Full HD 1080P 20M Underwater Waterproof Night Sports Action Camera for Surfing Surfboard Bike Car M

The tiny camera was a purchase for viewing underwater competitive swimming stroke evaluation. Unfortunately, the charging cable came in a Chinese format and could not be immediately charged from American electrical outlets. I would have figured an adapter of some sort might have been included for an international clientele.

Great picture but short battery life. The information/user manual doesn't give a lot of troubleshooting support and there's no company website. If it breaks, I guess it's done. I kept the static lens cover on, because there is no supporting protection or cover for the lens. It does not include parts that allow you to attach to a helmet and/or rifle with a picattiny rail system.

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JVC Everio GZ-HD6 3CCD 120GB Hard Disk Drive High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabi

Excellent image quality, good color and contrast, amazing resolution. Very easy to use and setup. I have owned Sony cameras almost exclusively and wondered how the joystick control would work over the touch screen it worked very well if fact I liked it better. My largest concern and the reason I returned this unit was because of the wind noise. No matter what the setting, the slightest breeze would create an awful muffling sound drowning out important sounds even kids screaming and having fun at the pool. However, to be fair, the indoor audio quality is right up there with best in my opinion.

If you want to edit videos created by this camera consider this -the iLink (IEEE 1394) firewire connection does work however you must record in the lower quality 1440 CBR (Constant Bitrate Mode) in order to get the video over the link and into popular capture software such as Adobe Premier, Sony Vegas and Apple's Final Cut Pro. I found this to be a little confusing and not well documented. Moreover, the camera will NOT stream video over this link only playback previous recording footage.

Batter life is remarkable and the included software works great. You can create DVDs and Video CDs right over the USB cable using the supplied software.

Also, I read a ton of reviews about the awful image quality when taking video in low light conditions. I have to disagree with these prior reviews. I found it to perform about even with the Sony HDV-A1U a professional HD camera.

Times have changed since I first hoisted fifty pounds of camera onto my shoulder and trudged around shooting. Technology has made it possible for anyone to compete with the professional in terms of quality.

As a professional who has worked in the industry for a while, I've invested a lot of money into equipment over the years. Recently, I took a look at my stock of standard definition prosumer cameras and compared them to the prosumer HD rigs out there. I found that I just couldn't stomach dropping another $3K to $10K on a rig that would likely be obsolete in a month. So when I needed an HD solution for a small project, I decided to buy a consumer-grade camera and "make do."

I had no idea at the time that I'd be able to find a camera that can not only shoot full frame HD but do so in a sleek, compact package that has almost all of the features I would look for in a professional rig.

Don't get me wrong ... there are features missing here, or buried in menus when they should be a button on the camera's body. But overall, I have to say that I am very impressed with this inexpensive HD solution. The 120GB hard drive means I can shoot 10 hours of full-frame HD, and the three CCDs mean I get the full range of detail, color, and data that I would expect. Two options for transfer--USB 2.0 and Firewire--are handy. And the simple fact that it has both a mic input and headphone outputs already puts it in a league above other consumer cameras.

This camera is an indie's dream. Cheap, outstanding quality, and plenty of room to shoot without worrying about tapes or other expendable media. And with 120GB onboard, you don't even have to worry about transferring! I could shoot an epic trilogy on this thing.

I highly recommend this camera to anyone who wants HD at an affordable price.

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I own this camera for 12 months now. I agree to the positive reviews about the video quality and light handling. However when it comes to PC connectivity this camera simply don't! The only way to get your videos on your PC is through the supported software. You can't stream live video and you can't use common software such as Movie Maker or Windows Media Encoder to capture live video or to immediately edit the recorded video (on the HD). The computer seems to recognize the camera as an AVC compliant device but nothing more than that. And when it comes to using the supported software is sucks! The software is very cumbersome to use, it uses a quite rare video format (some MAC type of TOD files) and the video editor software has very limited options for even the basic edits. If you need to edit your videos on your PC be prepare to for a tedious job.

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I bought this for my wife and it worked amazing! I liked it very much. Takes good photos too. Battery life is decent. The only thing I do not like is the movie file type it creates.

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This was a very good investment. The price was very good and the quality of the video is excellent. The HD video is supurb. I have had it for a few years now and finally getting around to write the review.

My only complaint is the video extension I wish were more of a standard format. I believe it writes to a .TOD which needs to be converted.

Memorex MVD-2027 DVD Player with MP3 Playing Capabilities

I bought the 2026 from Target two years ago and up till yesterday, I hadn't had any problems from the unit. Yesterday, I tried to look at a movie and...nothing!!! I tried the plugs and the power cord but they were correctly connected. The owner's manual was a joke. The worst part is that my movie is stuck in the player. I know this player is the 2027 and it may not happen to youbut do you want to take a chance?

I got this DVD player about a year ago, and needless to say, it has never been able to play a complete DVD. Sometimes it is able to play for about 10 minutes, but most of the time, it won't play them at all, let alone open or close the tray. When it reaches its certain 'point of no return', the whole thing freezes, the display is messed up, there is 'noise' on screen, and none of the function buttons work. Do NOT buy this DVD player! To make matters worse, I've not been able to get a direct response from Memorex about these issues.

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This in response to Jordans comments on the DVD "revolution". Why would anyone in this day and age prefer tapes to DVDs simply because of the Start/Stop feature. If you owned a Digital Video Player you`d know that once you press the Stop function the disc Player "remembers" what chapter you were on, unless you press the Stop button twice or turn it off alltogether. All this commentary is made moot by the fact that DVDs are broken down by chapters, all you have to do is select the chapter where you stopped whatching. The most basic DVD player is packed with features the most advanced VCR (that would cost 3X`s as much) could never duplicate. My only beef with the DVD industry is the ridiculous encoding they have in order to stop reproduction (you cant yet copy a DVD to another DVD), but give it a few months and my friends and I will have that little problem all figured out.

In closing Jordan if your reading this, please pay specially close attention we are in the digital age now, anolog is dead and good ridance. Better sound, better picture, subtitles, different laguages, directorial and cast comments, alternate endings, all in a media package so small and convinient you could carry 5, 10 or even 15 movies in a cd wallet that fits in your coat pocket. YOU CAN TAKE IT ON A PLANE AND WATCH IT ON LAPTOP TRY DOING THAT WITH A VCR AND A TAPE.

I can only strongly suggest to anyone who is thinking about purchasing a DVD player to go ahead and buy one; get one for your parents, one for your sister, brother, uncle, niece, grandparents, for your kids, for enveryone on your XMASS shopping list you cant go wrong.

And Jordan, stop being a Ludite, and join us in the 21st century. Once you get here youll be amazed at how much fun we are all having.

PS do you prefer music tapes over CDs?

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JVC XVN420B Progressive Scan DVD Player , Black

• Digital Direct Progressive Scan Output for high-resolution images
• Express Play Start, Rolling Pickup
• Illuminated Disc Tray with Dimmer Control
• Playable Formats:DVD-Video, DVD-RW, CD, SVCD, VCD, CD-R/RW, WMA, MP3, JPEG
• Vari-Play, Variable-Speed Playback with Sound and Subtitles

From the day I took this player out of the box, I have struggled with it. It regularly freezes up when an item is selected from the menu. To un-freeze it, you must either open the tray or turn off the unit. It's garbage. I expected more from JVC.

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The last few players I had (Sony, Yamaha and Apex) froze up and skipped on me all the time. The JVC player has been working fine now for almost a year and has never frozen or skipped. I love the blue illumination and my CDs sound great.

CIB R401H60W500G8752-8401 4CH Surveillance DVR Four CCD Cameras 500GB KIT. Ea...

I ordered this after reading the description thouroughly. I was under the impression that the whole system supported sound, meaning the cameras sent sound to the DVR and it would allow one channel sound to be monitored at a time. All the cameras DO NOT have sound outputs or cables. The DVR DOES have sound inputs, the RCA type, one for each camera and one output to match the monitor out. The video connections are BNC type. Don't order this if you NEED SOUND. You won't have sound from any camera supplied with this system.

Now the positive part of the review. The DVR and all the cameras have very solid feel and the DVR functions are very acceptable. The remote works well. It can even be hooked up to the internet for monitoring while away. So if you need a very decent DVR with NO SOUND from the cameras for a decent price this fits that bill.

After using this product for 2 months, I shall say that I am very satisfied with it.

Delivery was very quick. It came sooner than expected. A pleasant surprise given that it was during Christmas seasons.

The 4 cameras that come with the system are good enough to cover all entance/exit of our restaurant. I thought the intallation was complicated but it turned out quite simple. Did not spend much time on the installtion.

Quality of the picture/video is good enough.

It is a good deal at this price.

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USA Security Store / CIB Security is a company that stands behind their product. This is a good intro system for home or small business. The DVR has the features you would want and the cameras work as advertised.The software for remote access works. I installed myself. I already have network experience. So, not so hard for me. But for the not so technical type CIB support is great phone or email.

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This system was easy to hook up. I use it at my work. The dvr keeps the last 8 days of video stored on it. I can access the live video from my smart phone from any location. Im very happy with it.

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System arrived fast and setup was very smooth, great price....The remote viewing (still not working correctly with my dynamic IP address) I switched to a static ip[ address and all should be fine....Tech support was more than willing to help and does check in on me from time to time to see if remote viewing is operational. I aused the actiontec pk5000 router and could not get the thing to work with dyndns....? I gave up and got statis IP addresses from phone company. +Great support and really a very good product...I feel that the problem is with the actiontec router>/???

Pioneer DVR-118LBK DVD/CD-Writer DVD Multi-Recorder, DVD+R DL, DVD+ReWritable, CD ReWritable, Label

I just built a new OEM PC that everything is SATA 2, and SATA 3 on, and I felt uncomfortable with everything in the machine being SATA so I opted for this PATA/IDE/ATA 100 Pioneer OEM optical drive and it's working just fine! I booted the PC from it initially, to install Windows 7, preceded by an install of OEM Windows XP Pro for qualification of the Win 7 build, so if there was anything going to go wrong with the drive it would have happened straight away, but it worked aok fine and I had no problems installing the OS, and all programs and software with this drive.

I am partial to Pioneer drives, and that's because I still have a Pioneer DVR-110 in one of my OEM PC's, and another PowerMac G5 Dual Core (PCI-Express M9591LL/A) 2.3 Ghz PowerMac has a DVR-110, and those are both Region Free firmware-equipped drives that still, to this day, burn and RIP DVD's without mercy! They both function 100%, and I expect that this Pioneer drive will also work great for many years without issues.

As for installing such a drive in an OEM PC build, PC motherboards still have an ATA bus, and that's all you have to connect up: that is an ATA/100 cable, and you are good to go with the standard Molex power connector in place--I mean this is plug and play, no driver necessary to make it work. With RIP-Lock in force you won't be RIPping any DVD's in record time like you can with a DVR-110 (Region Free firmware) using this optical drive, but you can count on Pioneer's standard-issue drive motor mechanism working fine up to let's say 25X speeds, not 40X like in the DVR-110's, but plenty adequate for most uses.

For a mere $25.99 or so you can count on this being a bargain you can afford, too...I mean how cheap does it have to be? Isn't $25 cheap enough? I highly recommend this Pioneer optical drive for any PC or Mac use that you can think of--if you want the good Pioneer quality and reliability that we all know is legendary in drives like this.

Wavey Davey August 23, 2010

I bought this as a secondary drive for my Mac Pro. All I had to do was change the connector in the back to select, remove the bezel, screw it in, and hook up the cables. My mac recognized it immediately and I was burning discs in under 15 minutes. I didn't have a bad packaging job like the other reviewer had. It was packed really well. Keep in mind when ordering this you are only getting the dvr drive and install instructions. No mounting screws or cables so have those handy if needed . It is a great deal for $25.99 and free shipping. I would definitely buy another one!

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Pioneer drives always seem to work flawlessly in Macs, so that's what I stick with. This particular one that I purchased most recently went into an Apple PowerMac G5 system. As is the norm for Macs, no software was needed and the operating system immediately accepted the drive without issue. Was burning a test disc in the Finder within 5 minutes. Unfortunately, I know this drive will not last more than 4 or 5 years, as that's the most any of them are lasting nowadays. Even Pioneer drives don't last anymore, because they had to cut corners to compete on cost. It's a shame. I would rather pay ~60 bucks for a drive that lasts then ~30 for something that will burn out before the computer does.

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No problem with installation in the iMac, works great. But, the packing from Amazon was very poor, they just threw it in the box with no packing. In fact the box was half opened when it arrived. I was crossing me fingers that it would still work, after seeing the condition of the box. Not a good job, Amazon!!!! I would of given it five stars if the packing was better.

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This drive has been a rock solid investment as I've had it for over a year with no problems. Of course it may die yet but I don't use it heavily so it meets my needs just fine. I have tried hp and Lite-on and will say they are terrible.

Sylvania 5.1 CH Blu Ray DVD Player, Home Theater System, Supports BD-Live

• Blu Ray DVD Player; and 5.1 CH Digital Channel Stereo System
• Supports BD-Live and USB 2.0
• FULL HD, 1080P playback
• Playable Media: BD-ROM, BD-RE/-R, DVD-R/RW, DVD-RAM, DVD+R/RW, CD-DA, CD-R/CD-RW, MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, H.264 FOR BD
• Total Output Power: 600W (PMPO) & 40 W (RMS)

Very pleased with price and quality of the item but... it doesn't come with the cables that are required to connect the blu ray player to the sound system. Or the cord (either hdmi ot YpBpR) to connect the blu ray player to the TV. So if u buy this be prepared to drop 40-80 DOLLARS on necessary cables.

Again love my system just wish it had everything in one.

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This was a Christmas gift. After it was installed and we played a new movie, the speakers began to hum after 30 minutes of it being on. We turned everything off, and back on and it did it again. So we then reinstalled, and just turned the amp on, it is the amp. The amp is crappy and not worth the money. Also does not have any inputs to connect other things into it. I am very displease with this product and would not recommend it to anyone.

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When I purchased this home theater system, there were few reviews available. I purchased it because I needed a new set home theatre system to watch my blu ray DVDs on and did not have much money to spend. I set this up and while I was not completely satisfied (the highest volume was still too low, slow loading time), the product was working fine. Then, however, the DVD player started turning on and off by itself as if it were possessed. Mind you, the return period window had just expired by one week when this started happening. I could not use this product at all. I then came here to write this review and have since found several new reviews complaining of similar problems.

This product is fundamentally defective and I do not recommend it. While the return period had expired, I took my chances sending it back to Amazon with the hopes of receiving a partial refund (I still had the box in which the product arrived). I was expecting to receive next to nothing but I really wanted this defective product out of my sight and out of my home. Thankfully, I returned it to Amazon.com and received a very generous partial payment, which was very close to the price I had paid for it (since I selected free shipping). I thought I would be out of luck (and out of $140 for good) but Amazon helped me tremendously. I suggest those who are disappointingly stuck with this defective product do the same. Thank you Amazon.

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I'm excited of this product, its everything said it would. Easy to set you and quality misa superb will recommend to everyone.

I am very Pleased with this system,since setting i i have enjoyed my movies a whole lot more than i used too :)

Philips SA238/17 256 MB Digital Audio Player

• 256 MB digital music player with MP3 and WMA compatibility
• 128 MB of built-in memory and 128 MB Secure Digital memory card
• Stores up to 8 hours of high-quality music
• Digital FM tuner with 10 presets; digital voice recording
• Expandable memory slot; shockproof housing

This unit has surprisingly good features for the discounted price that I paid (sub-$100). Decent audio, light weight, acceptable supplied earbuds, and handy neckstrap + armband made a good package. Pluses are that it can be used to hold data files as well as mp3 as a mass storage device. Also, the FM tuner is pretty good.

128 MB SD card limitation DOES NOT apply on my unit, however it is not explained how to make it function with larger cards. Simply hold the center button down until the unit powers up! For the supplied 128MB card it only takes a couple of seconds, but, for a 1GB card, it takes up to 8 seconds or so, but it will work if you are patient. My guess is that the player has to build a database of files on the card before powering up completely, and the processor is a little slow. 1.128 GB of storage gives a lot of files to listen to during the day.

Cons are that the batteries do not last more than about 10 hours if it includes time consumed by much moving of data to/from the unit with the USB transfer. Also, the latch that keeps the back cover on does not seem to hold too tightly, but I have not had a problem with it, yet.

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This is my 2nd Mp3 player. My first is a San Disk Mp3 Companion which worked fine but has some of the same problems as this one. First this unit does sound good and the addition of the FM tuner and the Voice recorder is a nice touch. If you buy this for Mp3 listening, you need to realize there are limitations. My biggest problem is getting a playlist to work or even get an album to play in proper order. Here is an example of the order I have saved in Windows:

Black Sabbath 01 Turn Up the Night

Black Sabbath 02 VooDoo

Black Sabbath 03 Sign of the Southern Cross

Black Sabbath 04 E5150

Black Sabbath 05 The Mob Rules

Black Sabbath 06 Country Girl

Black Sabbath 07 Falling of the Edge of the World

Black Sabbath 08 Slipping Away

Black Sabbath 09 Over and Over

After syncing with the Philips Rush here is the order it plays:

6Country Girl

5The Mob Rules

9Over and Over

7Falling of the Edge of the World

1Turn Up the Night

2VooDoo

3Sign of the Southern Cross

4E5150

8Slipping Away

The limitations are frustrating and Philips customer service is a joke. I talked to 5 different people last weekend all giving me dead end solutions. Some reps were giving info that was contradicting other reps. One said this unit doesn't support playlists, yet the product manual decribes a step by step process (that doesn't work at all by the way)to create a playlist under Music Match software. The most laughable was a rep said keep checking on their website for firmware upgrades, since they are always coming out with new updates. Last upgrade was August 2004!!! Over a year ago!!! Looks like they aborted this baby...

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Purchased for use @ healthclub. Upgraded the drivers and works like a charm. Allows me to download unlike other users and plays exactly the songs I want. If people actually READ instructions, bad reviews on good products would not happen. I have used several other brand SD cards w/o issue as well. My only problem is switching songs because I have big fingers, but simply reprogramming my card to delete the songs I dont want works for me. Battery life is amazing. Its on week 3 with one simple AAA. We are purchasing a second one for my husbands use. The SOUND IS incredible! Comes with software you dont need as well but are nice to have. Just drag and drop songs onto memory card!

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I bought this item and started downloading all my music, but the only problem is, it will not let me download music to the memory card! I filled the internal memory with music, but can't get anything else to load. Any suggestions??

Otherwise, I LOVE this player. Sounds really great, and I can even use it in the car. Much better than hunting for CD's!

i read all the reviews on this page before i bought the mp3 player. well, i didn't see to many bad reviews so i bought it-big mistake! i have had two problems with this device. one, when i store songs on it it still does not recognize them. i went through my browser and opened the 2 mass storage devices to see if they were actually empty. all of the songs i downloaded to the mp3 player were listed-and yes they were all in mp3 file format. then a few days later it magically recognized them and started playing. now it has returned to its original non functioning state. when i turn it on it says, NO FILES! another problem i had with the device was with the SD card. i called Philips and they told me they just discovered in some units the SANDISK card does not work. well i guess i am just lucky! when i save songs to my sd card drive everything shuts off now. when i try and play only songs from my card only option, the mp3 player shuts off! so, buy it at your own risk, believe me i know how to read the instructions and even when i called Philips they acknowledged there are some problems. so i do not recommend that anybody buy this mp3 player.

Sony DCRVX2000 MiniDV Digital Camcorder with 2.5" LCD, Memory Stick & BuiltIn Digital Still Mode

Before buying this camera, think carefully about what you'll be using it for, and when. I also recommend playing with one at a store, to feel its size and weight. (Even if, like me, you'll ultimately buy it at Amazon.)

I've owned the VX-2000 for over a year now, and I'm very happy with the results. Arguably, the picture quality is better than the Canon XL-1 (and the vx2000 is significantly -thankfully -smaller), it's rugged and reliable, and it's somewhat portable. I carry mine in a backpack that has a padded pocket designed for laptop computers. It was the best solution as most smaller camera bags don't fit this beast. Those that do aren't useful for toting other things as well.

Anyway, I know a handful of other people with this camera. Some of them are *filmmakers* and these people use their VX-2000's to document events that they'd later like to make movies of. The filmmakers, as a whole, LOVE this camera. I also have a friend who does casting for television ads. Often, for his boss, he walks around with a VX2000 and shoots people on the street, later bringing the tape to the boss for evaluation.

The other people I know own the VX-2000 because they *like electronics*. They *Like To Own The Best* and they like to play with gadgets. I advise, if you're one of these people, and really, I KNOW YOU ARE, get a different camera. Something smaller... granted the quality will be slightly less, but you're more likely to have it when you witness your kid's first words (or your best friend's wife in a rendevouz with a neighbor. you get the point) Furthermore, this camera is somewhat lacking in toy features. No night vision, no silly effects (save for a few wipes, swipes, fades, and sepia, etc.), no bluetooth transmitter, etc. It's just good, strong, somewhat rugged, and takes a great shot.

I give this camera a 5 for quality (sharp, beautiful, accuracte colors, good in medium/low light, backlight compensation remarkable, optical steadyshot rad). Just keep in mind what you want... this camera is neither professional nor amateur, and therefore I believe it serves best a select, picky subset of the population.

Last, if you do buy it, go for (1) a bigger battery, well worth the cost, and (2) a wide angle lens. Both are cool.

You can take one of two attitudes about the VX2000. Many folks (including Sony) prefer to believe this is the ultimate consumer camera, with professional features finally offered at a consumer price. Sure, it's the extreme high-end of consumer pricing, but rich technophiles ought to be able to afford it. In this view, this camcorder combines the best of both worlds... high quality video in an easy to use regular-joe/jane product. Truly a renaissance cam, if there ever was such a thing.

The other attitude is this camera is an awkward fit into either environment. Pros (i.e. people who get paid to deliver quality video) will probably object to the noisy audio. There's lots of discussion on other webpages, so I won't delve into it here. Yes, the noise is present. No, it probably won't bother consumers shooting their vacation in Hawaii. Yes, it stands a reasonable chance of annoying a client who paid for a corporate training video. No, it probably won't annoy a client who paid for a wedding or funeral video. So take either view, depending how much you enjoy living on the high-end.

If you want to make commercials or big dramatic productions, just pay the extra cash for truly professional gear that won't leave you shopping for a better camera after a few projects. Yes, there's a special case for documentary work. Don't take $5000 cameras into volcanoes, jungles, or skydiving. Use cheaper gear that'll still do the job, like this cam. Also, there's a reasonable case to be made for interviewing people with smaller, less intimidating, consumer cameras. So those particular applications might prefer the 'best darn consumer camera around'.

My best advice is to decide what you really want to do with a camcorder. If you want to take home vids of your kids AND brag to your neighbor (who last year outdid your VHS-C camera by getting a Digital 8), this is probably right up your alley. Get it and bask in the pure pleasure of it.

If you want to simply capture your personal world on tape, get something (much) cheaper and smaller. Cheaper and smaller means you're more likely to take it along. Remember, there are good shots and ok shots, but the only bad shots are the ones you missed cuz you left the camera at home. Don't let price and bulk mess with your creativity. That'd be a crying shame.

UPDATE: After receiving some email from readers, I thought I'd clarify my opinion. Yes, the VX2000 is a good camera. But does the average non-professional need one? I'm skeptical.

A home video enthusiast can do just as well with an $800 model, perhaps even better, since it's easier to carry a smaller consumer camera around. Web-movies to be shrunk by 75% and then MPEG compressed don't need a 3-CCD camera. And an independant filmmaker will probably find it cheaper to rent better gear on the shooting days.

Buy this camera if you are highly confident that you can get massive enjoyment or a monetary return on your investment. Don't get it if it's just going to sit inside its case.

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The VX 2000 is a good all round camera, it is easy to use and has many features which would encourage someone to use it. From the outside we see that the camera has a focusing ring and a zoom ring, both accesible at the same time unlike with other camera models. The focus ring is fairly easy to use although it takes a little bit of time to become fully proficient. The zoom can be controled by servo or manually at different speeds, when the zoom is controlled manually though the motor is taking feedback from your fingers for speed rather than being applied directly to the lens.

With the lens we find incorporated two neutral density filters giving us a choice between three options, first one is without filter letting all light fo through the lens to the three chips, second setting is a neutral density filter to take away some contrast. We then arrive at ND2 which is a stronger neutral density filter which is normaly used during full daylight. In order to control exposure there is a button on the left which needs to be pressed in order to go into manual iris, there is a wheel below where the aperture can be controlled.

There are three chips to capture the light information rather than a single chip thus improving the look of the image. If we find that we are in a dark room then we can boost the gain if we want but if someone does not want to use the gain then it is possible to take the shutter from 1/10 000 of a second to 1/3rd of a second . The shutter speed is controled from the back of the camera via pressing the shutter speed button on the back and turning the wheel below for the correct speed. This greatly increases the light coming into the lens. As an illustration I have shot scenes with light far too low for cameras such as the Canon XL-1 to cope with and the most spectacular part is how little noise shows up on screen afterwards.

For sound we have an onboard mic which is good for ambiance sound and it is possible to plug in a mic with a 3.5mm plug. We have two settings for the microphone, either as microphone (plug in power) or as line in. Once the microphone is selected we can check the sound levels through preswsing the audio level at the back which will display the sound. Through the menu it is possible to choose between automatic or manual. By selecting manual the level may be adjusted with the db meter in camera showing -30 -20 -12 -8 -4 0 etc. so that the sound engineer may get the correct level for recording.

Additional comments

The centre of gravity is well placed on the tripod so that it lies at the same place as the mounting plate making it easier to use on a tripod. The tape compartment is accesible at all times closing in two stages, firstly getting the mechanical part in place, tape winded and ready to shoot followed by shutting the door to avoid dust coming in. With there being two record buttons, one close tothe front right of the camera and the other in the normal position there is a greater variety of shots possible.

An interesting feature with this camera is the possibility of creating an edit decision list within the camera so that it can behave as an edit controler to dub scenes onto a second device. It is dv enabled thereby allowing to copy material from one dv tape to an other. Included with this is the possibility to play from any device directly into the camera for copying tapes etc. onto a dv tape.

Read Best Reviews of Sony DCRVX2000 MiniDV Digital Camcorder with 2.5" LCD, Memory Stick & BuiltIn Digital Still Mode Here

Another reviewer here with his facts mixed up about this cam's preformance , said the Blair Witch was shot with the VX1000(almost same ability as vx2000)and that it has edge bleeding problems. Blair Witch was shot with a Hi-8 camcorder (with some 16mm shots). Not with the Sony vx1000 or with any DV camera.

Some claim the VX2000 is dated (like sales people and others inexperienced types). While that may be partially true

for videographers, this is far from the truth for filmmakers. I own the newer Sony PDX10, the best widescreen resolution than any other cam under 10 grand. But the VX2000 is Fantastic for low-light shooting(2lux!)

while the new trv950 and pdx10 have over 1 megapixel per chip (3 times more than the VX), VX2000's color performandce is virtually the same.

The PDX10 and TRV950 are great for outdoor and well-lit shots. But neither come even close to the VX2000 for "low-light performance", which is the most important feature for moody, cinematography-style lighting. It get's down to VX's larger 1/3 chips.

For serious indoor filmmaking and if you're set on using a 3ccd cam, then only consider a Canon XL1 or a VX2000 and nothing else. And forget the dvx100 in my opinion. It doesnt shoot widescreen at all. The DVX shoots in 24p for going out to film but with 25% less resolution than xl1 or vx2k because it does not pick up any extra pixels in widescreen mode.

If you need an interchangeable lens unit, go with the XL1. But if not, you'll save $$$ with the vx2000. The VX2000 is still the best DV filmmaking prosumer machine out of the box.

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I have had the VX2000 for a couple of months now and I've shot countless hours of footage for a couple of low-to-no budget independent movies (and more in the making) and this camera is fantastic! It can be incredibly easy to use yet quite flexible if you need it to be. No, it's not a palm-sized recorder that you'll be toting casually to family get-togethers and if that's really your only need for a camcorder, go with something smaller, lighter, and less expensive. However, for those who want to play on the edge of prosumer recorders, this camera is a joy to have. Beyond picture quality there's also sound quality. The VX2000 records STEREO sound unlike most lower end camcorders and I can't imagine using anything else now. For the down-side of things, yes, it is rather hefty though I find the extra weight actually helps with smoother motion and the battery that comes with it is completely inadequate for any lengthy shooting "in the field". The optionally purchased bigger batteries do add to the weight but you won't run out of power in the middle of that important shot if you get the largest one. (I can shoot all weekend and never drain a single one of those big babies and I have two in my kit.) It doesn't come with a camera bag or case and you really need something to protect the investment. (I purchased the hard body aluminum case made for the VX2000 and though it's big and bulky, my camera can breeze through on-location shots without fear of injury. Another investment that you will want to consider with this camera is a tripod but when selecting a tripod make sure you take the camera's weight in consideration. And if you want to play further, check out the Sony gun/zoom mike that works great with this camera, the optional hotshoe light for casual shooting, the lens filters, the.... Well, you get the idea. Personally, I've played with one of the smaller, lighter consumer Sony camcorders and absolutely loved it but I wanted more beef, better quality recordings, and greater flexibility because of my involvement in independent movies. Is this camera overkill for the average consumer? Certainly! Is it great? You betcha'! Do I regret investing serious bucks in the VX2000? Heck no! I would gladly recommend this camera TO everyone but not FOR everyone. Judge what you really need and really want before purchasing a VX2000 because, for most people, it IS overkill and the purchase of the camera itself is just the first investment. You can easily double the price of the camera by the time you get done with a case, batteries, charger, filters, special mics, windscreen, camera cover, light, etc., etc. Obviously many of the optional accessories you can do without but once you have the camera it will be that much harder to resist getting that really neat camera stabilizer or that LANC zoom/focus controller or....

VideoSecu DVD DVR VCR Wall Mount Bracket for DVD Player DSS Receiver Blu-Ray Media VCR Stereo Cable

i received the first one that was torn to shreds.....not sure what happened there but it looked like someone fed it to a pitbull and then threw it in a box. i contacted amazon and they sent a new one out

FAST! the 2nd one was in excellent condition. we ordered this along with a couple other items to mount my 2 1/2 year old daughter's 32" tv, dvd player and dvds. installation was very easy and unlike other people have said, the wire cover does stay on if you do it right. so if you need a quick,cheap, sturdy fix then this is for you. i also liked that there is no glass because this is being used in a playroom.

this was easy to install and you just place the whatever box DVD etc on top. simple as that. the only downfall is that the plastic paret that hides the wire does not click in and hold very tight, but it does hide the wires.

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This item was purchased for a DVR mounted on a brick wall on our patio. It was easy to install and very sturdy. My husband searched many items both in stores and on-line. This one was the best price. He was skeptical because of the price but was very pleased with the construction and durability of the the item.

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I bought two of these for my DVD player and my DVR. Because I mounted my TV on two studs and I wanted my components centered underneath, I decided I'd try out their wall anchors so I wouldn't have to find a stud. Big mistake. Once I read through their instructions (the pictures did not correspond exactly to the product or mention anything about the anchors), I proceeded to mount the shelves. I made sure the anchors were tight in their holes and completed the project in about 15-20 minutes. The problem came when I put my components on the shelves. As soon as I did, the shelves sagged and pulled the anchors out of the wall, leaving a giant mess behind. Luckily, the shelves came with plastic covers that connect to each other, and I had some of the high-quality, screw-in drywall anchors, which I should have used at the beginning. I was able to shift the whole system down an inch, use the better anchors, and hide the huge holes in my wall. Now, everything looks great, but some day, I will have to fix that mess behind the shelves.

Things to know:

1. If you have a DVR that is deeper than a normal DVD player, your DVR might stick out way past the arms of the shelf.

2. When installing, the plastic covers will stay on if the plate above the shelf is cupped out. That is not mentioned or pictured anywhere in the instructions.

3. If you're going to mount on drywall with no stud, use screw-in drywall anchors with the screws that come with those anchors. Do NOT use the anchors that come with the shelves.

Once the shelves are mounted, it looks fine. I wouldn't buy this product again, but it'll work for a while.

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Good construction quality and easy to install, but make sure to place on a stud if putting more than 10lbs of equipment.

It certainly does the job and hides the cables behind the equipment.

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Mount-It! Wall Mounted AV Component Shelving System with 2 Adjustable Tempered Glass Shelves (Black)

• Designed for use with DVD players, HD recorders, cable boxes and other AV equipment
• 2 Included Shelves are constructed out of tempered glass and are height adjustable
• Saves space and neatly organizes your AV Equipment
• Easy and Secure Installation
• Weight Capacity: 17 lbs per shelf

Just what my daughter wanted. This product was as advertised. Shipment was quick.and receipt was timely. She was completely satisfied.

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It holds everything that I needed it to. Looks very nice and was very easy to put together. Came with good instructions.

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It would be nice if there was more space between the shelves & the mount/wall. I used this for my PS3 & Dish Network box, and it will be ok. Not much room to get the HDMI or Coaxial cables attached and have space between the wall. For the price it is worth it.

Philips LFH0888/00 Digital Voice Tracer 0882 with Docking Station/Leather Case

I've many digital recorders. This is my favorite, 4 gigabytes of memory, supports multiple formats, superb interface, good speaker, rechargeable batteries included. I use it for remote recording and transmission of text to speech files. I wrote a business plan by dictating the draft while driving in the car!

I returned this item because you can barely hear it play back. It had great features but was a horrid little item.

Too bad it could live it up to its great features.

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TrekStor i.Beat Organix 512 MB MP3 Player (Silver)

• Sleek silver digital audio player with 512 MB flash memory and digital voice recorder
• Supports MP3, WMA, OGG, ASF, and WAV audio formats; line-in recording to MP3
• Compatible with secure WMA-DRM9 music services; SRS WOW virtual surround sound
• 11 preset equalizer settings; 2-color OLED screen; digital clock with alarm and stopwatch
• Lithium-polymer battery; measures 3.1 x 1.3 x 0.7 inches (W x H x D); 1-year warranty

PROs: Versatile gadget. Lots of recording time.

CONs: Cannot delete files unless you have a computer with loaded software to manipulate files on mp3 player. Also due to multiple functions of buttons, it is easy to make mistakes.

Eclipse Mach Speed 4 GB MP3/Video Player with 1.8-Inch Touchscreen, Voice Recorder and FM Radio - (

• 1.8 inch color touch screen display for showing menu and lyrics
• Plays music and video, has an FM radio and also functions as a digital voice recorder
• 4GB of internal memory, built-in rechargeable battery
• Drag and drop file transfer
• What's included in the package: Media player, USB cable, and earbuds

To begin, let me explain that this was purchased as a gift for my 4-year-old.

I bought it with the intention of it being a miniature way for her to watch her videos (and thus leave my cell phone alone!) I have not tested out the ease of the mp3 portion, only the video. That's where it gets tricky.

You can only use AVI files of a certain size. While it is easy enough to add content to the player (drag and drop works just fine), making sure that your file is usable is the trick. There are several pieces of software that are on the internal drive of this player. After a failure on the first, I decided to try to download any number of free-ware (partly due to the fact that the 'converter' was only a trial edition!) Even though I was following the specifications included in the documentation, I would drag and drop only to get a 'format error' show up on the screen.

I was ready to leave a really negative review.

Finally I went through the tools on the player one more time and discovered one I'd missed. It's called mp4 tool, and it really DOES work with a practically one-click setup. Dragged and dropped and FINALLY got a workable file.

So do be prepared for some trial and error as you figure this out.

The interface on the screen seems pretty simple. I was a little disappointed to discover that even though the front screen is picture-driven, once you are in the video's folder the files are textual ... this is not a problem for me, but remember that this is a present for a four-year-old who does not know how to read yet. She picks her movies based on picture and graphics clues. I see a lot of "Mommy can you put (insert movie name here) on for me?" in my future.

I did not test this with the included earphones, because I didn't want to disentangle them before gifting this. I used a pair of dollar-store earbuds and the sound was okay. But please bear in mind I am not a huge audiophile who has to have the perfect surround sound and am satisfied with mediocre!

I will probably update this after my daughter has had it for a while to comment on durability.

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Its no iPod, but for the cost it does everything i need. i take this to the gym, so i just set the thing to random and listen. the headphones are decent, not great, but decent, and pretty loud. i have no issues hearing anything over the sound of the machines.

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This product is a really cheap buy, I used to own a few cheap iPod nano knock off MP4 players back when the iPod video came out and wrote a top 100 guide for them on ebay back in the day. I bought this expecting to get a similar product but boy was I wrong.

Lets start off with the design. It is shaped like an iPod shuffle but boasts a touchscreen with an AM radio and video playback. The constuction is bottom grade. It makes those Mp4 players I used to own look like like top of the line products. It uses low quality plastics and it looks like it was designed in a hurry. The metal portion of the player is low grade aluminum but is sturdy enough for normal use. The touchscreen is less then usable. The touch layer sits too high off of the display and you have to do finger smashing to get it to register. The display has poor color reproduction and is such a low resolution that watching videos on this is little more then a novelty trick.

Software

The interface is severely limited. The arrows do not do anything, it's a cheap trick to make you think it does more then it really does. It says it supports folder browsing to organize your music but only makes a list of all the songs on the device with no folder browsing. The radio does ok but it does not pick up radio stations very well. for a 1.8 inch screen it should have enough space to browse your music with no problem, but the resolution is so low that you cannot even read half of the song names.

Audio The audio amplifier is so low powered that even at maxed out volume the audio can barely comfortably be heard in a slightly noisy place like a gym. The signal is dirty as well. As mentioned the Audio player does not even allow folder browsing. It just loads a single list of all the songs onboard.

This product is little more then a scam using outright lies to get you to fork over some cash. If you want an overglorified iPod shuffle then you should be happy with this product, otherwise if you are looking for a feature rich device at a steal of a price then you can do way way better for about 10$ more. I would give it a little higher reguards if the touchscreen wasnt an absolute pain to use. The only person I would consider giving this to would be a young child looking for a toy to play music and videos, that is if they can muster up the strength to press the touchscreen.

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It is only built for music. That's not so good for me because I listen to a lot of audio books. So the music and the books all get lumped together with no way to seperate them. No playlists. It is not even your standard touch screen but it works well. All in all though it is a good player.

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This Mp3 player is a pure knockout. It works and exceeded my expectations. It has so many functions for a really good price. Everything about it is perfect, from design to functionality.

Coby MP-C556 512MB Sports MP3 Player with FM Radio

• High contrast LCD display with backlight
• Integrated FM radio and recorder
• Integrated microphone for digital voice recording
• Plays MP3 and WMA digital music files/Plays digital music from most online stores and subscription services
• ID3 and LRC support for song and synchronized lyric information display

I bought this for my 10-year-old at Christmas and haven't been disappointed. It is stylish, holds a ton of songs and is easy to use. Highly recommend. Good value for money!

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It is as long as the width of your palm and at it's thickest part the width of your big toe. The MP3 player comes with headphones that do not deliver a constant signal if the plug-in to the mp3 player is moving due to working out/running. The FM Tuner is OK... only picks up the most powerful signals on autoscan. Takes 1 triple A battery that was dead with arrival; but for the price, it does the job.

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I am new to the gym and got tired of reading the TV screens. I purchased two of these and even though they are bigger than I would have preferred, don't come with the chain pictured and you must use the ear buds provided they work just fine. Clear reception and decent battery usage.

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Just got this little player and find it's so easy to use. I got it, took it out of the wrapper and load on the music; I then put in a penlite battery and started using right away without reading the manual. I had no itch at all. It's as if I knew how to use it all along. The sound on the MP3 is very clear. Thanks very much as I find it very boring to read manuals these days.

This is a great little player. Holds tons of songs. Easy enough for my 4 year old to use basic functions. I was able to sync with windows meadia player and load songs from CDs without even reading the manual. Very easy to use and my son loves it.

PNY 8 GB Flash Memory Card P-SDHC8G10-AZ (Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging)

This is one of the first Class 10 SD cards that is actually affordable and doesn't cost much more than Class 6 cards. At regular price it can be a bit expensive, but catch a sale and it's a great deal.

Performance wise the card is great. I have tried it on 3 separate devices, all of which take HD video. The first was a Panasonic Lumix point and shoot camera. Set to take 720p 30fps video, the recording start and stop times were noticeably faster than my previous Class 6 card. When I performed a Delete all content, this card cleared a bit quicker than before. I also used the card in a Canon T1i and there was no lag for shooting both 720p and full HD video. With a previous Class 6 card it worked well, but occasionally there would be a hiccup in recording, especially full HD. The last was a HD pocket camcorder and again, no issues as recording was smooth and starting and stopping was instant.

Download performance is also improved with this card. I would say data downloaded to my computer at the very least 25% faster than with a Class 6 card, which may not seem drastic, but when moving several GBs of data it makes a difference. I also uploaded data from my computer to the card and the same difference was evident.

Overall it is a great memory card. Is it worth updating from a Class 6 to Class 10? If you are using a point and shoot camera and do not take HD video, then probably not. If you are using a quality DSLR camera and/or shoot HD video frequently, the upgrade to Class 10 would be worth it. If you are getting a new camera and will be shooting HD, go for the Class 10. If you will not be shooting HD, a Class 6 will be ok but if you can get the Class 10 for close to the same price, go for the 10.

Overall I can highly recommend this Class 10 PNY SD card.

I bought this card just to give PNY a try since Amazon lowered the price again. I also have the popular Transcend 16GB class 10 so I decided to do a quick test. I did read and write test with a full DVD ripped movie which is about 5.58GB and has combination of large and small files.

Test setup:

Ripped full DVD 5.58GB

Intel workstation, dual quadcore Cpus

External USB card reader.

Stop watch

64bit Windows 7 ultimate

My result

Writing test:

PNY............Transcend

14.2MB/s......17MB/s (Speed reported by windows)

7:00 mins.....5:45 mins (stopwatch)

Reading test:

PNY............Transcend

19MB/s........19.2MB/s (Speed reported by windows)

5:19 mins.....5:18:55 mins (stopwatch)

So far the Transcend beat the PNY in writing test.

I put both cards in my Canon 60D, both started slowing down after 20 frames, frame size is M-Raw. I also noticed the time to clear out the buffer is about the same for both.

Overall, both cards are fast enough for my Canon HD camcorder and Canon 60D video capture.

I bought this card for my Canon HD camcorder so the slow writing is not a problem to me and there is no reason to return for the Transcend.

I would recommend the Transcend if the PNY is more expensive.

Correction:

I had the read test result swapped. In reading, the PNY is bit faster but it's negligible.

Reading test:

PNY............Transcend

19.2MB/s.......19MB/s (Speed reported by windows)

5:18:55 mins...5:19 mins (stopwatch)

Update 5/27/2011

Some reviewers complained that the card doesn't work in FXP and MXP mode. I found that both my PNY and Transcend class 10 don't work with my Canon HF200 which released long time ago, works with class 6. I don't think it's the cards fault but Canon cam doesn't support. If you have newer camcorder then I don't think it's a problem. Otherwise, get Transcend class 6 instead and problem solved.

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I purchased this product based on the review here. It is not the speed demon I thought it should be as a "class 10." Overall, I think this card is just as good as my Transcend 8GB class 6. I tested these 2 cards on my Canon T1i using continuous shooting in both RAW+jpeg, and Large Jpeg. I then timed how long it took these shots to write to the card before it "recovered" and readied for the next shots. These are the underwhelming results:

The 8GB size is recommended by Canon for my camera. Good enough for 254 of the largest RAW+Jpeg photos. Larger capacity should work fine also.

Transcend 8gb, Class 6:

RAW+Jpeg: 5-6 shots, 10-15 seconds recovery respectively

Large Jpeg: 33 shots, 10-11 seconds recovery

PNY 8gb, Class 10:

RAW+Jpeg: 5-6 shots, 14-20 seconds recovery respectively

Large Jpeg: 38-49 shots, 15-17 seconds recovery respectively

I am not in need of continuous shooting. After 4000 photos on my T1i, this test was only the 2nd time I used continuous shooting. I took 1 star away because of the disappointing speed tests. If I had a "to do over" I would purchase more of the cheaper 8gb class 6 cards or a cheap 16gb class 6. For a Class 10 card that functions as a Class 6 card, this PNY product is OVERPRICED.

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I bought 2 of these cards for my Nikon D7000. In less than a week one of them has stopped working. I am not able to recover my precious photos..

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Tried the formatted card in my Canon T1i/500d. It took about 14 seconds to refill the buffer of 9 RAW photos (each was 16.3 MB). This leads to about 11MB/sec write speed. I've read that my camera's internal circuitry is capable of at least 17 MB/sec. I also tried writing a file to it using my SD reader on my computer and I get 11.5 maximum sustained write speed. For the price and 16GB capacity the card is good but PNY advertised this sucker as 20MB/sec sequential write speed. Read speed I get 16 MB/sec.

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DIRECTV DECA Broadband Adapter - 1 x RJ-45 Network - External

This device works well but you need a splitter and some regular cable/satellite cables to get it to work!

1. You need a satellite/cable splitter. The one I used was a 2 way satellite digital cable splitter 5mhz-2.3Ghz. I got this at Lowe's. (Not the cheap little RCA splitter). The cost was $7.

2. Attach the cable from the satellite dish into the "IN" on the splitter.

3. Attach a cable from one "out" to either the white Deca network adapter (if you have an older Directv Dvr) or into the sat in connection on the newer DVRs.

4. Attach a cable from the other "out" to the black Deca broadband adapter.(the one on this page)

5.Attach an ethernet cable to the ethernet port on the Deca broadband adapter.

6. Attach the other end of the ethernet cable to a port on your internet router.

7. Attach the power cord to the deca broadband adapter.

This is all I had to do. I did not need to reset anything or mess with the Whole home settings. I now have video on demand and also the DIrectTV ipad app works for me now!

First, let me state this is not supported by DirecTV the way I am using it.

Here is what I needed. I have my broadband connection in my office to ensure best connection for work. I have an old XBOX 360 by my TV in the living room. The old XBOX cannot connect via WIFI without a costly adapter. I also have a bluray player that only has an ethernet port on the same TV. I wanted a way to get the internet that my DirecTV receiver was using for my XBOX and my Bluray player.

I bought this and attached it to a splitter before my DirecTV box and plugged a cheap Ethernet hub and BOOM! I have internet at my XBox and my Bluray player.

If you have a reasonable level of technical knowledge and are OK doing something somewhat unsupported by DirecTV then this is a great alternative to a WIFI bridge or a bunch of WIFI adapters. There is no configuration, you just plug it in and it works!

I did some research and DECA has more than enough bandwidth to handle the whole home DVR service and the XBox live bandwidth. I have not had any problems and actually just order another for my other TV. I have a PS3 that gets terrible WIFI reception at my other TV.

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It should be noted that Directv is now advertising their Connected Home, or whatever, that connects your HD receiver to the internet directly from a wireless signal. I am not sure how much this costs. The adapter here can connect your HD DVR to a wired internet router or modem. My receiver is not near my router or modem and cabling wasn't an option so I also purchased a ZyXEL WAP3205 Wireless N access point, Ethernet client, and universal repeater for $39.99 online on Amazon as well. If you need to get your wireless signal to the receiver this is a good choice although set up would be impossible if it weren't for some helpful instructions in the review section.

Back to the DECA adapter. Once I had the wireless signal near my receiver, I unplugged all my receivers. From the green splitter, the powered line (the one with the 'line' going from in to out, needs to go into your DECA adapter. The other line can go to your receiver. If you have multiple receivers hooked up the same line (normally not the way it should be installed but that is how my house is wired, then you can use a regular splitter after that. Doesn't seem to affect picture quality). Plug in the Ethernet cable from the router/modem, then the power cord and you should get all three green lights lit within 30 seconds. One may blink until you power on the receivers. Which is your next step.

You would think you are done right? Wrong. Directv does not offer accurate instruction on how to setup your receiver to accept the internet connection.

From the Menu, choose Parental, FAV, Setup then Setup then Network Setup (or Connections).

Next you may have a Connect Now option. If so choose this. Otherwise choose Advanced Setup, then Connect Now.

This will take a little time but should say you are now connected or something to that effect.

You should able able to connect now right? Wrong.

After a frustrating 45 minutes on the phone, resetting my box twice, I was told that sometimes it can take 24 hours for the new connection to work, although for me I could download Cinema Now shows right away but the Apps weren't working. Literally 2 minutes after hanging up, everything worked though. I don't think resetting the box did anything but if it isn't working after 24 hours (or before) you can try that by either following the prompts on the customer service line or pushing the little red button behind the right panel (HD24)

Sooo. Ready to watch Youtube videos from the App screen right? Wrong.

The apps are straight forward. Small selection. Hopefully people start making more. Anyone can make and submit an app through Directv's Developer site. Youtube however, is accessed through The Smart Search (something like that) in the main menu. Not as easy as you would have thought it would be but you can still watch that video of the flying cat pooping rainbows all day.

Note, you will not be able to access a brows-able internet this way.

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Model received was DCA2PR0-01 not the one stated. Although the functional equivalent it is a much bulkier and convoluted solution. I wanted the more compact model DECA BB1MR0-01. Be aware that you might not get the model stated. As usual, Amazons return policy and customer service is the best and the item is going back.

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I DON'T HAVE DIRECT TV but instead used this as an ethernet coax bridge, a MOCA adapter (Multimedia Over Coax Alliance). Though technically this is slightly different than a MOCA adapter because of the frequency range is specific to Direct TV video signal, the result is still the same. I was able to pump internet to my TV without having to drop ethernet lines and just use my existing coax.

I cut my cable a few months back and only using streaming video services. My wifi was all right, but I figured I would take advantage of those built in coax cables. When I researched different MOCA adapters they all seemed to not be manufactured any more or just cost more than I was willing to pay. Most of the ones I researched were at least $75 for just 1, and of course you need at least 2. I isolated my existing coax lines to make the bridge, so they were not connected to the outside coax. The line was independent of the other coax lines in my house, no splitters in between. In essence, the installed coax lines act just link a long ethernet cable with these adapters. So if you repurpose these adapters for as an ethernet bridge, you'll probably have trace some coax lines to see where they start and end, maybe have to get some coax barrels as well.

There are no throughputs on the device so you won't be able to run a TV signal AND an internet signal at the same time. The more expensive MOCA adapters have this if you are looking for that feature. I've only used 2 of these to create the bridge, so I'm not sure how 3 or more would be set up, or if it's possible to do that.

If you're a cable cutter like me, this particular type of setup might be good to optimize your existing coax cable

Mygica USB QAM HDTV Tuner, Clear QAM and ATSC with Bonus Antenna

I am using this on Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit.

You may hit one website where this is documented and where you can download the latest drivers, meritline...Here are some helpful hints and what I was able to get to work and what you may not want to try because it doesn't work. The only reason I am giving this one less star is because I had to compile information from everywhere and the remote is useless i.e. they should just send this product without remote, it doesn't work, DOA, bad design, well known problem. Of course don't expect tech support, well written manuals. If I am rating this as a novice user, I would give it 3 stars.

Connected the tuner to my usb port, driver failed to install. As suggested, do not use the enclosed DVD for anything except the Remote IR driver. If you can't find it, wait till you install the new Win7 driver from meritline. Do not use the driver from the DVD else it will default to antenna, no cable, and therefore no QAM.

Note, if you mess up, you will have to go into settings (tasks) in media center to further configure TV. Regardless, Media center will complain that signal or something could not determine (don't remember the exact message). Ignore it and choose configure manually; cable or antenna manually (in my case, comcast so I chose Cable). Wait a long time, could be 2-20 minutes while it scans the channels. If you find no channels, you may have a driver issue or bad cable.

You can install the drivers manually or extract the zipped file from meritline and run setup (32 or 64 bit depending on your os). In my case, the driver release date is 11/17/2009, version 11.20220.176.201. In device manager you should see HDTV Stick Digital Capture under Sould controllers. If any of this doesn't match your conviguration, deinstall all drivers associated with this and start over (maybe use the system restore so create a restore point as an option before you continue for the first time).

Just use the right driver and the rest is a breeze; expect 10-20 min the first time you scan. I am in Chicago and getting about 50 channels. Unfortunately, Comcast here just went encrypted so for all practical purposes, I am only getting OTA channels but they come in Dolby and clear with no stutter. As I said before the IR and remote are useless so time to get another remote or use the wireless mouse. I needed cheap to test, my next one will be a cablecard setup so to me this was money well spent.

I also tried to use the NTSC driver to see if I could setup ch. 3 or 4 and use the comcast box (which works on my ntsc tv and I get all channels because it's a digital set top box). For some reason, I couldn't get it to work. I have always wondered so now I know it's a no go unless I write the driver myself, ain't happening.

I also played with the ATSC driver for OTA digital channels. The included antenna is a joke. I tried the outdoor antenna and the picture was decent and I could get all local ota channels.

Summary, only good for the tuner, the rest is frivolous. For $25, why not. I'll wait for Ceton to come down a bit.

When I first received the HDTV MyGica USB Tuner I first tried it in my DELL laptop which was a Core 2 Duo laptop running Windows XP, which I first purchased in February 2008! I experienced CONSTANT choppiness in the picture and it was NEVER consistently showing a clear moving-picture of the TV station (though the audio was always in-sync).

I was getting ready to contact the company to request an RMA and a refund but something told me to wait on that.

Three to four months later, I purchased a NEW laptop which is a Core I-7 laptop (with Windows 7 installed) which has a blazing fast processor! Guess what? I installed it the same way I did in my old DELL laptop AND THERE WAS NO CHOPPINESS in the picture whatsoever!

LESSON LEARNED: Make SURE you have a strong enough processor to use ANY USB tuner on your computer/laptop, for this product will not work if you are using an old computer or old laptop. Well it will, but it will be unbearable to watch.

On my Core I-7 laptop, the picture, is clear, and beautiful with in-sync video and audio with NO ISSUES!

The only thing you have to do is adjust the mini-antenna (just moving it on your desk a centimeter or two until you get more "green bars" of reception). But that's something you have to do with ALL OTA stations any way!

So to conclude, please don't think this product is defective if you get choppiness in your TV signal. It's probably that your computer processor can't support it!!!

I'm very glad I kept it and didn't return it. It works like a charm on my new laptop.

BTW, the small mini-antenna that came with it IS VERY POWERFUL. It picked up 9 stations; I couldn't believe that teeny-tiny antenna was JUST as good as a larger antenna I temporarily hooked up to it. As a matter of fact, the mini-antenna did a better job than my Radioshack antenna!

Have fun.

Buy Mygica USB QAM HDTV Tuner, Clear QAM and ATSC with Bonus Antenna Now

For $24, it is a nice piece of equipment. Maybe the digital signal make design much easier, this small dongle is quite solid built comparing to an analog USB I used a few years back.

My systems are WinXP, WinVista, Win7 Pro 32b, all work perfectly. The enclosed player is actually better than Media Center on Vista or Win7! MC is kind of slow when playing full screen on my 3 years old laptops, but the enclosed player runs on full screen without issue.

As for the sensitivity, it is better than a 3 years old PCI card! Again, digital signal processing makes the day.

I gave it 4 stars because the recording pull down my system performance and gives only mpg file. The MC can record in HD but it asks for much more video card power hence not practical on older machines.

Overall, I am watching only ATSC, but I assume clear QAM should work just as good. Very satisfied.

Final words, as for all HDTV these days, get a decent signal is more important than working with analog before. I am using rabbit ear with good amps about 10dB. No amp, no signal.

Read Best Reviews of Mygica USB QAM HDTV Tuner, Clear QAM and ATSC with Bonus Antenna Here

This was the cheapest USB tuner that I could find with an antenna. It not only has an antenna, it has a USB extension cable so that if you knock the tuner stick, you aren't putting stress on your USB port. All USB dongles should come with an extension cable, but most don't.

Pay close attention to what the other reviewers said about drivers. I also had to go to the Meritline site. (Windows 7)

When I first got this tuner, I couldn't get it to work. I downloaded the driver & still could not get the computer to recognize the tuner. For some reason, I decided to SWITCH USB PORTS, and wouldn't you know it, the stick worked perfectly. This tuner stick only works on one of my 3 USB ports. I don't know whether the other ports don't give it enough power, or what. I don't have problems with other devices on the other ports.

Note this tuner doesn't work with a Mac running OS-X, period. It doesn't claim to run with a Mac, so no demerits there. Some tuners will work with a Mac even if they don't make any claims.

A couple final notes: I've never used the remote. Apparently the remote does not use the protocol that Windows Media Center expects. The included software comes on a mini-sized CD-Rom. Since most users will use this with a laptop, the software disc is pretty useless.

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when this product came in the mail i was very exited that i would be able to record tv. i turned on my win xp pc and ran the software to get it going. all the drivers installed and seemed to be fine but when the arcsoft recording softare came up, it asked for a cd key, which i could not find anywhere enclosed in the package or on the dongle. basically i punched in every number i saw enclosed in the package and none worked. after that i realized i could get 3rd party software and it wouldent be a problem. i plugged in the device and it installed as a digital audio device. when i went to device manager it appeard as a speaker even though it says also supports video. ignoring all of that i went to download.com and found some free trial for digital recording software and when the time came to configure the video device it was listed AS an audio device therefore no video at all. this is the worst product ive ever purchased from amazon and im so ashamed that companies can package somthing with no website with drivers,no telephone numbers, no manual and no product key for the packaged software. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME.

Sling Media Slingbox 500

• Extend your living room TV experience in sparkling 1080p high definition.
• Connects to your DVR, cable set-top box or satellite receiver via HDMI and component or composite sources.
• New simple setup on your TV screen
• Built-in Wi-Fi
• Sleek, innovative design

Before I begin this review, let me first get this caveat out of the way: I am new to the Slingbox placeshifting paradigm. Consequently, I neither have any investment nor experience with older Slingbox products. And, I can't share in the angst that seems to arise when comparing this product to earlier functionality that might no longer be available with the 500.

This review is aimed at others like me, who are new to this style of product, and are considering whether this will meet their needs.

Some Background:

##########

The following three ideas have become commonplace in modern TV viewing.

#/ Time-shifting :where you watch video from a given source, at a more convenient time, as with Tivo and other DVRs.

#/ Place-shifting :where you watch video in a geographically different location than its source, e.g., viewing video on a mobile device in an airport lounge sourced from a set top box in another state. This is what is solved by the Slingbox family. A Slingbox unit is installed at the source, and the source's video is accessed over the Internet using a client a browser, a mobile device such as an iPad, or some streaming devices.

#/ Streaming devices :While placeand timeshifting normally involves the viewing of normal TV broadcasts, streaming devices (like the Roku XD) let you view video on the Internet (Youtube, Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc.) The WDTV Live Hub does double duty as a streaming device as well as a Place-shifting client for the Slingbox.

A final note is on HDCP (High Bandwidth Digital Content Protection), which is an encryption technology intended to prevent the copying of digital signals.

The Slingbox 500 cannot handle HDCP. As a result, even though it can be connected to a source that outputs HDMI, that signal cannot be transmitted to its client devices. At most, it passes through the HDMI digital signal to your main TV avoiding any degradation of the primary signal.

So how does the Slingbox handle protected source video? It needs a Component video connection which means that it only can truly receive and broadcast an analog signal. It also means that rather than a single HDMI connection, you now have 5 cables to connect it to the source (3 for video and 2 for audio.)

That said, my eyes could not tell a difference in video quality, especially as my mobile devices are much smaller than my TV. (This is also why the Slingbox 350 might be sufficient for most users see comparison below.)

So, how did the Slingbox 500 HD work for me?

Setup:

####

This was simple, though there are quite a few steps involved.

1. Connect the output from my set top box (a Comcast Motorola device) to the Slingbox 500 with both component and HDMI video

2. Connect the output from the Slingbox to my receiver.

3. Connect the IR remote transmitter to the Slingbox and place the other end near the Motorola set top box.

4. Connect the Slingbox to my network (it uses the less polluted 5GHz band!)

5. Create an account on Slingbox's web site (did it on the Slingbox itself)

6. Use a notebook and a browser to log in on the Slingbox site and view TV

7. Get the latest firmware for the WDTV Live Hub (v3.08.14) which adds support for the Slingbox 500

Performance:

#########

Viewing TV on my laptop was amazing I had a solid signal and the HD video was great. I could even bring up a facsimile of my remote, and use it to control my set top box, including using DVR and OnDemand functions. Even the program guide was a joy to use allowing me to search for programs and filter on HD content.

The WDTV Live Hub performance was less thrilling. It was slow, with button clicks taking up to 30 seconds to register, was choppy, and in the end just froze up on me, forcing me to retreat to the Home screen.

So far, I have not tried SlingPlayer on my iPad, nor the Boxee Box (discontinued last month).

Conclusion:

#######

Overall, while I was thrilled with the freedom offered by the 5GHz 802.11n connection on my laptop, I was less than enamored by the connection on my WDTV Live Hub. Hence the loss of a star.

Do note that the Slingbox 350 provides much of the same functionality at a better price. The key sacrifices with the 350 are:

no wireless connectivity

no HDMI input

no on-screen setup

no sharing of personal media

no unique (conversation-starting) form factor

I personally think the wireless connection is very handy, but it is debatable whether the other differences are worth the extra premium. For instance, the HDMI input on the 500 is not truly material, given the issues with HDCP.

Happy Place-Shifting,

~Damodar

Buy Sling Media Slingbox 500 Now

I'm a long time slingbox user. I currently keep a pro-hd in Japan, and watch in US on either my slingcatcher or the web slingplayer. I'm really excited about a new product from slingmedia, but I can see the placeshifting community will have some time to wait until some of the bugs are worked out. Here's what I've noticed so far:

1. Utility of HDMI feature: This is probably the #1 concern. All the documentation cautions you to use component as a backup because HDCP content will not be allowed on the box. I don't completely fault slingbox for this implementation. I pretty much expected it. It's not a technical challenge as much as it is a legal one. I suspect this is the reason an HDMI product from ANY company has taken so long. That being said, I tested it with most of the channels I get thru my "Extended Digital Cable" package thru Comcast. I received all channels so far(about 70 channels) directly from the HDMI of the Motorola cable set-top box. I can't comment on premium channels because I don't have them. There do seem to be some handshaking issues when I'll get a blank screen to start, fiddle with some inputs, and it will work. I'm not entirely sure about what the specific process is that gets it working, but once it works, it is nice. If I figure it out, I will post it. Component has not had any issues at all (again, as expected). On both HDMI and component, I must say that the picture quality is almost indistinguishable. Another unfortunate drawback to inputs is the lack of a separate digital coaxial audio input that used to exist on the Pro-HD, so if the HDMI doesn't work, you also lose the digital sound.

Continuing on the HDMI. There are no products that I'm aware of that remove the HDCP and go from HDMI to HDMI. (You can go HDMI to component or to DVI) with some dongles but HDMI to HDMI is basically non-existant. Correct me if you know otherwise. Other theories I have that remain to be tested, if a the source signal is split between the slingbox 500 and a HDCP-compliant device, it is possible that the one HDCP-compliant device will provide the handshaking that allows the signal to be passed to both signal splits. Again, I'm new to this, so feel free to jump in and set me straight.

EDIT(11/25/2012): The people at HDFury have told me that a HDFury4(aka 3DFury) with Dr HDMI will yield a HDCP free DVI stream (no audio). Therefore one could conceive the following setup: split original HDMI 1 to 2. Send one stream to the HDFury4/Dr HDMI to get video, send the other HDMI stream to an HDMI to Optical audio converter(sold on amazon), then combine the DVI and Optical audio streams (another converter sold on amazon). While this setup would work, the legality is questionable at best. Furthermore, the cost of the setup is likely beyond what most people are willing to pay($650 by my estimates).

EDIT(5/3/2013): A couple of remarks on quality:

When I first hooked up the 500, I had an extraordinarily difficult time distinguishing any picture difference between the 1080i stream that my Pro-HD was sending and the one from the 500. I recently became convinced that there has been a slight improvement in the picture quality with regards to refresh rates. The difference is subtle, but probably best appreciated when watching scrolling stock tickers and sports that have alot of camera panning. The movement seems a little smoother. The fact that it's really taken this long to appreciate that speaks to the really marginal improvement in quality (which was already excellent to begin with). I am considering adding back a star (to 3) for this as picture quality is of prime concern (especially in the age of ubiquitous HDTVs).

2. SlingPlayer for Connected Devices & SlingCatcher: Want to watch your slingbox on a real TV or home theater? Surprisingly this segment has very few supported platforms including the SlingCatcher(now discontinued), BoxeeBox(recently discontinued), Western Digital TV HD Media Player, Logitech revue(discontinued) and Sony NSZ-GS7. Of these platforms the SlingCatcher is considered to be the best and most reliable. However, the new 350/500 does not work with SlingCatcher(confirmed by SlingMedia) and possibly not with the other slingplayer platforms listed above(unconfirmed, as there have been reports of it working for some and not for others). This could be because slingbox no longer uses port 5001 for internet traffic, but uses 5201 instead(not changeable, see network bullet below). In the SlingCatcher, my Slingbox500 appears in the directory of available devices, but it requests a password to access it. Since there is no manual setup with the Slingbox500(see above) there is no place to assign a password. Therefore you cannot gain access.

A slingbox technician told me there are no plans to support SlingCatcher. This immediately places a serious cap the utility of the Slingbox500 for me and many others I'm sure. In fact before I knew this, I was ready to give up to 4 stars. With the slingbox500, SlingMedia essentially turns its back on the slingcatcher user base which is arguably their most loyal customer base.

EDIT(1/12/2013): As announced at CES 2013, The Netgear line of media players (NeoTV series) will be adding SlingPlayers, including the soon to be released NeoTV Prime which is GoogleTV based (and therefore will run the same software as Logitech Revue and Sony NSZ-GS7). I have amazon reviews for most of the slingplayer enabled devices. While the list of compatible players is increasing, none have functioned as seamlessly as the original SlingCatcher. Additionally, there are two glaring omissions from this segment: Roku and AppleTV which probably hold the number 1 and 2 spots of marketshare of this segment.

EDIT(4/8/2013): I reviewed the NeoTV Prime and left a review on Amazon. It basically is the same as the Sony NSZ-GS7 in terms of software interface, however I found the remote to be not as good yielding 3 stars. I think the Sony is the best of the lot right now. Please see my other review for more details.

EDIT(5/3/2013): I have recently decided to forgo my loyalties to the venerable SlingCatcher (at some point we have to cut our loses, right?). It still remains as the best "off-the-shelf" solution for watching your slingbox on an HDTV screen. The qualifier of "off-the-shelf" is important as the emergence of home-built HTPCs has started to gain traction and become more mainstream. I built my first HTPC which uses the Web SlingPlayer as my streaming engine, in large part because it is the most supported solution by SlingMedia. I'm very happy with the results, but it has not been a cheap solution ($700) compared with other media players that generally do not exceed $200. I suspect HTPCs will continue to gain popularity as computing power becomes cheaper, smaller, more power efficient, and easier to use.

3. IR Remote Setup: The previous online setup is abandoned and replaced by a handheld IR remote. Why was this done? Perhaps so people without computers could set it up? I'm not sure. That said, the setup process is relatively painless(not that the previous online method was bad): choose a wireless network, put in the access code, then just follow instructions. It takes a little while to punch in addresses with the remote. I'm fine with having remote, but it's a huge mistake to drop the online setup. Here's the problem: The whole point of the slingbox is to watch tv while AWAY from home, so limiting the setup functionality to a handheld controller makes remote administration virtually impossible. With computer based setup, you could login to your home network with a free package like LogMeIn to perform administration setup tasks & resets on the Slingbox. Let's face it, you're going to be away from home when you discover something broken. The remote controller isn't going to help you at all when you're thousands of miles away. You'll be stuck until you get someone at home to rerun the setup or reset the box. What happens if the dog gets the remote, or it breaks? Furthermore, I found that my Slingcatcher remote uses different codes too(I checked), so there's no backup. I hope this gets added back, because it's a major oversight. My understanding is that the 350 has a web-based setup(someone please confirm), which would be better.

EDIT: As of 10/19/2012, there is a working web-based setup

4. Network settings: you can use either hard-wire ethernet or wireless. The setup for both was easy to do, but lacks transparency in what it's doing. For most people this is probably OK, but for people who want more control of their home networks, this can be a problem. What really disappointed me about the setup is that I can no longer manually configure the IP address and the ports used. It appropriately picked up IP addresses from my DHCP server, but didn't let me assign one manually. I can think of a work around by reserving an IP address for the MAC address on my router, but that shouldn't be the way to do this. Without configuration ability it seems that the port will be locked on 5201. That could be a problem for people who have it blocked for whatever reason. I really think Slingmedia needs to make this configurable like before.

5. There is a bug with detecting valid email addresses of slingbox accounts. I tried logging into my long-held slingbox account thru the new IR remote setup interface. For some reason, it kept saying that my email address was invalid. I think it has something to do with a syntax checking routine which has some poor rules programmed. The acct it was refusing was in the format xxx@xxx.xxxxxxxx.edu. I'm not sure what the issue was(maybe .edu is bad?) but it accepted my yahoo acct. Slingbox confirmed to me that it is a bug and they are working on a new update that will fix it.

6. Controlling your devices: It seems all the previous device remotes(PL binaries) that have been amassed over the years are still available(many thanks to the user community who spearheaded this). I use a somewhat obscure tuner/dvr in japan that was added sometime last year, and it's still available. Unfortunately the capability to "teach" new controls is missing in action. The website that allowed this with the Pro-HD was taken down several months ago. There has been no word if the site will be revived (although we know there is a physical IR eye on the box that could potentially be used to "learn codes"). In the meantime there doesn't seem to be anyway to manually upload NEW PL binaries(quite a handy function with the previous boxes). This leaves a big question as to how NEW device codes will be uploaded to the new box. Don't count on Slingbox staying on top of this in a timely manner, as they have been notoriously slow for adding new devices. Without the generous user community creating these on request from other users online, many of the existing codes would not be available. It is unfortunate that we as users can no longer tap into this self-supporting resource.

UPDATE: Fixed! As of 12/4/2012, there is was a new webplayer that allowed the uploading of custom remotes.

7. Basically inconsequential observations: the new power supply is 12V. (The previous plug was 5V). I know there were alot of problems with the previous supplies, so I don't know if this is better, but it's unfortunate that they aren't compatible with the older models. (Previously the slingbox pro-hd, solo & slingcatcher used the same plug). Also, it's been pointed out that there is no longer a coaxial tuner on-board but as far as I understood this would prove to be useless now that all tuners must be digital. I don't miss it at all, I don't need another tuner.

8. A couple of nice things: it looks like the built-in IR blaster(built into the unit itself) is pretty strong. My cable set-top box didn't need any specific pointing or angling to see the signal. Although there is an external blaster included in the box, you probably won't need it. This makes for an easier and cleaner installation. Also, the box doesn't seem to get very hot as compared w/ previous models.

Overall, I think this product can only be considered a minor enhancement to the Pro-HD in terms of Wifi-access and possibly HDMI (which seems dependent on your channels and source hardware). In terms of accessibility it is a major stepback due to lack of support for SlingCatcher, SlingPlayer for PC, and now one less supported media player(recently discontinued boxeebox). I think the network and email problems I pointed out could easily be fixed with a firmware update. Overall, I am very disappointed in this product. Until these items are addressed, I find it difficult to give more than 2 stars for now. I would like to give more, but not in it's current state. I will update my review as the situation changes. In the meantime, my trusty Pro-HD will continue to be my main streaming device.

UPDATE(5/3/2013): I gave one extra star to my original assessment due to the slight (and I stress slight) improvement in picture quality (which notably has taken me 6 months to discover). However, given the importance of picture quality to the viewing experience, I am weighting this factor very heavily. My assessment of the other features of the Slingbox 500 still stand. I would therefore likely recommend the 350 over the 500, unless you absolutely need wifi.

Read Best Reviews of Sling Media Slingbox 500 Here

The slingbox works great IF you understand its limitations (and your cable box / provider). The biggest thing to point out is this 500 box is really designed for a single source due to the audio issues, you can work around it but its true design is for a single hdmi tv and single cable box. The best functionality is had when hdmi is passed strait through (to TV) and component is used for video and audio connections. This allows me to receive all content from directv including my hdcp protected premiums. My old box (Pro-HD) required me to either have the TV on for handshake or unplug the cable when away, neither elegant solutions for my premiums. People that argue the 1080p is irrelevant have a point, 99% of content is 1080i anyways, but what the 500 does add over the Pro-HD is better resolution on the compressed feed. I believe it is double of the HD actually, but I forget the exact specs. I've used both and I was much happier with the picture quality of the 500 over the Pro-HD, especially with color brightness. I had to install the legacy windows player on my pc just to turn the brightness up on my Pro-HD, a nice feature you do lose by going to the 500. On the network side wifi is added but you will need the router in the same room on the 5ghz band to really get the bandwidth you need for full HD. Now this is location based, but the 2.4ghz band just has too much competition for spectrum to get the required network bandwidth in my area. I decided to just keep the Ethernet I had already ran for my Pro-HD. Also keep in mind you will want a good upload (2mbps+, ideally 5+ imo) on your ISP where the box is located and a decent download speed of around 5mbps+, ideally 10+ where you plan to use it. Mobile devices are a little less picky and will work on 3g in Standard Quality mode, full HD will require 4g. HD mode is also a bandwidth hog, light usage over the last month (maybe 5 hours a week) was about 13 Gigabytes of data, so limited 4g will require wifi to avoid overages. Even with an unlimited data plan no service provider is going to be happy with that much consumption, heavy use could easily be 50gb/month. There are also a few quirks of this box, the IR is very strong, any boxes in the area on the same codes will also be effected, keep this in mind for a rack of boxes. You also cannot manually configure the port anymore, but this does support upnp. Best way to set a constant ip on your internal network is through a mac id dhcp reservation, most routers support this, esp third party firmwares.

To sum it all up, it works great IF you know what your getting into. If you just buy it and figure it out as you go you will probably not be happy, so be sure to spend the time learning the product to understand what it is and isn't capable of. If you have a single box, single hdmi tv you will be more then happy as long as your internet and cpu can keep up with the demands. Smart phones look great also, 720x1280 on a 4.7" screen is amazing, no missing the ball or puck here. Single complaint, my phone does have a tendency to freeze on the stream...but it does seem to happen mostly on my work wifi which is admittedly a poor router and not the most stable connection which plays into it. Disconnect/Reconnect always seems to correct it, but this does take about 20 seconds, +10 more to go back into HD mode, but it's only once per hour on average. PC seems to be rock solid though. Sling has really changed the way I watch TV.

Want Sling Media Slingbox 500 Discount?

I want to start off by saying I've been a happy Slingbox customer since 2007. When I saw the Slingbox 500 announced I thought it would be a great upgrade. My old faithful slingbox pro was connected via Composite to a Comcast DVR and via Component to a TiVo Series 3. Looking at the new 500, I saw it had Component and HDMI, so my plan was to keep the TiVo on Component and connect in the Comcast DVR over HDMI. The big reason for buying was the website's technical spec "Remote Viewing on 4 Screens". I had shared my SB-Pro login with my girlfriend and we've been fighting over access ever since!

Well, here's what I found:

> "Remote Viewing on 4 Screens" is very misleading. It doesn't mean you can actually watch from 4 screen's at once! It means they allow for 4 types of remote screens : TV's, Computers, Tablets, and Smartphones. The new TiVo Stream can support simultaneous device access. Sling blew it on this one big time, missing the mark by a long shot as most every household has multiple devices that could benefit from simultaneous streaming.

> As other's have said, the HDMI is totally worthless. The inability to decode HDCP renders the port virtually unusable.

> Even though there are Composite and Component Connections, there is only one set of Audio. Since the HDMI port is unusable, this really means you can only connect it to one input source. My 5+ year old Slingbox-Pro allowed me to connect to 3 inputs (Tuner, Component, Composite). This is a huge step back for a "top of the line" box.

> Slingbox has dropped the Windows Slingplayer. I've been using SlingPlayer2.0 for years, it works great, even on Windows8. To my surprise, Sling intentionally obsoleted this player, calling it "Legacy". To make it worse, they don't allow "Legacy" clients to connect to the new series boxes. You must use a browser. I've happily paid $29 for an iPhone Client. I even paid another $29 for an iPad client, at this point I'd almost be willing to pay another $29 to get back my old functionality, but that's not even a choice. They make you watch in a browser, which is terrible. I continuously find that when I close another tab I end up closing the Slingbox Player Window. Bring back the Windows Slingplayer!

> Geek Alert, the following sentence is fairly technical. I run a business-class firewall at home. It doesn't support UPnP or other "home" features. I have historically statically assigned the IP to my SB-Pro and then opened the required inbound NAT/Port. They no longer allow for static IP assignments of the device. I had to change the way I handled DHCP so that I could build reservations to fix the IP for the new NAT. I understand my "gateway" is not typical, but having to upgrade to a real DHCP server that supports reservations to get thru a non UPnP firewall was a crazy requirement.

With all that letdown, I'm up in the air as to if I will return it at this point. Once everything was up, I will say the image quality is a nice upgrade from my older Slingbox. Being able to use the iPad client I paid for a year ago is nice too (I actually got bit a year ago when my G/F bought the iPad app not realizing we had a PRO and not a PRO-HD, they have what appears to be an arbitrary limitation to not allow backwards compatibility).

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Well I finally decided to order this product even after finding myself unsure and somewhat intimidated by other reviews here, so I just received my slingbox about 20 minutes ago and I'm seriously watching tv on my iPad and iPhone already and i never even opened the instruction booklet that came with it. The quality is just as good as it is on my HD tv at home. I simply connected the hdmi cable that was provided to my tv and the hdmi from my cable box to the slingbox. I then simply followed the onscreen setup and things went as smooth as butter. The onscreen guide automatically updated the software, auto searched for my wireless Internet connection and advised me to hook up both the component and hdmi cables for best results. I did as instructed and the setup asked my cable box manufacturer and model which I entered, it then did a remote control test and connected to my new sling account. After the box self rebooted I opened the sling player app on my iPad and clicked connect and there it was, same thing that was on the tv it was connected to and in full crystal clear HD quality which after reading reviews I was unsure what to expect bc I am real big on the picture quality. I pressed the onscreen button for the remote and it brought up a virtual remote control that was identical to my remote control and all of the functions worked just as if I was sitting in front of the tv. As I said all time till watching tv was about 20 minutes if that long. Everything is working excellent. Definitely would recommend and planning on purchasing another unit for my other cable box so I have twice the options. I never noticed in the specs that this unit was capable of recording directly to your iPad or phone but it does have this option and it works great also. I hope this review helps some people bc when I was looking for a product to do this task I researched several and the reviews were very mixed so I don't normally write reviews but wanted anyone that was in my situation to know my experience has been amazingly simple and easy.