Abacus24-7 OPTICAL TOSLINK DIGITAL FIBER OPTIC AUDIO CABLE-12 feet

This optical cable is a bargain especially for 12' long. There's really no need to spend a ton of money on an optical cable such as the Monster cable brand. Either the digital bits go through or they don't and this cable does just fine transferring those optical bits into my receiver.

Perform the following test Get this cable and a monster cable, both around the same length. Compare the sound coming from each. Then, continue to buy the parts express cables, because you won't notice a difference other than the fancy packaging is missing and your wallet will be fatter.

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I got this as a backup for a 3' optical cable i purchased in the same order, and i haven't needed to break it out yet. Considering that i got two cables (a 12' and 3') for under $10 and that a similar cable from Monster would have costed me over $30, i don't consider it a waste. Some customers have complained of high shipping costs when compared to the cost of the items shipped. This is only the case when buying one or two items at a time. If you buy multiple items (i purchased 2 optical cables, 2 s-video, a dvi cable, and a plethora of rca cables), it is worth it.

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I used two 12 foot cables with a coupler for a 24 foot PCM connection between my satellite receiver and my home theater system. The Dolby 5.1 is excellent.

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Works without flaw, The price is spectacular! I also use a monster cable optical cable in my home theater and there is absolutely no performance difference.

Sony ICD-UX70 Digital Voice Recorder - Pink

The digital playback is very useful for transcribing lectures without having to go back and forth. Recordings can be easily sorted in the folders, everything is very accesible. I am glad that Sony added the automatic power off when stopped, I have another digital recorder that does't have a power button, and this is a battery saver.

As an academic, voice recorders can be a life-saver. Whether recording lectures or presentations, or making research comments without having to drop a journal to make a note, this kind of product is awesome. The old microcasette recorders were heavy and large by comparison, and lacked many of the cool features of these newer IC recorders, but they had the space in the chassis for a decent size speaker, and the tapes could be used in transcription machines. This particular model is very small, which increases its cool factor, but it does have its share of limitations. The tiny screen packs in a lot of information--but the result is that everything is microscopic. Spring for the bigger screen, Sony. Another drawback of the size is the one AAA battery. This makes it small and light, but reduces battery time. Not that there's anything you'll want to record that it can't handle on a fresh battery, but you will have to change it more often. Finally, and most important, the small size leaves this thing with a speaker that is only 1 cm in diameter, and only 95 mW. That's technical talk for too small and not loud enough. You have to hold it to your ear to really hear it. That means that in most circumstances, you'll have to wear headphones to listen back. Once you do, the sound quality is pretty good, but it takes away considerably from the fundamental convenience of the thing. There are tons of other nifty features, but nothing I found indispensable. I brought it back.

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This is a very user friendly item, and it interfaces nicely with a computer. I've downloaded sound files off of it onto my Mac. Very intuitive. But also very small, and I've already lost it a couple times. Luckily, I found it again, too.

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This is a good recorder, however there is not much volume. Have to hold it up to ear to hear recording. I have not downloaded the files on the computer yet so I can not comment on that feature. Overall, It is good for what I purchased it for.

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New-Sony radio walkman - SRF-59SILVER

This is the 2nd one i have had and works great when i take my morning walk.Just don't drop it. Dropped last one and it met its maker.

This VERY fine little portable radio comes with a BIG clip on it's backside . I fasten it to the outside of my cargo or short pants when walking . I walk eighty minutes , four days a week . The radio has a little switch for sensitivity that lets you choose local or dx ? I don't know what dx is , but i get a good boost from it . I've used my unit since early Febuary . I live in a little town north of Orlando , Florida . The other day , i was about a third of the way into my walk when HEAVY , HEAVY rain started hitting me and my little Sony buddy . I put the radio in my cargo pants pocket , turned it off and put the earphones around my neck . It rained SUPER hard for , like , twenty minutes . When the rain stopped , i was totally soaked . I took off and rung out my tee shirt . Just then , the radio flew out and struck the concrete . The radio was soaked already . To my utter surprise , the radio was in perfect condition . Several minutes later , i slipped on the headset and turned on the radio . It played flawlessly . I got home and removed the battery and set all the gear in front of a fan . Today , in bright , sunny skies , the radio continued to play like a true champion . You gotta hand it to the Japanese . You also gotta hand it to any retailer who will sell you this little jewel , if you're looking . UPDATE (Thursday 9-13-12) 6:21 p.m. Emerging from the Summer rains (got rained on a couple more times HARD) . Still in GREAT working order . Rinse , Repeat!!!!

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It does not bring in the station good. MY husband wants to know why I bought it for him .he llikes to listen to certain stations when he walks and he can't.

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Like the radio. Good hearing quality. Use this radio when riding my bike and working out on the treadmill machine.

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Within 6 months, two of them broke so not very good product. Sound on it good but product has to last longer than a few months.

Save 55% Off

1280 x 960 Hi-Res Key Chain Car Remote Hidden Camera DVR Black

What you REALLY get is:

Video resolution: 720x480

Photo resolution: 1280x1024

NO motion detection video, only sound-activated if the sound reaches over 60db! (And I can't even get the sound activation to work at all, and I'm a gadget guy).

This advertisement for this product is more false than the last one I ordered. People, you have to go on a battle path if you want to force sellers to sell what they SAY they are selling; return your items and appropriately review them when they are not what they say they are! I'll update this later after I see the quality. This will be the 2nd one in a week (my first two purchases of this type ever) that I have to return. I've never had to return anything to Amazon before these. It's ridiculous. Don't just aay, "Well, I only paid $12." They are making a fortune off of people who are too lazy to do the return while becoming rich off of selling you something you didn't buy!

Having said all that, this seller eventually ended up giving me a full refund AND let me keep the item, so how can I complain? At least now I have decent quality video and sound (I use the keychain in my motorcycle helmet to make videos and record in the event of accidents). If only they change the product to match the description or vice versa, chances are this ends up being a 4 or possibly 5-star purchase.

Thanks for listening. :)

I bought this thing for recording any traffic stops I might be involved in, etc. For that purpose this thing works great. It has a decent field of view, though it could use improvement for my needs, it is probably more suitable for the average Joe. Don't expect decent video or pictures unless this is placed on a flat surface and not moving. If you do (as you're supposed to) when you're pulled over, and stop the car, it's not difficult to place the keys on your dash (with this attached), and record the entire proceeding, just make sure you're aiming it at whichever side the officer shows up on. Most importantly (for me) this records audio quite well. It's perfect for picking up voices! The only problem I have is that the camera does have a time limitation of 2 minutes, unless it hears LOUD audio. a thump on the dash could do it, but don't count on it.

If you're one of those people who likes to record police (in case of incident), this little bugger won't get your phone taken away as evidence.

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the camera is good, but instruction is whole s***. there is not even written that it needs memory card (only TF slot is indicated on small pic). I tried to connect it to computer but without results. then I found the really good instruction manual via internet, so I understood that it needed memory card. I took card from my NOKIA phone and then computer was able to see it via cable. I took some pics and videos. there is a link of instruction manual: if you decide to buy this product you really need to read this.Good luck :)

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Have three similar cams....... this is the best one. had to find online manual to operate it tho. so yeah.

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PIR Smart Cam Hd 1280x720 Motion Recording, for Home, Office and Store Security

This makes great videos. Very good definition. Only one problem that I see. I believe shadows are triggering the motion sensor, and I get a lot of clips with no one in the room. Other than that this unit works great.

VN-120PC D.V.R. with PC link and 2 hour recording

I HAVE THIS ITEM AND WHAT I KNOW OF ITS CAPABILITIES IS GREAT. MY PROBLEM IS THAT I DO NOT HAVE A COPY OF THE OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS IN ENGLISH. ANY ONE KNOW HOW I CAN GET A COPY. INTERNET IS NO HELP?

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.

---

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.

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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.

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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.

U.S. Patrol JB5472 Photo Patrol Security Camera

I purchased two of these. Upon putting the batteries in (yes they were in correctly) the unit got extremely hot and the batteries (brand new, purchased same day) got extremely hot. Before I could get the batteries out the unit was smoking. When I went to return, the Amazon page said the items were not returnable. So I spent over $70 for nothing. Do not purchase these our you will be out money too. Shame on Amazon, Shame on US Patrol.

I plugged it into a USB port and it worked fine.

I inserted new batteries and the unit started to smoke and a burning plastic smell came from the unit.

I'm returning it for a replacement because it would be a good product if it worked.

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I got mine and it has worked fine so far. The property I am watching is in the country ad isolated. The first time I left it there, it's batteries ran out before I got back to download the pictures. It appeared someone had been around but because the batteries failed, I didn't get any pictures. I have always used a 2GB SD card that to make sure I don't loose any pictures. It would have been nice to have a suggested life of the batteries included in the instructions.

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I ordered 2 of these, one worked OK the other had some thing wrong with it. After turning it on it smoked and the batteries got hot, ( yes the batteries were inserted correctly) Both units had wires sticking out the circuit board in the Battery compartment that made one of the batteries hard to insert and remove. For the price if they were made or put together right would be a great buy. The one that worked took really clear and nice pictures. But I feel the quality control sucked. Sorry I really wanted to give this item a very positive review.U.S. Patrol JB5472 Photo Patrol Security Camera I really hope I just had bad luck and got the only 2 bad cameras.

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I placed some brand new batteries into unit. Carefully made sure they were in correctly since some people had reported the unit overheating. I pressed the power button and 4 seconds later smoke was pouring out of the unit! I got slight burns to my fingers trying to pull the batteries out and they were still hot a minute later. The only thing that would do this is a direct short through the batteries. I notice Amazon stopped selling them. Is this why?

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Dingoo Digitial A-320 Emulator Game Console MP3 MP4 Media Player LCD 2.8 inch, White

• Color: White
• Built-in 4GB memory
• including pouch and SILICONE CASE

I was impressed at the build quality of this emulator, Its very sturdy. And has a good weight to it. The screen is rather sharp, But as with most Chinese/Japanese to English conversions. The menu wording can be a bit strange. for example. to play loaded roms you open the menu "interesting game" ..weird. But functional, none-the-less. some menu navigation is a little uneasy. But despite the menu, the overall function of this device is over satisfactory. It emulates. and it does it well ;)

Swann SW211-STY StyleCam Security Camera

I needed a basic camera for my attic to see what type of critter has been visiting in the wee hours of the morning. I didn't want to spend a lot of money. I heard that Swann was better than the other brands. The camera setup is really easy and I was able to get the system running in 30 minutes. (Most of the time was spent screwing the base of the camera to the rafter.

Video quality with room-level lighting is fine. Near darkness, the image switches to B&W and is pretty grainy. I may buy an additional IR light source if my critter friend decides to show up at night only.

GOT A GREAT DEAL. WORKS GREAT WITH DECENT QUALITY IMAGE FOR COMPARABLE CAMERAS. PRO NICE VERY LONG CORD WHICH MAKES IT VERY EASY TO PLACE.

THE 'NIGHT VISION' .... DOES NOT WORK THROUGH GLASS! It emits IR light which reflects off the window if the camera is placed inside and is recording what is outside through a window and makes it totally unable to capture any image at all ... at night through glass.

Otherwise it's great. I think the IR light reflecting is typical for 'night vision' that is not 'TRUE NIGHT VISION' but is based on Infrared Light.

note: I saw a lot of negative reviews of the "SWANN" brand around on various sites. I think it is a great product and have even purchased a totally different type of product, but made my decision based on the SWANN brand and am very pleased.

Good PDF downloads on their site with detailed specs on their products.

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It is a very disingenuous practice to write a 5 star "customer review" of a product that you are a seller of. Even if it is under the guise of "Additional Product Info!", it is still manipulating the rating system at Amazon, since customers sort searches with average customer rating and your products come out on top. Because of your lack of integrity as a seller, I will never buy a GS Wholesale product. I am also going to complain to Amazon about your rating manipulation.

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Archos Vision 30c 8 GB Video MP3 Player with 3-Inch Touchscreen and FM Radio (Silver)

• 8GB MP3 Player; 3.0" Color TFT Touchscreen
• FM Radio & Voice Recorder; 13hr Battery Life; USB 2.0; G-Sensor; Built-in Microphone
• 13hr Battery Life; USB 2.0; G-Sensor
• Supports MP3, WAV, OGG, FLAC, APE; MPEG4, AVI, FLV, RMVB

In order to better review the Archos Vision 30c I wanted to compare it to several of the other MP3 players I have had the opportunity to test. My conclusions and the parameters of the test are included below.

To accurately compare the different players I rated them on sound quality (SQ), Video Playback Quality (VP), user interface/ease of use (UI), Radio Quality (RQ), and Other Features. I should mention that for other features I will only be reviewing the major additional features of the Touch. All the advantages of various apps would be beyond the scope of this review. Suffice to say that the touch acts more like a tiny tablet then an MP3 player.

Jump to the bottom if all you want is the conclusions:

Equipment: The players: 8 GB Archos Vision 30c, 4GB SanDisk Sansa Fuze, 8GB SanDisk Sansa Fuze+, and 32GB iPod Touch 4G.

Headphones: Skullcandy INK'd Earbuds*

*I know these are cheap but the SQ is good enough to allow me to distinguish differences between the players.

Sound Quality:

1) Fuze: 9/10

The best of the bunch, great sound for an MP3 player, with clear notes and solid if not spectacular base. With Rockbox* I would give it a 10/10.

2) Touch: 8/10.

Unlike previous ipods I have used I actually enjoy the quality of the 4G touch. I could wish for more equalizer controls but I think it does a solid job, just not quite as clean as the Fuze. Not compatible with Rockbox.

3) Fuze+ 5/10

For some reason the Fuze+ just doesn't seem to have the same quality as the Fuze, I don't know if they changed the chip or what, but the SQ simply isn't as good. Moreover the Fuze+ isn't compatible with Rockbox.

3) Vision: 5/10

Normal equalizer setting has poor SQ with virtually no base, but the M/S equalizer does a good job of boosting sound of improving sound quality on tracks (this uses an algorithm to add and subtract the data going to different ears to provide a more surround sound feel). I found the 3d M/S setting to be too much and to make the player overloud but the Bass setting for the MS equalizer does an excellent job of repairing the bass problem. I like the ability to set manual EQs on the player. Not compatible with Rockbox.

Video Playback:

1) Touch: 8/10,

The touch has a great screen, large enough to enjoy on a long trip or flight, with minimal differences in viewing quality based on angle of view. Extremely clear and clean picture, with very little glare or reflection. Limited handling of file types, basically only MPEG-4 is the main reason I took off points.

2) Vision: 6/10

For size this takes second place to the iPod. The amount of glare and reflection on the screen however makes watching in most environments fairly difficult and watching in bright light impossible. This however was not as big a problem inside a car and I imagine it would also not be so bad on a plane. Since these are the two most likely places for video viewing I felt the a score of 5 was still warranted. Diversity of file playback pushes the rating to 6.

3) Fuze/Fuze+: 5/10

I found video playback on the two devices to be very similar. The screen is too small to really watch a movie or show on, but it doesn't have as much glare as on the Vision. Both of these allow a lot of file types. But for me the screen is just too small for serious viewing.

User Interface:

1) Touch: 9/10

Apple is known for both industrial engineering and intuitive design, the touch is no different. All the features you might want regularly are easily viewable with only a few swipes. The touch screen is both responsive and accurate. There are some limitations to the operating system in terms of apps you can use and function management but they don't really detract from an excellent user experience. Volume controls and the lock/unlock buttons are the only external buttons. If you could press pause and play without having to take it out of your pocket this would be a 10.

2) Fuze: 8/10

A great tactile wheel that actually spins for song and menu selection (alla the iPod classic but the wheel spins) is super easy to use. Moreover pressing play/pause, fast forwarding etc. can all be managed without ever removing the player from your pocket. Menu use isn't quite as easy as with the iPod since you can't type or touch but it is still straight forward. The actual user interface is probably a 7, no stellar user friendly design but loading Rockbox firmware I think changes the UI to an 8 due to customizability.

3) Fuze+: 5/10

Uses a similar UI to the fuse but the controls are different. The Fuze+ uses an inductive touch plate similar to the LG chocolate line of phones instead of real buttons. The plate is both oversensitive and not sensitie enough, either not responding or jumping around. Still control is manageable if difficult, and side volume buttons allow for easy volume control when the player is in a pocket.

4) Vision: 1/10:

The Archos Vision has the worst user interface and controls I have ever seen on any device. There is only one external button, which controls the back function and allows you (if you hold it) to either lock or power down the player. The touch screen does not respond at all to light touches or swipes the way the iPod does, requiring more of a push and then only responding about 40% of the time. I found that if I used a fingernail I could get responsiveness up to about 75% but that was it. Play/pause, SF/SB buttons are cramped in at the bottom of the screen. If you listen to audiobooks then skipping to a point in the middle of a 30 minuet chapter requires touching on a thin line that is only visible in perfect light and at the right angle. Doing so is nearly impossible. FF normally by holding the skip forward button is slow and inefficient, and nearly impossible to do with a nail. Volume controls require that you either tap on the speaker picture at either end of the volume bar or you attempt to actually touch the volume bar at a given point. This however is as difficult as touching a point partway through a song. Also the screen only tilts sideways in one direction.

Radio Quality:

1) Fuze/Fuze+: 7/10

FM radio was mostly clear, and recording quality was adequate, but nothing to write home about.

2) Vision:

5/10 Good FM playback but recording quality of radio music is awful, the files sound like they were recorded underwater, with really muddy sound.

2) Touch: 5/10

Internet radio with apps when on a wif-fi network but no FM radio and no ability to record from radio.

Other Features:

1) Touch: 24/20

Ya I know this doesn't make sense but as I said above this is only nominally an MP3 player, failure to account for that would be inappropriate. It is the only player with internet access, e-mail, internet radio etc. Obviously this has a ton more features than any of the other features. An inability to add additional memory kept it from being a 25/20

2) Fuze 14/20

It isn't that the fuzes have a ton of extra features but rather the main extra they do have, a micro SD card slot is HUGE. Essentially this means that you can add up to 32GB (with current firmware) of storage capacity to your MP3 player, turning the 4GB player into a 36GB player. Not too shabby. Add to that the fact that the Fuze works with Rockbox and that's why this earns 13 points.

3) Fuze+: 9/20:

As I said above these points basically come from the ability to add external memory.

4) Vision 30c: 1/20

There really weren't any features that the vision had that the other two players did not have as well. Additionally there wasn't anything that the vision excelled at above the rest.

*****Conclusion: (consider 25-36/60 to be three stars)****

1) iPod touch 4G: 53/60 (5 stars)

2) SanDisk Sansa Fuze: 43/60 (4 stars) ***Best Buy***

3) SanDisk Sansa Fuze+: 32/60 (3 stars)

4) Archos Vision 30c: 19/60 (2 stars)

If price is no issue, for sheer features, ease of use and the best video with decent sound the iPod is the best bet.

For a simple mp3 player for straight music use, I would go with the Fuze, ease of use and sound quality are the most important features in an mp3 player and the Fuze has those in abundance. Expandable memory and compatibility with Rockbox really make it the best choice. I wouldn't choose the + over the older version.

Skip the Archos at all costs. Barring a major firmware update it is nearly unusable.

*Rockbox is an open source firmware for mp3 players that supplants the stock firmware that comes on the device. It provides significant additional customizability and control, as well as several new features. The highlights of these features are: increased sound management controls, games, PDA type applications. It goes a decent way towards bridging the gap between the Fuze and the touch.

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I truly hate to give bad reviews, especially to products with such promise. At first, I was excited to see that this Mp3 player not only would play my music but would allow me to listen to the radio, too. It's something I kind of missed when listening to my iPod. But, unfortunately, not much worked well.

Of course, I tried out the radio first. No go. I couldn't get any of the stations in town to turn in without static. For many of the stations, I couldn't get it to stop on the exact station number, though that may have been due to the touch screen. Or not.

Then I tried out some of my music. Maybe I'm spoiled but as I listened to the player, I felt like I was back in the 80's, listening to my portable cassette player with its not-so-clear headphones or the cheap radio in my parents' Pinto (yes, we had a Pinto. Don't judge.). No matter what I did or what headphones I used, the sound quality remained subpar.

Trying to use the touchscreen controls was just frustrating. Again, I feel spoiled because I've come to expect instant results (or relatively close to instant anyway) and Achos just didn't deliver. It took forever to move from function to function; no quick swipe or touch to be had.

The other aspects, which made the Archos sound so appealing, were disappointing. The video was of very poor quality and hard to see on the small screen. This also meant that the pictures were grainy (even if they were taken with a high-quality camera). And the recording device just isn't very good, either. I suppose I can use it for quick notes, to-do lists, or writing ideas but, beyond small snippets, it would be difficult to listen to because of the poor sound quality and the static-y sound recording.

I was not impressed. Not by a long shot.

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This little MP3 is perfect for someone like me. I don't really care if the picture quality is good, clear, crisp etc. What I wanted was something I could use when I go running. Just some tunes to make the time pass! And this little easy to use MP3 was perfect! Very easy to upload songs onto, the thing basically runs itself.

Very lightweight so I don't feel like I have an old walkman with me. I haven't had many problems as written in the other reviews about having troubles with the screen. I am sure if you are an avid user you will know more of what they should and shouldn't do. However for someone like me who really just wanted to have something to run with -it is perfect! I know most at the stores run $80 to $100, so I think the price for this MP3 is very fair!

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The MP3 player market continues to thin out as Apple seems to do everything better than anyone else. You can still find $10-25 MP3 players, but with the Apple iPod shuffle 2 GB Blue (4th Generation) NEWEST MODEL selling for under $50, the market has pretty much ceded the over-$50 price range to Apple. Enter the Archos: Selling for around $70, it promises to deliver a touch screen interface, MP3 player, video player, and sound recorder all in one tiny package. So how well does it do all these things? Not very well, I'm afraid.

Let's start with the "touch-screen" interface: It's pretty crude, and it's slow. Very slow. You tap, or swipe, and then wait. And wait. Just as you're about to tap again, the desired function comes up... or not. It's infuriating. Even the volume control is slow. Rather than swiping a finger, as on the iPhone of iPod Touch, you tap one end of the displayed volume bar, and the volume goes down (or up) an increment. Hold your finger down, and it moves in jerky increments.

Sound qualityand that's the main thing we should judge an MP3 player onis dreadful. There's no low bass, or even mid bass. I plugged in the best in-ear phone I have, a set that retails for $80 and delivers fantastic sound from an iPod. The result was thin and very unsatisfying. Same goes for the FM radio. Difficult to use, and poor sound. The video player works, but the screen is too small and the controls difficult. The sound recorder is absolutely dreadful. I tried playing a guitar a foot away from the built in microphone, and what I got on playback was a faint, scratchy sound.

There's really nothing to recommend this device. Given how poorly it compares with even my three-year old Sansa it should never have gone into production. Buy an iPod Shuffle or save up for a Nano or Touch.

able to store my music or movies folders and all unlike other mp3 player which dont accept or reconize folders i love it so much i might get another one for my movies or get one with more GB

Swann Alpha D02C5 SWA43-D2C5 4 Channel H.264 DVR and 4 CCD Weather Resistant Cameras

My husband and I got this security system to protect our home, workshop and barn. Packaging was good, instruction manual and quick start guide were easy to use. Everything we needed to install was in the box including mounting brackets, screws, mouse, remote control, etc.which I appreciate. We had no problem getting the cameras up and running and viewing them on my computer. Picture is really clear-color by day and black and white on the night vision mode. It works by motion detection so hard drive space lasts a long time and it automatically records over when full-30 days and counting of space so far. I had some questions about viewing it on my iPhone so I called Swann Customer service (1-800-627-2799) and I gave her permission to use logmein and take over my desktop and she set up the whole thing remotely while I sat back and watched-cool! Really nice people at Swann California office. I called once after hours to ask about viewing my security system with a Blackberry (yes you can)-and I got to speak with someone at their home office in Australia-they were very cool. Overall very good product and great customer service. I'm ordering another one to put up at my mother's house to help her feel more secure in her home. We saved more than enough installing our own system myself to pay for hers.

These have given us new piece of mind with our security at our business. It was easy to set these units up, and they were operational right out of the box. Quality construction and visibility even at night is very good. We are able to easily view over the internet, and keep recordings on the DVR.

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RESEARCHED MANY SYSTEMS BEFORE BUYING. THIS UNIT OFFERS FULL FLEXIBILITY. AND I WOULD BUY IT AGAIN, SET IT AND FORGET IT. EXTREMELY EASY TO SET UP AND USE. VERY GOOD DEAL. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

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before purchasing this product, I did a LOT of research. the resolution on these cameras is not as good as I was expecting, but then again, it was $500 (or thereabouts) and you get 4 cameras, the DVR and the cables, so it's a pretty good deal. this system is pretty easy to hook up and get running. getting the system hooked up to my home network and available to watch cameras over the network was a little more of a task. I probably couldve called tech support and got it really quick, but I like to figure it out myself, and I did.

the app. in the itunes store that they recommend did not work however, but not a big deal, I eventually found an app from another company that works great with the system. I can't watch the cameras from my phone unless i'm connected to my home network, but I think I just need to spend some more time figuring it out.

also, it's a nice feature to be able to set the motion detection so that a moving tree branch won't set off the record feature, but it's really touchy, even on the lowest setting, and the system ends up recording even the most minor of movements, but again, probably some tweaking needed on my part.

overall, pretty good system.

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The purpose to having one of these is having the ability to play a recording back. Good luck with that. If that's not enough, maby all the freezups will change your mind. What a piece of crap.

512MB Sandisk Compact Flash Memory Card (Bulk)

Works perfectly. Seems to be the max. capacity for this camera. More than fast enough. Good price!

This memory card size is great for the use with Fanuc controls. This memory size is large enough to hold plenty of data. This memory size is small enough that the control allows the use of this memory card. I have been told that if you use to large of a memory card on Fanuc controls the card will not work. This card used with the adapter SanDisk SDAD-38-A10 CF to PC Card Adapter will work well on a Fanuc cnc machine tool controls.

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I got this for use with my old digital camera on a tripod for taking pictures of my years of journals -hundreds of pictures. I found it took a good two or three seconds longer to write each image to the card than my older card does.

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This 512 memory card is very hard to find in local stores, now that all new cameras and video products require much larger MB capacity, like gigabyte + actually. While I am still using my digital Nikon camera that only has 5 megapixel capacity, the camera will not accept memory cards with more than the 512MB. I found out when I put a 4 gigabyte card in the slot...got a no memory alert. You simply cannot use large memory in many of the former cameras. I was very glad to dilscover that Amazon had the smaller cards available online. I plan to get a few more, just until I purchase a newer camera, with say, 14 + megapixel.

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I bought this for my SLR Digital camera. I have had one 512 MB Flash Memory Card since 2005. I figured it was time to get a new one. When I saw it was offered on Amazon, I was glad it was the same one I have. I tried it out and it is perfect and no problems with anything. My camera has excellent resolution and a backup Flash Memory Card was just what I needed. Now I do not have to run out and buy a new camera because I can capture more images on the new disk. I can lock it as well since it has a slide lock on the side. Follow the directions when inserting as some cameras need to have it placed in the camera white side facing rear. Until my next camera upgrade, this will do the trick for my needs.

Zing 571-224 MPEG1 Medium Electronic Belt Bag (Green)

I bought one of these to use as a camera case for my Canon SX110IS. I wasn't sure from the product description that my camera would fit into it, as it's a rather large camera (1.8 x 2.8 x 4.4 inches), but it fits beautifully. The case is snug and cushions it nicely, and is long enough that I can stash some extra batteries or memory cards in the bottom and still fasten the velcro closure on the top.

Which brings me to my only complaint (other than the color, which looks completely different than it did on the website, and is dorky as hell): the velcro is mega, mega strong, and I predict that my camera's wrist strap is going to be completely shredded in a few months, given that I spend most of my time tearing it off the velcro.

Other than those few small things, though, I am very happy with the product.

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On Stage CM01 Video Camera/Digital Recorder Adapter

• Weight: 0.3 lbs.
• Threading: 5/8-inch -27
• Pan Adjstment: 360 degrees
• Tilt Angle Adjustment: 180 degrees
• Materials: Nickel plated, rubber padding

Sturdy and, according to package, able to support 6 lbs. Overall height is about 2 inches (53 mm). Platform is 50 x 20 mm. Equipment mounting screw slides in a 15 mm slot that starts 10 mm from the end of the platform. The slot is centered between and parallel to the long sides of the platform.

There's no damping on the ball; it's either locked or completely free. Mine was binding in a number of positions fixed by slightly loosening a hex-head set screw opposite the locking knob. There's a U-shaped cutout on both sides of the base to enable 180-degree tilt. One on mine had a burr that prevented its use removed with a small file.

Not the best workmanship, but a good value that does its job reliably. China.

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I was rather hesitant to purchase this item due to all the negative reviews, but in the end I am glad I did as it fulfills my needs entirely. I use this item to mount my Creative Vado HD to my Musician's Gear tripod and both fit perfectly.

The rotating ball was a little loose when I initially opened the package, but if you simply loosen the black twist screw on the side and press the little washer, that is inside the end that you attach to your microphone stand, up it will lock positions when you re-tighten the black screw.

As I am using a rather light weight pocket camcorder I can't really attest as to whether it will support a heavier full size one, but it seems as though it would. I also like that you can twist the little screw that inserts into the camcorder instead of having to twist the camcorder to tighten it, a really ingenious feature in my opinion.

I had no burrs, fraying, or other defects like the other reviewers mentioned so perhaps, hopefully, this company has fixed their manufacturing problems.

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Nice. This takes place of tripod when you need to use a mic stand. Nicely made. Works.

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It's not a bad mechanism, and rather cheap, but there are a few problems. For starters, the camera (in my case a digital audio recorder) sets on top of the little platform and is held snugly in place by the screw underneath. There is a rubber pad on top that cushions the camera (or whatever) as it sets there, but mine wasn't glued on very well and came off after the very first application. I'm 36, and a professional musician, and VERY good to my equipment. I re-glued it, which did the trick, but how much could it have cost to have really glued the sucker on at the factory?

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This mic stand to 1/4 inch "tripod" socket adapter is well made and works as intended. The Locking screw is secure and it will easily support a camera of 6 lbs or more. The unit I received was well finished, and the ball joint moved smoothly.

The cement used to hold the rubber top surface to the tripod "foot" does not stick very well to the rubber sheet. A few drops of plain rubber cement will correct that problem easily,

Some reviewers have reported that the locking screw does not work. That is not the case of you use the device properly.

This locking ball adapter works by having the tapered tip of the lock screw press against the BOTTOM of the lock disk below the pivot ball. If you unscrew the lock screw too much, the lock disk will drop down and the lock screw will hit the EDGE of the the lock disk, not the bottom. To correct this error, all you have to do is loosen the screw a little, turn the adapter so it's "upside down" and then re-tighten the lock screw. The small set screw can then be adjusted to limit the lock disk movement so this does not happen again.

I use this adapter with a small self-contained audio recorder (a Tascam DR-100). It works perfectly and allows the recorder to be positioned at exactly the angle I need in any recording situation. I've also used it to support a single lens reflex camera on occasion instead of using a tripod. Again, it works well and locks securely.

New model!Dual lens HD 720P Car Cam IR LED G sensor Video Camera Recorder Camcorder DVR

Within a couple of minutes, I had this camera installed and ready to use. It powers on when I turn on the car because it's plugged into an ignition-controlled power port, and powers off a few seconds after I shut it off.

The video quality is good and it has a wide field of view. The audio recording is good too.

I have not connected the second camera yet.

There are options to control how long each video segment is before it rolls over to the next. I have it set to 1 minute.

I uploaded an unedited, raw video file, and if my review allows me to post links, it is here: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8957547/dashcamdemo.mov

I recommend this camera for anyone looking for an affordable dash cam.

Very easy to setup, mine came already with the English language selected. The video is very clear

Audio is not bad either. I put a 32gb micro SD card in mine. After having it in my car far only a few days , I

Was in a small accident. A car backed up into me, all captured on video. For the price of $70 delivered, I don't

Think you can beat this little unit.... It is about the size of a deck of cards, and sits right behind my rear

View mirror perfectly. I am very impressed.

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For all the claims advertised with this product, it would fail to achieve the status of a paper weight. This is about the worst car dash cam I have ever seen. Whatever you do, don't throw out the packaging before you try it, as you'll need it for a refund.

This is the worst product known to man, and the two positive reviews are pulled from someone's rear end.

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Sony Memory Stick Media Digital Voice Recorder with 128MB MS Duo and Adaptor (ICD-BM1B)

I read the reviews on Amazon and checked out the Olympus and other recorders...nothing touches this one for usability. Therein lies some of the problem. I'm a techie and still can't use it in the dark when driving. As a master's student, it has proved invaluable in lecture. On the (CONF-Hi) setting, it easily picks up even the whiniest professor's voice at a 15 foot range. The main reason I purchased the ICD-BM1 was it's 5 Dragon award from Dragon Natually Speaking(DNS). I use DNS v7.3 and have found it trained easily and has around 95% accuracy (down a few points from another reviewer) probably because I impatiently read the 1 hr training script in 40 minutes. It's very small and extremely light. The case has two velcro'd places for additional memory sticks. However, since it can use 128mb (not pro)I rarely swap sticks. I use the 128 for class related info and the others for personal life maybe that's why I rarely swap I have no personal life. One more thing, it's fabulous with DNS for dictating emails while driving. This allows emailing to family friends that would otherwise not hear from me as often. Great product!!!!

PART TWO 4 MONTHS AFTER PURCHASE

When first setting up the unit I found the battery door was very difficult to get open but dismissed it figuring how often would I be replacing batteries? It turns out the door has now become unstable and sits in a slightly open position, popping open at will. When the batteries come out unnoticed, I have to reset the date/time etc.

After contacting Sony I learned that IF they determine it is a manufacturing defect versus user abuse, they will exchange the unit. The problem is... the unit received in exchange will not be new, rather it will be used (refurbished).

A warranty should repair or replace with a new unit especially manufacturing defects. I'm disappointed in Sony.

Rather than do without the unit only to receive a used unit, I've decided to tape the door shut.

I've had this unit for approximately 5 months, during which time it has been almost continuously strapped to my belt.

The unit is finished very well, with a brushed aluminum case and a belt case that allows quick removal of the recorder, and also for storage of spare Memory Sticks in 2 pouches on the side.

If you own other Sony devices, this one uses the same USB trransfer cable, and also of course takes the Memory Stick cards which are proprietary to the Sony brand.

The software was simple to install and operate, though I was a little disappointed that unlike the cheaper Sony ICD-MS515, this unitl is not shipped with the Dragon Naturally Speaking software. The Sony codec is not installed to the PC for encoding, only decoding. The internal mic has adjustable sensitivity, but I use it mainly on the conference microphone setting rather than the dictation, because I rarely use it for the latter. The intermal mic provides very adequate audio quality, picking up speech from 10-15 feet away without excessive noise, though I'm sure an external would be even better. The built in speaker is barely adequate!

However, when compares to that MS515, the operation of the unit itself is much simpler. Those of you that hate software menus and prefer solid switches and buttons will love this unit. Although there is a configuration menu, most operations are accomplished with the use of high quality switches. For example, the main toggle allows the user to switch between record, stop and play effortlessly, and inserting or adding to an existing recording is easily done. In fact, I would say that it's designed to operate like the earlier generation tape devices, but without the limitations of that medium easy.

The quality of sound from this equipment is far in excess of what will normally be required. the High quality setting operates at a sampling rate of 44kHz, similar to CD quality, and when played back on a PC with good qualityh speakers, it shows. The medium quality is more than adequate for most purposes, and will provide you up to approx 20 hours of recording on a 128MB memory stick more than adequate for me. I don't even bother using the lowest quality setting, although it's adequate for most purposes and substantially free from artefacts, as are the other modes.

I use NiMH batteries rather than disposable alkaline, my small contribution to the planet, and I do find that the batteries will last for about 4 hours of recording, whereas high performance alkalines would last much, muich longer. the main power switch can tend to be knocked on or off in the carry case, which can be annoying, but actually, it uses very little power unless in an active mode such as recording or playback, so I don't see that as a fatal flaw. Inserting and removing the Memory Stick is a snap, there being a solid click when the card is properly positioned, and the display confirms that the card is being read, and how much space (relatively) remains. The display is easy to read, and can be configured to tell you different information about such as time remaining on card, time spent on this track, volume levels (VU meters) etc. easily be pressing the display button.

All in all, although I have had the opportunity to trade this unit for another, I declined to do so. It's worth mentioning also that this recorder is sufficiently advanced to be used even for legal recording and transcription (IMO) with the optional paddle equipment.

As with all free information, your mileage may vary....

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I have been using Dragon Naturally Speaking with the Sony BM1, the Sony mx-20 and the olympus dm-20. (All rate well with Scansoft)

The BM1 is the most professional, easiest to use, most powerful and very accurate with DNS7/8. But why do they design a cheap plastic flap to cover the USB port which has to be opened and closed frequently? After using it for a few months the flap will not close. It doesn't affect the operation but for such an expensive machine it is sloppy and annoying. Sony wants 63 bucks to fix it, but a repair will not likely last long either. They might send me a refurbished one for slightly less, but the same problem obtains.

The docking station (from Olympus) would be the best solution.

Not worthy of Sony, but it's the best I have found.

LG at NAU

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Microcassette portable dictating machines all have a single slide switch for Record/Stop/Playback/Rewind. Long experience has shown that is the best control mechanism for actually doing dictation vs. recording something. Most of the Sony and other brand portable flash-based recorders have buttons scattered all over them, making dictation a real pain. This model is the rare exception. It's not built quite as much like a tank as traditional microcassette units but it's lots more rugged than most of Sony's and other brand's "consumer" recorders. My major complaint is that the "insert" function is not as easy to get to as it should be, considering that is one of the most important features of a flash-based dictating machine.

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I brought this for kids to record their violin lessons. It records in CD quality. As far as I know, this is the only brand voice recorder that so small and still record in CD quality (16bit/44Khz). We have it for about two years and still working fine.

Zmodo 8CH Real-time DVR Surveilance Security System with 4 Sony CCD Vari-focal Weatherproof IR Surv

This is my third video surveillance system. I learned the hard way. Wireless is terrible, go wired. Cheap cameras do not have the HD picture quality and can barely see more than about 25 feet in the dark. This system is amazing! The HD cameras, the throw of the LEDs. The quality of the Sony cameras: exceptionally good! The intuitive interface, all great! With this system I know that if anything goes bad the "bad guys" will be clearly visible and identifiable. Don't throw away money "learning" about surveillance systems. Don't throw good money after bad. Invest in a good, expandable system like this one. The extra money was well worth it.

Zmodo ZMD-DD-SBN4 4-Channel Full D1 Standalone DVR (Silver)

The DVR is pretty good, does everything it states. However, unlike another Zmodo dvr i have, it requires you to open 4 ports on the firewall for connecting thru the internet (web, command, media streaming, mobile), and I have hard time finding a Windows Phone 8 mobile app to connect to the dvr. I have no problem using an app to connect to the other DVR, but not this one.

Magnavox ZV427MG9 Upconverting VCR/DVD Recorder, No Tuner

If you can get one of these refurbished for around a hundred bucks or so, this is a great alternative to buying all of your old VHS tapes, etc. again.

The lack of a tuner isn't going to be a deal breaker for most people, but if you need a tuner you should look at the ZV457MG9. Try to get a refurbished on there, too.

For this machine, the pros are that it's easy to set up, they seem to last just about forever at least the refurbished ones do, and picture quality is very good. You can record from VHS to DVD as long as you're not trying to record copy-protected material, and if you finalize the disk correctly, it should play in any DVD player. I haven't used this function in a really long time, having gone mostly to digital movie rentals and storing my home movies on itty bitty sd cards. Another plus is that everything will output to your tv over one hdmi cable. Finally, you've got a lot of inputs with this, so you can have several different AV sources.

The only cons are that you may need adapters for some older equipment (anything that needs the old antenna/cable input or output) and the thing is actually kind of big and ugly. Other than that, it is awesome. And the remote is HUGE (love it I have some visual impairment).

Magnavox ZV427MG9 Upconverting VCR/DVD Recorder, No Tuner-Really nice;great price & shipping-highly recommended and a super buy! Shopped around and this was an unbelievable deal-Thanks!

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I gave this four stars because although it performs as described like all others it lacks an HDMI input. The quality of the recordings and upconverting are very good and perform flawlessly.

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