Humax DRT800 DVD-R/RW Recorder/TiVo Series2 DVR Combo

• Digitally records up to 80 hours of programming onto the 80-GB hard drive
• Playback for DVD, DVD-R/RW, CD-R/RW, A/V CD
• Control live TV by pausing and rewinding it, and create slow-motion and instant replays of any channel at any time
• Season Pass function automatically records every episode of a favorite program all season long
• Browse up to 14 days of program data with the Electronic Program Guide

I don't want to go through all of Tivo's features, but they really are amazing, and aren't over hyped at all. This Humax unit has all of those features, plus a DVD-RW drive perfectly integrated into the rest of the Tivo interface. Burning a DVD is as easy as sticking a disk in the drive and selecting from a list which shows you want to transfer to DVD. Every show has a percent listed after the name, indicating how much of a DVD the show will fill up, and the top of the screen indicates how much space is left on the disc. There are no editing features on this, or any other Tivo based DVD-Recorder. If you pick a show to copy to DVD, it copies all of it.

While the disc is burning, the unit can still record another show and playback any show (except for any show being written to the disc).

I'm not 100% sure I like the image quality on this unit as much as on a standalone Tivo. I think it's slightly different, as the format it's writing has to be compatible with DVD players (obviously), whereas the "normal" Tivo format could be slightly more tweaked.

The remote is a slightly improved version of the normal Tivo "peanut" remote. The thumbs up/down buttons have been shrunk slightly (makes sense), and a few things have been slightly altered to allow for the new features this unit has.

Oh, I guess it's worth mentioning that ALL Tivo units don't really give as much recording time as they say on the box. This is an "80 hour" unit, which really means 80 hours at the "Basic" quality level, which is pretty poor (might be useable for news shows, stuff like Charlie Rose, etc., but it's not good enough for anything with much movement). Above that is "Medium" quality which gives about 55 hours recording time, and is also pretty bad. "High" quality gives about 27 hours, and is significantly better, as is "Best", which yields only 18 hours. Of course you can set up different shows to use different qualities-mix and match on both the hard drive and on DVDs, though you'll probably use "High" for most shows.

Pros:

*EXCELLENT interface, both for watching/recording TV shows, and for burning them to TV. I'm almost 100% certain there's nothing on the market that's easier to use. Unlike other DVD recorders or PVRs, this unit (and Tivo units in general) explain what's going on, and what different options mean IN ENGLISH, on your TV.

*The front screen displays the time if you want it (normal Tivos don't), and tells you what percent of the DVD has been burned if you're recording one.

*While you're burning a DVD the unit continues to record any scheduled shows, and you can watch any previously recorded shows. So the unit can actually be doing three things at once, all with no effort from the user-recording to DVD, recording a show from TV, and playing back a show. (The exception being you can't watch a show while it's being recorded to DVD).

Cons:

*This Humax, like *ALL* Tivo and ReplayTV units runs 24 hours a day. There's no true "off" or standby mode. Although it's quiet, this could be an issue if you plan to put it (or any Tivo/Replay unit) in a bedroom.

*Image quality appears to be different, possibly worse than stand alone Tivo units-probably to facilitate compatibility with other DVD players. I'm not even sure if I like it as well as the Sony VCR I bought this to replace.

*DVD-RW drive can use DVD-RW 4x media, but it only records to them at around 1x. That means that a full disc takes a little under an hour to burn. (But keep in mind that at "High" quality, you can fit 2 hours on a DVD, and it only takes >30 minutes to record an hour show-at "Medium" quality you can fit 4 hours, and it takes a little under 15 minutes for an hour show, etc.). Also bear in mind that you can continue using the unit for almost anything else while it's burning the DVD (a lot of competing products tie up the unit while they're burning a DVD)

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We've owned one of these for a few weeks now and love it! We already had TiVo but decided that being able to record DVDs was worth getting this machine.

At medium quality you get four hours' worth of shows on one disc. Other settings give you more or less disc space accordingly. When TiVo burns a disc it creates a DVD menu for all the shows on the disc. It allows you to burn the shows in the order you want and name the DVD as well.

Speed of burning depends on the speed rating on the disc; R/W discs take twice as long as R in our trials. The quality of the DVD recording reflects the quality the show was recorded at, so if you record at basic then that's what you'll get on the DVD as well (so don't be surprised if the DVD you burn is not "DVD quality" -it's just a storage medium reflecting the TiVo recording quality).

You can mix quality-level ratings on one DVD, and the manual says that shows needing more than one disc will be automatically created to span DVDs if necessary (although we have not tried this capability yet).

The DVDs we've burned played fine on both Windows and Macintosh computers as well as a Sony portable DVD player.

When watching a DVD with this machine, all the regular TiVo remote buttons perform the same, including the 8-second back-jump, which is great for catching a line or two of dialog just missed.

No drawbacks found so far. Highly recommended.

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I've owned an 80hr Series2 Tivo for years and just picked up the DRT800 shortly after it got released this past fall. I've never heard of Humax prior to owning this unit, but so far I've been quite happy with it.

Overall, when considering this unit, I think it depends on what you're looking for primarily: a Tivo or a DVD-recorder.

If you're primarily looking for a Tivo and would like the "added bonus" and convenience of a built-in DVD-recorder, the DRT800 is fantastic! It's everything everyone loves about Tivo, plus it makes it easy and convenient to dump your programs to DVD.

However, if your first priority is getting a DVD-recorder, and Tivo features are secondary, you might want to look at some stand-alone DVD-recorders. Or at the very least, weigh your decision a bit more carefully. The DRT800 (and the same probably goes for any Tivo with an integrated DVD-recorder) lacks some basic editing features for your programs, which might make a stand-alone a more suitable option for you.

Differences from a Series2 Tivo:

external display

The DRT800 features an external display. When playing a DVD, it displays the typical chapter and time information. When burning a DVD, it displays the percentage completed. Otherwise, it displays a clock. You can choose to make the display, dim, bright, or just turn it off.

DVD control buttons

Below the display are chapter skip, stop, play, etc buttons found on typical stand-alone DVD Players. These only control the DVD functions and do not control the Tivo software. Which brings me to the next cool addition...

front-mounted joystick

This is probably one of the neatest additions! Although, granted, I don't use this a whole lot, it's always irked me that normal Tivos don't have any buttons of any sort on the actual unit. This basically means that your ability to control the Tivo is entirely dependent on the remote control. But woe be the day that you misplace it, lose it, or break it (although you can always order a new one). The joystick is the equivalent of the directional control on the Tivo remote, and pressing the joystick inward acts as the Select button, giving you full control of the Tivo from the units front panel.

Composite Video Outputs & SPDIF Digital Audio Output

My previous Series2 Tivo didn't come with these and I don't know if regular Tivos come with them now, but these are clearly a must for any DVD Player. If your TV and/or receiver doesn't support these, you still have the standard A/V outputs at your disposal.

A/V, S-Video, & Firewire inputs

Hidden behind a drop-down panel are a set of front-mounted A/V, S-Video, and Firewire inputs with a second set of A/V & S-Video inputs located on the rear panel. These allow you to record from external devices (such as a Camcorder or VCR) onto your Tivo, which can then be burnt to DVD. This makes it perfect for digitizing old tapes and home movies or any other type of unprotected media. The Tivo allows you to assign a Title to the incoming recording. However, you cannot add a program description, which would have been nice.

DVD functions

This is probably the section you have the most questions on.

DVD interface:

A new "DVD" menu item now appears underneath the "Watch Live TV" option in the main menu. The on-screen display of this menu item changes, depending on what (if any) media is inserted into the disc tray. When you insert any disc into the tray, it is immediately scanned by the Tivo and the display is changed to DVD, DVD-R, DVD-RW, VCD, Audio CD or whatever appropriate format. Within the DVD menu selection, you will find appropriate play/record options.

Playing Disc Media:

The DRT800 supports DVD, VCD, CD, Photo CD, and MP3 CD. So far, I've played DVDs, VCDs, and standard redbook audio CDs with no issues. I haven't had the chance to try out any other formats yet. Playing DVDs and VCDs will look and feel exactly like watching any Tivo recorded program, with all the same playback features. My only main issue I have with playing Audio CDs is that, even if your Tivo is hooked up to your broadband connection, there is no attempt made to do a CDDB lookup to get track and artist information for the CD you're playing. Therefore, when you play an Audio CD, each the tracks will appear as "Track1", "Track2", etc and no information for artist or album title. This is a rather big disappointment.

Recording to DVD:

The only type of recordable media the DRT800 supports is DVD-R and DVD-RW.

A "Save to DVD or VCR" option conveniently appears in the information view of every recorded program on your Tivo, but you can also access recording features via the DVD option in the main menu. Prior to burning the DVD, you can select and order your programs and also add a title for your DVD. When you finally burn your DVD, the software will add a menu interface which looks almost identical to the regular Tivo interface.

Burn speed is pretty slow at 1x, but the upside is that while it's writing your DVD, you can continue using your Tivo for watching other pre-recorded programs. However, you cannot watch the program that is currently being recorded.

DVD capacity depends on the recording quality used for the original Tivo recording:

1 hr Best Quality

2 hr High Quality

4 hr Medium Quality

6 hr Basic Quality

This is basically the territory where you might not be too happy if you're looking for a good DVD recorder.

Negatives:

No program editing!

You can only burn the Tivo programs AS-IS. That means that you can't edit out commercials or any unwanted footage.

No resampling or re-encoding of program quality

I pretty much record everything at "High Quality". What that means, however, is that if I record a program on my Tivo that happens to be 2.5 hours, I would not be able to burn it onto DVD, because at that quality setting, the max capacity is 2 hours. It would be nice if the option were available to downsample a program to make it fit onto a DVD, albeit at a lower quality. Coupled with the inability to edit out unwanted footage like commercials (which might have made a 2.5hr program fit into 2hrs), this severely limits the DVD burning feature.

and for people with Home Media Option:

Can't burn programs recorded on another Tivo

Home Media Option (available at an additional cost) allows you to transfer programs from one Tivo to another. However, the DRT800 cannot burn programs created on another Tivo. This is apparently an encoding issue.

Other than that, the Tivo offers pretty much the same great features as all other Series2 Tivos. The peanut-shaped remote control layout is identical, but some of the buttons have been repurposed for DVD-related functions. If you connect your Tivo to your home network, you can look at pictures on your PC or stream MP3s from your PC.

Problem-wise, I did have one crash during the first week. While burning a DVD, the unit froze up and I had to unplug its power to start it back up again. But I haven't had any other problems during the months after.

If you do get this (or any other Tivo) and you have a broadband internet connection at home, I highly suggest getting a USB network adapter for your Tivo. I use a Linksys USB200M. Tivos are pretty finicky about which adapters they work with so make sure you check the tivo site if you decide to get a different brand. By default, Tivo uses a dial-up modem connection, but if you have a broadband connection, you may as well take advantage of it.

As a basic roundup:

PROS:

1) It's a Tivo!

Everyone says it and everyone's right: You gotta get a Tivo.

Once you get it, you'll never be able to live without it. :)

2) Convenient DVD-burning/playing

3) Easy recording from external sources

Easily record home movies onto your Tivo or DVD

4) Front-mounted control

CONS:

1) Hard Drive is LOUD!

This is definitely my biggest shocker. I don't know if it's just my unit, but this thing grinds like no other. My other Series2 was never this loud.

2) Limited DVD-recording features

I'm gonna guess it's by design, but the DRT800's greatest feature (DVD recording) is also its greatest weakness. The inability to edit out commercials (or at the very least resample your programs to make them fit onto disc) probably will ward off a lot of potential buyers.

3) Only comes in 80hr version

You can never have enough space and I wish this unit came with a bigger drive option.

Basically, it comes down to my earlier comment regarding what your first priority is. The DRT800's DVD-recording features aren't the greatest by far, but it's the a great extension to the already-awesome features of Tivo.

Personally, the DRT800 suits my needs perfectly. I don't record a lot of DVDs, but when I do, I appreciate the convenience. If the unit had a multi-disc changer, I would let it replace my current DVD player at the drop of a hat. Overall, I'm completely satisfied and don't regret buying it for a second.

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I bought my DVR 800 in November. The Tivo service is awesome but the Humax Box is terrible. There was a problem with the IR Sensor on the DVR. I had to push the remote control buttons several (10+) times before it made a connection. I called Humax, the customer service rep. said they are having problems with the IR sensor. She asked me if I had the latest software version on my machine...I did. So she sent me a new remote control. The remote was not the problem. I called back and they sent me a replacement (new or used) DVR800.

The problem still exists. With the replacement unit I have to press at least 5 times and I have to be physically close to the unit. It's very frustrating. I should not have to press the remote buttons more than twice to initiate a command.

I bought a 40hr Tivo unit for a relative and it works great. So I know it's not the Tivo service or the remote control.

The Hard Drive and the DVD "recorder" works great I was able to burn movies on a DVD and record shows with no problem. It's just that the unit does not pick up the remote control signal easily.

Not sure what I am going to do.

I've had this unit for a couple of weeks now, and it works as advertised. TiVo service is great, the interface is great, and the DVD burning of stored shows is great, too.

My biggest disappointment is the picture quality of the live programming. I'm using cable (granted not the cleanest source) and the picture is dark and grainy. The same cable run through my JVC SVHS VCR or eight-year-old JVC 32" TV is noticeably better. It's as if the tuner in this TiVo isn't as good. Either that, or the conversion of an analog signal over to digital causes your picture to deteriorate. However, another TiVo Series 2 box that this unit replaced produced a better picture than this HUMAX.

Overall, this is a great concept, and has allowed me to turn three components (DVD player, TiVo box, and DVD recorder) into one unit saving me space. However, considering the price, you'd hope that a regular TV picture, something this unit spends most of its time presenting, would be better.

GPX D200B Progressive Scan 2-Channel DVD Player with Remote Control

• Drawer-load DVD player
• Plays CD/CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW & JPEG discs
• Multiple languages & language subtitles
• NTSC/PAL system converter
• Programmable CD tracks
• 2-channel audio
• Built-in AC power cable
• Includes remote control (batteries sold separately)
• Progressive scan
• Slim DVD player plays DVDs and CDs

I have had many cheap or inexpensive players and several have broken. I have 3 kids 2 of which are in the disney movie age range. Those of you with kids knows this means one movie can be watched 10 times in a single week. It plays well and has nice features, even a volume feature on the remote so you dont have to hold both tv and dvd remote at the same time.

The Pros:

Plays all region dvd's. You may have to tweek the progressive options but this unit will play anything in a true dvr format ( not divx or AVi etc). This is a nice feayure if you order special versons of say english tv shows you enjoy not available here in the states and theyare in PAL format. The cost can't be beat and it is lightweight and very easy to hook up.

The Cons:

I love this unit except for one thing, the darn remote. You have to be lined up with the machine for it to recognize it, normally a remote will pick up anyplace in a room. Not this one, I guess they made the lil response window too small or something. I just remember to aim the lil unit towards me before the movie starts and problem solved. For the price I wont complain about that, otherwise it is perfect!

It is a great lil unit, don't hesitate about buying one. GPX in my opinion works as well as some of these other classic brands. Stay away from Coby products, had 2 die 100% within 6 months...save your money. Hope this is helpful.

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I actually purchased this DVD player from a Kmart rather than here on Amazon, but have had such a horrendous experience with it that I had to write a review to steer people away from this garbage.

For starters, it is a battle simply getting this device to actually play a DVD. Brand new DVDs straight out of the shrink wrap and plastic case will give this DVD player fits, and you're lucky if they load. If they do actually load, several other problems present themselves.

First, the playback will occasionally stutter, causing the disc to skip for a little while until it finally settles down and you can resume watching your movie.

Next, the remote is possessed. Want to skip to the next chapter? Go ahead and press that button, but probably only a quarter of the time will it skip to the next chapter. It might, instead, pause the disc. Or change the subtitle. Or return to the menu. This trick works with any button.

Finally, a new feature presented itself after several months of use. Now, when you insert a disc, no matter what you do, it will eventually just decide to start at the beginning of the movie (or first episode on a TV disc). This means if you pop in a disc and let it sit, it will start to play on its own. This also means that if you start the movie or show yourself, a minute or two in, it will start over for you. How thoughtful.

All in all, this is probably the worst consumer electronics device I have ever purchased, and I have a first gen Xbox 360, so that's not just hyperbole. My wife and I purchased this as a cheap replacement for a failing DVD player. We got what we paid for. See that you don't do the same.

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Pros: Small, light, has composite and Y, Pb, Pr outputs.

Cons: Couldn't read 2 out of the first 3 Region 1 DVD's I tried with it, disks that another reader liked just fine. No excuse for that with current-generation technology. I packed it back up for return within an hour of receiving it.

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this doesnt work properly, I dont have time for send this back, dont buy this product. this is the first time this happen with amazon

Save $0.04 Off

I haven't had a chance to use it much but when I have, it works fine. I had a Cyber home DVD player before and that was awful, nothing but trouble, never knew if it was going to work. With this GPX, I don't have to worry, it always works.

EasyCAP USB 2.0 Audio/Video Capture/Surveillance Dongle

With all the negative comments about this product I wanted to give it a fair chance. I am writing this review because as a fellow online purchaser, product feedback is very important in making your purchase decisions. I almost did not buy this product because of the negative reviews but for $15 I figured it would be worth the risk and now I am glad I bought it. I have made a couple DVDs so far and it has been trial and error but I am getting better each time. This product works and so far is working great. The hardest part is learning to use the software that comes in the package with the Easycap. Just a few steps to get you going... Put the disc in prior to inserting the easy cap. When it autoruns then click on the install driver option. (There are more in depth directions that come with the product but they were in broken English so I'm trying to help with that.) The directions say to tell it not to search the internet then continue on and eventually you will get to a screen that says it has not passed windows logo testing. The directions say to click "continue anyway". Once the drivers are installed then plug in the device. Complete the install new hardware wizard and then it will probably show another device which is the sound and it should install itself. After everything is finished, then on the disc menu click install video studio. Install that and you are ready to go. Plug in your other device (VCR, gaming system, camcorder etc.)Start up the program and click on videostudio editor, it will load up and then click on the capture tab. Then click on the video capture button. (Be patient here this might take a little bit to load stuff in but it won't show it loading it also might mute your system while the sound is integrating.) There is a format line. The default is AVI, I believe, but you will want to set it to MPEG for DVDs and also so you don't take up all of your hard drive (since AVI files are about 1 Gigabyte per minute of video one hour of video would take up a huge chunk of your hard drive. I know this because I used up my entire hard drive on a couple of videos :-) PLEASE NOTE: there is a little gear that says options. Click it then click "video and audio capture property settings..." MAKE SURE: that under the source tab the TV system says NTSC instead of the default PAL that comes up. IF YOU DO NOT DO THIS YOU MAY NOT SEE ANYTHING COME UP ON THE SCREEN AND MAY NOT BE ABLE TO CAPTURE OR BURN VIDEO ONTO DVD. Also under capture tab I clicked the customize button and put 720 X 480 frame size because if you don't when it burns to DVD it will have to convert it anyways. I also put the speed/quality slider bar all the way over to quality because I'm burning family videos and I could care less how long it takes as long as the quality is best. (Adjust this as you see fit). Next step is to click on capture video and when done click stop capture. You will notice the video is displayed in a little square in the top right corner. You can click this and view it. When you are done recording and ready to make a disc click the share button at the top and add media as you see fit. You can also edit menus and backgrounds later on. Also notice there are tabs at the bottom left that allow you to change the TV ratio (I use 16:9) and tabs for settings. There is much more to be said about the program but I have not used all the features and this is only to help you get going so you can enjoy your product. I hope this review has been useful and as I said this is a great product for the price. I have had the product for about a week and I have been working on transferring my family videos to DVD and so far it has been great!

This product is great but not perfect it has better quality then a DAzzle but only after i change some settings in the capture area heres how i did it

1. click capture video but don't capture.

2. click video type.

3. click mpeg.

4. click options, then click the 'SECOND' option.

5. click capture up in the tabs of the options.

6. move the quality meter all the way up to 100%.

7. then click advance.

8. make the quality DVD then scroll to the bottom then click 720 by 620 NTSC or the PAL option right below it if your in Europe.

9. the click display area and make it 16.9 then make the bit rate constant bit rate.

10. keep the audio were it is expect if the bit rate is under or above 224kbps then make it 224kbps to remove static.

11. now download a media encoder because MPEG isn't compatible with alot of programs.

13. Now record i bet the quality will be 999999999X better!

14. now click this review was helpful.

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I recently bought one of these and I think I may know why so many people are having issues with getting theirs working. Many of the EasyCAP DC60s being distributed are cheap, poor-quality (and often broken) fakes. I purchased one of these video adapters as a belated birthday present for my son. The item I bought was listed as "new", but when he opened the package, he found that the CD that contained the software for the installation and operation of the adapter was a Mitsubishi brand blank disk with said software burned onto it. My son assumed that I had simply bought him a used EasyCAP, that the previous owner had lost the original CD and that he had burned a replacement CD before selling it back. After installing the software and plugging in the video adapter, my son found that his computer did not recognize that any drivers for the device had been installed. After researching drivers and fixes to the problem, my son eventually found the website of Shenzhen Forward Video, the supposed official manufacturer of the EasyCAP DC60+. Shenzhen Forward Video has given a statement () claiming that someone has been poorly reproducing and distributing EasyCAP products. In addition to that, it appears as though Shenzhen Forward Video never made an EasyCAP DC60 in the first place; the only model listed on their website with "DC60" in the name is their DC60+, of which production has been discontinued.

I am not the only person to have come to the conclusion that they were sold an imitation. During his search for a solution to the drivers problem, my son found a website () where someone else who had unwittingly bought two broken EasyCAPs and managed to get his hands on a third, working model posted photos comparing the real thing to the reproductions.

If you're looking to buy a video adapter, I would suggest that you stay clear of the "EasyCAP" brand altogether because you may not get what you paid for.

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Great on Xbox 360 just make sure you have all your formats correct and it gets the job done. i dont know why it has so many poor reviews i believe you have to know somewhat about computers before you jump to video editing and capturing this device isnt hard to use at all but you have to know more about computers then sending emails and going on youtube to use it at your full desire.

Check Quality Modern Warfare 2

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Hello All:

I have a security DVR which gives me direct AVI extracts out of its USB port, but without audio. So my project was to find a way to video capture extracts from the DVR. I bought this EasyCap. Had to make several passes with the WinXP driver install routines until all of EasyCap's drivers installed. Then I installed their video capture software. I was able to get sound but only got fuzz in the video display panel. Then tried Win XPs Movie Maker. Same thing albeit more frustrating. Movie Maker would lock up after each attempt. Next, I went out on a video capture software hunt and tried several other products which had trial downloads. No luck and I was almost at my wits end. My last stop happened to be nchsoftware, who offer the Debut video capture software. And the basic version is free.

Unbelieveably, after a little bit of fudging, the video feed from my dvr showed up in the Debut display on my pc. This amazing software lets you record in any of multiple formats: vcd, avi, mp4, etc. There are a couple of quirks, not so huge though. One is that in the 'tools' options to adjust the device I have to keep changing the video input format to NTSC_M each time I launch Debut. Culprit is EasyCap which keeps defaulting to PAL_B. Not sure why PAL_B was chosen as default while marketing to the US. Secondly, while recording I can see the green audio bar moving in the Debut display panel but cannot hear the audio.

After I 'stop' the recording session and replay the newly created file from 'recordings' on the menu I have both video and sound in the file.

Hope this information will help you too. Saved my day. And I recommend a robust donation to nch software for the free version of Debut. Alternately, buy the Debut Plus to support the company. They have a huge line of other video related products.

Hope this info helps you and good luck.

Ahmed

USA

Toshiba SD-V280 DVD-VCR Combo, Silver

• ColorStream component-video DVD outputs; 10-bit, 27 MHz video conversion
• Quasi S-VHS compatible VCR with 19-micron heads (for stable still-frames) and hi-fi stereo sound
• MP3-CD playback, DVD picture zoom, DVD bookmarking (skip instantly to your favorite scenes)
• Optical and coaxial digital-audio outputs accommodate all digital surround receivers
• Includes remote control

The unit looks fabulous, and I had no trouble with the remote control on my television. However, I only had it for 6 weeks when the power supply died. It can't be repaired, and Toshiba won't honor the 90-day warrantee.

So, while it looks like a great product, the power supply is fragile and the customer service is one of the worst I've seen.

My advice: Go with a similar product from a company with higher standards of quality and customer commitment.

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When I bought this combo system I assumed that in exchange for convenience and space saving there would be some compromises. Unfortunately there are a little too many. First, the unit cannot play back MP3 CDs as advertised. It lost about half of the songs from each CD I tried, it broke individual songs into multiple files, it messed up directory structure -in short, forget about using it to playback your MP3 collection. It is clear that the MP3 functionality was tacked on as an afterthought and not very well. Instructions regarding MP3 playback do not even appear in the (indecipherable) manual, but rather are found on an (equally indecipherable) piece of paper shipped with the unit. Since MP3 playback was a big selling point for me, I was rather disappointed.

A second annoyance is that the remote control does not work with my new Toshiba TV. Nor does the Toshiba TV remote work with the VCR/DVD. This is just ridiculous.

My main complaint however is that the unit simply stopped working 3 weeks after I bought it. The entire electrical system just shorted out I couldn't even eject the tape and DVD that were in it. Amazingly, there is a Toshiba certified repair center nearby. They promise to have it fixed about 3 weeks. Great.

Update Two weeks later, I received a call from the Toshiba Authorized Service Center saying that they don't know how to fix the unit. I was told to call Toshiba customer support. Toshiba says they will looking it, but are non-commital doing anything.

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The player is very nice to look at, with a nicely subdued blue glow to the digital display. It's surprisingly lightweight and easy to carry and position. The gold connectors are nice too. Quality is excellent with both the DVD and VHS. Recording looks good. Colors seem perfect. Audio is top notch. Dialogue, music, and the bass really kick in nicely. Monster cables or something equal increase the quality something fierce, so I recommend picking those up. The VHS is noticably less crisp than DVD, but that's pretty much a given with anything. I'm sure the remote and on-screen menus could be made more user-friendly, but I'm not complaining. Some form of audioscopes would be welcome to go along with the music. Overall, no real complaints. I like the multitude of features. It compliments my little home theater setup nicely.

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Whole thing broke down no way to eject disks. Toshiba repair claiming "lightening or power surge" and refusing to back warrantee (there was no lightening, and if there was a power surge, it didn't affect our computers at all...)

This unit is very light weight considering the fact that it has additional hardware to accomodate the DVD electronics.

There's no vent/exhause holes for dust or insects to get in. This means that there's probably little to no electronic problems in the future.

The remote and on-screen feature takes a little time to get used to, as most new things do. I found them to be self-explanatory.

DVD play is comparable to most DVD players with all the extra DVD features accessible through this player.

VHS playback is also generic in quality. But VHS recording comes a little short. It only have SLP & SP recording which means that if you want to dub over a family video or a movie that's more than 2 hours long your going to have trouble. It does NOT have EP or even LP recording which is capable of recording 4+ hours. I found that a little surprising when I tried to record over a family home video ... good thing I have a Sony VHS as my back up.

In general, this VHS/DVD combo is a great addition if you a first time DVD-player owner. Otherwise if are into recording VHS over 4+ this is NOT the combo you need.

Mitsuba DV3000BLK 16MP (Interpolated) SD/SDHC Digital Camcorder w/8x Digital Zoom, 2.4" LCD & Carry

Love this camera. easy to use. but picture isn't he best quality. good for the money if you need something easy to use

It sounded like it would be a great, easy to use, simple camcorder but the battery is terrible and the memory is even worse.

Buy Mitsuba DV3000BLK 16MP (Interpolated) SD/SDHC Digital Camcorder w/8x Digital Zoom, 2.4" LCD & Carry Now

This is not a bad little unit , but it has it's drawbacks. The veiw screen is far from as clear as I'd hoped for not good in low light. The other point is the zoom,the switch is really hard to make work every time. I haven't worked with this as much as I'd like to see if I can over come these faults , sometimes problems are operater error. Not bad camera for the money....

Read Best Reviews of Mitsuba DV3000BLK 16MP (Interpolated) SD/SDHC Digital Camcorder w/8x Digital Zoom, 2.4" LCD & Carry Here

The video is fine (not great though you definitely need a well-lit room, and only shoot in early morning), but the audio is barely intelligible. There's also no jack for an external microphone, so unless you want to record with another device and try to synchronize it later in editing (not exactly a fun task), think hard before buying it. You can get a normal digital camera that shoots video clips, with decent audio, for a similar price.

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Alesis VideoTrack Handheld Recorder

• Create web-ready video that's perfect for sharing
• Upload to social sites such as YouTube and Facebook
• High-quality stereo condenser microphone set
• Quality video lens and advanced DSP image processing and zoom
• Runs on internal, replaceable, rechargeable battery, or plugged in

First, let me say I like Alesis. They have created some great and innovative products for great prices. I own many.

Now... I bought my VideoTrack in Dec 2010 from another retailer, but what I have to say here is about Alesis, not the retailer.

Overall impressions, the video quality is pretty bad, but I was ok with that. The device design is ok, and the stereo audio is pretty decent. All those things were fine for the price point... and if the device worked, I probably would not be writing this.

I noticed immediately that the recorder would stop recording randomly. Could be 5 min, could be 30 min. I tried with the supplied 2GB card and also a high quality 16GB card for video that might go longer than 45 min (like a whole band set). There were problems on both memory cards.

I actually lost valuable gig recordings more than once because of this (I know, I know ... crazy that I actually used it as intended...).

I went to Alesis' website and located the firmware update. I am a computer support person, so I am capable... and despite my exact performance of their steps. The device told me "incorrect FW" every time and refused to update. I can only guess that I already have the latest firmware, but there is no (known) way of knowing

since they don't tell you how to find it on the device screens and I couldn't find it myself either.

I sent at least two detailed emails to Alesis support and never even got an acknowledgement. After several months, giving up and frustrated with the VideoTrack.. I decided to call Alesis directly. I spoke to a rep that acted like he never heard of this problem before (yet I see it all over the web on even in these Amazon reviews). After instructing me that they would RMA the device (RETURN SHIP AT MY EXPENSE!) I agreed. I spent over $10 to ship this piece of garbage back. I waited over a month... no communication. I emailed the tech support contact and he replied "shipping soon".

Well the device arrived about another week later. I immediately inspected the "new" device and was already disappointed to see that it had a serial number LOWER than the one I sent back (I kept a copy of my original serial number)... I know this was not proof of anything, but did not instill confidence. Seems like they must have a stockpile of old ones.. not surprising to me given my experience.

Anyway, to wrap this up... I unpacked, charged the unit overnight, setup and set on a tripod to record (pointed it at a movie playing on my computer screen for some non-still recording). Recorder stopped after 5 min. Test 2 seems like it made it until the battery ran out, but not sure because apparently if the battery runs out it does not save any file. Argh. Recharged. Test 3 stopped after abour 40min with battery bars clearly visible.

I tried the whole firmware update process AGAIN...same results as original recorder.. "incorrect FW". Same problems...I am done wasting my time!

I think Alesis has made a lemon and they are just hoping to sell these units to people who will eventually just give up trying to get them to work reliably. I am way past the point of getting a refund from the retailer, and RMA's just cost me MORE money in return shipping. I am done throwing good money after bad.

Thanks a lot Alesis... I will remember this next time I have to to between you and a competitor. I guess I can still use this for 5 minute movies of things that don't have to record reliably (????).

Don't get burned... I did twice on this thing... avoid the VideoTrack at all costs... there are others way more deserving of your money even if you have to spend a bit more it will be worth it.

UPDATE AUGUST 2012:

Well, my unreliable VideoTrack was in the box for months since I had given up on it. I happened across a post where some people had found a firmware update 1.46 that actually worked for them. I located it on one of the Alesis support boards, and was pleasantly surprised that it actually loaded (where previous firmware updates had all failed with "incorrect FW" messages). I verified the FW was indeed updated to 1.46 and also saw the new AUDIO ONLY mode. I then tested several hours of recording both with battery and while connected to USB power. The "intermittent recording stop" seems to be cured. I seem to be able to record about 4 hours on battery power before it shuts down, but I also successfully recorded over 6 hours on USB power without a glitch. I think the battery indicator may be a bit misleading because it seems after 3-4 hours of recording it still shows 2 bars right up until low power shutdown. I thought maybe the recording problem was back... because it still showed 2 battery bars at shutdown and when I powered it back up, But then I realized it quickly goes to "no bars" and shuts down. OK.. I can deal with a misleading battery indicator. Anyway, I thought I would share my experience to maybe get some usable life out of my VideoTrack and maybe you can too with firmware 1.46. I only upped my star rating to TWO stars however, because my overall experience was terrible and Alesis support remains inexcusable... More evidence? The official Alesis support webpage still has the old firmware (1.24?) posted and customers have to fend for themselves to find this fix. C'mon Alesis.. you actually have a fix and you can't even update your support page?

Buy Alesis VideoTrack Handheld Recorder Now

When the recorder stayed on it worked as expected. However, the first time I used it, it stopped recording a 45 minute performance after 2 minutes. (I had it on a mic stand up in the air). I thought maybe I should upgrade firmware. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME! (They make a big deal about following the instructions exactly and when you do it doesn't work).

Around 8 times over three weeks, I tried recording a one hour live performance and it stopped every time during the recording. I had to get someone to stand on a chair and start the recording every time it stopped, which varied from 2 minutes to 22 minutes, sometimes during a loud section with activity.

Don't waste your time!!!!! Way too frustrating!

Read Best Reviews of Alesis VideoTrack Handheld Recorder Here

The VT is a simple to operate camcorder with "above average" sound quality. I noticed that the VT gets many mixed reviews online and I honestly think that a lot of it is because the user guide is so minimal-not to mention how small it is to read. I have downloaded the user guide from the internet which came in PDF format, that allowed me to see it without going blind. Now for the details: You need to connect the headphones after you turn on the VT, and not after you record cause you will not hear the recorded audio in both sides. Many costumers thought that that is because one of the mics is a defect, so the VT records only in mono. I wish Alesis would also tell us that you have to transfer files to iMovie using only the original size, or the program will crash..even Apple could not figure this out, but that should be Alesis job to print on the VT user guide.I cannot complain on VT overall quality, keeping in mind that it is a very simple interface to manage. I also thought that the VT's construction is rather sturdy, but the ultralight weight of this camcorder could raises some questions regarding it's overall street price, which should be lower. All in all I got what I need: easy drag and drop so I can post my playing on Youtube with no rippers or converters, while the sound is better than my older camcorder. Alesis really sacrificed their name and reputation because of this product and that's a shame.

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If you read the negative reviews, most are nearly a year old. New firmware fixes the random shut off problem and adds an audio only option. My videotrack came with firmware version 1.24. To find out your firmware version, hold plus and power when the unit is off. It will power up to a self test mode, and show the firmware version at the bottom of the screen. I didn't have any issues with the few recordings I made, but I went ahead and upgraded to firmware version 1.46 which adds an audio only mode. You'll need to search the alesis community forum for the latest firmware. You'll find a link to dropbox with the new firmware. The download includes the instructions on how to install it.

I had a zoom Q3, and while the Alesis is much lighter weight and probably less well built, the results are very comparable. Video quality on both the videotrack and Q3 is substandard, which is why I sold my Q3. The audio on both is good, but not as great as a dedicated audio recorder. For the current price of the videotrack, I'm willing to accept the results. For the price of the Zoom Q3, the results just weren't worth it. The videotrack is OK, not great, but it's cheap enough for what it is.

Save 86% Off

For the $40. 00 I paid it's worth it. My problem is there is no way to edit video. If I record say for an hour and I would like to use 2 minutes, no way to do it. Sound quality is terrible. I am a bass player and it just does not pick up the lower frequencies.

Degen DE1123 DSP AM/FM/SW Pocket Radio with 1GB MP3 Player & Recorder

I purchased this with the primary goal of time recording AM radio stations, specifically Coast To Coast AM with George Noory which airs locally from 1am to 5am. I thought this device would allow me to program in a 1am alarm time at which the device would come on and record the preset station. I'm still not sure if this is possible or not, but my inability to figure it out is making me want to return it. The problem is, the manual. This is not a simple radio to operate if you're looking to take it out of the box and instinctively know how to operate it. I'm usually good at that, but not with this radio. The functions of the many buttons and switches are NOT obvious. I dove into the manual, only to find the usual Chenglish that one finds in lower grade Chinese products. I can't understand why they pour so much effort into product development and scrimp on hiring a native English speaking person to write their manuals for English speaking markets. The manual claims, in its own way, that upon alarm, the radio will resume what it was doing when you last turned it off. So I set up the station I wanted to record, started recording it, set the alarm for 1am, and turned the radio off. Seemed simple enough. Oh, and you have to plug the earphone in because otherwise it would run the batteries down if the speaker was on because in order for you to have a useful volume for playback, the volume needs to be high during recording. The other odd thing is there's no way to program the alarm timer to turn the recording off. I checked the radio at 7am and it was still on, playing the station I wanted, but it didn't record anything. I'm still working on that but returning the unit is looking more attractive. Also, as another reviewer mentioned, the only tag for recordings is a folder and file number, nothing descriptive, so you have to remember what each recording is by its numeric label.

Some of the negative reviews stated the user couldn't even tune in stations. I think some of this may be due to the fact that you have to manually tell it you live in the US so that it tunes in AM channels in 10kHz increments, not the default Chinese 9kHz increments. Because of this, when I tried to tune to AM1180 the closest I could get was AM1178. Even though 1180 was a clear channel station, it was not clear as a bell, as it should have been due to the 2kHz offset. However, after I read the manual some more (ugh) and made the necessary correction, the reception was perfect, even inside my workplace where my old radio couldn't even pull in any AM stations. There's a simlar correction for FM stations which would block the lower end of the band if not adjusted properly.

So it is a handy, compact reliable receiver, but it has issues one should consider carefully before purchase.

This Degen is a nice compact (shirt pocket sized) little radio. I was in the market for a FM pocket sized radio with good quality and in my search I found this one, it was not much more price wise and had Short Wave (Which is also an interest of mine) MW (AM) a voice recorder and MP3 capabilities. Its the perfect size I was looking for its only slightly bigger the an I-POD classic, fits easily in a shirt pocket, it was some weight to it, so its not flimsily. Sound in the speaker is pretty good, its 50 mm and it produces a descent sound. It DX's in FM station really well, does good with middle wave (AM) (I live in a location with bad reception-one reason I got this radio is I have an Sirius XM radio and I transmit it around the house and property and I can listen to it on FM it works perfectly) and the short wave is to be expected in that it DX's in the big boomers, your probably not going to DX in far away lower powered stations, but its not bad. Its pretty easy to use and there's lots of per sets on all three bands. The MP3 recorder is easy to use, you just plug it into your computer and drag music into its folder. Battery life (rechargeable) is very good, You can get 10-15 hours, or more. It takes 7 hours to fully charge and more if you use the computer like 9-10 hours. Its not a bad radio at all.

Buy Degen DE1123 DSP AM/FM/SW Pocket Radio with 1GB MP3 Player & Recorder Now

Very good AM and FM performance for its size and price range. SW performance is adequate but subject to interference from strong/local AM radio stations. Very sensitive with just its short whip antenna. Digital recording and playback features are just basic. Does not support scheduled, unattended digital recording. Speaker audio ok for size, audio generally fine with headphones. Some distortion at low levels in AM band. Computer connection not well documented in manual; worked properly with Windows XP; compatibility with other computer OS's not known. No numeric keypad or rotary tuning knob. Seems solid and well made. Its compact size is a key feature. If size is less important, there are other better performing radios in this price class, although none with digital recording/playback features.

Read Best Reviews of Degen DE1123 DSP AM/FM/SW Pocket Radio with 1GB MP3 Player & Recorder Here

Typically, you'd expect a multifunction device to be a `jack of all trades, master of none', and this one is no exception-it is not outstanding as a receiver, MP3 player or digital recorder-but it is nice to have all these functions combined in one shirt-pocket sized device. The receiver functions about as well as my other portables on AM, FM and shortwave; as with most shortwave receivers clipping a roll-up wire or active antenna to the whip helps with weak signals. Tuning on shortwave is slightly cumbersome since you first have to select the band and then scan up or down in 5 khz steps, although you can store and jump to your favorite frequencies. I can't tell if the digital signal processing helps or hurts, it makes some funny noises when dealing with weak signals. Sound is surprisingly ok considering the speaker size; the included ear buds are junk but it sounds good when paired with a decent headset. Battery life is fair with the included rechargeables; you might want to invest in higher-capacity ones. The supplied wall charger puts out a lot of interference that wipes out my other radios, but you can also charge it off a computer USB port which avoids this problem. As an MP3 player it's pretty basic, 1GB capacity and stores songs as numbered files in numbered folders, you have to remember what's what. As a digital recorder you can record off the air (requires volume to be turned up to full!) or make direct voice recordings (presumably the speaker doubles as a microphone). Build quality appears to be pretty good although the slide switch band/function selector feels somewhat flimsy. This has become my new `travel radio' due to its small size and multifunctionality.

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I was looking for a replacement for my wife's "Radio your way" radio recorder by Pogo products. They don't seem to be in business anymore, to bad. She liked to tape certain radio shows. From what she tells me this unit isn't quite as good. It's a bit bulkier and you can't program it to record at a certain time like the Pogo radio. You have to be there and push record at the time you want. She also says the buttons are real sensitive and when you fast forward you can't hear the commercials zip by so you have to guess where to stop it. Otherwise she likes it. It holds more music etc. and the rechargable batteries are nice. The poorly worded instructions don't help either. Reads like a bad Chinese to English translation. Have only been using it a week hopefully it will grow on her.

Panasonic HDC-SD5 AVCHD 3CCD Flash Memory High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabiliz

I was thrilled with how small this camera is. It fits in your hand as if it were a half full 12 oz. can of soda. It's very light, but the fortunately the image stabilization makes it shoot like it was a heavier camera.

I ran into an issue with iMovie '07 (part of Apple's iLife '08) that caused the screen to stretch wider, making people look fat. This will likely be resolved soon by Apple, and for now I've taken to using the 1440 X 1080 resolution which imports just fine.

I've also fitted a 37mm mount size aftermarket wide angle lens which really helps for shooting indoors. Some have complained that the video is a bit more grainy while indoors and in darker conditions than the HD1, but I can't complain.

So far, the battery life seems to run an hour and 10 minutes, which is better than the 55 minutes it's rated for.

This camera does not include an SD card, so you'll want to pick up a 4GB (40 minutes) or 8 GB (80 minutes) card. I got the class 6 version of those SDHC cards for a faster transfer. I think I might stick with the 4 GB size in the future so I can easily burn the files to a blank DVD which holds 4.7 GB. Also, make sure you have a card reader that supports SDHC. It also doesn't include an HDMI cable, so pick one of those up if you have a TV capable of HDMI. Belkin makes the least expensive cable at $20.

And finally, if you're a Mac user, you should know that only the Intel Macs (that have been out since January of '06) support the AVCHD editing.

Some have complained about the low light grain that this camera tends to have. I've noticed it as well, and apparently the HD1 is slightly better indoors. But this wasn't a huge issue for me.

The only thing that would make this camera perfect for me would be an external mic input.

This is the first camcorder I have bought in a while. My last one was a Canon MiniDV that did progressive frame shooting. I've been researching for months on and off and following the progress of HD camcorders.

I personally love this camera, there are only a few, mute things about this camera that I miss.

Pros:

It's small and very light weight; almost too light. I *almost* found myself wishing it were a little heavier to make it easier to hold the camera steady. But it's great like it is.

The picture quality is great. Having had a progressive scan camcorder before, I notice the interlacing, but it's no where near as bad as the MiniDV camcorder I had before that did interlacing. There is a slight grain to the picture in low light, but this is to be expected, and after reading several reviews about how "horrible" the low light was, I thought it was great. It wasn't near as bad for me as people were making it out to be, but that's a subjective thing. (I viewed this on both a 720 and 1080 screen)

Audio is good, it doesn't make me too loud (since I'm holding the camera and the mic is right next to me) and I can clearly hear thing that are farther out.

Battery life is great. I can easily get over an hour, and it seems to indicate it can do more than that, though I haven't put that to the test yet and the manual says I can only get a maximum of 1 hour and 25 minutes (55 minutes actual). So we'll see.

I kind of like that the battery and SD card are tucked away underneath. I don't agree with a previous review that the door and hinge are made cheaply. It seems standard to me.

I love the SD card recording media. No more tapes! No more mini-DVDs! No more having to hook up your hard drive based camcorder to the computer to copy files!

Cons:

I imagine I'll miss that there's no external mic input. But I bought this anticipating to use it as a point-and-shoot camcorder. I'm just starting a family and wanted to capture everything, and this will do it. I don't plan on making any little movies with it. (I'll probably continue to use my progressive scan camera for that)

The field of view is narrow. I don't know if this is just how camcorders are these days, or if I'm just used to my Kodak digital camera that has a wide-view mode. I ended up buying a 0.5x and 0.7x lens to put on it, and this helps be get "the big picture" so I can capture more of what's going on in a scene.

I don't know where to get an extra battery. Do the SD1 batteries work with this? Where do I buy them? The manual gives me model numbers of 3 different batteries, but finding a place to buy them is though; and the ones I do find are $100+!

It doesn't remember my last shooting preferences. Sometimes I turn on the back light or another feature. But if I turn the camera off for a moment and back on, I have to go turn that feature on again.

Recommendations:

Buy bigger capacity memory cards. I bought 2 2GB, and I'm filling them up faster than I can copy them to my computer. I ordered a 16GB one which should help a lot. Another reviewer mentioned that it's good to get 4GB ones so you can easily copy them to a DVD, that sounds like a good idea.

Get a wide angle lens. I really didn't like how narrow the view was, whether this is normal or not. (though with my 0.7x lens, I can only zoom in 2x before everything becomes out of focus and there's no fixing it. Just a warning!)

Check out the back light compensation for low light shooting. It helps a lot!

Check out the contrast compensation feature! I love this! It makes shadows lighter without making everything else saturated and ugly. Very cool!

Other Thoughts:

I have a new iMac with iMovie08. The importing does take a bit, and a lot of disk space. Editing is good, and after an export the quality is good (if you have your settings right).

I'm anxious about the first video editor that natively supports AVCHD, cause it is frustrating that I can't just "shoot and edit" anything. I have to shoot, copy, transcode, edit and then export. Too much of a process to make lots of family movies to give to close family. (Maybe that's a good thing for them, eh? hehe)

This camera is exactly what I was looking for except for the AVCHD (and mic input), but hopefully the future will prove the format to not be a problem anymore.

Buy Panasonic HDC-SD5 AVCHD 3CCD Flash Memory High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabiliz Now

I had been waiting for my SD5 to ship from Amazon, but I saw the camera at Circuit City in stock and $50 less so I decided to just get it there.

The camera feels great in your hands. It is small and light, but even in my large hands it feels stable. I like that the battery is now inside of the camera and not attached to the back. This lets the center of gravity sit right there on your hand.

The LCD screen looks good, though a little pixelated in darker rooms.

I brought the camera out yesterday to go for a walk with my infant son. Even while walking and trying to film my son the image was quite stable.

One piece of warning, if you use this camera with a Mac be sure to have a large internal drive or get an external one. With the new iMovie 08, it works with the AVCHD wonderfully but when it imports it converts it to AIC. The video still looks great and they are easy to work with, but they files are quite big. If you import at the Large setting, you lose very little in image and one hour of video is about 13GB. If you import at full resolution you're looking at 40GB per hour. Wow.

For my own workflow, I import with Large to save the space. I then put the source AVCHD files on a DVD so I have the option of importing them later at the full resolution. This allows me to reuse my SD cards but still have the original footage.

Overall, very nice camera. The Menu options are easy to work with and the final video is just great.

Read Best Reviews of Panasonic HDC-SD5 AVCHD 3CCD Flash Memory High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabiliz Here

To summarize my overall thoughts about the Panasonic HDC-SD5, for regular outdoor video shooting, the SD5 is excellent! I will skip discussing its still image cabilities because it simply was not designed with that in mind, trust me.

Now, the first question the HDC-SD5 raised for me was "is it better than the one it replaced, the HDC-SD1?" Half a year ago I used the predecessor HDC-SD1 for a few weeks and loved it, and after a few weeks now with the SD5 I find that it is a slightly better camera under good lighting conditions and slightly worse under lowe lighting conditions. On the plus side it is about $200 cheaper, has the same battery life, is lighter, smaller, and yet no less handy to operate. Now, the "$200 cheaper" might raise a flag, and clearly some of the lower cost comes from certain cheaper features. For starters, the new smaller chasis is endowed with a smaller lens, down from 43 mm to 38 mm, smaller image sensors, down to 1/3 inch from 1/2, and the SD1's amazing 5.1 audio microphones have been replaced with simpler stereo ones in the SD5. In general, I say thanks for translating these changes into the greater affordability of the SD5. The bonus with this camera is the Full HD 1920 (on the new, smaller sensors) vs. former 1440 horizontal resolution (on the older, larger sensors).

Outdoors, the SD5's recordings are marginally sharper than the SD1's, with equally beautifully rendered colors. Basically, it took my 70" 1080i screen to be able to discern the extra resolution, and was the main reason I returned the SD1 and waited for the SD5 to come out. I could not tell the cameras apart when played back on smaller screens. Shadows and bright areas are handled as well and manual settings are available to allow you to adapt more precisely to your scene's lighting.

The only drawback to the SD5 is the reduced amount of light that the smaller 38 mm lens allows to enter the camera. The image generated from the combination of a smaller lens, smaller sensors, and increased processing wizardry, falls short of the SD1's low light capabilities. Indoor shooting is grainier and the colors look faded compared to the SD1. That's important to keep in mind for capturing birthdays and holiday get togethers. Add some lighting if you can. Luckily, white balance is very good in auto or manual mode, so if you do have to work with indoor lighting you can get back to very good colors and resolution even indoors.

For those of you following the Panasonic HDS-SD? evolution closely, I have to note that it is too bad the HDC-SD3 never made it to the USA. It was identical to the SD1, except for the better 1920 vs. 1440 resolution, and was the camera I really wanted to buy.

At the end of the day the HDC-SD5 still has the excellence to be an entry level wannabe director's camera, and if like a good director you also address an indoor scene's lighthing needs properly, you will be rewarded. Outdoors, it's a wonderful, easy, point-and-shoot experience with amazing image stabilization that results in excellent video.

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Panasonic got a lot of things right with this camera. It has a fantastic form factor--small, light, and very comfortable to hold and use. It's ready to point and shoot, and for folks with more video experience, there's good options for manual control of white balance, iris, shutter, gain, etc. Auto-focus is quick, zoom control is easy to keep smooth, and image stabilization is exceptional.

I already have high-end prosumer DV cameras, but wanted something light and convenient for informal shots of my new son. The SD5 has fit the bill perfectly. My only complaint is Panasonic's decision to ditch the external mic jack. Ugh! Otherwise, I've been nothing but happy with this camera. I've read some reviewers comment about grain that appears in low-light images. It's endemic to small sensor chips trying to take small amounts of light to produce high-detail video. As small cameras go, I think the SD5 is average to good at low-light, and well above average when it comes to focus, image stabilization, and color reproduction.

Editing wise, I use a Mac, and I'm able to easily pull in the AVCHD video to both iMovie 08 and Final Cut Express 4 for editing.

16GB HD Waterproof Watch Recorder NIGHT VISION 1920*1280@30fps

This watch is a fraud, no night vision, you can not see any good in what is recorded, and the functions do not work. Do not buy this watch is a steal. I just hope my money back, or send me one if you have to work and everything they say.

Este reloj es un fraude, no tiene vision nocturna, no se puede ver nada de bien de lo que se graba,y las funciones no sirven. No compren este reloj es un robo. Solo espero que me regresen mi dinero, o me manden uno que si funcione y que tenga todo lo que dicen.16GB HD Waterproof Watch Recorder NIGHT VISION 1920*1280@30fps

The watch don't work on macs, only pcs. The video quality was horrible definitely not 1080p, not even high def. more like 640 by 480 a cheap product from china

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It took me a few times to get the functions down to a science, but it work really well. My only issue with it is the peg that covers the microphone fell off...it still records sound. I just haven't taken the time to contact the seller about the issue.

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The watch looks nice and heavy but the image is low quality. In the model I bought the IR light was not working and the USB was being recognized ony 1/5 of the times in any of the four computers i tried. In addition, the camera recorded for a maximum of 50 seconds and then turned off automatically (even after charging for 5 hours). really disappointed about this watch. I returned it.

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I liked the look off the watch, instructions i feel could have been much clearer and more detailed. Still a good item

Sabrent VD-GRBR USB 2.0 Video & Audio Capture DVD Maker w/Real Time TV Display Dual Export with cap

I bought one of these and I used it to record Call Of Duty Games.

It has an input and an output so you don't need splitters.

When I put the output to my TV it was pretty bad quality but it recorded in pretty good quality

It was worth the money.

If you are looking for a device to record gameplay or VCR to DVD this is it it is cheap all though its not HD it was still worth every penny. If you have any trouble recording or the driver is old just go to their website sabrent.com/downloads to install the latest driver. I hope this really helps. If you want to see the quality just watch

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This little black box works well for its price, but it isn't the greatest quality. Basically, you simply attach a composite video feed to the yellow, red, and white plugs on one side of the box, and then you connect the USB cord to your computer. The nice feature about this box is that provides a composite video out, which allows you to record your video to the computer while still watching it on a separate screen. The only major drawback for this product was the software. After multiple attempts to download software from the manufactures website, the included disk, and various other sources, I finally managed to get Windows 7 to work this box. Warning: this is far from plug and play, you have to work at it to get the right drivers.

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The product itself works great, but it was a hassle to get the drivers set up. I'm running Windows 8, so to get it to work I had to go to "Change PC Settings>General>Advanced startup> Restart now>Troubleshoot>Advanced Options>Windows Startup Settings>Disable Driver Signature Enforcement" After that it worked flawlessly,it's just not plug and play friendly.

Obviously the quality is standard definition only, but for the price you really can't complain. Just be warned, while this may be the simplest setup(you don't need anything besides what's in the box) the quality on the tv is very low and flickers from time to time. This does not affect the recording in any way but it may be an annoyance to some.

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Took me a while to install but all in all it looks great and with a little more editing done to it the quality looks even better.

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8' Pureav HDmi To Dvi Cable

What a quality cable! Even my IT guy was impressed with this cable. If you want the absolute best quality picture from your display device, I HIGHLY recommend Pureav. I'm quite happy with it!

First I'd like to say this I'm a person who uses Monster's upper mid grade cables on my stereo equipment, so I can appreciate a good quality cable.

Now,

I recently purchased a HP w2207h 22" widescreen LCD monitor and wanted to replace the thin cheap HDMI cable supplied with the monitor. I wanted one cable instead of having to use an HDMI cable with a HDMI to DVI adapter to connect to my computer's video card.

Researching HDMI to DVI cables lead me to Belkin's PURE AV offering. Wow is all I can say. This is a beautifully made quality cable. It's relatively light for its size even though it's about twice as thick as a standard computer power cord, is housed in a flexible light grayish PVC mesh looking jacket, and has gold plated connectors with metal screw-ins at the DVI end. You can definitely tell this is a quality cable. Plus...It has a lifetime warranty! Plus $38 dollars for an 8' quality made cable ain't bad either.

So how does it perform? Well...compared to the cheap HDMI cable supplied by HP...night and day. The monitor's colors are much more vivid and vibrant. DVDS look brighter and livelier, text in documents is sharp. The cable simply outperforms the generic one supplied by HP, and I would venture to say, most other cheaper made cables as well.

Bottom line If you're in the market for a good quality made HDMI to DVI cable you can't go wrong with Belkin's PURE AV offering. It will definitely bring your monitor/HDTV to life. Highly recommended!

P.S be aware that the cable comes in a clear plastic bag. Its Belkin's packaging as it has PURE |AV on it as well as other Belkin markings/info, but it's a plastic bag nonetheless. I was kind of surprised at first till I read somewhere that that's how it's packaged and shipped.

So would I buy other Belkin Pure AV products...yes!!!

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No problems, works great, good quality and materials, cable is tuff and durable, the end pieces are strong and well made. Would purchase again.

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The quality is stunning. Works great with Mac PowerBook G4. I hook it up to my Samsung LCD screen.

I believe its the best quality you can ever get. The colors are so vivid. I recommend it for everyone

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Canon Elura 100 MiniDV Camcorder

There's a lot to be said for compact cameras and digicams most people will be happy with the results, and they get used a LOT more than bulkier, heavier, more complicated versions. 2.2 x 3.0 x 4.3 inches is pretty small!

But there are some inevitable compromises the main one being, the size of the lens and sensor has a lot of impact on the quality of the images, especially in low light. Personally, that's fine for me there are so many shots I'd otherwise miss, that I get with a compact camera. So if that's your approach, you'll want to consider this entryto mid-level budget Canon.

The Elura 100 is the replacement for all of last year's Elura models the only 2006 Elura. (Amazon has it wrong, this camera was announced January, 2006 and just became available.) It's a step up from the ZR line, but below the Optura line.

There's a lot of info above already, so some key points that might not jump out:

Video is headed toward widescreen; this camera is actually designed for it, not just in the video capture but also the LCD and the viewfinder. It may take some getting used to shooting with it, though.

At 1/5th inch, the sensor is larger than some low-end models; though it claims 1.33 million pixels; that's reduced in practice, but still more than many at this price: using 16:9 widescreen mode, it's 750,000 (with image stabilization) or 880,000 (without); and using 4:3 traditional form, it's 690,000.

It has a semi-usable snapshot mode; you can actually make an OK print from a 1 megapixel (1152 x 864) image. You need a memory card, though.

The lens accepts accessories, like a wide angle converter.

The external microphone connection is a plus for some, the kind of thing you might realize later that you want; though there isn't a place to physically attach the mic.

The built in lens cover is handy.

Like many (but not all) camcorders, it has an analog input; so you can convert your old tapes to digital by using this as a recorder, or even just passing the signal through the camera.

Some caveats:

Compact cameras can't perform as well in low light as some might like. Experiment a little before you really need it, to learn how to make the most of what it can do.

Controls may be small and awkwardly placed for some.

If you want to transfer the video to a computer, you still need a Firewire cable and port. The USB port is only for stills, and analog to digital conversions.

The viewfinder is fixed, not moveable.

The movie mode that records onto the memory card is too low-resolution to be any real use (320x240 15 fps), but that's not what you're buying this for.

The feature menu is a little complex.

I'll leave it to others, for now, to comment on how they like the joystick; the lights; and the low light performance.

Stuff you might need to buy: get an SD memory card for images they're cheap enough that it's worth having just in case, and standard speed will do, given that there's only low res video modes; and a Firewire cable to transfer digital video.

Filter diameter is 27mm.

The Canon site has more info, and the Support Download Library has a PDF of the manual. Google for reviews, though few are out yet.

And as always ... never pay list price!

Regarding the Canon Elura 100, this is my third camcorder. Having had a Sony analog and JVC Digital in the past, I spent considerable time researching what my next camcorder would be. Ideally, I wanted a Panasonic PV-GS250, but that's just to high an investment for my personal use and abuse.

The earlier purchaser reviews do a great job at detailing technical pros and cons of the Elura 100. Personally, I have not experienced a problem with motor noise in my recordings.

I have a large hand but I enjoy the compact size of this camera -I can easily slip it into a coat pocket.

Recording in true widescreen is new to me and takes a bit of thinking to adjust old habits of framing the person I'm recording. But the results look great.

Video transfer to my Mac (OS 10.4) and iMovie HD works fine with firewire. I haven't been able to get iMovie to recognize the Elura when hooked up via USB cable provided.

The Elura's on screen menu is fairly intuitive. Navigation by the new joystick isn't hard to get used to.

I love the built in lens cover. No more hassle with stupid lens caps dangling in front.

The instruction manual provided has enough details to answer the few questions I had.

I'd rate the battery as the worst feature of this camera. My complaints:

1. Battery life is horrible. I don't understand why it is nearly drained every time I pick up this camcorder.

2. The battery is mounted internally. You open the view screen and remove a plastic cover to access the battery. Not easy to do on the fly. Nor can you buy a bigger size with greater capacity like externally mounted batteries.

Keep in mind a few things when considering a new camcorder:

1. How much are you willing to invest? That includes buying SD card, spare battery, or any accessories you don't already have like a new tripod or case.

If you say your max budget is $500, then you can get decent video quality for a $400 camera and spend another $100 on the accessories.

2. Who will use it? In my household it is mainly me. But if you have to share with wife/kids, think about how the camera might get abused.

3. Where will you use it. Many early reviews on other sites said the Elura 100 doesn't perform well in low light conditions. They are right. But if you are smart about where and when you use the camera, low light probably wont be an issue. Take advantage of natural light. Turn all the lights on in a room indoors, even during daytime. Pick well lit part of the room and try to steer your subjects there.

4. Do you want to digitize your old analog 8mm or VHS tapes? Those old memories are deteriorating and Do It Yourself digitization has never been easier. The Elura 100 is one of the few cameras I could find that had A/V input along with decent performance features.

5. Even though this takes still pictures, you should invest in a separate good quality digital camera. I carry both when I'm out with the family. The camcorder still camera feature wont provide as high a quality as you can get from a dedicated digital camera.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

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So far so good. I like my new Elura 100 MiniDV camcorder. It has a lot of options and is within a good price range. Most of the reviews below covered the important aspects of the camera. I bought this to replace my old RCA, analog camera. In general the quality of the picture is much better on the Elura. This was something I was worried about in switching to the digital format, but the pictures from the Elura have been incredibly crisp and show up well on a large (standard resolution) TV set. The only exception is low light recording, where the RCA seemed to do a little better. I'll break it down to pros and cons:

PROS:

1. Small size--a true palm sized camcorder. By the way, there were some reviews that were critical of the 'small controls.' I have at least average sized hands and the controls, including the joystick, were easy to operate. They do take some getting used to, but they are very straight forward.

2. WIDE SCREEN FORMAT: 16:9 and 4:3 formats are available. One caveat, is you will need capture software for your computer that can handle the 16:9 format to make DVDs from this. The software supplied with the camcorder is barely adequate and very clunky. But it is usable.

3. ZOOM: 20x Optical Zoom--some have larger zooms but stabilization becomes a real problem after 15x or so. This camcorder has electronic stabilization which seems to work well. I've turned off the digital zoom option. Digital zoom just makes for a grainy and unstable picture. Theoretically, the camera can go up to 800x. This is, of course, completely at the expense of the picture. 20x is a fine Zoom range. The highest zoom range in this class appears to be 30x. As I said before, above 15x it can be a chore to keep the image stable and probably requires a tripod.

4. LOTS OF MANUAL CONTROL if you want it. You can either control Nevertheless there's an automatic mode which most of us will use 99% of the time. Exposure can be totally automatic, you can use pre-determined 9 scene modes, or manually control the exposure. Very nice. Focusing can be done automatically (two different algorhythms to choose from)or manually using the joystick. I'm not a fan of the the effects but you have 9 different fading effects and 9 different digital effects to choose from. (This is fine if you like it, but most of this is better done post production on your computer.) Interestingly, the manual makes all of these features appear incredibly complex. In practice I have found the camera to be quite intuitive, and it is far easier to use out of the box than it would appear to be if you look at the manual.

5. ANALOG VIDEO TRANSFER: You can transfer video tapes or old analog video to digital through the camera. You can even record right off your TV. This has been a nice feature to transfer my old Hi8 videos to digital video.

6. LONG BATTERY LIFE: I'm getting about two hours from a battery so far. This depends on usage, but is generally good. Others have stated that battery life is poor, but I think about 2 hours is great. I wonder if there is variability in the quality of the batteries supplied.

7. INTEGRATES WELL WITH WINDOWS XP: no problems with firewire capture of the mini-DV. The ease of capture may depend on your software. Mine is pretty straightforward. Windows recognized the camera instantly. (I have a fairly neanderthal set up--right now I am using a 900 mhz Athlon powered laptop. So if my computer can find the camera, I imagine yours can too...)

8. COMES WITH A REMOTE CONTROL: not necessary, but a nice feature.

CONS:

1. NO TRUE USB CONNECTIVITY: One of the reasons I bought this camera was because the hype stated that it has USB connectivity. Well it does. But then again, it doesn't. Being a MiniDV/digital video virgin, I didn't realize that the USB connectivity only works only for images on the SD card. It DOES NOT work for standard MiniDV capture to a computer. For this you need a firewire connection. Once you have the firewire, there's no problem with connectivity.

Some reviews thought there was something wrong with their computer connectivity. Nope. YOU NEED FIREWIRE TO GET VIDEO TO YOUR COMPUTER. So you will have to invest in a firewire cable if you don't have one and make sure you have a firewire port on your computer (or buy a card).

The funny people at Cannon only supply you with a USB cable as if that is all you need. This only suffices to transfer the 1 megapixel and the 320 x 240 (76,800 pixels) video on the SD card. Even if the thing took great still pictures, they would only be 1 megapixel. This is less than most cell phone/cameras nowadays. The video recorded on the card is a joke. It might be 'fun' for a website, but it looks small and grainy even on the flip-out screen on the camera itself. It will look more ridiculous on your computer. Skip the SD Card. Use the MiniDV tape and record at 690,000 pixels or greater depending on the mode. This may not seem like a lot compared to a standard still camera, but this represents far more pixels than can be displayed on a conventional TV and translates into a great picture.

2. "MEGA VIDEO LIGHT": These twin LEDs are supposed to help with illumination indoors. You turn them on using a separeate switch. If you do not manually correct the light balance, however, you will find that all your subjects have an eerie bluish cast. Additionally, these small LEDs don't provide the 'mega' illumination needed for subjects that are beyond a few feet away from you. They're better than nothing and a nice try, but not very effective and so they really don't enhance the low light perfromance in a real, palpable way.

3. LOW LIGHT PERFORMANCE IS NOT SO GOOD: One area that my old RCA analog recorder did better than this one is in low light performance department. This probably was due to the lens being three times larger in diameter. It was less compact, but captured more light. Still, in this price range, low light performance appears to be universally poor. At times, you have to manually override the automatic exposure as the shutter speed is set so slow that moving objects have small tails like comets flashing through the night. Also subjects become more mono-chromatic and grainy. Once again, this kind of poor low light performance seems to be a 'class' feature. Reading the reviews, the Elura 100 may be one of the better cameras in its class.

4. STILL PICTURES ARE SMALL: Not great still picture capability. This is standard for these kinds of camaras. I guess it would do in pinch, but is absolutely no substitute for a digital still camera. There are a number of features you can use for the pictures, including a 'burst' mode, but given the size of the image, none of this is worth the worry. Given the lack of megapixels, I'm not sure why Canon spent a lot of time on a wide feature set here. I played with stills initially, but given the low megapixel count, I don't really use it any more.

5. NOISE: Canon may not be the only camera to have this problem, but the camera generates a soft but significant hum while operating. This IS picked up by the microphone. You can set the camera to eliminate wind noise, and this effectively blocks out the hum. I have my camera set to this and never touch the setting. This is a significant problem with this camcorder (and looking at the reviews) other Canon camcorders. One would think Canon would have thought this through better and made the thing more silent.

CONCLUSION:

All in all, you get a lot of bang for the buck. If you have an extra $200-$300 to spend you might want to try a 3 CCD type camera. But in the under $350 budget range, MiniDV category this one is well worth it. This camera may not be for the amateur cinematographer, but is a great, easy to use, and portable family camera. The picture quality is excellent for a camera in this range and it has a broad feature set as well.

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I purchased this camera to start a videography business. I know I know you need to have the $1000+ Canon GL's and XL's for that! But, I just could not afford so I started hunting.

The #1 thing that drew me to this camera was the single LARGER ccd. It seemed that most other cameras in this price range/category were smaller and had some poorer reviews.

The second item that drew me was the price point. I needed something within my budget that would offer what I needed.

Third, I use this to film in foreign countries. There are times that having a small descreate camera allows for capture of other wise uncaptured footage. It's size tucks away nicely in almost any shoulder bag and well...there is not much weight.

I have used this camera for two weddings and two documentaries. In my most recent wedding I borrowed a pv-gs150 and shot from the wedding from two different angles. Ready for the cool part...When editing and viewing the video there is NO difference to the average person which video came from which camera.

Sure the Canon does not shoot AS WELL in lower lighting. But how often are you going to shoot in the dark?

Some of the features I have grown to love on my Elura is the effects button and still photos.

First the effects button allows you to on the fly change from your pre-determined effect, my case b/w, without shutting the camera off.

Second, I like to incorporate some still photos into my videos to change things up. This camera will rapid shoot to a sd card and I have gotten some CRAZY good pictures. Here again I like the ability to use the effects button. I have also found out it is not to painfully bad to switch from video to still and back w/o much effort.

Ok...so I do like my Elura. BUT, two main issues leave me on the hunt for another camera. There is NO shoe whatso ever on this camera. I very much want to add a shotgun mike, in an effort to reduce background noise. (I did not mention, but the built-in mikes don't do a horrible job. They just pick up to much like most other mikes.) To work in conjunction with that, the controls for the shotgun mike volume would be better accessible. (Actually I guess to say the input.)

I did add an inexpensive wide angle and filter. (Even though it has a good wide angle w/o) and have plans for a shotgun mike.

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I spent a bit of time researching MiniDV recorders and felt that the Canon Elura was best suited for our needs. We wanted a recorder that would convert VHS to DV and one that would work easily with a Mac and a PC. We have not been disappointed.

Our first run was a recording of each of us reading a children's book to our grandchild who lives in Germany. The recording was done indoors and the results were excellent. The raw footage was transferred to a Mac, edited and made into a DVD.

The second trial was a recording of golfing buddies on the golf course in action. This recording took several weeks and was filmed on sunny days, cloudy days and foggy days. The recording was great. It was transfered to a Mac edited and converted to a DVD.

If I have one complaint about the Canon it would be that the zoom button is located in a spot that is difficult to operate easily with one hand.

If you are looking for a recorder that is priced right and easy to use, you can't go wrong with the Canon Elura 100.