Zmodo Surveillance System with 8 Weatherproof IR Cameras PKD-DK0865-(No Hard Drive)

This Zmodo Surveillance System works well for my needs and is also a great deal at $200 and Prime shipping (at the time of this review). To be perfectly clear, this is not a high-end system with high definition cameras, but it isn't priced like a high-end system either. This is a budget system that exceeded my expectations for what you get and how well it works. Here are my observations:

Our Use We recently bought an old but very large building for my wife's business and needed a way to monitor the six exits and the retail shop space.

Included:

* Main Control Unit this is a fairly small unit (smaller than most DVD players) that is has button access for most functions

* 8-Cameras these are also fairly small, good physical quality and include mounting hardware

* USB Mouse connects to Control Unit

* Remote Control gives access to all menu functions (batteries included)

* Required Cables 60' Video/Power cables

* Power Supplies one for the Control Unit and two for the cameras (uses splitters to distribute the power between the cameras)

* Instruction Manual

* Software CD

* Hard Drive Mounting Screws (Hard Drive not included)

Features:

+ Camera; IR Illumination for night vision

+ User configurable Options; Privacy Zones (blackout areas in the display), Motion Zones (areas where motion triggers an alarm)

+ Network Access; Can be viewed on local network using Internet Explorer (required allowing ActiveX and would not work with Firefox) and remotely via a DDNS service (often an extra expense for a reliable service)

+ Alarm Notification; Audible alert and E-Mail capability

+ Display Options; Includes a VGA monitor connection and BNC/video out for TV viewing (we use Q-See QSRCBN6 6 Pack RCA-BNC Connectors)

+ Remote Control; Really makes it easy to quickly access features

Pros:

+ Setup; Basic configuration is surprisingly easy

+ Image Quality; Good enough for basic security needs in both bright and dark settings (but see "Cons" below)

+ Value; Lots of cameras and features at a reasonable cost

+ Options; Can be made to do everything we need it to do

Cons:

No Hard Drive; Can use external USB drive or add your own Hard Drive to add recording capabilities (we installed Western Digital Caviar Blue 500 GB SATA III 7200 RPM 16 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive WD5000AAKX in less than ten minutes)

Washed Out Colors; Colors are somewhat muted, but can be individually adjusted in the controls to get the best possible picture for the lighting conditions

Night Vision; Limited range, less than 20'

Hints/Notes:

* With the Hard Drive installed, Alarmed Events can be recorded and searched on later

* A 500GB Hard Drive can record 168 hours of video (according to the manual)

* Placing a camera too close to a window will cause the IR to reflect and blind the camera when it shifts into night vision mode

* Display can be set to show 1, 4, or 8 video feeds at a time

This system covered my needs very well and provides a lot of advanced features that were unexpected in a budget system.

Highly Recommended!

CFH

Simple to hookup. Plenty of cameras. Lots of options to monitor. Quality seems good (everythings from China). The manual can be a little hard to read and lacking, but it covers the basics.

You get 8 cameras. Daytime range and color is good. IR range at night is pretty limited, maybe 20 feet. If you are just covering a door or hallway it works pretty well. I have one in the garage and you couldn't see much of anything at night without an extra illuminator and a couple more outside for the driveway and yard area and they are completely useless at night. Probably need to supplement with a motion light or some other means.

The DVR comes without a HD. I added a 500GB, which was a simple task. The user interface is adequate and simple enough to figure out. There are two BNC type video outputs. I got some adapter plugs from Monoprice to convert to a RCA type plug so I could plug into a TV input. It also comes with software that you can install on your computer to monitor the DVR remotely over your home network. That works really nice and lets you make all the adjustments to the DVR settings from any networked computer without having to be connected directly to the DVR (except for the first time setup of course). Not much for instructions on how to use the s/w though, so you have to wing it on your own.

Buy Zmodo Surveillance System with 8 Weatherproof IR Cameras PKD-DK0865-(No Hard Drive) Now

Purchased this system DVR works great easy to set up, cameras are poor quailty, colors are way off If you expect correct color get different cameras. green looks pink. Called their customer support after 15 minutes on hold I was told this model camera is a texture and not color they are what you get Was told if I want better color I need to upgrade cameras.

Read Best Reviews of Zmodo Surveillance System with 8 Weatherproof IR Cameras PKD-DK0865-(No Hard Drive) Here

I own five Zmodo units working in different buildings for 2+ years, so after one of my evicted tenants decided to steal it, this was the best price I could find. After we tried to install two different hard drives (WD and Seagate, both 500GB), we discovered that this particular DVR model (D9108BH) has one fatal flaw: it doesn't recognize a hard drive after a hard restart. Apparently, when a power is lost during HDD writing operations, the file system is messed up to such a degree that the operating system is incapable of dealing with this mess. Power goes down every week in S. Florida, so we cannot afford to dismantle the unit and reformat the hard drive in a computer every time it happens. We returned it.

Some thoughts to share with those who may consider purchasing a similar system:

1) As far as my experience with other, older units is concerned: they need to be connected via a surge protector because otherwise they die very quickly, being very sensitive to voltage fluctuations. We have them all hooked via UPS, so a thief wouldn't benefit from a simple act of switching the power off.

2) Cameras have a random short life, and the quality of picture deteriorates significantly in the first two months (which you discover when you replace those which died, and compare pictures from new and old cameras). We have to replace 10% of cameras every year.

3) Cables are of poor quality, they need to be tested before installation and treated like a rotten egg during installation. Make sure you install them in the right direction check the power plugs before you install, they are different on two sides! Don't cover them until the system is tested, because at the end there is always at least one cable that doesn't work and needs to be re-wired. The connectors are prone to corrosion, and they loose electrical connection in a matter of months, so most service calls boil down to cleaning the cable connections.

4) The setup of the DVR unit is as counter-intuitive as it gets. What we normally need is a silent system that would record video for several seconds from those cameras which detected motion, while watching all the time. Sounds simple? You won't find it in the manual, and it's not the default configuration in most of these units. Some settings overlap in different menus of the setup, and you never know which one overrides the other.

5) Manuals are seldom pertinent to the model they came with, and they don't address the normal setup issues we normally see.

6) Sound. We hide the DVRs in inaccessible locations, to prevent stealing them by thieves, so one more inherent flaw of all of them is the buzzer which goes off whenever anything happens: a camera was disconnected, power was connected, etc. The only way to silence the buzzer is to physically destroy it with pliers I am not kidding, we have already tried all menu options with Zmodo support. The buzzer is sometimes well-hidden inside the front panel mainboard.

7) Hard drives tend to overheat in those units which do not have fans.

8) Most units come without hard drives; however, you may have a hard time finding any disclosure of the fact prior to the purchase.

9) Once something happens, you would probably need to convert the video files i.e. in the convenient AVI format. With the software Zmodo provided, It takes half a day to convert these video files into any common format, and it is very inflexible, and doesn't support batching files.

We overcome all the technical difficulties, because we have boxes full of replacement cameras and cables from several units which died, and we spent enough time with the Zmodo tech support (average waiting time 20-30 minutes nice folks), to learn how to set it up.

One major advantage of having a surveillance system is recording criminal activity, which is quite common in Liberty City, where they are installed. The video is not of good quality but it can tell you, what items the perpetrators touched, so the fingerprints theoretically could be taken from these items in order to identify the thieves, (if the police ever cared to take the fingerprints). I.e. in our case, we had half-an-hour footage of the theft of the AC unit, where one of the thieves unscrewed a light bulb in front of one of the cameras. The trouble was, the police (NW Miami Dade) took two weeks to arrive to collect fingerprints (which were gone by then) and they disregarded the video, which we converted for them into the convenient AVI format (this is another issue it takes half a day to convert these video files into any common format with the software Zmodo provided). The police officer in charge of the case did not know how (or did not want?) to open AVI video files, so they have never even tried to use them to solve the case. We printed and posted fliers containing the best still pictures (surprisingly good, including tatoos on the bodies) captured from these videos, and one of our neighbors recognized the perps, but was too afraid to speak up, so we only learned about it one year later. No surprise given the quality and speed of the Miami-Dade police.

These systems are useless in rain, so when the next time the house was burglarized in the middle of a rainy night, we didn't get any footage. Generally, in the night, the video quality of these cameras deteriorates very badly, so we learned to install them paired with motion spot lamps (the cheap solar ones from Harbor Freight). Also, they cover a very narrow field of vision (approximately 20 degrees regardless of the claims written in specs) and the resolution is good up to approximately 20-30 feet in a bright day, so you need at least 8 of them to cover an average small house, and it takes a lot of design to place them right.

Update: We returned these and ordered two Zmodo units from Newegg instead. Newegg sent us the same model D9108BH, which exhibited the same flaw: after the power was turned down and up, the hard drive was not recognized any more, not even available for formatting.

One more update: Another disadvantage came up to my attention when one of my systems recorded a murder next door. Police detective made me dig the DVR out from the attics, and rented the unit for one month, and months later I got a subpoena to the court, which is extremely inconvenient for someone who is abroad every week, and who has not really witnessed anything.

Want Zmodo Surveillance System with 8 Weatherproof IR Cameras PKD-DK0865-(No Hard Drive) Discount?

I bought this unit to upgrade the security around my house. I love the eight cameras and had everything up and running in a few minutes. My tech friend suggested I temporary install it all and just leave the wires laying on the floor and experiment with placement, etc. So I did this over several weeks. I put mine in a secure location and connected the video out on the DVR to my big screen in the family room for faster checks of the live video using a 150 ft video/pwr/aud cord off of Amazon for $15. The instruction book is translated from chinese and of course has broken english and jargon lost in the translation, but its not as bad as other reviewers have noted. It came with the default of recording 24 hours a day but I changed this to just recording motion, which makes a search so much faster. It took two weeks to get a feel for it. I learned more from reading the reviews on Amazon then in the manual. Never had to call tech support yet, but they seem good if you get the domestic staff (from the reviews).

The unit first arrived without the 500 GB hard drive in the DVR, but Amazon replaced the whole system in a timely fashion.

PRO: Great eight camera unit for the price. It works fine, the IR works to spec's. I combine the IR Cams with an extra IR Spot Lite, from Amazon for less than ten dollars to increase visiability I'm still experimenting with it but other reviewers had good luck with it. The second box of 4 cameras has a spare 12 volt power unit that I am using for the lights.

CON: Wish I had the 16 camera unit now.

Modification: I will combine the whole unit to a UPS which should keep it going during power failures for some time since the normal monitor attached to the VGA output is turned off and on an outlet not connected to the UPS. Now that "cloud storage is readily available", off site storage is easier. I may also ad a few false cameras to give it a beefer look.

Coby 1.44-Inch TFT LCD SNAPP Mini Camcorder/Camera CAM3001 (Black)

The Snapp is kinda cute. I bought it as a gift for me 8 year old niece,but decided to open it up and play with it before hand. It's a good thing I did!

Pros: It's small & compact

Easy to use

No need for the disc that's included.

Cons: The case it comes with is thinner than a regualr sock and half as protective.

You HAVE to purchase an SD card in order to use it,it wont allow you to take pics/video without it.

It feels kinda cheap in your hand but I think it's because it's lighter than I had anticipated. Over all, easy to use, great for a kid or someone just looking for a cheap camcorder:) I would totaly buy this again for my niece or even as a cheap toy for myself. Buy an SD card and a case if you'll need it adn it's a great buy!

I bought the Snapp for my children as Christmas presents. They were more inexpensive than the toy video camcorders and work quite well for the price.

FILMING

For the video review, I filmed some sample footage and took photos in different lighting conditions to show what quality can be expected. I used the highest quality setting. Of course, it isn't the best, but I wouldn't expect it to be for the price. The children find it quite acceptable, and they figure out what its limitations are pretty quickly. Basically, use it under well lit conditions.

The screen is small, like that of many toy cameras. It flips open so the children can see themselves when taking self-portraits.

There is a zoom and hi/lo resolution settings. The operation is otherwise simple. No other camera or camcorder settings are available. Flash is not included. Photos and videos may be played back on the little screen.

WHAT IT COMES WITH

The camcorder comes with a USB connector built in, which is nice for times when you need a memory slot on the computer and don't have one (e.g., the old computer in my kitchen).

A cord is included to connect the camcorder to the television. The kids love that. It's easy for them to set up themselves and they like watching their product on the big screen.

The case is very thin cloth material. It's such a cheap camcorder, that I wouldn't expect it to come with a case at all, so it was nice that one was included.

I installed the included software, because I thought my kids could use it to edit the videos and photos. It turns out to just be a viewer, which I don't need, so I immediately uninstalled it.

Batteries are also included.

CONS

The only problem is a lack of flash for indoor shots. I wish they had included one. It also requires a memory card, which is not included.

CONCLUSION

I am satisfied with this purchase. It does everything I expected of it for what I paid (about 56% off the list price). My kids are thrilled.

Buy Coby 1.44-Inch TFT LCD SNAPP Mini Camcorder/Camera CAM3001 (Black) Now

It feels more like a cheap toy, but so it far has functioned fairly well, and mechanically it is pretty easy to use...My main problem is while it is easy to move between the video, camera and playback options the screen is very subject to glare and it is often diffcult to see what option the camera is set to, or what is actaully in the viewfinder when outdoors in the sunlight. That being said, you get what you pay for, and I actually think (since the the cost of this product is so cheap) that this product provides more than one would expect for the cost.

Read Best Reviews of Coby 1.44-Inch TFT LCD SNAPP Mini Camcorder/Camera CAM3001 (Black) Here

What would you expect to get out of a hand held digital recorder for under twenty bucks? If you answered, "Very little.", then this is the product for you. It is cheaply made, but I expected that. The software included doesn't really do anything, but I expected that. You will find it difficult to capture 12 seconds of useful video. Now that caught me off guard. I figured I'd get low quality videos and images. What I didn't realize is that unless you're filming on the surface of Mercury, you will NEVER have enough light to capture any video or images. I always end up with several minutes of blank screen. On the plus side, the sound does work. I read the bad reviews and bought this anyway. Take my advice, and don't make that same mistake. Move along; nothing to see here.

Want Coby 1.44-Inch TFT LCD SNAPP Mini Camcorder/Camera CAM3001 (Black) Discount?

It's decent and probably similar to a typical cell phone camera but easier to use. Picture quality is good in full daylight but tends to get worse when indoors.

Save 44% Off

Panasonic PVGS12 Digital Palmcorder MultiCam Camcorder w/20x Optical Zoom

I bought this camera after having numerous problems with my Sony. Although it is only 4 years old my Sony has been repaired 3 times and broke once again. I paid alot of money for my Sony and was very unhappy with it. So I decided against Sony for this purchase. I may have just had bad luck with them because I know they usually make good products... but to be on the safe side we decided to go with another brand. I did alot of research on the internet for different camcorders. I also went and did alot of store research. I felt all the store employees out for what they felt to be good and how many of the various brands get returned for different reasons. Although the Panasonic was not the most recommended camcorder, it did not get bad reviews either.

After shopping around for sometime and playing with the different camcorders on the market, I went with my "gut feeling" and chose the Panasonic.

After using it a few times, I have to say I LOVE IT! I am so happy with my purchase and am so glad I chose Panasonic.

I have to say I am not real Technical when it comes to all the features it has and will probrably never use 1/2 the features it does have. But the recording quality so far has been excellant! I have no complaints with it being grainy or anything. It is simple to use and weighs less than 1lb. And when you have 2 kids who require a whole suitcase to go anywhere that is a major plus!

All kidding aside though, I give it a 10 on the scale of 1-10. Again it is very simple to use and the quality of the recording is great if not excellant.

This is a great camcorder for anyone who does not want something real technical. The 20X zoom lens it awsome!

People have to remember that this is a very affordable ENTRY level cam. It does the job very well. Nice viewfinder, excellent zoom (one of the deepest at 800x) and simple features. This is a beautiful cam at a great price!!! I have not found any drawbacks on transferring or downloading either. Fun also to add zoom lenses and/or wide lenses affordably. Overall a great buy!!!!!! If you believe you are a director, you may need to look into advanced models at much higher prices. Enjoy!!!!!!!!

Buy Panasonic PVGS12 Digital Palmcorder MultiCam Camcorder w/20x Optical Zoom Now

I've been happy with every aspect of this camera except for one: The night shot mode isn't an infared type deal like some other cameras where the pictures gets that greenish tint but you dont loose frame rates. The night-shot on this camera (MagicPix) turns the shutter speed WAY down so the video becomes very choppy, even with a tripod. The build in LED light works in gain mode, but only for short distances.

Otherwise this camera is great. It hooked right up to my firewire card and Adobe Premiere already had drivers built in for it. the Video and sound quality are excellent, the size of the camera is great, and the features are very straightforward. Plus, if tweaking settings to your liking is your thing, the instruction booklet is very easy to follow. So, if you are going to be doing a lot of VERY low light recording, like I figured that I would, you might want to look at how other brands' night modes perform. Otherwise, this is a great camera for you

Read Best Reviews of Panasonic PVGS12 Digital Palmcorder MultiCam Camcorder w/20x Optical Zoom Here

This camcorder is absolutely wonderful. Though I don't think I'd pay top dollar for it. While it works great recording and playing back, there is minimum software availible ( Id didnt recieve any) and figuring out how to download it to the computer to burn to a DVD took a while. Though I only paid $195 for this camera that also came with a brand new camcorder bag and additional battery. I kinda wish I would have spent the extra money to invest in a DVD camcorder. But, if you are willing to take the time to learn how to burn to DVD, then this is a great camera!

Want Panasonic PVGS12 Digital Palmcorder MultiCam Camcorder w/20x Optical Zoom Discount?

I was impressed when I received the cam and I saw the size! Very little, compared to my old JVC from 10 years ago.

The quick start works great! And it uses the cheaper cassets for videocams.

People shouls know that the USB connection is only for transfering the photos stored in the card (use the PC mode). Also USB is for webcam purposes (use the tape recording mode), or if you want to transfer the video only (not audio) to the computer (use the Tape playback mode).

For photos, with a 128MB card u r fine. The resolution is less than 1 MPix (600X800).

If you want to use the full video/audio transfer to ur computer, be sure u have a firmware connection (IEEE 1394 or I.Link) And about the software, u can use windows default or buy Pinacle or any other related, not necesary to wait a lot for the Panasonic one (if u request that appart).

This cam records great with good quality during the day, but needs a little light improvement for evenings and nights.

Panasonic should think better for next cams when placing the connection ports, those are kind of inacessible.

I like this one, I searched and compared a lot before purshasing this one, other ones have not the same conectivity or are expensive. This one works great (with good ilumination), fast and with good quality.

Bicycle Handlebar Camera & Camcorder Mount for Flip MinoHD and UltraHD , Kodak PlaySport , Sony Blo

A must for enthusiasts who roam the unknown path of cycling while capturing everything in its path....WHAT A DEVICE!

I LOVE THIS. Picture yourself riding your bike thru the trail videotaping your adventure just you'd reply it in your head but with 100% detail vivid picture and crisp sound coming from your well placed camera (I could indicate what brand and model but I'd rather not as I'm told by AMAZON) anyway it playbacks just like you were standing holding the camera with your own hands...The mount is SUPERB tool as important as my camera. I was able to film my afternoon ride like a PRO. the camera sways and turns just like I rode the bike. HANDSFREE yes and the vibration as the bike entered uneven ground was BRILLIANT like the screen tells you the earth was moving....ahh thats all I have to say as I must plan another bike video diary for tomorrow.

ps the video of my shadow casted on the ground infront of me while the sun was behind was like a major epic motion picture as i pushed the bike hard thru twists and turns...riding towards the sunset. LOVE to RIDE.

Thanks USA GEAR & AMAZON!

I was really excited to get this mount for my bike so I could take videos of the trails I ride. I tested out the mount and discovered a few things worth sharing.

The mount is very secure to the bike.

The camera, a Kodak Sport, connection however seemed to loosen as I rode. I cranked it down some more and used the knob to tighten it further. I was worried that I might have tightened it too much.

Most importantly however is that the mount transfers every bump in the sidewalk to the camera as you can see in the video. When I was on pavement it did better.

I would love to find a way to buffer the camera a bit better so it doesn't shake so much while riding

Buy Bicycle Handlebar Camera & Camcorder Mount for Flip MinoHD and UltraHD , Kodak PlaySport , Sony Blo Now

I have wrapped handlebars on my road bike, so it was tough to find a spot on the bars where the mount would fit. I finally got it on, screwed on my Flip MinoHD and went for a ride. Love that it pivots into different angles and it stayed in place for a 20 mile ride. Not only will use this on my bike's handlebars, I can also see using it on a boom pole or mounting it elsewhere for secondary camera shots, b-roll or places where it's difficult to place a tripod.

Read Best Reviews of Bicycle Handlebar Camera & Camcorder Mount for Flip MinoHD and UltraHD , Kodak PlaySport , Sony Blo Here

I received the camera handlebar mount quickly and it meets all my expectations and then some. The clamp is easy to adjust to accomodate differant size bars and clamps extremely tight.

I mounted it to the lower crash bar on a motorcycle and it performed perfectly.

Thank you

Want Bicycle Handlebar Camera & Camcorder Mount for Flip MinoHD and UltraHD , Kodak PlaySport , Sony Blo Discount?

Worked as anticipated. It needs an area on bike that is level to be fully adjustable. Very flexable mount but not enough tilt for my application.

Save 67% Off

Rode VideoMic Booming Kit with Windmuff

I am really happy with this microphone, and for the price it is probably the best buy on the web. You can easily spend just as much or more, and end up with much worse. Voice quality is sharp and clear, with good base. Windmuff holds up much better than my camera would without it, but doesn't stand up to a strong gust. I have been happy with it's performance in mild wind.

Great package, has everything listen. Only reason I don't give it 5 stars is because the windmuff is not the Rode brand (still works great though). Note, this is an older version of the rode mics*

Buy Rode VideoMic Booming Kit with Windmuff Now

Sony DVPCX995V 400-Disc DVD Mega Changer/Player

• 400-disc mega DVD and SACD changer; measures 17 x 7.8 x 21.1 inches (WxHxD)
• Up-converts video to high-definition (1080i/720p) resolution
• Compatible with SACD, DVD-RW/-R/+RW/+R, MP3, JPEG, CD-RW/-R, VCD and SVCD formats
• Outputs: 1 HDMI, 1 component, 2 S-Video, 2 composite, 1 coaxial audio, 1 optical audio, 1 multi-channel
• Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1-channel output

I have had the previous version (985V) for about two years now, and most of this review will refer to differences between the two. I have enjoyed the ability to store all my DVD's in one place (I have three children; and this prevents them from having to sort through the movies by hand).

The software is mediocre at best, though a large improvement over the 985V. The menu is much faster and allows scrolling by page. The folders (A, B, C, & D) now support labeling of more than three characters (a plus), though getting to the custom folders is a bit more cumbersome. Labeling remains nearly the same; a PS/2 keyboard is an obvious MUST. The remote control layout has been slightly redesigned, though I am not yet sure it was an improvement. I have read others reporting on the quietness when compared to the 985V, though I haven't noticed much difference. The load and disc change speed seam unchanged.

Several others have reported issues placing this monster into their entertainment cabinet, shelf, etc... due to its massive size. It is quite large and homework should be done to eliminate a VERY aggravating experience.

The video set-up functions are useful and probably similar to the much more expensive 777ES; though this may not be useful to an individual who has the ability to set up their TV specifically for this input.

Ok, so it is a great idea and a bit short on the software (disc explorer), but it is very functional. I don't think anyone will complain too much when only spending a bit over $300 for this monster.

Sony has a long history of maintaining proprietary connections and connectivity. This until does NOT support RS-232 connection, Ethernet connections, firewire etc... These players will NOT connect in series, nor will the software support multiple players. The 985V had a selectable switch in the back to allow up to three players to operate independently with the remotes (not very useful, but at least it's there if you need it). The 995V does not have that function.

The video quality: Yup, the HDMI works quite well with my Sony 50" LCD TV (KDF-50WE655). I've verified functionality of 480P, 720P, and 1080i via the HDMI connection. The video quality from the 480P and 720P are nearly identical (I can't tell a difference). The 1080i produces a grainier picture. I have done tests with several motion pictures (Lord of the Rings, Monsters Inc, Spider Man) using fast motion pictures and still images. ALL tell the same tale; No difference between 480P and 720P. The 1080i setting consistently losses the quality comparison. To be honest, this is no surprise, due to the native resolution of the DVD (480). It's just a novelty to see 720P or 1080i on the screen with a DVD input. The video quality is very good.

My recommendation: This is NOT a player to consider IF you are considering upgrading from the 985V, unless it is based solely on the software upgrade. It is an improvement. Video quality remains the same. I do NOT recommend using the very expensive HDMI cable. Use the component video out and you will not be missing anything (unless you're a gadget freak like me). Audio quality remains excellent

If you are considering a DVD Mega-Changer, then within this price range (there are no competitors yet) you will not be disappointed. This unit is far from perfect, but is a very functional player.

Addressing the DVD Changer Myth's:

"My data (titles) will all be lost if the power goes out." NOPE... It will hold them in memory for at least 30 minutes (that was the longest test I'd seen)

"The search function will not find any titles... what a piece of crap" Sorry, not a problem with the player, this is caused by the retail manufactures of the DVD's not placing this data on the DVD. Back-up you copy and use titlewriter. Then burn it. You will have your title automatically recognized.

"High Def from a DVD will look awesome on my TV" Sorry to disappoint you but you will find that the native resolution of the DVD is 480. This unit "upscales" the resolution to provide the high-def image. It is not truly high def. Many TV's actually have scalers built in to upscale the image. This may be the reason for no noticeable improvement on my system?

"This player automatically starts the last movie selected when powered up". Yup it sure does... and that really stinks. If you stop the movie while rolling credits, just hit the stop button once. Once your player powers up, it will begin where it left off. You can immediately Stop the video from that point. If not, you will be forced to view the FBI warning, THX audio scene, etc...

I hope this review helps others make a bit more informed decision when it comes to this specific player. Overall I am satisfied with my purchase and would buy again.

Buy Sony DVPCX995V 400-Disc DVD Mega Changer/Player Now

One small but potentially important correction to Bill's review for those who (like me) have or want to have multiple changers: this unit *DOES* support multiple command modes, allowing for up to three players to be controlled independently. Bill is right that this unit doesn't have the command mode switch on the back to control this behavior -instead, the command mode is set from the front panel. (See page 16 of the manual in the link above.)

Read Best Reviews of Sony DVPCX995V 400-Disc DVD Mega Changer/Player Here

The Sony DVP-CX995V. Hmmm. Let's get the obvious out of the way.

Yes. It will play your movies, your CD's and MP3's. The picture and sound is more than acceptable.

Yes. It will hold a lot of discs in a relatively compact space and eliminate clutter in your A/V / Home Theater Room.

Saying that, the product falls short of being truly usable for its intended purpose. The interface is horrific...and that is coming from a confirmed gadget geek who loves to play with the latest electronic wonders. I am very disappointed that Sony would put a product like this on the market.

Some of the simplest things you would expect of the DVP-CX995V are missing or very cumbersome. For example, it would seem obvious that with 400 discs, there would be some quick and efficient method to select a disc such as keying in the disc slot from the keypad. Wrong. You either manually turn the disc skip control on the unit, or repeatedly press the "disc skip" on the remote while the player sequential spins the carousel (or repeatedly paging through screens of titles on a television). Thankfully, on the player there is a button that allows you to skip 100 discs at a time so that you only have to manually go forward or backward, may be 50 slots. Yes. It is that primitive.

------

UPDATE 2/03/2006 I learned from another user the following shortcut (which is not documented): With the remote switch set to "DVD", press the "Display / File" button on the remote. This will bring up the Control Menu 1 screen with the number of the disc currently playing highlighted in the first entry. Pressing the "Enter" button on the remote will clear the number and allow you to key in a new disc number. Press the "Enter" button and the player should now begin the process of changing to the disc you selected. Press the "Display / File" button until the menu screen toggles off.

------

The unit does not allow you to enter and save programs for favorite CD's. The closest you can do is to categorize the discs by artist, genre, etc and then select that group to play. This information needs to be keyed into the player. However, a disc (slot) can only be assigned to one category. This leads to the next item.

The highly touted ability to enter and create a library of title information is flawed because the player loses its memory if it is without power for less than 24 hours. I live in Florida...this is an issue. Even if you live in an area which has stable power, what if you want to move or unplug the unit? It boggles my mind that in an era when you can buy 128MB of non-volatile flash memory for less than $20, why does this unit have this problem?.

------

UPDATE 2/03/2006 I have started the process of entering disc information of my DVD collection into the player. You have two options: (1) Insert all your discs into the player at the same time and hit the "Load" button on the front panel of the player. The player then sequentially mounts every disc in the player and attempts to read disc information if it is available. As others have pointed out, probably less than 10% of current discs have any information so this doesn't buy you much. You will then need to use a keyboard to enter title information for the remaining discs, as well as artist, genre and selecting a folder if you want to use that options. BTW, you cannot just select a slot number and begin to type in data and then put the disc into the slot. The player must load every disc first before it will allow you to enter any data. Apparently the player must know what type of disc is in the slot first (it will categorize disc type automatically DVD, CD, CD-Data, etc.) If you have been following this process, you should recognize a problem...how do you know what disc information to enter (unless you have already written it out and carefully inserted the discs into the proper slot number)? This means you will have likely have to wait for the player to again mount the disc, wait through the interminable FBI warnings, etc before you can determine what disc is playing in order to enter the title information. (2)The second option which I have been doing is to load 10 15 discs at time, hit play and wait for the player to spin the discs around to the back and allow it to mount and begin reading the disc. At that point, with the remote selector switch in the "Disc Explorer" position, I hit the "Stop" button and then press the "Folder" button which brings upon the "Disc Explorer" menu. I keep the empty disc cases in the same order as I loaded the discs and then enter then disc information for the current disc. Once the data is saved, you index down to the next slot on the "Disc Explorer" menu , press play, wait while the player dismounts the current disc and then mounts the new disc and starts reading. Etc. Etc. Etc. Expect to spend 2 minutes total for each disc you want to file. I currently have approximately 300 DVD's in my library. An Excel spreadsheet is starting to look pretty attractive. One other oddity, if the disc does have text information, the player will not allow you to edit or override it. My DVD of "Independence Day" has a title of "ID4" which the player picks up and will not allow me to correct.

------

By the way, the DVP-CX995V is s-l-o-w to mount and read a disc. Forget about shuffle play of tracks between CD discs.

I was disappointed to learn that this player will not read MP3's from DVD media like the other current Sony players do. Given the slowness of the unit, it would be nice to collapse 30 or 40 albums of music onto a single DVD but it is not there.

Yes, the player forces you to wait 20-30 seconds upon startup while it loads and reads the information from the last disc played....whether you want to play it or not. This is such a simple bug...why doesn't Sony fix it.

Yes. You will need to read the manual. This must be the least intuitive machine I have ever used. "Steep learning curve" would be an understatement. After playing with it for over a week, I don't understand what Sony was thinking about when they designed the DVP-CX995V. It doesn't have to be this hard.

Not really a weakness but be sure your cabinent or shelving is strong and large enough. The unit is over 21 inches deep. With video component cables extended out the back, you should allow at least another 1-2 inches. Think about how heavy 400 DVD/CD discs weigh and add-in the weight of the player.

Prior to buying this player, I read some of the negative reviews and thought they were written by the sort of person who gets confused setting up a VCR or using a remote control. Well, I was wrong. In fact, I don't understand the positive reviews that you will find listed.

Bottom line. Unless you must have a player that can store 400 pieces of media, avoid the DVP-CX995V. Save your money and peace of mind. You will thank me. Hear me now...believe me later.

------

UPDATE 02/03/2006 After owning for over a month, my opinion hasn't really changed much about the DVP-CX995V. Video and audio performance are OK but nothing to get excited about. Although I am starting to learn and get use to its quirks and limitations, I'm not sure if it is worth all the trouble because it is so unusable. Definitely a niche product. On the other hand, when you consider all that it does, at $300 it isn't a bad deal. Still, I would not recommend this product without reservations.

Want Sony DVPCX995V 400-Disc DVD Mega Changer/Player Discount?

Just to set the stage I know my electronics as I have been dealing with this stuff for over 25 years in all categories. In my Home Entertainment System I have a big screen HDTV and a Yamaha AV system with a set of Klipsh speakers and this is my first review on any product. I own 4 DVD players (3 are Sony's). I have over 300 DVD's with 7 kids. You can see why I wanted to protect my investment.

I think we all recognize that over the years, electronics has become more and more disposable and I have certainly cycled through electronic equipment. This is certainly the case with this product. After loading all the discs and information on the discs which took one Saturday, we started to enjoy the convenience of having all the discs in the player. Then it happened. One day all the data was gone. There was no power outage. Fortunately I have the DVD information on the computer. But I was bothered. I called Sony and after 3 hours of talking to a number of people (mostly telephone receptionists who are paid to screen out calls) knew less about the product than my 75 year old mother. I finally demanded to talk to a technician who talked to other technicians (and so-on) who finally concluded that I probably had a bad memory chip on the mother board. Whew!

After that bad experience, I debated for a day as to send it back for a (a refurbished unit in exchange for my near new one) this is Sony's idea of a full one year warrantee. I thought that if the physical RAM is bad then it may lead to other problems; so I reluctantly unloaded my machine knowing the task ahead when I get the replacement. I then had to ship it to Texas which cost me $35 of which Sony will not pay. I was the told the turnaround time, once received in Texas would be 5 days.

Two weeks later I had heard nothing from Sony so I called. After spending another hour on the calling tree, I finally found someone who could update me which was they had lost my machine and had no record of receiving it. Fortunately I had my UPS tracking number and proved to them that a guy named Gomez signed for it at their shop. This caused them to search more until they finally realized that they sent my broken machine to some poor chap in Arizona by mistake. I stated that I simply want a replacement and that this is there problem. There response was that we need to first get your machine back from this guy (of which they wasn't sure who it was) and then they can repair it and send it back. I reminded them of their policy and demanded a replacement to be sent that day their response was I'll get back to you. No one did so I called the next day you can either send me a replacement or a refund.

This type of discussion went on for hours as I talked to different people (they do not have direct numbers at Sony's Customer Service). Each time I called I had to review the whole story because they wouldn't note it in the computer.

To make this long story shorter, I might get another machine or I might not time will tell. I'm worn out and I've noticed that the price of this unit has dropped $100 in 4 months what does that tell you.

I don't care what other reviews say, I will never buy another Sony product of any kind. The company has become so large they are out of touch with their costumers (just talk to their employees I've gotten to know them well). This is a company that has diminishing quality and services.

I have answers to many of the concerns raised regarding auto play, disc explorer, auto loading, etc. But who cares this is not the point. Sony is the point and I do not feel that we as customers need to put up with it otherwise we all loose. So tell your friends!

I've seen the reviews of others with their title information being wiped. Well, I found my personal solution which works better than it ever could.

Use Excel or a DVD library program (like DVD Profiler). Use that to store your DVD titles, along with the disc slot number where it was stored at.

Then get a 880 or 890 Logitech Harmony Remote (don't know if the lower models work). Export the title information to a .csv file (basically a comma delimited text file). Then upload that .csv file to your Harmony remote. With that, you can store all the title information on your remote and press a button on it to play the movie! If for whatever reason the remote memory gets wiped, I can easily upload the info again using the .csv file.

Another benefit of using a program like DVD Profiler is that I can just input the UPC number to get the title information. Don't have to waste time inputting the title information manually with the keyboard into the dvd player.

Oh yes, the Sony DVPCX995V is a great jukebox DVD player also. :)

Canon ZR200 MiniDV Camcorder w/20x Optical Zoom (High Metal)

Great Camera, Battery Sucks

I bought this camera to replace an old Panasonic VHS-C camera. After reading many reviews over at www.camcorderinfo.com (a great site BTW), I decided to save a few bucks and get the ZR 200 instead of the 300. The light seemed useless to me and I already had a SD card.

The ZR 200 outperforms our old Panasonic in every way. Very happy with this camera. I've been using it mostly in "easy" mode. I did try out the wide-screen feature, and MAN was it cool! I filmed a concert band at a local community college, in low light, on a ti-pod with lots of panning and zooming. It really did a great job. It looked like a freakin' documentary!

You will read lots of reviews complaining about motor noise. These are greatly exaggerated. I've used it to tape the audio of my wife's sonogram (fetal doppler sounds) in a very quiet doctor's office and it worked perfectly, no motor noise.

This is a consumer level camera, and as such performs very well for casual capturing. Kicks butt for home movies, low light concerts. Real pros might want to consider spending more.

One bummer, the battery really sucks. It lasts about one hour, so you'll want to get another one, or do what I do and plug it in whenever you can.

One little tip: You must hold the focus button down! You will read complaints of slow manual focus times, and I noticed the same thing, until I HELD DOWN THE FOCUS BUTTON. Manual focus is very snappy.

Amount Paid (US$):

239.99 (www.dell.com, w/ 2 coupons from www.dealmac..com)

Ease of Use:

Excellent; operates with the touch of a button

Durability:

Good; solid it will last until new technology develops

Battery Life:

Average; lasts 45-90 minutes

Movie Quality:

Good; stable and crisp image, very good sound

Recommended for:

Home and Families Keep Memories of Family Vacations

Pros:

Great Images, Very Small, Easy to use

Cons:

Batteries only last one hour.

The Bottom Line:

Highly recommend it for home, family buyers AND budget buyers.

Overall Product Rating:Above Average

Recommended: Yes

This camera replaced Canon's ZR85, which was another lightweight, no-frills camera. This one is even lighter, and a fair bit smaller. It fits just right in the palm of my hand. If it was any smaller or lighter it would be awkward -I like there to be a little bit of weight to a camera, since that gives it a litle bit of stability due to inertia; as it is it is just right.

It has more functions than you'd really want in such a camera -if you are ever going to do something with the footage you will be using a computer and an editing program, so you don't really need the editing modes on the camera. Still, there's no complaint here, and it's flexible enough for most non-professional, home users.

My only complaints are: when they "upgraded" to the ZR200 from the ZR85, they got rid of the neck strap. So this unit is totally free floating and you have to be more careful about dropping it. I suppose you could rig a neck strap but it isn't included and it would be a little more awkward, since the slots they give you to fasten a strap are very close together. I ended putting one on there but rarely use it, because it makes the camera twist around a bit. I really liked the neck strap on my ZR85 as a way of stabilizing the camera: I could put the camera down near my waist, and look through the LCD monitor, and the tension from the neck strap would help me keep the camera steady as I walked, usually while filming my children ahead of me. The other complaint is that the viewfinder on this one no longer swivels up and down, but is fixed in place. This makes it much less usable for me -because it means that the camera has to swivel with your head if you are using the viewfinder. It means that I use the LCD screen much more often than I used to, and that runs the battery down much more quickly. Still, for simplicity and convenience and ease of use, you'd be hard pressed to find a better camera at this price.

Buy Canon ZR200 MiniDV Camcorder w/20x Optical Zoom (High Metal) Now

I purchased this camera to replace my Panasonic VHS-C camcorder. I was very surprised at how much smaller the camcorders are as compared to when I had my VHS-C. This camera is great. Its small, compact design makes it easy to fit into the palm of your hand, and the mini screen is perfect for viewing images while recording. The feature that really sold me on this camera, aside from its low price, was the image stabilization. With the stabilization on, there is no image bouncing, and you'll be sure to get clear, sharp images every time. I was disappointed in the short charge that the battery holds, so I recommend purchasing another battery or plugging the camera in whenever possible. The tapes the camera uses are very small, and you can easily store several in a camera bag.

I highly recommend this camcorder. It was ranked the best camcorder in its price range by Consumer Reports magazine. You'll be sure to get many hours of enjoyment using this teriffic camcorder from Canon.

Read Best Reviews of Canon ZR200 MiniDV Camcorder w/20x Optical Zoom (High Metal) Here

I imagine most people who buy this camera will be using it to make home movies and so far I've found it to be very easy to use and the video quality to be excellent.

A few words of warning, the provided USB cable is only good for tranferring still images to your PC. If you want to transfer video you need and IEEE394 cable (I think that's what it's called). This does not come with the camera. However if you do some looking online you can get one very cheap (I got one for $1.95). Most brick and mortar stores sell them for a much higher price, as much as $30.

Want Canon ZR200 MiniDV Camcorder w/20x Optical Zoom (High Metal) Discount?

You get what you pay for and more... For a camera that is normally under 300 bucks, one can not really complain. If you expecting it to perform like a 2000 dollar camera then don't buy it. If you are looking for something simple to use (for me it was for the birth of my son etc...) It was perfect. Get another battery, an SD card for pictures, and a few DV cassettes and you are good to go. Amazon sells it for a bit high, I would go to Dell and purchase it with a few coupons, normally ends up to be like 240-270 free shipping + your local taxes, so under 300.

Megapixel HD Wireless Spy Camera Hidden Pinhole LENS In RADIO ALARM CLOCK @ Night Vision @ Wi-Fi IP

Bought this Camera Clock after doing a search on variety of products offered on the web, and I'm really impressed with the performance so far.

Got it today in the mail and installed it really quickly (the company provided a very user friendly installation guide, took me about 5 minutes).

The hole for the pinhole camera is basically invisible, and the clock looks like another clock radio on the market.

Once I got the product I gave a call to the company and asked a tech question unrelated to this particular product but in the field of video cameras and they helped out very rare to see a service team help out when it's not their product they're talking about. The tech person was super helpful.

Zoom R16 16-Track Digital Studio Recorder Bundle

• Specially Priced Package includes Zoom R16 Recorder as packaged by Zoom, PLUS:
• (1) 8gb SD Card, (1) Tascam VT1 Closed Back Stereo Headphones
• (10) 20' XLR Microphone Cables
• (4) 10' TS Instrument Cables
• Sonic Sense One-Year Extended Warranty Adds One Year to Manufacturer's Warranty.

i bought the piece basically for stage performance of music concerts.

the gain , assigning of tracks is very good.

record quality is excellent.

applying inserts needs some detailed study.

I have not explored DAW functions yet.

over all quality & expectation were met.

the bundled cords & head phone are of good quality.

Buy Zoom R16 16-Track Digital Studio Recorder Bundle Now

i was so happy when this arrived. i can't say anything useful about what it does because my partner purchased it through my account and i don't know how to use it. but it arrived very quickly and it was in perfect condition, and it makes him so happy!

Read Best Reviews of Zoom R16 16-Track Digital Studio Recorder Bundle Here

I bought this to supplement my professional video recording equipment so that I can record 3+ isolated WAV audio tracks for mixing later in a computer program. Since most portable video cameras only record two tracks, the option of more tracks is really great. It's light weight and moderately easy to set up. The only drawback is that it does't record in 48k, just 44.1k. Not a big deal for the work I do. As I haven't used any of the mixing functions, somebody else will have to give you their opinions but for me, all I can say is that I used it eight times now on full day productions and so far it has worked flawlessly.

Panasonic VDR-D210 DVD Camcorder with 32x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

This is a very nice 'palm'corder. I've put it through its paces the past couple of days. It does use more than just the Panasonic mini-disks . . I'm using Maxell. Their website says it will also use Sony and TDK disks. Of course, you can't play the mini-disk on an outside DVD player until you "finalize" the disk while still in the camera...just like if you were using a regular DVD Recorder. Then it played on both of my DVD players just fine. It pays to take an hour or so and read the book, which was very clear. The movies are clear and bright. I'm particularly looking forward to reducing the hand shakiness on zoom with the OIS. It did not have the capability of using a USB cable to go to a computer, or have a video light, but if I wanted those features, I would have bought the higher-end model. I'm very satisfied. Can now pass down my older 8mm camcorder to one of my children!

This is an awesome camcorder, especially for a first time user. It is very easy to use. The picture quality is awesome. I just got it so I'm still playing around with it. It also takes still pics, which is a good feature if something really cute happens and your camera is not handy, but I try not to waste my disc space on pics since I already have a digital camera. The only thing I do not like about the camcorder is you can't delete pictures or video from the disc once you taken them (like you can with a digital camera)or record over them. Once it's on the dvd it's there for good. Now if there is another dvd like a dvdrw that you can do this on, I don't know. I will look into it.

Buy Panasonic VDR-D210 DVD Camcorder with 32x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom Now

This is my first DVD camcorder and I am very pleased with its ease of use and quality of pictures! This is for the basic recording for family, vacations, kids sporting events! Not alot of extra frills on this one, which I find very user freindly; since in the past I've had alot of extra options on my camcorder I never utilized-except accidently!All you do is insert a DVD and push record(I found Sony DVD-R are the best).Its easy to use and you get a quality, clear picture and sound-image stabilization is a must as it eliviates the blurrs from shaking hands. The price is right,its small and compact,easy to use.The screen is also large enough to actually see what you are recording and the buttons are all secure so no accidental recording will take place.

Read Best Reviews of Panasonic VDR-D210 DVD Camcorder with 32x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom Here

Sure this camera was good for 4 months and about 12 uses. Then when we used it the last time, the battery died. The camera shut down and we were never able to power it back up again, even plugged directly into the wall itself, bypassing the battery. I called Panasonic and they gave me some verification number and an address to get it fixed, they also said they'd send me some papers which I never recieved. I sent it to the service center and they just called me and told me that they need a flat rate of $211 before they even touch it! I only paid $198 for it. I am so mad, I cannot afford to give them $211! I am at a loss here. Why do these companies make junk! I will NEVER BUY PANASONIC AGAIN!

Want Panasonic VDR-D210 DVD Camcorder with 32x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom Discount?

This item replaces a 14 year old camcorder. I was amazed at the ease of operation and the playback feature with sound just blew me away. Most of my camcorder use features my fantastic grandchildren and I look forward to many happy and memorable events to come.

Samsung DVD-V4600 DVD / VCR Combo

• DVD player with built-in hi-fi VCR; front A/V inputs facilitate easy hookup with camcorder or gaming console
• Progressive-scan output offers flicker-free images on HD or HD-ready TVs
• Plays DVD-Video, video-mode DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW, CD-R/CD-RW, MP3 CD, Kodak Picture CD, and JPEG image CDs
• VCR plays S-VHS videocassettes at standard-VHS resolution; EZ View letterbox eliminator creates full-screen images for 4:3 aspect-ratio TVs
• Measures 16.9 x 3.3 x 10.4 inches (W x H x D)

The VCR is noisy, it actually makes a vibration that affects the video qulaity during recording or playback of a pre-recorded tape.

The remote is not layed out very well, the on screen menu is confusing and difficult to navigate through.

I should have been clued in when I bought this unit, there were six units in boxes, two of them were open box specials (returns). You can probably guess why they were returned.

I'm returning this item and getting separate DVD and VCR units.

Buy Samsung DVD-V4600 DVD / VCR Combo Now

On "paper" this was the perfect unit for my bedroom for saving space and at a great price. I wanted buttons on the front, and it was made by a major manufacturer that I trusted. The VCR would not track. The DVD player constantly froze leaving a green screen. I regret that I did not read the reviews of others more carefully prior to my decision to buy. I looked only at the average number of stars in the rating.

Read Best Reviews of Samsung DVD-V4600 DVD / VCR Combo Here

This machine is simply unreliable. When I played VHS tapes, a number of the tapes appeared distorted on the screen, with the top portion of the image wavy. This could not be fixed using the tracking button on the machine. I am returning mine to the vendor.

Want Samsung DVD-V4600 DVD / VCR Combo Discount?

Our DVD portion of the player broke (same problem as others have listed--freezes up and won't play anymore or just won't even load a DVD) within 6 months of the original purchase. We sent it in to be repaired under warranty. Was returned and broke within a month. Sent it back in and the company repeatedly refused shipment of the DVD/VCR unit even though we had followed all instructions on how to return it and included appropriate authorization numbers given to us when we called to set up service. We have invest way more in shipping than we ever should have in the first place to have this unit fixed. BUYER BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We did not own a DVD player, and with since so many DVD's have extras such as commentaries and added footage, we decided it was time to buy one. Since our VCR had some age on it, we decided to get this DVD/VCR combo. First of all, it would not work at all on our 11 year old Magnavox TV, so we bought a new TV. Then we found that the VCR has a buzzing noise which is very annoying, so we hooked our old VCR back up. The only good quality about this unit is that we get good results with the DVD player. I would not recommend this Samsung DVD/VCR unit. There have to be better combos out there on the market.

Samsung DVD-V1000 DVD-VCR Combo

• DVD player and 4-head VCR, compatible with S-VHS, VCDs, CD-R, and MP3 audio
• 400x speed rewind; 16-event/1-year timer recording; records non-copy-protected DVD to VHS
• Component-video, composite-video, and S-video outputs offer optimal connection with compatible DVD player
• Virtual surround sound simulates 5-speaker sound using only 2 speakers; DTS digital output for DTS-enhanced DVDs
• Measures 17 x 4 x 14.3 inches (W x H x D)

If you don't own a DVD player yet, you won't know much of what you are missing. The quality of the VCR portion of the product is excellent, and the DVD playback is also fine. No need for an RF modulator, as everything you need to connect to TV's old or new is in the box. Get an S-Video connection ASAP, though.

Most problems start when you go to use the thing. Others have mentioned problems with the remote and menu functions; I, too have had situations where I had to turn it all of, and try it all again until it worked.

The biggest irritation will be to electronics buffs who chose this because other models were too high. If you have a DVD in the drive and turn the unit on, it will start the DVD no matter what you are trying to do. In the middle of getting the news? It will play the DVD. Switching to catch the latest MTV video? It will play the DVD. And forget RESUME functions. Turn the player off and you have to find your chapter anew. We have started to eject the DVD on turning the unit on if we want the VCR channel to stay on screen. Big irritation big.

For the VCR side, until you PLAY a VHS tape the VCR display is not shown on screen (tape status, etc.). The controls on the remote are poor, and although it does double-function for your TV I wish some buttons were just TV and some buttons were just VCR. You will know what I mean when you see how small and oddly placed some of the remote functions are.

At a slightly lower price this product would be a great value; at the current price it isn't worth it, but does the job for a 2nd DVD player in the home to get rid of that old, yucky VCR you have had for years.

Buy Samsung DVD-V1000 DVD-VCR Combo Now

This player is perfect for the average user (as I said in the title). It combines a good ... DVD player with a good VCR ..., saving space and electrical cord confusion.

DVDs play perfectly, exactly the way they are supposed to, without skipping or anything. While there are no special frills or anything, it does exactly what any normal person wants out of a DVD player; plays DVDs without skipping or screwing up. In addition, the DVD player can play audio CDs, including ones with MP3 files on them. This means you can listen to 10 straight hours of music without pushing a button, as long as you also have a CD burner.

The VCR part is great (or at least much better than the 12 year old VCR we had previously). It has 4 tracks in it, which means when you pause it, you dont get those little white lines all over the place. Even better, you can record from a DVD onto a VCR (but not vice versa) provided the DVD isn't safe protected.

As far as ease of use goes, I only had one problem with the entire thing. When you first connect it, it tries to auto-detect the time and what channels you have. For some reason, it couldn't find my antenna, which forced me to tell it what the time was, as well as what the channels were, manually (adding about 2 more minutes to the 5 minute procedure of setting this thing up).

I don't have tons of experience with DVD players, so I can't say this is the best DVD player on the market. I would be lying, because I have nothing to compare it to. However, it fits the average user's needs perfectly. If you want like ultra amazing picture that you need to zoom in 8x to notice, you might want to shell out that extra $... for one of the newer ones. But for now, this is perfect.

Read Best Reviews of Samsung DVD-V1000 DVD-VCR Combo Here

After spending some time researching the 3 combo DVD/VCR players I could find, I settled on this one based on userfeedback from several sites. The first one I purchased was a bit of a dud (VCR door didn't open when ejecting a tape), but after exchanging it for a new one, I'm glad I picked it. Overall, it's a good sturdy unit. A bit wider than my original VCR. Initial setup is very easy. Plug the cables into the TV, plug the CATV from the wall into the unit, turn it on and let the autosetup run. The unit goes out and adds all the channels it can find, and even sets the time for you.

Video quality is very good. VCR playback looks very nice, and the auto-tracking is a nice feature. Very fast rewind too (a full T-120 in less than 2 minutes).

DVD image quality is very good. If you can get S-Video into your TV, go for it. Playback/pause works smoothly, although FF/Rew scan takes some getting used to if you're coming from the VCR world.

Only complaint (as with some other reviewers) is the remote. Buttons are kind of small, and takes some getting used to. Labels for a few buttons are pretty small, and it took me about 10 minutes to figure out where the Return button was. There are buttons all over the place, and not all of them are in the usual places you expect them.

If you're looking for a new VCR, and want to get into the DVD world without completely obsoleting your video collection, I'd give this one a good looking over.

Want Samsung DVD-V1000 DVD-VCR Combo Discount?

A VCR/DVD player combo is a great idea and most stores are sold out of them. However I have had nothing but problems with my Samsung. The DVD player locks up and won't let me access the menu on some of my DVD's and therefore forced to watch some movies with subtitles and not able to skip chapters. If you want the advice from someone who ownes one, my advice is, if you are going to spend the money up grade. I wish I would have spent the extra money to get a better top of the line model.

This is an excellent choice overall. It has many useful features to it. The remote however lacks a lighted keypad this should be standard these days. An additional drawback is whenever the VCR channel is changed the VCR signal interupts the television mode, on most video players this usually happens only when going from TV to VCR mode. This is a real pain if you use picture-in-picture (PIP) as I do, you then have to press the TV/VCR button after changing channels. Also this has NO VCR Plus capabilty (a minor drawback). Hookup for this unit is easy. It transmits an excellent picture even when the cable signal is a little weak, unlike the Panasonic PV-D4761 that has every feature imaginable but has miserable picture quality in VCR mode, whether playing back a program you taped with it or simply watching the cable piped through it. As great as the picture quality is on this Smsung with both the DVD and VCR/Cable the Philips DVD/VCR combo picture is slightly better, however the philips ate my VHS tape & seamed to lack an illuminated front panel clock. The Samsung is an excellent electronics gift or self purchase. It doesn't have all the features of the Panasonic PV-D4761 but it has every one of them you'd need and more than a few that you would want including 2x & 4x zoom. It plays CD, CD-R, CD-RW, MP3, VCD, and quasi S-VHS the panasonic does not play all of these CD types and cost me approx [price] more than the Samsung & Philips.

RCA SCENIUM Digital Media Recorder with DVD Player (DRS7000N)

After purchasing this unit and programming it to record my favorite shows, I found that it often displays "An error occurred" when it is time for it to begin recording a show.

The errors were intermitent, and there was no apparent cause, so I exchanged the unit for a new one. The new one does the same thing.

I sent an e-mail message to RCA technical support, but they did not respond. If I cannot resolve this problem, I will probably return the unit for a refund.

My issues:

I also get errors when trying to record with unhelpful messages

Having it switch channels on my cable box doesn't always work (doesn't always enter all the numbers)

It won't let me enter most 3-digit channel numbers

Crashed on me twice so far. Unit still had clock working, but won't turn on & status light off. Unplug/Replug to work again.

No support on website for this product yet

Limited naming convention on recorded shows (i.e. can't specify caps where I want them, names have to be very short).

Opening/Closing DVD drawer takes you to menu (i.e. can't put movie in to watch later without disrupting what you're watching).

Can't record show on one channel & still watch another

When it does record, it works great.

Am hoping for some sort of firmware update(s) to fix these issues

Buy RCA SCENIUM Digital Media Recorder with DVD Player (DRS7000N) Now

I think maybe people that are unhappy with a product purchase are more likely to take the time to write a review, than are people that are satisfied.

Anyway, I'm pretty happy with this RCA Scenium hard drive recorder/DVD player.

The good: Great picture from both the DVD and hard drive, I like the Guide+ (much more accurate than the TV listing in our local Gannet newspaper)and the simplicity of one click recording w/o messing with tape and VCR programming.

The bad: Not much. The hard drive could be bigger, I look forward to the next generation product that includes a DVD recorder in which to dump off hard drive material. And the channels do change a bit too slowly.

Anyway, there was no way I was going to give the TIVO people one or two hundred dollars AND a monthly annuity of $13.00 (just for a program guide). This RCA unit was just what I was looking for.

Read Best Reviews of RCA SCENIUM Digital Media Recorder with DVD Player (DRS7000N) Here

My wife and I absolutely love this unit in conjunction with our DirecTV. Frankly, we don't use the Guide+ because we have the DirecTV grid. Yes, we have to manually set the record time on the DMR, but it takes about 45 seconds and can be set for once, everyday, M -F or whatever you want. I think the complainers must be those who could never figure out how to set the clock on their VCR.

Want RCA SCENIUM Digital Media Recorder with DVD Player (DRS7000N) Discount?

This is so much better than an old VCR that I used to have. Now I can record on the go and program as well. I like the ease of use and also the size of the internal hard drive. I do wish it was a little smaller and that it would completely shut down when turned off, but besides that..nothing bad from my point of view.

Elgato Video Capture Device 10020840

I read the reviews here and went ahead with my purchase anyway. I'm glad I did.

It couldn't be any more simple to record from an analog source to the Mac. My project is converting some old VHS home movies to digital videos. I wanted to try a test before I jumped into the real projects, so I decided to encode a small section of a VHS tape purchased around 1992.

I popped the software disc into my laptop and it installed in a few minutes. When finished, I launched the application and it presented me with a screen to test the video signal. I plugged in both ends of the device and I saw what was playing on my VCR instantly. The next screen made sure I had audio. Once set-up was out of the way, it was off to the races. I tested with a 10 minute section of the video and the software stopped recording exactly when I told it to.

I wanted to address the "issue" the other reviewers mistakenly have with this product not outputting H.264. The first video I captured has a file extension of ".mp4" and the description is "MPEG-4 Movie" in Finder. When I right-clicked and chose Get Info on the file, under Codecs, I see H.264, AAC listed. This proves H.264 encoding works with this product. I request the reviewers who said this is not working do the same and report the results.

Bottom line, this is a very simple to use product and I am looking forward to using it to convert those old movies from VHS. MUST BUY.

My apologies for this long review. Hopefully, though, it will be useful to someone.

I've spent some time the past 2 weeks comparing competing products for transferring home videos into digital format on my Windows 7 PC for long-term preservation and so that I can edit the videos on my PC. I tried or considered three different products including this Elgato Video Capture, and one high-end video transfer company, all on the same Hi8 analog video cassette with a family video that is 15 years old. Along the way, I have gotten some familiarity with the various technologies available today for transferring magnetic tapes into digital form. I found out some interesting things, and thought I would share them, in the hope that it might help others.

First, and you probably already know this, if you have any video memories on magnetic video tape, you want to get them transferred into digital form onto your PC or DVD or Blu-ray as soon as possible, before the video badly deteriorates. This especially includes regular VHS tapes, Video8 tapes, and normal Hi8 tapes, all of which are analog formats and are particularly susceptible to deterioration starting after about 10 years. Somewhat less susceptible to deterioration are Digital8 (which is also recorded on Hi8 tapes) and MiniDV tapes, because those are digital formats. But even for digital tapes, it is still magnetic tape which deteriorates over time, and you need to get those videos off of there. Seriously, at the risk of sounding like a doomsayer, if you have precious memories on magnetic video tape, you need to transfer that video off of those tapes and into digital form as soon as possible, or risk losing them forever. It's not hard to do, and you'll sleep better at night when you get it done!

In my case, I have a bunch of precious Hi8 family video tapes recorded on a high-end Sony consumer camcorder between 10 and 19 years ago, and I am rescuing these Hi8 videos a little on the late side. I wish I had started this project 5 years ago instead. These tapes are still watchable, but they have developed some lines and drop-outs and "hiccups" and digital artifacts. With multiple playback retries, I can fortunately still coax out fairly high quality from these tapes.

A quick note: Digital8 and MiniDV video tape camcorders have USB ports on them for digitally transferring your videos to your PC or Mac. If this is your situation, there is NO need to purchase one of these video transfer products (like Elgato Video Capture). You will get the best quality, by far, by using a USB cable to connect your camcorder to your PC or Mac, playing back your video in the camcorder, and using any of a whole bunch of different inexpensive software products on the market that will allow you to capture video from the USB port on your computer. This way, you are getting the digital video in its original form, which is great. You will get worse quality if you use a video transfer product that captures the video off of the video ports on the camcorder, because the camcorder is converting the digital video into analog, then the video transfer product converts the analog back to digital (not ideal, for sure).

So, for the rest of this review, I will assume you have analog magnetic video tape (like VHS, Video8, or normal Hi8), in which case you need a video transfer product like this Elgato Video Capture or something similar.

A note about video resolution: The analog video tape formats (VHS, Video8, and normal Hi8) all have native video resolutions less than 640x480. All of the video transfer products on the market record the video from these formats at either 640x480 or 720x480. It doesn't really matter which of these two resolutions the product records at. The point is, all of the video transfer products record at higher resolution than the original video, so you are capturing all of the resolution of the original video when you do the video transfer, which is good.

A note about overscan lines at the bottom of captured video: As documented all over the Internet, when capturing digital video from an analog video source like an analog magnetic video tape, you will end up with some additional fuzzy lines at the bottom of the captured video. This is totally normal. When played back on a regular TV, these overscan lines are usually chopped off because they appear "below the bottom of the screen," but the digital capture grabs them. To get rid of those lines, you can crop or zoom in slightly when you do your video editing. Interestingly, this Elgato Video Capture device automatically does a minor zoom on all captured video to remove those fuzzy lines.

A remark about video editing: Two of the products below (Elgato and Hauppauge) produce video files that use H.264 compression. This is an excellent video compression standard for viewing, and is supported by just about all video editing software. However, if you are going to do significant video editing, you may want to use some video conversion software to convert these video files to uncompressed or MJPEG-compressed AVI or MOV files for editing. (There are many inexpensive or perhaps even free software packages that will do this conversion.) The problem with editing H.264 compressed video files directly is that the extreme compression, which crosses video frame boundaries, can cause problems for video editing software, resulting sometimes in digital artifacts or out-of-sync audio in the final edited video output. An uncompressed or MJPEG-compressed AVI or MOV video source file avoids these problems.

A word about using an outside company to make a high-quality transfer of your analog video tape: A search of the Internet reveals many companies that will transfer your video tape into digital form, and send the digital files back to you on a fairly inexpensive USB hard drive that you can supply yourself or that they will sell you. Some of these companies are better than others. A few of these companies are very high-end, using expensive video transfer equipment. I used one of these very high-end video transfer companies, using their most expensive Premium service, to transfer the very same 15-year-old Hi8 tape that I also tried at home with the video transfer products below. I discovered that the transfer done by the outside company was significantly WORSE (lots of lines through the video and tracking problems) than what I was able to do at home with the products below. I don't necessarily think this is the fault of the video transfer company. At home, I was able to use the very same Sony Hi8 camcorder to do the transfer that I originally used to shoot the original video tape. My suspicion is that, especially for older analog video tapes, it helps to use the same camcorder for transfer as you used to shoot the video originally, so that any idiosyncracies in tracking or video head alignment won't be as much of an issue. Just food for thought.

Anyway, as noted above, I have done an experiment over the past 2 weeks, transferring the exact same 15-year-old Hi8 tape to my PC using the high-end video transfer company (above), plus two different video transfer products at home (Elgato and Hauppauge, below), and I also considered a third video transfer product (Blackmagic, below), to compare the pros and cons of each of each approach. Here's what I found out:

Elgato Video Capture (this product): Gets the best reviews on Amazon for a relatively inexpensive product for video transfer on both Windows and Mac. It captures video at 640x480 resolution, which means it grabs the full resolution and more of VHS, Video8, and normal Hi8 tapes. This worked great on my 64-bit Windows 7 computer. I just downloaded the latest driver and software from the Elgato web site, installed them both, and I was ready to go. It's incredibly easy to use. It connects to any USB 2.0 port on your computer. There are really no settings; the software guides you through the very simple process, and it transfers your video to your computer as an MP4 file. In case you are curious, the MP4 file it writes uses H.264 compression at 640x480 resolution and (basically) 29.97 frames/sec (standard NTSC) and a video data rate of between about 1100 kbps and 1500 kbps, depending on the complexity of the particular video you transferred. The audio in the MP4 file is AAC format at 48 kHz 16-bit stereo with an audio data rate of 128 kbps. When capturing a 2-hour video, I ended up with an MP4 file that was 1.5 GB in size. This Elgato product scores big points for ease-of-use. However, the video quality, while quite good, is not as high as the Hauppauge HD PVR (see below), because of the heavy video compression the Elgato uses to make a relatively small MP4 file with fairly low data rates. If you look closely at the captured video from the Elgato product, you will notice some minor squares of slightly distorted color at times, where the video has been over-compressed. Also, as noted above, the Elgato Video Capture automatically does a minor zoom on all captured video to avoid the fuzzy lines at the bottom of the captured video. On the plus side, this saves you the step of doing that zoom yourself in video editing. On the minus side, it is cropping all 4 sides of the video slightly, which might not be what you want.

Hauppauge HD PVR: This product exists in two very similar versions, the Model 1212 and the Model 1445 Gaming Edition, but the functionality of the two models is identical when capturing video from analog video magnetic tape. Although designed for high-def video capture, it's by far the best product I tried for standard-def video capture as well. This product gets excellent reviews on Amazon, and rightfully so. It works out of the box on Windows (including 64-bit Windows 7, which I use), and also supports the Mac with separately downloadable software. The Hauppauge product captures video at 720x480 resolution, which means it grabs the full resolution and more of VHS, Video8, and normal Hi8 tapes. Like the Elgato product, the Hauppague is very easy to use, though the software give you a few recording options, unlike the Elgato. The Hauppauge connects to any USB 2.0 port on your computer. It gives you a choice of recording video in three different formats: .TS, .M2TS, or .MP4. It doesn't matter much, choose whatever format is most convenient for you; most digital video editing applications can handle any of these formats with no problem. In all three cases, the output file uses H.264 compression, is 720x480 resolution, 29.97 frames/sec (standard NTSC) and a user-selectable video rate between 1 Mbit/sec and 13.5 Mbit/sec. I chose 5 Mbit/sec, and ended up with a crystal-clear video capture with a variable video data rate of 20 kbps (MUCH higher data rate and much lower compression than the Elgato, which means a clearer picture). The audio is AC-3 format at 48 kHz and a data rate of 384 kbps (again, much less compression than the Elgato, which means the Hauppauge perhaps yields slightly higher audio quality). If these technical details sound confusing, it's not important. The point is, the video capture from the Hauppauge product is significantly higher quality than from the Elgato, at the expense of significantly larger output files, and like the Elgato, can be edited with most video editing software. (A 2-hour video capture on the Hauppauge gave me a 5 GB file, as opposed to the 1.5 GB file from the Elgato for the same video tape.) Note that, like most video capture devices, the Hauppauge gives you the full captured video frame, which means you end up with some fuzzy lines at the bottom, as explained above. You can eliminate those fuzzy lines during editing with a crop or minor zoom.

Blackmagic Design Intensity Shuttle: This is the cream-of-the-crop for video capture. It comes in either a USB 3.0 model for Windows or a Thunderbolt model for the Mac. It captures both high-def and standard-def video in full, uncompressed format, so there is no loss of video quality for compression. For true archival quality of your video memories, this is the Rolls Royce option. However, there are two trade-offs to obtain this quality. The first is that your uncompressed video takes a LOT of disk space. The second, and more important, consideration is that you need a computer that can handle the extremely high data rate coming from the Blackmagic device (since the video is uncompressed). If you run Windows, you need a high-speed computer using an Intel x58 based motherboard, a true USB 3.0 port, and the latest USB 3.0 drivers. Most computers don't meet this requirement, even when they have a USB 3.0 port. There is a list of officially tested motherboards on the Blackmagic web site. My 1st-generation Dell XPS 17 laptop (which has two USB 3.0 ports) does not meet this requirement, so I can't use the Intensity Shuttle, and thus I haven't tried it. Though not officially listed as a supported system, there is a YouTube video called "Intensity Shuttle and Dell XPS Laptop From Scratch Tutorial" that explains how use a SECOND-generation Dell XPS 17 laptop with the Intensity Shuttle if you re-install Windows 7 and strip down the software running in the background to the bare minimum. Many people who want to use the Intensity Shuttle will buy or build a computer specifically for this purpose. If you don't already have a computer that is compatible with the Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle, and you aren't willing to invest to purchase or build one, or you don't need the full uncompressed archival quality video that is captured by the Intensity Shuttle, go with the Hauppauge or Elgato products, above.

I hope this comparative review is helpful to someone. Good luck, and good for you for transferring your precious older analog video tapes!

Buy Elgato Video Capture Device 10020840 Now

If you are like us you probably have hours and hours of home movies that are slowly decaying on VHS tape. In the ideal world I would have all of our home movies on my computer where they can be made into DVDs or sent to a media player (I am using Apple TV with 160GB Hard Drive MB189LL/A since it works seamlessly with my Mac). I happy to report that the Elgato helps to solve the problem of how I am going to get this media into my computer. I will say that there are other options such as buying a VHS/DVD recorder and then using software such as Handbrake to rip the content off of the DVD. I am sure there are others ways too... but using the Elgato Video Capture was the choice I used.

Pros-

Easy set-up (less than 5 minutes)

Cost effective

Works for all media types if it has a RCA or S-Video output you are in business This includes a my mini-DVD video camera, Slngbox, DVR, or your TV

Will record directly from your Tivo (see above)

I didn't have any of the problems with the video/audio syncing

Works perfectly with a Mac (PC users have other choices)

Will publish directly to YouTube and ITunes

Final Verdict Works perfectly for me and I couldn't be happier!

Read Best Reviews of Elgato Video Capture Device 10020840 Here

If you're like me, I have way too many old VHS tapes that I want to convert to DVD, but haven't found sofware/hardware combination that is easy to use, and does a great job.... Well, I've solved that problem with Elgato's Video Capture, it's so easy to use and understand. This company comprehends what we want and gives it to us. Yea.

Ok, all I need to do was first install the supplied software, hook up my VHS player with the included cables, and then read the well written instructions by Elgato. Sound easy, it is.

I looked up the first tape I wanted to do, and it had the time of it, so I set that up, All of the steps were made even easier with the step by step video/slide training on Elgato's site. Each step showed what I was to do, cables, plugs, settings, all of it there.

So once I made my first DVD from VHS, I was able to trim the boring stuff at either end, good idea. Then I was asked if I wanted to:

Play with Quick Time Player that's already on your Mac

Add to iTunes

Edit with iMovie

Upload to YouTube

I chose iTunes, so I could watch it on my iPhone/iPod or on the computer. I highly recommend it. no issues found ...I looked and could see that I could also use my camcorder, DVD player, and other analog video to my Mac via USB 2.0. The software that Elgato gives you yields H.264 or MPEG-4 that I easily sent to iTunes. Great!

Elgato Video Capture Technical Information:

Elgato Video Capture automatically detects NTSC, SECAM, PAL, and PAL/60 video formats for worldwide compatibility.

Video resolution: 640×480 (4:3) or 640×360 (16:9)

Video format: H.264 at 1.4 MBit/sec or MPEG-4 at 2.4 MBit/sec

Audio: AAC, 48kHZ, 128 kBit/sec

Generated files can be synced with video capable iPods, iPhones and Apple TV and can be edited in iMovie `09 without re-encoding.

System Requirements:

Macintosh computer with Intel Core Duo processor

512 MB of RAM

Built-in USB 2.0 port

Mac OS X 10.5.6 Leopard (or later)

QuickTime 7.6 (or later)

iTunes 8.1 or later

Want Elgato Video Capture Device 10020840 Discount?

UPDATED May 18, 2013: I originally wrote this review in October 2009 (over 3.5 years ago), and was reporting on my experiences using it with a 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo 15" MacBook Pro, which is much older and slower than the machines most people have today. Others have reported that it works better on more modern hardware (i.e., anything with a Core i5/i7 CPU). I ended up returning it, so I can't say. I found that the Blackmagic Design Video Recorded linked below worked much better for me, although it's twice the price of this device.

Elgato markets this as a H.264 capture device, but they only mention in the fine print (and nowhere on the Amazon page) that it does NOT include a hardware H.264 encoder. Instead, it uses your Mac's CPU to encode the video. This leads to two problems: first, your computer is basically useless for anything else while you're capturing video; and second, if your Mac isn't fast enough, it has to fall back to the lower quality (and less CPU-intensive) MPEG-4 codec. When I purchased this, Elgato's web site stated that H.264 was supported on machines with a 2.0 GHz Core2 Duo or better. In the latest 1.0.1 software update, they have revised this to a 2.33 GHz Core2 Duo, which puts my 2.2 GHz Core2 Duo MacBook Pro on the wrong side of the line. In addition, this device is very pricey for a software-only encoder -there are other products available (albeit without Mac support) for a quarter of the price of this product that do video capture with software encoding.

The final nail in the coffin is that even encoding in MPEG-4, the video captured with this device has frequent frame drops and glitches, which makes the recordings unusable. I've wasted over an hour recording video that I had to throw away because of frame drops. For those that say it's "okay" because the frame drops are infrequent, I disagree -I'm not willing to audit hours of captured video to find the places where it dropped frames and re-record those segments.

I'm going to be sending this back and trying either the Blackmagic Design H.264 Format Video Recorder (which does encode in hardware) or the Hauppauge 1212 HD-PVR High Definition Personal Video Recorder. Both of these are more expensive than the Elgato, but I'd rather pay more for something that works.

Save 15% Off