Vulkano Flow Mobile Device for Viewing TV on the Go

When I saw that Vine was offering me a product with a suggested retail value of nearly $200, I sort of leaped before I looked. On further review I saw a technical description that was a bit over my head. Eventually, with the help of people who know a bit more about these things than I do, I figured I was getting a device which would allow me to watch TV on my computer or phone by streaming it over the ethernet in my house and over the Internet when I was elsewhere, and to record shows to one of those devices. Not quite, but close enough.

PROS:

* Installation was a breeze, with one minor exception, and it was really minor. I was a bit worried at how bare bones the installation instructions were, and the fact that they kept saying "Put this and this together and the computer will do the rest." But would you believe? It did. With two minor exceptions, which I'll address in the Cons section; but neither affects performance in any meaningful way.

* The software to play this thing on my PC can be downloaded for free.

* It does a fine job of allowing me to watch TV on my computer when I'm at home. Since my PC is a netbook that means I can carry the "TV" all over the house with me. I'm also in the market for a tablet, and if Vulkano works as well on that as it does on my computer, it will be more convenient still.

* It does a pretty good job of allowing me to watch TV on my computer when I'm elsewhere.

* Controlling the cable box from afar, whether over the ethernet or the Internet, is quick and easy.

* Live TV can be paused--which allows me to take snack and bathroom breaks on my own schedule, not built around commercial breaks or, in the case of premium channels, doing without altogether.

* If I pause a live streaming program, when I resume it I can either continue to watch it lagging behind the broadcast, or I can fast forward to catch up. Used judiciously, the latter option allows me to breeze through commercial breaks. There's also a rewind feature.

* It takes up very little room.

CONS:

Only some of these cons are the fault of Monsoon (the company that makes this product). Others are not, but detract from my enjoyment of the device nonetheless.

* The Record feature: This is my biggest problem. I was given to understand that I could set the Vulkano player to record shows to my device in advance. I cannot set it to start recording at a later time. I can set it to start recording right away, and can set the time for it to stop, so I can record a show if I'm around when it starts but won't be when it finishes. But if I'm not going to be able to use my computer when the show starts, my only option is to start recording before I leave and let it record everything that the channel is showing between the time I leave and the time my show comes on. I'll be able to fast forward, of course, but if I want to set it to record something that's hours away we're talking about a huge file.

* On further review, the ads for this product do not promise to allow me to set recordings ahead of time. Other, more expensive Vulkano players do include this feature. The PC Player uses a one-size-fits-all interface that keeps teasing me with commands that would allow me to set such recordings, and every time I try to use them it says "Not available on Flow."

* Even this limited record feature is only available if I'm close enough to home to use my ethernet. I can't record over the Internet because the otherwise-smooth automatic installation couldn't open some port or other. This is one of the two minor criticisms of the installation I mentioned above.

* The other is even less of an issue: The product includes most of the cords and wires and so on needed to make the player work, but not to connect the player to the TV set. Connecting it to the TV is described in the instructions as an optional step. It just means I can't use the Vulkano player to turn on the TV; and if I wanted to watch the TV I wouldn't be using the player anyway.

* A minor problem for me, but no doubt a much larger problem for many other people, is that it just won't work on my phone. Since I have a highly portable netbook and am in the market for a tablet, I don't anticipate using the phone to watch anyway. But if I wanted to, I couldn't, because the BlackBerry app doesn't run on my Curve. And even if it did I wouldn't pay the $13 to download it. Monsoon Multimedia puts out a free Vulkano Player app for all their other devices, but they made the Flow so that it specifically requires an app that costs top dollar. For shame!

* For some stupid reason, the episode guide, which gives me each channel's schedule and is the fastest and easiest way to change channels, doesn't go past Channel 99. Now it's not hard to enter a three-digit channel; I need only call up the remote control feature. And there are work arounds to get the schedules of other channels, too, though they tend to involve Googling the channel's site rather than working within the Vulkano Player. It's still irritating.

* I can't access On Demand. I'm not sure whether that's the Flow's fault or my cable provider's, but either way, this just compounds the problem of the Record feature's limited usefulness.

* Over an Internet connection it will take up to several minutes to make contact with the player. That's probably a problem with Internet service providers. Once contact is made the streaming video is usually, but not always, flawless: Obviously the slower the Internet, the more trouble you'll have streaming, but it seems to be able to work with some pretty low bandwidths.

* The Flow is limited by the cable box to which it's connected, meaning that, if I change the channel, and someone else is watching TV, I've changed the channel for that person. If you're looking for a way to let multiple people watch different shows at the same time, you'll need to keep looking.

* Every time I click on the PC Player, the User Access Controls block it until I approve it; and after I approve it, it still won't necessarily open. I've had to click at least two times every single time I've used it, and often three, with the UAC box coming up every time. The fault for this lies with Windows, and it's a pretty minor problem, certainly.

* The power cord's plug is one of thosebig honking plugs that partly blocks the outlet next to or below it. Really, why are electronics companies still designing power cords that way in this day and age?

I made the Cons list as extensive as possible for the sake of prospective customers who might have preconceptions about what the Flow does and how it works and would get hung up on the lack of whatever features they were counting on. But most of that list, other than the Record feature and the outrageously priced BlackBerry app, feels like nitpicking even to me. This is, in the end a quality product that does everything it promises to do and most of what I'd like it to do, is easy to use and easier still to install, and has left me very satisfied. I'm not certain I'd pay the $189 list price, but Amazon's now offering it for a Prime-eligible $109.95, and that strikes me as a very good value, even taking into account the need to purchase some other device to allow you to record shows.

The product works great. I have been using it for over a month. I had it setup in about 20 minutes although I was not using Wifi since I had an ethernet jack in my equipment closet. My router is a little bit older so the intial setup software failed to automatically make the router changes to allow streaming from outside of my home network. I just followed the advanced setup and manually setup the port forwarding. I also gave my Vulkano a static IP address but my guess is these steps wouldn't be required for most users.

I am using the PC app (wifi), Ipad app (wifi or wifi tethered to my phone using 3G) and the Android app (Samsung galaxy phone using 3G) without any issues. It is actually much faster than I expected and the video quality is what I expected. We recently took a 6 hour road trip and the kids were able to watch TV/DVR/On Demand using the ipad tethered to my cell phone for most all of the trip. Obviously this was dependent on cell phone coverage.

It was exactly what I was looking for. All of the features of a slingbox at about half the price.

Buy Vulkano Flow Mobile Device for Viewing TV on the Go Now

The Vulkano Flow is an easy way to stream TV to your PC. There are several things to like about the player:

* The low price point

* The virtual remote is an exact onscreen copy of the set top box remote for my U-verse TV

* Once set up, streams wired or wirelessly

But there are several things that could make this inexpensive player better:

* Component and composite are the only connection choices

* It takes 4 sets of cables to hook everything up to a TV 2 of which are included

* Installation and configuration of the box could only be done wirelessly on my Windows 7 laptop

* There is no application for Windows Phone 7 to access content via the player

* The top of the box is very textured and will be very difficult to keep clean

* The top of the box is slightly arched so nothing can rest on top of it

* Stays quite warm so it must use a bit of electricity

Although the Flow does not have internal storage, the fact that I can control my home DVR via the interface makes that a moot point. Also, it will pause video or record what is currently watched by using the PC hard drive.

UPDATE July 2012: I have really got to like the Vulkano Flow more and more. Whatever you install the software on becomes a DVR for the device (if it has the memory of course). This means you can record your favorite shows onto your phone, laptop etc. while on your home network and then play them back later without the need for a data connection (great for traveling).

The best is the app for the Kindle Fire. It works very well streaming over Wi-Fi or recording to the device. The application also works really well with my AT&T U-verse receivers for tuning channels etc. The picture quality is very good even on the medium setting.

Finally, You do not need to hook the Flow up to your TV to set it up if you have a wireless network so the two sets of cables included should do the job.

Read Best Reviews of Vulkano Flow Mobile Device for Viewing TV on the Go Here

In less than a week, the price of the Flow has risen on Amazon Prime from $99 to $189. Apparently the word is getting around that the Flow is a real Slingbox killer.

I used a Slingbox for six years and replaced it with the Flow. I was ready for HD remote viewing (which my first-model Slingbox did not do) and I wanted to be able to record shows with the device, which no Slingbox will do. So here is my review:

Summary:

Very versatile and useful device with easy installation, great picture, recording capability and comprehensive software suite. Needs to be a little more user friendly, though, for computer viewing.

Installation:

The Flow installed simply and easily on my Win7 machine. Follow the steps in the little book and you can't go wrong. Would be nice if the Flow had HDMI input from the cable settop box, but it doesn't. It has only Composite and Component. I first used the component cables from Comcast that came with the STB, but got a very poor picture. Switched to the cables included with the Flow and it was great. No separate component audio cable is included, just use the included composite cable's audio leads.

No CD is included. You must download a 113MB instillation file from their web site (direct address in documentation) and install from it. Not a problem. You use the same download to install the player on other computers.

You will need your STB's manufacturer name and device name to set up the Flow. Once I entered this information into the setup dialogs, everything, well, Flowed without a hitch. I set the Flow up originally for wireless connection. It found my N-speed network effortlessly and that was done. Word of advice: once the setup is complete and you open the player software, go to settings to make sure that it did set up like you directed. I had specified component video in the setup, but what took was composite, so I switched it back and suddenly the people in the picture weren't green anymore.

After the original installation was complete, I then connected it to my router with ethernet cable. Wireless mode stayed on and I was then getting 1GB connection through the 10/100/1000 ethernet port.

Installing on my notebook and away-office computer was a snap. Just understand that when it asks you whether you want to set up or install the player, player is the right answer because you have already set up with the original installation.

You connect all remote viewing stations to the device simply by entering your logon and password, which you select at setup.

I also downloaded the $12.99 Android Vulkano Flow app; the free Vulkano Player app will not work. Using an HTV Incredible, 3G only, on Verizon I got a some jerkiness on the HD channels but all was smooth and clear on the non-HD channels. But as you may imagine, watching HDTV on a smartphone drains your battery like pouring water from a bucket.

Viewing Experience:

The only place I get true HD is on my ethernet-connected computer. Via N-wifi or cable internet remotely, I get widescreen in SD quality. (On wifi it is actually halfway between SD and HD, I think.) Android resolution appears HD, probably only because the picture is so small. But on the phone it is a distinction without a meaningful difference.

There are only three screen sizes: 1X, 2X and full screen. The viewing box is not user resizable, a significant shortcoming in my view. The picture is also surrounded by icon borders and controls that cannot be made to disappear. All this means that the Flow viewer takes up a LOT of real estate on your computer screen and there is nothing you can do about it. In full screen mode all non-picture elements go away and the screen is filled only with picture. But then you can't use your computer as, well, a computer.

The user interface is the same across all viewing devices.

Recording:

A huge, glaring weakness in an other wise excellent product. You can record from any computer, but the recording will deposit onto that computer, not on the "base" computer. It records to MP4 and is space efficient on the hard drive. When I tried to edit an MP4 recording using Avidemux, it caused the video and audio to de-synchronize on the edited version. Bummer.

Another flaw: You must keep the same player open the entire time the program is being recorded, meaning that you can't start recording on your notebook and continue watching on your desktop. The Flow allows only one player to be open at a time.

The major problem is that you cannot set the recording to begin later. If you want to record, say, a show on the EPG that starts in two hours, you highlight the show on the EPG, press the red record button, and select "record this show." And it will, but the recording begins immediately, not when the selected show begins. You can also manually set when recording should end, but not when it is to begin. Recordings always begin immediately. This is a MAJOR flaw in the Flow and is one reason I gave the Flow three stars in ease of use and design.

Electronic Programming Guide:

You can use this not only to see what is playing but also to change channels. Just double click.

Overall, glad I got it, glad to keep it. I only hope the design flaws and user interface will be addressed in software updates.

Update: Price has dropped to $106 again. Definitely worth that price. I also paid another $12.99 to download the software onto my Toshiba Thrive tablet. Works fine but it is not software made for Android 3.1 or a 10.1-inch display. Impossible to get HD on the Thrive. Presumably this will be updated but right now the picture is not very good. (Update: "When in doubt, read the directions." The problem was that the Thrive-side player was not set to HD quality. Fixed that and now get true HD on the Thrive.

Fantastic picture!)

I am also now getting HD via my home wifi when I did not before. However, the software has a habit of randomly crashing on my notebook, mainly by freezing. Sometimes it just drops out of HD and plays SD. Closing and restarting after a short wait corrects this but it is highly aggravating when it happens.

----------------

Update, a few weeks later: Today the IR Blaster physically broke on the inside of the base unit and so I cannot change channels remotely any more. The broken part rattles inside the units when I tilt it. Also, the Vulknao has developed the highly aggravating habit of simply powering off and random and will not come back on unless I physically unplug it from the wall and reconnect. I am barely within the return period so back it goes. However, I still like the device enough to request replace it rather than refund. So here's hoping the quality is higher on the replacement device.

Want Vulkano Flow Mobile Device for Viewing TV on the Go Discount?

I purachased this vulkano flow in order to reaplace my Sling Media Slingbox PRO-HD SB300-100. I have been an avid sling box user for about 5 years and had finally got fed up with there over priced hardware and software. So i decided to switch to the Vulkano, so far so good for a device that cost 1/3 that of the sling box. For me the features that you lose from the sling box ie. multiple inputs, and a tuner where features I never took advantage of. I use the iphone and ipad app the is available is the app store for $12.99, and they both work great. I have noticed that streaming live tv over 3g works considerably better on the vulkano when the data speeds are a little slower. The sling box used to cut out and skip when data speeds slow down, the vulkano just lowers the resolution for a few seconds never losing audio or video.

Pros:

-Price $99

-Cheap app for mobile viewing

-HD on OSX software

Cons:

-Not flat so would be hard to stack other components on top

-Runs a little warm when viewing for a long time.

Panasonic DMP-BD35K 1080p Blu-ray Player

• Blu-ray Player; BD Live
• Home Theater audio system and a VIERA HDTV converts the home entertainment experience into a true-to-life cinematic experience
• VIERA Link: Operate with your VIERA Remote Control
• SD Card Slot
• 7.1-channel surround sound.

I take my home theater hobby pretty seriously, that's why when it came time to invest in a Blu-Ray player (finally the wait is over!!!), I did a ridiculously great amount of research. I was willing to spend much more money on a blu-ray player, but the prices have come down so much, you don't have to! I narrowed down my extensive search for the right player to the Panasonic DMP-BD35K and the Sony BDP-S350. **I BOUGHT THEM BOTH AND DID A "SIDE-BY-SIDE" TEST!**

I have some nice equipment, so I feel that the test was an excellent representation of the capabilities of these two players. My equipment includes a 100-inch Stewart screen with a 1080p Sony Pearl front projector, an Integra 9.8 DTC processor (with all the latest surround sound goodies), a 7-channel NAD amp, 7 Paradigm Signature speakers, and a dual M&K subwoofer (for full 7.1 surround sound).

I do understand electronics, but the Sony manual was really hard to follow. After only one call to Sony, I eventually got the player set up properly. After I set up the Panasonic, everything became much clearer. The Panasonic manual is so much better. But, who really cares about manuals? How do these two players perform side by side?

Audio for BOTH Blu-ray discs and standard DVDs: The Panasonic unquestionably has better audio. Compared to the Sony, the highs were much clearer. The 7.1 surround sound put me right in the middle of the "explosion" (my first test blu-ray disc was National Treasure I) when the Charlotte blew up. The biggest Audio difference was the bass. The bass in the Panasonic was so much better than the Sony. In fact, my old Sony standard-DVD player had better audio than the Sony BDP-S350. I'd give the Sony 3 stars with the audio. The Panasonic had outstanding treble, bass, and surround: 5-star audio!

Video for BOTH Blu-ray discs and standard DVDs: The Sony's video was good, but the Panasonic's video was fantastic! The skin tones were more realistic and the colors were more vibrant with the Panasonic. The Sony seemed to have a thin gray film over everything -like looking through a filmy-dirty window. The Sony had 4-star video (it looked good, but not nearly as good when directly compared to the Panasonic). The Panasonic and its upscaling gets an easy 5 stars!

Both my wife and I did the "side-by-side" test by going back and forth between Blu-Ray discs and standard DVDs. We didn't discuss any of our thoughts until we each independently formed our own conclusions. After seeing and hearing both players, we were both in complete agreement that in every way the Panasonic DMP-BD35K was superior to the Sony BDP-S350.

By the way, the card slot on the Sony for BD-Live is very hard to get to. I do like Sony as a brand for some things, but not Blu-Ray players.

For those of you who are doing your research, hopefully I can save you some time to answer if you should buy the Panasonic DMP-BD35K or DMP-BD55K. I called Panasonic and asked the differences; besides the price, there are only two differences. The 55K plays DivX's. If you don't have any DivX's like me and most of the people on planet Earth, this doesn't make any difference to you. The only other difference is that the 35K can only output Dolby True HD and DTS HD Master Audio to a receiver/processor that has an HDMI input. If your receiver doesn't have an HDMI input, you won't be able to get them out of the 35K. If your receiver does have an HDMI input and you'll be using an HDMI cable, then you have absolutely no need to buy the 55K. With the 55K, if you have an older receiver that does not have an HDMI input, you can use the 55K's analog audio outputs so that you can have Dolby True HD and DTS HD Master Audio. That's a nice feature of the 55K if you have an older receiver but want the latest surround sound formats.

Also, to save you some research time, I've already checked out all of the professional reviews including the ones on CNet.com: The Sony is considered ok, and CNet liked the Panasonic so much that it is the first Blu-Ray player EVER to receive CNet's "Editor's Choice Award."

I have to go to the store now and return the Sony player that I bought. I'm keeping the Panasonic!! :-)

Hopefully you found this review helpful!

Buy Panasonic DMP-BD35K 1080p Blu-ray Player Now

I was very interested to see this unit perform as I had previously owned the BD30 for about a week and it was a piece of junk and I returned it. I bought this unit a week and a half ago and so far no problems at all.

Setup was a breeze as I just connected it to my Onkyo receiver via HDMI. The bootup time seems a little faster than the previous model, and the video performance with Blu-ray discs seems cleaner too. One thing I like is the fact that it will resume playback on SD-DVD and Blu-ray discs (without BD-Live). The sound quality is fantastic and it seems they fixed the issue with an attunated LFE output on the previous model. Upconversion of standard DVD seems very good. I also own a Toshiba HD-A35 and love its upconversion quality and the BD35 is every bit as good if not better. I also like the zoom feature that allows me to see DVDs that are not anamorphic being scaled and still fill the screen. With this zoom feature applied, my Star Wars original version DVD still looks very good. The ethernet port on the back will allow me to do future firmware updates without having to burn a CD. The owner's manual says if I have an internet connection connected all the time, the player will alert me when updates become available cool!

The manual that comes with it covers the BD35 and BD55 and it looks like the only difference is the availability of analog 7.1 outputs and DviX playback on the BD55. One thing I will say is that these players do not play DVD-Audio or SACD discs. It will play DVD-Audio discs with Dolby Digital and DTS, but not the Advanced Resolution audio stream.

I haven't used the BD-live function yet, but there is a slot on the front of the player for a SD card which make using the BD-live feature possible.

So it looks like Panasonic finally got it right!

Read Best Reviews of Panasonic DMP-BD35K 1080p Blu-ray Player Here

I had been looking for a blu ray player for some time, however the prices were just too high. Then I saw the Panasonic BD35K in one of my audio/video magazines. They gave it a great review and the price was $299. I went to Amazon and they had it for less than $250 so I ordered it on a Monday morning and received it on Thursday with no shipping charges. My receiver does not have an HDMI input or output so I connected the player directly to my 55 inch 1080P SONY SXRD TV using the HDMI port and I connected the digital optical audio out on the player to my receiver. The on screen setup menus were very easy to follow and the user manual explained everything. I thought I would try an action movie as the first one to see how the picture looked. I went to Blockbuster and got "The Incredible Hulk" and boy was I pleasantly surprised. The movie loaded in about 30 seconds the picture was just gorgeous and the sound coming from every speaker in my 5.1 surround sound set up was fantastic. My subwoofer definitely was given a good work out. The explosions just completely enveloped me. So far I am extremely pleased with this player and I would recommend this to anyone looking for a reasonably priced Blu Ray player.

Want Panasonic DMP-BD35K 1080p Blu-ray Player Discount?

I bought this product due to the reviews I read on Amazon. What I looked most forward to was the fact that it "upscales" my old DVD's to look "almost HD." Almost?? This player upscales my old DVD's so well that I have found myself wondering if I need to buy the more expensive blu-ray movies at all. Even my old black and white movies on dvd look unbelievable. I was very relieved as I have an extensive collection of DVD's and was upset at the idea of having to replace them all with the new blu-ray format.

Just to be sure I immediately went out and bought several blu-ray movies to play on it. Unfortunately, I experienced what I soon learned was called "audio drop-out." During a few of the movies I purchased, and many of my old DVD's, the sound would cut out many times during playback. If I paused the movie and then continued, it would work until the next drop-out; at which point I had to go through the "pause-play" routine until I was sick of it.

I went to the Panasonic site and tried to get an firmware update as I did not have it connected to my router. No such luck. It was not yet uploaded to their site so no way to download it to a disk and then upgrade from there. I called tech-support and they told me there was indeed an upgrade that would fix the problem, but it had to be connected to the internet.

As my HD-TV is another room than my router, I purchased a 100 ft. ethernet cable and ran the firmware upgrade. It worked better than I could have possibly imagined. Not only is the audio drop-out gone (on all DVD's), the picture is even better, which is hard to believe as it was already magnificent.

I cannot possibly recommend this product any higher. It has saved me thousands of dollars that I feared I would have to spend on replacing my old DVD's. As a matter of point, the only blu-ray movies I will spend the extra money on is perhaps ones made with super special effects. There is no need to buy the blu-ray DVD's with this player for regular movies. Neither my husband, my techie son, or anyone else can tell they are not watching a HD movie with this player.

Thank you Panasonic, and Thank you Amazon reviewers who talked me into this particular player.

Update;

Time has now passed and I must say that the only problem I have had was that when we lost power in the house due to road work in our area, I had to re-download the firmware upgrade. Back to perfect.

I have found no problems with handshake issues. No problems with slow starts. I noticed the price is going up, as I got mine much cheaper here on Amazon. What's up with the price increase?

First let me talk about the BD35 itself. This is a great Blu-ray player. Good price point, awesome picture and audio quality, reasonably fast load times, very good upconversion of standard DVDs (about comparable to my Toshiba A3 HD-DVD player, which the BD35 is replacing). If you are in the market for a Blu-ray player, this is a great choice (it didn't get a CNET Best Of award for nothing).

For those of you who own non-anamorphic standard DVDs (for example, Tombstone or Backdraft), you will be happy to know that unlike my A3, the BD35 automatically detects the non-anamorphic nature of the DVD and zooms it to fill the screen (no black bars on the sides). Sure the picture quality is less than an anamorphic standard DVD, and much less than a Blu-ray but at least it fills the screen properly and is better than a sharp stick in the eye.

That being said, I'd like to play the part of educator, so please treat the rest of this review as a Public Service Announcement.

EDITED 12/8/08 TO ADD: avsforum members have figured out that my connectivity issue was not a HDMI Handshake issue. However, I am leaving the Handshake comments in the review as in general they are still applicable.

People getting into the world of HD need to be aware of HDMI Handshake issues. What is HDMI Handshake you ask? Well, you can use Google for a more detailed explanation, but basically HDMI incorporates a Digital Copy Protection called HDCP. Let's say you have a Blu-ray player connected to a AV receiver connected to your HDTV. Well, the Copy Protection basically requires each connection to exchange an authentication key (i.e. the Handshake). Only if all handshakes along the path are successful will video be successfully sent to the HDTV. Unfortunately, it's a complicated subject, and video failure due Handshake issues can be a matter of cable type, older components, firmware not up to date, powering up components in the wrong order, or a whole host of other items. It currently seems to be the Bane of the Home Theater World.

NOTE THAT ANY HANDSHAKE ISSUES, GENRALLY, ARE NOT THE SOLE FAULT OF THE BD35 (which is why I did not deduct any stars).

People with older HDTVs (especially with DVI inputs) seem to be more susceptible to Handshake issues. www.avsforum.com is a great resource if you want to learn more about this.

As an aside, I would like to say that the Powers That Be (whoever is in charge of HDMI) are really doing a horrible job. I personally know what 720p, DVI, HDCP, and HDMI 1.3 means. I also know that the solution to any given problem can be a matter of cabling, or firmware, or settings, or powering on components in the right order. But I can guarantee you that my Mom, or my mother-in-law, or my father-in-law, knows none of these things. I don't possibly see how the HDMI people expect people to buy a Blu-ray player when so many issues abound! It's just too complicated. There is going to be a large subset of the population who don't know about these issues, don't care about these issues, and aren't going to be willing to buy a Blu-ray player when it can be so complicated to get their Home Theater system to work properly.

I went through many headaches trying to solve this problem and learning about this I hope this is of some use to readers and sheds some light. Best wishes to all, and enjoy the dazzling picture and audio quality on your BD35!

Samsung DVD-709 DVD Player

• Horizontal resolution (more than 500 lines)
• Video S/N (more than 68 dB)
• Audio S/N (more than 120 dB)
• Dynamic range (more than 96 dB)
• 5.1 channel surround audio x 6

I have owned my Samsung DVD-709 for over 2 years, and it still works fine. When it first came out, it was truly one of the best top of the line players, retailing then for about 300 dollars or more. It plays DVD, VCD and CD, and is DTS compatible, with S-video and digital audio out. By today's standards, it would be outdated, just like an older Pentium I PC would be. However, most people use their DVD players mainly, if not only, to watch DVD movies. The Samsung DVD-709 does a great job at this and has been very reliabe. Once in a while, particularly with rentals that have some scratches, it would stop or skip, but most players tend to do the same at some point. It has been "old faithful" for me, and I plan to sell mine and upgrade to a progressive player that accepts CD-R/RW with MP3 and JPEG/photo playback (I will probably look at Samsung again). If I was writing this review 2 or 3 years ago, I would have given 5 stars (or more), but this is 2003 and DVD players have become more advanced and cheaper. However, if you want a good and reliable DVD player (or an extra cheap one) just to watch DVD movies, I would definitely recommend this one.

Buy Samsung DVD-709 DVD Player Now

When it first hit the market, this was one of the best DVD players out there. It had all the options, a great remote, and incredible picture quality. Now, however, it is out of date "high tech" DVDs like _Planet of the Apes_ will make this player go nuts, and sometimes just jam completely. So, while this may be an OK starter DVD, there are cheaper models that are more compatible with the current crop of DVDs. They may not have as many options, but they won't break down when watching "The next big release," either.

Read Best Reviews of Samsung DVD-709 DVD Player Here

I bought this DVD Player 2 years ago, and it's still working perfectly. My only major complaint is that if there is a little piece of dust on the disc, the player skips repeatedly. This only really happens with rented discs. And it spit out rented discs of Scary Movie, and The Cell. Also, this player does not play CD-R, DVD-R, or MP3s since it is an earlier model. But the 3-D surround effect is astounding when used through a conventional stereo system. All in all, a great DVD Player for the first time DVD owner, or for a small room home theater.

1GB Sandisk Compact Flash Memory Card (Bulk)

I bought this specifically for use in the MPC 2000xl that I put an Addonics card reader into in place of the old floppy. Works like a charm!

I highly recommend this, but I hear the 2gb card is also a good fit with the Akai MPC2000xl and the current price on it is much less-expensive. So I will be trying it out next.

Q7 Car DVR Camera HDMI AV-OUT 2.0 Inch TFT Screen car dvr camera recorder HD 720P Night Vision 140

this product works great! it may look cheaply made but it has not failed me yet.

taking night time video is not so good.

but overall for the money you pay it is a good product.

Panasonic VIERA X1 Series TC-P50X1 50-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV

• 50-inch plasma 720p HDTV with three HDMI inputs
• 600Hz Sub-field Drive produces crisp, focused images for sports
• VIERA Image Viewer lets share digital photos
• VIERA Link Panasonic DVD recorder, Blu-ray Disc player, home theater sound system and HD camcorder
• Contrast Ratio: 30,000:1 Native; Infinite Black Panel

Purchased for our master bedroom, the Panasonic TC-P50X1 50" 720p has true brilliant color, impressive blacks, great resolution (looks like a 1080p to me and I am a picky engineer), surprisingly good sound and great looks. It sports the lowest price per square inch of screen area and beats LCDs hands down with its 600Hz refresh rate (absolutely no motion blur) and looks the same no matter where you are in the room. After considerable research, the TC-P50X1 was the clear choice due to its price, performance and appearance. A super buy.

Buy Panasonic VIERA X1 Series TC-P50X1 50-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV Now

I was going back and forth between the 720p and the 1080p and I could not see a difference, they had both side by side, and for the $700 difference it was not worth it to me. I bought the TV at best buy because they matched a competitor online price and that also brought the 4 year warranty down to only $159! Once the tv was delivered (free!) and my HD from directv was set up (free!) I was blown away by the quality. Great color and sharpness, I have it hooked up via HDMI and it is great. My brother has the samsung 1080p and I can't tell the difference. The connections are conviently located on the left side of the back of the tv and the sd card slot which is a great addition is on the left side of the tv along w/ some more inputs. It took me about a week or so to finally customize my own picture setting, I did not like the preset ones that much, either to dark or the vivid is to bright and contrasty. There is no VGA input but I got the pc hooked up via the s-video. Only downfall is if you use the SD card slot to view pictures it is very very slow at processing them, I suggest using the usb slot or the cords that came with the camera. Overall I would definetly suggest this tv especially for the price, you cannot find a better deal on a new release plasma tv.

Read Best Reviews of Panasonic VIERA X1 Series TC-P50X1 50-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV Here

I love these Panasonic Plasmas, you can't go wrong. I tried this 720P version this time. I have a 46" Viera in 1080P plasma and this 50" has the same picture quality, I cannot tell the difference and I have great vision, and am very picky about picture quality. This is a great product and you can't beat the price.

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I purchased this from amazon. Initial delivery was scheduled for 7 days after I placed the order over the weekend. First call from shipper moved the delivery up 3 days, second call moved it up one more day. Delivered on Wednesday, just 3 days after placing the order.

Truck showed up with just the driver. Was expecting two people, but one was enough to get the job done. Brought it in and unpacked it. I had the wall mount ready to go, so he attached the brackets to the TV and hung it on the all mount. He hooked up the cables from my Dish Network receiver and checked it out. Very happy with the whole procedure, and tipped the driver $20.

I was a little disappointed at the initial picture quality. On both Fox News HD and CNBC HD the faces looked a little muddled, like the resolution was not exactly right. Movies on HBO HD looked ok, but still not a good as I thought they should be. I thought about putting my 32" LCD beside it to see if I could see a difference, but never got around to it.

After two day of viewing, the picture is now perfect, just what I was hoping for. The only change I made was to switch to Cinima mode for the TV settings, but I don't think that is what made the difference.

Not sure why it took a couple of days for the picture improvement, but all the problems I noticed initially are history. I couldn't be happier with this TV, especially the price and delivery. Best Buy had this TV for $989, but free delivery only applied to $999 and above.

I write this so someone esel can feel safe taking the plunge on PLASMA, and feel safe about a 720p as well.... this TV is fantastic so far.

Ok, so I used to sell Mitsubishi back in the day when plasma was new, and yes they were nice, but they were also ten thousand dollars. The cinema experince of them was great tho, so much more depth than the new LCD, and much better black levels. And believe me, that makes a HUGE difference in overall picture quality.

Well I have run 1080i on my Vizio 37" LCD tvs now for a few years, and was extremely satisfied with them. The picture was very vibrant and colorful etc.

This TV is a FIFTY INCH.... and it blows the DOORS off the 1080p Vizio 37 inch I had in its place. The viewing distance didnt change, so its actually TOO close for a 50 inch, and its still just stellar. The red is a bit bright, but I know TV images and there is ZERO blooming ( fuzzy glow) to the reds ot other high contrast images like whites and reds. Imagine white credits on a black screen... if they are hazy, contrast is bad, if they can remain very bright but still have crisp edges, you have yourself a very nice TV. Like this one. There is full adjustment to picture and color temperature, the sound is pretty good, def nothing to complain about. Its a classy TV, piano black etc.

I was VERY concerned about the 720p issue, and I have to tell you, the fact that its plasma seems to completely soak up that fact and make it disappear. Again, the look of PLASMA is far better than what I percieve on the 120Hz LCD models. I was completely ready to have a bit worse picture quality to have a 50 inch in my living room, and it far surpasses my other tv's/ I seriously go to sleep watching my 1080i 37 in the bedroom ( hooked up to full hi def mind you) and it looks like im watching a mobile audio sytle LCD monitor in the back of a car headrest in comparison. And just a few days ago, I thoght it was just great.

Complaints? It is HEAVY. Big time heavy. Its do able as one person, but Im a pretty big guy... otherwise its a 2 person gig to move it. Keep the box as you will need it to move it to a new place etc. And the fact that the cables attach behind the tv all the way to the left side sucks..... hard to hide cables that way.

Im not a fan of the remote, but this TV is sick.

ALSO: the SD card viwer.. very cool. It somehow ( I never read manuals anymore) blows up the images and displays my phone pictures ( 3.2 m pixel) in 50 inch with amazing clarity.. dont know if its upconverting them etc.. but they look friggin hi def too.. crazy.

I looked hi n low, this was THE best deal avail, in town or otherwise.

AMERICAN RECORDER CO-SOFTD CO2 Dust and Particle Remover Complete Kit

I bought this tool for precision work, cleaning the insides of cameras and the outsides of dried insects, to use for closeup photography. It works great for both jobs. Gas flow is stable and easily controlled from a whisper to a high velocity stream. I can't think of anything to improve with this tool.

Little expensive since the each cartridge don't last very long so use it wisely. Its perfect for working on Digital SLR that have minor need cleaning

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Based upon other Amazon reviews of similar products I purchased this thinking that this was the most cost effective solution. Unfortunately the capacity of the cartridges is so limited that they don't even last when trying to remove accumulated dust from a single laptop or DVD player. Part of the issue is that the CO2 stream is so gentle as to be ineffective on any particles of more substance than a mole of dust.

Read Best Reviews of AMERICAN RECORDER CO-SOFTD CO2 Dust and Particle Remover Complete Kit Here

I had began to notice some of my digital photo didn't look tack sharp. Using American Recorder CO2 Duster and Particle Remover remove particles I didn't see. Now, my photos are tack sharp again.

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I used this kit in the past (early 2000's) to clean my Nikon D1x and Nikon D2x. It worked well. When I got back into photography with the Nikon D800e, I wanted a good cleaning kit, this forms one part of that kit. It delivers clean air for blowing out dust and other particles on the camera's sensor and mirror chamber. I also use it to blow off any dust on my lenses. I find it far better than the typical hand blower, which just pushes dirty air around your camera.

I also purchased additional CO2 cartridges (2 packs) which will last for years of normal camera cleaning.

Panasonic TA-1 Ultrathin HD Pocket Camcorder Enabled with Skype and iFrame (Purple)

Arrived at Amazon August 17, arrived at my house August 19. Today is August 21, 2010.

Panasonic USA website still has this new camera on "Backorder" so Amazon seems to perhaps be the first place to have this! I placed a pre-order and have been waiting weeks for this . . .

What's in the box:

*Camera

*USB "Extension Cord" About 40-inches long

*"AV" Cable about 4-feet long (composite Video-yellow connector, mono sound--white connector)

*Attachable hand strap

*Manual, misc. addenda, warranty/return survey

Stuff I wanted to know and could not find on web:

*(Real) Compatibility with IPAD--no direct support (the highly touted Apple iFrame capability means nothing as far as I can tell as to easily shooting video and directly bringing it into the IPAD). Of course moving any video into the IPAD is a big challenge. I own the Apple CCK Camera Connection Kit and was hoping this would allow me to plug the USB plug of the camera into this CCK adapter or the SD-card itself and import the video into the Apple photo app. I did easily get the still photos into the IPAD and it seems maybe the video too--but the video won't play (so how good is that). I believe this is because the high def 1920x1080P I was using at 12 Mbps (VBR) over exceeds the Apple allowable spec. (And it did not work with the iFrame content I shot at 960x540/30fps (approx 24 Mbps) (VBR). Perhaps if I had used the 640x480/30fps (approx 3 Mbps) (VBR) it would have worked--but who wants to save their precious moments in low def? (I believe the IPAD max bit rate is limited to 5 Mbps in the published spec). But don't dismay, here is the workaround: you can watch your videos on the IPAD (at the highest quality setting) by bringing them in through iTunes, directly into the GoodReader app (you can buy on iTunes). It's a fairly hidden capability of GoodReader (probably not to upset Apple too much)--but GoodReader allows you to play videos AND at higher resolutions and bit speeds than the Apple specs . . . but shhhhh, don't tell anyone, don't think we are supposed to know this. I was also able to import the video into iMovie and FCP 7.

[Addition Aug 28, 2010: Been using the above GoodReader technique on my vacation. It works, but is not perfect. There is an occasional stutter. If you demand perfect, stutter-free video on the IPAD, you will need to transcode the 1080P content to an IPAD compatible resolution/bit rate, then bring it into the Video area of the IPAD.]

*How long can your really shoot--apparently the references to 29min 59 sec (startlingly low) are the "single clip" time. Once you click stop, you seem to be able to continue to shoot (perhaps a total of 45 minutes as described in the manual)

[Addition Aug 28, 2010: The battery MUST be charged in the camera hooked up to a PC. Purchased a USB car cigarette charger for my road trip and it does not work. Also purchased an iGo portable USB charger and it did not work. Confirmed with Panasonic Tech Support you MUST charge the battery connected to a computer. If you choose to experiment with other in-camera charging techniques and the battery starts showing weird amounts of power in the on-screen meter, you will need to pull the battery out of the camera and wait 1 minute for it to sorta reset--before trying again.]

[Addition Oct 21, 2010: See important new info below on a $13.38 knock-off battery available through Amazon . . .]

*The AV out (I believe is called mini-USB connector) is only composite--no higher def cables or instructions on using it for higher def.

*There is no external microphone jack

*There is no external earphone jack

*Lens has no screw threads for attaching other lenses (see Flip Ultra HD lens wide/macro hacks on net)

[Addition October 21, 2010: Purchased magnetic Wide Angle Conversion lens from Amazon seller New World Video Direct = Panasonic TA-1 (HM-TA1) 0.45x Wide Angle Lens (HD) Black Finish W/ Macro (Modification Style) Magnetic Type. $59.00 Worked great. See my review on its product page on Amazon. Includes magnetic rings which have peel-and-stick super glue of some kind.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0041IWMPI/ref=oss_product

*Manual does not reference any other accessories other than a spare battery and SD-type memory cards (what I still found today on the Panasonic website).

*UW Housing I am still dying to know if Panasonic will offer a low cost underwater housing for scuba diving (100 ft.)--and as of today, there is no sign that this may be a future offering.

[Addition October 21, 2010: Discovered a cool looking Underwater Housing from Ikelite on Amazon $246.95. Have not purchased at this point. On the manufacturer's site they show you some cool looking tiny video lights which go with it.]

Ikelite Compact Video Underwater Housing for Panasonic HM-TA1 Camcorder

Pros:

*Video quality is awesome--what I'd expect from Panasonic (I own a Panasonic AG-HMC150--the AVCHD camera the Indie film makers love) and I am sorta a novice wanna-be indie video maker (it sometimes seems almost comparable in quality to images from this $4K-ish camera). Although this mostly automatic camera has few adjustment options, if you optimize lighting and other conditions it looks great. Certainly acceptable for point-and-shoot video kinda stuff. I am hoping I can use it for risky camera shots in future productions, where the camera might get damaged--then use the clips in "higher grade" productions.

*Still pics--seem good. Have not done extensive still pic study/comparison, but some quick looks confirmed they seem very adequate.

*Sound quality--seems good. Again note the sound is mono.

*Simplicity--more buttons that a FLIP, but they are logical/straight forward.

Cons:

*Design/build quality--disappointing for a Panasonic Camcorder. It has two user access doors: Battery/SD-card and USB connector ejector. Both are very "flimsy." They have what appears to be a thin rubber "string-like-thing" holding the door on. Now as I told my buddy, in the past on many devices these would break in a few days. But I've been noticing on more modern electronics, these are more frequently being used--but now seem to be made of higher-tech materials so they seem to not break. Time will tell. This is my biggest concern over the longevity of this device.

*EXPENSIVE BATTERY--This camera (of course) seems to have a proprietary and very expensive battery--almost half the price of the camera ($74.95 list on the Panasonic website VW-VBJ10)--this is plainly price gouging. Shame on you Panasonic. And the manual scares the heck out of you, if you are even thinking about a clone/equivalent battery (threats of potential explosions, etc.). I searched and searched for the closest equivalent, but when it arrive the specs seemed like a 98% match, but I am not an electrical engineer and afraid if I use this $14 battery I'll damage the camera.

[Addition August 28, 2010: According to Panasonic Tech Support you can purchase other equivalent batteries but they MUST be 3.6 V/940mAh. The charging time when connected to a PC is 4 h 10 min for "45 min actual recording time." If you plan to use it on a vacation where you shoot more than 45 minutes of video per day, you will probably need a second battery . . .]

[Addition October 21, 2010: Purchased from Amazon $13.38 Battery from by "Panasonic Digital Camera Battery" = "Battery King" and it worked great. 3.60V, 1000mAh, Li-ion.] http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003N6O02W/ref=oss_product

[Addition October 21, 2010: Purchased from Amazon $28.00 Charger for above battery "Synergy", ships from and sold by Super Deal = Yan Kwong Leung and it worked great.]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001YHGPE8/ref=oss_product

*"Exposed" lens--The lens does not have any fancy barn doors to protect it, like many of the modern digital still cameras (wish it did). There may be some kind of protective glass over it--but this old fashion, perfectionist is nervous over this. I'd feel better if they would have at least had a protective lens cap.

*No lens hood capability(?)--I'd love to put some kind of lens hood over the lens to protect the lens from reflections/glare, but again, there does not seem to be provision to attach one. And yes I know this is a "low cost" camera.

*Software--Is preloaded into the Camera and is nothing impressive as far as facilitating the use of the video on mobile devices, etc. (transcoding/conversion, etc.)

Discussion:

The build quality of the Flip Ultra HD--far exceeds the quality of this device. The USB connector ejector slider should win the prize for "Best throwback to Plasticky Trash to come out of Japan since 1960." I am embarrassed for Panasonic. This is definitely the Panasonics equivalent to the Toyota debacle of 2010. Sliding this "slider" to pop-out the USB connector, inspires me to prayer every time I go to use it--I am terrified the slider itself will break off at the almost microscopic stem/mount.

The anti-shake feature was another concern--since the few of these style camcorders which seem to have it, have not implemented it very well. This seems to work ok, but I need to shoot more video with it. I also just bought a camera stabilizer for this camera--since I want rock steady shots and want to achieve some Hollywood crane/action style movement . . . check this out . . . had to buy it from the UK and it ended up costing more than the camera, but WOW this is soooo fun "Mini Motion-Cam"

(You also need a special adapter piece for ultra light cameras . . .) I would expect that future reviewers will complain about the shakiness of their video from a small camcorder like this--ATTENTION, all video cameras need tripods if you want to shoot rock steady video. No small hand-held camcorder to my knowledge shoots rock steady shots, becasue our arms/hands move! So calibrate your expectations accordingly. (If you surf the web, you may find video shot on a Flip Ultra HD camera using a tripod--that had the production value/quality of a Hollywood/Indie production . . . the FLIP I believe produces 720P video--this does 1080P and the image is even better.)

My dream camera for this genre would feature two user selectable resolutions/ qualities. High to allow you to watch on a big screen TV and low for today's super small screen/mobile devices. They would both be shot in parallel, so the user would not have to convert/transcode for instant gratification on a mobile device. After all, isn't this camera a mobile device? It is sorta implied that these quick, point, shoot and watch cameras are all about this. "Fast watching."

Conclusion:

Would recommend this camera to friends and family without reservations. It does provide very high value and fun. Gave this 4 out of 5 stars due to the flimsy feeling doors/design/build quality and the outrageously expensive proprietary battery.

[Addition Oct 21, 2010: I am loving this camera more and more. None of the cheesy looking doors have given me any problems. The sound is pretty good. I took it to work and recorded a telephone conference call with it, then later transcribed the audio track. It was great--worked like a mini digital audio recorder. Also used it in this mode to record a narration for another movie I made. Pretty good quality sound--not as good as using pro microphones on a PC, but good enough for home movies. I've also learned about how to work with the MP4 files in FCP 7 Apple Final Cut Pro for editing. The MP4 files must be transcoded from the MP4 "capture codec" to Apple ProRes 422 (LT) "editing codec." Then, once you finish editing, you need to transcode again, back to an "output codec" (e.g. something which you can burn to a DVD or Blu-Ray disk, etc. I created a "Droplet" using Apple Compressor and now just drop my raw MP4 files onto it and it converts it to ProRes 422 (LT). Using the correct file format will save you from stuttering and hair pulling. And please use all video cameras on a tripod, hand-holding even with anti-shake still makes most people dizzy.]

Much lighter than I thought comparing with my old FLIP. I really love this color and compact design!

Powerful 4x digital zoom and LED light work perfectly when needed.

I took a sample video using 1280x720/30 fps mode and edited two files using software built-in for you. Even without selecting the highest quality 1920x1080 mode (Full HD) in this camcorder, you can see the video quality is amazing!

Buy Panasonic TA-1 Ultrathin HD Pocket Camcorder Enabled with Skype and iFrame (Purple) Now

I have been wanting a video camera for years to record and share performances and shows. Many of my friends have the Flip UltraHD Video Camera Black, 8 GB, 2 Hours (3rd Generation) NEWEST MODEL and I was excited to compare the two cameras. When I finally got my camera, I was disappointed to discover that I had to buy a specific kind of memory card to go with it (I purchased the Transcend 16GB Class 10 SDHC Card (TS16GSDHC10)). This would be slightly annoying after already paying so much for the camera itself. Incidentally, there is no clear indication on the product page that a card HAS to be purchased (unlike with the Flip camera that comes with 8 GB memory in the camera already) or suggestions for someone like me who isn't that familiar with memory cards on which type is best to buy BEFORE you get the product home. So -without that memory card, the camera cannot be used directly out of the box.

When I was finally able to start playing around with the camera I found that it was a bit more complicated than the Flip, however Panasonic's buttons are clearly labeled and it is easy for anyone with some technical knowledge to use. As for the filming quality, for everyday filming the picture is very clear but when filming with bright stage lighting, the figures appear a bit washed out and fuzzy. I did notice that the Panasonic camera did a have a slightly higher video quality than the Flip.

Overall I am very happy with this camera -it is small, has full HD, is easy to use, has a flashlight on the front, small but clear viewing screen and decent on camera volume. It is capable of taking both videos and pictures. It also has YouTube, Facebook, and Skype interfaces. A nice extra touch would have been if the product had come with a felt bag or protective case of some kind.

Read Best Reviews of Panasonic TA-1 Ultrathin HD Pocket Camcorder Enabled with Skype and iFrame (Purple) Here

Rather than write a review right away, I decided to spend my time with my three little minivideo recorders (Flip minoHD, Panasonic HM-TA1, Flip ultraHD) and put them through the paces. Indoors, outdoors, dim lighting, bright, sunset, walking, driving, kids. It was fun.

The Flips are 720p video only recorders whereas the Panasonic is a 1080p video recorder & camera.

I thought all the cameras had their niches to fill. The older mino Flip is the most stylish and best built body of the three, though with the least picture quality. The ultra HD had very good PQ and the ability to use 3 AAA batts as backup (good for travellers). The Panasonic had the best resolution and most customization features of the three and a camera to boot.

The camera stills were okay really best when outdoors with plenty of light. Fairly grainy, maybe blurry, when indoors. So while it is EXTREMELY convenient to have the ability to do video and stills in one device, the camera function should be a small consideration when deciding to purchase the Panasonic.

The videos themselves were pretty good when used outdoors, indoors, and even when outdoors at night I could get some passable shots with the built-in LED light (nice touch). The TA-1 also allows you to select 16:9 or 4:3 ratios & 1080p, 720p, 480p, iFrame, all at 30 fps.

I think for no-thought-to-use simplicity, the Flip ultraHD is probably the better choice. But if you're more willing to deal with a few more buttons and want a camera too, the Panasonic should be at the top of your consideration.

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This is a slick little modern marvel. It is so easy to use, you hardly need the instructions. It does not come with a card and uses a SDHC, not the standard SD (for video), but they don't cost much. I purchased a 8GB card and that is enough for over 1.4 hours of recording and playback. The card will set you back another $13, about the price of one HDV tape. It is far from being the best camcorder on Earth, but what do you expect for $170? It's great!

I use Mac and was easily able to drag the files into Final Cut Pro, it also will import it's files into FCP Express and IMovie. No capture at real time, just drag the file in. Editing it was easy too, slick! The quality of the video was better than HDV with limitations. The main thing I noticed was the need for tripod use, and yes the little baby has a tripod screw. Handheld movement is impossible to eliminate, and the playback seemed to amplify this movement with almost a image distortion. If you use a tripod, the image is amazing, truly amazing! The audio is okay, again, what do you expect for this price? It is not hi fi, it's ACC or MP3 quality, certainly acceptable if careful. There is actually some software in the camera for PC use, I don't need it, but it's there...I would not expect it to be fantastic. It loads with the built-in USB connection. The camera charges with the same USB connection, or even a low priced USB AC powered hub (I discovered).

This little camera can obviously go anywhere with great results if you use common sense, tripod, and imagination. It is not a professional camera, but it is not a toy either. It is not packed wit features and everything is done automatically. The white balance and color is fantastic and automatic no override. The audio has a gain boost no override. It is $170, hey, but you get a lot for that money! You, with effort, could actually shoot some pretty terrific video with this, can comparable with high end cameras. I have worked with corporate video for a number of years and I find this worthy of serious use, within the limits of knowing what you are doing. It could also be used by a 12 year old if you teach them the basics of being steady with it. It was a lot of fun and I was blown away with the results. It needs that tripod though, this I can not stress enough. I love the little thing! What fun to own. Thumbs up for fun. I give it 5 stars because it's something I will use, knowing it is not professional, it's still darn good for many things.

100 Taiyo Yuden/JVC 52X CDR (CD-R) 80min 700MB Shiny Silver in Cake Box

I just found out that there is a grade-a and grade-b when it comes to the silver thermal cdr's. I purchased 2 100 count cake boxes from a vendor I won't mention and just about all of them have air bubbles in the thermal layer coating. We'll I contacted Taiyo Yuden and gave them the 7 digit lot number on the hub. Guess what, these are not their grade-a product but something by Valuebrand/Microboards!! Same packaging and smell (Taiyo Yuden is supposed to smell like peaches I read somewhere) anyway please before purchasing Taiyo Yuden inquire as to the grade and ask if they have a 13 digit lot number, this will indicate grade-a. I was informed by Media Supply that they only sell grade-a unless requested. I have purchased from them before and they had 13 digit lot numbers and no air bubbles. But of course I wanted to find a cheaper price and purchased from another vendor. Bad mistake.

Why would Taiyo Yuden impune their reputation with a grade-b product? It's like a game on how to confuse the customer.

A different offering than this one, also from Media Supply, is the "A grade line" (Item # JCDR-ZZSB this one here is the B grade product. There is no difference in description except the item number, and so I had to call the vendor to find out for sure. I mistakenly bought this item last time I purchased blank discs, based on another review here, and thought I had the right ones because it had the recommended # of digits on the label; however, the better quality disc is just a few dollars more and that is what I will buy from now on. While I had no trouble with the B grade discs I purchased, and the rep told me there's not much difference there is SOME difference. For me, it's worth a couple of bucks to avoid bubbles in the coating or other defects. Neither one of these is archive quality, though MAMA or Verbatim Gold is much more money if that's what you want.

Buy 100 Taiyo Yuden/JVC 52X CDR (CD-R) 80min 700MB Shiny Silver in Cake Box Now

Taiyo-Yuden is made in Japan with the same care and quality of a Honda or Lexus. They are also one of the first producers of digital-optical discs, and it shows.

The compatibility of this media has been perfect! I have bought TONS of blank-media over the years and I have always been used to the fact that some of the media will be flawed or will have recording errors. I throw the disc away and cross my fingers hoping the next disc will be okay. Sometimes, a different brand disc will work fine on all my equipment, but not on a friends. Again, with Taiyo-Yuden, this has never been the case. T.Y. discs have ALWAYS worked on any equipment my friends, family, or myself have ever tried them in.

I have NEVER had flawed discs or recordings on Taiyo-Yuden products. And if you can sacrifice the silk-screened label showing off the brand name and allowing you to label your discs in a perfectly straight manner (I do admit this is one of the reasons the product received only four stars, I guess I am just an O.C.D.-case perfectionist and a show-off), MAKE THIS BRAND ONE OF YOUR FIRST CHOICES! The cost of this unbranded media saves you money and gives you more value. Ironically, this makes it one of the CHEAPEST choices as well. Also, the blank face of the disc allows those of you who like to, like me, use colored Sharpies to decorate the discs (Hint: a pretty, hand-decorated mix-CD often gets even better results, when given to "someone special," than a hand-written card or letter!).

As far as a difference you can hear: the audio-quality of these discs in high-end CD-players is very good, as it is in my after-market car stereo (built for sound-quality, not a "look at me" boom-boom system), and every other audio system I play them in! I will often record my pre-recorded CD albums on CD-Rs to listen to on an everyday basis; this way, I can loan my albums to people without the originals "getting lost" (I have one friend who, when approached by me about a CD sitting on his car-seat that I once owned, would always say, and I quote "No, that is my CD, I have the box and everything!") or risk getting damaged when left around or in my car. On high-end equipment, these CD-Rs are virtually indistinguishable to the originals, alloying me to leave the original recordings protected safely in their original boxes and out of harm's way.

BUY THE BEST AND SPEND LESS THAN AVERAGE? Sounds like a great value to me!

ADDITIONAL REVIEW INFORMATION:

BY THE WAY! The following statements involve DVD-R media ONLY, I have NOT experienced any problems with JVC/Taiyo-Yuden CD-R media AT THIS POINT! It is also important to point out that the new computer I mention does not recognize TDK brand CDs either!

I DO need to point out that when I started buying the "JVC" labeled Taiyo-Yuden media, I started to have some problems. The first JVC labeled spindle of T.Y. DVD-R media had FIVE discs that did not burn correctly (the second, THREE)! I DO tend to be a bit of a perfectionist (trust me, NOT in a good way), and five out of a hundred is only one bad of twenty, but I have never had five discs out of a 100-disc spindle go bad from ANY manufacturer. I have only used two-hundred JVC labeled Taiyo-Yudens and EIGHT were bad, this is the worst record of any manufacturer I have used with the exception of TDK. Admittedly, I only had a few bad TDK discs in my history, but my new computer rarely even recognizes there is a blank TDK disc in the drive; and when it does, the recordings ALWAYS fail, EVERY TIME. The JVC/Taiyo-Yudens that failed, failed on this same computer (however, NONE of the Taiyo-Yuden-ONLY discs EVER failed on this computer).

My friends have also told me five of one-hundred is very lucky compared to their experiences and I burn HUNDREDS of discs a year compared to them so I still recommend Taiyo-Yuden more than any other brand (MAM-A/Mitsui is trusted as the finest-quality blank-media on the market, but until the JVC/T.Y.s, I had more discs fail by MAM-A than T.Y. Also, they are SIGNIFICANTLY more expensive, I DO use MAM-A for the most important recordings of music, video, and important digital data). Because Taiyo-Yudens cost much less than MAM-A/Mitsui, go with T.Y. first. If you wish to record audiophile-quality music for audiophile-quality equipment, or back-up live performances or family videos, spend the extra money on MAM-A/Mitsui, but for general everyday use, ONLY use Taiyo-Yuden!

Read Best Reviews of 100 Taiyo Yuden/JVC 52X CDR (CD-R) 80min 700MB Shiny Silver in Cake Box Here

They're pretty decent quality blank CD's. I've had no problems. Just remember both sides of the CD's are silver. With no letters on the CD's what so ever. Just plain blank media with no company name, or CD's type or length etc...

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I bought these CDRs for making copies of CD+Gs for karaoke. CD+Gs can be very picky on quality and Taiyo Yuden works the best for me for this purpose. The copies will play in a lot more different karaoke players than other brands. I am very pleased with them. The only problem I had was the way the box was packed for shipment. The spindles were broken and one cakebox cracked, but the disks were not damaged.

VIZIO VBR120 Blu-ray Player with Internet Apps

• Plays back Blu-ray discs, DVDs, CDs, MP3s and JPEG files
• Full HD 1080p playback
• Built-in Ethernet port and USB port
• Dolby TrueHD/Digital Plus and DTS-HD
• BD-Live compatible
• Built-in Ethernet wired networking for access to entertainment on demand through your high-speed Internet connection.
• Plays Blu-ray Discs for full high definition 1080p video playback
• Plays DVD discs and audio CDs for added versatility
• Supports 7.1 digital audio output via HDMI with Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD audio processing
• View personal photos (JPG) or music (MP3) using the built-in USB port
• Watch thousands of HD titles, TV episodes and more with VUDU, Netflix, Pandora and much more

It's frustrating to hear how well this Blu-Ray player works for others, but it's also consoling to realize that I'm not the only one who's experienced problem after problem with it. I won't dwell on the glue issue, since it's been covered well enough by other reviewers. My main complaint is with the seemingly random hardware issues with this model. From day one, powering on the player has always been a crap shoot, and to date I've never been able to turn it on, or eject a disc, using the buttons on the machine itself. Thank goodness for the remote!

Sometimes it will play a disc quickly and without any problems; other times it will click and grind for one to two minutes before getting started. I want to be clear, however, that it's not so much the slowness that bothers me, but rather its inconsistency. Every day is a surprise, because I don't know whether it will turn on and hum smoothly away, or turn on and grind, or simply not turn on at all.

The coup de grâce came tonight, when I settled down to watch an evening film. Picture, but no audio. The user manual, a tome of wisdom, suggested that I either turn up the volume or double-check the mute button. Right. Thanks for the tip. Nor do I have any headphones or external devices plugged in, but the manual doesn't offer any suggestions beyond that.

I plan on returning this unit as soon as possible and exchanging it for something else. My recommendation to potential buyers? It's a great deal if you manage to get one that works as well as the models some of these other folks picked up; but it also seems like quite a few of us have run into a number of similar problems that you may want to avoid by dropping a few more dollars on a different brand.

Buy VIZIO VBR120 Blu-ray Player with Internet Apps Now

This is my first blu-ray player, and first Vizio product. I have it connected to my Insignia 42" 1080p 120Hz LCD via HDMI. The TV runs the sound via optical cable back to an older Yamaha 5.1 channel receiver hooked to a pair of Martin Logan SL3's and Cinema center channel.

I'm on a limited budget for our entertainment system (except the speakers! I've had them a while) so while looking for a blu-ray I didn't want a lot of extras such as wi-fi, etc, but something that would upscale my old DVD's and of course play blu-ray's reliably.

First, the player looks great. It is much smaller than other player's I've seen. It looks more expensive that it is. One minor annoyance for some reason the factory put a long strip of cardboardy type advertising along the top of the player. Not a big deal. But, it was put on with double stick tape that was VERY hard to get off. I had to work at it for several minutes and it left a little residue which I had to remove.

I've only played one regular DVD so I don't have much experience with the upscaling, but that one DVD was very acceptable. I have played several blu-ray discs, such as Avatar, Dark Knight, Casino Royale, Bucket List, and Wild China. Every DISC has loaded within 20 to 40 seconds, with the exception of Avatar which was rented and the DISC was very dirty. After a quick clean it loaded normally. I'm not a videophile, but I do appreciate a good picture, and I have not owned another player to compare against, so my only comments on the blu-ray format are WOW.

Another bonus with this player is the integrated applications. The interface is simple but very effective. You must connect the player to the internet through the hard wired connection (no wi-fi for $99!) and you'll have access to Netflix, VuDu, Pandora, Flickr, Facebook, etc. I connected to my Pandora account and had access to my stations cool. You get two free movie rentals through VUDU for purchasing the player, I watched one movie and was very impressed. My home internet connection speed would only play the lowest resolution movies, but it looked great! A pleasant surprise.

My only real complaint about this player is the remote control. The buttons are VERY hard to press. For those who have a universal remote this will not be a problem as they will program it in and toss this aside.

For $99 at my local Walmart I am very pleased with this purchase and whole heartedly recommend this player, especially if it is your first player and you have a wired internet connection available (if you want to use the built in apps).

Read Best Reviews of VIZIO VBR120 Blu-ray Player with Internet Apps Here

5/3/12 Update.. Product still works great.. However, remote went out (actually caught on fire) but vizio replaced it.. Item is over a year old but is starting to show age.. Still very few apps compaired to new players..

after reading the reviews i still decided to buy this bluray player. I LOVE IT. as for the bad reviews, i dont believe some people have ever used the bluray technology before.. I had a sony for 3 years, the load time on this unit is MUCH faster than my first generation sony.. Is it slow? kind of, but its common with bluray players.

as for the people who said internet apps dont work, i think they should check their connection.. this player does not have wifi, but if plugged into your home router, and if your internet is fast enough, it seems to work great! i use it nightly for netlflix.

Remember with bluray players, anytime it wont play a disc UPDATE it.. I cant stress that enough! old players, you would update daily it felt like.. this one i have never ran into a problem updates wont fix.

the only problem i had with this unit was the glue like mentioned before.. but instead of spending hours to get it off, buy some goo gone.. glue was off in under 5 minutes!!!!

overall i would recommend this if you are looking for a budget player. it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of a more expensive player (quick start, wifi, etc) but for the price it works and is much faster than first generation players. my longest wait with this unit was under 1 min.. my old sony took 15 mins sometimes to load and YES thats common with old players

it made a great replacement for my old sony.. im sure there are nicer units out there but this one does it fow me

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Bought one of these at wal-mart for 98 dollars.Well worth the money it works great! i also have a panasonic blu ray with apps but i like this one better! BUY ONE! you won't be sorry.

Bought this at a local Walmart in November 2011 because the price at the time was under $100. I already own two Vizio TV's and love them, so I assumed that their blu ray players were also high quality. I was wrong. Very wrong.

From the day I installed it, the device was very buggy. The remote response for power and tray open/close, whether using the one that came with it or a universal remote, was often hit or miss. There are no obstructions between the remotes and the unit. and even holding the remotes literally a foot away from the unit didn't work some the time, even when brand new, high-quality batteries were installed.

Even when working, the device takes a VERY long time to read and boot a DVD or blu ray disc. It was so bad that we after inserting a disc we could find something else to do...pop corn, put laundry in the washing machine, etc. and the disc would still be in the process of booting.

Because the device was used every now and again in a spare room and cost so little, we tolerated these quirks. Plus, the whole process of calling customer service and dealing with boxing it up, getting a RGA number, sending it in for repair, waiting for its return, just to get a quirky machine (based on other reviews) back seemed like too much of a hassle for an inexpensive device,

But now, not even six months after the purchase, the buttons on the front of the machine are unresponsive, it fails to responds to the remote more often than not, and when a disc is placed in it, it completely fails to load the disc and either freezes or shuts off. I have to unplug the machine and re-plug it in and quickly use the remote to turn it on and open the tray in order to retrieve the disc.

The machine was a waste of money and a true example of the expression "you get what you pay for." I cannot, under any circumstances, recommend this device. Very disappointed in Vizio and will *not* buy another Vizio brand blu ray player to replace this piece of garbage.

Mp4 Mp3 Player 2GB 1.8'' LCD with Fm Radio BLACK

• Built in 2GB Memory
• 1.8" TFT LED Screen
• 16 Language Support: English/Chinese/French/Spanish/Portuguese/Russian/German/Italian/Denmark/Dutch/Polish/Swedish/Czech/Japanese/Korean/Thai
• Support MP3, WMA, WMV, ASF, WAV, ASF, ACT Formats
• 7 Preset Equalizers: Natural, Rock, Pop, Classic, Soft, Jazz, DBB
• Support AMV format movie. MPG, MPEG I, MEG II, AVI, MOV, QT etc are convertible to AMV files
• Built-in Photo Viewer, Built-in Voice Recorder, Built-in E-book & Phone Book
• Display ID3 Song Title & Lyrics

It has been extremely frustrating having to discard this

equipment due to malfunction and even worse,

having placed a claim that was the first time

dispatched as a gift, and after replacing it for a

second time (also by malfunctioning) finally the

equipment did not work properly. I lost my money because

the provider does not return the money. I want my money back.

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When I received my MP3 in the mail, I thought it was a small and slim cute thing. The only irritating thing about this MP3 is that you have to access the volume button through the inner circle bottom';when pushing the button to turn it down,it it turns it up and you have to play around in which direct spots to push that'll turn it. The same goes for going through your list if music. Otherwise, it works and plays well. They come with a great quality earplugs.

Read Best Reviews of Mp4 Mp3 Player 2GB 1.8'' LCD with Fm Radio BLACK Here

good product ,100% good product recommended was what I was looking for, in terms of sound quality, as well as good quality pictures

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it didn't really work, looks nothing like the picture, bad quality.

the buttons are not even correct matched with the functions.

It looks NOTHING like the picture, and it can't play any of my music. It's made of really cheap plastic and is an over all piece of crap. Don't be fooled by the price, you get what you pay for!

Sony SLV-D350P - Silver DVD Player / 4-Head VCR

• Combination DVD Player and Hi-Fi VCR - Component/S-Video Output for DVD Player - Progressive Output (480p) for DVD Player
• CD, MP3, and JPEG Playback - 4-Head Hi-Fi Stereo - Auto Head Cleaner
• Flash Rewind: Rewind a T-120 tape in around 60 seconds
• 19 Micron Heads for Optimized EP Recording - Fast/Slow Playback with Sound
• TV Virtual Surround - Coaxial Digital Output - Remote Control

This is a fantastic unit!! I can play DVDs, or can record my tv shows onto the VHS tapes.

Buy Sony SLV-D350P - Silver DVD Player / 4-Head VCR Now

Unit works good. However, some times tape doesn't come out on first try. Other than that I'm satisfied. DVD player is perfect.

Philips DVP5960 DVD Player with HDMI, 1080i Upscaling, DivX Ultra, USB direct

• DivX Ultra 6, Mpeg 4 video
• HDMI, 1080i Upsampling
• USB Connect, plays flash drive files
• Ultra Slim Design. Compatible with both NTSC and PAL.
• Composite and component inputs cables supplied are only for composite no optical out just digital coax

I bought this DVD player in mid May and 3 weeks later with very nominal usage my player just died in the middle of a movie. I had it connected to a top of the line surge protector so the problem was not a power surge. I could not even get the disc out. When I took it back to Circuit City they assured me it was probably just a bad one and gave me a new one. I could have got another brand but for the features and price I could not find one I liked in the store. The new player has worked ok for the last month but it shows some jitters while switching from one HDMI set up mode to another and causes a 'green' screen to display on my plasma. Once I switch it off and then on again it has worked fine but I am prepared to have it die on me in just a few months. I did not notice any substantial improvement in picture using the HDMI cable over the component connection. In fact, if you have a progressive DVD player I doubt that you would notice too much difference in the image quality using this upconverting DVD player. I had it set to the 1080i resolution and also to the 720p and 570p. On some DVDs the 1080i performed better than the other resoulutions but on some others it did not seem to make much of a difference which makes me think that the image quality is very DVD dependent.

The good:

Plays all discs VCDs, CD-RWs, CDs, DVDs, MP3s, Div-X and just about anything that won't play on other DVD players.

It even has a USB connection in the front which you can use to directly plug in a zip drive or another device like a hard drive, although I have not used this feature yet.

The bad:

Remote is not at all user friendly. It is of cheap construction and buttons are not intuitive. I liked my Sony remote much better. Worse, the DVD player is VERY slow to respond to your pressing remote buttons. At times, I have to struggle to get it to respond.

While changing resolutions through DVD player set up it is better not to have a disk playing in the DVD player as that causes errors.

Finally, for the features and price this is a good buy if you have a lot of Div-X, VCD, DVD-RW discs and copies of original DVDs as this player plays them all. However, don't expect this player to be a life-long purchase and cross your fingers and hope you get a good piece when you buy one. In fact, I recommend buying it from a store close to you so that the return is easier.

11/06/06 Update: The player has worked just fine up till now but I hardly use it more than once a week.

11/16/08: This player is still working fine and plays all DVDs and home made movies without any problem. You can also make it region free if you like just Google it. So I stand by my rating.

Buy Philips DVP5960 DVD Player with HDMI, 1080i Upscaling, DivX Ultra, USB direct Now

I bought this after being incredibly satisfied with its pseudo-predecessor, the Philips DVP642 DVD Player. The reasons I loved that player was that it played just about anything I threw at it. I could take DVD's I bought and convert them to DIVX or XVID and play 6 movies, or twenty TV shows on a single disc. It would also happily play all of my mp3's and jpgs I burned to data DVD's and CD's. I don't use the picture functionality much, but it makes for a great slideshow/screensaver.

Anyway, the DVP5960 has all of that functionality and more. Here are the top three reasons I recommend this DVD player and the reason I gave it 5 out of 5 stars:

#1: like it's predecessor, the DVP5960 is cheap. It makes a great birthday, Christmas or wedding present. I've probably bought 6 or 7 of the DVP642's to give away, and will likely do the same for the DVP5960 over the next couple of years.

#2: this sucker plays just about anything you throw at it. The DVP5960 will happily trudge through scratched or non-standard DVD's that other DVD players would scoff at. (Especially the DRM-happy Sony players)

It plays NTSC, PAL, Burned DVD's and CD's, and even burned *DATA* DVD's and CD's which can hold thousands of pictures, hundreds of mp3s, 15-25 television shows or 4-8 movies per DVD (compressed, like in divx or xvid formats.) There is a slew of software which will convert your legally-bought DVD's to these compressed DIVX formats, as well as all kinds of free content you can download off the internet.

I'ts pretty cool to throw in a DVD and watch an entire season of your favorite show without changing the disc. Also, I found that the DVP642 occasionally had problems rendering certain .avi's. The DVP5960 seems to have improved it's codecs and consequently, every video I used to have a problem with plays beautifully on the DVP5960.

#3: This is the coolest feature to me: The USB port. The product literature suggests the USB port is there to hook up mp3 players and cameras, and play mp3's or display pictures from them. As a test, I threw a few .avi video files on a 2 gig USB stick and plugged it in. I was delighted to see the DVP5960 pick up the videos on the stick with absolutely no problems. In fact, it loaded and played them much faster than it read my DVD's.

Next, I took a little external 80 gigabyte hard drive I had, loaded it up with mp3's, jpg's, mpg's and avi files (divx, xvid, etc) and enthusiastically plugged it in. After a few seconds trying to recognize the drive, it displayed "Disk Type Unsupported" on the screen. Doh!

Demoralized, I wondered why the USB stick worked and the external drive did not. The next day I realized the main difference between my external drive and the USB memory stick was the file structure. USB sticks generally default to either the FAT or FAT32 file system. However, Windows XP likes to format drives to NTFS, a proprietary Microsoft file system. In fact, XP will not allow you to format a drive to FAT or FAT32 through it's GUI. It does provide instructions to do so via the command line (start-->run-->'cmd'), but after four hours of formatting my drive to FAT32, it failed. I did some research and found out that although a common misconception is that FAT32 can only format a disk up to 32 gigabytes or so, it can actually support drives up to 2 terrabytes. (2000 gigabytes.)

Do a search for a free program called "fat32format.exe" and run it from the command line on your external USB hard drive. It formatted my 80 gig drive it in about 30 seconds.

After doing this, I loaded up the drive again with mp3's, jpg's and several dozen movies and television shows, crossed my fingers and plugged it into the DVP5960.

I clicked the USB button, waited a few seconds while it tried to recognize the drive, and much to my delight, displayed the full contents of my 80 gig external drive! As I type this, my DVP5960 has been reading videos off that external drive for about 12 hours now. This alone makes this DVD player worth it to me.

As others have said, these drives do seem to break down after a period of heavy use. With the DVP642, I think I heard of two burning out, each running for about two years before they gave out. If you make sure they don't get to hot (provide ventilation) I think you can limit this. But frankly, I am more than willing to pay $70.00 every two years for the broad compatibility and USB functionality this drive provides. And who knows, maybe this new model will have a longer shelf life. Time will tell.

If you're looking for a drive that will run just about anything you throw at it, this is the drive for you. I have messed with many, many DVD drives, and I simply cannot recommend this drive enough.

Read Best Reviews of Philips DVP5960 DVD Player with HDMI, 1080i Upscaling, DivX Ultra, USB direct Here

USB:

The primary reason I bought this DVD player was because of its ability to play off USB devices. The specs indicate it will read jpegs, MP3s, and WMAs off a USB flash drive. It will also read off a FAT32-formatted external hard drive as long as it is externally powered and it will also play divx/xvid from USB. I'm using a 250GB Seagate HDD inside a (warranty-voided) Maxtor enclosure. The divx/xvid playback works perfectly and no stuttering. The interface for the USB is pretty bad though. It will only give you 8 characters of the filename and only 4 filenames at a time.

DVD Playback:

No issues, but I wouldn't recommend this player if your only using this for DVD Playback. One should take advantage of the divx/xvid and USB capabilities, otherwise, why buy this? Some people have complained about lack of DTS decoding, but the vast majority of the public are fine w/Dolby Digital. It's a $80 machine after all. Like many DVD players, there's a region free hack (google it!) I don't have a very good TV and can only use composite, so I can't comment on the upscaling.

Remote Control:

I need to point the remote directly at the player to get it to work. The buttons you use the most (up,down,left,right,enter) are near the top where your thumb should land. Left/Right double as RW/FF when applicable and run at 2/4/8/16/32x which works on divx/xvid as well as dvd. The "enter" button is a huge 0.5inch diameter circle. Play/Pause/Stop/Next/Back are right underneath and also "thumb accessible". Would have liked a backlight though. There is no volume amplifier, so you will need at least 2-3 remotes (TV/DVD Player/Sound System). Overall, I'm happy with it.

Overall Impressions:

You get alot for $80. It is a steal if you're using the USB to play divx/xvid, something that only a fraction of DVD players can do. And those that do are generally international players. Bad USB interface though. No complaints w/DVD player. Not much to say about it other than you can do a region-free hack. Even though the remote has bad response, I like the fact that all the commonly used buttons are all around the thumb area and the buttons I use the most are bigger.

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I love my Philips 642 (which I use with the bedroom TV) and since my Zenith player in the living room was giving me trouble I thought I'd try this model. Sadly, it's gonna go back -

GOOD POINTS

Great picture quality. I haven't tried the upscale feature. My HD set only has DVI and I don't feel like buying an adapter, especially since (supposedly) the HDMI output on the player cuts off the coax digital audio output if you use it. Groovy if you've got a HDMI amp you can snake it to, I don't.

Hackable. Simple to turn off the region code and play PAL discs, and the PAL conversion is the best I've seen, even better than the 642. Very nice if you have import discs.

MP3 playback supports DVD mp3 discs, and sounds GREAT. The menu is a bit crude (like almost every DVD player is when it comes to mp3) but better than most. It at least displays the bitrate and total files in folder. It also allows you (via the "display" button) to select single, shuffle, folder and repeat folder options. That is an EXTREMELY nice option, since most of the time I only want to hear one folder (album) and damn near no other player I've come across features this.

I haven't messed much with the DivX playback, but the little I did worked fine.

CONS

Audio occasionally mutes on my burned DVD-Rs and RWs. BIG drag. This may just be a defect with this particular machine, and I'll try another before giving up on this model. Otherwise it doesn't seem to have any problems reading them.

Biggest complaint NO DTS OUTPUT. WTF?? Even the cheapest chinese throwaway players offer this. I don't have a HUGE collection of discs with DTS, but enough to make this a BIG drawback (since I happen to prefer DTS when available). Don't know what they were thinking with that one.

Oh, and the remote is pretty lame . . . . not as bad as the 642 but still cheap and awkward.

If the above drawbacks aren't dealbreakers I'd say go for it. For an under $100 player it's got a lot of nice qualities.

When shopping for a new DVD player I felt this Amazon page was lacking some vital information. Here is more information from the Phillips brochure.:

DVD Player with Video Upscaling up to 1080i

HDMI DivX

Picture/Display

*Aspect ratio: 4:3, 16:9

*D/A converter: 12 bit, 108 MHz

*Picture enhancement: High Def (720p, 1080i), Progressive Scan, Smart Picture, Video upsampling, Video upscaling

Sound

*D/A converter: 24 bit, 192 kHz

*Signal to noise ratio: 90

*Distortion and Noise (1kHz): 65 dB

*Crosstalk (1kHz): 70 dB

*Dynamic Range (1kHz): 80 dB

*Sound System: Dolby Digital

*Frequency response: 30-20000 Hz

Video Playback

*Playback Media: CD, CD-R/CD-RW, Video CD/SVCD, DVD, DivX, DVD+R/+RW, DVD-R/-RW

*Compression formats: MPEG1, MPEG2, DivX 3.11, DivX 4.x, DivX 5.x, DivX 6.0, DivX Ultra

*Video disc playback system: NTSC, PAL

Audio Playback

*Playback Media: CD, MP3-CD, MP3-DVD, CD-R/RW, WMA-CD

*Compression format: Dolby Digital, MP3, PCM, WMA

*MP3 bit rates: 32 256 kbps

Still Picture Playback

*Playback Media: DVD+R/+RW, DVD-R/-RW, CD-R/RW, Picture CD, Kodak Picture CD

*Picture compression format: JPEG

*Picture enhancement: Flip photos, Rotate, Zoom, Slideshow with MP3 playback, High Definition Resolution

Multimedia Applications

*Multimedia connections: USB memory class device

*Playback Formats: DivX, MP3, JPEG Still pictures

Connectivity

*Rear Connections: Analog audio Left/Right out, Composite video (CVBS) output, HDMI output, Digital coaxial out, ComponentVideo out Progressive

Convenience

*Child Protection: Parental Control, Child Lock

*On-Screen Display languages: English, Mexican Spanish, Canadian French

Accessories

*Included Accessories: 2 x AAA Batteries, Audio/Video cable, Quick start guide, Remote Control, World Wide Warranty leaflet, User Manual, Product Registration Card

Dimensions

*Set dimensions (W x H x D): 435 x 37 x 235 mm

*Packaging dimensions (W x H x D): 490 x 82 x 320 mm

Power

*Power supply: 120V, 60Hz

*Power consumption: < 10 W

*Standby power consumption: < 0.8 W

*

HDMI for simple AV connection

HDMI stands for High Definition Multimedia Interface. It is a direct digital connection that can carry digital HD video as well as digital multichannel audio. By eliminating the conversion to analog signals it delivers perfect picture and sound quality, completely free from noise. HDMI is fully backward-compatible with (Digital Video Interface) DVI.

Video Upscaling up to 1080i

With Video Upscaling you can increase the resolution of SD (Standard Definition) video signals that DVD uses to HD (High Definition) so you'll be able to see more details thanks to a sharper, more true-to-life picture.The resulting HD video output signal can be fed to an HD display through HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface).

High definition JPEG playback

With High Resolution JPEG playback, you can show up to 2 Megapixel resolution on your Flat TV (FTV). Now you can view your digital pictures in their true resolution, without loss of quality or details.

Progressive Scan

Progressive Scan doubles the vertical resolution of the image resulting in a noticeably sharper picture. Instead of sending a field comprising the odd lines to the screen first, followed by the field with the even lines, both fields are written at one time. A full image is created instantaneously, using the maximum resolution. At such a speed, your eye perceives a sharper picture with no line structure.

Multi-format Movies with DivX

Multi-format playability allows you to play most disc formats for maximum disc compatibility and viewing pleasure.

DivX Ultra certified

DivX Ultra combines DivX playback with great features like integrated subtitles, multiple audio languages, multiple tracks and menus into one convenient file format.

Music: Windows Media(tm) Audio

Multi-format playability allows you to play most disc formats for maximum disc compatibility and listening pleasure.

Picture CD with MP3 Playback

Picture CD is a CD-R or CD-RW disc on which you can store your MP3 and digital pictures. When inserting a Picture CD in the DVD player, a screen menu will pop up, showing your JPEG's and/or MP3 files on the disc. Just select the music and pictures files you wish to enjoy and press play or OK. You can watch your pictures on TV with your music playing simultaneously.