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Gives a sharp clear image, but with a range of view so limited that it is difficult to see how it could catch anyone doing anything. It could serve your purpose, but only if you are lucky. The chances of whoever you're hoping to catch doing anything that happens to be perfectly in range of the camera is very low. In the end, it was a waste of money.

This sounds like a neat idea in concept as it provides a means of surveillance in an unobtrusive looking alarm clock form. However its functionality and video capture is somewhat limited so setup and results could be problematic. Please note, no sound is captured in case that is your expectation.

AIMING COULD BE CHALLENGING:

Given there is no display in this device to accurately aim it, you need to hook it up to a display device. In my case the two places, I used it the most were near a TV display. This way I could get an accurate aim. If you can't do this it is your best guess and you might not get what you want.

MOTION DETECTION USAGE:

Since there is no display, setting up the sensitivity of motion detection can only be done when connected. They do this nicely. However I could never get the right mix of sensitivity for the case I was trying to photo graph. I was pointing outside a window and tree movements were being captured by the camera, so it was running as long as it was light. Pretty tedious viewing that video as it ran non-stop. I also found, it is amazing how you can end up pointing out a window when you don't realize it. I had this unit in my foyer and did not notice that it had the kitchen window in view. Alas another non-stop video. When I finally had the sensitivity right, the light quality was too poor for the video.

VIDEO QUALITY:

Video quality not surprisingly is determined by the amount of light on the subject being recorded. When I had this camera pointing out a window in bright sunlight, it did a passable job of capturing what was going on. However as I mention above, then the motion detection was triggered too often by tree movements and light changes, so it is a fine line.

Using this camera indoors, you need to be careful you don't end up with a back-lit situation. I had this camera in my foyer for a bit, to see how well it worked and unbeknowst to me, it was pointing toward a window that determined the brightness of the scene, rendering the rest of the video useless as it was then too dark in other than the window area.

The video quality is horrible in even slightly poor lit areas. . Anyone trying to capture video in all but verty well lit situations would be advised to consider another device. When it is dark, you get nothing. When it is dim, you get a highly pixelated video that is muddy in the middle and you would be hard pressed to tell if there was a cat, dog or alien in the view. I could not tell my 20 pound cat from my 7 pound cat.

VIEWING VIDEO:

This was easy enough and had a fast-forward you could use to rapidly scan your video. However the buttons are a bit unresponsive and you do have a certain amount of trial and error to figure out how it works.

You can also pull out the SD card and put it in your computer to view. Mnd you, you need to re-set it up when you put it back in the device. One time I did this and did not tell it to start recording again, so got nothing for several days until I checked on it next.

USAGE IN WORK AREAS:

If you are pondering buying this and bringing it to work, to surreptitiously record, I would not recommend this, unless you get written permission by your employer. I know of many cases where employees have been fired for recording anything at work without the subject's permission. Both sound and video are issues. Given that this device is clearly appearing to be "just an alarm clock", it is a stealth device.

SUMMARY:

This is a base level recording device. It's usage is limited to only well lit areas. It captures only video, there is no sound capture, so if that is a requirement, this is not the device for you. The motion detection to limit the video quantity taken is touchy. When I got the right mix for the motion detection, it sacrificed video quality, to such a degree to render the device almost unusable. To be honest, I think it is overly pricey for the quality. Even half this cost would be too much considering the video quality. NOTE: I'm stating this based on viewing some inexpensive video cameras my son has purchased to wear when skiing or to put on kites. Mind you they did not have motion detection, but the video was much better.

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I bought this because I had a feeling my cleaning lady was going through my purse, etc.

I proped it up in my bedroom and what do you know? ... I got footage of her going through my purse, my wallet, trying on my clothes (eeewww!!) and stealing my beauty products.

Needless to say we fired her!

I agree with all the pros and cons listed for this item.

Luckily my room is small, and well lit... so I got great footage!

But I can see the drawbacks for those wanting a wider range of area shot and if their area is poorly lit.

I must confess that I never did figure out the freaking sensor. I just did manual recording and had to sift through the footage with no movement on it. Yes that SUCKED... but I assume it's my laziness not their fault. Wish it were easier to set it up though... as I'm not a total retard and have a general knowledge of electronics.

So the bottom line is: it served its purpose, I caught the maid red-handed, and I couldn't work the sensor cause it's a pain in the butt.

Overall, I'm happy I paid $200 for this because who knows how much more she would have taken!

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The MSRP of this device is absolutely shocking. This hidden camera is complete junk that shouldn't be selling for more than $30.

The general picture quality is poor, in low light situations it's downright terrible, the field of vision is much too narrow, and the menu system/operation is overly complicated and unintuitive. It's really surprising just how bad the picture quality is. Most smart phones from 2009 take better video.

Do not buy.

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This product does what it is supposed to do. The motion detection works, and the video was clear enough to have my property manager arrested for burglarizing my apartment, which is why I bought the camera. The only inconvenience is that to review the video, you have to hook the clock up to a telivision, there is no USB hookup. To transfer the files to a computer you have to get a sim-card reader, but they are cheap at Walmart, so no big deal. This product did the job that I needed it to do. If you know there is something going on, and you want to capture it on video, and you know where to point the camera, this is the right product. It will do the job. Leave the lights on because you need good lighting.

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Sony HDR-PJ10 High Definition Handycam Camcorder with Built-in Projector (Black)

SUMMARY

Delivers the quality and all the features you'd expect from Sony PLUS this has a built in projector for serious "Gee-Whiz" factor. Projector delivers decent functionality but comes at a significant size, weight, and cost.

There's all sorts of things I can talk about on this camcorder we've had 6 video recorders including 2 Sony mini DV, one Flip, and one Sony Bloggie HD. I've also shot video on my phone and our various still cameras. I've been researching camcorders in the past few months to get up to HD and transition away from Mini DV, so the opportunity to review this camcorder came at an excellent time.

BUT... Before I get into any more detail, I'll get to the most important question you probably have if you are reading this review. HOW IS THE PROJECTOR AND IS IT WORTH IT?

The projector is a lot of fun to play with. If you like having envious friends drooling over your latest gadget, this is for you. Although it only puts out 10 ANSI lumens, it's reasonable for sharing videos. The overall experience reminds me of looking at vacation slides when I was young.

Sony claims that you can get up to a 60" (diagonal) image and you can actually get more, but the display gets to be very, very dim. I would say that in a lighted room, a 20-24" projected image is acceptable. Since brightness falls off as the square of the distance, it gets dim pretty fast and by the time you have a 30-40" display size you need to be in a very dark room for it to be viewable.

The focal length for the projector is fairly long that 20" display requires 3 feet between projector and wall. At 5 feet you get a 33" diagonal display, and at 8 feet you get 53" diagonal. There's a focus slider on the top and the volume on the built in stereo speakers is surprisingly good, but you still will need people to keep quiet if you want to hear.

Is it worth it? The best estimate on cost of this feature is to compare it with the Sony HDRCX160 which is the closest Sony camcorder without a projector. It costs about five bills while the PJ10 is 7, so it's about two Benjamins or 40% more for this feature. (Our gracious hosts here dislike us discussing price but I think it's a very valid point) If you look at the 3M Pocket Projector MPRO120--.33LBS, which costs around this much, it has 12 lumens and a resolution of 1280x800. I'm having a hard time confirming the resolution on the Sony projector but it is surprisingly sharp. There's something to be said for having the projector cleanly integrated into the camcorder.

In comparing the PJ10 to it's two bigger brothers and it's projectorless cousin, I'd note that they all appear to have the same sensor and image processor so image quality should be the same. Similarly they all carry the same 3" touch screen. The main difference is with the bells and whistles (and of course, the price). Interestingly enough, the two "lower" models have (IMO) the better optics (30x zoom)

Model.........Internal....Optical..Digital...35mm Lens Eq.

.................Memory......Zoom...Zoom....(16x9 Movie)

---------....----------..-----....-----....------------

HDR-PJ50V...220Gb HDD....12x...160x.....29.8mm 357.6mm

HDR-PJ30V...32Gb Flash....12x...160x.....29.8mm 357.6mm

HDR-PJ10.....16Gb Flash....30x....350x.....29.8mm 894mm

HDR-CX160...16Gb Flash...30x...350x.....29.8mm 894mm

A couple of key items the PJ10 is missing It doesn't have a GPS Tag, built in video light ando it only shoots at 60i and 60p where the PJ30 and 50 can also do 24p. Should you care? The LED light would be nice as far as 24p, if you don't know what a video pulldown ratio is, then trust me, you won't care. GPS well, I'm not into Geotagging so I'd say no.

The 30V and 50V are actually about the same price both a pretty big jump over the PJ10. My opinion is to stick with the PJ10, or if you don't need a projector, go with the CX160

Do note that the PJ30 takes still images at 7 MP instead of 3 MP. This makes the PJ30 a somewhat reasonable replacement for a P&S still camera, but we have a DSLR so we certainly won't be replacing that.

Likes: Projector super, super neat and convenient for sharing videos. "Highlight reel" feature makes it even more fun, though the music not my taste. "Golf Shot" works well for soccer and other action shots. WIDE angle lens from the get go makes shooting birthday gatherings, etc much more practical. STEREO speakers on playback give some serious volume

Annoyances: What's with the CR2025 in the remote? I always cram a CD2032 in these remotes they actually fit, are easier to find, and have a lot more capacity. I wish I didn't need the remote to scroll through menus while in the projector mode.(where the touch screen is disabled)

CONCLUSION:

Wow your friends and family! The Sony HDR-PJ10 offers something I've never seen before the ability to project movies built right in. The camcorder portion is comparable to the CX160 a very capable, high quality HD Digital video camera. Shoot a video and share it the same day without having to worry about bringing extra cables or even a display! Execution of this concept is very competent. The cost size and weigh penalty is significant (24% more weight (2.1 oz) and 34% more volume (113 cc) than the CX160) but still delivered in a very reasonable package (See pictures)

If you have any comments, questions, or found this review helpful, please let me know!

I put the Sony HDR-PJ10 through its paces to create this video review. See my ill-timed pimple in high definition! The buzz you hear in the audio is actually cicadas, not a problem with the camera. It's hard to find a quiet place to film at my house during the day. In fact, the wind noise reduction feature cut down the cicada buzz by an impressive amount. Just keep in mind that the picture quality had to be reduced significantly in order to fit within Amazon's file size guidelines.

Bottom line, it's a great camera.

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Cool camera, solid hardware. Nice quality output. Easy to use.

Some amazing options.

Wish capture was not so hard on my wrist. But, this is a common issue.

Looking forward to hours/years of usage and Sony makes a great product so this is easy to imagine.

OUT OF THE BOX:

First of all unlike other electronics that I have purchased, this camera did not have a "Get Started" that jumped out at me. I had to find it on page 14 of the manual. That's okay, kinda.

I found it funny that their first step, was Turn off the camera by closing the LCD. Either they intuitively know people are just going to dive in, or they wrote the instructions for later usage.

Out of the box, the battery had enough charge to use, but predictably their first step was to install the battery and charge it by installing it in the camera. Took me a minute to figure out how to put the battery in, as it had a slider, so I tried to slide it. Apparently you drop in and then slide. But other than that, this step went seamless. You get a USB cable that can go into your computer, or the transformer that goes into the wall. One comment on the charging method: If you had a second battery, you would have to charge it right in the camera which means you have to plan ahead to have two batteries to use.

You also get component connectors to hook into your TV, so you have this ability right away. But you also have a mini HDMI connection in the camera(no cables) so this can be an option,if you can use it . You need an adapter to use the HDMI connection with a standard size HDMI cable, so we have not tried the HDMI hook up yet.

HARDWARE:

A solid well made camera. Hey it's a Sony, would you expect anything less? Yeah I have a bias, but I have had good luck with Sony.

Capture controls are a separate button for video and still capture and a zoom button. That's all you really need.

All other settings are in the menu.

Inside the LCD area, there is a separate Power button, Review button and Projector button. So once you open the LCD to turn it on you can see Live view (if you do nothing), look at Menus (control on the LCD), look at your pictures/videos (control on the camera or on the LCD) or Project (button on the camera). Under a flap inside the LCD there is the input and output stuff (head phones, microphones, HDMI and USB hook ups). On the opposite side you have your DC-in and your component hook ups inside a cute little door. Yeah, I know the guys are groaning, but this was well done. Seems weird that HDMI and component video connections are on opposite sides. Must be space related. The projector has a focus control on the top of the LCD. This works great.

On your handle you have a USB cable that is nested in that. That was really neat. Nice you don't have to haul out a cable to use to do this.

The one physical complaint I have on this camera, was that the handle and shape of the camera forces you to hold your hand straight up and down to capture. This is fatiguing. Since the barrel of the camera has to be held perpendicular to what you are capturing, not much you can do. But, it is uncomfortable. As this is my first video camera, this is the first time, I have noted this. Might be a common issue.

TAKING VIDEOS:

One thing I have always noticed is that video cameras seem to need less light than regular cameras. I have been in sporting events where I could not get a shot with a regular camera and next to me people were taking videos with no issue. Sony apparently is also known for this. I walked around my house in dusk deliberately seeing how this camera would perform and it was great. It had only a few issues with focusing on scene changing (very minor) and the picture quality was decent. If you can see it, apparently so can the camera. This camera has several modes. Besides the standard video you have golf shot mode, which can take a series of shots to evaluate a golf swing or any other fast moving action. When you figure the camera can take about 60 frames in one second you get action easily in 1/60 of a second intervals. We can't see that fast but this camera can. I've only dabbled with that, as I don't golf or something that would be a natural for that.

There is also a Smooth Slow record mode and this is a means of taking a shot of an event like making a goal, or something that can be anticipated. My son used it to take a shot of our cat jumping up on the bed and we captured her motion. It plays back in slo-mo, so that was cool. For us this is a novelty. But, it is one we plan to play with. I could have used it when my kids were younger and in sports. Now I get to use it on my grandkids.

TAKING STILL SHOTS:

This camera only has a 3.3 MP still camera capability. Comparing this to my cell phone which has an 8 MP sensor, this comes off as disappointing numbers wise. But, that is not what this camera's purpose is, now is it. At least you can capture stills if you need to. However, I don't know why you would ever put it in Still mode for this camera, since you have an external still button. Seems like you could add another fun video one. You need to also remember you can pull stills from your videos. Years ago, this was a waste of time, but that is no longer the case. Mind you, you might not be able to make poster size prints of them, but you could still print them smaller if you wanted to or use them in a photo book.

PROJECTOR

Except for really dark videos, this does a great job. I have used the projector on some white walls. It was cool. I have displayed as little as 1-2 feet diagonally to 6 feet diagonally and it impressed everyone that saw it. Really cool for sharing. The adjustment to the focus on the top of the LCD makes this easily possible.

VIEWING

You can look at your pictures on the LCD, a TV, or in Projector mode. The LCD touch screen allows navigation in the menu as well as the zoom button and still button. Zoom hops between controls, the still button allows selection. The ability to share makes viewing nearly seamless. The only complaint noted earlier, was the lack of mini to regular HDMI adapter connector in the box.

You can also automatically create a highlight version of all your videos/stills and display this in a playback sort of mode. This can be saved too as a scenario, so you don't have to recreate it. Music is selectable and apparently you can add your own music. If you are really into this, I'm sure you can go wild.

BUNDLED SOFTWARE:

Picture Motion Browser (PMB) is the provided software. This installed seamlessly. It also added a Sony commercial to my laptop. I thought it was suspicious when I had elephants show up in my home videos.

The Software allows you to capture stills from video and trim videos. There are also some still editing capabilities. You can share quite a few ways: DVD, online, email. But, overall it is pretty limited. If you wanted to create multiple clips from a single video, you would have to start from an original each time and save a new one. Pretty cumbersome, but at least possible.

Apparently the files can also be used by other Video software. My boyfriend altered some with Nero 9. That's a good thing because sometimes videos can be proprietary disallowing use with other manufacturers software. Not sure, why. Like I said I'm new at this.

I will update this review over time with more usage.

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This is a video of the Sony HDR-PJ10 HD Handycam Camcorder in action.

** NOTE: This video is choppy, particularly during zooming or panning, because it has been downsampled from the original HD video (I had to shrink the video down to size because Amazon limits the size of uploaded videos to 100 MB). The original high resolution video is of extremely high quality -the picture is sharp and the playback is smooth. **

The video does exhibit a problem that is present in the original video -chromatic aberration (colored fringes around images). The chromatic aberration can be quite pronounced under bright lights (the problem is most apparent in the snow-crested mountains in the video). Apart from this shortcoming, the quality of the HD video is really quite good.

Moving on... there are a few features I love about this camcorder:

42x Zoom

The zoom capability is impressive. The 42x extended zoom allows you to take incredibly close-up shots. The electronically controlled zoom function allows for very fluid zoom movement.

Projector

The light output of the projector is a dismal 10 lumens (dedicated projectors have brightness ratings upwards of 2000 lumens). The largest projected image (measured diagonally) that the projector can produce that's reasonably bright/viewable is about 50". Still, despite this limitation, the projector is a very practical and useful feature -it allows friends and family to gather round and comfortably preview the videos you've shot.

Long Battery Life

The battery has enough power for about 2 hours of recording or 30 minutes of projection.

---

I'm really pleased with the Sony HDR-PJ10 High Definition Handycam Camcorder. If you're looking for a camcorder, this one is definitely worth consideration.

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This little Sony Handycam is the bomb! It does exactly what it says it will do. It's compact enough to fit in the palm of my smallish hand, the settings and operation are both intuitive and idiot-proof and the projector built into the side of the body is fabulous.

The zoom takes a little time and trial and error to figure out, but once you get the hang of it, it pans out and in with grace.

My only complaint is that the software that comes with the camera is pretty useless, and it's necessary to spend around a hundred bucks on the Sony software that will allow true editing, captions and music.

The picture is just as crisp as you'd want, and I can heartily recommend this camera. Just be prepared to buy some software.

Sony CFD-E90 CD Radio Cassette Recorder (White)

• CD, cassette, and radio boombox with CD-cassette synchro dubbing
• Compact remote control, fold-out carry handle
• 20 FM and 10 AM station presets; drift-free digital PLL tuning
• Sleep/wake timer, jog dial for easy clock setting, and track selection
• Audio CD-R/CD-RW playback compatibility, Mega Bass low-end sound enhancement

Purchased it to use on job sites; didn't need anything too fancy, the smaller size is what attracted me. The cassette feature along with CD seemed like a nice bonus.

However, after one week the CD Player would not play a disc, instead read "no disc" even when one was inserted. I later have read where this is a common failure with this unit. I returned it and tried another, but this one gave the "no disc" error right out of the box. Very disappointing product from Sony.

I ended up returning it and got something else entirely. Don't waste your time on this product.

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We received 2 as gifts last Christmas. Both broke in 90 days same issue as everyone else "No disc" error. AVOID AT ANY PRICE!!!!!!! This is junk!!!!!

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I purchased the Cd Radio Cassette-Corder CFD-E90 for my 1 year old son for Christmas. About a month ago we started getting the Error No Disc problem. It seems to be getting progressivly worse. The unit will not play CDs anymore and it is less than 6 months old! Never again I even paid extra to get the Sony name, but I won't do it again......

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I really did like this product, back when it actually worked. Then I started getting the infamous "No Disc" message. I really think Sony should do something about this unit. I don't know why they just didn't make it to say "Place Fist Here and Pound" instead of "No Disc." That really is what it makes you feel like. I finally got fed up and went to Best Buy for a replacement product. I bought a Sony CFD-S350, and it works fine. I guess the E series was just a really bad design or something.

Terrible sound quality and non-intuitive controles. Lack of digital radio tuning a HUGE turn-off for radio listeners. Don't buy this piece of junk.

Cavalary CAPS06 Pocket Studio Multimedia Device

• Digital Camcorder
• MPEG 3 Music Player
• MPEG 4 Player AV In / AV Out
• Digital Voice Recorder
• Webcam

There are some great features on this item! I was happy to find a nicely packaged unit with the manual and quick start guide handy. Pocket Studio arrived with a fully charged battery for immediate usage. The screen has great quality and color. After learning how to navigate through the drop down menus I was recording video straight from my DVD with the software and cables provided. I saved all the movie files on a 4 GB SD memory card. I was able to transfer 9 1-hour movies and play them back at 24 to 30FBS! DV camera DV Recorder feature are Cool. Great for taking that just in time shot or video.

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I REALLY ENJOY THE DEVICE. I LIKE THE QUALITY OF THE PICTURES, THE UNIQUE FEATURE OF THE PROTECTION OF THE FLASH. I ALSO LIKE THE SOUND QUALITY. THE SIZE IS VERY COMFORTABLE, THEREFORE, MAKING THE DEVICE EASY TO HANDLE.

I THINK THE PRODUCT IS BETTER THAN THE IPOD, BECAUSE YOU GET MORE FEATURES AND VALUE FOR YOUR MONEY.

I HAVE ALREADY RECOMMENDED THE PRODUCT TO SEVERAL OF MY CO-WORKERS WHO HAVE PURCHASED AND WILL BE PURCHASING.

I HAVE TWO RECOMMENDATIONS: A LITTLE MORE ZOOM IN THE CAMERA WOULD BE EXCELLENT, ALONG WITH A LONGER BATTERY LIFE.

Disney Flix Video Camera

Easy to use SD card and AA batteries. My daughter loves it. I just gave her one of my 1gb cards and she has been taking pictures and making videos since Xmas morning.

So far it is really good.

We gave this digital camera to our daughter for her birthday and she loves to make her own movie and add clips from the HighSchool Musical movie. (Please realize when you buy this that is not a fancy adult video camera.) My daughter loves it and it's perfect for her. She and her friends have lots of fun with it and it has cables to hook it up to the TV so she can show us her movies. She's learned how to connect the camera to the computer and use the video software.

Pros: It fosters creativity and teaches your child how to use a video camera and use video software. You get a lot for the price: the cables, the camera, the tripod, the graphic inserts and the software.

Cons: The tripod is a little small. And I would recommend buying an SD memory card so they can have more storage on the camera.

I give it 5 stars because I think it fosters creativity and it's not expensive to buy.

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Bought this for my 7 year old. She loves it. It is easy to use and very portable. The only reason I do not give it 5 stars is because the picture is very grainy but works good as a child's first camera. Also the built in memory doesn't last long though you can pick up a SD memory card fairly cheap these days which is what we ended up doing. Films and takes pictures.

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I have 5 children and have been using Disney electronics from Digital Blue and have been quite impressed. We have digital cameras, mix maxes and 3 of these video cameras. For the right price it can't be beat. It is a fun thing to use when you have young girls who would otherwise be begging to use your expensive video camera. This is a great alternative.

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The description of the Disney Flix Video Camera was not very detailed,but I wanted to purchase a video camera for my 8y/o grandson for Christmas and it was an extraordinary deal. When it arrived, I was extremely disappointed that it was Hannah Montana which is certainly not suitable for an 8y/o boy, plus it was not compatible with a Mac. Neither of these options were listed in the description. Because it was such a great deal, I ended up selling it to my sister for her 9y/o daughter.

My only complaint with Amazon is their limited descriptions, especially when an item is only compatible with Windows. There are an awful lot of Macs out there being used.

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Nokia N97 Unlocked Phone with Touchscreen, 3G, 5 MP Camera, A-GPS, 32 GB, MicroSD Slot, and Integra

Hello, I shared this review with the black version of this phone, but I wanted to share it with this one as well so we who bought this version can get some insight. :)

I am a phone app developer and have had some 'face time' with the Nokia N97. I'll let you know some of the more in depth details so you can decide if this is the right phone for you or not. There are many positive features about this phone, but a few potential pitfalls for power users as well. Average users will probably never notice any of the pitfalls, but probably will never use some of the best features of this phone either to justify the cost.

This is the new Nokia flagship phone and it packs almost every feature anyone could ever want. It has a DVD quality camcorder with sample videos found here:

http://www.vimeo.com/4352001

Notice how well the mic picks up the creeks of the boats in Monte Carlo, and how rich the colors look. That is due to the Carl Zeiss lens Nokia has put in. The quality is also great and can be sent directly to the TV via the TV out cable, but I would recommend making a DVD from the memory card as the quality of the cable isn't as good as the DVD quality this phone provides. Video starts up quickly, which is an improvement from the previous versions.

The pictures taken by this phone are of very good quality. Many consumers are fooled by 'megapixels' (mp). Well folks, after 5mp or so, mp doesn't mean much. All it does is make your picture size better, it does NOT increase the QUALITY. I assume most of us aren't pro graphic artists that need huge pictures to zoom in on the most minute detail, and if you are, then you probably don't need this review :P

The lens and picture quality of this phone is superb, but not as good as the Samsung 8 sadly. It is by far tho, one of the best mobile phone cameras around. You can notice some problems in darker areas and they went with a dual LED flash instead of the Xeon gas flash. The Xeon gas flash would have provided much better lighting in low light situations, however as a phone enthusiast I feel it's good enough.

View sample images from thesymbianblog.com:

http://vaibhavsharma.wordpress.com/files/2009/05/nokia-n97-camera-photo-sample-01.jpg

and

http://vaibhavsharma.wordpress.com/files/2009/05/nokia-n97-camera-photo-sample-03.jpg

Judge for yourself.

This phone is a TRUE smart phone OS which means you can download apps for it such as VPN software to connect to your office network and apps such as PUTTY or RDP clients to remote control real computers at the house/office. With 3G speeds the potential is limitless.

Now for the bad. Nokia decided to use the old ARM II CPU found in the N85, 95, etc. phones but increased the clockspeed (mhz) slightly. We were looking forward to the new TI cpu which would have provided much better speeds, at the cost of battery life. They also stuck with 128mb ram with about 80mb available after boot up. I don't know about you but after I load up all of my apps and get cranking, I eat that up. I was able to notice some slow down in the pre-build when I:

-opened up several websites w/ flash content

-ran the music player

-opened up 'widget' applications

-tried basic functionality

Most users will probably never do that. If you are a power user, then you probably already know about the Samsung Omnia HD which boasts of similer features, but also the new faster CPU and dedicated GFX chip which means you can play Ipod type 3d games with ease. The final point is with the potentially underpowered CPU, you will not be able to play the super high resolution videos the Samsung can play.

Finally this phone has the slower 3G speeds which don't reach 7mbps, will you need 7mbps? Probably not. I think for 99% of users, the current 3G speeds offered by this phone are fine.

I tried out the phone and pre-ordered, I can't wait to get it. I can't wait to develop some 'widget' applications for it and really see the power of this phone with the newer more stable build.

Thank you for reading this, feel free to respond, yell, scream, or ask any questions!

When I first learned of the n97's release, I was excited. I had been waiting for Nokia to release another ground-breaking phone, like the n95 of years ago. The n96 wasn't it, nor was the n85. Then the n97 came with a touchscreen and QWERTY keyboard to boot! I was sold at once, but did all of my research anyway and found it to be full of innovative ideas and modern must-haves. I bought it nearly two weeks ago at a reasonable discount from NokiasUSA after Amazon ran out of stock and jacked up the price.

**If you read the specs, you will find all of the high points, but here are some more:

-I found the phone to be fast and responsive when given input. The keyboard is phenomenal the key spacing and feel is just right and the offset space bar is not as big of a deal as it is often made out to be. The only thing I could ask for is a little click to acknowledge the button was pushed, though if the sound is on the phone makes a small noise. The keyboard could have been even bigger yet if they dropped the D-Pad, which I rarely find myself using as it is a touchscreen (maybe make it a secondary feature for other keys?).

-The GPS unit quickly finds a satellite signal (faster than most Tom-Toms) and accurately places you on a detailed map. The turn-by-turn voice directions work well, except they do not read the street name. Best of all, it doesn't make you agree to do-not-drive-as-you-use-this-device waivers every time the program launches.

-The call quality is excellent.

-No contract and not bogged down with un-deletable carrier apps and tacky logos that remind you who bought your soul.

**The bad and the ugly:

-My first thought when I handled it was, "a little chintzy, eh?" It does give off the impression for a little while, primarily because of the battery cover. They used a plastic, snap-on/ pry-off cover whose snaps are easily bent out of shape, but did not break and easily bent back. The rest of the construction, especially the hinge, seems to be very solid now that I have used it extensively.

-The 5MP camera takes remarkable photos and videos, unless you want to use the flash, which is too close to the lens and whites out a third of the image. Thinking about this more, I decided Nokia has used a very similar camera since September of 2006 when the first n95 debuted and such a quirk is unacceptable in something that has been around the technology world for so long.

-The battery life is terrible. With normal use, it will most likely get 24-30 hours.

-Reception is bad. The internal antenna does not pickup signal where my Blackberry does and my Samsung (4 years ago) before it did, to include my apartment in Boston (not exactly East Reeve, Wisconsin).

-The FM transmitter is hardly worth having. After trying numerous stations I know to be unused in my area, the reception in my newer Audi with rear-mounted antenna was terrible unless I held the phone out the sunroof. I assume if you have a hood mounted antenna, it would be a little better (does anyone know?).

-The resistive touchscreen is outdated and somewhat unresponsive. Resistive touchscreens are great if you wear gloves, and if they are huge, but that doesn't happen on a mobile phone. Resistive touchscreens use a grid-like system to figure out where they've been touched, as they have invisible lines that make a grid across the screen. When the selected area is touched, the corresponding up/down and left/right lines are pushed against sensors on the screen's edge and send the information to the processor. Capacitive screens measure minute differences in its electric field cause by the conductive human body and are generally much more accurate.

-The inertia scrolling is not as one would expect, probably because of the aforementioned screen. It does not matter how fast the screen is flicked, the information displayed travels the same measly distance and stops rather quickly no matter what, if it works at all. Navigating web pages is probably the only reason I would use the provided D-Pad just because the scrolling with the touchscreen is so terrible.

-The accelerometer, which detects the direction the phone is tilted, is often incorrect and the phone is very slow to change the screen's display between portrait and landscape.

-Oftentimes, the phone must be unlocked 2 or 3 times to get the LCD's backlight to turn on. This may be a software or a hardware malfunction, I do not know.

-The talk and end button are not raised but should be, especially because the phone does not acknowledge them having been pressed for a second after. Plus, real buttons are always preferred.

**Then there's the software:

-The user interface is not so good. Every application has an options menu, but after the application has been customized, you probably will not find much need for any of the other options except exit, which is buried at the bottom of the menu and needs to be scrolled to.

The phone screen is inefficiently laid out. On the screen there is a "Call" and "End" button, both of which are physical keys on the phone itself, as well as a "Contacts" button which can be found on the previous screen. I would rather just see bigger numbers. Also, the phone is setup to display two lines of numbers and forces a single number from the area code on on the second line when I would rather like to see bigger number buttons and ALL US numbers on a single line.

-The homescreen widgets do not update as freely as one might like, the AccuWeather is rarely connected and my Hotmail account will ONLY refresh manually. The FaceBook app is good.

-The homescreen has a button on it to change the sound profile, but tapping the power button brings up the same menu Nokia should just get rid of the redundancy and dedicate the space to, well, uhhh, anything else.

-No QWERTY keyboard option on the touchscreen.

-Being able to run multiple apps is great, but switching between them shouldn't mean a fight with the options menu, there should be an external button to switch between them.

-The homescreen has an option to compose a new message, but not one to read old messages. The button should be dedicated to going into the messenger application instead.

-Half of the menus require a double touch while the other half require a single touch.

-Plus a dozen smaller "Oh, that's silly" features not worth mentioning.

-My phone has needed to be reset because one or more different things were not working correctly at least once a day, though it has never frozen completely. Once, strangely, the touchscreen would highlight the selected app/item, but fail to execute the command completely.

Overall, it is a good phone, but certainly not worth the money. I recommend you wait for the first major software update to be released and reviewed before purchasing.

UPDATE (4 July) I've made updates on the n97 (Black) page.

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Have had a world of problems including roaming issues (popped my SIM into another phone and it worked so was not the provider), constant issues with the software locking up (often had to pull the battery to wake it up --and that takes ages for it to reboot), battery life not typical of Nokia (sadly lacking), flash failed after a few months ... pictures all foggy .... major disappointment. Plug in charger died after a couple months ... USB charger problematic, had to source another.

I don't know if i simply got a bad phone. But since I shipped to a location out of the US, trying to get it returned was complicated .... so suffered thru! I really loved my N95, but this felt like a step back. Had I the option to do over, i would choose otherwise! Sorry Nokia, this one just didn't cut it!

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I have this phone since it came out. After more than a year i know all the goods and the bads of this phone. Unlike other reviewers having this phone for a week or so.

Out of the box this phone was not working properly. The backlight won't go on when i would unlock the phone. I did research and find a new firmware wich fixed the issue.

Here is all the bads:

-the photos made with flash look awfull.glare shows in almost every picture.

-bad design for camera slider. Lots of dust gets there. Also sometimes it slides by itself in my pocket.

-photo gallery is slow and still doesn't have option to upload photos to facebook. There is an app for viewing the pix wich after one year is still in beta. Can't be set as a default photo viewer.

-in one year and still didn't get used to this keyboard. At the beginning of a sentence i have to press twice for a special character & number. In the middle of the sentence only once.

often i would not be able to answer a phone call. The screen is unresponsive.

-The answer call and hang up '' buttons'' to close to eachother. hard press buttons woud be better instead of touch ones. I could answer a call while driving without looking at the phone. Than slide to activate loudspeaker.

-the shiny silver frame peeded off showing cheap platic.

-No stopwatch and countdown.

-i had like 10gb of music in it (out of 32gb max) and it takes forever to scroll thru the music files.

-Nokia maps is a joke. Would never find my location where google maps find it on the spot.

-bad memory management. I have to delete all the time cookies and cachee to make like 20mb space in the phone.

-it takes like 5 seconds to open a simple sms.sometimes even more.

-slow browser. I have opera installed so i stop usind the default one. It would be nice to be able to set the opera browser as default

-ovi store is a failure. no usefull programs to be found there .

I had to send the phone back for repairs last year in august. The headphone was not connected to it but showing that its connected. So the only way to hear someone on the phone was to activate the speaker or connect some headphones. They fixed it , did a factory reset and installed the latest firmware. No change on performance. I guess symbian sucks.

Yes. The operating sistem is worst out there.

I could go more and more but i have to go. This review was written from a HTC my touch 4G. Sorry for the typos. I will never buy a nokia again. At least until they catch up with samsung, htc and apple.

Peace.

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Having bought this for my wife, I have lost all respect for Nokia. This is their flagship??? She is ok with it but isn't very technical minded and doesn't tend to use it for much except calls. Call quality is terrible. FM Transmitter does NOT work. 32 Gig harddrive, yet you can only store a couple apps on the phone at a time. I absolutely abhor this phone, and yes I've done an update to the OS for her. BAD BAD BAD in almost every way. Shockingly bad in my opinion for the money spent! Better off with Blackberry, iPhone or Android. I have almost never given a bad review to a product bought from Amazon. But seriously, this is the worst product we've ever had the misfortune of spending over $500 on. Never again Nokia!

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COBY DVD218 DVD Player

• Delivers over 500 horizontal lines of crystal clear video imagery
• Plays DVD / MP3 / CD / CD-R / CD-RW formats
• Compatible with NTSC & PAL formats
• Multiple Subtitles / Viewing Angles
• Compact Midsize Chassis

The dvd player never worked not from the moment it was unpacked. And it wasn't one thing either it was a whole bunch. The door wouldn't open to insert a disc. Then it said there was no disc (when there was). Next it got stuck playing and refused to respond to the remote or the buttons on the player itself....final straw, the door won't open to get the dvd back out.

I didn't expect a lot just a basic player that worked. Apparently that was too much to expect. I never even watched a single movie.

Still going back and forth with Coby to resolve. Will update.

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I got this player as a Christmas present lately, and I AM THRILLED WITH IT! It's amazingly sleek, stylish and (as I gather)affordable. I hooked it up to my TV and this player worked wonders!

I'm not really a huge fan of Coby, since my CD Player (which was Coby) conked out last week, but this DVD Player makes up for that!

So go ahead! If you're looking for and affordable DVD Player for a bedroom, this is the right one!

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This is a piece of junk

The owner of Coby should be ashamed. Coby don't know no quality

They make products bad, then sell them for cheap prices.

Then people buy them just because they're cheap, just like me, and the products never work!

I got this DVD player today and it won't even let me insert DVD into it.

How bad is that? You tell me!

I ain't never gonna buy another Coby product in my life

Buy something decent for more money and be happy

Don't ever buy no Coby product cuz they're not worth it

Coby MP-C7085 MP3 Player with 1 GB Flash Memory with FM & Color Display

• Portable MP3 player with 1 GB flash memory and 1.66-inch TFT LCD display
• Supports AMV video format, MP3 and WMA audio formats, and JPEG photo format
• DRM-10 subscription service support; ID3 tagging; easy-to-use music library
• Built-in digital voice recorder; integrated FM radio with recording function
• USB 2.0 interface; measures 1.61 x 3.65 x 0.37 inches (W x H x D); 90-day warranty

With all the rave over Apple's iPod line and Microsoft's latest Zune (and every other competing big-name joining the music trend), few and far between are the daring consumers who choose to enjoy the lower-priced underdogs as the not-so-popular COBY. After owning mine for about two months now, I can say that I'm pretty darn satisfied with this product. Minus the minor delays (or freezes) every so often, it's a great buy for the price. The sound quality is pretty remarkable (depending also on brand of earphones used, mine are Phillips athletic earbuds, a highly recommended partner to accompany this device). Picture quality isn't bad, either. Another major aspect that shifted my decision to go with COBY rather than Apple (besides the incredible price for, basically, the same product minus the glamour and popularity) was the larger screen size. Apple's iPod proper has a wider screen display, albeit shorter height. Nano's screen is significantly smaller in comparison to COBY's 1.66" LCD color display. Additionally, COBY packs like a Swiss Army Knife. Whether studenting or traveling, the device comes equipped with everything the active buyer needs. The device features an FM radio, voice recorder, e-Book capability, video player, and of course, digital audio player.

My only qualm with COBY is the device's not-so-frequent, but irritating glitches. I've had to reset my device several times, and reformat it twice. On more than one occasion, (formally well-functioning) files became inexplicably encrypted and were no longer identifiable by my PC. I could neither locate the files on the device, nor add new ones (via computer only; the files were present on the player, and played normally, but would not show themselves when explored through a PC).

If you're willing to accept the small risk for a great player at an incredible price, I strongly recommend purchasing the Coby MP-C7085 MP3 Player. It may not have the celebrity of it's ipop-counterpart, but this inexspensive little gadget is well worth its penny.

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If you have money that is burning a hole in your pocket and you're picky, go ahead and get the iPod nano -otherwise this works fine.

I think by far the worst thing about iPods is their conspicuous lack of an FM tuner -which this one has. Maybe you've listened to all your music and want to listen to something else before you get back to your PC, or maybe you want to actually listen to the news or something... you can do it with this. The FM tuner works just fine. It can get poor reception at times, but what radio doesn't?

The screen resolution is not earth-shattering, but it is more than sufficient.

I say it is way worth the money, and I'd rather buy it 3 times over than pay for the overpriced glitz of an iPod.

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Maybe I'm a bit bias because this is my first mp3 player, ipod look alike. But after I received the product, all I can said is that I'm glad I didn't paid full price for it. The instruction is not very intuiative and the touch pad is not friendly. The reason I took a chance was because I couldn't find any reviews for this mp3. Save your money and buy a cheaper, different brand with the same memory.

Pros:

slim, light and small. Looks like a nano ipod. The dashboard light is bright.

Cons:

device charges via usb, not AC cable charger. Works only with windown media player 10 software. Cannot create song playlist in the device. All the songs will play in the order you sync. Touch pad needs to get use to or have the right touch. Too hard or too soft won't work. Radio is useless and don't work. Earplug is very uncomfortable and too big. The directory listing in the device is only for show to take space.

I had the device for almost a month now and so far, it is still working. Though, I haven't used it much. I haven't try the recorder and import ebook yet. Not sure about displaying pictures either. The device claims to be able to contain up to 250 songs, I only have 50 songs in mine and took half of the 1 GB memory already. So there you have it.

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Pros: Sound quality is great

Battery is ok

Screen is ok...

Ease of adding music or videos

Cons: This is a touch screen???? You need to press really hard before the player responds to the point that you would be very scared that you might crack the screen...

Dont know when it really stops charging coz sometimes, you gotta charge for 3 hours, sometimes it stops charging after an hour...but once the batt is full, it does last...

It looked nice, and to be honest it is a tidy little package with great features...but it's also faulty. Maybe I just bought one from a bad batch but post-purchase research shows I'm not the only one to have uncovered bugs. In my case, fully charged, it will play one song or two then stop of it's own accord, sometimes right in the middle of the track. Very annoying! I'm already looking for a replacement...

So unfortunately I would hesitate to recommend because of the above.

Toshiba SD-4900 Progressive Scan DVD Player

• Progressive-scan ColorStream component-video output for ultimate DVD picture quality (with an HD or HD-ready TV)
• High-res DVD-Audio compatibility with 6-channel analog output; choose analog or digital routing for Dolby Digital and DTS sources
• MP3- and WMA-CD playback; JPEG photo viewer displays digital photographs and slideshows on your television
• Offers 3:2 pulldown, black-level expansion, multiple picture settings, 16x picture zoom
• 3D-DNR (digital noise reduction) reduces random noise in video CDs, poorly mastered DVDs, and zoomed images

First some generalities. The SD-4900 supports more disc formats than most players, including DVD, DVD-Audio, DVD-R, CD, CD-R, CD-RW, MP3, VCD, SVCD (see below), WMA, JPG. It will play both NTSC and PAL video, translating PAL for NTSC televisions. The picture and sound quality are clear. On the negative side, when playing CD-R media (but not CD, DVD-R or DVD), there is a low-level clicking sound; it sounds as though the laser reader is constantly tracking. Also, the player does not remember where you are in a movie when you switch it off (most DVD players do). Apart from these minor complaints, it's a good player.

Second, I come to the real reason for this review, which is that this is an easy machine to modify for region free playing and for SVCD viewing. You can find full instructions for these modifications at my home page www.math.uga.edu/~djb. As they come out of the box, most players bought in the USA are region crippled, which means that they will not play DVDs purchased in Europe, for example. I take a very dim view of people preventing me from viewing DVDs that I have purchased on a player that I have purchased. If you do not live in the USA, it is very likely that you can go into a shop and buy a DVD player that will play discs from all regions, so this does not apply to you.

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This is a great DVD player. It does a fine job playing DVD/CD's in multiple formats including WMA & MP3. It has a good tech appearance and solid housing (many of the $100 DVD players are very plastic feeling/cheap looking). The remote is functional, but somewhat crowded on top with small buttons and visually unappealing. Basic RCA cables are included...buy component video cables (Y Pb Pr) if you want to utilize the progressive scan capability and MAKE SURE your TV has these inputs! It also has S Video and Digital coax and optical output some of the less expensive DVD players only have basic RCA in/out connectors. The SD-4900 also has 5.1 surround sound connectors compatible with a DTS receiver. Very good front panel controls. Overall an excellent choice.

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I've had this player now for about 4 months, and it's been great so far. Very clear, accurate color, and fast response. Layout of the remote is a little wonky in some respects, but i've come to expect this as commonplace with most players.

Seeing the negatives some people are mentioning, however, I feel compelled to defend this player, as it's getting a lower rating than it truly deserves largely due to ignorance.

First, concerning the "booby trap" issue. It's not a trap, it's progressive scan. If you don't have an HDTV, PS isn't going to do much for you anyway! If you try to set the player as PS, and your television can't handle it, of course your display is going to bug out for a bit. If you check the manual, however, this "trap" is mentioned, and it's resulting fix to reset the settings. People are saying "good luck" like Toshiba is to blame for this, when it's simply the result of people hitting buttons and selecting options that they don't know anything about.

As for the time/chapter display, this is shown on the front panel of the unit just like virtually *any* player out there. The reason you can't simply pause the player for hours and leave it in the same spot is more a matter of liability control on the part of Toshiba doing this is BAD FOR YOUR PLAYER. It's bad for any disc-based drive.

To finish this up, this is a great product that displays audiophile quality in *certain* areas. It has it's warts, such as the remote, but has been almost perfect throughout my experience with it. If you know how to operate a DVD player without selecting stupid options and mistreating the unit, this one is great for you.

If you're the type of fool who fries their previous DVD player, complains about not being able to read the front panel properly, or can't figure out how to display the remaining time on a disc, then by all means...stay far, far away. From all electronics.

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I just bought this DVD player, with plans to upgrade my TV to a Philips 30" widescreen. However, i am canceling those plans, as this DVD player has brought a whole new level of qulity to my TV (A 2 year old high-end Panasonic). The quality is amazing, watching Lord of the Rings, you can see every wisker on Aragon's face.

Not only that, but set the DVD player on 16:9 and the DVD will almost fill the screen. It works similar to Pan and Scan, except that it is a broader, and allows you to really enjoy widescreen movies!

Now i can hold off on the 1000 dollar TV!

Pros great video

Cons sometimes it works, sometimes it does not

I have been an avid Toshiba TV and DVD user for years. Great and reliable products. I bought this DVD player after much research. It seemed a great deal. I needed a Digital Decoder in the DVD player since my receiver is, unfortunately, only digital ready. My old Toshiba, dual-disc, digital-ready DVD player had no problems with this shortcoming. This player, however, has proven very frustrating. Sometimes, it works, sometimes it doesn't. Video is always excellent, but audio either works great or works not at all. It is not a connection problem. One dvd will work, the next will not. The same dvd will work for titles, but will not provide sound otherwise. That same dvd, on the other hand, will work one time, but not another. I am sure it is merely a defective unit, but I saw at least two other units at Best Buy for sale as open items. Maybe I am a little too conspiratorial, but I see no reason to believe that these units anything other than likewise temperamental. I will return and buy a more expensive unit that, hopefully, will work.

Olympus VN-480 Digital Voice Recorder

I pick up my VN-480PC by OLYMPUS and I begin to record. It's just that simple.

WHAT I REALLY LIKE ABOUT IT: Great Benefits!

The record quality at HQ is far more superior then what I had.

I can download it to my PC, send it via email or upload it to my website.

The Display screen is bigger, clear and easy to read.

The construct of the recorder is sturdy with a strong plexi-glass overlay on the front to offer good protection for the screen.

The batteries are locked in tight and don't move around like my old RS digital recorder. Moving batteries can blow your recording especially when you're trying to record a motivational presentation and that really smarts.

One more great thing I like about the VN-480PC is the fact that it won't allow you to erase so easily. After you press the erase button you actually have to press YES or No to erase and you even use separate buttons to do so (YESSSssss). You might think this is more cumbersome but I'll explain why this is a great feature to have below.

Why is this important...I'll give you two reasons

1. My other digital recorder did not have a separate button for erase and I think having a separate button makes it easier for you to avoid erasing on accident.

2. Because pressing one button by accident is so unforgiving. As a result of only having one button on my old digital recorder to press (I'd press it for one second to erase my current recording or I'd press it for 3 seconds to erase a whole folder worth of recordings). Well you guessed it I erased a whole 89 separate recordings of songs it took me 6 months to record because I pressed it too long.

With my new OLYMPUS VN-480PC this just can't happen. Now this erase mode allows me to walk away with peace of mind I could not ever develop with my old digital recorder. I like my VN-480PC and if you get one I hope you like yours too.

WHY DIDN'T I GIVE IT 5 STARS...One reason I did not give it 5 stars is because although the record quality on High is great (and I really mean that) the record quality on low has much to be desired. So I recommend you either record High or Medium unless you want a sound quality like old radio.

Bought this recorder over a year ago and use it for an average of 15 hours per week to record school lectures. I love the fact that I can down load it to my computer nightly and have it ready to record again the next day. I can put each of my classes into a separate folder and each lecture is stamped with the date and time. The only problem I have had is in a classroom where the air conditioner has been on and I have been closer to it then the instructor this makes the recording very unclear. I would suggest to sit as close to the speaker as possible or at least not sitting where there is a lot of background noise.

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I'm sure that Olympus VN-480PC is great voice recorder, but this is usual Olympus VN-480 (don't understand why people put here reviews about PC, but ok).

I got this recorder from my dad, who never knows what he buys main it was cheap. First i was very glad with this recorder. In box was instruction, recorder itself and a cable (!). I made some records and wanted to transfer it to my comp. Well, doesn't matter what i wanted, but it don't works.

I searched for all possible and impossible information about this recorder in all 5 languages i know, but all i found was also forums where people had the same problem that me. Why the hell they put cable then? So i just gave up and sold this recorder.

Sound was ok, but also not perfect.

So, if you wanna connect recorder to comp you need PC version, if you

not gonna use comp then this is your voice recorder.

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Zmodo 16CH Video DVR Security Surveillance Camera System With 1TB Hard Drive Pre-installed

I purchased this and had to return it. Could not get it to work to view on iphone, etc. I have another dvr hooked up to the same router and works perfectly fine. Customer service tried to troubleshoot it but was unsuccessful and told me that they would call me back to figure out the problem. Never heard from them again.

In terms of overall quality, very cheap. When viewing live footage on my mac, the resolution was terrible and there's no way to adjust it. I called customer service yet again and they could not help as there were no adjustments.

Even at 100.00, it's not worth it.

The DVR is very basic. The remote serves almost no function, you can't use the record buttons, software is very scetchy. But it is a 16 channel DVR for a very low cost.

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System works well so far, its the first 6 months. I read the last review and wondered what mobile app they were using. I was able to set up 3 mobile phones for viewing and one of them was an iPhone. My favorite free viewing app for this DVR is Asee.

Because of its basic setup I would normally give this DVR three stars but because of the great price I will give it a four.

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I would give 5 stars if: 1) there is better manual. Like other Chinese products the manual is lacking in detail, 2) the receptacles in the back of the box, for the 16 cables are placed so close by that it is difficult to get proper hold with my not so stubby fingers. I had to use pliers to turn the quick connects, 3) the on-screen menus could have been better designed and explained.

Having said that, I have used other brands more expensive ones and this one is far better, and offers a great value. I have not used all the features yet though.

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I can't get this machine to prerecord the three seconds that is should be doing. When motion is detected, a three second pre-record should occur. That way when you click on an alert you can actually see the event as it happens. However, this 16 channel machines software does not allow for that. What happens is when a motion is detected let say at 10:23:31 PM you click on the alert video and it starts viewing the occurrence three to four seconds after the motion occurred. Say at 10:23:34. This time delay allows someone to actually NOT be caught on camera if they were to move across viewing area of camera.

Blackmagic Design Intensity Pro - HDMI and Analog Editing Card

Hardware:

I have put together 4 SATA drives in a RAID 0 configuration that maintains a minimum of 180Mbyte/s. It's running on a 3GHz Xeon processor and 16GB of RAM. I'm using a video scaler that can basically translate the component input into (almost) any kind of HDMI signal which feeds into the Intensity's HDMI input.

Software:

This product has some good points and some issues. In an effort to be thorough I downloaded the manual several months before I bought the product. There was no mention that a software program named "Blackmagic Media Express" was included. While this program is a simple capture/replay screen, it has limitations in the configuration and setup. There are actually TWO configuration programs: 1) a control panel addition named (appropriately) "Blackmagic Control Panel" and 2) Edit->Preferences inside Media Express. The Blackmagic Control Panel selects the types on inputs and ouputs and pre and post processing. The Media Express Preferences sets captures at a) "Uncompressed 8-bit YUV" or b) "Compressed Motion JPEG".

Issue 1:

Initially I couldn't get any audio thru whatsoever. I had HDMI audio or analog audio and nothing would work. Tech Support said that this has happened to a lot of people and asked if I had on-board audio. I do. They suggested adding an audio card and turning off the on-board audio. This partially worked, but I can't use HDMI audio, only analog. And I had to buy a new audio card!

Issue 2:

I consistently had a problem with video/audio synchronization after 31 minutes of recording. You could watch the output and Media Express screens get more and more frames apart until, after 31 minutes, a message comes up and says "Frames have been dropped". Tech support has not offered any solutions, and said that they do not buffer video/audio. I can't believe that my RAID can't keep up w/ the recording of an SD signal.

Issue 3:

While I don't think that Blackmagic actually SAID that 1080p is supported, I somehow thought it was. But, after further investigation, here's what they do support:

HD 1080 PsF 23.976

HD 1080 PsF 24

HD 1080 PsF 25 (and other formats)

So any recording of 1080p 50 or 60Hz is out of the question.

Tech Support:

I've emailed them several times and they seem to wait a week to get back to me! The person explained that while the hard drive performance test shows different sample rates, it's just for show. They can only sample at 8 bits. (Aren't high bandwidth ADCs common?). After I told them that I finally got some audio thru on the audio card (see Issue 1) but that it was analog, and that HDMI audio didn't work (even though the HDTV played it perfectly), tech support provided no other diagnosis or suggestions. Also, w/ Issue 2 above tech support blamed it on my computer and had no diagnosis or suggestions.

Overall:

I can record in 1080i60 just fine. Tech support helps somewhat, but mostly you're on your own. I'm a little disappointed in the fact that they don't get involved in customers' problems more. Overall I'm still glad that I got the card, but when something better comes along I'll probably list this one on ebay.

I'll say it now, but thus far I've only used the Blackmagic Design Intensity Pro to capture HDMI 720p 59.94fps video. I'm running Vista x64, and I've got a motherboard with the X48 chipset (processor is the Intel E8400), so haven't had any compatibility issues.

What this review will try to do is explain my experience so far with the card with the hope that it may help someone decide whether or not to buy this card.

I am no video production/recording professional (if I were, I wouldn't be buying this card), and don't know much about video capturing/compression/encoding, but here are my impressions of the card so far:

Very easy to setup,

Very easy to use.

Other thoughts:

Blackmagic Media Express (Blackmagic Design's capture/playback software) is pretty much garbage.

As I have not tried capturing anything other than HDMI source 720p 59.94fps material, I cannot discuss any limitations for other input modes. However, for 720p 59.94fps video, the YUV capture format is HDYC (YUV 4:2:2).

The reason why I mention that the YUV format is HDYC is because this kind of limits the capture compression codecs that can be used. If you use Blackmagic Media Express in Windows, you are limited to what they call "AVI 8-bit YUV", "AVI Motion JPEG", and "DPX 10-bit RGB".

I think AVI 8-bit YUV is uncompressed HDYC capture (haven't tried it, because I use VirtualDub for capturing anyway),

I think that the "AVI Motion JPEG" capture format is pretty bad---seems to be Blackmagic's own MJPEG compression implementation, and there's no way to change any settings (e.g. quality, etc.). I tried using it once. Never again.

Have not tried DPX 10-bit.

Blackmagic Media Express does not let you use any other installed capture codecs. Thus, I recommend using VirtualDub for capturing.

Now, there does not appear to be too many compressors out there that can deal with HDYC. There's a HuffyUV modification floating around that's been edited to work with HDYC, but it apparently has a problem with proper color conversions, or something. There's some pretty ghetto workaround so that the colors aren't represented improperly, but, yeah. As a side note, I think a Japanese guy is working on a pretty nice-looking lossless compressor called Ut Video Codec that is supposed to work for HDYC capture formats at a later point, but doesn't seem to work with HDYC so far.

Also, the PicVideo M-JPEG codec does not support HDYC formats for some reason according to someone's email correspondence with AccuSoft Pegasus (just straight up no support for HDYC at the moment).

So what are you left with for HDYC capture formats? A ghetto HuffyUV mutation, uncompressed HDYC, and Blackmagic's included codecs.

----------

Basically, what I'm trying to say is:

Use VirtualDub for capturing.

If you're planning on getting this card for capturing HDYC format video, make sure you've got a fast as balls hard drive (i.e. RAID 0 that writes ~120MB/s) so you can capture uncompressed. Or else you're stuck with bad/ghetto compressors like Blackmagic's bad MJPEG compressor implementation or like one lossless compressor that has color issues.

(When I capture uncompressed 720p 59.94fps material, VirtualDub tells me that I'm writing at approximately 105MB/s, so aiming for a bit higher than that is probably a good idea. I don't know how fast a setup you'd need for 1080i material as I haven't tried. The Intensity Pro's manual has some estimated data rates for different input modes.)

The End.

Buy Blackmagic Design Intensity Pro - HDMI and Analog Editing Card Now

Nowhere on the official website OR on amazon.com did it mention this card would not work with the Intel i7 processor, so I went ahead and bought it. I received it in the mail and installed it in my system, but could not get it to see video or hear audio. I tried several different things, including installing it in different ports and re-installing the drivers and programs needed for this card, but to no avail. I finally resulted to calling Customer Service and as soon as I told them that I had the Intel i7 920 Nahelm CPU, they proceeded to tell me that their card does not work with the i7 line of products and that there was no way around it.

So I've basically got a (probably) wonderful card sitting here waiting to be returned.

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Pros:

This card does what is says it can do and then went beyond the expectations of what I had initially expected. As someone who does Live game streaming on justin tv with my xbox 360 I wanted the best in quality and the Intensity Pro was the best choice. I stream in true 720p HD (1280x720) at 59.94 frames per second. I have a Hauppauge HD PVR as well but with the Intensity pro being built as a pci card for a pc you get a lot of options. Whether you use the card for live game captures and streaming like me or plan to use another device to capture it works well. The software that comes with the Intensity Pro is pretty easy to understand granted you read the instructions and know that the card when installed has a user CP that shows up in your computers control panel. The best thing to do when you get the card is make sure you get the latest drivers from the official Black magic Pro site, which can fix a lot of issues. I had no issues getting the audio or video to appear. You just have to make sure you have the correct settings for whatever the device you are using is compatible with. For example, the xbox 360 does not run on 60fps but rather 59.94 so the moment I switched that that option I got audio and video. While I do live game streaming this doesn't mean I simply use the card to stream. I use the software's capturing as well to test it out and when I played back the video the quality was great. I also went into my Adobe After Effects with the video file as well to confirm it is compatible as a video format for composting and video editing. Overall this card has been great so far and I couldn't be happier seeing my live stream on jtv in HD with no loss of quality, the Intensity Pro does its job well.

Cons:

Since this is an internal card it is not going to work well if you buy it for an older pc. The card can use a lot of cpu power if you don't have a computer that is up to par. Luckily I have a new custom built pc (Intel i7) so this is not an issue for me but if you do plan to get this make sure you have the system requirements to run it. One other issue with the intensity pro is not so much the card itself but the software. Even in the instructions they don't clearly let the user know that the Intensity Pro has a user cp where you can change a lot of options for the card settings. In a way, half of the settings for capturing are in the control panel and the other settings are in the Media Express program that you actually use to capture your video. It's not a huge con but it can be annoying having to use both panels to make sure settings are right depending on what you are capturing.

Other Thoughts:

Before I bought this card I saw a lot of reviews that flat out said the Intensity Pro does not work with any i7 computers. This is simply not true. I have an i7 960 and a LGA 1366 x58 i7 motherboard and this card had no compatibility issues whatsoever. You just have to make sure you set everything up correctly and also have the latest drivers. It's not that hard: install the card, update drivers, make sure your device settings are correct, and bam! you are capturing sweet HD.

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I bought two of these for a new rig (both cards in the same rig) I was building that is being used for an HD TV studio. I have two Sony Tripod mounted HD cameras feeding into these Blackmagic cards. The video coming from the cameras is carried through (2) 50' hdmi cables (see my other reviews). The picture quality at my computer is exactly as I see it on the HD cameras. There are no dropped frames, stuttering or lag time.

I have read some reviews that bad mouth these capture cards. I can only come to one conclusion. The people writing the bad reviews don't have a clue what they are doing. If you are going to buy cards like this you need to build a computer around those cards. The reason you get dropped frames, stuttering and lag time is because you don't have a powerful enough computer it's the computer set up that is causing you the problems, not the Backmagic cards.

First, you need to get a decent mother board. Second, you need to get the right processor that the mother board is designed for. You need to put decent memory in the computer. And you need to spend a little money and buy a decent power supply unit. 90% of the time, dropped frames and stuttering are caused by an ineffecient power supply. The other 10% are an inadequate mobo, not enough RAM (or an inefficient brand outside the mobo recommended list), or poor configuration of your system.

These Blackmagic cards rock. And they will have you rockin' if you put them in a system that can handle them. Remember, "Minimum System Requirements" simply means the minimum specs you need to meet to make an item work at the lowest standards.

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Hughes HDVR2 DIRECTV Series2 Digital Satellite Receiver w/ TiVo Digital Recording & Remote Control

I just learned the hard way that DirecTV no longer is activating older DirecTV Tivo units that don't have an 'RID' number on them. Bought my unit through Migelectronics here on Amazon (the listing for the unit made no mention of RIDs) and when I tried to activate, was informed that only units that have the RID number (sometimes imprinted by the access card slot, sometimes on the back of the unit) will be activated as of July, 2010.

So I have a semi-working DirecTV Tivo unit that can't be activated (pretty useless). If you are thinking of buying a unit through Amazon or eBay, make sure you get the RID number from the seller FIRST and confirm with DirecTV that it will be activated if you buy the unit.

Very frustrating when the product information is incomplete and there is no one to contact. Could the sellers PLEASE specify whether or not the receiver has an RID number?

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It did not include the remote control which is necessary to operate the equipment. It was shown in the picture but did not arrive. I requested expedited shipment but it took a week to arrive.

Read Best Reviews of Hughes HDVR2 DIRECTV Series2 Digital Satellite Receiver w/ TiVo Digital Recording & Remote Control Here

Great price on the receiver. This was a replacement for one that finally wore out. Tivo makes a great product. It arrived in just a few days.

Jim

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JVC GR-AXM18US Compact VHS Camcorder

My husband and I bought a new digital camcorder last August, but have never adapted to it, as it is so difficult to view the films. We had owned several VHS-C in the past. This is a welcome return to a familiar format. As expected it is bigger that the digital one, but it is slimmer and lighter than our last VHS-C model.

The instructions are a little more complicated than the last model. The zoom button is very conveniently placed. We have only tested it and the quality of picture and sound seem good. We are about to go on a trip and see the results.

my old camera was getting worn out. i knew i had to look for a new one, but wasn't sure about digital ones. i was afraid that i would need a DVD burner to make DVDs and did not want to store all the videos on my hard drive, because i could lose them any time (you never know when a virus may strike). anyway, i almost lost hope, thinking that vhs cameras are long in the past. luckily, i was wrong. i love this camera! it's very convenient. it has a great screen, so you see what your taping, and you can flip it over to tape yourself! neat!!! i would definitely recommend this product to people like me, who like some things old-fashioned way!

Buy JVC GR-AXM18US Compact VHS Camcorder Now

After a year's use of my JVC GR-AXM18U video camera, which was a gift from my husband's parents, I got the "Safeguard Mode" message that suggests you remove the battery and try again. After a lot of expense and trouble, including purchasing a new, bigger battery, I put the camera on the shelf for another year.

Today is my little girl's third birthday, and I really wanted to use the camera to memorialize the event. So in desperation I did a google search for "jvc vhs camcorder safeguard mode message" and have spent a good half hour reading that everyone else in the world who owns a JVC camera has the same problem, and that there's no way to fix it. The best solution is tossing it in the trash and buying a new one.

I just want to shout to the world that JVC is a defective brand, the company should be sued, and there is an online group attempting to do just that. As for me, I will NEVER buy anything from JVC again, and if I can save a few other buyers from the same disappointment and expense, then that's the best I can do with this situation.

Read Best Reviews of JVC GR-AXM18US Compact VHS Camcorder Here

it is a good product

a friend o mine liked it and a had to sell it to him

so I'm looking for another.

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I bought this recorder for a gift (used). It has no volume on it, so I am seriously disappointed...it was DAMAGED and I am sure the person who sold it to me knew this. I am very very very unhappy.

VIZIO VBR210 Blu-Ray Player with Wireless Internet Application, Black

• 1. Full 1080p high-definition video playback
• 1. Integrated 802.11n wireless networking
• 1. Optimized with 7.1 digital audio output via HDMI with Dolby True HD and DTS HD
• 1. Access thousands of HD titles, TV episodes and more with VUDU, Netflix, and Pandora Internet Radio
• 1. Plays Blu-ray discs, DVD discs, audio CDs and MP3 files

I purchased this Blue-Ray player from Target 2 weeks ago and love it. I read the reviews on the 220 model after my in store purchase and was really concerned at first but have not experienced any of the issues mentioned in those reviews. I am glad though I purchased the Target 2-year $19.99 replacement warranty just in case.

The Blue-Ray player comes with a set of composite cables included in the box which I used while I was waiting for my HDMI cables. The picture even with just composite cables was great. The Vizio 210 has one HDMI port, one composite video/audio port or one component video/audio port (cannot use composite if using component), one digital coaxial, one usb and one ethernet port.

Wireless setup was a snap and I was connected in 30 seconds. The only annoying thing is that the wireless adapter on the back of the Vizio unit has a red light which flashes continuously. No dropped wireless connections like reported with the 220 model. Vizio recommends using their router but this is no doubt a marketing ploy as any wireless router will work.

The upconverting works really well. We got the new Bruce Springsteen dvd/cd set which includes some really old video concert footage. It looked really dark and hard to see on the regular dvd player but looks much, much better on the Blue-Ray player.

Had no issues playing Blue-Ray movies and while it does take about 10-15 seconds to load the Blue-Ray disc I did not find this unexpected as the Blue-Ray disc contains a lot more data than a regular dvd. Also had no issues stopping and restarting a movie as it remembered where I stopped the disc. This was reported as an issue on the 220 model. It also gave the option to continue from the stopping point in the movie or restart from the beginning of the movie which I like.

There is a usb port on the Blue-Ray. It will play video and audio files contained on an inserted usb thumb drive and will also upconvert those videos files. I have not tried hooking up my laptop via usb yet but will provide an update. I use a 16GB usb thumb drive and the Blue-Ray player displays the usb drive folder structures and file names on the tv so it is easy to find stored media.

I have only used Pandora so far and that has worked really well. I will update this review after I have tried Netflix and BD-Live.

The only odd thing I noticed when I tested this player with hdmi, component and composite cables was that when I use component video/audio cables the zoom settings on my tv did not work correctly even though they worked fine with hdmi and composite cable. In all fairness this could be a tv issue and be unrelated to the Vizio.

UPDATE 1/19/11: Netflix works great and streams very quickly. However there have been a few incidents where the VBR210 froze either during streaming or at movie commencement and had to be powered down and restarted. There were also two incidents where there was severe pixelation and both incidents were resolved by powering down the VBR210 and restarting it after a few minutes. Overall in relation to the number of movies streamed these have not been significant issues and were quickly resolved. Still no issues playing either Blu-Ray or regular DVDs. It does appear though that because this unit does not have internal memory that the USB drive is critical for streaming to work properly. I use a 16GB thumb drive which is approximately 50% full. Also my Cisco-Linksys WRT54GS Wireless-G Broadband Router with SpeedBooster has worked flawlessly with this VBR210.

UPDATE 4/24/12

My Blu-Ray player is still working really well. The only thing that really bugs me is that even though the manufacturer has a firmware update for this model, the update is only for specific serial numbers. All they could tell me was that my serial number does not qualify for the firmware.

Buy VIZIO VBR210 Blu-Ray Player with Wireless Internet Application, Black Now

I was looking to purchase a Roku XDS to stream Netflix to my bedroom. For just a few more bucks I realized I could get a decent blu ray player which gives me the added advantage of watching my blu ray rentals as well so I went ahead and purchased this.

Let me just begin by saying that I have a PS3 and XBox 360 in my living room and I get all of the streaming and blu ray content I could want between those two. The PS3 does have the best Netflix implementation so if you want the best, get a PS3. If you want to save some money and don't play games on your small bedroom tv, this is perfect. The Netflix interface is actually the old PS3 interface so it's OK. The quality is fine.

I must say that the negative reviews on this thing perplex me. In fact, most negative reviews regarding wifi ready blu ray players always talk about network issues. I set this up in under a minute by selecting my wifi network and punching in my password. No connectivity issues whatsoever since then.

Yeah the remote buttons are not as easy to press as other remotes but you would have to be extremely weak to not be able to push the buttons.

All in all this is a great way to bring a little bit of the internet to your bedroom TV. Viewing Flickr photos is great. I wouldn't personally recommend this player for your living room. Like I said, the PS3 Netflix is far superior and the Pandora implementation is even better on that (higher audio quality).

The only drawback for this versus other players is lack of DLNA support but I really don't need that. I just wanted blu ray, Netflix and Pandora really. The rest is pudding.

So if all you are looking for is all that I was looking for, then this is a great player.

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Wellbought the first vizio vbr210 at targetbrought it home, set it all up with netflix and allput a blu ray dvd in and started to watch it... 20 minutes into the movie the screen went black! then the unit kept rebooting! Brought the unit bact to target and got another one thinking maybe I had the "bad apple" of the bunch... nope! The second one STB one day later!!! This time just a blue screen and the movie kept freezing! I called customer service, they opened a claim then put me on hold for 20 minutesI just hung up because I was tired of holding...

Never again will I buy a POS VIZIO (which is made by sony corp in the USA by the way....) so much for supporting the domestic marketwent out and bought a samsungand love it!!!

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I received this as a Christmas present. I even got to pick it out myself. I went to Target.com and looked at all the Blu-Ray players and I chose this one because it came Wi-Fi ready and offered some neat social networking apps that the others didn't have. I make my purchase and immediately head home to hook up my new toy.

It came with video cables (recommends hdmi cables and I will be purchasing them online)and it was very easy to hook-up. I go through and I set up my new blu-ray player with my home's wireless internet, which was also easy. Each time I tried to connect to an app I had problems. At the time I was having a bad internet connection and I chalked this delay up to that. So I would click 'stop' on the remote and even stopping applications was a pain. It took forever to stop and application and return to the home screen. I did end up turning it off and then on to get to the screen.

Since I was having a hard time with the apps, which I blamed on my provider, I decided to watch a movie. I put the blu-ray in and it asked me what language and I chose english. Then a big fat nothing. I waiting a few minutes (2-3 minutes) It wouldn't play. It made sounds like it was about to play but nothing happened. My movie also came with the standard dvd version and I put that in, well after turning the player off and then back on and finally ejecting the disc. It played the dvd with ease. I exchanged the movie hoping I got a bad copy. Nope. Same thing. So today I returned the blu-ray player and ended up purchasing a Sony one. The Sony is set up and I've watched the aforementioned blu-ray, played on Pandora, streamed Netflix, and watched a YouTube video.

Remote-Large, and the buttons are quite hard to press and actually make a sound when you press them

Blu-Ray Player-Mine didn't work and after looking at Target's website I see that I wasn't the only one. I can't really judge the quality of the picture as mine didn't work.

Apps-I was excited about the social networking apps but they didn't come loaded, I assume you have to create and a Vizio account (or some other account) and link them. This was the deciding factor for me so I was sad to see they weren't already installed.

Wi-Fi-Connected fine and was an easy process. The wi-fi receiver on the back does protrude and if it gets moved/broken your warranty is voided

Price-Eh. If it would have worked as intended then I would have been comfortable paying the retail amount.

AestheticIt looks really nice and just like most blu-ray players it doesn't have buttons that stick out from the unit. It was a bit larger/more bulky than the player that I ended up with.

The remote is extemely tough to use because the buttons are stiff and you have to press down really hard. It seemed to play blu rays decently, but the wireless streaming is junk. It constantly dropped the signal and would sometimes freeze completely forcing me to reboot the unit. The settings screen said there was an upgrade to download from vizio, but it would never connect to download it. I know it was the unit's problem and not my router because my ps3 still streamed fine with no interruption. I bought it yesterday and I'll be returning it today. Sorry Vizio, you make great tv's, but maybe you should stay out of the blu-ray biz.