Sony BDP-S570 3D Blu-ray Disc Player

• BRAVIA Internet Video , Access movies, music, videos and more.
• Built-in Wi-Fi and Blu-ray 3D playback capability.
• iPhone , iPod touch BD Remote.
• Quick Start , Load to watch movies faster than ever.
• DLNA wireless streaming of photos, videos and music

The sony S570 is a great player. The fast load system is excellent and much faster than the older 300s models. The setup was easy (it walks you through each step) I use the wireless N router and the speeds are awesome. Seamless integration with our Netflix account and the ability to watch Youtube videos is a great addition to what the player can do. Great 1080p picture and good upconversion of dvds. Do not be afraid of this player. If you have a netflix account or would like to watch youtube videos on your TVthis is your player. Also on a side noteyou have several other choices besides Netflix and youtube. You have Amazons video on demand service and several other free video services.

Buy Sony BDP-S570 3D Blu-ray Disc Player Now

A week or so ago I replaced my Sony BDP-S300 Blu Ray Disk player with a new model, the BDP-S570. The S570 is one of Sony's newest players, and in the middle of their consumer line as far as model lineup. It was amazingly low priced at $249.

I decided to upgrade from the S300 for two main reasons. First, the load times on the S300 are excruciatingly slow, and second it cannot bitstream the newest audio codecs so I was forced to use its on-board decoder and analog output. With my new Emotiva prepro I wanted to reduce cable complexity and use HDMI only.

I started doing some research into the newest crop of BRD players and was convinced I would probably get the Oppo 83. But a few reviews on CNET and elsewhere said the S570 had "the fastest load times ever tested" and they ranked it as faster than and 83. It also has some of the new whiz-bang stuff like wifi, SACD compatibility, Netflix and Amazon streaming, Profile 2.0, 1Gb internal memory, HDMI 1.4 and 3D capability. So I looked up the Sony and found it was half the price of the Oppo, and decided to go for it. I figured that for $250 if I hated it I could send it back or pawn it off onto someone else.

Impressions of the Sony S570:

If you are an equipment snob like me and want your gear to feel substantial, like a quality device, this machine is NOT for you. I thought the box was empty when it arrived. The machine feels like it weights a few ounces (actually it weighs 2Kg or about 4 1/2 pounds.) Upon opening it, I was even more disappointed. this thing is super cheap feeling you know how some plastic feels "good" and other plastic feels "cheap" and flimsy? This feels cheap. The buttons on the front are almost repulsive little Chiclets about the size of the buttons on my cell phone and remind me of some kind of toy made by Coleco. The disc tray feels like I will break it if I push it in. At least the remote is pretty nice so I won't have to touch the cheesy buttons. If just feels cheap. The power cord is molded into the chassis. The chassis is a non-standard size, which always drives me mad. It is almost a standard rack width at 17" wide, but it is only 8" deep, meaning it is too shallow for any other piece of gear to sit on top of it. I had to rig some rear "feet" for my DVR to sit it on top the Sony. Initial impressions were not good at all and I thought I had made a mistake buying this thing. At least once it is in the rack it doesn't look cheap. The all-black front is not as nice as the blue tinted plastic on the S300, but it looks like it belongs in a good equipment rack. Just don't touch it.

The connectors on the back feature a single HDMI jack, component and composite video, stereo analog audio (that goes with the composite video), Ethernet, digital coax and optical, and USB. There are no multichannel analog audio outputs if you need these, and I found it odd that it would offer legacy video outputs but force anyone using those to only use digital audio or HDMI for high-resolution audio. The USB connector is interesting as it allows the user to connect a memory stick (and the promise later a hard drive) for storing downloaded video. There is also a USB connector on the front and the machine can display a variety of digital image formats and play back a variety of digital audio formats directly from the USB connections, or via its networking capability. So while I probably won't use it as such, the machine has the ability to serve as a media hub. That's pretty nice.

I plugged it in and connected via HDMI to my pre-pro. The remote codes were in the Harmony database. I fired it up and went through the very logical and intuitive setup routine on-screen without having to refer to the owner's manual. I connected it to my network wirelessly (it has 801.n wireless built in) and had it check for a firmware update. There was one, so before I could try it I let it download and update which took about 15 minutes to complete. After it rebooted, I started exploring.

The user interface looks exactly like the PS3. This is not surprising since this box is pretty much the PS3 without the gaming capability or any on-board hard drive. It was intuitive and easy to navigate. I went to the setup screens and went through all the settings to see if I needed to adjust anything. Then I popped in a Blu Ray disc (Up.)

Wow. I was shocked. Where the old S300 would give me several "loading" screens and I could almost walk the half mile to the nearest Starbucks, get a latte and walk back before a disc was ready to play, this thing flashed the screen a couple of times and boom, it was ready to go. It was literally the fastest load I'd ever seen, faster than the CD player in my car can load a CD. Very impressive. The picture quality was also outstanding, as I expected. The sound, however, was not right.

"Up" has a dts-HD soundtrack, and the Emotiva processor told me the Sony was sending it multi-channel PCM. Hmm. I went back into the setup screens and it said dts was set to output as dts, but there did not seem to be any settings associated with the HD codecs. Hmm again. So I stopped the disc and thumbed through the owners manual. No mention of anything special I need to do. Time to hit up Google. Nothing obvious came up. Back to the owner's manual and I notice in the troubleshooting section a problem called "Dolby True HD and dts HD bitstream does not work." Aha. It seems one must set a user setting called "BD Audio Mix Output" to "OFF" and then the high def codecs will bitstream. Oh really? So I did this, and boom the Emotiva told me the sound track was dts-HD. There is no where other than this troubleshooting guide that mentions this, and the setup information says the "BD Audio Mix" function has something to do with the secondary audio tracks.

So, if any of you purchase this box or it's siblings, be sure to set this function to "OFF" if you have a pre-pro that decodes the new codecs.

After enjoying "Up" I tried the Netflix streaming function and cued up "The King of California." It came up on the screen surprisingly quickly, and the video quality was not HD but acceptable for casual viewing. It did seem to have to re-buffer too often, but perhaps adding a nice big 32G memory stick to the rear USB port will help this.

Next I tried playing back an SACD (Madman Across The Water.) The S570 outputs SACD as either Multi-PCM or Multi-channel DSD. I had set it to DSD, but the Emotiva will not accept a DSD input. The Sony detected this via the HDMI handshake and output the music as multi-channel PCM. It sounded pretty darn good.

Bottom line, my bias against cheap-feeling gear was wrong and I love this box. I didn't think I'd ever use the Profile 2.0 BD-Live features or something like Netflix streaming but I was wrong, I had a good time checking it out. I still think I'll never use the 3D features but who knows. I am happy I bought this and feel it is one of the best bargain buys I have ever made for my HT.

If however it really is as cheap as it feels and it breaks down after a few months, I'll be sure to let everyone here know.

Read Best Reviews of Sony BDP-S570 3D Blu-ray Disc Player Here

OK , got my S570 and tested everything I could. This is not a professional review since I'm not a pro.

-UNPACKING AND INSTALLING:

The box is very small, half the size of the 460 box. The player is also much smaller than the 460. The installation was a breeze because I basically removed my 460 and replaced it with the 570. I don't need the wireless, just hooket it to my Ethernet switch and set a fixed IP address like I do on any device I have.

The eject button on the player is almost impossible to find. Bring the remote.

The activation of both Netflix and Amazon can be a real pain and I had to register both again.

I changed the following settings from the default:

.Audio Mix to OFF

.Gracenote to AUTO

.Network settings to manual IP address.

.SACD to DSD

.IP Noise Reduction to zero

As soon as I turned the player on, a firmware update came up and its now version 315.

-BLURAY/DVD PICTURE QUALITY

Nothing new here. Bluray is great as it is with any other player and DVD is OK, nothing to brag about but decent. Professional reviews will give more info about cadence and other things, I spend my time watching movies not calibration disks.

Only thing new is the Gracenote that gives some info on the title but will interrupt playback and return the movie to start position.

-AMAZON/NETFLIX

If you know the 460, the interface is the same (very basic) but with an interesting difference on the audio side. With the 460 I can get DD 5.1 from Amazon and only get audio from Netflix if I set HDMI AUDIO to PCM. With the 570, all the streaming comes in PCM even if HDMI AUDIO is set to AUTO. I think it's a bug with the 460 that happens only with few receivers (no audio unless PCM is set) that is now fixed with the 570. I know, a little confusing.

There is an IP video noise reduction that defaults to 2. I set it to zero because I hate any kind of NR. Picture gets softer in most cases.

Picture quality with Amazon is good and so-so with Netflix but nothing that can be blamed on the player. BTW, my Internet connection is good, 18 Mbps hard-wired.

Gracenote doesn't work with Netflix or Amazon, but you don't need it.

-OTHER WEB SERVICES

There are 1 or 2 services not present on the 460 and few "coming soon". The most important is the Qriosity, from Sony, that promises to rival Netflix/Amazon. There is a Qriosity icon as a placeholder on the menu axis. More info here: .

-DLNA

Doesn't exist. Firmware upgrade ? Shame on you Sony.The Sony website is now updated and has a footnote about the upgrade but it wasn't there when I bought the player.

-USB DISK AND FILES SUPPORTED.

I used a pendrive to test quite a few file formats. Here is the result:

.M2TS Both movies recorded from my Canon Camcorder and the Hauppauge HD-PVR played perfectly. Great !

.MPG No problems, as expected.

.WMV Played without a glitch.

.MKV The video recorded with Makemkv didn't play at all (msg about corrupted file). The video recorded with Handbrake played but with a lot of pixelation.

.M4V Same as above. Also created by Handbrake.

.ISO Not recognized at all. Didn't show up on the playlist.

.MOV Same as above.

.AVI Same as above.

I think the only good news so far is the flawless playback of the 2 M2TS files.

-SACD

This is the Grand Finale: Absolutely fantastic . My Pioneer 94 can take DSD direct (no PCM conversion) and the sound is great. I set the receiver to "pure direct" and the sound was warm, tube like, beautiful. Obviously the receiver plays the big role here but the 570 did everything you could expect.

MY SETUP:

.Panasonic P65V10

.Pioneer 64 receiver

.Sony BDP S570 player

.U-Verse 18 Mbps Internet Service

.Everything through HDMI links.

I hope I gave you some highlights on the 570. Overall it's a great deal and a bargain considering what it can do. Let's hope the DLNA upgrade comes soon and works as expected.

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First, a little background. I purchased a Sony BDP-S300 (one of the early Sony BD players) three years ago to use with my home-theatre setup. It was always a great player, just a basic machine with no frills. Not a lot of advanced features, but it always had superb picture quality and it played anything you could put in it.

Anyway, in mid-2009 I started looking for a new BD machine to replace the aging S300. The S300 had wonderful picture quality, no doubt about it, but it was becoming troublesome with long waits for load times, sometimes taking up to five minutes to start playing a Java-enabled Blu-ray disc (from cold power-on to disc main menu). In the process of "auditioning" new machines, I tried out a Samsung BD-P1600 and a Sony BDP-N460, both of which were returned to the store for one reason or another.

Well, my good friends, it appears as though my long wait for a replacement for the S300 is over. I purchased a Sony BDP-S570 on Thursday, March 4th 2010, and I could not be happier with the results.

Now let me say that I am looking at players for playback quality alone. I am not interested in connecting the machine to the Internet -which may put off some of you. I am only concerned with load times, wait times, picture quality, sound quality. All else for me is a moot point because I connect my television directly to my Windows XP Media Centre PC for things such as Netflix, Youtube, Pandora, etc. So this review and comments are only in regard to video playback of various discs on this machine.

Upon removing the BDP-S570 from its box, and connecting it to the television via HDMI, I loaded our first "test disc", the 2009 Java-heavy Paramount Blu-ray release of J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek". The disc loaded faster than you can say "Klingon". I was also quite impressed when pressing the "Pop Up/Menu" button on the remote control automatically forced the disc to skip through the four trailers (that play automatically at the start most of the time). This is the first machine that could blow past the trailers like that in one fell swoop. (Formerly, you had to use the fast-forward function to forward through each trailer one at a time.)

As many of you know, The "Star Trek" BD was one of the most well-received BDs of 2009 in terms of picture quality. Well let me say the PQ looks extraordinary on this player and my television. The only problem I noted was a brief glitch in the video outputting/processing, when a herky-jerky something happened and skipped a brief second during the climactic space battle at the end of the movie. I reversed the movie and played it again, and the second time around, no problems.

Second test disc was the 2007 Columbia BD release of "Spider-Man 2" (from the trilogy boxed set). This disc loaded quickly and played flawlessly, again perfect PQ and video outputting. No complaints here at all.

Final test disc was the 2006 Disney Platinum Edition DVD release of "The Little Mermaid". This disc loaded very quickly and the picture quality throughout was superb. No jaggies at all like you'd see on some other BD machines when playing standard DVDs. Superb auto upscaling to 1080P from the disc's native 480i.

Some specific features that impressed me with this player: The remote control has an open/close button on it, which was missing on older Sony BD remote controls (particularly the N460). This player has the easiest auto set-up (by far) of any of the various new players I've connected to my TV out of the box. Finally, you can deactivate the lights and numerical (counter) display on the front of the machine, so it is completely dark when powered on. This is a handy feature if you, like me, dislike all those lights particularly when playing a movie in a darkened room.

Also I particularly like the small size of this player. The S300 was a behemoth in comparison. This player takes no room at all in my component cabinet (in fact it is so small I can't keep my Wii on top like I did with my old player).

All in all this is a superb A+++++ machine from Sony. Here is the player I was waiting for. Technology has caught up to the level such that these players have really come into their own. Also this player is 3D capable with the expected firmware coming this summer. So I will be ready to watch Avatar when the 3D BD is released. Celebration all around.

I spent numerous hours reviewing Blu-ray players before deciding on the Sony BDP-S570. Some of my primary requirements were:

Netflix capable

Wi-Fi capable

Additional online content

Economical

I know my requirements are not that stringent, but the player is just for the family. I wanted to be able to do Full HD 1080p and the family/kids wanted to be able to watch Netflix. I wanted/needed Wi-Fi because I did not want to run a network cable.

After reading hours of reviews I decided on the Sony BDP-S570 because it met all of my requirements, as well as, is prepared to be a 3D player with a firmware upgrade. I watched Amazon for about a month and finally it went on sale for $224. I brought it immediately.

I had my new Blu-Ray player up and running immediately. I connected the Blu-Ray to my network and immediately updated the firmware. I registered with Netflix and was watching movies instantly. I have not had any issues whatsoever with Netflix. This is a great box if this is one of your major requirements. I also registered with Pandora and Slacker and have very much enjoyed the online music. My family has also enjoyed watching YouTube as well.

After a month I am extremely happy with my purchase and highly recommend this Blu-Ray player.

ALZO Transformer DSLR Rig

Moving from still photography to video has put more demands on having everything work together. With a video light, microphone, camera and maybe a flash for an intermittent still shot, my hands are full. The ALZO rig has become the assistant I need.

My camera is a Canon T2i. The mounting plate just allows for battery access without removing the camera from the rig. Mounts nicely on my tripod which serves as stability for stationary shots as well as weight for shooting while moving.

Bonus: People think I know what I'm doing when they see me with this setup. Someday maybe they'll be right

I've been a still photographer for years, and am recently (like many of us) ramping up into video production.

I did quite a bit of research, and initially I was hoping for a less expensive alternative to the popular "FigRig" setup. The Alzo DSLR rig, while clearly designed as a cage for rigging equipment, also fills the role of hand-held stabilizer for me quite well.

I have the option to mount any number of accessories, and by widening my grip I am able to produce significantly more steady shots.

Also, I highly recommend purchasing the kit with the top handle if you can afford it.

My only complaint is that, even after purchasing the additional riser pieces, there is only barely enough room for my Canon 7d w/battery grip to be mounted and it will not fit in the rig if I try to use a quick release plate. I could add additional riser bits, or make something to custom fit (after all they are a standard 1/4" thread) which I may do in the future if the lack of quick release plate irritates me enough.

Bottom line for the price, I am extremely happy. High quality parts, and a well thought out design. I'll definitely be making more purchases from Alzo's catalog in the future.

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I liked this item but eventually had to purchase it because the ALZO Transformer wasn't the best rig for my needs. Overall, I would recommend several of the products that ALZO makes.

Read Best Reviews of ALZO Transformer DSLR Rig Here

Bought this solely based on the very positive reviews of others. Pictures didn't look as polished or as impressive as several other cage/rig type DSLR setups but the reviews convinced me to purchase anyway. Very glad I did. Super solid build. Very functional and well thought out with access to battery compartment on cameras like Canon, and in my case, Panasonic GH2. Offset base allows for flip-out LCD to be fully functional. Multiple cold shoe mounts and 1/4" mounts make this a kind of Swiss army knife of cage/rig equipment.

After first use in a shoot I can't say anything negative about its build and function. Bought it along with the Alzo shock mount for my Tascam DR-40 recorder and Audio Technica AT897 shotgun mic. It solidly holds all equipment in place, allows for easy shot stabilization and camera handling. There's still room for my LED light and external monitor. Finally, mounts easily on my Davis & Sanford V12 head.

I thought the handlebar style grips looked a little cheesy in the pics on Amazon but in person the entire setup speaks function and pro-use all the way. So happy I got this.

I guess I have one very minor complaint. It would be nice if the painted black aluminum were anodized aluminum. It appears to be only painted which is less expensive and less durable in terms of paint finish. Otherwise this thing rocks!

Want ALZO Transformer DSLR Rig Discount?

This is a solid rig for a tripod or hand-held.

However the bolts in the bottom of the handles come lose easily. I remedied this by coating the threads with loctite and have not had a problem since.

JVC GRSXM250 S-VHS-C Camcorder with 2.5" LCD, Auto-Light, and Image Stabilization

We love this new camera because it is the same features we had in our old camera.. We wanted a new one that had the flip out screen and for the price it cant be beat... BUT we cant believe they took away the personal title generator where you could type your own title in instead of using the 7 or 8 presets they have... It was a must ~ now we will have to learn to do without.. Still a great buy for those not willing or ready to go to digital and still wanting the top features...

I Think it's an upgrade from GRSXM240 S-VHS-C Camcoder.

one special feature is you can use batttery or adapter power

even when the battery pack is loaded.It also has a locking

on/off switch,with a nice red button to press for recording.

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This is an excellent camcorder. Virtually brand new and had many features...especially the LCD panel. Tech for Less was outstanding for assistance in operating manual and quick shipping. Hard to find a VHS-C camcorder toady when everything is digital. Can now play all my old tapes.

Read Best Reviews of JVC GRSXM250 S-VHS-C Camcorder with 2.5" LCD, Auto-Light, and Image Stabilization Here

I bought this camera almost 2 years ago, and it has been great. This camera has a lot of cool features. However, I was very disappointed when I went to use it over the holidays, and it said "lens cap" on the screen. I thought I was crazy because the lens cap was removed and I still got message on the lcd screen. Long story short, I can only watch tapes and no longer record. I have notified JVC and I am still waiting for a response on how to correct the problem. I really like the camera and I hope it can be repaired. If any body has experienced this problem~ please let me know what you did to correct it and if it was very expensive.

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iriver IFP-790T 256 MB Portable MP3 Player

• Plays MP3, WMA & OGG music files
• Plays up to 8 hours of music
• Transfers music up to 3X faster
• Record music from any audio source (no PC required)
• Up to 40 hours of battery life

I've owned this player for about three weeks now and am very happy with it. Very nice sound quality and fairly easy to use. There are a few things that put it over other 256MB players in my opinion...

1. UMS FIRMWARE UPGRADE. This is probably the most important thing I'll list. I did this as soon as I got the player and it made it that much better. Contrary to what some other reviewers may say here, you CAN make this device (as well as ANY products in the IFP-700 or 800 series) function as a regular flash drive, and not have to use the included IRiver software to transfer songs. Just go to the IRiver site and/or Google search for the UMS firmware update for this device (currently it is at version 1.28). Once you upgrade the firmware (the instructions are easy to follow on the site) it will operate not only as an MP3 player, but as a portable storage device for ANY type of file you need to transfer. This also makes it MUCH easier to transfer/arrange/rename/delete your files around on the player, as you can do it in Windows Explorer instead of doing it through the onboard player menus.

2. OGG FILE SUPPORT ALLOWS YOU MORE SPACE FOR SONGS WHILE STILL RETAINING HIGH QUALITY SOUND. For those not aware, OGG is a file type similar to MP3, but with better quality and smaller file size IE, a 128kbps OGG file will sound better than an 128kbps MP3 file. Although it's unfortunate that it won't support any bitrate of OGG, it's a very minor issue. The lowest it will accept is 112kbps, but considering that's practically on par with a 160 kbps MP3, you can fit a lot more songs on here than you could with MP3s of an equivalent quality. I've encoded all my songs at 112kbps in OGG format and it's less than half-full with 32 songs on it and they all sound very good. Should be able to fit about 70 songs on here no problem, which is more than enough for me since I mainly use this as a workout music player. If you're unfamiliar with OGG files just go to vorbis.com and check out the oggdrop program. Very simple to use, set the bitrate and then just drag and drop wavs to encode them.

3. QUALITY HEADPHONES. While they certainly aren't the best money can buy, they certainly ARE better than most pack-in headphones you get with CD or MP3 players. I see no reason to buy seperate ones. (note the ones included with this model are the ear-bud type, I'd recommend putting the included foam-ish covers over them to avoid them becoming uncomfortable)

4. BATTERY LIFE. The fact that it uses a AA battery instead of a AAA battery makes it last longer than many other MP3 players. It won't quite reach the 40 hours advertised, but it's certainly well upwards of 30.

5. EXTRAS. Although the included arm-band won't win any awards, and the only bicep I could see it fitting around would be...oh, maybe Rick Moranis', it fits fine around just about anyone's forearm and the headphones are long enough to accomodate just about anyone...I'm 6'6 and it was plenty long enough for me while running. There is also a neck band included if you want to wear it around your neck instead. The documentation with the product is fairly well written, although there are so many menus and little features that some people may feel a bit overwhelmed at first. It also comes with a protective plastic-ish cover which slips over it and attaches to the armband. I just leave the cover on most of the time so the screen doesn't get scratched. Also includes an FM radio and voice recorder which I don't have much use for but will definitely appeal to most people. Finally, it also has a connector cord included if you need to do any direct line-in recording which is another nice feature, but something I don't think I'll ever use.

MY MAIN PROBLEM with this product is the joystick control. The little joystick is...LITTLE. I often find myself hitting up when I want to hit right, or hitting right when I want to push the stick in. Occasionally I'll be trying to turn the volume up and end up skipping to the next track instead. You'll probably want to be sitting still when you are using it, otherwise it may become a baffling ordeal for even the most brilliant among us.

I'd definitely recommend this if 256MB of space is large enough for you. If you encode your files properly like I talked about above you can fit quite a few songs on this. This is mainly used by me as a music player during workouts and so far it has worked great. I may upgrade to the 512MB version someday, but for now this serves me fine. If it weren't for the annoying controls/interface, this would be 5 stars easily.

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I recently purchased this mp3 player, and I am definitely satisfied with my choice. I used to have a 15 gb dell dj, which is the equivalent to an ipod. I didn't need all that storage space, so I sold it. I bought this so that I would have an mp3 player with just enough storage to put some of my favorite songs at the moment on, and carry it around with me so that I did not need to carry a cd player and cds all the time. I have 25 songs on it at the moment, and it still has plenty of space left. It can probably hold over 60. The reason i picked this over the others was because of the fact that it has a 40 hour battery life. Most have only 20! This is because it uses an AA battery, and not an AAA like most mp3 players. I also liked the fact that it had an FM transmitter. Other reviews said it was kind of scratchy, but I think it's pretty good for a little unit like this. I can receive stations better on this than on my stereo! It also is capable of recording FM broadcasts, and has a microphone for voice recording as well, although i don't think i'll use those features much. Everything is easy to figure out, and I didn't even have to consult the manual until i wanted to preset FM stations, but that was easy too, i just didn't know what to hit. The only con is the small control button, but it works just fine. The sound on this unit is excellent as well, and the earbuds that come with it are great too! I usually get tired of them though, and when I plugged in my headphones, it was even better. You can customize the EQ and bass and stuff like that very easily in the menu too. Overall, this is an awesome mp3 player. I haven't had it for long, but I already like it better than my Dell DJ and if you don't need an mp3 player to hold 2,000+ songs and just to hold between 25-60, then this is the one.

Read Best Reviews of iriver IFP-790T 256 MB Portable MP3 Player Here

As some previous reviews claimed, the iRiver is great in that it:

(a) is small and lightweight, with a very convenient arm band for when I do my 5-mile runs.

(b) lasts a long, long time on a regular battery.

(c) is fairly easy to use for downloading, as long as you stick to the WMA format and use the CD software that comes with it.

(d) holds a decent number of songs, although I find that I have to switch my playlists at least once a month.

(e) doesn't skip.

However, figuring out the bells and whistles is surprisingly complicated (even for someone like me who tends to intuit gadgets fairly well). If you download *folders* of music and play straight from those, it's easy enough to figure out how to shuffle tracks and switch between folders, but I've given up on trying to actually program any *playlists*.

Other small nuisances include:

(a) the player occasionally switches songs when I try to adjust the volume while running, because the same small joystick controls both functions.

(b) the included ear buds are no good for running, because they'll fall out.

(c) the radio feature is nice, but I don't get nearly as good or reliable reception as I do with my car stereo.

(d) **** this one is my worst pet peeve **** the "random shuffle" mode doesn't randomly shuffle through all the songs in a folder in any true *random* fashion. Unless I keep my folders small, I find that some of the same tracks come up in the same order every time I run, and what's worse, some songs never get played at all, even if I try to skip ahead to all of them--instead, the player goes back to the beginning of the "random" list and plays the same songs in the same order again. (For those out there who know that random doesn't always *appear* to be random, trust me--this feature doesn't work correctly with more than a couple of dozen tracks.)

Nuisances aside, I am pretty happy with the purchase.

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I bought this unit to replace my Rio, which failed me after three years of faithful service. I am very impressed with the features, the size, and the sound quality of the iRiver.

The navigation leaves a bit to be desired, however. iRiver has done a remarkable job in providing access to lots of features with only a few buttons, but the little joystick is prone to jumping to the wrong thing. With so many functions on such a small device, I suppose it is a necessary evil, but it can be frustrating when you try to push the stick one way and the unit recognizes it differently.

My only other complaints are minor. You have to use the iRiver software (which is actually pretty darn good) or Windows Media Player to move files to the unit. I would prefer to see the unit as a removable drive, like many flash mp3 players. The earbuds sound great, but they hurt my ears after about 30 minutes. I typically don't like in-the-ear earbuds, so your experience may be different. The arm strap that came with the unit is useless; as it is too small, too bulky and ugly as the day is long. There is no belt clip included. I will probably buy the sport arm strap/belt clip to go with it, but I wish they had included that with the unit.

I have had a fair amount of experience with mp3 players, and I think this one rates near the top of the heap. It's a nice little unit with an amazing number of features and only a few small complaints.

I got this MP3 player for christmas. It was not long before I had the Iriver hooked up to my PC via the USB 2.0 link cable. I quickly installed the file managment software included with the MP3 player and moved a song to the Iriver. Let me stop here and tell you how easy this was. I didn't have to do anything with the Iriver itself but turn it on. The managment software was incredibly easy to use. You simply open the folder containing the subfolder or files you want to use and drag them to a screen that represents what is on your Iriver. Once I had the song on, I plugged my Sony studio moniter headphones into the headphone jack and began to jam. (Vertigo rules!!!) Yes, I am a U2 fan. Back to the story. After the novelty of playing Vertigo over and over again wore off, I checked out the FM tuner. It was pretty scratchy on most stations. I don't really listen to FM radio that much so I can't really give an opinion on this feature though. Eventually, I got tired of not having control of what songs I listened too. I decided to turn off the FM and check out the rest of the IFP 790 interface. To access the main menu, I had to hold down the enter button. This took me a little to figure out but never the less, I did not have to disgrace myself by using the manual. You can do several things on the main menu. You can make small sound adjustments, set the clock and alarm, goof around with recording and radio options I did not really understand. I even found a way to get the Iriver to automatically record a radio station at a certain time. Now that I had my Iriver totally figured out, It was time to load er' up and listen to some tunes. The capacity suprised me. I guess I didn't really know how much 256 megabytes could hold. I was expecting to be able to put 2-3 albums on but it can hold much more than that. Right now I have fifty songs on it and I think I have around a quarter of the space left.

All in all I would give this MP3 player a 4.5 out of five.

Pros

Downloading music was quick and exeptionally easy

small size makes it easy to hold in pocket

the fact that it takes AA batteries and still last about 40 hours on one makes it easy to juice up.

Easy interface with several extra features.

Easy recording.

Cons

Battery cover seemed easy to break.

Does not hold a lot of music, but if you want a lot of storage buy a hard drive player, not a flash player.

there wasn't anything to clip it to my belt loops :( At least it can fit in my pocket

TRENDnet 300Mbps Wireless N Access Point TEW-638APB (Black)

Home networking can be a real pain especially for someone like me who knows enough to be dangerous but not enough to be a network installer. I have a wireless router burried in my basement that wasn't getting signal to my upstairs part of the house. I tried two other different products 1) two routers connected to each other and 2) a Hawking repeater. I ended up wasting a lot of time with them and they just didnt work or had compatibility issues. I took a plunge on the no brand trendnet based on this other positive review and he was 100% right. The price is 50% cheaper than the comparable Linksys N switch and does exactly as advertised. Setup took 5 minutes and I now have coverage all over my house. No issues so far.

UPDATE 07/02/10: Firmware fixes! v1.2.7 greatly improves the stability of this unit and now it performs flawlessly.

Original review:

I have had this AP for a few months now. It was not difficult to set up at all. When it works properly, I get decent speeds. However since this is a 2.4GHz access point don't expect channel bonding to work as well as in a 5GHz or dual band unit because the 2.4GHz band is basically overloaded. Also, this access point only comes with a 100BaseTX wired ethernet interface, so even if you got more than 100Mbps on the wireless side you're limited by the wired interface.

I also have it set up with WPA2, initially with WPA2-PSK and now with WPA2 enterprise using FreeRADIUS on pfsense for better security.

It does have multiple SSIDs but what is the point of that? It's not like you can segment it into VLANs or anything so this is a pointless feature. This would have been useful because I could keep one SSID open and put it on a DMZ on my firewall so I can give guests wifi access without opening up my whole network.

That said, my access point refuses to connect every ever so often. Completely random, but usually after I've completed some large file transfers over N wireless. It almost seems as though some buffers in the device are being saturated and the device just locks up. My laptop or iPod will attempt to associate then fail with no explanation, then magically come back after I power cycle the device.

I have not seen any firmware updates for it that would fix the issue so I think I'll just attempt to get warranty service for it or just get another access point like a Cisco.

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The documentation that comes with the product is poor. The web site is not very informative.

My access point had a non-standard default password when reset to factory defaults. I had to guess to figure it out.

I bought two to set up a network for a larger area. Figuring out how to do it was a process of trial and error. In the "Knowledge Base" on the TRENDnet web site, it's hard to tell which access point needs to be configured in what way in order to get it to work.

I could forgive these problems. However, when conducting large data transfers over a secure network (think backup) it would reboot itself. Often, when it did so, it would forget it's entire configuration. Fortunately, I backed up the configuration to a file. It's annoying to have to manually fix my access point every few weeks... more often when it's hot.

Eventually I bought a netbook cooler (with a fan) to put the thing on. That helped... now it does not reboot and loose its mind so often... but it still does occasionally.

Stay away from this junk. I used to love TRENDnet because they had good quality products for good prices. Now, I will stay away from TRENDnet products. An item this expensive should have better documentation and should be reliable.

Read Best Reviews of TRENDnet 300Mbps Wireless N Access Point TEW-638APB (Black) Here

This works well as far as speed, but needs a daily reboot. Not sure what the issue is, as it just drops all connected devices.

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Sometimes you can use a wireless adapter to get your device on your network. Sometimes your TV or Blu-ray player leaves you with no option other than a wired connection. This device allows you to put a switch or hub anywhere in a typical home or plug any network cable directly into it for a network connection.

Alternatively, two of these can tie remote areas of a network together wirelessly without having this emulate a wireless adapter. You can also use this by plugging it into your network in locations where wireless devices, such as laptops get weak signals. You could even have an individual laptop use this instead of its built in adapter if it has trouble picking up on your network from remote areas of your home.

You start off by connecting this device to a single computer so you can configure it. You can bring it up with a web browser, and bypass the need to install the configuration software on your PC. However, if its default IP address is out of the range of your subnet mask, you would have to manually assign an IP address and subnet mask to your computer, and set them back after configuration.

That method is a common way to configure similar devices. It can make things easy, or it might seem confusing enough to drive you away. If so, you merely use the software on the CD, which finds the device and walks you through the configuration without the problems above.

The way the modes of operations work could be explained better in the manuals, and there is an assumption that you already understand the related network concepts and types of wireless security. The method of configuration is not what you might be typically used to. There is some ambiguity in certain areas where it is not clear whether a field applies to the device or to the router you are connecting to.

It's pretty clear that they were not willing to hire the native English speakings consultant to maintenance of wording the screens. If you understood that last sentence, you should understand their configuration screens too.

In order to work with my network, I needed to set up a profile for the wireless network name used by my router. Once I got the security information in there, things worked like a charm. It also did a good job of finding other networks within range.

One day I found that my connection speed was not only fast, but far exceeded what my Internet provider gives me. After a little investigation, I found that at some point, this device connected to the network with the strongest signal, which was an unsecured router belonging to a neighbor. That left my network vulnerable since it had a non encrypted connection, plus security and firewalls assumed I had a secure wired connection. Their support group told me there is no way around that.

Since your devices plug into this (or a hub or switch that's plugged into this) they act as if they were any other wired devices. You do not see a WiFi icon in your system tray nor do you see a signal strength indicator. So there's no way of seeing what network you get a wireless connection to unless you look at what network this independent device got connected to. This would not be an issue if you use two of these devices to bridge wirelessly, but that should not have been necessary.

At some later point, I found that it tried to give a warning message before attempting to connect to a non-secure network, which is something their tech support group told me would not happen. I wish there were an explanation for why it connected to one on its own before without such a warning. You would never see the aforementioned warning unless you went to the device to try to figure out why you had no network connection. It would have been nice if they had something similar to what you have with a bi-directional printer where a status icon in your PC tray shows the state of the remote device.

If you have things set up, your router stays on and connected, and the device stays powered on, you can get excellent performance. If you lose the connection while you are updating your router's firmware, or for any other reason, I can't tell you what this device will do on its own in the interim. It still works well enough that I use it and it's the best practical alternative for me.

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Stronger with Time

• Slim-profile, single-disc upconverting DVD player; measures 16.9 x 1.65 x 8.2 inches (WxHxD)
• Upconverts 480p DVD video to high defintion 720p/108i via HDMI connection
• DVD movie, CD audio,CD-R/CD-RW, DVD-R/RW, and VCD discs; DivX, JPEG, MP3 and WMA files
• Outputs: 1 composite, 1 S-Video, 1 component, 1 HDMI
• Modified to play any region DVD on any TV without any codes

what more do you need to know. Only 4 Stars because the unit responds a bit slowly to the remote control, but I don't think that's because it has been chipped; it's a design fault from Toshiba. Unit plays all region dvds with no fussing around. and the price is right.

Original Skybox F3 Satellite Receiver Full HD 1080p Video Output Dual CPU

The product works awesome, it is the original Skybox F3, even comes with a gift (USB Wi-fi Adapter). I still learning to use it. I only wish that it was comes with a better user guide because the that brings just explain the basic. It doesn't explain how to configure the CA slot for an external service like using a Directv card for the paid channels. everything else its perfect!

Toshiba SD-3960 DVD Player

• Plays DVD, CD, VCD, DVD-R, DVD-RW, CD-R, CD-RW, WMA, and MP3 media
• Progressive-scan player ensures high-resolution picture, digital picture zoom
• S-video and composite inputs and outputs
• Dolby Digital and DTS compatible 3D virtual surround sound
• Measures 17 x 2 x 8 inches (W x H x D)

What many people don't realize is that Toshiba switched the innards of this unit somewhere in 2004.

The high rating on the review website and CR were based on earlier units built around the Toshiba TC90602FG chipset. Then Toshiba in all their infinite wizdumb decided to completely rework this thing, changing the innards to a whole new setup using the Zoran Vaddis 6 chipset, and continue calling it by the same model number so no one could tell them apart.

The Vaddis 6 and variants are the chipsets found in the lowliest of low DVD players like the ones you see for $39 at WallyMart et al

You can not put any credence in those old reviews from players tested with the Toshiba chipset. You now know why the reviews are so lopsided. "I don't know how you could call this thing bad, it's wonderful!" and "Are you crazy? This thing is a pile of doodie!" are common on any review site.

Given the mid 2004 change date you will are almost assured of getting a Zoran chipset. Avoid.

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I have a much better player in my TV room but wanted a basic, inexpensive player for my bedroom. My only requirement was that it would play DVD's and not cost a fortune and, in that respect, my needs were completely met. The SD 3960 is cheap and it provides adequate picture and sound.

I seem to encounter a new side-effect every day, though. First of all: it's loud. It sounds like it's grinding pepper in there when it's got a disk in its mouth.

It also has a pretty good on-screen display function (it counts up and down, and also provides a little four-quarter bar graph to illustrate how much of the movie has been watched -this may be standard but I'd never seen it). It does not, however, display a counter on its face which is kind of a drag when you want to check the chapter without interrupting the program.

When you push "OPEN" the drawer literally takes 10 seconds to eject the disc. I know, I know, I would never consider that a major inconvenience but when you want to change discs and you hit the eject and you count "1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6... c'mon, open up already!!!" It displays the word "OPEN" on its face the whole time so it's not like it's confused. Just slow.

Also, the player doesn't save your place when you stop in the middle of a program and it automatically shuts off after a mere five minutes. Sure, it saves electricity which is great but if I need to run downstairs for a second or grab the phone... I either have to make it quit, or rely on "STILL" or I end up searching through the scene selection trying to get back to where I was. Again, not a tragedy but after a while....

Like I said, though, I didn't expect much given the price. As a second player, it fills the bill. But if you're shopping for a primary player and you're lured by the price... you might consider dropping a few more bucks on one with a little more ability.

Read Best Reviews of Toshiba SD-3960 DVD Player Here

I purchased this player because it scored well on the benchmark tests at hometheaterhifi. They use objective technical standards for progressive scan players and rate them by traits (such as layer change time and pixel cropping). They use the same scene on the same disc for each individual benchmark and I thought this was a pretty sound way to measure a piece of consumer electronics. They were right.

My wife and I were early adopters of DVD technology and I got a dreadful Zenith way back in 1999. It worked sort of, but didn't have seamless branching, a feature which allows interweaving of extra film (i.e. T2, The Abyss) into the theatrical release. The Zenith whirred, clanked and disturbingly clicked on occasion while rarely making it through a rental with even the faintest scuff. It really hampered our Netflix enjoyment. The new player works just fine after several movies my old player choked on. These include The Abyss, Time and Tide (a fun Asian action flick with poor transfer to DVD) and several diverse rentals for comparison. There was some pixilation on one rental, but it stopped my old player dead in its tracks and was fine after I cleaned the schmutz off the disc. Two weeks of use and not a whiff of problem just solid if unspectacular performance.

The player has component outputs which allow high quality progressive scan images for progressive scan enabled TVs with compatible jacks. The image and sound are good and the layer transfer, although noticeable, is swift. The remote isn't terribly responsive, but I suspect this will improve once I replace the batteries that came in the box. The player is nice and quiet and the tray glides out silently (nice for when my 8 month old is sleeping) and only takes two seconds to open after pushing "open". The display on the player is rather lame you can only see the chapter number. The on-screen display is quite nice with time elapsed and time remaining. I never thought this would matter, but simply love it now that I have it. The detailed on-screen display has everything and the kitchen sink, so I can deal with the lame player display.

I'm not a home theater owner, so this might not be great with a receiver, amp and surround sound I simply wouldn't know. But for my needs to watch movies without hassle and without going into credit card debt this was a very good purchase.

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This player does everything I expected when I finally decided on this model. It plays DVD movies with great picture quality, and plays home made DVDs as well. It will play DVD-R and DVD+RW with no problem, haven't yet tried other formats.

It also plays VCDs and mp3/wma CD-R and CD-RWs. The manual says only use 650 mb CD-R and don't use CD-RW, but 700 mb CD-R and CD-RW work just fine. Be careful with wma music file though. If a wma was made with Microsoft's copy protection, such as CDs ripped with Musicmatch, it won't play. You can pull up a display of song title from the music file name, it won't read id3 tags. It will read folders on mp3/wma discs and you can select random play from the play mode button on the remote.

Others have reported the player is noisy, and that it takes extra long to open the tray. I've experienced neither. Yes, there is no counter on the player display, but you can pull up the counter on screen by pressing the display button on the remote. It took a while to get used to the onscreen display, but after a couple of times of use, I actually liked it.

The remote could be a little better designed, but its certainly useable. But to me a remote is a remote, they all have too many buttons that you have to figure out. I'd never let a remote control be the deciding factor in a buying decision.

The setup menu on the player is very easy to use with great response.

Most reviews contain subjective comments regarding picture quality which to me makes the comments on picture quality not very useful. However, www.hometheaterhifi.com does very detailed objective testing of hundreds of players. For players under $200, this model ranked number 2 overall in picture quality. Please check it out for this model or any model you are considering.

Again, for the price, I think this player is a great bargain.

Purchased in January 2005, manufacture date on back is Oct 2004. The unit actually played very nicely for a few months then on to the intermittent skipping others have reported. A few weeks back the audio completely dropped out. Probably will not be another Toshiba in this household.

Toshiba Excite 10 Tablet AT305SE-T16 PDA0DU-002001 10.1-Inch 16GB Tablet

I got this about a month ago, so far it's worked perfectly. Almost no bloatware, runs every app I've installed on it (including Dosbox to play old Windows games like Heroes Might&Magic 2).

Video playback is perfect, and plays every format I've thrown at it so far.

When Apple touted the so called 'retina display' I thought... "why?" I didn't have a tablet back then but I didn't see why a 10" device would need a super-high resolution... and I was right. The resolution in this tablet is just fine for what it's used for.

My only tiny complaint (not enough to lower the 5 star score) is that the cable it comes with is really small, like 3', which is not enough to use while keeping it plugged to the wall charging.

For the price, totally recommended.

I must say that I have had no issues, in fact, it's a super performer. This tablet has everything an enthusiast needs and light on the bloatware that usually comes with branded tablets. I love it!! The screen is super bright with amazing video playback. Never freezes and plays even 1080p video without issues. Also this tablet stays cool as a cucumber when 3D gaming and watching 1080p Video, unlike most tablets out there. This also has HDMI out and it works!! I love connecting it to my TV because I have an older Sony XBR4, and has no smart functions. Connecting this tablet it turns any TV into a Smart TV. Lastly, this is the only tablet out there that uses a regular SD card for expansion, no micro!, so you will get all the extra performance and capacity of a full size card. Toshiba has done a great job with this tablet and it far exceeds my expectations, just a joy to own. This out performs just about every tablet on the market thanks to the well implemented Tegra3 1.60Ghz quad core +1 proc. This chip is the best of its kind on the market and is designed with video performance in mind. Jelly Bean is wonderful BTW, better than Ice Cream sandwich, and runs butter smooth on this tablet. Excellent battery life (I can watch about 3 full movies on a full charge). Even the sound is great.

I can think of no Cons. I'm really that impressed. The price has come down.

If in the market, especially for a tablet with HDMI out, this is the one to buy, hands down. I have tried the Asus 300t, and Acer of the same spec and this by far out performs them. Check out mobiletechreview dot com for a pro review of this tablet and most competing models.

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Been tinkering with this for 3 days now. By far the best yet. everything moves so smoothly! No hesitations. Jellybean and this processor belong together! and battery life is unreal! maybe I am not using enough, but battery life seems at lest three times better than my last Galaxy Tab and at least twice as good as my departed Asus Tab! Only drawback at this moment is accessories, Nothing from the LE model fits! But i am sure lots of accessories will come around soon!Oh and the light bleed issue...I think you have to be in a very dark room to really notice this! unless mine is not bleeding. screen characters look good and edges look clean as well. I maybe should try it in total darkness, Cause I don't see any bleed here!

Read Best Reviews of Toshiba Excite 10 Tablet AT305SE-T16 PDA0DU-002001 10.1-Inch 16GB Tablet Here

I'm writing this review from my Toshiba Excite tablet, I've never been a huge fan of tablet or smartphone technology but this tablet is worth a second look. Took all of 30 minutes to customize everything to where I was happy with it. Could use a couple of downloads for video play-back but other than a small codec error the tablet performs admirably. I'm still giving it 5 stars!

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The tablet does everything I want or need. Very thin profile' very lite, and has a good battery life. There's a small amount of led bleed, but thats not a problem for the display. I would recommend this product.

TiVo Premiere TCD746320 (Black) with Product Lifetime Service (No Monthly Fees) and 3-YR Warranty,

this box is the $99 box on tivo's site...and the lifetime is 499. That is 600 total. Even at best buy this is 600.

This is a rip off.

However, if this was for the XL listed at 299 + 499 lifetime = 800....then this is a deal.

buyer beware, ripoff prices

This is my first TiVo and it came with the lifetime service. It basically pays for itself after a few years. This box works like a champ. It comes with Pandora, which allows me to make my own radio stations, Love It!!! This box has some really great options, like season ticket that allows you to continually record your favorite show, season after season without having to reprogram the next season. It is really easy to set up the box and remote and TiVo has really great customer service if you need any help.

The only problem I have had has come from the cable company (Advanced Cable) and they are a contractor for Comcast. If you can believe this, I have had to wait two weeks for a cable card to get installed. And even then, they are not sure they will have them. A cable company that doesn't have cable cards in stock?? When I called Comcast directly to find out how this could be, they had to call Advance Cable and confirm this was true!! It is embarrassing to even talk about, but this could happen to anyone evidently. I just moved here, maybe they don't watch much cable here in Santa Fe, NM. So, in the meantime, I have to watch basic cable without the premium channels on my tv that has the TiVo box until the card comes that will allow me to watch the premium channels on cable.

On the positive side, this gives me more time to learn the different functions of the TiVo and listen to my newly created Pandora stations. You can order movies through Netflix, Amazon Video on Demand, Blockbuster on Demand, Browse YouTube, CinemaNow, rent international and independent films through Jaman. This is not just your everyday DVR, you customize this machine to your lifestyle. Chances are, when my year is up with Comcast for premium channels, I will go to basic cable and use Netflix or one of the many other options for entertainment. This will save a ton of money and I can order the movies directly on my TiVo instantly! Oh, Hulu is also coming to TiVo. Once everyone realizes the freedom they can have with a TiVo instead of using a cable companies DVR, your options are just so much greater and more personalized!

I only paid 549.00 for this TIVO with lifetime.

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My goal in purchasing the TiVo Premiere was to drastically cut what I spend on monthly cable television, and second, to increase flexibility in viewing. I watch little television, but it is a treat to be able to watch what I choose, when I choose. The TiVo has helped me meet my goals. My monthly bill is down to the amount I pay for the cable card rental, which is $8 monthly at present.

TiVo Central is where I select my movies and programs (also have monthly Netflix rental) It is vastly, and I mean, very much improved over the Comcast DVR I had been using. I am very, very satisfied with the switch I made.

I had extreme difficulty installing and sychronizing the TiVo to my systems. I made a couple trips to buy the correct wireless network adaptor, chiefly because I did not know whether my modem was an "N" or the older "B, G" I made so many calls for tech assistance I lost count, and found most of my difficulty happened when an employee at Comcast Tech Assistance incorrectly initialized the air card early on, meaning I was not receiving high definition signals. Once solved, I managed, after about 5 days to get the TiVo functioning correctly. Since, I've thoroughly enjoyed my viewing options, and LOVE the lower monthly fees. Livetime TiVo cost was about $500, and since I will pay it off in two months, I think I am saving approximately $100 a month in cable costs. Sign me "Satisfied in Salem"

Read Best Reviews of TiVo Premiere TCD746320 (Black) with Product Lifetime Service (No Monthly Fees) and 3-YR Warranty, Here

You're tired of the cable or satellite provider screwing you, right? Then don't let this Tivo vendor screw you too. On Tivo's website you can buy this for $640+tax with free shipping. That is the normal price. They often times have discounts making the price more attractive. Don't be swindled by this offer.

The product itself is worth it, I'm just rating this offer.

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Panasonic Pro AG-DVX100A 3-CCD MiniDV Proline Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom

CineTech22's information is correct regarding effective resolution, exposure latitude, etc. Film is a chemical process, and the amount of detail that can be delineated on essentially a molecular level on celluloid is staggering, even with 16mm. BTW, DV resolution is 720x480, not 640x480, but your point still is made--WAY less info than film. As far as the focus operation is concerned, there is an aftermarket "follow-focus" rig available to address this, but yes, the stock camera doesn't let you set your focus-pulling marks.

I would contend, however, that you've lost the forest for the trees. This camera DOES spell the end of 16mm as the preferred medium for indie filmmakers. Premium Panasonic DV tapes are about $5/cassette (63 minutes). And are reusable. What does 16mm cost in stock and processing for an hour of footage?

The path to indie glory is no longer only "shoot in 16mm, blow it up to 35mm for festivals or limited release, get discovered". Now we have "shoot in anamorphic DV, release on DVD, get discovered" as the new, much more cost effective option. Another note: DV footage shot on a DVX100a looks great uprezzed to HD, even better than some low-end prosumer HD cams out there, mostly due to its great color abilities.

I have used both the DVX100 & 100a, and have run up against their limitations. Exposure and depth of field are the biggest and require a lot of production compensation to get around--lots of zoomed, wide open aperture shots with heavy ND filtering to get that truly cinematic look.

Still, if you know what you're doing, this camera is fantastic. Audio is superb (phantom-powered XLR's--yeah, baby!!), 24p is beautiful to work with, color is very "film-like", and although it is easy to "bloom" the whites and "crush" the blacks, the range is better than most DV cams, and both can be avoided by indie filmmakers who pay attention to settings and lighting.

Would-be filmmakers who want to go this route need two important accessories: the 16x9 anamorphic adapter by Panasonic (AG-LA7200g), and Barry Green's book/DVD package http://www.dvxuser.com/articles/dvxbook . By understanding the camera's strengths and weaknesses, you can get fantastic results from the DVX100a. If you are an independent fillmaker with a limited budget, buy this camera, the anamorpic adapter, Barry's book, and do some test shots to figure it all out, Then spend the $$$THOUSANDS$$$ you've saved by shooting with the DVX100a and use it for better lighting, production, script doctors, better actors, and more time in post. The result will be far more impressive than 16mm done on a shoestring--a turd that could more easily be blown up to 35mm, but is far less likely to be worth it.

That's my take, anyway. This camera does for independent filmmaking what the Alesis ADAT did for digital audio recording in the 90's--completely "democracizes" the field so that young, up-and-coming creative people can produce work of incredible quality for very little money and absolutely no "studio" control.

So buy this camera, indulge your creative freedom, make your prize-winning indie film, and "stick it to da MAN!"

I have been using the DVX100A in Iraq for over a year; I had started shooting on the previous model, the DVX100 -and then upgraded to this one. Filming in 24p(Advanced) letterbox format. Between the two cameras I have shot 300 hours of material in difficult conditions. The DVX100A is a very serious improvement over the DVX100 -and the difference lies in better signal processing that stretches the exposure range of the camera. My material shot with the DVX100A has much better latitude -the skies don't burn out so much, detail is better, colors are richer -and the blacks are far nicer and less noisy.

I owe a great deal to Panasonic for making a camera like this -it really is the best low-budget filmmaking tool around. The quality is something like shooting on 16mm film -but much easier and much less expensive. If you are a documentary filmmaker, or interested in shooting an indy film -this is an excellent choice. The only DV camera I would consider buying, in fact. Now Panasonic has released a HD camera with a similar form factor called the AG-HVX200 which may be a better choice for productions with slightly more financing -but the DVX100A is going to stay around for a while as the standard for what DV tape can do in SD. It remains a very viable camera for making films.

A side issue:

Many people have commented that they prefer to use an anamorphic adapter on this camera to give a 16:9 aspect ratio without losing resolution -I think this is a toss-up. The anamorphic adapter itself will slightly lessen the sharpness of the image, and close-up focusing is very difficult. I think the option of using "letterbox" or "squeeze" (the same thing, in terms of resolution) gives very nice results without adding extra weight and optical issues to the camera. It's analogous to the difference between shooting Cinemascope and Super35 on film -Cinemascope uses the whole area of the negative, but Super35 (which crops the top and bottom of the frame to get a wide aspect ratio) has much nicer optical resolution because you can continue using spherical lenses instead of anamorphic. I once asked Robert Richardson (ASC) about how he dealt with this issue when he was shooting widescreen on Super8mm film for inclusion in JFK -he preferred to simply letterbox the tiny frame and live with lower picture res than mess around with the focus problems of anamorphic lenses. The case with the anamorphic adapter on this camera is similar -I think you can get fine results using letterbox format on the DVX100A, with fewer complications.

Buy Panasonic Pro AG-DVX100A 3-CCD MiniDV Proline Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom Now

I just bought the DVX100AP to shoot a documentary, and I'm so glad this camera is available. I don't need soundmen, grips, or other crewmember to just shoot. The quality of the images from the camera, set on the cine-switch shot at 24fps are amazing no, not 35mm film shot by a member of ASC with a $100,000 Arri package, but compared with the 16mm world, this Panasonic liberates filmmakers from the world of chemical filmmaking.

You don't have to wait days to see your work back from a lab; you can plug in your firewire and capture to Avid Xpress. You don't have to pay through the nose for syncing, work prints, answer prints, release prints which are really besides the point for independant filmmakers anyway. If you've ever shot and cut film, you know what I mean.

No question: this is a pricey unit. No question, it is worth the money because even if the images aren't absolute film quality, they are not simple video either. When I first opened the camera and starting shooting, I couldn't believe what I saw in the viewfinder, not what I saw when I watched the footage on a tv, or on my plasma monitor. This camera loves to shoot well-lit shots too. If you take time to emulate film lighting of any kind, you will end up with a rich, detailed look that includes richness in the shadows and a wide exposure latitude.

Whoever said you can't do depth of focus with the DVX-100AP ain't trying hard. The utter crispness of the focus I've seen knocked me out. Other great issues: 2 XLR jacks, firewire connector, and usable on-board mics, which while not great for interviews, do a fine job for ambient and room tone captures, and in a pinch, with work in Avid, even interviews shot without an external mic are not only useable, but good. And nobody else need be there; no unwilling family members, no film-school whiners, no untrained sound recordists, no Arrifascists looking down at your Bolex.

I love film; I love the smell of film in the morning; but man, film is the crack of visual arts, and I have hocked blood to burn light onto Kodak emulsions. Freddy's dead. DVX-100AP my ass, honey.

And now, onto DSLR with even lower costs, no physical media, and better images.

Read Best Reviews of Panasonic Pro AG-DVX100A 3-CCD MiniDV Proline Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom Here

If you are an aspiring filmmaker, or even an experienced one, DV is a wonderful option! And other than the $100,000 HDDV cameras, you can't find anything that beats this camera, especially when you add on the anamorphic lens, which allows you to shoot in 16:9 without losing any resolution.

Whoever said Sundance doesn't accept DV hasn't paid attention. Last year, over 1/3 of all accepted FEATURE films at Sundance were DV. And the two the sold for the most $$$...both shot on DV. The cinematographer award went to a DV filmmaker (who shot Spkike Lee's Bamboozled, also shot on DV), and was yet a different film than the two big money winners.

My advice is to take a very close look at this camera if you have filmmaking aspirations. DV is the only sensible format. My other advice is to NEVER waste money on film school. Spend that money on making 3 or 4 DV films. You'll learn way more, and may even make something worthy of a great festival like Sundance.

But isn't this supposed to be a review about the AG-DVX100a? This camera blows me away. Blown up on the big screen, it looks slightly fuzzy compared to 35mm, but on a big screen TV, it looks wonderful, and MOST films made by indie filmmakers have a very short and limited release theatrically (if at all). Most are seen on cable or rented at the video store. The DVX 100a shoots in progressive scan. That gives it incredible resolution on a prog. scan DVD player and HDTV. It shoots a 24 frames per second (the same as film) if you have aspirations of transferring to 35mm at some point. And transferring to 35mm is about 10% of the cost of shooting on it, granted it's not the same quality. But if you shoot at 24P, editing software will automatically convert it to NTSC for you if transferring to film doesn't become an option. No issues at all.

This camera will truly blow you away if you compare its quality to that of past Sundance DV successes like Blair Witch, Tadpole, Pieces of April (which won an Oscar for best supporting actress), and Open Water.

Nobody I've ever met that wasn't brainwased from their wasted time and money at film school was ever disastisfied with the quality of this camera. Buy the camera, make a business card that says filmmaker, and go make a great looking film with this camera. You'll be amazed.

Want Panasonic Pro AG-DVX100A 3-CCD MiniDV Proline Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom Discount?

If this is your first camera, you will be in trouble. Because, yes, the manual is very limited, and it has a lot of advanced features. However, this camera was not made for the beginner's market. This is my third video camera, an upgrade so that I can produce higher quality independent films. First, the 24P feature, it shoots 24 frames per second and I must say, it does look like film. It looks rather spectacular, actually. The first day I had it, I was a little overhwelmed. But, with every feature available as both automatic and manual, a little experimentation, the quality of my images has improved drastically. The 24P does take a little work and knowledge in order to make it work, but the result is well worth the time. Also, there is a spectacular user website out there with hundreds of users and experts who can help. Personally, I love that everything can operate manually, as I now am able to correct for poor lighting when shooting scenes that do not allow studio lights, like birthday parties, and the such. For a year, this was my dream camera, and once I got it, I was not disappointed. For any people out there who are considering this model, feel free to contact me, and I will either answer any questions I can or direct you to someone who can. This camera is an independent filmmaker's dream.

Coby CX-R189 Digital Voice Recorder with Integrated Speaker

The recorder works well. the problem is the transfer/conversion software. The file format is non-standard and I must transfer, then convert to "WAV" format. The s/w(PowerSunSoft, Voice Manager) is not fully developed yet as I can only use one of 4 qualities to record and convert; no MP3 option or space-saving options.

Roxio Easy VHS to DVD

• Roxio Easy VHS to DVD makes it easy to transfer video from VHS tapes or analog camcorders to DVD
• Turn your home videos into striking DVDs complete with animated menus and fully orchestrated music
• Supports most analog camcorders, VCRs, and even DVD players
• Digitize your analog LPs and cassettes, automatically adding title, artist and genre information to tracks
• Convert audio and video files to play on most popular mobile devices including Sony PSP, iPod and iPhone

I've never written an online review before. But my experience with this product was, and continues to be so unpleasant, I feel I owe it to potential unsuspecting buyers to share what has happened to me. I bought TWO of these packages at $59 each at Best Buy three weeks agoas of right now I am THREE WEEKS into my failed attempts to making either system install or function in any way.

I bought TWO of these systems. One for an almost new HP Vista Home Premium 64 bit laptop as well as my very well maintained XP Pro 32 bit (service pack 3) desktop PC. I found it interesting that I had total failure in my attempts to install or use this packages on either computer kind of taking any validity out of the argument, "well there is obviously just something wrong with your PC." But BOTH PCs?!

Of course the next argument would be that I'm just some clown that doesn't even know how to find the power cord on a computer. But in fact I am a sound engineer by profession and have been using all sorts of computer hardware and software since 1985, including Roxio and Sonic Solution's professional line of sound restoration tools (many costing in excess of $10,000) to remaster and preserve many famous early jazz music recordings for major record labels for re-release on compact disc.

That being said, I have never had so much trouble installing or using any computer hardware and software packageeither professional or consumer grade in the nearly three decades I have been using this sort of equipment. This product is clearly being marketed to the average computer user (not rocket scientists) who just need a straight forward, no fuss method of transferring their old VHS libraries to a digital format, either DVD or hard drive. If a guy like me can't make it work, how is the "average" computer user supposed to use it?

ROXIO THECHNICAL SUPPORT TO THE RESCUE!

Obviously early on I decided to contact Roxio tech support to try to work out these problems. I very quickly discovered that the customer support phone lines were exclusively reserved for owners of their "flag ship" products, as they call them, NOT for us "EASY VHS" owners. NO, we would have to resort to the tech support email system or their user forums, unless we had a valid Visa or Mastercard ready to buy their premium phone support.

ROXIO EMAIL SUPPORT:

I have now contacted Roxio email tech support countless times. They would sometimes give me a bunch of Windows settings and parameters to check out to make sure all of my Vista files and so on were up to datea reasonable strategy. Of course they always were. So this didn't solve anything.

But I also received some really insulting emails from Roxio customer support. I always spend a very long time trying to document exactly what my problems were and very accurately describe everything I have tried to resolve my issues. I was surprised, at least at first, when I would receive a generic form letter back with some trouble shooting tips I should attempt (things I clearly described in my emails that have already been tried). But I was furious when I would get these kind of generic trouble shooting emails FOR THE WRONG PRODUCT! How are they going to help make my product work when they won't even pay enough attention to what product it is that I am using?!

ROXIO USER FORUMS:

My only other recourse was to post my issues on the Roxio user forum. I only received one response. It appeared to be from the guy considered to be the forum's "technical guru". In short, the response said that the things I described simply do not happen on properly installed and well maintained Windows PCs. He suggested that I take a harsh look at my PC maintenance practices and be more careful of "the places I go to on the internet."

Having exhausted all other options, I actually took his advice which was to completely erase the contents of my (only 2 month old) Vista Home Premium 64 bit laptop and reformat the whole thing and do a clean install of windows.

After doing this, I went through the Roxio emails to confirm every single critical Windows software component and version that had to be installed as carefully as a NASA pre-launch check list. It should be noted that I did not install ANY software other than the Vista software updated to its most current version.

Then I tried to install Roxio Easy VHS to DVD and it's updates and drivers. I was totally depressed to discover after the time and trouble I took to totally wipe clean and freshly install Windows Vista that it did nothing to solve any of the problems to installing EASY VHS to DVD.

No one seems to have any more advice to offer. I have now spent three weeks of my life trying to get a piece of software to work. Please note that this is just what I have gone through trying to install the FIRST of TWO of these systems that I bought! I have yet to even START trouble shooting the second one of these I bought for my XP pro computer! It won't work at all either.

I have been searching the internet trying to find answers that could make this product work, since the manufacturer, Roxio, can't get it to work and has no more useful suggestions.

Obviously I can not speak for anyone else's experience with this product but I think it is important to mention that I have noticed reviews of it starting to appear all over the internet. The vast majority of reviews I have found for Easy VHS to DVD are reporting identical experiences as mine. In those reviews, some customers are frustrated, other are very angry, and some reviewers on Amazon have actually reported that they have simply given up and thrown Roxio's Easy VHS to DVD in the trash.

After nearly three weeks of trying to install only the first of the two copies I bought, with no answers or resolutions from Roxio and a no returns policy on software form Best Buy, throwing EASY VHS to DVD in the trash (along with my $118) is starting to look like the only option left. I only wish I could get back the nearly three weeks of my life I wasted trying without success to make it work. "EASY" VHS to DVD?? Don't believe everything you read.

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I recently bought this from amazon. Quality of captured video is not so good...grainy and colors not accurate. But the most annoying issue is that as you are capturing the video, it randomly gives the "PROTECTED SIGNAL" error and stops the process. ROXIO website does not provide much help on this issue. It says this error will appear if you are capturing copyrighted video. But these are my own homemade movies I am trying to capture! What is the point of purchasing this if I cannot use it on my own home videos?? And by the way, good luck trying to get any help from ROXIO on this issue...they don't even want to acknowledge that the problem exists. I did a search on google and found that many people are facing the same issue. So unless and until ROXIO fixes this bug, I recommend against purchasing this product.

Read Best Reviews of Roxio Easy VHS to DVD Here

I am putting this in a drawer hoping updates happen, knowing that I can't return software no matter how crappy it might turn out to be. My bad for buying a new product with no reviews. Never again. It is not usable for me at the moment. I suppose it is possible that there is something I don't know that would help, but good luck finding anything out from the maker, their website, or the "manual" included with the product.

The biggest problems are random hard freezes forcing computer shutdown to resolve and non-recognition of audio from VHS tapes (AFTER the program update as well).

The other deal-breaker is, as mentioned in an earlier review, random "signal protected" designation as the home video capture is attempted, aborting the capture process.

The long and the short of it is, at least on my system, this product is completely useless.

Until you hear differently, I'd go in another direction.

Want Roxio Easy VHS to DVD Discount?

Roxio Easy VHS To DVD Not the easiest software to use but the capture device works well. Good bang for the buck but be ready to spend a lot of time figuring out what is going on. As one person said "try this with low priced discs" and when you feel confident you can try the 8.5GB disc. You will burn a lot of coasters getting up to speed with this package. The software is not user friendly and support, well let's just say I received the most help from reading the Roxio Q&A information. This actually saved me a lot of grief and my first install was right on the money. The capture part is easy but the burning can be problematic. So if you have hours, (not minutes) to invest in getting up to speed with this hardware/software package and you have the patience to walk away every now and then, you can make this work. Please understand one thing though, you will not get VHS SP quality perfectly on to your DVDs but you will get quality good enough to watch and enjoy your burned DVDs. I read about a lot of trouble with setting up this software/hardware bundle and it can be. One user on the Roxio Q&A support site did this and so did I; "before you install the software go to the Roxio website and download the upgrades to the Roxio software and the upgraded drivers for the USB 2861 capture device. Then follow the instructions that came with the package. My suggestion is to install the software then the updates "ONLY" after you install the USB 2861 hardware to your computer and all connections to your VCR (power off on both computer and VCR while connecting the hardware) then boot the PC/Laptop and power on the VCR. At least this worked for me. Remember, you get what you pay for and $50 bucks for this package will give you $50 results. Please note that I'm using Windows XP Home, SP3, Intel DG33FB Mobo, with 4GB RAM, 3GB cache on the board, 800MHz FSB memory sticks, on an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.8Ghz CPU and a Western Digital 160GB SATA Hard Drive (kind of small actually), and the Intel DG33FB Mobo has the RealTek 5.1 Hi-Def audio hardware on the board. I tried this with my 5-year old AMD Anthalon 1.2GHz CPU with a Gigabyte 200MHz FSB MoBo with 4GB RAM and was whistling in the wind. One VHS capture used to take about 3 to 4 hours plus the burn. Now I'm capturing 4 VHS tapes within the same time frame (not burning, just capturing). Hope this helps.

You might as well buy the cord that connects your computer to vhs for a few bucks and download free software. Support for this product is futile/nonexistent. If you make one error during installation, it's almost impossible to completely get rid of this product from your computer, and it's even more impossible to properly install it there-on after. Heed the advice, and I can spare you the 5 hours I invested on it. :/

Battery-Operated Analog Alarm Clock with Smartlite Technology

I purchased this clock about a year ago and was very surprised at how well it keeps time. It has never lost a minute until the batteries started going down. The one drawback is if you are looking to accurately set this for a specific time to wake up too, then this may not be for you. Since it is analog and not digital it is difficult to get it set to an exact time. I got it within two minutes of my wake up time at my best try by playing with it a few times. Over all this was a good buy and very happy with it.