Protective Neoprene Voice Recorder Glove Case with Wrist Strap and Belt Loop for ZOOM H2 , H2N and

If, like me, you've got an Zoom H2 (or two) hanging about, and you want a way to protect it, while still having access for recording... Well, then this is the product for you. I travel over the planet, doing on-scene reports (travel magazine stuff), and this little package hugs my H2, and takes care of it.

I just picked up a Zoom H2N, and of course one of the downsides to buying the N over the original H2 is that it doesn't come with any of the accessories. The Zoom accessory pack is expensive, too, and most of what I needed was a carrying case.

Enter USA Gear's Neoprene case designed to fit the H2N. My case arrived promptly from Accessory Genie and I put it to immediate use. The case is nice and sturdy, just enough neoprene to give it some padding and with solid seams. The H2N has a little bit of breathing room in the case; something slightly bigger could fit in its place, though my recorder wasn't swimming around or anything just about the right size.

If I have any reservations about this case, it's the side pouch. It's a bit too tight for my tastes, especially right at the zipper opening. But it's still more than workable, especially if you're just storing SD cards in it, which is what I do. If you have an H2 and want to carry extra batteries, perhaps its a bit too tight; for the H2N and some SD cards it's fine.

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Excellent glove case with wrist strap for my Sony digital voice recorder. The zipper zips around the top and partial side, which is very secure for my recorder. I ordered another case, similar to this one, which unzipped completely around the top and side. Unfortunately, my recorder almost fell out while I was working with it. That is why I ordered this type of case. I highly recommend it.

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Great little pouch to Zoom H2. Nice snug fit, even with neoprene skin on Zoom. Front pouch holds spare batteries, and/or spare sd card. Good product, good price, prompt delivery.

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This case is not bad. I would recommend it for anyone needing a spare case for their Zoom H2 recorder

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Motion Detect Car Dash Video Camera Recorder DVR

• 2.5'' Big LCD Screen
• Video recording with sound,Photo taking
• High speed recording,Motion detect function,HDMI output
• Real Time & Date display on video/photo
• 3 file playback modes: On camera, on Computer, on HDTV

This camera had a good price, but it is a disappointment. Note that this is an older model; the latest models have an HDMI port and fewer bugs.

* Not 720p / JPEG encoding artifacts: -1 Star

The CCD in this camera is natively 640x480. If you choose the 720p recording mode, then the camera just does pixel-doubling in software.

This dashcam records to MJPEG files. You won't be able to read license plates or recognize most faces because of compression artifacts. The firmware lacks an option for changing JPEG quality.

* Stops Recording When SD Card Is Full: -1 Star

When the dashcam needs to rotate files on the SD card, it stops recording for up to two minutes, but an entire accident can happen in less than two minutes. The actual amount of offline time seems to depend on the speed of the SD card.

* Can't override poweroff: -1 Star

This dashcam always powers off when external power disconnects, even if the internal battery if fully charged. I want my dashcam to continue recording after an accident.

* Can't run from a USB Port / Can't be used as a webcam: -1 Star

Connecting the USB port puts the camera into disk mode, which means that you must power it from the 5v connector. You cannot power this dashcam from an in-vehicle USB port. You cannot use this dashcam as a webcam.

* Can't invert or rotate the video: Annoyance

The firmware doesn't have an option for changing the recording orientation.

* Can't change the recording overlays: Annoyance

The only overlay option is a timestamp.

* Nearly ideal form factor: +1 Star

The size and shape of this dashcam is nearly perfect, and it uses a standard threaded mount, like on a regular camera tripod. It is much smaller than the stock photography makes it seem. The built-in folding LCD is probably the best feature.

* Adequate performance in a variety of lighting conditions: +1

Sun flaring is minor. Quality is okay at night with street lights and head lights.

* Additional Notes

This camera records to MJPEG AVI with 8 kHz PCM mono audio. Audio quality is poor; you can't hear conversations over white noise while driving, and it is unlikely that you would get all of a conversation while stopped with a traffic cop.

Wake-up on motion detection is pretty good.

In standard quality, this camera uses 2GB per hour.

Power draw is less than 5 watts at 5 volts, so you can run this camera off of a car battery for a long time.

This camera seems to be running an embedded BSD. A firmware update could get me to add one or two stars to this review.

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I use this camera to protect myself from the lousy/agressive drivers in our area that seem to be growing by leaps and bounds. I have been using the camera for about a month now with an 8 GB card. Using the default video settings (mid range for capture) the 8 GB card stores about 3 hours of good quality video. The 120 degree field of view can capture the traffic lights even if you are at the stop line. Very Strong Sun Glare did not harm the camera although the objects were all darkened since they were all backlit. Night time capture is adequate based off of the headlights but don't expect daytime capture. (The IR cameras are described as not being able to go through the glass windshield so not much of an option.) The auto start/stop and auto rollover works as advertised. The products instructions are really poor. (I suspect that the unit is made in Russia since the only other instructions are in Russian, but so is the Mig-29!) If you want to change the defaults (e.g. I wanted a 15 min. capture window and setting the date.) You need to fumble with the buttons on the left first pressing MENU twice and then rec/snap to get the camera into the change mode and then use the buttons on the right to get the values to change. If you miss the right year you need to go past 2034 and then it rolls back to the start year. They need a definite rewrite.

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I bought this camera to protect myself against reckless and aggressive drivers and liars in San Antonio, where most drivers don't have insurance and drunk wrong way drivers are # 1 on the list. This camera works great as described, very good video and sound recordings. Very recommended at this great price. The video was edited with Nero and lost some Quality, also if I cleaned my windschield before the view was much better, at the video you will see a vehicle turned to the right on red, and almost was hit by another driver. Just be prepared and protect yourself :-)

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I bought this Car DVR recorder with fairly low expectations, both given the very low price and the very mixed reviews at Amazon. After a thorough test and break-in, I am positively surprised. I would recommend this as a low cost way to record evidence for unexpected cases where it is useful to replay the past accurately.

The DVR is produced by an unidentified Chinese company. It is surprisingly good for something that's made and designed in China. There is a flip-down LCD screen of decent quality that can be used for setup and instant playback. Opening up the small unit revealed a clean printed circuit board with just 2 chips: a Korean memory chip and a CPU chip of unknown origin. Control is through 6 buttons on either sides. Its not as convenient as a touch screen, but it does the job. The included suction mount was bulkier and less flexible than the one on the picture. This design does not allow mounting the using behind the rear-view mirror, so I need to look for some more compact suction mount.

The unit runs on it built-in battery power for at least an hour. This allows the camera to be used in the same was a a flip camera. Its small and light enough for use as a spy cam or on board of a model airplane. Plugged into the cigarette lighter adapter, the DV starts recording automatically when the car starts, and stops about 30 seconds after the ignition is cut. This is the desired behavior for a 'black box'.

The included manual is terrible, as expected. Special highlight is the final section "Small tip to save you big headache" which describes the many blessings of the reset button. The manual is not adapted for the different versions on the product, describing features that do not exist (such as HDMI output, frame rate selection, audio on/off) and omitting some useful options that are supported. Using some trial and error, however, its not too hard to find your way.

Video quality is indeed nowhere near HD standard. I could not see any difference in resolution between the 'XVGA' and 'VGA', so its best to stick with basic VGA which results in a 30% smaller files and a higher frame refresh rate. The camera sensor is likely the culprit. The lens is wide angle, producing a decent panoramic view with the usual distortion around the corners. Color reproduction is weak. Given the 'black box' application we don't care too much about that. Low light performance is passable. Though not HD, the quality is still better than the standard resolution camcorders of only a few years ago. Sound quality is poor, with lots of hissing, but conversations in the car are easy to understand.

The DVR performs decent image stabilization, which causes the movies to be quite smooth, even on bumpy roads. That is a very useful undocumented feature. Other undocumented features include digital zoom and a few image viewing options. The picture includes a date and time stamp for record keeping. The built-in clock turns out to be stable and accurate.

The DVR records .avi movies in segments of up to 15 minutes. There is only a short 1 second gap between the segments. The gap was a major complaint in most other reviews, but its pretty good on my unit. Apparently the new firmware improved this. Each 15-minute .avi file is about 720Mb which should yield about 11 hours of total recording on a 32G SD card before old files are overwritten. The LCD display shows the estimated remaining recording time, though the value is on the optimistic side.

Playback on the built-in LCD screen is decent. This feature could save your day, for instance instantly proving to a cop that you are not on the cell phone while driving. There is no fast forward, unfortunately, which makes it a pain to find the proper scene. Plugging in the unit in a computer mounts the SD card as a hard drive. The USB data transfer rate cannot keep up with the video bit rate in my experience. I am not sure whether this is caused by the SD card I am using or whether its due to the USB interface. Its not a big problem, as files can be copied to the PC for smooth playback. Playback on using video signal on a TV possible, but its just not very useful.

Overal, this DVR does the job for very little money. Compared to the other options (such as Itronics), it does nearly the same job and sports a built-in screen at a fraction of the price. It lacks HD and GPS, but neither of those are really essential for a car 'black box'.

Update May 2013 (1.5 year later): The dashcam is still working flawlessly, faithfully recording whenever my car drives. Same product now costs even less.

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I have been using this for a few days now. First, it took them till the end of the 3rd day to ship it which caused total delivery time to be around 9-10 days. I received it and it is one of those Chinese drop ship items. It has a surprising range of features for the price, such as auto on/off and auto record triggered by power from the cigarette lighter adapter. When the sd card is full it will loop the record and overwrite the oldest files first. The built in battery allows it to properly close out the files when the power from the adapter is cut so, in an accident, losing power will not cause you to lose the current file; which may be the most important one. The unit I received did not have a hdmi port like the photo but the opening is still cut into the casing; found this after the inspection sticker fell off after the 2nd day of use. Playback is not possible on this device. I have used 2 sdhc cards which says on the box are supported; one Kingston class 6 4gb card and one transcend class 10 16gb card. Trying to initiate playback with either card results in "one moment" appearing on the screen followed by the word "one" disappearing leaving half of the "o" yet, nothing else happens(waited up to 5min). Occasionally it will indicate "fwd 1x" but still not play, pressing the up button sometimes causes it to display "bwd 1x" but nothing plays. In the whole playback attempt process it will randomly give 2-3mm wide vertical lines of distorted picture over the still image of the first video frame. Another thing to note is the video format of the files it creates are AVI. A 4gb card will give 2:20 hr:min of record in VGA format and 1:22 hr:min in D1 and SXGA. 16gb card increased the VGA to over 9 hours. When transferring the video files to your computer you better use a sd card adapter because the maximum transfer speed that this thing can handle is apparently 1 mb/s. The video seems clear enough to see what is going on in a wide angle area in front of you but is not sharp enough to read the license plate off of the car in front of you sitting at a traffic light. I have not used when fully dark but twilight recordings are good in detail except oncoming headlights cause moments where the camera is basically blinded. The video displays on the lcd so it is right side up when the unit is mounted with the lcd folding down when opened, with no option that allows you to change this if you choose to mount it in any other orientation; like mounting it to your dash with the lcd folding up when opened. Conclusion, it's much better than nothing at all in providing piece of mind, but you get what you pay for in the quality of the video and craftsmanship.

Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Studio SSD Deck, Up to 1080i60 / 1080p30 Resolutions

The first thing you should know is that without a SSD dock to a mac or PC, this is a boat anchor. It does nothing. You can't record because it won't format the disks. You can't read the disks from a mac or PC without the additional dock. So, out of the box, it just stares at you.

We bought a blackmagic switcher (1M/e) and now a Hyperdeck Studio. Software glitches caused us to lose EVERY broadcast we tried to capture through the USB 3.0 link to the 1m/e. So, with some frustration, we bought Hyperdeck to try and keep a backup. Plugged in the drives and they need to be formatted. BUT, the machine won't format them. You need to have another part for a Mac which we don't have. Ordered it. But we have to record now, not in 3 days when the part comes. Would it have been too hard to make the hyperdeck format a drive? or for that matter, read the drive and feed to a computer? It's once again like a great machine that just doesn't quite meet the usefulness test. 5 yards short and the kick is wide.

Tried another capture using Premier instead of the included Media Express. Failed. Another firmware glitch on the 1m/e. To be fair, we're running older firmware on the switch because the new firmware has a different bug that won't let our computer inputs work. That drives our graphics.

Of course, we could buy a $30,000 graphics system and be a "real" broadcaster, instead of using FCP7 and a Mac, but why would we own a $3000 switch in that case? This system is really getting on my nerves. 3 months into it and we're still not able to use the system. We're waiting for new firmware that doesn't break the computer input. And we're waiting for a mac USB 3.0 driver so that we can capture in FCP7-more reliable and a better workflow than Premier. Maybe, if Blackmagic gets their product developed, it will be great. Let's wait and see.

Hey, both machines have an elegant design and are well-thought through. And, they have a phone number for support. So they get two stars. I'll revise this if we ever get the system working.

The Hyperdeck Studio is a great, if not simple new tool to move you past your old Beta decks and HDV tape formats and into a better world.

One thing that I love about the device is its simplicity. There aren't a bunch of menus to navigate or figure out. You plug in an HDMI or SDI source and select between them. Hit play, or record there's even a tiny monitor so you can tell what is playing. The Hyperdeck Studio handles the heavy lifting for you on formats it auto senses what you are putting into it and records exactly that. It's pretty easy.

When you've recorded your source, grab the drive and plug it into your computer (easy to do on my Mac with a Newer Technology Voyager Q NewerTech Voyager Q Quad Interface Dock for 2.5" and 3.5" Serial ATA Drives). You will definitely need something to plug the drives into your computer this device isn't going to connect in a meaningful way to your storage or storage network. Still need to sneaker-net the drives to get the files off of them hence the firewire "drive station" recommendation.

Now that you've hit record, your video and audio are now a movie file that can be dragged and dropped onto your edit drives and away you go. The new Hyperdeck Utility software recently released now also gives you ProRes as a record choice. That along with uncompressed and the Avid flavors gives you a lot of choices to work with. Then you look at the price and you are even more amazed. And since this is file based there's no worry about someone recording over your file when they go to playback. If they hit record it will simply start another clip leaving your recording untouched. that was a relief when I figured that out. I'm going to be using two of these to transport my weekly TV show this season...repacing the HDV tape that I've been running with for the past few years. I can't wait to get rid of that format in my productions.

Now there are some things these "decks" won't do...no closed caption (as of this writing) for instance, but if you are looking to take a feed or record the output of your Tricaster or simply digitize the wall of tapes that you have into editable Quicktime files then the Hyperdeck can do that.

This version isn't necessarily portable (probably not going to attach it to your camera rig) so it's not a real competitor to a Ninja or Samurai or an AJA KiPro Mini (there is a more portable version for that market Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Shuttle 2 SSD Video Recorder, 2.5" SATA SSD Drives, HD-SDI Input & Output) but each of them do similar work in different form factors.

The SSD drives you will need are a separate purchase. They can add up price wise, but are easy to clear off and reuse. I do recommend the cases Blackmagic sells for all the extra SSD drives you'll now have as well Blackmagic Design Hyperdeck SSD Solid State Drive Cover (1). One final note it's not a problem for me (I'm working in an all-Mac environment), but the SSD drives must be formatted in the Mac format just a heads up for Windows users you'll need some extra software to even get the SSD drives ready to record.

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Purchased one of these units and it does what it says it will do and pretty well. Basic functionality of Record, Play, Fast Forward/Rewind, Jog, and deck control. It has the potential to do so much more (all via programming).

Pros:

Easy to setup

Works Well

SDI Input/Output

Records 16 Channels of SDI Audio

HD/SD Auto Detects Input

Uncompressed or Pro-Res

Screen to see what is being recorded/played back with Timecode and Channels 1-2 of audio.

Cons:

Cannot format drive(s) in unit

No Way to select which drive will be recorded to/played back from (need to remove drive)

Cannot Set Timecode

Does not read file timecode; creates its own timecode starting with the first file and working down the list which then changes with addition/removal of files.

Cannot Delete files from unit

Audio has to be embedded (used a Blackmagic Audio to SDI converter). Adds a few $$ (the Studio Pro resolves this (but only 2 channels))

Playback needs to be a certain format, and I haven't figure out how to do more than 2 channels of audio

Items I wish they would add:

Additional recording formats

Ability to select which drive you want to use

Add Network Capabilities (has a network jack)

Change items from menu (has buttons for a menu, just don't do anything)

Ability to delete files from unit

WOULD LOVE to be able to record on one drive and play back from another at the same time.

WOULD LOVE dual recording or playback (unit has multiple outputs of the same thing)

WOULD LOVE monitor output to have timecode overlay and possibly with audio levels

WOULD LOVE to see more than 2 channels of audio instead of just 1-2

Overall, recommended. Hoping they add a lot more functionality in the future (should be easy, the hardware is there, just need a software update).

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There are a few mixed reviews on the HyperDeck Studio. They range from great to not so great. I think the unit does just fine at it's intended purpose, recording a high quality master video stream straight to disk. I use mine with the recommended Crucial M4 256G SSD disks. They work great with it. 2 hours of recording time per 256gig drive. I use a Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex FireWire 800 adapter STAE102 or Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Cable USB 3.0 STAE104 to read the SSD drives. You could also use a generic 2.5" SATA dock to read the disks. You'll want to delete or format the drives after each use so that the recorder has a fresh, blank disk to record onto. There isn't any utility on the recorder to erase or format the drives.

Blackmagic recently (Q1/2013) updated the firmware of the HyperDeck adding exFAT filesystem support. This means that windows users can format and read disks natively used in the recorder. Previously the system only recognized Mac formatted disks.

Pros:

**NEW** exFAT file format support for cross platform Windows users.

Apple ProRes 422 HQ video straight to disk, other formats are available.

Built in video confidence monitor showing video format and 1+2 audio levels.

Silent, cool operation.

Auto detection and display of incoming format.

Auto spillover from one disk to another when disk 1 fills up.

HDMI and SDI outputs are both active always so you can use as a confidence output.

Very responsive record, play, FF, REW and jog controls. You could use this as an instant replay unit as the jog controller is first rate.

Cons:

No way to delete clips or format drives on recorder.

My unit recording at 720p creates new, consecutive files every 3:12 (is that a bug or a feature?) I prefer this, actually as they edit together seamlessly.

Always records 16 channels of audio regardless of if audio is present or not.

Firmware seems half baked with missing features (format and clip erase needed badly).

Ethernet port has absolutely no function (please add remote control over ethernet, Blackmagic!!!).

Some front panel buttons don't have any function.

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Audio-Technica Solid Bass Over-Ear Headphones (ATH-WS55BRD)

These are a great little headphone with rubbery flexible hooks that are comfortable to wear. The sound is clear with a hint of low bass, just don't expect high fidelity. The only negative (-1 star) is that the bare speaker is hard so you can't lay on the side of your head with them in because it hurts. If they had a little foam surround they would be perfect, but for $10 they are still the best low cost headphones I've seen.

I bought these because I needed headphones that stay put when I go running. These certainly solved that problem. They are great for running. They've only came off once while running and that was due to the cord getting caught on my arm during my running motion.

The comfort is fine. They fit my ears fine. I'm not a big audiophile but the sound is perfect for my use which is primarily gym-headphones.

These are a great value for the price point. I would recommend them to anyone like myself who basically just needs some decent quality headphones for running and doesn't demand superior sound quality.

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Great Headphones. Do not fall off when you work out or go running. Hard to find headphones that fit well and these do that.

Bought a pair for my wife and she loves them too. I have purchased much higher priced headphones that do not even compare to these for fit, crisp sound, volume and price.

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Pros:

Don't slip off your ears

Great sound

Cons:

A little painful if in your ears for too long

I would recommend getting some small pads to ease the tenderness in the ear lobes. Mine started hurting after about 25 minutes. Just a little longer than running with them for three miles.

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Pretty good sound and they stay on when I run. That's well worth the price I paid for them. Good product.

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Cobra 8 MP Digital Camera

I purchased this camera as my first digital camera. I was impressed that it was an 8mg camera at a reasonable price. It takes good outdoor pictures but does not do well indoors. It also does not do well with close-ups. I should have done more checking before wasting my money.

I paid nothing for this camera and I still feel like I got robbed,Do yourself a favor and stay away from this piece of crap. The pixels look like crap, the batteries drain faster than you can even get through the menu and change any settings. will help you with any questions you might have to get a quality digital camera for a fair price.

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We bought one for our son and I use it more than he does. With a SD card installed this camera has worked great for us. Have to have a still hand when snapping the shots so I would recommend some kinda tripod, big or small. The hole for the tripod mounting is plastic so it will strip out on you after awhile. I also recommend some rechargeable batteries. With the right lighting and a still hand youll enjoy this camera.

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Toshiba BDX2000 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player

• 1080P Video Content
• Promotes Blu Ray Live
• HDMI output

I have followed customer feedback, performance findings, and honest thoughts regarding this model's limitations and third-party manufacture concerns. And when I saw one of you mention the price dropping to $125 and (and even lower on Black Friday), I made the decision to purchase it.

My Toshiba BDX2000 arrived last week and I connected it to my 2009 Toshiba Regza 52" LCD. The high def images from blu-ray disk are stunning and just as crisp as those of my 2009 Samsung BDP1500 that the Toshiba blu-ray replaces. The DVD upconvert works remarkably well, and the DVD image is actually a touch better than on the Samsung. Of note, the sound output is somewhat better than what I got coming from the Samsung. Operation has been seamless with the exception of a high-pitched whine when it first started playing the very first time, but that sound ceased after the first ten minutes of playing the first movie and has not returned.

My Toshiba LCD Television's remote control unit is visually very appealing and is ergonomically well-laid-out, and it works flawlessly on the Toshiba blu-ray player as promised by the Regza link (****Note to those who indicated they had problems with the Regza link activation: Only after the "HDMI CDC" setting was activated on the blu-ray's menu and then also "RegzaLink" activated on the television's settings menu did it begin to function, and then functioned quite well, even the eject button from the television remote opens the blu-ray!). This is a good thing because I am not particularly pleased with the blu-ray remote's layout or appearance, so I pleased that I don't have to use it. I was unable to use a single remote on the Samsung blu-ray player, of course.

For someone like me who is an infrequent user and who is on a rather strict budget, I can live with this model's limitations, especially at this price. I don't need the Netflix or Amazon online movie access, and I can live without the live firmware update download option (I accept that I'll have to download firmware updates to a CD separately for the BDX2000).

In a nutshell, this unit is fine and I am pleased by the remarkable image and sound quality and Regza link convenience considering the low price. However, for anyone who wants the streaming content and directly downloaded firmware updates via (non-WiFi) Internet connection, I recommend the Panasonic DMP-BD60 recently on sale for around $125-$159. My neighbor has one and is very pleased, and I believe it offers access to Amazon's online movie content.

Note Regarding Samsung: My BDP1500 was purchased in late March 2009 when I purchased my Toshiba TV. The Samsung promptly ceased all function at 6 months and 3 days after the date of purchase. Geek Squad checked it out and said it was irreparable. Samsung would not replace it as the model because of warranty loopholes, I wasted eight whole hours on the phone with them over a four week period. That terrible customer service experience is the reason I chose to research Toshiba and Panasonic for my replacement blu-ray player and to swear-off Samsung for now. I found these customer reviews and related comments as a part of that research process and am eternally grateful.

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This is the first blu ray player I have owned. Blu-rays are known to be slower than their DVD counterparts, and this player sticks to that fashion. It seems as it depends more on the blu ray itself though rather than the player. Some discs load extremely quick and some are slower.

Overall the player has a nice sleek design. It's easy to use, easy to navigate. It doesn't have some extras that other blu ray players have such as pandora or netflix, but honestly, how many devices do you need in your living room that have those capabilities?

I would give it five stars except I was hoping that this player wouldn't inherit the inability to remember where you left off in a movie. With a dvd you can hit stop once, if you hit play again it will pick up in the same spot and if you hit stop twice it will restart the DVD. To my knowledge no blu ray player does this.

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Bought one of these on Black Friday as a gift. Stood out in the cold for an hour to get it for $79. I thought I'd test it out before handing it over to the recipient who is not as techno savvy as myself so I could give a heads up of any issues I found.

I have a Panasonic BD-60 myself so that's what I base my comparison on. Load time is up to par with other current stand alone players (30secs-1 min) average. I tested the BD-Live access time with Transformers and it took about 2 mins from disc menu to BD-Live menu. I am playing G.I. Joe right now as I type and picture quality as well as audio quality is great. The menu is simple as is the remote (which won't win any beauty contests). The design of the unit itself is sleek and stylish.

Note that the Ethernet port is for BD-live content only and not for downloading firmware updates like the Panasonic player does (there are none for this player to date) but when there is apparently a disc will have to be made.

Overall I think this a great entry level player and would make a perfect gift for a Blu-ray newbie or someone wanting an extra player for the bedroom.

P.S. PLEASE pay no attention to the 1 star reviews from the bitter HD-DVD fanboys. Though I was on board with Blu-ray from the beginning I commend Toshiba for a smart business decision and putting a darn good player on the market in time for the holidays.

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We just bought this Blu Ray player to match our new HD 55" LCD.

This is a well designed Blu Ray player that has the best looking DVD 480 --> 1080 upscaling I have seen with no major visual artifacts.

I've always liked Toshiba electronics for a reliable low to mid range product so needless to say I was glad to see them come into the Blue Ray player market. After recieveing it for a sale price online, I couldn't wait to spin a BD disc to my Toshiba 47" tv. The first thing I noticed was the loud motor noise coming from this player which never stopped and was distracting during quiet parts of the movie. The other frustration was the remote could not sync with the tv as advertised so I still had to keep both remotes handy. This unit looked nice in my component cabinet but performance was disappointing. I returned it (at my exspense)and replaced it with the ever popular LG-BD390 when it went on sale for black friday. Given that this is Toshiba's first BD player with no reviews available prior to my purchase, I hope this helps others that may be considering this unit.

Defender STEALTH1 Covert MPEG4 DVR Recording System with Built-in Color Pinhole Surveillance Camera

This spy cam is so simple to use and it takes great videos on an SD memory card. You can put the camera anywhere or mount it on the wall and it will record video for over a month. The videos are in 30 second segments by date and time on the SD card. It connects to the TV with one simple cable (supplied) for viewing and you can fast forward and rewind like a VCR with buttons on the back. It can be used plugged in or can run on batteries. This would be a good nanny cam or in an area you need to monitor for security purposes. The only bad part is that it doesn't record video well in low light. So, this is a day time cam.

Pros: Discreet, Sensitive, Easy To Set Up, Accurate

Cons: Adapter Wire not white, Adapter Wire too short

Best Uses: Spying, Use your imagination

Describe Yourself:Do-It-Yourself

Overall... it's a great Device for Discreet spying and monitoring where you like. You can just pop in the SD card in to your card reader and the footages taken starts playing with Windows Media Player. I just wish it had sound as well, But I guess it would use double the memory, so I can see why they did not incorporate sound into it. The video Quality is Great. And for $250 it's a no brainier. If you are into gadgets and detective work This is definitely a must have. As I mentioned before the adapter wire is too short, though you can just cut the wire and extend it with another wire and use Electric tape to seal it.

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The Defender recorder does a decent job as long as you plan to plug it in for power. Just don't plan on using battery power, or you will be changing them every two days. The only real functional quirk I've run into is that to check the video, I need to unplug it from the power (obvious) to take it over to the TV. But if it is turned off (or unplugged) while recording, the manual says some video can be corrupted. Yet as you approach it, it will turn on from motion detection (sort of an awkward catch 22). Anyway, I can live with that I think, just something to be aware of. What really sucked is that I paid for upgraded premium shipping, but the vendor (JUSTBUYITHERE) took two weeks to ship. I selected the vendor, because they were near by my Southern California location. I thought paying extra for priority shipping meant I would have it in two or three days, but I didn't receive the item for over two weeks. They did ship priority mail, just not for over a week! Some vendors get it and some just don't. All I can say is "JUSTBUYITHERE" just BLOWS! I won't be doing any further business with them, and I recommend you don't.

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There is a lot to like about the Stealth DVR by Defender. It offers an affordable way to covertly capture and record the events of an area. While such a device may not discourage criminals it certainly may make it easier for them to get apprehended. The Stealth DVR looks like any other motion detector, except for the small pinhole camera located at the bottom. Once activated the camera will record (with pretty good image quality) for a set amount of time. This ideal for use in a nursery (nanny cam), an office building (are the cleaning people stealing the change out of your desk) or other areas where you have lingering suspicions.

Pros

Good video quality (see the video portion of the review)

Multi-position mounting bracket

Lots of control on how and when you want the camera to record

The main power source will likely be the AC adapter, but the camera can take 4 AA batteries as a back-up.

Comes with a 2G memory card

Areas for improvement

The reason for a 1/2 star reduction t is that it does take some time and patience to get the camera set-up correctly. The manual is helpful, but you may need to read through it a couple of times.

As other mentioned this is a camera for a well lit area once you have a significant reduction in light you start to have issues.

A few others have mentioned that they are disappointed in the lack of sound. For me it is not that big of a deal. If you are going to use this camera the video capture is going to be far more useful than the sound emitted.

The video format is not Mac compatible I used the Elgato 10020840 Video Capture Device (White) to capture and transfer the video to my Mac.

Final Verdict While the set-up can be a bit tricky the Stealth DVR provides impressive video quality. The Stealth DVR is a effective motion activated security camera.

4 1/2 stars

---Please note that the manufacturer sent me one unit for reviewing purposes---------

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I have been playing with this video camera for two weeks and I have some thoughts:

PROSGood look from the front as far as being covert. Looks like a traditional motion detector to most people. Really good picture from about 3 feet away to 6 feet, then gets a little blury but still okay, not bad, still on the pro side of this story. Removeable card is handy if you do a permanent install. Has a mount on the back that I want to try soon.

CONS Battery drain is quick! You will need to use the AC for recording. Batteries are just for when you are moving it around. Lights on the back cannont be disabled, I put white electrical tape over them. Need a large data card to get decent video storage, I guess this really depends on your application but the included card was too small for me.

Overall, I was satisfied for the $200 price.

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Audio Technica AT2020USBPLUS Deluxe USB Cardioid Condenser Microphone

• Condenser microphone with USB output for digital recording
• High quality A/D converter with 16 bit, 44.1/48 kHz sampling rate for superb audio
• Headphone jack with volume control allows you to monitor the microphone signal with no delay
• Mix control allows you to blend your microphone signal and pre-recorded audio
• High-output internal headphone amplifier delivers superior clarity and musical detail as well as more volume overall

The AT2020 USB (not this item, the Plus) was the USB microphone I recommended, and installed for clients, for years and it was great for both beginning VO students as well as established talent. I used it for almost a decade on the road and in my classes, and the AT2020, the studio version of the mic, was a staple for me as well when I was plugging into my ProTools rig. The quality of this really inexpensive line of microphones far outstrips their street prices.

Other USB microphones sounded amateurish next to the AT2020 USB, as it uses a more expensive analog-to-digital conversion circuit in the body of the mic, giving you a much better sound than, say, the Snowball or the Yeti from Blue Microphones (Blue makes some great mics, but these two aren't among them and because Apple stores sell the Blue line of cheap USB mics, people get suckered into buying them).

At the same time, when using any mic, monitoring your VO reads with headphones, in real time as you're voicing your copy, is essential to understanding how your voice is being picked up by your microphone. It allows you to adjust your addressing of the mic, it lets you know if you're achieving the sound you want, and it can be a first warning that you're overdriving the pickup of your mic and distorting the sound. And the Yeti included a very convenient and useful headphone jack.

But, as a VO talent and teacher here in LA, as my clients and students can confirm for you, I was moaning for years that for a great mic, the AT2020 USB (also still available) was losing sales to the far inferior Snowball and Yeti because it didn't have that essential headphone jack. So, you had to make a sad decision: go for a great mic with a great sound, or go for a mediocre mic that would give you the option to hear how mediocre your sound was.

Happily, with the AT2020-USB Plus, now you can have both great quality and real-time monitoring.

I was lucky enough to get my hands on an AT2020-USB Plus microphone shortly after it was introduced at NAMM in 2013. It was so new that the user manual inside was still for the AT2020 USB.

Unpacking the box was a familiar task: the mic, the paperwork (a registration form and a user manual in lots of different languages), and a pouch containing the mounting bracket, a stand and the USB cable.

(By the way, the included stand, as with the AT2020 USB, is almost useless if you do try to use it, your mic will constantly be in danger of falling over, especially with a headphone cable dangling out of the mic. Do yourself a favor and get any other stand, like the On-Stage desk stand (On Stage DS7200B Adjustable Desk Microphone Stand, Black), or floor stand (On Stage Stands MS7701 Tripod Boom Microphone Stand) or whatever you prefer. Use a quarter to remove the threaded adapter from the bracket to use it with any stand you buy.)

That minor annoyance aside, the rest of the equipment is as satisfying to use as the original AT2020 USB. The color is the same, the pickup is the same, the sound is the same but there's one big difference.

The headphone jack.

The glorious headphone jack.

Plugging a stereo mini plug-laden set of earbuds or headphones into that jack lets you hear your voice, pre-encoding, with no latency or delay whatsoever.

You can easily control how loud your headphones are with the thumbwheel-dialed volume control. There's also a mix dial between sound that can be fed back from your computer into the mic and your voice, which might be useful for speaking over a bed or an effect, but for the most part, I'd keep the control all the way over to purely letting you hear your voice.

The sound I get from the Plus is exactly the same as I got from its predecessor: the frequency response, the warmth, the forgiveness at higher or lower volumes and the bass proximity effect which is all really good news. audio-technica had released a mic last year that was a toy compared to the AT2020 series (the AT2500), where they cheaped out on every part of the mic, but added a headphone jack. That was a swing and a miss, but this new AT2020 USB Plus is a solid home run.

I'd love to hear what you all think I'm a fan. And I'm installing the AT2020 USB Plus in every new installation of home equipment I perform.

David H. Lawrence XVII

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I read many reviews on Amazon before I decided on the newer at2020usb+ "Plus" model and I must say it was well worth every penny. I posted a Unboxing and Review on YouTube for all to see how the Mic comes. As always with Amazon...order was packaged well and arrived quickly.

YouTube "Audio Technica AT2020USB+ Plus Condenser Microphone Amazon Unboxing & Review Using Samsung Galaxy S3"

Hope this helps everyone with their decision : ) Well done Audio Technica.

p.s. Um yea the headphone jack is amazing. Zero Delay.

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I owned the Blue Snowball, but like many people was having trouble getting Windows 7 to recognize it. I would have to plug it in and unplug it multiple times to get windows to recognize it.

Well I got fed up, and decided i would get a new mic this mic. GLAD I DID.

First, the setup was extremely easy. I plugged it in once. Windows 7 recognized it immediately and there was no compatibility issues. I will point out that Audiotechnica says on their website that this mic is compatible with Windows 7. IT DOES NOT SAY THIS FOR the AT2020 ONLY the AT2020+. Since I don't own the AT2020, I can't say for sure if it is Windows 7 compatible, but people on the Internet have had problems. I will say that on a fresh installation of Windows 7, all the features of the AT2020+ worked perfectly on the first attempt.

The mic itself is fantastic. Great sound capture, reproduction through Audacity sounds tremendous. The headphone jack allows you to listen to yourself in realtime. I can find out if I am sounding flat when I sing etc... You can also set the headphone jack on the mic as the audio out for your computer. That way if you want to play a song and record you voice to that song, you can do that as well.

I know this mic is expensive relative to the Blue Snowball, but you are gettting so much more. Most importantly, a guarantee that it will work. Blue for whatever reason does guarantee their mics will work unless you are a certain model number or higher.

This one works, plain and simple. I would DEFINITELY buy again.

Sony WM-EX190 Walkman Stereo Cassette Player with Anti-Rolling Mechanism

• Stereo cassette Walkman with Mega Bass enhancement
• Anti-rolling mechanism minimizes distortion when the Walkman is in motion due to active use
• Automatic volume limiter system (AVLS) conserves batteries and guards your hearing
• Includes dynamic, over-ear headphones and a belt clip
• Up to 24 hours extended battery life on 2 AA batteries

If you are just looking for a basic no-frills cassette Walkman and you are not a perfectionist sound aficionado -walk right on by, and buy something else. This Walkman has a nice price, but is a lot less than it sounds.

I had thought I could stand anything, since all I was looking for was a basic Walkman to listen to music and audiobooks. But I actually returned mine (And if I eat the shipping to return an item, that really says something!) What made it impossible for me was that the sound was extremely tinny and hissy, so much so that it hurt my ears. Using the bass-boost actually boosted the tinniness as much as the bass, so that was no help. Using the volume limiter did reduce the tinniness somewhat, but it still sounded terrible. I have bought inexpensive Sony Walkmans for years and loved them, and I bought a cheap Sony microcassette recorder a few weeks ago which is terrific, so I had felt confident enough to buy the EX-190. But the basic sound was unbearable.

To mention the good points, I really like the way it looks. The plastic is cheap, but light-weight. The buttons go on and off easily, unlike some which are too hard to press or which don't engage every time you press them. There is no auto-reverse, so you insomniacs will have to get up, flip the tape, and try to get drowsy again! Overall, I feel it *would* be a decent little machine, except that the sound is just too awful.

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I use this Cassette Player while working out for 45 minutes on the ski exercise machine and believe me it helps pass a boring exercise time while using this device. I purchased this unit last August and use it religiously five days a week. Since that time, the batteries were renewed only once when the sound lost its quality. The sound is superb. Actually, I'm picking up more new sounds on this little unit than my boombox with its large speakers. Having over 500 audio tapes, I need a unit such as this and it fits the bill. I'm thoroughly satisfied with it.

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This cassette player is well designed and well built. We have been using them for over four years in our elementary school and have had only one cassette player out of 25 stop working. Children (ages 7 11) use them to listen to recorded books as they read along silently. We power them with rechargeable batteries. I also use one to listen to music when I am walking, and it sounds fine to me.

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I've been using the cassette player while doing cardio at the gym. In less than a month of use, the sound goes from non-existent to static to fine. It's still covered by the warranty, but Sony has informed me that they usually replace the faulty players with refurbished players and at this time, there have no refurbished players of this model.

I had some trouble fitting the batteries in the compartment, but I won't now that I learned the trick. Otherwise, it's easy to operate, lightweight, and has good sound quality for the price.

SIIG CB-HM0142-S1 High Speed HDMI Cable with Right Angle Connector (90 -90 Degree), 2-Meters

I ran one of these down a wall from my TV to the bottom and hooked it to a dvd player. I had pixels going in and out and the TV cutting in and out. May have just been this one cable.

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Iview HD Player 1080P All Region DVD Media Player with HDMI Intrface

• High Definition HDMI interface 480i/480P/720P/1080P
• Upconvert to 1080P for high resolution image
• Connects to LCDTV and enjoy great quality picture and movies
• HDMI interface offers digital sound
• DVD format compatibility: DVD/VCD/CD/CD+G/JPEG

The only reason the Iview doesn't get a 5-star rating from me is that there no manual tray eject or retract on the unit. If you want to get a disk out to return to... say Netflix; you have to get your remote from wherever you last left it.

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I tried this because the dimensions claimed it was only 1.5 inches high, and I needed it to fit under one side of my LCD TV. The web site dimensions are simply wrong. I measured 2 inches high. I'm returning it and getting a Sony (after verifying its dimensions from the Sony manual).

As for its operation, I did plug it in and try it. It looked ok on my 1080p TV through the HDMI output, but I noticed a "glaring" problem: the disc drawer is illuminated with blindingly bright blue light. Searching through the set-up menus, I found no way to turn off the light. What were they thinking? You can't hide the front of the unit from your line of sight if you want the remote to work.

Oh yeah, speaking of the disc drawer, it is surprisingly flimsy.

This is not the DVD player you're looking for. Move along.

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It took me a few days too long to figure out how to get this thing hooked up and running, or I would return it.

It's nice and small, and seems to work fine, for what it is. I just wanted something that doesn't take up much room, that I could play karaoke CD+Gs on. It does that. The sound quality just is not good, to my sensitive ears. Most people probably wouldn't mind...

It seems to just not pick up very many of the sounds that are on the CD. Discs that sounded pretty darn good and rich on any freestanding karaoke machine (or in my stereo) sound loose and disjointed and spare and slightly out-of-time on this little machine.

Sony Professional Digital 2GB MP3 Voice Recorder with Noise Cut Technology Reducing Background Soun

Smaller than I originally thought, but lots og "bells and whistles" for its small size. Voice activation really helps with college lectures. Well worth the price. Shipped to my home in record time. Amazon.com continues to offer good prices and quality merchandise.

I had purchased another recorder that was a little bit complicated to use. This time I did better,it is a better quality. Thanks

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Easy to handle and to highlight important dictation. Easily adaptable to retrieving dictation by the secretary. Portability is an important feature.

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Sandisk Sansa Fuze 8GB MP3 and Video Player with FM Radio, Voice Recorder, microSD/SDHC Slot, BLACK

• Plays videos, music, photos
• Digital FM radio
• Voice recording with built-in microphone
• Bright 1.9" screen, microSD / microSDHC** slot for additional content expansion
• BRAND NEW ITEM, Bulk packaged (Non Retail Package), SAVE MONEY, SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT.

I've dropped, thrown, gotten it wet, stepped on it hundreds of times with no protective case, its nearly indestructible unless you drop a 20lb dumbbell on it.

The only reason I ordered another one (this one pictured) is because I've started to wear out the internal lining of the earphone hole from plugging it in thousands of times. Drag and drop music files and your good to go, long battery life.

Small and easy to carry too, screen lock is easy to turn on and off. All around an awesome mp3 player, no bulls***, it's so good I'm actually taking the time to log on to amazon and write a damn review.

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After multiple frustrations with an iRiver MP3 player (continued freeze-ups with required repeated firmware reloads, lousy battery life, non-user friendly controls, I tossed it and bought this one. What a difference!!!

Thumbs ups:

1) Excellent sound quality whether on headphones or plugged into car stereo.

2) Excellent battery life just to see how long it would play, i left it on and playing a list of my entire library. It played for more than 24 hours straight before the battery died!!!

3) Can use MP3 files, no proprietary software needed! Hear that Apple iPod???

Thumbs down (Just one):

1) FM radio reception is lousy. I do like to listen to NPR on the bus ride to work and even less than 10 miles from the city, it just doesn't cut it. I thought about downgrading it to 4 stars for this but decided that's unfair since this is really not what it was designed for, so I still gave it 5.

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A Perfect Alternative to those of us who hate Apple. It also has a great battery life. The size doesn't hold much songs but you can always add a micro sd card later.

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This is by far, the best MP3 player ever made but there's a problem. If your thinking of getting one, get it because they don't make these anymore. Very user friendly. Great sound quality. Great battery life and up to 40 gb of on board storage with an additional 32 gb micro sd card. Careful, there is some price gouging going on from some dealers! I put this above anything any other manufacturer has come up with. The new Sansa's are ok but they are now tiny and the wheel is gone. The micro sd card and its built in memory work totally together on their own. Big mistake on Sansa's part to stop making these. Also, earbuds sound great.

This is an awesome mp3 player, great battery life (23 26) hours brand new, amazing sound quality, Micro SD card slot, and great vibrant color screen. I was searching for an mp3 player for a few but couldn't find one with all the features this one has. This mp3 player has not frozen on me at all or needed to be reset, I left it playing music for 5 10 hours at a time. Have not tried video or photo viewing.

Sony MZ-N505 Net MD Walkman Player/Recorder (Gold)

• Record MP3s or CDs at up to 32x speed on affordable MD media for over 5 hours of music per standard 80-minute disc
• Easy Skip group/folder navigation in player; plays ATRAC3, MP3, WMA, and WAV files
• Music-management software ensures seamless file transfers to & from hard drive; multi-speed transfers via USBport(4x SP, 16x LP2, and 32x LP4)
• Sony's ATRAC3 DSP encoder improves audio quality in high frequencies over previous MD compression schemes
• Includes USB cable, headphones, AC adapter, Open MG Jukebox Windows installer CD, manual

Pros:

1) Amazing battery life

2) Great sound in SP, LP2 modes

3) Good sound (and 5h20m recording) in LP4 mode

4) Will not skip.

5) For fast CD to MD ripping via USB, Simple Burner software is quick and easy.

6) Flexible editing features (change track order, erase tracks, rename, combine, and delete tracks.)

7) very small and lightweight

8) Inexpensive, re-recordable media

Cons:

1) OpenMG software is restrictive (check-in, check-out) and slow. It has to convert all file types (wma, mp3, etc.) to ATRAC, and leaves copies of these converted files on your computer.

2) No upload capability. A bummer for live music and field recordings in particular.

3) No true SP support (Simple Burner has no SP or SP-mono option at all, and OpenMG software converts all files to LP first, so you don't get true SP quality.) The only way you can record in true SP is real-time.

4) No microphone input and no remote for the headphones. No big deal -if you need these features, buy the MZ-N707. You can also upgrade to remote headphones at www.minidisco.com.

Overall, I really like this player. I'm thrilled with the fact that I was able to fit the entire 4-CD studio recordings of The Police on one minidisc. It's flexible, easy to use and sounds great. If you are heavy into mp3s downloaded files, this may not be the most flexible solution, but it works. If you're like me and you just want a portable means of carrying music from your CD collection around, Net MD is perfect.

Sony could make this into a home run by

a) giving full SP and SP-mono support to Simple Burner and OpenMG

b) allowing for uploading (at the very least, for non-copyrighted material).

c) speeding up OpenMG file conversion.

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The ideal portable digital player would have the following properties: 1. can easily fit into your pocket, 2. have generous and inexpensive storage capacity, 3. be rewritable, 4. allow movement of material back and forth from the computer to the player, 5. have a microphone for recording, 6. have excellent battery life, 7. play all kinds of media files.

I have been a mini disc user for many years. Prior to the MP3 era this was unquestionably the best portable format. Unfortunately it has, to date been stymied by low storage capacity per disc, slow recording times and file incompatibility.

This new mini disc walkman is fantastic value for money...As a mini disc player, it records with the superior atrac R format, and as recording can also be done from the CDROM of your computer, the CD database can be accessed, and the names of the songs downloaded (no more fiddley track naming). Interestingly, this does not access the built in CD database in the windows operating system, by which programs such as Musicmatch "remember" CDs. The sound quality at standard recording is excellent, at LP2 it is marginally worse than 128kbs MP3 and at LP4 there is considerable quality dropoff, which is often unnoticable when walking around with the player. LP4 allows you to record up to 5 CDs to one $2 minidisc.

So far so good. The software is rather tempermental. Although advertised as a "NetMD", MP3 files have to be first converted to Atrac 3 before they can be imported into the player. This is painfully slow. The conversion program is OpenMG jukebox. This program recurrently crashes on me when I try to convert MP3s. I have given up with this process and use my MP3CD player. Furthermore, the net burner software is not great either. It grinded to a halt, in the midst of recording at LP4, several times. Overall, as a media converter, this is not great, and I would recommend this more for re-recording your own CDs than MP3s downloaded from the internet.

The slower play function is a major advance for minidisc. One of the great things about this format is that you can record virtually anything. For example, last week I plugged mine into the audio out plug of my TV and recorded a concert at LP2 (150 minutes). You can subsequently insert track tags, and delete the ads (the tracks then squish together without a gap).

It is a pity that this walkman does not have a microphone socket...Being able to record for 5 hours on a single disk through a microphone and upload the recording to your PC would make this the ultimate voice recording device.

The battery life on this unit is awesome. I have used my MD walkman daily for the past 3 weeks on a single AA battery.

I would strongly recommend obtaining the wonderful fontopia ear bud headphones to add to this device...

This is an exceptionally good product, let down by mediocre software, and Sony's obsessional attitude to digital rights management (why can't I make as many copies of my own personal recordings as I want?). 5 out of 7 criteria ain't bad

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I spend an average of 3 hours commuting daily. I was looking for something small that allowed me to listen to music for a long time, with no skips and good quality. First I looked into MP3 solid state players, but I didn't like the limited memory. Then I looked into CD players with MP3 playback capability, but I didn't like to spend time ripping songs out of CDs and then burning them. I'm not into downloading MP3s, all I wanted was a better way to carry along my CDs. I came accross the Sony MiniDisc recorder/player and it was just what I needed:

Great capacity. With the maximum compression (LP4) a single MiniDisc holds 5 CDs. You don't need to carry CDs with you nor bother looking for them and the sound is still CD-quality.

Great battery life. A single AA lasts for 56 hours.

Skip protection. It hasn't skipped once.

Simple to use. The bundled software, Simple Burner, allows you to copy CDs to the MiniDisc via the USB port. You can select the songs you want and group the CDs by album in the MiniDisc so you can jump easily to whatever you want to listen to. It uses temporal files in your hard disk that eventually get erased so it doesn't clutter it.

Reusability. A MiniDisc can be rewritten over a million times. You can delete or rearrange contents any way you want.

Price. A MiniDisc costs [relatively little].

The Simple Burner application runs fine in the background, meanwhile I'm doing something else. If you're connected to the Internet you can get the album information (artist and tracks names) for free and it gets written in the MiniDisc itself. It'll display it as is playing it. Whatever the source is, all sound is recorded into the MiniDisc with Sony's propietary format, ATRAC3. The actual transfer to the MiniDisc is real fast, but first the music has to be converted to ATRAC3 and that takes time. For some reason, when a song has been converted beyond 50% the second half goes much faster than the first. When it's done converting the song, it transfers it to the MiniDisc in a matter of seconds.

There's another application bundled to organize and copy MP3s into the MiniDisc, OpenMG Jukebox. I didn't try it yet as I'm not into it, but it'll allow you to make up to three copies of the same song. A protection system to avoid piracy.

You can also download the free RealOne player and a plug-in to copy music to the MiniDisc directly from it. Didn't try it either.

I put it in my pants left pocket, run the headphones wire inside my jacket so it doesn't tangle and enjoy the music as I commute. Some controls have marks on them so you can locate them with your fingers and every time you use them you hear a beep through the headphones. Many times I adjust the volume or select the song without even looking at it.

Bottomline, the perfect solution for a commuter. Is also great to work around the house or to exercise.

Thanks,

Juan Carlos

P.S. I tried recording in a MiniDisc from a cassette player. I had two CDs recorded in a MiniDisc from a 80's Scottish group, "Deacon Blue". I finally found a cassette I had of them with another album. I connected the MiniDisc recorder to a cassette player and recorded the whole thing. The manual says the recorder will add automatically a track mark whenever it finds silence during two seconds at least. In this case the songs were too close for that to work, so I had to add them manually later on, a very easy task which didn't take too long. The recording has to be made at 1x speed, though, as with any external source. Then, with SimpleBurner I named the album and the songs and placed the album in the correct chronological order. I like to see how a band's sound evolves through the years. Rearranging groups is as easy as dragging them up or down as they're displayed in the SimpleBurner window. Is a really fast process, I think they just change the order in which they're played rather than physically moving them around the disk. So another great feature to add: the ability of recording from different sources in a single disk and sort the groups any way one wants.

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An optical minidisk player/recorder is the perfect mp3 vehicle: records in high quality (CD) or compressed (mp3), converting any source to its own format during download. Its replacable media is a true optical disk... almost as small as any memory cartridge, and competes with mp3-player expansion memory at the ridiculously low price of [money] for up to 80 minutes of music. Each minidisc is rewriteable forever. Now that Sony has perfected the USB interface and Long Play Mode, there's no reason to buy an iPod for nearly 3x the cost (buy two of these and 50 discs instead). This model, in particular, is a bargain. Light, rugged, with immaculate sound. Comes with headphones, battery, USB cable, PC software (no MAC available), and one disc.

So my Rio MP3 player died, and my old Sony Discman was starting to skip on lots of CDs (that played fine with other players). Time to replace it with a new Discman... that is, until I found this little electronic marvel.

Sony's got a real winner with this player. I listen to music a lot while working, and I'm always having to haul CDs to work. Now I'm going to just make personal mini-discs of my CDs and carry those around.

Lots of other reviews have covered all the cool features and complaints about this unit. The obvious pros (to me) are: the 56 hour playback on one AA battery, the ability to fit hours of music on one little minidisc, even editing minidiscs with the player itself. Very cool.

The OpenMG software *is* confusing until you get used to it, but I found it to be very flexible, and filled with little touches that make things go faster. One in particular is that when ripping a CD to ATRAC3 format (the MD-specific format) and copying to minidiscs in one shot, OpenMG will multitask and copy completed tracks while it's ripping away... very nice, Sony!

However, OpenMG takes FOREVER to install and actually runs about 10 different installers behind-the-scenes. If you are running Norton Systemworks (or some other package that monitors installs), you are going to see a lot of warnings about installers starting.

Several other people have mentioned (and complained about) the SDMI locks the software uses. This basically limits you to making 3 copies of any song you have. You can gain back the copy by "checking it back in" to OpenMG (essentially erasing it from the MD). I understand about the need to prevent piracy, but this one feature is what keeps me from giving the unit 5 stars. I bought the music, and I should be able to make personal copies, not deal with some check-in/check-out process.

Otherwise, this unit rocks... definitely recommended!

G.Skill 16GB Class 6 MicroSDHC Flash Card with SD Adapter (FF-TSDG16GA-C6)

Have used some of the G.Skill memory products at various times over the years, and have always been impressed with their overall quality. Well known in the PC overclocking and performance community, it was good to find this product here.

Bought this G.Skill 16GB Class 6 MicroSDHC Flash Card with SD Adapter not for use in a camera but to add to the storage capacity of my new Philips DVT1500/00 2GB Digital Voice Tracer Recorder, which as noted has 2GB RAM onboard. It also has a Micro SD card slot, so this G.Skill MicroSDHC card adds quite a bit of storage capacity to the recorder, to put it mildly.

Also tested this card in a digital camera using the supplied SD adapter. The camera normally seems "happiest" with Class 10 SD cards, so formatting and using this card for a few fast videos was a good test. Though the card has a Class 6 rating (6 MB/sec), it performed equally with some of my Class 10 cards (10 MB/sec), so no complaints from me.

This tiny card was priced right, and offers excellent performance. Highly recommended, but format it in the device which you will be using as additional memory.

3/21/2012

I use it in my Samsung Galaxy S III phone. It works just fine. Given its capacity (16 GB) and the fact that it is Class-6, the price ($10.99) was very good. I highly recommend it.

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I would recommended this card to anyone who needs a reasonably sized micro SD card for the money it works well easy to use and comes with the adapter witch is great. I have used this for data and as the the hdd for my raspberry pi.

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I purchased 3 of these for our family's HTC One V phones and they all work as expected. There were no problems with compatibility.

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Works well in my smart phone as add on memory. I believe it meets class 6 performance. The price was right...

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Coby MP-C858 512 MB MP3 Player with FM Radio and Direct USB

• Compact digital MP3 player with 512 MB of integrated flash memory
• Stores up to 8 hours of MP3 and 16 hours of WMA music; direct USB plug
• Built-in FM tuner; digital voice recorder with integrated microphone
• 7-color LCD display; normal, classic, rock, jazz, and pop EQ settings
• Measures 3.98 x 1.25 x 0.85 inches (W x H x D); 90-day warranty

This MP3 player will work well for a while (except for headphones which will suck from the very beginning). But after a while it won't turn on and there won't be anything you can do about it. This happened to me, and the same thing happened to a friend who warned me about the problem a little too late. Coby customer service is also bad, and returning it wasn't an option for me as the warranty is up after just 90 days. Maybe they don't expect it to last much longer than that, or maybe they just hope it won't malfunction before then. Either way, the length of the warranty isn't that good a sign. I give it one star because Amazon won't seem to let me give it none.

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A little hard to use. Has been impossable to find accesories for. Ear buds get tangled

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I am very unhappy with the Coby mp-c858.

The "thumb-toggle" control for navigation is almost counter-intuitive. The "press/push" combination has very little feedback feel. That makes it difficult to switch between the various modes of operation or fast forward/rewind through a track.

Even worse, it is hard to get files downloaded properly. I copied files to the unit and they would show up on Windows Explorer. When I tried to play them back, the unit wouldn't recognize they were there.

Some of these difficulties may be operator error. If the available documentation wasn't so sparse and imprecise, I might be able to tell for sure if the problems of using this are mine or the player's.

The FM Radio does work, though again, it's challenging to navigate. Likewise the voice recorder.

It looks like this is going to be just an overpriced memory stick for me.

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The good things about this MP3 Player include that it was easy to plug into my computer, because it has a USB port without a cable. And it was very easy to use Windows Media Player to download and view the content in the player. However, this player hardly worked at all for me. The first day I had it, I put four songs on it, and they sounded good and seemed to play well and easily. By the next day, the toggle didn't work. It was a button that scrolled through songs one by one when you moved it right or left. And you push it in to choose your selection. Thats a lot of work to put on a little and button, and by day 2, it didnt work. I couldnt play anything but the first song. And I could only choose a setting selection the first 15 seconds after the player was turned on. I called the company and described the problem. They told me to return it. When I had first opened the package, there was a flyer that said, Wait! Dont return this! Call our helpline first! That should have been my first clue that they've had problems with this product. Oh, the FM radio didnt work very well, either. Listening to a favorite strong channel, where I usually have no problems with reception, I could hear a second channel of music on top of it. I bought this exact model of player at Fred Meyer for $58 + tax. I see that its much cheaper on Amazon. When I took it back, the woman at Fred Meyer said, I hate to tell you this, but watch out for Coby. So, apparently, they dont have a good reputation.

This is a great mp3 player, very easy to use and even easier to load data and or music tanks to the USB build in connection this will help because you don't have to worry about the connection cable, the headphones will help you to not to lose it, the only disadvantage is the way you have to search the music, song by song even more when you have more that 100 songs. But nonetheless is a great item. Got one for my self and one as gift.

ReplayTV RTV5516 160-Hour Digital Video Recorder

• ReplayTV service subscription is either a $12.95 monthly fee or $299.99 one-time lifetime fee; discounted $6.95 monthly fee is available for consumers with more than one active unit
• 160-hour personal video recorder with theme record for capturing programs based on keywords or themes
• Built-in home networking capabilities via Ethernet; no extra costs to network
• Pause live-action TV shows, jump back 7 seconds for instant replay, enjoy high-quality slow-motion and fast forward effects
• Send programs between ReplayTV units in your home; blaze past annoying ads in 30-second increments with QuickSkip

First of all, the DVR (digital video recorder) category is amazing. It is not just an incremental step up from a vcr -these things make TV watching far more convenient. Start a show whenever you want, pause it, rewind live tv, etc etc. There are plenty of reviews on all of that, so just a word on choosing a Tivo or a Replay:

I have 2 Replays and 1 Tivo now. On the whole, both are great and for the most part, they do exactly the same set of things. The only "important" feature that Replay has that Tivo does not is the ability to skip commercials automatically, which works most of the time and is very cool. The only major feature Tivo has that Replay doesn't is that it automatically records "similar" shows to ones you've chosen in the past to fill unused disk space -also cool. Outside of these two, they are functionally very similar.

The main differentiator I find is power vs. ease of use. Tivo is slightly easier to use -our 5 year old is a pro at it. Replay requires a couple extra keystrokes, but is a bit more flexible, such as giving you more range on how many of each show to save to use your disk space, etc.

If any of the above are decision makers for you (commercial skip, auto record, or ease of use vs. flexibility), then go with it. If not, the rest really is about the same so just shop on price.

Enjoy -they're both great.

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I bought this after much debate between the TiVo and ReplayTV about a year ago, and am very happy with my Replay. Although the TiVo is easier to understand for most people, this doesn't mean the Replay is difficult by any means. While visiting some family friends out of town, I told them about my Replay and how much better it makes TV watching, and I set it up for them the next day. Since then, I haven't heard of any problems figuring it out. I'm also showing some local friends my Replay and encouraging them to get one. Although it sounds like I'm a ReplayTV missionary, I wouldn't convert my friends if it wasn't worth it.

Since getting my Replay 5504 about a year ago, I upgraded it from 40 hours to 120, something that's apparently more difficult to do on the TiVo. Also, although ReplayTV was hit with a lawsuit for the 5000 series because of the ability to automatically skip commercials, the "Show|Nav" feature does the same thing, although they can't advertise it as that and you need to push one (1) button now. The TiVo makes you fast-forward like a VCR.

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I have 2 Replaytv's, one 5504 and one 5040. I also have a Tivo. I can do much more with Replay than Tivo. Tivo is a closed system, Replay allows you to do more with the unit if you happen to technically inclined. With that said my 5 year old can work the Tivo, but has problems with Replay. You get alot more for your money with Replay. Also the picture quality is much better with the Replaytv.

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I wrote a review about this product about 3 weeks ago, but for some reason it never showed up so I'm writing it again.

I bought this unit about a year ago actually paid (if I recall) $600.00 for it at the time . . five months after I got it I was carrying it out, and pitching it in, to the garbage can with disgust and regret. WHAT a waste of money. ReplayTV refused to refund our money or make it right. We'd already returned it once and there seemed to be nothing they could or would do.

First of all I had to return the first unit because it had some sort of logic/software problem and we could not get past the first 3 steps of the "set-up" process.

Then, the replacement unit had a similar (but different) problem. Spent seemingly HOURS with ReplayTV's customer service people super-polite people but very stilted and it was as though they were reading canned scripted replies to my questions and comments. Extremely frustrating. It was sort of like talking to robots. There were two basic problems one was that it would (nearly daily) freeze up and have to be 'reset' -lots of programming was lost on a regular basis and when we went on vacation the unit stopped working after 7 days. The customer service rep told me that if "it" senses no activity from the user within a week time period it basically goes off line. . . it is designed that way (so she said) which is.....crazy.

And that wasn't even the worst problem. The worst problem was the dial-in phone number for programming download was "not working" they verified there was something wrong with it so suggested we use the Dallas or Fort Worth numbers...and yep, you guessed it those are significant toll calls to us. We live north of Dallas. . . .and there was no ETA for the local number to be fixed. The "fix" turned out to be a suggestion from ReplayTV for us to remember to unplug the phone line and just trigger a call once a week. Which I did. Until I got the phone bill at the end of the month and saw that even 1 time a week was racking up 40-60 minute calls per WEEK.

Then the unit just got to be so much trouble and seemed to have more and more bugs that kept surfacing (and the customer service folks were SO uninformed and "rote" in their responses it got so we didn't even bother calling them anymore)....well one day I just went to Best Buy and bought a TIVO. It was actually my 2nd TIVO (the original TIVO that I bought in 2000 is still working in our master bedroom) only reason I chose the ReplayTV was for the commercial skip feature (which they've now discontinued) . . anyway save your money buy a TIVO. They're GREAT. Read my other reviews and you'll see my review from the original TIVO superb customer service compared to ReplayTV. Now -I hope now that I've written this review twice now it will show up.

You know what. I actually had written a nice review about this product... I thought it was decent, not necessarily better than TiVo, but not bad none-the-less. I can't change my "star" rating on my review since it's an edit though, but I really give this unit 2 stars.

Now, 4 months later, I warn you, STAY AWAY from ReplayTV...

My ReplayTV has clunked out, so what do I do? Call for support! Yippy. I visited their website to get the support, and found that they don't even have an 800 number, yay, long distance calls required. Then, I was reading that their average wait time to get to an operator is 2 minutes for 95% of calls... great! So I called them up, thinking, well 2 minutes at long distance is no big deal... hmm... I waited 15 minutes listening to elevator music, then finally hung up, costing money ya know. So I called back the next day, and held up for 20 minutes, then hung up. WHAT IS THIS! It's long distance and I'm paying to sit on hold which I shouldn't have to do anyways. So I finally called back a third time, when the operator answered I checked my phone, 17 minutes, she was VERY friendly though thank god, but not very helpful. And if this didn't solidify my warnings about this product, I said to the support woman "these things probably break all the time," she answered, "god yes"... She spent 10 minutes having me go through simple routines, decided she couldn't help me, then transferred me to "level 2"... well, I then sat on the phone for 20 minutes waiting for level 2, they never showed up, again, I had to hang up the phone, I have now wasted over 1 hour long distance time with ZERO help from this company.

Thats just my customer service experience with them, I'm yet to get resolved, so I still have a broken unit. And now I've finally reached "level 2" and found that since I've had my Replay for over 3 months, they would be happy to fix it, I only have to pay $75 PLUS $20 in shipping just to have it "repaired under warranty", well hell, the new unit is only $4 more with free shipping.... garbage. How is this company in business!

But to get to the units themselves...

Although the ReplayTV works fine most of the time (before it breaks), it often freezes and stutters, or just has little glitches or problems that require a reset. Plus the software is just not that good. If you want to watch a show and not record it, but you know a recording show is coming on that will automatically change the channel, you cannot go and just stop that recording ahead of time, if you do, you'll remove all future recordings too, how stupid... the ReplayTV unit is just loaded with inconveniences like this.

The fact is, the latest TiVo's (SAME PRICE TIVO.com) do EVERYTHING the Replay does and does it better, more reliable, with real customer support. The TiVo for $100 does show sharing, you can connect multiple units and watch shows on each unit, you can even download your shows to your computer with a download manager, you can connect via ethernet, all the things the Replay "had" that the TiVo didn't, well, TiVo has it now.... again, same price. The TiVo unit is just that much better, there is truly ZERO reason to purchase a replay unit.

So please, read my review, and listen, STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY... do NOT buy a Replay.