Archos Gmini402 20 GB Camcorder and Multimedia Player

• Multi-tasking 20 GB multimedia player with integrated video camcorder/still camera
• Capture up to 50 hours of video (MPEG 4 SP); 2x digital zoom; 1.2 megapixel still resolution
• Compatible with MP3, WMA, WAV, protected WMA, MPEG-4, WMV and protected Windows Media Video
• Plays back MPEG-4 SP video with B-Frames with stereo sound; displays JPEG photos
• Up to 10 hours of battery life for music playback, 4 hours for video playback, and 2 hours for video capture

I got this unit to use mainly as a camcorder. I've been looking for one that has a good size hard drive and this one meets that criteria with 20gb. The unit is very small and lightweight. The color is nice and attractive. But it seems that that design is driven by being snazzy rather than functional. While the LCD is located in the center of the unit, the lens on the other side is placed off to the left. It's hard to keep from blocking the lens while recording. I hope this problem will go away once I get used to holding it with my right hand only. The lens is covered by a cheap built-in piece of plastic which I think will suffer a lot of scratches over time. The buttons could have been bigger. There's no place to hook up a strap. I'd like to use one when I'm recording because with its size it's very likely to fall out of your hands.

The video quality is acceptable. Under the VGA setting, the pictures are sharper, but appear to be kind of grainy. It seems especially important to concentrate on holding the camera steady while shooting. Otherwise, the video looks a bit jumpy. Some of the buttons are not particularly intuitive. For example, there is no obvious "pause" button.

The drawstring pouch included in the package is thin with no padding, and doesn't provide protection for the camcorder. I got one from somewhere else and use the pouch for the cables.

The manual is not thorough. Some of the options and even some of the hardware aren't mentioned or explained. There's one adapter that plugs in the top of the unit with line-in on the one side and AV out on the other. It doesn't have any problem plugging into the TV to play the content, but doesn't record TV; I can only guess it's for recording audio. There's hardly any mention of this either. Also I still don't know what kind of rechargeable battery is used in this unit. It wasn't said anywhere in the manual. It just says the battery is designed to last for the life of the camcorder (whatever that means).

As a multi-media player it doesn't have a built-in speaker, which is a major omission.

If your computer has Windows XP, you can plug it in using the provided USB cable. Copying the the clips to the computer is basically drag-and-drop. I don't know with other computers, but with mine, if the file is lager than 500mb it doesn't let you transfer it to the computer; it says the file is too big. When I change the setting in the camcorder for it to be recognized as a removable hard drive, the transfer works fine. Maybe I need to update the firmware. On the Archos website, there's a couple of new updates, but I can't access them because I have to update to version 1.2 before I can use them. Version 1.2 was nowhere to be found. I haven't tried calling tech support yet. They do have the 800 number listed on the website.

Overall, I'd say the Archos 402 camcorder has a lot of room for improvement, but is nevertheless worthwhile in that you can record and store a large amount of video in very small package.

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I have had the Gmini 402 cam for about a week now, and I have been very impressed so far. I started off looking for a device that I could simply dump digial photos on, but the gadget monger inside of me wanted more than just a mass storage device for photos. This was the best option I could find that included the USB Host(direct connect with digital camera) and a good mp3 player on it.

It has a little smaller hard drive than devices like the Cowon X5 and the Toshiba Gigabeat, but to me this wasn't really a problem, 20 GB was fine. The design of the the Gmini is ok, personally I like the looks of the Gigabeat, and (while not an I-Pod fan) the I-Pod better. It looks a little too much like a gameboy or some kind of game only device. But function won out in that battle, and I had to go with the Gmini.

For those interested in the USB host function, after comparing devices for a couple weeks I found out a few things about the other devices that I didn't like; the Gigabeat for example can only use 2 GB of its 30 GB for photos dumped from your digital camera, and I am pretty sure you can not view those dumped photos either. The Cowon X5 does allow you to view images, but limits the size of individual pictures to 2.5MB each. The Gmini does not have any of these limitations, and has a great viewer for the images as well.

Aside from the USB Host function, all the other features on it have been great. The camera is obviously not real good, but I wasn't really expecting it to be. The camcorder on the other hand isn't bad, obviously its no sony handycam, but not bad. The video player is cool, but i don't foresee using it too much. And as I mentioned before the MP3 player, is pretty much all I could ask for, album art, ID3 compatible, good sound as far as I can tell. Battery life so far has been decent, though simply comparing stats with other devices, it is probably not quite as good.

Overall this has been a great device, and I look forward to using it a lot!

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I purchased this unit for a family vacation. I originally wanted a smaller digital camera that could easily fit in a pocket and would'nt be a problem to carry. I spoke with a sales clerk and he had a few sugestions which were ok, then he showed me this. As a techie I was instantly hooked and forgot what I originally came in for. The concept of having a camcorder that fits in a pocket intrigued me. I bought it, and could not wait to get it home. After a few hrs of playing around I've come to the following conclusions.

The good: Overall id say that it is an amazing little device.

* The video camera is excellent, especially at the lower resolution. When the resolution is raised to vga the video becomes a little grainy but is still pretty good.

* The video / audio playback is flawless.

* The MP3 playback is excellent, controls are intuitive, awesome sound with the right headphones.

* The small size of the unit vs it's fuctionality makes it a unique product.

The bad: My biggest problem with this unit is the lousy still camera.

* The still camera is horrible. DO NOT buy this unit for still pictures, it will disappoint.

* This unit is a little light on battery

* The storage pouch is useless, it may prevent scratches but if you drop it, it's over. Buy a better case.

* I agree with other reviews, the manual is less than informative, but, the controls are fairly easy to figure out.

* Headphones are not the best.

* line in recording is audio only, which is not a really a flaw.

* Lense placement takes some getting used to, my hand naturally wants to cover it.

I hope this helps.

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Archos makes a lot of products with great functionality, but they are also very unreliable and when they break, you have to deal with some of the worst customer service around. If it only takes a month to get a working replacement for your broken product consider yourself lucky. It took a month for them to send me another broken product which I had to send back. 5 weeks later I'm still having to call them up and listen to some lady who works part time complain about all the problems they have with their warehouse.

Avoid Archos!

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This is a great item that Archos designed poorly. The still camera isnt all that great, takes blurry pictures. The video isnt great either; nice FPS but the sound is garbage. Plays great video. Has useless games on it that are also impossible to control because of the location of the buttons. Awful multi-use buttons for scrolling through menus, you lose track where you are in the menu process because none of the buttons are labeled and theres no indication on the screen of what you're supposed to click next. From the factory, the back part didnt fit well against the middle & couldnt get it to fit better; could welcome in dirt or moisture and wreck it.

Great battery life; it lasted for 6 days and about 9 hours of use before I returned it to the store and the level indicator was at 50%+. There is NOWHERE to put a wrist strap or lanyard and thats the main reason I returned it.

If this was redesigned with a no-slip design, case, or wrist strap and better menus, this product would rock.

Sony CFD-E95 PSYC Boombox (Blue)

• CD, cassette, and radio boombox with rounded PSYC model fashion design (including stylish PSYC accessory clip and tag)
• 3-color backlit LCD display with customizable functions
• Compact, color-matched remote control
• Sleep/wake timer, jog dial for easy tuning and track selection
• Audio CD-R/CD-RW playback compatibility, Mega Bass low-end sound enhancement

I asked for a small boombox for Christmas of last year for my bedroom because my main system is in the living room and I listen to music constantly. I used to have a Sony boombox that I had to junk when I moved because it was too bulky, but something like 10 years later it STILL WORKED! At any rate, I thought that this would be a good buy cute, compact, still loud and Sony. That being said, I got this one for Christmas.

A few weeks ago (conveniently right when the "labor" part of the warranty ran out), the damn thing just STOPS playing CDs. So I thought, gee, maybe it's my CDs because they're scratched. Nope! I put A BRAND NEW CD in there and it still gave me that whole "No Disc" nonsense. One of the appeals of this thing is that it's also supposed to play CD-Rs as well, which some older systems have a hard time doing. Well truth be told, that is neither here nor there since it doesn't play ANYTHING.

The only thing that works is the radio and the sleep timer. I'm just annoyed because what on earth is the point of having a CD player boombox if it can't play CDs!??! I expect more, a lot more, from Sony and am extremely disappointed. I have to bring it in to be repaired, so that should be fun. (UGH!)

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After less than four months, the CD player failed by displaying the infamous "NO DISC" message. Sony should recall this product. Don't buy it! Its functionality is nothing close to its look. This is the second Sony product (the first one being a 32" TV) that has failed shortly after I bought it.

The better part of this deal was, when I called Sony customer service, I was told that I could send it for repair for $83 and they will cover the parts cost. And I was assured that it was not a joke!

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I don't recommend this device because the controls aren't well

designed and of course there is the "no disc" problem. However

I got mine to to play CDs by plugging it into AC power instead of

running it on batteries. I think maybe the batteries were too

weak to power the laser.

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I bought this in June 2003. In August it stopped playing cds. Luckily my warranty covered fixing the repair. However, upon return I noticed scratches on the unit. When I called to complain, they said that the unit came into them as "Fair". Considering I got the unit 6 weeks earlier and it has been on my desk the whole time, I would not considered it "fair". Whatever! This month, November, the antennae literally just fell off. Mind you, I usually listen to cds so I don't touch the antennae. Sadly, the warranty does not cover the repair. The unit seems to me to be very fragile. Not a unit I can recommend.

This a good boombox. The only problems I have with it though is that you have to use a remote to skip the cd. I use this manly to record cds on to tapes and it does that with no problems. I have had this boombox for a year now and it has not broken down on me.

Samsung HMX-U10 Ultra-Compact Full-HD Camcorder with 10 MP Still (Black)

I just finished boxing up this product back to Amazon and am compelled to write this review to help others make an informed purchase from someone who used the product.

I had been in the market for an ultra compact HD camera for about 3 months after tiring of the mini DVD cam I had for about 10 years. When I read about Samsung's entry into the market I knew I had to wait, because I love their quality in general. Plus, the promise of a 10mg digital camera with one-touch upload to Youtube and SD card capability made this a no brainer for me.

My primary uses would be 1) capturing family moments with the kids without having to resort to carrying the larger camcorder and a supply of DVDs everywhere we go. And, 2) shooting stationary video for my v-log entries.

When the product arrived, I was really happy. On the positive side, I like how compact it is.

Ergonomically, it fits really well in my hand and I actually like the controls. While the touch controls are sensitive, I didn't have any problems easily selecting my options.

The camera is completely intuitive. I was using it straight out of the box as soon as I inserted the SD card. Switching between video, pictures, and playback is a cinch! Very nice.

Compact. The camera's size is unbelievable. It easily fits pretty much anywhere you have a pocket. Fantastic.

Appearance is spot on too. It's a nice looking camera.

Now for the overwhelming negatives:

The image quality is dreadful. Not only is it grainy indoors, but unless you have a lot of light it's almost unusable. It's also really choppy, which I don't like.

The sound quality doesn't seem to match up with the video. While the mic picked up the sound, it didn't match upon playback.

Picture quality. Don't be fooled by the 10mg capability. I challenge you to take a quality shot with this camera. Forget about anything indoors and stand as still as you can and it's still going to be blurry. Unless you plan on carrying a tripod everywhere, forget it.'

I really, REALLY wanted to love this video camera, but I had to send it back. The concept is a good one, but it is nowhere near acceptable in the performance category, which is a shame since these are used to record family memories.

I am really quite angry at Samsung for putting this type of garbage on the market. They are smart people and must know about this product's shortcomings.

I am an absolute research hound before I buy products, especially technology related ones. But, this time I wanted to be the first one on the block and I got burned. Had I just waited a week or two I would have seen the negative reviews and steered clear. I will give a look at the Flip Mino, but may not even buy an ultra compact at this point, because I can't see how the video and indoor, low light quality can be that much improved on such a small device.

Buyer beware, there are better options out there.

LEt me start by saying I have owned the following:

Vado HD

Flip Ultra HD

and the Samsung HMX-U10

This camera is going back after two days of testing.

Cons:

Everything

Pros:

7 degree angle

1080HD (Didnt look any better than the Vado)

The controls on this camera are heat sensitive, think original ipod controls. Howver there is about a millimeter of space between the direction and the "ok" button causing you to hit the wrong buttons almost 90% of the time. SO ANNOYING!!!! Not only that when you are shooting video it is VERY easy to accidentally hit one of these buttons.

The camera lens seems to be the LEAST wide angled of the three cameras I have tried. I was about five feet from my daughter and I think I filmed her eyelashes. Like the poster above you really need to be at the height of the object being filmed. Horrible with low light, not even visable. Horrible in bright light, the camera seems to get confused and keep trying to adjust. My daughter looked like the guy from the movie powder in the sunlight.

Intlistudio is worthless

It is disappointing that Samsung had all the research possible with Flip and Vado coming out early. Samsung definately flopped with this camera. Vado is by far the best of the class.

One quick note, the point of these pocket camcorders is eas of use. This camera almost has too many options which bogs down the fun and easy of point and shoot. Maybe this is a personal preference but my wife would not use this camera as much as the Vado because of confusion.

Last, the connections SUCK!!!! I mean how can Samsung not put mini HDMI to HDMI on this??? The Ultra and the Vado do. I mean you have this tiny camera and then you have to plug in COMPONENTS??? 5 wires that need to be plugged in. It would almost be better with Red white yellow. The USB plugin is too close to the flap that covers it. So when you plug it in you feel like you are going to break the flap. Another problem, the rest of this class has the USB attached which is MUCH easier. Why have another wire lying around?

If you are new to the pocket camera world, get the Vado HD (first version) for 110 dollars. Save money, looks great, just came out with a software that works with a mac. Wide angled lens, mini hdmi, buiilt in memory, three button controls, comes with protective sleeve and hdmi wire. The Vado HD is the best, dont get the second version because it is the same camera just in a new flashy color, which doesnt matter because you put a silicon sleeve on it.

Samsung laid an egg on this one, hence the 20 dollar drop in price in just 2 days after the release. Hope this helps

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I have read a lot of negative reviews about this camera and I can honestly say, "I don't get it". some people said there were lipsync issues, lousy video and bad still shots. I have put this little HD camcorder through it's paces and have had no issues at all. Is it the best camera out there? No, but it is far from terrible as some have said.

Easy to operate with some decent features and great quality. Now if you are expecting to get 500 dollars worth of camera for the 149.00 price point, then you will probably be disappointed. This baby takes better video than some full size vhs camcorders I had back in the day and I had to carry those on my shoulder. I'm sure the tech on the mini camcorders will get even better as time goes by but these minis are still pretty new.

I can definitely recommend this camera.

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Many consumers who commented on this product seems to be frustrated by certain aspects of the camera.

Although they are somewhat valid, I am not sure if they realize how much they have paid for the product.

Currently, this camcorder is selling for about ~$110 and this product does the perfect job for the price. The image is clear and it is very easy to use.

If you want to buy a camcorder with superior sound quality, etc, then you should upgrade to Samsung camcorders that are in the $500 range. If you want to spend less and just want to capture the moments at decent quality, this camcorder is it!

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I debated whether to give this 3 or 4 stars. The video and features warrant 4 stars, but the camera and tripod issue warrant only 3. I guess it just depends on your needs. I really wanted the camera, hence 3 stars.

Pros: Ease of use. Sleek looking. Great video quality, settings, and features. Sound is amazing (boasts 3 mics). Comes with AC and USB charger. Internal rechargeable battery.

Cons: Horrible camera and picture quality. States 10 mp, but I highly doubt this and you can see by the photos on my video, they don't appear to be 10/7.5/6mp. NO FLASH which basically renders the camera worthless. Also, the placement of the tripod mount on the side? What designer came up with that lame idea? Sure it comes with an adapter, but unless you plan on carrying it around with you, it's a joke. Also, what if you lose the adapter? Seriously LAME. Also, replacing the internal battery could prove to be troublesome since you need a special screwdriver to open it up (though the replacement batteries are cheap).

Luckily, the video quality is great and ALMOST makes up for these. If you can get this for under 60 dollars, then you're getting a good deal, but any more than that, it's not worth it since the camera is worthless. The time lapse feature is great. The other settings such as B&W, sepia, art and negative are nice, but not necessary since most video editing software offers these anyways. But a nice addition, nonetheless.

I would recommend it ONLY if you can get a great deal on it and you don't need or care about the camera.

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Sony HDR-CX220/B High Definition Handycam Camcorder with 2.7-Inch LCD (Black)

This camcorder is an excellent camcorder for someone who is looking for a cheap option for HD recording and HD playback. It is light-weight, compact, sturdy, and very user-friendly. I will go through different portions of this camcorder in my review. If I miss something, please feel free to ask me in comments, and I will add it to my review.

NAVIGATION

The menu and options on this camcorder is a breeze to use. Next to the 2.7" display are two buttonsa play button and a cursor/select button. The play button is only used to select between recording and play-back. The cursor/select button is used for 99% of the navigating on this camcorder. The positive side of this is that it is easy to use and feels natural. It acts as a joystick for scrolling but also pushes inward for selecting options. This makes navigation very easy for a beginner, since your finger never has to leave the same button, while operating the menu on this camcorder.

MENU

Sony has done well by making this camera easy to use and operate. The menu is separated into six different categories: Shooting Mode, Camera/Mic, Image Quality/Size, Playback Function, Edit/Copy, and Setup. It is simple to change quality of recording, switch between recording and playback, change time and settings, check battery status, and switch between still shots and HD recording.

HD RECORDING

First, let my start by saying, this is an entry-level camcorder with a price-tag of $200-$250. That being said, the HDR-CX220 shoots excellent quality movies and clips. Under the Image Quality/Size category, there is several options that can be used to change the quality of recording to what the user preference is.

There are two different frame rates that can be selected from: 60i and 60p. Without getting technical and taking up a lot of time describing the difference between the two, I'll simply state that the i stands for interlaced and the p stands for progressive. With 60i, the frames basically overlap, which equals only 30 frames per second. With 60p, this is the higher resolution, which equals a true 60 frames per second. The 60p setting creates beautiful recording, but also consumes more baterry life and uses more memory storage. I'd suggest using the 60p setting while making home videos and storing on your personal computer. But if you plan to post online, I'd suggest using the 60i setting. This will allow for faster and more hassle-free uploads. I generally use the 60i setting, because it allows me to shoot more videos on my 32GB SDHC card.

You can choose between HD recording, SD recording, and MP4 recording. This will also shorten or lengthen your record time.MP4 quality being the lowest quality. When recording in HD, there is four sub-categories that can be chosen from: Highest Quality, High Quality, Standard, and Long Time. Any user can fine-tune exactly what quality they want to record at.

How did this camera record for me?Splendidly! I have used this camera in several different situations to put it to the test. I live in a very snowy area, which basically means, a lot of light. I have recorded my kids sledding and it looks beautiful. The still shots in a well-lit area also look very good. The user has the option to take still shots while recording video or to use the camcorder as a camera only. But the real question was, how did this camcorder work in low light?The answer is: Much better than I thought. I went down into my basement and recorded my kids playing with only a lamp on. The Exmor R CMOS Sensor in the CX220 works very well. This camcorder detects low light and gives the best HD recording possible. The one main Con that I found with this camcorder is the still shots in low-lit areas look grainy, but are still acceptable.

The 32X zoom also works vey well on this camcorder. I was suprised just how well it worked. While standing across my half acre yard, I zoomed in on my dog, and it looked as though I was standing right on top of him. This, in combination with the Steady Shot feature, makes a very nice steady HD recording. (Even with a beginner camera man)

The Zoom Mic feature also works quite well. While recording with the Zoom Mic on, the subject being recorded is very audible and the background noise is muffled away. It doesn't amplify the sound of the object being recorded, but it more or less mutes the unnecessary, needless side noise. This is a very nice feature and Sony has done a good job with it.

PLAYBACK

The playback feature is incredibly easy to use and operate. It is as simple as this: plug your mini HDMI cable (which is provided by Sony, with the purchase of the CX220) into the camcorder and then into your TV. Everything that you view on the 2.7" LCD screen, is also mirrored on your HDTV. You can then either scroll through your menu, or push the play button. Then select the video clip you wish to view, and wada-bing, your watching beautiful HD homemade movies in 1080p. It looks great on my Sony 60EX645 LED 1080p TV.

COMPATIBILITY

I have decided to add an addition to my review, because it is a fairly common question. Is the CX220 compatible with PAL video format? The answer is no. The HDR-CX220 is designed to work with NTSC video format and HD. There is a process and select programs that can convert NTSC to PAL, but it is fairly complicated. My suggestion is thisthere is an alternate version of this camcorder. The model number is HDR-CX220E. It is the exact same camcorder, but it is specifically designed for PAL video format. It can be found on Amazon(UK) or directly from Sony. If you are interested in recording in PAL video format, this would be a great option.

DIRECT COPY TO HDD

Copying to an external hard-drive is as easy as it sounds. Plug your camcorder to your hard drive using a Sony VMC-UAM2 cable (not provided). Your CX220 will recognize the HDD and give you step-by-step instructions to copy to your HDD. I have a Toshiba 320GB hard drive and it worked perfectly for me. Toshiba 320GB Toshiba Canvio Basics 3.0 Portable Hard Drive in Black (HDTB103XK3AA) One thing to note is this: a VMC-UAM1 cable will NOT work with the CX220. It MUST be a VMC-UAM2 cable. This cable is not sold on Amazon, but is sold at B&H Photo or Sony.

PC USERS

The CX220 is compatible with Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. I am currently running Windows 7 (64bit) on my HP Pavilion. Using this camcorder with my PC was as easy as plugging my CX220 into a USB port, Windows automatically recognizing it as a Sony HDR-CX220, and then installing the proper drivers. But if you want a great software program, install Play Memories from Sony. This program is fantastic. It allows the user to combine video clips, downgrade quality (if needed), make DVDs from even HD recordings, and much more. I highly recommend this program.

MAC USERS

The CX220 claims that it does not work with MAC OS, but it does work with iMovie. What this basically means is that you cannot simply plug the CX220 into your MAC and copy files.You must first download iMovie, and then all recordings can be stored to your MAC very easily. iMovie is a great program and very easy to use. There is a great post on YouTube that is titled: HDR-CX160 directly to iMovie. This is the same method for storing videos from your HDR-CX220 to your MAC. It works very well.

MEMORY

The CX220 does not have any built-in memory. This camcorder is compatible with SD, SDHC, and SDXC cards. I purchased two Transcend Class 10 32GB SDHC cards with my CX220. They both work very well. When recording in 1080/60p, a 32GB SD card will hold approximately 2 1/2 hours of content. When recording in 1080/60i High Quality (which is what I usually use), a 32GB SD card will hold approximately 4 1/2 hours of content. This, in combination with Direct Copy, should allow for recording large events or vacations. (Transcend 32 GB Class 10 SDHC Flash Memory Card (TS32GSDHC10))

BATTERY LIFE AND CHARGING

The NP-FV30 battery that comes with the CX220 is lacking, in my opinion. While recording in HD, the battery lasts for less then two hours. I would suggest buying supplemental battery packs. I found a great combo pack from the seller Big Mike's, here on Amazon. It is a third-party 2 pack NP-FV70 batteries and charger and is every bit as good as the OEM batteries. Each NP-FV70 battery lasts for over four hours, while recording in HD. Here is the product link for the battery/charger comboSony Handycam Camcorder Battery and Battery Charger Kit Includes Qty 2 NP-FV70 Batteries , AC/DC Battery Charger , LCD Screen Protectors , Micro Fiber Cleaning Cloth

One thing to note, the CX220 does NOT come with a wall charger. It does however, charge very well from the built-in USB cable. It also comes with a USB extension cable, for more convenience. The majority of people already have some sort of USB wall charger from an iPad, iPhone, iPod, tablet, android phone, Kindle, or various other devices. These will work with the CX220. If you do not have a USB wall charger and do not wish to purchase a battery pack/ wall charger combo, Power Gen sells a very good USB wall charger for $10 here an Amazon. Here is the product linkPowerGen Dual Port USB 2.1A 10W AC Travel Wall Charger White

The CX220 also has a DC port under a tab on the right side of this camcorder. The camcorder can be ran solely from an AC power adapter, but this will involve an additional purchase. The AC adapter needed is the AC L200. There is an official Sony adapter and some third party AC L200 adapters sold on Amazon. If a person wanted to operate the camcorder using an AC wall outlet, this could be a solution. Sony Customer Support also claims that this will charge the battery, but I have not tried this myself. I do not own an AC L200 adapter. If you are interested, here is another product linkSony AC L200 Power adapter

CONCLUSION

All in all, I would definitely recommend the purchase of the HDR-CX220. It is a lightweight, compact, well-built camcorder with excellent features. It shoots beautiful recordings and has a price tag of less than $250. If anyone has questions, feel free to ask me, and I will try my hardest to find the answer and incorporate it into my review.

Been using this camera for the last few days and have been very happy with the Video quality and the sound of the CX220.

Looks great on my HDTV ( My TV is a 720P ) Wish I could test it on a Full 1080P TV.

Inside video is decent. Better then most camera's I have used. But not the same as outdoor sunny day..which is to be expected.

Menu is easy to set up and navigate.

Camera is small and light. I can fit it in my large coat pocket.

Comes with a built in USB cable for charging and transfer ( which was nice!) , as well as a USB extension cable and a HDMI cable for your Tv

No built in memory, you will need a SD card. But they are cheap.

I use by phone wall USB adapter to charge.

Battery life is about 1 1/2 hours.. Not bad, but wish it was longer.. I will be ordering a second battery at some point.

Files worked just fine with my Corel Video Studio X5 for editing and movie making.

Will be taking some skiing video on a cloudy day today. Will try to update review with the white snow and less light then normal.

Happy with this Camera so far.

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I don't want to be a videographer. So I went kicking and screaming into the reality that I would have to create a 5 min soccer highlight video of my son to send to college coaches. To that end, I've returned two hd video cameras so far. One was a Toshiba, terrible. The other was a sony extreme sports camera, too extreme for me. But this one is perfect. High quality video, easy to use with logical menus, comes with an actual menu rather than a mere pdf, records in mp4, can add just about as much memory as you want with a memory card (I added 32 gb), playmemories software makes it easy to upload to computer and edit into highlight clips, re-charges using usb cable (but I also purchased an ac adapter so I can plug it in), batter life is fair but I purchased another to be safe, and I also purchased S-video cable to transfer video to my home dvd recorder/player. Very happy that I can purchase everything I need from after market here on amazon. It all cost me around $350 with tax. What a relief to finally solve this headache.

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This model (CX220) is capable of true HD at 60p. The camcorder is surprisingly light weight and compact.It is both fun and easy to use. It has no internal memory but takes an SD card. I chose not to have internal memory to avoid possible complications while adding really nothing. Start up is very rapid and focus response is fast and accurate. I love the feature of still shots automatically taken when ever a smile is recognized. The result is some very pleasing photos of people. Now, why did I not give a 5 star rating? ...

1) It does not come with a power charger, just USB charging from your laptop. I bought an available wall charger at extra expense.

2) It uses electronic stabilization, and that is good,but better,optical stabilization, is available on more expensive versions.

3) color is generally good, but filming in close up mode, in the LCD it shows pink as blue. (an isolated but repeatable experience.)

4) no external microphone jack.

Generally I am very satisfied with the camcorder and would recommend it to a friend. I would rate it at 4.8 out of 5.

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It didn't come with a transfer cord, and it took me awhile to find the charger (It's in the handle, a usb built-in cord), but all in all it's a very nice camera for the money. The high definition files take up a LOT of space, but on Mac, Quicktime converts them to manageable formats in just a couple minutes. No more long rendering times. In fact, when I Export the file in Quicktime, it takes a four minute video about 3 minutes to render for Wi-Fi, and it goes from nearly a gig to 11 Mb. There are choices above and below in quality as well. Good zoom, great mic, not the best at dark settings, but OK. The still picture function is pretty good, too. 8Mb pics, my facebook border looks good taken from this still camera. Lots of extra functions. I like this little camera, I hope it lasts a long time.

SecurityMan 4 Channel Triplex Network DVR with 250GB USB Motion Detection (NDVR0400)

This is more a review of my experience with SecurityMan customer service, not this specific DVR. My model is the DVR-04.

I called today to order another power supply, and that's when I learned the DVR-04 had been discontinued. The person on the other end of the phone put me on hold to see if they had a power supply for it. After a couple minutes, he returned and said they'd have to look "in the warehouse" and call me back.

I asked two things; how long has this model been discontinued, and, how long until they'd get back to me after they check the warehouse?

Reasonable questions, right? Not so the answers:

I was informed the SecurityMan DVR-04 had been discontinued about a year ago, which means someone who bought one just about the time it was discontinued may very well not be able to get replacement parts after only one year. (And this is the *second* time in probably a year that my power supply has died.)

Granted, my unit is around 3 years or so old, but the point is that even someone who bought this model new just 12 months ago and has a problem with it, may have more of a problem than they may think! What's reasonable here? Should SecurityMan regard what they sell as simply disposable equipment, even if it fails only 365 days after purchase? I can get parts for my 6+ year old 52" Philips TV right now, but SecurityMan feels no obligation to stock parts even one year after discontinuance? (And this power supply seems to be unique, so you can't just pick one up anywhere.)

As to when they'd get back to me about the power supply, I was told "I don't know--no time frame". No time frame???? In other words, "Take a flying leap, my friend, we've moved on. Your problems with our old equipment mean nothing to us".

OK, everyone who thinks either one of these answers equates with even minimally acceptable customer service from SecurityMan, raise your hands!

______________________________

DECEMBER 2011 UPDATE: No real surprise here, but SecurityMan never did get back to me.

I'd suggest staying far away from this unit, or anything else by SecurityMan.

I have been using this for over a year now and it is working great with no trouble.

but as far as the software goes there is a lot of room for improvement (and it doesn't seem like they ever release any updates)

Pros

4ch with motion recording for each channel

adjustable sensitivity and areas for motion recording

large hard drive

easy to record images or video clips to computer or USB stick

software for viewing pretty good over networks

cons

software for playing back really hard to use and almost impossible to search for time or date recordings. you pretty much have to sit there and watch through everything backwards in 16x speed till you see what you want. you can't even jump to another day

motion detection picks up rain and snow (but that is so be expected)

overall i got a good deal on amazon and at the time there was nothing close to the price with network and motion recording so i would say pretty good but if i found another brand with the same features and some decent software i would get it instead

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Emerson GQ756 CDG Karaoke Player

• Mix and Record Music and Voice
• 20W Speaker
• Includes 100 MP3G Songs on Disc
• Remote Control
• Digital Echo & Digital Key Control

I bought this as a gift. Needless to say I was quite embarrassed as I watched the birthday boy open it up. When he opened it up I immediately noticed that the box looked like it had been already opened and used by somebody else. In other words somebody returned it and I bought it. Once it was plugged in, none of the features worked including the USB drive which is the reason why I bought it in the first place. I kept getting errors and it even had difficulty reading the CD player. The karaoke player has a "cheap" feel to it as far as quality. I know it isn't exactly pricey but you would think it would have a more durable feel to it. I returned this the very next day! Save yourself time and money and look at different ones!!!

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My kids love this Karaoke Machine, but within one week the power connection and the microphone connection shorted out and would not work consistently. My girls are not hard on things (ages 11 and 7). Emerson just didn't make a high quality product.

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I was very excited to receive this machine. In fact I gave away one that was working fine in anticipation of receiving this model. It never worked. It powered on but nothing worked. Had to return. Bummer... :(

I would love to give more stars. Wished I had received a working model to really evaluate.

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I'm so disappointed with this machine! I bought it for the main purpose of recording my singing and making cd's. It skips, cracks and distorts the words on so many songs. Sometimes they play and the next time they don't. My cd's are perfect with no scratches or fingerprints. I'm on my 4th machine since Christmas from Kmart and I will be returning it this week. I used an sd card and did manage to make one cd from the 4 machines and it sounds great! I had to connect the machine to a larger tv and speaker because if you don't your voice sounds distant from the music on your recording. The machine is very easy to use and if it wouldn't skip I would give it 5 stars and buy an extra one.

Save 31% Off

My experience is with the GQ755 which is no longer available. The GQ756 looks like an upgraded replacement. The 755 was purchased from Amazon less than a year ago and should still be covered by the 12 month warranty. The unit no longer reads CDs neither CDG nor plain CD. This is Emerson's response to the online request for assistance via their website:

"The GQ755 was discontinued and out of stock last year. No repair or replacement options exist for that player. kevin"

I have read that others had similar problems with that unit. It is obviously cheaper for Emerson to drop a defective model and stop honoring the warranty rather than fix or replace the defective units. Their warranty is not accurate as written. It should read: "Warranty is good for 12 months or until the model is discontinued, whichever comes first." Before you purchase an Emerson karaoke machine, make sure that the model has been out long enough to have a good history of reliable performance because the 12 month warranty may not be honored if the model has extensive problems.

Sony RDR-VX535 DVD Recorder & VCR Combo Player with 1080p HDMI Upscaling and Bonus HDMI Cable

I purchased this recorder to archive my old VHS tapes and recommended by Sony. I have been able to make DVD's from material stored in the cable box; very easy. The problem I have is that it won't copy my old VHS tapes to DVD; it claims they are copy protected. These are not movies or purchased tapes that might be copy protected. They are a mixture of items saved from TV broadcasts, files transferred from VHS recorders, and some tapes that came with merchandise.

I have called Sony and they said there is no work around. They say that if the recorder thinks they are copy protected, then it won't copy them. They said there is nothing they cando and nothing I can do about it.

I owned a Panasonic VHS/DVD recorder for nearly two years with very few problems. The upscaling of VHS and standard DVD's was ok with the HDMI cable and some standard def dvd's looked a little jaggy, but overall, it played DVD's/ VHS tapes fine.

However, recording from VHS to DVD what a nightmare!! First, when I inserted a DVD -R , the machine froze and it took several hours to finally remove the DVD; after that, it wouldn't play ANY dvd's previously recorded, commercial, anything. After several hours with customer support, I gave up. It would only play VHS tapes what an expensive VHs player this turned into!

So I saw Costco was selling this Sony that pretty much had the same features, but I especially wanted to be able to convert a bunch of old vhs tapes to dvd.

This Sony worked flawlessly from the beginning, and I was well on my way to converting nearly 60 old vhs tapes to dvd. No problems whatsoever with different DVD typesDVD(+-)(RW) were accepted . It won't record to DVD -RAM, but will play them. The upscaling feature on this Sony is also much better than the Panny, and so far it works great.

However, since it doesn't have a tuner built in, you'll need a connection to your cable/satellite box to record TV shows, but that doesn't matter to me at all since I'm not interested in taping TV.

Overall, I'm satisified.

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I needed a DVD player for my second TV. I really love my Oppo DVD player and was thinking of getting another for my second TV, but I saw the Sony RDR-VX535 Player at Costco and looked at the features and decided to try it out.

It took less than 5 minutes to set it up and figure out how to copy tapes to DVDs, the main reason I got the Sony instead of another Oppo. It does a great job copying and with the up scaling feature the visual quality of the dvd copied from the tape is better that the visual quality of the tape itself. I don't think the up scaling or video quality is a good as my Oppo but it's pretty good and the versatility and ease of use make it a good buy.

Read Best Reviews of Sony RDR-VX535 DVD Recorder & VCR Combo Player with 1080p HDMI Upscaling and Bonus HDMI Cable Here

We purchased this unit from Costco and returned it two days later. The unit pauses intermittently and sometimes freezes altogether while playing DVD's. Never got a chance to try the recording features, but if the thing won't play DVD's who cares. Sounds like a number of others have experienced the same thing. I would pass on this one.

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I bought this product hoping to transfer some VHS tapes to DVD. But the machine wouldn't allow me to do this. When I pushed the one touch dubbing button, nothing would happen. I got Sony technical support on the line and they agreed it was defective. The seller was nice enough to exchange it for another one, but the second one didn't work either. Once again, I called Sony technical support and after walking me through a few steps over the phone and determining that I wasn't doing something wrong, that everything was set up right, they said the second machine was defective, too. I sent this one to Sony repair in Laredo, Texas and they sent it back, saying there was no trouble found. They did absolutely nothing to fix it. And once again, when I tried the one touch dubbing button, nothing would happen. The seller was nice enough to refund my money for this second machine, but after paying a $30 restocking fee and two shipping fees, along with telephone bills for calling Sony technical support (not a toll free number) I'm down around $100 for this dubious machine. I agree with other reviewers that Sony normally makes a good product, but this thing, man, I don't know. And Sony repair didn't exactly impress me either.

Nokia N78 Unlocked Phone with 3.2 MP Camera, 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS, MP3/Video Player, and MicroSD Slot--U.

This is Nokia N78 North American version as sold by Amazon. It can run on the 3G frequencies of AT&T. It is brown back cover and black in front. I know in other markets you can get other back colors like blue, but North American version only has the brown back cover.

The phone looks really cool. It is all black, cant see any keys when it is not lighted. When phone is lighted, you can see the keys and number keys due to backlighting. The number keys are flush on just four horizontal lines. I did not find any problems pressing the particular number keys.

The box advertises 3 months of free voice guided navigation, but inside there is no license code. I contacted Nokia over email and they asked me to call them. Now I dont really need voice guided navigation so I am going to save the hassle of calling customer service, but just to let you know, you shall have to call them to get it. I have googled and this is a widespread problem in other asian markets too, seems like a goof up on their packaging side. Apart from that, of course the Nokia Maps application is free. But even better is the Google Maps free application.

The voice quality is good, volume is a bit low, but I am bit old fashioned in those regards, these days all phones have this kind of volume. The surfing speeds are great, especially with WiFi. 3G on AT&T is fast too. You dont need to configure anything, just put in a AT&T SIM card and it auto configures all it needs for voice, sms, mms, internet. Pretty cool.

This is the only phone I have ever seen where I was blown off by the firmware upgrade process. Most phones ask you to connect the phone with a cable to a kludgy application on the PC, and after lot of headache, half of the time you are able to connect. For N78, the manual says the same, but inside the phone is a FOTA (Firmware over the Air) app provided by Nokia, I used it over AT&T 3G, and it downloaded the latest firmware from Nokia server, upgraded, rebooted and ready to go in like 5 minutes. Really really impressive.

The phone has it all, GPS, Wi-Fi, suports SIP profiles for Voip (you can use Fring), you can use the phone as wireless accesspoint using JoikuSpot, bluetooth latest profiles are supported including Remote Sim mode (an external device can use the SIM inside your phone via bluetooth, howz that for a modern car interface), text to speech for reading messages, man the list goes on and on.

You dont need to record voice tags for Contacts, whenever you enter a contact, the software automatically renders a voice rendition for the name, and then for calling, you just say the name, and it finds the right one like 95 out of 100 times, even though I have a indian ascent. Same way when some one calls you, the phone can say the name aloud, like john doe calling.

The camera is 3.2 MP and I am fine with it, I am not big fan of huge MP cameras in general. It does fairly good job of taking photos and videos. You can pause and continue videos which means you can make a big video in small parts. You have all the usual stuff of mode settings for camera, auto focus, flash. Dont expect this camera to be the only one to use, expect it to be a side camera, not your main camera. You can share directly to Ovi, Flickr or Vox. I have tried Ovi and Flickr, and Ovi seems to be bit buggy, hopefully will improve over time.

The OS itself is cool, does job pretty well, has some minor bugs, but those can always be repaired by Nokia via firmware update. This one has latest feature pack 2, which is more eye candy basically.

The phone does not have a accelerometer, which means it will not change screen orientation automatically when you tilt the phone around, and you cannot play accelerometer based games. Not a big deal for me. The new model N79 has it, but its priced higher.

Instead of using Nokia browser which is good too, go for Opera Mini and you will be absolutely stunned. Very fast, great rendering, you can see any web page just normally like you would on PC (ie you have option to say that hey website, don't treat me as phone, give me what you would normally give), and its quite usable. There is also a beta version browser called Skyfire which even showed me Flash!

For the price (around 300) right now, I think its smart decision. And yea, it comes with cool headset and data cable. Only thing missing from box is car charger which anyway doesn't come with any phone.

I waited for 2 years for the iPhone 3g and finally I bought the Nokia N78 instead, and I am not regretting my decision. I don't want to be slave of AT&T and Apple, instead with Nokia I am master of my device.

I am really impressed. Go get it for this price at amazon.

I really wanted to like the N78 filled to the brim with all sorts of features in a very attractive case but it was just too buggy to live with. Being able to set the phone up as a wireless access point using the brilliant JoikuSpot download was incredible, and certainly one of the things I'll miss most as I repackaged this and ship it back to Amazon.

I feel (or at least hope) that my unit was just defective, so take some of the issues I had with a grain of salt it may not happen on all devices, but here are some of the things I experienced:

1. Camera zoom stopped working after the first picture taken. It's a digital zoom, so not the most critical thing in the world, but still annoying when you want to frame a shot and can't. This was fixed when performing a factory reset using the *#7370# combination, however once I tried re-importing contacts, the camera zoom would break again.

2. I kept getting the phone's welcome message about twice a day no damnit, I don't want to see an introductory video on how to use the phone, leave me alone already!

3. Browser would crash and freeze constantly.

4. Phone would randomly restart like right after going into Contacts to make a call.

What I liked

* JoikuSpot. One of the primary reasons I bought a Nokia the ability to have a 3G based wireless access point on me at all times is really powerful and useful.

* Screen. Bright, crisp, very nicely done

* Design. Obviously very subjective, but I enjoyed looking at it in my hand not something you can say about most Nokias

* Predictive text. Coming from an old Motorola, I hadn't realized how horrible I had it.

* Internet radio. I don't use my phone too much for music, but having all those internet radio stations has come in handy a few times and it's a pretty handy feature.

What I didn't like:

* Sluggish interface. This is my first Nokia smartphone, so I was expecting to see it fly based on all the reviews comparing this to previous Nokia models. There was a noticeable lag in everything I did. With fewer than 20 contacts on my phone, it took 1-2 seconds to load my list of contacts meaning I couldn't just press "Contacts + first letter" to start filtering names right away I had to pause for a second or two.

* Menu-laden UI. I know there are plenty of shortcuts for this, but really, somebody needs to be taken out back and put out of their misery for the ridiculous number of menu options put in this phone. How often do people really make video calls does that really have to be a default option when d-padding a contact's phone number?

* Slow default browser. Opera Mini was orders of magnitude faster, but links from emails still open in the default browser, so having that suck still makes things frustratingly slow

* Lack of camera lens cover. Not having it makes me nervous about ever putting the phone down on a hard surface

Overall, I gave it 3 stars because I really liked the form factor, the screen, and just the sheer power of what it could do. If I could be assured that a new N78 wouldn't have the obvious issues mine had, I'd probably give it another go as there's really nothing else out on the market that has all this has for those in US 3G territory until the Xperia X1 comes out.

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I ordered this phone from amazon, and they got it to me really quick!

From the moment I opened the phone I loved it. It was sleek, it felt great in my pocket, and the screen was bright! My only reserve on the screen though, after a few short hours of simply slipping it in my pocket, with nothing else in them, and normal use with nothing extreme, I noticed a slight scratch on the screen. I feel a screen protector is definitely necessary.

At first I thought the keys were going to be a pain to use, but they actually weren't too bad, they were definitely unique, that is for sure. They then became second nature to text on.

I was pretty excited about using the Joiku spot feature, which I tried and tried to get it to work, but to no avail. I even tried to reinstall it from the Nokia Download section of the phone and it gave me an installation error. Updating the firmware didn't work either.

While that wasn't a breaking point for me, because I didn't mind tethering the phone to my laptop (which is REALLY easy to do), it was a little letdown. :(

The voice quality of the phone (after all it is a phone) was okay, definitely not the greatest, but it was passable. This of course is very subjective to what is great.

I noticed the battery life was awesome! I still had full bars, even after playing with the features for a while and installing some apps like Opera Mini and some other Java apps.

Unfortunately, after about three weeks of having the phone it developed problems. After a full charge and a short phone call or two, the phone would get abnormally warm, almost too hot to put to my ear, and the battery would drain VERY quickly.

I did check to see if there were any open apps, but the only things that were open was "Standby" and the Menu. I had to send it back to amazon. :(

While I may have had a faulty phone, it does scare me to get another. I want one, but I'm almost thinking about getting another model.

Despite my problem and some weird quirks, I would still recommend this phone to anyone else.

Read Best Reviews of Nokia N78 Unlocked Phone with 3.2 MP Camera, 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS, MP3/Video Player, and MicroSD Slot--U. Here

This phone has got lots of features for low price.

keys and navi wheel:

1. The navi button is very poor. Often times it doesn't work.

2. The response to the key press is very slow.(symbian OS)

camera:

3. The camera quality is very good. Both photos and video come out well!

4. The phone freezes often.

GPS:

5. One good thing is you can use nokia map loader software to load maps and stay offline and use GPS.

6. But if you buy this phone for GPS you got to reconsider. The GPS reception is very poor. Most of the time you won't get the satellite signal.

MP3:

7. MP3 playback and the FM transmitter quality is good.

wifi:

8. Wifi and browsing are amazing. But you can't open multiple instance of the browser. You may need to search for a good browser.

9. If you have data plan then you can also use google maps and gmail application in it.

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I must admit that I'm a Nokia diehard fan, so my review could be considered as biased by some people, nonetheless I'll try to be as objective as possible.

Cons:

Excellent price (I paid only $300, it was an offer I couldn't let pass)

Symbian smartphone: everything you could possibly need to comply with today's demands regarding internet connection (the Wi-Fi feature is just perfect as well as Nokia's web browser), the MS Office and PDF compatibility is something basic in this world, and the GPS adds a great value.

Huge capacity with the microSD slot (I use an 8GB, High Capacity, Class 4 microSD card)

The functions installed by Nokia are simply magnificent: from the FM transmitter to the music player, everything is just superb.

Huge connectivity.

The screen is very clear, and it's size is what I really love!

The option to personalize your menu's and almost every single aspect of your interface is an incredible advantage.

Cons:

Firmware still has some serious issues (i.e bugs)

The back cover is not a tight close, I mean that it moves a little which is (in my opinion) very annoying while writing a text message, just to give an example.

The surface get dirty with almost every single thing you can think about. Just holding the phone to check it's status will leave a mark. I particularly hate this,

The camera is not as good as I expected. The focus is sometimes hard to adjust, depending on light condition and object's proximity.

Volume (not many options, only 10 different levels).

Others (cons/pros, it depends on you):

Size (bigger than my old Nokia 6300, smaller then many other Smartphones)

Looks (depends on what you want your phone for: style or functionality)

Keyboard and soft keys (it's different, let face it. You get used to it with some practice and patience)

Worlds Smallest High Resolution Mini Video Camcorder (DVR), Incl. 2gb Micro SD Card and USB Card Re

I recently purchased one of these mini video camcorders from DBROTH. I am amazed at how good the resolution is and how easy it is to use. I am planning a vacation where I will be doing some sightseeing, driving through the mountains. I plan to use the mini camcorder to record some of the roadtrip. I recently tested it and found that if I turn my passenger-side visor down and rotate the clip up, I can clip the mini camcorder to the bottom of the visor and it provides a very good "front seat view" of my drive. The microphone picked up my voice fairly well as long as I didn't have the radio turned up. I also noticed that the microphone picked up static noise which I figured out later was the A/C vent blowing air in that direction (the microphone must be more sensitive than I expected).

I took about 30 minutes of drive-time video today and used the card reader to view the video when I was done. It was very easy. I like how small the camcorder and card reader are, I can slide them in my purse or pocket and take them with me just about anywhere.

For the money I paid and the quality of the product, I give this mini camcorder 4 out of 5 stars. The package arrived in the time promised and with the items described in the ad. I'm pleased with my purchase. I have had fun testing it and look forward to sharing my roadtrip videos after I return from vacation.

B.D. in N.C.

First of here are some specs of the camera.

-It shoots at 25 frames per second for 640 x 480 video

-Has a built Li rechargeable battery which lasts a little more than 2 hours

-Low illumination, high resolution image with 2000k pixels

-High Speed recording and quick light response

-Convenient for an online video chat

-Supports AVI video formats

-It features Manual recording & Sound activated recording

-Mic is located at the top of device

.Overall i love this product, while i just used it on small occasions, its proven to be very durable from drops. I'm not suggesting you to try dropping it, I just had accidents with it falling from my hands is all. I used this to record my paintball & airsoft games, its pretty handy and due to its size isn't very bulky.

The price is perfect for this product

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OMG the picture is outstanding, and the mic allows me to whisper in my helmet, and you can still hear me. I'm going to get another one for my husband. Great for hiking trips, helmet cams, perfect for just keeping in you pocket to whip out if you see something you want to capture. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS!!! Much better than using your cell phone to film anything!! If you not sure, just get it anyway. You will find a way to use this! I'M SO HAPPY THAT I DID!!

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Overall, this is a much nicer camera than we were expecting. The image and sound quality are better than expected, and the camera has a nice feel, with metal housing, not cheap plastic. We can get about 15 minutes of recording on the included 2GB card, and fully charged, the battery seems to last about 2 hours. I just ordered an 8GB card for longer recordings.

The instruction manual is very poorly translated into English, for example "If indicator sketch map state is crush out, motion is full of charge". The LED lights are hard to see, so it's hard to tell when the camera is actually recording. The USB connector is especially squirrelly, and like another reviewer mentioned, we have to plug it in and unplug it a few times in order to get it to work. And we can't figure out how to change the date stamp.

We're pretty happy with the camera itself; I wasn't expecting much out of a tiny fifty dollar camera, but the instruction manual and software could use improvement.

Update March 2011: There are apparently different versions of this camera floating around. I ordered a second one and it's a totally different than the first. It's plastic and came in a different box (it reads "World's Smallest Voice Recorder"). I'm sending it back because there are parts missing from the box, and it looks like it may be used. I would order a second if I knew that I was getting the same camera that I got the first time around.

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Great small compact micro camera, better than I had expected. The micro camera I received has a metal alloy housing with sliding buttons, (cheap copies have plastic housing with push buttons.) Audio is of decent quality at a reasonable but short distance. Image quality and field of view is quite good. Very decent image quality in low lighting situations with quick light response. High resolution 2000K. When panning quickly image appears slanting. Not weatherproof. Well built for most uses.

Features: Manual or sound-activated recording (at 65 decibels, 250 hours standby time, resumes standby mode 2 minutes after detecting sound). Box states 30 frames per second (680*480 AVI video format), but manual states 24 fps. Box states 16G maximum memory, but manual states 8G max. Comes with 2G Micro SD card. Two hour batteries life. Built-in rechargeable batteries. LED indicator light. Come with several accessories. USB 1.1/2.0 support. Multi card reader.

Great for outdoor activates (if you are into high action or rough sports, you may need something more sturdy).

Toshiba SD-1200 DVD Player

• Dolby Digital and DTS output
• Component-video output
• Video black-level expansion
• Onscreen bit-rate meter
• Screen dimmer

I got this player just a week ago and love it already. My father already had the older Toshiba SD2109 (the previous modelthe SD1200 is the breand new replacement), and it seemed good, so I followed those reviews; see those for more detail if you want, just note the improvements in this model.

The SD1200 has the same good points as the SD2109, but adds VideoCD and CD/Video Text capabilities. I was even able to play some old VCD2.0 tour videos from China, they worked great, no glitches! Played Matrix fine.

Video quality is superb, both on S-Video output and of course componentSV had a little less color saturation than component. Dolby Digital sounded great!

Note that this player has some important features vs others: let alone the low price and quality!

! + the price only $230-250 for ALL the features you'd want in DVD! Don't pay more!

+ outputs both Dolby Digital and DTScompatible w/ all movies then. (does not decode, but no biggieput that in your receiver, not dvd!)

* Note it only has coax digital audio out, not toslink optical. Make sure your reciever is compatible (my JVC RX888 is great.) Will output dolby digital, dts, PCM digital audio out. Has regular RCA analog also. You can select options & which to output via remote.

+ has all video outs: component, S-Video, and composite. Note some others like Sony SVP330 do NOT have component out, only svideo!

+ plays videoCDs (unlike SD2109).

+ has slow play mode (1/2, 1/4, 1/8) as well as fast fwd/rvs scan. (doesn't seem to have reverse slow.) Other players only have "pause/step", what's the point of having a random-access disk w/ great slow/freeze frame picture, if you can't play slow to see big explosions in detail? :->

+ has a nice interface, eg onscreengood, unobtrusive, usable menus overlaid on the video. Can also change most options on-the-fly w/ buttons on the remote, eg subtitles, audio select, etc. with minimal text on the screengood for changing specific things quickly w/o distracting from the movie.

All menu options are easy to understand, eg no "cool looking" but unusable interface (JVC555 was kind of hard to use in that respect.)

Remote buttons are a bit small, and play/pause etc. are not "highlighted" or bigger, so you have to look at the remote (no backlight.)

+ dimmable display on the player, if you don't like distracting time counter etc. in your stereo rack.

+ resume-from-stop mode, eg stop, then optionally resume from where you were. You can also input exact HHMMSS to go to, and zips there immediately.

+ screen saver for long pause, to not burn out your new big-screen projection tv :-)

otherwise all the comments for SD2109 also apply. I haven't noticed too much noise (disk tray/rotate) playing disks, seems quiet. Nice build eg tray is solid opening/closing. Small and light, but heavy on features and performance!

I've heard this and SD2109 are not compatible w/ CD-Rs, though, I've played some "mix" discs a friend made for me, and seems to work fine. Not sure if they are CDR or CDRW or what, but they do work.

Highly recommend this player. Get it.

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As a lover of all things audio-video, I must say that the Toshiba SD-1200 is one fine machine. I personally own an older model SD-500 sony from two years ago, a Toshiba 2008, toshiba 3108, and a creative labs dvd player for my pc, and I must confess that the toshiba SD-1200 is a great player. The color reproduction from the toshiba is outstanding, and I have always felt that toshiba dvd players produce a brighter, more vibrant color scheme than any other DVD player that I have seen. The definition, and black level detail in the Toshiba SD-1200 is better than any other DVD player in that price range. The only thing that is not as good as it could be is the players in-player letterboxing. If you are like me, you watch your movie on a standard 4:3 tv which means that when you are watching an "anamorphic" dvd, the player must convert the picture to be displayed on your tv. The Toshiba SD-1200 has a tendency to add wavy edges to scenes that contain parallel lines that are close together. For example, in the movie aliens, the floor of the fortress they are in has many closely spaced metal divisions that can tend to look like liquid metal when the camera slowly pans over the surface. Having owned or seen many dvd players in this price range I know that this is a problem for all dvd players, but the Toshiba SD-1200 handles this problem the best. The only players that can letterbox well are the $600 and up players, so this should not be a knock on the Toshiba SD-1200. The audio outputs provided great sound when I fed them into my dolby digital/DTS receiver, but the omission of an optical output may upset some people. All in all, I think that the Toshiba SD-1200 is a great deal for the price and offers great audio, and video performance.

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I've had this player for a month, and this is an excellent machine considering the price. In fact, within its price range, I would rate it at 5 stars.

Pros: low price, handles both Dolby Digital and DTS, has both component and S-video outputs, plays even "difficult" discs like The Matrix without any problems, excellent audio and video quality.

Cons: remote is not as intuitive as it could be, the only digital audio out is coax (no optical output) so make sure your receiver can accommodate a coax input (or willing to buy one that can), can't play CD-R discs, S-video and coax digital cables not included, menu access only from remote.

For a DVD player under $300, the SD1200 is unbeatable.

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The Toshiba sd-1200 is a nice lightweight and low profile DVD player. The manual is easy to read and set up is very simple. I haven't had any problems with any DVD's. The remote is a little small, but laid out well. Sound and picture are great. For price, this is the best value.

The only way you will get a better DVD player is by paying double. I just bought this and the 36" Toshiba CZ36V61. They work great. This entry level DVD has options that my friends do not have on their Sony or Panasonic. Minor thing I do not like is the beep when you press any button on the remote, you can turn this off in the menu. For this price, you get component connections (buy some component cables), zoom and great hardware/software package.

iLuv I182 Video Recorder and Converter for 5G iPod

• Records video onto the hard disk drive of iPod with video capability or onto a USB device, Memory Stick, MMC or SD memory card
• Accepts AV or S-Video input and converts it into the digital format for playback on iPod
• Simple 2-button user-interface with start/stop and pre-set recording
• Works with 5G iPod, PSP, USB storage devices and memory cards
• Includes USB/memory card adapter, AC adapter, AV cable, docking adapters and AV patch cable

i knew this was a very old style device but just wanted some cheap that would allow me to record off rca input from time to time. it works but the software is for windows pc only and getting the recordings off the ipod using a mac is a hassle. not as "easy" as the description claims

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This is the best recorder I have and I have many. Why they stoped making them I dont know. For a gadget geek, if you can get one you will be happy.

TRENDnet 300Mbps Wireless N Access Point TEW-638APB (Black)

Home networking can be a real pain especially for someone like me who knows enough to be dangerous but not enough to be a network installer. I have a wireless router burried in my basement that wasn't getting signal to my upstairs part of the house. I tried two other different products 1) two routers connected to each other and 2) a Hawking repeater. I ended up wasting a lot of time with them and they just didnt work or had compatibility issues. I took a plunge on the no brand trendnet based on this other positive review and he was 100% right. The price is 50% cheaper than the comparable Linksys N switch and does exactly as advertised. Setup took 5 minutes and I now have coverage all over my house. No issues so far.

UPDATE 07/02/10: Firmware fixes! v1.2.7 greatly improves the stability of this unit and now it performs flawlessly.

Original review:

I have had this AP for a few months now. It was not difficult to set up at all. When it works properly, I get decent speeds. However since this is a 2.4GHz access point don't expect channel bonding to work as well as in a 5GHz or dual band unit because the 2.4GHz band is basically overloaded. Also, this access point only comes with a 100BaseTX wired ethernet interface, so even if you got more than 100Mbps on the wireless side you're limited by the wired interface.

I also have it set up with WPA2, initially with WPA2-PSK and now with WPA2 enterprise using FreeRADIUS on pfsense for better security.

It does have multiple SSIDs but what is the point of that? It's not like you can segment it into VLANs or anything so this is a pointless feature. This would have been useful because I could keep one SSID open and put it on a DMZ on my firewall so I can give guests wifi access without opening up my whole network.

That said, my access point refuses to connect every ever so often. Completely random, but usually after I've completed some large file transfers over N wireless. It almost seems as though some buffers in the device are being saturated and the device just locks up. My laptop or iPod will attempt to associate then fail with no explanation, then magically come back after I power cycle the device.

I have not seen any firmware updates for it that would fix the issue so I think I'll just attempt to get warranty service for it or just get another access point like a Cisco.

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The documentation that comes with the product is poor. The web site is not very informative.

My access point had a non-standard default password when reset to factory defaults. I had to guess to figure it out.

I bought two to set up a network for a larger area. Figuring out how to do it was a process of trial and error. In the "Knowledge Base" on the TRENDnet web site, it's hard to tell which access point needs to be configured in what way in order to get it to work.

I could forgive these problems. However, when conducting large data transfers over a secure network (think backup) it would reboot itself. Often, when it did so, it would forget it's entire configuration. Fortunately, I backed up the configuration to a file. It's annoying to have to manually fix my access point every few weeks... more often when it's hot.

Eventually I bought a netbook cooler (with a fan) to put the thing on. That helped... now it does not reboot and loose its mind so often... but it still does occasionally.

Stay away from this junk. I used to love TRENDnet because they had good quality products for good prices. Now, I will stay away from TRENDnet products. An item this expensive should have better documentation and should be reliable.

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This works well as far as speed, but needs a daily reboot. Not sure what the issue is, as it just drops all connected devices.

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Sometimes you can use a wireless adapter to get your device on your network. Sometimes your TV or Blu-ray player leaves you with no option other than a wired connection. This device allows you to put a switch or hub anywhere in a typical home or plug any network cable directly into it for a network connection.

Alternatively, two of these can tie remote areas of a network together wirelessly without having this emulate a wireless adapter. You can also use this by plugging it into your network in locations where wireless devices, such as laptops get weak signals. You could even have an individual laptop use this instead of its built in adapter if it has trouble picking up on your network from remote areas of your home.

You start off by connecting this device to a single computer so you can configure it. You can bring it up with a web browser, and bypass the need to install the configuration software on your PC. However, if its default IP address is out of the range of your subnet mask, you would have to manually assign an IP address and subnet mask to your computer, and set them back after configuration.

That method is a common way to configure similar devices. It can make things easy, or it might seem confusing enough to drive you away. If so, you merely use the software on the CD, which finds the device and walks you through the configuration without the problems above.

The way the modes of operations work could be explained better in the manuals, and there is an assumption that you already understand the related network concepts and types of wireless security. The method of configuration is not what you might be typically used to. There is some ambiguity in certain areas where it is not clear whether a field applies to the device or to the router you are connecting to.

It's pretty clear that they were not willing to hire the native English speakings consultant to maintenance of wording the screens. If you understood that last sentence, you should understand their configuration screens too.

In order to work with my network, I needed to set up a profile for the wireless network name used by my router. Once I got the security information in there, things worked like a charm. It also did a good job of finding other networks within range.

One day I found that my connection speed was not only fast, but far exceeded what my Internet provider gives me. After a little investigation, I found that at some point, this device connected to the network with the strongest signal, which was an unsecured router belonging to a neighbor. That left my network vulnerable since it had a non encrypted connection, plus security and firewalls assumed I had a secure wired connection. Their support group told me there is no way around that.

Since your devices plug into this (or a hub or switch that's plugged into this) they act as if they were any other wired devices. You do not see a WiFi icon in your system tray nor do you see a signal strength indicator. So there's no way of seeing what network you get a wireless connection to unless you look at what network this independent device got connected to. This would not be an issue if you use two of these devices to bridge wirelessly, but that should not have been necessary.

At some later point, I found that it tried to give a warning message before attempting to connect to a non-secure network, which is something their tech support group told me would not happen. I wish there were an explanation for why it connected to one on its own before without such a warning. You would never see the aforementioned warning unless you went to the device to try to figure out why you had no network connection. It would have been nice if they had something similar to what you have with a bi-directional printer where a status icon in your PC tray shows the state of the remote device.

If you have things set up, your router stays on and connected, and the device stays powered on, you can get excellent performance. If you lose the connection while you are updating your router's firmware, or for any other reason, I can't tell you what this device will do on its own in the interim. It still works well enough that I use it and it's the best practical alternative for me.

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Polaroid PRDVDPR100S DVD+R 4.7GB 120-Minute 16x Recordable DVD Disc, 100-Pack Spindle

Excellent Product and Very Fast Shipping, Only problem with it is that the plastic packaging was torn up, and the dvd's were not all together.. About 1/4 of the dvd's were in the box.. I'd still purchase them anyway... No big deal, just a warning

I've had some problems with about 5 of these discs already and I've tried them on two separate burners. The product arrived on time and was secure and I can't detect any scratches on them but on the 5 discs that I'm referring to the video plays back in a chugging fashion and there is nothing wrong with the source files. I tried a different brand on two of those same files burned on the Polaroid brand and there were no problems. Sorry , but this is my first and last batch of Polaroid DVD's.

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Have used Polaroid in the past. Good product just be careful removing from box.

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I've never had worse. About a third of these are defective. I thought it might be my PC so I tried the ones that didn't work with my PC on 4 other PCs and they failed on all. I've used many different brands and these are by far the worst. Save your money and go with a different brand.

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It has been noted many times before and I will reiterate it again. The packaging is horrible and amateurish. I ordered a DVD with this product and it arrived with no bubble wrap and in the same huge box (2x bigger than the product). It is a miracle that the DVD was not smashed by the product. The shrink wrapping of the product was unraveling as I removed it from the box. I took pics of it but there is no way (that I see) to include them in this review (Hint for Amazon). To be clear though,. the actual blanks discs have not yet failed in defiance of the crude packing (another miracle).

The packaging is the only reason I did not give this product a 5 and the Product is the only reason I gave it a 4.

I will not buy any more blank discs from Amazon due strictly to the way they are packaged. I was lucky this time.

iLuv i1166 8.9 Inch Portable Multimedia/DVD Player with Dock for iPod

• Compatibility: iPod nano 3G, 4G, 5G; iPod classic 4G, 5G, 5.5G, 6G; iPod touch 1G, 2G; iPhone 1G, 3G, 3Gs (in "airplane mode")
• 8.9-inch widescreen digital TFT LCD screen with convenient on-screen display
• Play iPod audio/video content, DVD/CD/VCD discs, DivX/MPEG4 video, MP3/WMA audio, and JPEG images
• AC adapter and car adapter included; about 3 hours DVD video or 4 hours iPod video on a single charge
• Remote control and user friendly graphic interface

I've been closely tracking this item ever since it was announced back at CES earlier in the year and I was fortunate enough to get one of the first shipments that came out. Here's a brief look at some of my pros and cons with the item.

Previously I had bought a Philips Model: DCP850/37 DVD/iPod portable player and was very happy with it. Albeit the screen was only 7 inch, but it was relatively portable and fairly light and easy to use. Unfortunately it did not support the later generation 160 GB iPod classic, where I store most of my videos (I could only use my 60 GB ipod for the Philips) so I decided to upgrade to the iLuv i1166.

My initial impressions are the following:

The look of the iLuv 1166 is superior of the Philips. It has a nice, sleek black frame with a very nice large 9" widescreen panel on the face of the gadget. Unlike the Philips, which has the screen on the inside of the clamshell design, the iLuv's screen is on the outside, with a little stand to support it on the other side. When you open the iLuv clamshell, that is where the DVD drive and the iPod cradle is. Like most other ipod/dvd hybrids, there are different adapters you can use for your nano, ipod, itouch or iphone. One definite plus of this item is that it supports many of the current gen ipods, which was lacking in the previous model (i1155) and the other philips players. So if you're like me and you have the 160 GB classic, this is the player for you.

I was only able to test the gadget with my ipod and a test DVD. It is very easy to operate (either via remote control or the menu buttons next to the screen) and the menu options are quite simple. The menus are easy to read and it's quite nice to have a battery indicator which gives you a heads up that you're going to run of of juice soon.

The picture quality was quite nice. I ran a DVD video and also ran movies, music videos and tv shows from my ipod. The image is crisp and the 9" large screen is definitely a plus. I have yet to test the SD inputs though. But from my experience there is definitely a noticeable improvement in terms of image quality from my philips player.

There are also 2 headphone jacks that allows multiple people to watch the same video. The battery took me approximately 3 hours to charge in the first run and I ran 2 movies to drain it out as a test. After running it for about 3 hours (before falling asleep) I noticed it was working fine, so that's definitely good (vs a roughly 2.5 hour play time with my philips).

I did have a few gripes that kept me from giving this 5 stars though. First, there is an annoying lack of a chapter search for the ipod movies. So if you're watching a 2 hour movie and want to fast forward, it ain't gonna happen. That's sort of annoying if you want to try and speed through 2 movies on a long trip.

EDIT: (I switched up a few movies to test and found that the chapter search worked on one or two of the 6 I tried out. Not sure why this happened and seemed like the rewind function worked more than the fast forward. Not sure if this is another glitch like what I saw with the ipod videos, which I addressed below)

I also noticed a strange glitch in which for some reason the menu on the ipod wasn't able to read my music videos in sequential order. Say if you had multiple videos of Michael Jackson in 1 category, for some reason I couldn't access MJ's videos in the order I have it on my ipod. Rather, every time I open up one category, every single video in my ipod appears on the list regardless of category. Again, annoying but doesn't impact the performance of the item.

Also there is no video out option (one plus of my philips was that it had a video out that i could connect to my tv). Not a deal breaker for me, but it is a bit irritating for those of you who want to use the DVD option for say, an extended stay at a hotel or at your other home and don't have a DVD there.

If you're a gadget freak like me, I think you'll enjoy the item. I also recommend purchasing a cover for this item (I ordered mine from the iLuv/jwin site) as the screen seems very easy to scratch given its location on the outside of the clamshell design.

In summary:

Pros:

1. Cool, sleek design

2. Works with most ipods/iphones including current gen

3. Decent battery life

4. Huge screen, great image quality

5. Great variety of inputs (dvd, ipod, sd, usb, multiple headphones)

6. Can play in car with car adapter

7. Easy to use menu, remote control

Cons:

1. No video out option

2. No chapter search for ipod movies/tv shows

3. Kind of heavy

4. Screen location makes it potentially easy to scratch/damage

5. Gitchy menu at times (at least for me)

6. Speakers not exactly useful (tinny and not really good for playback)

But net net, it's a pretty neat item on the go

EDIT: So on extended use during a recent vacation ... I would like to add the following notes:

1. After taking extraordinary efforts to keep the screen protected (I bought a cover from jwin), I still noticed surface scratches upon repeat uses. This despite being very careful in placing the item carefully in the storage case. I also didn't drop the unit and didn't scratch it during usage so not sure where they came from but just wanted to offer a heads up about the potential for easy screen scratches.

2. I noticed the battery life was about 3 to 3.5 hours when it was used with the ipod for movies. That seemed a bit shorter than what was advertised, though I did have the crank up the volume substantially at times since it seemed somewhat low for certain movies or clips. I didn't have the brightness cranked up, but perhaps the volume at max at certain times (I was using headphones) may have contributed to the shorter battery life.

3. Video quality is excellent and having a widescreen does make the experience a lot better!

4. I tested the unit with an SD card, and it functioned just fine. Given the design, it can also serve as a nice picture frame of sorts, albeit a big clunky frame. I noticed that the slideshow of the pics also moved somewhat slow. Nonetheless plugging an SD card to view pictures were relatively easy and painless.

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Item feels very cheaply made and came out of the box with a cosmetic defect. Screen attracts dust and dirt like a magnet and if you even breathe on the screen it scratches. If you turn the screen even a little it becomes difficult to see and the quality is lousy unless you look at the screen dead on. Player can't recognize SDHC cards so the biggest card that can go in there is a 2GB card. That will hold one whole movie (written with sarcasm) so what's the freakin' point of the SD card slot. And, if you have updated your 2nd generation iPod touch to version 3 software it is not recognized by the device. You would think that a device that was the innovation of the year for 2009 would have been designed by individuals who were more forward thinking.

My advice is to save your money and don't buy this. That is unless all the other electronics you own are from the early 2000's. Then you should be OK.

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I recieved my iLuv yesterday. I immediately plugged it in so to charge the battery. As most of the guys I know, I used it 1st then read the instructions. This puppy is a dream come true. It played the movies in my 160GB iPod classic flawlessly. As far as the sound goes, this is the only flaw in the ointment. I plugged it in to my Bose Portable iPod dock. Hence, the sound is awesome. This is truly a match made in heaven. The screen is quite BIG. I got on line and ordered a screen saver from iLuv. This is an inexpensive must have. I screamed thru the play lists very easily and as I aid before the sound is fantastic. The remote is handy and very useful indeed. All in all, this was a gr8 purchase and it works very well. It's a keeper. I have also found the screen to be quite good for viewing the movies on my iPod. It's larger then I imagined. The color is very good and the entire viewing experience is a gr8 one on this terrific new toy..

Danny-N-Oregon

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this product although it has some great PRO's it also at the same time has many CON's it seems that it's design and construction were somehow rushed into production

you know how these companies are when a NEW (other companies') product comes out, they all wanna be first to address the new technology (IE the IPHONE)

anyway. here we go

PROS

1 it has the largest screen of all DVD players 9"

2 it has a nice remote control (most don't have remote)

3 it accepts and plays movies from IPOD/IPHONE

4 it accepts and plays movies from both USB and SD card

CONS

1 you can't flip the screen when you turn it off to protect it (it opens and closes to protect the DVD and the IPOD/IPHONE

2 the screen is very sensitive and subject to scratches, a finger nail will leave a mark

3 the remote seems to have more functions than the onboard buttons perform

4 there is no menu feature when you have multiple movies on a USB or SD card, no fast forward or jump either

5 the SD card slot only accepts up to a 2GB SD card (not HD compatible)

6 the IPOD menu's from the screen are so plain and slow reacting, not to mention hard to navigate

7 it only accepts a SINGLE format (DIVX) on the SD and USB movie inputs, and no where is it noted

what format and video encoding to use (i had to spend 3 days trying to figure this thing out)

8 the tech support is CRAP, the people who reply back to you don't even know what this product is. ALL they do is

read to you from the supplied manual (and it's crap too)

in my opinion wait for a better model to come out

JWIN is not the best of companies to create technology

my built in ALPINE DVD head unit does more than this. I did pay $1000 for it though

This product is almost there and I like it a whole lot it plays the dvd's, almost all ipods and ipod touch including the videos on your iphone and can be used as a picture viewer with an SD card or USB Drive. So for software it has it all, now for the Cons no video output, sound could be louder coming out of speakers, should have had a matte finish instead of the shiny surface because it shows to many fingerprints, the screen scratches easily and should at least come with a screen protector and the build quality seems flimsy so don't drop it cause I don't think it could take not even 1 fall and product is a little on the heavy side so basically for the price they could have put a little more work in to it but the product is definitely usable as long as you are careful. I think the next generation of this will be a great improvement because so far each one has been better than the last.