DIGISTOR 50GB Blu-ray Disc Recordable BD-R Blank Media, 6X (25 pack)

Summary: Burns at 2.4x 4x on LG WH10LS30K (in NexStar NX NST-530S2). I haven't had a single issue and have been able to play the media on every blu-ray player that I have tried (Panasonic, Sony, Vizio, Samsung, PS3) Fantastic buy!

This is my first review, I just felt the need to defend these discs. I recently purchased LG's WH10LS30K (Burner), Vantec's NexStar DX NST-530S2 (5.25 External Case) and went searching to the best deal on BD-R 50's. I stumbled across these and was hesitant to purchase at first. There aren't enough reviews, and the ones that are posted are mixed results. I figured why not give it a try and post my results on here.

Using my LG WH10LS30K, I burned all 25 discs flawlessly @ 2.4x-4x. I have since purchased two additional spindles with the same results. I'm buying the 100 pack next time I order to same some extra money. I highly recommend these discs.

If you are having issues with these discs it's more likely an issue with your computer/burner than the discs themselves.

Here are some helpful tips.

Ensure your drive's FW is updated

Slow your write speeds. I burn at 4x, sometimes 2.4x (on images over 40GB)

Set the layer break. Most errors occur as your reach peak write speed and the edge of the disc. Leave 1-2GB of free space on the first layer to prevent this.

Close unused background applications/processes.

DO NOT touch, move bump or use your computer after pressing that "Burn" button. Burning large amounts of data takes resources, why risk a $5 disc just so you can check your email or facebook? As soon as you click "Burn", just walk away.

At first I was concerned because this is a really low price for 50GB blu-ray media.

I have read where Blu-ray media from different vendors may or may not work with various Blu-ray writers. So I emailed Digistore to see if this media was compatible with my new LG Blu-ray writer. They said it was, and indeed it is.

So far I have had no problems. I also liked the fact that their support people answered my email so fast.

Buy DIGISTOR 50GB Blu-ray Disc Recordable BD-R Blank Media, 6X (25 pack) Now

These discs are a great value and made to a very high standard. I have had discs manufactured by Memorex in the past (that were twice the price) and a few of them had failed due to manufacture defects (tiny dimples on the write surface of 4 discs in two spindles of 25). The only issue I have had with these discs is that they are not compatible with some LG drives. I just use my LG burner now for 25GB discs and bought a Pioneer BDXL drive for the dual layer 50GB Digistor discs. They write quickly and playback without a hitch. I have bought Digistor discs in the past and they have always held up to my needs.

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I have used 20 of these blank discs so far copying on my LG WH12LS30 internal blu-ray burner. I burn at speeds over 5X (burner is set to choose the burn speed automatically) and have used the entire 50GB (actually you get a little over 50GB) available on the disc with no problems and no coasters. They have all played on my stand alone LG blu-ray player, Play Station 3 and computer. I read e-mail, browse the web and download files while I am burning discs and sometimes the file downloading seems to be a little slower than normal or hangs for a second or two. I suspect Windows 7 manages resources to make sure the disc burner has the resources it needs first.

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I give this product 5 stars. I have burned about half the pack with no problems what so ever. At the same time I have been using Verbatim brand, and Digistor seems to work just as well. I am burning in an internal LG burner, and playing disks on my computer and my Playstation 3 console without any problems. I have been trying both 50GB and 25GB, with both Digistor and Verbatim brands, and I can't tell any difference at this point. I give the same review for single and double layer. As for longevity, well there's no way of knowing at this point which brand holds up better over time. 50 years from now I will update this review and let you know the answer to that question. I'm sure I'll still be alive at 99 years old. Quick Tip: To avoid any potential issues, always burn at about 3/4 maximum speed.

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Olympus CB-USB1 Digital Camera USB Cable

The cable was perfect for what I needed. I could not find the cable locally, so finding it on Amazon was great.

I needed a USB cable for my camera to upload pictures to my PC. This was the perfect fit for it.

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I bought this to go with a camera I picked up at a garage sale. It works perfect with my camera.

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NEW Version Ultra-thin Quad-band Watch Mobile Phone FM/MP3/MP4 2M Camera

This is the first time I have considered or used a watch phone.

I want to start out by saying the support behind this phone is far above average. I say this because my phone in fact broke down on me.

The people selling this out of Newport News, gave me the option of refunding or replacing and it won't cost me a dime. I am opting to replace and here's why.

-When the phone worked, it was great. It took a bit to figure it out because the user manual that comes with it is a little vague. A quick email with some direct questions cleared up all my questions and I started using all the functions.

-The first function is the phone itself. I used a Motorola H720 Bluetooth device with it because I hate constantly wearing a bluetooth device in my ear. The advantage this paticular ear piece has is it is instantly activated as soon as you open the mic boom. I like that, I can feel the buzz of a phone call on my wrist, look at my wrist to see who is calling, pull out my BT device, open the boom, hit the button and talk all in seconds.

-Most of the time, (at least 95% of the time), the reception was very clear. When it is not it was hard for me to say if it was the phone or AT&T. When the reception was not so good, you could still communicate with some light static. I've had Samsung phones that gave me far more heartache than that.

-Here is an advantage you don't normally think about. You can set the phone to a vibrate mode, it is sitting directly on your wrist. Your not going to miss a call because you couldn't feel or even hear the vibration, you will feel it every single time because it is directly on your skin. There is rarely a need to activate the ring tone. You will not miss phone calls and not disturb anyone by a irritating ring tone. That is the biggest advantage in my opinion.

-The camcorder; It works and it is easy to operate. I can't think of any practical use for that but that is just me. It is entertainment at the very least.

-The video player can be used to play stuff from You-Tube and other media sources, one thing about that is, you must download a program (free) to convert the video from almost any source to play it on your watch. You can download a movie if you so desired. You have to do that with your computer.

-The cameria; pretty much the same as the phone. It's easy to operate and the picture viewer is easy to use. If you can't view the picture, there are tons of free programs to convert the picture to a JPEG format which the phone uses.

-The link to the computer; It's easy! The cable that hooks into your power adaptor can be connected directly into a USB port into your computer. The watch will do several things but the two I myself have used it for was a mass storage device and to use the computer to provide power to the phone. I do not know if you can receive phone calls while hooked into the computer.

-The other way you can transfer data between the phone and computer is use the mini-sd card with an SD adapter (you have to buy one). That also means you can use more than 2GB of data but I never had the need to do so. It is far easier just to use the cable provided with the watch.

-The touch screen; I am not a fan of the touchscreen. This one feels more ruggard than other touch screens I have used in the past. Myself, I can use my fingers to punch in numbers and I missed a number maybe 1 out of 20 times. It was easier than I thought to use. If you hate touch screens, than this phone vs others has a keypad that you can use your fingers to operate. That as I see it can prolong the useful life of the phone. As the touchscreen wears out, you can use the keypad to accomplish making a phone call. If you buy a touchscreen only watch phone, I wouldn't think it would last very long. I am no expert on the lifetime of watch cell phones.

-So who wouldn't like this phone or couldn't get good use out of it? If you have small wrists, sorry the phone will go all over the place on you. I don't think you can go down to Walmart and get a smaller wristband for it but I could be wrong. If your eyes are bad and glasses don't help, forget it. You won't see a thing. If you have normal vision or vision that is corrected to normal, you should have no problem.

-If you are hard of hearing, forget trying to use the loudspeaker mode. Without a bluetooth device, you'll never really hear anything and you'll want to "hurt something" out of fustration.

-Remember, the advantage of this phone is to use a bluetooth and never depend on having to pull out a phone. All can be done in a quiet, polite mode. If you go to a lot of meetings, or work for the Army like I do, this has it's advantages. You can feel the buzz during a meeting look at your watch politely and make a decision if the phone call is important enough for you to leave the meeting or disrupt it. I just like the the fact that I don't have to pull out the phone to see who is calling. A quick flick of my wrist reveals that and just as quick I can pull out my Bluetooth, put it in my ear, and be talking before the answer mode picks up.

Anyways, if you are looking at this phone, I think it is the best one out there. It is also a unlocked, quad-band phone. If you don't know what that means, "here goes". That means, if you are in Korea, Japan, China or other places in Asia you can buy a sim-card and use this. If you are in Germany, or almost anywhere in Europe, buy a sim-card and you are talking. If you are in Iraq, this phone will work the same rules apply. Get it? It can be used almost anywhere.

The bottom line for those that skipped directly down is: "I like it and think it is worth the cost". Look around and I think you will find, this one is superior to the others that are out there.

Michael W. McFall

UPDATE 6/17/10:

I have my replacement phone. I really love it.

As far as the phone part and watch part goes, it works flawlessly. As far as the other features go, I am still learning it as I go.

One feature I really like is the fact I can put a picture on the phone's wallpaper and still have the time on it. Another feature that surprised me is that you can use the phone as a webcam. Think of how useful that can be using "skype" at the airport when you pull out your laptop and want to talk to your loved one. I really appreciate that feature and that changes the webcam feature from entertainment only to something I can really use.

The bottom line is this: The watch phone lives up to it's name and purpose. The advantage of a watch phone is, you never have to pull out your phone to see who is calling. A quick flick of your wrist and it's done. The second big advantage is you do not need to hear this phone. You can put it on vibrate and feel it every single time as it sits directly on your skin. Think of the advantages...

Warning: If you buy this, then get a bluetooth that connects fast if your not going to keep it in your ear. I have the Motorola H720. I can put it out of my pocket flip the boom and it is connected, "just like that". I love it!!! The bluetooth that comes with the watchphone really doesn't work in the way I just described. It is a stereo headset. I haven't played with it enough to determine how I want to use it.

The only thing I would change from when I first wrote this review is, the phone is far more reliable than I expected. When the first one broke I had my doubts, but this one really works and lives up to my expectations.

When they come out with an updated version of this, I plan to be checking it out.

As the fourth user of this product in the whole world (based on the total number of reviews published), let me start by saying how odd I feel being the first kid on my block when it comes to owning a real Dick Tracy watch. Having a cool gadget on my person is very atypical for me. I'm a classic late adopter (cheapskate). But I've always liked the idea of a gadget that plays MP3s, tells time and makes calls. The camera, voice recorder, calculator etc. clinched the sale. Does anyone recall the watch OS MS was developing years back? That was exciting. Anyway, the reaction I've been getting to this thing is "wow, that's neat!" versus "man, you're such a loser!"

Basic observations along 4 lines: cost/value, form/fit, convenience and usability.

Cost/value: I paid nearly $200 on Amazon. That's what happens when you get excited and reach for your credit card. I later saw it for sale for $110. Is it what I wanted? No, not really. I wanted a watch phone that would allow me to leave leave the house with empty pockets. Unfortunately, the logistics of bluetooth, combined with severe battery life issues, relegates this to the "phone backup" and "gee-whiz" bucket. Is there a lot of value here? Yup. This gadget truly works as a worldwide phone, takes pictures and plays MP3s... for as long as the battery holds out. Despite several flaws, I would buy this product again at the price I paid.

Form/fit: I have small wrists, and the rubberized watch band is no problem (gets a little sweaty). You can shut off the sci-fi blue backlight on the keypad, allowing the socially astute among us to pretend nothing weird is going on and that they're just into tacky sports watches. As expected, the keyboard was designed for a chipmunk. But by growing my thumbnail a bit long, I am able to navigate it with considerable difficulty. The only change I would suggest is to the up-down-right-left keys that flank the selct button; I would widen the "up" key a little it's narrow almost to the point of being unusable. Beyond this, there are no serious ergonomics issues. As other reviews have pointed out, the watch must be paired with a bluetooth headset. I splurged and bought the Plantronics stereo one truly a thing of beauty. And happily, the watch ships with a chintzy little bluetooth earpiece which I will use as a spare.

Convenience: miniscule battery life kills this product. Ideally, you wouldn't have to charge your phone away from home. Here, you get a total of 6 hours life from both batteries carrying the USB charger is a necessity. Power-off is not exactly elegant: the watch announces: "Low Battery Shutting Down!" and 3 seconds later you're looking at a dead watch. Oddly, a fully charged spare battery is little help; it may show full power but only last 2 hours. Apart from the awful battery situation, day-to-day use of the device isn't bad. I miss calls while fumbling to put on my bluetooth headset, but that's my issue to work out.

Usability: I wish there were a "vibrate" mode instead of a noisy little midi when a call comes in. My shirt sleeve sometimes initates a phone call on its own a one-touch keyboard lock feature would be nice.I wanted the ability to control what comes up when I press one of the up-down-right-left buttons. I wanted to use my bluetooth headset for FM radio. I wanted a slideshow option for photos (the touch screen comes close to this). And I wanted some basic MP3 player functions, like "random". But in light of the camera and everything else, some of these are nits. The most unhappy thing is the text input SW they chose: typing in any langauge is painful (I am a chinese linguist and sad to say, pinyin input is a nightmare and from a chinese manufacturer!) A standard SMS message will have you switching from English caps to English lower case to number input to symbol input...and every time you change, your will scroll endlessly through french, german, italian, arabic etc.

One final comment: my refusal to read any sort of printed product documentation is vindicated here. The manual is totally useless the information is wrong, missing or misleading to a laughable extent. I very nearly destroyed the watch by following the instructions for removing the battery. I was also unhappy that there is no mention of customer support anywhere at all in the product. If something went functionally wrong with the product today, I still would have absolutely no idea how to get in touch with the manufacturer.

But we're hardy souls, breaking new ground. And for all these cool features, the price is right so I hope this review doesn't come across as too harsh. I say again: I like what I bought, and it exceeded my price-performance expectations. Yes, it is handicapped in a couple of areas. But overall, my sincere kudos to the product manager in charge of this thing. It's a game-changing product, primarily due to the low price tag, but also in large part to the long list of technologies stuffed into it. Congratulations on a very reasonable contender in this fascinating product category. If you like the idea of a general all-in-one device, and aren't too hung up on reliability and usability, go for it!

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This is one of my first reviews but the product sure deserves a review so here goes:

I tried it out for quite some time now trying to get the most out of the battery life since that is the only drawback the phone has. So i prepared a few numbers for you guys so you can decide based on those numbers.

Standby (no bluetooth): ~ 2 days and more

Standby (bluetooth): ~ 2 days MAX (more like 1 1/2 day)

Full battery music playtime (BT): ~ only about 2 1/2 hours

Full battery talk-time (BT): ~ about 2 hours as well

With numbers like that you can imagine that you can only use the phone for about a day if you really use it (as mp3 player in a train...for talking to your friends...using it like a mobile phone really).

So even though you get 2 batteries you would have to charge them BOTH every night so you don't have to fear that your phone dies after half a day and you wont be able to reach anybody.

The phone is great dont get me wrong there it's just the battery life that kills the fun kinda. Maybe you can use/buy a batterypack for USB to enhance the battery life.

Hope the review helped. Drop a comment if you wanna know more

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The video player runs as smooth as a dvd. Can entertain my kids with cartoons I download. GREAT!

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In two words, Battery Life. Every thing else is good. Battery life stinks. Also would be nice to have computer software to manage phone list and access to rest of phone's features. Still get people crowding around me to look at it in college. Its neat, guess we have to wait for new battery technology to come along for this to be a great idea.

Disney HS700D High School Musical DVD Player

• DVD video and CD audio Compatible
• Supports CD, CDR, CDRW, Picture CD, DVDR, DVDRW
• Dolby Digital (AC3) audio output
• On-screen display
• Parental controls

You might want to consider other players over this one.

I bought this, and the matching tv.

The first player, the knob fell off less than a few weeks into play. I got a replacement. But less than a month into use, it began asking for parental passwords for all DVDs, even ones rated G. Then captions began popping up unless you told the DVD not to show them. There seems to be no way to turn off the parental password now. :(

The frustration isn't worth it. Get a name brand for long term use. For short term, if it's just for kid use, it might be worth it for them.

The matching TV is still going strong. But my portable DVD player lasts five times longer than this one.

Yamaha DVX-CSC1 900 Watt 5.1 Cinema Station System - A/V Receiver with Integrated 5-Disc DVD/SACD P

I just love it!

This is the best way to get a fine SACD player if you can't spend too much.

And this ain't no cheap sound you get from it.

The disc tray is unique. It's not common to get a 5 disc tray where you can put cd, sacd and DVD.

You can play DTS-CD and DVD Audio, try them...

Toshiba SD-5980 Progressive Scan DVD Player with HDMI Output

• Upconverts DVD signals to either high-definition 720p or 1080i
• HDMI direct digital AV output and progressive-scan ColorStream component-video outputs for ultimate DVD and JPEG image quality
• MP3/WMA CD playback; 9-in-2 card reader supports nearly every known type of flash media
• Offers 3:2 pulldown, black-level expansion, power picture zoom
• Optical and coaxial digital-audio outputs pass Dolby Digital and DTS surround (to compatible AV receiver and speakers)

I now have either owned or own 8 different DVD players and am very familiar with idiosynracies of each. This is the second Toshiba that I have owned and partially decided to purchase this one because I had a very good experience with another much older Toshiba that is still running strong.

-Decision Making Process:

I bought this for the HDMI Up-Conversion after just having purchased a Panasonic 42" HDTV Plasma (Awesome TV). I had heard the HDMI hook-up was stellar and wanted to find out. The decision was between an LG, Toshiba and Saumsung. Although the Toshiba was priced $30 less at Best Buy, I initially opted for the LG due to its good looks and slim profile. Bad move on my part. The LG was not compatible with my TV (There are disclaimers saying this can happen. I tried every kind of hook-up (component, composite and HDMI) and none of them would show me a picture. After reading some poor reviews of Samsung and having another Saumsung DVD player die on me previously, I decided to go with the Toshiba. It's not a great looking player, but not horrible either. I'm glad I did!

Positives:

First of all, the positves way outweight the negatives.

1) Stellar picture with HDMI output. I'm using the freebie HDMI cable that came with the player and the picture looks significantly better than my other player with Component (a solid Panasonic DVD recorder).

2) Free HDMI cable. These things are expensive and even if it's not the greatest quality cable, it's good enough to reap the benefits of HDMI outputs and notice a difference.

3) Great sound. The sound might even be a slight improvement over my Panasonic, which I love.

4) Card reader is an very nice extra that Samsung does not have. Looking at pictures in "HD" with HDMI is awesome!

5) When you press "Display" it will display the time surpassed and the total time of the movie so you have an idea of how much longer you have to go in the movie. Too many DVD players do not let you know how much longer you have before the movie is over.

Negatives:

1) It's a little complicated. Like most players, you need to read the manual to make sure your audio outputs are correct so you will be able to hear your audio in Digital. This is standard on most players I have dealt with.

2) Pay close attention with which mode of HDMI you are in (there is an HDMI button on the remote that toggles between 420p, 750p and 1080i. I was trying to play DVD+R's that I had burned and finalized from my computer and the picture kept flashing on and off. The sound was fine, but the flashing was unbearable. I thought it was because they were burned DVD's and it wouldn't read them, but I didn't have that problem on either of my other 3 current DVD players. As it turns out, the shows I was watching are not able to be viewed in either the 420P or 750P mode and can only be viewed in the 1080i mode. Once I switched to 1080i, those DVD's worked great.

3) When I was using the card reader, I had the picture in 1080i and it blinked on an off again. Once I switched it to 420p, it worked perfectly.

4) The player itself is not really that attractive and the display is downright ghetto. I'm not sure what Toshiba was thinking when they designed this thing. Perhaps they really wanted to keep the price down, but the display literally only shows you the minutes that have surpassed on the DVD you are playing in archaic looking number. For example, if you are 31 minutes and 29 seconds in, the display will read simply "31." The chapter is not listed nor are the seconds nor can you change it to display anything else.

In summary, I strongly recommend this player to anyone that is looking for an upgraded picture via HDMI cable. The HDMI up-conversion IS for real. THe picture is great and so is the sound. Having an digital card reader is cool and the player overall is fairly likable. If you have the patience to work through some of its quirks and don't mind the so-so looks and absolutely horrible display, you should make this one a purchase.

Buy Toshiba SD-5980 Progressive Scan DVD Player with HDMI Output Now

I have always trusted Toshiba products after consistantly good performance. Last year, I purchased their Upconvert SD-5970 model and that changed my mind. That model was just a complete disaster (hardly read disks, skipped, shut down/couldn't even turn it on at times-even by pressing the power button on the unit itself, froze up constantly, remote control did not respond at all or took 5 seconds to respond, disks wouldn't eject, etc.). You name it, it went wrong. I tried several replacements of the same unit and all of them had the same issues. Seems a lot of people had similar issues with that model from user reviews on the net.

The bad thing was, I ended up losing my receipt and had to put up with it when it went from bad to worse over the following months. I became a bit soured on Toshiba for releasing such a bad product.

About a month ago, I saw the SD-5980 advertised (The follow up to that model) and some positive word that most/all of the issues that people had with the 5970 were corrected now. I was hesitant at giving it a try. But long behold, after picking one up, they actually seem to be corrected.

I have had the 5980 for a little over a month and have not had 1 problem with it. It's really been like night and day between the two models and I really am pleased with the performance so far.

Picture quality seems about the same as the previous version, but it actually works now all the time. What a concept. Not a techie by any means, but the picture looks great and will get me by until HD-DVD comes out. I really have only tried previous Toshiba and Samsung upconvert models to compare picture quality on, so there may be something better out there and I have not seen it. I imagine it's probably on par with most of the other upconvert models available, though especially in this low price range of $149.00.

The build of the unit is extremely slim, again, and you still get the HDMI cord included with the unit so that saves you money right there. I also have not had any overheating problems with the unit after playing it during long periods, so that is better than the previous model, as well.

Reading various disks has gone smoothly so far, and this includes burned DVD's/DVD R's, so that seems fine, as well.

Remote control works flawlessly now and you will not throw it the way you did the 5970 model when that one did nothing. Very responsive and nicely laid out. Another nice improvement.

Really, even after a month, I am still amazed I can turn this on and get it to work flawlessly every time I use it, after having such a nightmare with the 5970 all the time. That model was that bad.

The 5980 model so far has been excellant and my faith has been restored in Toshiba players once again. Nice job on the unit and a very nice price for those in the market for these upconvert models. For price point, quality, and reliability/features, I gave it a 5.

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I was curious as to the quality difference the HDMI and brand name gives me in a DVD player, so I decided to hook up 2 DVD players, one cheap one and one expensive one, and see if I could tell the difference.

For this I used a Portland brand DVD player (cost roughly $39.99 at a large dept. store) and a Toshiba SD-5980 (cost roughly $135 here). I hooked them both up to my Sony Grand WEGA KDF-42WE655 42" HD LCD Projection TV. I connected the Portland via Monster S-Video cable, and the Toshiba via the provided HDMI cable. The DVD I used for this experiment was the BMW short films DVD available from the USA bmw site (also found in online format at bmwfilms.com)

And to be honest, it was tough. I thought *maybe* the Toshiba HDMI player was a little better picture quality, but wasn't sure. I also thought I may be subconsciously biased due to knowing which one cost 3x more, so I repeated the experiment in a blind test for my wife (I made her leave the room when I was loading up the DVD player and setting it up to a short film). And she picked the Portland as a better picture. Neither of us could tell the difference in the sound quality.

Maybe using a $200 third party HDMI cable would have made a difference, but I wasn't about spend that kind of money on a cable!

As neither of could tell the difference, we returned the 5980 and use the cheapo for all of our DVD needs.

There may be other differences between the two in terms of features, but as we don't use alot of advanced features, we didn't test that.

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You would think that for an expensive player, they would spend a little effort making sure the thing was easy to use. First, to even get it to play using the HDMI cable, you initially have to hook it up to your display using component cables, go into the DVD menu, adjust its output to HDMI, and then hook up the HDMI connection. Otherwise you just get a blank screen. It took me hours to figure out because the manual didn't say anything about it. Second, the tray that holds the DVDs is horrid the sides have no cutout, so it is tricky to take the disks out. And the HDMI output is always stretched to widescreen which is terrible because many of my DVDs are 4:3 TV series. It's hooked up using component cables right now (which look as good as HDMI anyway).

The player also has the neat feature of pausing or even crashing at the most exciting parts of movies. I'm sure it took some brilliant engineering on Toshiba's part to pull off.

Took less than a min for me to connect this DVD to my

HDMI compatible TV (Toshiba 52HM95) and it worked like

a charm. The picture quality is lot better compared

to a normal progressive scan DVD.

Inititally I bought a Panasonic S77S (after reading some awesome

reviews but unfortunately the HDMI did not work with my

TV, so I had to return it).

Another plus with this DVD is that it comes with a HDMI cable

so you don't have to spend 50+ dollars for the cable.

RCA Lyra RD2317 1 GB Personal Digital Audio Player with Voice, Line-in and FM Recording

• 1GB built in memory, stores up to 32 hours of WMA music or 640 songs encoded @ 64 kbps.
• Multiple recording option; Voice Record, Line in Record and FM Record
• Digital FM Tuner with FM Record.
• Full Dot Matrix backlit display for navigating through this product's different features and for navigating through your music selections.
• Dual orientaion LCD screen

Overall, this could be a great mp3 player, but they left out one very critical option. Each time you turn on the player, it starts at the main menu. You have to navigate to the album and song you want. In other words, it doesn't remember where you were last time you used the player. This is annoying when listening to music because there is no natural progression through the albums. It is intolerable when listening to audiobooks. It takes forever to find the place where you left off.

Other than that, the controls are easy to use, the player looks good, audio quality is good, and you can expand the memory with SD/MMC memory cards. It has a line-in jack for making your own recordings. It has an FM radio built in, and comes with an FM transmitter for playing through your car radio. I haven't listened to the FM radio much, but it seems to work well. The transmitter also works pretty well unless you are in a large city. It can broadcast on about 6 different frequencies, half at the extreme low end of the FM band and half at the extreme high end. You just need to find a frequency that is not in use in your area.

Also, this player does support Audible format for audiobooks. If you use Audible, this would be a good choice as these files are bookmarkable. If your books are in mp3 format like mine, I recommend getting almost ANY other mp3 player.

You should also be aware that there is no printed manual with this player.

I tried writing to customer support about the issue I have with this player, but their support page has a canned set of topics geared to sales rather than support. I still would have left something, but they want too much 'required' information about me before I can even do that. Hopefully, they will read this review and take it to heart.

Buy RCA Lyra RD2317 1 GB Personal Digital Audio Player with Voice, Line-in and FM Recording Now

I read the other reviews and they had some good points.

Yes, when you switch on, your previous audio selection is not remembered, but I have not seen many that do. And I use many Audio book mp3's. Upon power up it takes a moment to read files, this is irritating. My purchase did not come with an fm transmit adapter (as per other reviews). My first issue upon purchase was the firmware. It needed to be upgraded from v1.xx to v3.11. This took me some time to figure out, if you did not read all the small peices of paper in the package. If you don't upgrade the firmware the Lyra does not recognize any subfolders on the SD external card. It was very simple to download and execute the upgrade from the given RCA website. I did write to RCA to fix this v3.11 though. It only supports 520 files. I can easily fit many more files (I tried to load over 800 files). All my mp3's are compressed to 64kbps and Audio books are broken down into many pieces (sub directories). I have been using a 2gbyte sd card with no prob. be carfull not to overload the line-in. the mic is also very sensitve. My overal opinion of the Lyra is great. Not many MP3 players have these features for this price range. A biult in fm transmitter would be nice though.

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when looking for my first mp3 player I made a list of requirements my new device should have. I wanted a flash drive with at least a gig of memory, an fm radio, not apple specific and the capability to menu different play options. This player does all that at a very good price, especially consdering the inclusion of an fm player-adapter for the auto. It is surprisingly small and yet the controls do not feel flimsy, however the unit sometimes needs to be commanded a second or third time especially when skipping songs on an album play. The sound is terrific compared to regular cd players when songs are downloaded at 128. The song capacity is only 250 or so at 128 but that is plenty. Music can be downloaded as album folders and played as an album or you can shuffle everything. The battery life seems adequate enough. The controls and menu are all very easy to use and I figured everything out without the manual. The fm radio has decent reception. The car adapter only comes with 3 low and 3 high stations to choose from and in a place like san antonio with stations up and down the dial there was some static bleed through. It has the capability for another gig with an additonal sd card but I have not tried that yet because it looks like the memory card is not too secure in the player and I don't want to lose it. I put songs on it in mp3 and wma formats and it only played the mp3 format for some reason. The only reason I do not give it 5 stars is because I don't have anything to compare it to

Dane 16GB CompactFlash Memory Card

In the description it doesn't say the speed but one assumes it will be normal. Not to fast (like 133x or 200x) but this thing doesn't work at all with the current speed. It's sooo slow that connected with an adapter to an IDE 44 it took about 5 hours to install Windows XP on it). Has a current capacity of 16GB but a speed of a compact flash of 2001. TERRIBLE PRODUCT. I'm gonna return all 4 I bought. I can not understand why they even bother in offer such terrible product. Like trying to sell a Ferrari with a Corolla engine.

I bought two of these over a month ago, used them to upgrade two ipod minis. installed them, programed them, load them, deleted from them, they are worth the value if looking for a 16GB Compact Flash Card, I haven't had an issue yet.

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Machspeed Trio 1 GB MP3 Player Voice Recorder Thumb Drive

• Lightweight digital audio player doubles as voice recorder and USB mass storage drive
• 1 GB flash memory holds 16 hours of MP3 and 32 hours of WMA audio
• Plays MP3, WMA, WAV, and ASF files; records to WAV
• LED screen with backlight; 7 EQ presets
• Powered by single AAA batter for up to 10 hours of battery life

Good if it meets your needs. That would be a player that demands small size and low price. Music during exercise, shopping, computer lab, falling asleep, or just as a flash drive.

You must be willing to accept these limitations.

1) Random play. Serial browsing is obviously ridiculous for 1 GB (probably 350 songs at 128Kb), and it doesn't have resume, so you must like random. e.g. you don't mind skipping through selections until you find one you want to hear.

2) Power on / off. Sometimes the unit decides to shut off during power up. You have to briefly disconnect the battery to fix it. Also, you have to return to the main menu (vs. song play) before power off works.

3) Battery. If you fall asleep listening (that's me), your battery is of course dead in the morning. Bought a cheap ($10) nimh charger that comes with some batteries (ray-o-vac).

4) User interface. You have to learn two durations of button press to navigate. Also, the unit appears dead (like 1-2 seconds!) when entering and leaving the play menu; indexing songs I suppose. (This and #2 are probably generating a lot of product returns.)

Sound is fine. I've had equalization problems with more expensive players (GoVideo, Rio). Random play is fine. Random on some players is a joke (Memorex mp3-CD).

Removable battery is great. Who wants to get stuck with a dead lithium that costs more than the player to fix? I'd rather carry an extra battery in my pocket.

Has a hold slide switch, so you can put it into your pocket. Being able to choose the backlight color (from a rainbow) is cool.

Buy Machspeed Trio 1 GB MP3 Player Voice Recorder Thumb Drive Now

I use this primarily to listen to talk shows that I record so most mp3 are 2 hours long. This creates issues that don't exist with just music use. Files are larger so playing off the player directly from the player with a PC or when attached to the PC is a must. Fast forwarding speed is extremely important for getting past commercials or queuing up to the middle of the file. Too fast will make getting the right place difficult, going to slow will be frustrating to get to the right place. I really wanted a direct insert device so I wouldn't have to carry around a cable. I purchased a Samsung YP-U2J but was disappointed with the fact that files couldn't be accessed directly by an operating system and it required Windows XP with Media Center 10. There are 2 categories of direct connect USB mp3 players: mp3 players and thumb drive/mp3 players. The difference is thumb drives do not require drivers or software to sync or transfer files. I prefer thumb drives/mp3 players.

Pros:

1. Works as portable storage device: no need for Media Center or other software. Works in any OS. No need to sync. Can play songs with PC directly from device. 99% of mp3 players can not do this. Very frustrating for large files.

2. Fast forward works fairly well. Starts at 10x (10 seconds per second), speed ramps up to 60x (1 minute per second). This works very well for me.

3. Uses AAA batteries so you can have backup power when you need it.

4. Pretty colors for back-light. Green, Cyan, Blue, Red, Purple, White.

Cons:

1. By far the most annoying thing is that it does not resume. When you pause and the player turns off, when you turn it on it starts in the menu. When you go to music it starts at the beginning of the first file. Ridiculous.

2. Song order is difficult if not impossible to manage. No play lists.

2. Battery life is terrible. With included alkaline, battery lasted 40 minutes. I've switched to NiMH 600mAH and they seem to last about 2 hours. Still not good for such a limited device but I can manage since my commute is only 20-30 minutes. Would be nice if it included charging for NiMH and NiCd batteries.

3. Shoddy construction. Glass screen cover broke when I was changing my oil. I was careful not to roll over on it but it still broke. Took it off and it works fine.

4. Kinda big. I really like the Samsung's size better.

5. Menu system is annoying. Samsung was very intuitive.

6. Fast forward same as next track. Hold button to fast forward tap to skip. Obviously annoying when fast forwarding 60 minutes into a show just to skip to the next track.

Even with all the problems, I like it better than any mp3 player that requires drivers or special software.

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Bought this because I wanted a good bit of space for as little money as I could manage.. and with that in mind, it's not bad. The controls are not at ALL intuitive, unfortunately (and the manual is NO help with anything), but I eventually sorted out all its quirks. Files can be sorted into folders, which is very nice. The main drawback I've found with this is that you CAN NOT put more songs on it without completely wiping off everything else first. You can delete just fine within the player's interface, but you cannot delete tracks from (in the case of Windows) the My Computer window. And it tells you everything is write-protected if you try to add something more on without having deleted everything first. Given that I only swap things out once a week or so, this is a managable flaw, but still a needless one. Apart from that, battery life is decent, and so far mine's put up with rain and pretty large temperature variations, as well as being dropped a good bit. Sound quality's not fantastic (most of the equalizer settings sound atrocious), but it's not to the point of being irritating.

Again, for the price and the amount of space, it's decent enough. Works just fine, once you sort out the controls. The size is also very convenient, it's perfect for just casually dragging it around with you everywhere in a pocket or what have you. (And much less to worry about than an iPod!)

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This is a very CHEAP player. I bought 2one for my wife and 1 for myself. the faceplates of both broke within a few weeks. In both cases, my wife and I just had them in our pockets and our keys (I guess) broke the faceplates.

Also, if you listen to longer podcasts or ebooks and turn the player off, it does not start where you stopped it at. The navigation is difficult. Another problem is that the microphone button is in a bad location and I constantly hit it and it is difficult to get it to stop and change back to the player. Overall, avoid this player

I took a gamble on this player, and I've been pleasantly surprised. I agree with a previous reviewer about the manual: it's pretty poorly written. But I got the gist of what they were saying, and after 10 minutes of exploring the player I've figured out most of its features.

As for the player's features... the sound quality is good, and the random track feature is surprisingly good when compared to other (admittedly cheap) players I've used. On many other players I've used the random track algorithm has been far from random. But this one seems quite authentic. The controls are kind of odd, but the UI is fairly good. The headphones that come with the player are poor quality, but the player itself seems fairly well made.

It's not an iPod, but for this price you can't really expect the same level of quality. I didn't have to deal with a rebate, so I can't comment on that possible issue. I also didn't run into any OS issues: it just worked seamlessly with XP from the start.

Considering the price, and the fact it's got 1GB of memory, on the whole this is a good little player.

Astrotel WD1-C/CAM 2.4GHz H.264 Digital Wireless Transmitter with Color CCD Camera and Receiver

I ordered this camera to put up at my barn, to watch my mares for foaling. It was an effortless plug and play setup. So easy, the picture quality is beautiful and I couldn't be happier. I'm thinking about switching my network camera setup for more like this one. I am completely pleased with it and so happy this is the product I chose.

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Philips PD9000/37 9-Inch LCD Portable DVD Player with 5 Hour Battery, White

• Enjoy your movies anytime, anyplace! The PD9000 portable DVD player features 9" TFT.LCD screen for your great viewing experience
• This Philips player comes with a compact built-in rechargeable battery for long-lasting power.
• The Philips Portable DVD player is compatible with most DVD and CD discs available in the market.
• With DivX support, you are able to enjoy DivX encoded videos and movies from the Internet, including purchased Hollywood films.
• The high resolution color LCD display brings images to life, showing off your treasured photos, favorite movies and music
• Up to 5 hours of continuous movie, photo and music playback

A decent player....you can't be expecting much with a portable DVD player..

Where it stands out?

1) It comes with a 110-240V charger so that makes it really "portable"...I mean you use these not at your home but when you actually travel..

2) It can be made region free...so double points on portability!

Region free hack:

1. Turn on player.

2. Open disc tray.

3. Wait till 'Open' appears on screen

4. Type 9 6 5 3

5. Press up or down button to reach REGION option

6. Press OK button

7. Scroll UP/Down to TEST0 , press OK

8. Press setup again to exit

3) Battery life is longer

4) Gives you some extra inches of viewing than the rest

5) Plays both NTSC and PAL DVDs. I haven't tried that but the specification on Philips' site says

"Video disc playback system: NTSC, PAL"

Check it out:

Though the caption says black color but the white looks smart...so I am happy with that.

Overall a decent player....serves the purpose for what it is meant for....please don't compare the sound or picture quality with a home theater or LCD....it's not that.

Buy Philips PD9000/37 9-Inch LCD Portable DVD Player with 5 Hour Battery, White Now

I've owned this player for a little over a week now and, since it had no reviews here on Amazon, I thought I'd write one up.

I bought this as a bedroom DVD player to replace an Insignia player that was showing its age.

The description says the player is black, however, go by the picture in the listing. The outside is a matte off-white color and slightly textured. The inside is black. The screen is a huge 9 inches (the majority of players I looked at had 7 inch screens) and the video quality is very good. Audio is quite good as well. I have the player on a night stand next to my bed and have no problem hearing anything. It isn't listed in the product description but the player comes with a mounting pouch for use in a car. I don't intend to ever use the player that way, but, I wasn't expecting the pouch so it was a nice surprise when I opened the box. The box says the battery will last 5 hours; I can't really comment on that since I keep it plugged-in. Though I'm sure I'll be happy for those 5 hours during power outages.

Now for the minor quibbles:

When the player is on there is a rather large, bright green light on the front of the player (it lights red when the battery is charging). It doesn't interfere with watching the screen and I got used to it after a few days.

I really wish players like these would have a button on the remote (or on the player itself) for switching between 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratios (my very first portable DVD player had such a button and I've missed it in every player since). If you're a stickler for watching programs in the correct aspect ratio (like myself) you have to go through the settings menu to make the change. A single button would save several steps.

I also wish that all the manufactures would add volume controls on the remotes.

The AC adaptor was also a little on the short side (probably three inches shorter than the cord for my previous player). It's a minor annoyance only.

Overall, I'm very happy with this player and would give it 4.5 Stars.

Read Best Reviews of Philips PD9000/37 9-Inch LCD Portable DVD Player with 5 Hour Battery, White Here

This is our 2nd portable DVD player. I was hesitant to purchase one again after so many bad reviews of many different brands. I have delayed purchasing for about 6 months until I found this product. Our Kawasaki player stopped working well after 5 yrs of occasional use and little fingers touching the sensor many times. We use a portable DVD player for trips and sometimes at home.

I'm very pleased with this product. The price is excellent for the quality and screen size. I specifically wanted one that had an AV output to easily hookup to a hotel TV (this is when the remote comes in very handy) and had a memory function. We recently enjoyed a favorite DVD hooked up to our hotel room TV.

Includes:

~ AV cords and remote, although we add an AV extension for hotel TVs.

~ Car charger and car headrest holder.

The elastic bottom part of the headrest holder somewhat covers the on/off button, eject button and stop start buttons though. But it's not too difficult to move. It's not a completely secure holder like the metal attachment kinds are, but it does the job pretty well. I added some masking tape around it to secure more for a long trip. If we used it continually I would opt for a better way to secure it or purchase a player that secured with metal brackets.

~It plays DVDs that I have created.

Note: I specifically won't buy Sony even though it is a quality brand because Sony doesn't allow you to play DVD/CDs that you have created.

~It's a lightweight compared to our old one and has the battery integrated within it.

I haven't used up the entire battery at one sitting yet. But we drove quite a few hours before we realized that the car charger hadn't been plugged in and it was still working well. Our old DVD player lasted a little over 2 hours, so we're glad to have this new one.

~It remembers where you left off YES!

Finally this function is available nothing is more frustrating to a kid than when you pull the car in for gas and the player has to restart the video, because you turn off the car.

~Everything else as far as I can tell functions well.

Headphones work well with it and the sound quality is pretty good as far as portable DVD players go. We hope it will last as many years as our old one.

UPDATE: It's been a year & it's been working great road trips, airlines. Yay!

Want Philips PD9000/37 9-Inch LCD Portable DVD Player with 5 Hour Battery, White Discount?

This player (PD9000/37) is a region free portable 9" wide screen Divx DVD player. It works off the box very nicely. Most control 'switches' and ports i.e power, dvd open, ear phone etc are on the sides. The control buttons (play, stop, forward, menu etc are accesible when you open the screen. The outside is white and when you open it's black on the inside.

The screen is very nice and playing of discs was flawless. I checked DVDs, VCDs and some Divx home videos. All of them played well. If you pop in a divx disc with avi files, it will list directories and/or file and you can highlight the desired file and click play. you can do that with the remote as well. The audio quality is okay. The volume level is fine indoors, may need to use earphones when viewing outdoors. The 9" screen is really better than the 7" ones. Pretty good battery life too.

Worth the purchase!

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We've had this dvd player a few months (after trying several others when a fantastic one Polaroid, no lesswe'd had for several years finally wore out). We've been more pleased with it than any others we've tried, but we did have a problem with a very dark screen recently. My five star rating is mostly for Philips customer support... I called about the problem; the tech asked a few questions then said, "OK, if you give me your address, I'll send you a replacement." I had no idea this was even a possibility when I called and was very pleasantly surprised by the cheerful way in which Philips volunteered this product replacement. It's worth the purchase and I don't even mind problems when a company stands by its product.

Honeywell NSEKI Nstar Intl Expansion Kit W/o Re - Free Ground!!

The hardware is well made but getting the software set up and running is a nightmare. Tech support is only available to licensed dealers. A software key is necessary to be able to fully access the software and it too is only available through a licensed dealer. The software is only compatible with certain PC operating systems. The older software versions only work well with either Windows 2000 or XP. I got it running under 32 bit Vista, but it stopped working after about a year when one of the Windows updates was loaded. Honeywell claims to have upgraded the software to run under some versions of Vista and Windows 7, but I have no experience with it. Ultimately I revived an old Windows 98 computer and upgraded it to Windows 2000 and use it as a dedicated PC for access control.

Each panel will operate two doors. Panels can be daisy-chained together to add more doors.

Once the software is running it is easy to use. The PC does not need to be running for the system to work for up to about 900 cards. The PC is only needed to add or deactivate cards or to monitor use activity. If you need more than 900 cards the PC must be left running so the control panel can query the database when it can't find a card in it's memory.

Time limits can be placed on each users card so it will stop working on a certain date. Time zones can be set up so a users card will only operate on specific days or times. This would be useful if you only wanted employees cards to operate during the day and be restricted at night or weekends. Time zones can also be set up to unlock a door during business hours and lock it at night.

This is a great entry-level access control system once you get through the headache of setting it up.

GS1000 FULL HD 1080P 1.5" LCD Display 5MP Car Cam Recorder DVR With GPS G sensor Google Map, Extend

• 120 degree ultra wide angle lens,1920x1080P FULL HD high quality resolution,Advanced H.264 video compression technology.
• 5 mega pixels,4X digital zoom, ranges from 12cm to limitless distance,1.5 inch high resolution LCD, can watching while shooting.
• Matching LED for supplementing light at night,Support HDMI high quality video transmission,Support HDMI high quality video transmission.
• 30/60 frames per second for smooth video flow,Equipped with special,Built-in GPS, record traffic speed, driving track. auto suction cup holder. Conveniently fix and use.
• Powerful document protection, even in the recording process, the occurrence of sudden power outages, machine damage, etc., video files will be intact,Seamless continuous recording, will not miss any data.

Updated review: After 5 weeks of use the first GS1000 dashcam that I bought has failed, and the second has arrived essentially inoperable. I'll be returning both.

The first now shows a permanent spinning wheel "wait" icon when I try to access the menu, and halts recording and reboots after about 5 seconds. (It'll happily sit there without recording, but that's not very useful.)

The second unit, ordered under the same item # and title as the first, arrived with a different box, different fonts on the unit, a different, far inferior suction cup material (black hard-ish plastic), and different menu prompts. I can't assess whether it records properly because the suction cup won't hold it to a clean windshield for more than 5 seconds. Useless.

Buy GS1000 FULL HD 1080P 1.5" LCD Display 5MP Car Cam Recorder DVR With GPS G sensor Google Map, Extend Now

I bought this 2 weeks ago, it does not work properly, it syas it will record even if the memory card is full, it will erase the old file automatically, but it is not true, when the Card is full , it will stop recording. the motion detecton works improperlly too. just do not buy it, just wasting time.

Read Best Reviews of GS1000 FULL HD 1080P 1.5" LCD Display 5MP Car Cam Recorder DVR With GPS G sensor Google Map, Extend Here

Where do I start...let's start with the good part:

(1) it has integrated GPS which most cameras of this kind do not have.

< END OF GOOD PART >

Now the reality about this cheap so called car dvr:

1) GPS (although integrated ) do not work all the time basically it shows the same speed all the time on the .MOV files; the ONLY time I saw a GPS fix was in the parking lot

2) it overheats really bad and no, there was no sunny day, and the temp outside was at around 45 F

3) the card gets filled real fast in about 2-3 hrs a 32 GB card gets filled on 1080

4) there is no loop recording once the card is full there is a max. of 15 min loop and that is it no warning at all

5) autostart does not work camera needs to be manually switched on/off

6) there is no backup battery or mine did not work right out of the box

7) there is no way the files will be played on Google maps the software crashes each time on Windows XP and 7

8) the manual on the disk for the software and the decoder is in Chinese (!!!)

9) shall I continue... ? I think you got the idea so far....

Mine is now in the box returning to vendor.

Want GS1000 FULL HD 1080P 1.5" LCD Display 5MP Car Cam Recorder DVR With GPS G sensor Google Map, Extend Discount?

This item sounds great, but I am giving up on trying to get it to work. The manual is impossible to follow. I have dealt with translated Chinese before, but this is bad. I figured out how to get it working and recorded a drive today, but cant get the files to play. In addition, the 32G SDHC card that Amazon calls "frequently bought together" doesn't even fit in the device. You need a TF card which is much smaller. I suggest that you find a different DVR to buy.

Excellent Camara, English menu, easy to use, 100% customizable, high quality video and audio, start with the ignition of the car and off when you turn off the vehicle. Highly recommended! Great Buy!

(Update) I have two days to have the camera (black box) works perfect. Only the unit gets very hot, but it works very well. The GPS takes a little work, but once it detects the satellite marks the speed and location in real time. Very Good Plus. The camera works exactly as described by the manufacturer. The filming at night is really very good. Buy another! Great Buy!

Viking Electronics Professional Telecom Recorder

This device is easy to install and works well. You connect it in-line to a reliable tape recorder. Then, if you are not sure that you can trust your client or customer, contractual party, business associate, wife, mistress, or other service provider, you just turn on the tape recorder before you begin talking with them (if permitted by applicable state law, of course), record both sides of the conversation to your heart's content, then turn the situation to your advantage if necessary, all nice and legal and effective.

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Canon VIXIA HF R100 Flash Memory Camcorder

Since purchasing and using the Canon Vixia HF R100 (search c925-1520) for a month since 4/8/2010, my opinion has moved from doubtful skeptic to delighted enthusiast.

I am a non-professional user who has occasionally used several video machines(beta, vhs, 8mm, mini-DV, Hard Disk, DVD, and now HD to SD chip) to capture life events (gatherings, celebrations, outings, sports events, documentary of people, animals, plants, stage plays, and travel). Except for cell snapshots, The HFR100 is now my ONE camera for both video & stills.

Initially, the factory setting for video disappointed. Once the Camera was configured to HD CINE 24 frame mode, the results became much more clear, vivid, detailed & acceptable. While slow panning The DIGIC DV III processor and 2.39 megapixel HD CMOS process images fast enough to create clear individual frames without the choppiness that earlier, slower HD cams had (shots from a moving car with the Vixia actually produced some usable frames and clips).

The 20x(40-800 mm 35mm eq.), glass, canon-quality lens is not threaded to accept threaded filters or wide/tele extensions, but is recessed about 1 cm behind the camera face so it is both protected and somewhat hooded from surrounding light sources. An automatic, drop-down into the cam, lens protector operates when the cam is switched on/off. This is a great feature for protecting the lens while being quick ready. The dynamic image stabilization worked well out to 20X and was amazingly steady for videoing while walking at wide angle settings. The digital zoom (oversampling feature beyond 20X) may be set to 80X or 400X and in this camera may be good enough to produce some useful images in these ranges.

The Instant autofocus was superb. Focus was always very close to being on or slightly deep into the field. There was no "dancing-focus" or movements toward the wrong end of the focusing scale whatsoever. The manual focus automatically magnified in the LCD panel, aiding focus. The high quality LCD panel was very sharp. Its readability in direct sunlight was enhanced with the backlight turned on.

The automatic face detection autofocus did a fantastic job of keeping the focal plane on faces even in a sports action environment. This also worked somewhat to keep wildflower blossoms in focus. Menus and controls are fairly intuitive, but the disk based (also available for download feom the canon web site) .pdf instruction manual should be read to access all of the feature-rich options this unit offers.

I normally carry the camera out and off. This camera starts, focuses, rapid zooms and readies itself very quickly (about 3 sec) so it is hard to miss a shot. Additionally the new, pre-record feature carries 3 sec of video to add in front of your clips to make it difficult to miss shots as long as the camera is on and pointed in the right direction.

The Smart AUTO setting works very well for point-and-shoot capture in most any condition. For difficult environments there are 10 manual modes that can produce great results in extreme conditions. I was disappointed with the low-light results in auto mode, but in the low light mode I was astounded to see what crisp COLOR images could be made in with such little light. An on-camera light is not present nor needed with this camera unless substantial low-light action shots are desired. Campfire light, flashlight, or moonlight are plenty adequate light sources. Starlight is usable with a bipod and no panning.

The stereo sound is bright, adjustable and very accurate. The wind dampening filter was minimal not adequate. I have been experimenting with sponge materials to attach over the mics. The camera records a low decibel irregular low sound (something like a 16mm film sprocket). It is noticeable when played back at high volumes, and might be objectionable if listening closely for something near the same bandwidth in a low noise recording. I found it tolerable, but I'm hoping this will be corrected in later production.

The battery lasted about two hours. By keeping the camera off, I was able to get through a full day of taking portraits and snapshots on one battery. The day I accidentally left the camera on, I had a failure, but was able to charge it quickly and adequately with a car inverter. A back-up battery would be a wise precaution. On about 38 hrs of experimentation, camera set at highest resolutions, and including several hrs. of picking "snapshots" off of 220 video clips. I have 690 HD stills and have used 6.16G of a Patriot class6 16.1G SD chip. There are plenty of connectors (mini USB (use the included cable with this camera), mini HDMI (no cable included), component out (cable included), power in (115V adapter included)(battery is small(15x32x45mm) and recharged in the camera, a switchable 1/8"(3.5mm) pin headphone/ a/v out jack ((1/8 to (3) RCA) cable is included), and an external mic port. There is no hotshoe.

Advanceson an Alaskan Cruise a few years ago I quit using a still camera, because the high zoom of the Video Cam got us close to the action. The snapshots we could pull were tolerable for computer viewing, but inadequate for blow-ups. While watching glaciers "calve", after the "crack", the challenge was to get the vid cam on and focused in the exact right direction before the ice sloughed into the sea. The canon Vixia HF R100 would have been up to the task. It's fast to start and the resulting images are HD quality.

USAGEI set the camera for highest resolution, power saver, and keep it off until shooting. This camera will easily fit in a pocket or purse. I normally keep attached a 1 5/8 lb. 10"54" collapsible tripod. This added weight stabilizes the light (12 oz. with battery & chip) cam and improves results. The collapsible nature of the tripod with one, two, or three legs variously extended, greatly enhanced results.

At full zoom I found it difficult, even with the tripod, to take a still directly without shaking the camera. I find it much more effective to pull an image during playback while hooked to a monitor, using the snapshot feature. Playback speeds are 1/8 or 1/4 (a remote control is not available with this canon series), so it takes a little effort to find the best frame, but I find the result far more satisfying than trying to catch the perfect still.

Not everyone has the "photographer's eye" or the ability to catch the perfect frame of an event with a still, but most can select the best frame out of a video clip. Pixels are: 1,040,000 optical zoom dynamic image stabilization, 1,560,000 image stabilization off, 1,560,000 16:9 still, 1,730,000 4:3 still. While not exactly professionally acceptable, the 1 meg images will be acceptable for most casual user uses. Few video cams, costing much more, can offer better resolution off of a video clip than the HFR100.

What I like most about this camera is that it is smallvery easy to carry every day. It is fast to prepare itself to shoot very good video. The third and most important thing is that the resulting video/still is very good. This camera does basic videography very well, and has a host of features to handle difficult light, movement or color situations even better. This camera has come a long way toward being my perfect camera, and is state of the industry in several critical areas. I kept it, use it, and recommend it. It has quality features and no weaknesses. I notice the Canon HFR 10 (the middle camera in this series) with 8G memory built in, is now selling for only $20 more. It may be a better price point. -Happy Hunting 5/5/2010

I give a 2-star because of the excessive noise in quiet scenes and less than expected image quality (daylight or lowlight).

The noise came from inside the camcorder body. There must be a motor inside it. I don't understand why a flash card based camcorder has to run a motor all the time. I compared the recorded noise to my old Sony tape camcorder. I also asked my friend recorded a testing video in quiet room (He has a Vixia HF 100#. Unlike this HF R100, those two don't have any audible noises.

When I recorded the first video, I didn't notice this problem. But then the battery quickly ran out of its initial charge, so I had to charge it for a few hours. When the battery was ready, it was already near midnight. Duh! The noise is the only sound in the video!! The uploaded video shows how the noise sounds.

The noise problem might be an accidental defect. However, the image quality is not as good as expected either. I believe the quality under daylight is less than or around DVD at most #480p#. The image looks a little blurred under low light.

When I called Canon customer service for the noise problem, I was told I was the first one to complain about this. I decided to return the product. I purchased from Expo Electronics on Amzon. I want to thank them that I didn't have to pay shipping both ways.

Pros:

1. Nice menu, very easy to use.

2. Very small and light.

Cons:

1. Excessive noise in quiet scenes #as you can hear in the uploaded video#

2. Image quality less than expected at 17Mbps on HDTV

Other notes:

1. There's no separate battery charger. However, if you have a Canon SLR, depending on the model, you *might* be able to use that to recharge the HF R100 battery.

2. I forgot to check LCD screen under sunlight. I only used it in the morning. It's quite clear.

3. At 20x zoom, the image is not so stable as I expected. My hands are relatively stable compared to many others. But I guess I have to use a tripod at this zoom level.

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I was looking for a camcorder that had some very specific criteria:

An external microphone jack

Good low-light capabilities

HD quality

Good optical zoom range

Affordable price

This camera is one of about 3 or 4 in the $300 range that meets/exceeds these criteria. First of all, there are almost no other cameras in this price range that offer an external microphone jack. Although the HD quality comes up just a tad short on this camera, the 20x zoom, external mic, excellent low light and affordable price all make it well worth that small sacrifice. I didn't figure I could have EVERYTHING I wanted, but I sure came darn close with this unit.

First, the mic jack. Yes, it's 1/8" and is stereo. But there are a myriad of ways to plug in a high quality mic if necessary small mixers, mono-to-stereo 3.5mm adapters, etc. I plugged in an Audio Technica ATM29HE hypercardiod dynamic mic that I have, and the sound is AMAZING. I'm getting a camcorder "L" bracket on which I can place a shock mount, and "Bingo!" I'll have sweet sound and video in a pretty darn tiny package.

Next, the mic. I recorded my daughter's Christmas concert a few days ago using only the internal mic. I was 40 feet from the stage, with people all around me. The sound was not what I'd call "great," but was quite good, and surprisingly enough, even blocked out some of the coughing and foot shuffling that was occurring around me (that I thought would ruin the video). And I put it in "Spotlight" mode, which made the contrast between performers and surrounding darker areas very pleasing to see, instead of washed out looking kids. Overall, I'm impressed so far.

And on that subject, video quality is excellent. Not quite top-notch, but we're not talking prosumer or professional grade equipment here either. For an "almost" HD quality $300 camcorder, it's MORE than satisfactory. And I don't know what some other reviewers mean by not being able to see in "low light" conditions. If you put the camcorder in the "low light" mode, you will be able to see better with the camera than you can with your own eyes. No, it won't work in the dark it's not infra red capable. But I shot video of our stairs going up to our second floor with only the ambient (and indirect) light from our hallway. I could BARELY see the stars with my own eyes, but the camera viewfinder and video picked up the stairs with more light and detail than I could see. Basically, if you have candlelight, you'll be able to get video. Yes, it has noise in it. No, it won't look HD in those situations but sheesh people, it's a $300 camera and if you use the right setting, it's great. What do you expect, miracles?

The optical zoom is very nice. Some reviewers said the wide-angle wasn't very good, but I didn't find this to be a problem. I was around 40 feet back from the high school stage at that concert, and I was able to zoom out to more than the width of the proscenium (although I was off to one side), which I have measured myself at 48 feet. So the wide angle is more than sufficient for me, and the zoom is quite good.

Image stabilizer is nice there's two options, both of which work well. I can manually adjust focus if needed. I can manually adjust microphone and headphone settings. Oh yes, did I mention that? It has mic AND headphone inputs, so you can basically work like a professional videographer with this little $300 camcorder. It's got some really nice features other camcorders in this price range lack.

Okay, the bad:

The clicking through the mic in quiet situations. Yes, it happens, but it's not too loud, but it is noticeable if there's no other sound happening around you. I think it's the autofocus. I thought it would be the image stabilization, but I turned that off, and it still made it no matter what when I was walking around. But when the scene is static and no refocusing is necessary, I didn't find it to be as present (though when that was occurring, there could have been more ambient noise blocking it). In any case, if you plan to shoot a lot of really quiet stuff without an external mic, this may not the camcorder for you.

Another thing is the software to upload videos. Perhaps it's because I'm used to uploading MOV files from my consumer grade digital camera, but the way to get videos from this camera to a computer is a bit clunky. You HAVE to use their software, which I suppose is not that big a deal. But then you have to convert it if you want to use it in other editing software besides theirs. Again, not a big deal for me since I was converting MOV's to AVI's anyway. But what's really odd is that you MUST have the camera plugged into the AC adapter in order to upload anything. It won't upload from battery power, even on a fully charged one. So that's a bit odd, but not a deal breaker by any means. Just a minor annoyance.

Overall, this is a great camera. It's not prosumer or professional. But it will do A LOT in many varied situations, and if you can live with the internal mic's oddities or just plan on largely using an external mic (like I do), it's a GREAT option, and deserves more than the 3-star average it currently has on Amazon. Definitely recommended, I just can't give it my highest recommendation due to the mic and the uploading issues. But everything else is easy to use and works very, very well.

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I gave 4 stars because of poor indoor videos. Need to have VERY BRIGHT LIGHT to get clear videos. Low light videos have BLACK SPOTS which i didn't expect in a HD video camera for this price. I tried all the video modes in this camcorder and noticed poor video quality in medium light.

If you are planing to take videos during the day with bright light, you can go ahead with this camcorder. I won't recommend this camcorder if you are planing to take video in medium or low light. I don't see any other major issues with this camera.

It is light weight, compact and handy

Plan to buy large capacity SD card (min. 8GB, class 4 or more) if you plan to take more than 2 hours video

Good video quality in day light even in 42" HDTV

Face detection feature is great in this camcorder

The menu controls are not user friendly and you need try couple of times to get used to the menu options

While moving from low light to bright light, i noticed there is a delay in adjusting to the new location (around 2 sec)

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THIS CAMERA TAKES GREAT HD VIDEO.

It is simple to use and connects by hdmi directly to your TV. The video is stunning. Please , I don't want to hear that the cable did not come with the camera. When you buy the camera order the cable. I purchased three on Amazon for $.59 each and the shipping still cost more than the cables and they work great. Buy an extra battery they also can be found inexpensively along with an external battery charger.

My only complaints about the camera are the wide angle at zero zoom is pretty tight ( I should have checked the specs more carefully ) and since the camera only has the lcd screen pointing it in bright sunlight and getting what you want in the picture can be a challenge. Practice shooting without using the screen until you know where to point it without looking at the screen.( its digital and does not cost anything to practice ) By the way the camera stays in the zoom position it is in when you turn it off and when you turn it back on it is still in the same position. The size and weight make the camera pocketable if you are wearing a mans shirt with pockets just put a neck strap through the hand grip to prevent accidents

That being said, understand unless you have made or are going to make the investment in a HD dvd player and HD dvd burner , software that can edit and burn HD video disks you will only see DVD quality video on the disks that you burn. The software that comes with the camera did not need to be in the box. Go buy hd editing software.

Final verdict. Good camera, light weight, small but not to small, great quality video, still pic quality good for what it is ( steal frames from video just as good ) just understand the HD camera is just the beginning if you want HD on your tv screen ,unless your tv has a card reader then you store your HD video on HDMC cards and eat the cost of cards.

TVIX-HD S1 Slim with Screwless Hard Drive Bay and eSATA

Reliable, solid very custom-able streamer.

Perform as it should, can also stream content strait from PC, via Net-share software supplied with the product.

Good web site and lot's of support for this product. Something that is very important, and lack with other streamers.

TVIX-HD S1 Slim with Screwless Hard Drive Bay and eSATA

I just purchased this media player and am very happy with it. This is my first media player so I'm far from being an expert on this type of products. What I can tell about this unit is the following:

Good:

Handles media files flawlessly (avi, mov, jpg, etc)

Has a simple, effective user interface

Remote is good and with plenty of functions

Firmware updates are easy to perform

Available internet channels, web remote don't use either of this but did test the internet channel functionality

1080p output

The negatives so far (these are minor in my point of view, but may be of consideration to others):

I haven't yet been able to set up the wireless functionality, works fine with a wired network connection, appears to be a common issue as per other users I will contact the manufacturer for support.

Cover art for some media files is only usable on the last folder icon, not on "upper" levels of file folder structure when a tree structure is used for sorting out media content on the storage device (internal HDD [not included] or external HDD)

Have read comments on forums stating that eSATA connection is slow haven't tested it yet...

Cannot use for Netflix (hence my disappointment with the wireless connection issue)

I am planning to use this to take content with me when I travel plus obviously to store and play media at home. This unit has so many other features that I have yet to explore and try but it is serving its main purpose excellently (media player), while working ok for other uses as advertised (wireless access)

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I have tried a few different media players, and this is the best, and easiest one I have had. very simple set up, basicly plug and play. I preloaded my hard drive with my media, plugged it into the player and bingo, there everythiing was. nothing else needed. I LOVE this, going to be getting a second one for my livingroom, this one is in my bedroom.

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7-inch Nexxtech 16:9 TFT LCD Portable DVD/CD Player

• Portable / 7" TFT LCD screen / Widescreen (16:9) / Region 1 / Supports CD and JPEG
• Kodak Picture CD compatibility / Built-in stereo speakers
• Multi-format playback: DVD, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/+RW, CD, CD-R/RW and JPEG
• Electronic Shock Protection / Dolby Digital decoding

The item arrived in good time but the battery was not fuctional when you tried to charge it . the charger worked when it was connected to the player, but without the battery it was not portable.I contacted the seller who said it worked when she shipped it so the fault was not on her part. She thought I didn't know how to use it.

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We've had this product for 3 years now. We use it for our (now 5 year old) son while traveling. The battery life only lasts us about 1 hour when fully charged. That is my only beef. But it comes with a car charger and an ac adapter. We bought a power inverter that kind of acts as an extension cord to get this thing to the back seat and in my son's lap (on top of a pillow). That way if we have an extra long trip that is longer than an hourwe can just plug right in to the cigarette lighter. It has headphone jack and you can plug it right in to any sound system or TVso you can use it as a regular DVD viewing back up when your regular DVD player goes broke. Ours was VERY VERY durable. It's slide off my son's lap a few times and hit the floor of the car. It's still intact and in perfect working order. I think it's a great buy. We use it while doing laundry at the laundry mat too. It's saved us from many a grey hair.

Nokia 002L4D0 N86 Unlocked Phone with 8 MP Camera, Auto Focus, Flash and Carl Zeiss Optics - Unlock

I am not an expert, just a regular guy who buys a new phone every year because I like toys.

This phone has all of the important features I need on a phone. I have had other Nokia phones and this combines all of the great features and adds some that were not present. For example:

1. 3.5mm Headphone jack. No more need for an adaptor for a 2.5mm.

2. Bigger screen. I guess 2.6 is not comparable to other phones like the iPhone's 3.5, but this does not have a touchscreen interface. I can still text without looking using the keypad.

3. The AMOLED display is rediculously clear and vibrant. My wife is using my Nokia E51 and the difference is stunning.

4. 8 gb of storage plus microSD. This is more memory than I could fill up right now.

5. This phone is also much faster than my E51. it takes less than 1/2 second to access any application once selected.

6. Scratch resistant screen.

7. The phone is well built, feels solid, a little heavy, but strong.

8. The battery life is exceptional. I have used the camera for three days taking pictures, video, listening to music while I run etc. and still have 2 bars left.

9. The speakerphone is LOUD. I can have my windows down on the BQE commuting to work and still here the callers over the traffic noise.

10. Font sizes are adjustable and can be made noticably larger. I hate phones with tiny fonts.

I can go on and on.

My only concern is the camera. The video capability is great but I have been experimenting with the image quality and I don't think it is as good as Nokia will have you believe. The 8MP camera takes 8MP pictures, but they come out dark indoors even at close range with the flash. Outdoors they are as good as you would expect from an 8MP camera , and hopefully they will release the firmware update enabling face detection that has been rumored.

Also, the notification light for missed calls, messages, and emails is kind of weak. My E51 would scream with vibrancy lighting up my bedroom at night, where the N86 is more of a whisper.

I would reccomend this phone for many reasons.

Well I just got mine today. Build quality is excellent, slider is solid, feels great in hand. Buttons are great, glass and metal/plastic case is top notch. OLED screen is also a winner, love the always on power saver clock. Overall, much improved over the N85. Phone feels snappy especially the camera, nokia messaging works well. Call quality is excellent. Pictures leave a bit to be desired, however I am used to this on early Nokia firmware. Shutter button is much improved over the horrible one on the N85. The flash is surprisingly good. The gallery and also photo viewer are still painfully slow to load the thumbnails, they stay blurry far to long, I don't understand this as my N95 had no problems here. FM transmitter is not as good as the N85, but still a nice feature. Cell and GPS reception are excellent, compass I am sure will prove useful eventually. Overall hardware wise the phone is near perfect! As I predicted this phone is the ultimate interpretation of the dual slider N series design. The firmware is surprisingly good for an early one. I think this phone will get a following with the N95 faithful and as a result will end up with an excellent firmware within the next year. I wish I never had to use the N85 for the short while that I did. If I had been going from the N95 to the N86 I would be overjoyed. As it is going from the N95 to N85 then to N86, I just feel as though Nokia cheated me on the N85.

I feel this is the true successor to the N95, I cant wait for the v30 or v31 firmware, when the software is perfect.

If you are looking for a powerful feature packed smart phone with an excellent camera, like typing without looking, one handed and don't mind that its not a flashy touch phone. The N86 is for you. Not to mention, you are free to multitask, don't have to pay for an overpriced data plan and it is a pocket camera/iPod replacement.

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Definitely worth every penny and I recommend this to everyone! GREAT PHONE and is loaded with features, great camera and performance!

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Got the N86 8mp from Amazon.com and it's a great phone (5 stars), but it's made in China. Why do I feel a little disappointed? The phone is as advertised and works great. How much more would it be if it was made in Finland? Now China makes some great things, like really long walls and tasty noodles. But my Nokia N86 too? Oh well, sign of the times I guess.

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To begin with I am guy who is all for the all in one phone. As a guy i put all my esential stuff in my pockets so it was very annoying for me to carry my wallet, keys, phone, mp3 player, and camera ... if you can imagine it was horrible. Having a phone that can take good pictures, plays my music all in one simplifies my life a lot. So I constantly look for a betteer camera phone. My first all purpose phone was the N95-3 phone and will be comparing it to the N86

To start with I will be writting about the things that the N95 is better at than the N86

The first thing i noticed was that the outer speakers for the N95 were a lot better than the N86. Before I was able to use my N95 as a music player everywhere, infact my phone could play music louder than my old laptop. However with the smaller N86 they made the speakers smaller, and as a result when you put the volume all the way up it doesnt sound as great as the n95s.

The second thing i noticed was that the n95 had two shortcut buttons at the top, one that would acces the camera and would be used to take pictures, and the other that was set to go to your images and videos. The n86 only has the camera button. Even though its not esential I found it very convenient to have that button so i could quickly access my pictures without having to go through the menues, or even looking at the screen.

The third thing i noticed is that the buttons on the front and keypad for the n95 are bigger and alot easier to press. the n86 buttons are kinda small and sometimes is hard to press if you have big fingers.

This one I am not entierly sure because i havent played with my phone a lot yet only got it for a day, but in the n95 camera before you could change settings to take pictures with different filters, like a black and white picture or enhanced color pic, but i havent seen it on the n86 yet.

Now for the things that the N86 is better than the N95

One difference is that the N86 is smaller, so espceially for guys it is not too bulky in your pant pockets. The n95 was a bit bigger and blukier, however i do prefer the squared edges rather than the rounded ones but that is just my preference.

the next most obvious difference and why a lot of people bought the n86 is the camera. The CAMERA IS AWESOME. The 8mp definately improve the quality of the pictures taken, the colors are better and resolution has improved. The dual led flash compared to the single flash in the n95 also helps take better pictures in dark room conditions or at night. There is also a focusing square that tells you were you are focusing at similar to that of a real camera. The n86 also has a sliding plastic cover that protects the lens from getting scratched a feature not present in my n95. (not the n95 original had a lens protector but was removed on the n95-3 which i have and the n95 8gb model)

Another cool feature in the camera is the panoramic mode. This mode allows you to take pictures of a large area. this is done when the phone takes several pictures at key points and crops them all together making it seem as if you had taken a picture of a really wide and large aread. The results are awesome. (MORE updates will come as i play arround with my phone, I have only had it for a day as i said before)

Another advantage of the n86 is that i has already built in memory and does not require a micro sd card. Although there is a micro sd card slot allowing you to expand your memory even more. this feature was not available in the n95-3 (only had micro sd slot) and i believe the n95 8gb only had the 8gb and no micro sd slot

They added a Fm tunner to the n86 that allows you to tune your phone to any radio which is useful when playing stuff from your car or anyother place.

There is a small stand at the back that allows you to place your phone on a desk and watch things, much essier on your hands when watching videos. before you would have to hold the phone and if the video was long your hand would get kinda tiered ... especially if you were showing someone a video

... I am sure there are more differences i just need to play with it more and will update more stuff later

My conclusion IF you want a really good camera phone THIS IS THE PHONE FOR YOU ... the difference in picture between the 5mp and the 8mp are easily seen at least for me.

UPDATE 1

so after using the phone more i got more updates ... btw ... i am not talking about the oled screen because you can find it in the description of the product ...

Ok back to comparing the n95 and the n86 ... so the n95 had the headphone jack on the side ... which was kina annoying if you were putting the phone in an armband to go work out and stuff cuz you couldnt fit it on the armband ... on the other hand the n86 the headphone jack is on the top making it easy to access and put on an arm band to go work out :)

further more sometimes when you plug the headphones in it automatically detects headphones while the n95 you had to tell it you were plugging headphones in.

also on the video format of the n86 there is a light option that will use the dual LED lights as a camera light allowing you to film at night a very very good function that the n95 did not have

more updates to come ... still havent fully figured out my phone yet LOL