TASCAM CD-200i Professional Single CD Player w/iPod dock

• Plays audio CDs, MP3 CDs and WAV file CDs
• Dock connector for Apple iPod charging and playback
• iPod video playback from S-video or composite output
• CD TEXT and ID3 tag support
• Continue, Random and Program play modes

So I bought this "pro" CD unit because it has SPDIF (coax) digital outputs which would work well with my digital board. Digital connection is clean, you don't worry about levels, it cuts down on cable clutter, it leaves my analog inputs open for other things, etc. I was borderline on the iPod feature but thought that for $30 more, it'd be handy to have.

Was VERY surprised to find out that the iPod dock does NOT WORK thru the digital outputs! So I have to either resort to using the analog outs for everything, which is NOT what I bought a "pro" CD player for, or I have to have an extra pair of channels available just to play the iPod. If I wanted to do that, it would be MUCH simpler just to connect an 1/8" to 1/4" or RCA cable straight from my iPod to the board.

I'm thinking I will return this product as this is clearly unacceptable.

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Nice unit, but be aware that the Ipod dock does not work with the digital audio out connections. The Ipod and Aux only work with analog out. So, if you were hoping to get digital signal to your fancy DAC from your Ipod it's not going to happen with this unit.

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We were living with a 300 cd juke box that a professional company had installed about 10 years ago. Found I was enjoying listening to my iPod more. More current selections and just the songs I like from the albums in the juke box. So I wanted to be able to listen to iPod through our stereo system but not get rid of capability of playing a CD once in a while. This device fit the bill. The analog output was no big deal for me as in other reviews. That was how my juke box was wired anyway. My only complaint is that the iPod tray requires an Apple universal dock adapter. Think they could have included that with price or at least warned me that I needed one so I would have ordered with player.But other than that, I love it

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I was looking for an iPod docking station, and I came upon this Tascam deck, which has the docking station, but also allows you to play CD's! This definitely fills the bill for my purposes.

I bought an SKB 2U hard case for it, so I can take it on the road with me. I plug it into some JBL 210P speakers, and let the party begin!

We use this on our church sound system. We use an iPod for all of our background music. It works great and controls the iPod well. My only complant is the inability to enter CD track numbers on the face of the player. Unfortunately you have to use the remote to do it. Other than that we are satisfied with this player.

Coby DVD-211 Compact DVD Player with Progressive Scan

• Dolby digital decoder
• DVD, DVD+R/RW, CD, CD-R/RW, & JPEG Compatible/NTSC/PAL Compatible
• Digital and Analog AV outputs for Home Theater use
• Convenient on screen display/Picture zoom function
• Multiple language, subtitle, and camera angle support

I had this DVD player for about a month before it stoped working. It was playing one day. The next day it says invalid disc after it spins the disc for almost 10 minutes. I have tried every disc in my DVD collection and I even tried cleaning it with one of those lens cleaners. It still does NOT work. This DVD PLAYER SUCKS!!!!! I don't even want to put the warrenty into effect it stopped working after a month why would I want another one. This is the first and last coby product I will ever buy in my life.

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I used it for only few hours. The unit is very noisy and it takes a while to start playing and it gets very worm. Now it does not play at all I tried different CD, DVD still no play I only get "Invalid Disc" after waiting for a while as usual.

Also noticed sparks when plugging the unit in and also the disc keeps turning even when the unit turned off, but still plugged in!!!

It's been only a month I bought this unit and it only worked few hours. I noticed looking at other reviews for COBY product DVD-233 it's with same story for those units.

I never buy COBY products again, I think someone should investigate the company for "product quality check" management and convince them to get in some other business, simply I don't think microelectronics is for them.

My advice is don't be fooled by the looks and their so called cheap price (It does not worth for that price if you want to use it as "statue" or a place holder on your shelf); for this invest only in name brands even they cost more; but think, how much you will save on headache pills later on.

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DVD player worked the first time I used it. After that it no longer reads any discs. It is also extremely hot and smells like it's burning up inside. It'll be in the e-waste pile on the next trip. Don't waste a little money on a Coby, spend more money wisely on something else.

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Portable and light-weight, this is a great DVD player for small spaces or rooms. You can easily carry it anywhere without the hassle of bulkiness. Decently priced. I have one and am very satisfied with it.

About five minutes in the DVD the sound ends and the picture breaks in sections, and acccording to my repairman the bushings are worn to create the waffles to ooperate the DVD I have to stand it on it sides so it will work

Philips All Region Free Hi-Def 1080p Up-Converting DVD Player (Free TAMZ Brand 10 Feet HDMI Cable)

• Region Code Free 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 PAL NTSC, built in 3 way converter PAL to NTSC and NTSC to PAL you can connect to any TV
• HDMI 1080p upscales to high definition for sharper pictures
• Multi Zone Code Free Playback DVDs Divx XVID AVI files
• 100~240V 50/60Hz World-Wide Voltage
• PAL/NTSC Play Any Region DVD's - Best Region Free DVD Player

This is an amazing product from Philips..! Really loved it.

Best feature I liked is that you can copy MP3 songs being played to USB by one button.

The Product Model is NOT C-1080p(as described by the seller). It is actually DVP3560/F7 for Worldwide use (110-240V). Actually, there is no C-1080p product model on Philips website too. 1080p is the upscaling capability of product.

For all those who are looking for a worldwide use DVD Player, I would definitely recommend DVP3560/F7. 110-240V can be checked on the back of the dvd player.

The most funniest thing is that brochure (leaflet) for this product on Philips website is NOT UPDATED, it says 120V, 50Hz which is incorrect & misguiding.

Hope you all will enjoy it as I am enjoying.

Happy Playing..!

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It is easy to use and works well. Will review in depth later, once I get to Europe because I don't have a dvd with European specs.

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I had to buy a DVD player that could handle the PAL format, the European format which could not be played on the DVD player I owned, which only plays NTSC format. It does a beautiful job. I've very satisfied.

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FAST DELIEVER PLAYS ALL REGIONS OF DVD'S GREAT PICTURE EASY TO USE I AM VERY HAPPY WITH THE DVD PLAYER

The buzzing noise of this device when it plays makes listening and viewing very difficult. Ratings appear to be erased to avoid bad scores for this devise. This makes me believe Amazon and the seller are in the business of trying to sell defective products. Lost $17 returning this thing. Don't buy it!!

Zmodo 16CH H.264 Video DVR Security Surveillance Camera System With 8 Night Vision IR Outdoor Surve

It works, not on my iPad but that's another story.

Do not bother to contact Zmodo itself, they will not cannot help you with set up. You need a basic knowledge of port forwarding on a router or it will not work.

The cameras are mediocre quality picture wise but you can see. I don't think they could last a month outdoors. If you need outdoor cameras, these will rot before sun up.

So, the system works with your intuitive extensive IT abilities. The cameras work but don't ask me to pick someone from a police line up-they all look alike. Stay indoors.

I guess the next option up will triple the price but they will see your face, last years outside and have trouble free viewing.

A must have for every home. if something happens then just view footage. law enforcement liked it too. easy to use

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Very good product, the cameras despite being small fully comply with its purpose, the image quality is unmatched, the DVR with 1TB hard drive is more than enough, the installation is easy, and also settings, cables electricity and video are of excellent quality, the only thing I did not like was the packaging of the cameras, very poor, should improve the packaging:

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Sony HDR-HC1 2.8MP High Definition MiniDV Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom

The Sony HDR-HC1 is a groundbreaking camcorder that brings the ability to record high definition video down to the level of consumers, albeit high end ones at current prices. It's not perfect, especially with the additional outlay this requires for Sony's omissions in battery life and editing, but it's one of those rare gadgets that actually lives up to the hype. Given the breakthrough it represents it deserves 5 stars.

Size and features are the first thing you notice. At 1.5 lbs (closer to 2 with the larger battery), this rests comfortably in my hand with only the lens portion sticking out beyond it. Even if it's substantially longer than miniDV models, I've actually stuffed this in a large Bermuda shorts pocket and it and a belly pack seem perfect for each other for hand free carrying. Kudos to Sony for recognizing that all the technology in the world doesn't help if your toy is sitting at home and you're not. This is also well designed for ease of use. The basic controls (record, shoot still, zoom/widen, and power/function) are all accessible using your thumb and index finger, and the touchscreen LCD lets you select any of the plethora of menu controls. As far as filming, point and click works perfectly fine, and the steady cam feature noticably helps up to about 4-6x zoom (go past that and you'll need a tripod as the camera is so small even slight twitches will ruin your shot.)

Most importantly, picture quality is quite good. It's not IMAX-quality, but even on my brutally demanding Sharp LC-45GX6U recordings from the HDR-HC1 are equivalent to much HD content currently available think of it roughly like an HD show segment shot out in the field someplace rather than with fixed million dollar cameras. With 1 rather than 3 CCDs like the FX1, there had been some worry about performance at lower light levels, but it's actually not that bad. The only thing I've noticed is a slight lack of color gradiation; I recently filmed a magnificent red sunrise and while the HDR-HC1 got the main reds in marvelous detail, it did miss some of the subtle differences in the reds that were turning to pink. Unless you're an aspiring filmmaker, not a big deal. (If you want to film at no light levels, turn on the infrared nightshot mode it's like using nightvision goggles, along with the drawbacks that a light source overwhelms the shot and you're limited to a smaller area in which you can film.) Sound quality is surprisingly good for a couple of small embedded mics. The 2.8 MB still camera is good enough to leave your Cybershot at home unless you're a dedicated photographer and 10x optical zoom from it beats most everything on the market, although it does lack some of the features of the camcorder like digital zoom.

Where I'd take a star off if this weren't such a technological breakthrough is that by omitting some necessary items Sony seems intent on you spending several hundred dollars more on accessories to get full functionality from this. To start, you'll need a second and preferably third generation Memory Stick Duo Pro (the second generation sticks out from the side, the first doesn't work) to use still camera features as it includes only a paltry 16MB card good for all of about 11 pictures in 1920x1440 mode.

More serious are issues with battery life and editing. You'll need at least the medium and preferably the large optional batteries (the expensive Sony OEM versions, since aftermarket ones don't fit) as despite its touting of CMOS this chews them up. (The only good news is the heavier battery provides better balance to the front-heavy aspect of this.) Second, editing HD video streams on your PC is painful as most video editing programs on the PC don't coexist well with HDV's native mT2 streams. Windows Media Encoder crashes when I've tried to directly edit them despite my use of a three month old dual-processor monster for this. (Mac users as usual seem to be reporting a bit less of a problem).

Why is editing on a PC such a big deal? Well, despite another review claiming otherwise (along with gratuitous HD bashing they got a number of features wrong) HD video shot on this isn't stuck on the DV tapes forever. The inclusion of a Firewire output here means you can output HD video easily. (Although as pointed out elsewhere, yet another 'optional accessory' is the required 4 pin to 4 pin Firewire cable see my reviews to find a good one for cheap.) The problem is that while you can store HD video from this easily and forever on a D-VHS recorder (see my reviews again if you're not familiar with the technology), you can't transfer it directly to there for some highly technical reasons (too high transmission rate from the camera versus what the recorder will take, apparently). So then, the 80% of people who aren't using a Mac but who are using this for HD recording have no choice but to turn to using a PC-based editor as you HAVE to put this on a PC before archiving it to D-VHS. That becomes an issue as you'll have a. find an editor that accepts mT2 (potentially a several hundred dollar outlay since the demo versions are usually crippleware), b. convert the stream to something more editing friendly (time and processor consuming), and c. then finally archive it to D-VHS or a 10 GB file (that you can split across DVDs in HD format) This is why the lack of a good editor isn't nitpicking but vastly reduces functionality here, as without one you're basically stuck displaying raw HD video stuck on DV tape. So, yes, the lack of included PC editing capability here is a big drawback on several levels.

Despite the fact you'll likely have to drop another few hundred dollars getting this up to where it's fully functional, don't get me wrong. This is one of the best gadgets I've bought in a long time. I'm sure in a decade we'll be laughing at how complicated and funky this was compared to something that could record on 2nd generation Blu-ray and edit on the fly, but despite these limitations this is a truly groundbreaking camcorder. I view the progression here as almost akin to moving from Super 8 to VHS for the consumer, which brought the modern age of camcorders to be. Despite the two minor omissions, highly recommended, especially for preserving images of older loved ones for the next 50 years in a format your unborn grandkids will not view as antique. One final note: dealer cost on this is rumoredly $1500-1600, so be very careful about those offering to sell you one or two for half that price!

I bought this camera and here is my assessment so far:

PROS:

1. Small. I would very happy with the size when I opened the box as I was worried that a HDV camera and quality lens would make for a large camera. No, it's no a tiny camera, but comparable to most mid-priced bodies in the market. But unlike the mid-market cameras, the HC1 is a HDV power house.

2. Image quality is breath taking. If you are a new parent or just want your images to stand the test of time, this is a great camera to invest in now since the future is HD

3. Feels great in your hand. Solid build and feel.

CONS:

1. Camera is slightly front-heavy. This is not a big deal since you will need a bigger batter which balances the weight perfectly (see next comment.)

2. Standard battery is simply not acceptable. Gets about 40 minutes of recording time, if you are lucky. Get the xxx71 Sony battery at a minimum or the xxx91 for extended recording (although this batter is very long and heavy. I went with the 71 and am pleased with it.)

3. Memory stick. When is Sony going to understand this is terrible for customers and they should simply use standard memory not this proprietary crap?

4. Only 'OK' in low light situations. Not bad, mind you, and better than 95% of the cameras on the market which all struggle with this, but for a 2K camera, I was hoping for a little better. But again, the low light is acceptable.

5. No firewire cable. This is a must for putting movies on your computer, and the fact that you have to spend another 40 bucks for it after dropping 2 grand on the camcorder is simply insulting. Sony, needs to get its act together and not cheat its prosumer customers.

On balance, I think this is a great camcorder and a great investment in capturing your memories in the format of the future.

Finally, as another poster mentioned, working in HD (and video in general) is definitely easier on a Mac.

My wife who hates technology loves doing video and pictures on her Mac, and easily shares them on her .Mac account. If you are consider this camcorder--or any other for that matter--definitely consider investing in a Mac too. It makes the post production a ton of fun and a highly creative process vs. "trying to figure basic things out for hours on end like her PC experience."

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I have had mine for over three weeks now and am very impressed. The simple ability to capture true 1080i video is amazing. I finally have home video I can play on my HDTV and not cringe at the poor resolution.

The 3MP camera is also quite good. It doesn't replace a normal digital camera, but I found the shots to be decent. The nice thing is being able to shoot pictures in widescreen mode and play them back on your HDTV. It is the best way to view photos that I have seen.

There are some minor downsides. The bottom loading tape is a pain for tripod filming. The viewfinder is too short when using a large battery. The focusing system is a bit challenging as it can take a while to lock. It also takes a while to figure out the stability settings so your video does not look choppy.

I recommend a great user site at sonyhdvinfodotcom. The user forums are invaluable for understanding the nuances of the camera.

Overall, a tremendous camera for a very good price.

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I shoot those little movies that help me to focus the ideas and settings of my books (available on Amazon). I also produce marketing and training videos for my software business. For that I switched to HD a year ago and bought that Sony HDR-FX1, which is an excellent camera. HD format is always 16x9 and uses higher resolutions up to 1920 pixels. There are many formats and 24, 25 and 30 frames per second in interlaced and progressive recording. Be aware of that.

I just bought a HC1 and here are my impressions. In my opinion (and on comparison tests) the HD video quality of the HC1 is identical to even the professional cameras mentioned below. But that obviously has to be understood as an electronics feature and not in terms of lenses or usability for movie production. The HC1 just produces more video noise in low-light conditions.

Why did I buy the HC1:

1) size: people behave unnatural in front of a large camera

2) second camera angle is ideal in some scenes

3) portability: pro quality in any location

4) picture quality for later editing

HD prosumer camcorders:

JVC JY-HD10U $2800, larger,

Sony HDR-FX1 3-CCD $3000+, larger, better lenses,

Sony HDR-HC3 not yet out $1000+ smaller, less features

HD pro camcorders:

SONY HVR-Z1U 3 CCD, $4500, smallest pro cam

JVC GY-HD100U 3 CCD, $5000+, interchangable lenses

Canon XL-H1 3 CCD, $9000+, interchangable lenses

What does HD mean to you:

Mostly higher cost and more issues if you want to edit on a PC. I had to spend $3000 for Adobe Premiere Pro 2 and a dual-dore processor with 2GB of RAM to make it work. Get Cineform's Aspect-HD for good editing performance. The best consumer HD-capture is done by the Sony DVGATE software. Sony Vegas is a good editing program too. Most HD-video formats can not be played on a normal PC unless you downgrade it to 720x480. Getting HD format onto a DVD is a similar complex path.

Conclusion:

HD quality is pricey and if you don't enjoy solving problems then PC editing is not for you. Should you buy the HC1? YES! Why? The quality of the original tape is always the most important. You can record in HDV and watch it on your HDTV. You can downgrade it to DV for PC editing or for DVD and convert it to HD-DVD later, once the equivalent harddisk recorders get to the market a year from now.

A last tip: The future is harddisk recorders. I already use a CitiDISK HDV to record without tape. In one year most high-end camcorder models will have harddisk recorders rather than tape. And HD will be the norm and not the exception. But there will always something new and life just goes on ...

ENJOY AND RECORD IT NOW!

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Always wanted to get HDTV footage so I had bought the Sony FX1 before this and I had to return it as it was too heavy and too big for normal everyday usage. Dont get me wrong I loved the camera but the FX1 attracts attention whenever you shoot with it.(and my wife found it too heavy :) ) So I was glad to see the Sony HC1 which was lighter and smaller. I just got it yesterday and I shot the same footage as I did with the FX1 and compared the two videos. I have to tell you that the extra $1300-1500 for the sony FX1 is really worth it if you are shooting in the night or lower than bright sunlight. The difference is really noticeable. The videos of HC1 is much too noisy and grainy. the colors tend to get smudged a lot. Details are lost. I guess this is expected for single CMOS camera. Comparitively the sony FX1 footage of the night shot was much nicer and sharper and looked more natural. It looked high definition and was cleaner. I really liked the quality of the FX1 videos.

Another thing I noticed was the auto focusing was really slow in the night for the HC1 and it takes significant time to lock the focus and by that time you will lose the shot. It was a nightmare to shoot from a moving car in the night. It took so long to focus onto something that all I got was a burry blob.

Daytime shooting was much better and colors are bright and realistic. Its comparable to FX1.

If you tend to shoot indoors and in lower lighting than the optimal light (the bright sun)..expect to get grainy and smudged videos.

Maybe I am being too critical with this HC1 camera because I used the FX1 first and had something to compare the quality with. Maybe people who buy this first will never know the difference and will be very happy with the quality.(it is still much better than DV)

I am sure we will be getting the FX1 quality in an HC1 package sometime soon.....

Franklin AnyBook Reader - 60 Hour Edition (DRP-4000)

Last month, a new product from Franklin Electronics called AnyBook Reader was launched. It is aimed at the working, busy or traveling parent, far-away grandparent, or any other long distance relatives, who want to bond with a child even when they are apart. It's an interactive reading device that allows you to read & record any book in your personal library in your own voice and then allows your toddler (who may or may not know how to read yet) to follow along with their favorite books and your voice, so that you're reading the book instead of the Nanny!

AnyBook can be purchased through Amazon and Barnes & Noble. There is a 15-hour version ($39.99), and a 60-hour version ($59.99).

Ok, now that you have seen the press release let me tell you all about it.

AnyBook comes with a selection of blank stickers for recording your voice. There are also stickers that have sounds recorded in them if appropriate to the book (dog, firetruck, rain, crying, etc). The stickers are made to be removed and won't ruin your pages. You can even re-record on them or order more if you run out.

You touch the button on the pen to start the record mode. You hear a few beeps and it is ready for you to record. That's it! So easy!

Last week I quickly and easily recorded two books so that I could carry it everywhere with me. My first stop was the school where I was meeting with my son's teachers and therapists.

I opened the first book and put the reader to the sticker. They heard the book being read through the pen and then I opened the next book to show them how the reader will read anything I record into the sticker. They all looked at me in amazement.

I was asked, "how do you get the recording". I explained that I touch the pen to a sticker that I place on the page, the pen counts down and I record the page into the pen by reading. They actually thought it was Ruby on the Max and Ruby book so they were at first confused. When I told them it was me doing characters that is when they were all amazed.

Everyone stated the same thing; they have seen other readers out there but you have to literally buy books from the maker of the pen. That is what makes this pen so much better! You can literally read/record your children's favorite books and they can hear you read to them anytime.

It is the easiest thing and so personal. I love this idea for military families especially but I think this is great for anyone. Perhaps your children don't get to see their grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends often. They visit you once or twice a year. They could read a book or two for the child into the pen and your child can hear them anytime they want.

Another friend had asked about the stickers and if they can put on other things. Sure, why not. This got me thinking how great this would be for a baby learning speech or perhaps someone trying to learn another language. Place the sticker on anything, record what it is and the person can actually learn speech.

What a great gift idea. Imagine a child on your Christmas list opens a book of books with the pen that you have already recorded the books on! This pen says "love".

Finally! ... a reader that is not limited to buying those special reading systems and the accessories for them. This is like the reading pens, but you can use the books you already have or would rather have for your children AND you record your own voice into it. So, you can personalize the story using your kids' names or by using your own character voices. It comes with sheets of removable stickers that are used to identify your recording. For example, you adhere a sticker on each page of your book. Then, you turn the reader on, touch the sticker with the reader to activate the sticker and then you record your voice reading the page. It also comes with an assortment of pre-recorded stickers with sounds on them (animals, phone ringing, clapping, etc.) to add to the story. My kids have fun with it. You can get creative with it, too. I can totally see myself eventually using this for their school items, crafts, albums, etc.

Buy Franklin AnyBook Reader - 60 Hour Edition (DRP-4000) Now

Now there are not many nights that I miss storytime with my boys before bed, but there are the few nights I do and there are times when they want to read a book by themselves. I am not saying there is a total substitution for a parent reading to their child, but their is a device that can now help out a little. The AnyBook Reader by Franklin Electronic Publishers is a device that allows a parent (or another significant adult) to read a book into a microphone-like device and record themselves reading the book. What is nice about the AnyBook Reader is you can use it with any book in your child's library and you can use it with multiple books at one time! (There is a 15 hour and 60 hour version.) You place a small sticker on the corner of the book pages and record each page individually, then your child can tap the sticker and hear you read the story! So no more buying special books and/or cartridges, just buy new stickers when you run out. The stickers use a special glue that won't damage a book and can be removed at any time. A pack of stickers is $9.99 and contains 10 sheets of ready-to-program stickers, each containing 20 stickers for a total of 200 stickers. You'll also get 4 new sheets of sound-effect stickers (80 more stickers).

Setting up a recording and deleting a recording is very easy, almost too easy that I thought for sure I was forgetting something! The stickers are easy to remove but unless your child really picks at them they should stay on just fine. There is a little feedback in the microphone so make sure the room you do the recording in is very quiet (like naptime or after bedtime!) I really though like this idea and it is so easy and quick to do. I could have a basic book done in minutes from adding the stickers to the pages to recording it. What makes this product really unique though is that it is your own voice that you are recording, so not a strangers or a robot voice. This would be especially great for a grandparent to record (and easy for them to use), a deployed military parent or other family member. My sons got a kick out of hearing my voice and now its funny they look for the white stickers in all their books! The AnyBook reader may be a little bit more upfront than other readers (about $60) but its your voice and its any book your child wants! Really you could use these stickers on anything you want to record a message on the possibilities are endless!

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"AnyBook reader uses a simple touch, record, and playback process. A special optical reader, built into the tip, reads unique codes imbedded in the designs of the stickers included with AnyBook reader. It's similar to the way a scanner at the grocery store reads barcodes. Each sticker code is unique. When a voice recording is associated with a sticker placed on a page, Anybook-Reader stores the recording and "remembers" which sticker has been associated with the recording. Touch the sticker again and AnyBook reader plays back the correct recording."

It takes a little time to get this going, but once it's done, your child can have a book 'read' to him any time he wants!!! It's easy for my kids to use and they love being able to play with it on their own. They even like to just record their own voices on the reader.

If your child doesn't know how to read yet, the Anybook reader won't help them follow along. It isn't like a tag reader where you run the pen across a word and it 'reads it'. You simple touch the reader to the sticker and then the whole page is read to your child. But if your child can read even a little bit, this Anybook reader will be a helpful teaching tool.

It comes with a bunch of stickers, and you can always record over a sticker if you are done using it in a certain book. But you can also buy more stickers if you don't want to record over any of them. The stickers don't damage our books and we can easily remove them if needed.

This is a fun tool.

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I can't believe I haven't heard of this product before, it's genius! My son is learning to read and constantly wants my husband and I to read books to him. We were happy to do so, until my son got turned on to the 100+ page per book "Captain Underpants" series. It's a cute series (we bought them all), but requires quite the time commitment to read through, and my son wants to read them constantly. I searched online for "reading pen," and found this. All the other systems required special books, so they were not Captain Underpants-friendly.

To record, you turn on the pen, hold the power button for 3 seconds to go into "recording mode," touch the sticker, then hold the volume-up button while you record that page (I only put stickers on the left side and read both pages to conserve stickers). Then you let go of the button, put the sticker on the next page, and repeat. Then hold the power button 3 seconds again when you're done recording to exit recording mode. Very simple. Directions for deleting recordings are equally simple, and the stickers can be removed/changed so you can move them if your child gets sick of a particular book. The stickers are reasonably priced, though, so I already ordered some extras. Only the white ones and pictures of faces can hold recordings, the others contain sound effects that you can add as desired. They seem to be easy to move/remove from pages as the company claims.

The only cons: the sound quality isn't great, especially when you're reading louder or making loud sound effects. It helps if you don't hold the pen too close to your mouth while you're talking. Even then, not super quality, but my son doen't seem to mind. When you're holding the button while recording, sometimes it "rocks" back and forth a little which results in a loud clicking sound on the recording. This is the biggest problem I've encountered so far.

Overall, it's a great value. When you consider that it costs $25-30 for those "record your own" Hallmark books that contain only one story, and you can record about 10 with this depending on length of the book (it comes with 22 sheets of 20 recordable stickers, I think), it's a much better deal. When you add the fact you can use it on any of your child's favorite books, it's a slam dunk. It's also a great gift idea for a child that can't yet read or has parents who sometimes travel. A+++!

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Vivotek 1-CH Dual Codec Video Server VS7100

I have one of these already, not from this seller. They work great to convert a CCTV camera to IP signal for recording to a network server and for live viewing from the web browser. This seller HDVideoDepot has not sent a shipping confirmation and the product was ordered 10 days prior to today. I would love to have the product, but I may have to cancel this order and find another supplier that can get it to me tomorrow. I give 4 stars for the product and 0 stars to the company for no response. Please correct his issue as soon as possible.

I bought one of those $500 wired security systems (made by First Alert) from Menards. It comes with for cameras, its own monitor for viewing and a built-in DVR for recording. But I wanted a way to view the video feed from elsewhere in the house. This item fits the bill! I just plugged in a coax from the output of the First Alert to this video server, then plugged an ethernet cable to a network hub.

It did take a little configuring... you have to use a program on the CD to initially configure it, and this program works only on Windows. All I have are Macs. The program would not work using Parallels (which lets you run Windows on the Mac within Mac OS X). But I do have a Macbook with Windows installed in Boot Camp, which lets you boot up the lap in native Windows mode. The program ran fine that way. The important thing in using the program is to initially set the IP address for the video server. Once you do that, you can just configure the device with a web browser.

Another nice thing is the built-in web server of this device does not use Java or Flash to serve the video, so the video is viewable on iPads.

Also, I was concerned with the small size of this device that it would get hot (devices that process video tend to create a lot of heat). But it runs cool as a cucumber.

Buy Vivotek 1-CH Dual Codec Video Server VS7100 Now

bulls-i ETK-B3500 2 Channel HD Vehicle Drive Recorder w/Full Touch LCD - Car Black Box

• 2 Channel Series (Front Camera and Rear Camera) can be recorded at once!
• Excellent quallity video up to 720P HD Resolution!
• Live preview and playback via 2.4" Full Touch LCD!
• GPS, speed tracking, route location recording, voice guidance and more!
• Easy to set its configuration!

I will proudly be the first to review this product! First off, I must say, I heard about this product while I was in South Korea. I noticed that everyone had a bulls-i or some kind of camera in their car, and I had never seen them before. I therefore bought one, because I figured video evidence for my own liability while driving was not a bad idea...

Why I chose this one of all the others?

As of early October is was a brand new release!I am that kind of shopper.

I wanted HD quality with at least a front and back camera.

I wanted to use it as a back up camera for my SUV, when pulling of out the driveway. (The LCD display lets you do that)

The MAIN reason I chose this bullsi was simply because of how much more production power they have compared to all the other manufacturers of these "Car Black Box Cameras". Like I said, when I was in Korea, car cameras were very popular and there was a lot of different options. However, bulls-i was by far the most common one, and there is no doubt for the reason why. These car cameras are manufactured by a Korean Software Company called Ether Technology. Which is actually a huge software company over there that makes software for mobile cell phones. Thus, it was apparent to me that these guys were not only able to but were producing a very quality product. They seem to be moving slightly from cell phones and focusing on these car cameras that they are having a lot of success with. Overseas they harp on how low their unit failure rate is because it is all run by the Micro SD card, which leaves a really slim chance for a camera (that records 24/7)to fully fail. Plus, in the future they are promising a Wifi unit to be streamed live to a cell phone. Very impressive stuff.

After I bought it what do i think?

This unit is a little larger than i would like.

I do actually use the LCD display for backing up.

It works, VERY maintenance free. Don't even have to touch it. Even records when the car is off.

Good looking HD quality video. You can check it out on the bulls-i.com home page. They have a video of it there.

The software it comes with is pretty cool. I can play back both front and the back videos are the same time, look at the speed, google maps locations and zoom in for license plate numbers.

Overall, I am very satisfied. Eventually these things are going to be huge in the United States when people realize the capability and reason for these things. I have a younger daughter and she is an AWFUL driver! And now you know exactly what she is getting for christmas!

YesI am banking on these cameras saving me money in the future.

Sony CCD-TRV68 Hi8 Camcorder

I really enjoy this camcorder. Lots of features, reasonably priced. My biggest complaint is that it comes with only a 2 hour battery, and upgraded batteries are expensive, but that is not a specific problem with this camcorder, but a general issue. I really like the infrared capabilities and steady shot features. You may want to upgrade to the TRV88 I believe, which provides a Video Link capability, which can transmit the 8mm taped image directly to your TV with the optional ...tv receiver. It would keep one from having to connect the camcorder to the TV via cables to view the images on the TV screen. The LCD playback screen on this camera works well and is pretty easy to view.

I am very pleased with the overall quality of picture with such a decent price tag. I finally committed to buying one with a less than $400 budget. Drawbacks are 2 hour battery life, upgrade is about ($$) bucks after including a quick charger, BUT I have not drained it yet and it charges quickly (4 hours). The steadyshot must work great because I feel that I am shaking like a leaf yet the picture is relatively stable. I wanted to be able to download video to my PC for editing and unfortunately realized that it requires another component (Dazzle Video kit ($$). Also, the lens cap gets in the way, I plan on replacing the tether with a longer one to keep it away from your hand grip. It accepts filters for UV, etc. and were less than ($$) bucks. Overall good choice.

Buy Sony CCD-TRV68 Hi8 Camcorder Now

The camera is undoubtedly very good, but the lack of a remote was so disappointing that I exchanged it for the Canon ES8200V. In your descriptions, this was not noted. I had a remote on my previous Sony, and it was invaluable in editing my tapes to VHS. I didn't feel like I should spend the additional price for a Sony with a remote.

Read Best Reviews of Sony CCD-TRV68 Hi8 Camcorder Here

I bought this camera slightly used in mint condition and I'm fairly impressed with it. The steadyshot function and nightshot are excellent features. However, I'm selling it, because you cannot take still shots, and it costs you an extra [money amount]for a media converter if you want to review/edit your videos on your computer. But, it is a good camera if you like watching home videos on your TV.

Want Sony CCD-TRV68 Hi8 Camcorder Discount?

I recieved this camera as a gift and used it 6 times before the amplifier went out, so that when you were watching your videos-you got sound, but no picture. This happened with our first camera, but you could see the video but there was no sound-also the amplifier. Unfortunatly it didn't fall under warranty so we have a broken camera lying around and must buy a new one. I give it three stars because for the time that I was able to use it, it was a great camera. If you do decide to buy this one-maybe think about an extended warranty?

Sony BDP-S580 Blu-ray Disc Player (Black)

• Enjoy 3D Blu-ray Disc movies in Full HD 1080p--also supports standard Blu-ray Disc movies in HD and upscales DVDs to near HD quality
• Instantly stream a wide variety of movies, TV shows, live sports, videos, and music from Netflix, YouTube, Pandora, Hulu Plus and many more
• Free, downloadable "Media Remote" app for your iPhone, iPad, or Android phone turns it into a versatile remote
• Connect your digital camera, USB-enabled MP3 player, or USB storage device to enjoy videos, photos, and music on the big screen, Region (Blu-ray: A, DVD: 1), Power - 120VAC, 60 Hz
• Built-in Wi-Fi for an easy connection to your wireless broadband network; media streaming from DLNA Certified devices

We have had excellent experiences with Sony video and audio products. Their devices cost a little more than their competitors but they are high quality, last a long time, and are easy to use. All of our electronics (except computers) are Sony. This blu-ray is no exception. Easy to setup, easy to use, some surprise features, quiet.

Well the problem is on demand video from netflix or amazon or any other service. It simply doesnt work... often. Its registered, and I verified it with Sony. Its connected to the internet with no problems and the browser works. Movies stream no problem on my PC. We have 6Mbs DSL so movies stream no problems on our PC. I even placed it in the DMZ to allow all ports to talk to it without restriction, no dice. Netflix has the unit registered and it is receiving data. It connected wired and wirelessly with neither working correctly with on demand video services.

We got 1 movie to work only. All the rest of the time it doesn't connect to the service or is only partially connected. The one time we were able to watch a movie it was flawless with no hiccups.

NOTE: If you want to watch blu-ray currently as of this posting you need 10mbs internet speed.

We are very very sad. We specifically bought this for Netflix and can't use it. This is why the unit gets 4 stars and not 5.

If anyone knows something we don't please let us know.

--LATER

Well we found the problem. If you get an IP address for the unit from DHCP it will cause connection problems. Once we assigned the unit a static IP address (manual) with mask, default gateway, and both DNS (manual) the unit works flawlessly. DNS servers that worked: 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4

---2 MONTHS LATER

For best speed and connectivity set the DNS to Google's DNS servers (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4). Don't use your DSL/Cable Modem Router as DNS.

---18 MONTHS LATER Aug/2012

With the new updates for the Sony device we now rarely have a problem with movies not loading, in fact I cant remember the last time it didnt load. Occasionally a movie/show does hiccup on Netflix and stop. You just hit the "menu" button and restart it. Its probably a packet loss over the internet. We have cable modem so I am not sure if the same effect happens on DSL. Sony is constantly adding new channels to our list. We actually got rid of cable, $70 a month for basic cable, in favor of just Netflix, VUDU, and Amazon. Between those 3 you can get just about anything. Still love the product and no I dont work for Sony ;) Your welcome to all in which my post has helped.

*Angy's husband, Al.... in house tech support*

Buy Sony BDP-S580 Blu-ray Disc Player (Black) Now

[This is a long review warranted by the number of features of the BDP-S580. I want to try to provide as much relevant information as I can in an attempt to make this as useful to you as possible. If you only want a one line "this is great" review, I apologize, but some folks like details :) I know I do.]

IMPORTANT NOTE: I have added a number of updates and edits over time to keep this review up to date. Be sure to check those as they can show resolutions to earlier problems I experienced. Typically I left the original issues in place in the review, followed by an Edit with a resolution, so that other people running into the same problem may be able to find answers.

Some background...

This was bought to replace an older Sharp HP20U Blu-Ray player and some of the features of a DLink DSM-520 network media player. After also having owned the Sony BDP-S570 (the prior model to the S580) for a short while as a first replacement effort, I decided to return that and get this newer BDP-S580 model instead in the hope they might eventually fix or improve on a lot of the DLNA flaws in the 570.

Let me say up front that I do like this unit, but have some concerns.

I am running wired connection over gigabit LAN with CAT6, although this device only has a 100M ethernet connection, and use the fastest available Charter service where I typically get 15 to 28 Mbps download speed at any given time. I am using HDMI connections through a receiver to a Sharp 1080p TV.

First the good...

1) Blu-ray load times are far faster than many other devices out there. This was one of the main points I wanted to get with the unit. In fact the prior BDP-S570 release is still one of CNET's fastest ever loaders, even with the 'quick start' feature turned off, and this is comparable. I do recommend leaving the fast-start option off in general in order to save energy; the money cost of keeping the device in a kind of startup mode is not worth it if the player can get up to speed quite quickly anyway. As a load speed test, I used the "Avatar" BD, the worst loader by a long shot among disks I own. Avator took over 5 minutes to get to the main menu screen on my old Sharp, and on the Sony it gets to the main menu in around 2 mins 50 secs. This is still not quick, but remember that this is the worst loader I have ever seen. Other BDs such as "Master and Commander", "Cars", or "300" all got to their menus within around 30 secs, and by getting to the main menu, I mean it had to go through all the FBI copyright warnings etc.

2) The unit is quiet when playing a disk. Not silent, but seems better than the S570 and far better than the old Sharp. Note that when you leave a disk in while using other features of the s580, it still makes some noise as if it is always keeping the BD ready to go. I suppose this is no bad idea for a quick launch when you choose the BD from the menu system.

3) The BDP-S580 uses Sony's standard XDB interface that can be found on the PS3, PSP etc. I like it but some don't. In my opinion it is quick, clean, simple to navigate, and this particular device seems to respond very quickly when scrolling the icons/options (some have seemed more sluggish).

4) I had no issues with buffering, stuttering or pausing during playback of online video. I used Amazon Instant Video, Crackle, YouTube, and the Hulu Plus free HD video to test. No issues during playback of online audio either using Pandora, NPR, Slacker. However, please see notes below in the 'bad' section that relate to actually getting the streaming to start...

5) DLNA playback of Audio files is good and the interface is fast and responsive. Much faster than the Dlink DSM-520. All files have played great so far, and include .wma and .mp3 formats. Note that this comment is in regard to AUDIO FILES ONLY, see the 'bad' section for my thoughts on VIDEO files across DLNA...

6) Picture quality from BD is better than my Sharp player. I believe this is largely due to the deep color system that Sony uses. In fact there are several levels of color depth you can choose if you feel inclined to do so (I just left mine on the Auto setting)

7) Upconversion of standard DVDs is excellent. Most BD players that upconvert DVDs do it well, and this is no exception.

8) The "direct attach" USB drive option is improved in the S580 over the S570. This is where you use some kind of external USB drive portable drive, desktop storage or even USB stick and plug it directly into the USB port on the S580 to access files on it. There are 2 USB ports on the S580 which is helpful, one front, one rear. With the 570 you could only use FAT formatted drives which are generally not a great idea, but the S580 is now improved to allow use of NTFS formatted drives.

9) It has a general Internet Browser. This is useful but limited. I have run into issues where pages are not very navigable (msn.com) or where they fail with a reported 'page is too big' error (hulu.com). Where possible, using 'mobile' versions of the web page tends to be best.

10) You can pair this player to a compatible TV etc to allow one to control the other via HDMI. I turned this off to reduce 'overhead' since it will do nothing for me with my Sharp TV and receiver, but I wanted to note this.

11) Media types that can be played from a directly attached USB drive are numerous, and include the following (taken from the Sony BDP-S580 manual as of 3/25/11 take note of the "*" numbers and check the info underneath!):

VIDEO File format Extensions:

MPEG-1 Video/PS*1*2, MPEG-2 Video/PS, TS*1*3 (".mpg," ".mpeg,",".m2ts," ".mts")

MPEG-4 AVC*1*2 (".mkv," ".mp4,",".m4v," ".m2ts,",".mts")

WMV9*1*2 (".wmv," ".asf")

AVCHD*2 *4

Xvid (".avi")

AUDIO File format Extensions:

MP3 (MPEG-1 AudioLayer III) (".mp3")

AAC*1*2*5 (".m4a")

WMA9 Standard*1*2*5 (".wma")

LPCM (".wav")

PHOTO File format Extensions:

JPEG (".jpg," ".jpeg")

What the *Notes mean:

*1 The player does not play coded files such as DRM.

*2 The player does not play this file format on a DLNA server.

*3 The player can only play standard definition video on a DLNA server.

*4 The player plays AVCHD format files that are recorded on a digital video camera, etc. The

AVCHD format disc will not play if it has not been correctly finalized.

*5 The player does not play coded files such as Lossless.

Now the not so good...

1) I wanted this to be a replacement for my old DSM-520 network media player. I knew from bad experience with the s570 that this would not be possible, and you can see from the list of formats above with the *2 note against them that Sony does not expect those to play. Essentially MPEG2 and a subset of AVI are the only video formats that 'might' work. These notes here are to warn others, and don't directly affect my rating since I expected it, although I am hoping future firmware releases might improve the offering. While the s580 is DLNA certified, this means that it essentially only needs to be able to play a VERY minimum range of video formats, and even then, depending on things such as the specific codecs used, it still might not work. I have a number of video files in several different formats none of which will even be seen to allow me to try to play. This includes .mp4, .vob, .iso, .avi, .m4v, .wmv all shared from a Iomega network storage device pushing out via a built in media server. [see edit below]

***

[EDIT 4/2/11] After getting a replacement unit, I am now able to see and play .mpg, .mp4(when renamed to .mpg), some .wmv, some .avi, all .vob. My original lemon would not let me even see these, now I can see and play. I am leaving the original note in place to help others who might run into the same problem.

***

Assuming you have a number of different format video files, if you want to be able to play ALL of your video files across your network to the BDP-S580, you will either need to use a media server that will transcode your files on the fly to something like MPEG2, manually convert all your media to a format that is supported (prohibitively annoying for most people) or get a different network media player instead of this.

(A reminder: the above note is really only regarding Video files on DLNA. My music files all behave beautifully so far, and include .wma and .mp3)

2) Playing of online video files. As I mentioned previously, playing online video files is great, but getting to them or getting them to start can be quite a slog. For some reason it takes ages (well, maybe 1-3 minutes) to get them to start. I'm not sure what the issue is. I'm running wired, not wireless. When I get the media playing I can see that I am getting over 18Mbps consistent download speed. When it runs, it can play high def files with no apparent issues. Its just connecting to the individual services, and in some cases opening the files when you get there, that takes so long. What's odd again is that I don't recall this being a problem with the BDP-S570 (the OLD model). I did set a static IP address and network info just in case it helped, as mentioned by another reviewer, but it made no difference for me. [see edit below]

***

[EDIT 4/4/11] This issue has been resolved by assigning a free public DNS server (8.8.4.4) as my primary DNS server in the network configuration. Originally I had this set to my local DNS server (my 192.168.x.x router). I don't know why this would really make a difference and I have never had any other issues with my DLink DIR-655 router serving as my DNS server before, however this does indeed resolve my problem. I no longer have any connectivity issues when connecting to the online video services like Amazon, Crackle or Hulu. I am leaving the original note in place to help others who might run into the same problem.

***

3) I have seen notes on CNET and elsewhere that BD-Live disks take a lot longer to connect up and start on the 580 than on other models. I did not see this noted for the 570, so this might be related to note 2 above. The S580 has no internal memory, whereas the prior S570 had 1GB built in RAM which perhaps explains the connectivity issue?

4) I could not upgrade my firmware over wired network. It would see it and try to download it, but would eventually give a network connectivity error despite the fact that everything else was able to run OK. I updated to the latest firmware using the CD method from the Sony website. Again, possibly related to item 2 failing in the connection portion?

***

[EDIT 4/2/11] After getting a replacement unit, I was able to upgrade firmware over the network. I am leaving the original note in place to help others who might run into the same problem.

***

5) Worth noting that as well as losing the internal 1GB RAM, you also lose the ability to output high def signal over component cable. Others have noted this too, and it is a fair point, but this affects *ALL* BD players built since 1/1/2011. This does not concern me as I use HDMI.

6) [5/13/11] The description on Amazon says that this unit can stream live sports, however no channels or live sport content appears to exist as of this time.

So overall I like the unit despite it's shortcomings, and basically those (to me) can be summarized as peculiar network connectivity issues where the initial connections were slow (EDIT: workaround is to add a static DNS server), and the poor implementation of the DLNA media player. The DLNA issue is especially annoying since it will play many more file types from attached-USB than it will across the network, so I know the player can handle them. As I said earlier I don't reject it because of this (I expected it from all my research and testing of the prior s570 model) but it is so close to being right that it is a shame. Hopefully this will be improved over time with firmware upgrades, but I won't hold my breath.

I have not tested Netflix or services other than those mentioned above yet, and if I do I will update this review. Likewise, I will update as I find new "quirks", good or bad. Finally, it is likely I will try to get another S570 and possibly a replacement for this S580. The first is to confirm what I recall from the comparison, and the second to make sure I don't just have a lemon network interface in my unit. I almost get the feeling its something like that.

Feel free to comment to ask me a question!

[Update 3/28/11]

Got the wireless up and running, and although it is indeed wireless N the performance isn't great. My DLink DIR-655 router is running in native N mode (i.e. only N and not a combination of b/g/n etc). Wireless signal is weaker that it should be given where it is in my setup. With 2.4Ghz frequency which I understand as being the 'single band' rather than newer, stronger 'dual band' implementation of Wireless N I was expecting some drop off, but it was worse than I thought. Performance was OK but noticeably slower than the wired when connecting to the online services (Amazon, YouTube and Crackle in my test), which is a little odd. Even if I was only getting a poor 20Mbps from the S580 to my router (and it should be a lot more than that [more testing to come]) that is almost enough to match my inbound ISP connection, which as mentioned before is typically 15-28Mbps, and one would therefore not expect such a significant difference over wired. One reason for testing the wireless was to see if it actually performed better than wired, in the event that the wired connection might be bad, but I just managed to prove that the wireless is worse than my wired. Might still have a lemon with regards to networking, or this might be the norm for the s580.

[Update 3/31/11]

Some updates on the slowness of the S580 regarding connecting to internet video... When powering on, I cannot even access any internet service for over 2:15 (2 mins 15 secs). Trying to access any of the services during that time results in a "Checking the network connection, please wait" message and it drops back to the main menu. Once that is finally up and running, getting to the main menus for the following services took:

Crackle : 2:28, Amazon Video : 3:00, Hulu Plus : approx 1:00 (stopwatch issues, but it was about that)

Once connected, and after selecting a video, it took sbout 48-55 seconds to start numerous TV episodes (Doctor Who, Red Dwarf) on Amazon, and 1:28 to start a sample Family Guy episode on Hulu Plus.

As mentioned in my original review, I get no issues once the playback begins no buffering or stuttering at all in any of my tests. It is just the connection time to the service and the video.

Now here's where it gets weird. After some time of playing around, the apps started to load up much faster, e.g. Amazon loading in approx 5 seconds rather than 3 minutes. The time to starting streaming of the episodes also improved across the board. I'm not sure why this would be the case.

For any of these internet video services, the 'icons' you click on to select e.g. "TV Episodes" or "Current Movies" don't always appear correctly on the screen. Superficial, but odd. It seems like the ones you have clicked on previously are the ones that don't look right, and this can be problematic where the name is normally shown on the icon but now it is not visible you need to highlight it and see what it shows at the bottom of the screen. I had noticed this the other day but forgot to mention in my original review.

Lastly, when trying to "resume" a movie on Amazon (Mask HD), it actually locked up the unit. I had to physically pull the cable from the wall to shut it down and reboot it.

** Additionally I also re-verified against an S570 using the same setup on my network with the same wired network connection (even used the same cable to be sure). I can confirm the following:

-Yes, the S570 loads up faster, and is very slightly louder than the S580.

-Yes, the S570 is WAAAYYY faster connecting to any internet video connections, and you can access them almost as soon as you turn the device on (no 2:15 wait). Crackle: 0:07 (7 secs!), Amazon: 0:07, Hulu Plus 0:04.

-No, the S570 does not have a general internet browser like the S580 does.

I will be sending the S580 back ASAP on the assumption I have a lemon and will update to confirm when I have tested the replacement.

[Update 4/2/11]

I received the replacement and its a lot of good news and some bad news:

1) New S580 WAS able to update the firmware over the internet (had to use manual CD method for original)

2) New S580 is now able to see and play several video formats over DLNA from my net media player (none with original unit). Actually it worked with even more than I expected based on the specs from Sony (played some AVIs, all WMV, MP4 when renamed to MPG, all VOB)

3) New S580 is SOMETIMES faster to get to the online media services, but other times I get "A network error occurred" message after around 1:15 which never happened on the original. Generally though, connecting speed is about the same. Hardcoding the IP address/network settings still doesn't make a difference for me.

This is great news since it proves my original unit was defective regarding it's network interface in some way, although when it works it is still slower than I believe it ought to be. The S570 is almost instant connection to the online media services (around 5 secs) so why is the S580 so much worse? This remains true even when I attach a USB stick in an attempt to give it some kind of pseudo memory to use should it need it (trying to make up somewhat for the 1GB taken out that the S570 has)

If you experience bad network issues like I did, I would strongly recommend getting a replacement. I can see at least one other review here where the same issues I had exist. I'm torn now between the S570 or this S580 (570=so much faster to access online, 580=almost unusable connect times to online video, NTFS format USB support, internet browser, newer so more likely to get useful firmware fixes)

I will add portions of this update into my original review to identify where the bad unit was at fault.

[Update 4/4/11]

Connection issues have been resolved! Adding a secondary DNS server of 8.8.4.4 sped up the connections to the network video services, but it still took approx 30-40 seconds. Going one step further and switching my primary DNS server from my local router to be 8.8.4.4 enabled almost instant connections to be established. I'm not sure exactly why this made a difference since using my local DNS worked fine for the S570 and all my other network items, but this odd workaround did indeed resolve the issue. Connecting to Amazon, Crackle and Hulu all take approx 5 seconds now, and starting videos from any of these sites no longer results in startup delays like before. I no longer have any reservations in highly recommending the BDP-S580.

Assuming this remains the same, I will keep the S580 since the only drawback of this over the S570 has been removed.

[Update 4/6/11]

On a hunch I tried to re-run the Avatar blu-ray disk now that the networking issue is resolved, and this time it came to the main menu in under 1:40 rather than the previous 2:50. I guess this is due to the BD Live content check which I think this disk does every time you start this one up, so I suspect that any other BD Live content disks might also be speeded up as a result. Excellent news.

[Update 4/10/11]

I definitely recommend getting the free "Media Remote" app if you have a suitable phone. Without this the keyboard entry mechanism using the included remote is too painful for any kind of substantial use, e.g. for entering search criteria in YouTube. Nice to be able to use a regular keypad format from the phone.

[Update 4/15/11]

1) After playing around some more with the online Music channels, I'm still very happy with them. Pandora is good and responsive, setting up new stations is easy (I do highly recommend the Media Remote for any text entry) and the results are good. The Slacker radio channel is also good and responsive, as is the 2010 Lollapalooza channel (which is actually Slacker-powered). The Berlin Philharmonic channel looks interesting with numerous recorded live concerts/pieces but you need an account to access them. NPR Radio channel was a little disappointing in that you can only access previously recorded segments rather than true online radio, but still useful. All in all, still nothing bad to say about any of the online audio channels.

2) With regards to the weak DLNA support, I am finding that with many of my files I am unable to do anything other than play, pause or stop them. If I try to FWD or RWD through them either it does nothing and says the "option is not supported" or it flies through so fast that after you press the FWD button, within a second it hits end of the file and drops me back to the menu system as if the movie finished. It doesn't even provide a timeline that you can scroll against like you can with online video content in e.g. Hulu Plus or Amazon. Very annoying. So at this point I'm reluctant to use any features other than just Play, Pause or Stop on my DLNA shared media and will just keep hoping that eventually Sony will release a firmware fix to improve DLNA support. Its interesting to note that some files specifically some VOBs behave better and allow useful FWD to at least get to some specific point, so again, the possibility and functionality is there but poorly implemented. Note that this problem does not seem to happen on USB attached files, only over DLNA network share.

[Update 5/10/11]

I have now spent a lot of time exploring the various free video channels. That is to say most of them with the exception of Vudu (for this I did browse the interface but didn't run any programs it looked nice but seemed to be the most sluggish channel menu), Netflix and Sony's own Qriosity. Everything is working very well except for one podcast area I came across for Code Monkeys, which might have actually been an issue with the hosting server. Points of note include the uStudio channel which has some nice short HD "natural world/landcape" shows (quality was very good, but not as good as a true blu-ray), Golflink is interesting if you're into golf at all, Billabong had some great short videos that you'll probably only ever watch once or might use to show the S580 off to friends, and videocast.com which was probably my favorite of the lot. The "How" channels can be informative if you're looking for something (How.com, Howcast). Generally though we're settled into using the S580 for playing blu-rays and accessing Amazon VOD, Hulu Plus free movies, streaming from my DLNA device, and the occasional YouTube hit or Crackle episode. Still loving the device and highly recommend it.

[Update 5/13/11]

Based on a comment to this review (thanks Trevor) I see that the product description and Technical Details both indicate that the S580 can play online content "including movies, TV episodes, videos, music, and live sports from Netflix, YouTube, HuluPlus, Pandora and more". While this seems to be mostly true, there don't actually appear to be any LIVE SPORTS channels or content at this time. Either the description is incorrect or the channels are in development. You might perhaps be able to theoretically access some using the Internet Browser but I suspect the interface is so limited it wouldn't support the streaming format. Take note if this is something you're especially interested in, and I will update if/when I see any live sports channels appear, e.g. MLB.TV or something similar.

[Update 11/22/11]

I came across a slightly different supported Video list from the Sony site, from their marketing specifications updated 3/23/11.

I want to point it out because although it APPEARS to clearly detail the apparent media types supported for each format, IT DOESN'T SEEM TO BE CORRECT. Note that several of these items directly contradict the Operating Instruction specs shown earlier in my review, such as running AVCHD from DLNA it says here it can, but in the Operating Instructions it explicitly says it isn't supported. I can also personally confirm that some of the items listed here are NOT correct, such as mkv, mp4 over DLNA. Therefore if you see this info elsewhere and want these features, be sure to verify it actually does what you want before the return period runs out!

Video

AVCHD Disc Format Forlder: BD/DVD/CD/USB/DLNA

MPEG-1 Video/PS (.mpg .mpeg, .m2ts,.mts): BD/DVD/CD/USB/DLNA

MPEG-2 Video/PS, TS ( .mpg.mpeg, .m2ts,.mts): BD/DVD/CD/USB/DLNA

MPEG-4 AVC (.mkv, .mp4, .m4v, .m2ts,.mts): BD/DVD/CD/USB/DLNA

WMV9 (.wmv, .asf): BD/DVD/CD/USB/DLNA

[Update 2/11/12]

I previously reported a possible issue with playback of Sherlock Holmes BD at high volume. I traced the issue to a a bad speaker in my setup which was causing my receiver to overload. Replaced the speaker and all is well, still no issues with playback of any disks.

The original erroneous report has been removed.

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

IMPORTANT REMINDER If you ever set the BDP-S580 up and then return the item for any reason (Amazon or elsewhere) make sure you disassociate it from any linked accounts you setup. At the very least, you will need to go to the Sony Bravia site and remove the device from the account you setup when accessing the internet the first time, otherwise anyone else who purchases or uses the same unit in the future will have access to e.g. your Amazon Prime account and will be able to potentially order pay movies against your account. Same goes for Pandora, Hulu accounts etc. With Pandora we had to change our password since there didn't seem to be any way to easily unlink/undefine the settings, although maybe performing a "Reset BD" option from the Sony menu might have taken care of the stored password?

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

Read Best Reviews of Sony BDP-S580 Blu-ray Disc Player (Black) Here

I did a lot of research before purchasing this player. I am not a big Sony fan, and lean more towards Samsumg. I got a Samsung C6800 and returned it after a few days. When I got the Sony, the first difference I noticed was the user friendly XMB menu bar on this player. Setting up options was a breeze and there are quite a bit that can be tweaked. The built-in Wi-Fi works flawlessly. Another good feature it has is that as it streams content, it would show you the current download speed which is neat. Want to control your player from your phone, there's an iPhone App for that. Load times and picture quality are comparable. It has nice sleak remote as opposed to the quite-frankly ugly Samsumg remote. So all in all it is a solid player and it has alot of the little touches that make it the best out there.

On a side note, I agree with the other reviewer about the limitation of picture quality on component video connections. But I would'nt take any stars from this player for that because it is a Blu-Ray industry issue. Any new player manufactured on or after Jan 2011 is supposed to restrict the quality on component connections. While it is a different discussion why they should or should'nt do that, bottom line is that it is not a short-coming of this player. If you have component video connections (and many people do), you should be considering the 2010 players.

Want Sony BDP-S580 Blu-ray Disc Player (Black) Discount?

My wife and I are addicted to Netflix streaming on our PS3 so much so that we are considering getting rid of digital cable. I was considering getting a second PS3 but the price difference between it and other BR players (I don't play video games, really) is really quite large.

The good: It has more bells and whistles than the PS3 as far as content. There are all kinds of other streaming video options available. It also starts and plays BR movies as fast as the PS3.

The bad: REALLY clunky interface. Coming from the smooth movements between menu selections on the PS3, I guess I am spoiled. Changing selections and working inside apps are choppy and slow. It is so bad that I think I may have a lemon. Also, Netflix is totally gimped in that you have to use a computer to select movies to watch by adding them to the instant queue...which is not sortable in the S580 interface. It comes with a facebook web interface that is ridiculously slow.

I am gonna go to the Sony store and see if they will let me play around with one of their BR players to see if the experience is any different.

Save 2% Off

I bought this unit specifically for watching streaming movies and TV through Netflix and Hulu, and sometimes music through Pandora. My first disappointment occurred almost immediately when it wouldn't play Netflix at all. It wouldn't even let me sign in to my Netflix account. It kept saying I needed a firmware upgrade to use Netflix. So I tried to use the built-in firmware upgrade feature to do that, but guess what, that didn't work either, even after I had gotten the wired networking working. Some networking features worked, but not all, and not Netflix nor firmware upgrades. I finally figured out I needed to go to the Sony website and download the firmware upgrade files from there. Fortunately, their website clearly explained the manual firmware upgrade process. I was finally able to upgrade the firmware and get Netflix working. That was when I discovered that the streaming downloads take forever to start downloading (well actually about 1-2 minutes). Once the streaming movie gets started, it works okay from there, on my 30 Mbps cable Internet connection.

Next I tried Hulu. That was much worse. Because Hulu requires that you watch a commercial every 6 minutes, now the 1-2 minute network wait occurs EVERY 6 MINUTES instead of just at the start like with Netflix. These are the same shows that play instantly on my computer using the same wired ethernet connection. So every 6 minutes, I wait while this player makes the connection to the new source and waits 1-2 minutes unit the stream gets going. Hulu also has more menu layers to get through to select your show, so even selecting a show takes up to 5 minutes with this player. On the good side, the buffering feature works very well so if you want to see a scene over again, rewinding is fast and simple and doesn't require re-buffering the stream from the Internet. That is the only thing that works better than my old LG player.

Another problem I discovered is that EVERY TIME I turn the player on I have to re-setup the network connections... even for a wired connection. It keeps forgetting what the network setup is supposed to be even though I save the settings every time.

Summary:

If you're looking for a streaming player and don't NEED Hulu, I would look elsewhere as lots of faster players will do Netflix just fine. If you need Netflix and Hulu and Pandora and Slacker and others, then these Sony players may be your only choice for now, but I would wait because there are likely to be better units coming out before long. Even though I like all of the above-mentioned services, I may return this player as my patience wears thinner.

I haven't trying playing a blu-ray disc yet, but others have commented that that works well, so I will take their word for it.

UPDATE 2011-04-04: After a few days of this player not working well, I called Sony tech support and they had me change the primary DNS setting (in Internet Setup) to 8.8.8.8 (Google DNS server), and that fixed nearly everything. The long delays in streaming content are now completely gone. Sometimes I still have to remind the player to use wired connection on powerup, but once I do that it works quite well. Based on this performance I changed my initial 3 stars to 5 stars because this player has more streaming Internet features and content than most other players.

KGuard BR401-4CW154M All-in-One H.264 Surveillance Combo Kit with 4-Channel DVR and 4 Weatherproof

I bought this system primarily for the purpose of keeping an eye on my house when I am away, and recording any theft that might happen. I had the DVR set up and cameras installed in a about 3 hours and it worked fine on the monitor. I spent about 40-50 hours trying to configure the DVR for remote viewing on my iphone. I finally gave up and paid the Geek Squad $89.99 to come out and do it for me. They stayed 2 hours and gave up and left without getting it to work. I then launched into a study program in which I read several long articles and learned how the itnernet works. Then I systematically tried 30-40 different settings until I landed the one that works. Their customer support is not great basically because they don't seem to understand english enough to respond to your emails. THe system would work fairly easily if you have a static IP address. However most all ISP's use dynamic IP's which change each time you get off the internet. I had to connect an old windows XP computer and run a client on it, which I found as a free download somewhere, and set up a free domain name at kguard.org, such as sadsteve.kguard.org. If you contact customer support they will send you PDF files that are outdated and have conflicting information on them. If you write back and ask a question about the PDF they will just send you another copy without answering your question. All these standalone DVR's seem to be built on similar platforms. This is my 4th system. One of my "weatherproof" cameras lasted until the first rain. It stopped working, and I can see water standing on the inside of the lens. I've filed a support ticket with customer support, but haven't heard back from them yet. These things are made in Taiwan and are sold all over the world. They seem to be better at marketing and sales than design and support. I do like H.264 video format, which is a good standard. Some brands have their own proprietary formats, which make it hard to share video with the police department if needed. I don't know if I would have had better luck with another brand like Swan, sold from Walmart or Sam's. I have a feeling the quality is about the same, but maybe the American support would be better. I spent a few hours on the phone with customer support out of California. They would occasionally answer their phone, but usually would have to call me back. Their help guys are not IT professionals and are just there to help you follow the manual. When it doesn't work they can't problem solve. I joined numerous forums to discuss my issues with IT pro's. I spent time with my ISP provider (who was no help), and also called and emailed Actiontec, who makes my router/modem. So there you have it. I feel I could install any of them now that I've learned how to port forward in my router, created a DDNS and deal with PPPoe ISP. When I read "easily connects to the internet via your smartphone" I really want to kick someone. So good luck, you will need it.

Two hundred bucks is a great deal for a 4-camera surveillance system, so I suppose we can't ask for everything. The system itself is very good. The 113-page instruction manual is not easy to read and worse, some of the instructions do not match the system's programming--I suspect a last minute upgrade occurred after the manual was printed. However, it's possible to just ignore the manual and fiddle with the interface and figure it out.

A worse problem is the resolution at night when the infrared kicks in. They claim that it works up to 30 feet, but I'd say only about ten feet is truly clear. If that's good enough for you, the All-in-One is the system to buy.

Buy KGuard BR401-4CW154M All-in-One H.264 Surveillance Combo Kit with 4-Channel DVR and 4 Weatherproof Now

ID Mate Summit Bar Code Reader

Fantastic product. My wife who is visually impaired finds it VERY user friendly with excellent database of products. Prompts are easy to follow and portable. She can also label clothes or other items with included blank 100 bar codes provided. If a barcode is not recognized by database (only had two so far) you can voice record the product. It even (if you prompt it) will tell you the nutritional facts of product as well as directions for use. Battery life is very long been using 2 weeks without it needing a recharge yet. Product is expensive but well worth it for any blind or visually impaired customer who wants more independence around the house or in the food/clothes store.

I purchased the ID Mate Summit Bar Code Reader. Anyone that is blind or visually impaired would benefit from this bar code reader. I use it to find out what is in a can or package. You just turn on the reader and point it towards the item you want scanned and turn the product until it recognizes the bar code and it beeps and tells you what the product is. It also gives you manufacturer information, nutritional information, and most important user instructions. I can pick something out of my freezer, point the scanner towards the product and it scans it and tells me what it is and tells me how I need to cook it. I can pull a can or box of something out of my pantry and it tells me what it is, I.E., Delmonty green beans, Campbell's soup, Nabisco crackers etc. You can also make your own labels to put on items, like books and cd's. It has a built in recorder and they provide labels with bar codes on them and you just say what the item is and any other information you would like to know when you scan it later. It will also scan items other than food products. It also is smaller than its predecessors and fits comfortably in my hand. I do wish they would improve the speech instead of using the basic computerized voice; however this shouldn't stop you from purchasing it.

Buy ID Mate Summit Bar Code Reader Now

This is a great device. It can scan a lot of stuff including CDS. The voice is very robotic. It is using the Doubletalk system with is preity old. It is very useful. it can do a lot of stuff. You should really by this device or wait for next model.

Read Best Reviews of ID Mate Summit Bar Code Reader Here

Olympus Digital Voice Recorder - ED-OLY-WS100

I was a little hesitant to buy a refurbished item but it came in like new. I had lost my first recorder of the same model and this one as a replacement works just as good. (It actually came with more stuff than with my previous purchase!) The recorder itself is great, voice quality on the recording is superb and you can record from far away and still hear it as if you were right next to the speaker. A must have and a great deal for college students!

I read reviews about this product before buying it. This unit records in WMA format and I have a Mac but it's not an issue because of freeware called SWITCH www.nch.com.au/switch which easily converts those sound files. It sometimes has a few quirks like the unit is hard to pull apart to expose the USB connector, and occasionally the battery compartment opens, and sometimes I have to reformat to reset the brains. but those things aside the recordings are great. The automatic level control works so well it records speech for my purposes, as well as my imac with an external mic. Its very small and portable. For the price (under $40 with shipping) the problems are relatively insignificant. I like it so such, I bought another one for a friend.

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This is a great little machine for portable usage.

I do wish there were more formats to choose from.

I do wish there wasn't a delay in immediate record time.

I love the USB port so much.

I take this with me everywhere I go around my neck.

All in all, for the price, this is a nice little toy to capture life with when you don't want to lug around anything bigger or more expensive.

Read Best Reviews of Olympus Digital Voice Recorder - ED-OLY-WS100 Here

Archos Vision 24c 8 GB Video MP3 Player with 2.4-Inch Screen, Built-in Camera, and FM Radio (Black)

• 8GB MP3 Player; 2.4" TFT Screen (320x240 pixels)
• Built-in Camera (VGA 640 X 480 Recording); Records FM Radio; Photos and Videos; 14 Hrs Battery Life
• Built-in Microphone; Audio and FM Recorder; Sound Equalizer; Multi-language Interface
• Supports MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG, FLAC, APE, AAC, JPEG, BMP, GIF, AVI, MPEG, FLV, RMVB

Functions include :

music

photo

camera

radio

Technical specs :

8GB memory

2.4" screen (320x240)finger touch, no buttons

camera (640x480) photo and video

battery-14 hours

sound equalizer-normaal,MS equalizer,rock, pop, classic, jazz

Supports : MP3, WMA, WAV, AVI, MPEG and more

I hooked it to my pc. (usb connection) I downloaded some music, photos and videos. I use Windows and it was easy, just copy and paste.

Music playback is impressive, the sound is rich and clear. It plays with both equalizer presets and manual control. You can sort your music with folders or by looking under artist.

Video/photo playbackresolution is adequate for the somewhat small screen. Color is fine. Uses transitions when going from one photo to the next. (great

feature)

Cameravideo and still photos.It has a zoom stepper. Effects include, B&W, solar, normal, negative. Backligt controls are normal, dim and bright.

Radio-FM reception is excellent.You may record from the radio too.

The headphones could be better, but this is a great price and you can use other head phones.

I did have a couple setbacks. It locked up a couple times and my Canon point and shoot videos did not appear, though my smaller resolution (Flip video) did play.

You can also use it to back up your pc photo, music and other data files.

This player is very reasonably priced and for all it does, it is really a great value that I recommend truly.

Buy Archos Vision 24c 8 GB Video MP3 Player with 2.4-Inch Screen, Built-in Camera, and FM Radio (Black) Now

Listed below is a comparison of the similarities and differences between the Archos Vision 24c 8 GB Video MP3 Player with 2.4-Inch Screen, Built-in Camera, and FM Radio (Black) and the Archos Vision 30c 4 GB Video MP3 Player with 3-Inch Touchscreen and FM Radio (Silver).

The 24c version and the 30c version both have:

FM Radio:

Both versions of this player have radios that work very well. They each come with a series of options for listening.

They both have several region options (USA, Asia, Europe, and the 30c has an additional one, being Japan). Both players I received came preset to Europe, so I needed to change these to USA during the initial set up.

They both offer 30 save station slots, to make finding your favorite stations faster.

Also both players have the option to listen to the radio in both stereo and mono, and have ability to do an auto search for all receivable stations.

Lastly they each have a unique feature that allows you to record radio broadcasts and save them as music files in the player.

Pictures and Video:

Both players have the option view saved picture and video files on the screen. The 30c has a larger screen and can be turned sideways with the image auto adjusting to the way the player is being viewed. Also the screen on the 30c is larger, so if picture/video viewing is an important feature, the 30c has more advanced features for this and is more easily viewed.

Music:

Both players play music pretty equally. I find the menus in the 24c a little simpler to navigate, since there are dedicated keys to push to easily find your way around (versus the touch screen menu of the 30c). Each player has the option to set the listening preferences to normal, rock, pop, classic, jazz and a manual equalizer, which can be set in a separate menu. Definitely check out the different settings, as I feel almost any of the others make the music being played sound much better than what these players come pre-set on (normal).

While listening to music, you can navigate through your music by either all music, artist, album, genre and favorites.

Major differences between the two:

The most notable difference between the two is that the 24c can take video and pictures, while the 30c is completely touch screen, with only a single button on the main screen.

24c: The camera video feature is blow average. Your going to get much better pictures and video with a cell phone these days. These features are almost non-usable in a low light or indoor situations. However, I much prefer the user friendliness of the 24c when it comes to actually using the MP3 player and radio functions. The menus are simple and nicely laid out so that navigating them isn't a chore. Once you've spent 10 minutes checking everything out, it's very easy to use and responds well.

30c: The unique feature in this version is the touch screen menu. This unfortunately is more of a burden than a bonus. The main menu especially seems non-responsive. How different menus on the same screen can work better or worse is beyond me, but this seems to be the case. Some menus work perfectly with the tiniest tap of the finger, others it seems as if I have to almost hit the screen to make it go anywhere. Also, I have small hands and fingers (ring size 5 1/2 in women's) and my fingers sometimes are too big for the menus and end up pressing the wrong options. I can't image how a larger mans fingers would comfortably work the 30c version without constant issues. It seems as though this player was really meant to be used with a stylus, but one is not included.

Because of the touch screen, the total screen size on the 30c is definitely larger than that on the 24c. Also the 30c does support the turning of the player sideways, for wide-screen viewing. It can be viewed in at this angle when using all the different functions, not just video and pictures.

Conclusion:

Neither player is an 5 star product, but I feel the 24c is definitely the more preferable model over the 30c. It's often a struggle to even use the 30c, where as the 24c at least is easily navigated and does what it is supposed to do. As long as your not buying the 24c for the picture/video function, the player works fine. So if your thinking about either of these two, I would highly recommend the Archos 24c over the Archos 30c.

Read Best Reviews of Archos Vision 24c 8 GB Video MP3 Player with 2.4-Inch Screen, Built-in Camera, and FM Radio (Black) Here

The Archos MP3 player is extremely easy to set up and use, with a simple navigation menu and nice picture, for a tiny little screen. When it's working well, the sound quality is great. Downloading to it is a snap I think my 7 year old could do it. There is plenty of memory to download songs and other stuff. Finding saved files is easy, and generally even the most tech-phobic person could probably use this player without trouble. The camera is OK, but I'll stick to my dedicated camera. The FM radio works great.

So with all that being said, why only 3 stars?

Well, first off, the controls are a bit "tweaky." Sometimes they work great, at others, I keep pressing the buttons and don't get a response. Very frustrating.

Also, when working well, the sound quality was beyond what I'd expect for such a compact and inexpensive unit. But there have been a couple times when it's playing where the sound just goes I get an electonic "jamming" type sound instead of music. Playing around with the ear buds doesn't help the only thing that fixes it is turning off the unit and re-booting.

Lastly, a tiny point of frustration the device isn't supported by HBO.go so I can't download HBO episodes to it. Not the end of the world, but ...

I think that for the price, this is still a good device, but I do think that there are some bugs that needed worked out for this to do better. The bugs aren't fatal problems, but they sure are frustrating. For the price, this is a good device. Maybe I'll find out how to deal with the bugs as I continue to fiddle with the player...

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I was very disappointed in this little guy. I am primarily looking for a small FM radio for listening while I am taking a walk or when my husband or I want to listen to the radio without disturbing the other. The Archos promised that and a lot more in a nice tiny package easy to slip even into a small pocket.

I knew I was in trouble when I tried to turn it on. The documentation is very sketchy, and the company website gives no further details. The documentation says to turn the switch to the On position. Usually On is to the right, but when the machine did not respond I wondered if I had it backwards. The documentation does not specify, and I could not find a label until I turned the device over & found some TINY characters on the back of the device that a magnifier revealed to be On and Off. The next step is to press a button whose icon is so small on the documentation that I again had to use a magnifying glass. This button, whose icon is equally tiny, turns out to be the camera shutter on the side of the device, hardly an intuitive choice.

When I first could not get the device to turn on I thought it might need charging, so I plugged it into my computer. I found there seems to be no indicator of whether it is charging and no way to tell battery level.

After I got the device on and proceeded to navigate to the Radio I found that you press the left and right arrows on the controls to move up and down on the menu, which is contrary to normal convention. This caused me to fumble the controls frequently, especially since there are + and buttons above and below the OK button, exactly where normal devices control movement up and down a menu.

Finally the device is erratic about responding to taps/presses, so that often you have to tap it several times to make it respond.

When I finally was able to turn on the FM radio I found reception decent & the sound quality surprisingly good for a device of this type. It would serve my primary use nicely, if only it were not too much trouble to use.

The flaws I found apply equally to the other functions, so, no matter what your needs, I suspect there are beteer products available.

I am very pleased with this player. I got it mainly as a music player and it sounds

very good to me. The user interface is quite nice i've found you only need a light tap on the touch screen, don't press to hard. The screen shows when it's connected as an usb device and there is an indication when it charges. There are lots of features for the price.