Sony CFDS05 CD Radio Cassette Recorder Boombox

• Cassette/Radio/CD Features: Cassette Player, CD Player, Digital Volume Control, Built-In Speakers, AM/FM Radio, Digital Display
• Electronic Functions: CD Player, Built-in Speakers, Digital Tuner, AM/FM Radio, Cassette Player, Cassette Recorder
• CD, DVD, Cassette Compatibility: CD, CD-R/RW
• Includes: Power Cord.
• Dimensions: Length: 9.38 "; Width: 14.25 "; Depth: 5.38 "

Yes, it's a corny title, I know; what's not corny is this sweet little boombox from Sony. It was little difficult to find a unit like this with all of the features I was in the market for, since boomboxes seem to be on the way out -at least in their old configurations.

Pretty much gone are days of tape, but I guess that there are some folks out there who still like cassettes; these are the people who will be happy with the CFDS05's built-in tape deck I will probably never use it. The other features, such as digital AM/FM tuner with numerous presets, CD-R/RW capable compact-disc player, and AUX-in jack for portable music players, are just what I was looking for!

+ The sound, while not audiophile quality, is pleasantly full and crisp; the longstanding Sony Mega Bass feature helps the lower end a little, but don't expect miracles. All in all, it's a very nice sound from a not-too-huge footprint.

+ The digital tuner works well, picking up the new somewhat-hard-to-lock-onto local public music radio station with no difficulties at all. The presets take a little practice -I actually had to break down and look at the instructions.

+ The CD player seems to have no problems reading my CD-R discs (I always play copies, never original discs); my previous RCA stereo clock radio would conk out in the middle of a CD-R playback.

+ The aux-in feature also works very well with my MP3 player, though it's necessary to crank the volume up a bit in relation to the radio or CD player don't forget to turn it back down before switching sources!

About the only minus I can come up with, and it's a minor one, is a lack of some "snazzy" features; there's no remote, no "sleep" feature, and the CD doesn't play back mp3 discs. I'm sure Sony could have included some of these features, but likely not at this price point.

The CFDS05's construction is pretty solid, though perhaps not quite as heavy-duty as the three other Sony boomboxes we own (that are all 3-6 years old, and we haven't had a lick of trouble from any of them). I am hopeful this one will be just as reliable as its predecessors.

Overall, I would say that if you're in the market for what I think is becoming a scarce product offering, pick one of these up while you can! I am very pleased that I found yet another quality Sony boombox to meet my listening needs I've tried many, many others, and I always end up coming back to Sony.

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PROS:

1. buttons (except cassette) are located right on the front in one place, and are clearly labeled and easy to use

2. sound can be turned up WAY WAY louder than I would probably use it with no distortion

3. CD player features these modes: program, shuffle, repeat disc, repeat track

4. plays both cd-R AND cd-RW (copies you made and professionally made ones)

5. very light weight

6. big handle for carrying

7. audio line in for iPod or other device is located right on the front

8. headphone jack

9. GOOD RELIABLE BRAND

10. cassette recorder and DIGITAL radio too, with memory presets for radio

CONS:

1. SHORT power cord (about 5 feet long at the most) which cannot be replaced with my generic longer ones because of the shape of the opening for it

2. so-called "BASS BOOST" makes so little difference that you can't tell it's on except by looking at the display!!!! NEEDS EQUALIZER!!!

3. can't see through cassette door so have to open it to see how much tape you have left to play

4. doesn't play MP3 discs, but I don't have those anyway

5. NO REMOTE CONTROL when Sony's website says it has one

It does what I need it to do. The sound is not that great compared to my computer's or car stereo's sound, but it's ok for the size of the unit, and sounds way way way better than the cd clock radio that I WAS using as my cd player! I haven't used the radio or cassette yet and likely won't. I just got it to put by my bed, for playing my iPod through the audio in jack and playing cd's. For me, the cassette deck is just a bonus and nice to have if I need it sometime, since I already threw away or gave away most of my cassettes.

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Initially I ordered another CD Player that was somewhat smaller and lighter than the Sony. Unfortunately, that player was defective (not created during shipping) as it was unable to play the last track of any CD! Also, the other unit had volume issues. I returned that initial purchase and went with the Sony.....great choice too.

The Sony, while a bit larger and heavier, is still pretty compact. Best of all the sound quality (at least to my ear) is that of a much more expensive player! Really sounds top notch.

Finally, there is the various kind of media it can play from.

I have a vast collection of CDs, but my sons are always trying to interest me in using MP3 technology, and with my new Sony, I may just branch-out and explore these "new music frontiers".

Great buy!

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I purchased one of these for my 10x6 kitchenette. It's great for listening to the news, or popping in a cd/cassette, or even feeding in my mp3 player. Don't expect super high quality sound from speakers this size (in general). The speakers are brignt with lots of treble, which sounds better listening to classical or jazz music because the strings/horns are very clear. Plus older recordings from the 1950's/60's/70's (such as the classic jazz of the Miles Davis Quintet) were made with small transistor radios in mind. The Mega-Bass feature mainly helps you shore up the low end when you have headphones on, but can't overcome the small, low-wattage speaker system.

This unit is full of great features, with perfect dimensions for a kitchen counter-top, office desktop, workbench or dresser. The sound is appropriate for a small room-but sounds better with headphones on. The audio-in feature means that this unit can be used with any number of mp3 players, rather than just the Apple iPod. Many audio books at the library are still (and always will be) on cassette, so having the cassette option is nice. I'm buying a 2nd unit for my 8-year-old daughter who has a small bedroom, a limited budget and reasonable sound expectations.

I bought this because I didn't have good all-around (radio and CD) sound source while working in the garden. I was surprised to find I could set it inside my patio door and clearly hear music and commentary about 50 feet away at three quarters volume. The sound does not suffer much when you crank it up all the way. The sound is strong on battery power too.

My wife is already planning to use it inside the house and on trips when she exercises, to provide audible, good quality workout music.

The front controls are logical and easy to use, and look like they would hold up to outdoor/casual use. This boombox is a very handy size and weight, considering the features and good sound. The antenna is effective, sturdy, and tucks away under the flush handle for some protection. (The handle does have a squared off edge, and might not be comfortable for carrying for miles.) A very well thought out design overall.

I chose the Sony brand because other manufacturer's boomboxes and undercabinet systems we tried earlier had poor reception or reliability. One of those even ruined any disk you put in it. No problems with our Sony kitchen unit, and we are hoping for the same with this boombox.

I shop by price, and paid $50, about $20 more than some other brands. Those had poor reviews for sound or reliability, or lacked features like audio input. Mostly, I was put off by the bulky designs and strange protruberances. I would have liked this Sony better if it came in a more attractive color than matte gray for the case (the front is more attractive, but still basic). It's already showing fingerprints on top (the cassette and CD compartment covers). I also don't care for the markings on the cassette buttons, which are mono-color stampings, nearly impossible to see in dim light. My final gripe is the lack of storage for the power cord, which must be removed to run on battery power. I found a small drawstring mesh bag around the house, and looped the cord over the boombox handle. Otherwise someone in this household would lose that cord in a heartbeat. It would have been nice if the audio-in cable was supplied, instead of just a jack, but I suppose they had to economize somewhere.

I'm hoping for many years of clear music and radio entertainment from this player.

Archos AV500 30 GB Multimedia Player and DVR

• Record television programs, movies and home videos and watch them on 4-inch LCD whenever, wherever
• Plays and stores up to 400 hours of video, 250 movies, 55,000 songs or 1,000,000 photos
• Compatible with MP3, WMA, WAV, protected WMA, MPEG-4, WMV and protected Windows Media Video
• Supports the Mophun mobile gaming platform; USB 2.0 port for fast file transfers
• Up to 15 hours of battery life for music and up to 4.5 hours for video playback on the built-in LCD

As many of you have probably done, I have researched and read the few limited reviews I could find on this item, but finally i purchased it yesterday from the Sharper Image. So far its amazing, I did have the Archos AV420 but returned it because the battery failed on me. The AV500 is truly an amazing machine. The screen is so much sharper than the AV400 that it is indescribable. You can record directly from your DVD player, VCR, Satellite or Cable Box, which I am doing as I type this. I already put about five different cd's on the AV500 from my collection from Windows Media Player, and that took a mere twenty seconds for each cd. Also, the AV500 displays the album cover for each cd. The AV400 did not recognize many of the album covers that the AV500 does. The "TV Pod" is much easier to hook up on your tv than that of the AV400, and it seems that there are many less wires coming out from the pod. The built in speaker is good if your sharing with someone else, but the included earbuds have very good audio quality. In the case comes a user guide, 2 sets of audio and video cables, a USB 2.0 cable and USB host adapter, AC adapter and charger, Stero headphones, the TV cradle and IR emitter cable, Remote control with batteries, and the Protective Case. All in all the AV500 is a must buy for anyone who likes music, photos, and videos. I am in luck too because I am going to Washington in a few days which is an eight hour drive. On average the AV500 probably will have about 4 hours of playback on the battery while on video, and 10 hours of playback for music, but I have yet to test that. I am very happy i purchased the AV500 from The Sharper Image.

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I read a review on CNET stating that the Archos AV500 didn't have as good a screen as the Creative Zen Vision 30Gb player. Closer scrutiny shows that there is much more to the story, however. For those of you choosing between these two major competitors in the personal multimedia player category, I'll summarize what I've learned in my research (leading me to buy the Archos AV500).

1. Archos AV500 has higher screen resolution than almost all current laptop computers. The AV500 has a 138 DPI (dots per inch) screen. The current Apple MacBook has a 110 DPI screen (looks gorgeous playing videos). Sony VAIOs tend to have 128 DPI screens, identical to the Sony PSP. If you like video on your PSP, MacBook, or VAIO then you'll definitely like video on the Archos. The Creative Zen Vision has a 216 DPI screen, but see additional points below.

2. The Archos AV500 has a 16:9 screen: perfect for widescreen movies. The Creative Zen Vision has 4:3 screen, so your nice widescreen movies will be little letterbox movies on the Creative. The Creative is best suited for TV shows, but these will display at almost exactly the same size on the Archos (with black on the left and right, as they would display on a widescreen TV). The Archose definitely makes the most of your video files since it displays TV shows at about the same size as the Creative, and does a much better job with movies.

3. The Creative has serious problems with limited viewing angle. You have to hold it just right to get a good picture, and even then many people report that the angle is so narrow that one eye can have a good view and another can see a slightly "silvered" view. The Archos is much more forgiving here, making it a lot easier to enjoy on a long plane flight and a lot easier to watch with a friend.

4. The Creative can't record. The Archos can; it can even record DVDs legally, working with the MacroVision copy protection on the discs you own. I was able to save about $130 on a device to record from my DVD player or DVR. I count that as a $130 discount on the price of the Archos.

5. The Archos is Mac and Linux compatible. The Creative is locked into one operating system (Windows XP) and won't even allow music and video files to be transferred when it's connected as a USB drive. This means that you have to use a bunch of proprietary software and drivers to get the thing to work: not a lot of fun if you want to use it with a friend's computer or if you're having problems with getting the software to install correctly on your system. The Archos can connect as a standard USB drive: universal access and no reliance on a bunch of proprietary software.

6. The incidence of the Creative freezing and requiring lengthy recovery procedures is fairly thoroughly documented in the Amazon reviews. The Archos appears to have a much lower incidence of problems.

So, if you're looking for a portable video player you may want to consider the above in making the choice. Obviously these points led me to the Archos. Your mileage may vary.

Read Best Reviews of Archos AV500 30 GB Multimedia Player and DVR Here

Throughout all of my experiences of shopping for a perfect portable media player I have decided that no such device exists. The Archos Av 500 is one of the closest to that high standard.

The AV500 has all of the requirements for a great pmp and then some. However, it also has it's flaws. It boosts a monsterous 4 inch LCD which is one of the biggest save for the Archos AV700 (that supports a lousy resolution).

I purchased the 30GB model and I was impressed right off the bat with the power of the videocorder function but was unimpressed with the fact that there is no middle ground between the 30GB model and the 100GB model memory wise. I really wanted a 60GB version that cost somewhere in between the two.

The movies look spectacular when you connect a dvd/vhs/tv input and record at the right settings, I didn't even try to go the computer route because the AV500 has such a simple recording interface that there is no desire to use the computer as a middle man between the dvd and the Archos. Several dozen recordings later, I thought about attempting to go the computer way and I found a very interesting peice of info that I would like to pass on to you. The resolution recording settings on the archos are VGA (640x480) and a lower version of 512x(something I forgot). However, the screen resolution is 480X272. When the archos has to shrink the picture, it causes some distortion in the picture quality. This happens because there aren't enough pixels for the video resolution. The archos then decides whether or not to show some of the pixels and when the camera is moving or there is a particuarly large amout of detail on the screen then the garbage quality is shown on the screen. If you can find a good dvd to avi converter program (I used the "dvd to pocket pc" program from www.pqdvd.com) then I recomend that you set the settings to have the output resolution to be exactally 480x272. I did this and I recieved a picture resolution that I thought was literally DVD quality. It blew me away! Note: If you go this route then you cannot use the cropping feature.

If you dont want to go that way, then use the onboard recording feature. Be warned that it is very possible to make the recording look like crap so pay close attention.

The way to avoid this is to set the resolution at VGA and keep the KBS at 1500 (the files become a size that about 16-18 movies can be stored on the AV500). This sweet spot is my key to making the movies that I record look on par with DVDs on my AV500's screen (not a tv output). I encountered some glitches (the AV500 randomly froze during a recording process)that caused me to worry at first but several recordings later and I forgot all about them.

One secret hidden feature that I had no idea about was the editing feature of video files. Due to the fact that I wanted as many movies on my Archos as possible and that I typically only watch the action sequences, I was able to cut out all of the scenes of Anakin Skywalker and Padme in Star Wars Episode III to make a 45 minute movie that jumped from one action sequence to another. I am now able to get all of the aciton from any movie into one file roughly 300-700MBs which allows me to fit 50-60 movies on my Archos.

The photo feature is OK. I say "ok" as a way of being nice. The photo feature is there so i can't really complain. However, it sucks. The photo feature has very limited zoom function that becomes quite annoying. The load times are delayed just slightly which made the device seem a bit slow compared to the fact that it can record a tv signal at VGA resolution with 2500 kbs and sound at 48khz.

The device went above and beyond on the music standards. The AV500 automatically sorted all of my music files into categories such as Artist, Genre, Album, ect. The music from the headphones sounds nice but the built in speaker comes up just a little bit short, a very little bit. The control of a built in equalizer was also a very nice touch.

One of the flaws that I came across was the USB host and what it could connect to. My deepest desire was to connect the AV500 to a portable USB hard drive and cut a corner to save me money from spending 700 dollars on the 100GB version but that plan failed. The AV500 flat out didn't recognize the hard drive. The Archos will however connect to a digital camera and a desktop hardrive but no portable ones.

The feel of the Archos (which I should have probably talked about at the beginning of this review) is that of a peice of solid metal except for those lousy buttons! The face buttons of the AV500 are the worst part of the whole device. I can't stop giggling them while I am watching my non-stop action movies.

All in all, the AV500 is the best gadget for your buck. It has it's minor flaws but the tought of overlooking them isn't really that bad. The AV500 out performed every single other pmp that I have tried and belive you me, my quest for the perfect pmp has driven me to nearly try every single one.

(...)

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Ok, so I spent A LOT of time researching different PVPs online and the Archos AV500 came up as top in its class. Still, after all of my research, I was a bit skeptical in purchasing this device, as there were some obvious cons. I took a deep breath and shelled out the $500 at a local retail outlet and have never been happier with a gadget as I am now. This little device is tops. A solid (i.e. metal) casing houses this PVP which is capable of not only audio and video playback, but recording of both as well. The first thing I tested was the mp3 player portion of this toy. Once plugged in via a USB 2.0 port, my computer recognized the device right away and it was as easy as dragging and dropping the audio files into the Music folder on the AV500. In mere seconds I have loaded the AV500 with about 10 full CDs worth of music. Unlike some mp3 players, the AV500 quickly (seconds) sorts through its new files after being unplugged from the PC. My wife has RAVE mp3 player and it can take up to 5 minutes to sort through new files after you toss them in there. The AV500 was waaaaaay faster. Playback on audio files is a breeze with the easy to use nav buttons on the face of the AV500. You can search by file name, artists name, song name, and even music genre. If you're as anal about your mp3 files as I am, you've probably associated images of the albums to them. Well, the AV500 will pop those graphics up on its 4 inch screen while playing the tune. Playback features include random and repeat. There is a built in, mini EQ, but I didn't mess too much with that. I did notice that while playing back thru an outside audio source, such as through a car or home receiver, it is best to turn down the volume on the AV500 to about 75% in order to get the best playback. I've read some reviewers who noticed some noise in the background during playback, but this seems to be avoided if you reduce the volume on the unit itself. (It also helps if you properly encode your mp3s for optimum playback...don't whine and complain about hissing and background noise if you encode anything under 128.)

Now onto the video....Amazing. The 4 inch (wide)screen does make this device larger than an IPod, but at the same time, this is not to be confused with a simple mp3 player. This is a portable DVD player. It took all of 2 minutes to hook up the AV500 to my DVR and start the recording process. The TV docking pod acts as a gateway between your DVR (or DVD, VCR, cable box, etc.) and tv, allowing you set it up and forget about it. Recording is as easy as plugging your AV500 into the docking pod and pressing one button. I have yet to fool around with the timer options, as I have a home DVR for that purpose, but if I am watching something on my DVR and decide that it's a keeper, I can easily record it into my AV500 and watch it on the go, or even transfer it into my PC and burn it to a DVD. One downside that I discovered too late was that the AV500 will not playback ITunes video files. I realized this a tad too late, as I had already purchased and downloaded about 6 episodes of The Office. Oh well.

The AV500 is 100% compatible with Microsoft's PlayForSure music sites, but the video offering on these sites is limited.

I also sprung for a car mount for the AV500. $22 w/ s & h off of EBay...not a bad deal.

Other options that I have yet to play with include:

TV playback watch files from your AV500 on your television

Remote control

Picture viewing

Video editing tools

Playlist creation

The only cons I can think of are minor

1) It would be nice if the buttons on the face were backlit. Very tricky to maneuver in the dark.

2) The inability to browse the AV500 files while listening to music. The minute you try to do so, the music stops, but with the built in resume feature it quickly picks back up right were it left off.

3) The inability to play ITunes videos. Maybe one day in a firmware update they will address this issue.

All in all, this is a fantastic little gizmo that does a lot. I know that PVPs are fairly new to the marketplace and with time they can only get better, but for a first generation device, this one does fantastic.

First off, I would like to say that when the AV500 is in working order, it is amazing. I encoded all my video with XviD (after turning off stuff the player doesn't like, such as GMC and Qpels) using Gordian Knot and it plays back amazing. The screen can get a little motion blur, but it is hardly ever noticeable. For a device of its size, the picture is very sharp and clear.

Music playback is very nice with my Sennheiser headphones (encoded using VBR mp3). I will say that the ear bud phones that come with the system sound fairly poor. I don't like buds in general. But, even compared to the ones that come with the iPod, they are sorely lacking.

So why give the AV500 three stars, you might ask? Well, the first one I got was great. That is until I noticed that after about 5-10 minutes of use, a bright horizontal, flickering band would appear on the screen every few seconds. They told me it was a faulty screen and I got it replaced. The new one was awesome for about 3 weeks. Then, all of the sudden, the right arrow on my 4 way directional button stopped working. I can now only navigate in the OS up, down, and left. This is a problem, because it renders my Archos into a 450$ paperweight. So now I suppose I will have to send this one back as well. You can imagine the frustration.

Overall, the device performs well... when it works. I think, however, Archos may have a serious quailty control problem. People may want to be careful of this product.

Sony SLVD560P DVD / VCR Combo

• 4-Head Hi-Fi Stereo
• 19 Micron Heads for Optimized EP Recording
• Flash Rewind for rewinding a T-120 Tape in 60 seconds
• Quickset Timer Dial for easy timer recording
• Progressive Scan Output (480p)

This product was a complete disappointment. I have had it less than a year & have had problems with the dvd player from the beginning. Now it doesn't register dvds in the machine at all. Sony's website gives you the option to return the item & get someone else's refurbished machine aka someone else's problem {$33} or to have your machine fixed {$90} return shipping also to be paid for by the consumer & this is if your machine is under warranty. Not satisfactory options from a company like Sony. I have found countless other complaints about this machine on other "review" sites online, naturally after I had already purchased and was having problems with it. I have found that Sony is no longer the "leader" in electronics there are other companies, Panasonic, Samsung, etc. that have products comparable & in many instances better than Sony there is no reason to pay more for a Sony when their quality seems to be going downhill. Save yourself the hassle and buy from another company.

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The unit itself does technically work, but I am not very impressed. The user interface is horrific due to its complexity, which is unusual for Sony products. You have to push the buttons on the remote control too hard to get them to actually respond, which is half of the problem. The manual is a little too concise, leaving out pages for setups that are probably fairly common, which means that you have to guess instead.

Worst of all, when I plugged it in using Sony's recommended setup, the unit noticably degraded picture quality on my Sony WEGA 24" television. (I bought this unit to match the TV.) Sony's technical support was less than helpful, acknowledging that they understood that my picture quality was being negatively affected by their product, but refusing to admit that such a problem constituted a "failure" on their part. Eventually, I narrowed the problem down to the cheap coaxial cable that Sony supplied, but I had no composite cable to replace it with, because Sony decided not to supply one--even though it does with its other VCRs.

Maybe if there's a SLVD570P, it'll be better. If not, I wouldn't bother wasting your time.

Read Best Reviews of Sony SLVD560P DVD / VCR Combo Here

Record quality is very good. DVD progresive is also very good. Remote control is non responsive. No TIME back-up when power failure... IT WILL NOT RECORD your programs if any power failure happends. You will have to set the time before it will record again. For some illogical reason, your programs will remain in memory, but the time will not!??!?!? Cant understand this, first VCR i know does not have this simple feature and it is frustrating when you record every day. Imagine if you leave home for a weekend and set to record a final match of your favorite football game, unluckly power failure occurs and your miles away... you simply will not be able to see it or record it.... That is the biggest complaint. Remote control es really bad too. Bottons have to be pressed harder then normal, and is not responsive. Be advised, time will not be permanent and control is unresponsive. DVD quility is very good. Recording VCR is also very good. No component nor digital cables supplied, nor AV. Only coaxial cheap cable. I am disapointed. Very bad SONY....

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What else to say :-). I put in a pre-recorded tape, it made a clunk sort of noise and wouldn't play tapes after that. 2/3 of the screen was all snowy. I tried several different tapes before returning it to the store. Aside from that, I found it clunky to use. I should have come here for the reviews first.

I was expecting a quality Sony product when I bought this. I have another sony DVD player that I have been using for about 3 years without any problems. This unit is another story.

After 4 months of use, the player stopped working with DVD/RW disks. A few days later, manufactured disks stopped working, now a few days later, no DVDs will play on the unit.

I am so glad I got an extended warranty, because I am going to go and pick up my third new unit today for another 4 months of usage before the inevitable failure.

Pioneer DVR-118LBK DVD/CD-Writer DVD Multi-Recorder, DVD+R DL, DVD+ReWritable, CD ReWritable, Label

I just built a new OEM PC that everything is SATA 2, and SATA 3 on, and I felt uncomfortable with everything in the machine being SATA so I opted for this PATA/IDE/ATA 100 Pioneer OEM optical drive and it's working just fine! I booted the PC from it initially, to install Windows 7, preceded by an install of OEM Windows XP Pro for qualification of the Win 7 build, so if there was anything going to go wrong with the drive it would have happened straight away, but it worked aok fine and I had no problems installing the OS, and all programs and software with this drive.

I am partial to Pioneer drives, and that's because I still have a Pioneer DVR-110 in one of my OEM PC's, and another PowerMac G5 Dual Core (PCI-Express M9591LL/A) 2.3 Ghz PowerMac has a DVR-110, and those are both Region Free firmware-equipped drives that still, to this day, burn and RIP DVD's without mercy! They both function 100%, and I expect that this Pioneer drive will also work great for many years without issues.

As for installing such a drive in an OEM PC build, PC motherboards still have an ATA bus, and that's all you have to connect up: that is an ATA/100 cable, and you are good to go with the standard Molex power connector in place--I mean this is plug and play, no driver necessary to make it work. With RIP-Lock in force you won't be RIPping any DVD's in record time like you can with a DVR-110 (Region Free firmware) using this optical drive, but you can count on Pioneer's standard-issue drive motor mechanism working fine up to let's say 25X speeds, not 40X like in the DVR-110's, but plenty adequate for most uses.

For a mere $25.99 or so you can count on this being a bargain you can afford, too...I mean how cheap does it have to be? Isn't $25 cheap enough? I highly recommend this Pioneer optical drive for any PC or Mac use that you can think of--if you want the good Pioneer quality and reliability that we all know is legendary in drives like this.

Wavey Davey August 23, 2010

I bought this as a secondary drive for my Mac Pro. All I had to do was change the connector in the back to select, remove the bezel, screw it in, and hook up the cables. My mac recognized it immediately and I was burning discs in under 15 minutes. I didn't have a bad packaging job like the other reviewer had. It was packed really well. Keep in mind when ordering this you are only getting the dvr drive and install instructions. No mounting screws or cables so have those handy if needed . It is a great deal for $25.99 and free shipping. I would definitely buy another one!

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Pioneer drives always seem to work flawlessly in Macs, so that's what I stick with. This particular one that I purchased most recently went into an Apple PowerMac G5 system. As is the norm for Macs, no software was needed and the operating system immediately accepted the drive without issue. Was burning a test disc in the Finder within 5 minutes. Unfortunately, I know this drive will not last more than 4 or 5 years, as that's the most any of them are lasting nowadays. Even Pioneer drives don't last anymore, because they had to cut corners to compete on cost. It's a shame. I would rather pay ~60 bucks for a drive that lasts then ~30 for something that will burn out before the computer does.

Read Best Reviews of Pioneer DVR-118LBK DVD/CD-Writer DVD Multi-Recorder, DVD+R DL, DVD+ReWritable, CD ReWritable, Label Here

No problem with installation in the iMac, works great. But, the packing from Amazon was very poor, they just threw it in the box with no packing. In fact the box was half opened when it arrived. I was crossing me fingers that it would still work, after seeing the condition of the box. Not a good job, Amazon!!!! I would of given it five stars if the packing was better.

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This drive has been a rock solid investment as I've had it for over a year with no problems. Of course it may die yet but I don't use it heavily so it meets my needs just fine. I have tried hp and Lite-on and will say they are terrible.

Sylvania DV6000G-RD Digital Video Camcorder with HD Recording, 8x Optical Zoom, and 2-Inch LCD Scre

Great Little Camera. Gets the job done. Dont expect the quality of a $200 plus camera, but great for casual shots and use.

Poor picture quality makes this camera virtuallly unusable. The video comes out with hissing noises and color streaks running throughout. The still photos are grainy and off color. No flash. Very poor. Do not throw away your money. Avoid this item.

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Marantz PMD580 Rack-Mount CompactFlash Digital Audio Network Recorder

This product delivers on most of its promises, has decent sound, seems simple and reliable to operate. But there is one problem that prevents me from using it as I had intended to... and this may be the case for many potential purchasers.

The Web GUI is nice, and as long as you have a browser window on one computer open continuously during operation, it works fine. But once the PMD starts recording, you can only stop it from the same window in which you started recording. If you navigate away, and then return to the PMD, it shows a login screen, but when you attempt to log in it says "Please stop recorder before logging in". If you want to be able to start and stop recordings over the web say, via your cel phone or laptop this is a big problem. You can start ONE recording, then access the machine again only when the card fills and recording stops.

If you have, say, a 32GB CF card in there, that means that if you initiate recording remotely, it'll be at least 32 hours (weeks if recording MP3) before the card fills, recording stops, and you can access the machine remotely again.

You can physically hit the stop button on the machine... but that defies the point of remote access.

You can initiate a scheduled recording, with a predefined stop and end time, but that takes time, and you can't access the machine during that scheduled time. This is currently the best workaround, but takes away a lot of spontaneity, and has a lot more room for error. In my situation, there are a lot of times when end-times of events and rehearsals are undefined; to plan for that, I'd have to set the recording times very long... and in a busy academic hall, THAT would often prevent me from remotely recording the NEXT thing someone wants to record.

I asked the folks at Marantz if there was any chance that they would 1) allow later logins to take precedence and get to the transport window of the GUI or 2) at least have a checkbox on the login screen to say "stop recording and log me in" but they said nothing like that was in the works.

So, just a warning from someone who tried to investigate every aspect of this machine in advance, and was unable to get enough detail to cover this. You can't use the web GUI from multiple locations to start and stop recording.

This is still the best solution around, and the scheduled recordings work well. I haven't tried the auto downloading to a server, but directly downloading via the web gui (after recording has stopped!) works well.

I wish Marantz would just add a way to stop a recording and access the GUI remotely... until then, I will have to be running in to push the stop button a lot more frequently than I had hoped.

denon-marantz pro (d-mpro dot com) makes several rackmount digital recorders. The PMD series are more Marantz the 560 entry level, 570 with extra switching, and this one the 580 with LAN connectivity and a lan server inside, plus a cpu to "do" stuff on its own without people, i.e. setup play schedules, record schedules, use a 1/4 jack to do one of 3 programmable functions, etc. Now on the Denon side there is the 600 series rackmount they mimic the dmpro 661 to a large degree, use sdhc cards instead of CF cards (no big deal) and have nice OLED displays instead of the backlit LCD display on the Marantz 5xx series. So why did we buy the 580? Well ITS THE ONLY ONE THAT YOU CAN PLUG INTO YOUR NETWORK! and eliminating a person to remove the memory card really is a big deal in cost of operation over years of use.

We bought the PMD580 for one main reason and one backup reason. First, it can log telephone calls all day long, then at night it can upload them automatically to our 10 TB network attached storage system Synology DiskStation 5-Bay (Diskless) Scalable Network Attached Storage DS1010+ (Black) which it does all by iteself every night over the internal network, then erases the files from the internal CF drive. If it gets a fire contact closure on the 1/4" jack on the back from our alarm system it will play a pre-recorded evacuate calmly message over the UPSed PA system (it's upsed along with our raid5 disk system) So it does double duty.

Here are the hot and not so hot spots about the PMD-580

1 LAN interface. W/ LAN server built in. Full remote control via LAN or rs-232c or 1/4" contact closure your choice

2 differential audio (XLR) or single ended (RCA) inputs or digital XLR/RCA inputs professional grade stuff

3 be careful no 48V phantom power and no support for microphone level inputs you'll need at least a mic amp to feed a mic into this. Ours lets us customize the phone line.

4 High level of automation. Ours has record schedules and nighttime LAN upload schedules to the disk server over our network. After its done and the day's files are safe on the raid5 server, the CF card copy is erased, and it's ready for the next day all by itself without anyone's intervention. READ NO HUMAN INVOLVED, email of errors go to several people should there be a failure and calls are kept on the 32GB CF card.

5 quiet no fans very high signal/noise level on the recordings.

6 easy setup network setup or front panel setup. I'd prefer more knobs on the front i.e. to adjust the gain, you must use rs-232

7 XLR in, RCA in, XLR out, RCA out, digital in (XLR or RCA) and digital out (xlr or rca)

8 RS-232 interface, and that ONLY LAN interface in a rackmount recorder. If you do the work, you dont need it. If you want the machine to do the work, its automatic.

Ample connectivity gives you remote control from servers and builtin automation.

This is Denon-Marant'z flagship recorder. It is shipping in Dec 2010 in 2 versions the factory new version, and the seven hundred ninety nine buck refurbished versions for that low pricepoint, it represents a very valueable and usefull tool, but you may have to buy it from a music store (I shop at both amazon and music stores for my recording hardware, cables, microphones, etc sometimes amazon's buying power is great, other times the music stores like guitar center and northern light and sound will beat prices by 30-40%)

If you need a recorder that is automated and can handle everything on its own and can be used remotely on the internet w/ password and login, the PMD-580 either refubed or new is your ONLY choice out there. Be careful of the $199 rackmount sdhc units selling today we thought what a bargain but you get what you pay for in those! While other marantz systems can be controlled remotely via parallel i/o inputs (switches) or rs-232, only the PMD-580 can be used over the network, which combined with the built in network server is a great product. Because I have mic level inputs, and it does not accept that low of a signal, I am using it with the shark from behringer to shift up the audio level. Behringer Shark DSP110 Digital 24-Bit Multi-Function Signal Processor The shark is an amazing audio processor -20 or +4 dbu ins/outs XLR or TRS ins / outs, and 48vdc quiet phantom power for mics, along with live audio feedback killers, digital delay for house speaker sets, filters, companders its a bargain here on amazon where I've bought 2 units.

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I purchased this recorder last year for a church sanctuary. It was easy to set up and once settings are in place, recording is as easy as pushing one button. The network features are great, especially the web interface controls, which are so much easier than trying to adjust settings only viewing the little screen on the recorder. With a wireless network, I can control the recorder from a laptop anywhere in the church. Downloading the audio files to my laptop wirelessly is also a plus! Haven't used the auto-archive functions yet, but may do so soon. Audio quality options are numerous. I'd definitely recommend this recorder for any permanent install situation.

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this digital audio recorder is a good piece of equipment. it was purchased for our auditorium control room. it has worked well with all of our high-end digital equipment. i haven't used it a lot, but when i have, it has worked well and is easy to use. highly recommended.

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GSI MP4/MP3 "8 GB" Player with FM Radio, Camera, Voice Recorder, USB Portable, 2.8-inch Touchscreen

• 8 GB USB MP4/MP3/FM/Camera with 2.8-inch Touchscreen
• 2.8-inch color Touch Screen MP4 video player MP3 audio player FM Radio Camera DV Camera, USB interface Built-in Speaker and more
• You can play AVI, RM, RMVB, FLV, Some WMV and Some MPEG4 videos files WITHOUTH the need for conversion
• Built-in rechargeable lithium battery, with up to 5 hrs for Video and 10 hrs for Music

I ordered this and when it came it didn't have all the features that it said it did. No FM radio and no contact icon, or place to put contact info, no You Tube icon, and no calculator. So I like what I have seen so far, but the first day I used it it went black and I couldn't get it back on til day three , by holding the on button and reset at the same time. I will send it back , because I wanted more features, but dread it because then I have to go through the whole process of getting another one and waiting for it to come then figuring it out. With this one though, the best way I found to put videos on was to convert them to 320x420 like in a psp format of an MP4. These work best. Oh and haven's figured out how to put my songs in the favorite folder either.

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This is a good mp5 came in 3 days and has allot of uses even though it mostly uses avi and 3gp the video player is good. The music player is a bit confusing but not after you understand how to use it. The camera could be better as well as the touch screen,or at least get a pen for it. The games are ok but i dont know if you can add more. The thing that I didn't like is the earphones that come with it over all it is great especially for its price.

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This item was a fake! It was a decoy. I bought it when I was deployed and was not able to send it back. I will keep a close eye on items I buy from this person. Never again!

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My Daugther is delighted with his new MP4. She says It's Funny, easy and VERY cool.

Excellent price on this item.

This was ordered for my 13 yr old who was going on his first mission trip and saved to get it in time to take with him. He had it a week and the screen went bad the night before leaving after he had spent the whole time getting his music loaded.

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.

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Sony BDP-S380 Blu-ray Disc Player (Black)

• Enjoy Blu-ray Disc movies in brilliant high-definition resolution or upscale the quality of your DVDs to near HD
• Instantly stream a wide variety of movies, TV shows, live sports, videos, and music from Netflix, YouTube, Pandora, Hulu Plus and many more
• Free, downloadable "Media Remote" app for your iPhone, iPad, or Android phone turns it into a versatile remote
• Connect your digital camera, USB-enabled MP3 player, or USB storage device to enjoy videos, photos, and music on the big screen
• Add a Sony USB Wi-Fi adapter to easily connect to your wireless broadband network, or connect via standard Ethernet port

I just purchased two of these one for myself and one for an out-of-state friend. I'm using mine with a Sony Bravia 1080p flat screen; my friend is using hers with an older 30 inch CRT TV (4:3 aspect ratio) until she gets around to taking her flat screen out of its box.

I was thinking about getting a unit with built-in WiFi, but before making the purchase(s), I did some research online and heard (read) some horror stories about streaming via WiFi that were, let's say, somewhat less than complementary (glitches, disconnects, freezes requiring reboots, etc.), so I decided to purchase this unit BECAUSE it didn't have WiFi (why pay for a feature that I'm not going to use?). I already have a Sony BDP-S370 (using it with a Samsung flat screen) and like it a lot; I would have bought two more of them, but they weren't available directly from Amazon when I ordered, so I got these I prefer buying from Amazon for their returns policy. Also, the BDP-S380 supports 'vudu' AND it has an on-screen digital throughput speed readout (in Mbps) which appears when streaming is starting up both welcome additions!

My setup took about 15 minutes from the time I opened the box until I was watching discs, Amazon VOD, and Netflix (the only ones that I've set up so far). I connected the BDP-S380 to my TV via HDMI, and my LAN via Ethernet cable and everything just worked (of course, I had to set it up for my Amazon and Netflix accounts, but that took less than five minutes each). After going through the on-screen quick start menus, the unit told me that there was a firmware upgrade available, so I told it to do it, and a few minutes later, it finished and turned itself off (normal when upgrading firmware).

My friend's setup took a bit longer, since she had never set one up before and I couldn't see what was happening while I tried to talk her through everything (from memory). She connected to her TV using the (supplied-in-the-box) AV cable. Because her TV was 4:3 aspect ratio, some of the menus didn't display legibly, which is probably what made things take a bit longer. Anyway, we got everything working properly within about 20-25 minutes.

One thing of note I would like to mention is this: all BD players manufactured after 01/01/2011 have DRM firmware which prevents HD signals from using any output other than HDMI. For me, that was no problem since I was using HDMI; since my friend was using AV, everything was displayed on her TV in SD (not really a problem since that is all it's capable of displaying anyway, and she'll be using HDMI if she ever sets up her flat screen *:^).

I'm very pleased with this unit (and so is she). Its outputs are crisp and solid, its user interface is staight-forward and easy to understand, and its physical size, shape, and appearance should fit in anywhere.

Definitely a 5-star device.

======

NETFLIX Note (04/15/11):

It seems that Netflix is no longer limiting selections to your Instant Queue! There is now a choice entitled "Top Picks For You" -also, you can now press "Options" on the Remote and when you select "Categories >" you will be presented with a Category list from which you can search and select movies! Yay!!

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I purchased this to replace an older blu-ray that had trouble commuinicating with my receiver. It was first gen and I couldn't wait but it still had some bugs.

So far at playing discs this has been awsome, the sound and the picture quality couldn't be better. The load time is much faster than with the older players.

If you're looking for streaming then I think we need to give these guys a couple more years to work out the bugs. Before I purchased this I bought the best rated top of the line model that was supposed to be the best at streaming and I was dissappointed. So I waited six months, bought this and the streaming is a little improved but do not expect to sit through anything uninterupted from Netflix or Hulu. So I still default to my labtop for anything streaming.

Anyway I will not return it as I am very happy with the way it handles my blu-rays.

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I really like this player. I've had it about a month now and can't think of anything I dont like about it. It's nice and quiet. Great picture, seems to upconvert well enough. It loads very quickly even with the "quick start" turned off. I have it hard wired to the internet so I have no wireless problems to speak of. Its slim, sick and shiny; goes great with my Sony Bravia LED. I have a PS3 so the whole Netflix "in queue only" thing that others have complained about doesn't bother me. The other internet apps are basically a rehash of whats already on my Bravia. But, Oh Well. I bought it to play Blu-Rays and that it does just fine. This player actually replaced a Samsung BD-C6500 that I had in my possession for less than an hour before taking it back to the store. It was scary awful. Seriously. Overall, I am very satisfied and actually will be buying another in the near future for my bedroom. I have no problems giving this 5 stars and would recommend it to my friends and family. If your looking for an inexpensive, quality, entry level Blu-Ray player, look no further, you just found one.

EDIT: Wow! It's already been two years since I've had this player! I just wanted to update my review to let everyone know that it is still going strong. I use it all the time, practically daily, and have not had a single issue with it. It's a great little piece of equipment and am extremely happy I chose this player over all the other options.

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I was the happy owner of a BDP-S350, which was an excellent little Blu-ray player which performed seamlessly, even though it was one of the early generation players. The BDP-S380 was purchased because the S350, even though it can connect to the internet, can not stream Netflix. The S350 has an ethernet slot for receiving network upgrades, but there is no firmware update that allows it to stream. Perhaps it doesn't have the requisite hardware. Anyway, the S380 purchase solved the problem and the S350 is now on Craig's list looking for an adopting family.

The S380 is a very small, very light machine. Aesthetically, it looks beautiful. The main external difference to the S350, aside from its tiny size and miniscule weight, is the fact that it offers a coax digital audio output compared to the optical audio output of its predecessor. Of course, you can also output sound to HDMI, but in my setup I send video directly to the screen and the audio directly to the amp, without using the amp for pass-through of the video signal. My amp has a digital coax input, so this wasn't an issue for me, but if you want a digital optical out then this would not be the player for you. A digital coax cable is not included, but I simply used one of the cheap and nasty RCA connectors supplied and this seems to work fine. If I have any problems with the sound, I will spend the $15 or so on a dedicated cable. As a final comparison, there is more plastic in the case and the power cable does not detach, unlike that of its predecessor.

The remote control is OK, but I use a Harmony 1100 universal remote anyway, which worked fine after a few setup problems, so the supplied remote was simply tossed into the remote control drawer to join so many others. It's a markedly smaller remote to that of the BDP-S350 plastic, but nicely constructed.

I use a wired connection for internet access to the player and have a 100 mbps Comcast cable connection, which probably explains why streaming is so magnificent. You can buy a Sony wireless adaptor for the unit for circa $75 if you need wireless connectivity or, alternatively, buy a more expensive Sony Blu-ray player which has this incorporated into the internal circuitry. I don't need wireless, but it is good to know that there is an upgrade path available if I need it. I simply split my Comcast coax into two, using a T-splitter, with one of the coax leads coming out going to my Comcast box, and the other into my modem.

Setup of the S380 was really simple. The screen interface is Sony's unique crossbar system, which takes some getting used to at first, but which is actually very efficient after a time. I hated it at first, but grew to like it very much after a few days.

First of all, on power-up, the machine worked out that it could use some updated firmware. This downloaded without any problem and took less than five minutes. Obviously, when you do this, you need to ensure that the power and internet are stable and you need to leave the process to complete, otherwise you will be that idiot who "bricks" his player before you're even started. But the firmware upgrade is really simple, quick and completely automatic.

With the firmware upgraded, it was time to register for the various online streaming services. This was really very simple even though you have to go through a registration procedure for every site separately which is mildly annoying. Fortunately, Sony has set up customized portals to the online services, so this is also really very simple to do. I probably spent fifteen minutes doing this.

Upgrading the Harmony remote was a bit painful (which is not at all the fault of Sony). I found the answer to the Harmony's problems was to power down my laptop, make the USB connection from the remote to the laptop, then boot up my PC. I spent maybe an hour messing around with the Harmony (disabling firewalls, anti-virus, taking the battery out of the remote, trying different cables and so forth) before I realized that the power-down, connect, power-up sequence solved the problem. So, the biggest pain in the S350 to S380 transition was actually down to Logitech, not Sony. I love the Harmony, but it is crazy in this day and age that it can't effect a USB connection on the fly.

At this point, I am now up and running. Sound and picture quality are magnificent. The player is completely silent in operation. Streaming is wonderful and I get top of the range 5.1 sound. It's just fantastic and a film buff's dream.

Some reviewers comment that the Netflix interface is only so-so. For me (and I guess most people) I simply choose my Netflix movies on my laptop and add them to my queue, and they simply appear on the Sony Blu-ray ready to play. So, I don't honestly know what the big deal is here.

On final point as I sometimes watch Japanese and UK DVDs and Blu-ray disks, it would be helpful to hack the S380 to perform as a universal, all-region player. With the S380 this requires a professional hack it needs a pro to physically hack into the surface mounted chips, so it is a $100 $150 cost, which I will probably go for at some stage. With the S350 there was a software hack, but this is not the case for the new machine. For now (until I get the hack done) I will keep my hacked cheap and nasty Chinese DVD player (all of $30) to play my Japanese and UK DVDs. It's annoying that Hollywood continues to enforce this anti-competitive nonsense which is a serious pain to anyone who is multi-lingual or who wants to watch British or European sourced content. It seems Hollywood may be waking up to this, as most Blu-ray disks are now shipped without this ridiculous regional coding.

In summary, a tremendously good, near-perfect product. Messrs Morita and Ibuka must be looking down proudly from the heavens seeing that Sony is still producing such outstanding consumer electronics.

Pros:

Cheap amazing value for money.

Setup extraordinarily simply.

Aesthetics it's small, beautiful and light.

Picture and sound extraordinarily good.

Streaming magnificent.

Firmware upgrades simple, quick and efficient (though don't be that winning dude who disconnects his player during a firmware upgrade duh or you will "brick" your player).

Cons:

Build quality probably not quite as good as the S350 with more plastic used.

Optical output there isn't one, so if you need this, the S380 is the wrong player for you.

WiFi network connectivity you can't do this out of the box you need a $75 adaptor so you should consider buying one of the more expensive Sony players which has this incorporated already if this is important to you.

Multi-region capability this requires a specialist to do a hardware hack of your machine at a $100 $150 cost, it can't simply be hacked through software.

Boy am I behind times. Finally, a way to watch TV the way you should; when you want to and what you want to watch. Yeah, I'm talking about the "streaming video" feature of this player. Not only is the DVD quality great, but the streaming is awesome! After just 30 minutes of trying this player out, I returned my cable box, canceled all my channels, and for a fraction of what I was paying for cable, that I never watched (due to such lame channels) I'm watching all the programs I want, either via NetFlix or even better, via Amazon's Prime service. To anyone wondering if the Prime is worth it, I can say, YES. Not only do you get free two day shipping, you get a ton of free streaming videos. Movies, TV shows and the such, and many are in HD.

Some may say "what does this have to do with the DVD player", but if you read the description, you will find that this is way more than just a DVD player.

The only fault I have about the player, as of now, is that the remote is so darn small!! Yes, I have fat fingers and the "home" button and the "arrow down" button are so close together that I often hit the home key trying to scroll down and hence, I have to start all over again. ARG!

Other than that, again, WOW!

OH yeah, I forgot.... my first month's savings on cable will pay for the cost of this product...

I recommend this to anyone that is tired of paying outrageous prices for cable when what you really like to watch is either free or really cheap via the Internet and a device like this.

Update 06/12/11.. Beware of replacing your cable with Netflix. Seems they are the masters of "bait and switch". Yes, for three weeks, the streaming was great, now all they will stream me is very LOW quality. Even if I choose a HD movie. They will blame it on your ISP, even Sony, but if you Google them, you will find that they "down stream" all their video, and not just in Canada.

Buyer beware of Netflix if you want to use them to stream video. As of today, Amazon's Prime still streams flawlessly!

Sony ECM-DS30P Electret Condenser Digital Microphone

• Suitable stereo recording microphone with ICD/MD
• Compact and lightweight microphone for easy use
• Plug in power (no battery required)
• Includes carrying pouch and wind screen

I purchased this Sony ECM-DS30P mic to use with my Kodak Zi8 Pocket Video Camera. I wanted a little better sound capture at not a huge price. I trust the Sony name brand in sound equipment and the price was right. The total length of the mic is 2.2 inches (56.5 mm) and its' diameter is 0.45 inches (11.42 mm). It does capture sound in digital stereo. I haven't used any soft or hardware to determine the sound quality compared to the built in mic of the video camera. It does sound better to me, but don't get it twisted, it doesn't come anywhere close to the mics I use with my hand held HD camcorder. This mic does have a pivot point which allows you to rotate the sound capture head up to about a 45 degree angle. Because the external mic port on my Kodak cam is on the side, plugging this mic directly in would have its' sound capture ports (remember it is a stereo mic) facing up or down or front to back. Not ideal! Therefore, I purchased a 90 degree stereo adapter (with a male and female connection) from my local Radio Shack. It allows me to rotate the mic in almost infinite positions including straight down by the pocket cam's side for easy storage. There are probably better mics out there, but let's keep it real, for the price and quality and its' intended use this Sony ECM-DS30P microphone is hard to beat. I will up load some photos shortly.

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Very nice unit, but doesn't seem to work with iPhone 4. I suspect it requires more power than the iPhone delivers through the mini-jack. It would be nice if they specified that the mic isn't for iPhone. I'm still looking for an inexpensive directional mic for the iPhone.

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I use this microphone with my Olympus DM-10 digital voice recorder. The entire package fits easily in a shirt or jacket pocket. As a radio/tv broadcast journalist, this compact microphone allows me to record spontaneous interviews in broadcast quality. This is a superb microphone and worth every penny.

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The microphone performs admirably on my Olympus DM-1 (I'm thinking of getting a DS-2000 eventually), but one thing that needs to be known about this microphone is that it HAS to be plugged in for long-term usage.

The batteries on my DM-1 provided a little more than an hour's worth of energy before this microphone sucked them dry. Other than that, the product works just fine.

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I use this with my digital recorder whenever I have a traffic stop start to go bad.Its clear as a bell and when the defendant takes me to court and starts to lie that I was a rude officer,I whip out my recorded conversation for the judge and catch the defendant in a lie.Great microphone.

Pharos Traveler 117 3G Unlocked Phone with GPS, Turn-by-Turn Voice Guidance, Free Live Traffic, Gas

Have dropped a call yet Great sound. The SmartNavigator downloads date from satellites. no disks to buy. I've dropped it with no problems. Customer Support was great. Bummer is the very small stylus and I haven't figured how to make it loud enough so I can hear my alarms.

iTEKIRO Replacement Battery Charger Kit for Vivitar DVR-390H DVR-525HD DVR-530 DVR-545 DVR-550 DVR-

I am happy with this device. It works well and has convenient attachments for home and when travelling. The price was affordable, and it came right on time in the mail.

I lost my charger that plugged directly into the camera and ordered this battery charger as a replacement along with a backup battery. It works great to charge one battery while using the other.

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Makes a big difference when your battery runs out and have another one to use while charging the other. Works great!

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It works. I like that the light turns green to indicate a full charge.

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CP TECHNOLOGIES CP-UC-108 10-IN-1 I-series Card Reader

I've had this card reader for many years and it still works as good as the day I bought it. I had only on device back then but I knew that I would invest in other image capturing devices. Since this card reader has multiple sizes of card accepted, I have not had to worry if I could retrieve my data. Plus it keeps my desk clear of clutter only having one card reader.

Eclipse Mach Speed 4 GB MP3/Video Player with 1.8-Inch Touchscreen, Voice Recorder and FM Radio - (

• 1.8 inch color touch screen display for showing menu and lyrics
• Plays music and video, has an FM radio and also functions as a digital voice recorder
• 4GB of internal memory, built-in rechargeable battery
• Drag and drop file transfer
• What's included in the package: Media player, USB cable, and earbuds

To begin, let me explain that this was purchased as a gift for my 4-year-old.

I bought it with the intention of it being a miniature way for her to watch her videos (and thus leave my cell phone alone!) I have not tested out the ease of the mp3 portion, only the video. That's where it gets tricky.

You can only use AVI files of a certain size. While it is easy enough to add content to the player (drag and drop works just fine), making sure that your file is usable is the trick. There are several pieces of software that are on the internal drive of this player. After a failure on the first, I decided to try to download any number of free-ware (partly due to the fact that the 'converter' was only a trial edition!) Even though I was following the specifications included in the documentation, I would drag and drop only to get a 'format error' show up on the screen.

I was ready to leave a really negative review.

Finally I went through the tools on the player one more time and discovered one I'd missed. It's called mp4 tool, and it really DOES work with a practically one-click setup. Dragged and dropped and FINALLY got a workable file.

So do be prepared for some trial and error as you figure this out.

The interface on the screen seems pretty simple. I was a little disappointed to discover that even though the front screen is picture-driven, once you are in the video's folder the files are textual ... this is not a problem for me, but remember that this is a present for a four-year-old who does not know how to read yet. She picks her movies based on picture and graphics clues. I see a lot of "Mommy can you put (insert movie name here) on for me?" in my future.

I did not test this with the included earphones, because I didn't want to disentangle them before gifting this. I used a pair of dollar-store earbuds and the sound was okay. But please bear in mind I am not a huge audiophile who has to have the perfect surround sound and am satisfied with mediocre!

I will probably update this after my daughter has had it for a while to comment on durability.

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Its no iPod, but for the cost it does everything i need. i take this to the gym, so i just set the thing to random and listen. the headphones are decent, not great, but decent, and pretty loud. i have no issues hearing anything over the sound of the machines.

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This product is a really cheap buy, I used to own a few cheap iPod nano knock off MP4 players back when the iPod video came out and wrote a top 100 guide for them on ebay back in the day. I bought this expecting to get a similar product but boy was I wrong.

Lets start off with the design. It is shaped like an iPod shuffle but boasts a touchscreen with an AM radio and video playback. The constuction is bottom grade. It makes those Mp4 players I used to own look like like top of the line products. It uses low quality plastics and it looks like it was designed in a hurry. The metal portion of the player is low grade aluminum but is sturdy enough for normal use. The touchscreen is less then usable. The touch layer sits too high off of the display and you have to do finger smashing to get it to register. The display has poor color reproduction and is such a low resolution that watching videos on this is little more then a novelty trick.

Software

The interface is severely limited. The arrows do not do anything, it's a cheap trick to make you think it does more then it really does. It says it supports folder browsing to organize your music but only makes a list of all the songs on the device with no folder browsing. The radio does ok but it does not pick up radio stations very well. for a 1.8 inch screen it should have enough space to browse your music with no problem, but the resolution is so low that you cannot even read half of the song names.

Audio The audio amplifier is so low powered that even at maxed out volume the audio can barely comfortably be heard in a slightly noisy place like a gym. The signal is dirty as well. As mentioned the Audio player does not even allow folder browsing. It just loads a single list of all the songs onboard.

This product is little more then a scam using outright lies to get you to fork over some cash. If you want an overglorified iPod shuffle then you should be happy with this product, otherwise if you are looking for a feature rich device at a steal of a price then you can do way way better for about 10$ more. I would give it a little higher reguards if the touchscreen wasnt an absolute pain to use. The only person I would consider giving this to would be a young child looking for a toy to play music and videos, that is if they can muster up the strength to press the touchscreen.

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It is only built for music. That's not so good for me because I listen to a lot of audio books. So the music and the books all get lumped together with no way to seperate them. No playlists. It is not even your standard touch screen but it works well. All in all though it is a good player.

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This Mp3 player is a pure knockout. It works and exceeded my expectations. It has so many functions for a really good price. Everything about it is perfect, from design to functionality.

USB Data Cable/Cord For Olympus Voice Recorder VN Series VN-120 VN-480PC VN-702PC VN-801PC VN-960PC

The item was to replace one we couldn't find during a recent move. It worked great. It was longer than the original cord that came with the recorder (original was 6" long). After purchasing this we found original, so now have a back up. It arrived promptly. So overall, a very good transaction experience.

It Gives me a little more room to manipulate my digital recorder when I've hooked it up to my laptop.

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Dslr Rig System 15mm Rod Clamp

High Quality machined aluminum clamp. The knob is also high quality aluminum. The threads are clean cut and smooth. The 1/4" thread has an internal hex so you can remove it or move it if need be. I will be buying from this brand again.

it has a nice fit and finish for the price compared to the "name" brands this one works just the same.....

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SAMSUNG SHR-8160 Standalone Digital Video Recorder (16 Channel; 480 IPS; D1 Resolution)

I have no ploblems with the quality of the hardware, but its Software has problems.

The ActiveX automatic download from the DVR only works the first time in MS-Explorer, but once I rebooted my PC/laptop (one using windows vista the other windows 7) the Vidio Live display in Windows Internet Explorer does not work.

Also the iNET local area network Software supplied on the CD crashes with a java bug and fails to run in Windows Vista, but runs O.K. in windows 7.

Samsung SHR-8162 Samsung DVR, 16 Ch, MPEG4 compression, Dual Codec, 480 ips D1 record, real time vi

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Onkyo HT-S3100 5.1 Channel Home Entertainment System (Set of Seven, Black)

• 700 Watts into 5.1 Channels (115 Watts per Channel Minimum into 6 Ohms, 1 kHz, FTC [Front/Center/Surround];
• HDTV-Capable (50 MHz) Component Video Switching (3 Inputs, 1 Output)
• DTS, DTS Neo:6 5.1, Dolby® Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II
• Color-Coded 5.1-Multichannel Inputs (Receive 5.1 Surround Sound from Compatible Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD Players)
• H.C.P.S. (High Current Power Supply) Massive High Power Transformer

I was nervous about this purchase; so many choices for Home theatres.. component or all-in-one, how much to pay.. what are all these cables types/formats..

For my needs, this was a low cost (at $240) and effective solution. Setting things up was easy; lots of color-coded speaker wires. Needed only to purchase one TOSLINK cable to connect my Xbox 360 to it and I'm done.

The only (potential) downside is that this device does not have any HDMI ports; so if you have multiple HDMI sources (console+dvd+cable?), you will start to have troubles down the road unless your TV has enough HDMI inputs for them all. Also, there are only 2 TOSLINK (Optical Audio) ports.

The speaker cables look quite standard however and it looks like it will be quite easy to upgrade the receiver to something fancier without needing to buy speakers again.

I'm generally of the opinion that trying to buy "future-proof" electronics is expensive and/or futile. But I'm glad that this time, I've gotten a system that uses standard speaker wires (unlike my last cheap 5.1 system). I may regret the HDMI decision.. but at this time, I can't imagine needing more than 2 HDMI sources (which my 2 year old HDTV has).

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Fantastic home theatre in a box. I was always fearful of this type of home center. I used to sell Denon products and own a Denon amp and a large home theatre set up in my basement. I wanted something for the living room that I could hook up a DVD, DVR, and X-box to. This product does it all. I was a little leary of a non-powered sub woofer. But this system comes through, big time. A friend of mine will be ordering one soon, and I would recommend this to everyone. Sounds as good as it looks.

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I bought this with hopes it was going to be able to fill my living room with full sound. Since I have a very open floor plan, my ceiling in the living room is about 20 feet high and flows into the second floor of the house over a large balcony. This stereo definitely has the power to fill the room with sound. I can easy fill the entire house with sound.

I haven't yet used this for music, only movies and T.V. I tested it out using a few DVDs like Star Wars Episode II, III and to me it sounds just like the theater. Overall I'm very happy with this stereo and the price was just right.

I can't really think of any complaints.

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I must disagree with the assessment of the review dated 03/08/09. This system offers great sound whether you're watching a DVD, playing PS3, listening to CDs or digital music channels. The previous review was way too harsh on this great item. Crisp highs, thundering bass, and the mid range is there. Strongly urge use of a digital optical OR digital coaxial cable to achieve true 5.1 surround. NEVER run the digital cable from your TV to the receiver each component should be connected to the receiver individually. There are many settings involved in the set up of this system. *****THIS SYSTEM IS NOT READY TO GO RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX*****YOU HAVE TO READ THE MANUAL SO THAT YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THIS SYSTEM!****** An absolute great value is to be had by purchasing this system at a good discount price. It was only $230 when I purchased it back in December and I got $30 off of that for signing up for the Amazon Visa. $200 for this system made me very, very pleased when I set it up and realized just how great a system it is. Just because it doesn't cost $500-$1000 dollars DOESN'T mean that it does not sound good quite the contrary. This is a budget system which delivers quite good sound when set up properly!

I bought this set for my parents who're not sophisticated users, but want good sound quality for music and movies. After comparing more than 10 different sets, the HT S3100 was probably the best I could get in the price range. The installation is fairly easy. Overall sound quality is great, although I wish the bass could be a little for stronger. It doesn't have HDMI port, but that's probably why the price is highly competitive on Amazon.

Magnavox 500GB DVR and DVD Recorder MDR515H - Refurbished

Am using this DVR (ordered thru Amazon.com) to record specific shows received via DirecTV, using the DVR's "L1" input (requires pre-programming the DirecTV receiver to turn on for the desired shows and using DVR's "timed recording" feature programmed for recording the same time-periods ... a bit tedious but it works. The purpose for recording is to later burn DVD-Rs of the recorded medical shows for my sister. This HDD->DVD recording (done entirely within the DVR) illustrates the one flaw in this particular DVR ... the video output to the TV is constantly locked at "stretching" 4x3 to 16x9, regardless of the 3 aspect-ratios setable in the DVR. The burned DVD-Rs do have the proper aspect-ratios, so problem is only in video-out, not a show stopper for my purpose. This thing is doing my job OK.

We got this item and the DVD tray was warped. It would not close unless it was pushed shut. So we decided to return it. There was also nothing showing on the display on the front of the unit. Not sure if that was a defect or a setting that allows a person to turn the display off. I doubt that this item was inspected before it was boxed up, or the warped DVD tray would have been spotted and repaired. It was not returned to factory settings after having been used, because there was a recording on the hard drive when we got it. So, check for recordings before letting your kids use it...

The tuner worked better than another tuner we had. The channels came in clearer. We didn't test the other features.

Worldwide distributors allowed us to return the item but of course I had to pay for shipping (both ways, although they initially shipped it for free, they deducted $9 from my refund for shipping it to me). From now on I will always order from Amazon, never again from a third party. It's just not worth it when something goes wrong.

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MDR533H/F7, MDR535H/F7, MDR537H/F7 (53x Series)

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Three new Mag std def HDD/DVD recorders arrived 9//5/12: 533/535/537 (53x Series).

These are new versions of the MDR515 which ended production in 1st Qtr 2012, with no plans for continued development or production of new models, i.e., it was "the end of the line, la fin, el fin, die ende, hasta la vista baby, gone bye-bye."

However, we made an "emergency" appeal on avsforum.com to AT LEAST continue producing units similar to the MDR515 so we have SOMETHING to use as an HDD recorder/pseudo-DVR.

Each has a different-sized HDD: 320GB, 500GB, 1TB (1000GB). They also have a "different" tuner... ANT IN/OUT connectors are closer together. Previous tuner reached end-of-life (EOL) so Funai had to get a different one. It's still a hybrid (switched) design. Also, HDD title capacity has been increased in the FW from 600 to 999.

More info at avsforum.com > Forums > Video Components > DVD Recorders > Magnavox 537, 535, 533, 515, 513, 2160A, 2160, 2080 & Philips 3576, 3575.

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I'm love my new recorder. It saves me having to buy blank DVDs to record the shows I want to watch at a later time. Now I can record as much as I want and delete them after watching them. I only burn the shows I want to keep.

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I've had this DVR for a month or two, now. This is not a full review, but here are the reasons why I like it:

1) No monthly service contract. Once you buy the DVR you can use it without paying a monthly fee. I (generally) record sporting events off the air (NFL) for watching later. I don't have, and thus don't pay for, cable or satellite so it would have stuck in my craw to have to pay (a monthly fee) to record something.

2) Fast forwarding a show you are currently recording. Start recording your show, do something else for 30-60 minutes and come back to watch it and be able to fast forward through commercials and boring parts of show.

3) HDMI connection to TV. This allows better than 640x480 resolution to TV. Thus the built-in DVD player can play DVDs at the wide aspect ratio.

4) DVD player is pretty good. I've had other Magnavox DVD players and they had issues decrypting some DVDs. No issues with playing DVDs with this DVR yet.

I did not give this device 5 stars because it cannot record two shows at the same time. With the internal disk, it should be able to do that. Even so, this device has been great so far.

-mz