Humax DRT800 DVD-R/RW Recorder/TiVo Series2 DVR Combo

• Digitally records up to 80 hours of programming onto the 80-GB hard drive
• Playback for DVD, DVD-R/RW, CD-R/RW, A/V CD
• Control live TV by pausing and rewinding it, and create slow-motion and instant replays of any channel at any time
• Season Pass function automatically records every episode of a favorite program all season long
• Browse up to 14 days of program data with the Electronic Program Guide

I don't want to go through all of Tivo's features, but they really are amazing, and aren't over hyped at all. This Humax unit has all of those features, plus a DVD-RW drive perfectly integrated into the rest of the Tivo interface. Burning a DVD is as easy as sticking a disk in the drive and selecting from a list which shows you want to transfer to DVD. Every show has a percent listed after the name, indicating how much of a DVD the show will fill up, and the top of the screen indicates how much space is left on the disc. There are no editing features on this, or any other Tivo based DVD-Recorder. If you pick a show to copy to DVD, it copies all of it.

While the disc is burning, the unit can still record another show and playback any show (except for any show being written to the disc).

I'm not 100% sure I like the image quality on this unit as much as on a standalone Tivo. I think it's slightly different, as the format it's writing has to be compatible with DVD players (obviously), whereas the "normal" Tivo format could be slightly more tweaked.

The remote is a slightly improved version of the normal Tivo "peanut" remote. The thumbs up/down buttons have been shrunk slightly (makes sense), and a few things have been slightly altered to allow for the new features this unit has.

Oh, I guess it's worth mentioning that ALL Tivo units don't really give as much recording time as they say on the box. This is an "80 hour" unit, which really means 80 hours at the "Basic" quality level, which is pretty poor (might be useable for news shows, stuff like Charlie Rose, etc., but it's not good enough for anything with much movement). Above that is "Medium" quality which gives about 55 hours recording time, and is also pretty bad. "High" quality gives about 27 hours, and is significantly better, as is "Best", which yields only 18 hours. Of course you can set up different shows to use different qualities-mix and match on both the hard drive and on DVDs, though you'll probably use "High" for most shows.

Pros:

*EXCELLENT interface, both for watching/recording TV shows, and for burning them to TV. I'm almost 100% certain there's nothing on the market that's easier to use. Unlike other DVD recorders or PVRs, this unit (and Tivo units in general) explain what's going on, and what different options mean IN ENGLISH, on your TV.

*The front screen displays the time if you want it (normal Tivos don't), and tells you what percent of the DVD has been burned if you're recording one.

*While you're burning a DVD the unit continues to record any scheduled shows, and you can watch any previously recorded shows. So the unit can actually be doing three things at once, all with no effort from the user-recording to DVD, recording a show from TV, and playing back a show. (The exception being you can't watch a show while it's being recorded to DVD).

Cons:

*This Humax, like *ALL* Tivo and ReplayTV units runs 24 hours a day. There's no true "off" or standby mode. Although it's quiet, this could be an issue if you plan to put it (or any Tivo/Replay unit) in a bedroom.

*Image quality appears to be different, possibly worse than stand alone Tivo units-probably to facilitate compatibility with other DVD players. I'm not even sure if I like it as well as the Sony VCR I bought this to replace.

*DVD-RW drive can use DVD-RW 4x media, but it only records to them at around 1x. That means that a full disc takes a little under an hour to burn. (But keep in mind that at "High" quality, you can fit 2 hours on a DVD, and it only takes >30 minutes to record an hour show-at "Medium" quality you can fit 4 hours, and it takes a little under 15 minutes for an hour show, etc.). Also bear in mind that you can continue using the unit for almost anything else while it's burning the DVD (a lot of competing products tie up the unit while they're burning a DVD)

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We've owned one of these for a few weeks now and love it! We already had TiVo but decided that being able to record DVDs was worth getting this machine.

At medium quality you get four hours' worth of shows on one disc. Other settings give you more or less disc space accordingly. When TiVo burns a disc it creates a DVD menu for all the shows on the disc. It allows you to burn the shows in the order you want and name the DVD as well.

Speed of burning depends on the speed rating on the disc; R/W discs take twice as long as R in our trials. The quality of the DVD recording reflects the quality the show was recorded at, so if you record at basic then that's what you'll get on the DVD as well (so don't be surprised if the DVD you burn is not "DVD quality" -it's just a storage medium reflecting the TiVo recording quality).

You can mix quality-level ratings on one DVD, and the manual says that shows needing more than one disc will be automatically created to span DVDs if necessary (although we have not tried this capability yet).

The DVDs we've burned played fine on both Windows and Macintosh computers as well as a Sony portable DVD player.

When watching a DVD with this machine, all the regular TiVo remote buttons perform the same, including the 8-second back-jump, which is great for catching a line or two of dialog just missed.

No drawbacks found so far. Highly recommended.

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I've owned an 80hr Series2 Tivo for years and just picked up the DRT800 shortly after it got released this past fall. I've never heard of Humax prior to owning this unit, but so far I've been quite happy with it.

Overall, when considering this unit, I think it depends on what you're looking for primarily: a Tivo or a DVD-recorder.

If you're primarily looking for a Tivo and would like the "added bonus" and convenience of a built-in DVD-recorder, the DRT800 is fantastic! It's everything everyone loves about Tivo, plus it makes it easy and convenient to dump your programs to DVD.

However, if your first priority is getting a DVD-recorder, and Tivo features are secondary, you might want to look at some stand-alone DVD-recorders. Or at the very least, weigh your decision a bit more carefully. The DRT800 (and the same probably goes for any Tivo with an integrated DVD-recorder) lacks some basic editing features for your programs, which might make a stand-alone a more suitable option for you.

Differences from a Series2 Tivo:

external display

The DRT800 features an external display. When playing a DVD, it displays the typical chapter and time information. When burning a DVD, it displays the percentage completed. Otherwise, it displays a clock. You can choose to make the display, dim, bright, or just turn it off.

DVD control buttons

Below the display are chapter skip, stop, play, etc buttons found on typical stand-alone DVD Players. These only control the DVD functions and do not control the Tivo software. Which brings me to the next cool addition...

front-mounted joystick

This is probably one of the neatest additions! Although, granted, I don't use this a whole lot, it's always irked me that normal Tivos don't have any buttons of any sort on the actual unit. This basically means that your ability to control the Tivo is entirely dependent on the remote control. But woe be the day that you misplace it, lose it, or break it (although you can always order a new one). The joystick is the equivalent of the directional control on the Tivo remote, and pressing the joystick inward acts as the Select button, giving you full control of the Tivo from the units front panel.

Composite Video Outputs & SPDIF Digital Audio Output

My previous Series2 Tivo didn't come with these and I don't know if regular Tivos come with them now, but these are clearly a must for any DVD Player. If your TV and/or receiver doesn't support these, you still have the standard A/V outputs at your disposal.

A/V, S-Video, & Firewire inputs

Hidden behind a drop-down panel are a set of front-mounted A/V, S-Video, and Firewire inputs with a second set of A/V & S-Video inputs located on the rear panel. These allow you to record from external devices (such as a Camcorder or VCR) onto your Tivo, which can then be burnt to DVD. This makes it perfect for digitizing old tapes and home movies or any other type of unprotected media. The Tivo allows you to assign a Title to the incoming recording. However, you cannot add a program description, which would have been nice.

DVD functions

This is probably the section you have the most questions on.

DVD interface:

A new "DVD" menu item now appears underneath the "Watch Live TV" option in the main menu. The on-screen display of this menu item changes, depending on what (if any) media is inserted into the disc tray. When you insert any disc into the tray, it is immediately scanned by the Tivo and the display is changed to DVD, DVD-R, DVD-RW, VCD, Audio CD or whatever appropriate format. Within the DVD menu selection, you will find appropriate play/record options.

Playing Disc Media:

The DRT800 supports DVD, VCD, CD, Photo CD, and MP3 CD. So far, I've played DVDs, VCDs, and standard redbook audio CDs with no issues. I haven't had the chance to try out any other formats yet. Playing DVDs and VCDs will look and feel exactly like watching any Tivo recorded program, with all the same playback features. My only main issue I have with playing Audio CDs is that, even if your Tivo is hooked up to your broadband connection, there is no attempt made to do a CDDB lookup to get track and artist information for the CD you're playing. Therefore, when you play an Audio CD, each the tracks will appear as "Track1", "Track2", etc and no information for artist or album title. This is a rather big disappointment.

Recording to DVD:

The only type of recordable media the DRT800 supports is DVD-R and DVD-RW.

A "Save to DVD or VCR" option conveniently appears in the information view of every recorded program on your Tivo, but you can also access recording features via the DVD option in the main menu. Prior to burning the DVD, you can select and order your programs and also add a title for your DVD. When you finally burn your DVD, the software will add a menu interface which looks almost identical to the regular Tivo interface.

Burn speed is pretty slow at 1x, but the upside is that while it's writing your DVD, you can continue using your Tivo for watching other pre-recorded programs. However, you cannot watch the program that is currently being recorded.

DVD capacity depends on the recording quality used for the original Tivo recording:

1 hr Best Quality

2 hr High Quality

4 hr Medium Quality

6 hr Basic Quality

This is basically the territory where you might not be too happy if you're looking for a good DVD recorder.

Negatives:

No program editing!

You can only burn the Tivo programs AS-IS. That means that you can't edit out commercials or any unwanted footage.

No resampling or re-encoding of program quality

I pretty much record everything at "High Quality". What that means, however, is that if I record a program on my Tivo that happens to be 2.5 hours, I would not be able to burn it onto DVD, because at that quality setting, the max capacity is 2 hours. It would be nice if the option were available to downsample a program to make it fit onto a DVD, albeit at a lower quality. Coupled with the inability to edit out unwanted footage like commercials (which might have made a 2.5hr program fit into 2hrs), this severely limits the DVD burning feature.

and for people with Home Media Option:

Can't burn programs recorded on another Tivo

Home Media Option (available at an additional cost) allows you to transfer programs from one Tivo to another. However, the DRT800 cannot burn programs created on another Tivo. This is apparently an encoding issue.

Other than that, the Tivo offers pretty much the same great features as all other Series2 Tivos. The peanut-shaped remote control layout is identical, but some of the buttons have been repurposed for DVD-related functions. If you connect your Tivo to your home network, you can look at pictures on your PC or stream MP3s from your PC.

Problem-wise, I did have one crash during the first week. While burning a DVD, the unit froze up and I had to unplug its power to start it back up again. But I haven't had any other problems during the months after.

If you do get this (or any other Tivo) and you have a broadband internet connection at home, I highly suggest getting a USB network adapter for your Tivo. I use a Linksys USB200M. Tivos are pretty finicky about which adapters they work with so make sure you check the tivo site if you decide to get a different brand. By default, Tivo uses a dial-up modem connection, but if you have a broadband connection, you may as well take advantage of it.

As a basic roundup:

PROS:

1) It's a Tivo!

Everyone says it and everyone's right: You gotta get a Tivo.

Once you get it, you'll never be able to live without it. :)

2) Convenient DVD-burning/playing

3) Easy recording from external sources

Easily record home movies onto your Tivo or DVD

4) Front-mounted control

CONS:

1) Hard Drive is LOUD!

This is definitely my biggest shocker. I don't know if it's just my unit, but this thing grinds like no other. My other Series2 was never this loud.

2) Limited DVD-recording features

I'm gonna guess it's by design, but the DRT800's greatest feature (DVD recording) is also its greatest weakness. The inability to edit out commercials (or at the very least resample your programs to make them fit onto disc) probably will ward off a lot of potential buyers.

3) Only comes in 80hr version

You can never have enough space and I wish this unit came with a bigger drive option.

Basically, it comes down to my earlier comment regarding what your first priority is. The DRT800's DVD-recording features aren't the greatest by far, but it's the a great extension to the already-awesome features of Tivo.

Personally, the DRT800 suits my needs perfectly. I don't record a lot of DVDs, but when I do, I appreciate the convenience. If the unit had a multi-disc changer, I would let it replace my current DVD player at the drop of a hat. Overall, I'm completely satisfied and don't regret buying it for a second.

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I bought my DVR 800 in November. The Tivo service is awesome but the Humax Box is terrible. There was a problem with the IR Sensor on the DVR. I had to push the remote control buttons several (10+) times before it made a connection. I called Humax, the customer service rep. said they are having problems with the IR sensor. She asked me if I had the latest software version on my machine...I did. So she sent me a new remote control. The remote was not the problem. I called back and they sent me a replacement (new or used) DVR800.

The problem still exists. With the replacement unit I have to press at least 5 times and I have to be physically close to the unit. It's very frustrating. I should not have to press the remote buttons more than twice to initiate a command.

I bought a 40hr Tivo unit for a relative and it works great. So I know it's not the Tivo service or the remote control.

The Hard Drive and the DVD "recorder" works great I was able to burn movies on a DVD and record shows with no problem. It's just that the unit does not pick up the remote control signal easily.

Not sure what I am going to do.

I've had this unit for a couple of weeks now, and it works as advertised. TiVo service is great, the interface is great, and the DVD burning of stored shows is great, too.

My biggest disappointment is the picture quality of the live programming. I'm using cable (granted not the cleanest source) and the picture is dark and grainy. The same cable run through my JVC SVHS VCR or eight-year-old JVC 32" TV is noticeably better. It's as if the tuner in this TiVo isn't as good. Either that, or the conversion of an analog signal over to digital causes your picture to deteriorate. However, another TiVo Series 2 box that this unit replaced produced a better picture than this HUMAX.

Overall, this is a great concept, and has allowed me to turn three components (DVD player, TiVo box, and DVD recorder) into one unit saving me space. However, considering the price, you'd hope that a regular TV picture, something this unit spends most of its time presenting, would be better.

SanDisk Refurbished Sansa Clip+ 4 GB MP3 Player (Black)

• Store up to 1000 songs, 2400 photos or 12 hours of video
• Memory card slot for pre-loaded cards
• Digital FM tuner with 40 presets
• Rechargeable battery lasts up to 15 hours
• Built-in clip for easy carrying

I don't know how well this will do long-term, but I hope it lasts a long long time. It works well, is inexpensive, and is very small. It comes with a pair of earbuds that sound just fine, but I didn't find them to be very comfortable. I'm really not an earbud fan, though, so they may work fine for others.

05/23/13 Still working great, holds a charge for ages, could not be happier with this little player! I did find some inexpensive Koss earbuds that fit well and sound great!

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Hmmm, 25 bucks for a device that is small, lightweight and works flawlessly. FM radio is great for the gym on the tredmill. If you smash/drop in water or otherwise break this thing you can get 4 of them for the same price as a similar "I"device... Oh and adding songs is as easy as dropping a file in a USB folder, not a silly program that assumes you are not smart enough to know how to do that...

Run out of memory, no problem add a Micro SD to the slot and you are off and running.. How do you do that on your Apple? for 4-5 times the price... Just saying.

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Ordered device. Got it in the mail a few weeks ago and just now tried to use it. Computer wont even recognize the sansa clip+ so i started reading forums to figure out how to get it to work with my computer. lots of people having the same issue. contacted sansa customer support and after troubleshooting they determined the device doesnt work and for me to contact the seller. Problem is i waited to long to test it "which is my fault" but they only have a 15 day return period with BLUEPROTON. do not order from them. i emailed them when i originally got the device because they didnt even send the correct charger! oh and yeah, they didnt even respond or send me a new charger. should have returned it right then!

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I love this product! i had bought one refurbished several years ago, and lost it. I wanted another, and was able to get another. i just love the sound quality, and it's easy to use.

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My wife loves to run, almost as much as she loves to lose, drop or otherwise ruin her Ipods. I needed to find an alternate means of getting music to her ears. The Clip was perfect. I bought it thinking it would be a great, cheap, disposable player, but it's so great I bought another one for myself. Long battery life, can take a beating, and with a huge micro SD it handles all the music we need.

PYLE PAD6 Audio to USB Interface & recorder to Computer & SD Card

• Offer 2 Kinds Power (5V) Ways Supply DC In Battery (with LED Indication) 4 Signal Input: SD Card, USB, PHONO & Line Common Play & Control Function (MP3/WMA Formats) With Recording Function & Adjustable Value of Record Volume
• Common EQ Function With One 1/8'' Microphone Input jack With One 1/8'' Headphone Output jack With One 1/8'' Phono /Line Input jack Dimensions: 6.2''W x 1.2''D x 5.2''H Sold as: Unit
• 1/8" phono /line input jack
• Dimensions: 6.2''W x 1.2''D x 5.2''H
• One year manufacturer's warranty

This recorder is easy to operate because of its size.However!it requires an SD card not included. The unit does not delete a poor recording which happens a lot. And last of all,there is no way to play back the recordings without a computer.And the recordings sound like there played in a box. Not good.

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I don't usually write reviews, but I feel it would be very irresponsible of me not to let people know that this product is worthless and the company has no customer support. You have been warned!

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Well this one came with a year warranty and cost less than some of the competition. I wish it came with an SD card but didn't really expect it to....I figured if it didn't work out I could always return it...Amazon's great with returns, I guess I got lucky the pyle pad6 will not be returned.

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I have a huge collection of cassettes recorded over many years from LP's and CD's and finally wanted to get around to digitizing them. I found the Pyle PAD6 and really liked the feature that allowed conversion directly to SD cards. That and the $29 dollar price made me pull the trigger.

Unfortunately, the PAD6 is poorly constructed with very loose line and headphone connections. This makes for really bad conversions with the sound shifting from channel to channel and volume going up and down according to the vagaries of the line connection.

I don't know if this is inherent in the product or I just received a lemon. But it is going back.

On the plus side, operation is simple and straight forward and it was the the least expensive analog to digital conversion device I found.

But I guess you get what you pay for. Or on second thought, sometimes you don't even when it is dirt cheap.

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This came quickly after I ordered it. I have used it to record dj sets etc... and it is a straightforward, easy to figure out product. The recording quality is not bad, not great...

Didn't expect it to come with an S/D card seeing how much it costs. It is easy to transfer and load up to your computer. The recorder is small and very simply made. It does its job though just not the best out there. Kinda what you'd expect.

Blackmagic Design H.264 Format Video Recorder (for Mac Only)

Although Hi 8 worked great through an S-Video cable, composite does not work. Color video is black and white. Several decks and cables were used and the directions followed. A support document was sent and three weeks later, still no reply. A phone call to Black Magic resulted in 20 minutes of hold time and then we were told that the product is ineligible for phone support. No mention of this on the website.

Finally received an email from BlackMagic stating that, "we have seen a significant number of cases where issues may arise when trying to capture from a VCR". Since this is one of the primary reason that I purchased this product and since it is shown as one of its key functions. I cannot recommend this product.

They went on to suggest purchasing a Time Based Correction device. We booted our Mac into Windows Vista and tested a similar product (KWorld) that our neighbor had which was PC only and it worked fine without loss of color. They have no intention of taking this product back and we filed with small claims court. A very discouraging experience.

Update: Black Magic has now agreed to help in the return process.

Before purchasing, I contacted the company to make sure it would work with an older Powerbook G4 (1.67GHz) I had set aside and thought would make a dedicated encoding machine. They were not sure whether that machine had USB-2 (It does) and It turns out that the video converter works great with the Powerbook. As the instructions state, these older machines are not capable of displaying the full frame rate, but that does not impact the encoding.

Over the space of about two weeks I have converted our entire (large) collections of VHS tapes over to H.264, which is a huge saving over the time it would have taken to bring them in as DV and encode them to H.264 using iMovie or something similar. I have a Sony Media Converter and had tried that for a few TV shows, and it is a painful route because H.264 is a resource hog. However, this unit converted them in real time and at a quality that is on-par with the original tapes. What I did was:

1. Connect the VCR to the video converter by RCA jacks (it does support component or s-video, if you player does).

2. Connect the video converter to the laptop USB-2 port

3. Install and update the software.

4. Select Full Res and then change the bit rate from 2.0 to 3.5MBPS**. It does not make a huge difference, but I have a lot of hard drive space.

5. Check how long the movie/show plays for, add 1-2 minutes, and type that into the auto stop box on the converter.

6. Start the tape and then press the big red record button.

7. Walk away and leave it to record.

** Options are available to tweak sound, color, brightness and cropping, but in most cases I just used the default settings.

It really is that simple and the quality is great. I have seen a number reviews complaining about how bad the HD quality is when this is not designed for use with HD. You can record from HD sources, but if the unit tops out at 3.5MBPS, it is not going to handle 1080p or 720p for that matter without some losses even though the AppleTV configuration option is available. You have to use the right tool for the job and this is superb for standard definition quality inputs such as VCR or most none high definition television signals. Having said that, if you accept it has limitations you will be happy with the price performance of this little units, even with HD signals, if you are planning to view it on an iPod/iPhone or something similar. Consider that more advanced encoders such as those by canopus can costs hundreds of dollars more, and generally require a two step process to get them in to H.264, and without a H.264 accelerator, that step can take huge amounts of time compared to this realtime unit.

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I purchased this product because it was the only Video Recorder I could find for the Mac that had Component inputs on it. I was excited to be able to record some of my favorite TV show in stunning HD quality. The recorder is well constructed and looks sharp. It came with all of the adapters for recording Component and S-Video and the instruction booklet was very clear and easy to understand.

I was however very disappointed to discover that HD video to Black Magic Design is 480P. I have a 720P DLP and an HD receiver capable of outputting 1080P. I don't care what they say 480P is NOT HD video. I was also disapointed to discover that the video recorder will only capture in a 4:3 aspect ratio not 16:9 like most of the programming now showing on TV.

The software is also a little disappointing. I mentioned previously that I have a 720P DLP TV I also have a Mac Mini as a media center PC; its set with a vertical resolution of 720 pixels to match the TV's output. Unfortunately the application has a set interface size which is larger that 720pixels. As a result the lower portion of the software is cutoff and I cannot actually click the record button. This is just poor design. The interface for the software has no reason to be a specific size. I connected the Video Recorder to my MacBook Pro which has a larger screen resolution and found that recording was easy and the presets are nice.

Overall I'm not satisfied with the product and hope that through future firmware and software updates my issues will be resolved.

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I really like the device and the documentation (instruction manual) is really clear and so easy to use. the device does just what it promises but I haven't yet found a way to clear up one issue in my transfers. When I transfer a video tape recorded at extended play (EP) (6 hrs of recording on a 2 hour tape) the transfer often splits the frame up horizontally. So far video tapes I have that are recorded at normal speed (SP) seem just fine. Maybe I should record my EP tapes onto SP video and then transfer them with the USB capture device. Just an idea. I'll try to report in if it works.

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I was told this was an exceptional product and it might be but be aware, it only works on a Mac. I wish this would have been a little more prominent in the description. It would have saved me the time and effort of sending it back.

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Sony DMXNV1 Bravia Internet Video Link

• Streams videos directly from content providers with broadband connection
• Integrates with the Xross Media Bar™ (XMB)
• Allows access to the latest weather, news and traffic at the touch of one button
• Access content through the TV remote control
• New video service partners may be added to the XMB™ to expand video choices

Unless you are prepared to watch video clips, from 1-5 minutes, with poor video (Not HDTV quailty), poor sound (Not Digital quality). I was lead to believe I would be able to watch full length movies and TV shows, not trailers. What a laugh!!! Don't bite!! Don't waste your money!! Spend it on a Blu-ray player instead.

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When Sony announced the Bravia Internet Video Link, the concept sounded great. VOD on my TV controlled by the same remote and all native.

BUT this product is nothing more than a dead-end. The content is lackluster at best and totally out of date. The video quality is no better than a YouTube-ish website and the sound as abysmal. Its such a sad shame that Sony botched this up. It really does not add up to a worthwhile purchase. I do hope Sony learns from this mistake and puts in a more scalable VOD system directly into their Bravia TVs.

Sony has updated the Bravia Internet Video Link but I can't run the update until I update the Sony Bravia XBR KDL-32XBR4 32" TV... and to do that I need to call some 800 Number.

IF you are looking for a VOD Product that has HD content and seems to have a direction (albiet slow one at best), I highly recommend the Apple TV 160GB.

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Though the price point of $299 USD is still disproportionate to the benefit, the recently announced addition of Amazon downloads makes this a more compelling option. That said, if one already has an Apple TV and/or a Roku box, you are likely already getting better entertainment value in the long run compared to this device.

If Amazon offers a superior VOD selection than the current 'direct to TV' streaming options, this could quickly change. However, we will ALL have to wait until the new VOD service is launched to 'all' existing Internet Link users (not just select ones) later this summer.

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The BIVL attaches to the back of the TV, and you control it with the TV remote. It has YouTube, clips from a variety of sources, and just recently, Amazon Unbox. The interface consists of some nice semi-transparent menus over a soothing blue background.

That's the good part.

The downsides are many, compared to the AppleTV (ATV) which is similar:

The interface always seems to lag a little compared to the ATV.

We have fast internet, but Amazon Unbox is much slower than ATV, and doesn't show trailers. Painful.

Most of the other programming is junk, some of which I had to block on my home router since I didn't want my kids watching it and there aren't any parental controls that I could find (e.g. "Fright Night" movie)

Directions on hooking it up aren't very good, took me about an hour to realize that you have to plug in the USB cable between the device and the TV to allow the remote to control it.

Bottom line, we have an AppleTV and the BIVL, but we rarely use the BIVL -mostly when we find ourselves thinking, "Gee, there's gotta be *something* good on there..." There hasn't really been much yet that wasn't on the ATV. If you don't want an ATV, though, this at least lets you watch YouTube clips and Amazon Unbox movies/TV shows.

If hulu shows up on either, my story will change.

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I read a lot of so-so to bad reviews of this. But I got one anyway because I found out it now supports Netflix. I could not be happier with it. I have not yet tried the Amazon "on demand" feature and most of the other features are worthless. But the Netflix steaming does everything I want it to. At $199 it's a huge rip off. Buy a Ruku for less. I got mine for just over $50. Hope this simple review helps.

Aurum Gold Series Toslink Cable - Digital Optical Audio Cable - 30 Feet

Great cable, works well, and appears to be a quality build. Received cable very quickly and packed well. Highly recommend

very nice, better than expected, in a timely manner. very satisfied product has a nice feel and look ashame I buried it in the wall and crawl space and no one else will ever see it.

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One of the best optic cables I've used. No audio problem at 30', very pliable and professional looking cable. A lot of value for the low cost.

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So, this cable transmits the signal thru fiber-optics. The gold-plating has absolutely no bearing on the sound quality. You can get the same sound quality from another toslink cable for much less. However, you are getting 30' of cable, so that's pretty good.

Of course, the gold-plated connectors protect against "corrosion" just about as well as a plastic connector does.

Unless you spend an inordinate amount of time behind your stereo instead of in front of it, and enjoy being reminded how much you overpaid for pretty connectors, don't bother with this unless you just need a long cable.

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Samsung UN55B7000 55-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LED HDTV

• Ultra-slim 55-inch LED HDTV with full HD 1080p resolution for the sharpest picture possible
• LED technology enables a true-to-life range of picture brightness; uses 40 percent less energy than conventional LCD TVs
• Internet@TV online content service from Yahoo!, Flickr, YouTube via your broadband connection
• Inputs: 4 HDMI, 1 component, 2 USB, 1 Ethernet, 1 PC, 1 optical digital audio output
• Includes detachable swivel table stand; measures 51.7 x 39.2 x 12 inches (WxHxD) with stand

I was a committed DLP fan before undergoing a conversion experience on Friday April 17th. I had planned to replace my Samsung DLP with a Mitbushi DLP or LaserVue. In the final hours, I just couldn't go through with it.

A major Los Angeles vendor set up a display with the UN55B7000 sandwiched between a LaserVue and a Kuro 151. The results were pretty plain to my eyes. The Luxia pretty well crushed both of them. The cult of Kuro will denounce me for heresy and blaspheme, but this is what I saw. About 1 hour of fiddling with the settings on LaserVue did not change the situation much. The Kuro was locked in at calibrated settings which the employees would not allow me to change. Evidently, it was fully tuned up. Once again, this left me with the impression that a fully calibrated Kuro is an over-rated beast indeed. No wonder Pioneer quit the market.

The bottom line: I bought this unit the next day. It took about 2 hours to tune up after I took it out of the box. [Use the natural color setting. Customize motion smoothing to 7 for jitter control and 7 for blur control, or shut it off entirely] Since then it has been pretty astounding. Unbelievable color. Unbelievable reds. Unbelievable contrast ratios. Unbelievable black levels. Very bright. Generates no perceivable heat. Does not get hot. The detail and sharpness and depth of image is truly astounding. I have never seen anything that can compare, and I have been shopping for several months now.

Cons

I am still questioning the merit of the 120Hz motion smoothing technology. It does weird things to slow motion instant replays. It does stranger things to 24fps movies. Seems to work best with live actions sports and HDTV programs shot on digital. You can always turn it off. Blu-rays seem more natural with the technology switched off. Ultimately, Blu-Ray looks magnificent either way.

Advice

A word of advice for the first reviewer and everybody else. You should never, never, never use the speakers on your HDTV. All HDTVs are equipped with pathetic 10 watt reference speakers that stink. All HDTV owners should invest in some sort of home theater surround sound system. It doesn't have to be that expensive. Even a $300 Home Theater in a Box will make a world of difference.

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UPDATED BELOW 9/23/09...

I have had this TV for about 2 weeks now and could not be more pleased! My A/V setup was in place when it arrived and all I had to do was connect the HDMI to start watching television. I am running HD cable (HDMI), Wii (Component), Blu Ray (HDMI), and a camera (HDMI) all through the Denon AVR-1910. Only the HDMI out from the Denon to the TV is needed as it switches and upconverts all video.

So after I plugged it in, cable channels started appearing...except for 2 HD channels just got a black screen. I spent 45 minutes adjusting resolution ins/outs on the cable box, receiver, and TV to no avail. Finally, I rebooted the cable box, and there they were. Yes, I should have tried that first. Anyway, everything has been running without issue.

I must say, this picture is flat out gorgeous. I spent a lot of time researching TV's and checking them out in the stores; LG, Sony, Sharp, Toshiba, LCD, LED, etc... but I always came back to this Samsung LED line of sets. I had read reviews talking about "searchlights" in the corners, and conversely, dark spots in the corners. The former issue I never really saw firsthand. The dark spots though, I did notice in the stores. It seemed more prevalent on the 8000 series, and in some cases I didn't see them at all. When it came down to it though, I found the overall picture so stunning that the dark areas didn't affect me (it was REALLY subtle). I was also suspicious that the sets in the stores that are constantly turned on may have something to do with it. I am pleased to say that I don't see any artifacts on my new set. The picture brightness is very uniform throughout. Couldn't be happier! If you've seen these TV's firsthand you know the thinness of the set is beyond compare. Mine is on a stand, but on the wall it would look amazing (too bad speakers aren't this thin).

As far as the picture goes, if you are pushing an HD signal to it...WOW! The picture is so vivid, bright, and detailed some scenes truly start to look 3-dimensional. Not sure what effect I'm really seeing but that's what it looks like. We had friends over and the kids were watching Kung Fu Panda in HD. All the guys were standing there behind the kids mumbling about the amazing picture. Standard def pictures look fine as well, certainly better than my old DLP. But make no mistake, the payoff is in the HD content.

So I find myself tweaking the picture each day....2 notches lower on the color, 1 higher on the gamma, 1 more for backlight, etc... it's pretty much at the point where all channels look fabulous and I don't need to adjust anything else. I'd say, expect to do that on any TV you get. I tried a cnet configuration that they recommend for dark room viewing and I hated it! Immediately switched back to my personal settings. The great thing is that the accurate colors and different configurable settings on this TV provide the flexibility that makes it nearly impossible NOT to get a perfect picture! BUT everyone's TV room, own eyes, and preferences are a little different. Because there are so many setting combinations, finding the perfect configuration for you will just take a little time don't expect to have it straight out of the box. As far as contrast goes, awesome! In a scene of Iron Man (Blu Ray), when Tony Stark crashed his own companies party, Jeff Bridges is wearing a tux with a white scarf. I could see the ever-so-slightest off-color herringbone pattern in the scarf next to the black jacket and it wasn't a close up. (Not kidding, it was kind of neat!)....so just based on that scene, I'd say the contrast and sharpness are top notch.

The 120hz motion effect is great as well. If you haven't yet, go see a demonstration in the store you really need to see it to understand the hype. It is definitely pretty cool, but I have added some blur and judder back into my settings because it kind of freaked my wife out a little bit. Incredibly smooth, but definitely not how you'd see a movie in the theater. Many scenes end up looking fake, or like you're standing there watching a play on stage. Just know that it's completely adjustable or can be shut off entirely. Again, your personal preference will dictate the settings.

I'm also happy to say that the Denon upconverts the Wii video nicely and it pops out on the Samsung in full-screen looking great. I imagine PS3 or XBOX games with HD output look as good as Blu Ray. I also got the wireless adapter and hooked up to my Windows Media Center to browse pics and movies. Works great no issues there.

The only oddity that I have seen is the fluctuating back light during dark scenes. Other reviews point this out as well. If a scene goes really dark, like rolling the first credits after the movie, yes, the entire screen will dim. Switch back to a bright scene and the brightness pops back on. When it happens it's noticeable, but it doesn't happen often. I only see it in an extreme contrast change as described above. In my opinion this is a small price to pay when 99.9% of the experience is breathtaking.

Overall, this set delivers an incredible picture that is hard to beat. I read a lot of professional reviews and they always find a few negative things to focus on, like "the moiré on the fence in the 16th fight scene when the guy drops his gun was noticeable." Huh? They also say 240hz is better than 120hz. Yes, if your name is UNIVAC and you are analyzing a test pattern. Real people can't even sense some of these things! I stopped paying too much attention to these after a while. Stand in front of these sets, adjust the pictures, and you will figure out what looks good! For me, this was it I absolutely recommend this television!

UPDATE: 9/23/09 Fluctuating Backlight Fixed! Just want to say that this TV still impresses me every time I watch it. As to the fluctuating backlight issue... I found a post that explained how to go into the service menu and turn this off. It's called CE Dimming and can be set to on or off in both Standard and Movie modes. I turned it off in the Standard mode and it worked without issue. You do need to go in and readjust your picture settings since it resets them, so write them down beforehand. Otherwise, it worked fine and now I have to say the picture is 100% solid. Here are the instructions: With the TV off, push Mute, 1, 8, 2, Power. Scroll to "Advanced", press 0000 don't hit enter. Scroll (down arrow) to CE Dimming and hit Enter. Select Movie or Standard, and hit the left or right arrow to switch it off. Done, hit power. Turn on the TV like you normally would and Auto-dimming is now off!

Read Best Reviews of Samsung UN55B7000 55-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LED HDTV Here

Pros:

1amazing size to performance ratio. This TV is incredibly thin. You will have to see it to believe it. At just over an inch thick (not to mention 55" from corner to corner), this television boasts some of the best stats available, compared to any other brands/models out there.

2-LED back lighting. This feature is what initially caught my eye. When I first saw it I noticed immediately how incredibly deep the blacks were. This boost in depth of the color plate seems to permeate the entire color spectrum, allowing for deeper, more remarkable fullness when viewing all forms content.

3base statistics. The contrast ratio (although I have read many conflicting, reports, including the manufactures own specification information, which makes it difficult to place an exact quantitative value), 120hz, 1080p, 4 millisecond response time, USB x2 connections, LAN access, ect... They are all there. This television has the capabilities to seamlessly bind your computer or local area network and your home theater into a truly coherent "media center" provided you have the gumption.

4"Xbrite" like display. I call it this for lack of a better option. The screen itself of this LCD is not matted like many of its predecessors, it is glossy resembling a plasma TV or some of its smaller LCD PC monitor cousins, which allows it a brighter, fuller color clarity. This could be considered as "bothersome" by some because it allows for more apparent reflections of light, casting it back into the viewers eye, but the shear intensity of light emitted by this TV puts this claim to rest.

Cons:

1Menus. After spending multiple hours removing my previous television, measuring and cutting holes in walls, fuddling with cables, and vacuuming dust bunnies and drywall dust, I found my self at the heart of my disappointment with this TV. Navigating the menu system. Don't get me wrong, it is not difficult, but it is entirely cumbersome. To start off a simple task like switching sources is made time consuming and attracts attention because you have to hit a minimum of 3 buttons on the remote to switch to your closest input. This may seem like someone complaining that you have to turn the faucet on to fill a glass of water but just play with it for a bit and you will see what I am talking about. The menus themselves are all animated and take a moment to load, which adds to the frustration when trying to navigate through them, and when you get to the input you want you have to manually exit the menu by pressing the "enter" or "return" button on the remote. This problem could have been easily alleviated by having shortcut buttons to the individual inputs on the remote, like most other manufactures offer.

2-Sound. The sound quality is greatly deteriorated by the fact that the speakers on this model face the opposite direction of the screen. Reverberation off a wall is not an adequate substitution for direct focus. The sound quality is not bad in itself, such as being boxy, tinny or deteriorating with increased volume, it is just not as full as others that I have heard (but this is to be expected being the form factor that it is). It will be necessary to have a surround sound system with this TV, but you probably already have one if you are seriously looking at this model.

3 Limitation of inputs. For some insane reason, Samsung preemptively decided which inputs (HDMI) you could use for which devices and placed limitations on those inputs as they saw fit. This is entirely lame and a let down. Scrolling through the menu selections on various HDMI inputs you will notice that a good majority or your picture modifications are not adjustable according to what input you have currently selected. Despite changing the labels of the inputs and reorganizing HDMI inputs, you are not able to get the full gamut of picture corrections that you payed a lot of money for. This, for me, is the biggest let down of the television. There is nothing worse than seeing a whole slue of options that are supposedly available, but are "grayed out" for some unknown reason. I expect, at this price and ability, to be able to fully customize each input that the televesion has, regardless of what peripheral I am connecting to it.

This con might not prevent you from purchasing this TV, but you should be at least aware of it. I have a lot of different devices connected at any given time, ie. blue ray, dvd, vhs, xbox 360, ps3, wii, xbox, n64, psx, snes, nes, pc, camcorder, camera, and some flash based devices, like some of the newer ipods/iphones, and it really bothers me that I cannot change the settings to what ever fits my needs best.

4Dynamic contrast. This feature seems to be a blessing and a bit of a curse. On one hand you get dark, rich colors, and on the other you get much darker whites when the majority of the screen is dark in hue. You only need to scroll through the menu system of the TV on a static, dark background to see this flaw in action. How dynamic contrast works is that it lowers the backlighting of the television when it senses most of what it is displaying is dark, which makes any contrast in hues, i.e. whites to blacks, much darker than they would normally be. This may not be a deal breaker for some, but depending on what you watch, there is a noticeable difference. I personally like to watch a lot of the space/nasa documentaries, and when they show Hubble images of deep space that are for the most part black, with just a few pin points of light, you notice that that you are loosing quality/brightness of image (as compared to other flat panels without this dynamic contrast perk).

5Lack of inputs. This downfall is the price you pay for having such a small form factor I guess. 4 HDMI is ok, minus them all being individually limited, but there is only one component in, no composite/S video in at all and the stereo out is a 3.5mm jack so you need an adapter, which is not included. The TV does have optical audio out, so if you have a somewhat capable/newer surround sound system you will be ok, provided you spend the money and buy the expensive cabling to connect it (heaven forbid that your receiver is more than a few feet away or else you are going to feel it in your wallet). Another problem that all of these digital connections bring, that is rarely advertised, is that there is a lot more optimization involved to make them work normally. Say "good by" to just plugging things in and having them work. If you don't have a lot of patients for reading user manuals or trial and error, it might be necessary to pay the extra cost for having some "Geek" come to your house and make everything work properly for you.

Another slight annoyance is that this TV does not offer any sort of video out. A slight inconvenience really, but I would like to keep my options open.

6120 hz it more like "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". Some people like its effects on movies/games, I personally have turn it off to make the TV look normal to me. You really need to evaluate the feature for your self and make a decision. For me, it looks like it increases the frame rate at times and slows it down in others, which gives the overall viewing quality a "hurky-jerky" feel. Others that have seen the feature on my TV say it gives it more of a 3D quality or that it is more like looking out a window, as apposed to viewing a TV. Its effect is much more noticeable while viewing certain media such as , blue ray, DVD's or video games. I can barely notice it while watching HD/SD content from Comcast (1080i/480p respectively).

7-"Media Center" short comings. What, no youtube? Even my phone has that. I would also like to see WMC connectivity, a flash enabled web browser, and come to think of it, bluetooth, so you can connect a qwarty keyboard to actually take advantage of it all. This would truly bump this TV into an upper eschelon, rivaled by no other device to date.

Summary

All in all, I think this TV is feature rich with a few let downs that could be corrected with a bit of ingenuity (hopefully made possible in the way of firmware upgrades, putting the LAN feature to good use). I would not personally recommend this TV to any of may friends because I would not want to hear them complain, but I would tell them to come over, play with it and decide for themselves if it is the right choice for them. Knowing what I know now it would be hard to say if I would upgrade again from what I had previously (LG 50px4dr) to this TV, but I can truthfully say that the picture quality on most devices (cable, xbox 360 and others (NOT PLAYSTATION 3, I get a weird snowy pixelated effect on the home screen that drives me crazy and was the reason I bought a new TV in the first place)) is vastly superior to most other televisions that I have seen. The bottom line is that you need to play with this television for a bit before you purchase.

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Wow! Do you want the best picture available today. Look at the Samsung 7000 series LED TV.

I have had this for a week now and am very, very pleased with the set. I have the 7100 series from Best Buy. This is a special model only sold through Best Buy. It is the same as the 7000 except for some cute little add ons. One being the ability to scroll through a series of museum paintings. This allows you to use the set as a picture viewer/screen saver and when used with your audio system makes a nice back drop for a party or something of that sort. You can not add pictures. It also allows you to go to the internet and use Yahoo widgets and about five other widgets. There are also a couple of games built in. Will most people use these features? Probably not!

The other feature is the Touch Of Color which I really do not care for anyway. The 7000 is generally $300 cheaper than the 7100 so you chose.

The 7100 series is on sale the week of Apr 28, 2009 for $3,100. This is a $600 price drop. This is the same thing that happened to the Sony 240 hz set. In January 2009 it was $3,900 and is down to $2,800. If you want to wait, it will drop more but that is technology.

My wife usually does not say anything about the TVs we have except if she can not get the remote to turn everything on. She and my son were watching James Bond Quantum of Solace on bluray. She told me that it was like sitting in the director's chair on the set. The quality of the bluray screen is so clear that it takes on a 3D appearance. The colors are true, the whites are white and the blacks are black. There is no bleeding or blurring of motion. The dark scenes are just as life like as the light scenes.

If I spend this much on a TV, then I will also have a good sound system so the built-in speakers are not a problem. The TV remotes are not that useful. The small round remote is useless. Again, I have the set connected to an amp, a cable box, a bluray player and an old VHS player. I use a programable remote so I do not use the Samsung remote.

The thinness of the set makes the set shrink from the viewer. I mean my old 56' cabinet was two feet deep. This set is 1 and 1/4 inches deep. It hugs the wall so well that it does not dominate the room even though it is 55". The most important part is that there is little to no heat generated by this set. It uses 40% less power than an LCD of the same size. This should help the set last longer and save power on AC and set top use as well.

When using this set to compare pictures make sure that you look at about a dozen different high definition stations. The high definition stations are not all the same! HDNet1, HDNet2, The Science Channel, and ABC in my area are tremendous with the quality in the order shown above. The worst are CBS, PBS, and TBS. There is a big difference in video and audio quality of these stations. Again, look at several stations your area may be totally different.

I had planned to purchase the Sony 240hz TV. I am so glad that I did not. The matte finish on the Sony does little to cut down glare but really, really mutes the picture. The colors and picture on the Sony are also muted by the matte finish.

The picture on the Samsung LED is like looking through a really, really clean window. In other words awesome!

Pro: Picture quality.

Con: Price.

First, let me say, this is not my first big screen HDTV. In fact, this is replacing a 62 inch DLP. So I wasn't expecting to be WOW'd by this TV... but I was. I don't have a way to compare the DLP and LCD side by side -the DLP is dead. But I don't recall the DLP's image being as clear and vivid as this image. The DLP was able to display 1080i/720p which is about as good as you're going to get from digital broadcasts. But even on DVD's with lower resolution, the image appears more life-like.

There were a number of other expectations I had. Some of them were met, some where not, some were exceeded. I will go into details of each.

1) Setup: I was expecting to have to assemble something. But the unit was shipped in a fairly large box fully assembled. I suppose if you intended to mount yours on the wall, you'd have to disassemble the stand. As for me, I intended to have it sitting on it's stand.

2) Swivel base: I didn't expect the base would allow it to swivel side to side. Because the TV is so thin and I've put it in a place that used to be occupied by a 17 inch thick DLP, there is plenty of room for the TV to swivel so you can sit on one side of the room or the other and still be in the sweet-spot. That's probably not a big deal for those who are buying the TV for it's 1.6inch depth.

3) Connections: I was disappointed in several ways. The information on Amazon indicated this TV has 2 RF inputs. It has only 1. My DLP had 2 RF inputs so I could connect my cable to one, and antenna to the other. In my area, with a moderate size antenna, I can pick up about 50 HD channels Out-of-the-Air. My cable company rebroadcasts only about 15 of those digital signals, and periodically changes what channel they're on.

In an attempt to make the TV very thin, it appears they've given very little room for high quality connectors. I had to remove the boot from my CAT6 (network) cable. I had to shave one side of the boot of my RG6 (RF) cable. Without these modifications, I couldn't use those cables.

In an era of HighSpeed internet, I would have expected the network connection to be a GigE, but it appears to only be 100BT. While 100BT is theoretically enough to stream even the highest resolution media to the TV, my media servers, media receivers, and PC all have GigE. When I switched to a GigE switch, I noticed considerable difference in viewing experience. A GigE chipset would have probably added only about $30 to the price of the TV -not a big deal.

I was however very impressed with this TV's ability to be a monitor my my laptop. I plugged it into the VGA connection and was surprised to get full 1920x1080 resolution.

4) Yahoo Widgets: It's certainly a neat idea to be able to see certain information on the screen, but the widgets that are available are unimpressive. You can get most of that information on your Cell phone, without interfering with your TV watching experience.

For about 3 years, I've looked for a way to watch YouTube videos on my HDTV. The YouTube widget leaves a lot to be desired. As far as I can tell.... there is no way to associate the widget with your YouTube account so you can't subscribe to channels, mark favorites, set up play lists, or view your history. The image quality seems to be better than I expected and it appears that it selects the HQ feed when available. Even attempting to search is rather difficult because the on screen keyboard is the worst I've ever used. The keyboard doesn't wrap side-to-side or top-to-bottom. If you're on the key in the top right, and the next key is in the bottom left, you have to move across a million keys to get to the one you need. In it's current state, the YouTube widget is worthless.

5) DLNA: Very disappointing. I have 3 media servers that have different implementations of the DLNA (non)standard. The media receives I've used that interact with the DLNA servers have a variety of flaws, but this TV is probably the worst of them. It's slow bringing up the lists of available content, and tends to refuse to play simple content, or doesn't play them correctly. I was hoping to replace the media receiver attached to my DLP, but I'm not able to because it has faster, better support for the DLNA server, as well as supporting SMB. If the TV can't do DLNA well, maybe Samsung should think about supporting SMB instead (this TV doesn't).

6) AnyNet+: This works a lot better than I expected. I bought a Samsung BD player with this TV. There are a couple of things I can't do with the BD player except with it's remote, but for the most part, it's a seamless experience. It would be nice to have a BD button on the remote -there's a TV button.

7) Image: Based on reviews I'd read elsewhere and here, I was expecting to have issues with various aspects of the picture. I haven't had any of the "spot light" or "dark corner" problems that people have reported. This TV has incredible darks, brights, and colors. If you get a chance to watch Survivor on this TV.... Do it! Some of the scenes are breathtaking.

I have noticed however, that the picture looks "too good." The high contrast, clear detail, and motion smoothing tend to make the picture too good. It's a little disturbing. I've had to adjust some of the picture settings to add a little imperfection.

8) Glare: I was expecting to see considerable reflection on the high gloss screen. With the DLP, during dark scenes, I could see my reflection staring back at me. With this screen, I don't see that reflection. In fact, I don't see any reflection. I haven't figured out why that would be -it's a high gloss screen.

9) USB media player: I'm impressed that this TV is able to play so many formats. I have media in some odd formats that I've had difficulty playing -even in Windows Media Player. This TV is able to play them. I'm dissapointed though that it's not able to play VOB files from the USB. It will play them with the DLNA player, so I would think it should pay them from a USB stick. But it doesn't.

I compared this TV with the 8000, and 8500 in the same size. When the TV's are sitting side-by-side, you're 5 feet away, and looking for specific differences, you can see those differences clear as day. When you look at each TV by them self, or if you're actually watching a move or show, it's hard to pick up those flaws/differences. Even watching the same feed with them side-by-side, I couldn't justify spending the hunderds of $$ more for the minor improvements of the 8000 or 8500.

Reading back, my review sounds very negative. But I'm very happy with this TV. It's much better than the DLP it's replacing both in picture quality and features.

Philips SA1929/37 2 GB Flash Audio MP3 Player with Case and SportsHeadphones (Silver)

• 2 GB Flash Audio Player with travel case and sports headphones
• MP3 and WMA Playback
• FM Radio with 20 present stations
• Voice recording to take notes or record anything anytime
• Small and wearable for ultimate portablility

I am very happy with this mp3 player. This is my first real mp3 player, and I decided videos and pictures weren't something I needed or wanted, so I first considered an iPod Shuffle. After my brother reminded me that with iPod comes the mandatory iTunes, however, I decided to look for another brand. I decided to go with Philips because I've had many good experiences with their products in the past.

The player itself is very nice, like the other reviewer said, being made of metal is great and it feels very durable. It's very easy to use and has the features I wanted. You can shuffle and repeat songs and all that good stuff. Adding music is really simple, just drag and drop. The sound quality is really good. The battery life is great. You just plug in into your computer to charge it and it doesn't take long at all. I've never had it go completely dead thus far.

The earphones are great. This was the main reason I chose this model over the red, 4 GB version that comes with regular earphones. I guess I have small ears because I always have problems with earbuds hurting my ears and falling out. Because of the little wrap around piece on these however, it is easy to get this pair to stay, and stay comfortably. I wear this when I clean my house and even when I look under my couch, turning my head almost completely upside down, these still don't fall out.

I also love the little case it comes with. I didn't really think I'd use this when I bought it, but I was wrong. This consists of two pieces, a stretchy arm band, and then a very snug case for the player itself. It makes the player feel very protected and has a velcro loop thing that you can attach to the arm band or a belt loop (much more convenient than putting the player in your pocket, which is what I thought I'd do). There is also a little loop at the very top which I guess could be used to attach it to a keychain or something similar.

All in all I would definitely buy this again, in fact my mother is thinking about getting one for herself.

Buy Philips SA1929/37 2 GB Flash Audio MP3 Player with Case and SportsHeadphones (Silver) Now

This MP3 player is an excellent alternative to Apple's iPod Shuffle. The Philips player has more features, like an FM radio and voice recording, and is very well built with a mostly metal case.

Unlike some other small, inexpensive MP3 players that are cheaply built, this player feels solid and of good quality. I purchased this for exercising to replace a Sandisk player whose headphone jack failed after only 3 months. The Philips player feels solidly built.

I considered the Shuffle, but the Philips is also really small and has more features for less money including a handy case. As a second player that's extremely small and lightweight, I'd recommend the Philips GoGear SA1929 near the top of the list compared to alternatives.

Read Best Reviews of Philips SA1929/37 2 GB Flash Audio MP3 Player with Case and SportsHeadphones (Silver) Here

I bought this mainly to listen to when I work out. I am very happy with the product! the sound quality is great and it comes with head phones, a carrying case, and arm band. It is very simple to operate and holds a charge for a long time. The head phones also stay in securely, they don't fall out. I highly reccomend this product to anyone in need of a nice user friendly MP3 player.

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This mp3 player is the best I have owned, including a ipod. The best feature is the FM setting. If you get tried of listen to your music or just want to hear the news it is nice to have that option.

Purchased this on August 12, 2009 it died on December 29. Completely dead and useless. To add insult to injury the "warranty" ended in November. $10 a month for an MP3 player is no bargain.

Philips 9173 Lapel Microphone for Digital Pocket Memos and Digital Voice Tracers (LFH9173/00)

This little microphone does a good job of being inconspicuous while delivering a clear voice recording. When I received it, the mic clip was on "backwards," with the wire on the outside, in front of the clip, which makes the wire more obvious to the audience. So I carefully pried the clip off of the wire (be careful, the wire channel is so tight you could damage the wire), flipped it over, and reattached it to the mic wire. Now it's even more unobtrusive.

I have another mic that uses batteries, but checking the batteries before each recording session is a pain, so this unpowered mic is a fantastic convenience! The cable length is perfect for slipping the recorder into your pants' pocket. If you have a stereo recorder, just remember to set it to Mono. If you leave the recorder on Stereo, you will only get sound on one side (the Left channel).

Bought this mic for a wedding video business. I plug this into my Zoom H1 and let it record at level 70-80. Works like a dream. The small tiny capsule is a gift from god to the wedding videographer. I never use the the wind screen bc i'm always in doors. Very Very durable and the cable is the exact length I need. I pop the recorder in the inside jacket pocket and let it roll. The audio quality is crisp and more often then not can pick up the person standing next to the them as well.

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I'm going to give this tiny microphone good points for durability. I got it to use with a mini-recorder. I keep the mic plugged in, with the cord wrapped around the recorder, in my purse. I fully expected the foam windscreen covering on the mic would be lost or torn almost at once, but it is staying on very well, and in good shape, despite the somewhat rough treatment. Likewise the clip and wiring is very good though it's taking some battering being unprotected in my purse.

Very decent omni sound quality. Using it in my vehicle, it's picking up the truck noise, but my voice--with the mic clipped at chest level--is perfectly clear. It's very much a step up from using the digital memo recorder's internal mic.

The cord is more than long enough for me to put my recorder in my truck's cupholder and clip the mic at chest/neck level. As someone else mentioned--and it's this way with my recorder, too, so probably a mic-specific issue, rather than recorder-specific--recorder needs to be in mono or you'll only get one channel.

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Exactly what we ordered. Just wanted we needed for church recordings. Nothing further needs to be said about this item.

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I am not audiophile, I just wanted an external mic for my Zi8 and this does a great job. I just wish cable was a little longer.

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TEAC GF-550USB Turntable/Radio/CD/USB Recorder with Cassette Player Wood Cabinet

• Easily convert your old records and cassettes to CD
• 3-speed turntable plays 33, 45, and 78 records
• Enjoy your music on the stereo 3x2, 3.5W speakers or hook it up to an external amplifier
• Listen to your favorite local stations on the built-in digital AM/FM tuner
• Control it from anywhere in the room with the included remote

Works well. I just want to be able to listen to old records and tapes using the digital equipment of today. I am not interested in taking the time to make each conversion perfect, so having a bit of imperfection (noise or other small imperfection) is not a problem for me. I have used this to convert, to digital format, about to 200 records to digital format. In addition, about 30 cassette tapes have been burned to CDs. Somewhat clumsy to connect directly to my computer, but that is because of space limitation on my desk. I have converted all of our old 78 rpm and 45 rpm records to digital format, then used no cost Audacity software to edit and remove pops and clicks. I find it easier to have the unit burn a CD and then put the CD in my computer, rather than to do the conversion directly to my computer using the USB connection. Audacity is also used to split tapes and CD conversions into single songs.

Note: The manual does say that using the auto track maker feature when converting a record to digital format is not recommended. I tried anyway on LPs. The manual is correct. It has worked well with audio tapes, but still sometimes makes a new track during a quiet spot in a song.I find recording the conversion as one file, then using Audacity to separate the big file into individual songs is fast and easy and more important, accurate.

Negatives: There is no automatic arm placement when starting to play records. Easy enough to manually move the arm and place the it in the proper position, but I do 'miss' from time to time. The tape player has no automatic stop for FF or REW, so one must manually press stop. The tape player has no auto silence finder, so converting anything other than the whole tape is tedious and requires one closely monitor.

In all other respects I am very pleased. It looks good and seems to be constructed well. I have been amazed at how well it plays and converts 78 rpm records. I used the OE 'needle' and washed each record first. These were records that have been played many times and had plenty of scratches and some chips. I used a new 'needle' for 45 rpm records, and yet another new 'needle, for the 33 rpm albums.

This has been a 5 star device in every performance respect, but gets only 4 stars because I wish it had the features listed above as negatives.

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The fm/am player has a bit of static in the sound. Maybe because I'm not using an antenna; but I'm loving putting favorite songs on cd from cassette tapes. Grandson has also put them onto his lap top via cable included.

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Plays OK, sounds Ok,but wasted 8 blank CD's trying to record.Teac customer service slow to answer trouble shooting questions. Will have to take it to an authorized service center to repair the CD recorder.

Swann DVR16-2600 16 Channel Security Recorder with Remote Access & Smartphone Viewing - White Box p

I've ordered this unit 3 times.. from 2 different vendors. Each time, the unit was shipped used and damaged. I suspect that vendors are buying semi-refurbished units from the same source, which is not good. I had to send each of the units back for the same problems. The units were missing the hard drives and missing screws that mounted the case top to the case. These units all looked like refurbished units. The first two units had to be shipped back to the vendor, but I got stuck with having to pay for return shipping even though it was not my fault. The return process was hell and it took over 2 months to get the first unit returned and another shipped to me. What made it worse, was after two months, I received a different replacement unit, but with the same exact problems hard drive was missing and screws were missing. When I sent the 2nd unit back, I decided to order for a different vendor. Guess what... the second vendor sent me a unit that was used with a missing hard drive and missing screws.

I would be extremely careful buying online at a discount price (I paid about $579 for system only no cameras). Out of sheer frustration, I did not want to hassle with a 3rd return and decided to eat the cost of the hard drive so I bought and installed my own hard drive.

Vendor issues aside. the unit itself is actually very nice. The features are very nice and I really like the remote monitoring capabilities. The ipad and iphone features also work very well for me. For a system with 16 cameras, this is one of the best I have. I use about 10 system for different properties I own, and SWANN by far has been most reliable for me. This system attracted me because I like the 16 camera setup and the very nice iphone and ipad app that i can use to monitor remotely. The system is nice and easy to use. I am very tech savy but needed help with the port forwarding. Fortunately. the Swann tech support team is very helpful (with only a few exceptions). The system will accept most standard cameras without any problems.

If I did not have all the hassle with used systems missing the hard drive, I would have given this product a 5 star. I like it that much. It's very reliable and setup is not too bad. If you are able to find and obtain a completely new system, then I think you would love this system. Unfortunately trying to save a few bucks online can cause you a lot of issues and frustration and a loss of more money if you have to buy and install your own hard drive. This is not a product you should be buy online, and definitely not from unknown vendor.

The Swann 16 worked ok but the remote did not work. I put in the new batteries supplied but they failed too. Unfortunately you need the remote to program the unit properly. Instead I had to install the cheap mouse that was very flakey and on top of a ladder, connect a VGA monitor and program it manually from the front panel. Pain in the butt but I got it to work. If it's purchased as new, shouldn't every thing work like new? This one works like used with so so parts. Oh well i got it from Amazon. Who do you complain to on Amazon. On Ebay I could just trash the seller for bad parts.

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Toshiba BDX2150 Wifi-Ready Blu-ray Disc Player - Black

• Full HD 1080p/24 fps video output provides an amazing cinema experience in the comfort of your own home.
• BD-Live opens up a world of online features, with a convenient USB Memory for storing saved content.
• Internet Connectivity makes access to online content from Netflix , CinemaNow , YouTube , VUDU , Pandora , Blockbuster and Picasa possible.
• AVCHD Playback for HD playback of your home movies.
• HDMI w/CEC Connectivity for easy setup to highdefinition video and optimum video playback

First off I'll state I bought this player for use as a second unit for my bedroom hooked directly to my 23" Samsung HDTV so I wasn't expecting much. This is is a budget blu ray player and one of the cheapest I've seen out there at this low price point. Therefore, I wasn't expecting a lot of frills as I expected Toshiba would cut back on features. However, the picture quality is HD 1080p on an HDTV as expected from any blu ray player.

To give this unit a shakeout, I plugged it into my primary home theatre system which consists of a Pioneer 7.1 AV receiver (Elite vsx-94thx), high end Klipch speakers, and a Philips 52" HDTV. I also use an ethernet cable for Internet access so wireless is of no interest to me.

My impressions:

Pro: As mentioned, the video quality is as expected 1080p HD quality. It is adjustable to 1080i or 720p (or lower) if neccessary to match your monitor.

The Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA lossless audio tracks sound just as good as my high end Sony Blu Ray player. For some reason my AV receiver decoders could not recognize the bitstream (no sound) when the player audio is set for "Bitstream HD". Not sure if this is a fault of the player or my AV receiver. I just set the audio in the player to PCM 7.1 and use the player surround decoders and all is good, which is my preference anyway.

I don't use subscription services like Netflix or Blockbuster but these are nice apps to have for anyone who uses them. This was first time I streamed Pandora internet radio and I was suprised at the quality of the audio very good!

Con: This player vibrates and can rattle with some audible noise when loading a disc. This part worries me as I tend to suspect units with significant vibration can break over time. This is my biggest complaint!

The manual could be better written! For a player this cheap I didn't expect a thick tome but some of the explanations could have been better and are somewhat missleading. For example, it gives a full diagram of how to connect to an AV receiver using a digital coaxial cable as if this is the preferred way instead of an HDMI cable. The lossless HD audio (Dolby TrueHD / DTS HD) do not work over a digital coaxial hookup so this should have been documented as a secondary option for this unit with emphasis on HDMI.

Video connectivity is limited to HDMI only. I realize Toshiba is cutting back on features to cut price but at the very least they should have included RCA composite jacks as a connectivity option. I wonder how many people bought this unit and found out later they could not connnect to TV's that don't have HDMI inputs. Not everyone has HDTV yet, still purchases DVD, and standalone DVD players are getting harder to find now. The manual talks about setting the video resolution to 480i if you have an SD TV (yes, blu ray players can work on standard definition TV) but a bit hard to do this without composite cables and that is all that will work for you.

Conclusion: A good buy for a budget Blu Ray player if basic features are all you need, as long as it is understood this is an HDMI centric player with limited connectivity and with no built in wireless internet access "out of the box" (separate adapter required and NOT cheap!). Throw in the extra streaming apps and it seems like a good deal.

My negatives are primarly on the units internal noise and vibrations. Perhaps this is because this player is so small in size! I'll follow up in 6 months if this has any negative impact on this player as far as breakage.

Update May 05/08/2012: Well, 6 months has gone by and this player is still working just fine. No complaints other than the "bang, whirrr, bang.." noise I still hear when a blu ray disc is loading. Once loaded and playing, the player does quiet down. Loading regular DVD discs doesn't produce such a noise when loading.

I am upgrading my review stars for this device from 3 stars to 4 for several reasons. For one, this blu Ray player has not broken down on me even after extensive use. Secondly, I care about the audio (I have since hooked this unit up permenently to an AV receiver for surround sound)and this player has the DTS HD Master Audio decoder built into it! Many manufacturers that sell low end blu ray players are eliminating the DTS HD internal decoders leaving just the Dolby TrueHD. Most blu ray discs I have bought, and I have over 300+ now, are encoded with DTS HD Master Audio, not Dolby TrueHD! This player has the DTS HD Master Audio decoder. My AV receiver cannot decode the DTS HD master audio when the player is set to bitstream. Therefore, to obtain the absolute best audio, I set this player to decode the DTS HD audio tracks found on most blu ray discs and stream it to my AV receiver via 5 or 7 channel PCM over HDMI, and it rocks!

I was critical about the lack of connections in the back. Though I still feel Toshiba should have included composite jacks in the back, I understand why they did not include component jacks. Blame the AACS organization (google it for more info)and its consortium (of which Toshiba is member) for enforcing what is called the analog sunset rule. All new blu ray players sold today, not just Toshiba, must limit the video output from component cables to Standard Definition 480i (not even progressive scan!). Therefore, the only way to obtain High Defintion video 720p and higher is through the HDMI with its copy protection scheme HDCP. Oh well...

Finally, like I mentioned in my original review, my Internet connection preference is ethernet cable. I did not and will not ding this player for not having Wi Fi built in. I knew it didn't have built in wireless capability out of the box when I bought it and didn't want it anyway! I'm fortunate to have a solid ethernet connection to my router, which should be preferred over wireless anyway. To those out there that expect or need a Wi Fi enabled Blu ray player that will work "out of the box" without an external adapter, then do not buy this player and look elsewhere.

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I actually like this player, but there are a couple of annoying features that erode its rating:

1. The internet adapter is separate--and worse--proprietary.

2. It does not remember your location in a disk

3. Every so often, it just can't remember what it is supposed to do with your wireless connection. You will see that you are connected, but that doesn't seem to be good enough for it to actually do anything, and an error message pops up. The machine tries to blame your router. Customer service, while pleasant enough, has no idea what's going on. But the problem is in the machine. If it happens to you, the solution is simple enough: just unplug your player for a minute or so and try again. Turning it off has no effect. Don't mess with your router or the proprietary internet adapter.

It's a strange issue too, because it will happen sometimes in the middle of playing something.

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I just purchased this Blu-Ray player about a week ago. I made the mistake of not really looking into them first and seeing what features each had before buying. There are a couple noticeable issues with this one, although it doesn't really effect the quality of the picture (which IS quite nice!). First issue is that this does not have an automatic playback, as in, if you turn the player off in the middle of a movie, it will not resume where it stopped; you have to completely start from the beginning. Second issue is that it has a long lag time before starting play at all up to five minutes before it reads and starts the disc. All the while it makes a really loud knocking noise. These are minor issues in the long run, but still annoying. I wouldn't have bought this particular one had I known that ahead of time, but I won't bother replacing this either since I already own it.

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This blu-ray player has excellent picture quality. The Netflix,Blockbuster,Vudu work great. You also receive a free movie download with Blockbuster and Vudu if you register the device on their website. Works excellent with a wired connect and as soon as I connected my ethernet cable it update the firmware. And you can attach a flash drive to the usb on the back for extra storage for the BD-Live Content. I used my 20.00 credit from Madden 12 to get the player for 58.00. Even at 78.00 this is a great player.

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I give it a 4-start for the following reasons (or points of improvements):

1. The player does not remember where it stopped playing. So, I have to start from the beginning after power cycle.

2. When the blue-ray disk is being loaded, somehow there is relatively loud noise. Every time. But it is quiet when it plays.