Sony Bloggie Touch Camera, 4-Hour (Black)

Customer Ratings:

I've had this camera for about a week now and have been loving it ever since. I've used another "flip" camcorder and the Bloggie Touch puts it to shame.

Pros:

1. Love the quick on and record. Great for spontaneous videos of the little one.

2. The touch screen interface makes it both useful and fun to use the big screen.

3. The still pictures come out brilliant, when the lighting and focus is good.

4. The battery charges up super fast and stays with you for a whole day of shooting.

5. The image stabilization is good. You can take decent video while walking around and panning too. Note that it is not optical, but electronic SteadyShot stabilization.

6. The lens is very good quality and the pictures are crisp.

7. Really like the "snap picture while recording" feature. I find myself using that feature the most. The video doesn't stall while the picture (full 12M resolution) is being taken and since the focus and exposure are usually locked well while you're in the middle of the video, the pictures come out great.

Cons:

1. In low lighting, there is quite a bit of graininess and using the digital zoom makes it much worse.

2. While the lens is good quality, the auto-focus mechanism is really very slow. If you move around the camera too much before focus has locked on, the auto-focus will almost never lock.

3. What I really miss with this camera is a flash. Even a tiny one would help with low light pictures.

4. Minor annoyance: to preview a picture right after you take it, you have to go through at least two clicks. Sony could have designed it so that it always goes to the last picture taken by default, instead of the thumbnail list of all pictures/video on the device.

I decided to purchase this camera over a still camera that can do video because:

1. This one is dead simple. One button to turn on, one to take video and one to take stills. This makes it both easy and quick to use.

2. This one can do 1080p video and 720p at 60fps.

3. Its under $200 and is smaller than your phone.

4. Its got internal flash and USB connector no more SD cards or cables. 8GB is enough to get you through the day before you can come back to your laptop to dump the pictures.

I decided to purchase this camera over other ones in the same category because:

1. Its got a big display and the touch screen is fun to use.

2. Its got a better lens system than the others.

3. Its got (some) image stabilization.

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RICOH Digital Camera GXR RICOH LENS A16 24-85mm F3.5-5.5 GXR+A16

Customer Ratings:

I have been using the GXR with the 2.8 28mm equiv module for nearly 2 years and the GXR with the with the Leica mount module for about a year. I recently picked up the A-16 24-85 module.

First, let me note that GXR is a great system. The 24-85 module, like the 28mm module, provides a sharp lens. The camera with module packs into a relatively small space and is easy to carry on long shooting strolls. I love the 24mm equiv wide end of the lens. I find myself using this the most. It is sharp, and the camera captures nice detail. I shoot RAW and find that the files (DNG files, another plus) contain an awful lot of detail that you can bring out in Lightroom which lets me shoot in contrasty light without blowing our highlights or losing detail in shadows. For this, Ricoh gets a "well done."

The zoom is operated using two toggle switches on the rear of the body. While a bit slow for my taste, it seems to work as well as other cameras that don't let you zoom manually. So, while I would prefer being able to turn the lens to zoon, this isn't so bad. It's even better when you realize that you are shooting with a larger sensor than most of these toggle zooms.

I like to use "snap" focus when I'm using the 24mm focal length. I set it at 1.5 meters (you have several choices) and the zone of focus is pretty wide and very usable. The auto-focus I use for other focal lengths is pretty good, too, but the Snap feature is splendid.

Ok, it's time for my gripe. When you shoot with RAW, the buffer is really slow, even after taking a single RAW image. If you use continuous shooting, you get three images before the camera stops taking photos and then you get to look at the last image for between 10 and 15 seconds before the camera is ready to shoot again. I wish the folks at Ricoh would work on this, since it can be annoying.

Despite this one glitch, I love the camera and all of the modules. You just have to keep a song in your mind to fill the time while the buffer clears!

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Acer Aspire One AO722-0473 11.6-Inch HD Netbook (Espresso Black)

Customer Ratings:

This 11.6" 1.0Ghz [1.33 turbo] netbook packs a punch for its size and low power consumption. The AMD C-60 mobile dual core processor runs well enough to play videos without skipping and efficiently enough to stay charged for as much as 7 hours. I opted for this model over the earlier 722-454 version for several reasons: its dual core processor, 2GB of RAM installed/ upgradable to 4GB, and 320GB hard drive.

If you're still not sold on a netbook over a tablet or standard laptop read on.

Tablets are still recreational devices, fun, chic in cafes, but they're still mostly for playing games and looking busier than you actually are. They have a few practical features, but all require a keyboard, which is an extra expense, and conveniently included with a netbook! If you do a lot of writing, typing, or work related proposals and editing, the DataViz optional word processor for Android tablets won't replace MS Office. It has limited functionality and frequently crashes without auto-saving. If you're thinking about an iPad or AirBook, remember, you're buying into a complete product line of computers, music, videos and applications which are virtually useless on non-Apple devices. If you buy one Apple product, you have to buy them all. This is great for some, but expensive for most.

As I said, if you're comparing this netbook to a traditional laptop, this model doesn't require you to make a lot of sacrifices in your performance expectations. Just remember, netbooks don't have CD/DVD drives, no 10-key, and smaller screens. One complaint I have with this model is that it's missing a built-in bluetooth antenna. Irritating, but easily remedied with a low-profile USB dongle in one of the three available USB ports, which is more than on most netbooks. I would recommend spending the extra $25 to upgrade the RAM to 4GB when you purchase it. It's very easy to install yourself--no under the keyboard poking around required. There's a single philip's head screw in the middle of the bottom plate, unscrew it, slide forward and you'll find the single DIMM looking right at you. Anybody who played with shape blocks as a kid can figure it out. All in all, this is a good buy for 329.99. It's cheaper than most tablets and standard laptops and you can use it for actual work out of the box, no extra $50 keyboards required. Please reply if you have any other questions I can answer.

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Pentax SMC DA* Series 50-135mm f/2.8 ED IF SDM Telephoto Zoom

Customer Ratings:

After anxiously awaiting the new DA* series of lenses, I bought it the day it was released. I had to photograph the Ujena Bikini Jam in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and KNEW that I needed the benefits of a tightly sealed, weather proof lens because of the intense humidity. When I first mounted the lens to the body of my K10D (after updating the firmware of course) I was surprised at how incredibly quiet the motor is. I've never had this experience with any lens I've owned. I'm so used to the slight "whir" sound that lenses produced, it was hard for me at first to tell if it was working! The lens focuses quickly and accurately. The lens is nicely finished with nice rubber ribbing on the barrel. It accepts 67mm thread size filters. There may be a temptation to get a standard type Skylight filter. Spend the extra money for the Super Multicoated type. After all, if you spend nearly $1,000 for a lens, why would you skimp on a lower priced filter? The manual focusing mechanism turns freely after you reach the end of the focal length on either side. This is done so that you do not damage the focusing mechanism. For manual focus option, instead of setting your camera body to manual focus, the lens has a switch that allows you to switch between manual focus and auto focus without having to have your body set on manual focus. This is convenient. If the lens is hunting you can easily click over the switch with your thumb without having to remove the camera from your eye. There is no longer an aperture ring on the new digital series lenses. This is logical since all the f-stop settings are now done on the camera body. The stunning sharpness and contrast of this lens is amazing. Distortion is practically non existant and flare is tightly controlled. Make sure you have the lens hood attached to help make sure flare is not an issue. This lens makes the lower priced lenses seem inferior by comparison. This lens is made for professionals and it shows. If you are currently looking for a professional quality Pentax zoom lens, and need the high speed of a 2.8 lens for portrait or glamour photography, this is the one to get. This is an outstanding lens from Pentax. Rush out and get it!

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Sony DSLR 50mm F/2.8 Macro Alpha Digital SLR Camera Lens

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $598.00
Sale Price: Price Unavailable
Today's Bonus: 4% Off

Easy to use right out of the box. My skills are a hobbyist and not professional, but my photos with this lens are incredible the first time out. Great lens...!

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HP Officejet 100 Mobile Printer

Customer Ratings:

Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program A little background: I already have two printers I use. My Epson R2400 is a great photo printer, but only a mediocre general purpose printer. My old HP LaserJet 4M still does the job, but it has some limitations. It's a big energy hog/space heater, so I don't leave it on, and it takes a while to warm up. It's black and white only. And the single feed tray no longer works. I thought this little HP inkjet might be a replacement for my general purpose printing, of which I don't do a lot. I was also intrigued by its Bluetooth capability; I don't print very often from my laptop, but Bluetooth would be a very convenient way to do it when I want to.

I first loaded up the software on my laptop, which took a while. HP is certainly not frugal in loading software. At one point the instructions were to just follow the "add printer" instructions in Windows (XP), which weren't entirely clear for adding a Bluetooth printer. I didn't have much trouble figuring it out, but I've been dealing with computers for a lot more years than I want to think about. HP's instructions could have been more helpful.

After that I was able to print using the Bluetooth connection. I then unplugged the printer, and printed using battery power. It all worked!

Next I loaded the software on my desktop, and set out to print via USB. There is, of course, no USB cable included. Never mind that USB connections on computers are 99% standard, they saved the few dimes including a cable would have cost. Fortunately I have a cable for nearly any occasion, including things nobody has used in twenty years, so I got it hooked up and printing.

The print quality is very good on the paper sample HP included, and almost as good on basic laser printer paper. It can't quite match a laser printer on fine lines and small fonts, but for most people it will suit their needs quite nicely.

As HP included the ability to print borderless photos, I had to test that capability. I printed a photo from Tuscany at 4x6 on both the HP and the R2400. To be fair, I used the stock settings for both, not the adjusted settings I normally use with the R2400. The HP did produce a decent picture. It wasn't up to the R2400's quality, but it's not an expensive photo printer. With some adjustments it could be pretty darn good. I wouldn't recommend getting one to use as a photo printer, but it is certainly capable of printing a photo now and then.

OK, let's talk its limitations. It has no paper capture tray, which is not surprising in a printer designed to be portable. And its dinky cartridges aren't going to print a lot of pages, especially with a lot of color.

This is a good, light duty printer that will work in a constrained space or as a portable printer. If you plan to do a lot of printing get a larger inkjet printer with separate cartridges for different colors, or a laser printer. If you want to print a lot of photos get a photo printer. But if you are looking for a printer that fits in a small space, can be moved around, and does a good job on the occasional page you need printed, this is a surprisingly good printer.

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Pioneer AVH-P6300BT 7-Inch In-Dash DVD A/V Receiver

Customer Ratings:

This Head unit, Pioneer AVH-P6300BT is an excellent fit for my car. It is perfect for any vehicle that only will accept a single DIN dash opening. Mine is more like 1.5 DIN but with the Crutchfield adapter fits great. The only modification I had to do is to trim off the rear support inside the dash. Dremel tool tape and about two minutes of my time.

The 7' screen is nice and big. It features touch screen controls with manual volume, SRC and FWD / REV buttons. most all other functions are touch screen. The FWD and REV also have duplicate touch controls on screen. There is a USB port on front, and an aux in for a 1/8 mini. This jack is also used for the Auto EQ function.

Mine is connected to several Amps powering 12 speakers and a 10' sub. I yanked out the crappy Monsoon System. Excellent sound, very loud, but crisp and clear.

This thing is not short on connections. 6 channels of outputs, Bluetooth mic for hands free calling, video out for back seat monitors, USB,

Aux in, SD card reader, rear view camera input, interface bus, tethered remote input, etc....

Flip out screen is very stable especially in a lowered Trans-Am with sport suspension

You can adjust the screen viewing angle to lay slightly forward, straight, and laying back. You can use a standard iPod/iPhone USB cable to listen to audio. However you need to purchase the cable required to view video/audio! Use cable below.

Pioneer CD-IU51V AV iPod/iPhone Cable for Pioneer AV and Navigation models

My only gripe is I haven't gotten the Auto EQ to work......yet. But not much of an inconvenience because you can program the 8 band EQ just like a normal EQ.

Plus I got mine when the price was $569 :) now it's $695 : Ouch.

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Canon VIXIA HF G10 Full HD Camcorder with HD CMOS Pro and 32GB

Customer Ratings:

Since I was a little kid with an 8mm film camera, I have tried in vain to make videos that had the look and sound of professional TV and movie productions.

I failed in many ways, many times. Sometimes due to my meager skills, sometimes due to the short comings of my cameras.

The Vixia HF G10 changes that. I can no longer blame my equipment.

Let me say now, I am not a professional video/film maker. I have had no formal training. My videos are for my own enjoyment, I record special moments and travels for myself and my family. I seldom display or publish videos on the Web.

I placed my order on Jan. 5th, the day of Canon's new product announcement. Amazon was great, as usual, and kept my pre-order updated until the camera was released. I received it last week, and was immediately struck by the quality of the images.

So far, I have just been learning about the G10, and its features. I've made some stunning video studies of my flower and vegetable garden. Whether played back on the camera's LCD screen, or on my big screen HD television, the images are sharp, clear, vibrant, and have the look of a professional documentary. In addition, the on camera microphones are far superior to any camcorder I've ever used. I have some large wind chimes near my garden and the playback of audio through my TV is astonishing. I have a Sennheiser MKE 400, but have not used it as yet, the on-camera sound is excellent.

What I like: Coming from a DV tape camera, the memory cards are the best thing since sliced bread. The 'touch screen' is very good. I did not think I would like it, but it is easy to use, responds well, and the menu system is somewhat intuitive. The Manual mode provides tons of recording and exposure options. In Programmed mode the camera will make several automated exposure adjustments as the scene or lighting changes. In Av mode the DOF control is excellent, and there are built-in ND filters available in Av mode that have already come in handy. I have not used Tv mode, but in full Manual the controls are easy to access and perform as well as my Canon EOS still camera.

Three modes of Auto focus and excellent, easy to use Manual focus. Zoom speed adjustment, very cool.

Cinema Mode: Sounds like a gimmick, works like a charm. The primary feature in Cinema Mode is a set of 9 filters for various cinematic effects. I like them all, and look forward to using them to highlight my scenes in my videos. It would be easy to over use these, I think. But the Nostalgic, Sepia, and Old Movie filters will surely get used, as will the Dramatic B&W. I'm thinking the Vivid would work on panoramic landscapes.

The whole memory card/built-in memory thing is wonderful. Transfer to a Win 7 PC is easy and fast. So far I'm sticking with the MXP 24P (true 1920 x 1080). It is the luxury I paid for, and I'm going to use it.

Things I don't need: Still photos nice but I have a great still camera. In camera editing and Decorations: just fluff to me. I guess these things have market appeal, but why does Canon add them to a camera aimed at the upper end video customer?

Things I don't like: The initial impression that the G10 is a small, cheap-looking, plastic camcorder (I got over that when I saw how it performed). The shallow angle of the lens opening prevents adding after market wide angle conversion lens; apparently the only lens that currently fits is the very expensive Canon lens. The BP808 battery is small, and you need 2, or a larger BP819. There is no separate battery charger included, so you need one of those, too. The hot shoe is the Canon mini-shoe, so you need an adapter to use after market mikes or lights, or buy the expensive Canon accessories.

My still camera is a Canon 5D Mk2. It has fantastic video performance as well as awesome still image performance. I wanted the G10 to give me more flexibility for different situations; run-and-gun, handheld kind of stuff, ad hoc filming which I find difficult with the 5D Mk2.

That's about all I can think of now. I would buy this camcorder again without hesitation. I would and do recommend it to anyone looking to take that next step up in video making.

I'll try to post a short video soon, showing some of the images from the Vixia HF G10.

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Motorola Triumph Prepaid Android Phone (Virgin Mobile)

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $299.99
Sale Price: $185.00
Today's Bonus: 38% Off

If this phone came out a year ago, it would be among the top performing phones from any carrier on the market. Its very fast Snapdragon processor, vivid 4.1" touch screen, and rock-solid Android 2.2 performance were cutting edge 12 months ago. I don't say that in a disparaging way, but rather want to show where this phone fits into the spectrum of available devices. If you want the newest, best, phone, you'll still have to go to the contract carriers.

That said, this phone does everything I need very well, and at $300 upfront and $25 a month for service, can't be beat. It works even better than the Samsung Intercept that I replaced with it, and is reasonably priced. $25 a month, compared to what plans cost on the contract carriers, and you'll make up the $300 upfront cost in about 6 months. Brand new customers, may have to pay the $35 a month that they are changing their bottom plan to, but that is still a great deal ($35 a month for 300 minutes, unlimited web/text; $45 a month for 1200 minutes unlimited web/text; or $55 a month for unlimited everything).

This is my second phone on Virgin Mobile, and it made me realize that a lot of the problems that I was attributing to the network were actually the fault of my Samsung Intercept. This phone is more stable in every way. Wifi, GPS, 3G, Voice, the touch screen, applications, everything about this phone works better and is more stable than they did on the Samsung.

Beyond this comparison to my previous Virgin Mobile phone, here are a few comments about the phone:

+ very thin and lightweight. I miss the physical keyboard of my Intercept, but only slightly. The thinness makes up for it.

+ durable design. There aren't many cases available yet for this phone, but even without a case it seems durable. I already dropped it once, on concrete, and other than having to replace the back cover, there were no issues. The battery didn't even come out.

+ vibrant screen. The screen looks great on this phone. I almost say that it looks as good as the display on my wife's iPod Touch. The only concern with the screen is that it is 4.1 inches instead of 4.3, which has kind of become the new standard for Android phones, but I don't really think that .2 of an inch makes much difference.

+ very good touch screen. The touch screen on the Intercept had issues, compared to this phone. We are finally able to play games on it, and type quickly on the touch screen. Again, I think it is safe to compare it to the iPod Touch's performance. Very good.

+ fast processor. Cutting edge Android phones are now starting to have dual-core chips. The Snapdragon chip in this phone is single core, but that hasn't stopped it from doing everything that I've asked it to instantaneously. Very snappy.

+ Cameras. The main camera on this phone is awesome. Probably not as good as in an iPhone 4 or a real camera, but every bit as good as the stellar one in the iPod Touch. The pictures and video it takes are amazing. I don't think I'll ever be taking my real camera or my video recorder with me again. Even the flash works well and doubles nicely as a flashlight.

+ battery life. The battery life on this phone is very good. With any Android phone you can expect to have to recharge it daily, but this one at least uses its battery consistently and gradually. That might not seem like a lot to ask for, but even with Android 2.2 many phones have battery management issues. This one does not.

+ GPS. The GPS gets its signal pretty quickly and does a good job. Not perfect in that sometimes you have a wait a few seconds, but none of them are.

+ Vanilla Android. I really like the fact that Virgin Mobile doesn't "Skin" their phones or put a bunch of bloatware on them. This phone is pretty much stock Android 2.2 with a couple extra applications pre-installed. Much better than the experience with other carriers that fill the phone up with their own software and interface.

A few comments on Virgin Mobile:

+ Network. Network performance always depends on your location. In some cities Verizon is great and AT&T is terrible. In others they both work great. Virgin Mobile's phones operate on their parent company, Sprint's network. Sprint and T-Mobile's networks as a whole, are not as good as Verizon's, but that does not mean they are terrible. In my experience, this phone works very well in metropolitan areas, and pretty well in rural areas. If your cell phone is your life-line and you spend time in rural areas, you may want to check the coverage for your area on Sprint's website. Otherwise, I really having had any problems with the network.

+ International. Sprint and therefore Virgin Mobile only have network coverage in the US. That means you can't roam internationally, which is both good and bad. International roaming on any phone is very expensive. When I travel outside the US with this phone, and want to make calls, I connect to Wifi in my hotel or at a shop, and use Skype. It works perfectly and is much cheaper than international roaming, and is often free.

I very strongly recommend that you ditch your contract phone and consider this phone or other Contract Free carriers. AT&T especially, and Verizon to some extent, are trampling all over their customers, and people are letting them. The way to fix this situation is not archaic government regulation or laws, but rather consumers showing that they won't stand for it. Get a contract free phone because it is the best thing for your wallet and works very well, but also know that if enough people do it the big carriers will have to improve the way they do business.

/// Update after 3 months of use. ///

I don't have much new to report on this phone, but wanted to provide an update after 3 months of use. They are still working great. Both my wife and I have had one from the beginning. Neither of us have it in a case, and it is holding up very well both to purse life and hip life. No scratches or anything despite normal drops and use. A few points:

+ Service continues to be great on this phone. Virgin works much better on this than it did on the Intercept.

+ I have had about 5 unexpected restarts in the three months of having the phone. That isn't bad for an Android phone that gets a lot of use. I think that some of those might have been caused by putting the phone 'power button side down' in the case, and inadvertently keeping it pressed. Either way, I don't think that 5 is bad, especially if 3 of them were caused by the case. My wife has never had an unexpected restart on her Triumph, though she doesn't use hers as much as I do.

+ Screen. The screen on this phone is great. You do have to push a little harder on this phone than on some others, but you get used to it very quickly, and in the long-run, it is better.

+ The camera is great (for a phone).

I continue to be very happy with this phone, especially after its first three months of real life use.

//// Updates after well over a year. ////

I haven been using this phone since the day it came out, over a year ago. Although I'm disappointed that they haven't updated the OS to Gingerbread, I am overall still very happy with it. I am especially happy with Virgin Mobile who seems to be improving every day. They have always been acceptable, considering how cheap their plans are, but every aspect of their service just keeps getting better and better. The 3G network is definitely getting faster, although possibly because they implemented a 2.5GB per billing cycle 'soft cap'. Compared to what the contract carriers do when you use a lot of data, I think their soft cap approach is fair and benefits everyone on the network. Their voice quality, network coverage, and availability also have improved dramatically over the past few years. Also, their technical and customer service have gone from mediocre to excellent.

I recommend Virgin Mobile more then ever. I also recommend this phone, until they come out with better 'premium' phone offering to replace it with.

By the way, Amazon's current price of $209 for this phone is a steal.

//// Update as of summer 2012 ////

I still think this is a great phone, especially for those who are grandfathered in to the $25 a month plan, but I have now upgraded to the HTC EVO V 3D 4G. Anyone who is interested in 4G data speeds and carrier endorsed tethering capabilities might want to look into that phone.

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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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Dell XPS 15z XPS15z-72ELS Laptop (Elemental Silver)

Customer Ratings:

Bought this system based on a friend's recommendation who works for Dell. Also was a strong Dell loyalist for over 10 years because my previous laptops were all Dell. Unfortunately my experience with this system has been fraught with troubles.

My new laptop arrived and setup was a breeze. However within a week the batter stopped charging and was disabled. After hrs on the phone with Dell and everyone assuring me this was a unique problem, they sent me a new system. guess what same problem 10 days later. Another 2 days on the phone with their customer service folks in Hyderabad who kept trying to fix the problem. Ultimately they sent in a technician who replaced the battery and the system has been working fine since then. They extended my warrant by 4 months to compensate me for my troublesi guess i should have just bought a refurbished one which is what I essentially got for buying their top of the line laptop.

Now a month later, the wireless card has started acting up. If I step into a room away from where the router sits, it randomly disconnects and tries to connect. Its disconnected 90% of the time. Funny thing is I have a 6 year old Dell Inspiron which works fine and streams video movies without once dropping the signal sitting right next to this machine. I've tried new wireless routers but the problem persists. Called their customer service and they claim it is a software issue without even looking at it and want to charge me to troubleshoot the problem. Dell's service was one thing going for thembut i'm afraid that has started to suck too now.

I would strongly discourage anyone from buying this unless you enjoy being on the phone with a service technician being bumped from hardware to wireless to software to XPS support teams.Other than that it seems like a pretty decent machine that looks sleek, works well when no issues.

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Sony VAIO T Series SVT14124CXS 14-Inch Touchscreen Ultrabook

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $799.99
Sale Price: $699.99
Today's Bonus: 13% Off

Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program When I first received this laptop, I had mixed feelings it looks beautiful, but it seemed slower than it should have been given the hardware specs and the hybrid drive. After a week of using it, I can say now that absolutely love it it is quiet, runs smooth and cool and feels very zippy. I don't love windows 8 but the laptop itself is dead quiet and stays nice and cool and very responsive. It wakes up from sleep almost instantly (I don't ever shut it down unless I have to, mostly I just let it go to sleep the power LED will flash when it needs to be plugged in, another nice touch) and it has a long enough battery life so that I don't have to keep it plugged in all the time.

The brushed aluminum finish on the cover is absolutely gorgeous it looks and feels like a high quality laptop, exactly what you would expect with the Ultrabook designation. However, I'm not sure about the ultrabook qualifications I read that the minimum specs for that designation was a 5 hr battery life and this one falls a little short of that (that's why I dinged it a half a star). It's also a little bit thicker and heavier than what I would have expected from an Ultrabook. However, if it were too much lighter I think it might feel kinda cheap and flimsy, so the weight is good for me.

I think the initial feeling that it's performance was not up to par for the hybrid dive was because it takes a little time to build up the cache on the ssd portion of the drive which means that it gets faster as you use it longer. After a week of use, you can really tell the difference that the hybrid drive makes in speed almost as good as having a pure SSD drive, but you get much more space.

This screen on this bright and crisp videos and pictures look fantastic, as do web pages. And I really don't notice much difference between the 14inch screen and the 15inch screen I had before, but overall, the 14 inch actually seems like a much better size for portability. The touchscreen is nice and responsive, but unfortunately when you look at it with the screen off, you can see where your fingers have been all over the screen. not sure much can be done about that.

I will say this DON"T EVER BUY A WINDOWS 8 COMPUTER WITHOUT A TOUCHSCREEN! It is just too hard to get around and to get the charms bar to pop up without a touchscreen I've tried setting up other peoples laptops running windows 8 without a touchscreen and it was a complete exercise in frustration. This one is much easier to navigate around because of the touchscreen.

Apps in the windows 8 store are pitiful tho, very few official apps (google, facebook, pinterest, etc) and the ones they offer instead are cheap cheesy homebrew versions. The kindle app also appears to be broken in the latest release says it encountered an error trying to register. The lack of quality apps is really disappointing, as is the fact that you can no longer sync google contacts and calendars with the windows apps. As is Microsoft's decision to make you toggle between the touch interface and the desktop very kludgy sometimes I will download and run something from the browser and think it is not responding only to toggle back to the desktop and see that it is running there novice users will have a hard time with this I'm sure. I am hoping they will release a windows 9 soon that fixes all the horrible awkwardness of windows 8, or that Google will release a stand-alone Chrome/Android install for PC's (and I have read that Windows 8.1 is inn beta and hopefully that will fix some of the shortcomings). I have a feeling that this laptop would absolutely fly if it were running Chrome.

My only complaint, and it's a minor quibble, is the corners are kinda sharp and not rounded, so sometimes I stab my wrist on the front corners.

This laptop is also cooler and quieter than any laptop I've ever used. Even under heavy processor load, the bottom doesn't get very warm at all, and the fans run very quietly even when kicked up to high.

Overall, I give this laptop a 4.5 out of 5 stars, particularly at this price point, with the only deduction in half a star being for the slightly shorter battery life than you would expect from an Ultrabook. This is probably one of the nicest ultrabooks you can get for this price.

*** Update just for fun I ordered the Corsair Vengeance 4GB (1x4GB) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) Laptop Memory for sale here on Amazon for $35 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006EWUP4Y/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) to up the total RAM on this to 8gb and it is noticeably faster now. Install of the memory couldn't have been easier, Sony was kind enough to leave the top RAM slot open, so I just unscrewed the small square on the bottom (middle towards the top near the screen) and slid the memory right in (memory slides in at a slight angle then you snap it down into place). Took a whole 30secs. I mainly did it just to see if it was worth it, since memory is so cheap, and I would have to say yes it is definitely worth it, as the laptop practically flies along now, and for $35 bucks it's hard to argue with an extra 4gb of memory and a boost in speed.

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Sony HTSS380 3D Home Theater System

Customer Ratings:

I purchased the HT-SS380 at the store after realizing that the HT-SS370 had been discontinued. I assumed that since the systems shared a common look and nomenclature that they would have the same features (with the added 3-D functionality in the HT-SS380). I was wrong.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE HT-SS370 AND HT-SS380 SYSTEMS:

While the HT-SS380 does have 3-D capabilities, some other notable features are missing. The HT-SS370 had options for purchasing additional components in order to add wireless rear speaker capability. The HT-SS380 has no wireless expandability options. The HT-SS370 speakers came with wiring that featured proprietary connectors on one end for connecting to the receiver, but the speakers themselves featured standard wire clips, making them available to use with any other system that featured a standard clip design. The HT-SS380 speakers, on the other hand, still feature the proprietary clips on one end, but the other end is firmly connected to the speaker and is not able to be removed. Therefore in order to use the speakers with any other system, the wires would have to be cut and spliced to additional wire. The HT-SS380 does however contain a iPod/iPhone dock, whereas that component had to be purchased separately for the HT-SS370.

PROS:

The HT-SS380 has great sound for a minimal price. The speakers are plenty loud when it comes to filling a moderate-size room with crisp sound, and the passive sub-woofer puts out bass that you can feel. Sound quality is one of the most important aspects of the system for me, and so that's why I applied a 4-star rating instead of a 3-star rating. The system as a whole is very sleek and stylish. The included tuning microphone does a good job of setting up the speakers for optimal sound, although I ended up making tweaks and adjustments to suit my preferences. The system contains 4 HDMI connections and features BRAVIA-sync (cooperation between Sony devices such as a Sony TV or PS3).

CONS:

The LCD on the front of the receiver is small and there are elements that are practically unreadable unless you are mere inches from the screen. There are no composite connections on the receiver, so hooking up older, non-HDMI devices (like the Nintendo Wii) is difficult (you would have to purchase a Wii composite cable or a third-party Wii2HDMI connector). The tuning microphone should plug into the front of the system somewhere since once the system is tucked into a media cabinet, it becomes difficult to pull it out and re-attach the tuning microphone if you want to run the diagnostic again. And the aforementioned proprietary speaker wires aren't a deal breaker, but it would have been nice if Sony had allowed their speakers greater versatility.

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JVC GCQX5HDU 3MP Digital Still Camera w/ 2x Optical Zoom

Customer Ratings:

Fabulous camera, quite technical to use, but the automatic setting works flawlessly. One drawback is the short lifespan of the battery, but it does recharge quickly and you can use the ac cord. Another bonus is the attachment to take old negatives and scan them to digital images.

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Xbox 360 Pro 20 GB

Customer Ratings:

*NOTE AGAIN THAT THIS WAS PURCHASED FROM AMAZON, NOT ANOTHER SELLER*

A checklist that should tell you exactly why you want this.

-This is a Microsoft refurbished console. That means it will be in 360 packaging with resealed cords, controllers, and headset (I'm tempted to say that my headset was brand new, and maybe even my cords, but I don't want to claim that without knowing. Regardless. There is something nice about not opening a clamshell sealed 360 that smells like lung cancer.) The condition is pristine. NO dirt or smudges. One sticker on the bottom that says refurbished. Mine left a bit of sticky when I took it off. Nail polish remover will get it off without pain if you are worried about that.

-It will come with the new power-brick that is vented, it also has the new Jasper chip. This means: Even though you are getting a refurbished console, it is technically more sound than a brand new 20 gig from Microsoft's original batches. Rest easy my friend. This console was not made to break. It's like it got a tune up. These two features paired together will fight overheating and RED RING OF DEATH.

-It does have HD

-Mine came with 2 controllers, which at the time wasn't advertised (so it was a nice surprise). Cross your fingers about that if it's not openly included.

-If you don't already know, because it has a hard drive you will be able to connect to Xboxlive out of the box, though for online play I would recommend buying a 12 month live subscription. You can easily find them online for 35ish dollars. If you pay more you didn't look hard enough. :)

Hope this helps in your decision.

As for my console it runs like a charm, for long periods (when I say this I mean as I waste my whole day away) without any heat at alland I can really tell the difference because I had a 60gig a few years backthe difference is black and white as far as heat output. I took it on a road-trip (to update it back home) for over 30 hours in total in a backpack that I threw around (gingerly) as I used the bag day to day. Came back home and it was still fine. DO IT. DO IT. DO IT NOW.

Happy Buying

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OMAX 40X-2000X Digital Lab LED Binocular Compound Microscope

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $1,450.00
Sale Price: $299.95
Today's Bonus: 79% Off

"I recently purchased this microscope and after several days of use, I realized this microscope is well worth how much we have paid. The LED light is bright and the control is very smooth! I was little hesitate before making the purchase decision since the price for this typical microscope was lower than some other similar models. Luckily, I found a review for this "OMAX 40X-2000X Biological Compound Microscope" on YouTube and it was really helpful. I asked the seller and been told this is just the same model, but with a built-in digital camera. The camera actually adds so much fun when using the microscope. I can actually view live images on my Mac and PC, and save the pictures/videos on my computers. I highly recommend this microscope."

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SanDisk Ultra Backup 64 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive SDCZ40-064G-A11

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $188.96
Sale Price: $49.99
Today's Bonus: 74% Off

I purchased this mainly for it's reported compatability with a particular router. I did not pay much attention to the description. The drive has far surpassed my expectatons. It not only works well with all of my equipment, it does much more. The backup function was the best surprise. Any time I want to backup I just push the button on the drive and go back to whatever I was doing. It works in the background and I never notice it slowing other processes I am using. I don't remember ever writing a review before, but this product definitely deserves KUDOS. Some may think it a bit pricey but it is actually very competitive or cheaper than other 64 gb drives. If you need a flash drive this size, you will not find better. When I need another flash drive, I know what I will be buying. By the way, Amazon had it to me in a few days even though I selected the free delivery option. Thanks to Amazon for years of snag-free orders.

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