Mount-It! Wall Mounted AV Component Shelving System with 3 Adjustable Tempered Glass Shelves (Black)

• Designed for use with DVD players, HD recorders, cable boxes and other AV equipment
• 3 Included Shelves are constructed out of tempered glass and are height adjustable
• Saves space and neatly organizes your AV Equipment
• Easy and Secure Installation
• Weight Capacity: 17 lbs per shelf

It's okay, measure your system before purchasing I didn't and my receiver doesn't fit otherwise it is a good unit, nice and sturdy. Easy to to mount and get together, I just wish I measured beforehand oh well it holds everything else it needs to

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It's very easy to assemble and I've had my cable box and blue ray and other things on it for months. The only problem is that the rails to run your wires aren't that big. So when you run the power cables and TV cable and HDMI cable and ethernet cable, etc, they won't all fit.

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Great deal on this shelf. Very sturdy. For the price you can't beat this thing. I'm probly going to get another one for another room. Why spend $100+ on one of these?

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good product but the shelf are a little small. everything else is great, it includes everything you will need to mount it on the wall. all you need is a screwdriver and a drill. shelves are secure with av components on top. only issue is that the hdmi cables on my dish receiver and bluray player are right in the middle where the mount is at so the units themselves stick out about half an inch. the reason i gave it four stars is because the cable concealer is pretty much useless since the only way it would work is to have the cables go directly into the wall. but still at 40 dollars you just cant beat this.

Riptunes 4GB MP3 Player - Red

• Riptunes 4GB MP3 Player - Red

I use 2 of these RIPTUNES 4GB players with one for working out, walks, bed, etc.. and the other for studying. I also use a CREATIVE 8 GB for larger volume music files.

These RIPTUNES devices are small and handy for casual use. They do crash on me from time to time and I had to reset them quite often when I first got them but I've learned their capabilities and gear their use to what they do best and I haven't lost any files yet.

So far, they've been great for rotating a small library of MP3 tunes every month or so and they work great for several audio lecture series I use them for. In fact I'm leaning toward keeping the lecture series on them (long term) and picking up a few more for new lectures.

It's not an IPAD, tablet or large volume storage disc but it works great for a $30 4GB MP3 player. You can forget using it as an e-reader. Sure, the utility works fine but how many words can you fit on a 1.25" screen.

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I bought two of these MP3 for my twin boys for Christmas and neither one will work correctly. As long as I have if plugged into the computer it operates. As soon as I remove the players from the power cords it goes blank and wont come on. I tried to get a refund on my money but the store I bought it from wont refund my money. I HIGHLY recommend you do not buy this product. You will be disappointed.

TaoTronics TT-MK001 Mini Portable 2.4GHz Wireless Fly Air Mouse Keyboard Remote Control for Mini PC

Just plugged it into my windows box and it works great. I think I need to calibrate the sensitivity, but the driver just auto installed. I'm eager to see how it works with my android mini PC if it ever gets here.

Very effective, good-looking. I am very satisfied with the product.

I recommend it for its functionality.

Full trade my expectations, interesting purchase.

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The remote works flawlessly. Very easy to use. Just insert battery and start using. The cursor doesn't drift and is stable. I use it for my mk808.

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I've been trying to find a descent small remote sized keyboard/mouse for a couple years now and have tried several and been very disappointed. This one, thus far, has been pretty good. It's solidly made, the keyboard works very well, and the way the mouse works is very convenient. My only complaint would be that the mouse can be troublesome at times when trying to double-click on something. As you double-click, the mouse has a tendency to wiggle slightly (because pressing the mouse button causes the remote to move a bit and therefore moving the cursor as well) and cause the double-clicking to not work. I imagine this remote could be very frustrating for someone who has a tough time keeping their hand steady.

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The biggest problem I have with this keypad is that several essential keyboard buttons are just not there... so this is definitely not a keyboard replacement for an HTPC. It's more of a keyboard supplement.

The other issue I have is with the mouse control: you press the middle button, which unfreezes the mouse. You then have to press it again to freeze the mouse. While this works, it's not as smooth a process as the Gyration air mouse, which is hold-move-release.

That doesn't mean this is a piece of junk: far from it, I found that this was useful device in its niche. It works acceptably well as an HTPC remote or a presentation remote. For the money, it's definitely a worthwhile purchase.

The J-Cube, Camera Shoe-mounted Video Accessory Mounting System, with 3 Mounting Points - Silver/Bl

I love this J-Cube device. I use it on a Canon 7D and Panasonic GH2 for mounting audio accessories and sometimes LED lights. But this little piece of gear was pushing $85!!! Why on earth does that have to be THAT expensive?!? Really, there is nothing else out there in the market that can do what the J-Rod can at this size, so I guess J-Cube is the only game in town. Please, someone make another product to compete with this.

You might think you don't need something like this, but once you get it, you'll never know how you lived without it.

PROs

1. sturdy build, all aluminum, SOLID all around

2. small, perfect fit on DSLR cold shoe

3. enough separation of the shoe mounts to hold an LED light, wireless transmitter, and Zoom H1

CONs

1. price is absurd, this thing should have been $40 TOPS!

2. why does J-Cube need to put their product name and info on the device? Seems tacky

3. no competition out there to lower the price of such a necessary contraption

This product would be a lot mor effective if the side hot shoes were rotatable. As they are, it is impossible to mount, for example, a shotgun mic and a light at the same time unless the light or mic can swivel, which many cannot.

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The J-Cube feels substantial in your hand this is a serious piece of equipment. It is very solidly built, uses high quality components, and adds just the right amount of additional shoes to my camera. The spacing of the added shoes on the J-Cube is just right to mount equipment without any encroachment. And because the J-Cube is very compact, it does not add much height to the camera. It also offers a far more secure mounting platform that does not wobble around and has a low center of gravity.

If you have accessories with rectangular hot shoe plates, you will be stuck with mounting them vertically on the side shoes. I had this problem. So I contacted Jeff at J-Rod and he made me a new J-Cube with the side mounts turned through 90 degrees. Now I can mount accessories with rectangular hot shoe plates so that they point forward or backward along the top of the camera, and not straight up. A lot of accessories come with square hot shoe plates which will slide in to the standard J-Cube. But just to let you know that if you need a J-Cube with the side mounts rotated 90 degrees, all you need to do is ask.

Before I contacted Jeff about the modified J-Cube, I tried to dismantle the one I had bought from B&H to see if I could rotate the mounts myself. I am not too bad with a screwdriver and a pair of mole grips but I have to admit that without some serious physical force (that I did not apply), those mounts are not going anywhere. They are so solidly embedded in the metal mount that there is little fear of them breaking free.

The J-Cube, Camera Shoe-mounted Video Accessory Mounting System, with 3 Mounting Points Silver/BlackAt $80.00, this piece of equipment is not the least expensive option by any means. But once you buy it, you can be pretty sure that you will not need anything else for some time to come. You can also be far more confident that once mounted, and with equipment attached, the J-Cube is not going to let you down.

It might be an old saying but it is very true that you get what you pay for and the customer service is terrific!

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CIB R401H60W500G8752-8401 4CH Surveillance DVR Four CCD Cameras 500GB KIT. Ea...

I ordered this after reading the description thouroughly. I was under the impression that the whole system supported sound, meaning the cameras sent sound to the DVR and it would allow one channel sound to be monitored at a time. All the cameras DO NOT have sound outputs or cables. The DVR DOES have sound inputs, the RCA type, one for each camera and one output to match the monitor out. The video connections are BNC type. Don't order this if you NEED SOUND. You won't have sound from any camera supplied with this system.

Now the positive part of the review. The DVR and all the cameras have very solid feel and the DVR functions are very acceptable. The remote works well. It can even be hooked up to the internet for monitoring while away. So if you need a very decent DVR with NO SOUND from the cameras for a decent price this fits that bill.

After using this product for 2 months, I shall say that I am very satisfied with it.

Delivery was very quick. It came sooner than expected. A pleasant surprise given that it was during Christmas seasons.

The 4 cameras that come with the system are good enough to cover all entance/exit of our restaurant. I thought the intallation was complicated but it turned out quite simple. Did not spend much time on the installtion.

Quality of the picture/video is good enough.

It is a good deal at this price.

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USA Security Store / CIB Security is a company that stands behind their product. This is a good intro system for home or small business. The DVR has the features you would want and the cameras work as advertised.The software for remote access works. I installed myself. I already have network experience. So, not so hard for me. But for the not so technical type CIB support is great phone or email.

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This system was easy to hook up. I use it at my work. The dvr keeps the last 8 days of video stored on it. I can access the live video from my smart phone from any location. Im very happy with it.

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System arrived fast and setup was very smooth, great price....The remote viewing (still not working correctly with my dynamic IP address) I switched to a static ip[ address and all should be fine....Tech support was more than willing to help and does check in on me from time to time to see if remote viewing is operational. I aused the actiontec pk5000 router and could not get the thing to work with dyndns....? I gave up and got statis IP addresses from phone company. +Great support and really a very good product...I feel that the problem is with the actiontec router>/???

SVAT Electronics 8CH Smart Security DVR with 8 Ultra Hi-Res Outdoor 100' Night Vision Cameras with

Bought because our country neighborhood has some of the busiest dead end streets I've ever seen. I'm fairly handy with tools and computers, so installation was straightforward for me (attic crawling was a pain though)--if computers are scary then have your computer nerd friend help out.

PROS:

-After searching several online reviews, SVAT seems to have higher resolution cameras, which was important to me. Capable of D1 resolution (pretty close to DVD) at 7 fps. CIF resolution didn't seem very useful to identify faces unless they were really close. Night vision works but the light cone of the LEDs is smaller than the camera field of view, so center up what you really want to monitor.

-Lots of independent controls for each camera that let you specify privacy areas, record on-off times, motion record on-off times, masks to prevent motion detection, resolutions and frame rate. Check out the manual from the SVAT webste, but you can probably do anything you want.

-Email feature is nice (older SVAT reviews had problems, but mine works flawlessly with Gmail if you follow instructions). It typically picks up the UPS truck in the driveway (start of motion) and not the face of the UPS guy. Be ready to get a lot of emails in a day on a windy/rainy/partially cloudy day even on lowest sensitivity settings if you place the cameras outdoors.

-iOS app to view remotely works as advertised... recommend you get a DynDNS or similar account if you do not have a static IP address.

-Computer interface much faster and easier to use than remote/mouse off the TV -but you may need your computer nerd friend to help set it up.

CONS:

-Can only playback 4 channels at a time, but you can go 8x speed which helps make up for this minor inconvenience.

-Don't expect to do a ton of reviewing off-site through your internet connection; remember you have 8 cameras possibly recording at DVD video quality at about 1/3 the speed. Your home/business internet has to upload all that data to the remote location, and upload speeds are typically 1/10th your download speed. To put it another way, imagine you are streaming 3 Netflix movies simultaneously but your internet is 10% as fast as you have now. The good news is you can download the video segments using an button on the web interface for later viewing using software available at the SVAT website... I'll be using that a lot overnight. An when connected the the same WiFi as the DVR, speed is not an issue.

ISSUES:

-One camera did not have the rubber friction piece that secures the adjustable hood, allowing it to slide freely. A $0.35 stick-on furniture pad worked nicely, not a big deal.

-DVR hard drive failed quickly on mine (after a few days of continuous recording to test system). Dropped it from 5 to 4 stars because I had to fuss with a return. Some previous reviews had this problem also.

-Definitely call the SVAT customer support number during business hours to set up a return--I tried contacting the seller, but they needed me to return all the cameras as well (I was not going to undo all that work) just to act as the middle man. SVAT send me a new DVR and an RMA right away, when they receive old defective unit my card should be reimbursed for the new DVR. Set me back shipping, but I much prefer that to waiting weeks for someone to verify the hard drive was toast.

OVERALL:

-For the money, and compared to DVRs at the big box stores, I think I got better outdoor-recording value for my $$$ from SVAT than competitors... even with a return.

I am still in the process of installing this system...installing cameras on brick is not easy. Crawling through the attic to pull 8 power/signal cables takes time. All eight cameras (3 inside and 5 outside are physically installed and four (3 inside and 1 outside) have cables pulled to the DVD and the quality on monitor is great. I have yet to go to system and do the settings. I will use a wireless usb system to send wireless video to a hidden 2TB stand alone drive. A thief steals my exposed DVD, I still have recordings. Good luck on finding the hidden 2TB HD.

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Panasonic DMP-BDT310 Integrated-Wi-Fi 3D Blu-ray DVD Player

• Twin HDMI output for Video/Audio
• It has SKYPE video calls
• It has built-in Wi-Fi
• VIERA CAST has been further enhanced with CinemaNow and VUDU, which allow you to stream movies

I have had a weekend to play with the 310, and was very impressed with picture and sound quality. For the record, this is my first Blu-ray player, and I think it was worth the wait. With this player, BD's load as quickly as DVD's do on my Denon DVD-1920.

It is nearly identical to the 210, except it has a second HDMI output so you can bring HD audio into your non-3D-ready receiver. If your receiver has HDMI spec 1.4 (or if you don't care about 3D), then go with the 210.

The setup process was simple with the exception of the trial and error process of getting the right audio signal to my receiver. First, make sure that you send the 'main' HDMI to the TV and the 'sub' HDMI to your receiver. In order to get full resolution, surround sound audio out of the second HDMI output you will need to disable the second video signal. Which means no video going to your receiver. This is less than ideal since I will rarely be watching 3D content and would have preferred to route video through the AVR most of the time for simplicity. I guess they set it up this way to save a few pennies per unit but it stinks.

I have watched a couple of movies so far, and was truly blown away by the sound. I don't want to neglect the picture quality here, but honestly while the picture was quite clear and detailed, it didn't impact me quite as hard as the jump in sound quality did. I probably fall into the audiophile category, and have invested a lot in my surround sound system. The clarity of the dialog, and the raw impact of the effects and soundtrack are truly outstanding.

Some Blu-ray discs (including the two I have watched) include DTS-HD Master audio tracks. To compare, the audio on DVD's tops out at 448kbps* (data transfer rate) and standard Dolby Digital on Blu-rays is about 40% better at 640kbps. But DTS-HD Master streams at 25Mbps (25,000kbps). That is 50 times as much detail in the audio signal! Check for the DTS-HD Master logo on the back when you buy or rent BD's.

To enjoy the DTS-HD Master audio stream, you will need a receiver that can decode the digital stream. Since the new panasonic blu-ray players don't have 5.1 analog outputs, you will have to use the HDMI cable to send the digital signal to your receiver for processing.

I will probably do a bit more tweaking with the settings, and as I learn more I will update my review. I will play around with 3D soon, as my glasses should arrive tomorrow. I also do not have Netflix at this point but plan to add it in the future.

All and all, I couldn't be happier that I chose this player as my first dive into Blu-ray. It isn't as big a jump as VHS to DVD was, but if you want to take full advantage of your flat screen HDTV or surround sound setup then I highly recommend taking the plunge.

*Source: wikipedia "Comparison of high definition optical disc formats"

*Here is a tidbit from the Netflix blog "Currently, our top HD streams are about 4800 kilobits per second" (kbps). If you are picky about your picture or sound, keep in mind that this is about half the fidelity as a standard DVD. I'm not a netflix hater, and I'll join for the unmatched convenience but this is one reason I haven't joined yet. Low-fi is fine for sitcoms and cartoons but for movies and shows like Lost and Heroes, quality trumps convenience in my living room.

***UPDATE***

Still loving this player. It is quick to start up, and resumes playback on discs that don't have blu-ray live content (such as Advertisements on the menu screens......yuck!)

I have also joined Netflix and tried out a couple of streams. One was a Thomas the Train movie for the kiddo. The SD picture was okay, but motion was very jumpy (really bad with moving trains!). We are currently watching Heroes S4 in Blu-ray. The other night we finished a disc and wanted to watch another episode so I streamed it in Netflix HD with 5.1 Dolby Digital. The picture was quite good, though obviously not as crisp as the 1080p from the Blu-ray. Same was true with the audio...The dialog wasn't quite as clear and we had to turn it up a bit louder to catch everything that was said. Missed out on some of the "thereness" experience of Blu-Ray discs, but still quite good. Keep in mind this is coming from a certified audiophile, my wife didn't notice the difference (but asked me to turn it up and rewind so she could hear the dialog).

This player continues to impress me with its features. On my son's 'movie night' we pulled up youtube, watched some trailers of 4 or 5 kids movies, and let him choose which one he wanted to watch. Jumped straight over to netflix (dedicated button on remote, but you have to be on the home screen (?) for it to work) and had the movie running by the time the popcorn was finished popping! Very nice!! Still highly recommended

***UPDATE***

Update on the 'resume' feature of Blu-Rays. Since discs with online content won't automatically resume, Some studio (ABC?) has come up with a nice feature (I forget what it's called!). The only disc I have seen this on is Lost season 5. It allows you to set up a viewer profile (takes 5 seconds), and when you get to the main menu there is an option to continue where you left off. I haven't tried it with multiple profiles, but that is a nice feature for if the wife and I were watching it separately. Another nice feature is when you finish a disc and put the next one in right away, it will skip all the legal stuff/menus and jump straight into the next episode! Nice!! Too bad this isn't standard!?!

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Using this blu-ray player with a non-3D HDTV and a Sony receiver that doesn't handle 3D signal passthrough but does playback HD sound, I was a bit concerned about the 2nd HDMI connection for legacy receivers like mine. No worries, I just used the HDMI main out to the receiver's HDMI input, then the receiver's HDMI output to the HDTV. Worked fine, but to get HD audio, I had to switch the audio to PCM, not bitstream. The reason I bring this up is because the instructions ignore those who don't have a 3D HDTV. But this works fine without 3D.

"Easy Setup" involved location of my wireless network and a few other minor settings. Easy setup was truly easy. I went directly to the setting to upgrade the firmware. Updating the firmware (highly recommended) which took about 10 minutes total, is essential for proper function. I cannot emphasize this enough.

Pressed the red Netflix button on the remote, and it took me to the main VieraCast screen. It does this only the first time, since you have to agree to some terms and log into your Netflix account. Easy to do, no issues (firmware 1.6.3 needed for smooth operation). On my 802.11n wireless network, HD Netflix movies played back okay, except for a few black flashes. Can't imagine that being my network. Also tried Pandora and it worked flawlessly. Weather was quite nice, as was several other apps. Nice collection, and VieraCast menu is easy to customize. Didn't try Skype. Gotta buy Panasonic's cam? Forget it.

Blu-ray 2D was gorgeous and disc boot up was faster than Playstation 3. Believe it. That is, if you enable the quick start feature, which makes the player use a bit more electricity. HD audio was supreme, but had to adjust the audio setting to PCM output from the Panasonic. My first test disc was Billy Joel Live in Shea (2011 release). Haven't tried a DVD yet, but I anticipate the usual.

I don't have 3D anything, but wanted a new blu-ray player to reduce use of my Playstation 3 and its noisy fan. This Panasonic is quiet, quick, tiny, and works with old and new. If this 3D thing does become mainstream, at least I am future proofed with this player. Highly recommended.

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I was expecting to replace my media player (ASUS) using this one. I believed that it will be faster, easier to use and would support everything I need. So to cut the cr** here are pros and cons.

PROS:

Fast. Boot, MKV rewind, Network Access.

HDMI CEC together with Viera TV works perfectly! There is much more than it is required according to CEC standard. Navigation, options works using TV remote.

Works fine with Windows 7 shared folders and DLNA.

I thought touchless sensor is not relevant, but my kids like it a lot and they do not touch the equipment :)

MKV and DTS combinations are supported.

SETUP IS EASY. If you have normal TV (HDMI CEC and HDMI ARC) then setup of TV/AV Receiver/Player can be done using wizard. No additional settings need to be changed.

Option to turn off TV while playing music. Works correctly and does not turn off AV receiver.

BD-RE with movies works fine.

Completely silent. That is awesome.

CONS:

"Play to" aka Media Renderer function is buggy or maybe it is router. Don't know. Stops playing after couple of minutes

No MPEG2 support in MKV.

USB supports only divx and mkv videos. That is nonsense, cause to backup your DVD collection you will need pay additional $ to divx. This is hidden and you will discover the fact only when you buy the player.

It is nonsense that there are different formats supported on BD-RE and BD-R disks. MKV is not supported on BD-RE. Even VOB files are not recognized on BD-RE, though they claim that "Video" is supported on DVD/BD-R/BD-RE discs.

USB sticks with exFAT are not supported. So if you have larger file you will have to buy expensive SDHC cards or use hard drive. It is stupid, but USB HDD with exFAT are supported, but USB sticks are not.

No MKV chapter navigation, so you have to rewind the video.

Changing subtitles or audio channels is incovenient. Really inconvenient.

Overall: Good quality and almost easy to operate, but inconsistent/incomplete format/external device support.

UPDATE AFTER ~2011-09 firmware:

+ Now it has normal support for MPEG 2 in MKV with multiple audio tracks and multiple subtitles. There is still no support for PGS subtitles and chapter navigation, however player now seem to ignore unsupported things instead of throwing error messages.

+ It seems that "Play to" bugs are gone, but it is hard to say for sure.

MKV with VC-1 streams still not supported

HDMV PGS subtitles in MKV are not supported.

"Play to" works with LAN cable only. This just doesn't make sense. Why would you pay extra money for integrated wifi if you still need cable.

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After reading all the reviews, and the warnings that some of the reviews post, I went ahead and bought this unit anyway. It is rated as the top dog in blu-ray players. It is, but first the warning/advice:

Out of the box, this machine will not access Netflix, just as some of the other buyers warned. Performed the update with the latest firmware, and still had problems (make sure that the minute you connect it up, do a firmware update). What I did was to contact Panasonic customer service and then was routed through to technical service department. This took some doing, but finally I was in contact with a wonderful and very knowledgable technician. She walked me through reprogramming the network settings, which has to be done to get this player to talk with your wi-fi network. She walked me through the re-programming codes and entering into the player's software, and bingo; Netflix!!!

Once the player's network was reprogrammed to conform with my wi-fi, there was no problem. ATTENTION!!! Make sure that you write down the codes and store them somewhere safe, most likely with your owner's manual.

Now to the machine. It is a wonderful hi-grade player, and I recommend it highly. It produces and incredible crisp and clean picture, on any television. But what it does to a high end Plasma (most specifically a Panasonic 50" Viera) is beyond words. Just like being there, in the theatre. Other than the re-program, easy to set up. Actually, once you know how to re-program, it too is an easy set-up.

Definitely worth the money (I got a great price here at Amazon). As good, if not better picture than anything else I have seen, even in the showrooms. FIVE STARS!!!

I was at first a little wary about upgrading to the DMP-BDT310 because of its integrated Wi-Fi. The only reason I wanted to upgrade was for its ability to play back 3D content. I had bought the 3D kit for my new 3D-ready Mitsubishi 72" projection TV.

Hooking everything up was a breeze. The TV/entertainment center is in the great room, which is all windows and bright as the sun during the day. I had always heard it best to view 3D DVDs in the darkness for full effect. I wasn't about to wait until nighttime to try out the 3D Blu-ray disk that came with the kit. I turned on the Blu-ray player and inserted the 3D disk. The 3D adapter from the kit automatically turned on. I put the wireless glasses over my prescription glasses and -WOW! The Blu-ray DVD that comes with the kit is really a Disney promo thing that showcases their 3D movies. I ended up buying a few of the 3D titles featured just because they suddenly looked interesting to me. The 3D effects are that stunning. And this was in broad daylight on a rear-projection television set.

My DSL modem is a wireless router. I have two computers that share the signal from the router. In effect, I've set up a very small home network. To be honest, Windows actually set it up for me. All I had to do was enter the security code (written on the side of the router) when Windows asked me to. I did that for both computers and suddenly the two PCs were "talking" to each other and sharing the same signal from the router.

"That was easy," I thought. I decided to press my luck and bought a wireless printer. Setting it up was a bit more of a hassle because I didn't know anything about encryption settings. The only setting I had ever heard of was WEP, which I believe was once the default for Windows. The encryption setting of the router and the setting in Windows must match in order for the router to communicate with your Windows computer. I had no problems setting up the Home Network because both Windows and the router just happened to have the same encryption setting: WPA-PSK (TKIP) and WPA2-PSK (AES).

I was trying to get the printer to communicate with the modem using the WEP encryption setting. The printer asked me which setting I wanted. I had never heard of WPA or WPA2. And I certainly didn't know that WPA and WPA2 were the new defaults for Windows; just like I didn't know the router's default setting was WPA/WPA2. Trial and error and looking at the router's setting made me realize I needed to set the printer's encryption setting to WPA/WPA2. I then entered the router's key into the printer's panel and, yay!, the printer was now on the network. Windows recognized the printer and automatically downloaded and installed the right drivers for it.

So no more kicking sand and saying I would get around to it. It was now time to make the DMP-BDT310 Blu-ray player part of my modest home network. Man, how I was dreading it. I prepared myself to spend hours tinkering with settings. I turned on the Blu-ray player. I used the Blu-ray's remote control to highlight "Network" on the Blu-ray player's first screen. I followed the prompts and the player "found" my network. It asked me to enter the router's key. I did that and -yes, it was that easy -the Blu-ray player joined the home network.

I pressed the green "VIERA CAST" button on the remote. I had heard of Viera Cast before, but I had no idea what it was. But as soon as I pressed the button, WOW! There were literally dozens of "destinations" or sites on the Internet to select from -sites that have video content. For example, you could select YouTube, sign in to your account (if you want), and watch YouTube videos on your TV! Or you can select Amazon, look at your own Amazon video library, or rent an Amazon video, and watch it now or later. I immediately rented "Bridesmaids" and watched it two days later. The picture and sound were beautiful. HULU was another choice, as was Netflix. There were so many to choose from, but I'm new to this, so I didn't recognize most of them.

However, one I did recognize was SKYPE. Long-distance video phone calls for free.

Finally, another thing I had heard of, but never knew what it was, is something called BD Live. Some Blu-ray disks have the BD Live feature, and some don't. Apparently, if you select BD Live from the disk's menu, your player connects to the Internet and downloads additional content that you can watch and interact with (using the Blu-ray player's remote). The content may be games, documentaries and interviews, and even a way to rearrange the scenes in the movie to make your own movie.

To be able to download BD Live content, the Blu-ray player requires additional storage in the form of a SD Memory Card. The front panel opens on the player and the SD card slot is immediately visible. The specs for the SD Memory card are listed in the player's manual, which can be downloaded directly from Panasonic's website. The SD card that you insert for BD Live programming should be empty and formatted, again, according to the manual's specifications.

But if you have content, like pictures or videos, on your SD card, you can insert it into the Blu-ray player and watch it all on your TV.

Oh, by the way, if you have the player in your network -meaning, it's communicating with your wireless router -you don't have to worry about looking at the manufacturer's website for FIRMWARE updates. You can set the player to search, download and install firmware updates automatically, or you can do it manually.

At the end of it all, I suppose what really matters is the quality of the video and audio that the DMP-BDT310 is capable of. With Blu-day disks, whether 2D or 3D, the picture and sound are phenomenal. When it plays regular DVDs, it must up-convert because the typical pixelization artifacts (seen so clearly on a 72" TV) are not there. The picture from a regular DVD is not as sharp as that from a Blu-ray disk, but the picture is clean.

I realize this is a long review, but I hope it's been helpful for people like me -people who want something nice, easy to use, and cutting edge in terms of technology, but want to learn about it without feeling lost ("What's Viera Cast? What's BD Live? What's an SD Memory Card? Where do I get firmware updates?") or intimidated by the techno jargon used by bona fide video aficionados.

Simply put: "Is the DMP-BDT310 a really good player, and does it have features that I can actually learn to use and enjoy?"

Emphatically, the answer to that is "Yes!"

My Piano

• Piano-learning software with animated character, Pam the Piano
• 100+ lessons taught by former Juilliard School of Music instructor
• Animated keyboard; interactive feedback; full-motion videos
• Interactive games; audio and MIDI tracks with adjustable speed
• For kids ages 6 and up; metronome and digital recorder included

I started teaching my 5 year old daughter piano using the Faber My First Piano Adventure books a few months ago, and I saw this and thought it would be a fun addition to our lessons. We just used it for the first time yesterday, but she REALLY likes it so far and could play "Mary Had a Little Lamb" just after using it this one day. We hooked it up to our new Casio Celviano digital piano and as she played, it would give her a score and tell her what she did wrong (played a note too late, played the wrong first note, etc.). At first this disappointed her because she wanted to score 100% but I encouraged her that that was the point of the score...so she will learn from her mistakes and get better scores as she practices more and makes progress. I also explained how great it is that this scores her on her rhythm so someday she could play with other instruments or accompany singers or choirs if she wants to because there are a lot of people who can play the right notes but if you can't play in the right timing, then you can't play with other people. My daughter liked the software, including the talking piano, the instructional videos, and listening to the audio samples. I also like that you can print the screen so I could print "Mary Had a Little Lamb" so she can practice even when I'm not right there with the computer. My daughter is in kindergarten and is learning to read pretty well, but even if she was older I wouldn't turn any kid loose with learning to play piano. They could learn too many bad habits with their posture, hand positions, fingering, etc. (things the software can't score) if there's not an adult sitting with them to correct them, and those habits would be hard to break in the future and could prevent them from really excelling at piano in years to come. So, I did sit with my daughter during it, but I was planning to do that since I'm her teacher and it was our lesson yesterday. I would recommend this software as it brought a new level of fun to learning.

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I found this to be a great product in teaching kids to learn to play. I am 30 with no music abilities and I have learned to play part of a song in the first few mins. My daughter is 4 and she loves to watch and play the games at the end of each lesson. Then she goes to the keyboard and tries. I did not expect her to learn since it is recommended for age 6 and over, but the interest is there and she will learn someday.

I have Windows XP and no blank screens

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I bought this for my 8 yr old dd. She really enjoys it. It;s great for beginners and keeps her attention. The only drawback is being on the computer, but I knew that when I purchased it. My 6 yr old son also enjoys using this program. We haven't used the option where you can plug your keyboard in yet.

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for the price it cant be beat

the songs are great for a child, the instruction is a bit wierd until you get used to it but its great

we are using it with wii rock band keyboard and a midi to usb cable also bought from amazon

this will provide hours upon hours of quality time

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I purchased this software as a supplement for my 6-year old's regular piano lessons. The animated lessons are fine, but my big complaint is the feature where you can play songs along with the computer (using a keyboard). There is a scoring system but no feedback about what notes were missed, or what rhythms were wrong. Despite lots of fiddling with the software settings, I could not remove the time lag between pressing the key and seeing the response on the computer screen. Worst of all, the games are meant to be played with a computer keyboard, not a piano keyboard! For example, if you see the note "C", you press the letter C, not the piano C. What is the point of that? The software still depends heavily on regular computer commands and mouse keys. You cannot drive the navigation purely on the piano keyboard. That means the piano keyboard and the computer keyboard needs to be hooked up and accessible. This is really confusing for children.

I play piano and I don't know why this product has such high ratings. I do not recommend it for either teaching or supplementing piano lessons!

JVC HR-XVC20U Hi-Fi DVD-VCR Combo , Black

• Space-saving DVD/VCR combo player with MP3, WMA, and JPEG CD support and hi-fi VHS sound
• Quasi S-VHS playback allows viewing of S-VHS tapes (in standard VHS resolution)
• Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1-channel surround outputs for immersive surround sound (when used with compatible receiver and speakers)
• RF video output accommodates older TVs
• Multi-brand remote control operates the combo player and most televisions

I'll start off with the good points -Playback is uniformly excellent, and I've had absolutely zero problems with playing DVDs, VCDs, even SVCD on CD-RW. The remote took over most of the functions of my TV remote after extremely minimal setup. The system itself looks nice, and is generally well laid-out, with a few carefully chosen controls on the front panel. The MP3 playback mode is a particularly nice feature. I've owned this for several months now, and so far it's been perfectly reliable.

Now the disappointments. The remote is frequently a pain to use -the labels on most of the option buttons are tiny, confusing, and occasionally misleading, and there seems to be no logical order to them. The most forehead-slapping example would have to be the buttons which choose subtitles and audio tracks -they're *miles* from each other, and neither one is clearly labeled as to its purpose... Audio switching is done by repeatedly pressing "A. Monitor", for example, and subtitle switching is the alternate function of a button whose primary function I don't remember since I've never used it. Glow-in-the-dark buttons would also have been a nice feature for those of us who like to watch movies with the lights out.

DVD+/-R is iffy at best, with some sound problems, and some discs completely refused. If playing home-burned movies is a priority, look elsewhere.

One more thing I wish I'd known -I had been hoping that with the S-VHS emulation mode, that I'd be able to play the VCR through the S-Video port. As it turns out, this is impossible. This made wiring this thing to my TV and stereo a serious logistical challenge. Effectively this is two seperate appliances sharing the same case and a few of the same outputs -it will save you some room in your entertainment center, but it won't save you any wiring. This is the case with most, if not all, of these VCR/DVD combos, though, so it's not exactly a strike against it, I'd just like to know why it's apparently so difficult to handle S-Video gracefully on these things.

This is probably not a good choice for anybody serious about home theatre, but is certainly a good performer for folks who just want a reliable, up-to-date replacement for an aging VCR, say.

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We were not looking to push the limits of the home entertainment frontier. We just wanted a reliable combo player due to our limited space. This player has worked out very well. Nothing has fallen off or started rattling since we purchased it several months ago, contrary to another review I've read. Not to mention, it has received much use (more Teletubbies than any human should have to endure). This has been a very affordable and reliable player for us.

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I have had this unit for 2 months now. I love love love it! No problems. Works like a top and it has been used almost 24 hours a day during that time. Bought a Magnovox similar unit and hate it. I like this one some much I'm online buying another for my bedroom to replace the Magnovox.

This unit plays ANYTHING! that spec that made me buy it in the first place. Check before buying because many units are limited in what they will read on the DVD side. The second reason is the JVC name.

The person that had the bad DVD door, so sorry. Any manfacturer can have a lemon. Don't blame all of this model.

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After about six months, had the same problems as other buyers DVD player freezes. Sometimes restarts, sometimes doesn't. Emailed their customer service, but only got a line that my warrenty was up. There must be some systemic problem with how JVC is putting these together I can't believe they don't know this. In either case, I have given up on using it as a DVD player and I'm in the market for a new one. Of course, I will never again be purchasing anything JVC.

We've had this device for five months now, and have not had any problems with it. It plays all of our videotapes, CDs, and DVDs, including home-made CD-Rs and DVD+Rs. The VCR accepts and ejects tapes smoothly with no hang-ups. My only complaint is that the remote is a bit of a headscratcher sometimes. I think it could have been laid out a little better, and that's the only thing that keeps me from giving it 5 stars. But the machine itself functions fine. We aren't electronic experts or anything, but we rent a lot of DVDs, and this machine has suited our needs perfectly.

Samsung DVD-1080P9 1080p Upconverting DVD Player

• 1080p Up-conversion
• HDMI-CEC compatible
• Super Scan Playback
• BD Wise
• Dolby Digital

For the price point, this is a feature rich player. What you get:

a very sleek looking player that loads fast. Compared to the Phillips I bought at a big box store for the same price a year ago, it is greased lightning.

a functional remote that is comfortable and easy to use.

a USB port on the front of the player to play .mpg and picture files or to rip music to a flash drive or MP3 player from a CD or DVD.

easy to navigate controls on the front panel. This is essential for me because my employees, who will not have the instruction manual available, will also be using the machine.

an HDMI output, as well as the regular RCA type jacks.

a ton of other features I will not use in my particular application.

Setup was a snap, even without so much as a glance at the instructions. I was even able to do a picture slide show from a flash drive without instructions, it is that intuitive. The only reason I didn't give 5 stars:

If you want to connect an old school coaxial cable (the one that you screw on with the little wire in the middle of the cable), you are out of luck

I don't see any instructions on how to get it to control the volume on my TV (and it does not do it on it's own) even though the remote indicates it has the capability.

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I have owned alot of dvd players. I current have a Samsung BDP 1500, Toshiba HDVD, Samsung 1080p7, and LG & Onkyo unconverting players.

The P9 is pretty sweet. It does what it should do. I got it to play regular DVDs and audio CDs instead of using the Blu Ray player. With audio and standard DVDs the upconverting player loads and navigates MUCH faster than a Blu Ray player. I really got the Samsung because it matched my Blu Ray player in appearance and the older Samsung 1080p7 in my bedroom works so well.

Everything works as it should. Having said that, the CD ripper to USB port is the easiest way I've found to rip audio CDS. If I had to nit pick, I would ding it for not having an optical output. The P7 and P8 did, but Samsung must have figured the P9 didn't need it. I don't use HDMI video switching on my receiver and I have 2 optical and 1 coax digital input. Luckily my other 2 devices I use have optical audio outputs.

Overall, it looks great and works well and is pretty inexpensive. Highly recommend.

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If you have a new LCD TV and still are using an old DVD player, and aren't ready to take the Blu-Ray plunge, then this is the product for you.

I just bought a new Samsung LN26B460 (26" 720P LCD), and had it hooked up to my old Sony DVD player through the RCA cables. The picture wasn't as good as it used to be on my old CRT. So I bought this upconverting DVD player and I'm not disappointed. The picture quality improved immensely. It is now better than it was on my CRT. I can't say if it is as good as 720P Blu-Ray, and I'm sure it isn't as good as 1080P Blu-Ray, but it is way better than a non-upconverting DVD using RCA cables. It is most likely that the improvement is only because of the HDMI connection instead of using RCA cables. It doesn't matter what I set the player to, the picture seems to be the same, because the TV will also convert the picture to 720P no matter what. So the converter on the TV seems to be the same quality as the converter in the player.

If I were to guess, I'd say it is just a touch below 720P Blu-Ray quality.

As far as the rest of the player goes, it works as expected. It isn't super fast at loading DVD's, probably about normal. It isn't too noisy. I guess my one complaint would be that I seem to have to press the buttons on the remote more than once for them to work. I have the player at an angle to were I sit, and it doesn't seem to have the strongest sensor. If I'm aiming straight on, it works fine.

If your player already has HDMI or DVI connector, then I wouldn't bother getting this one, I don't think you will see a big improvement.

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I recently received this player through Amazon. It arrived ahead of schedule and was securely packaged. Very important when purchasing electronics, as they can be damaged easily.

I very much like this player. I ordered a Samsung TV, so was going to get a Samsung DVD player, so that I could use one of the supplied remote controls for both (it does this automatically, without any programing or fuss). I just looked at the 4 players on amazon and picked the one with the highest rating.

First, I will say, this is a good looking player. You can not tell much from its picture, however, this has the piano gloss front and looks quite nice. The front is not cluttered at all. A power switch to the far left and a telescoping tray as well. The large majority of the player is clean and open. On the far right is a circular control button, a-la ipod style and a USB port. The LCD screen sits in the center and is unlit when off, and not intrusive when displaying info, even in the dark. It is a perfect match for the Samsung TVs.

I have the player hooked to my TV with a Monster 1000 HDMI cable (yes this is overkill, however it was fantastically priced here on amazon). You can only upconvert with an HDMI cable, and one is not provided, so you must get one if you want the best picture possible. The HDMI can send a signal of 480p, 720p, 1080i, and 1080p. I have a 26" 720p TV (newly purchased and reviewed on amazon as well) and the 720p setting gave the best picture for this TV. This is easy to check for your TV as there is a dedicated button to cycle through each setting.

Setup was incredibly easy. Plug the player into an outlet. Plug the HDMI into the back of the player and into the TV. Switch the TV to the proper input. That's it. 5 seconds and your playing movies.

The quality of the player is quite nice. We rented Bolt, an animated Disney movie. It was very colorful and detailed. An absolute pleasure to watch. The player supports autoplay, so discs automatically start with the previews, and then the movie right after (must also be programed on the disc as well). I can not say enough of how happy we were with the picture quality.

The bonus gem here though, and reason to get this over other players, is the front USB port. If you have your own digital movies from a digital camera or camcorder, or digital pictures, you can put them on a USB flash drive and watch them on your TV through this player. There is a USB button on the remote, however, it autodetected mine when I plugged the flash drive in. This was very nice as it also upconverted the digital movies I played. I could not see a difference in quality with pictures, however they were taken with a 15mp DSLR camera on highest quality, so I can't expect miracles. Other reviews discuss that downloaded movies will also play through the USB, but I do not own any, and can't review this function.

The remote control comes with batteries, and is pretty basic. It is not back lit, so will be a bit hard to see in dark lighting. There is a button to press if you wish to use it for the TV. As this does not stop the DVD controls from working, I leave it on TV setting all the time and use this remote for both. Only thing I do not like is that the chapter foward/reverse buttons for DVD operation and channel up/down buttons for TV operation are shared. If you are set to TV and try to fast foward, the channel changes off of input to cable. A minor annoiance, but this design flaw should be noted, even if not cared about.

Over all, I am extremely pleased with this purchase.

Thank you for reading my review :)

If you are still on the fence about investing in Blu-ray, but want to get the the most out of your HD TV, then up-convert DVD players are the way to go. Up-convert DVD players allow you to get the most out of your standard DVDs without the added expense of "new" hardware or the need to purchase (or re-purchase) your favorite movies in a different format.

Now, you may be asking yourself; what exactly does an up-conversion DVD player do, and how is it any better than a normal DVD player? Well, to put it simply, an up-conversion DVD player takes the standard 480p(640x480)resolution, which is standard on ALL DVDs, and up-scales(changes) it to a higher resolution; it then sends the up-scaled picture (digitally via HDMI) to the television. The end result is a picture that may appear to be much sharper and clearer than it would on a standard DVD player. On the flip side, unless you are using an HDMI cable, you may not notice much difference between standard 480p and 720p when up-converted, because the "digital" picture has to then be converted into an analog signal which results in a loss of quality. Unfortunately, there is only so much you can do with 480p "source material" and an up-conversion can "enhance" the picture quality of standard DVDs, but it will in no way look as crisp and clear as Blu-ray.

Now that I have explained a bit about up conversion, let's get on with the review. The Samsung 1080p9 is a fairly inexpensive up-convert DVD Player that comes with a host of features. In addition to playing standard DVDs the player also has the option to play Divx (and Xvid) movies, as well as Mp3, Wma, and JPEG files from either a disc or a USB thumb drive. The USB port is a nice perk, because it allows users the freedom of not having to burn everything to a disc in order to viewed on the television. The USB port also allows users to rip audio CDs ,via the player, into the MP3 format for storage on a thumb drive. A nice perk, but the ripping speed is only 2x, which is pretty slow. The player also comes with an HDMI output, as well as Component (RBG), S-Video, Composite (yellow), and RCA (red and white) audio outputs. It is unfortunate that this unit does not come with an optical audio output for home theater audio. The unit also does not come with any cables other than an RCA audio cable and the yellow composite video cable.

In terms of up-conversion of DVDs, the quality is pretty mediocre, especially when compared to other up-convert DVD players on the market. In fact, Samsung Blu-ray players actually do a much better up-converting standard DVDs than the Samsung 1080p9. This is because the up-conversion in this player is done via software, rather than using hardware specifically designed for up-scaling to high resolutions. Both Sony and Panasonic offer up-conversion DVD players that do a much better job with up-converting, because those players are hardware-based rather than software-based. The resulting picture quality from the 1080p9 is not bad by any means, the picture still looks better than a standard DVD player, but there are players that do a much better job of up-converting on the market, and they are pretty comparable in price.

The Samsung 1080p9 is very easy to use and set up. Just plug it in, and it automatically adjusts itself to the best resolution for your television. Those with Samsung televisions will also benefit from the Anynet feature that allow the user to control the TV and DVD player with the same remote, as well as some additional features like direct connect. The remote that comes with the DVD player does take some getting used to. The button placements feel a bit awkward at first, and the remote needs to be pointed directly at the player with no obstructions, but otherwise it's a very simple set-up-and-use DVD player.

This player does have a few quirks to keep in mind. First of all, the brightness and counter on the front of the display can not be adjusted. This player is also very sensitive to heat, so if it is not well ventilated, the picture will freeze and skip. The player does have a resume play feature, but it is very finicky; sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. When the resume feature does work, for some reason the subtitles turn on by default, and need to manually be turned off. Also, when playing DVD-R material, the unit makes a slight constant chirping sound, which doesn't occur when playing retail DVDs, I'm not sure as to why, but the unit appears to play fine.

Overall, the Samsung 1080p9 is a good value for the money. It may not offer the best up-conversion quality on the market, but it does have a host of additional features that make it a bang for the buck. For those who are hesitant to re-invest in a new format, this player will definitely tide you over until your ready to take the plunge into Blu-ray.

30fps Mini Dv Ultra-small Popular Hd Digital Video Camera Hidden Car Keychain Spy Motion Detection

Takes great pictures when it works. Battery does not last long. Sometimes I can' t get it to start.

I intended to use it for long term security but do not believe it would function well in that capacity.

Might be okay for 3 hour time frame. Fun gadget, but design and durability should be improved for daily use.

Rando HD Mini Car DVR Video Camera Recorder 2-inch LCD w/ HDMI Cable built-in Microphone

Just recieved the camera today. There are 3 resolutions, 1080p, 720p and native(i think thats what its called) i took videos on all 3 but i cant really tell the difference.

Took it for a stroll during the day. I think the reflection of my radar detector & car made most of everything out of focus, i will need to retest this again and hopefully, it would be clearer.

The so called "Night Mode" is BS. They just added 2 super bright LEDs and it doesnt really do much of anything. On well lite roads, it records pretty well, but on dark roads, u can only see what ur headlights are shining, its not bad though. Wide Angle? It doesnt look to wide to me.

As for most ppl ask, i actually saw license plates better at night than day. Need to be at least 1-2 car lengths to read the plates clearly though. Not sure if theres a way to make it clearer.

watching it on screen also shows this pixalated video, but im watching it no a 27" monitor was i cant blame the camera.

Overall, i like it, though i think my iPhone4 with the same megapixel can probably record a lot better...

I received a package with the camera very quickly in less than a week.

For comparison, a colleague of mine got the same camera from another seller about a month.

For its price the camera is very good clear images during day, and night is quite acceptable.

At the highest resolution of the video is approximately 95mb/min.

Mounting the camera on the windshield is very reliable.

The only negative the complexity of placing the camera behind the rearview mirror on a jeep.

PS. Jelly watch to trash!

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I bought this camera to keep me covered legal wise while I was on the job driving. It works fine but it doesnt want to stay on. Out of no where, it will turn itself off for no reason. It also freezes up and stops recording for no reason. That results in me having to constantly take my eyes off the road and make sure it is still recording. This is a cheap product. I suggest spending a little more money and buying something more reliable.

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The camera worked for about two days then the micro video card stopped working so I got another video card and the same thing happened. For some reason the cards will not work at all now. I had to return the camera. Camera was returned and money was refunded.

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This car cam works great, even after it slipped from my hand and dove straight into my large cup of orange juice I had in the car. After a good drying off in front of a space heater, I'm completely amazed it still works, 2 months later. Initially it took about a month before it arrived in the mail (coming from Hong Kong) and required a signature, which were not ideal, but I'm thrilled with the product. The camera records in 2-minute segments and saves them as separate files. An 8GB mini SD card (separate purchase) holds about 7 hours' worth of driving, then the camera starts overwriting what's there until it says it's full. You don't want to get stuck with a long commute and a full card, so just buy 2 of them. Also, the cards get lost easily because they're so tiny. I've already captured several near-miss roadway incidents, which are exciting to watch later on.

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Sharp Zaurus SL-5500 PDA

The Sharp Zaurus Linux-based PDA is both extremely powerful, and easy to use.

The Zaurus's fast CPU, high quality full-color LCD, and excellent headphone sound output makes for an impressive photo viewer, MP3 and MOD music player, and video-clip displayer.

The slide-out keyboard has completely weaned me from using the handwriting system, which is unfortunate, because a lot of work was obviously put into it. Not only does the handwriting system have a help mode where you can practice strokes, but you can actually train it new, or alternate strokes for each character. But when you can type so quickly, why bother writing?

The dual expansion slots are great, allowing me to use an SD card for software installation, and still have my CF slot free for a RAM card full of MP3s or a network adapter.

Honestly, I was impressed by the capabilities of the Java system. In my opinion, Java has always been too slow and cumbersome to use, and the thought of running it on a 206MHz PDA seemed ridiculous. But from what I've seen of Java applications (even games!) running on the Zaurus, I'm beginning to realize there's a lot of potential in Java.

As a desktop Linux user, I'm also tickled to have the power and stability of my favorite OS underneath the hood. For the extremely geeky, you can get Java, C and C++ compilers that run ON the Zaurus!

The "Qtopia" environment and applications are as intuitive as they are nice to look at. The PIM applications have all the functionality I'm used to from my Palm device, and then some.

Until I can afford a wireless modem to stick in one of my Zaurus' two expansion slots, I've been using a Compact Flash ethernet dongle to get online while watching TV.

After using offline browsers on the Palm, I was shocked to find a full-fledge, desktop-quality browser built right into my Zaurus: Opera.

Opera's zoom-out feature can't be lived without. Frustratingly, most websites assume you have a screen capable of at least 800x600. On a small PDA screen, this would mean constantly scrolling left and right as you try to read. Under Opera, you can zoom out to get a better overview of the page, and still be able to read all of the text!

I've only used the Sync software (Qtopiadesktop I used the Linux version) a few times, since my pattern for PDA usage is to use them as stand-alone devices. It was quite intuitive, though, as it looked and felt just like a larger version of the PIM software built-into the Zaurus.

Finally, while there's obviously very little 3rd party software for the Zaurus so far, since it just came out, there's been what seems to be exponential growth. I've already installed almost 20 new applications, including games, a streaming Internet radio player, and an embedded version of the popular Linux browser, "Konqueror."

Software installation is usually a snap, too. Just as with Palm, all that's usually needed is one file downloaded off a website. Run the graphical installer, wait a few seconds, and the new app. is there, ready to run!

All in all, it's a great system. Powerful and slick hardware, in a beautiful form-factor, running powerful and slick software.

First and foremost, if you are looking for purely Personal Information Management (PIM) functions and not generally inclined towards Linux, then do yourself a favor and buy yourself a Palm Pilot.

The Zaurus is basically a mini Linux workstation with a lot of functionality you would normally find only on a desktop. With the Zaurus, you can:

* Browse the web with a scalable and full featured browser

* Read and edit MS-Office documents (Word, Excel and Powepoint)

* Write and execute scripts and programs (including Java)

* Play music and video

* Control your desktop Windows PC (using VNC software)

It is so powerful that you can actually use it as a Web or file server (using Apache and Samba). I use my Zaurus to administrate my Linux server and Oracle database server when I am away from my desk.

Plus there are tons of applications, utilities, games, etc., that you can download. Zaurus has a very active user community forum (check the links from the Sharp Zaurus official web sites) where you can get a lot of useful tips from.

Having said all that, the PIM functions that came with the Zaurus were pretty poor compared with the Palm Pilot. This lead me to hang on to my Palm Vx for dear life. I even took the drastic step of downloading and installing a Palm Pilot emulator (called QPose) onto my Zaurus. The performance hit on the Zaurus was so bad that I had to delete QPose and instead carry both my Palm Vx and Zaurus with me.

However, now that Sharp has released a new ROM (v3.10, as of May 15, 2003, see below) the PIM functions have vastly improved. So much that I am now inclined to keep my Palm at home and take only the Zaurus along.

Upon getting your Zaurus, do yourself a favor and install the terminal and file manager applications that come in the CD. The terminal application enables you to do a lot of tweaking and is mandatory if you plan to use the Zaurus to its full capabilty. It actually comes with a basic Linux shell environment and comes with such neat utilities as vi editor, ftp and telnet clients, ping, and a large number of Linux/Unix tools.

Another application I found very useful is called "rotation". It enables you to rotate the application screens by 90 degrees, making such things as web browsing, file editing and using the terminal appication a lot more pleasing and functional. You can download the "qpe-rotation" and "qt-embedded-rotation" files (ipks) from the ZaurusSoft website.

Also, an important suggestion to existing SL-5500 users:

Sharp has just released the latest ROM (v3.10, May 15, 2003) which makes the SL-5500 look and behave like the newer SL-5600. I *strongly urge* SL-5500 users with the old ROM (v2.38) to download and install this new ROM. The user interface with the new ROM is a lot cleaner and neater and has more stable applications (including a vastly improved Opera browser and much better PIM applications).

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I've been trying to use the Zaurus for the last week or so. The product has turned out to be a mixed blessing.

The Good:

1) This is without a doubt the ultimate programmer's PDA.

2) You can write code, compile, and execute on the Zaurus (hard to believe but it's true).

3) There is quite a bit of good free software, including neocalc, which is a great calculator.

4) Amazon.com had a stellar deal on it.

5) Contrary to some of the reviews I've seen, the screen is very nice looking.

The not so good:

1) The software to sync with a PC (Win2K in this case) stinks. It crashes, hangs, intermittently refuses to connect, and requires special knowledge not included in the manual to get it to work. I've tried both Intellisync and Qtopia Desktop. Intellisync appears to be a hopeless basket case, but I was able to get Qtopia Desktop to work as long as I didn't have too many files on my CF (too many files causes a nasty crash on the PC side). Too bad I need to sync with Outlook.

2) I've managed to fry a 128Meg SD Flash by leaving it in during a hard reset of the Zaurus. That shouldn't happen, but it did.

3) The Hancom Suite (MS compatible Word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation viewer) is weak but usable.

4) The battery life is short (especially with a Wireless LAN adapter).

5) The MP3 software wouldn't play any of my variable bit rate files. I don't believe there is anything terribly unusual about them (other than they have been encoded using LAME).

6) The MP1 video is very slow and choppy at Video CD bit rates (like ~1 frame/sec). I've found it difficult to get a bit rate the works well for me when trying to take full advantage of the screen resolution. Perhaps the DiVX decoder that is being developed will solve this problem.

Even with these serious problems, I'd still consider it a great tool for a programmer and will give it 4 stars. For non-programmer types, I'd give it 1 star.

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I just received mine two days ago and after 'playing' with it I can tell you that it's an extremely powerful PDA. Im not a Linux user nor do I know Java. I simply needed a quick way to input data because I'm in grad school. It took about 15 minutes to get used to the keyboard, but after that I was away.

It comes with a Word application that is compatible with MS Word. So while on the bus I was able to work on my research and simply sync it back to my main document on my PC.

Also I purchased a wireless network card because my dorm is wired and Im able to surf the Internet at blazing speeds. I even cut and pasted a Map into my Word application with no problems!

Truly this is a great little 'computer' and the price is good. I look forward to more applications in the future..

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This review is with reference to the Zaurus SL-5500 along with the Linksys wireless CF card

First the pros...

(1) Screen is very easy to see and the colors are just gorgeous.

(2) Sound via the headphones is outstanding.

(3) Auto scaling of images is impressive.

(4) The web browser scaling is very good and the text is readable even at it's smallest setting.

(5) Keyboard is quite comfortable and I find myself using it more than handwriting.

(6) Transfer from Palm is very easy just beam the entire category over and it takes care of the rest.

(7) Availability of software is quite good... have ssh, wap browser amd mysql running on it. Download the command tool and you get your hands on all the standard UNIX utilities, including tar, grep and vi.

Now the cons:

(1) More memory would certainly help. Given that this thing has a built in mp3 player and a mpeg player 64MB of usable memory would be good. Of the 64, only 32 is really available.

(2) I would have prefered a regular Type II PCMCIA slot over the CF slot, but then again this is a pet peeve of mine.

(3) The built in PIM applications do need some work.

Overall impression... It's a really nice piece of engineering. The fact that it has a built in keyboard without sacrificing screen estate in my view makes it stand out from the Handspring, CE and Palm devices. That coupled with Linux makes it a winning combination in my book.

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Vizio VBR337 3D Blu-Ray Player with Wireless Internet Application

• Enjoy 3D, Full HD 1080p from Blu-ray and DVD up-scale to HD
• Internet Apps with built-In Wi-Fi (802.11n)
• Enhanced 2-sided remote with full keyboard
• Tray-less design for quick and easy disc play
• Supports up to up to 7.1 channels of digital audio output via HDMI with Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD audio technologies

Purchased a VBR334 but was out of stock so the seller sent us a VBR337 replacement for less money. Very happy with this unit. Crisper, sharper, 3D graphics with its 1080P high definition, built in wireless N, and handy controller with keyboard. The keyboard is on the back side. Vizio could have put a sliding cover over it but once I learned to keep my fingers away from the keyboard, it's not a problem. I also purchased the Vizio M3D550SR 55" Razor LED 3D TV and the Vizio sound bar. What a combination for minimal money. The 3D picture depth makes you feel like your in the action. With a 240Hz refresh rate, there's no problems with blurring or fast motion. We highly recommend Vizio. They have come a long way in providing quality passive 3D at a affordable price and the glasses are the same as in the movie theater.

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For those that have purchased the VIZIO VBR 337/338 BD Player here's some great news about the firmware updates! I was watching a dvd of the 1960's Tv series "Lost In Space"...after I ejected the disc a message came on the screen. The message prompted me to hit the GREEN button on the FRONT of the remote control for a FIRMWARE UPDATE! The FIRMWARE UPDATE was dated July 3,2012! I pressed the GREEN button on the FRONT of the remote ONCE and it said to choose OK to continue.After doing this the FIRMWARE UPDATE uploaded and when it was FINISHED it RESTARTED on it's own to reboot the system. Make sure you DON'T mess with the player power during the upload process!The UPDATE took about THREE MINUTES with my WI-FI connection. Here's the BEST PART after the FIRMWARE UPDATE is complete...ALL of my BLU-RAY discs that didn't PLAY before are NOW PLAYING including the FOX ones like "PLANET OF THE APES" Blu-ray Boxset and "STAR WARS" COMPLETE Blu-ray Boxset and others!!! A lot of people had this problem but now this FIRMWARE UPDATE takes care of all of that! I'm so happy that VIZIO now has this update to solve ALL of those problems and let's hope that's the end of that!This is great news which comes just in time for the release of "THE AVENGERS" on SEPTEMBER 25,2012 to DVD and BLU-RAY! I got the DVD, BLU-RAY, 3D BLU-RAY,Combo Pack! I wrote down the info I got off of the player INFO MENU once the FIRMWARE was COMPLETE.Here it is as follows.

VIZIO VBR 337/338 BD Player

Software Version

PKG_DVD_3_3_36_VBR_41_24

Software Date July 3,2012

You might have to reactvate the NETFLIX CODE but it's the same as it was when you first setup the player.I hope this post helps everyone out that had the same problem I did!

HAPPY BLU-RAY VIEWING!

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I have tried five different streaming and Bluray players. My bedroom is the most remote location in the house and is behind a brick wall from my very high tech wireless router. I could never find my network with any of the other units. My first priority was being able to get to Netflix and Amazon streaming and then worry about playing my Bluray movies.

My research had said that Sony was the best player but at a price point of $130 and with the history I was having I was not ready to just jump and buy the best one on the market especially since I would have to wait a couple of days to get it from Amazon. It was cold weekend and I wanted to watch the last two Daniel Craig James Bond movies before Skyfall comes out.

I was at Target and this Vizio model was on clearance for $90. I had it home, hooked up, logged into both Netflix and Amazon streaming in less than 30 minutes. (The drive from Target is 10 minutes) Not only did it find my network it found another five secured networks in the neighborhood. I live in a big neighborhoods with houses that are far apart from each other. That is really impressive.

The Remote is totally cool. You have a remote on one side and a full keyboard on the other side. After years of using a full out keyboard some may have trouble understanding the old style "ALT" and "SHIFT" workings but after a little trial and error it works perfect. The remote is somewhat small so it would be easy to get lost in the shuffle.

Very streamlined look with digital display. If you are on Netflix it says that on the display. Same thing for Amazon etc..

The picture is super nice. It says up to 1080p Full HD but my TV is only 720. But still very clear and crisp.

I with this kind of quality I would have happily paid upwards of $130 for this unit.

Happy viewing....

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I bought this blu ray player at Wal Mart and I set it up very easily. I used an Ethernet cable and it found everything automatically. Good apps like Facebook (you have to go under the VUDU app for that) and Hulu and Pandora. I think its great for the price (especially with it being wifi enabled). I would recommend this Blu ray player if you want a nice wifi enabled blu ray player that has a good selection of apps available.

Device had a firmware date of Feb 2011, so I attempted to update it. The manual indicated that there was an option to manually update the firmware, but the option was nowhere to be found. I contacted Vizio support. They reset the device on their server and told me it would take 24-48 hours to automatically update. After a week, no update happened. I called Vizio back (third call), they started asking me a bunch of questions that had already been answered, so I have decided to send it back and order other device. I'll not be purchasing any Vizio devices in the future.

Sony MZ-N510CK NetMD Walkman/Recorder with Car Kit

• Stores more than five hours of music on an 80-minute minidisc; speedy USB connection minimizes recording time
• Compatible with MP3, WMA, and WAV music files as well as with the pressplay.com online music subscription service
• Bundled software helps you organize your music by artist, song, style, or tempo
• Bookmark function lets you "mark" or program your favorite songs on the disc in real time during playback
• Includes a remote control, AC adapter, and car-kit accessories; offers up to 56 hours of playback from a single AA battery

Great product. I wish I had discovered minidisc technology years ago. I purchase this for one reason (descrete, portable recording), but ended up using it mostly for another reason (music playback)

It's not perfect. I wish it had the AM/FM turer, but I was not willing to pay the $70 extra for the model with the tuner. I would also have been nice to record off a mike, but it has a line input and you can run your mike(s) thru a mixer if you really need to record "live".

Recordings made thru the line-input cannot be uploaded to your computer either.

But what it does it does very, very well. A single 80 min disc can hold (at maximum compression) well over 5 hours of music! It only needs a single AA cell, and that lasts for over 50 hours on playback. Well worth the money.

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TWO YEAR UPDATE:

After two years of use, I love it more and hate it less.

It is worked WIHOUT FAIL on daily use. I can't say this about most of my electronic gear. I use it mostly for "time shifting" of my favorite radio programs. I also use it to listen to books on tape (which I've dubbed over)... again it is a great product for this. The bookmarking feature is wonderful for keeping track where you're at in the book.

I now have the SonicStage version 2 and it is much better. Still not great... but much more useable.

--------------

I use my MD player every day so, obviously, something is right about it. I actually own two!

But I also want to write a cranky email to this engineer at Sony signed off on the software! It is AMAZINGLY bad! SonicStage (1.5 is my version) is SO counter-intuitive that I just can't use it... and I'm pretty savvy with computer stuff. LITERALLY -I can't use it.

I can't figure out any way to just drag-and-drop songs to the player in the SonicStage software. Why in the world not? It's baffling.

Instead Sony makes you go through this ridiculous "check in check out" process. (or is it "check out check in"?) It makes no sense to me. Maybe if you grew up on right-brained computer games like Mario Brothers, you could just let go of the need for logic.

FORTUNATELY, you can get a plug-in for RealAudio which is better but still not that great. The SimpleBurner isn't too bad either -it's just limited to copying your CDs.

The Sony MD player is terrific at recording stuff off the radio for time-shifting. However, Sony won't let you transfer it back on to your computer for safe-keeping. The only way to do this is real time dubbing through your sound card. How FRUSTRATING! The MD could be one terrific tool for ripping your old LPs, or whatever, but Sony has made this impractical. This crippling of functions by Sony makes it useless for lots of people, I'm sure.

The compression and audio quality are terrific and it sounds great to my ears, even at the highest compression rates.

One terrific thing you can do with the MD is record off you favorite radio stations and then edit out the commercials and even move the songs around. This is so easy to do, that I do this while on my evening walks! You end up with a custom "best of" tape. But, then it's a pain-in-the-neck if you want to get that back on your computer.

The price is a deal for such a great piece of hardware and the MD disks are cheap, sturdy and hold a lot. I take mine on trips all over the world and even 5 MDs is plenty. I take my MD places that I would be nervous to take an IPod or some other higher-priced MP3 player. Also, battery life is great and it uses just normal AA's which you can buy anywhere -a big advantage for travel.

Even though it is marketed as "speedy" it doesn't seem that fast to me. I haven't' actually timed it, but I think you could burn an MP3 CD quite a bit faster.

So, if you want to time-shift NPR or Rush, it's a great little machine. I havne't seen anything around that can beat it. But I wouldn't recommend it for listening to MP3s.

If Sony had just written better software and hadn't crippled it, the MD player would be killer. But, it's good for some functions like time shifting.

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This is a great MiniDisc Recorder/Player, but I highly discourage people from running with it. It's quite big, and a little bulky, even though it does fit in a palm of somebody older than 13. It's pros definetly outweigh the cons. So heres my list of pros and cons.

Pros

Great SoftwareI dont see what the complaining is about. If you follow the directions you'll be done in less than 2 minutes!

Recording SpeedsReally nice if your in a hurry. You can burn approximately 20 songs a minute and 100 songs in 6 minutes.

Memory/Data in a MiniDiscAlthough the minidisc claims to be 74 minutes, you can alter the quality of the song (Lp4, Lp2) modes and gets incredible amounts of songs. In LP4 mode (66k) you can get nearly 5 hours of music (4 hours 59 minutes to be precise) and in Lp2 (132k) you can get approx. half of that. Although I said "Alter the quality) there is really no way you can tell the difference between standard and LP4. The only difference I have picked up is that you have to raise the volume a little bit.

Battery Life1AA battery can run for 56 hours continually (but its more if you turn it on and off) I've had my MiniDisc Player for 2 weeks now and I listen to it atleast 3/4 hours a day and still is at FULL battery.

Cons

Searching for songsSearching for songs often can be a pain, especially if you don't figure it out (READ THE MANUAL! IT REALLY WORKS)

There aren't many cons to this player.

Overall I would give this player a high rating of 4.5/5 stars. It's really good and I don't see what the complaining is about.

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Software will NOT allow you to write CD to MD more than three times.

Software will NOT allow you to write from MD to PC if the MD recording did not originate from that same PC.

Software will NOT allow you to write from MD to PC if the MD recording was made with a microphone, optical or analog line (from a hi-fi).

Software is horrible to use.

This software could have been great if it ALLOWED me to transfer microphone recordings from my MD to the PC. The three time transfer rule (you can only record a CD to MD three times) should also have been advertised.

Copyright restrictions do not apply to me as I own it my own music.

I am a songwriter & used the old MZR700PC to record rehearsals and interviews. I purchased the MZ N710 to help me manage these recordings I have collected over the past four years.

I have brought my old MD (MZR700PC) around the world with me a few times and it still works fine; I have no doubt that Sony make a quality product.

So: Hold onto your old MD, Net MD is only as good as the terrible software that controls it.

Dear Sony,

I have always considered your products to be at the front of technology and innovative design.

Having "upgraded" my minidisc recorder from the MZR700PC to the MZ N710 I am not so certain.

Does your company really feel that it will be able to compete with the iPOD?

I am certain that you can do better than this muck (SonicStage software) if you take a few days to read your criticism at:

(...)

Regards,

A concerned costumer.

This is truly a beautiful machine. On "normal" mode, you can fit 80 minutes on an 80 min minidisc. On LP2 it doubles (2 hr 40 minutes) and on LP4 it quadruples (5 hours). The quality is the same on all 3, so I don't know why anyone would even use normal or LP2, since LP4 holds so much. The recording features are VERY nice if you have a CD you want to copy (or off the radio, PC, or anything that has sound output) but aren't near your computer. The SonicStage software works well, but there are 2 problems. The first is that you can only copy your musc 3 times (but why do you need more than one song a minidisc???) You can still put the music back on the computer("check in") ONLY if you got the music from that computer ("check out"). It also comes with more software for quick burning that is unlimited. The other problem is that music that you copy from elsewhere can't go on your computer. However, it would be illegal to do that anyways. Also, Minidiscs are better than CDs because they have Groups. You can put as much or as little in groups (albums, artists, style, tempo, whatever you want) which make navigating easier. The battery life is also VERY nice. I listened to it the whole flight to Japan and back on one AA battery. My CD player would've taken 8 AA batteries. Also, when I was in Japan (Minidisc players are very popular) nobody had the recording option (they must get a seperate machine to make Minidiscs), which means ours are even better. However, this remote control is very basic. It's play/pause, stop, next, previous, and next and previous group, so if you're using it to navigate through your Minidiscs you get lost. The only bad thing about the player itself is that the battery compartment sticks out quite far. It isn't far enough to cause a probelm; it still fits in your pocket or palm or anywhere. Another bad thing is that it's quite pricey. You can get a decent CD player for $30-40, but this is over $100 more than that, it's worth it though.