Showing posts with label mp3 recorder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mp3 recorder. Show all posts

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Toshiba SD-2815 5-Disc Slim Design DVD Player

Toshiba SD-2815 5-Disc Slim Design DVD Player
  • 5-DVD/CD changer with MP3 CD and DVD-R playback
  • ColorStream component-video output for ultimate DVD picture quality (when connected with an HD or HD-ready TV)
  • Parallel video output lets you simultaneously feed televisions in different rooms
  • Coaxial and optical digital-audio outputs pass Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound (for use with compatible AV receiver)
  • Offers black-level expansion, multiple picture settings, picture zoom

It was a shame that I had to return this player, I really liked it, but it had a glitch playing DVDs with seamless branching. The playback stuttered with 2 different copies of Terminator 2: UE and The Abyss: SE.

I first discovered the problem when trying to watch T2. When I called Toshiba customer service, they first insisted it was the disc, even though I told them it played fine in my other 5 year old *Toshiba* player, and my XBox. They asked if I could try a different copy of T2:UE, so I tried my father-in-law's copy of T2:UE, and it too stuttered. Then I realized these movies use seamless branching, so I tried the Abyss, and it also stuttered on playback, even froze at some points.

After reporting all this to Toshiba when I called them back, all they did was take my info and said they'd get back to me. 2 weeks later, and I still haven't heard from them. Since they didn't make me feel comfortable about getting the problem fixed under warranty, I'm glad I went ahead and just returned the player right before my 30 day return period ended.

Saturday, November 1, 2014

Sony DVP-S7700 DVD Player

Sony DVP-S7700 DVD Player
  • Component and S-Video outputs
  • Dolby Digital (AC-3) and DTS outputs
  • 10-bit, 27 MHz digital-to-analog video converters
  • 96-kHz/24-bit digital-to-analog audio converters
  • Dual discrete pickups with separate lasers for CD and DVD

This is a great DVD player. Only one problem really: This DVD player only supports 96khz/24bit ANALOG output. It downsamples on the DIGITAL output. Sony did this to prevent piracy.

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The best DVD player I have ever seen. Expensive but worth it! Superb picture and sound quality. Dual discrete lasers. Precision Drive System enables this player to play discs that are warped or otherwise less than perfect. The Quick Access Drive allows very fastvirtually instantaneous access to DVD chapters and CD tracks. Great remote control that glows in the dark. The Sony is vastly superior to the Panasonic DVD player I also (unfortunately) own.

Read Best Reviews of Sony DVP-S7700 DVD Player Here

There are many similar purchasers of the Sony S7700 that are extremely disappointed in the sound quality of this unit and have had another piece of equipment previously who's audio was far superior and cost less money. For example, my previous player was a Sony S-530D which had within 6 months lip-sync problems, an audio that would periodically cutout, and a picture that froze and broke-up into pixels (similar to satellite broadcast problems), however, its' audio was excellent when it worked. Now that I have moved to the top-of-the-line in Sony DVD players, I am again disappointed and am of the opinion that they can not make a quality product that is complete. Thus far, I have contacted Sony to see if they are willing to do anything about the situation and to determine if the reported down-sampling of the digital output from 97 MHz to 48 MHz is the cause for the poor sound quality or, if not, whether they will do something about this issue. At this point I am not very optimistic about Sony satisfactorily addressing this issue and offering a fix via a service center. Unfortunately, out of all the buyers who have this same issue and want good sound quality, none have posted results of pursuing the down-sampling fix by MSB to address this issue-does it work or is it something else. This unit was supposedly designed to be a top quality audio player since it has dual discrete pickups with separate lasers for CD and DVD at the optimal frequencies, however, the audio output is dismal at best for both. If I were the manufacturer of this product, I would be so embarrassed about my top-of-the-line product, I would move heaven and earth to rectify this issue, we can only assume that they are either incapable or don't care.

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I set out to purchase a DVD player to complement my already in place home theater setup. I previously had a second generation, yet ~2 year old Panasonic DVD player with the DTS output. I finally found a dealer with the S7700 in stock and bought it. Once installed, I was thoroughly impressed with everything but the sound. I purchased, along with the player, a 36" Sony XBR WEGA TV, and, as expected, the picture quality was incredible. Unfortunately, I soon realized that I had a problem on my hands. After connecting the player into my sound equipment, there was something missing. The sound on my older player was much better than the Sony. Caveat emptor: If you are looking for a top-of-the-line player, purchase the DVP-S7700. It's ease of use and picture quality are great. If you have already invested a lot of money into a sound system that works great with your current player, beware... you are in for disappointment.

After exhaustive comparisons with the best DVD players out there, only one player could deliver the goods, with no digital artifacts, fastest and smoothest scanning, and for anamorphic widescreen, the chosen format for today and the future, the Sony DVP-7700 is the absolute reference. Not even players at twice the price could reproduce home theater sound without harshness, and bring all the dynamics and excitment like the Sony DVD player. This was well spent money, and defining what I want out of DVD.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

DX-P7DVD 7 Inch Portable DVD Player

DX-P7DVD 7 Inch Portable DVD Player
  • 7-inch Dynex DX-PDVD7A Widescreen Portable DVD Player General Features: Silver color Region 1
  • 7-inch widescreen color display 480 x 234 display format 16:9 aspect ratio Dual stereo speakers
  • Zoom feature MP3 digital decoder Built-in headphone jack
  • Built-in NiMH rechargeable battery with 2.5 hours of battery life Supported Media: DVD DVD+RW

Per the other review, mine also did not hold a charge very well. However, given that issue, it works quite well when plugged into either the wall outlet or the 12v car jack. Screen is good, controls are easy and user-friendly even if you're in a darkened room. It played factory DVDs as well as my backup copies without problems.

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I have two players, a Sony and this Dynex. I wouldn't recommend the Dynex for battery operation. The battery on mine won't hold any charge. It works fine as long as I plug it in to an AC outlet. I've tried charging it for a full day and it won't hold a charge. If you're looking for one that operates on batteries, I recommend you check out the Sony players. Sony DVP-FX930 9-Inch Portable DVD Player, Black

Read Best Reviews of DX-P7DVD 7 Inch Portable DVD Player Here

Don't buy it unless you plan on throwing it away after the battery no longer holds a charge. After about six months one of two units bought holds no charge at all and the other is weak and dying. It works fine plugged in, but that's it. Won't buy another.

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Purchased one the other day. Plugged it in to the adapter because the battery portion did not work. Played fine, for about 5 minutes, then made a noise like it was shorting out and QUIT ! Half a minute later it came back on... but for only about a half minute then made the shorting out sound again and quit again. This continued several times until I finally got tired of it and pulled the plug. Anyone want to buy this real cheap ? Make a good paper weight.

Well I recieve the item I order & it workers but the seller is rude & dont want to help the people that but his stuff he wont have to worry about me buying anything else from him for now on Have a great day & a great life thank you for the dvd player.

Friday, September 12, 2014

Bescor Motorized Pan Head 50' Extension Cord

Bescor Motorized Pan Head 50' Extension Cordi found you can put 4 together to get 200 feet, it's a little slower but it works, just thought i'ld let people know in case your wondering

Not much to say it's a 50' cord, it works, and is well made. What more do you need from a couple of connectors and cable?

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Have 3 of these for pan heads not sure why the head does not come with a longer cord. If I was only going to be 3 feet away I would not need a motor but these cords make it nice I was able to have 1 camera in the front about 100' away and the sencond in the back of the room about 25 feet from my control station.

Read Best Reviews of Bescor Motorized Pan Head 50' Extension Cord Here

Not much to say...it's a really long cord. It works, and is a great companion for a remote camera installation.

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My husband LOVES this. It works great! Definitely something we would purchase again. We needed the extra length to put the camera up high at the football field.

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Creative MuVo Slim 256 MB MP3 Player Black

Creative MuVo Slim 256 MB MP3 Player Black
  • 256 MB holds up to 8 hours WMA or 4 hours MP3 music
  • Super Fast USB 2.0 transfers music and data up to 40x faster than USB 1.1
  • Built-in FM and FM recorder with 32 presets
  • Built-in microphone for easy voice recording
  • Compatible with Windows 98SE, 2000, Me, and XP

After having a Memorex mp3 player die on me in the 4th month, I read a lot of reviews and the Muvo series seemed to get top marks for performance and reliability. The Muvo Slim even got the top recommendation from a prestigious Consumer technology-review site. One of the best things about it is the lithium ion rechargeable battery, which even recharges quickly through the USB port. I went through a lot of batteries before. Even if your mp3 player gets 10 hours on one battery, if you work out or walk to the bus stop every day, that can mean 1 battery per week -that starts adding up quickly, believe me!

I ended up going for the Muvo Micro instead, but that's only because it has an arm band, and I go running. I actually like the credit card shape of the Slim better, and it fits excellently in a top pocket. But I finally got my hands on one in person, and I noticed that the nice leather case doesn't have a place for a belt clip or strap, so even if I had created my own arm strap, there was no place to guide it through.

Hope this helps someone else who was thinking the same thing.

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I just got mine out of the box and fooled around with it for a couple of hours. I honestly did not know they made stuff this cool. No it can't hold a week's worth of continous play like an I-pod, but then again it's about three hundred dollars cheaper. The recording mic. works well and you can record stuff off the radio. And it's so damn small. I am completely and utterly satisfied, so satisfied that I decided to sit down and write this review at 1:00 in the morning. If you've even thought about getting an MP3 player, this one is great.

Second Review: This review is written about five months after the above review. I'm responding to some of the negative reviews here listed about the muvo slim. I'm sorry it didn't work out for you guys, but as far as I'm concerned, the muvo slim is still the best MP3 device available for under $100. I am an avid skateboarder. I've taken about five good slams while using my muvo (one time landing more or less directly on top of it) and it's never had the slightest problem. I don't think I'd run over it with a car, but it's pretty tough. Battery life is still very good and it has never malfunctioned at all for me. I love it.

Read Best Reviews of Creative MuVo Slim 256 MB MP3 Player Black Here

I think I have taken a good decission in buying this product. After searching over the net for a month, I choose this compact MP3 player as the best one and after using it over a month now, I found it to be the ultimate one when I compare this with other MP3 players those my friends are using.

It gives a harmony sound effect, no need to go for another ear piece. The voice recoding is excellent. I recorded so many songs and sent those to my friends and they couldn't believe that the voice is so much clear when I told them it is recorded by a mp3 player. They felt like I am singing infront of them. Lookwise, it is very nice and very handy for travel purpose. I also carry it with me whenever I go for a meeting. The download is very fast, only you need to attach the cable to the USB port.I don't see any disadvantage of this item. Worth buying it if you are a music freakout person. This item is for someone who loves music and listens to the soft voice. Also, it is one of the best gift items you can think of.

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A great purchase. I bought it about a month ago, and it still works great. The equalizer allowed me to make the crunchy guitars in my music well...crunchier. The radio was pretty good too. It doesn't have AM, but who listens to AM anyway? The voice recorder is EXTREMELY handy, Especially for people without microphones on their computers, seeing as how this thing comes with one of the fastest ways of file transfering out there. Simply amazing. The quality is second only to my 6 speaker car stereo. If you do choose to buy this, I would recommend that you buy a pair of headsets to go with it. The included ones are very fragile, and constantly fall out of my ears.

Have owned many MP3 players over the years, this is by far the best, and the lowest cost. Battery charges quick (though the latch to close it is poorly designed, hope it does not break) with USB port to computer, I found the radio stations to be clear, and the size and shape is ideal for the exercise club. Not much to add to other reviews other than I use with Audible.com, and the download speed was very fast. What really made this a great unit is the fast forward button, which I did not expect it to have. You can listen to recordings, and if you miss something, go back and relisten to any section easily. Other MP3 players can stop, and start at same spot you left off, but here it is like a tape player. I record off of my PC webcasts and other events, and they download perfectly into this unit. So, in one unit, can listen to music, radio, books, or recordings. Only thing I would want more is satellite radio!

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

SVAT GX5400 Wireless Indoor Nightvision DVR Monitoring System

SVAT GX5400 Wireless Indoor Nightvision DVR Monitoring SystemI got this after reading another review that doesn't appear anymore? They stated they got their neigbors wireless camera from next door. I can see my neigbors (signal comes and goes) from about 200' down the street in my house so I'm impressed. Mine can flip thru the 4 standard 2gig frequencies and record. I haven't been able to play with the motion sensor part. You have to use the menu to format the CF card (memory) and my old spare 16mb card will only record 1 min on high def so a large 2,4 gig card would be handy. You can get audio if the cam has it and adjust the volume from off to high which is nice. I got mine used from shoptronics, it was perfect and shipping was quick. I have a router and it hasn't interfered so far.

Hi, we got this camera to see any action on our driveway. It took a couple of hours to figure out the exact set-up, with one call to SVAT(which was returned promptly), and a bit of tweeking, but in the end we are happy with it. Crystal clear during the day, great reception. At night, not sure if it's because we have sensor lights on, but you definitely couldn't make out "who" was walking up to the door. You could see the car, not the plate number, and tell there was someone, but that's it. We haven't turned the sensor lights off to see if that works better. At first it was filming non-stop and running out of memory on the card within a few hours, but after setting the quality and sensor properly, we have it working perfectly. Good camera for the price.

Buy SVAT GX5400 Wireless Indoor Nightvision DVR Monitoring System Now

This concept of this product is what I wanted but after using, there are two major issues I encountered.

1. If you have a wireless network in your home, it knocks it off. Could not figure why my WiFi (N) was going down. After unplugging the camera, my WiFi came back up. Did it several time to be sure. It was definitely the transmitter on the camera. My wireless home network is "N", not sure if this problem will be the same for the B/G wireless networks.

2. The second issue i had was after turning the power on for the DVR and press "Record" I have to format the memory card every time. So if you have recording that you want to save, you will have to use a different memory card.

The system works OK but if you can deal with the two issues above, it will work for you.

Hopes this helps with your purchase.

Thanks

Read Best Reviews of SVAT GX5400 Wireless Indoor Nightvision DVR Monitoring System Here

Sunday, July 6, 2014

Memorex Digital Voice Recorder

Memorex Digital Voice RecorderGood product, but has no power button. On standby always with display active. Have to take batteries out when not used of long time.

The recorder arrived very promptly, but it is engineered to keep running as long as the batteries are left within it. In other words, it is necessary to remove them every time I anticipate a long lapse between uses. This problem should be dealt with in designing the next version of this product.

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I purchased two recorders to be used by my 87-year old visually impaired friend so she could record notes and things she wanted to remember since she can no longer write legibly. I then transcribe the notes for her and while I am doing this for her, she has the second one to use until I see her again. It works out well my only problem is that I cannot "pause" while listening and then start up again where I left off. It always goes back to the beginning of the message.

Read Best Reviews of Memorex Digital Voice Recorder Here

The sound quality isn't the greatest, and you cant connect it to the computer to transfer the files. as a result u have to delete the files every week to make up room. Buts its cheap and it has different files to use for different class.

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Buyer beware. If it's cheap, it's cheap. First let me say that I did not purchase this through Amazon as I had an immediate need and could not wait. It was the only unit I could obtain locally. Battery life zero. You cannot fast forward...nothing like listening to an all day meeting all over again just to pick up a few key points...If you accidently stop it rather than pause it, you go back to the beginning! No thought went into this unit.

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Monday, June 23, 2014

GE DV1-GG Waterproof/Shockproof 1080P Pocket Video Camera (Graphite Gray)

GE DV1-GG Waterproof/Shockproof 1080P Pocket Video CameraI'm giving this camera 5 stars, not because it takes the best pictures of any camera I've seen, and not because it has more features than any camera I've ever owned, but because this camera survived surfing, snorkeling, a dusty ride on the back of an ATV, and being dropped from a zip-line in the mountains of Costa Rica (take a look at the video that was taken immediately after it was retrieved). For less than a hundred bucks I would not expect any camera, waterproof or not, to survive even half the activities I made this bad boy a part of.

As far as the camera itself, it takes decent pics in good light. It does not have a flash, so you won't get much out of it if used at night or in a dark room, but with the sun is shining and the picture taker facing the right direction, you can snap some really high-quality photos with this sucker. I got some amazing shots that my Canon Elph has yet to shoot.

The user interface is a little confusing to figure out because at first it looks a bit complicated with a bunch of icons on the screen, until you realize that it's really just a basic point and shoot camera and the icons are just there to let you know what you are working with (how many minutes you've been recording or what your zoom level is, for example).

It comes with a little bit of internal memory, but I recommend you pick yourself up a SD card with a decent amount of memory so that you don't have to constantly be transferring pics. If you're planning an long, active trip somewhere, the last thing you want is your SD card running out of memory right as soon as things start to get exciting (speaking from experience).

It takes really good video/pics underwater. And being underwater does not change or affect the mechanical functioning of the camera from my experience. I took more pics and videos underwater and diving into heavy waves in the ocean than I took in a dry environment. And the camera still works as good as it did the first day I got it.

I will continue to use this camera for all active outdoor photos until it can't take any more. And then I will probably buy another.

EDIT: Please note that the video that is part of this review is of much higher quality when watched straight from the memory card. Although it uploaded at poor resolution here and appears grainy and somewhat pixelated, the video is actually crystal clear you can even see the ocean in the distance beyond the mountains. This camera produces much better picture and video quality than meets the eye!

I read loads of reviews for this type of HD cam and was all set to get the kodak playsport, but I was lucky enough to be able to test several, in my local electronics shop. This one is by far the best quality in my view, in not only movie quality but sound and still's. The feture I like best is while your taking movie, you just hit the camera icon and it takes a real good quality photo without disturbing your movie and saves it sepately. I read in some reviews of other brands that there good outside but rubbish inside, not this one, takes movie and stills inside just as good. The only problem I have is that my PC finds it hard to keep up, so I have to render it to a smaller avi size to convert to dvd, not a problem for me as I love doing stuff like that. P.S the sound quality is great as well, I'm well chuffed with my purchase.

P.P.S I use a 4gig sdhc class 4 card and it works great at all resalutions.

Buy GE DV1-GG Waterproof/Shockproof 1080P Pocket Video Camera (Graphite Gray) Now



Amazing little camera. It is waterproof. I took it in the shower. Strong water stream and moderately hot water. I found one tiny drop in the USB area. Then I went swimming in the pool and took video and stills under water to a depth of 3 feet. No water found in either the USB or SD card area. Then I took it kayak fishing and sailing in saltwater. Never dunked the camera in the saltwater but it did get splashed and handled with wet hands.

The camera saves video as .MOV files and stills as standard .JPG files. My camera with an 8gig SD card shows about 2 hours and 20 minutes of video record time (720p @ 30 frames per second). The manual gives just the basic functions and was not clear how to charge the camera. Had to figure how to spring open the USB port. The USB charging cable is only about 15" long.

The under water video and stills are amazingly good with bright sunlight in clear pool water. Your not going to win any photo contest with this camera. With the fixed focus 2.8f lens, sharp focus isn't the camera's strong point, but good enough for 4x6 prints with good light. This camera need lots of light. You'll be disappointed in the video of your 80 yr old grandmother blowing out 80 candles. I said fixed focus lens, I should mention fixed zoom lens. It has digital zoom. What a joke. Don't even thing of using the digital zoom. A noisy, unsharp mess in both the video and stills with digital zooming. If you need to zoom, use the professional photographers tip, "Zoom with your feet" get closer.

I am happy with my purchase. I bought it to use on my kayak in wet conditions. Considering the price of other waterproof point and shoot cameras, it's a great bargain.

Read Best Reviews of GE DV1-GG Waterproof/Shockproof 1080P Pocket Video Camera (Graphite Gray) Here

I really like this camera as soon as i got it it's a great size fits in the palm of the hand very nicely, looks like a mobile phone people keep asking me if it is a mobile.

Well built or so it seems so far tested in the pool, has sturdy rubber waterproof seals the battery life is pretty decent also as the screen is no bigger than a nokia E72 lasts long enough with a good power save function when not in use.

Not sure if i'm a fan of the USB interface ... click out the USB connector and plug it in directly to a port! i'm always paranoid i'll damage it so i tend to use the supplied extension cable to charge and transfer pics which can be slow when u have HD res movies...

Doesn't shoot on motion or sound detect which would be a cool feature to have. actually this camera is relatively featureless but makes up for it with simple user interface and control.

Movie quality is very good a clean the best i've seen underwater with good low light conditions has a zoom function which is rather slow but useful.

Camera does not take good still any closer than 1 meter at least.

it's also very wide screen so make sure you shoot this thing the right way up or it will just look odd.

Easy to scratch the surface be careful to keep it in a pouch or it'll be looking shabby in no time ... black surround on the back comes off easily.

Apart from that ... one of the best around buy buy buy

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I was a little nervous about buying this camera since it's so new and very little has been written about it. But I'm glad I did. The camera is easy to use, has good battery life, and takes great pictures and videos. I really like that the memory is expandable unlike other palm camcorders.

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Monday, April 14, 2014

Sharp Aquos LC46D64U 46-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

Sharp Aquos LC46D64U 46-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV
  • 46" HDTV LCD-TV with Full HD 1080p resolution
  • 10,000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio
  • 4ms Response Time
  • Feature at least two HDMI inputs, a PC input
  • RS-232C Input for control

If you want a 46" HDTV, buy this one!

I had a Sharp LC42D62U and then upgraded to the LC46D64U recently; the original LCD was great but there are several improvements made to the new 64 series. The 64 series LCD's are incredibly slim and have a smaller bezel. They really look awesome wall-mounted due to the small profile. No other LCD is currently available that is this slim and has this picture quality. The 64 series TV's also add several tone and picture corrections, an analog PC input, a USB 2.0 port for firmware upgrades, an RS-232 control port and three HDMI 1.3 inputs. The picture quality actually seems to be slightly better which is amazing because the 62 series looked fantastic (specifications indicate a better backlight system).

I am a professional AV systems design engineer and part of my job is to keep up on new TVs. This unit is currently the best we've seen for a consumer model and we specify it all the time. I highly recommend this unit or any of the 64 series.

Buy Sharp Aquos LC46D64U 46-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV Now

Compared to Samsung 1080p with tons of reviews and which I returned simply because of lack of picture formats this TV rocks.

In short, Samsung provide you with great and bright LCD panels but with zero technology. so a letterbox directtv movie on a 32 inch Samsung will be actually 22" viewing area on the screen. Try to use the picture formats such as wide and zoom and you get blurry and distorted picture which is to me impossible to view. This is were Sharp step up with it's technology. Picture formats are all viewable so you can super stretch a 4:3 picture without almost any distortion. The only con is lack of brightness (450 nits compare to 500-550 in other popular LCDs) but the blacks are superior. You can increase the brightness by playing with the contrast to full but then it is not like the Samsung whites but less eye soaring. I found that the Samsung brightness is great but after a while watching it sores on your eyes and the Sharp auto dimming feature is great for movies and it is fully controlled by the user.

Aside to that, this TV is probably the thinnest and idle for hanging on the wall. The connections on the back are extremely well thought after for wall hanging. It seems that what people complaint about in the previous models in series 62U is now fully addressed in the 64U.

I am perfectionist and recommend this TV. Most of my comparisons were for regular directtv broadcast.

HDTV and DVDs shows naturally prefect. The colors are well defined as oppose to Samsung and you have tons of options to program it to your taste. Sound from these little speakers is the best comparing to not a few LCDs I had. Very well done!

It needed 2-3 days to break-in and some customization. It is professional TV for professional users but very user friendly and within no time anybody can easily program the brightness, contrast, color and other cool features to its liking. This TV is also ready for the future and I find the 46" great size and very well balanced.

Read Best Reviews of Sharp Aquos LC46D64U 46-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV Here

I bought this Tv on Balck Friday at Best Buy at 50%. I didn't stand in line for 2 days but i went to check out if anything was left at 7AM.

I needed to buy HDTV only so i went straight there. I saw this TV up on the wall and right next to it was Samsung 46"@ $2200+ and this was reduced to $1399. I compared these 2 & Sony(3rd in line). This won me over as i found Shark's eye(Video being played) was richest Black on this TV then Samsung & Sony.

Its beautifull to look at.

Got it at home now installed & running for more than a week.

I hooked it up to my PS3 with 3Pin cable and results were amazing .. I ordered HDMI cable 2 days back and can't wait to check out the picture with HDMI connection.

PROS:

1. Price, BEAUTIFUL & sleek finish with silver speakers at bottom.

2. Picture Qaulity is SHARP & rich. Colours are Vivid, BLACK is Deep black.

3. Easy to setup, thin like 4 pancakes, stcaked.

4. Regular DVDs/Video games look alive on this TV.

5. Tons of HDMI & other connectivty ports.

CONS:

1. Remote is too big.

2. Caliberation is not easy to do & i could find much help online as well.

3. I'm skeptical about Banding Issues(as i have read it all over the net for this TV) Although I've not seen any yet but i'm afraid it might show up on any fine day.

4. TV Speakers are disappointment.

Overall I'm very PLEASED with this product. I recommend this to anyone who's looking to buy a Great 1080P 46 inches TV.

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This TV has pretty good picture quality, a slick design, and intuitive menu, however all this is ruined by a major design flaw -BANDING. Google "sharp acquos banding" is you don't know what I'm referring to. It's basically horizontal and vertical bands of uneven uniformity on the screen. Shows itself the most during panning shots (hockey games, wall pans on HGTV, etc., etc.) It's too bad, because I really liked this TV, but the banding ruined it and I ended up returning it. Bought the Samsung 46A550 instead and it is by far a much better set. (And cheaper too through Amazon.)

I had always spent the extra money on buying TV's with the Sony models. Sony TV's for me had always been great. I decided to go with Sharp because I knew this TV was going to be on sale at a brick and mortar store for Black Friday and wanted to save money this go around. So I went to the store to check out the TV before the sale to see if it would be worth getting up early. After conversing with the sales person and seeing the picture and comparing the picture to the other TV's there it was a no-brainer. I probably would have paid more for this TV. It is awesome. I play playstation 3 games in 1080p and blue ray dvd's and what a picture. Its awesome. The sales guy actually talked up the Sharp which was less expensive than the Samsung and LG tv's. You can't go wrong with this TV.

Friday, April 4, 2014

Apex AD-1225 DVD Player

Apex AD-1225 DVD Player
  • Slim, single-disc DVD player with mid-sized silver chassis
  • Plays MP3 and WMA CDs, JPEG and Kodak picture CDs
  • Component-, composite-, and S-video accommodate a wide range of TVs
  • Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1-channel digital output (for immersive surround sound when used with a compatible AV receiver)
  • Includes Apex Full-screen Function for viewing widescreen movies

I've owned about 6 DVD players, the last one being an AD-1100W (which is still going strong), and needed another so I picked up an AD-1225.. so far it has really impressed me. The menus, particularly the setup and MP3 playing menus, are much nicer aesthetically than on the 1100W, and quality of both picture and sound seems superior. Component video output, BOTH coaxial and optical digital audio outs, a greatly improved remote over earlier ones (no more SHIFT key for navigating menus!), WMA playback and a host of other improvements.

I have to assume that the reviewers who had serious problems with this player simply were unlucky maybe Apex has some quality control issues, but in this day and age returning a unit for another one is usually a piece of cake, and nobody else has anything near as good as this for the price of two or three movies on DVD!

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We got the APEX AD-1225 for Christmas and haven't had that many problems with it. However I discovered that it is selective in the DVD's it chooses to play. We borrowed The Incredibles from a neighbor and it it wouldn't play past the FBI Warning. Thinking it was something wrong with their DVD, we went to the Rental Store and rented The Incredibles. It did the same exact thing. After much research on the computer, I found out that it turns out that some specific kinds of DVD's do not play on the APEX AD-1225. How very disappointing... When you rent or buy a DVD, you assume that it will work in every DVD player but it appears that the creators of DVD players don't always design their players to read all DVD's. My advice is this: If you're in the market for a DVD player, do your research before buying. Don't waste you're money or gift money in this case on a DVD Player that is selective in what it plays.

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I just purchased this product at Sears at a very, very low price for my daughter. It never did recognize the disc. It just kept saying "loading" after we put the disc in. We tried it several times. We will exchange it for another one. Hopefully it will work.

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DVD player was deffective right out of the box. On certain DVD's, it would make this awful sound (sounded like it was going to blow up) and the DVD would freeze up. After a couple seconds, it would start up again. Immediatley took it back and switched brands. I realized after reading reviews that I wasn't the only one who had trouble.

I recently had to return a DVD rental because I thought I had been given a defective disk. The movie played in the AD 1225 for about an hour and then seized up and wouldn't go any further. I took the DVD out of the tray and it looked like someone streaked it with a cigarette lighter. So I sent that back and plopped in a new one. Same thing happened: after an hour, it froze. Same kind of burn streak running across the disc.

I'm considering tracking down a copy of "From Justin to Kelly" just to make absolutely sure the machine eats discs. But no way will I play a movie I actually want to see the end of!

Thursday, April 3, 2014

ION Audio VCR 2 PC USB VHS Video to Computer Converter

ION Audio VCR 2 PC USB VHS Video to Computer ConverterI purchased this unit after trying various other methods of getting my old family VHS tapes onto my computer to make DVD's. I was not happy with anything I had tried so this was my last resort. Truthfully, I hated to spend the $ on another VCR. I read the reviews on this product after I purchased it and immediately second-guessed my reasons for purchasing. I planned to return it due to the dismal reviews but it ended up sitting in the box for a month. Finally I decided I might as well try it. I'm so glad I did!

This product is easy to use out of the box. Plug it into the wall, plug the USB into the computer, install the software, put in a tape and press record. I like that you can leave it recording and go do something else. I found the software installation very quick and easy. The documentation with the unit is not very detailed but it is a very simple program to figure out. I like that you can edit the video within the program before burning to DVD. I like that it saves the files onto computer in JPEG files so I can further edit and play with them in MovieMaker or another program. This unit/program can not be faulted for poor quality from old VHS tapes. I feel that some reviewers blame this unit for that. I have not yet tried this with my vhs-c tapes and adapter. If any problems are encountered I will report.

The software burns DVD's very nicely, has a menu format and different choices of menu designs. It also will print DVD jewel case inserts to match. Someone's review also seemed to blame this unit for their machine not having enough memory for video. It's fairly common knowledge that video eats up memory. Each of my 2 hr. vhs tapes is hogging up to 4 GB's on my harddrive. My solution was to purchase a portable external hard drive that I will put all family video on and that takes care of that!

I've had no problems with dropped frames but do occasionally have some problems with tracking that I feel are not the fault of this machine but due to the fact that most of my tapes are a quarter of a century old! The only fault I can find so far with this unit is that the tracking buttons don't make much difference in quality when I do have a problem. During these times, I take the tape and put in another VCR in my house and tweak it as much as I can. I expect to lose some video after all this time in storage and so far, out of 15 tapes, I'd say I've only had to edit out about 15 minutes due to tracking problems.

This unit, in my opinion, has already paid for itself. The cost of someone else converting these was expensive. I am very happy with this product; it's doing exactly what I needed it to do!

Update: All vhs tapes copied fine to pc. I then moved onto vhs-c and mini-dv tapes. I did not use the adapters and instead used the cables that came with each camera. I used the video cameras as the vcr to play the tapes and then ran them through the Ion VCR 2 PC. (The video and audio cables plug easily into the front of the unit) Set the tape/other switch to other and you're good to go. Everything went off without a hitch. I am very happy with this machine and the software. The instructional manual can be accessed while running the program by pressing the F1 key on your keyboard. This is very helpful with the software.

just finished my first VHS Tape to MPEG conversion with the VCR2PC and it couldn't have been easier. the only issue i ran into was installing it on Windows 7 x64 because the driver on the CD isn't digitally signed. however, you go to the site and under documentation & downloads i got the instructions on how to update the driver and the digitally signed driver for x86/x64 XP/Vista/7

the video and audio quality was an exact replica of the original tape.

here are the steps i took:

1. plug VCR2PC into outlet

2. insert cd into PC

3. plug usb cable into PC and VCR2PC

3.a at this point it should have auto installed but i just got a message box in the tray that said your hardware was not installed correctly.

3.b i went to Device Manager and there a yellow exclamation on VCR2PC, i right clicked on it, updated the driver and pointed to the CD

3.c the driver installed successfully but Windows Vista/7 x64 disabled the driver because it was not digitally signed by the publisher

3.d i went to www.ion-audio.com/vcr2pc click on Documents & Downloads and downloaded the following:

3.d.1 VCR 2 PC NTSC Hardware Driver [v1.43.07.50]

3.d.2 VCR 2 PC Driver Update Instructions

3.e i unzipped the NTSC Hardware Driver zip file to a temp folder C:\Temp

3.f i went back to Device Manager right clicked on VCR2PC and updated the driver again this time pointing to C:\Temp

4. from the CD i ran the setup file on the root of the CD and ran the default settings

5. i opened EZ VHS Converter (ArcSoft product, excellent software package that is compatible with Media Center remotes)

5.a i got an error that said there is a problem with my sound device, i ignored this error

6. i put in Rush Hour VHS tape which wasn't rewound so it started automatically in the middle. i got audio perfectly and in sync so i figured the error about the sound device wasn't worth looking into

6.a i rewound the tape and played from the beginning

7. the movie box says approx 97 minutes so i set EZ VHS Converter to record for 1 hour 40 minutes

8. when the tape got to the point where i wanted to start the recording i just clicked Record

8.a 1 hour and 40 minutes later i had my MPEG version of my VHS in my Videos folder. (My Documents/My Videos)

you can also set it to record for more time and just click Record/Stop to manually adjust the length of recording time.

there is also a check box you can check for automatically creating a DVD.

the 1 hour 40 minutes converted to a 2.94GB MPEG.

it also has composite out and single channel audio out so it can double as a standard DVD player.

the one drawback to this product is the lack of editing software. i don't need it but it is definitely something that should be included. however, there are plenty of free editing tools out there.

i'm sure some of the negative review are from people using underpowered computers that couldn't keep up with the conversion. i have no idea what the minimum specs would be as i haven't found them anywhere. you shouldn't need a real powerful computer but i could the average user with their junked up PC having an issue.

it says right on the FAQ that it isn't compatible with XP/Vista 64-bit. but in the drivers both on the cd and the downloaded version there is a 0140_x64.sys file and a 0140_x86.sys file so obviously the drivers are either compatible or they aren't fully tested yet. i've tested both Win7 and Vista 64 and both work fine

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I was really hopeful about this product. I really would like to easily convert a bunch of old videos we have from my childhood.

Beyond the hardware complaints, my #1 problem is: THEY INSTALL AD SOFTWARE ALONG WITH THEIR OWN SOFTWARE.

The software that you have to install to record things from this unit also installs Arcsoft drivers for video encoding/decoding. The Arcsoft drivers install a service on your computer that ALWAYS runs in the background, and another service that displays ads for their products in the bottom right hand corner of your screen... even if you have all other software closed.

You can opt to "stop showing these", but their background service called "Arcsoft Connect" continues to run in the background doing God knows what.

There is no way to UNINSTALL this without uninstalling all of the recording software.

Do a quick Google search for "Arcsoft Connect" and you'll see many other complaints with this software.

My other problems were with the tracking. On many older tapes, the tracking would continually adjust itself. There is no way to manually adjust it; after playing with this thing for hours, the tracking buttons on the front don't seem to do anything. Even when the auto-tracking gets it right, it starts auto-tracking again and messes up all over again.

This is a great concept, but very poor implementation. Cheap hardware, cheap software. Not many options. They probably cut a deal with Arcsoft to use their drivers for free if Arcsoft could display ads.

This seems to be a problem with all of Ion's products; they're just cheaply made.

Read Best Reviews of ION Audio VCR 2 PC USB VHS Video to Computer Converter Here

Like you I read the reviews for the Ion VCR 2 PC converter. The reviews seemed split between fantastic and piece of crap. Tough to reconcile, huh? It really worked quite well right out of the box. Loading the software was simple and the controls were pretty intuitive. I've enjoyed loading different VHS tapes, etc.

It seems that the complaints are glitches computers that didn't work well with it and/or folks who expected a lot of editing abilities they aren't there. This is great for converting VHS to PC just what I wanted, just what I got I love it!

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This was very easy to use, installed first try. I am using Windows 7 on a quad core computer with 4Gb of memory. Video-wise it was OK although it seemed to have tracking problems once in awhile where a noise bar would work it's way down the screen.

It is the audio that is terrible. When VCR's first came out they had a stationary head for the audio that read from a track on the very edge of the tape. The video was laid down by a rotating video head that was able to lay down a terrific amount of information because the rotating head made it appear that the tape was moving at a very fast speed. The actual tape was moving very slowly and so the audio was mono and had a terrific amount of wow and flutter; it would also fade in and out if the edge of the tape had the slightest imperfections. After a few years the audio was added to the rotating video head and so it was extremely good quality and also was stereo. Even the cheapest VCR's today have the audio on the rotating head for good sound quality (I just bought a refurbed VCR/DVD combo for my RV and the sound is great).

I looked everywhere but nowhere could I find where this unit was getting it's audio. My suspicion is that it is getting the sound from that old technology stationary audio head, mono and terrible sounding.

I have returned the unit and will go with a conventional VCR and an analog to digital converter to input into my computer.

Sorry to be so technical but it's the only explanation I think for the terrible sound. This item could be a great item but I think they went the cheap route on the sound and are losing sales because of it.

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Coby DVD-598 Super Slim Upconversion DVD Player with HDMI Output and DivX Playback

Coby DVD-598 Super Slim Upconversion DVD Player with HDMI Output and DivX Playback
  • Plays digital audio, video, and photo files directly from USB drives and SD/MMC cards
  • Dolby Digital Decoder
  • HDMI Output for perfect digital signal transmission to Home Theater systems
  • Optical, digital, and analog AV outputs for Home Theater Use
  • Multiple Language, subtitle, and camera angle support

I bought this dvd player because of it's ability to play usb media. However, I found that it can only read jump drives and powered hard drives. It was unable to read my usb-powered Western Digital Passport. I tried adding a powered usb port, but that didn't work.

I was impressed that it will play DIVX, .avi, and ripped DVD files.

About 2 months after I bought it, it no longer recognized any DVD's. I've looked unsuccessfully for a firmware upgrade for this dvd player.

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I bought 2 of these units and they are exhibiting identical behaviors, so I know it's not a fluke; they're just poorly designed. Like Tom and Elena (previous reviewers) I too have had problems with both basic functions as well as advanced features. When using SD cards, the units will only display 999 pictures. That sounds like a lot, but a 2GB card can easily hold more than that. Coby claims these will play DivX movies. Well, they do... sort of. The movies do play, but they are extremely pixilated (blocky) and jerky. They might look good on a 13" screen MAYBE but on a 37" screen it looks like crap. As Elena said, the video and audio are usually at least a 1/2 second out of sync and sometimes as much as 3 or 4 seconds. They will intermittently refuse to power up and must be unplugged to get them responding again. (One of mine is on a UPS, so I know it's not a power line condition issue.) They both also will begin skipping and stuttering after about 50 minutes of use with any DVD whether homemade or commercially produced. What else? I can't remember all the reasons to not buy one. The only positive is price though, so you could buy one for your mother-in-law... that is, if you don't get along with her.

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This is a very bad quality dvd, the video and sound are not sincronizad. The control doesent work in a logic way. very bad. dont buy it

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Bought this player for a camp house we have on the lake. Took it there and it lasted 6 dvds and then quit recognizing them. Disc load error. Kept it too long to take back. Avoid Coby at all costs.

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I bought this for my rv trailer. It works great and takes the bumps on the road. The HDMI shows high definition picture. Coby makes a good product.

Friday, March 14, 2014

SanDisk Sansa Fuze 4 GB Video MP3 Player (Blue)

SanDisk Sansa Fuze 4 GB Video MP3 Player
  • Listen, watch, and play all day with 24 hours of battery life and room for up to 1,000 songs
  • Watch your favorite video clips or share your photos on the 1.9-inch color screen
  • Digital FM radio with 40 preset stations
  • Voice recording with built-in microphone
  • Expand your existing 4 GB memory with the microSD/microSDHC slot

One of the best not an ipod mp3 ever! The Sandisk Sansa Fuze has well over the potential to stop the ipod dead in its tracks. Only problem is its not popular enough. So to prove the extream slimilarities to the ipod here are some comments:

-The 4g ipod:$149,the 4g sansa fuze: under $99,(Sansa's advised price is $99),coming in many more colors and just gray.

-Doesnt have a touch wheel, but has a turning wheel.(personal preferance)

-Dont need itunes so you can just get songs and videos from the internet (or windows media player)

-Full color screen and no differnece in menus, you can see the album cover,next son and everthing.

-Can pick up FM radio stations and favorite the ones you like.

-Has a voice recorder(to help remeber those sudden ingenius ideas!)

-You can also record the radio, so if you know u luike the upcoming son you can record it and save a bit of money!

Overall you can see that ipods aren't the only cool multi media, portalble devices out there! So if you dont have enough money to get a fancy smacy ipod and buy all you songs for a dollar a piece and videos for more(the majoriy of us!) this is a very good and reliable product.

Five stars

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I've owned mine for a month now, and it's great. My sister's both have ipods and they're jealous about the idea of being able to add more space onto it. Also, it works as a voice recorder, and u pick up fm stations off it too. To me it's better than ipod, although it's not a cool looking.

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So far so good. Just bought this yesterday and I'm liking it. I didn't use the headphones that came with the player. It's very small and lightweight. Don't know how long the battery will last. I'm used to the wall outlet battery which you can use in this player as well but it doesn't come with an electrical plug in, you'll have to buy that extra. I had a dell digital jukebox that lasted for 4 years before the battery started to give so I'm not sure of the life of the battery for this product. the sound is crisp and clear and it's easy to use. No software download required, just drag and drop music files. I subscribe to Rhapsody to go and it's great and compatible to drop files from Rhapsody into sansa. Make sure you've updated your windows media player to 10 or 11 for the sansa and to use Rhapsody to go. (you don't have to use Rhapsody to go with this player.

It has a radio which I like because this will get me back into the habit of listening to the radio, works fine too. Overall I like this. I didn't want an Ipod but was looking for a relatively inexpensive Mp3 player that had a good sound. I like this one. Still too new to tell how it will last in the long run as I only got it yesterday. I think it holds up to 2000 songs and you can add a scan disc memory card to increase the storage capacity even more. You can view video, pictures and record your voice on this player as well. Overall it seems to offer a lot for less than 100 bucks. Not bad. And easy to use. I was up and using it in no time, didn't require a lot of set up.

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This device is attractive, the size of a credit card and came with the usb connector, earphones, a little pouch and software for rhapsody (and audible offers).

What I don't like CAN'T PLAY VIDEO. Don't advertise mpeg4 when in reality, 100mb sansa software is required to convert file formats. Everything else is drag and drop, but VIDEO is problematic.

If this problem is solved, and you're not alarmed that it's made in China, then this may be the best mp3 player for the price.

Best bang for your buck! Very nicely built, you can feel the sturdiness when you hold it. Comes with all of the feature you should expect in an mp3 player (except for ipods): MP3/video/photo playback, MicroSD expansion slot for extra memory, voice recording, FM tuner w/ recording, ability to delete songs directly from MP3 player. Sound is as good as, if not better than, most MP3 players. Video playback is alright, but if you want to watch full-length movies on your MP3 player I'd go with a bigger screen. The only con that I can think of is the Fuze uses a proprietary dock connection instead of the more convenient miniUSB.

Overall though, the Sansa Fuze is an amazing little MP3 player that should be on your "watch list".

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Pioneer DV-393-S Progressive Scan DVD Player with Div-X

Pioneer DV-393-S Progressive Scan DVD Player with Div-X
  • Plays all versions of DivX® video (including DivX® 6) with standard playback of DivX® media files
  • PureCinema 2
  • 3 Progressive Scan and 12-bit/108MHz DAC (for Progressive Scan Video Output) for high-resolution video
  • Advanced GUI and Disc Navigator for ease-of-use and disc browsing
  • Virtual Surround and 24-bit/96kHz Audio DAC for Superb Sound Quality

My reason for purchase. Watching Region 2 DVD's encoded with European PAL format on a US NTSC TV. For less than $100 this item saves having to hack your existing region locked DVD player AND purchasing a $250 PAL to NTSC converter.

The unit does EXACTLY what is claimed. NO fuss and NO bother. Wide range of features allows you to fine tune sound and picture very easily which overcomes problems reducing PAL's inherent higher resolution to the lower NTSC resolution. There are almost no artefacts on picture as a result of this process you might equate the result of the conversion to looking like a small amount of film grain but only on large uniform picture areas of tone and colour. In detailed areas there is no discernable loss of quality.

I possibly had LESS difficulty in set up because I was using an HDTV which accepts Progressive Scan signal thru the composite video cables (which potentially gives the best result). If your TV specification is less then it pays to read the well featured manual as to how to set up for your TV. However by default the unit should work for most TV's straight out the box you can tuneup for even better results if your TV allows by following the well written manual.

There is one potential issue in setup regarding playing non-NTSC disks which my Amazon seller bargain offers had made a point of covering with a photocopy of the relevant page of the manual enlarged and attached to the unit I'm sure it saves them support calls but it was a nice touch and my unit was up and running in less than 5 minutes as a result.

Other reviews of this unit on the web state that the unit is prone to breakdown. It is so hard to figure the context of those reviews (hundreds of others perform satisfactorly and so go unsung? Every unit breaks down?) but for less than $100 this is a great buy.

The Amazon listing of this unit is not clear as to model number at time of writing review (May 20, 2005) the actual model number of the unit received was a Pioneer DV373 and not the lesser 272.

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I am in the United States (DVD Region 1 NTSC) and since I have recently become interested in Region 2 PAL DVD's (think the recent Jane Eyre starring Toby Stephens) I ordered the Pioneer DV-393-S Multi-Zone Region Free DVD Player from Amazon. It came new in a sealed box in about 4 days to me here on the West Coast (which surprised me, as I half expected it to have been opened and hacked in some way in order for it to be able to play PAL).

I was worried about this, because I am NOT the technical type and feared lots of button-pushing to make things work (I can barely program my VCR) but when I hooked it up it played BOTH the UK Jane Eyre (which is a PAL Region 2 DVD disk) and another PAL Region 2 DVD disk that I have RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX with no problems whatsoever, no messing about, no hacking -no nothing! Plug it in, put in the PAL DVD and it plays flawlessly on my NTSC television! Heaven!

I really couldn't believe it would be this easy, so, as a test, I re-connected my old Sony DVD player (thinking that the Sony might play it just fine too), put in the PAL disk and the Sony player could NOT play it. Gave an error message that it was the wrong region.

So what this tells me is that the Pioneer not only will play region 2 disks, but that it also must have some kind of internal programming that converts the PAL (UK) to NTSC (US) because the frame rates are different between the two.

I chose the Pioneer over the other (and some quite a bit less expensive region-free players advertised on Amazon) because the Pioneer had all of the bells and whistles I was used to, and then some: Dolby Digital Surround output, DTS Surround output (to my compatible stereo receiver); it plays .avi disks (which my son at film school uses to record his work to send to me), CD's, Video CD's the list goes on and on! The Pioneer has really excellent user-friendly on-screen menus to navigate, which are used to tweak various audio and video settings. These menus work flawlessly with the provided remote.

I am hearing impaired, and I was delighted to find out after I received the player that it has a setting (that I did not read about in the original advertising) that accentuates dialog. This seems to work really well I am now able to listen to my surround system (before I had to always use headphones) without the dialog being lost "behind" the music.

All in all I am COMPLETELY AND ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTED with this player!!!

It works *exactly* as advertised.

Well, I must be off now again to Amazon UK to get some more of those wonderful BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation)films. Region 2/PAL DVD's are no longer an obstacle for me!!

Ta! :-)

Read Best Reviews of Pioneer DV-393-S Progressive Scan DVD Player with Div-X Here

I love this player. I've only had it a couple of months, so I can't speak to its longevity and reliability, but for a pretty low price you're getting a lot of capabilities. First of all, it plays Video CDs better than any player I've ever had. I've had a lot of problems with skipping and stopping not on this player. Also, I put my first British DVD in it yesterday and it played perfectly with no setting adjustments couldn't even tell there was any special multi-regional functionality involved. It remembers the last several DVDs or VCD you've played, so that if you eject it (accidentally or on purpose), it'll pick right back up where you stopped. It seems to be a great player, and I'm very pleased with it.

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First off, everything that has been said about this DVD player is spot-on. Multi-region code free is a great asset to have. So does the memory playback that automatically resumes from where you left off (watching DVDs). One particular feature is the widescreen setting (which my previous 2 DVD players don't have) that automatically plays a movie in its full screen aspect ration on a widescreen TV.

Unfortunately, I can only delight in this unit for 2 days. It is too sensitive to Progressive setting (when not properly wired to a TV with Progressive scan feature). This causes the DVD player to display a green discoloring on the screen that, despite every step taken per the manual to resolve, cannot go away. Even after setting the unit back to Interlace, the discoloring does not go away. If anything, it got worse. By the next day, discolorings of blue and red become evident. (N.B. According to the unit manual, if the TV does not support Progressive Scan, the screen will not display video. It does not turn green!)

To make matters worse, the DV-383S' warranty does not extend to American consumers. American warranties are only valid for 'Region 1' only products. So for the DV-383-S, the product description's claim that "if your DVD player ever becomes defective we will fix it for free" is false. According to Pionner Customer Service, the only option is to buy a brand-new unit (because the repair costs exceed the price of the DVD player itself; replacement is not even an option). But that's the risk you take when you buy a multi-system DVD player.

I had heard nothing but excellent word-of-mouth of Pioneer products. This is my first Pioneer DVD player. For it to malfunction as it did after two days is a great disappointment. However, it has not shaken my confidence in Pioneer. Just only the DV-383-S models.

Very happy with this DVD player. Sets up in a snap, and played my PAL DVD's without a hitch. Just remember to set it to NTSC for your American TV, and you shouldn't have a problem.

Monday, March 10, 2014

GV-FER521 GeoVision 5MP H.264 Fisheye Rugged IP Camera (Outdoor)

GV-FER521 GeoVision 5MP H.264 Fisheye Rugged IP CameraNeeds reset twice daily, sunset and sunrise....

PIP view on single window not available in multiview along with other cameras.... overall not happy with the value

Monday, March 3, 2014

EYEMAX DT-632V - Effio-ETM STORM® IP68 Dome - 700TVL + Sony Super ExView HAD II + 2.8~12mm AVF + I

EYEMAX DT-632V - Effio-ETM STORM® IP68 Dome - 700TVL + Sony Super ExView HAD II + 2.8~12mm AVF + IP68 + ATR + DNR+ HLCThis is the second effio-based Eyemax camera I have purchased from the folks at ESS CCTV. Delivery service was superb (receipt in 2 days). Product is as described. Installation was pretty simple. As with the IR Eyemax camera(ID-6335V) I purchased earlier, the 700tvl resolution is readily apparent and superior to the 600tvl camera it replaces. Since this camera is near an entry, the outside light provides more than adequate illumination for night visibility. Other than mounting screws, and tweaking the zoom and focus (manually), the default settings on the camera provide a superb image which did not require messing with the built-in OSD. Highly recommend both the camera and ESS CCTV.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Mitsubishi WD-73737 73-Inch 1080p 120Hz Home Theater DLP HDTV

Mitsubishi WD-73737 73-Inch 1080p 120Hz Home Theater DLP HDTV
  • Smooth 120Hz Film Motion eliminates motion artifacts for smooth, crisp, fast and slow action content
  • 6-Color Processor for a wider range of colors, brighter colors and whiter whites
  • Three HDMI inputs and three Component inputs
  • Displays all images at 1080p; converts lower-resolution signals with Plush 1080p 5G technology
  • Energy Star 3.0 Qualified for high energy efficiency

When it comes to TVs in the living room, bigger is always better so, when time came to replace our 61" Samsung DLP I had no idea what my next TV was going to be, other than it was going to be bigger and that, of course, I was going to afford it. Mitsubishi's WD-73737 was the easy winner and this is why:

SIZE well, 73" is bigger than 61", right? As far as I know, there aren't too many LCD or plasma TVs this big, at least not anything that I can afford. Our living room is rather large it's really most of our first floor (open style architecture) so it helps to have a big screen. Mitsubishi makes an 82" model but I had also to consider...

PRICE we have a clear winner here. When it comes to price/size ratio, DLP's are by far the least expensive option.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY according to my research, the WD-73737 burns about 265W when 'on' (this includes the 180W lamp). By comparison, a 70" LCD needs 540-630W to operate.

3D CAPABILITY it's a potential plus. Mitsubishi does not guarantee that its TV will be compliant with whatever 3D standard is about to emerge but... it might.

Of course, not everything is perfect so, here are the potential 'minuses':

LAMP when it comes to 'cost of ownership', we must factor in the DLP's lamp. The Mitsubishi manual expects its lamp to last for about one year but our Samsung was still okay after 2 years with the original lamp so, we shall see. A replacement for this model, direct from Mitsubishi is $99 and I will get a free one under warranty if the original needs replacement before one year. Given the great energy savings when compared to an LCD TV, I am not too worried about having to replace the lamp from time to time.

BULK this set is over 90 lbs. heavy and over 12" at its thickest. Definitely, can't hang it on a wall. Therefore...

STAND you must have one. We are using the one that came with the old 61" and all is fine but if you don't have one it should set you back a few more hundred bucks.

THE SCREEN nothing wrong with it but, when compared with our old Samsung, this is just a little more reflective. It's not so to the point of being annoying at night if lights are on in the room but sometimes it is noticeable.

Since we already had a stand, didn't want to hang a 73" TV on the wall and the need to replace the lamp was compensated by its energy savings, we went for the WD-73737 without hesitation and we are happy we did.

OUR SETUP

A TV this size would normally be used in a home theater setting and, it turns out, that's how we use it. We have a satellite TV box, a PS3, dedicated Blu-ray player a 7.1 surround receiver and a Harmony 900 remote. The TV comes with LOTS of inputs, including 3 HDMI but, in our case, the setup started with plugging the TV into the power outlet, connecting the HDMI cable into one of TV's HDMI ports and, since I had the Harmony 900 already configured to handle the TV, that was IT, we were watching TV within 5 minutes of it coming out of the box.

Later own, we did some fine tuning but, it turns out, very little had to be adjusted. We made sure that the frame rate was set to 120 fps and, for the rest, we took the recommended settings from the Tweak TV site and didn't have to change too much from what they recommended. We ended up with:

Picture Mode: Natural

Color Temperature: Low

Aspect Ratio: Standard

Contrast: 55

Brightness: 36

Color: 31

Tint: 31

Sharpness: 31

Deep Field Imager: Off

Super Resolution: Off

Sharp Edge: Off

Video Noise: Off

The end-result is as close to picture-prefect as they come.

I have nothing to say about the sound it can simulate 'surround' with its own speakers because we are not using it. Same when it comes to channel tuning or setting up 'activities'. These are fully handled by the satellite receiver and the Harmony remote but all the capabilities are there. Same when it comes to the remote which is quite small a nice thing but it may take some getting used to when it comes to the buttons size (small) and their layout.

WARRANTY

On an object this size, this is an important concern so, here's what matters:

The screen is only covered for 30 (THIRTY) days.

The picture quality warranty states that Mitsubishi will fix it if you get less than 99.99% of the pixels right. In other words, you should have at least 9,999 out of 10,000 pixels right. On a 2-million pixel screen this means that if you have up to 199 bad pixels, Mitsubishi is not obligated to fix your TV.

Everything else is covered for one year.

The lamp will be replaced free of charge if it needs replacement within the first year.

Service is provided 'in house' IF you are within the coverage of an authorized Mitsubishi center. If you're not, you will be responsible for taking your TV there so you better check you are inside a Mitsubishi service area.

__________________________________

[Note on warranty Nov. 12, 2010]

I had to call Mitsubishi because the lamp had to be replaced. Within minutes, I was on the phone with a competent person who, after asking that I reset the TV and me confirming that the picture was still dim agreed to send me a replacement lamp under the warranty. I provided the TV's serial number and date of purchase, my address and my phone number. He promised that the replacement lamp will be shipped within 2-5 business days.

A few days later, the lamp arrived. I called Mitsubishi's warranty dept. about me returning the used lamp but they asked me not to bother. I trust and respect a company that trusts and respects its customers.

__________________________________

MY RATING

This TV delivers exactly what I wanted and expected: a large, bright, crisp picture that, thanks to the 120 fps display has very little blur on fast moving objects. The drawbacks: need to replace the lamp, unorthodox layout on the remote, bulk are either counterbalanced by other features or did not matter much in my case. Not everyone could live with a TV that's not totally flat or that needs a stand but if the main concerns are picture quality, price, size and energy consumption, this TV is hard to beat.

I will grant the WD-73737 5 stars because I own it and I am very happy with it.

Buy Mitsubishi WD-73737 73-Inch 1080p 120Hz Home Theater DLP HDTV Now

Just bought a 73" 737series a couple of weeks ago. Was considering 65" but went with the 73" GREAT Decision. The picture is fantastic even my wife who isn't into TV very much thinks it is great. The price of the replacement lamp is not significant every 2 3 years when you consider the quality and price of this TV. If you have the room for it I highly recomend this TV Great value.

Read Best Reviews of Mitsubishi WD-73737 73-Inch 1080p 120Hz Home Theater DLP HDTV Here

This TV is great. I was looking at LCD and DLP TVs, and the DLP offer bigger screens and the same great picture at a lower price. HDTV, Blu-Ray, DVD, etc all look great on this TV. 1080p resolution is amazing, I have an older 52 inch HDTV, which displays 1080i and this DLP looks 10 times better.

Out of the box, this DLP is very color rich, especially in the reds and yellows, which I easily corrected using the PerfectPicture Menu. I toned down all colors by 5 and the red and yellow by 10. This made the picture look a lot better.

I am using various types of connections on it (HDMI, Component, and Composite) and each input delivers a great picture. I use the HDMI to connect my PS3, component cables connect my Dish receiver and DVD player, and the composite cable connects the Wii. This TV automatically recognizes when devices are connected and allows you to name each connnection.

You can't go wrong with this one.

Want Mitsubishi WD-73737 73-Inch 1080p 120Hz Home Theater DLP HDTV Discount?

I have owned this TV for 1 year and 7 months(purchase date Dec 6 2009). The lamp blew out today July 20th 2011. The warranty last for one year. when I called the company they said that I needed to purchase a replacement lamp at the cost of $99 dollars plus Shipping and Handling. I asked if that lamp had a warranty after I pay $99 dollars the tech person told me yes but only 90days(3 Months). My next question to the tech person what is the average life of the lamp that people were calling in to replace and she said that the lamps blow up(fails) as early as 9 months(270 days) and the longest it will last if not used everyday is 2 years at most if your lucky(Their words). So if you buy this product get ready to pay $100 in maintenance every 9 months. I paid $2100 for this TV. My girlfriend bought a 47 inch Sharp LCD for $800 1/3 of what I paid and the picture isnt as grainy as my 737 series Mitsubishi 73 inch DLP HDTV, its actually clearer. This was the worst buy I have ever done. If I had it to do it over i wouldnt have spent the equivalent of a down payment of a car on this TV, I would find the biggest LCD or LED that was not a Mitsubishi. Mitsubishi customer care is horrid too, they do nothing for you but take your money and tell you how a lamp is a retail product for consumers. After reading that they have stop making lamps for their older models I was not surprised, just sad that I will most likely have to throw this TV away in another 3years too. If you like hidden cost and bad customer service then buy the 737 series Mitsubishi 73 inch DLP HDTV. If I saw someone stealing the 737 series Mitsubishi 73 inch DLP HDTV off the back of a truck I would stop them. I am 28 years old and Mitsubishi has lost me as a customer for life. Hope this review helped.

This TV is awesome! It has an excellent picture (although I did upgrade to HD after I bought it). Why have such a beautiful TV in SD anyway? The picture in SD was not bad, although any text on the screen did appear a little fuzzy. The graphics look awesome on the XBOX, PS3 and even the Wii.

Setup is a breeze. The TV recognizes anything you plug into it immediately and switching from one device to another is easy.

When I bought mine, I also purchased a 5 year protection plan. From what I have heard and read, the warrenty from Mitsubishi is not that great and reguires you to ship the TV to them if anything goes wrong. I sure would hate to try to box up something this size, so I opted for a plan where if anything goes wrong, they will come to me and fix it. Furthermore, I get all the lamp replacements I need during the 5 years for free (lamps last from 6 months to 2 years). Two lamp replacements alone will pay for my warrenty.

One thing that I was told about the DLP's is you have to be careful when powering on and off. I was told that once the TV is turned off the lamp will need about 15 minutes to cool before it can be powered on safely. Powering on too quickly will shorten the lamp life.

I couldn't be more pleased with my purchase, but I would definately recommend getting a better warranty with bulb replacement. The only thing better than watching this TV is knowing that if anything goes wrong in the next five years, it will get taken care of.

In fact, after 2 weeks of owning this model we bought one in the 60" size for our den!

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Sly Electronics 4 GB Video MP3 Player with 2.4-Inch LCD and 2MP Digital Camera (Black)

Sly Electronics 4 GB Video MP3 Player with 2.4-Inch LCD and 2MP Digital Camera
  • 4 GB capacity for up to 2300 songs, 20 hours of video, or thousands of pictures
  • On-board two-megapixel camera for shooting photos and video
  • 2.4-inch color display with four control buttons
  • Supports MP3, WMA, WAV, WMV, ASF, RM audio formats; RMVB, FLV, AVI and MP4 video formats; JPEG, BMP images; TXT text files
  • One-year limited warranty

By my daughter (purchaser). I can't download any songs on this device. I will be trying to return this product. Apparently does not work with Window's live. Does not recommend using Windows media player. Quote from owners manual: "Please be aware that the player does not support music purchased on iTunes(R) because those songs are copyright protected." Another quote: "...just make sure the files are not Protected WMA." My daughter cannot say "I hate this thing" enough. Perhaps she doesn't fully understand how to use it, but I would research this product thoroughly before buying. I know she's spent a lot of time trying to figure it out and is very frustrated and disappointed, feeling like she wasted her own money on it.

Buy Sly Electronics 4 GB Video MP3 Player with 2.4-Inch LCD and 2MP Digital Camera (Black) Now

This works well, but may become obsolete in the world of tablets and iPhones. I'm satisfied with it. It does take a bit long to charge, however.

Read Best Reviews of Sly Electronics 4 GB Video MP3 Player with 2.4-Inch LCD and 2MP Digital Camera (Black) Here

Not a good purchase, battery life very poor, you can not put music on it sometimes!, pictures ,,,, mmmmhmmmm,,,, very bad... not happy with it,,, used it for 1 week, and no more.