SanDisk Sansa c150 2 GB MP3 Player (Black)

• Sleek, ultra-thin digital audio/image player with 2 GB of flash memory
• Compatible with MP3, WMA, and WMA-DRM10 music files (PlaysForSure)
• FM tuner with record capability and voice recorder
• 1.2-inch color TFT LCD displays album art, photo thumbnails
• Single AAA battery provides up to 15 hours of continuous play

I have owned three other Sandisk MP3 players and had no problems with any of them. Some of the issues in other reviews here can be solved by reading the manual.

Simply set to MSC mode and the player acts just like a removeable hard drive when connected via USB. Very simple to transfer or delete songs etc.

The 2Gb is reasonably good capacity... in fact, great capacity considering the price. The FM radio works fine, although a little trickier to navigate than some older sandisk models. Color screen is good, although a little too small to be practicable to view photos on. The song title can also take a little too long to scroll fully.

I had no trouble with sound quality or crackling or clipping at start of song. Sound quality is fine! Battery life also seems good for me. I have even ran some el cheapo batteries with it and had good life up to the stated specs (although this depends on how much you press buttons and have the screen lit up).

Voice recorder is handy, although I find I don't use it too much, your mileage may vary though. As a basic MP3 player and radio, I find it hard to beat given the price tag. I have no issues with size of the unit. Sure its not as thin as an Ipod Nano, but it takes one AAA battery which you can get anywhere. No need to have a power point to recharge.

I think some people expect perfection for a budget price!

Buy SanDisk Sansa c150 2 GB MP3 Player (Black) Now

This is a player that does everything well but not spectacular. Some wma 64kbps songs skip while others don't. Same songs play fine in other players. Thumbnails of photos load very easily thanks to the included software. Amazon claims the screen is TFT. Well, that's news to me. Nowhere does SanDisk make this claim on the packaging or on the install CD. Comparisons to STN and TFT screens on other players lead me to believe that the screen is STN. Or maybe DSTN. No way is it TFT. This player is new and already being discounted heavily. You may want to wait for the right deal or splurge for the higher end Sansa E series which is a much better investment.

Read Best Reviews of SanDisk Sansa c150 2 GB MP3 Player (Black) Here

I like the styling and the sound of this device, but the implementation is seriously flawed. Battery life is abysmal I took it on a flight to Seoul (12 hours) and chewed through 3 Duracells. One problem may be that the backlight turns on (seemingly at random) at the beginning of some songs, and there doesn't appear to be a way to turn this off. I'm on my second unit and it appears to be no better.

Audible functionality is also limited. It has no bookmark function (although it does remember your last place in a file). And the FF/Rew functionality is terrible the file moves ~1 second per second of button press for the first 10 seconds, than advances at ~1 minute per second of button press. There's no way to easily back up 10 or so seconds in the event e.g. you miss a word.

And even though this device has been out for a while, Sundisk has no FW updates on their web site, making me wonder whether these problems will be fixed. My advice: look elsewhere until Sundisk takes some action.

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I bought my c150 from JR Music World for 49.95 plus 6.95 shipping. Being an audiophile, I'm a little disappointed in the sound quality, not that it's bad, it just doesn't equal my iRiver T30 or my HP 5700 PDA for clarity, both of which cost more so the old adage, "you get what you pay for" applies here. I love the navigations on this unit; very easy to select songs, settings, FM radio. One thing to note is that right out of the box the unit is configured in the settings for "normal" volume range. I point this out because I think many who have bought this probably thought the audio level it puts out is too low. When selecting the "high" volume range, suddenly there is more than enough level for any situation. The earphones that come with the unit are good, but I have very sensitive ears (skin) which can not tolerate this type. After 20 minutes of these in my ears I'm in painful agony. I always end up using a different set of earphones like the Sennheiser CX300 which have a soft insert and great sound. Given the price, I think it deserves 4 stars.

I ordered this player and it was great for about a week and then it froze when I turned it on. The company that sells it, TIGERDIRECT, has not responded to my emails so I went directly to SanDisk. SanDisk gave me a promt response and sent me a label to return the product with free shiping. Another bad thing about this player is that it organizes your music in it's own way and has trouble figuring out artists even if you have the artists name on the song.

Anker Astro3 10000mAh Multi - Voltage (5V 9V 12V) Output Portable Power Pack External Battery Charg

The review below has been updated to cover both the Anker 10000 mAh battery pack and the Anker 20000 mAh battery pack which are both sold on the same page. The review for the Anker 20000 mAh unit is listed below the Anker 10000 mAh review and was added as an update on 3/14/2013. The video shown on the left side covers only the Anker 20000 mAh unit. If you have any questions please contact me.

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This is a review of the universal power bank model MP 10000. It is a rechargeable power pack that will carry a 10,000 mAH charge to allow it to recharge almost all of your portable devices.

When it is plugged in and charging there are four blue LED circles on the front panel and they are in order flashing from left to right 1, 2, 3 and four (all lit up) and then they shut off and cycle again. The unit comes with a separate charger adapter which is 12 V DC at one amp. The addition of a charger is a nice touch as some vendors do not include a charging device with their battery pack and expect you to use your computer or your existing wall charger from one of your devices to charge the battery. I plugged the device in to charge it not knowing how strong the existing charge was. I wanted to make sure that before I did any testing I had a fully charged unit and I wanted to see how long it will be before all the LEDs turn off to indicate a full charge. It took one hour to top off the battery before the LEDs went out.

The unit is nicely packaged and is beautiful in design. The front of the battery pack has a nice glass like finish and it actually looks like a large iPhone. The photos don't do it justice as the appearance it well designed. It does carry a 10,000 mAH charge which is quite substantial and is adequate to charge even an iPad or an iPad 2 or the new iPad 2. The weight of the product is 304 g which is the equivalent of 10.72 ounces.

The battery pack device is designed to charge other items requiring power of 5 V, 9 V, and 12 V. after using the battery pack all night to recharge an iPad 2 new version, the battery pack only took a little over 3 hours to recharge from 1 LED of capacity remaining. That is quite fast as other devices I have tested have taken considerably longer.

There is a switch on the side of the battery which allows you to select between 9 V or 12 V DC and whichever voltage is selected that value shows up on one of two small red displays that indicates 9 V or 12 V. There is a small round jack labeled "Output" and can be used to charge a device that may require those voltages. This capability greatly expands the versatility of his battery pack to allow it to charge many other devices. Unfortunately the very poor instruction manual does not even tell you the polarity of the output connectors. My test indicated that the center pin is the positive for the DC voltage while the outer connection is negative.

The unit has three output ports to charge items. There are two USB ports rated at 5 V DC at 2.1 Amperes. There is also a DC voltage output plug rated for either 9 V or 12 V DC at 2 Amperes as previously disclosed. One USB port is labeled "Out S" and is noted that it is made for charging a Samsung PE 1000 notebook. The other USB port's is named "Out I" as designated it is a charging output for the iPad series of products. There obviously is a wiring difference between the Samsung and Apple iPad devices. Make sure that you plug your device to be charged into the proper USB port. My iPad 2 would only indicate that it was getting power by utilizing the port labeled "Out I". My iPhone 4 would charge while using either of the two USB power output ports. My Kindle Fire would charge from both of the USB ports also an iPod touch version 4. Unfortunately the HP Touchpad would not recognize the "S port" and the "I port" made the Touchpad present a message that the charging device either did not offer enough voltage or current and as a result it may not charge properly. HP uses a funny voltage to make sure you buy their charging adapters.

Make sure that when you begin charging your device that you press the "on" button after you plug your device into the battery. It doesn't automatically come on.

The device comes with 18 plug port adapters for various types of phones and other devices. It also includes three cables one is a USB to micro USB adapter cable, the second is a an extension cable that will accept some of the connectors for other devices and the third is a USB to cable to round adapter that will accept the balance of the device plug style connectors.

* I ran my new iPad 2 down to 41% and plugged it into port "Out I" and pushed the on button of the battery and the iPad began charging. All four of the Blue circular LEDs lit up as the battery was charging my iPad.

* At 30 minutes the charge level of the iPad was at 45%

* At 45 minutes the battery dropped to 3 LED lights

* At 60 minutes the charge level of the iPad was at 50%

* At 90 minutes the charge level was 54% on the iPad (3 LEDs on the battery pack)

* At 120 minutes at 58% on the iPad (3 LEDs on the battery pack)( but dropped to 2 LEDs out of 4 at 140 minutes)

* 150 minutes = 63% with 2 LEDs

* 180 minutes = 67% with 2 LEDs

* 210 minutes = 72% with 2 LEDs

* 240 minutes = 76% with 2 LEDs

* By 7 AM the next morning the iPad 2 new version was at 100% charge and only 1 LED would light.

* I was able to charge an iPod Touch from about 15% to full charge in under an hour!

The device comes with an instruction sheet but the English is so poorly written that I find it even difficult to read. There exist multiple errors in language and in technical details in the one page instruction sheet. Even though it was basically useless I did not subtract anything from my rating as the instruction sheet can easily be corrected and the product works well. It is definitely a problem that needs to be corrected though!

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Update:

I have been advised by the distributor that the instruction sheet is being revised and it will ship with future orders. This is good news as it will make the user's experience with the product much better.

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I was provided one of these devices to review by the vendor.

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Update 3-14-2013

This is the review portion for the Anker Astro Pro2 20000 mAh battery pack.

This battery pack is simply the most powerful rechargeable battery pack that I have ever tested. It is also the highest quality design and construction that I have seen in any battery pack. I was so impressed that I put together a video of the unit and the test results for your review.

The construction of this battery pack is simply beautiful. The exterior shell is brushed aluminum that looks fantastic. The battery is the size of a 7 inch tablet and it weighs in at 1 pound 4 ¼ ounces. It is assembled with machine screws and the overall construction is the best I have seen. The battery pack has a USB output port that outputs 5 VDC at 2.1 Amps. It can also output 12 VDC at 4 amps, 16 VDC at 3.5 Amps and 19 VDC at 3 amps to charge many laptop and netbook computers. There is a voltage switch to set the output voltage for specialty charging so make sure that you set it to match your needs of your device. This is important.

This is the first battery pack that I have seen that has enough power to charge an iPad 3 fully and in reality it could charge it 1.3 times according to my tests. I was able to charge my electronic devices for over 10 hours on a single charge of the battery pack which is amazing. Nothing I have ever tested has even come close to the performance of this battery pack. During the testing the temperature of the battery pack never even exceeded ambient room temperature. I used the USB port to charge my devices during this testing. To start your device charging connect it with the proper cable and power adapter, set the voltage if required and press the battery pack power button and charging starts. The charging will stop automatically when your device is fully charged or the battery pack is depleted.

There are 5 LEDs to indicate the amount of battery charge in the battery pack. Power levels are indicated by:

* One flashing LED is 1% charge

* 1 solid lit LED is 1% to 20%

* Two lit LEDs is 20% to 40%

* Three lit LEDs is 40% to 60%

* Four lit LEDs is 60% to 80%

* Five lit LEDs is 80 to 100 %

In addition there are three LEDs to indicate the voltage setting of the specialty voltage output. The Lithium Polymer battery can be recharged over 500 times during its life cycle and if you are a power user of a tablet, laptop or any electronic device then this is the battery pack to own. It comes with an 18 month warranty. The unit comes with a powerful AC wall charger that quickly recharges the battery pack. The specs claim that it can recharge the battery pack in about 3 hours.

This product is the best I have tested and I rate it at 5 stars. If you are a business person or a student and have to depend on your tablet or laptop for long periods of time without the ability to get to an AC power source then this is the battery to own.

Items in the box:

* Powerful AC wall charger adapter

* The battery itself

* A charging cable for your laptop and 10 different styles of laptops

* A phone charging cable

* 5 mobile phone charging adapters

* A user instruction manual

* The 18 month warranty card

Charging my devices:

I charged the battery pack fully before I started my test. I started with an iPad 3 charge at 21 percent and the Anker 20000 was at 5 LEDs.

* 30 minutes 29 percent and Anker at 4 LEDs

* 60 minutes 38 percent and Anker at 4 LEDs

* 90 minutes 47 percent and Anker at 4 LEDs

* 120 minutes 56 percent and Anker at 4 LEDs

* 150 minutes 64 percent and Anker at 3 LEDs

* 180 minutes 73 percent and Anker at 3 LEDs

* 210 minutes 81 percent and Anker at 2 LEDs

* 240 minutes 89 percent and Anker at 2 LEDs

* 270 minutes 95 percent and Anker at 2 LEDs

* 300 minutes 100 percent and Anker at 2 LEDs

I used the same battery pack without recharging it and I began charging a Kindle Fire which was at 53 percent capacity. The Anker was at 2 LEDs.

* 30 minutes 78 percent and Anker at 2 LEDs

* 60 minutes 92 percent and Anker at 2 LEDs

* 90 minutes 100 percent and Anker at 2 LEDs

I used the same battery pack without recharging it and I began charging an iPhone 4which was at 51 percent capacity. The Anker was at 2 LEDs.

* 30 minutes 80 percent and Anker at 2 LEDs

* 60 minutes 92 percent and Anker at 2 LEDs

* 90 minutes 96 percent and Anker at 2 LEDs

* 101 minutes 100 percent and Anker at 2 LEDs

I used the same battery pack without recharging it and I began charging an iPad 2 which was at 16 percent capacity. The Anker was at 2 LEDs.

* 30 minutes 31 percent and Anker at 1 LED

* 60 minutes 45 percent and Anker at 1 LED

* 90 minutes 58 percent and Anker at 1 LED

* 120 minutes 64 percent and Anker at 1 LED that was flashing indicating that it needed to be charged.

Limitations of device charging:

* iPhone 4 battery 1,420 mAh battery capacity

* iPhone 4S battery 1,432 mAh battery capacity

* iPad 2 battery 6,944 mAh battery capacity

* iPad 3 battery 11,560 mAh battery capacity

* Kindle Fire battery 4400 mAh capacity

* Kindle Keyboard battery 1750 mAh capacity

* iPhone 5 is 3.8 VDC at 5.45 Wh = 1434 mAh battery

* iPad 4 battery is 11,486 mAh 3.7 VDC at 42.5 Wh

* iPad Mini battery is 4490 mAh at 3.72 VDC 16.7 Wh

As you can see the Anker 20000 mAh will fully charge a totally dead iPad 3 or 4 because it contains 20000 mAh of capacity.

All of this from the first charge:

* 79% of an iPad 3 charge equals 9132.4 mAh.

* 47% of a Kindle Fire charge equals 2068 mAh.

* 49% of an iPhone 4 charge equals 695.8 mAh.

* 48% of an iPad 2 charge equals 3333.2 mAh.

* That equals 15229.32 mAh output over a 10 hour period and that is an output efficiency of over 76% on my first charge of the Anker 20000 mAh battery pack.

You have to consider the losses in the charging circuits of both the battery pack and the device you are charging so this result is outstanding! When using an external battery you have to allow approximately 30 % of the battery capacity will be lost to heat, voltage conversion, powering the batteries electronics and the electronics of your electronics device's charging circuits. In addition you have to consider that your device is not truly off like a cell phone is still connected to the WIFI and phone networks and probably receiving emails, etc. This is the most powerful rechargeable battery pack I have tested.

I received a sample product for evaluation and I promised to provide a fair and honest review.

I'm a professional photographer that does a lot of travel and location work and I frequently don't have access to a secure power outlet. At first, I was hesitant to purchase this item since it's from a company I was unfamiliar with. But after reading the reviews and visiting their website, I ended up buying it and I have to say I'm quite impressed. I initially wanted it as an emergency power pack to extend my iPhone 4S' battery life and upon receiving it, it turns out that I can use it to charge many other pieces of gear as well. Overall, it's a fantastic product.

It's approximately the size of a typical portable USB hard drive and the build quality is quite solid. The black portions are a matte, semi-rubberized surface while the top cover is glossy plastic. As many have said in other reviews, what may appear to be scratches in the glossy front is actually a protective film which can be removed with the aid of a piece of tape or a fingernail. I ended up leaving the film on mine to protect its surface. There's a silver power button which you use to turn the power pack on as well as four blue LEDs that indicate its charge capacity. There is also a switch to change the power output from 9V to 12V which I found particularly impressive since many of my camera battery chargers run on 12V. So in addition to charging my phone, I can use this to charge my camera batteries as well! Obviously everyone's gear is different, so your individual mileage may vary, but it was definitely a pleasant surprise to find out that this item works with such a wide variety of my gear!

Along with the pack, you get an AC adapter to charge it from a wall outlet as well as a whole galaxy of various charging tips and adapters that should fit any phone or device you may have. With the amount of adapters they include, I would be seriously shocked if you had a device that didn't work with it. In addition, compared to some of the older reviews, it seems that the included product literature and various information cards have gone through some revisions so they're now extremely easy to follow and very well-written. The inclusion of a small card indicating the protective film on the front leads me to believe that Anker is a company that responds to customers concerns which I find very impressive.

I won't go into precise charge times since I haven't had the time to put a stopwatch on it, and there are other reviews that get into this more in depth. But suffice it to say that this is a fantastic product from an excellent company and I look forward to doing business with them again.

Buy Anker Astro3 10000mAh Multi - Voltage (5V 9V 12V) Output Portable Power Pack External Battery Charg Now

Ok, I know everyone before me has said that theres came scratched. I was no different, however, I didn't really care. This battery bank is awesome. I use it everyday to charge my PSP, and Cell Phone on the go. I am a college student and there are never enough outlets in the classrooms. Not a worry anymore. This little battery bank has worked wonders for me. Here is a secret. The scratches aren't on the actual product. I was fooled when I looked at it, but if you are one of those people that really cares about cosmetic scratches, here is a tip. Take a piece of tape, preferably electrical and really press it on any corner or end of the polished screen protector. Simply peel away and the polished look is underneath that film that looks scratched. I would recommend you leave it on though. Once you take it off than any scratches from there on will be permanent.

I ordered this product on a 1-Day delivery and I think it was worth every penny. If you need something that can charge two products at once and still have enough charge to power a laptop, this product is for you!

I highly recommend it.

Read Best Reviews of Anker Astro3 10000mAh Multi - Voltage (5V 9V 12V) Output Portable Power Pack External Battery Charg Here

I'm an electronic engineer and I'm a little disappointed in the lack of useful and reliable information about this pack. After three full charge-discharge cycles, the pack is stable in its capacity, though significantly lower than what was rated by about 15%. That's too much.

First of all, the 10,000 mAh rating is misleading. They should give the Watt-hour rating instead, because you don't know what voltage the mAh rating corresponds to. If it's 5V, it's a lot. But no, they rated it at the LOWEST possible voltage rating to get the highest mAh figure. They used the 3.7V low-margin figure for the LiIon cell. (A LiIon battery discharges from 4.2V down to 3.7V and then dies rapidly. An accurate average is 3.9 or 4.0V. But that would have given them a mAh rating of only 9250mAh, not as impressive as 10,000mAh.)

So the rated capacity is 37Wh (from the owner's manual).

After three full cycles, I get a consistent capacity of 31.5 Wh. That's 8500mAh at 3.7V, to normalize it to their published figure in this product description on Amazon. I have a Polaroid portable DVD player that draws a consistent and exact 1A at 9V, and it's very easy to measure.

Anker, if you think I got a bad pack and want to replace it, please let me know by a comment here. If I can get a good pack within about a week, I'll buy a second one for a long plane flight that we're taking (to keep my kids occupied with movies). But 3.5 hours on a charge isn't even enough for 2 movies on this player. I was counting on at least 4 hours, which it would have done easily at 37 Wh.

I also don't like the capacity-meter lights. They turn off at the rate of about 1/2 hr for each of the first three, then the last one goes for 1.75 hours which makes them pretty useless. I would guess that instead of using a coulomb-counter battery "gas gauge" chip, they just measured the battery terminal voltage which is not only inaccurate and varies significantly between batches of batteries, it also changes as the battery ages and so becomes even less accurate.

Despite my criticisms of the rated capacity and battery meter, it's a good pack overall and I'm not going to return it unless Anker is confident they can meet the 37Wh rating. I've given it 4 stars because at 31.5Wh/8500mAh, it's still a good deal for the money, and appears to have good quality of design and construction. And for this class of pack to have both 5V AND 9V outputs is very convenient.

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I purchased the Anker Astro 3 10 A-hr battery to use as a backup for my iPad 3, which I am using as an "electronic flight bag" in an airplane. As in all aviation-related areas, a backup for critical items is necessary. I am, unfortunately, disappointed in the capacity of the battery, which seems to be well short of its specification.

The battery in the iPad has a 42.5 W-hr capacity and the Anker battery, which has a claimed capacity of 37 W-hr, should charge the iPad to 87% of its full charge. Instead, starting with 10% charge, the external battery charges the iPad to 73%, which suggests that it has a capacity of 27 W-hr. Of course, the percent scales on the iPad are probably not calibrated very well, but the telling point for me was that, while lightly using the iPad, it actually slowly lost charge when plugged into the external battery! It is almost certainly not providing the claimed 2.1 A output -the Apple charger (also rated at 2.1 A output) fairly rapidly charges the iPad during use. All of these tests were done after about 4 complete charge/discharge cycles and the last test was done while the Anker was showing 2 leds (about half charged).

I am returning the unit for a replacement and will upgrade my rating if the claimed capacity is met. In all other respects, the unit is fine.

Update: The second unit has the same problem: much less than expected capacity and inability to effectively charge an iPad 3 during use. I will return the battery and find one with greater capacity.

Here are my two objections to the unit:

1. As the vendor admitted, they are excessively optimistic about the capacity and don't include the inefficiency of the additional circuitry. Since all the battery makers do this, I suppose I could live with this.

2. Their claim of 2 A output current can't possibly be accurate. The iPad 3 has a 42 W-hr battery and a useful operation time (which I have confirmed) of 10 hours or so. This means it consumes about 4.2 W or a little less than 1 A from a 5 V battery. If the Anker battery supplied 2 A, it would definitely have enough left over to charge the ipad battery. Neither of my two units were capable of charging the battery with the iPad running in idle. With it sleeping, it took 8 hours or so to charge the iPad battery by 60%. Supplying 25 W-hrs (60% of 42) in 8 hours (3 W) suggests about .6 amps at 5 V. Again, much less than the spec. It seems to be providing

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Sony ECM-DS70P Electret Condenser Stereo Microphone

• Quality microphone for digital media recording; ideal for DAT, NT and MD recorders
• Plug-in power operation
• Uni-directional recording to capture stereo sound
• Gold-plated contacts for sure connection
• 1 meter long cord (3' 3")

I recommend the Sony ECM-DS70P stereo microphone.

This mic is great to use with the Sony Mini disc recorders such as MZ-N707 and up. Although it is referred as uni directional, I have found the stereo separation very good.

As you are recording yourself with other singers for example you distinctly hear the vocal separation or instrument separation on playback so, then you can get an interesting separated sound by adjusting the mike direction.

So, even though the L and R mics are close together they must be facing in different directions to get that quality of separation.

There probably are better mikes, and I am sure they cost more money. I am critical of what sound goes in my ears, and this is excellent for my needs, which is self recording, recording voice lessons, live performances etc.

I hope this review was helpful.

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I bought this mic for two reasons:

1. It is stereo not mono

2. I just bought a Kodak Zi8 Digital Camcorder

Although the sound is surprisingly good on the Zi8, it has an external Stereo mic jack. The Sony ECM-DS70P is highly regarded and works perfectly with the Zi8. There is a notable difference in the sound when I use the Sony mic. You can clearly hear the stereo sound difference when recording in a 360 degree environment (like outside in a playground or other event). I have also used it for voice recording and it does a nice job there as well.

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(2008 HOLIDAY TEAM)This unit is not as compatible as compared to others. But, what it loses in compatibility it makes up for in features. It's wonderfully small and works great with Sony MD recorders. True, it isn't as versitile as the battery models, but it's a lot smaller too. If you just want to do MD recording, this is the unit for you.

The sound quality is sufficiently clear when recording, but is not sensitive enough to satisfy the most demanding users such as musicians or professional reporters. You need a relatively strong source.

Here's one MD player recorder that I know has the microphone jack and works great with this microphone:

'Sony MZ-NF810CK Net MD MiniDisc Recorder with Car Kit'

However, don't be fooled. Not every MD player has the appropriate Mic Jack. Double Check the technical documentation to make sure. Units that definitely do not have it are:

'Sony MZ-NE410 High Speed Net MD Walkman Recorder'

Notice the deceptive "Recorder" moniker in the product name. Don't be fooled! Very few MD "recorders" actually record with a microphone!

Not sure about these:

'Sony MZ-NF610 High Speed Net MD Walkman Recorder'

'Sony MZ-N510CK NetMD Walkman/Recorder with Car Kit'

'Sony MZ-N505 Net MD Walkman Player/Recorder'

Do your research before purchasing any MD player. All in all, this is a good value and the ideal microphone for those wanting to record onto a Sony MD.

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I am a musician and own my own studio in Nashville, TN. I have thousands of dollars worth of microphones. This product is what it is and for the money is a brilliant little microphone. Even though I have a 250 track digital recording studio, sometimes I want to record without doing a major "studio" setup. I bought a Boss Micro BR and this mic to go with it. This is a fantastic combination. The sound is definitely studio quality. I did a location recording of a simple trumpet and piano. Rather than drag my whole set up I took the Micro BR and this mic and made a very fine sounding recording. I got a pair of windscreens that were made for a telephone headset. I put one over each side of this mic and never take them off. This mic does have its limitations and does not sound as good as my $650 studio vocal mic for sure, but that's not what it is intended for. This is for portability with clear crisp sound. With a Micro BR it's a phenomenal combination. I almost didn't buy the Micro BR because it only has a mono on board mic, but I ordered this mic to go with it and I'm so glad I did. This magic combo is a serious upgrade from a Zoom H2 or H4 and for less money go figure. Sony well done.

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Contrary to earlier review, this microphone works GREAT with devices other than Sony; just make sure that your recording device provides plug power. I use this microphone with my iRiver iHP-120 20GB MP3 Jukebox --records great stereo sound directly into MP3s. Fantastic for recording my kids' concerts. Highly, highly recommended.

USB Cassette Deck Converter

When I ordered this device I didn't really know how much to expect. At under $20 it is cheap, so I wondered how well it would work. Bottom line: it worked very well. It was a good find.

It arrived promptly and I immediately put it to work on a very old audio book on cassette that I thought was a lost cause. I don't even own a cassette deck, so I figured that the audio book was a thing of history. Since I never intend to replace it on a new media I was about to throw it in the trash.

Finding this device was a great discovery. It is simple to use and works just as I needed. Even with the old cassette tapes I had no problems whatsoever. The software it comes with is open source but very effective. I've worked with professional audio tools like WaveLab so I can say from experience that it is a very effective tool. Easy to cut out blank segments between the sides and at the top and end of the recording. Just highlight a segment in the waveform and press delete. done.

With old tapes I was afraid the tension would be a problem. A player has to be able to handle an overly tight spool of tape. This device worked without any fuss. I really like that it is powered completely off the usb port, as I hate extra wall-warts getting in the way. The tape controls are manual, but it will automatically change tape sides. So just start a tape and use the editor to trim it, and in just a minute you have a clean waveform ready to export to mp3. New life to an otherwise lost item.

When I read the review from D. Vineyard, I took the gamble and ordered the converter. It is well worth the risk! The converter is a dream to use! It comes with the cassette player, some headphones, an USB cable that hooks up to your computer, a set of instructions and an installation CD that has the right version of Audacity (a very user friendly music editing/recording program) and a set of instructions for both a PC or a Mac. I own a PC, so the Mac version might have to be recorded through I-Tunes.

I set up the Audacity for recording. Then I had to get the cassette to the place on the tape that I wanted to record from. I still haven't figured out how the converter fast forwards or rewinds, so I used a boombox to get the cassette to the right spot. Then all I had to do was to record and stop. I saved it as a Wav file, because I don't understand how to install the Lame encoder in Audacity to convert the data into MP3s, but it is an extremely easy process to burn my files to a CD!

I'm sure everyone will love this product!

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There was another product close to this one; reviews claimed it didn't last long (speed slowed) over time, this product seems to have the same issue. I purchased this one in hopes it was a better, different product. It helps a little to run one side of the tape and let the player "rest", speed is a little better. I'll try to post how it goes over time. For reference I ran one tape at once out of the box, first side ok, second side ran slower. Next day ran one side of tape, better speed.

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I was somewhat skeptical about how well this converter might work because of the low price. Wow, was I pleasantly surprised!! Not only was the converter easy to set up and use with my computer, but the sound quality of the resulting file/CD was excellent. The tapes I converted were over 20 years old and yet the sound during playback of the CD I created from them is crisp and clear. I would definitely recommend this product to anyone wanting to convert old cassette tapes to MPG files and burning CDs. Great value for the money!!!!

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I kind of came across this item by accident. I have a bunch of old cassette tape recordings and thought this product might be a great way to preserve them. I bought this product with pretty low expectations. I took it out of the package and hooked it up to my Mac laptop. No need to install the software that accompanied the unit. Audacity is a free download for Mac users. At a glance, it looks just like an ordinary walkman-style unit but has the USB connector. I popped in a cassette, launched Audacity (you do have to adjust the preferences in Audacity to receive audio from the unit) and pressed play and then pressed record in Audacity and to my surprise, I was up and running in no time! Certainly not the best quality unit but an excellent choice for the money. I would recommend this product to anyone that has an old box of cassette tapes and they are unwilling to part with. A great choice for both PC and Mac users (the included instructions are for Windows but should translate easily for Mac users). Don't throw out those old tapes without first considering this product!!

New P3 International Telephone Recorder W/ Information Center 5+ Hours Of Recording Time

It can't record 5+ hours. It uses a 90 minute cassette tape which only records 45 minutes on each side and you have to manually turn it over after the first 45 minutes is used up. Once the first side of the tape is filled, the recorder automatically stops recording until you flip the cassette tape over. If you are recording telephone conversations then you only get 45 minutes and then it stops. So in reality you are only getting 45 to 90 minutes of record time at the most. And then only if you are right there when the first side fills up and you manually turn the cassette tape over to the other side.

Hip Street HS-VR818-4GB 4 GB Digital Voice Recorder

I've bought this item about 3 weeks ago beacause a friend had the same and it was really great! But I'm a bit disapoonted about mine. Indeed, I don't know if it's 'cause I don't know how to use it, but the sound is not really grear compared to my friend's! It's so low that I have to really concentrate myself to hear it! But it is really easy to use!

J'ai acheté cet article il y a environ un mois car mon ami a exactement le même et il était vraiment bien! Cependant celui que j'ai acheté a un son beaucoup moins élevé que celui de mon ami! Il faut que je me concentre vraiment pour essayer de comprendre ce qui est enregistré! Je ne sais pas si c'est moi qui ne sait pas m'en servir ou que c'est l'article qui est moins bon. En tout cas, il est facile à utiliser!

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Xerox Phaser 6500N Laser Printer-Color-600x600dpi Print-Plain Paper Print-Desktop-24ppm Mono/24ppm

I like this printer. It is replacing a Laser Jet 2600n that is showing its 7 or 8 year age. The printing is great. The price was good ( caveat I haven't had it long enough to buy toner which can be pricey ). However, ...

The setup process is awkward and not helped by the fact that the only documentation you get in the box is a large ( 19 inch x 25 inch ), multilingual ( 15 EU language ) two sided sheet of paper with diagrams that can be difficult to interpret. There simply isn't enough text there to clarify what some of the diagrams are trying to tell me. Since I make my living supporting complex software on UNIX and Windows I have lots of experience with interpreting software manuals. Diagrams and hardware however are not my strong point. There are 12 short sentences to give you an idea of what these diagrams are intended to represent. After a lot of comparing diagram to printer, trying to figure out how to open some of the component or get at some of the ports, I was eventually successful. A bit more text and a bit less white space would have simplified this process significantly.

The print output is great. The text is crisp, clean and very true to the fonts that I have run through the printer. The graphics are spectacular. I printed a picture taken on my Panasonic Lumix FZ-40 on a regular sheet of paper. The color match was impressive. It looked more like a professionally developed photo than something printed on regular paper with a laser printer. I did not specifically measure the time taken to print either text or graphics. Text seemed satisfactorily fast and the graphics time was better than the LaserJet 2600n.

The bottom line is that this printer gives impressive performance at a bargain price. If the installation process were better documented, I would rate this at 5 stars. If that is not an impediment for you, consider it a 5 star printer. However, keep in mind that I have not attempted to buy supplies. You are looking at mail order since your average local store is not going to carry toner for your Xerox Phaser 6500N.

Coby DVD525 Compact 5.1 Channel DVD Player, Black

• Delivers over 500 horizontal lines of high-resolution video
• Compact and slim design
• DVD, DVD±R/RW, CD, CD-R/RW, and JPEG compatible
• Dolby Digital decoder
• Digital and analog AV outputs for home theater use /NTSC/PAL compatible

Some say a DVD player is a DVD player, well that could be true in some cases but not in this one. The Coby does what its supposed to, it plays movies but the remote looks like it was designed by a three year old, its rectangular with about 30 buttons, all the same size lined up like soldiers, all black on a black background, in other words when you pick it up you can't glance at it to perform a task and press the right button, they all look the same. FYI you can't program it to work with a universal remote. I went to their web site to get the manufactures code to try and set it up on my universal remote and they said, "use the (piece of junk) remote that came with it." Bummer

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I was really looking forward to this DVD player. However, when I turned it on to watch a movie, I actually thought I was watching a silent film. Volume up to maximum and I still couldn't hear. I watched the same movie in another DVD player, with no issue so it was definitely the DVD player. I also checked other movies in the Colby. No sound. I would definitely not recommend this product to anyone.

Magnavox DVD Recorder

• Records on both DVD +R/+RW and DVD -R/-RW discs
• Includes 25 Blank DVD-R's, Remote and component video cables
• Component video out , S-video output , Digital audio out (RCA)
• Zoom (1.2x, 1.5x, 2x), Progressive Scan
• Slow motion (forward and back)

I got mine 4 months ago for the purpose of copying my entire stock of vhs tapes onto dvd. I have been faithfully making at least 1 disc per day since then. With the exception of copywrite protected ones (mostly Disney I've copied well over 240 movies (2 per disc in EP), and only have about 24 in my pile of movies that wouldn't copy), it has performed admirably and I have no complaints.

Regarding the clock problems that other reviewers mentioned, I suppose that would be a problem for timed recordings, which I'm currently not doing with the unit. However, I found that when the clock is not set (which happened when the power here went out), the unit doesn't display the unwanted information of when a particular title was recorded. (Honestly, I don't want to know what day and time I happened to copy my Ghostbusters movies onto a disc. I just want to know that they're copied and I don't have to rebuy them in dvd format.) Therefore, if you're not doing timed recordings, I'd highly recommend that you don't set the clock (which is what I decided once I discovered that). That also eliminates most of the default title so you don't have to delete as much when you enter proper titles.

I have never had a problem with my unit, and am nearly finished with my collection.

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After owning this product for six weeks I couldn't be happier, it has performed perfectly and was easy to set up and not hard to learn how to use. Keep in mind that since I've owned the unit such a short time I can't vouch for its durability but if it's anything like an older Magnavox DVD player I own, it should be good. The manual is written well enough that even a novice should be able to have this unit up and running in a short time.

There is a learning curve if you've never owned a product like this before but it's not very steep. My advice is start out with some DVD+RW's and make a few short test recordings and play with the various functions until you get the hang of the many settings. Don't overlook the fact that DVDs other than DVD+RW's need to be finalized before they'll play on other DVD players. If you run into problems the manual will probably be enough to help you out. I can't rate Magnavox's customer support because I've not needed it yet. This unit will also play standard DVDs as well as those it creates.

Mine was purchased at Sams Club for about $89 and as of February 2007 they and Walmart still have many in stock. Shop around for the best price.

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I got this DVD recorder for $150 from Amazon last week and it exceeded my expectations. The quality of recording is great and the playback is razor sharp. I owned a JVC DVD recorder before this one but it wasn't that great. This one from Magnavox is superior to all DVD recorders that I have ever had and is priced so low too. I am giving it 5 stars and I definitely recommend it.

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The Magnavox MSR90D6 that I bought a year ago has worked sporatically at best. Now, after a year, the clock will not set. I don't think Magnavox got all of the "bugs" out of this unit before they put it on the shelf. If you are considering buying this unit, get a LONG extended warranty, you will need it.

I have 3 of them. I found them easy to install and set up, and editing a disc is relatively easy. However, on one of them, the clock no longer works, so I record manually rather than setting up a timer. That's a little annoying. I'm looking to replace it with another, and it's important to know whether a dvd recorder has a tuner. The hook-up to a cable box and tv is very different if the recorder doesn't have a tuner, so I would recommend getting one with a tuner. This model produces a good picture and is easy to use. The remote and the keys on it are small.

Sanyo Xacti VPC-CA6OR 6MP MPEG4 Weatherproof Digital Camcorder w/5x Optical Zoom

The CA6 was not available in any local stores so I researched the smack out of this video camera on the web before I bought it from Amazon. I thought I knew exactly what I was getting but the box contained a big surprise. I was expecting something small and utilitarian. Instead, I got a beautiful little jewel. It is delightful to look at and fun to hold. Grant you I am always fascinated with unusual design and shape.

The camera was a Christmas gift for my wife and I wanted to set it up before Christmas day so she could unwrap it and start filming (film?). The Instruction book is as impressive as the camera itself. Not for design but for its volume and it is all in English. I still haven't managed to digest but a few sections.

Video quality is excellent for our purpose. There are six different video resolutions and a variety of photo resolutions available in the easy to use menu system. The SHQ TV resolution is really stunning when you consider the miniscule sized gizmo that created it. We took the camera to Key West last week and recorded in SHQ WEB (320x240 / 30fps) resolution (perfect for making videos for sharing on the web). Every time you start and stop recording, a new MPEG4 file is created on the SD memory card. Using the photo function creates a high resolution JPEG file. At the end of the trip we had a couple of hundred files to download onto the Mac. We are currently editing the files into a movie with iMovie. At the smaller video resolution I was able to get about three hours of MPEG4 files and forty-two high resolution JPEG (2816x2112) files on less than half of the 2gb SD card. The same memory card holds about an hour and a half of video at the highest resolution setting (640x480 / 30fps at minimum compression).

Image stabilization works well enough for moderate hand movement but it didn't keep up with rough water on a sailboat around Key West. I wish the zoom range had more field of view on the wide end but it is tighter than I expected on the telephoto end. This is not a camera for long distance tight shots of wild animals or beach bunnies. It has no tripod mount so the telephoto power is just long enough for the image stabilizer to cope with when hand holding the camera on steady ground.

My hands are really too large for the controls but I found ways to adapt. It fits my wife perfectly. The CA6 is supplied with a hand strap to keep the camera tethered to your body and supply leverage for one handed use. I use the strap mostly for accident prevention and use my left hand to stabilize the camera by holding the outside of the frame of the view screen while delicately mashing the controls with my fat thumb on my right hand. Even with the hand tether attached to the camera we easily carried the camera and tether in our pockets without any problems and I was able to do some incognito filming on Duval Street. The relatively large (and very bright) view screen can be folded back against the camera while recording (folding the view screen back to the camera while not recording or reviewing shuts the camera off) for "shoot from the hip" filming.

Along with a small carrying pouch and a 2 or 4gb High Speed SD memory card, I recommend an additional battery as a necessary accessory. The tiny battery powers the camera in video mode for an hour or so but using the built in flash for photos knocks the small cell down in hurray. Reviewing and messing with the menu also cuts into battery duration. The lithium ion battery is physically smaller than my cell phone battery and recharges in less than two hours. In use it is completely enclosed inside the camera. The Sanyo OEM battery is easy to find on the web and there are a number of less expensive, alternative brands made to fit the Xacti cameras. Also, gentle use of an absorbent lens cloth will keep the view screen and the lens window clean.

The CA6 lacks convenience features that would make it larger and susceptible to problems from dirt and water. There are no ports, jacks or connections on the outside of the camera. The Battery, memory card and USB port access are located under a well designed, seal tight door on the bottom of the camera. A minimal control panel increases durability but somewhat limits easy access to the many system features. All adjustments are made by navigating through the menu on the view screen via the use of your right thumb and the tiniest joystick I have ever seen. It turned out to be much easier to use than I though it would and there is a provision to program favorite settings into some "short-cut" moves on the control stick. Above the menu control is a button for starting and stopping the video recording and another for making photos. A half-inch space and small ridge separates the two controls. Between the exposure / record buttons and the menu control are tiny buttons that activate the menu system and select the mode (puts the camera in record or playback).

Considerations for design and purpose aside, I have some issues that Sanyo should consider. The camera needs an accessory cradle of some sort that would allow it to be placed on a mounting thread. There are a number of features offered on the camera that are next too useless unless I innovate some method of remotely stabilizing it. Gaffers tape works for fastening it on a mounting clamp, monopod or walking staff but I hate putting anything sticky on the beautiful little frame. While Sanyo designs a mounting system they should also make a remote control.

Focusing and exposure are controlled by a sophisticated, multi-pattern, through-the-lens computer program that works well with a polarizing filter (I used my sun glasses) for enhanced image quality. So why is there no provision to thread a small diameter filter over the round lens window opening?

The sound recording quality is very good and the selectable noise filters work better than I expected but I don't see the point to using up the data space for stereo sound when the separation between the left and right channel microphones is a few millimeters. I haven't digested all 166 pages of the instruction book but so far I can't find any provision for recording in mono sound mode. Finally, motor noise from the zoom lens is noticeable in low noise situations. Even though I seldom use the zoom function while recording and I realize this is a common issue in small video cameras but it still bugs me. We usually strip away most the recorded sound and replace it with music or dubbing when editing videos anyway.

Brandishing the CA6 in a crowd will attract attention. As soon as people realize it is a video camera they are on it like flies on poop. My wife likes the attention but I prefer to be unhampered with other people's curiosity.

Sanyo supplies a suite of video/photo editing and DVD burning software for PC users. The CA6 lacks FireWire connectivity for live editing on Macs and there is no Mac compatible software supplied but the camera syncs well as a card reader with my Mac through the USB port for downloading the files to the hard drive. Any Mac owner savvy enough to edit video files and burn DVD's already has the software to accomplish the task. The camera also possesses surprisingly extensive onboard-editing capability through the viewing screen or on your television. Sanyo supplies a cord that plugs into the USB connection and provides a composite video and stereo sound output for your television system where you can view and edit your video and photo files utilizing the camera's amazing menu array. I have no idea about battery duration for this purpose and there is no external power input to the camera (the battery has an external charging cradle). Be aware that lower resolution video file settings look fine on a computer but they are nasty on your television.

Overall the camera is beautiful, reliable and fun to use with lots of features. It is tiny, easy to hide, fast starting, durable, water and dirt resistant. The images are very good. I am delighted with the Exacti CA6 so far (when I can get it away from my wife).

This camcorder is truly a mixed bag and whether you end up liking it or not is highly contingent on your prior experience with camcorders and your expectations regarding a price/value dependency.

This is my first camcorder ever, and I purchased it simply to find out if I would like recording movies. As such, I was looking for a small, light-weight camera that recorded on either an HD or a card. I ruled out other media due to the very extreme climate in my area.

One problem with using such a media is that your prospective camcorder will have to encode and compress your movies so that they can be stored on the SD-Card. The compression used here is not exactly suited for movies especially if you need or want to edit them. Before you can do so, you need to convert them to a more suitable format which is not to say that you won't be able to watch individual clips. They work fine with Quicktime.

The quality of the clips is also not great but acceptable considering the price of the camcorder. However, it does not compare to the more conventional Mini-DV format at all! On the upside, recorded clips are much better than those recorded with a standard digital (still) camera.

Taking still images with this camera is also not great you will get much better quality with just about any cheap digital still camera despite the touted 6 MP.

Focus is very slow and often inaccurate, especially in low-light or low-contrast situations. While the phsyical zoom is quite usable, the digital zoom should have simply been skipped. The image becomes very grainy is out of focus as soon as you use the digital zoom.

Sound quality is also quite poor, especially if it's windy and there is not much else to be said.

I addition, the camera has a very cheap feel to it something you might want to consider. But so far, it is very dependable and certainly convenient to carry around. I was actually quite amazed by the extremely small size and the possibilities it affords. You CAN take it anywhere and I won't be a bother.

Despite the mentioned downsides, I am quite happy with my experience. This camcorder does exactly what I expected it to do but not more. I've only had it for a month and I am ready to purchase something more serious. If you are looking for something to bring along on your daily adventures, it probably doesn't get much better than this. Be aware, though, that there are huge limitations with this camera that can be very bothersome.

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We bought this camera right before going on vacation and found it extremely handy and convenient. We took great video and great pictures with it. Here are some advantages and disadvantages we found:

Advantages:

1. Very small and compact had it in a small camera bag attached on my belt. It was ready in a moments notice to take video and pictures. I was able to take it places that a regular camera would likely not go (roller coaster ride, water ride). Having it at all times on my hip was very handy, and it never got in the way.

2. Water resistant Our last camera went dead because of humidity and water. I took this camera on a water ride with my son, filmed the whole thing, got soaked, and no problems with the camera.

3. Great outdoor pictures excellent looking pictures outdoors. In doors was good if there was enough light. Flash is very poor and does not go very far (understandable given the small compact battery).

4. Lots of settings even with this small camera, there were plenty of settings (wind reduction, noise reduction, image stabilization, ISO settings, exposure, flash, white balance, etc.)

5. Video compression I found the video compression not as good as a miniDV tape, but still extremely good, given that I could record 1.5 to 2 hours of video on my single 2GB SD card (we also bought exta, which easily fit in the bag)

6. Battery With the small battery, the total time did not last long (1 hour), but we could carry several other batteries in our bag (same one attached to my hip) and never lost out because of battery failure (we had 4)

7. Flip screen all you do is flip the screen out, and the camera is on, ready to go with pictures or video. Can do it with one hand. Same for shutting it off.

Disadvantages:

1. No view finder only the screen to see what you were videoing, however I was amazed at how well I could see the screen even in direct sunlight.

2. Low light pictures like I said, the flash is poor and does not put out much power. There is a "candle" setting that helps take pictures in dark places, but you have to keep the camera very steady because it keeps the aperture open longer.

3. Cables one more cable to add to my stash. It is a type that has USB on one end (for the computer) and a new plug (not sure what it is called) that is used for both video out put and USB output. However, I never had to use this given that my laptop has an SD slot so all I had to do was remove the card and slip it into the laptop to download everything.

4. Pistol grip at first this was way awkward, but with time I learned to hold it very comfortably and still operate everything just fine. Got to keep tabs on your index finger as it is easy to place it over the lense. I held it much more comfortably after I began using the strap, which I put over my hand, and in more questionable situations, I strapped it over my wrist.

5. Zoom only 5x zoom, and it was a little slow in zooming, but actually made the playback look smoother, so pick your poison.

6. Photos while video shooting While you can take a photo during video recording, it does freeze the video for a few seconds while it records the picture. Nice to have, but I thought the video would still be seemless. I usually don't use this feature, but it has turned out handy.

7. Non-swivel screen the screen flips out, but does not swivel in any other direction. Open or closed (and in closed position, the screen is visible and open to possible damage. This made it a little harder to film things at times where I wasn't directly behind the camera.

We love the camera, and are so glad we have it. Quality is near miniDV, and the software we use (Nero 7) works great with MP4 and is a snap to turn into a DVD. The only reason we gave it a 4 rating instead of a 5 is due to the few small disadvantages it had and for the plain and simple fact that the camera features do not replace all the features you would find on a dedicated digital camera. But you bought it for video, right? So how can I complain about the 80% excellent quality I got from the pictures I did take? Hence the 4 out of 5.

In the end, we got more video footage than we would have with a larger video camera for the simple fact of its wonderfully small size.

Read Best Reviews of Sanyo Xacti VPC-CA6OR 6MP MPEG4 Weatherproof Digital Camcorder w/5x Optical Zoom Here

Unlike the rest of the reviewers here, I bought this camcorder at a STORE in Singapore. This gave me a HUGE advantage to try out the camera BEFORE I bought it! I paid about US$450.00 for the CA6 [which included all the required cables, 2 CD-ROMs of software, carrying case, 2 batteries {one 1.5-hour and one 3-hour battery}, 4GB Ultra High-Speed SD card, 2 tripod mounts {no charge}, Multi-port USB hub for 4 different types of SD cards, power cords and adapter for U.S. and Singapore voltages].

After reading all the reviews here I can agree with SOME of the "Cons" comments.

Yes, it does NOT come with a tripod mount hole. However, the salesperson gave me two black plastic tripod mounts for FREE. It fits like a glove--no problems. Sorry, I don't know where to find these in the U.S. but I'm sure they're out there somewhere.

Yes, the hand strap is useless. Seriously, throw it away! It's not worth the effort. My wife gave me her camera strap to use and it can be fed through the bottom ring and that works much better.

The only way to protect the LCD screen and camera lens is to keep it in the carrying case when not in use. This case was a real convenience with the metal ring that could attach to the belt loop of my shorts or pants.

A lot of people are complaining about low light situations. I haven't noticed too much of this. The salesperson told me that this was a "Sports" model version. I was shown several other models by Sanyo that were similar to the CA6. This gave me the impression that the CA6 was geared more towards outdoor use and it has proved itself worthy.

It IS a small camcorder so it took a few days to get used to filming with it. PLUS, I'm LEFT-HANDED and used it like a stubborn left-hander in my left hand--but I finally got used to it. I know it wasn't designed with this in mind. However, I think it gave me an advantage over right-handers with bigger fingers. I didn't have to worry about using all the buttons and hold the camcorder at the same time. I know this sounds funny but if you're a left-hander you might appreciate this info. Yes, I AM one of those who has to use TWO hands to dial a phone number or play games on my little cellphone, hehe.

Oh, and using the highest quality DVD setting for video gives you about 2 hours and 45 minutes with the 4GB SD card.

Be sure to get some type of camera strap for this device--not the one provided [I think this was an Sanyo afterthought]. I realized this one day as I was 100 feet up in a skyride in Singapore. As I was dangling my feet, I wondered how awful it would be for the CA6 to slip out of my hand and watch it shatter into a 1,000 pieces below me.

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Conclusions:

To start from the end I got the Xacti CA6, tested it and returned it. Here are the pros and cons.

Pros -

1. Very small, just put in your pocket and go

2. Easy and simple controls

3. Super fast start up from sleep mode

4. Good video quality when lighting conditions are good

5. the ability to take stills while in video mode (I had no issue with the video pausing, no way around that)

6. You get video and 6mp stills in one device for a reasonable price

7. SD card that records for a long time

8. Easy transfer to computer for editing

Cons -

1. Indoor video unacceptable, although the video is brighter the ones my Sony digicam takes, it is extremely grainy (more so than my Sony digicam videos!!)

2. Super slow zoom when in video mode

3. In good lighting it is very difficulty to take stills that are not blurry (especially when trying to capture a kid on the move, for scenery it might be OK)

4. In low lighting stills are unusable (even at short distance) due to a very, very weak flash.

5. Red eye almost every time the flash works

6. Strap is a joke

7. No lens cover

So in short, on paper this camera is great, I love having the SD format rather than tape or DVD, the size is amazing and the ability to take both video and stills at a high resolution is priceless.

But....the stills are useless both in good and bad lighting (see above) and the video is usable only if shot in very good lighting conditions (for a new dad that shoots many videos indoors this is impractical).

This camera is only for outdoor people who shoot in good lighting conditions and have a very very steady hand (for taking stills). For almost everyone else it is not adequate, I will have to compromise on having both a dedicated still camera and a miniDV camcorder (going for the Elura 100).....

Ya, I know people told me that this was the best option beforehand, I was hoping to prove them wrong....; (

Looxcie LX1 Wearable Bluetooth Camcorder, iPhone and Android Compatible

This product is a great idea. A small wearable camera. Who wouldn't want that?

Well, unfortunately, there are a number of flaws with this device.

For one, the quality is not very good. 15 frames per second and low resolution. This means your videos are not going to look as good as the example videos. Also, the camera has a somewhat narrow field of vision. It would be much better if it taped a wider angle, because you are not going to be that good at aiming the thing. (You can kinda see the effect in their sample video on YouTube where the guy proposes to his girlfriend and video tapes mostly her chest... it's involuntarily funny).

Also, somehow the camera would need a serious image stabilizer. I have no idea how that would work with a camera like that, but the reality is that people move their heads a lot and very fast and with the low frame rate and resolution, that is a problem to begin with, and even if that was better, people watching your videos are still going to get disoriented or worse, unless you seriously restrict your movements.

The device also doesn't seem to be very sturdy. My ear-plug part broke off the first day. Granted, I wore it under an ice hockey helmet (and Looxcie even says it isn't meant to be a ruggedized product). But it's not like I took a shot to the head. It was just pushing it under a relatively tight helmet that did it, disappointingly.

The worst aspect of this product however is what must go down as one of the oddest technical and business decisions of all time: The camera requires a smart phone to operate. You can now use an Android phone as well as an iPhone. That is mandatory. I have no idea why. Granted, it is a cute to use the phone display as a view finder. Kudos for that. It is also nifty to be able to quickly upload 30 second snippets of video to all kinds of sites. I like that as well and can think of plenty of uses for that. But I can also think of plenty of scenarios where I need more. And you don't get that.

You have to use the phone to do all video editing. The camera has some proprietary internal storage mechanism you can't get to unless you turn your buffered video into snippets of up to 30 minutes of video. So you use your phone to scan back and forth in videos to cut them. If you have ever used the iPhone video player, you know what a pain that is. Now when you do that, the video is still stored on the camera.

And grabbing these video segments is SLOW. I think what happens is that the phone grabs video segments from the camera, puts them together into a video file, and then puts it back onto the camera. Or maybe it just somehow instructs the camera to do this. Either way, it takes forever. (You can also download videos to your phone, once they are saved as snippets. That is even slower. Downloading 5 minutes of video to my iPhone took 15 minutes or so... and then it crashed the phone). Which is no big surprise really, because neither the camera nor a smart phone has enough power to do a lot of video editing. And your segments are limited to 30 minutes max.

And if it is more than a minute or 2, it is too large to just upload to sites like YouTube of Facebook. So what you will end up doing is this: You have the camera recording (which is a bit fidgety, but OK). Then, you use your phone to try to edit the segment you want. You then wait for that to save (like 10 minutes or more). Then, you repeat the same thing with your next 30 minutes. Except it is almost impossible to find the right stitching points. If you want all 5 hours of video, you need to make at least 10 segments. More likely 15, since you will have trouble with the overlap. You do the math on how long that takes. Then, once you are done, you plug the USB cable into your computer and download the videos. Well, usually it takes a few tries for a Windows 7 machine to recognize the camera as a storage device. But then you can download your video.

Why the heck they would not use a PC to allow for editing and view finding is completely beyond me. They could have used PC Bluetooth. They could have used the USB cable. They could have created a powerful app that grabs everything on the camera and then you could have done advanced editing easily on the PC. Or they could have leveraged existing video editing software. And processing videos that are more than 30 minutes would not have been a problem at all!

Oh, and you better not change your phone. Because if you change your phone (which most people... especially gadget freaks that are likely to buy this camera... do often) then your camera may be useless. Or who knows? What if Looxcie's software (which only runs with some difficulty on the iPhone now it seems) won't be upgraded to the next version of the OS? Then you are stuck with a camera that can only record 30 second segments of video, because that is all it can do without a phone.

This whole decision so boggles my mind, that I would actually like to meet the person who made it, because you really don't often get the opportunity to meet people that think and reason quite so differently from the rest of us. It would be a meeting I would never forget, I am sure ;-)

Anyway: I considered giving this product only 2 stars. But on the other hand, it is not all that expensive. And it is kinda nifty in what it does. If only they hap PC software, it would be much better. The overall concept is awesome. I will certainly buy a newer one once they have HD and higher frame rates and such. But for now, it is just a nifty gadget that has potential but doesn't really quite do what you are hoping for.

Hey, if you're expecting HD quality video on a device you wear over your ear...well, you're kinda out of luck at the moment (though I'm sure that's coming in the not too distant future). But this device actually records better video than I expected. Of course, maybe I just had low expectations. I think really though, I just had realistic expectations and the Looxcie has met or exceeded those. I was thrilled to see this device in the pages of Popular Science a couple months ago, then bummed to find out that it was not available for the iPhone at that time. Luckily they got the iPhone version ready before the Christmas season and my wife hit a home run by making sure it was under the tree in time.

I've only been using the Looxcie for one day so far (since Christmas), but I've recorded a bunch of clips and also downloaded the entire video buffer (a welcome new feature) to my Mac (a very simple process) and the video looked quite good. Yeah, it's a little grainy, but not bad. It's certainly better than my ability to remember every detail of every moment. Also, it looks like they have a new feature coming to iPhones that adds 30fps at 480 resolution, so the quality will be even better (granted with a shorter record time).

I've never seen a device like this before, so I'm willing to live with it not quite being everything to everyone at this point. I'm sure it will get better and even at its current stage I'd say it's pretty darn good. The biggest downside for me is that it seem quite big compared to a standard bluetooth headset. I was concerned that I would get a lot of weird looks and stares from people. But, I quickly realized that most people either were not concerned with what I was wearing on my ear or just thought it was an old school blue tooth headset. I do wish it was a bit smaller though...but I'm sure that will come in time as well. Overall I'm quite happy with the device so far.

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I tend to loose my bluetooth headsets a lot, and since I do a lot of rock climbing I thought I would give the Looxcie a shot (and hopefully since it's a little larger then the normal bluetooth maybe I won't loose this one).

It's been great! It has an excellent earpiece. Pairing it with my Droid was really easy. I've taken several video's while climbing and they've all turned out with really good quality. The Looxcie has been really reliable for me. I also like the fact that it's there when I need it. Several times I've been walking with the dogs or out on the point and have been able to record on the fly. It's made for a lot of fun later on when sharing stories with folks. The Looxcie is really worth the price I highly suggest if your going to look at a bluetooth earpiece give this a try. You won't be disappointed.

Read Best Reviews of Looxcie LX1 Wearable Bluetooth Camcorder, iPhone and Android Compatible Here

I was so excited when I first saw this product since I've been looking for something like it for so long! I've seen other similar products, but they are so bulky and not at all practical. Looxcie is immediately different in that it is so easy to handle. But Looxcie isn't just a camera, it's a bluetooth headset too. This thing is unbelievable! I was able to make calls and answer incoming calls. And as if that wasn't enough, this is almost a "too good to be true" product given its great price point and ease of installation. If you have an iPhone or Android, you can download it from the control panel where you usually pair bluetooth-devices. Be sure to download the FREE apps from Appstore or Android market (just run the app it's that easy!) There's two apps LooxcieMoments and LooxcieCam. I liked LooxcieMoments best as it records constantly in the background when you wear the device and put it in record mode. With one press of a button you save the last 30 seconds. I used this over and over when my 8 year old was trying to explain to his big sister what Viagra (based on a commercial he had seen). It was hilarious and I never would have been able to do the story justice without the Looxcie!!! And speaking of kids, you can also edit the clips on the phone and share them clips can be up to 30 minutes long. Although the quality isn't as good as video, you need to know that this product isn't meant to be used that way. It's basically a "re-do" resource that is able to capture the times when you should have had the video camera on! Given that, the quality of the Looxcie-footage is perfect.

Looxie is extremely easy to use. I can't overstate this since I am not particularly good at this type of thing I'm a stay at home that just wanted to capture moments from my kids' lives! I did need some tech support because, as I said I'm not good at this type of thing, and I can't tell you how great they were. They were courteous, didn't talk down to me and clearly explained the fix (I made an error in use).

Go get the Looxcie and start having fun! At $199, there is no reason not to!!!

Want Looxcie LX1 Wearable Bluetooth Camcorder, iPhone and Android Compatible Discount?

I've been looking for a wearable cam for some time. When I saw Looxcie I wanted one immediately, it's not just a cam, as an added bonus it's also a bluetooth headset with which you can make calls and answer incoming calls. But of course, the main thing is the cam, I've not seen a wearable cam at this price level anywhere. In fact, I've not seen a wearable cam at all being this easy to handle. It's super easy to install and use. Pair it with your Iphone or Android-phone from the control panel where you usually pair bluetooth-devices. Download the LooxcieMoments-app from Appstore or Android market respectively run the app and you're good to go. By the way, you don't have to install any app or pair it, you can use the device anyway to record stuff. But you won't be able to use phone as a viewfinder and other features the apps contain. But you can still transfer the clips using USB. But of course, you should install the app, they're free. There's two apps, LooxcieMoments and LooxcieCam. I prefer the first one, it records constantly in the background when you wear the device and put it in record mode. With one press of a button you save the last 30 seconds. It's perfect when the kids does funny stuff or similar. You can also edit clips on the phone and share them, those clips can be up to 30 minutes long.

I've seen other people here comment on the video quality. This is not a camcorder, for that I use a slightly larger memory-card based device that shoots 1080p videos and has lots of zoom-capabilities. This thing is not for that, this thing captures all those moments when videocameras should have been on but never is. Considering this, the quality of the Looxcie-footage is perfect, compared to not having had it at all.

Finally, the product is easy to use and comes in a neat package and usually it's very self explanatory to use it. But if you by any chance need to get in touch with product support it's one of the best I've been involved with ever. This will be the best 199 bucks you'll spend in a long time!

Polaroid Mpa-20011s 512mb Usb2.0 Mp4/mp3/fm/voice W/2.2" Lcd

I would give this player a 5-star rating except for the one fact that the battery is the major weak link so many people have problems with; but I discovered how to remedy the situation. I bought mine new in the sealed package about 1-1/2 years ago on eBay for $42 including shipping. It was easy to load music. The sound was very good with good quality ear buds (the stock ones are junk). The volume was excellent, menu easily utilized, FM radio nice, video good too, but the battery life totally stunk. A full charge would last about 40 minutes. Three weeks later, the battery totally failed to hold enough charge to turn the unit on for more than a few seconds. A week later, though trying to charge it with 2 compatible chargers, the unit wouldn't turn on at all, but the lights would come on a few seconds and turn back off. Having discovered the warranty wasn't valid, it sat until yesterday. Polaroid Support was helpful, but they don't have batteries for them, and they warn if a user opens the case, it will void the warranty. But since mine was as good as trash, I did it anyway. Now it has come to new life using rechargeable NIMH cells, with a battery pack I mounted to the back. You may be able to buy the replacement from Korea. But if you'd like instructions to convert yours, send an email to mailme800-convertpolaroid@yahoo.com.

I received the Polaroid Media Player at 4pm on February 16th and I was on the phone to support the morning of the 17th. Could not make it work by following the instructions. The web page for customer support at Polaroid didn't even list this MP3 player. Found out it's year of manufacture was 2006 and probably sat on a shelf for 4 years. Warranty department guessed that it had sat so long that the battery had failed. I was told to send it to warranty and they would either replace it or fix it. It cost another $6 to send it to Polaroid warranty. It is now March 17th and I have not seen nor heard a thing. Essentially I paid money for an out of date piece that the company is not going to stand behind and I am going to have to make a dispute through my credit card.

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Sanyo Xacti CG10 Dual Camera HD Flash Memory Camcorder with 5x Optical Zoom (Red)

I picked up one of these locally, intending to replace my MinoHD with it. This camera ended up being a disappointment to me. I really want to like it, but the reality is that the picture quality disappoints compared to the MinoHD.

PROs: LOTS of really nice features

Compact pistol-grip design that's comfortable to hold

Large, easy to view 3" LCD screen with rigid plastic screen to protect it

Uses SD/SDHC memory cards up to 32GB

Stereo audio

Standard h.264/AAC codecs compatible with Apple's iMovie '09

5X optical zoom, able to change zoom range while recording

Focus auto-adjusts while recording (not all cameras do this)

Ability to take decent 10MP still shots without having to switch modes

Has a flash for still pictures

Easy to navigate menu system with customizable shortcuts accessed by the joystick

Easy to operate joystick with positive click feedback that doesn't intrude while recording

Manual adjustments (full manual, shutter priority, aperture priority, noise reduction, auto-focus mode, exposure measure mode, etc.)

Comes with a lens cap to protect the lens

Tally light is on the top of the camera to the rear where the person holding the camera can see it and not where it's distracting to the person being recorded (VERY important when recording small children)

Easily accessible battery compartment / Battery cover is tethered by a plastic tab so it can't be easily lost

Standard tripod mount on the bottom

CONs: Picture quality requires a lot of tweaking in the manual settings to make it decent.

Low light performance is poor even for this class of camcorder

Electronic stabilization tends to soften the picture, sometimes to the point of making it appear to be out of focus

Color saturation results in a visual pleasing picture but inaccurate color reproduction

Focus and Exposure reaction seems to be fairly slow as well

Proprietary USB/AV port (I hate it when manufacturers eschew standard ports in favor or proprietary solutions. I'd rather have the camera be a little bigger to accommodate a mini-USB port as well as a mini-HDMI)

Proprietary HD Component cable NOT included

SD slot cover seems a bit flimsy

Camera cannot be used as a live camera with Macs, only with Windows PCs

Camera draws power from battery when used in card reader mode instead of drawing power from USB

Before I bought this camera, I did a lot of research on it, including viewing uploaded footage from this camera on Vimeo.com. Even though I've only had the camera two days, I've done a lot of testing with it.

Keep in mind that I'm not saying the MinoHD is the best camera out there, but it is certainly better in my experience overall. I simply compared the CG10 to the MinoHD, because the MinoHD is the incumbent.

I gave the CG10 3 stars because I love all the features that Sanyo put into it, but the picture quality is such a disappointment. One of the major features is the electronic stabilization, and I found it to reduce the picture quality more than it improved it.

I think that a camera's auto/program settings should produce a good basic picture that serves as the camera's baseline, and then any manual controls should serve to tailor that picture to your artistic needs or to make a good picture great. The Sanyo's auto/program settings produce a sub-standard picture that's soft to the extent that it looks out of focus, it suffers from serious motion blur, and in the end simply looks like widescreen standard definition. The manual settings only serve to make a bad picture look good if you can find the right settings for the shooting conditions. Having said that, I don't find this camera to be good for capturing those precious surprise moments that young children present us because you can't expect a good picture by simply pulling it out, turning it on, and starting shooting.

I think Sanyo should spend some more time with improving their stabilization, 9-pt auto-focus, and exposure measuring algorithms. Out of the box, it just doesn't perform, and the plethora of features simply cannot make up for that.

UPDATE: I still stand by my initial assessment of the VPC-CG10's picture quality, but after spending quite a bit of time playing with various settings, I believe I have found a good setup which probably should have been Sanyo's starting point in its auto/program modes.

1) Turn off the stabilization: While this helps a little bit in extreme tele situations, it actually seems to hurt picture quality otherwise, resulting in a blurry picture that appears out-of-focus. Turning off the stabilization does result in more shake and/or jitter, but the picture is quite a bit clearer. I personally do not believe that there is any decent alternative to optical image stabilization. They could drop this feature from the camera altogether, drop the price a little more, and then I would probably bump this camera up a star even.

2) Enable Single-Point AutoFocus: The 9-point AF algorithm spends a good deal of time "hunting", i.e. trying to find a focus point even when the camera is not moving. The single-point AF does a much better job of providing a clear focus. While still providing a softer picture than the MinoHD, it is a vast improvement over the 9-point AF's performance.

3) Set Exposure to Aperture-priority with f=3.5: This is the camera's widest aperture setting and will let in the most light through the lens. It will then adjust the shutter speed as necessary to provide a decently exposed picture. Fine tuning can then be adjusted via the EV adjustment, which can be assigned to one of the joystick shortcut positions.

With the above settings, I have been able to record some footage that I think is close to the MinoHD's quality, both in bright light and indoor lighting. If they either ditch the electronic stabilization altogether or replace it with optical IS, address the 9-pt AF's poor focusing algorithm, and either lock the aperture at 3.5 or put in a faster lens, Sanyo would have a very impressive camera on their hands.

One distinct advantage that the Xacti has over the MinoHD is its optics. At full wide angle, the Xacti has a much wider field of view than the MinoHD, whose fov is significantly narrower when compared even to its SD sibling, the FlipVideo Ultra.

After using this camera for a couple weeks along with the MinoHD and Sony's DSC-T900, I have to say that the Xacti VPC-CG10 is probably the best bang for the buck. I'd maybe bump up the rating by another star, but I don't think any of these pocket HD camcorders really deserve 5. And yes, I kept the Xacti and sent the MinoHD and T900 back.

I have read many many reviews about this camera and have looked at countless videos on YouTube about it. Radio Shack has a lot of reviews about it too.

Hopefully I can say something that hasn't been covered yet about this camera. First of all, there is a video cable that connects the camera directly to a HDTV. The number of the cable is Sanyo VCP-CPNT01U Component Output Cable for Sanyo WH1, TH1, CA9, CG10 Camcorders, and Amazon sells it for $. The cable is shown on page 159 of the manual.

Turn OFF the NOISE REDUCTION. To do this go to MENU 2 under the WRENCH MENU. It is actually the 5th MENU down. Go to NOISE REDUCTION, push SET, Then select OFF for both VIDEO NR and PHOTO NR. Push the MENU button to get out of there. I have never found a Noise Reduction on any camera that makes the pictures better. It usually degrades the quality of the pictures.

As others have said, put the FOCUS MODE to SPOT.

A good software program is AVS4YOU. Search for it. It is free to try and does a good job of playing and converting MPEG4 files to AVI or whatever.

Here is what I like about the camera:

You can join clips or cut out video with the camera in the playback mode. Manual PG 104-112.

You can take up to 11 pictures in sequence in the 10mb Photo mode. Pg 85 in the manual talks about that. To be direct, go to MENU, PHOTO, hit SET, Scroll down to 10mb burst mode, which is down past the .9meg picture selection. Just keep going down till you see it. It works great. Be advised it does not work with flash.

You can also put SEQUENTIAL (I don't know why they don't call it BURST) in your SHORTCUTS MENU. Page 128 in the manual. To do this go to MENU, then scroll down on the left side to MENU 2 under the WRENCH MENU. That is actually MENU 5 down from the top. Select SHORTCUTS, then SEQUENTIAL and push the SET button. Now once in the camera mode all you have to do to get Sequential is push the SET switch up. Pushing it up again puts you back in normal photo. Be advised if you have the photo set to 10mH (High) once you come out of the Sequential Mode the camera will go back to 10mS (Standard). To fix that you must go back to MENU 1, PHOTO, then select 10mH again.

You can take a photo just by pushing the PHOTO button while shooting video. Pg. 67.

It may not be a big photo file, but it works.

You can delete 1 picture, selected pictures, or all pictures in the camera. You can print from the camera. You can use the camera with the cable as a card reader. pg 145 of manual

I have found that using all the optical zoom, you can use 1/3 of the digital zoom and still get a good looking picture. I took a picture of my wife at 125 yards and could read the lettering on her shirt using the optical zoom and digital zoom at max. I am not saying this is the best thing to do, but in some situations that is the only way to get the shot. Optical and digital zoom max is 60X. The quality wasn't all that bad.

Macro goes down to .39 inches. You do have to set it to SuperMacro focus in the menu though.

To do that go to MENU, FOCUS, then select SUPERMACRO. Then push MENU to get back to the camera mode.

The ISO goes from 50 to 1600. Your best picture will be in the 50 to 100 ISO range. The higher the ISO, the more the noise in the photo/video. I noticed leaving the ISO in Auto is sometimes a mistake. I was going to take a picture and I knew the flash would go off. It was somewhat dark, but not very dark. When I looked at the screen the picture didn't look all that great. It was grainy and I could tell the Auto ISO setting was pretty high. I manually set the ISO for 100 and it totally cleared up the screen. I took the picture. It came out great. It was a little darker than I wanted, but the picture looked clear. I brightened the picture up with Photo software and the results were outstanding. While looking at the screen, you can adjust the ISO and instantly see how it is going to affect your picture. In some situations it is better to take charge of he ISO and set it manually.

In taking a photo, pushing the button half way down causes the camera to focus. Pushing it the rest of the way causes an almost instant shot with very little delay.

You can use the camera as a PC camera (like a monitor camera for your computer). Pg 150

In watching a video in playback, if you pause the video an image can be taken by pushing the PHOTO button. Pg 73.

There are a couple of things I don't like about the camera. One is the battery, but you can buy them on EBay. Search for "DB-L80 Battery". I found them for just over ten dollars for two. They are cheap and in most cases it also includes shipping. The battery that comes with the Sanyo is a 700mAh (Mili Amp Hour) battery. The two that I bought on Ebay are 980mAh. That means they are stronger and will play longer. They work great. So the battery isn't really that much of a problem after all.

The camera has a flimsy latch that covers the SDHC card. It is really flimsy. As a result, I just use the supplied cable and plug the camera into the USB slot on my computer to download files instead of taking the SDHC card out. The camera asks you if you plan on using it as a reader when you plug it in. Just click SET on that and the computer sees the drive instantly.

The last thing I don't like about the camera is the lack of a strap. I don't like holding a camera without something keeping it from hitting the ground if dropped. I found a couple on Amazon just doing a search under CAMERA STRAP. Nikon AN-CP14 Replacement Strap or Canon Metal Neck Strap 1 for All Elph Cameras, 34" Length. The cost is real cheap for either the metal necklace or the wrist strap.

Well that is it. I hope you enjoyed my review. Take care and get the camera. It is awesome for the price. I wish I could afford the Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD2000 "Dual Camera" with 8MP & 10x Optical Zoom "Full HD" 1080p Pocket Video Camera.. Wow, what a camera, but for $[WOW!]?

Oh, one last thing, the case. I found a really good cheap case for the camera. It is a Tamrac Explorer 15 (Model 5415) Compact camera case for slim-line cameras. The price is small and the shipping is free. The case is small, but the Sanyo fits in it perfectly. The front pouch is big enough for extra batteries.

At night, set the ISO to 1600, and the Sensitivity to HIGH. That is the best this camera can get in low light conditions. With the lights on in the house the camera did ok. The video was bright and looks good.

At night another accessory might be the answer. It is a video light. I have one and it works really great. Sima SL-20LX Ultra Bright Video Light (Silver). It works for about an hour before giving up the ghost. In most cases that is plenty of time. It comes with a bracket that mounts to the Sanyo. I found that mounting it catty corner (about 45 degrees) on the left side of the camera works really well. It is not in the way of the screen but right out there to provide the quality of light you need. Mounting on the right side interferes with your hand in holding the camera. Mounting it on the left side will not let the screen open fully. You have to mount it at about 45 degrees on the left side and then all works great. The light is really bright. I found that setting the ISO on 100 gives a great picture but the light only lights up clearly about 7 feet. If you need more lighting than that, set the ISO higher. Setting it at 1600 made the light really bright, and it made the whole area bright for the video. Maybe 1600 is the best place for this light. You have to experiment with it.

Addition:1/1/2010

Someone emailed me and said the video was shaking using Quicktime. It is jerky. If you have this problem there are several solutions. One is to download AVS4YOU. It is a free trail but the program costs money. Another is to download ACDSee Pro 3 but you have to pay for it too. The third solution is to download the latest version of Windows Media Player (version 11). The link is posted in the COMMENTS Section of this review. You must also have the CODEC that goes with Windows Media Player to play the MP4 extension. Do a search on Windows Media Player CODEC on Google. Select the link that says "Media Player Codec Pack, Free software downloads and software" The link is posted in the COMMENTS section of this review. That should solve your video shaking problem.

To force Windows to use Windows Media Player to play your video files, go to the directory where your video files are located. Put the curser on one of the video files and right click on it. Select PROPERTIES and click. On the screen near the top you see the OPENS WITH then the box CHANGE. Select CHANGE and scroll down till you find WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER. Click on that then click OK. Now at the bottom of the page click APPLY then OK and you are set.

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UPDATE: Watch ABC TV's "America's Funniest Videos" Sunday evening, November 14, 2010. It's their special $100,000 grand prize episode. Look for my video clip called "Raccoon Hug". My first 15 seconds of fame shot with this camera. Don't ask how I got the raccoon to do what you'll see. The clip survived numerous cuts the past several months, made the final cut and into the finale episode. I just received the phone call from Vin Di Bona Productions. This paid for the Sanyo VPC-CG10 camera!

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I'm going to try and answer some issues with this great camera because it makes me sick that so many issues listed here can be remedied by simply reading the manual for this GREAT CAMERA! I have had my VPC-CG10 since June and I love it. For a sub two hundred dollar camera, it is hands down the best. I tried around half dozen others and they all went back. This one is a keeper. The video quality, clarity, and color balance is on par with and better than some 1080P video cameras I've seen. I bought my red one at Radio Shack. Their website also has great reviews, tips, and advice about this camera.

sekander, did you burn it to a bluray dvd or HD dvd? Probably not, that's why you lost clarity. THE CAMERA SHOOTS IN HIGH DEFINITION VIDEO. If you're burning it to DVD, YOU ARE NOT BURNING IT IN HIGH DEFINITION. Your PC screen is HD. Your losing the HD when burning it to a DVD disc, cutting the resolution in half. Then you're making the video larger on a big screen... and you wonder why it's fuzzy?!?!?!? Just some things to think about.

The camera performs very well in low light, but not perfect, and if you can't make it do so, read the manual or study up on photography, lighting, and videos a bit before trashing the camera. I get GREAT results. Since Amazon doesn't allow web links, go to YouTube and search for my videos taken with this camera, search for user "MrJuanitoBandito". See my dim Thanksgiving 2009 restaurant video and my low light Delta 2 Rocket Launch, Sunrise.

I don't know how these people are getting fuzzy video other than operator error because this camera has the best video clarity I have ever seen in my life. Look at my other videos. The food in my Thanksgiving video is a bit fuzzy but that's because it was on the table about a foot away from the lens. I probably should have used the macro. Operator error.

The "ripply" or "tearing" effect in videos means you have a weak computer... it's NOT the camera guys and gals. It has to do with a few things, mainly the Flash Video format with web videos and/or your weak computer with videos and/or Quicktime AND the vertical refresh or synch setting in your video card's control panel... not the camera. I can suggest trying the FREE VLC Media Player program and you will see it less. If it still does it, adjust the vertical refresh or synch setting in your video card's control panel, buy a new computer and/or upgrade your video card to one with a MINIMUM of 256 megabytes of dedicated video RAM (VRAM) on board, the more the better. If your video card has that, try adding more system memory (RAM). Your PC is too weak for high definition video in MP4 format if none of these options works for you. Here's a test, watch one of my videos or any other on YouTube that's in HD. Click the HD button at the bottom right of the video, then the full screen button. If your PC locks up or the video is jittery and jumpy... if after trying the above options and they don't work, get a new PC or upgrade... yours is currently too weak. Every HD video on YouTube you should be able to watch in HD full screen, and it should be fluid like watching television, if you can't... you probably will have issues watching videos from this camera as well and maybe it's time for a new PC, processor, video card and/or upgrade. I recently had a friend that upgraded his processor from a Celeron to a Pentium 4 with HT and videos that he couldn't play before now play smooth, fluidly, and beautifully... full screen.

UPDATE ON THIS TEARING EFFECT ABOVE. Since upgrading my PC to Windows 7 Professional, which now supports MP4 video in Windows Media Player, I get the smoothest video ever with NONE of this effect above. It's gone!

Fuzzy video when you zoom? Again, take the time to read the manual and learn about the camera, read up on photography and lighting and video. The camera has both optical and digital zoom. Optical is real, mechanical zoom... the lens adjusts and moves. It is the best and usually satisfactory for my needs. I have digital zoom turned off because it's just cropping a portion of the last optical zoom... it's not REAL zoom like optical is. I read somewhere someone got good results after going about one tenth into the digital zoom then stopping, because after that it does get fuzzy... but ALL cameras with digital zoom do that... it's the nature of the zoom! Just remember, digital zoom is fuzzy... not the camera! Also, this is THE ONLY CAMERA in this price range that allows you to zoom in, to use the zoom, WHILE YOU ARE FILMING! A professional photographer once told me the best zoom was his feet.

"comparatively weak zoom"?!?! Compared to WHAT?!?!? 99.9% of cameras out there in this price range only have 3X optical zoom... IF they even have optical zoom... most cameras in this price range only offer digital zoom. This camera has 5X optical zoom as well! Complaints are being a bit petty. I think you work for a Sanyo competitor.

A "cheap" "flimsy" lens cover?!?! Again, Compared to WHAT?!?!? This is the only camera under two hundred dollars that comes with a lens cap! It's plastic. So? Aren't all lens caps? It snaps on. Don't all lens caps? Stop complaining, this camera blows away the competition in this price range. What were you expecting? A magnesium alloy lens cap with a 200 PSI vacuum seal? Come on, the camera sells for under two hundred dollars, not a thousand dollars. At least Sanyo had good sense to include a lens cap that works!

Audio? Take the towel off the camera because I can pick up people 25 feet away and on playback hear them crystal clear. Again, operator error. Watch my Ares 1-X rocket launch video on YouTube. When you hear the guy in the background "A four hundred and fifty million dollar bottle rocket...", remember this... he's behind me about two to three hundred feet away!

The camera doesn't lay flat? You knew this wasn't a conventional rectangular camera before you bought it just by looking at it! That's like buying a green car and complaining about the color AFTER you bought the car. BUY A 6" or 8" TABLETOP TRIPOD for $8-$10!

You DO NOT have to remove the tripod mount to replace the battery or download anything to the PC (I have no idea what camera he was reviewing here because it's not the VPC-CG10 I have). May I suggest you read the manual? If it is connected to a tripod... YES, you would have to remove it from the tripod to plug in the USB cable or change the battery. It takes about ten seconds to remove the camera from a tripod... no big deal. Next, just set the camera on the desk next to the computer! Are we getting a little petty about our complaints here? Or do you work for a Sanyo competitor or a life long fan of another manufacturer?

Battery life? About 45 minutes to an hour or so of continuous video shooting. I bought two more batteries on e-bay for $12 and that included shipping! Wow! It works for me!

Editing the MP4 videos made with this camera on the PC? I have used about a half dozen programs and they all gave me some sort of issue but that's the programs, not the camera. I have been using Microsoft Windows LIVE Movie Maker and it works just great for me without any issues (SEE comments of this review for more info). If I was a pro, I'd look into another program though with more options.

Buy a 6 speed/class SDHC card for this camera. If you use a 2 speed/class SDHC card, ANYTHING you do with this camera will really suck and you will be sorely disappointed thinking it's the camera's fault. These 2 speed/class SDHC cards are plentiful, common, and CHEAP! DO NOT USE THEM. A 4 speed/class SDHC card is MAYBE acceptable... barely. In reality though, anything less than a 6 speed/class SDHC card and your video playback will be slow and lag. I use both a 6 and 4 speed/class and am MUCH happier with the video and photographic results using the 6 speed/class SDHC card. I don't know what camera the reviewer below used saying it doesn't take 6 speed/class cards... my VPC-CG10 camera does.

I swear, either all these bad reviewers work for a Sanyo competitor, or they never read their manuals and/or don't know a thing about cameras (especially this one) or photography. I don't know what it is, but with almost all these bad reviews... I don't think they have the same camera as me!

That's all for now. I will update with more later when I have more time to read through these competitors bad reviews of this great camera. I hope I helped!

BUY THIS CAMERA! You won't be disappointed.

Read Best Reviews of Sanyo Xacti CG10 Dual Camera HD Flash Memory Camcorder with 5x Optical Zoom (Red) Here

I just bought this dual-cam recently and it's been great.

#1 it's made for portability I'm a guy and this fits in a pocket just fine.

#2 features unbelievable what Sanyo fit in this thing. 720p (vid quality is as expected for the price), photo during recording, Av/Tv priority, 7fps burst, built-in flash, in-camera editing, frame-by-frame in-camera playback, 5x OPTICAL zoom, (cheesy) image stabilization, focus/exposure lock, selectable iso, face recognition...etc etc

#3 build quality amazing it's a solid, well textured and designed little unit. It fits natural. The lcd is bright / clear / fast and its hinge is very strong. Feels very high quality, unlike my previous zi6. All parts are tight and smooth. The SDHC slot feels floppy though.

#4 for the $149 deal, it smokes anything else in its price range: zi6, flip mino hd, insignia, rca, vado as far as being a complete package.

It records just short of 4 hours on 16gb sdhc card at 720p. VGA / Youtube shooting is practically endless (12hrs?). eBay has some 900mah replacement batteries ~$5 each that get you ~50 mins video time per at 720p.

I got it mostly for golf swing videos the sports mode and 60fps 640x480 fits my needs perfectly. But I'm completely confident in bringing this camera to anything else and recording great videos no matter what they might be.

Want Sanyo Xacti CG10 Dual Camera HD Flash Memory Camcorder with 5x Optical Zoom (Red) Discount?

For the price, this is a great little dual camera. It is just the right size (easily fits in a pocket) takes good standard and HD video and acts as a servicable point and shoot digital camera.

Here are some cons:

* Proprietary USB What's up with that? Sanyo stick with micro or mini USB like every other camera on the market!

* 5X Optical Zoom Ok, I know you'd need a bigger lens for more zoom but for me I'd like a little more (12x would be fine).

* No HDMI cable with it I would have thought it would come with one

* Battery needs to be taken out to be charged.

* Camera sucks the battery down when plugged into the computer and it does not charge while plugged into the computer.

Here are some pros:

* Form factor I've never had a pistol type camera and I really like it.

* Controls are very simple and easy to use

* Love that you can snap a picture while recording video

* The 720p HD video is very good

* It speaks well with my Mac thanks to mpeg-4. Plug the camera in and it opens up my camera right in iPhoto '09

* Good flash for such a small camera

* Price and features for price paid

So I bought this camera to take quick video and it has not disappointed. I have been looking at this for a while but could not find it available anywhere until May 1. I purchased my camera at Radio Shack for $149 but even at $199 it's a good value. I tried an Apitek and Insignia and hated them both (and they were a pain to get to work with a mac). They were priced comperable and I don't think they hold a candle to this. I've heard good things about Flip Mino but I just don't like them.

So far so good. I highly recommend this camera to anyone looking for a dual camera that can be carried around in a pocket or purse for quick use when needed.