Nokia 700 Unlocked GSM Phone with Touchscreen, 5 MP Camera, Symbian Belle OS, and NFC--U.S. Warrant

After month or so with the phone, I am really happy with it according to my criteria in this order:

1. I can use it as I please any operator, any country, no contract. This is great for money, time and environment.

2. it is not too expensive for unlocked, no contract phone with so much functionality

3. it is phone by form factor easily pocket-able and light not a huge screen brick/pad

4. it is phone by battery life lasts days, not hours like other smart phones. There are days when I do not use it at all. So what would be the point of charging it for the sake of it

5. it can be charged over standard USB cable great for travel/work/anywhere no need to worry about where to get charger or your "special" cable.

6. can sync with Outlook properly and without the need for network or on-line service. USB cable is ideal simple and safe. Does calendar, notes, tasks. Perfectly replaces aging but excellent Palm pilots. There is no way many people can share calendar and tasks ... with anybody, even if they wanted to

7. works just fine without persistent internet connection and you can disable data usage in one place to control your bill. In this respect it is better than most smartphones you disable network services and it stops communicating no exceptions

8. does maps and navigation off-line This is absolutely brilliant about Nokia just download the maps you need and it works and does not need any data. This is low point of Android .. in my opinion

9. No nonsense, logical User interface (UI) well done to Nokia for fixing the bloat. It was pretty frustrating on older phones. This UI honestly works better than anything I've seen, including ICS

10. talks to any bluetooth headset/headphones and GPS receiver no other phone I know of can just do this ... especially external GPS which saves power and you can place the receiver better than phone.

11. can talk to wifi network when needed, and reliably ... connects to any network. Even those bizarre hotel setups where other not full computer devices fail.

12. runs Skype reliably when needed while traveling

Anything else is just great bonus: uSD card, PDF, fantastic screen, document reader, calculator, convertor for imperial measures, .... app shop is basic, but has more stuff than I'd put on a phone

Camera is not that great ... got way better quality + auto-focus on relatively old 3Mp cheaper feature phone. Not a major problem ... it is phone, not camera

I can recommend it to anybody looking for nice and light phone ... not a monster ... Must say this Symbian rocks, I'm pleasantly surprised.

You really have to try this phone in person to appreciate how compact and well built it is. If you have large pockets, want a big screen, and don't mind the extra weight, there are many other options out there. But if you want a compact phone, with decent email, messaging, calendar, map, etc. there really is no competition right now.

Symbian Belle is a vast improvement over previous versions of Symbian, and on my phone it's been solid, and the battery life is good.

Buy Nokia 700 Unlocked GSM Phone with Touchscreen, 5 MP Camera, Symbian Belle OS, and NFC--U.S. Warrant Now

I'm from Europe and a sucker for Nokia products, so this review will be biased.

This phone is very stylish. It's clearly a Nokia design bar form factor but with a touchscreen, very very thin, no huge screen or plastic construction. The chassis feels very sturdy. I have been put off with the "bigger is better" trend in current smartphones this phone is perfect for me.

The display is gorgeous. Comparable to my roommate's Galaxy S2, but not as bright. Battery life is okay, but the phone will die within a day and a half of heavy 3G/gaming.

Speaker is loud and clear, louder than my iPod Touch. The "lip" design worried me but is much more subtle in person. Phone came with a 4GB microSD card plugged in for some reason, which was a nice bonus; the support of 32GB microSD cards was a big selling point for me.

Symbian Belle is great. It's definitely not Android, but I like it more than iOS it's polished and very customizable. There is a severe lack of Apps in the Ovi store, so if you're the kind of person that likes 5 different Fart apps, this phone isn't for you. Nokia tries to integrate some things with their Ovi "suite" but the implementation seems half-assed. Probably because they've given up on Symbian and switched to Windows Phone, which I think is a huge mistake after using this phone. Symbian has just started coming into it's own. Browser is much improved over previous Symbian versions, but from what I can tell, still slow compared to other mobile browsers.

In the end, it's a nice mid-range smartphone with great functionality; it's not superduper quadcore with a discrete GPU, but it's got a solid smartphone feature set and great design. The price is maybe a bit high, but the phone is quite new to the market.

I found these specs and review helpful when deciding to buy:

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It's a great phone, very easy and intuitive to use thanks to the operating system that brings Nokia, it is also faster because it has 512MB of RAM, has all the necessary applications for what you need in a cell, is a good buy if looking for a decent phone that is commensurate to the mobile world of today

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I bought my phone the first week of June. I needed an unlocked, contract-free phone and I wanted it to have manufacturer warranty, valid in the US. I discarded the "latest and greatest", either for their price, size or lack of US warranty, and started looking for a so called mid-range smartphone. My search was over when I found this one at Amazon for $204.

I admit price was its top selling point. But I can tell you today without hesitation that I end up with much more than I bargained for because this is indeed a very good phone. In my humble opinion, it has excellent build quality, excellent call quality, comprehensive and easy to use software (not as fancy as an iphone but easy to use nevertheless), a full year Nokia warranty valid in the US, and the right price, size and weight. And it is a fast phone with an impressive display.

Please keep in mind my opinion is determined by my specific needs, so when I say "comprehensive" is because I'm thinking about contacts, calendar, instant messaging, Skype, e-mail, MS office documents, web browsing, maps, 3G, Wi-Fi, voice commands and so on and so forth. I don't pay too much attention to other stuff like camera, video, games, music and the whole "social" thing (with the exception of Twitter, which I use as an alternative source of news), and even at this point I can say it is very easy to take and share pictures and video, and their quality is good, especially the video. And when I say "the right size and weight" is even more subjective: ladies wouldn't mind much about some extra inches and grams in their already overloaded purses, but when we, old-school (definitively no purse) gentlemen have to slip our phones in our pockets, then they do matter.

Of course, it is not perfect. Some might find the screen to be too little for their sight or their hands. Other might find its battery life to be short.

I have found myself wishing for bigger fonts in some applications, such as WhatsApp (it is my current understanding that only its iphone version allows selecting a bigger font). As for writing, is not really hard. The phone comes with a very good prediction and correction software that practically fixes every mistake and works in English, Spanish and French. Even so, it took me a couple of weeks to get used to the landscape full QWERTY keyboard. In portrait mode I discarded the QWERTY keyboard (way too little) and I'm using the traditional alphanumeric keypad, which allows me to write single handed, once again thanks to software. The phone automatically switches from alphanumeric keypad to landscape full keyboard depending on the way you hold it.

As for battery life, so far I've always got home with some charge left in it, even in my busiest days, with lots of calls, messages and e-mails coming and going, but no YouTube, Facebook or Angry Birds. And for those of you who like to have their phone "up to date", a word of advice regarding the Belle Feature Pack 1 (FP1) software update: remember the old southern saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Some people are complaining about reduced battery life and some other problems after upgrading their phone to Belle FP1. I think the phone is fast enough as it is and there is no need to sacrifice battery life to get a faster phone, which seems to be the most appealing feature of this pack.

So, briefly stated this is the right phone, for me. I hope this information help you decide if it is also right for you.

LG DP781 8-Inch Portable DVD Player

• 8-Inch Portable DVD Player with High Resolution LCD Screen with Swivel and Flip
• Stylish Touch Panel Controls for simple use
• Multi Format Disc Playback DVD Video/DVD+R/DVD+RW/Audio CD/CD-R/CD-RW and USB Media Host for Digital Music and Photo Library
• Long Battery Life with Slim Profile and up to 5 Hours Playback Supplied with Automotive Power Outlet Charger
• A/V Inputs and Outputs and High Fidelity Audio from Stereo Speakers or Twin Earphone Jacks

This dvd player has a very nice picture!

I bought this after returning an audiovox unit I was very unhappy with.

The second time around I was very cautious and read dozens of reviews before purchasing this machine. although it costs a bit more ($15 or so), it has double the resolution of other players in the price range!

If you are looking for a cheap unit for your toddler, you might opt to save the few extra $ (and in that case, I'd opt for the coby over audiovox...much more solid), but if you care about picture quality, isn't it worth a little more?

The build quality is very good, it has a swivel screen like many high end units, and my teen is most impressed with the touch pad (controls).

The only con I can think of is that it does not have some of the bells and whistles of some of the new units (e.g., an ipod doc).

If versatility is more important, consider some other units (like the phillips), but if your primary use is watching movies, or viewing video, this is hard to beat.

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This DVD player has the best LDC unit on a portable device and quality components to go with it. Black levels are very good and the de-interlace is incredibly good. There are no signs of any kind of jagged edges period. Color balance is also excellent. USB port is a nice to have. Has one AV input. At this price level it is an incredible bargain specially when compared to other units I've paid as much as $450.00. Grab one, you will be very happy.

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Ok, this is my second review of this player; I wrote one WEEKS ago that seems to have just disappeared. A month ago, I bought this unit to take to work with me, a reprieve from office maddness. I do not leave home without it! It is a great unit, but let's start with the biggest complaint some have about it, volume. What I have found is that the volume quality is dependent upon the movie you are watching. I watched Ocean's 12 and found the volume to be too low, except for when music was playing. I would actually have to turn it down then. I watched Mr. and Mrs. Smith and had no problem whatsoever with the volume. Also, I have watched several other DVDs including one I watched in a barber shop where there were 2 televisions going; I had no problem with the volume. One feature that attracted me to this unit is the USB port. My MP3 player plugs directly into it; all the folders appear on the screen and there is NO problem with the volume at all. Of course there is not big Bose sound, but the volume is good. I think the issue with the volume may just be some glitch in whatever technology LG used on this product because music comes through loud and clear. At the store, its volume certainly did not win any prizes matched against other bigger name brands, but theirs did not match LG's picture quality. One can always (at a very low cost) use accessories to improve the sound if need be; you can't do that for the picture quality. The picture quality is absolutely unmatched by anything else out there. It is simply smooth and gorgeous. I hear that LG provides the display technology for the monitors and tvs of the larger companies. I spent a lot of time researching and made TWO trips to Bestbuy in ONE night, multiple DVDs in hand to test, before I later decided to go with this one. The touch sensor is great if it is important to you. It gets a lot of fingerprints on it though because of the high gloss finish of the console. Yet it is this finish that makes the unit look a lot more classy in person than it does in the pictures. On another site there was a complaint about the awkwardness of the battery, once again, I do not have a problem with it at all. I find that it balances the unit very well. I have not had to hold it on my lap, however. Also, with a couple of searches, I was able to find a very easy process of making the unit region free. With the included accessories all I needed was a carrying case, which I got for free when I bought the unit. If you are looking for a very good PDVDP with the highest resolution available, and you do not want to spend a lot of money, I say this is the one for you! If you are worried about the sound quality, go into a store with your own movies and music and test it out for yourself.

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While I certainly concur with other reviews that this unit has a great picture, I cannot get over the fact that no reviews I read mentioned the poor volume. You cannot hear this player. When I was in the room alone, with the volume at its highest point, I could hear it fine. With other people in the room -occasional chatter, movement, etc -I couldn't hear it, could not turn it up to the point that I could hear what was being said. The worst moment came when we went on a trip and none of our kids could hear a thing, not a thing, in any of the headphones we own or even without headphones. They could hear nothing in the car on the highway and absolute silence while on the plane. We tried different DVDs, then I called LG, as I thought we received a unit with a problem. Surprisingly I was told that this particular unit is not very loud. That's it. I was stunned and of course we returned it. What good is a great picture if you cannot hear it? If you are planning to use this unit anywhere that may have background noise, beware, you will have a very hard time hearing it.

We used this LG DP781 8-Inch Portable DVD Player on the plane and even with a good headset, could barely hear the sound. How frustrating is it to have to press the head set tightly against your ears and still not catch the dialogue. Visuals are fine but without the audio that it should deliver, there's no point in having the machine.

Magnavox MPD835 8.5-Inch Multi-Region Portable DVD Player with Built-In Battery (Black)

• Multi-region playback
• Playback with DVD/CD/CD-R/CD-RW
• 2.5 hour built-in battery capacity
• 16:9 LCD widescreen
• Digital coaxial output and AV input/output

I had one of this product and it works great!Picture is clear and battery last more than 2 hours. I love it!

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This product would not work. Took over an hour just for the screen to turn on. Then I watched half a movie and the screen died. Obviously bad connection from the player to the screen. It was a piece of crap.

RCA EZ207 Small Wonder Digital Camcorder (White)

I just got this baby and am actually kind of pleased with it. The video quality isn't wonderful, but for a "webcam level" DVR I'm not surprised. (I AM surprised that my $200 12MP digital camera takes such lousy video.)

I've noticed some complaints about this camera, and I can assure most of the complainers that the issue is your MEDIA, not the CAMERA. If you are not using a high speed microSD card you will probably have blur in still photos. I noticed this when working at Circuit City in the photo department a couple of years ago. The only cards we were allowed to use in the expensive cameras were cheap Sandisks, and the result was that we sold few of them because the $1300.00 cameras would take blurry photos. Once I convinced the manager to let me replace the Sandisks with a better quality card we started selling more of the high end cameras.

Further, if your camera insists that you configure the card constantly, or your computer doesn't immediately recognize the camera AND CARD when you plug it in, then your CARD is defective. Try it in another piece of electronics.

As for this camera, it works surprisingly well and is idiot simple. There are five buttons on the back: On/Off, Play/Pause, Delete, Web Photo, and a big red Record. Around the record button are the controls for moving forward and back in the video list and FF/REW while playing, and for zooming in and out (digital only, unfortunately) while recording.

There are two video modes: web quality (448X336) and high quality (640x480). Both of them give a decent picture.

Web photo gives a surprisingly clear 1280x960 photo. There is no flash.

It is actually slightly smaller than the still camera I use most often, a Samsung s860.

There is a tripod mounting hole in the base of the camera.

There are a few things I don't care for:

Sound levels are low. There is also no external microphone jack.

Although this review is for the white version, I actually have the black (not available here on Amazon, hence this review). It has a high-gloss finish that holds fingerprints better than CSI equipment.

AVI files produced are enormous.

The packaging said it worked with HCSD cards OR microSD. It only works with microSD, which annoys me because those cards are about three times as expensive as they actually should be. (This is the main reason I give only four stars.) I happen to think EVERYTHING should have an SD card slot (Including the Kindle, Amazon, are you listening?)

Digital zoom only (What'd you expect for $60?)

That last line is actually rather important. This is a $60 camera that gets better quality than the webcam you probably bought for $45, but also allows you to take it with you and functions as a low end digital camera as well as a pocket sized camcorder. It's not for the camera snob or the photography expert. It's for the folks who want to shoot a few quick minutes of film with a limited depth of field. (I plan to use it for ghost hunting and shooting footage of football drills for YouTube.) As long as you understand its role it will perform well for you.

We bought this for our 6 year old as a birthday present, he loves making movies with our regular digital camera. He got the camera 2 weeks ago and has already made 20 videos with it. Once we got the batteries in and showed him how to use it he hasn't had any problems, nice size and simple controls. He likes the flip around screen so he can see himself while recording, now we just have to keep him out of his 2 year old brothers face with it.

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I gave this to my wife for her birthday and she really loves it. It is easy to use and takes decent quality video. It was really handy when we went on vacation. I am considering buying one for my daughter for christmas.

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When you record video on this camera you'd better talk loud because otherwise the volume is terribly low. If you want to use it for you tube you'll have to find a way to edit the audio channel to raise the volume somehow. As is, the camera is almost useless.

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i have numerous digital camera's and camcorders....... the rca camera is by far the worst of my cameras..

it takes terrible video and the still pic's are all out of focus.......... but you get what you pay for...

if you have any thoughts of purchase'n this camera please think twice...... its just not worth it....

rca of china should be ashamed for selling this product......

Creative Labs Zen Sleek Photo Digital Media Player (White/Silver)

• 20GB storage
• 1.7-inch OLED screen with 262,144 colors
• FM tuner
• Voice recorder
• Syncs with Outlook for transfers

I got my Zen Sleek Photo about a month ago. After continuous use (seriously) I have to say Creative did great by this one. I purchased a refurbished unit.

So far, I have not had more than 1 issue with it. The only issue being that at 192kbps WMA (Napster to go) my battery life ia about half of the rated 19 hours.

But...since I work on a computer and have open USB slots, that's never a real issue.

Pros:

Sound Quality Set your EQ, turn off the bass boost and you'll get great results

20 GB of storage

FM Tuner with recording

Picture viewer (included software automatically resizes pictures for optimal storage)

Hybrid controls (Touch and tactile) this one makes it easy for driving. Set to random all and skip as needed.

Customizable menus only what you want or need

Cost-Current day price for a refurb with 12 month warranty from Creative. I only paid 70 bucks!!

Cons:

No video

No slideshow while playing music

Battery life at 192kbps with EQ on drops quite a bit (Still about 9-10 hours)

No removable, user replaceable battery

Slightly heafty (but I particularly like the feel/weight)

For those small cons, I couldn't be happier.

I use my cell phone for videos and games so video isn't a need.

The music with slideshow has never been a deal killer, but would be nice.

Overall, a great player for a great price.

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I just bought this 3 weeks ago, but for the time I have used it has succesfully fullfilled my expectatives. For the price it's awesome the things that it has, mic, radio, photos and the best of all: 20 Gb for mp3! the ipod nano cost the same as this one, but it's only 4GB, I don't know why creative hasn't gone to the charts of popularity with this great price.

You better buy this one, 'cause the ipod and the new generation of ipods will sell you the music and it's gonna be way to expensive to hear music.

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I got my Sleek Photo a few weeks ago. I've had mp3 players before, but never used them as much as I use this one. I think the key is the interface. It took about a day to get used to, but now I can browse through a few hundred CD's with ease.

The only features I wish it had would be a user replaceable battery and a little less weight.

It has a proprietary connector, but it didn't take more than 5 minutes to find a spare sync/charge cable online.

A great player at a great price.

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I've had this MP3 player for a good while.... Got it new for over $200 dollars and after watching the market for almost two years I realize what a bad deal that was. I suppose it is worth the $129 price. My main problems with it were the following:

1. small screen. The screen boasts a ton of colors, but the screen is small and rather old looking.

2. horrible battery. they say it is a 19 hour battery, but nay. after about six months it's down to ten and after a year and a half... It won't last five hours. no joke.

3. Buggs up.... alot. About every month or two you will need to restart it because it freezes up. It then takes over ten minutes to 're-build library'. whatever that means. You also can't view photos at the same time as playing music... expect the music to stop when you touch the photo button. While on the subject of photos, it pauses waaaay too much when viewing photos. expect to take anywhere between a minute and ten to view ten photos.

And I will add that the screen is a magnet for dust. After having mine for two years it gets increasingly bad... I can barely make out the screen. with any light coming in it's invisible, but in the dark or if you shade it with your hand, it is rather acceptable.

4. Not very pretty. It's smaller than the Zune and iPod but rather clunky, box-like structure.

Overall, please don't get this. It's outdated. I wouldn't suggest an iPod either since it is, from my experience, a gift suited for preteen girls and people who are not into music that much, if you know what I mean.

I am most likely getting the Zune next, after some research it seems the best. Not only is the screen beautiful and large, It isn't nearly as big and clunky as it looks (I've handled one, trust me). It also plays video in a more widescreen format unlike the medium size screen of the iPod. The siliconized rubber on the outer edge is a nice touch.

If you're into heavy (for it's size), buggy (undeniably, and may I add customer support for anything is HORRIBLE), brake-in-a-week-earphones (buy some skullcandy) type of MP3 player this is for you. It was great in the beginning, but the player wears out fast. Kind of sad.

I absolutely love my Zen Sleek Photo. This is by far the best mp3 player that I have ever had. My Zen is 100% better than a IPOD.... I am very happy with my purchase..... I would recommend this MP3 player to everybody.

RCA VR634hf 4-Head Hi-Fi VCR

• AccuSearch 4-head double-azimuth system with HQ video processing
• VCR Plus+ Silver programming with end-time adjustment
• Commercial Advance and Movie Advance
• Master Touch universal remote
• Front and rear audio-video inputs

This is my fifth VCR unit. I've had an old dependable 50 pound Magnavox back before remote control when VCRs were new, a JVC, a Sharp, another Magnavox which I still use, and now this RCA. This RCA unit is not nearly as easy to use as my Magnavox. Here are the biggest drawbacks with this VCR. First, you can forget about commercial advance. After recording, it spends several minutes trying to locate and mark all the commercials. The problem is, it never seems to differentiate any commercials anyway, and so it never skips the commercials during playback. You have to resort to manually fast-forwarding thru the commercial breaks using your remote control, which is a real nuisance considering that is a sales point of this VCR. I remember that it did skip one commercial during part of a commercial break one time, which probably accounts for less than 1/10th of 1 percent accurate commercial recognition! Maybe modern commercials don't make themselves easy to detect by these units. Whatever the problem, that feature needs some major work. Problem number two, there is a large bright green backlit button on the front panel -the power on/off -which stays lit all the time and is annoying if used in a bedroom, which mine is.

Third problem -there is no TV/VCR button on the remote control, which is a problem if you just put in a tape and sat down to watch a movie, and you happen to be in the wrong mode. The unit is supposed to determine which mode it should be in automatically, but most of the time, I would say 75%, for whatever reason it does not determine that you need it to be in the opposite position, and you have to jump up and go push the button on the unit itself. Not too smart. Fourth problem. You know how on the newer smarter VCR units you never have to watch static or listen to white noise? Not so with this unit. When changing tapes, or changing between tape and TV, most of the time you will find yourself subjected to plenty of both. Fifth problem, and this is a real irritation with me: The remote control may look rich and full-featured and colorful with all its dazzling buttons some of which are nicely backlit when you press a button, but the buttons you need to use the most are at the bottom of the remote, not at the top where you need them, and where your fingers usually are when holding a remote control. So it takes two hands to operate. In fact most of the buttons on the top half of the remote are not needed during normal TV and VCR operation. Talk about ergonomically located. I guess that's a 90's idea that just hasn't hit the RCA labs yet. I would think that RCA would want to make a simpler, easier to use and maybe even fun remote control to keep their customers from getting so frustrated. I just don't understand their logic here, or lack thereof.

The one exceptional feature on this unit is the clock, which sets itself by downloading a clock signal from the first television station it encounters that includes a time signal in its broadcast. This means that you won't ever have to set the time again, or watch a blinking 12:00, or worry about the daylight savings time change. Nice, but hardly worth all the other trouble you'll have to put up with. It also has VCR+ which is a plus. That works nicely. Programming to record TV shows without using VCR+ is a cinch also. However I'd sure like to see some big improvements on the above mentioned problems with this product before I would consider buying another RCA product.

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I've had three VCR's before this one.I don't want to mention the other VCR's brand name,but RCA has the best one.It's very simple to program,and when the time change takes place in the spring and fall,it does if for you on its own.I've never had my tape distroyed,and at 119 bucks,you can't get another VCR cheaper with all the extra's this one has.

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I have bought a few of these vcr's from Amazon and my biggest complaint is that they don't last very long because the rubber belt in it stretches and I can't find them (rubber belts) to repair them. I tape a lot and then transfer to dvd, so a good working vcr is a must. It dosen't matter what brand name is on them, they all are the same, but for the price I will continue to buy them until they no longer have them.

Sony HDR-SR10 4MP 40GB High Definition Hard Drive Handycam Camcorder with 15x Optical Image Stabili

I bought this camera from Circuit City on the day I was to fly out on a 2 week vacation. I have a Sony HI8, but I wanted a better quality camera to archive my children's activities.

Overall, the camcorder is light, highly functional, and meets my expectations. However, I will probably return the camera. I'll go through my pros and cons:

Pros:

Lightweight

5.1 sound is great

still pictures are nice, but don't use the zoom. Zoom stills are grainy

touchscreen lcd is nice and intuitive.

Quick power on is a nice feature.

Cons:

The required codec to play the files are tough to comeby. I found that Cyberlink's PowerDVD Deluxe is the only 3rd party application to play these files.

The included software is very basic and proprietary. It doesn't share the codec with media player.

The 40gig harddrive is not sufficient for the HD recordings set at the highest resolution. Why would you get an HD camera and record at low res?

I used my laptop to download. Later, I found trying to play those downloaded files to be a pain.

Focus in low light conditions is poor. I found myself zooming in and out to try and get the auto focus to work properly. Looks like the SR11 has a manual focus knob.

The videos, although much better than SD, are not sharp and realistic like HD TV. The colors are dull and the details are not eyepopping.

Battery life: I bought the 5 hour battery and I got 1:30 life day after day.

No neck strap, but big deal.

The menus were not intuitive. Too many choices and screens.

All in all, for a $1000 investment, I didn't feel I got the best value. I am not looking at a Cannon HG10, but I wonder how the still pictures are?

This camera performs poorly in low light, as a matter of fact, when I used my 6 or 7 year old Sony TRV17 I could not tell a difference between the 2 pictures on my 50" Plazma TV. At least not for interior and low light video. Outside the picture was very bright and there was definetly a big difference between the two.

I returned this one and splurged for the SR11. You get a 60gig HD, 10MP digital stills, and just a huge difference in picture quality indoors and out. And with a 10MP still camera built in, I almost don't even need a digital.

The camera fits nicely in the palm of my hand, all the controls are convienently located.

The menu's can be a little confsing at first, but after a few minutes it becomes pretty easy to navigate around, and if you're not too tech saavy, there's always the "easy" button.

Oh also to save battery life and if you're recording in bright sunlight, the SR11 has a viewfinder which this model doesn't.

I guess I should be leaving this in the SR11 reviews pages, but definetly save a few more months, or just spend the extra money on the SR11, it's well worth the expense.

Buy Sony HDR-SR10 4MP 40GB High Definition Hard Drive Handycam Camcorder with 15x Optical Image Stabili Now

I bought this camera with a little hesitation because of some of the so-so reviews, but was more than happy with the purchase. The videos look amazing. Using the HDMI cable to hook up to LCD TV makes it completly worth the money. Bought this to record my wedding and am fully satisfied. The only con is the AVCHD format is not widely supported yet. My laptop won't play the files without jumping like crazy, but you can still burn the movies directly onto a DVD and play them in Blu-Ray Players like the PS3 and loose no quality. I would not let a new technology hold you back unless you plan on keeping your older computer for an extended period of time. (Then you should prob look into VHS)

Great Camcorder

Read Best Reviews of Sony HDR-SR10 4MP 40GB High Definition Hard Drive Handycam Camcorder with 15x Optical Image Stabili Here

Overall, it is very satisfactory.

Pros: Light weight Easy to learn and operate, Good video picture quality (I like the slow motion video quality), Big storage (40GB is big enough)

Cons: Included battery (FH60) is ok, but FH70 would be better. AVCHD format to MPEG is not perfect. Uploading from computer hard dist to camcorder hard disk is not possible (in order to play on TV, I need to bring my laptop to TV). No view finder (but, it is ok since the SR11 w/t view finder costs lot more than SR10).

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I got it for $750 at Dell actually, which was the best I found without a risk of using potential fraud-sellers I found on google selling it cheaper. I think it is a good entry model into HD filming. It is probably the cheapest of the decent full-HD ones.

I am satisfied with the quality of the video. I believe that the more expensive models might have better video quality supported by better sensors, bigger lenses and better lower compression/quicker memory write times, but I think it is a good toy that will allow me to watch family videos 20 years from now without laughing at the quality of SD camcorders.

I am not very satisfied with the quality of the stills, but hey, I have a compact Canon S3 IS for that, so I would not count it for the rating. My S3 also records videos that are decent, but not perfect that's why I am getting an HD camcorder. Otherwise I'd say the S3 beats SD camcorder.

The 40GB HDD allows for too many hours of videos and can be accessed as USB Mass Memory device, so you can put other stuff there too.

The battery life seems a bit shortish, but you can get a bigger replacement battery for $30 a cheap upgrade.

It also lacks a carrying case, so I recommend getting at least the cheapest sony one. Overall Sony accessories are very pricey, but you can get cheap replacements that work OK.

The AVCHD format does not have a lot support yet, but that will come eventually, since Sony seems to be winning the HD formats war. I believe new Macs should be able to play AVCHD. I also ordered Sony Vegas software for editing (less than $100), that looks OK from the trial version, so you might consider it, unless you want to convert to AVI/WMV before you do the editing in Windows Movie Maker and lose quality through repeated compression. I also considered Pinnacle Studio, but read the reviews with complaints about crashes and decided to get the software from Sony (through Amazon :) ).

There are probably better cameras, but they are more expensive. Sony wants to rip you off with its accessory prices, but that's their right and you can choose replacements. It's not perfect so I guess it is worth 4 stars

Remember to get that carrying case, a tripod and a battery somewhere. A mini hdmi cable might be of use too.

LG BD670 3D Wireless Network Blu-ray Disc Player with Smart TV

• Enjoy 3D Blu-ray Disc movies in Full HD 1080p
• Smart TV enables an easy way to access limitless content, thousands of movies, customizable apps, videos all organized in a simple to use interface
• Integrated Wi-Fi Connectivity allows you take advantage of Smart TV from any available Wi-Fi connection
• Standard DVD Up-Scaling delivers exceptional image quality from standard DVDs with 1080p up scaling via HDMI output. HDMI Cable is NOT included, 1 year parts and 90 days labor
• Dolby Digital Plus lets you experience all of the enveloping surround sound that Blu-ray Disc, high-definition (HD) broadcast, and streamed and downloaded media make possible, Region (DVD: 1, Blu-ray: A)
• Smart TV enables an easy way to access limitless content, thousands of movies, customizable apps, videos and browse the web all organized in a simple to use interface

NOTE: My player is definitely NOT region-free for DVDs. The product description above appears to be wrong.

Chose this model because it had streaming, DLNA, and wireless built-in (you don't need a separate dongle). I have not been disappointed in any of its functions. Wireless connectivity was a breeze setup was straightforward and this model accepts a 32-character WPA2 security key (unlike previous LG TVs and Blu-ray player models which were limited to 18-20 characters, as I discovered when I bought a wireless dongle for our TV!). The wireless connection seems to be much more stable than with the other wireless devices we have. I occasionally have to turn off and on again to get a connection on startup, but this is unsurprising given how flaky our router is ... :-)

Blu-ray playback is really good. Our first Blu-ray disc looked grainy and I was concerned until I read various forum discussions that criticized this movie transfer. Many Blu-ray movies are apparently intentionally grainy because this duplicates the "film" experience that the director intended. You can use the movie mode on your TV to reduce graininess as this lowers the sharpness setting. Our second Blu-ray disc was really smooth and detailed, as were most of the other discs. Playback resolution is excellent, you can see every pore on someone's face and the depth of field is amazing. There were no stutters, freezes or glitches with any of the discs we have played. DVD upscaling is also good I decided it is not worth replacing any DVDs with Blu-ray discs as the upscaled playback in 1080p looks just as good as Blu-ray playback.

Wireless streaming from Netflix was absolutely painless, once I worked out that the "Netflix ESN" that the player provides in the network setup menu is NOT the code that you need to use for Netflix connection setup. You need to select the LG Premium menu icon which accesses premium streaming services, select Netflix and get the connection code from the setup menu there. Enter the code once on the Netflix website ("Activate a Netflix ready device" in your account settings) and Netflix streaming works automatically after that. Hopefully my experience will save other people hours of trying to connect with the wrong code! Netflix streaming is excellent quality, much better than broadcast TV for most shows. The player seems to stream seamlessly from Netflix with almost no stutters or degraded resolution issues, even for HD movies. The only issues I have seen are when my internet connection is congested (Comcast net access is pretty bad on Friday evenings and Saturdays in my area). I am impressed. [UPDATE: Netflix changed the registration procedure, so that you go into Netflix in the Premium menu option, then enter your login details. The player remembers this login, so you only have to enter this once. I am leaving the previous information up, as you may have to still register the device not sure as mine is already registered!]

A recent firmware update (April 2011) added Amazon Video on Demand, which also works great! It is really cool to have these services. The device also offers Vudu, Pandora, etc. but I haven't used those. Firmware updates are easy, although these do take around 5-10 minutes to load via wireless connection you need to keep your nerve and not turn off the player, thinking nothing is happening. Eventually, you get a message saying that the download has loaded and the player turns off and on again. If the download fails (which did happen once), the device is not affected (good design).

[UPDATE: there seem to be two sorts of update firmware updates seem to upgrade the disc playing features; software updates seem to upgrade the Internet access software, for premium services such as Netflix, Hulu+, or Amazon VoD. Don't blame LG for clunky interfaces on these services, as they just use the software supplied by Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon. The YouTube interface is *really* annoying difficult to locate specific videos and it plays the current, teeth-grindingly irritating video-of-the-day all the time you are trying to find what you want. But that is Google's fault, not LG's.]

I was really impressed by how painless it was to set up media streaming from a PC using DLNA. A copy of Nero Home Media Server essentials was supplied on CD I installed this, the player automatically detected my PC and presented me with a list of files I could play from the media folder. This was *so* easy! DLNA file-streaming has worked brilliantly: I only experienced problems with one, huge (10 GB) home movie file that stuttered and stopped. Then I discovered the USB connection on the right-front panel of the player. I had been so taken with all of the streaming solutions that I overlooked the easiest way to play media files, which is from an external hard drive or flash drive! The BD670 played the huge file from an external hard drive with no problems. Since then, the player has played everything I have thrown at it: AVI and MKV, etc. using lots of different codecs. With 3 firmware updates in the month that I have owned it, I have a lot of confidence that it is being updated constantly to play all of the latest disc and file formats. So I am a very happy bunny indeed!

UPDATE: Had this for over a year and I still LOVE it. This is the most fun I have ever had with video services. The quality of Blu-Ray disc and DVD playback is stunning. The streaming video services are alone worth the price of the player. I don't for a minute regret purchasing the BD-670. I uploaded two photos of the Internet entertainment services that you can access from this player. See the customer photos at the top of the item page to see what services are available as of April 2012.

UPDATE2: There is a known bug with the software just occasionally, if you play a (DVD or BluRay) disc and then attempt to stream a video from Netflix, the Netflix player will return an error message "We're sorry, but we cannot play this video just now" (or words to that effect). Talking to LG support, there seems to be a fix for this, but LG have not yet released the software update. You need to unplug the player for 30 seconds, then plug it back in. The player will reboot and this will fix the problem.

Buy LG BD670 3D Wireless Network Blu-ray Disc Player with Smart TV Now

I bought this player a month ago and wanted to wait and get some ample use time with it before I left a review. The LG BD670 is my second standalone blu-ray player, where my first was the LG BD390 (2009 model). (It also really says something when in 2009 I paid $330 for the BD390, yet only 2 years later pay only $154 for the BD670.) I decided to go with LG again because of my experience with past performance and they give all the features I want. As with most blu-ray players like this one firmware updates are a must, so as soon as I got the player connected to my network (wireless) I got it updated to the latest firmware. So far I am pretty impressed with most, but not all aspects of this player. There are 3 main viewing methods I use to watch videos with this player: discs (30%), USB (30%) and streaming/wireless (40%). I'll give detailed reviews of these since they're what I use.

* DISCS: With both the ability to stream AND watch video files via the USB port (as with the 390) I don't watch as many discs as I use to. There are now of course 2 types of video discs, DVD and blu-ray. What some people don't understand is that DVD and blu-ray are 2 completely different formats, each with there own disc format. The only thing that they have in common (besides playing A/V streams) is that they both have the same SIZE disc.

Blu-rays: ** See UPDATES @ the end of my review about this! ** When I first watched a blu-ray on my BD390 paired with my (then new) Vizio 42" 1080p 120Hz HDTV I definitely saw the improvement over DVD with a much sharper, clearer picture with much more detail. In fact it sometimes sucks to have that much detail for some of the older/low budget movies that I have on blu-ray because it allows you to see just how bad some of the special effects were (wires, etc.)! I thought the picture couldn't get any better on my Vizio because I thought that what the BD390 was giving it was as good as what the TV could produce. Well, when I watched some of my blu-rays on the same TV with the BD670...it turned out I was wrong! This player gives noticeable improvement when it comes to playing blu-rays when compared to the BD390. The picture IS actually even sharper/clearer and the colors are more vibrant; not in any grand, vast improvement kind of way, but it is noticeable. I've played about a dozen or so blu-rays on it thus far, but it's been able to play them all without any problems whatsoever...say for one title (so far). "Daybreakers". I know this title plays just fine because the disc would play in the 390. When I put this disc in to play in the 670, it starts to load up the main menu with its movie icon/progress bar, but then stops about 3/4 of the way through. However the sound will continue to play for the trailers with just a small patch of the video on the screen showing beside half of the logo. I "next track" all of the trailers to try and get to the menu (pressing the "disc menu" button only gives me the "circle cross" icon telling me it can't do that), but once I'm past all the trailers and the menu is suppose to load up...nothing. It just sits there and doesn't load up anything. I called LG to make them aware of this problem and the woman I talked to said she would pass along this info to their firmware dept. and look into fixing the problem. (Who knows how long that might take though?!) Hopefully this one title is a rarity, but it makes me wonder out of the over 100 titles on blu-ray I do own and have yet to play on this machine, how many of those might encounter this same kind of problem?

DVD's: ** See UPDATES @ the end of my review about this! ** Surprisingly, this unit DOES have a slight problem when it comes to playing DVD's! You think the one thing they could get right for this player is to play DVD's with no problems whatsoever, but sadly no. The audio/video plays fine, but every chapter change there is a half-second skip in the play (more for the audio than the video). It's barely noticeable, but it IS noticeable. It's not enough to really bother me, but I can understand other people being bothered by it. If it happened more often in the play, then it would probably get on my nerves more. This is a problem that LG is already aware of and says is working to fix in a future firmware update, but still I contacted them via email about this just to add my complaint to the list. Other than that there is no other problems I've experienced. The audio/video quality is great and every single DVD loads up and plays, even some region 0/PAL DVD's I got from Australia.

* USB: This is the main reason I bought and have stuck with the LG model blu-ray players. I have plenty of USB flash drives, not to mention external HD's where I have all my media files backed up on, other things I download from various sources. I just transfer them to a flash drive and plug it into the port and start watching. This player is a bit different from the 390 in that the USB, not the disc source is the main source it defaults to. I can have a disc already loaded in the unit when I turn it on, yet if you have a USB drive plugged in, it will ask if you want to play something from that first instead of loading up the disc. So far, it has played every single video file/format (.mkv, .mpeg, .avi, .mp4, .m4v) I've thrown at it with no problems at all. I LOVE this ability.

* Streaming/Wireless: Not only does this unit have the USB port up front to play video/music/picture files off of external drives, but with the wireless it has the ability to use DLNA to stream media from your computer (which I haven't messed with yet.) This unit has dual-band wireless, meaning it uses both 2.4Ghz and 5.8Ghz bands. This is especially useful for those who have a dual-band router (such as myself), so there is less chance of a dropped connection or decrease in connection speed. Mostly all of the streaming I do with the 670 is from LG's Premium service, i.e. Netflix, Pandora, etc. This is definitely where the 670 has improved over the 390 with a lot more services and better interfaces. The interface menu for Netflix has VASTLY improved from the 390 with more choices to look up movies and easier navigation of the "instant queue". The only other Premium service I've used so far is Pandora which is nice too. I have yet to try out any of the other services, and don't plan to for the foreseeable future. I will note that when I first did the firmware update (no problems) then loaded up the Premium service, it started to do an update for the program, but said it failed and just loaded up Premium as normal. The second time I loaded it up it attempted the update again and was successful. All of the movies I've streamed have played fine with no dropped connections/rebuffering and the quality has been at least DVD or better.

Overall, for the time being, I'm satisfied with this player; but only with the understanding that the problems it has will be fixed in future firmware update(s). As these blu-ray players get more and more complex with all the different features they have, it also means there's more chance for various and unforeseen bugs like the ones this player still suffers from will pop-up, hence the need for the firmware updates. I know a number of people believe that they should be like the old DVD players and just work straight out of the box and I wish they did too. In a perfect world they would, but this is far from a perfect world isn't it? These players are becoming more and more like computers, various hardware and software meant to work together to perform certain tasks without errors or conflicts. However ANYONE with a computer knows that it's not that easy. I modify/upgrade hardware and some programs (software) on my system all the time and sometimes these changes cause conflicts. A change in hardware, even with the latest drivers can cause unforeseen problems with other hardware or software. A new update to a driver can cause the hardware it's suppose to improve to work less efficiently or program update can cause conflicts with other software. Most of the time this doesn't happen or can be easily resolved, but sometimes it does. This is the same for these new players. A firmware update meant to fix one issue can cause another. The companies that manufacture these players can only do so much beta-testing before they have to release them into the real world. That is when we, the consumer whom these devices are intended for, put them through their real world paces that the manufacturer simply can't do. There are so many variations (different DVD's, blu-rays, vidoe files, streaming, etc.) made by different studios and other companies that all use various manufacturing/specification standards that it would be virtually impossible for the manufacturers to try and test them all on these players, when they themselves have their own standards and specifications. Read reviews for any other blu-ray player out there right now and I defy you to find one single player that has no complaints against it. I'm not trying to defend this players shortcomings, I'm just saying I understand (more than some people) why they exist and at the same time am trying to make other people understand why they exist.

With this review I am trying to inform you, the consumer about this player. It is a good player and will be an even better one once these small problems it has are fixed in firmware updates. If you buy this player now, be aware of the aforementioned problems and be patient for the firmware fixes. If you are turned off by these problems I have experienced and/or problems mentioned by other reviewers which I have not experienced; either wait until these problems have been addressed to purchase or simply look into buying a different player. Once firmware for these problems have been released and fixes the player, I will update by review accordingly.

**UPDATE: 6/15/11**

After contacting LG a couple times and browsing the AVS forums, it seems that the DVD skip was introduced in the latest firmware update that was put out in late April. It should be fixed in the next update along with a few other little things. So the fault lies not in the player, but the latest firmware. (Just so people will know.)

**UPDATE: 6/20/11**

A new firmware update was released just after my last update. It didn't come up automatically, I went into the "Setup" section to check (like I do every few days, just in case). I updated to this newest version to see if any problems were fixed. For the DVD "chapter change" 1/2 second skip problem, I can say it's been fixed for the most part. I've only watched 3 or 4 DVD's so far (a couple movies and a TV series episode) and I only experienced the skip intermittently or not at all. For 1 or 2 of the movies the skip happened like once in the beginning and a few times closer towards the end, for the other movie and the TV episode I watched, I didn't experience the skip at all. For that particular blu-ray title problem "Daybreakers", this has been fixed (or maybe it was half my fault from the start)! What I discovered is that the reason "Daybreakers" wouldn't load up in the first place is because I always had a USB drive plugged into the front when I tried to load the movie! I don't know why this interferes with this particular title ONLY (so far) and not any other I've loaded up, but it does! I want to say that before this newest update I HAD already tried having the flash drive unplugged from the front to see if it made a difference, so I'm not sure if this update had anything to do with it or not. If you are having trouble with a particular blu-ray (like "Daybreakers") not loading up AND you have a USB drive plugged in, THAT could be the problem! I updated the rating for my review to 4 stars since LG is starting to release firmware updates that are making improvements and are getting the player to proper working order again.

**UPDATE: 6/25/11**

Yet another update was released on 6/21 which, it appears, COMPLETELY fixes the DVD skip problem. I watched some more DVD's and I haven't experienced it on ANY of them, so I guess that problem has been squared away. Since any of the problems I've experienced have now been fixed I'll stop doing these updates, especially since their making my review even longer than it is already! (Can I get an "Amen"?!)

Read Best Reviews of LG BD670 3D Wireless Network Blu-ray Disc Player with Smart TV Here

The only problem I've had with this unit, is that it loses it's wireless settings 50% of the time after you turn it off and then turn it on a day later.

I'm an engineer. There's nothing wrong with the wireless network in my home.

Even if there was, and say the wireless network went up and down now and then, why why why doesn't this device remember the network and password you've spent time typing in on the on-screen keyboard and automatically reconnect ?

Instead, it prompts me that it isn't connected. I then re-select the Network (which it finds first time), and re-enter the password, and then it always connects sucessfully.

If the Network is there and available, why doesn't the box re-connect on it's own !!!!!

Seriously do the engineers (and worse the QA and management team) over in China who wrote this software think it's OK for a user to have to re-enter their networking credentials everytime they want to watch TV ? Imagine if you had to do this with your PC. At least on a PC you have a keyboard: on this device you have a four-corners remote control and a onscreen keyboard.

--Update ---

Contacted LG tech support. A CSR (whose first language wasn't English) offered this:

" sincerely apologize for the inconveniences, but regretfully, we do not have a firmware for this, since the unit most keep the information at all times, I will suggest you to send us the player and have the technician correct the problem."

So I ordered a replacement from Amazon. It does the exact same thing.

LG 1) fix this stupid bug, 2) hire some decent CSRs.

--Update 2 ---

LG apparently fixed this bug in a subsequent SW release. After taking a download one day, this issue no longer happens. Upgrading my review to 3 stars. (-1 for awful customer service, -0.5 for letting this bug out in the first place, and -0.5 for a slow UI). I want to give it four stars... maybe when I get over the first awful bug.

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Upsides: Pandora works nicely. Some other nice internet radio options.

Netflix interface decent.

The best thing here is the SAMBA, CIFs or Windows file sharing (Whatever you call it) is nice. Works fine with Linux, works fine with MediaTomb upnp server. Couldn't find right transcoding options, but didn't need it... good with mp4's ripped h.264 and does mp3. plays flip video files natively no problem. Pause, rewind, fast forward over streaming (cifs or upnp).

LCD display shows timecode when playing streams from samba or upnp.

Bought device to have single device for netflix and home media serving.

Plays mp3's nicely.

Better than ROKU for me since it does SAMBA and UPNP for home streaming, wasn't clear if Roku did that.

Wi-FI, wired.

Oh, and it plays BD's too, I tested one, but not my primary reason for purchase.

Unit stays cool, is nice and small and does what I need.

Downsides: no screensaver in pandora, fearing burn-in.

Menus kind of laggy.

No progress meter when updating firmware. LCD indicates updating but should have separate downloading and applying progress when installing firmware. Have seen samsung do this better with progress meter.

I'd like to add a special item here. LG you did this correctly --you have a sticker for support on the device. Wow. I love you. I called, human answers. No hold time. Sat, Sun, no problem. I had an issue with firmware 268.E within 3 days there was a new 270-something to correct. 268.E added Amazon VOD for me and the other nifty items. Support was very friendly, apologized and was pleasant to work with. I've never owned home electronics where they actually had a support line with humans. And the humans called you back with updates on your problem!

First LG device I own... mad props for the useful human support!

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I am having two issues with my BD670. First, when streaming Netflix, the device randomly freezes anywhere between five and 25 minutes into a movie. Second, the player randomly loses it's wireless settings. When this happens you need to shut off the player, turn it back on, reload your wireless settings, go back and find the movie you were watching, and fast forward to where it stopped.

I called LG. They had me troubleshoot the device, and download the latest software update (which I had already done). The problem happened again.

I called LG a second time. They had me download and burn the same firmware off their website, onto a DVD, and load it onto the machine via that method. The problem happened again.

I called LG a third time. They told me to call Netflix. After I explained that I was not experiencing the issue on my other LG blu ray player, Sony blu ray player, laptop, or desktop, they agreed to service the unit. They only needed a copy of the invoice, because the warranty is 90 days on labor.

I found the invoice and called LG a fourth time. They asked if I had troubleshooted with a tech over the phone. Yes. They asked if I had downloaded the most recent software. Yes, twice. They asked if I had called Netflix. No, this is not a Netflix issue. They asked if I had my invoice. Yes, I purchased the unit seven weeks ago. THEN it was explained that there is a known issue with the BD670 that is exactly what is happening to my player. They do not have an ETA for the fix, and asked me to please be patient for the next firmware update.

I asked about the warranty which expires (for labor) in six weeks. I was told not to worry, since they have all my notes it will be covered if the unit fails after the next software release. I asked the tech why, if they knew of this issue, was I put through the four phone calls of troubleshooting. He said it was standard procedure.

I am returning this, and buying another brand.

Insignia HD Radio Tabletop Radio Black NS-HDRAD

I've been wanting to try HD radio for a while, and when a friend gave me a gift card for Christmas I plopped it down for this Insignia tabletop HD radio. I'm really pleased. I live in the middle of San Francisco and have never had much luck tuning in analog FM signals. They would fade and drift, hiss and squeal. This radio is the cure for that problem. With the built in telescoping antenna not extended I received 10 stations, 9 of which also had a secondary channel, for a total of 19 channels. When I extended that built in whip antenna I received 4 more stations, which when including the secondary channels came out to 7 more listening choices for a grand total of 26.

The unit doesn't sound bad considering it's size, but one if the first things I did was plug it into a decent 2.1 sound system Altec Lansing VS4221 2.1 Speaker System Music & Gaming System with Remoteand it is quite impressive. The radio seems to be quite bass heavy, which while not noticeable with its own speakers, shows up when plugged into an external amplifier. I just ran the bass way down on the external sound system and it sounds fine now.

I was hoping that HD radio would sound as good as streaming Internet radio, and it does. Here in the middle of the city I get all of the local HD radio stations and receive them flawlessly. I DO NOT receive the station broadcasting from the College of San Mateo (23 miles away) or the San Jose stations (47 miles away).

Also, I did not realize that this was an FM only radio when I bought it. Makes no difference to me, but it might to you.

Only small HD I could find. Sounds OK with built in speakers but great through my Bose. Would be nice to have AM too

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I wanted this radio for work to replace a small AAA powered AM/FM radio. This radio has great signal strength, crisp sound quality and the additional HD stations are a wonderful addition to the normal stations I listen to. The telescoping antenna hasn't been needed to pick up stations clearly.

Highly recommended!

Read Best Reviews of Insignia HD Radio Tabletop Radio Black NS-HDRAD Here

There aren't too many radios that pick up HD stations. Insignia is one of the very few companies that include HD in their tuners. This is the best HD radio I've seen. It's compact, takes four AA's and is very selective and sensitive in receiving signals. You probably have to be thirty miles or so from the station transmitter to receive the HD signal and it's subchannels.

I live about 50 miles from Wilkes Barre,Pa and 70 miles from Harrisburg. Most of the signals come in where I live, but the HD signal does not. This morning I was 35 miles from Wilkes Barre and two HD channels registered. I look forward to bringing this radio with me on the road to see what I can pick up.

This radio also has an RDS feature that displays the call letters and the song that is currently playing on stations that do have that feature. Only other portable that has this is Sangeans PR D5. Now, if that radio had HD capabilities, that would make that model the tops in it's field.

Finally, an easy, convenient way to listen to HD radio. Now, only if there were more of these sub channels and the industry began promoting them.

This radio is FM only and also features an Aux In, which is a bonus.

At $30 plus on Amazon and $40 at Best Buy, this is a very nice receiver.

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Audio quality is excellent, reception far better than the table top boom box it replaced. Love being able to get HD stations as easily as regular stations. I use it every day

Olympus S-711 Microcasette Recorder (Blue)

(2008 HOLIDAY TEAM)For those who don't want to invest in an expensive digital recorder, the Olympus Microcassette recorder is perfect for interviews and taking voice notes. The volume control allows for sensitive sound pick-up, and the dual speeds allow for either longer recording or higher sound quality. Use the voice activation feature for automatic recording. Although the sound quality is hardly perfect, it is adequate for most uses. Because of its small size, it fits easily into a average-size purse or small backpack pocket.

This little unit can be operated with minimal effort practically straight from the plastic pack. It comes with one microcassette and the necessary batteries. Highly recommended for people who don't mind the older technology or for those on a budget.

If you are a student and just need a cheap, good quality recorder for classeslike I didthis is a real gem. Its just a plain old fashioned tape recorderbut compared to digital, the sound of this recording is excellent. For techno-freaks, be aware: It doesn't hook up to your computer to translate from recorder to printed notes via voice recognition software, it isn't the size of a pen (although it IS pretty small and lightweight), and it won't stand up on your desk and tap dance. It'll just make recording your lectures a cheap and easy proposition. As an aside: you will need a little adaptor ($2 on Olympus website)in order to use standard headphones with it (it has a mini-mini plug port, which is not standard) or else you will have to listen to it out loud. At this price, I think its worth grabbing these up while they last and while Olympus hasn't discontinued them yet (assuming that digital will eventually cause them to discontinue all 'tape recording' machines). So, even though I like computer stuff and have lots of gadgets and gizmos myself, I ignored 'image' and was very happy with this inexpensive little purchase! Footnote: I would have given it 5 stars IF it had a tape counter (this model doesn't) and IF it included the adaptor for standard headphone plug OR had a standard size port so you wouldn't need their own brand headset or adaptor.

Buy Olympus S-711 Microcasette Recorder (Blue) Now

The Olympus Microcassette Recorder S711 is the perfect utensil for corporate meetings, fun stuff, and stuff you know you will remember. It slashes a digital recorder, because the simple tapes that you buy may include almost 90 mins. of space. That's 270 mins. with all 3 tapes (if 90 mins. are included) That is even more then some of the digital voice recorders that top $50. This proves a digital voice recorder isn't and wasn't worth my while. At first, when searching I'd looked towards Sony and Olympus for their digital recorders. But that is nothing compared to their microcassette recorders. Sony has been doing well for quite a while, but it is tiny, puny, and not worth it once compared to the Olympus.

Pros

-Large, easy to use buttons. Nothing fancy

-Allows 2 type of speeds

-From a name brand that you trust

-Cheap, but accurate

-3 tapes with 90 mins. can hold more than some digital recorders which top $50

Cons

-Looks aging

-Some buttons are too big and bulky

-Blue, I think not, Maybe Grey or something else

Overall, I rate the Olympus 5 stars. It isn't too big or small, and it is accurate. It allows you to record with microcassette tapes, and has been proven much better than a digital voice recorder. I'm glad that I own it, and I would like you to have it too.

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This is the first time I've purchased a mini recorder and it's definitely not as clear as I expected. However I believe the quality I want can only come from a "walkman size" recorder. The sound is easily heard but there's also a lot of white noise being heard as you turn up the volume on playback.

The major drawback of purchasing this recorder is that in order to use the ac adapter or the headphone adapter you need to use Olympus products. Neither hole for the adapters is the standard size. I only realized this after buying and opening a pair of stereo headphones. I've searched high and low for headphones that fit and finally a salesperson, at a major office supply store said to me "the only reason why the holes would be smaller is if the manufacturer wants you to buy their products" and then he said check a major electronics store...but they told me to check the office supply store. Since I bought this with the intention of listening to my lectures during my morning train commute I am very disappointed. No wonder the package inserts included the pictures and product #'s for all of the optional accessories that go with this recorder.

So if you are willing to listen sans the headphones and with a little white noise then this is a good buy and it's cheaper here than in the stores. A definite plus is the royal blue color. You can definitely pick it out which one belongs to you when your peers recorders all look the same.

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I bought this Olympus recorder at a local electronics store (circuit city) and had to return the first one, since the record/playback head had a problem staying in physical contact with the tape. The playback volume would drop down in volume since the head was not snug against the tape during playback conditions.

The second one worked okay for about six months, then guess what happened? You've got it the same tape contact problem that occurred with the first sample occurred with the second. This time the problem was even worse the recorder failed to record adequately, so that nothing but noise was on the tape. I see that both items were made in China where quality control is much poorer than either Japan or Korea, at least that's my personal experience.

While it worked, it was just "okay", nothing to brag about.

ZMODO 16CH H.264 Standalone DVR CCTV Surveillance System with 8 Bullet Sony CCD Outdoor Cameras & 8

Exactly what i was looking for...very good price durable easy to install outdoor camera sizes are perfect...better connections= better picture quality..recommened BNC compression coax connectors.. more work but its worth it

I had a great experience with this security set... actually I got a few more. The price is very convenient as well.

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I orderd the item, it arrived on time and I am loving it. Looks and feels great. although I am yet to install I would certainly recommend

Read Best Reviews of ZMODO 16CH H.264 Standalone DVR CCTV Surveillance System with 8 Bullet Sony CCD Outdoor Cameras & 8 Here

Nokia 6126 Unlocked Cell Phone with Camera, Media Player, MicroSD Slot--U.S. Version with Warranty

The Nokia 6126 Pros:

texting on keypad is fast

external screen is bright and large

keys are slightly raised for good tactile feel

Excellent Internal Screen resolution and color depth.

Press button to open

Slim enough to shirt pocket

Reliable on call signal

Music player can be used while multi-tasking other phone operations without slowing down software.

When using headphones with a Nokia adapter, audio quality is very good.

Micro SD slot under back cover, where you don't have to remove the battery.

Pairs well with Bluetooth devices

Fast power up and power down times

Nokia 6126 Cons:

poor placement of exterior, volume power camera rocker buttons, not tactile enough to feel, you have to visually find them most of the times.

Needs a side access for micro SD card

no back light timer adjustment

Battery talk time and standby time is not good.

Navigation speed through menu is just O.K. Faster than Motorola, slower than Samsung.

Speaker phone audio quality is not as good as with other phones. (High frequency audio drop off) Speaker volume is just O.K.

Ear piece volume is slightly low, and needs to be centered just in the right spot over ear canal to hear.

Camera photo quality is not good, (video noise)

Using the low light option seems to reduce video noise at the expense of slow shutter speed.

Still image color is not accurate.

Can't categorize music play lists

I received this phone from my brother (he used to work for Nokia in Texas) because my other phone broke (nokia 6102i) and my contract with Cingular was for another year (yeah, it sucks).

Background: I was not eligible for the upgrade yet, so that meant I had to purchase a phone at retail price (without the contract) which would have run up upwards of $300 and more. So I got this phone (unlocked) as a gift, and the switch-over was relatively easy and trouble-free. I copied my address book from the 6102i onto the SIM card, and when I moved the SIM card to the 6126, the address book was there (taa-daa!). What I was not able to move were the photos I snapped with the old phone. Those I had to send via email, which I saved onto a microSD card and then was able to move to the 6126 (it has a microSD slot, which read the 1Gb card easily).

Features: I have always liked Nokia. This phone is no exception (except one which I will discuss later). It is a clam (ie. flip) phone and is almost as slim as (but slightly lighter than) my Motorola RAZR. I like the menu layout of the Nokia. The camera is up to 1.3 Megapixel resolution (settings of 1,024x1,280, 960x1,290, 600x800, 480x640, 240x320, and 120x160). The photos are decent in daylight, but not too great in poorly-lit areas (but that goes for every camera phone I've ever encountered).

I like the black and silver coloring. No external antenna (sweet). The button on the side to open it is extra (not necessary). The internal display is nice and large, and colorful. I like the navigation keypad. The textured covering on the rear flap is different (I like it, and is about 50-50 with my friends).

There were plenty of hands-free features. There's a speakerphone, which is loud enough to be used outside, Bluetooth for connecting to a headset or for sending files, as well as voice dialing and commands. There is POP3 and IMAP4 e-mail support, audio messaging for sending voicemails directly to another cell phone, and USB cable support (I haven't used this yet).

There is a large 1,000-contact phone book has room in each entry for five phone numbers, e-mail and Web addresses, a job title and a company name, work and home street addresses, a birth date, etc. The SIM card can hold an additional 250 names. Other extras include standard stuff: vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging, calculator, voice recorder, a calendar with reminders, notepad, stopwatch, and an alarm clock.

Hands-free features were plentiful, as well. There's full Bluetooth for connecting to a headset or for sending files, plus voice dialing and commands and a speakerphone. For hard-core emailers, there is also POP3 and IMAP4 e-mail support.

I tested the quad-band GSM phone in San Francisco/Bay Area using my existing Cingular wireless service. I got the same quality as the old Nokia 6102i phone. Call quality was decent.

Now, for the negatives. A minor drawback with the design is that the MicroSD card slot is located behind the battery cover. Although, you don't need to remove the battery itself, but you do need to remove the cover. My other beef is with the battery life. The 6126 has a rated talk time of 3.4 hours and a promised standby time of 10 days. When I maxed out the talk time, I got about 3.5 to 3.75 hours talk-time (impressive). Because I am always on the phone, it is hard to guage the standby time. However, when I paired and activated the Bluetooth, and connected with a Nokia BH-900 earpiece (By the way, the BH-900 earpiece is sub-standard compared to the Motorola HS850, but that is another review altogether) that is when I got a feeling about the battery life in standby. For half a day of minimal use (20 min max), and standby the rest of the day my battery is now at 20-25% capacity. When I turned off Bluetooth, I was able to go a full day with some use and still have over 50% battery capacity. So it seems that when the Bluetooth feature is activated it is eating up more battery juice (which makes sense). I have yet to find a control that tells the phone to automatically turn off Bluetooth when there is no active device around.

Conclusion: The Nokia 6126 is a nice phone with many features. I only gate it 4-stars because of the battery life. This is a must, especially for a frequent traveler (like me) or those who use the phone/Bluetooth earpiece a lot. Nokia has to improve on the battery life, and this is easily done with a patch to automatically turn off Bluetooth when there are no Bluetooth devices around.

Buy Nokia 6126 Unlocked Cell Phone with Camera, Media Player, MicroSD Slot--U.S. Version with Warranty Now

I am a bit of a phone nut and love Nokia products. After using a Nokia 6230b with Cingular in Detroit and Virgin Mobile in England for over 2 years, I decided, now that Nokia offers a quad-band phone, it was time to upgrade.

Phone arrived on time and seemed like a very quality piece. Beautiful screen, well put together, etc. I used it for a few days and a few charging cycles. Here is what I found:

-Very poor battery life. I could not go a whole day on a charge with heavy use

-Very poor call quality. I could not carry on a converstation with people as the sound would cut in and out, ever with a full signal. I swapped my SIM back to my old 6230b and everything was fine.

-You need to position the phone just right on your ear or you cannot hear the caller on the other end at all.

-I learned that I really do not like flip phone (why are most phone flip anyways?)

-Don't really like the ultra small signal and battery meters

-I like Nokia's original test message input interface better than the new setup on 6126

So, I returned the phone. Amazon was great to work with and I got a credit quickly. I will buy from them again.

Yes, it is possible that my phone was faulty handset, causing the bad call quality but I did not want to go through the hassel of getting another one. Plus, some of the other negative told me it is not the phone for me.

Plus, the whole experience reminded me that the candy bar 6230b is one of Nokia's best phone ever (just needs quad-band)...

Now I just need to search for a quad-band candy bar Nokia to replace the 6230b...eventually.... Maybe a Nokia E50...

Read Best Reviews of Nokia 6126 Unlocked Cell Phone with Camera, Media Player, MicroSD Slot--U.S. Version with Warranty Here

Got the phone brand new for like $180. It's just sweet.

It's stylish (It does look way better than it appearred in the default image.)

It's powerful (Web surfing, built-in MP3 player-very good quality).

It's handy (You can sync with your computer and get the images, tones, wallpapers, screensavers, etc. for free. Unlike many other phones which bound to the carrier, only allow you to purchase them from the carrier with outrageous price).

The price is high. But it well-worth it. It's a quad-band. It's great for international travelers. You aint bound by any 2-year lengthy contract (ones that if you terminated, they would charge you like 200 bucks as for T-Mobile). Unlocked phones are pay-as-you-go phones. No more future fees.

Some people complain about poor battery life. I think they should change the battery. Chances are theirs may be defective.

Hmm, anything else? Oh yeah, this phone is not a everyone-has-one kind of phone like the Motorola RAVZ, so enjoy being cool.

Very good reception. I always have 5-bar signal.

Very good voice quality. You don't even have to use the speakerphone because the normal mode is loud enough.

The phone is a decent-budget one considered it's for high-end users phone. Among its family, the 6131 is better (only radio feature added, no more no less), but the radio is ridiculously expensive, you'll have to pay like 40 bucks more (for what? a radio? Hello?). The 6133, as everyone know, is a disaster because it's crippled by T-Mobile. The 6126 is a no-brainer.

And last but not least. It's a Nokia.

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First off I really like my new phone, but it did take a while to get used to after having Motorola's for the last 4 years. Battery life is the universal complaint and the reason for 4 stars.

Cingular and AT&T customers be forwarned, the company does not like that you can buy unlocked phones. Customer service stinks. I could not send multimedia messages and was informed since I did not buy from them, they could do nothing. And that my phone was junk, send it back and buy from them. I had researched this phone to make sure it was compatable in my area and was sold here also( for $50 to $100 more) and was unlocked.

Thanks to an AMAZON rep. I was referred to the Nokia website and I had my phone running in less than a minute! Thank you amazon. and Nokia website is great also! Cingular-GET OVER IT! This is one of many reasons I will never renew a contract with your company.

I am a work from home mother of 2. Not too tech savvy, but am trying to keep up. Love to text and MM message. But mainly got phone for camera and are satisfied.

Sony DCRTRV103 Handycam Digital Camcorder

I have had this camera for about 3 months, and I am very satisfied with the quality of the camera itself (not surprising from Sony), and the quality of the results. Considering the resolution (500 lines, compared to 240~260 for VHS & 400 for S-VHS, both of which are analog), I don't really see any great advantage to going with DV technology, except that a full digital camera is a bit lighter and the fact that you can record up to 2 hours on a DV tape, compared to 1 hour on either 8mm or Hi8 tape. I use both tapes, by the way, and there is no readily noticeable difference in quality. As far as the weight, since I do a lot of handheld recording, I find that I like this one better because a lighter camera is more difficult to keep steady. The recording sound quality is very good also, as well as being able to record in darkness! The ONLY, and I mean ONLY thing about this camera that bothers me is the fact that more of the on-camera controls are not duplicated on the remote control, such as fades, backlight, etc. I do a lot of active videography, and even though I have a very steady hand, it's very hard not to jiggle the camera when trying to turn on a fade or the backlight or one of the picture processing modes. Other than that, I would highly recommend this camera to anyone.

Livescribe AAA-00006 Premium Leather Case (Black)

The Livescribe Pulse ships with a protective sleeve made of some undetermined material. It has a clear plastic window so you can see the Livescribe display, which on rare occasion is handy. There are also two slots for refills with a protective cover. There is also a "Nav Plus" control for basic navigation. Finally, there is a grommet to be used to remove the ink cartridge from the pen which is virtually indispensable when trying to remove the cartridge.

The overpriced leather case has none of those handy features. Inside it has a flap that covers the end of the pen, which is arguably a useful feature. And it has a clip, which the standard case lacks.

I wanted the clip to secure it to my shirt pocket or belt. Guess what? It doesn't work that well for either function. Before I ordered, I called Livescribe to make sure the leather case could be used on a belt. I was told it could. I compared it on the phone with the clip found on many cell phone and PDA case, where the clip fits firmly on the belt and attaches by a stud to the case.

No joy here. The clip is like a somewhat oversized pen clip. It could be forced over a typical men's belt, but would quickly be bent out of shape. Worse yet, the clip is simply retained by an ordinary pocket on the case apply any pressure and the clip pulls out. Obviously, your Livescribe could disappear all too soon if you used this case on your belt.

Yes, the clip works okay on a shirt pocket, but compared to the original case, there is no advantage. In fact, the original case has more features.

I'm sending this back. I'll go on looking like a geek, which is the way I look anyway, and continue tucking the original case in my shirt pocket.

On the packaging, Livescribe says the "[d]etachable case clip keeps the Pulse smartpen connected to the Liverscribe dot paper". In my opinion, that's not the reason I would want a clip-on case. Moreover, that's not the way it works with the Livescribe Flip Notepad, their shirt pocket size medium.

Hopefully Livescribe will develop a case with a clip and the features found in the original.

Jerry

I prefer this case to the case provided with the pen. The features I like best about this case are the magnetic cover that protects the pen from possibly dropping out of the case and the clip used to attach it to a notebook or pocket. I do wish it had a space to carry a scribe and extra pen refill. Overall, I would recommend this if you are getting a livescribe pen.Livescibe AAA-00006 Premium Leather Case (Black)

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I bought a Livescribe pen with the case last month and thought it went fine together. Right after I used the pen I put it back into the case. The opening of the pen case closes easily without any plastic snaps or velcro. The case offers some protection for my $200 pen so $25 is well worth it.

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This pen case is made of inferior leather, the stitching is horrible and messy and the topper is the pen can barely be pushed into it I was afraid I would break the pen trying to get it in there and the thought of taking the pen in and out of this thing was hysterical it take me five minutes each time.

The further insult is the price I was happy to pay this price for a well made pen holder the only good thing about this holder is the magnet worked well. I have returned mine do not buy it!

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Not much of an improvement over the case that comes in the box. While the addition of the clip is nice, the size and weight of the pen makes clipping it to a shirt or sport coat impractical.

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