Samsung LN52A750 52-Inch 1080p DLNA LCD HDTV with Red Touch of Color

• Full 1080p HD Resolution with 120Hz Auto Motion Plus
• Full Wrap Touch of Color Bezel, ISP Addressable w/ 1GB internal memory
• 50,000:1 contrast ratio, 4ms response time, Super Clear Panel Technology
• 4 HDMI Iputs, 2 Component Inputs, 1 PC Input, Wide Color Ehnacer, USB 2.0, HDMI-CEC
• RSS-Infolink, Wheel Key Remote, SRS Surround Sound

Amazon tracking indicated it would take 2 weeks to arrive. CEVA tracking listed it at two days earlier. I received the call for delivery in less than a week and this included the holiday period!

CEVA showed up with it yesterday. The heavy cardboard box had an 18" gash/tear in it and my heart sank. They removed the box and I noticed the screen was supported about 8" from the cardboard and there were no signs that whatever caused the gash had touched anything. We quickly plugged it into the wall and ran it thru some of the built-in menus. Relief everything worked fine. With the 30-day return guarantee there was nothing more to worry about.

The previous day Amazon had delivered a new Onkyo receiver to replace my older Yamaha. I had already disconnected the Yamaha and wired all the components and speakers to this new receiver (to take advantage of its HDMI capabilities). It now only took a couple hours to make the final connections with the receiver, cable sysem, over-the-air antenna, HTPC and network.

Every single system worked perfectly, even though it sometimes took a few minutes to discover the correct input settings on each device to get everything communicating. The biggest surprise was the quality of the picture. After reading everything I could find on various forums I expected to have some tweaking to do before obtaining the best images. While critically inspecting the imagery for each type of input I could not see a need to adjust anything! Just for experimentation I did make a few selections of alternate settings, but always wound up returning to the original. I'll likely use an Avia program to verify adjustments later, but can't imagine any improvement.

The "halo effect" feature on the upper and lower bezel was obvious (albeit faint) to see, but it was not distracting. In fact, if there were a switch available to turn it on and off, I'd still leave it on it's neat! The red bezel highlighting (the TOC) is so subtle that it is nearly invisible. If I didn't know it was there I'd likely not have even noticed it. Perhaps it would be more visible in a room with bright daylighting?

Another neat feature is the touch sensitive controls on the lower right bezel. They are invisible until you touch the area, causing them to temporarily sequentially illuminate. I haven't fully explored this feature yet.

Another nice feature was discovering that I could hook up the computer to HDMI connection #2 and play computer games without any special adjustments. There was no lag or any problem except that I'll need to upgrade the computer's video card in order to take the display all the way up to its full resolution. Nevertheless, the Samsung must have been upscaling the image since it was extremely sharp. (Same thing with the 480i DVDs we played on it very sharp). When not in use we intend to leave the computer hooked up so the Samsung will continuously display it's screensaver which cross-fades family photos like a huge digital picture frame.

The Samsung has a TOSLINK out connection which I connected to the receiver. This vastly simplifies audio connections since all audio sent to the TV can be amplified from a single connection to the receiver. If you can connect everything via HDMI there will be significantly fewer wires and a much more simplified operation.

The only thing I would have preferred is if the base would swivel. I understand the 650 models swivel, can't imagine why Samsung wouldn't include that feature here.

We're very happy with this purchase.

EDIT6-18-08

After nearly 3 weeks of use we are even more impressed with this TV.

I have upgraded the video card on the attached computer so that it can now attain full 1080p resolution, only to find the text too small to be readable at a normal viewing distance of about 12 feet with my 60-yr-old eyes. Backing off the resolution makes the text large enough to read while retaining its razor-sharpness.

The attached computer is connected with a wireless hub to my home network, allowing it to stream pictures, music, or movies from any of the computers. The TV must be upconverting the movies to 1080p because they are displayed more clearly than when sent to a regular computer monitor.

The hub also provides a patch cable to the TVs' network port, which allows it to run all the InfoLink connection functions (weather, news, stocks) without the need to even configure that connection.

We added a PS3 a week ago to view blu-ray movies. What an incredible picture! Even though we are using inexpensive $3 HDMI cables, there was no flickering or other problem as reported on another Amazon review. My son tested out his new Metal Gear PS3 game and was impressed with the image and game play. We used the default settings and did not even switch to "game" mode.

We've now had time to run THX and TVBlink video calibration tests and were not surprised to find that all the default settings were already set to the optimum values for our personal tastes.

The set is now mounted on one of those entertainment center "stalks" which allows it to be easily rotated (for easier access to the rear connections). This mounting has taken care of the only complaint we had about this set its' lack of a swivel base.

Edit 7-16-08

After 6 weeks of use I must say that this has proven to be one awesome piece of electronics. I simply cannot believe how great this set has performed. The color and details have greatly exceeded my highest expectations. We have begun replaying our old DVD library because the upscaling capabilities built into this set appears to make them very comparable to the Blu-Ray movies we've viewed. It's like seeing a new movie!

It is quite a kick to be using the computer while watching the nightly news in HD via the PIP function.

A lot of people have calibrated their sets using the published settings on AVSforum.com. We tested all of those settings and found that they each resulted in a darker picture that has lost details in shadowy areas and the colors are dull, without the "pop" of the factory settings. Keep in mind that our entertainment area is in a dark, windowless room which should make viewing dimmer features easier. We tried compensating the calibration with various picture adjustments but were unable to attain comparable performance. After a week of trying to perceive any improvements we reverted our settings back to the original, tweaked, factory settings.

Several people have made similar observations, leading us to a conclusion that either there is a wide discrepancy between personal preferences and/or each of these sets have varying image displays. We have no doubt that many people do see improved performance after calibrating their sets but before you spend a lot of money on professional calibration try the AVSforum settings first to verify if you see any improvement.

The only complaint we have is that we've now been spoiled by what this set can do. We picked up a new Samsung T260HD computer monitor (which also includes an HDTV tuner). This is a 26" monitor that has a similar TOC bezel to match the LN52A750. You can read our review here on Amazon in a nutshell, we are disappointed with it's performance.

Buy Samsung LN52A750 52-Inch 1080p DLNA LCD HDTV with Red Touch of Color Now

I've been agonizing over an HDTV purchase for months. My 32" 480p Samsung CRT just wasn't doing it for me anymore. It was time to delve into HD now that it has been around for awhile with major tech innovations (1080p, 120hz, and more). I feel as though it will be many years before a *significant* new HD technology comes along. Here is a list of what I've been agonizing over (and probably you too) and why I made the decision for the 750.

1. LNxxa750 vs LNxxa650

I spent some time drooling over the LN52a650 until I came across LN52a750. I searched and searched to see if there was a performance difference between the two sets. I finally found someone with some knowledge and indeed the 750's use a different (more powerful) internal processor than the a650's. For how incredibly small the price difference is between the 650 and 750 I'm surprised people still shop the 650. Not to mention the regal-looking bezel on the 750, the woofer for those without a home theater system, and some other minor goodies. Bottom line, if you're flip-flopping between the two stop. Just buy 750.

2. What size? 52, 46, or even 40?

Of course I wanted the largest size I could get. HD is a whole new ball game, and even a 52" model is not as big as it sounds. In fact after having this for a couple weeks now I am beyond relieved I didn't buy a smaller size. (I typically sit about 7 feet from the screen.). Please take my word on this. You will never regret buying too big. Unless you're in a tiny dorm room, the 52" will not overpower you. If you buy a smaller size just be warned you will be longing for the 52 before too long.

3. Samsung or Sony 41 series?

I went to 3 different big box stores to compare side by side. The picture on the 750 just blows away anything else in these stores. It's amazing how two sets with similar specs can have such different displays. The gloss finish just has the colors and contrast jumping off the screen. Sony makes solid products in general, but so does Samsung. It took only a matter of seconds to realize that the Sony 41 series has a boring picture compared to the 750.

4. Plasma or LCD?

With the glossy screen and various black adjustments in the menu, you're getting the best of both worlds with the 750. It has contrast like that of a higher end plasma, but also performs beautifully in a well lit room. Plasmas are just plain dim and dull. With how bright and vivid the 750's screen is, I have not had any issues with reflections. If you look at the models offered by most companies, it's clear that plasma is dying just as DLP is.

5. The "halo effect"

Non-existant. I've watched HD cable, games, and blu-rays in a pitch black room and cannot see the supposed halo that some people are whining about. In fact, I'm almost disappointed because I wanted to see what the hubbub was all about. Apparently Samsung has eliminated this.

6. Amazon or a partner seller?

Local big box stores sell this unit for (including tax) anywhere from $500 $800+ more. Insane. I knew I'd be ordering it from Amazon. But sometimes the partner sellers are cheaper...what to do. It just so happened that the day I ordered it Amazon had the lowest price. But had they not, I still would have paid the extra small price difference to get it from Amazon. I have no experience with the partner sellers but felt I'd have more recourse with Amazon if a problem occurred.

7. Gaming performance

I also bought a PS3 and Xbox 360 at the same time. Both are stunning, and nope, no input lag on either system using very inexpensive HDMI 1.3 cables. (However, I've read of people's feedback on the a650 where they have experienced lag. This is where the superior processor of the 750 comes in). I've played fast-paced shooters, racing, and adventure games with no lag issues. I may have had a minor lag issue with SOF on the 360 but that could just be the game. Games on the 52a750 will have you hypnotized, especially if it's your first foray into HD.

8. Sound

Could care less. I'm using a home theater system, but with the 750's woofer I'm sure the sound is good/great for a flat panel unit.

9. Light and glare from the glossy finish

Has not been an issue for me. At all.

10. Final thoughts

Comcast HD (via Motorola box), PS3 Blu-Ray, PS3 games, Xbox 360 games all look incredible. I sometimes watch content that I'd otherwise be bored with just because of the gorgeous picture. Plasma has nothing on the a750 and gaming is lag-free via HDMI. Buy this TV and your friends (especially those owning plasmas) will be envious if not outright jealous.

Read Best Reviews of Samsung LN52A750 52-Inch 1080p DLNA LCD HDTV with Red Touch of Color Here

I was bouyed by what others have written in their reviews as well as my own experience as to what I saw in the stores when deciding what TV to buy.

So when I received this model TV I was anticpating an amazing experience with my first High Definition television. At first I was blown away by the picture. But then, when I started to watch a movie at night when the room was dark, I noticed that the clear beveled edge glass of the frame was reflecting light back at me and it was very distracting.

I found that if I shifted myself higher in my seat by as little as a few inches, the reflection at the top disappeared. But I still saw the reflection on the sides. But do I have to sit at a perfect angle and location in the room to fully enjoy a not so cheap TV?

I called Samsung technical support and the person I spoke to said that yes, they were aware of this problem but that it was not a large enough concern to them to change the design to correct.

They recommended that I consider exchanging the 750 for the 650 series whose only difference was a few features as the 650 does not have this design flaw.

So while the picture is fantastic, I can hardly rate this TV very highly when I have to put black tape around the glass frame to hide the reflections.

Want Samsung LN52A750 52-Inch 1080p DLNA LCD HDTV with Red Touch of Color Discount?

In 1986, I was fortunate to have Sony's first HDTV cameras, recorders and projection system in the studio where I worked. Yes, that was 22 years ago and the technology was analog. But it looked great and we projected it on a screen 6 or 7 feet tall. Still, I wondered, why would anyone buy this new technology for "just twice" as sharp a picture?

Jump to 2008. During the last 6 months, I watched as specialists installed my new all HD studio where I work now. This time, of course, it is digital. It's also Sony all the way and the recording media is Blu-ray, so I'm getting pretty familiar with the new generation of Sony HD, but was still watching the "old 525 line NTSC" stuff at home because I hadn't seen anything on display at any stores that was that magic combination of "high end; low price".

Then, a couple months ago, we bought a 50" Sony Bravia for our conference room at work and I hooked up a brand new Sony PS3 to it. The picture was beautiful and I decided to see if it was time to buy one for home use.

Online reviews were very good for the Sony and I had already decided that an LCD would be better for home than a plasma after seeing how both held up at work. So, a little over a week ago, I checked everything they had at the local Best Buy. The salesman there agreed with me that the Sony was about as good as it gets. Then, surprising me, he said he'd buy the Samsung 7 series over the Sony. I asked him about price; $3,050 he quoted. The there would be a 9.25% sales tax, too.

I went home and read the specs on the Sony and the Samsung only to discover that the Series 7 seemed better than the Bravia. And a side-by-side in-store comparison made the Samsung look very impressive. I checked more online sources and found that the new Samsungs, like the Sonys, were highly regarded.

Research done, I checked Amazon's price. At $2,724, I would save almost $600, so I ordered one. I've spent the last 3 days installing it and all the associated audio stuff, PS3 and DVD burner in a custom cabinet. It looks great turned off, but when you turn it on and fire up the Blu-Ray ("Planet Earth-The Complete Series") which got here the same day, I was just blown away!

I have learned several things: the Hi Def stuff is great, but the SD stuff from Dish and local analog broadcasts isn't as satifying on the new Samsung as on the old CRT. You can sit a lot closer to a 52" screen than I thought about 12' is our viewing distance. New TVs, and this one in particular, do a lot more than just display video and do it well. Like a computer, this TV can crash. It's happened just once and it had to be "rebooted" by disconnecting the power.

Also, I am really pleased with how Amazon handled the whole purchase. Everything, including delivery went smoothly. But here's the most surprising thing: A couple days after ordering the unit, Amazon dropped the price (temporarily, it seems). So, I emailed customer service and requested that they credit my account with the difference. That was on a Sunday nite. The next morning I had two emails from them. The first said they would review the situation and the second said they had already credited my account with $190. Service doesn't get any better!!!

Update 6-21-08

We have subscribed to Comcast cable since my initial review. We also got the HD-DVR and the HD channels. Cable, to my surprise, renders SD pictures slightly better than the Dish, however, I am now connected through HDMI instead of Y/C. That means a digital input instead of an analog hookup. I am still disappointed with 4:3 analog stuff compared to our older CRTs. Even digital 4:3 (480i) content looks unacceptable. However, all true HD stuff (including 720i)is good to fabulous.

It is so good, in fact, that something you start to notice when watching HD content (especially network news) is just how all the different recording formats display on your new TV relative to one another. Footage shot in the field, for example, often looks really awful when on-screen with the studio cameras (as when the anchor is on one side of the picture split screen and a field reporter is on the other). Likewise, all older analog 4:3 stuff which has been upconverted for HD looks pretty grim, as do over-the-air broadcasts whether shot on film or tape originally.

On the other hand, this LCD makes a wonderful (huge) computer screen and I don't see how you could expect more for games and/or Blu-ray movies. You will probably be disappointed with upconverted DVDs, however, (played, in this case, on a PS3).

Most users will probably be confused with the unending list of menu items, and frankly, adjustments like "gamma" will simply confuse most people, especially when you have multiple levels of "dynamic" adjustments, "black", "contrast" and other controls which tend to be interactive and produce similar results. You can, quite literally, drive yourself nuts trying to get everything tweaked. On the other hand, if you're really picky (like, say, you color adjust photo prints for a living), you should be able to dial in nearly what you want on a good 1080 source.

The built in speakers just don't sound very good and are slightly "out-of-sync" with the analog (RCA) outs, so if you have both the TV and an external receiver turned up, you will hear a distinct delay echo. It's my understanding that this is better with the digital outs, but I do not yet have the gear to test it.

The most surprising thing I'm learning by using this latest LCD technology is just how uneven is this transition from analog to digital. It looks like it will be literally years before most of the legacy content is converted to HD digital (and how do you improve the quality of stuff shot on 16mm film in 1944, or TV series shot live in the studio in the sixties so that it will look great in HD?). Well, the answer is, of course; "You don't."

A few folks have commented on the very reflective screen surface and surround. I do, in fact, find the reflections(we have this TV in a room with windows on both walls perpendicular to the screen) slightly objectional when compared to the Sony with a more matte finish. Room lamps can, likewise, be problematic. We find the best solution (in the evening, at least) to be indirect lighting from a not-very-bright source that adds some illumination to the room but no direct reflections on the screen.

Is now the time to buy HD? Frankly, I was holding out for OLEDs, but this current level of technology is just mature enough and affordable enough to jump in now. Prices on LCDs are coming down fast and the next generation of technology won't be cheap for some time to come. If you have been waiting for the right time to ditch your CRT, now is a great time especially with the switch to all digital transmission in Feb '09.

As a TV I cannot complain. The 1080p resolution is great. The 120hz update rate is amazing. Watching television, playing games, and watching movies is very enjoyable.

So all the fundamental reasons for me getting a new TV are met, however all the 'extra' features come up a little short. The DLNA feature currently useless for me. The Samsung server software can only host videos and pics that are on your local harddrive. I have all my stuff on an external harddrive. TVersity currently does not play well w/ the tv either. Hopefully Samsung or someone will release a better DLNA server app.

The RSS feeds to the television are nice, but are not configurable. So the only feed you can get is from usa today.

PIP is only possible with analog signals, meaning you cannot watch two HDMI inputs are the same time. (Who has a 52 inch 1080p tv and watches 2 analog inputs?)

The sound system is not great. Eventhough it comes with a (or extra) woofer, the sound is about the same as any other tv out there. I dont really notice a difference. I havent heard the sound from the 650 series, but I cant imagine that there is that much difference.

So overall I am pleased with the purchase because all of my requirements were met, but all the 'bells and whistles' came up short. I probably would have been just as happy with 650 series, but amazon had such a great price (low price, free shipping, no tax) on this one I cant really complain. If you are looking to save a few bucks get the 650. I am crossing my fingers that there will be in the near future a firmware update which will resolve the DLNA and RSS feed issues. If this becomes the case I will REALLY be pleased with the TV.

The one thing I really prefer over the 650 is the touch of color on the 750 goes around the entire tv, whereas the 650 only has it on the top and bottom. This is purely aesthetic reason and it can only be seen in a well lit room.

On a side note, CEVA delivered the TV 6 days earlier than the expected arrival date. The TV was ordered on thursday and it was in my house by the next week friday (6 days). I live in california and the TV originated from the east coast.

Sanyo Xacti VPC-E2 Digital Camcorder and 8 MP Digital Camera (Blue)

Before purchasing E2 I was torn between E1 and E2 but decided to go with a new model. There were no reviews on E2 other than a single one for Euro/Japanese/Canadian version of E2 called CA8 and that review blasted the camera's new sensor. Nevertheless, with Amazon's liberal return policy, I decided to take my chance and to get E2 instead of E1. After all, it is a second generation of this waterproof camera, and I thought the second generation is typically better.

If you are trying to decide between E1 and E2, here are the major differences:

The most obvious is a change of sensor.

E1 uses 6MP CCD 1/2.5 sensor

E2 uses 8MP CMOS 1/2.5 sensor.

E2 adds a 60 frames per second movie option (E1 was limited to 30 frames per second)

E2 adds face recognition mode. E1 has no such face detection mode

E2 adds a dedicated 'underwater' mode among several others. E1 did not have a specific 'underwater' mode.

First, I tried both the new 60 frames per second mode and the old 30 frames per second mode and I decided that I will be using 30 frames per second, I actually like the quality of 30fps mode better.

I then tried the photography mode. I took most photographs inside in tricky low-light incandescent and florescent light conditions, because I know these give ANY camera, including DSLRs such as my Canon 40D $1300 camera, the most problems. I upped the ISO to 200 and then to 400. You can see samples I posted here. BTW the macro mode on this baby goes to 1 cm!!!! I don't know if E1 had such super-macro to 1 cm. I found the photo quality acceptable and similar to that of other point-and-shoots using the same 1/2.5 and similar sensors. I felt that ISO400 was acceptable. I have not tried ISO 800 and 1600 yet.

E2 has following ISO range: in photo mode 50-1600

in video mode: 100-3200 in high sensitivity mode (3200 I don't believe you can select, but it does it).

The image stabilization feature is tricky, it is EIS, Electronic Image Stabilization, not Optical Image Stabilization, so when you use it, it crops a little bit on sides of your video and photographs, depending on which mode of EIS you use.

The sound is stereo and the quality is acceptable. The camera is tiny btw, I fit mine in case logic case I had from my Canon A75 camera.

I tried this camera underwater in my pool, both video and photographs. All worked fine, even shoots photographs with flash underwater, which makes for very freaky results.

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Finally, some people complained that Sanyo has their own unique USB cable which is a pain if you lose it or don't have it with you, and cannot read it in ordinary card reader. WRONG. I did not even bother taking the proprietary Sanyo USB cable from camera packaging. The card works easily in my HP (windows vista) desktop's card reader. I downloaded PICASA 3 which I recommend. Picasa 3 will find, download, and play all photos and every video you shoot with this camera easily and quickly, just take the SD card, put it in your card reader and Picasa will do the rest. Very easy, so don't need to bother with this cable that comes with it.

Problems: Battery life is not impressive. Battery is tiny. I am used to Fuji F30's 500 shots per charge. This battery sucks. I charged the battery fully. I then took 80 photographs (some with flash), 4 or 5 2-minute videos and my battery showed 70% gone. You need a second battery, and hopefully there are some with more juice in it that the Sanyo one that comes with the camera.

I also wish the lens would start at 28mm and not 38mm as it would make easier to take pictures/videos of oneself without need to stretch your body away from the camera. Also my belief is that the flash only operates in photo mode and not in video mode. However, it is much better than its only competitor, Panasonic SW20, which does not have any flash at all

I will add more photos later.

Before I start, let me mention that I am a professional photographer and I teach photography for our local college. When I look at a new camera, that background plays a role. You may be looking for something completely different in a camera than I am.

My first impression of the Sanyo Xacti VCP E2 was all about its size. It slips right into my shirt pocket. Once I got over the size (and got the battery charged up) I was ready to go. Oh, and install a memory card. The E2 takes the popular SD cards, and it does not come with one. That's probably not a bad thing. Most people who have had a camera or two have a few of these cards lying around. If you don't, get one with the camera. I installed an 8gig card.

I was first trying to hold the camera in one hand. That didn't work very well for me. Your hands may vary. The best hold for me turned out to be with the camera in my right hand, and my left thumb and index finger on the top and bottom of the LCD, which steadies things nicely. The controls, located on the top rear of the camera, are designed to be thumb operated.

The two buttons at the very top take still photos and movies, respectively. They are easy to operate, and the still photo button does the usual "press halfway to lock everything in" function. Below these is the usual four way rocker with the button in the middle. When you are making pictures, this area is used mainly to zoom.

There is also a menu button on the back, and many functions, like turning the flash on and off, can only be accessed through the menus. If you have used digital camera menus before, these will be easy to follow.

So, how well does it work? Pretty well, actually. The macro ability of the lens is outstanding in a camera of this type. It focuses at 1 cm. That's less than a half inch, if you are metric challenged. In addition, it has a full range focus mode that will go from 1 cm to infinity without putting it into a special macro mode. I like to get in close, so that's important to me.

The camera has all the usual settings for ISO, light balance, etc., and will go as high as 3200 ISO. If you get higher than 400, buy a good noise filter plug-in for Photoshop. Once I apply that, even photos shot at 1600 look pretty good. The 8 megapixel stills are 3264 by 2448, and print nice 8x10s. You can grab stills while shooting a movie. If you do that, the stills will be 1600x1200. With 2 megapixels, you could still print an 8x10, but a 5x7 will be better. The 5X zoom works fine. There is also a 12 megapixel setting, but the sensor is 8 MP, so I assume it is simulated. I didn't use it.

Videos are either 640x480, which is plenty for display on a TV, or 320x240, which is perfect for UTube or similar services. You can record at either 30 or 60 frames a second, and I didn't see much difference. At the lower resolution, you can also record at 15 FPS, which makes a small file that's easy to email or upload.

The waterproof feature is interesting. It is supposed to be safe to 5 feet, and it seems to be. I tried it by holding it under water in my backyard pond and bothering my goldfish. Water's a little chilly this time of year!!! Anyway, it worked fine. For many people, the main advantage of this would be that you don't have to worry if you are getting rained on, and you can use it by the pool with no issues.

This camera won't replace your DSLR, but it might replace both your point and shoot still camera and your camcorder.

Pros: Size, easy to use, great macro ability, and very acceptable photo and video quality, with the waterproof feature a plus.

Cons: Not many Uses a non standard USB cable (included) and battery life is around 100 or so stills if you are using the flash more if the flash is off. Figure an hour of video.

Buy Sanyo Xacti VPC-E2 Digital Camcorder and 8 MP Digital Camera (Blue) Now

OK, first the important disclaimer: my other two cameras are SLRs. And had you ask me a week ago, I'd say Sanyo makes great batteries. Sanyo camcorders? What camcorders?

I have an antique Canon A70 with a waterproof case that is good down to depth of 120 feet. This A70 is used in places where I would not risk using an SLR or where the weight restrictions are too high. So as you may guess VPC-E2 is a replacement for that "adventure" mode camera/camcorder.

To be frank, I can give this little Sanyo marvel either four stars or one. You see, when a company enters the market where the smallest gorilla weighs at least eight hundreds pounds, they can only hope to win with a niche product. And this is the one. So the question is do you belong to this niche?

First, the camcorder is waterproof. Well, not exactly in the sense that I used to define this word; it is only rated for five feet. Snorkeling is OK, but not diving. On the other hand, snow, rain, dangerous edges of a pool, and spilled beers do not bother this gadget. Also, it shoots movies in H.264 which means your IPhone plays them and you can post them up on YouTube faster than I can explain what H.264 stands for. It can shoot movies at 640x480 with 60 frames per second definitely not HD, but much better than your average compact camera in movie mode. Oh, and when somebody asks you how many of those ergh... megapixels this camera has, you can shock him or her with a lazy reply, "Ah, eight...". Yeah, right! We will talk about this a little bit later. It also features 5x optical zoom with fair wide-end (38-190 in 35mm equivalent), electronic image stabilization, EV shift, macro mode, and even manual focus and face-recognition that works when lightning is good. The LCD screen is large and bright, and can swivel in two dimensions. It supports SDHC cards and the 8 GB card can hold up to five hours of video.

Controls are minimal, but well designed. There are only ten buttons to choose from: four arrows with a central "set" button, a menu button, two dedicated triggers one for video and other for pictures, as well as an on/off button and a play/record button behind the screen. A well organized menu almost compensates for the lack of dedicated buttons. Left and right buttons can be assigned shortcuts for recording mode (up and down is always assigned to the zoom function) and many functions are easy to select. The menu can be switched to "easy" mode, which limits choices only to necessary basics.

So why I would give it only four stars? First, there is no viewfinder. Second, the flash is extremely underpowered (guide number 3); it is only good at very close ranges. Third, the battery capacity is insufficient; it allows you only about 200 shots or 75 minutes of video (twice as less in real life). Fourth, there is no lens cover, so usage of the included soft case is a good idea. Fifth, this soft case does not have either a handle or a clip, so every time the camcorder is removed, there is a problem where to put the case?

What else? Proprietary USB cable, no AC power in the box (sold separately). I also have problems accessing up/zoom-in button: it is too small.

Now we get to "out of the niche" one star rating. Yes, one star and I insist on it.

This gadget has a tiny sensor and it is crippled with severe noise. Video is OK, though I can see a lot of noise there as well. However, still image noise is on the brink of disaster. I do not know how many real megapixels this unit has because object contours simply disappear in the ocean of color dots as I try to zoom into the picture. A black line on a white background looks OK, but my attempt to take a picture of Lillet Blank's red-on-yellow label produced huge amount of red specks far away from the edge of red letters. I suspect some sort of processing error here. In terms of resolution it is safe to assume this unit has somewhat around 3 honest megapixels (and your typical cell phone probably has just one half of megapixel being rated on the same scale). Oh, and do not even think of using ISO above 400, unless you want to produce a parody on Claude Monet paintings. Unfortunately in automatic mode unit happily sets ISO above 800 in low light conditions, so I assigned one of the shortcuts to change ISO manually to fight this problem.

What it all means? It means this gadget better not be used for any prints bigger than 4x6. Its video played on HDTV does not look too crisp either.

Despite of all these drawbacks, I like this little gadget. I will never use it to capture beautiful landscape or even a portrait. This thing is for ski slopes, water motorcycles, snowmobiles, mountain bikes, hikes, pools, beaches, outdoor parties for all those places where action means more than perfect image quality. Finally, it is interesting to notice I made more movies last week using Xacti than I made with my "big" DV camcorder in the last season.

Read Best Reviews of Sanyo Xacti VPC-E2 Digital Camcorder and 8 MP Digital Camera (Blue) Here

I love toys, so I was very happy when my new VPC-E2 arrived yesterday. The first thing I noticed when holding the E2, is how well it fits in your hand. It's lightweight, and the simple controls are very well laid out. After skimming through manual, and charging the battery, I loaded it up with an 8GB SD card. I then went out to see what it can do. First off was taking still photos in various lighting conditions. Then I took several different videos. The VPC-E2 is very simple to use, and I didn't need to refer back to the manual for anything. After putting it through various tests, I discovered what is my first minor disappointment. Batterty life isn't great. If you plan on using it for a good part of the day, a second battery is going to be a must. All the pictures and videos looked good on the E2's screen, but the real test was when I got home and downloaded them to my computer. The still photos were very good. I was especially surprised how well the photos taken in low light at ISO 800 and 1600 came out. They were perfectly usable despite the noise level. While it's not ideal shooting at those levels, the results were better than expected. The results under normal lighting conditions were good too, for a hybrid camera. While the results weren't quite up to what a top stand alone digital point and shoot might take, the pictures were perfectly fine for viewing on a screen or printing at 4x6 or 8x10. I shot the test videos at 640x480, 30fps, high bit rate, using all "Auto" settings. Again the results were very good. The videos were clear. The sound was good. The camera focused well under all conditions. All in all, Sanyo has a winner here. You could call the VPC-E2 a "jack of all trades, master of none", but that would be a little harsh. What it does, it does well. It's not really great at anything, but it's very good at most. I look forward to my next vacation when I test it underwater on a snorkling trip. First thing I will do is order an extra battery, and buy a real case for it. The included wrap around velcro case is a joke. Here is a brief list of the pro's and con's.

Pro's:

Well designed, versatile, and easy to use.

Waterproof.

Good pictures and video for a hybrid.

Usable pictures at high ISO.

Con's:

Battery life is disappointing.

No 16:9 video options.

Price isn't cheap.

Cheesy velcro "case" that is included is terrible.

Non-standard USB cable.

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Delivery from Amazon: Securely packaged, came early.

Product Packaging:

Nice packaging, didn't have to resort to metal cutters to open like some packages these days. When you open the box everything is in proper order.

In the top compartment in the box is all the paperwork: the warranty, next was the "important warning" about the camera's waterproof feature (not deeper than 5', not longer than 60 minutes, not warmer than 104 degrees so no hot tub underwater pics), Instruction Manual, Quick Guide, safety warning about the battery charger for USA users, safety manual, software disk.

Under the paperwork compartment is the hardware: the camera, the battery, camera wrist strap, a micro USB to AV component cable, a micro USB to standard USB cable, a travel battery charger, and a protective case for the camera.

Getting started:

First disappointment was the "Quick Guide". It tells you how to take a picture and what all the buttons do. The QG mentions needing to charge the battery and even how to put the battery in the charger but it doesn't tell you how to get the battery in and out. It does tell you that it takes 90 minutes to charge the battery so at least you know when you can play with your new toy. The QG also doesn't mention needing an SD memory card or how to get it in and out. The QG has 50% of the information you would want to carry with you, so it's kind of useless.

Second disappointment was that no SD memory card is included in the box so you have to run down and buy a card before getting started if you got this as a gift. It does have 44MB of built-in memory, but that isn't going to last I have lots of SD memory cards so that isn't a problem.

The "Instruction Manual" is totally in English. The "Instruction Manual" is an improvement in that the inside of the cover has a foldout that shows you where and how to install the battery and the SD card, then how to take your first video clip and first still pictures, and finally how to play them back. The real manual is 197 pages and is really easy to use and shows lots of thought. Wish they had spent just a little time on a real quick start guide you could carry with you. When you flip the manual over, you find the Xacti Software DVD Instruction Manual which is 21 pages long. However, only the last 7 pages are about the software. It starts by telling you how to "mount" the camera on your computer, how to use it as a card reader and a PC camera (nice feature). Again, the arrangement is a little strange as there is information in this sub-manual that should have been in the main manual.

The camera:

Definitely not a shirt pocket camera. Although small, at 1.6" it is too thick and at 7 oz. too heavy to go in a shirt pocket. The protective case doesn't have belt loops or any way to clip it to the camera and only wraps around the camera so it's only function is dirt/scratch protection when you throw the camera in a purse or jacket pocket.

I'm left-handed, so I always look for ease of use for either hand. Neither hand works well with this camera, but holding it in the left hand at least gives a little leverage. The placement of the video and photo buttons causes the camera to rock whenever you push on one unless you are holding on with both hands. You just can't keep the camera stable when you are pressing the zoom, the video, or the picture buttons.

I worked my way through the manual and tested each of the features. There are two different setups for the camera to select from as far as operation: SIMPLE and NORMAL. SIMPLE is supposed to be only the minimum functions necessary to operate the camera and it puts 3 menu selections down the edge of the screen: TV which allows you to select 2 different movie and photo sizes; Select Focus Mode that lets you switch between Automatic and Macro; and finally Flash which lets you pick from auto or on or off. That's it. There are several other options that should be on the Simple menu scheme starting with access to the 9 Scene Select modes (Auto, Sports, Portrait . . . Under Water, etc.) If you switch into Normal mode, all of the camera features are available by pushing the "menu" button, but it is small and hard to hit. The menu replaces the picture on the screen, so you have to make your selection and then hit menu to get back out and see what it does. Some features that you would want to be able to access immediately are two levels down in the menus. I am not impressed with the menu system, especially when I compare it to the Canon system on their low end pocket cameras.

Videos and Pictures:

Here's where I really began to lower my opinion of the camera. It's slow to start up, slow to focus, slow to take pictures, slow to start video recording, and the zoom has one speed which is either too fast or too slow. It's 5x zoom lens going from 38mm to 190mm (35mm equivalent). It would have been more useful with a wide angle starting point, especially for underwater photos and videos.

The camera allows you to take 8 megapixel still pictures. The quality of still pictures is good and the ability to rotate the screen allows you to shoot from interesting angles. Unfortunately, it is hard to frame the pictures because what you see on the screen is not exactly what you get. The ISO goes from 50 to 1600, but above 400 the quality really falls off just as it does in most other cameras with this size sensor. The problem is getting action pictures which is why we buy a camera like this. I tried the sequential mode -after I found it buried in the resolution selection menu. You point the camera at the action and press the button . . . then the screen goes dark until you let up or you fill the camera internal memory. A little hard to tell if you are following the action. It is a little too slow to start up and take the first picture to use for quick candid shots. When I blow the pictures up, there is a lot more noise and color shift than I see with my Canon 6 megapixal camera taking the same shot in the same light.

Video is OK , but other waterproof cameras such as the Pentax W60 offer better quality (740p) and have a more useful lens range. To give you a range, the video is not even close to my canon S3IS, but that's a whole different class of lens. However, it it fine for UTube or home videos. You can take 640x480 video at 60fps or 30fps and 320x240 at 30fps or 15fps. The 320x240 is intended for videos for the web. You can take still pictures while you are taking a video, but the resolution is not 8megapixel and is related to the video frame per second level you select. At 640x480 60fps HQ the stills are .3megapixels, at 30fps 2megapixels. Makes me think that the quality is being comprised when you shoot at 60fps and after looking at some video shot at 60 and some at 30 I determined that quality is really affected by picking 60 fps. I shot a bunch of video of our Thanksgiving dinner in normal room lighting. The camera would make adjustments slowly to the light, but when it finally got it the videos were good . . . lots of noise and artifacts, but good enough for family memory videos. I also took the camera out to our Koi pond and started it shooting above the water and then slowly moved it underwater to get pictures of our big Koi. The videos were very clear and it adjusted readily to the change to underwater light. I also tried some underwater still pictures, but those were not very satisfactory as flash washed out the pictures. When I turned the flash off I got some acceptable underwater pics.

Waterproof? The camera functioned properly underwater and didn't have a problem. After I washed it off and dried it, I open the door over the SD card/battery and found that the hinges retain water. A little blast of air cleared them, but this is a possible problem if you need to change batteries after having it in the wet. You will be changing the battery a lot, as the battery life is fairly short.

Since I am a tennis pro, I decided to test the camera in my classes. Here is where I found a great application for the camera! Took good action pics, the 5x zoom is all you need on the court, and the LCD was very clear in the sunlight. I was able to take a series of each student and then discuss it with them with no problem. I could slip the camera in my pants pocket when I wasn't using it and bring it out when needed. Much easier to use for this purpose than our Sony Handycam. Coaches could really make use of this camera as you wouldn't worry about sweat or rain or dirt. Battery life wouldn't be a problem as you typically take a short clip and then show it to the player(s) and discuss. It would be great for water polo or swimming coaches.

Bottom line on the camera: not equal to it's competitors for most uses and overly expensive. However, in certain situations like sports coaching it really is one of a kind and has great utility. I will be using this camera a lot for that purpose.

RCA EZ5100R Small Wonder Palm Style HD 1080P Digital Camcorder (Black/Slver)

I been through a Ton of Video Cameras the past year now and my Uncle who is a Huge Video camera enthusiast had ran across this wonderful little RCA camcorder last week...First off I would like to mention...Its Point and Shoot so even a kid can use it..it does have a small menu to switch up some settings but not too much to be complicated or anything...and It feels fragile...and it has No Image Stabilization which for this specific camcorder does not matter...Keep it on a tripod or hold it steady and your good!

The Little LED light on the front only shines 2 feet in front of you..So grab a Flash light and use it instead in Pitch black..Im just being Honest here...

Also..the record Button is directly on the back of the camcorder so it wil be easily pushed IF your not carful but I have never pushed it yet accidentally...so its OK where it is...Easy to reach Zoom button...and The Camera only does 5MPs...the other resolutions are Interpolated to 12MPs...so you only get True 5MP Pictures from this camcorder!

But It has some of the BEST video quality all around..I recently bought the JVC Everio GZ-HD620 and it was NOT a good video camera for what its was worth. I ended up selling it 2 weeks after i used it and continued searching for another Video camera that was all away around better for all types of situations...This Camera is Great In Low Light..The color stays in the video and doesnt wash out like it does on all High Definiton Video camcorders (Except this one)...Out doors the video is PERFECT!..I cant express that enough...No jerkiness at all on your computer with videos taken indoors or outdoors....One Great thing is You can go upto a 32GB class 6 sdhc card with no problems and if you fill one up then just switch it out for another..Simple!...That gives you 10 hours of HD video (1440x1080) on a 32gb card ..Plenty of Time for anything you may want to take videos of...Plenty!

This camcorder does create you videos in .MOV files...Not a Problem at all... .MOV files work with anything on your PC, DVD player, Tivo and much more...and you can Burn your videos to a DVD and just simply play them in HD too and they work Perfect....Like I said ..This is one of the best HD digital camcorders out there right now...Battery Life is Fair (3 to 4 hours)...Pick up a spare battery if you wish...and The Top HD resolution is in 1440x1080 and the second best is 1280x720 so that is Perfect resolution for Videos for anything...and that means your PC will play them fine and your Tivo will play them fine and your DVD player will play them fine as well when burned to a DVD...

Buy this Camcorder..The color is Great and doesnt wash out and it has easy to use Video files like .MOV files and it uses upto 32GBs sdhc cards which you can swap out for another easily...plus much much more...and windows users can simply Install the software that comes IN the camcorder itsself and work with your videos that way....Also easy to upload to youtube and Facebook...and much more!

I am really sorry that you had to even look at this page on amazon. This camera DOES NOT WORK. RCA also has no customer service. (If you do not believe me check out the 275 that do in the comments section.)I would say the customer service at RCA was horrid but-IT DOES NOT EXIST. THE WEBSITE DOES NOT OFFER ANY COMMUNICATION WITH A PERSON. (whether it be phone # or online chat or SOMETHING.) It would not charge. And while it was plugged in, it had less than A MINUTE OF HD VIDEO. It honestly does not work. please do not get it. (However, I was able to return it with amazon with a full refund. Go, Amazon! Boo, RCA!) I beg you not to waste 100 bucks on this. It does not work, AT ALL.

(Please feel free to comment if you have any questions, I will answer!)

Buy RCA EZ5100R Small Wonder Palm Style HD 1080P Digital Camcorder (Black/Slver) Now

This Camcorder is a great choice for those who are experienced or not experienced in cinematography. It has a sleek design and a great location for all of the buttons.

The features are great. There are quality settings of HD (1080p), Sports Mode (480p), and Web Quality (240pI think)...

The zoom is great, it zooms in 5x and then has an extra zoom that is a bit slower, but is great. It's focus is really good, but when you zoom in fast and far, it takes a while to focus, or hold the camera still (tripod).

Comes with a carry case with belt loop, which is great.(in case people were wondering if it came with a case or not. says "Small Wonder" across the top flap.)

Overall it is a great camcorder and is definitely worth the money (for me it was 141) and is awesome.

Cons: does not have a lens cap cover... which I'm fine with, but keep the lens covered (by keeping it in the case)

Read Best Reviews of RCA EZ5100R Small Wonder Palm Style HD 1080P Digital Camcorder (Black/Slver) Here

You can record 5 hours, but the battery only lasts for one hour. I would think the battery life would be a lot better than that. It takes nice video, but you better have an outlet and charger handy!

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For the price you can't go wrong! Plus it gives great clear videos! I used it for a parade I was doing for Columbus day! I have no complaints! I purchased this unit from the seller and was given fast service and had the recorder in plenty of time for my parade and was pleased that I even had a clear video of my parade. I will order from the seller again and will recommend them to all my friends and business assoicaties. I can't thank them enough!

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Tascam Foam Windscreens for DR-08 Portable Digital Recorder, 3 Set

Sadly, the Tascam DR-08 Portable Digital Recorder does not come with the windscreens it should have. It is up to the buyer to shell out additional cash for three little bits of foam. If you do any outdoor recording, you're absolutely going to need these. They're not the same as large baffled windscreens, but they do give some help. I've found that they're very effective with breezes no more than 5-8 MPH. Once the wind is in the neighborhood of 10MPH, these screens don't provide sufficient protection. Still better than nothing, but you'll have to do some editing to get the roar out of your recordings. Grit your teeth and buy 'em.

These keep the wind noise under control. I have used it outside at the beach to record live music the wind was not an issue.

Buy Tascam Foam Windscreens for DR-08 Portable Digital Recorder, 3 Set Now

Contour Wearable Camcorder (Black)

Questions I often get~ Where have you been? You don't have one of these yet?

I know show me some footage you say! You must check the site for some great videos people have made from just quick clips some with no editing at all to full on short movies. I recommend that because there is not enough room to describe how cool this wireless and very light camera is to use but I'll try! I'm a customer not an employee... and "i am pc!"

Camera is so light and versatile I've used a basic piece of Velcro strapped to my cap visor during golf, stuck it to my bike frame, velcro'd to my motorcycle kickstand, strapped it to ski pole to check a wasp nest, and of course it serves great as a plain ol' helmet cam too.

Someone even stuck it to an RC Plane. Even on their dog for a dog cam view. yup! Set yourself free!! no wires means you will not have to worry about much except wiping out while catching your buddies on film.

With the flick of the glovable slider on/off switch and audible sounds and aiming lasers you are able to basically use it with your eyes closed or even place it where you can't see it during filming. Its got a supermic as well it will pickup a pin dropping ;o) All which can be adjusted when you edit/censor your movies even add music.

The build quality is very durable and can take impact. Trust me ;o)and the adhesive with supplied mount is semi permanent you may have to use a crowbar to take it off but you do not have to worry even at well ~ unsafe speeds. Basically you can be creative on where you place this camera knowing it will film for over an hour+ of footage at a time. Battery life will last about 3gb or more of video on a good charge.

Package comes with microSD card but Sandisk premier 2gb card is best to use with this unit. This battery should be charged by separate charger which seems to super charge the battery, usb charge by a pc is not going to help you get out there filming quick enough. Specially, when you need 2 batteries for a full day of mtn.biking, or Snowboarding so you still have juiceafter you warm up and stop wiping out. The packaged items that come with camera is a good starter kit with a mount, cam, sd card, battery you have software(which VholdR updates with cool new features every so often) which assists you in producing your video to the VholdR.com site for sharing. Yes, they have a producer hub for you to share your videos.

Oh yah, the desktop software also supports _mac now. of course "I AM PC!"

My VholdR carry along always ready ALLDAY bag contains: 2 batteries and 3 2gb sd cards since camera software does not yet support larger sd cards. Which really is not a problem because 2gb cards are cheap. Cabela's #2 scope cover for lens, extra stick on mount(never know where you might be)

Quality of video for this unit is not HD but captures quality STABLE videos when moving fast. At slow captures like walking or filming a party its just like any other camera. Some lighting issues may occur depending on where you are filming at high speed, i.e. Night time, shadow/bright light changes.

640x480 is still a fine size which uses less space on SDcard, it sure would be nice to be able to toggle resolution WHEN larger SDHC card support is there.

My VholdR has been thru rain, mud, dirt and has so far over 4months has been such an enjoyable experience i can easily recommend to others.

VholdR receives additional "way cool marks" for providing Desktop Software to help with managing movie uploads. Software updates and firmware updates prove they are not just a camera maker. Oh did i mention a cool site to share your movies for free?

Overall experience is that this is not just a camera so two swollen thumbs and two purple toes up for this gem of a camera from me!

Ok enough typing... check for yourself get out there and shoot its almost snow season get your angles dialed. Where you been?

my best examples would be ~ thatsMOCKFOO on VholdR website btw, i have no idea who that nut is!

~ go get some videos people!VholdR Wearable Camcorder (Black)

My only negatives are,

* 2gb max microsd support(not a big deal) after cutting up videos i find smaller clips are easier to manage anyways.

* When the battery dies if you are still in ON mode your video is not closed so the last video clip could be corrupt. So I changed my habit until that is figured out.

* Making shorter clips is easier to manage I've found. Just accept turning it off then on about an hour into video or gauge your battery life like a gas tank. You can check how much battery and sd card is left by pressing the button btw.

* Lighting changes from super dark shadows transition to super bright sections of trail may take a short while for focus depending on where camera is mounted. Not many cameras can handle this anyways.

These are minor negatives but prevent a 5 from me.

Still a super camera for a such a light wireless and reasonably priced for good action video camera that i won't mind thrashing a bit filming in the elements. This is a rugged camera which you can capture action in ways you may not with your bulky thousand dollar HD camera. Like strapping it to your snowboard or your motorcycle kickstand, or how about your mountain bike pedal? Escape from the paradigm of the helmet cam.

well, this camera is amazing.

my first action camera was the atc2k, which i still own.

i loved it since it was small, durable and i could make videos from the coolest angles.

this camera is pretty much the same, with a few improvements and a few drawbacks compares to the atc2k. it all depends on what you want to do with it.

1. size and weight great. small, light. perfect for what it needs to do.

2. controls i like the big record button. quick. comfortable. perfect for those "i gotta get this shot" moments.

3. lasers and rotating lens AMAZING! i love this! one of the most annoying things in the atc2k is the fact that you cant rotate the lens, and need to edit the video and flip it after you are done. the lasers help you align the camera. cooool!

4. mount much easier than the atc2k, but the drawback is you cant put it on your handlebar or your arm. only a helmet or a flat surface.

5. comes with a memory card. sweet!

a few other missing things that would make this product a 5 star:

1. waterproof. resistance means nothing.

2. option to change video quality and such

3. a screen to replace the confusing LEDs that tell you the battery status and memory card status.

so if you want to take videos of crazy rides on your bike this is the one for you! perfect!

anything more "all around" get the atc2k but remember that all around things always have drawbacks.

Buy Contour Wearable Camcorder (Black) Now

The Quick Take: It's pricey compared to the competition, in some cases twice as expensive. Video quality is OK, not outstanding and not HD. It is not waterproof but can get splashed on with no ill effects. Memory has a 2GB limitation (other cameras have 32GB capability!). Battery life is not exceptional and uses a proprietary lithium ion battery. vHoldr software is not that useful and is buggy on the Mac platform. My 13 year old nephew though it was awesome, I thought it was OK but way too expensive for what it offers.

The vHoldr is one of a number of video cameras in the "sports cam" or "helmet cam" genre. It is intended to be used in action situations, such as extreme sports, where capturing video using a conventional video camera or video capability of a point and shoot camera would be difficult if not impossible.

The vHolder box contains the camera, a 2GB microSD card, a 15-inch USB cable (which may be OK for laptop use but is far too short to be useful with a Tower computer that's on the floor), Lithium Ion battery, helmet mount with leash and manual. The vHoldr software for PC is included on the microSD card and is also available from the vholdr website. A Mac version is finally available.

Some people strap the camera to their dog to get a first person point of view. Other people use them to capture video of various activities such as skydiving, motocross, bicycling, snowboarding, etc. The usage of a camera like this is limited only by your imagination.

The vHoldr is a fairly compact design, measuring about 3 3/4 inches long and about, 1 1/4 inch wide and about 2 1/8 inch tall. The casing is made of aluminum with plastic side rails which are used for mounting the camera onto a variety of pricey optional mounts, such as a handlebar mount, or the included helmet mount. The camera has a fixed focus lens and a 90-degree field of view (which is great.)

There is a simple control system consisting of a large sliding recording on/off switch on the top and a small push button on the rear of the unit to power it on and off. The sliding switch could be made easier to use if it had a ribbed area to create a more grippy surface. Its quite likely you might have gloves on your hands and the ribbing would provide a better tactile experience when turning recording on/off.

The rear (back) of the vHoldr slides up and then down and out to reveal the microSD slot, Lithium Ion battery compartment with plastic locking arm and USB port. The battery locking arm if of questionable durability and it wouldn't surprise me in the least if it snaps off one of these days.

There are three LED's that provide various indications: power on, charging state (only visible when rear door is open) and memory usage. The LED's change color between red, yellow and green. For many color blind individuals, discerning the color change of the LED's will be impossible thereby limiting their usefulness.

There is also an LED at the front of the vHoldr that, when lit, indicates that power is on. The vHoldr also incorporates two laser indicator lights to help you orient the camera by adjusting the lens orientation and mount positioning during the power on sequence.

Video is captured at a resolution of 640x480 and the quality is acceptable in moderate to bright light outdoor situations. In low light the quality diminishes greatly. There is no image stabilization so depending on the method of mounting the camera, you may not be happy with the constant jerky movement of the video. However since the field of view is so large, essentially a wide angle lens, the jerky effect is less than it would be otherwise.

The microphone is extremely prone to picking up wind noise making it mostly useless for situations where wind will be an issue. Covering the microphone hole (located on the bottom of the vHoldr) with tape is an option but doesn't help much.

The software provided is abysmal. It provides no way to export the video except to "share" it on the vHoldr website and only once it is shared, are you able to email a video somewhere. If you don't really want to share a video, you're out of luck. Of course, you can pull the video file right off the memory card but on a Mac, you can't view the video in Quicktime since the codec used by vHoldr is not compatible with QuickTime at the time of this review. On a Mac, you can use the Open Source software VLC to view the videos produced by the vHoldr. On my MacBook with 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, I had constant problems with the vHoldr Desktop software crashing, freezing up and generally misbehaving.

The bottom line is that this camera captures video of average quality. It's not HD. It performs pretty well in lower light situations. There is no way to format your memory card in the camera. In fact, you can't really format the card unless you purchase a microSD adapter and a separate card reader that hooks up to your USB on your computer. In addition, for people with large hands, getting at the microSD slot to insert or remove the card is quite a challenge in dexterity. You can't download video to your computer if the vHoldr battery is depleted even though the USB cable provides power to the camera. The Camera must be "ON" and connected to your computer to enable downloading. It's ridiculous because if you've just spent several hours capturing video, you're probably going to have a dead battery and you then have to curb your enthusiasm for watching the video until your camera can charge the battery enough for you to transfer it to your computer. And vHoldr does not even provide a wall plug USB power adapter so you have to let your computer USB charge your camera.

I feel this camera is overpriced and does not present a good value particularly when you factor in the exorbitantly priced mounts and adhesive pads. There are similar products, notably the ATC5k Oregon Scientific ATC 5K Waterproof Action Cam Flash Memory Video Recorder with 1.5-Inch Color LCD Screen, Still Image and Web Cam Capabilities (Blue), the ATC3K Oregon Scientific ATC 3K Waterproof Action Cam Flash Memory Video Recorder with Web Cam Capabilities (Black), both by Oregon Scientific and the Tachyon XC (which takes up to 32GB memory cards and comes with a remote control) by Tachyon Inc., that cost half as much as the vHoldr while providing similar video quality. By the way, forget about getting spontaneous videos quickly because the vHoldr takes a full 23 seconds to boot up before it is ready to capture any video.

Pros:

Aluminum casing is durable but scratches

Captured video is adequate.

Decent low light performance

Very wide angle of view

Cons:

Expensive

Extremely short USB cable

No image stabilization

Difficult to access microSD card

Not waterproof

Expensive accessories such as additional mounts

Memory capacity is limited to a 2GB card.

No built in way to erase or reformat memory card

Microphone is subject to extreme wind noise during movement.

Takes 23 seconds to power on and boot

Power adapter is not included

Other cameras to consider

ATC5K by Oregon Scientific

Tachyon XC by Tachyon Incorporated

UPDATE 1/2/2009

I felt compelled to update my review because my satisfaction with this camcorder has diminished from what I wrote. Two main issues are the ability to easily or conveniently mount the camera to anything and the other issue is the difficulty formatting the memory card. Formatting the memory card cannot be done in the camcorder. It must be removed and mounted via a USB memroy card reader to your computer. Yeah...if you don't have one you'll have to buy one. Big hassle. And concerning the mounting of the camcorder; because of it's odd shape with the "rail" system, it is extremely difficult to fashion any sort of homemade mounting solution. About the only thing I've been able to come up with so far is to attach a piece of velcro to the cylinder of the camcorder and attach it to the matching velcro on whatever you want to attach it to, It's not totally secure and can wiggle a bit but at least it gives you a bit of flexibility other than buying their expensive, single use mounting discs. I would honestly have to rate this only 2 stars at this point.

UPDATE 7/10/2009

OK, vHoldr has now introduced a new model thus this model has been reduced in price to $129. I still would not buy it since it has so many issues which I've already documented. But many people will find it attractive at the new price point. It does provide a pretty good value now at $129.

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I have strapped VholdR on my dog, using tape, in order to demonstrate the camcorder in action. The video is shaky, especially when Savannah runs, but I think the results are brilliant. Obviously the results would be better if taken by a person on a bike, skateboard, ski etc. to eliminate shaking while walking. I think VholdR is a fun gadget and I will be inventing new ways to use it. However it is not a replacement for a regular camcorder.

Software would not install properly on my Vista, but it is not necessary, as files can be uploaded directly via USB. To those who are frustrated with charging via PC, you can get an USB charger adapter for faster charging.

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One word comes to mind ... WOW!

This is a very well thought out unit. There are some CONs which I will get into later in this review, however I wish to focus more on the PROs. This little gem is small, light and very easy to use. The laser aiming gave me a perfectly pointed and level video, right out of the box. I purchased this to record what I was doing while in a Kart in the hopes of helping my driving capabilities. Only after one use, I am now seeing and hearing (for the first time) mistakes or lack there of, through every turn and down every straight-away. I also used it as a hand held video recorder to capture some of the action of another heat from the sidelines; a bit cumbersome but still very useable.

I must say I have no experience with other types of helmet cams, but unless you want wires to route, remote recorder and batteries to hide or a bulky looking box sticking out of the top of your head, I think this might be the perfect solution to capture the action. I do wish it had the capability of a remote microphone so as to be able to make comments during the video recording. You can yell with a full face helmet and not hear it on the video.

When I was first "getting to know" the cam, I found references to wind noise problems (in my case it does not cause problems) but the cure is to place a piece of tape over the microphone. This would not usually be a problem, but where is the microphone?!? I could not find anything that even remotely looks like a mic and could not find anything in the user guide or online to point out where it might be hiding (just in case).

If you decide to download the video via the USB port, be prepaired to go and get a cup of coffee or beer ... it takes almost as long to down load through the camera USB as it did to take the video. Use a reader to transfer the videos, much faster (only a few seconds for 20 minutes of video).

The vHoldr Desktop is a nice piece of software for viewing and very limited editing but if you want to do anything even remotely creative or burn to DVD you will need to get some extra software that converts .AVI correctly. Windows Media player does not (in my case) even show the video correctly.

In any event, if you decide to get one, you will probably need a few extras ... BUT ... Enjoy it! It is fun!!

*********

PROs: very light and unobtrusive, close to 2 hours of video on 2 GB storage. Battery 2.5 hours, but memory and battery both replacable at the track, or the slope, in just a few seconds.

CONs: resolution could be higher, memory not capable of more than 2 GB, not remote microphone capable, online problem support limited to news groups and some Q&A's, supplied video editing software great to watch but could use improvement. AVI format causes problems sharing video with friends.

Sony DVP-S550D DVD Player

• Plays DVD video, audio CD, and video CD formats
• Dolby Digital 5.1-channel decoder
• Sony precision-drive system with active tilt control
• SmoothScan high-speed search
• SmoothSlow slow-motion forward and reverse

After hours of research online, I decided to trade in my JVC XV511 DVD player for this one. Of course, I read about the lip-sync issue, but I also found out that Sony has corrected the problem with a firmware update, and models currently at the store already have this update. It was evident from reviews that apart from the lip-sync issue, the player was blowing everyone away. Now, I have to add my voice to that chorus -this product is amazing. Though the JVC had a great picture, the Sony's is absolutely stunning. With a component video connection, I see no flicker in fine edge detail, and the colors are so rich they leap off the screen. Setting up the 5.1 speaker output was easy, with an intuitive graphical interface. The remote is similarly intuitive, although it took me a few minutes to get used to the navigation button and jog wheel. The player feels solid, discs load very quickly, regular CDs sound excellent, and Sony has packed in a dozen small bonuses (like being able to save a favorite frame as the player's default display when not playing) -all of which leaves me very satisfied, even amazed. With the lip-sync issue now resolved, and unless you want to spend twice as much money, you can't do better than this player.

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No lip sync troubles, best picture of any DVD player I have auditioned so far. I tested 13th Floor, Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies and Titanic. Go DVD and when you are forced (and I mean FORCED) to endure VHS, you will think you need glasses while watching the tape. This is an outstanding player, no lip sync issues whatsoever, in fact it seemed better in that respect than the $800 Mitsubishi unit I almost bought. The sales guy steered to me to the Sony unit, said after seeing them every day, he bought the Sony. So did I. The clarity is exceptional, features are full and easy to use. Cinema sound does a passable job of simulating surround, at least until I hook up my surround speakers. The remote is well designed with the most important buttons placed in easy finger reach and made larger than the less frequently used buttons. Most of the features are available at the front panel, and the display is easy to see form across the room. On screen displays can be utilized in wide screne movies without interfereing with the picture. Still frame and frame save is a cool feature. The unit is well laid out and near perfect. You would have to spend several hundred dollars more on others units to achieve the 550's picture and sound quality. Highly recommended

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The Sony DVD-S550 is a great buy for first and second time DVD player buyers alike. It offers a tremendous combination of features and performance at a very reasonable price. I had a year and a half old Panasonic DVD player that decided to stop working and I realize now that it really did me a favor. Seeing and hearing movies on this Sony has really opened my eyes and ears to all that DVDs can offer. I mention ears because as amazing as the video quality is, the sound quality is what really blows me away (and you don't need a humongous sound system to appreciate it). You will not be disappointed by this product! It provides very near the quality level of the Sony Reference DVD-S7700 (at half the price) and features (inc. a jog dial remote) that put it over the Sony DVD-S530 (at least in my book).

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I received my Sony DVD player model S550D with a power source malfunctionig, as a result of Amazon excellent service the deffective player was substituted with a new one and all shipping expenses picked by Amazon. I could barely use the new Sony DVD player for three weeks when it experimented the same power source failure, as a result I am returning the second Sony DVD player and I do not plan on buying any Sony DVD player again. I had been a Sony fan all my life before these events.

I absolutely love this Sony product. I have been shopping for about a year now for my first DVD player and I finally decided on this one. It has left me speechless. I have a 32" JVC TV, and Kenwoods "Home Theatre in a box" system (which is Dolby-DTS ready). When I brought the Sony DVPS550D home, and hooked everything up I was amazed at the MONSTER I had created. The first movie I bought was of course the Matrix, and I can't tell you what it sounds like. I can just describe it to you in 2 words.....EARTH SHAKING. I love all the features that comes with the DVD player, and I have not experienced any Lip Sync problems at all. I highly recommend it to anyone.

ME-DC1+ME-CLP: i.Trek 12" Clamp Mount Tripod with Quick Release for Compact Digital Camera, digital

The clamp supports the small action camera's perfectly well under normal conditions. As noted by other reviewers, the arm and the based are separate. The advantage is that it is easier to transport. The disadvantage is twofold: gravity (or G-Force) is needed to keep the arm secured into the clamp socket, there is no pin or locking system to secure it into its socket. Second: the fitting may cause some vibration when the clamp is fitted to a (slightly) vibrating surface. I experience these issues when using it in a car, boat or on an aircraft.

In non-vibrating environments, the clamp is perfect to use.

The clamp looks like it would grab onto things pretty well. ...It does not. Perhaps a table, as pictured. Not good on anything verticle. The clamp is slippery not grippy. The bending arm slides in and out of the clamp socket without threads or a pin or anything to hold it in. I will keep and use it only with extreme caution for use with my inexpensive camera or in a very secure position.

I am not prone to giving negative reviews, but buyers should know what to expect.

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Great for placing small cameras on stage (hung from lighting trusses) or even to hold some lighting for my video work. I can't get along without it.

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Exactly as described. It is a versatile and handy device. I use it to hold my pocket camera, but also to support a small LED camera light for tabletop photography. I am very pleased and highly recommend this quality product.

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Sony ICD-PX312f Digital Voice Recorder With FM tuner

This is really a nice product. Many high end features that perhaps I will grow into. Recording quality is top notch. Light, easy to use and the buttons are well positioned. I like the fm tuner so I can record local broadcasts. Fm recording is the main reason I purchased. So why not 5 Stars? Back lit display. My previous Sony was back lit. I figured since this new one was a higher grade that it would be back lit. After opening and realizing that it wasn't backlit I was really disappointed but not enough to send back.

The unit looks great and has many features! However, the operating manual, which in fact is actually about 10 different manuals for various laguages,which are all basically useless, does not give adequate detailed information in English as to all the features you can use. Wth all the benifical features, you are on your own to figure out how ecah feature operates.This is the difficult and frustrating part. If I could figure it out more easily, it would have a higher rating. I guess I'll let my grand son get it working for me.

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WD Blue 160 GB Desktop Hard Drive: 3.5 Inch, 7200 RPM, PATA, 8 MB Cache - WD1600AAJB

This drive is exactly as advertised. It is a bare drive, no cables or mounting gear included (although you probably don't need either). It does not include instructions either; so you should know what you are doing if you are buying this hardware. It is an excellent choice for an older computer.

Everything about the item was excellent. Well packaged, quickly shipped, performs well upon installation. My only problem was upon ordering, the product description said the drive was available in both PATA and SATA configurations(parallel vs. serial). My older computer required the PATA as a replacement hard drive. The Amazon ordering process did not facilitate the specifying of one of the two available configurations. It took various phone calls to Amazon, and emails to the product supplier to assure me the PATA version would be shipped. It turned out well, but this was the first time I encountered ambiguity, frustration, and delay in placing an order with Amazon.com

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I'm using this as a second hard drive in my desktop Macintosh. The drive has a sturdy feel to it. I've handled a lot of drives and this one is quite heavy when compared to the other drives I have used. I've had it in everyday use for over a month now and have had no problems at all and I don't expect any.

This drive is a good value. When used on a mac you simply plug it in, and turn it on. Then use disk utility in the utilities fold to format the disk and your in business.

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Item # B000VRZ7PA Western Digital Caviar Blue PATA Hard Drive WD1600AAJB

I ordered this through Amazon Market Place, because by the time I was ready to order it, Amazon was sold-out for the time being. Now it's re-stocked and I'm seriously considering ordering another. Unlike the display pages, this unit is bulk-OEM which came in a plasti-foil/mylar sealed wrapper. (no directions)

The re-seller did an excellent job bubble-wrapping it for shipping and when I contacted them about specifications, they were helpful and informative. Pricing was competitive with Amazon's own department. This drive is a little noisier than my original drive, which featured a peculiar rubber sheath. But this little winder spins out a fast 7200 RPM, and the noise isn't anything approaching noise from the power-supply cooling fan.

The Western Digital web-site features full specifications pages which are model specific. And there's a frequently asked questions (FAQ) menu with lots of information, some of which may apply to your needs. They also illustrated precisely the jumper settings configuration table I was looking for.

If you're installing an Operating System, (this installation was Windows XP) your installation disk will perform the necessary format. Because mine was XP, it had the option of selecting either FAT-32 file system (backwards compatible Windows 95-98) or NTFS file system, which is upwards compatible with Windows Vista & Windows 7, in case you need to network and share files.

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I bought this in May '10 to extend the life of an old PC with IDE disk controllers. Great price for a good size in old technology. For almost five months it was great. But one day in October '10, without any warning whatsoever, it has stopped working entirely. As far as the computer sees, even in BIOS and even with swapping around the data and power cables and the jumper, the disk is simply not there (but a different disk is still working okay, so it is the new disk and not the controller which is the problem).

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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.

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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!

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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.