Sony MZ-S1 S2 Sports Net MD MiniDisc Player

• Record MP3s or CDs at up to 32x from multiple sources (PC, CD, radio, and more)
• Plays back in ATRAC3, supports MP3, WMA, and WAV formats
• Easy one-hand joystick navigation; bright backlit LCD display
• Up to 54 hours' playback on one AA battery (in LP4 mode)
• Water-resistant design with reflective casing; includes music management software, reflective hand strap

I'm starting to wonder whether Sony is even on the right track in trying to remain relevant in the mp3-centric digital music world.

I think something like NetMD would have been utterly fantastic three years ago, when USB-enabled computers were starting to gain mainstream adoption, and before hard disk and cd-r burner prices hadn't dropped low enough for more people to rip and burn their music collection. Then, I think, the ability to transfer up to five hours of music onto a single, (relatively) inexpensive minidisc would have held greater appeal.

Regardless of timing, the NetMD technology is still pretty neat. You are able to transfer digital content, either imported mp3/wma or audio CD's, directly to minidisc using one of three compression settings.

SP, the full-bore setting, allows up to 80 minutes on one disc, and is the best sounding of the three. It is "lossy" compression, like mp3, but to my damaged ears, they sound at least as good as CD's. LP2 doubles the storage time, but the increased compression makes the resulting recordings sound like... well, ALMOST as good as a 160kbps cbr mp3. Almost.

LP4 quadruples storage time, but as you might guess, the sound quality is pretty dodgy, comparable to a poorly ripped 128kbps (or lower) cbr mp3. LP4 is pretty much a lost cause as far as most rock goes, but it is surprisingly passable for hip-hop and spoken word (and probably for most electronica, but I have yet to test this).

As far as transferring existing mp3/wma content goes, I wouldn't recommend it (I know, it pretty much nulls the hype of NetMD, doesn't it?). I've tried converting a batch of 160kbps cbr mp3's to SP and LP2, using the included OpenMG Jukebox. At SP, the sound quality is comparable to the original, but the transfer to MD takes almost as long as the length of the content. Transfer in LP2 is faster, if you disregard the processor-hog conversion to ATRAC LP2 mode, but the sound quality takes a nosedive.

From what I've read, OMG Jukebox is notoriously unstable. Or so I've read. I've been able to successfully install it on two separate Windows 2000 Pro machines, and I'm feeling so lucky, I'm going to buy a lottery ticket once I'm done with this review.

That said, once you fast forward to 2002, where more people than not have gigabytes of existing mp3's on her or his hard disk, you have to wonder whether it's more convenient to rely on a solid state mp3 player to take small sections of this content without any further format-shifting, or dump them en masse to CD-R/W's for use with 3" or 5" disc-based mp3 players. If NetMD handled mp3's and wma's natively (or even managed Sony's proprietary ATRAC without the inflexible audio management software), I think this product would have much more relevance today. However, due to intellectual property concerns, I think Sony hamstrung itself with its convoluted content management system.

In the meanwhile, I've been using the Net MD Simple Burner program to transfer audio CD content directly to MD (mostly in LP2 mode, with some LP4, but for some weird reason, SP is NOT available as a transfer mode with Simple Burner!). I have started amassing a usable variety of discs packed with songs for the gym or for walks in the park, and from there on, it's straightforward MD goodness. Compact form factor, high skip resistance, durable media, high battery life. Basically all the things that most CD-R/W mp3 players aren't. And in a nice change of pace from the bumblebee black-and-yellow motif, the new S2 Sports design definitely adds some to the "cool factor".

I'm inclined to think that Sony munged the Minidisc yet again, this time with questionable software, but the good news is that I am still able to make use of NetMD. Drop me a line if you have any questions or war stories to share.

Buy Sony MZ-S1 S2 Sports Net MD MiniDisc Player Now

Like everyone else who has bought an MD player, I too hate the Open MG software with a passion. But if that's the only thing that's keeping you from buying one today, then keep reading, because you might want to buy one after you see what I have to say.

All you need to avoid using the Open MG software are two pieces of software. One comes supplied with the MD player, and that's the Net MD simple burner which allows you to transfer music CDs to your MD. The other piece of software is Nero Burning ROM. Simply use Nero to create a Music CD image on your harddrive somewhere, and then using the Nero Imagedrive which comes with the Nero burning ROM software, mount the Music CD image you just created. This tricks Net MD simple burner into thinking you have just put a music cd into your cd-rom drive and will then allow you to transfer all the mp3s you just burned to the music CD image.

Aside from the software that comes with the MZ-S1, everything else is great. Although slightly larger than its counterparts, I still find that the MZ-S1 fits quite easily into my pocket whenever I'm on the bus. One advantage to the S1 which most other MD players in it's price range don't have, is the Backlit LCD display. This is very useful for use in dim lighting.

If you are considering an MP3 player in the MD price range then you are probably looking at something with 128 MB of space. Under the best circumstances (1 MP3 = 3 MB) you will only be able to hold 40 MP3s or 120 minutes of music or 2 hours. With just one Mini Disc (costs approx. $1.50) you can hold over 5 hours of music. Mini Discs are very flexible. If you don't want to buy any more than the one that comes the the MZ-S1 then you can erase and rewrite to it over 1,000 times. No, I did not make a mistake: ONE THOUSAND. Mini Discs weigh nothing, and the players themselves weigh anywhere from less then a quarter of a pound to less than half a pound, and are comparable in size to any MP3 player.

In the end I didn't give the MZ-S1 five stars because the Open MG software was obnoxious. I hope Sony gets their act together someday and makes a piece of software that matches the quality and workmanship of the MZ-S1.

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Thanks to Real for supporting the Sony MD players in the Real One Player! Sony has a long history of making innovative, easy to use, well designed, compact, and durable consumer electronics that come with some of the worst, least usable software you'll ever see. It's a shame, too...clearly some competent design and development effort goes into the SW, but usability and convenience (ironically, something the hardware itself shines in) is something that is just apparently not a consideration.

Anyways, if this device wasn't supported by other software, I'd have a hard time recommending it...However, since it works well enough with Real One Player, I'd have to say you couldn't do better than this device for a portable (and ruggedized!) digital music player. I have experience with the Nomad II, Nomad Jukebox, Sony MusicClip (crippled by the OpenMG SW:, and RaveMP players. The sound quality is significantly better than any of those players. Furthermore, I've experienced much longer battery life than any of these other players by a factor of 2 or 3. The real payoff, however, is the cost of media: Minidiscs are a factor of 20-40x cheaper than comparable 128MB flash memory devices (compact flash, smart media, etc.).

Five stars if it didn't come with OpenMG.

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I bought the MZ-N505 (the gaudy little gold or silver one) but returned it for the MZ-S1. While the two are almost identical in recording and playing features, the N505 was so small and light that it felt dangerously flimsy. The more robust body of the S1 makes it a better buy.

I'm planning on bringing my player around campus with me in (the bottom of) my backpack, carrying it when running, and keeping it in my jacket pocket while skiing. Nothing heavy duty--I think most people will subject their players to all kinds of similar use when they realize how convenient and portable they are.

The S1 is a shade bigger and weighs almost twice as much as the 505, but the only way you can tell the difference between 4 ounces and 7 is when you're holding one in each hand. That extra weight is used to make the body thicker and more 'drop-resistant'. Should I wipe out while skiing, the last thing I'll have to worry about is this player. I can hold it in my sweaty clutches or get it rained on and the rubber gaskets around the MD and battery compartments and the playing controls will keep it from getting wet inside.

The player controls put the 'joy' back in 'joystick'--they're designed to be easy to control when you hold it upright in one hand (while running,for example) but can be operated from any angle. The backlit LCD screen is another improvement over the N505.

I also found the design more tasteful--it lacks the "please steal me" ghetto design philosophy of the 505. When you throw in the hand strap and better headphones that come included in the package, the MZ-S1 is the better choice.

i got into the minidisc medium several years ago, when it first came out. i bought a large, clunky, vcr-sized sony recorder-player deck, which came w/ a "free" portable player. the portable player was problaby the worst piece of electronics i've ever owned (i won't get into the attrocities of it).

about 3 years ago, i upgraded my portable unit to the

sony mz-e44 model. it's a fantastic player, and i really can't say much bad about it. small, stylish, and efficient. a sweet blue/purple irridescent color scheme. but after 3 years, it was time to upgrade again.

i purchased the sony mz-s1 model about 2 weeks ago, and absolutely love it.

the minidisc technology is not for everyone. it is not the most perfect medium w/ which to record and listen to music. but from what i've seen and heard, if you are a fan or user of this technology, the mz-s1 will suffice for all your needs.

the pros:

stylish. off-white and orange colors. smooth, rounded edges. not the smallest and most compact model, but it's good enough for most purposes.

comes w/ software containing two seperate recording/playing programs. i've seen some negative opinions about the software, but it's nothing that should prevent the average user from enjoying the player, or the recording process.

you can record up to 5+ hours of music to one minidisc. this is the most major upgrade to the 2 previous players (3, if you count the home deck) i've owned.

my previous 2 models have occasionally skipped, even just during normal walking. this player has yet to skip on me. even once. even during rough, rugged movement. i once dropped the player while trying to put it in my pocketit hit the ground, but never missed a beat (and the casing didn't scratch or scuff, either! needless to say, a pleasant, and great surprise)

the cons:

a little bigger than it probably needs to be, but this is just nitpicking. the mz-e44 model is smaller, but only slightly, and the mz-s1's features more than make up for it. it still fits quite nicely in the inside pocket of my leather coat, but it doesn't fit as well into my jeans pocket, as the mz-e44 did.

the included software is a bit complicated and cumbersome at first, but after playing around w/ if for a short while, is easy to get used to.

this is probably nitpicking as well, but 2 things this player lacks, that my former, 3 year old model had, is a rechargable battery (still, you get 50+ hours of playback w/ a single AA battery, which really is nothing to complain about), and one of those remote-stick thingies that you can change tracks, volume, etc. from. in order to do these basic tasks, you have to actually touch the player itself. again, not a big deal, but a feature that would've been nice.

in conclusion, i would reccomend this player to anyone, though not highly. i would suggest doing some research and shopping around, to find the best fit for you. there's nothing here that should deter anyone from purchasing this model, but other models out there may contain other features that this one lacks, that may suit you better. still, this is a player that the average consumer can't go wrong w/, and should make most consumers happy w/ all the features and abilities it has. i know i myself am happy i bought it. and i owned what i previously considered to be a top of the line model (paid [money] for it 3 years ago).

Panasonic PV-GS35 MiniDV Camcorder w/30x Optical Zoom

I just got back from my local electronics store which, to my surprise, had the GS35 in stock and on sale. I was very pleased with the ease of use and accuracy of the thumbstick control. Though, the menu button was a bit out of reach for my thumb thus requiring me to use my other hand to push it. The built-in LED lights help shed some light on dark situations, but I noticed an even greater benefit from the increase in gain when the light was switched on. The lens used on this camera is out-of-sight! Not only does it offer high telephoto optical zoom, it offers what few other camcorders out there have: built-in wideangle. The lens is 1.9-57mm which equates roughly to a 35mm equivalent of 35-1040mm. So, go ahead, shoot video indoors and get the whole group in the shot at once!

I was a little worried about purchasing this camera, the reviews on all the sites i checked were all 5 stars (nothing below that) but i'd never used anything other than cannon and minolta. I wont say I know everything about camcorders/cameras but I know enough to know a good one compared to a bad one, and this is a GREAT camcorder/camera. I have only had it about 2 1/2 to 3 weeks, but I've so much videos that turned out crisp and clear, with great sound. I love the light for low light shots, although I dont take many in the dark, it's still a nice feature. I love that you can take video as well as use a memory card to take photos, thats a great option. I Highly recommend this camcorder/camera to anyone who wants a great zoom, with great features....you'll love this camera, I know I do!!!

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I recently purchased this camera due to my husband being deployed, I wanted something inexpensive that I could use as a camera to take still pictures and for a web cam to talk to my husband over seas. This camera can do all that and then some. The LCD is great for taking self portraits and has a bright enough screen that even in the sun light you can still see the picture. Plus it is small enough that I can take it with me were ever I go. This shipping through amazon is great, I live in Alaska and it only took about a week to get it up here. I would give Panasonic and Amazon 10 stars if I could. I would definetly recommend this to anyone looking for a great camera at a low cost.

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Just bought this camcorder a few days ago and so far, I've been very impressed. The low-light capabilities appear very adequate. The ease of transfer to the PC via the DV-Firewire link is excellent. Haven't had a chance to check out many features yet, but easy of use for picking up the camera and shooting a video is great. So far, I think I've made a good choice.

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There have been several reviews on this model camcorder reporting poor quality video, particularly indoors. I have ben using the GS35 for about 3 months and have not found that to be the case. I have taped family events swuch as birthday parties, Christmas, the kids playing, indoors and outside, and some school plays. This camera has proven to be easy to operate, with an exceptional optical zoom, and very good picture quality.

I copy my digital tapes to DVD. I perform this task on a PC sometimes but have found that this devices transfers very nicely onto a component DVD recorder as well. If you use one of these devices, I suggest using an S-Video or Component cable if your unit handles it, as this does a very good job using the supplied RCA cables, but the S-Video will be superior.

This device also has great battery life.

My only complaintthe controls. I realize that to make something this small with so many features, some concessions are necessary, but a few of the features are cumbersome to get to requiring a few steps to enable.

Lorex LH114501 Vantage ECO Digital Video Surveillance Recorder (Black)

DVR Works Great, and I was able to set the DVR up for remote Viewing. (Although I cannot go back and view recorded video from remote) it could just be user error. Anyway still playing with it but it works great

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VideoSecu Day Night Vision Outdoor Security Camera IR Infrared Built-in 1/3" Sony CCD 540TVL 12mm L

I think this camera is actually 5 star worthy, however, the lack of detail in the product description is the reason why I am giving it 4 stars.

I was taking a chance with this camera since no one else had place any reviews for it, but with the price I got it for, I figured I'd try it.

First of all, let me say that this camera is not a wide angle camera as I was assuming. It is zoomed in, I think the ratio is 1:1.6. I actually need a wide angle camera, so this did not suit my needs properly. Although, I suppose I should have known that in the product description when it says "Long range", so it's partially my fault as well.

However, if you do need to be able to see far distances, this camera works really well. The infrared LEDs do a great job of lighting up the scene, even with no additional lights on outside. My back patio is very dark and I was able to see the woods in the distance pretty well.

Also, the screws that come with it confused me a bit. On the bottom of the camera, there are two screw holes, however, this only came with one screw to mount the camera. When I went to mount it, I realized the screw is too long to fit into the camera. The way I found to fix this was not very obvious to me at first. On the rear of the camera, there's a little bracket that will fit a screw as well, which is held in by two hex-screws. The fact that a hex-wrench was included with this camera hinted to me that I had to use it somewhere. With the included hex-wrench, I was able to remove the rear bracket and then use it as a spacer to mount it on the bottom. This is actually a useful feature in case you want to hang your bracket from a ceiling.

Also, this only comes with the camera and the bracket. No power supply or cables. Fortunately, I already had both since I was replacing a Swann camera that already had the wiring and power going to it.

I will probably end up selling this camera as my goal is to be able to see as much in a close distance, but like I mentioned, this is great for longer distances.

EDIT 2011-04-26

Instead of selling this camera, I ended up using it affixed to the side of my house and pointing down the street that leads to my house. This camera does a great job for that, and looks great in both daylight and night time. Most night vision cameras that I've seen like these tend to skew the colors during the day a bit, but this one looks pretty natural. At night, it's very crisp with very little noise at all, especially compared to some other cameras I have.

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Sony DVP-NC85H/B HDMI/CD Progressive Scan 5-Disc DVD Changer, Black

• 720p/1080i Upscaling Video Output through HDMI Input
• 5 Disc DVD/CD Changer
• Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 Channel Output
• Multi-Disc Resume, 6 discs

I consider myself something of a video snob. I've got a $4500 tv for goodness sakes. I've got to say that I love this CD/DVD changer, primarily because the image / progressive scanning quality is excellent. I previously had a $400 Denon DVD changer with the Farjouda processor, which is what the high end DVD players use. The image was great, but the changer kept not loading DVDs correctly. I even sent it back in to the factory, etc ... they never could remedy the problem. But this isn't a Denon review ... I'm just trying to establish that I AM picky, and for me to give the Sony 5 stars is a big deal. I tested a number of scenes on the Sony and it looks beautiful. Sharp image, lots of adjustability (including black level adjustment which really helps if you have an LCD / DLP television) ... Sony has created a nice product.

I also love the feature where the player remembers where you stop a disc, even if you completely remove it from the player and stick it back in later! Great feature for DVD watching.

In summary, if you are looking for a good DVD / CD changer that will look awesome on your high-def tv (and at a great price point), look no further!

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The test for me was Star Wars Episode III. It looked terrible on 2 other DVD players I tried, but it looked fantastic on this one. Out of box, the picture was a little dark because it was set to Standard. I turned the black level on component and set the picture to Cinema 1, then it was outstanding on my Sony 46" Bravia. I also appreciate some the sound controls to control dynamic range. Used in combination with my receiver, I was able to hear dialog perfectly at a low level. I played several CDs and thought they sounded great. You may need to adjust the volume some, higher for DVD and lower for CD, but I think that is due to the audio recordings from the source. The only thing it seems to be missing is SACD, but I don't own any of those anyway.

Read Best Reviews of Sony DVP-NC85H/B HDMI/CD Progressive Scan 5-Disc DVD Changer, Black Here

BACKGROUND: I have a fairly high-end home theater (rich people might pooh-pooh this assessment, but I'm a value-oriented consumer), containing a Hitachi 42" plasma monitor (1080i), a Denon AV receiver, and an iPod dock. For changeable media, I wanted two DVD players, one a changer, and one a single disk unit. I get my high-definition signals off my local cable. All of these play out through a 5.1 array of Jamo speakers, five of which are identical and mounted in the walls. The chunky subwoofer pumps away in a corner. It's all controlled by a Universal Remote MX-850 which I've learned to program. Also, when I was buying the home theater rig, I insisted that all components have and accept the High Definition Multimedia Interface socket(s), which replace as many as six cables per device with one.

After a full year of operation, I am continually impressed with the quality of the picture and sound delivered by this installation. So when it came time to upgrade my old DVD media player(s), I wanted something good, affordable, and capable of tiding me over until the high-definition DVD players becaame affordable (given that we consumers are faced with the stupidity of two competing standards, each with their own salient features, this decision could be delayed years until a clear winner emerges. My guess -there will be a VHS/winner and a Betamax/loser after this is over, but we'll have to be patient unitl this is clear. Forgive the aside.).

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT IT: (1) It's Sony, which is no longer a lock guarantee of highest quality, but still a fine marque. They seem to understand the design and building of video-based comsumer electronics as well as or better than the rest. (2) Everything worked right out of the box. Since I bought it at the same time as another Sony single-disk DVD player, I was interested in having a minimum of zaniness in the installation. Plug in the HDMI cable, hit "power" and go. A-OK on this one. (3) The HDMI output is the answer to a dream. When the interface fully catches on, it will become sooooo much easier for the unskilled to buy and set up their home electronics gear. Introduction of the standard will proceed faster when consumers realize that they can buy high quality calbes much less expensively from specialty electronics suppliers. But that's another issue. (4) The upconverted signal really works as well as you can reasonably expect. Although nothing photographed in less-than-HD can look as good as HD, there is some amazing movie and TV photography out there that, when provided a clean electronic path, looks GREAT on an HD set. The upconvert feature available on this unit is worth the money if you can't bring yourself to splurge on Blu-Ray or HD DVD while the aforementioned standards battle rages, or if you already have a sizable investment in non-HD DVDs. (5) The unit remembers the viewing status/position of a slew of titles, so that you can switch around between the titles in the player (and maybe some more that have been removed from the player prior to completion of play), and the clever little device takes you right back to where you were. Hitting "stop" twice lets you go anywhere you want on this disk, as do the navigation tools built into the disk. (6) The remote is simple and functional (and identical to the one I got with my other new DVD player -this is a small bonus and essentially irrelevant given my use of a universal remote, but some will find it refreshing to only learn one new remote if you like to have two DVD players at the ready to switch back and forth between movies and CDs with impunity. We media junkies have our quirks, and this is one way to accommodate those quirks with no muss and fuss and little expense. (7) The profile of the unit is slim enough to install in virtually any available slot. Remember to give it airspace for ventilation of heat and you'll be fine. (8) Here's a big one -it plays virtually every kind of disk format you can throw at it. It played some homemade movies of mine that I couldn't get to play on any previous player. Awriiight!

WHAT I DON"T LIKE ABOUT IT: Not that much, actually. (1) You can't rotate the carousel while a disk is playing. Opening the drawer ends play on the disk that's in play. No biggie. (2) The blue LED that indicates operation of the HDMI circuitry is very, very bright. I have all my gear in a closet right outside my theater room, so this is not a factor for me. But I can imagine that this illumination in the same room with the viewing screen could be distracting or maybe even problematic to some users. Tone it down, Sony. Does it really matter to the viewer that upconverting is going on? Shouldn't you figure that out simply by marveling at the picture quality? (3) In the world of the truly picky, here's one. The back panel output for optical audio emits a red glow that could have the same effects as described in (2), above. Sony, why not simply provide a little plastic plug for this socket?

There, I've said it all and more. Now go buy one. They're less than 150 bucks.

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The upscaling of the unit is very nice. DVD's look a bit cleaner than they do from a regular DVD player. I have an older 5 disc player from Sony that I really like, but found a few thing frustrating with this unit.

1) The tray covers that display when it comes out. Fine if the unit is above your head, terrible if its below.

2) The unit start up is surprisingly slow.

3) Sony moved the IR sensor from the middle of the old unit to the far right side on this unit. Horrible for the unit in an entertainment cabnet, if you put the equipment on the left side of the TV. Argh, the remote won't work less you are straight on or to the left of the unit.

This is the ultimate in planned obsolescence. These are SLOW and eventually will fail to load even a new DVD. The unit will display "Loading" ad infinitum. (Yes, I've cleaned the lens)

Used to be that you bought a piece of electronic gear and it would last for three years or more. I have a Pioneer 60" Projection TV that is running fine after 10 years. On the other hand, I've been through three of these players. At the price, DVD players are just about disposable and that is what I'd call this unit.

Two units I purchased lasted only 3 months and the third one about six. Covered by warranty you say? Well, who wants to wait weeks to have the unit repaired or replaced? SONY is not the company they used to be. Never another.

SpygearGadgets Motion-Activated Camera with Night Vision and 10-Day Battery Life

The camera works OK as a motion sensor camera, it's small enough to be hidden in day time, ah but the glowing Infra Red led lights beat the whole purpose of the hidden camera (not hidden anymore)

The manual it's in well explained English, simple and detailed with some graphics to help you understand better the functionality of the device,

also what the other guy said about the 5 seconds trigger video it's TRUE, the manual states 2-3 seconds (Lie) it's actually 5-6 seconds after the cam has been triggered to record something

plus the glowing led lights, let me put it this way.

You open the door,

Motion sensor detects you right away(in half second IR led lights turn on) that doesn't mean the cam is recording.

you have now 4 seconds to close the door and the camera would record just an empty room for the time you set the camera to record

The camera works

Video Quality is good

FPS are smooth

Audio/Mic is good and clear

Trigger time is 5-6 seconds

Customizable settings are just a few:

Time recording:30,60,180/s

Video Resolution:640*480, 320*240

Video Quality FPS:10,15,30FPS

Time/date stamp on video

Indicator Green light On/Off while recording

Description of the camera on video I guess (in case you have several around the house to see to which camera corresponds selected video)

What it misses in the settings or should've been added too:

On/Off IR led lights

Select # of IR led lights to be activated on triggered cam: 0,1,2,4,6 or the whole 8,

(seriously, the 8 IR led lights give great illumination to the night vision camera(more than enough I would say), but they show to the intruder the camera location and what it is at first sight)

and that beats the whole purpose of the SPY/HIDDEN camera,

so,

NO, this is not a night vision "SPY" "HIDDEN" cam,

maybe a daytime spy cam or just a motion sensor night vision camera,

Battery Life is stated to last about 10 days,

Haven't get thru that yet, I'll review that Later

It took some time to find exactly what I needed and fortunately this little gadget fit the bill precisely.

It works exactly as described. It's early days yet but it seems to be robust and well made to last a long time.

The short videos it creates are time stamped which is what I was looking for and can view something in absolute darkness.

The videos are a bit over exposed as they need to be to catch the tiniest of light sources. I don't intend to do anything

except keep track of animal movements at night so the videos are just fine for me.

The instructions are clear. But, they tend to assume that the reader is completely aware of what they are referring to.

In order to set the time and date stamp (which works very well) you need to create a small .txt file and transfer it into

the folder of the camera.

For those confused by this on a Windows machine (sorry can't speak to what is needed on Macs, . .) in the 'Accessories'

folder in the programs of the Start Menu, you should find 'Notepad'. This is what you would use to create the .txt file with the

current date & time. (The text you type in and save is completely spelled out in the instructions, . . .)

Once created and saved you drag and drop it into the camera folder after you have connected the camera to ]

your pc. That's all there is to it.

One note this may be tripping up some trying to set the time and date The time that needs to be set is based on a

24 hour clock (which most of the world uses, . .) as opposed to a 12 hour clock that we use in the States. So 5PM is

written as 17:00. This may be one of the reasons setting the time hasn't worked for others.

Buy SpygearGadgets Motion-Activated Camera with Night Vision and 10-Day Battery Life Now

I bought this camera to put into my car and everything works fine except the motion activation takes too long to activate. If you walk at a normal pace past my car then the activation is too slow to catch the motion. If you linger for more than 5 seconds, only then will it will catch the motion. I have an internal motion activation system in my house that senses motion instantly even in the dark. I guess I am used to INSTANT motion detection and this camera has 5 SECOND DELAYED motion detection. I was able to set the date very easily, the battery does last for over 50hrs continuous before recharging as promised and it does film in complete darkness.

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After seeing evidence of a rat, and no luck catching it, I decided to try using this camera to capture it on video, if not in a nice, baited trap.

Upon arrival of the camera, I was initially disappointed to not see any option for adjusting the sensitivity of the IR detector, as I had seen on other cameras advertised (I was worried that the factory adjustments wouldn't be sensitive enough to detect something as small as a rat). Oh well, I thought, I'll give it a try and if it doesn't work I can always throw it into the vast pile of other useless electronic junk that I seem to be addicted to buying off of the internet.

Using the factory settings for video capture time (30sec), I mounted the camera on a tripod, in our kitchen, and aimed it in the vicinity of where we've been seeing evidence (droppings, puffballs of fiberglass insulation, etc). I turned the unit on at 11pm and went to bed not expecting much.

After waking up the next day, I went about my business, not being overly excited about the camera; still convinced that it couldn't possibly be sensitive enough to detect a rat. I finally got around to retrieving the camera and attaching it to my PC with the included video cable (BTW, my unit did not come with a memory card, and had to purchase a 4GB one from Best Buy for $13 + tax. Be sure to buy one from Amazon as the price can't be beat).

Anyway, after attaching it to my PC, I opened up the camera's folder, and there were 15 videos, ranging in time from 30 sec to 90sec. Could the camera have actually caught one of the little son-of-a-guns?, I wondered? With anticipation, I opened up the very first video file and was pleasantly startled to see what I saw. There it was in all it's tiny glory, skittering around my kitchen floor, thumbing it's wiggly little nose up at me!

Based on my new-found knowledge of his whereabouts, I'm in the process of putting together a party for my little friend a party from which he'll hopefully never return!

Want SpygearGadgets Motion-Activated Camera with Night Vision and 10-Day Battery Life Discount?

I've been using this for a few weeks to watch for people snooping around my work cubicle after hours. So far I'm fairly impressed the device works as advertised.

Pros:

Excellent battery life, I have left it unattended for several days at a time.

There is a tripod mount on the back of unit, but I haven't tried it yet.

Very small package does not look overly conspicuous.

Included rubber stand allows for easy positioning

Incredibly easy to use once configured just turn the switch "on" when you want it active.

The night vision, while I have only tested it once, is surprisingly pretty good.

Cons (mostly already covered)

The instructions are not very clear.

The field of view is not very wide I'm only able to capture about 1/2 of the area in my cubicle.

When in pitch dark, the IR LED's light up for the night vision to work. The IR's are not invisible they emit some low red light, which to me was clearly visible in a mostly dark room this makes it somewhat conspicuous in the dark.

There is a definite delay in time to start recording. This is the price for long battery life the device is in "standby" until it detects motion, so there's a delay for things to get rolling. Typically a person is fully in frame by the time recording starts. I don't think it's a big deal personally, but expect the first 2-4 seconds of an "event" to be missed.

Connecting it to my PC is rather flaky using the built-in USB port. I usually remove the microSD card and use a separate microSD reader to access the stored videos.

And here is a rough setup guide that may help those who struggle with the included directions:

1) Acquire a microSD card that is at least rated as "Class 6" I bought a 16 gig one from a different online site. It is NOT included.

2) You must be able to access this microSD card as a drive on a Windows PC either by following the included directions for activating the "removable storage" on the camera, or the much easier method use a microSD USB reader. Many microSD cards come with a reader.

3) The camera comes with a small CD containing a setup executable (.exe) file. You must copy this setup file to the microSD card. Do NOT launch the setup program from the CD copy it to the microSD card, and then put the CD away you won't need it anymore.

4) From the microSD card, launch the setup program that you just copied. Here you will set resolution, frame rate, and date/time. Click the "save" button.

5) The program will instruct you to reboot the camera. If you are using an external card reader, take the card out and put it into the camera remove the battery cover and gently pull the battery aside to expose the microSD slot. If you are not, then disconnect the camera from the USB cable and thrn it "Off".

6) Wait a few seconds, then, turn the camera switch to "On". Set it somewhere, dance around in front of it, whatever, to test it. I would recommend running it for several minutes, some of that time spent moving in front of it, and some of that time spent out of the field of view, to give it a thorough test. The camera generally will NOT save the video it is CURRENTLY recording, so if you just turn it on, move around, and turn it off, the camera will not save any videos. You must allow it to reset to standby at least once for it to write the video to the card.

7) Turn the camera off and move the microSD card to your reader (or, follow the directions to put the camera in mass storage mode). Open the "VIDEOS" folder on your SD card. There should be folders sorted by date, and then videos within for each motion detection, the file name being the timestamp. Make sure you can play them.

Remanufactured Panasonic PV-D4735S DVD/VCR Combination Deck/Multi-Format Playback/Fluorescent Remote

the unit is working fine untill now, I am not able to record on the VCR nicely yet but that cause I was using cheap tapes, and the unit is missing display. otherwise its a very good unit, works fine as VCR and DVD Player

Panasonic DMR-EH75VS DVD Recorder / VCR Combo with 80GB Hard Drive, HDMI, SD Card, and DV Input

• DVD recorder with 80 GB hard drive for PVR functionality; measures 16.9 x 2.3 x 13.9 inches (WxHxD)
• Up-converts to near high-definition resolution via HDMI; easy one-touch dubbing of DVD to VCR and VCR to DVD (non-copy protected sources)
• Records onto DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, and DVD-RAM; plays back dual-layer DVD-R/+R and CD-R/RW
• Connections: composite (2 in, 1 out), S-Video (2 in, 1 out), component (1 out), HDMI (1 out), RF (1 in, 1 out), Firewire (1 in), SD card slot
• Optical digital audio out for Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound

I have been holding out on buying a DVD recorder until one came out with VHS, DVD, and a hard drive (HDD). This unit finally delivers! It definitely has some cons, but this unit is the best you'll get if you want to record onto a hard drive first, edit out the commercials, and then transfer to DVD. The advantage to this method is that you can record say 2.5 hours in SP mode (2 hr mode), edit out a half hour of commercials, and then transfer to DVD. If you have to record directly to DVD before editing out the half hour of video, you would have to use a longer recording mode and therefore reducing the video quality.

Some of the things that can be improved upon:

Consistency of auto-chapters: When copying directly to DVD, I've gotten chapter stops at 5 minutes and 8 minutes. When copying to the hard drive, there is no rhyme or reason. Why is this not consistent?

Chapters are not maintained when copying from HDD to DVD in different recording mode: After copying to the hard drive, you can set your own chapter stops. These chapter stops are maintained when the video is copied to DVD in high speed mode (and therefore at the same video quality setting). However, if you record to HDD say in XP mode, edit out commercials, and then copy to DVD in a mode where it fits onto one disc (say, SP mode), it makes the DVD without any chapters! It should maintain the chapters that it allowed me to create. (The reason you would use this method to make a DVD is because you might not know how long the program is without commercials prior to editing them out. So you would want to copy to HDD in the highest quality mode possible)

Loss of sound when "shortening a title": When you edit out a section of video, I have sometimes noticed a loss of sound for a few seconds before and a few seconds after the edited section. It also pauses briefly during the removed section.

Can't copy a VHS to HDD or DVD and edit commercials on the fly: I should be able to easily play a VHS tape and record it to DVD and press the PAUSE button at the start and end of a commercial to edit it out. My old Go Video VHS to VHS deck has this simple feature... why wouldn't a brand new $500 VHS to DVD unit be able to do this? Are you listening, Panasonic?

TV Guide built in DVR is not easy to navigate: If you want to skip ahead through 3 days of listings, it's not so easy to do. But for a DVR with no monthly fee, I can't complain too much here.

Need to use both coax AND RCA cables: Most combo units allow you to use only the coax connections in case you have an old TV. With this unit you are REQUIRED to use both, which doesn't make any sense.

Bad remote layout: The 'Function' and 'Navigator' buttons are too close to the directional wheel which is used for editing your videos and typing title names. The result is that you will often hit the wrong button by accident and leave the screen you were working in.

There were a few other basic features that you would expect to have, but I can't think of any other drawbacks right now. Overall, this is actually a really GOOD UNIT, certainly the only one of it's kind... I just figured I should tell you of the drawbacks to make sure you can live with them before buying it.

Buy Panasonic DMR-EH75VS DVD Recorder / VCR Combo with 80GB Hard Drive, HDMI, SD Card, and DV Input Now

I've been using the DMR-EH75VS recorder for about four weeks now and I love the quality of the picture, the ease of copying from HDD to DVD, and the quality level of VHS transfers (recorded LP) to HDD or DVD. This is with the unit connected to a 20 year old Sony Trinitron television with an RF Modulator. I've also used the fire wire connection to connect my Sony MiniDV camcorder to transfer footage to DVD and it worked beautifully. I would give the unit 5 stars if the manual were better and if I had successfully installed the included feature of the TV Guide listings.

First about the manual: I work as a television editor and even I had trouble with the manual. The terminology is vague and the procedures often assume a level of knowledge that is unrealistic. The glossary should make up for the terminology problem, but does not. I did email questions to Panasonic and received satisfactory answers, but the manual should be self-explanatory.

Regarding the TV Guide listings I have yet to get them. I followed the procedures from the beginning and the unit searched for them, but after the prescribed 24 hours of having the unit off (I did this several times), the unit kept telling me that it could not find the listings. I have talked to Panasonic several times, have changed configurations, then tried getting the listings a few times (which is annoying because I can't record anything during the 24 hours it's off), and finally Panasonic did a software diagnostic that they are sending off to TV Guide and they said they would get back to me.

To be fair, I started off when I first got the unit with Cablevision and a Scientific Atlanta cable box, and last week I switched cable services and now have Verizon Fios fiber optic television service with a Motorola cable box. With both boxes, Panansonic had me reset the unit, adjust the settings and turn the unit off for 24 hours. I still don't have listings, but I hold out hope.

In the meantime, in between testing for TV Guide listings I have done many manual recordings direct to DVD and direct to the HDD, and am very happy with those functions. If you have problems manually setting up a vcr for programmed recordings and you can't get the TV Guide listings either because of the type of cable box or satellite service, think twice about getting this unit, because manually setting up programmed events might give you trouble.

Previous comments about the remote and the menus are ligitimate. It takes a little getting used to them, but if you're not a techno-phobe they shouldn't be a problem. Getting rid of the commercials can be tedious, but once again when you get how it's done, that's not a big deal.

Though free Panasonic help has been available online and by phone, the technicians I've dealt with have ranged from fairly knowledgeable to not so much.

In closing, after all these problems with the listings and the manual, why don't I give this unit a lower rating? The reasons are because the quality of the picture is really fabulous, the ability to record to a hard drive and delete commercials as well as come in on a program that's already started and watch from the beginning while the machine tapes the whole show is really great and I'm getting a big kick out of that, and I love that I can do all this without paying a monthly fee.

So even if I never get the listings because they are not available with my service, I'm still happy with the unit and will either manually set up recordings or attempt to use the VCR+ option. If I finally do get the TV Guide listings, I'll write a supplement to this post, but overall the DMR-EH57VS is a really great unit.

Read Best Reviews of Panasonic DMR-EH75VS DVD Recorder / VCR Combo with 80GB Hard Drive, HDMI, SD Card, and DV Input Here

Several people have written excellent reviews of the Panasonic's ability to edit and record TV, in addition to VCR-DVD archiving, and I suggest looking at those reviews below. I would just like to add a few comments on my, so far limited, experience with this deck.

-HDMI upscaling is very good, and in my opinion is as good as my stand-alone Toshiba DVD player with HDMI upscaling. In addition, all video is upscaled to the format of your choice, and is a nice feature. Because of this, I found video playback of recorded shows to be of excellent quality. Very close to actual broadcast, if not the same on certain channels.

-TV Guide setup was simple, and asked for your postal code. The deck takes around 24 hours to get guide data, and I recieved 2-3 days of programming after about 18 hours. You must also periodically place this unit on standby in order to recieve updated TVGOS content, which is sent over the cable during late evening, and early morning hours, from my observations. My setup: analog cable directly fed into the Panasonic deck (no cable box), HDMI out to HD-ready TV. After reading the manual, TVGOS is not available to everyone, please be sure to check with your local cable co. just in case, if this feature is important to you. In additon, do not autotune this deck for channels, doing so loses the TVGOS capability, unless you do not want TVGOS.

-DVR capabilities: excellent video quality, TVGOS does a decent job of organiziation of channel listings and recording que. Recorded shows are shown as thumbnail videos and is a very nice feature of this unit. You can watch any thumbnail video saved on the HDD. The deck also has VCR+, but I do not use this feature, however some you propective buyers may like this feature.

-The deck is silent. the fan is quiet, there is little to no noise (just HDD noise at startup) emanating from the unit at all. very nice to see imo.

-The deck can record when in standby mode, thereby conserving power consumption, again a nice feature.

-The manual is not an easy read. Very technical, however this deck is not for the average user. Be prepared to spend some time reading certain parts of the manual in order to setup this deck properly.

-You can watch a DVD movie or VHS movie while simultaneously recording on the HDD, in additon to watching HDD content you have previously recording while the deck records. Nice feature, and for me, was a must have.

-This deck has high speed DVD burning built in, and allows for 1h-2h of content to be burned in 20 min or so. One caveat: For example, if you have high speed recording set to "on", you can burn a DVD fast, but you cannot record in dolby audio, nor widescreen. Therefore if you are recording a show (say CSI in widescreen) and you have this unit set for high speed recording, the picture will be in 4:3 format on the DVD. Something to consider.

-This deck cannot simultaneously output digital audio from HDMI and Toslink. you are made to chose one or the other. If you want Toslink, the unit disables Audio from HDMI, and vice versa. Not a big problem, but an annoyance when I want to watch a DVD movie through my DTS decoder (that does not have HDMI inputs).

-This deck has component inputs for recording, but only supports 480i (normal NTSC) and 480p (enhanced TV). so if you wish to record HD content, you are out of luck. I recorded OTA HD content in widescreen into this deck and found it to look and sound excellent, even though it was recorded in 480p.

-Last but not least, This deck is not constantly recording to the HDD, therefore TiVo-like features such as pausing live TV is not possible with the touch of a button. You must first record what you are watching to use the pause feature. I own a TiVo box and I love its capabilities, and the fact that anyone from young to old can use the TiVo interface within 30 min to an hour, but I don't like the monthly fees. If you are like me, and wanted to break free from the monthly fee, then I highly recommend this deck.

Want Panasonic DMR-EH75VS DVD Recorder / VCR Combo with 80GB Hard Drive, HDMI, SD Card, and DV Input Discount?

It is a good VCR-DVD video recorder, by far its working ok...Good image on VHS, fast and easy one touch recording.

The manual is awful. I own a Sony RDR-HX900 which has a much better owner manual, and even so, it is not as good as expected.

It lacks an eject button on the remote, but do we need it? Anyway you have to stand up and go for the DVD or VHS...

It is quite slow in activate TV functions, and its TV Guide panel and Setup tabs and steps are a little tortuous with sub menu and sub-sub menus anywhere.

Anyway it has one of the best image available on DVD and VHS. Dubbing to DVD a VHS is a breeze and the image obtained is superb

Recommended

The instruction manual is complicated and poorly compiled, lots of symbols and page re-directing, illogical order, etc. At first I was very frustrated. I found Tech Support to be extrememly patient, if not impressively knowledgable. I appreciated their assistance. But mostly I just spent several hours at a time over the course of a couple weeks to learn each feature one at a time. Some things do make sense and can be learned through playing and trial and error.

But now that I've got the hang of it I love it! Granted, this is my first DVD recorder and I've never had TIVO so I am extra impressed with how easily and well the TV Guide works (again, after some initial frustration to set-up). I had originally bought the step-down version of Panasonic's DVD/VCR recorder, but as I had been warned by other reviews, it ate my VHS tape within the first week of use. So I returned that Amazon's customer service was exceptional and opted for the new improved and w/ hard drive version. I am so glad I did!

I also am using it to record old home videos from VHS to DVD; I love being able to set-up chapters with titles. Too bad it doesn't let me record my old store-bought VHS movies onto DVD, but those are copyright-protected so I guess that's only fair.

I have to confess, I haven't even hooked it up to an HD TV yet I'm saving to buy one in the next few months. So for me, picture quality is fine but nothing to rave about. If I had to nitpick, besides the terrible manual (there are multiple typos in confusing context!), I really wish I could watch something on TV while recording another channel. And I wish I could watch DVD RAMs on other DVD players without finalizing the disk so they can still be recorded over after. As is, I have to watch everything that I may want to record over on this player and TV. And I think the price is a little steep, though i couldn't find any cheaper alternatives available. I also really miss my multi-disk DVD changer since this is just a single but, again, I couldn't find any comparable options that featured that.

All in all, a terrific purchase!

UPDATE: 9/14/07 Like so many other Panasonic reviewers warned me, it's off to the repair shop. The DVD stopped playing or recording on DVDs. Luckily it's still under warranty, but after unhooking everything, sending it in, waiting 3-5 weeks, and having to go through the complicated process of re-setting it up, I don't feel confident that it will working in stellar condition. Starting to regret this purchase though I had mostly postitive experiences with it until recently. Bummer!

Olympus 145059 Olympus ME30W 2 Channel Microphone Kit

I bought these to record live pipe organ performances. The pipe organ has a gigantic frequency range, but these little microphones record the sound perfectly. When I listen to recordings made through these microphones and the Olympus LS-10 digital recorder, the pipe organ sounds exactly the same as hearing it live...and I should know, I've been playing that pipe organ every week for five years!

Expensive, but worth every penny.

I am a paranormal investigator and bought these mikes to use in my investigations to catch EVP's. These mikes go down to 20 hertz in sensitivity and also up to 20K hertz. Some EVPs have been recorded as low as 20 Hz, so I did not want to miss any of those. My voice recorder internal mikes only go down to 50 Hz, hence why I bought these. After using them on their first investigation, I was very impressed! The sound levels were so much clearer, louder, and the low frequency sound heard was amazing! I was listening through a pair of headphones real time while I was recording. I definitely recommend this set of microphones for any sound amplification use you might have.

Buy Olympus 145059 Olympus ME30W 2 Channel Microphone Kit Now

PNY Performance Series 32 GB Class 6 15 MB/s Rated SDHC Flash Memory Card (P-SDHC32G6-GE)

Was looking for a card for my Raspberry Pi and this one fill the bill, wanted more than just the 4 gig recommended and wanted something I could depend on. Case Closed.

Rainman

Inexpensive 8 GB class 6 card that works as advertised. For me, the 'sweet spot' on size, speed & price.

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It's considerably cheaper than the Sandisk, at least when I bought it. I use it for my Samsung WB100 Camera, and I feel very content with it.

I have yet to find any flaws with transferring from my camera to the PC, and 16GB is definitely more than enough for my photos and the occasional videos I have.

Read Best Reviews of PNY Performance Series 32 GB Class 6 15 MB/s Rated SDHC Flash Memory Card (P-SDHC32G6-GE) Here

I bought this because it was for a good price & most local stores charge a lot more for this item. I have used it only for a short amount of time & seems to be good & liked getting it from this seller for the price.

Want PNY Performance Series 32 GB Class 6 15 MB/s Rated SDHC Flash Memory Card (P-SDHC32G6-GE) Discount?

I've used so many different brands of flash cards over the years, but I purchased a PNY card about a year ago to use in a Wildlife camera. This card is still going strong and working great even after almost a year on a post in my back yard, out in all the horrendous weather we sometimes have here on the Oregon coast. This is a test far beyond anything you will ever give a flash card in a digital camera. I'm so impressed with this card that it was the only brand I wanted for use in my new Canon SX50 HD. My congratulations to the manufacturer you have a quality product.

Canon ZR80 MiniDV Camcorder w/18x Optical Zoom

There are lots of things you look for in a camcorder. Features, quality construction, and something easy to use are all things to consider. In the lower price range a lot of camcorders are alike and you have to look at some small specifics to figure out what's the best buy.

The ZR80 is a good camcorder, but it has one major flaw that its predecessors did not it has no mike input.

The built in microphones on almost all camcorders, certainly those selling for less than $1000, are notoriously bad. They generally pick up 180 degrees of sound. In a group situation, at a party for example, the audio sounds like utter chaos. Canons also seem to be especially prone to picking up motor noise from the camera itself. Thus, if you're interested in good sound you need to have a camcorder with a mike input.

Unfortunately, Canon chose to reduce the features on their 2004 ZR line by taking away the mike input. Why they did this is astonishing because it makes no sense.

If you want a Canon camcorder with good sound you really need to either get an older model almost any of the older ZRs including the 45, 50, 60, 65 and 70, all of which have mike inputs or forget the ZR completely and go for an Elura or any of their other product lines that have this necessary feature. If you're accustomed to the typical sound one gets from an on-camera mike (or you plan to never use it in situations with lots of sounds), maybe this model will be fine for you.

I purchased the ZR80 mini DV camcorder online, and received it today... one thing I was disappointed about is that this camcorder has no SD card slot like some of the other ZR series camcorders do... still shots go directly on your DV tape (one tape holds about 700 shots) It's not that big of an issue for me because I own a fantastic digital camera, and would prefer my pictures to be taken with that... but it might be an issue for someone who was planning on getting it all in one package (and it can be a big convenience that way!)

The special effects on this camcorder are great, and the video I have taken so far is wonderful... Two suggestion though: PLAY with the settings and READ the book!! I have seen so many reviews of Canon camcorders that say they are no good in low light (BTW the nightshot is simple to use and highly effective)

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Optics, the ability to deal with lighting conditions, and hand-held stability were the important factors in my buying decision. I edit my works on the computer, so effects were not important (and should be used sparingly!) The Canon ZR-80 is lightweight and well-balanced. The ability to return to 'easy' mode with the flick of a switch from anywhere in custom settings is a great feature. The camera turns out nice-looking video with practice. Another plus: I was able to train a cameraman for a family event in less than one minute. I showed him the zoom and the pause, and off he went. As with most digital cameras, there is no video noise between pause and record. If you don't want to edit on a computer, the pause-record method makes for clean segues. Finally, as a previous reviewer writes, you'll need to purchase a firewire cable separately a $20 to $40 item!

Read Best Reviews of Canon ZR80 MiniDV Camcorder w/18x Optical Zoom Here

After reading the reviews, I was a bit leery of purchasing this camera. Because it fit my needs without paying for a lot of features that I didn't need (memory stick, S-video output, etc.), I decided to get one anyway to try it out. The result is that I will keep it. One concern was image quality under low light conditions. It's OK. The depth of field is not great under low light which might account for reports of fuzzy images, but I found that it did focus on the item of interest pretty well. For low light, regardless of the camera, if you want good images, you should consider supplemental lighting. The night mode works reasonably well. Audio quality is fine. I had no problem at all with picking up sounds and voices from 15-20 feet away without them having to raise their voices. It doesn't have a mic input which wasn't a drawback for my purposes, but is, nevertheless, something that this camera should have. The biggest disapointment, for me, is that the image stabilization is a long way from what my old Sony Handycam was capable of. Even so, it's adequate for the purposes that I will be using this camera. All in all, this camera will suit most people's needs.

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I scoured the net for a camera (my first). I looked at many brands and moodels, all price ranges (price wasn't really a big factor, but why pay more if you don't have to?) I have had my camera for less than a week, but have been testing it non-stop. I need to make sure I understand it by the time I go on my vacation.

I have read all of the reviews, both good and bad comments. It seems to me that some of the people who are rating this camera are looking ffor some professional heavy duty unit that has every feature on the planet. I really like this cam. It's easy to use, has great features and boasts a pretty great price.

The night mode works pretty good. Does everyone here think they are getting a piece of military equipment or something from StarTrek? It picks up a good picture, and it's in color, unlike many other cams that have a green hue. The zoom (both optical and digital) works great! You can get very close up with the digital zoom, and as long as you are not trying to see an ant from an airplane, it's clear (not much quality degredation). I have hooked the cam up to my TV to see what the footage looks like on something other than the LCD, and it's GREAT! I can't wait to see what I can do with my MAC and iMovie!!

The only CON for now is the power switch. It's a little harrd to manipulate with just your thumb (I'm getting better though).

If you want a great cam for a vacation, or to shoot family footage, this cam is a good choice. Try to take what others say about this cam with a grain of salt. They expect too much.

Sony HT-6800DP 5-Disc Progressive Scan Home Theater System

• 120 watts x 6 audio/video receiver with MP3-friendly DVD player and full 6.1-channel speaker system
• 120-watt powered subwoofer; 5-disc DVD changer with progressive-scan video output for high-resolution picture on compatible TVs
• Decodes DTS ES, Dolby Digital EX, Dolby Pro Logic II for enveloping surround sound from any source
• 2 component-, 3 composite-video/analog audio inputs accommodate a satellite receiver, VCR, cable box, and digital video recorder
• Includes UniCommander remote control and all requisite speaker cabling; FM/AM tuner with 30 station presets (20 FM, 10 AM)

Received the Sony HT-6800DP 5-Disc Progressive Scan Home Theater System on Tuesday, and spent a couple of days/evenings setting it up. The tricky part was mounting the speakers, but that can be solved with purchasing the correct wall mounts first. Then it was off to the store again to get the right component cables and optical connections.

The box includes a standard quality set of connections, but I recommend an immediate cable and stereo wire upgrade. Of course, this adds to the overall purchase price, but its worth the extra investment and the homework necessary to get what you need for a great picture and awesome sound from the start.

Again, the Sony HT-6800DP 5-Disc Progressive Scan Home Theater System is an excellent buy. The separate five DVD/CD changer is a convenient plus too. And forget negatives about Sony in the review previous to this one. This home theater system goes far beyond expectations and performance with the power necessary to back it up (when compared to other brands and models straight from the box). Sony still delivers quality products. Just be patient when a little more assembly seems to be required. Again, it is worth the time and the added effort to put the system together right the first time.

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Just purchased one this weekend. The system overall is really nice. It is easy to setup and the sound is really good. The only problem I have is that it isn't as loud as I would have liked. I put it in a very large room and the sound gets lost with all the space. If you have a large room i would recommend at least a 1000watt system. But even in the large room it sounds pretty good. I'm not disappointed in my purchase.

Read Best Reviews of Sony HT-6800DP 5-Disc Progressive Scan Home Theater System Here

I purchased this system before Christmas 2005. Attention audiophiles. Ignore this system. I used to be an audiophile when I could hear well. I am a retired electronics engineer, and I know this stuff.

I'll take it a section at a time and then treat the entire system.

Speakers: They are adequate for a small room at moderate sound levels. You will not feel the room shake with super bass. The subwoofer is adequate for the seven speaker setup. Remember folks, you paid less than 600 bucks for this. It delivers a pretty good bang for the buck. Bose (or similar) speakers would improve the system a lot. They are very efficient and well engineered. They are not cheap!

Amplifer: It is rated at about 160 watts at 10% total harmonic distortion (THD). That is very high for today's solid state amplifiers. It doesn't matter though because the speaker distortion at that power level would be much higher. Remember folks, that power is split up between six speakers. The sub woofer has its own amplifier.

Preamp: Well, those things are sort of like 8-track tapes today, history. Everything is digitally processed now. Play with the various autio settings. Play with the menus. You won't find a treble or bass knob. Everything (almost) is menu driven.

Inputs: These include video and audio inputs. You can name the inputs so they appear on the digital box display when you select one (front panel or with the remote control), or you can leave them at their default settings.

Outputs: Many of them, but not enough for me. I would like to see more "line" outputs from each major subsystem. Note: This system is "cheap" because Sony sells a lot of them. If you want high end gear, buy it. Sony sells it too. It's costly not because of the electronics inside. That is a done deal now and relatively cheap. The high end stuff is pricy because of advanced engineering and limited production. Sony has to pay its bills just like the rest of us. That means that they must make a profit too!

The manual: An abomination! I wrote to Sony (not a hate letter). They told me they were taking my suggestions under advisement. Gee that made me feel warm and fuzzy all over!

Writing an instruction manual for complex consumer electronics is a difficult task. Sony must assume some things first. Focus groups at Sony target an audience for the product. In the case of this system, their audience (customer base) is the average person who only wants plug and play. Make it easy for me! Cranky engineers like me should not buy this gear.

In my love letter to Sony I begged them to give me a data port on the digital box. Give me some free software for my laptop. Get rid of the manual! Use computer documentation like we see now for every gizmo or piece of software we put into our computers. Practically everybody can use a PC these days. Give me a Windows program with a graphical representation of the two boxes and the speakers if necessary. In that graphic allow me to specify some kind of periperal gizmo that I want to hook to the digital box. If it's Sony gizmo of recent vintage, that should make it easier.

As I define my gizmos and attempt to hook them up, warn me if I have done something wrong. Offer suggestions. That is so easy folks! It's called "intelligent" software. Considering the number of Sony Home Theater systems sold, the software development cost is nothing. Okay, add ten bucks to the price and really advertise it! I'll buy it!

The integrated DVD gizmo: As far as I have determined this box will play every CD/DVD that has ever been created and many that are still on the drawing board. Well, I'm old! I used to use drawing boards before my boss put a computer on my desk! My life has not been the same since. Oh, the good old days.

Remote contols: A major pain in the butt. Sony has attemped to help the consumer with "control consols" to relieve the remote control congestion. I must have 25 of them. It seem now that most all remotes attempt to control everything. Well, what about my ceiling fan? Just kidding.

I'm trying to "engineer" an audio/video system that my wife can use and enjoy. She can really drive that Wega 32 inch TV. It's two years old now and technically fit for only being a boat anchor. I wonder if it floats.

To sum up, I think this system is okay for ordinary people. I am not ordinary. I am very weird.

J Hinkson

El Sobrante, CA

Want Sony HT-6800DP 5-Disc Progressive Scan Home Theater System Discount?

Very economical and a good value for the price. Assembly is simple, and instructions cover the basics. Too bad my ex-wife took the system with her when she left.

I must say I have had a very, very bad experience with this paticular home theater system and Sony. I can't actually rate the system because I have yet to use it. I received this system the end of October and after spending several hours putting it together was only able to play two DVD's. After that I couldn't get a picture. I then spent several hours over the phone with their help desk and after we exhausted every possible solution I was told to send it back, which I did. When I finally got it back I hooked it up and it still did not work again had to spend considerable time exhausting possible solutions on the phone with the help desk. I was asked to send it back yet again and also told I would not be getting a new DVD player but a returned or refurbished one. I find this unacceptable and due to the fact I have had to waste my time and money I would NEVER purchase any Sony product from here on out.

Sakasa Master Japan Reverse Voice Recorder

This ingenious handheld device records speech and plays it back forwards or reversed. Psychologists believe that sometimes the true intentions of a person come out subliminally in speech. Don't believe me? Try recording the campaign slogan of barrack Obama "yes we can" and playing it backwards. the truth comes out even when you don't want it to.

Konftel 300 Conference Phone (840101059)

These are excellent conference phones. They can twin USB VoiP on PC and Analog and it works very well. Noise cancellation on these phones is excellent and they are built to last

VIZIO VBR122 Blu-ray Player with Wireless Internet Apps

• Play back Blu-ray Discs in Full HD 1080p resolution, or upscale your DVDs for enhanced picture quality
• Easily access streaming movies/TV shows, listen to music, and get the latest news, sports, and weather with VIZIO Internet Apps
• High-definition, multi-channel audio with decoding of Dolby Digital TrueHD and DTS Master Audio
• Enjoy MP3/AAC audio from connected USB devices, along with slideshows of your favorite JPEG photos
• Connect wirelessly with 802.11n Wi-Fi or use built-in Ethernet wired networking to access online entertainment

*** Please note latest Update adds Amazon Video! ***

I picked this player up for an awesome price a few days ago and have been trying everything out.

The pros:

Wireless N: Works great with NETGEAR N750 450 Mbps Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4000. No stutter via wireless streaming in HD with a good Wireless N router and good High Speed internet connection. Supports the "wireless authentication" button on the front of the router so setup to the wireless is super easy. (The Blu-Ray player will tell you when to hit the button on the router to auto authenticate you)

DVD and Blu-ray playback is quick and responsive and Blu-Rays load fast. No stutter in playback that I've seen. I have mostly DVDs so it was important that this does the DVDs justice as well. It does apparently upscale and does it beautifully.

The remote is a really intelligent design with keyboard on one side and Blu-ray/App controller remote on the other with specialty buttons for several of the "Apps". There is a centered V button to take you back to the home menu if you get lost. The remote is not back-lit and is infrared with one eye on the top vertical and one eye on the top horizontal (when you're using the keyboard) which by nature requires line-of-sight to the player. Keep your finger off the top edge when using the keyboard and you shouldn't have any issues.

Netflix works great and the keyboard really helps on those searches! Yes!

Vudu Works good and it comes with $5.99 movie credit that you don't even have to sign up for to try! An email address is all it asks for. Sweet, and as several Blue Ray disks come with free Vudu movie codes this was something I was interested in trying. All three blu-ray movies I picked up came with $5 in Vudu credit. I've watched a movie on it in HD and it played with zero issue until the App crashed at the end of the movie. reboot time. More about that in a moment...

Possible cons for some:

All buttons on front of player are VERY BRIGHT blue LEDs while this thing is on and running. If your one of those people that likes to complain about really bright lights, you're going to really hate this player and should move along to something else! It's not an issue for others.

HDMI only connection for Video. This is not an issue for modern HD TVs which is kinda the reason for buying blu-ray anyway. You will need to buy an HDMI cable in the required length, but this is normal and should not come as a surprise. These are good: HDMI Cable, 6 ft. (2 Pack)

Some of the players come with the features store display card glued to the top of the player. Goo Gone, 8 Oz.would remove this glue without issue but something you're not getting off otherwise as it is not of the rubber cement variety and is more of the super glue type. I just left the card on mine rather than ruin the paint. (Others report rubber glue that is easily removed, seems to be 50/50 chance on this)

Minor Cons:

Amazon Video is not ready on this device out of the box. You will need to perform updates to get the application working.

I have not tried out, nor will I, any of the Non-video Apps like Pandora, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Someone else will have to review those.

Bottom Line: I like this player. It's not perfect, but what electronic device ever is. They do seem to be trying to fix the minor issues through updates. For the price, I'd say nothing comes remotely close to all the features that this thing offers. Are there better players? Undoubtedly, but you will pay twice as much as this one. I'm not aware of another player with this advanced a remote. For under a C-Note, even if you don't have Internet and just want a Blu-Ray player, this is a bargain here on Amazon!

I will be updating this review as things change below:

(I noticed the other day that the player did not want to power on at all. unplugging the player and plugging it back in resolved the issue for now.)

(Still no update for device as of 6/16/11. It also appears that Amazon Video is not shown as a feature on the Vizio Website now. I have not had an issue with the player not powering up since the one experience.)

(6/20/11 : Finally an update to the firmware over the weekend. One question answered is that the 48MB needed for the update must be built-in as I did the update via the wireless connection and did not attach a thumb-drive to the player. Firmware updated fine with zero issue (cautions you not to power cycle the player during the update). The player power cycles itself when complete and will come back on by itself so don't get impatient when it goes off during process. Even with fast Internet the update process takes about 2 mins. No Amazon yet.. but Now have YouTube and Internet Videos apps. Both seem to work great and did some searches for several things in YouTube with nice results bar, left and right navigation to skip to next result and same search results you'd get via PC! Nice! Netflix and other apps still work great! (One thing I'll note here is that I actually like the Netflix App on this player better than I do on the Roku as you get more results and also categories that aren't randomly changing or disappearing. Recently Watched for example. Also more results in categories such as new releases.) The Qwerty Keyboard is just as awesome as ever in all the apps.

(07/05/11: Used the Player quite heavily over the July 4th Weekend Holiday! No lockups, or issues with device at all! Youtube app is excellent! Netflix App is fantastic as well and shows far more results under categories than My Roku player. No issues with Wireless connection to my router as that is how I use it.

I noticed today that Amazon has the device under review due to complaints... Probably about the description of Amazon Video being available on it. Someone else on here had said that both Hulu Plus and Blockbuster don't work. That is false. Both seem to be functional and I even watched some sample "free episodes" on Hulu Plus. Seems to work good. Not a 100% on Blockbuster, but frankly I don't wish to pay their high prices per movie to test the HD quality of their stream. Otherwise their app seems fine. I believe some people may be confusing this model Vizio Player with 2 others that look identical.)

(07/08/11: Update: According to Vizio customer support:

Vizio identified a performance issue With Amazon Video and they are working with Amazon directly to resolve the issue prior to launching the application. The update to your player will be automatic as long as it is connected to your home network. There is not a set date of release at this time.)

(07/11/11 Update: Tried the Vudu movie app again over the weekend using two $5 promo codes that came free with some $10 Blu-Rays. Both Movies played flawlessly in 720P HD via my Wireless N connection. I ran the test for HDX at 1080p and it passed fine as well...just didn't see the need for the $1 extra for HDX quality as the HD looks so good! Used the player for Netflix all weekend and also tried out the Vudu app to adjust the screen borders. No issues at all!)

(07/18/11: Noticed Netflix was down about 6-7 hours on Sunday, Not just from the Vizio but apparently from everything. Used the time to Watch a DVD on the player. Works great with the up-scaling! I also looked for the "look for update" selection on the player. The selection is now missing from settings section so apparently they've removed it from the menu..this seems to jive with Vizio saying future updates should be automatic. Tried out "factory reset" option which will wipe your wireless, sound and picture settings on the player, but doesn't change your app settings. Some of the other resets will.

** Here's a tip for the player. If you're going to shutdown the player, go back to the main app selection page first and then power off. No lockups to report since patch.)

(08/24/11: Turned on Player this morning and a little message appeared at the bottom that an Amazon update was available! hit the green button and 2 minutes later The Amazon app works now and provides a code just like Netflix to add the device on your amazon video! Awesome!)

(09/26/11: Just a little update. As the wife swiped the Roku to use with the new RCA TV that I've also reviewed here on Amazon, This Blu-Ray player has seen quite a bit of heavy use with the Amazon, Netflix and Youtube apps. It is still going strong! I've been very pleased with the Amazon app which seems to work very well searching, purchasing and viewing movies and TV shows. I've updated this review slightly as well.)

(11/22/11: A note about the wireless: Keep in mind that with the little "nub" style wireless adapters on the back of Blu-Ray players like this one, you are not going to stream across the house as the antenna in this style is VERY, VERY TINY! The db gain on this style is horrible and is not as good as even your average smart phone with wireless! One room away from the router at best for HD streaming. This is true on any player that has this add-on "nub wireless" setup. Some Blu-rays with internal antennas have a wire that goes around the perimeter of the inside of the case (much like internal wireless cards of laptops do)... They work better but idealy you'd want something external like an Xbox 360 Wireless Network Adapter A/B/G & N Networks which has incredible reception...unfortunately, I'm not aware of any Blu-Rays that have that type setup regardless of the brand. If you're planning to use this player for HD streaming, I'd highly recommend something like the NETGEAR XAVB5001 Powerline AV 500 Adapter Kit to connect to a router that is more than a room away. My router is in the same room with my Blu-Ray player, so I've had no issues. If I were to move it across the home, I wouldn't use the wireless on this player.

On another note, I'd suggest setting up the MAC address of the Blu-Ray player in your Router's DMZ as it is going to connect faster to streaming sites if it's not having to deal with the router's firewall. Remember this is not a computer, it's perfectly fine to put this in the DMZ and recommended for trouble free streaming.)

(9/11/12 The Latest and probably the last: The player still works, and I still watch Blu-Rays and DVDs on it. The CD tray has started to not want to close via the button on the player or the remote. I've had to push it closed. Much has changed over the last year and a number of better quality Blu-Ray players are out now for around the price of this player. I still highly recommend the Roku players for playing various Streaming Services (Amazon Video, Netflix, etc) to your TV, as they are still the best streaming devices. For Blu-Rays, I'd recommend looking at the Sony or Panasonic players that go for the same price as this one.)

Be sure to check out my guide on "Cut the Cable Cord" as it contains some good info on bandwidth requirements for various types of streaming video.

Buy VIZIO VBR122 Blu-ray Player with Wireless Internet Apps Now

I bought a VIZIO HD TV from a local store then a VIZIO VBR 122 Blu-ray DVD Player from Amazon. I connected the player to the TV with my "latest and greatest" Amazon Basic HDMI cables. I was not using the internet features. I quickly noticed that when a DVD (Blu-ray or Regular) was loaded, sometimes I did not get sound but I always had video. I couldn't see anything to troubleshoot but switched between three different HDMI cables that I had. No help. I called the VIZIO toll free tech support number and they said to turn the player off, unplug it, pull the HDMI cable out that goes into the unit, wait 10-15 seconds, then reconnect. This helped once but then I got no sound again and again. Sometimes VIZIO's troubleshooting sequence worked, sometimes not. This is no way to operate such a simple device. I notifed Amazon and got a replacement, no problem. The replacement unit does the same thing so I sent it back today for refund. Again, no problem on Amazon's end. I noticed that both units were manufactured in March 2011. Reading the reviews, it appears some units are working great and others are not. I even saw some negative reviews regarding a "no sound" issue just like me. I think there must be a very bad manufacturing lot out there of these units.

Read Best Reviews of VIZIO VBR122 Blu-ray Player with Wireless Internet Apps Here

This is a fantastic Blu-ray player, especially when you factor in the price. It's the cheapest blu-ray that i could find with built-in WiFi, which is why i chose to get it. Netflix works brilliantly (i've already watched the first XMen movie on it) and the other apps work well. The one downer, and why i was going to rate it 4.5 stars but it would not allow me: Amazon instant video is not available yet. That is unfortunate, as the fact that the remote has an Amazon button on it made me certain it would work out of the box immediately. Alas, it does not.

ALSO, it must be mentioned: THIS BLU-RAY PLAYER COMES WITH NO CORD TO CONNECT IT TO A TV. It only has an HDMI port for connecting to TVs. This was not a problem for me, as i had an HDMI cord that i hadn't been using. However, if you do not have an HDMI cord, you will need to get one. You can get an AmazonBasics version right here in this very store for as little as $7 or so.

So, the cons: no Amazon Instant video, and no cord to connect it to TV. However, I still gave this a 5-star because A: i knew it didn't come with an HDMI cord, and i was ready for that, and B: the Amazon instant video wasn't that big a blow to me, since i do have Netflix.

Speaking of Netflix (and the other apps) they work beautifully. I've used Netflix and Vudu so far, and they worked very well. Also, the unique remote has to be mentioned. It is a standard blu-ray player remote on one side (with buttons specifically for Vudu, Netflix, and Amazon) but contains a full QWERTY keyboard on the back. Makes it nice and easy to search for movies on Vudu and Netflix.

In short, if you are looking for a cheap and easy to use Wifi-equipped Blu-ray player, this is absolutely the one to go for. It works brilliantly, and i could not be happier with my purchase. If you need a Bluray player cheap, and wouldn't mind having wifi thrown in, this is the one to get. Just remember, make sure you either have an HDMI cord already, or purchase one with this.

UPDATE: Amazon Instant Video is now LIVE. Just look for update firmware in the system menu and download each and every update. One of them adds Amazon instant video. Now, it is truly the perfect cheap blu-ray player

Want VIZIO VBR122 Blu-ray Player with Wireless Internet Apps Discount?

I am really impressed with the Vizio VBR122 Blu-ray player. For the price, it has a nice feature set. The best points:

Very nice remote with a QWERTY keyboard on the back for easy input.

Easy system update over the built-in wireless connection

Brainless setup just power and HDMI cable

Intuitive menu that can be used without reading instructions (which are minimal to begin with)

Compact design with a small foot print

Pretty quick boot up

Lots of Internet features

Netflix works great even over the wireless connection

Communicates with my Onkyo receiver to change to Blu-ray when powered on

Smooth front (except for the disc tray) so doesn't collect dust on any buttons

Vizio saved some production cost on the player by making the connections on the back minimal one HDMI connection. Also, as of the date of this review, Amazon streaming was not yet available but "coming soon". The suggestion for streaming high definition video over VUDU and Blockbuster is to use a CAT 5 connection, which I have done since my wireless is still G and not N. Overall, I couldn't be happier with the player. Don't forget to pick up an AmazonBasics HDMI cable while your ordering also great quality and price.

To be clear, this was a gift that did not come from Amazon. But am wondering if anyone else is having trouble getting the thing to actually play a DVD? Mine comes on, flips off, does this for a bunch of times, and when it FINALLY comes on, it does fine. I am now coming in 20 minutes early just to turn the thing on, so it can do its little tantrum and then deign to work.

Hate the thing. So disappointed. Wish I had kept my old cheap one. Can't get this to hook up to the wireless either.