Optoma ML550, WXGA, 500 LED Lumens, 3D-Ready Mobile Projector

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $899.00
Sale Price: $469.00
Today's Bonus: 48% Off

Purchased this when no reviews were available on Amazon or the wider web so took a bit of a risk. I had an old optoma which claimed 3000 lumens, so I was a little concerned this unit wouldn't be bright. In fact, It's amazing.

Things I love:

* Tiny, literally, it's a true micro projector. Fits in palm of hand.

* Very bright, widescreen display, even at 4m in a light room. Incredible given size of projector.

* Easy setup and remote for keystone etc.

* High quality color and great constrast ratio

Things I don't love:

* It has a couple of small fans which create a high pitched sound all the time, to varying levels (depending on screen mode). During quieter parts in movies or TV it's noticeable.

Overall, this projector creates an incredible display from a tiny package and I'd highly recommend it to anyone in a smaller room or who travels a lot.

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Sunpak PF30XN Digital SLR Camera Dedicated i-TTL Flash for Nikon

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $149.95
Sale Price: $54.95
Today's Bonus: 63% Off

I'm a very enthusiast amateur hobbyist photographer and I used this on my Nikon D3000. I read all the time that everyone should get a flash, the on camera flash is never good enough; but of course i always thought my cameras look great(comparing to point and shoot). Over the last few months I've been looking for ways to take better pictures, i picked up a 35mm dx fast lens and it made a world of difference but while taking christmas pics I noticed there was never enough light so I decided to get a flash and after research settled on this one. let me tell you this flash is amazing; I uploaded the picture of my two year old that I took using this flash here so you can check it out yourself. that picture was taken with no lights on and one window partially open 15 feet away.

I have to say that I have read a bit about flashes prior to purchasing one and understanding guide numbers and how they are used, ttl, etc. I also looked at prices here on amazon, B&H and other random sites as comparisons and for the money I thought this flash was my best option and I was not disappointed. I have not seen any other flashes at this price or lower that performs as well as this flash.

As everyone said the one downside to the flash is the high charge time, however you can compensate for that with the proper batteries so after doing more research on the right batteries I bought Energizer Ultimate L91BP-4 Lithium AA Battery 4 Pack and it cut down the charge time to literally about 2 seconds.

this is a great flash and anyone looking for one in this price range should definitely look at this, being that Sunpak does have a history of making solid flashes plus the price point and performance I simply see it as a no-brainer for anyone in the market and on a budget. Before I ordered this one i added the SB600 to my wishlist hoping to buy it in a few months but I honestly don't know if i'll need to after using this one. That being said I don't do paid events and I only shoot for myself, friends and family.

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Nikon D3200 24.2 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $969.99
Sale Price: $639.00
Today's Bonus: 34% Off

I did hours of research before purchasing the Nikon D3200 with the 18-55mm standard lens along with the additional 55-200mm lens. I am far from an expert with any kind of SLR camera, having only experience with the normal point and shoot variety. I didn't want to shell out excessive amounts of money for a camera that would overwhelm me.

I was interested in being able to continue taking the quick snapshots that I usually do with my point and shoot, but also extend my ability to control more aspects of my pictures outside of just pressing the shutter button. I really wanted to have the ability to dictate exactly what would go into a photo that I take, what parts of it would be in focus or out of focus, and also be able to really extend the zoom range for distances I could never get with a basic camera.

I was impressed with how easy this camera was to use. Directly out of the box, without reading any instructions the familiar picture format settings made this camera an easy transition for a rookie like me. The main dial on the top of the camera has the icons that are recognized easily as the same picture formats that are found on the basic camera so I could just turn the dial and fly between Automatic, Portrait, Action, Landscape, and even a new "Child" setting just for chasing around my three year old!

The lens was easy to manipulate, and with Nikon's "VR" or vibration reduction capability built into each lens, the process of bringing a distant shot in close was a snap. Changing out a lens is a breeze as well.

This camera is perfect for anyone like me looking to step up their own photography skills. I am very happy that I chose this camera for my new adventures.

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Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX10P 6.0MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical

Customer Ratings:

I bought this camera on a whim and don't regret it. The price was great, the camera is light and easy to travel with, battery life impressive, cameras functions are easy to use and picture couldn't be better. I love the size of the screen shot and the many options this camera offers. I'd buy it again.

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Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Lens + 72mm UV Haze Protector

Customer Ratings:

Excellent kit. Lens takes awesome photos. Best price on the internet for brand new 28-135mm lens, plus you get all the extras included. This lens does not come in original packaging. This was probably taken out of a camera/lens kit and sold separately. There website shows that it is not in box but it did not explain this on the Amazon website. Otherwise I would have given them 5 stars. However, it comes with all Canon warranty paperwork and is packaged very well. Fast shipping, too. I received it 5 days faster than it said I would when I ordered it. Only took about 1 week. I will purchase from them again.

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Nikon D300s 12.3MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with AF-S DX NIKKOR

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $2,549.95
Sale Price: $2,546.95
Today's Bonus: $3.00 Off

Hello everybody, My name is Daniel and I am about as serious as you can be and still be considered "amateur". I have been taking photos on SLR's since I was 10 years old on an old film Minolta and I bought my first DSLR (a Nikon D50) and since then I have owned everything from a base line Canon XSi all the way up to the the best camera I have ever handled... the D300s. I have operated the D3, D3s, D3x and the top of the line professional $10k Canons, and this is still my favorite ALL AROUND camera. So here is the break down to why I love this camera and I will give you a list of pros and cons. I love this camera for many reasons... ... not many people can justify spending another $4,000 (2-3 times the money) when they are looking to spend around $1,500$2,000 for a good DSLR. So here is the benefits that I see to D300s over the other great Nikon models.

1. if you are into sports the D300s has a higher continuous frame rate than other models including the ever so popular full frame D700. With it's DX sensor it has a crop factor of 1.5 which means more bang for you buck when using a telephoto zoom lens. If you purchase the MB-D10 battery pack it will shoot at even higher speeds of 8fps when using continuous shooting and also allows for up to nearly 5,000 pictures to be taken on one charge (when upgraded battery is purchased). With 51 auto-focus and 3-D tracking you are almost guaranteed to have your subject in focus every time you take a picture. The D300s also features Active D Lighting which makes to so your pictures end up properly exposed so you don't end up with areas of under and over exposure which tend to be common in sports and in shadowy landscape photography

2. Freedom: although all Nikon DSLR's allow you to manually adjust your settings they are difficult to change until you get to the semi-pro D300 model. If you understand f-stops, DOF, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, focus points, light metering and other technical jargon and really want to experiment with all of these then a D300s is the camera for you. with shooting modes including: single, cont. low speed, high speed, timer, quiet, and mirror up mode this camera gives you all the freedom you could ever ask for.

3. Learning: this camera will make you learn the true in's and out's of photography. With the very accurate light meter it's not very hard to get the exposure right. No matter what your ISO and f stop is at.

4. User interface. With the dedicated live view and info button new to the D300s over the original D300 it cuts menu times down significantly however it no longer has the memory card hatch release switch. The D300s includes great features such as custom menus, easy to understand menus with the classic (?) button which will explain every camera function in easy to understand terms. On the fly changes include ISO, WB, Quality, shooting modes, a user adjusted fn button, AF/AE lock, light metering, and af adjustments. So the only limitations are your imagination. Selecting your focal point is as easy as looking in the viewfinder and pushing the directional button and watching the selector move around until you have exactly the right spot selected. With two selectors (one for shutter speed and one for f stop) it allows you to never have to take your eye out out of the viewfinder.

The bottom line (why you would choose this over any other Nikon DSLR):

why you'd choose this over the D90: 51point AF w/ 3D tracking, more fps, control of image adjustments, not much more money for a lot more freedom and creativity, contrast auto-focusing during movies, ability to utilize dual card slots (CF and SD), 14bit RAW, Active D Lighting.

Over the D700: full 12MP when using DX lenses rather than 5MP, more fps, $600-$1,000 less, movie mode, smaller pixels for more refinement at low ISO, 100% viewfinder coverage

Over the D3 and D3x: A ton of money, shooting speed, optimization of DX and FX lenses and movie mode, and built in flash, 100% viewfinder coverage which allows for better framing.

This is a great camera HOWEVER NOTE THE FOLLOWING!!!!!

The D700, D3,x,s have FX photo sensors which allow for a much bigger and brighter view finder, it also allows for a wider view (no crop factor instead of 1.5x like the DX) which means if you want more area in your pictures for such things as landscapes then the D700 or the D3 lineup maybe a better option because a 50mm lens in a DX camera looks the same as a 75mm lens on an FX camera.

The D700 and D3 lineup (minus the D3x) utilize the large FX sensor and still only have a 12MP capacity which means that the pixels are larger which allows for better depth of color, better definition in shadows, and better high ISO clarity. The D300 can go to extended ISO of 6400 however the image quality is poor at best when the D3 can shoot ISO 6400 all day long and look great. The D700 also does better at high ISOs than the D300 does because it has the same sensor as the D3 however the D3 still does better than the D700 at extreme ISOs. However also consider the fact that the smaller the image sensor the larger the depth of field so the D700 and the D3 are better for macro or portrait photography and the D300 will give you a larger DOF equivalent to about one f-stop.

THIS IS NOT A VIDEO CAMERA video is pretty good and the utilization of lenses is a great feature however if you want good video spend the money on a video camera. Even a Flip HD does better. The camera produces good video but it doesn't do well during panning if you plan on putting the camera on a tripod and filming then by all means its fine and with the option for an external mic to give you stereo sound is nice.

When it comes to portability, price, features, weight, usability, image adjustments ect. I personally believe it doesn't get any better I hope this review helped and I hope you get one too and really enjoy it as much as I have. This camera is the best of all worlds. I say save the money from an FX camera and buy a really nice lens or two or three for that matter. Anyway here is the camera of my dreams and hopefully the camera in your bag shortly I promise you'll love it, I know I do.

UPDATE: For all you HDR photographers look no further than the D300s you can easily create HDR photos by selecting "multiple exposures" and then setting up multi-step exposures for + or EV per exposure and after the exposures are done voila you have a beautiful HDR photo. Keep in mind however: you will need a cable release (I recommend the MC-36) for the multiple exposures. OR take a few pictures at different exposures and overlay the photos in the in camera retouch menu and there you have it perfect HDR photos every time! Goodbye Photoshop (for HDR anyway)

The D300s and flash compatibility: I have noticed almost no one has talked about the fantastic flash compatibility with the D300s over many cameras. I figured it needed to be covered so here it goes: The D300s is a DREAM to work with when paired with any Nikon Speedlight Dynamic Lighting System. My favorite and most frequently used flash is the SB-600 Speedlight which can be wirelessly operated for NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE with the D300s, you just have to know what settings to change. Unlike the D3 which has to either have a hot shoe flash controller unit or an SB-800 ($900) the D300s can operate a nearly unlimited number of flashes wirelessly without any accessories. So if you are like so many other Nikon users and own an SB-600 just push and hold the "Zoom" and the "-" button at the same time until you get to custom menu and cycle through until you can adjust the squiggly Z shaped line and turn it to on and it defaults to channel 3 then either push and hold the "zoom" and "-" button to get out of the menu or just push the power button. Then go to the "Custom Setting Menu" (the pencil) on your D300s and change "e3" "flash cntrl for built-in flash" to the Commander mode and set to channel 3, and pop up your built in flash and there you go...ABSOLUTELY FREE WIRELESS FLASH with perfect exposure compensation every time using a $250 flash unit. Hope it helps someone I know it helped me so have fun and remember to change it back to TTL flash when you're done.

UPDATE #2: I have had a lot of question on why you would get this over a D300 and here you go the main reasons for buying the D300s over the D300 is the designated info button, and live view button, movie mode, designated okay button instead of one crappy directional selector, quiet mode AND dual memory card slots. It's also 7 months newer so you won't have an out dated camera as soon. It also has slightly different menus and new software for shooting modes including landscape, and portrait modes.

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Nikon D80 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera Kit with 18-55mm ED AF-S DX

Customer Ratings:

[Following is a reprint of my body only review. I placed a review of the lens at the end.]

The Nikon D80, destined to replace the popular D70 series, is a great camera for Nikon fans who wish to upgrade from their D50s, 70s or 100s. It's also attractive enough to maybe get a few people to jump ship!

Here's the highlights:

1) 10.2 megapixel. A substantial upgrade from the 6mp of the older cameras, performance should be very comparable to the highly regarded D200 camera;

2) 11-point AF system. Similar again to the D200 in performance (though not as easy to change);

3) Large viewfinder (.94x magnification). Again, taken from the D200, this is a clear improvement over the previous cameras. Spec wise, this is also better than all the competition, even though other, personal preference factors need to be taken into consideration (such as layout of LCDs and focusing points).;

4) 2.5" LCD. Not only is it larger, it can also be viewed at a much wider angle--particularly handy when locked to a tripod.

The camera is small for Nikon (about like the D50), but has a good, firm grip for those with medium to larger hands. Controls are well thought out--easy to get to and use. Dampening of mirror noise is better than its competition.

Nikon's use of the SDHC format should be commended. These small cards will have no real disadvantage to the older CF hards once the HC versions start hitting the shelves, and should relieve the danger of "bent pins".

Things you've liked about previous Nikons have been retained. The D80 uses inexpensive wireless & wired remotes, and it still allows the built-in flash to control other Nikon Speedlights remotely.

Compared to the competition, the Canon Rebel XTi & Sony Alpha 100, the Nikon starts a bit in the hole, considering it's the most expensive camera (by $200 & $100, respectively). The XTi offers a nice "anti-dust" hardware & software solution; while the Sony offers in camera stablization. Both use the rear LCD for info status. While many may prefer the traditional LCD on top (like the D80), the rear LCD does have the advantage of being considerably larger text for older eyes (and on the Alpha, rotates when you rotate the camera for verticals). Too bad the D80 doesn't give you this option as well.

The XTi is smaller and lighter, maybe too small for many people. The XTi also does not offer wireless capability with the built-in flash (like D80/A100). It's battery (hence capacity) is a bit smaller.

The Alpha 100 being Sony's first modern digital SLR means that getting lenses and accessories my be a bit more difficult (even though it uses a lot from the older Maxxum cameras). It's also a bit noiser in its operations.

The D80 adds more AF selections than either of the above cameras, has nice enhancements like grid lines and double exposures. It also comes with a protective cover for the rear LCD.

Lens wise, they greatly outnumber those offered by Sony, particularly in any considered "Pro" grade. While Canon can compete in "Pro" grade with Nikon (particularly in longer length lenses), Nikon has a bit of advantage in wider angles for digital. Nikon only offers one size digital sensor, where as Canon must offer two series (for 3 different chip sizes).

Is the D80 worth the money? For anyone with Nikon lenses, undoubtedly. My recommendation for anyone with Canon EF or Minolta Maxxum lenses: look at those cameras first...but be sure to look at the D80 before you buy.

Lens review: Tremendous! The Nikkor 18-135 gives everybody what they want, an affordable lens with above average quality.

First, the 18-135 range is excellent for a kit lens, equivalent of a 27-200 in 35mm photography. It looks great, zooms smoothly, and balances well. The Silent Wave focusing motor is quiet, quick and smooth, and allows immediate manual focus (no hunting for switches). The internal focus is great for anyone using polarizing filters, and allows for a more efficient tulip shaped lens hood (supplied).

Second, the image quality is very good. The aperture is of average size, so don't expect images to jump out like large aperture lenses, but quality is good throughout the range.

Third, Nikon always includes a better than average 5 year warranty in the US on their lenses.

The only negative is that I always prefer a metal lens mount to a plastic one, although the latter keeps both the weight and cost down.

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Tokina AT-XAF124DXC 12-24mm Wide-Angle Lens for Canon

Customer Ratings:

Looking for an ultra-wide angle lens for your Canon crop sensor camera? This is one to consider. The lens itself is built to high standards. It's a hefty combination of glass and metal. It feels like this thing can withstand just about anything. The image quality is nothing to scoff at. At 12mm wide-open it is a little softer than I would like at the corners, but as you stop down this decreases. Throughout the rest of the focal range this lens is quite sharp.

At the time of purchase, I considered this and the Canon EFS 10-22--the Sigma 10-20 and Tamron 11-18 just didn't have the rave reviews that the Canon and Tokina shared. Both to me had very comparable image results. Aside from difference in cost, the constant f/4 was one of the contributing factors to me buying the Tokina over the Canon.

If you are considering the Tokina lens, I think that you won't be making a mistake. This is a quality performer at a reasonable price. As with all photo equipment, you should test it out at your local camera store to see if it's for you.

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Power Acoustik HDVD-9BK 8.8-Inch Pre-Loaded Universal Headrest

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $1,999.99
Sale Price: $514.99
Today's Bonus: 74% Off

Let me first start out saying that I have owned this product for over a month now and it has exceeded my expectations. I chose headrest monitors instead of the drop down roof mounted ones because I did not want to obstruct rear view vision and allow independent viewing / game play while on long road trip. These cd /dvd players mounted in the headrest eliminate the extra wiring to a dvd console.

My only hesitation from purchasing these earlier was from not knowing if there was any noise coming from the fan / dvd that would drive me bonkers, but I was very pleased to learn this was not the case. These units were quiet the only thing I can hear from the rear were giggles from the Monty Python movie my son was watching while we were on a three hour trip. Simply Awesome.

I installed these myself since there was power under the seat (for power seats), but had to call support to find out which post carried the power and which were a/v. Tech guy was helpful power cable is on DVD side(FYI). The size of the screen was perfect it looks alot bigger than I imagined and I am glad I did not go for the bigger screen that would have been problematic. The brightness and quality of the picture was superb. comes with two remotes and good to use since touch screen is great if you don't have the remote handy, but you will have to put up with finger smudges.

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Olympus Evolt E300 8MP Digital SLR with 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6

Customer Ratings:

This is the latest in my journey through Olympus Digital Cameras

(D340R, 460,560,2020z, 5060 -some of which I have reviewed on Amazon). The choice of the E-300, used for some commerical work I do, was not so easy because I have a bag full of Pentax K lenses and was mightily tempted by the Pentax digitals. But, having batteries, familiarity with the menu system, and really very good experience with Olympus products and service over the years, I took the plunge and got the E-300 and its kit lens. Then got a K mount adapter for my Pentax lenses and set to work.

Ok, there are some quirks and I will get them out of the way:

a slight magenta cast to some greens, easily fixed in post-processing or fiddling with WB, and the noise reduction system can just slightly dull grass in photos, also easily fixed

now and then a bright spot will fool exposure slightly when using the full screen sensor (I've learned to use the center-weighted and spot meters to take care of this)

I am not overly impressed by the lcd, which doesn't seem to have the brilliance of the one on my 5060.

I wish Oly had added an xD slot for those of us with a collection of these cards, purchased for use with older models

Now to some good stuff:

don't worry about some reviews claiming the camera is noisey and doesn't like 800/1600 ISO. I get fine results, which are easily fine tuned in Photoshop Elements, Neat Image or other programs, and which can be helped mightily by using a wide aperture prime lens at 400.

colors are brilliant and resolution sharp

the Oly jpg algorithms are very good, meaning that for most 'normal' shooting one can be perfectly happy using the best HQ mode -lots of testing on my part discerns very little visible difference with SHQ. This is good to know when traveling or when you want to keep some disc space; triage carefully when you see that once in a lifetime shot coming and then use the highest modes

Raw is very good but by all means avoid the Olympus Master converter, which is terribly unintuitive, in favor of Adobe's.

battery life is excellent with the BLM1 battery (and yes, you can get good backups on that auction site for less than ten dollars each; and they work just fine); I've only run one battery down all the way and that was with multiple in camera editing and a download of 150 shots via USB.

flash is fine (though watch lens hood shadowing at highest aperture); I've supplemented with the FL-36 and FL-20, both of which work flawlessly, even for the brain dead like me. Like many cameras this one will occasionally underexpose so I generally program the flash for a little extra oomph.

the camera feels rugged and well made; a little tank that feels good in one's hand and thanks to lack of prism on top slides easily into a small bag.

the kit lens is really quite fine

K lenses, including a Tokina ATX telephoto zoom work easily and brilliantly, as does an OM lens with adapter.

-even for the 'advanced' among us, it is good to have the range of scene modes on this camera. They work.

-vastly improved instruction manual.

-burns very quickly, even to standard CF cards.

-finally, this thing really keeps dust off the sensor. I'm constantly fiddling between lenses in very different environmental situations and have yet to see a spec. Yes, some appear on the outer mirror, but that is easily and harmlessly cured.

Olympus does not have the cache or marketing power of Nikon and Canon. And the sensor on this 4/3d's camera is smaller than those on its main competitors. Yet, I find it to be a solid and

unflashly product in line with most Oly cameras I have owned. This company is good at miniaturization, glass, and compression algorithms. If you need it Oly service is excellent (quick and friendly as I found out when I screwed up something in my 5060, also a superb camera).

I'm sure that there are fine photos to be had with any of the major dslr's on the market and not having a lot of comparative experience with other brands probably don't know what I am missing. But if you want an elegant workhorse with high resolution and brilliant photos give this one a careful look.

------------

I just thought I would provide an update for anyone who runs across one of these now ancient cameras. The bottom line is that though I have two other Oly dslr's (E-510m, and E-330) I continue to have serious attachment to this camera, which is now my 'car camera' sitting in a bag through heat and cold, with a set of 'backup' lenses. With some tweaking of the camera's color settings --slight increases in contrast and saturation -the colors are amazing, the best I think of any of my cameras. There's just something about the sensor. My favorite combo is the camera and the very small and light Oly 14-42. It focuses quickly and accurately, and just feels great in the hand. Of course, some caveats. No image stabilization. Don't get too serious above ISO 400. But sometimes we get too, too spoiled by the latest and greatest. This isn't one of those cameras, but it keeps one thinking seriously about photography, reminds me that for generations pros used cameras much more simple than this to create great images.

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Actiontec My Wireless TV WiFi / HDMI Multi-Room Wireless HD

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $229.99
Sale Price: $185.85
Today's Bonus: 19% Off

This is what I have been looking for for years! Almost. We bought 3.

-THE GOOD --

At our office we got over 75 feet and through two insulated metal studded walls, and the picture was perfect! Really incredible! Light years better than other HDMI wireless technologies (vizio had to essentially be line of sight) and baluns we have tried.

The interface to the receiver is very useful, most of these transmitter/receiver/baluns gadgets only work or don't, the dont tell you if the transmitter is on/off or if there is a source signal, this unit does that, and it has a drop down so you can choose a transmitter unit to pull from (the limit is 4 (after the Dec 2011 firmware update)).

The image quality is great, didn't notice any kind of compression or signal degradation.

-THE BAD --

The issues we have with the units are all regarding the slight delay between the source and the output. *(See Update)

Actiontec Support emailed me this:

"There really is no way to prevent this since the signal is going over wireless and there will always be some delay. You could try changing the channel in the Rx unit settings, but some audio delay is going to happen, its unavoidable."

This becomes an issue where you have two tvs in the same room and they both need to have some audio output. For instance, I have a basement where we want to watch the game on one side of the room and play pool / darts on the other side of the basement while watching the game on another TV, in this case both sides would need their own audio, when we tried this the echo caused by the delay was pretty irritating. Also I want to point out, it is just not an audio lag, the picture lags too...which is fine considering that most people will use this in another room entirely.

Also, if you are going to use the MYWirelessTV to hook up a projector (or a TV) and use the sound from your AV receiver that is hooked into the source then your audio and your picture will not be synced, which means you will notice some lip syncing issues. I am not sure everyone will notice, but we did. Some AV receivers have the ability to tweak audio delay, so you might have a work around there. I estimate that the video/audio was about 200ms off.

Actiontec mentioned that you can use this for games, I doubt you could use this for twitch games...it would just introduce too much lag (but i haven't tried it yet...when i do, and my mind changes, I will update this review). For music games like Rockband, they come with a calibration tool, so you might be able to use that to get around sound syncing/control issues??? * (See update)

*(Updated below) This is all wrong ----> My last issue is it doesn't appear that you can pair/link the transmitter and receiver to not allow another unit to pick up the signal. This might be fine for most households, but in condos and apartment buildings you might not want to tell your neighbors to go out and get this awesome new tech since they could pull in your signal, so if 2 of your neighbors have 2 each, then I am not sure how you would fit in another set? Again I will update this review if there is solution for that. *(see update..i was totally wrong)

-CONCLUSION --

Bottom line, the MYWirlessTV is awesome..and it has solved a ton of issues and wiring for our office around our video feeds, but I found it less useful in a couple specific scenarios at my home due to the slight delay caused by the transmission.

If you are just adding a TV to another room, (or yard!) we found the MYWirelessTV a near perfect implementation.

*2/24/2012 UPDATE.*

It is better! We received a couple more of these.

Also there is a pairing feature, which I should have known because there is a "Pairing" button on the front, this allows the user to pair up different kits, but also prevents other people from inadvertently picking up your signal.

Regarding the Sync issues, as mentioned in the comment section (thanks!) there is a whole different mode for gaming found in the menu. I wish I would have read the manual and I wish the support guy would have mentioned it. After testing the Gaming Latency mode, we found that the new firmware performed much better than the previous firmware, so that solves problems for us here at the office, but I haven't tested the image quality at home with real tv content

Also. Actiontec support is sending out new USB adapters because some are having problems with connections to some usb flash drives (mine included) I cannot get my transmitters to update because of this.

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Sony DCRPC110 Digital HandyCam Camcorder with Builtin Digital

Customer Ratings:

I recently decided to get this camera and sell off my TRV900 because I really found I needed something smaller to carry around. It was a tough choice, as the image quality and stills from the TRV900 were decidedly better. But I just couldn't pass up the size. This one is so small for the features you get. It has many, many well thought out features. For instance, it has a little swing-down handle to make filming easier (always an issue with these little digicams). You can hook the camera directly to your computer through USB, no need to get a card reader. Pop-up flash is nice for doing indoor shots. Easy to use menus. Fairly high resolution stills for a digital camcorder. I love the Sony batteries that tell you how much time you have left...same for the tapes and memory cards. Plenty of features that a camera at this level should have.

Now, for the negatives. No progressive scan. Let me say that again. NO PROGRESSIVE SCAN!! Heaven knows why Sony continues to leave this feature off. It was so noticeable between this camera and the TRV900 which does have progressive scan, when you capture stills off of video. The ones from this camera are nowhere near as good. Not even close. If the subject is moving at all (which is usually the whole point of trying to capture a still from video), without progressive scan it is just not as clear, sharp, colorful, etc. Why Sony does not put progressive scan on their cameras is beyond me. Most of the other gripes I have with this camera are fairly minimal. Some of the buttons are fairly hard to locate, the zoom is hard to use and rather touchy, the photo button is right next to it so I often hit the wrong one, etc. Fairly typical problems for a camera of this size. Were it not for progressive scan being missing though, this would definitely be a 5-star camcorder. Without it, sorry Sony. You blew it again.

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VERIZON WIRELESS CELL PHONE MOTOROLA BARRAGE V860 V 860 NO

Customer Ratings:

If you are skeptical about buying from this company, don't be! The item was shipped and received within two days of ordering. After I received the phone I called the phone number on the invoice and was immediately connected to a live person! Unheard of today, right? She was most courteous and helpful. Although the phone was a little dirty (I was told that's the way it came from the distributor), with a little alcohol and cotton swab it now looks brand new!

Do not think twice about ordering from here! TEN stars!

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Fujifilm INSTAX 210 Instant Photo Camera

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $115.99
Sale Price: $58.95
Today's Bonus: 49% Off

I love my Fuji Instax. The integral film is less expensive than Polaroid was, and the camera, though a bit large and lighweight, is easy to use, sharp outdoors, and functions rather well.

The flash always fires, which is a bit of an annoyance sometimes, but mostly it doesn't matter. The colors from the Instax film are superb beautiful blues, pinks and a nice gray scale too, with decent sharpness, all at a fairly low price. One can only wish that Fuji or some other manufacturers would produce a film back to take this excellent film over to other cameras same as Lomo did with the mini-Instax. Perhaps they will. In the meantime, this is such an easy camera to use, produces excellent outdoor images, OK inside shots at parties and the like, and everybody just loves to see that picture come up, like magic!

Fuji has taken film to a new level. Let's hope it continues, as analog film aficionados in the US are just now discovering this resource, which apparently has been around for a while in Japan and elsewhere, but not in the US.

Pros: Good colors, sharpness, fast film speed (800) and decent image size. Lower film price, and instant results!

Cons: Indoors you always have to use the flash, the camera is a bit big and lightweight, but so what, the cool factor when you show up with this thing is well worth it. This camera is much better outdoors than indoors.

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Vivitar ViviCam V7022 Digital Camera (Strawberry)

Customer Ratings:

First of all, I sure wish I would've researched this camera a bit more before I bought it! It was on sale, and my daughter had asked for a camera for her 7th birthday. Well, we have had the camera in operation about a month, if that, and it is TOTAL JUNK! Although I didn't pay much for it, I still wasted over $40 and now have to replace it!!

On the first use, we noticed more pictures than not were blurry...we hadn't gotten around to printing any of them off, but from what you can see on the tiny LCD screen, alot of pics had to be deleted. After the 2nd or 3rd use, the shutter would not close when the camera was turned off...I couldn't even manually try to shut it just to keep fingerprints, dust, etc. off of the lens. Then today, my daughter turned it on, and the LCD screen was like SNOW! You couldn't even make out the pictures at all.

So....after writing this review, I will be throwing this month-old camera directly in the trash!!! And btw, I don't write many reviews and certainly have never, ever written one this negative...but I definitely felt compelled to let others know not to waste their money!!!!

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VIZIO Thin and Light CT15-A1 15.6-Inch Laptop

Customer Ratings:

First off, let's just get this out there: paper spec-wise, few other laptops can compare to this laptop in my opinion. Laptops with 15" 1080p IPS screens are very few and far between, and then weighing just 4 pounds and being very thin is icing on the cake. The rest of the system is pretty average for this price range nowadays, but if you haven't experienced a screen like this you might just not realize how big of an asset it truly is.

Now, the caveats: the first sample I got had a rattly fan. It was very noticeable, and made me worry that it might break after a short amount of time. Wanting my laptop to last more than a few weeks, I returned it and got another which was quick and painless, but it definitely did not inspire confidence in Vizio's build quality. My second CT15-A1 is fine, but I'm strongly considering the 3 year aftermarket warranty that Amazon offers just in case it has problems down the line. Not only is this laptop priced very aggressively, but Vizio is brand new to the laptop space, so it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect some growing pains with early models. Subjectively, the laptop feels like it's actually built very well. The aluminum body is stiff, and there's very little screen flex. The screen hinge is stiff without being too stiff. There are no obvious build quality defects like bumps under the keyboard or that kind of thing (which I had with my previous Dell XPS M1330).

With that out of the way, I do have to say that I truly love this laptop. It's crazy lightweight for the specs. The matte 1080p IPS screen is beautiful, and when calibrated with my X-Rite i1 Display 2 (using the Lacie Blue Eye software), the average dE is less than 0.2. Read: this display is capable of near perfect reference color reproduction. I can do Adobe Lightroom work on this laptop without color reproduction concerns any more, in fact I moved away from a separate monitor to save space on my desk and for a little extra cash.

The keyboard is very nice tactile-wise. Before I got this laptop, I was using a mechanical keyboard with Cherry Blue switches. So I definitely appreciate the benefits of a nice keyboard. And while the keys aren't the same as a mechanical keyboards', they're still nice. The travel is pretty limited but there's good feedback. It's not too loud but also isn't silent. Everything's laid out pretty nice, although I'm not a fan of the arrow key setup and I hate the complete lack of home/end/pgup/pgdown navigation keys. I think the default option of the F1-12 keys acting as special function keys without needing to hold fn is an excellent decision. I only ever used F5 for refreshing a page, which can be accomplished by ctrl-r, but on the other hand I need volume, playback, and brightness control very often. One thing I have noticed that could be a problem: sometimes it seems like key presses aren't noticed, and other times it seems like I unintentionally double press a key. I'm a very fast typer (about 90 words per minute on a 1 minute test), so it could be that I'm just being really inaccurate with a new keyboard, but if you're concerned about this I would check for a trend in other reviews.

The touchpad is okay at best, and if it's having a bad day it's absolutely terrible. This is my first multi-touch touchpad, so my experience here should be noted as very limited overall. I like the gestures, and scrolling usually works pretty well. I really like that the entire touchpad clicks in for a left click no more need to keep my left hand on the click button. I dislike that the default option for touch to click is "on". This was an amazingly stupid decision that wreaks of limited to no end-user testing. It makes typing almost impossible because there's no palm detection and merely brushing the pad moves your cursor. But thankfully this can be turned off, and as I mentioned previously the push-in-entire-pad-to-click design makes it unnecessary anyway. As another reviewer mentioned, sometimes the touchpad decides to just take a break and turn off. Other times, it decides to get all coked out and just randomly go around the screen, in no clear relation to what I'm actually trying to do. I'm not exaggerating. It's just completely broken in that respect. I have the most recent drivers and occasionally this happens with just no warning at all. It's infrequent enough that it's not critical, but it's pretty pathetic. Finally, it should be noted that there's no off button for the pad. I feel this is OK with touch to click being set off, since then the pad shouldn't randomly click unless you have a habit of bending your wrist to go between your hands and pressing down pretty stiffly, but it's still something some users might be concerned about.

So, basically, plan on using a trackball or a mouse with this laptop.

The ports are a little limited. Just two USB ports and only HDMI kind of sucks. Lots of projectors are still behind the curve and only have VGA, but the D-Sub connector is huge so I can't blame VIZIO for leaving it out.

The headphone audio is really nice. I would consider myself a practical audiophile I don't believe in $500 power cable snake oil, but I appreciate a good DAC and good pair of cans. In that regard, the audio from this VIZIO is pretty respectable. There's none of the hissing that you get with truly awful DAC/amp combos, but it's also nothing to write home about and the gain is pretty low. Shouldn't be a problem unless you're planning on driving expensive high impedance cans, in which case you're probably the type of person to have an external DAC/amp combo anyway.

Also, cool feature sidenote: like smartphones, the laptop detects when headphones are plugged in, and it remembers the difference between last speaker volume and last headphone volume. So otherwise, you can have the speaker volume set to muted but the headphone volume set to average so you won't disturb anyone but still not have to mess with the volume constantly.

Finally, the OS experience is very nice. Turning on from standby is instantaneous. Turning on from hibernate isn't blazing fast but still only about 20 or 30 seconds. Turning on from being completely off or restarting takes about probably only 15 or 20 seconds. Not having bloatware is a godsend. This is the first prebuilt I've ever bought where I didn't do a Windows fresh install first thing. I just uninstalled the Bing and Zune crap and I was good to go 30 seconds later. Also, as a sidenote, there aren't ridiculous brand stickers plastered all over the place. The CT15 has a great design that's very nice to look at, and they obviously cared more about the user experience than absurd brand identity/advertising when they were designing it.

Final geek note: I haven't tried yet, but I see any kind of hardware changes being difficult or impossible. The entire underside of the laptop is a single piece, so there's no easy-to-access hard drive, RAM, etc. doors. This is frustrating, especially since I'd like to drop in a 512GB SSD in a few months since the prices keep dropping and 128GB is a little small, but I would research into this more if you're considering the laptop and need this capability.

Anyway, to summarize, this is an amazing laptop for the price. The screen is superb, and doesn't even require a "for the price" qualifier. Everything else is pretty average, with nothing being terrible except the touchpad depending on how much you plan on using it and if you're OK with messing with the settings (very easy to do). The internals are nice, but you might not be able to change them (research this if it matters to you). It's indeed very thin and light, and again at a great price. I recommend it, but consider the quality control risks before buying., and if you're willing to also carry around a mouse or a trackball.

Really I would have given this laptop a -1 star for the touchpad, and -0.5 stars for the one I had to replace. But since you can't do out of 10 ratings, I think a 4 is more appropriate because the rest of the laptop is good and the screen is greaet.

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Denon AVR-X1000 5.1-Channel Networking Home Theater AV Receiver

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $499.99
Sale Price: $449.00
Today's Bonus: 10% Off

The Denon AVR-X1000 is the successor to last year's 4-1/2 star rated Denon AVR-1713. Most features are the same as the AVR-1713. Like the AVR-1713, the AVR-X1000 is a 5.1-channel surround sound receiver that accepts a total of six input sources, plus TV audio as a seventh input source.

Over the past few years Denon has been gradually improving the look of their receivers. The AVR-X1000 has the look of a very high-end receiver, comparable to Marantz and Pioneer Elite receivers, yet it sells at a mid-range price. The photos above don't quite do it justice.

What's new?

* The AVR-X1000 has a longer warranty (3 years) than the AVR-1713 (2 years).

* The speaker connections on the back of the AVR-X1000 are color coded for easier setup. Last year's model did not have color-coded speaker connections.

* The AVR-X1000 supports both AM and FM radio. Last year's AVR-1713 only supported FM radio.

* Both models support Apple Airplay, Internet radio, Sirius XM, and Pandora, but the AVR-X1000 adds support for Spotify, too.

* Both models support MP3, WMA, AAC, and FLAC audio formats. The AVR-X1000 adds support for the Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) as well.

* The AVR-1713 used up and down buttons to select the input source. The AVR-X1000 uses a more attractive dial on the left-hand side.

* The AVR-X1000 has updated setup software.

* Denon's list price for the AVR-X1000 ($499) is $50 higher than last year's AVR-1713 ($449).

Comparison with the step-up Denon AVR-X2000:

* The AVR-X1000 supports 5.1 audio, while the step-up AVR-X2000 supports 7.1 audio.

* The AVR-X1000 has 80 watts per channel, while the AVR-X2000 has 95 watts per channel.

* The AVR-X1000 does not support Ultra HD (4K) upscaling, but the AVR-X2000 does.

* The AVR-X2000 has more HDMI and analog audio input jacks than the AVR-X1000. They have the same number of digital audio input jacks.

* The AVR-X2000 supports one component video input, while the AVR-X1000 does not.

Comparison with the step-down Denon AVR-E300:

* Both models support 5.1 audio.

* The AVR-X1000 has 80 watts per channel, while the AVR-E300 has 75 watts per channel.

* The AVR-X1000 has a 3-year warranty, while the AVR-E300 has a 2-year warranty.

* The AVR-X1000 supports a zone 2 line out, while the AVR-E300 does not.

* The AVR-X1000 supports the high-resolution Audyssey MultEQ XT room correction software with 6-8 measurement positions, while AVR-E300 only supports the medium-resolution Audyssey MultEQ. Both models support Audyssey Dynamic Volume and Audyssey Dynamic EQ.

* The AVR-X1000 has better-quality speaker connections. The AVR-E300 has new "Easy Connect Speaker Terminals" which work best with bare speaker wire and seem aimed at novices.

I have two complaints about the AVR-X1000. First, it doesn't support Wi-Fi. The network connection requires Ethernet. For Wi-Fi, CNET likes the Onkyo TX-NR626. Second, it is stingy with its digital audio inputs. The AVR-X1000 has only one coaxial and one optical digital audio input. By comparison, the competing Yamaha RX-V475 and Yamaha RX-V575 each have two coaxial and two optical digital audio input jacks (but fewer total device inputs). Aesthetically, however, Onkyo and Yamaha receivers have a utilitarian look that can't compete with this year's Denon line.

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