub-titles or change the movie soundtrack on the fly. There is also a "Demo Mode" which splits the screen allowing you to make on-screen real time picture adjustments and see the results before accepting the adjustments. Last, there is the back lit remote which is laid out nicely and logical in my opinion. The player is very easy to setup right out of the box and you can have it up and running within 10 minutes if you are using an HDMI cable. For those looking to get everything out of the video you can tweak until your hearts content.

FINAL THOUGHTS

For those who have commented about whether or not this is truly a universal player; Oppo never marketed it as such. If you go to their website it clearly states that it is a "Blu-ray Disc Player W/SACD & DVD-Audio". I guess the inclusion of SACD & DVD-Audio led to it being called a universal player on the various forums.

When the term "Universal" was introduced several years ago it meant a 1 box solution that played all the different types of media discs (DVD, CD, SACD and DVD-A). Now "Universal" loosely means BLU-RAY, DVD, CD, SACD and DVD-A. For this player to be a "Universal" player in the true since of the word, then it would need to play HD-DVDs. There are other current and future releases by Denon (DVD-A1UDCI & DBP-4010UDCI) and Marantz (UD9004) that are being advertised as "Universal" players, but have this same shortcoming.

If you're just looking for a plain vanilla blu-ray player and If your only criteria is PQ for blu-ray and DVD, then there are several players from other manufacturers that will do a very good job with blu-ray and DVD playback. However, if you need the additional features and media support, faster load times, GREAT customer service, SACD and DVD-A support just to name a few; then the Oppo is a bargain at $499.00. The only other players with this feature set that I am aware of begin at $1,999.00.

I've occasionally read where some think the Oppo is "over-hyped" which is phrase I don't particularly care for. I would say that there is a lot of "enthusiasm" from the owners of this outstanding player. I also find that most of this "over-hyped" speak are from those who have never owned the player. We refer to these people on the various threads as "trolls". These are individuals who have comments that are mostly negative about equipment that they have no hands on experience with.

There have been over 20+ reviews of this player and the overwhelming consensus is that the player is worthy of all the "Hype" or "Enthusiasm" that has been bestowed upon it.

Do you think the Oppo would be receiving all these glowing reviews and comments by owners if they were not impressed or satisfied? Remember people are forking out $499.00 when there are capable players for basic blu-ray and DVD playback available for less than $100.00 on sale. If the masses were unhappy with this player, then we would all know about it; especially in this economy. (lol) I know of several people who have bought this player for strictly blu-ray and DVD playback, because the feature set outside of blu-ray and DVD playback is that good.

This player is not perfect, but it is the closet to perfection that I've had in my setup. If you're skeptical take it for a test drive. If you are not happy then the most you'll lose is $18.00 shipping (I live on the east coast) if purchased directly from Oppo.

Before I purchased this Blu-ray Player (the Oppo BDP-83) I owned a PS3. I also have several friends who own various Blu-ray Players including Samsung and Panasonic. Before I start the review let me say that all of these were connected to the TV with Monster HDMI 1000 cables into Sony XBR series televisions. I am writing this review mainly to assist those comparing current models primarily those who own or are thinking of buying a PS3.

First and foremost, now that I have been operating this Oppo player almost daily for the past 3 weeks I can make the following blanket statement: This Blu-Ray player does indeed live up to its promise in terms of visual quality; however, it also has more than enough small quirks to annoy those who were hesitant towards the $500 price tag. Is it better than the PS3? Visually Absolutely. Performance Hit or Miss. Here's where I will break this down into sections:

Visuals: When I first purchased this player I changed the settings for 1080p, 16 x 9 ratio and made sure the settings were accurate as I went through the included manual. Then I put in a standard definition dvd. And...I was initially disappointed. The upscaling on newer films and older films including Ghostbusters, Batman Begins, Mad Max, and Harry Potter Order of Phoenix looked exactly the same as my PS3. My tv visual settings were left on Vivid for both players. After my initial shock, I came to the conclusion that at least it wasn't any worse. Then I put on a few cartoons for my daughters including: the Ducktales series and Dumbo. The colors and contrast were ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL. The colors were much richer and vibrant than those that had been displayed through the PS3. The outlines on characters were much bolder and the quality of the original tape was so well represented that I could actually see tape defects on older cartoons from the transition to dvd. After much more comparison I have found that upconversion for most standard dvds is very similar to the PS3 although anything with bright visuals (most noticeably cartoons) stands out amazingly when placed side-by-side.

As for Blu-Ray playback I used Coraline, I am Legend and Band of Brothers. On all accounts the Oppo excelled, offering richer colors, greater depth and more accurate image representation. In some scenes, such as the lions in I Am Legend, the Oppo clearly showed a well defined computer generated animal whereas the PS3 was unable to generate the image to such a degree. The Panasonic and Samsung showed nowhere close to the same quality that this Oppo produces. Some images are so glass-like that it makes my tv look more fragile! Therefore, visually, if you want a stand-alone Blu-Ray player, go with the Oppo. However, if you will not be watching as many cartoons and still do not own a large Blu-Ray collection, the PS3 is not a bad choice.

Hardware: The Oppo does have a few glitches in this category I am sure they will eventually work out. The company seems to have incredible support and customer service as I will later talk about. Several times I have tried to turn the player back on and no image is sent through HDMI. It seems that if you stop playback at certain locations (menus within menus i.e. special features) or at certain parts of the credits before the dvd loops, the player is unable to read back the disc. This has happened three times within three weeks and I have had to eject the disc, turn off resume, and reload the disc. The signal was sent properly thereafter. In addition, the audio between some menus and general playback is occasionally at very different sound levels even with DRC on (Dynamic Range Compression). I have tried having it on and off to no avail. It seems that they are encoded differently I cannot figure it out. This is not a huge issue, but it is something that the PS3 did not do. The third point I would like to STRESS is that the "award winning upconversion technology" also pulls in a few extra frames from time to time in its upconversion process that leave one image stuck on the screen for a fraction of a second longer than other images in series. It looks like the dvd is sticking for a second and then resolves itself. I find this more often in cheaper produced dvds (never in blu-ray discs), but it is still something the PS3 did not do. At first I was annoyed, but then I realized that 1 small glitch in an opening title was still ok given the enhanced colors in the cartoons. It IS something you will notice from time to time on Standard dvds and almost always occurs during a transition from one shot to the next or a jump cut. Furthermore, as another reviewer stated, the fast-forward is somewhat slow on 1x, 2x and 3x. However, it goes to 5x, which seems to be about the same speed as a 2x or 3x on any other player. This is more than enough to fast forward within a scene because Blu-Ray has scene forward and back. Use the two in combination and you will not have any problem finding your location. In addition, keeping time on the outside of the unit makes things amazingly simpler. Load times are EXACTLY the same as PS3, almost always instantaneous although you will find a 5-10 sec load from time to time. This is MUCH better than the other aforementioned players. Despite these shortcomings, the picture quality is fantastic for a standalone player. If you wanted to play PS3 games, however, the only performance issue I had was an occasional game freeze (which never occurred on dvds).

Presentation: The Oppo REALLY shines in its presentation. The entire unit is made from an etched black metal and feels very sturdy. The Led light on the front for time display also has a dimmer that with High, Low and Off for your preference. The remote is backlit and has several great features including zoom processed by the player itself for tvs that do not have that feature (or to use in combination with the one your tv has to enlarge a picture without cutting as much off). The zoom levels and automatic 16x9 are fantastic and do AT LEAST as good of a job as the PS3, although I believe it is somewhat better. The only problem I have found with the remote is that the LARGE buttons on it are somewhat difficult to press and must be depressed in the center for the player to read them. Pressing a button off to the side will turn on the backlight, but will not register with the Oppo even when directly in front of the unit. The unit also comes in a double thick cardboard box built specifically for the Oppo. The manual looks like what you would expect from a VERY HIGH CLASS startup company and features thick glossed paper and very explicit well versed instructions. The package also includes all necessary cables, standard AV and HDMI (although I already had Monster) and a tv/ bluray calibration disc for home theaters. I spent 9 hrs going through all settings with this disc, however, only to find that the standard settings on my tv seemed better. However, I admit that if you have a "professional" do this for you, then it may work correctly. I didn't think that $300 for a professional was necessary after seeing the quality I already had.

All in all, from the time you get the Oppo in the mail until you view your first Blu-Ray you will be presently surprised. The system does have great visual, although a few minor problems keep it at a 4, in my opinion. More specifically, I would give this unit an 8.5/10. A very good choice now that I decided I would no longer be playing PS3 games, but not the "PLAYER TO RULE ALL PLAYERS" as some reviews have made this out to be. Please Note that through firmware upgrades, some problems may be remedied in the future. I have called customer service twice both times I went directly to a representative who spoke clear English, sounded very professional and knowledgeable, and helped me without question. Never put on hold and never transferred through an automated service. That in itself was enough to make me decide that this was the Player to keep.

Samsung BD-E5400 Wi-Fi Blu-ray Player (Black)

• Wi-Fi Built-In
• AllShare
• Apps for Streaming (Netflix, Pandora, YouTube)

Had bought another Brand and had problems with it and had to return it. Then decided to Buy this one instead and did not have a single problem. works great and very happy with it.

Would recommend this item if you are looking for a smaler blue-ray player. This player does not take up a lot of space at all

Great service and fast shipping. i would buy from them again... 5 stars

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I purchased this Blu-ray to replace a broken PS3; that PS3 was the only Blu-ray player I personally owned and used for years. I purchased this Blu-ray player to play Blu-ray movies and DVDs, so I won't be going deep into detail about the apps.

This player does not come with an HDMI cable, if you're wondering. However, it does come packaged with a remote and batteries. You also get a user manual, which is only in English. There are two insignificant ads included, as well. That is all that is packaged, so it's fairly simple.

The Blu-ray player is very small. I didn't measure it, but it's a lot smaller than my original PS3 and slightly bigger than a Nintendo Wii. The surface/top of the player is glossy, so you can see your reflection and fingerprints. The player looks very sleek, overall. I really liked the small design.

The set-up was very simple, and lasted less than 5 minutes. I'm not sure what type of WiFi this uses, though. I used my Nokia Lumia 710's internet tethering to briefly connect to the internet, but had to turn off my password/security capabilities. There was an update available, but it did not state what it was for. I updated, regardless.

I briefly tested the YouTube app. It took a few seconds to launch and the videos loaded slowly; this is most likely because of the WiFi I was using. Navigating the menus was a bit sluggish, but eventually became a bit smoother. There are 5 apps available: Netflix, Pandora, CinemaNow, Vudu, and YouTube. I can only see myself using the apps on the Blu-ray if my Xbox 360 did not work; but, again, this is not an issue personally because I purchased this for Blu-rays and Dvds.

The Blu-ray player works as expected. I first booted up "28 Days Later", and I could barely hear it; my PS3 was noisy, and I recently heard a Panasonic Blu-ray player that was a lot louder. So, it's an almost silent Blu-ray player. There is very little lag when skipping chapter or navigating menus. I also tested a South Korean Blu-ray, Memories of Murder (also Region A, but wanted to be safe); this blu-ray also worked. However, I couldn't turn on the subtitles through the remote for some reason like I could on the PS3, which meant I couldn't turn on the subtitles at all because of the foreign language menu. I deducted one point from my overall score because of this. Performance-wise, the picture quality and sound quality is the same as the PS3, or any other 1080p Blu-ray player, I'd expect.

Overall, the Blu-ray player gets the job done; it plays the Blu-rays with very few flaws and looks sleek while doing it. I should also mention, the system and the movies boot up quickly without being loud about it, which is a big plus. It does everything I want it to do, and has exceeded my expectations.

I highly recommend this Blu-ray player.

Read Best Reviews of Samsung BD-E5400 Wi-Fi Blu-ray Player (Black) Here

First off, there are a lot of misinformation about this device. I primarily needed a 2nd BD player that has the capability of web browsing, streaming and playing files from a USB flash memory. At first, it would have seem like this would have fit the bill. Amazon does not have the specs for this model in their Samsung Disc Player Comparison chart.

WiFi

You cannot connect this to a wireless network that has WEP/ WPA/ WPA2 security. It can only connect to WPS. I have an older router that works perfectly fine for my needs, but now I have to change the security (basically remove security and use MAC filtering).

AllShare

This device does not have the Samsung Smart Hub or AllShare Play. I have a NAS, Win 7, Mac and it was able to detect only my Win 7 machine but it cannot play anything from my media server. I tried installing the AllShare program and it still was not able to play anything. Because it does not have SmartHub, it cannot install any other application (Amazon Instant Video for one)

Web Browsing

This device does not have any web browsing capability

Blu-Ray

It performs well enough. It boots fast.

Media from USB flash drive

It works great. Read my MKV and AVI files, although my MKV looked very choppy on screen. The AVI files looked great and it also has a function to reduce sharpness/choppiness of the file. It stretched it to 16:9

I am very disappointed with the product because of the lack of information about this on the product page would have prevented me from buying it in the first place. In addition, the difficulty to setup with existing/older generation WiFi and to my NAS was also a let down.

I am returning the product.

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This is my first Amazon.com product review. I bought this item with a special Holiday Savings price of $67.99. I used $55.00 of Amazon.com gift card codes that I had won from on-line contests, so my out of pocket expense total for the BD-E5400 was only $12.99 delivered to my door! I have used the BD-E5400 Blu-ray player for about a week now to play a half dozen or so Blu-ray movies that I borrowed from the public library they have all run perfectly. I'm not sure if Blu-ray movies/players in general have an issue with allowing you to access the 'top menu' or not, but I have been unable to do this with the BD-E5400 Blu-ray player, so I dropped my rating to 4 stars. This issue also applies to trying to skip promos and ads on the disc once you put a disc in this player you have to watch all the intro stuff before you are able to access the movie menu with the remote controller. Maybe I am just not using the remote controller correctly, but using the 'disc menu' button gave me an error message. I found that the Blu-ray discs load quickly and quietly in the BD-E5400. My last Samsung DVD player (regular DVD only) sounds like it is grinding things up as it loads menus, changes between features, etc. the BD-E5400 player is MUCH quieter. I don't have a Netflix or Pandora account, but I was able to enter my wireless router code and watch You Tube videos using this Blu-ray player on my Panasonic HD 1080 television with no problem my only gripe is it does not seem to store the wireless code and if I turn my computer off, I have to re-enter the wireless code again. This really isn't a big deal for me, because I only bought this Blu-ray player to watch movies on disc (Blu-ray or regular DVD). I found that this product also plays regular DVD movies without any problems. The picture quality for Blu-ray, DVD and You Tube videos has been excellent. I hope you found this review to be helpful cheers! Update: After watching the new Disney film 'Secret of the Wings' on Blu-Ray last night, I changed my rating to five stars. The picture quality was amazing! The Disc Menu button worked fine for this film and also for 'Pirates of the Caribbean Stranger Tides', so the problem (accessing the movie menu easily) I had with the other films must have been the way those discs were coded! Update I have now used this for wireless Netflix and it works perfectly. No streaming issues or delays. This may be the best $12.99 I ever spent.

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I expect more than this from Samsung, When using Netflix I am almost guaranteed to have the movie lockup. I've tried updating the firmware, it can't be the Wi-Fi as it is only 4 foot away. It's just a great disappointment to have such low quality from such a big company.

4 Standard Black Single DVD Cases 14mm Thick

• Same Size as Most Standard DVD Boxes you buy in the store!
• Brand New!
• Absolutely Perfect!
• Great for Replacing Broken & Worn DVD Boxes

I buy a lot of DVD's at Garage sales. Some don't have cases so these are great for me to put them in.

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These are high quality cases that are more than worth the price. I was amazed when I received them at how great of quality they were and they are very heavy duty. I will definitely purchase more in the future!

Olympus DS-30 Digital Voice Recorder

I got my DS-30 last week and I love it! This is the first digital stereo voice recorder I have owned. I am very impressed with the quality of manufacturing and the quality of the recordings. I uploaded some photos above to show the size of the unit and the contents of the package.

The DS-30 can record with or without the attachable stereo microphone. This mic is so small though that even attached it still fits in my pocket.

The "Hold" feature is nice. Press the Hold button will lock the DS-30 buttons until taken off hold. This is handy if you are moving around a lot or want to save the current recording or playback settings without fear of accidentally touching any of the buttons.

It has a lot great features for recording both dictation (voice in quiet, close quarters) and conferences (voice in large, noisy rooms). These features include a Variable Control Voice Actuator which will automatically turn on/off the recorder based upon the volume level it senses, a microphone sensitivity setting and a Low Cut Filter. (Playback mode also has features like noise cancellation and voice filter.)

The DS-30 can playback AVI and MP3 files. It can also play Audible format files as well as Podcasts. The device has a full-featured menu including adjustments for backlight, contrast and LED, powersave, 3 alarms and a voice guide. The alarms are very kewl. You can set them to play various alarms sounds or even use one or your own recordings!

The D3-30 comes with ear buds and it can play MP3 and AVI files. I transferred some music to it and the quality of the MP3 player is really nice! I am not an audiophile but the DS-30 plays MP3s every bit as well as they sound on my laptop.

Transferring files from my D3-30 to my computer was plug-n-play easy. I just attached the USB cable to my PC. Windows XP immediately recognized my DS-30 as a new device and displayed it as a new drive letter in my Windows Explorer list of drives. I could drag-n-drop files to and from, including MP3s. It could not be any easier. I did not install the DS-30 software. At this point I won't even need it and I prefer not to install a bunch of unnecessary software on my computer.

The DS-30 package comes with:

DS-30 Digital Stereo recorder

User Manual (well written)

2 AAA batteries

Ear buds

USB cable

Olympus DSS software

* Optional accessories include a remote control, telephone pickup and AC adapter.

After doing quite a bit of research I purchased this to "podcast" some events (seminars). Our first event was today and this device allowed me to get the podcast up right after the event, though with some effort, which is why it gets 4 and not 5. See below.

The device is very small, very lightweight, well thought out ergonomically, has an excellent built in (and removable) stereo MIC, and connects via regular USB. The software interface on it is very good (for recording), the screen is easy to read. The batteries will last quite a while, or you can use AC (optional), or Lithium Ion batteries (optional).

You do not need any add on MICs to record most events the MIC can be set to pick up nearly everything; to cut low end noise, etc. In short, this is a very high quality, easy to use (but powerful if you need it) dedicated audio recorder.

The issues are that it only records in WMA format (Windows proprietary) and the software is not very good for editing. For example, if you record in stereo, it will not download the WAV file when you download the file, nor can you convert it to mono. To do the podcast, I had to import the WMA file into iTunes, then open the Mp3 iTunes created in Audacity (audacity.sourceforge.net). From there, I was able to edit the file, and compress the bit stream.

This device can also be used to listen to podcasts, and the software has some kind of organization for that; but for the life of me, I cannot imagine anyone doing this, if they had an ipod. It is just clumsy and not intuitive for podcast listening. If you want to listen to podcasts, do what the rest of the planet does get an ipod, use iTunes.

I would recommend this device as a high quality dedicated recorder, that is not too expensive, but not for mp3 or podcast listening.

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I'm am oral historian using the recorder to record oral histories from elderly interviewees. I actually bought this recorder to upgrade from my old "Sony ICDP320 64MB Digital Voice Recorder w/ PC connectivity" I purchased from AMAZON a few years ago for around $60.00. I needed to upgrade my sound quality, I figured at an original price of 200.00and all the great reviews, the Olympus was the way to go.

First of all, the sound quality is amazing. I use it with an external microphone, "Sony ECMMS907 Digital Recording Microphone" also purchased on AMAZON for around 75.00. It's great as it cuts down on the external noise that the recorder tends to produce. Less paper shuffling background noise, or when you have to pick up the recorder-it doesn't distort the sound. This recorder plus the sony microphone produce wonderful quality audio. I'm not a professional, but I am very happy with the results.

When I got home tonight to upload my audio on my computer and do a little editing, I was shocked to find the recorder WILL NOT CONVERT THE FILES FROM WMA. I did not realize I could not edit/move or generally touch the WMA files with any program. There is a button on the task bar that offers to convert the files to .WAV, but it never lights up. After much hair pulling I purchased the $ editing program upgrade offered. No luck and still no conversion. bucks wasted.

Interestingly, my old 70.00 recorder will download the audio into ANY format you want, MP3, Wav, WMAwhatever. I am shocked to learn this 200.00 recorder limits me to one format. Now I have to search the internet to find a free conversion program that will not sacrifice the quality I just paid so dearly to get. I certainly don't want to shell out another 50.00 for a conversion program just to be able to access MY files!

Also, the downloading program is not intuitive and it is difficult to use. Editing is a joke.

I don't understand why the software side of this recorder is SO horrible when the recorder is SO good! I don't know whether to keep it and deal with the frustration or return it and deal with bad quality.

Update November 23, 2008: I have been using this recorder for quite awhile now. Yes, I decided to keep it. I'm using it with Vista, which helps b/c I don't use the software that came with it to download it onto my machine. I connect it and just put it where I want on my computer. Also, Vista has no problem burning these WMA files onto a CD for me, also better.

I do now use a converting program and a separate editing program to play with my audio. I understand having to purchase a separate editing program, but am still disappointed I have to bloat my desktop with another program to convert the files.

Positively, the recorder has been very easy to use. It's very point-and-click. Although, it comes with a recorded advert for audible.com (I JUST found this, prompting my update) Make sure and delete it for more memory. If I had this to do over again, I would do more searching to find something that would convert my files more easily. While not as bad as it was w/o Vista, it continues to be an annoyance.

Read Best Reviews of Olympus DS-30 Digital Voice Recorder Here

FYI, I don't know why people are saying this recorder is not Mac compatible, I've had no problems. I'm not using it for podcasting or anything, but I can attach the cable to my machine, it pops up in finder, and I can copy the .wma files to wherever. Quicktime has no trouble playing them, but more than that, you can still install the DSS software that comes with the recorder. Yes, there is a DSS-Installer.app file in the ENGLISH subdirectory of the installation CD that will install the application to your Mac. Then you get all the editing and cue-ing etc. functionality that the windows users are enjoying. FYI, I'm using OS X (10.5.1) Leopard.

As a recorder, it's great so far. Haven't had any problems, could do with a longer battery life, but I'll live.

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This is by far the best voice recorder I have purchased and I have purchased many! The quality of recording is incredible. I used it recently at a conference and despite much background noise, the recording was very good. But don't touch the recorder while is taping otherwise you will record substantial amount of noise. To get the best use, you should also order the following:

1. A 3-6 foot audio extension cord for the stereo microphone (get a thin flexible version). This will eliminate the noise if you end up having to touch the unit while recording.

2. The protective case if you want to keep the unit free of scratches and protect it against accidental drops.

3. An ac adaptor if you spend long hours transcribing or listening.

I wished they had bundled them with the unit but that's only a minor inconvenience.