I wanted a nice walk around lens. I haven't used it alot since I received it, but it appears to be adequate for my purposes. It is very light weight and good for those everyday shots.
Showing posts with label waterproof digital camera video. Show all posts
Showing posts with label waterproof digital camera video. Show all posts
Canon EOS Rebel T3i Digital SLR Camera Body & EF-S 18-55mm IS II
I was little skeptical to order this Canon DSLR bundle because there was not any review for this bundle. I finally made my mind to order by merely looking at Seller's profile and product details. And thankfully I can say I got a great deal. All the products are delivered on time as promised.
This camera is awesome and very good for the people who are looking to shift to DSLR from point-n-shoot. As far as whole bundle is concerned it has good combination of products such as branded memory card, cleaning kit, remote, battery, UV protection and camera carrying bag. The stand is also of good quality. In short I am happy with bundle that I have opted for....
This camera is awesome and very good for the people who are looking to shift to DSLR from point-n-shoot. As far as whole bundle is concerned it has good combination of products such as branded memory card, cleaning kit, remote, battery, UV protection and camera carrying bag. The stand is also of good quality. In short I am happy with bundle that I have opted for....
Polk Audio SurroundBar IHT 6000 Instant Home Theater (Black)
List Price: $499.95
Sale Price: $358.99
Today's Bonus: 28% Off
I've had the Polk IHT 6000 Soundbar for a week now and it has been an interesting experience.
I got a new 60 inch Sony LED-LCD TV and was looking to have sound to match. My old sound system was really great with a Yamaha AV Receiver, 3 Infinity speakers in front, 2 JBL surround speakers, and a 10 inch Polk Subwoofer. The sound from that system was awesome, but the wires and speakers everywhere was too much for me anymore, and with the new big TV I no longer had room for the receiver.
I went looking for a soundbar and tried several. Sony, Vizio, and Polk. I tried the Vizio since it was the only soundbar out there with separate rear channels and a wireless sub. It was great looking and great in terms of functionality, but the sound was awful. Muddy, nondistinct, just all around bad. The Sony was OK, but a little tinny and I didn't like that you had to wire everything to the sub first and then to the soundbar... I was trying to get rid of wires. Then I got the Polk.
The Polk's sound is full and rich. The setup is easy, one audio wire, one power cable. I was very happy, but not thrilled and still felt a longing for my old system which went bye by on ebay. After doing a good amount of research, I found that I may have had the soundbar placed wrong. It was above my TV angled down, kind of close to the ceiling (this is in my basement so the ceiling is low). I decided to move the soundbar to just under the TV (They are both wall mounted). It is much closer to ear level now
All I can say is WOW. The difference in sound between the locations is astounding. I am now TOTALLY happy with the Polk Soundbar. The sound is full and rich and really great. It is NOT however as good as a true 5.1 or 7.1 system, but it is pretty darn close and considering how nice it looks and how easy it is, I have no regrets. The surround effects are good but not like a true surround system. If you need to have true surround, this is not the system for you. I am very happy with it, and with a blu-ray in the player, that sound really does fill the room. You do get the feeling that there is surround sound, but it is just a feeling, not the reality you get with a true 5.1 system. Don't get me wrong though the sound is VERY good.
With that said, there are some negatives. First off, there are no audio settings like bass or treble, there is however a sub level adjustment (more on that later). Polk feels that you get what you get. I wish I could boost the treble a little, or that they would put a quality tweeter in the center of the soundbar. The sub level adjustment is OK, but it is basically a volume control for the sub, and there is no level indicator, so I have no idea if it is set at 1 or 10. It is just a guess.
I have also listened to the B&W Panorama soundbar and the Yamaha sound projector. Those 2 units do a better job than the Polk, the Yamaha is slightly better, and the B&W is a lot better, but the Yamaha is a thousand dollars more expensive and not nearly worth the extra expense for such a slight improvement over the Polk. The B&W is truly amazing and a true audiophile solution, but at well over 2 grand, it was way out of my price range.
In conclusion, the Polk soundbar IHT 6000 is in my opinion the best soundbar out there under $1500.
Sony SLT-A58K A58 A58K SLTA58K Digital SLR Kit with 18-55mm
Love this camera, lightweight, easy to use and takes great pics. I would recommend this to anyone being introduced to the DSLR world for the first time. The kit was a great value and contained everything I was looking for including the 300mm zoom lens....
Samsung SME-2220 Complete 8-Channel Surveillance System
For starters, no problems so far....but its a bit scary to see nearly 1/4 of referb products on the market. After checking back on the product to see how others rated it, it also dropped about a hundo...SOB!
back to the product.....
So far its been a pretty neat toy. took me about a month to crawl through the attic, figure out how to place the cameras in non-obvious places, and to mount the monitor on the wall.
Install: really easy for DIY's. a dummy couldn't screw it up. only issue was the lack of cord. 60ft will not wrap around the attic from one end of my house to the other. I was able to purchase anohter for 40ish and connect it to another 60ft wire with everything working ok.
*one camera was less than 5ft away from where the monitor was. Would have been nice to find shorter length wires to make me feel better by not wasting the other 50ft and a few extra bucks.
Cams: I don't have any other comparison since this is my first and only for personal use. The quality seems decent. The system can hold a 'max' frame rate that is a 'give and take' method (meaning if you had a front door camera that you want to focus on, the others can be 'downgraded' for compensation.) Don't expect a facial recognition after 10ft...but i can tell which one of my friends were coming up to my house during testing.
During night time use, its basically a black and white type of feed with a green haze on objects. its not very detailed, but it'll give you a general picture of what's going on and who's doing it. The infra-red lights kick on at dusk and somewhat low lights. this really sucks if you are trying to conceal the cameras because the 20red lights around the camera lens are really obvious when looked directly at. I snuck most of my cameras under the eves of the roof, which limited the area of view, but would catch a good glimpse of un-knowers walking by. One camera was placed next to a motion censored light, so the camera will kick into color mode when somebody comes to the door for color definition.
Monitor: pretty neato. it has a on/off is a button less touch spot that i overlooked for awhile. it comes with a wireless remote that will do basic stuff, but the USB mouse makes any operation MUCH easier.
System thoughts: A word of warning, video taped sections can't be deleted!!! you must re-set the system to clear it all off, i guess its a good feature for small biz owners wanting to keep overall tabs on a place. It has a password protected access...but anybody with a brain could reach in the back and click the off button. I bought the 1TB version which looks like it will hold 2 years of info......jeebus! Looking back on my purchase I don't think anybody will have a need for that much time storage.
it has the option to save clips of sessions you want to store on a USB(never tried it yet)
does not have a DVi connection (only the blue connection) sucks for somebody wanting to double it as a monitor with the newer connections.
Fun notes: I have a 350VA back-up battery surge protector I originally purchased for my computer (but ended up buying a faster laptop that wont need it) and now use the back up battery for the security camera system only. Under daylight operations +1 one camera in the garage using the IF night lights. I was able to run 4 cameras for a hour! take that sneeky burglars trying to kill the power to potentially steal my shiznat!!! (hopefully they can't tract my amazon account to my address n read this) my wireless router is a juice sucker, so im guessing if i ever used the battery+internet modem...it might last 20min.
Features I plan on trying:
-syncing it somehow to an iphone
-connect Cable TV to it so i can show others its just a tv
-sync it to a backup to a hidden NAS, just n case a thief wants to steal the 'monitor' ;)
3 mionths later....
-1 TB will only supply 3 weeks of 24hr recording. LAME! once it fills up you have the option to overwite old data...or just stop working.
So it was time to set up motion sensor, A+ for these settings. The DVR technically 'always records', but once motion is detected it will 'save the record' from 1min to 5seconds (up to your decision) before the motion was triggered, just in case it may have missed something before the camera noticed something. i am now on 3 months of tid bit recordings,
-you can set up the motion detection area so trees blowing in the wind won't 'trigger' it's motion.
-the mount I bought got in the way of some vid cam connections when screwed in. Took me about 10min to grind out a bid enough chunk with a bench grinder. not a hard task, but still annoying.
One of the cameras had a 1/4 section of IF lights go out, dont know if its covered per camera...but Samsung better honor a one camera return over the whole system replacement( or some crazy old man fist shaking will happen). Hope the 'double' extension cord was not a factor since the others are still working fine
my attempt of running cable tv failed because of the odd cable connection in the back, i got ticked and pushed that project off for now. The VGA connection works, but does not have any input for speakers. Y U No easy to make TV!!!!!!!!!!!
it has some 'alarm' input where it will hold a small wire per camera. I have no clue what this does. possibly some connection device that will blink a light when motion is detected??? anybody know anything about these?
I tried connecting it to the internet, that failed. It appears the only way to get the update is from the system being connected online. Dang Samsung is only available during biz hours east coast time.
I still like the system overall =)
back to the product.....
So far its been a pretty neat toy. took me about a month to crawl through the attic, figure out how to place the cameras in non-obvious places, and to mount the monitor on the wall.
Install: really easy for DIY's. a dummy couldn't screw it up. only issue was the lack of cord. 60ft will not wrap around the attic from one end of my house to the other. I was able to purchase anohter for 40ish and connect it to another 60ft wire with everything working ok.
*one camera was less than 5ft away from where the monitor was. Would have been nice to find shorter length wires to make me feel better by not wasting the other 50ft and a few extra bucks.
Cams: I don't have any other comparison since this is my first and only for personal use. The quality seems decent. The system can hold a 'max' frame rate that is a 'give and take' method (meaning if you had a front door camera that you want to focus on, the others can be 'downgraded' for compensation.) Don't expect a facial recognition after 10ft...but i can tell which one of my friends were coming up to my house during testing.
During night time use, its basically a black and white type of feed with a green haze on objects. its not very detailed, but it'll give you a general picture of what's going on and who's doing it. The infra-red lights kick on at dusk and somewhat low lights. this really sucks if you are trying to conceal the cameras because the 20red lights around the camera lens are really obvious when looked directly at. I snuck most of my cameras under the eves of the roof, which limited the area of view, but would catch a good glimpse of un-knowers walking by. One camera was placed next to a motion censored light, so the camera will kick into color mode when somebody comes to the door for color definition.
Monitor: pretty neato. it has a on/off is a button less touch spot that i overlooked for awhile. it comes with a wireless remote that will do basic stuff, but the USB mouse makes any operation MUCH easier.
System thoughts: A word of warning, video taped sections can't be deleted!!! you must re-set the system to clear it all off, i guess its a good feature for small biz owners wanting to keep overall tabs on a place. It has a password protected access...but anybody with a brain could reach in the back and click the off button. I bought the 1TB version which looks like it will hold 2 years of info......jeebus! Looking back on my purchase I don't think anybody will have a need for that much time storage.
it has the option to save clips of sessions you want to store on a USB(never tried it yet)
does not have a DVi connection (only the blue connection) sucks for somebody wanting to double it as a monitor with the newer connections.
Fun notes: I have a 350VA back-up battery surge protector I originally purchased for my computer (but ended up buying a faster laptop that wont need it) and now use the back up battery for the security camera system only. Under daylight operations +1 one camera in the garage using the IF night lights. I was able to run 4 cameras for a hour! take that sneeky burglars trying to kill the power to potentially steal my shiznat!!! (hopefully they can't tract my amazon account to my address n read this) my wireless router is a juice sucker, so im guessing if i ever used the battery+internet modem...it might last 20min.
Features I plan on trying:
-syncing it somehow to an iphone
-connect Cable TV to it so i can show others its just a tv
-sync it to a backup to a hidden NAS, just n case a thief wants to steal the 'monitor' ;)
3 mionths later....
-1 TB will only supply 3 weeks of 24hr recording. LAME! once it fills up you have the option to overwite old data...or just stop working.
So it was time to set up motion sensor, A+ for these settings. The DVR technically 'always records', but once motion is detected it will 'save the record' from 1min to 5seconds (up to your decision) before the motion was triggered, just in case it may have missed something before the camera noticed something. i am now on 3 months of tid bit recordings,
-you can set up the motion detection area so trees blowing in the wind won't 'trigger' it's motion.
-the mount I bought got in the way of some vid cam connections when screwed in. Took me about 10min to grind out a bid enough chunk with a bench grinder. not a hard task, but still annoying.
One of the cameras had a 1/4 section of IF lights go out, dont know if its covered per camera...but Samsung better honor a one camera return over the whole system replacement( or some crazy old man fist shaking will happen). Hope the 'double' extension cord was not a factor since the others are still working fine
my attempt of running cable tv failed because of the odd cable connection in the back, i got ticked and pushed that project off for now. The VGA connection works, but does not have any input for speakers. Y U No easy to make TV!!!!!!!!!!!
it has some 'alarm' input where it will hold a small wire per camera. I have no clue what this does. possibly some connection device that will blink a light when motion is detected??? anybody know anything about these?
I tried connecting it to the internet, that failed. It appears the only way to get the update is from the system being connected online. Dang Samsung is only available during biz hours east coast time.
I still like the system overall =)
HP Pavilion Sleekbook 15-b123nr 15" Laptop with AMD A6-4455M
List Price: $599.99
Sale Price: $389.99
Today's Bonus: 35% Off
I bought this as my budget machine. It wasn't meant to compare with my custom desktop that I dumped a ton of money in just to be a way to surf the web and work with clients at their office. It meets my needs. WiFi doesn't always work when it wakes from sleep you have to put it in airplane mode then take it out. It hiccups and hangs up now and then, but it's an AMD so it does the best it can. Overall, a good bargain laptop that I won't cry about if it's lost or broken.
Canon EOS Rebel T3 Digital Camera and 18-55mm IS II & Canon EF
I bought this for my son for his birthday. This starter kit comes with absolutely everything anyone could need to get started taking incredible pictures and HD videos. The car charger is a great thing to have!
Nikon 12-24mm f/4G ED IF AF-S DX Nikkor Zoom Lens
If you want to shoot extreme wide angles on your Nikon digital SLR, you can choose this Nikkor lens, or a similar Sigma lens for 2/3rds the price. Spend the extra money.
The Sigma lens costs you a half an f-stop in speed, about double the weight, and a complete inability to use standard filters. Plus, Sigma's optics just aren't up to Nikon standards. All said and done, the Sigma lens isn't worth the money.
Which brings us to the Nikon lens: Is it worth a grand?
Oh my yes.
First, the cons. If you haven't already standardized on 77mm filters, then you'll have to buy all-new ones to fit this lens. That's an extra expense to keep in mind before you buy. The hood that comes with this lens doesn't snap into place as snug as it should. Getting the lens in and out of your bag, you may find the hood jiggling loose. The dinky built-in flash on Nikon's popular D70 body isn't a good fit with this lens. From about 12-18mm, the flash/lens combination will leave a dark shadow at the bottom of the frame. If you plan on shooting indoors with a flash, plan on using the Nikon SB-600 or -800.
Optically, however, this lens is a dream. Typical wide-angle distortion at the extreme 12mm, but less than you might expect. You might find softness around the edges at 12mm wide-open, but otherwise this is one sharp lens. I recently took it to Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs (shooting on a 6.1mpix D70 body), and was shocked at the detail even on not-so-close objects. This lens delivers.
And that's the whole point: It delivers what you can't get anywhere else for DSLR work. For that, most any price is cheap.
The Sigma lens costs you a half an f-stop in speed, about double the weight, and a complete inability to use standard filters. Plus, Sigma's optics just aren't up to Nikon standards. All said and done, the Sigma lens isn't worth the money.
Which brings us to the Nikon lens: Is it worth a grand?
Oh my yes.
First, the cons. If you haven't already standardized on 77mm filters, then you'll have to buy all-new ones to fit this lens. That's an extra expense to keep in mind before you buy. The hood that comes with this lens doesn't snap into place as snug as it should. Getting the lens in and out of your bag, you may find the hood jiggling loose. The dinky built-in flash on Nikon's popular D70 body isn't a good fit with this lens. From about 12-18mm, the flash/lens combination will leave a dark shadow at the bottom of the frame. If you plan on shooting indoors with a flash, plan on using the Nikon SB-600 or -800.
Optically, however, this lens is a dream. Typical wide-angle distortion at the extreme 12mm, but less than you might expect. You might find softness around the edges at 12mm wide-open, but otherwise this is one sharp lens. I recently took it to Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs (shooting on a 6.1mpix D70 body), and was shocked at the detail even on not-so-close objects. This lens delivers.
And that's the whole point: It delivers what you can't get anywhere else for DSLR work. For that, most any price is cheap.
ASUS VivoBook X202E-DH31T 11.6-Inch Touch Laptop
List Price: $569.99
Sale Price: $457.99
Today's Bonus: 20% Off
For roughly 550.00 this can hardly be beat for a small laptop that has windows 8 and a touchscreen. At first I was a little aggravated with the touch pad but, I installed the drivers from Samsung's website that are supposed to be for a series 5 laptop. This laptop along with several others have the same Elan touch pad in them. Once you install this driver it is a night and day difference in the touchpad.
The link for the drivers is in the first comment. Amazon won't let you link to an external website in the main review.
So go to the comment and get to the link then follow what is below.
You then need to click on the Manuals and Downloads link, then click Driver.
After that scroll down and click on the ZIP link for the Touch Pad driver 11.7.2.1
If you have the sorry Asus Smart Gesture installed, uninstall that first and reboot, then install this software. I have had various Macbooks for the better part of the last 7 years and this is my first PC laptop in a while. I was almost ready to return this laptop until I found these drivers. I would say the touch pad is 95% of a Macbook touch pad now and whether you like Apple or not, you have to admit they know what they are doing when it comes to track pads. Aside from all of that I'm extremely happy with the operation of this laptop now.
I am coming from a laptop that had an SSD drive in it so it does seem a little slow in some areas but, others it is working just fine. I have an extra SSD drive that I plan on putting in this machine as well as removing the half height mini PCI atheros wireless/bluetooth combo. I purchased an Intel Centrino 6235anhmw Mini Pci Express Bluetooth 4.0 to replace it with and based on my research I should be able to enable Intel Wireless Display on this laptop after that install. The card only cost me 30.00 bucks and I figured it was worth the gamble to see if it would work. I'll update this review once I get the card in a couple of days to state if it worked or not.
The sound coming from this laptop is actually quite good and I would say better than a lot of the previous laptops I am use to.
The touchscreen is extremely responsive and I haven't had any missed touches or erratic behavior out of it. I have played several touch based games and it worked flawlessly.
Last but, not least this thing is solid, the build quality on it is exceptional for something this cheap.
Okay, now for the bad which again considering this is a cheap laptop with a touchscreen really isn't that bad.
The fan runs constantly and while it is not overly annoying it does seem to run even when not doing much on the system. That is really my main complaint about the machine at this point. The second complaint is that the viewing angles on this machine are pretty poor but, again don't expect any machine at this price point with a touchscreen to have great viewing angles. Although viewing angles are bad, brightness is very good. I think with the brightness turned all the way up you could possibly do permanent damage to your eyes(a joke of course).
The keyboard is a little cramped but, really not all that bad. I would say I have slightly above average hand size but, again it isn't to bad and I'm able to kick out a reasonable speed without to many more mistakes than I usually make. Expect some adjustment if you are coming from a full size keyboard with large hands.
Again, the stock hard drive is a 5400rpm drive and it does seem a little slow for me but, if you are coming from another mechanical drive then you may not really notice it as a problem. I've been using SSD drives for some time so it does bother me a bit.
These might be major problems for others but, for me they are minor annoyances that I can live with on a cheap machine like this. This is basically an 11.6" Macbook Air that is missing the SSD(entry level is 64GB SSD), backlit keyboard, viewing angles aren't as good for the ASUS and fan runs more often than Macbook Air. However the Macbook Air doesn't have these features: touch screen, 500GB HDD that can be upgraded to a small or large SSD if you like and the Air cost about 450.00 more for the entry level. Granted the Macbook Air is considerably lighter but, it also makes your wallet lighter.
Sorry for all of the Macbook comparisons but, I have come from many years of having Macbooks and decided with Windows 8 to give PCs a try again. I'm glad I did.
Update 11/8/2012:
I installed the Intel wireless card I mentioned above, then installed the latest drivers for the card from the Intel website as well as the latest video drivers from the ASUS website. Then I installed the Widi display software and was able to connect to my Belkin Screencast. It took several tries and then it finally updated the software on the Belkin. After that it has been connecting perfectly with no problems. So I paid 40 bucks on Amazon for a refurbished Belkin Screencast and 32.00 for the intel card. Now for 72.00 bucks I'm able to use my 55" HDTV at 1080p as a second screen.
Update 11/14/2012
I finally got around to installing an SSD drive and replacing the mechanical drive. The drive that came in it was a Hitachi HTS5450A7E380 which is a 7mm thick drive. Unfortunately the SSD I had was a typical 9.5mm and was too thick to work at first. Luckily I was able to remove part of the casing on the SSD drive I used and that made for a perfect fit. So if you plan on swapping out for an SSD make sure it is no thicker than 7mm or it won't fit. I had some trouble where the laptop kept booting into the BIOS. when I went in and disabled fast boot as well as turned of drive security or something like that. I can't remember exactly now but, when the option is enabled you can go further into the BIOS and see PKI keys and DDB keys and a lot of other keys. I just disabled that portion and then it started recognizing the hard drive. This may not be a problem if you clone the hard drive to the SSD before you swap but, I did a fresh install. Laptop is blazing fast now as it boots into windows in about 10 seconds.
Fujifilm FinePix HS25EXR 16 MP Digital Camera Accessory Saver
List Price: $599.95
Sale Price: $439.69
Today's Bonus: 27% Off
I dont know what to say i got more than i expected: the box that everything came in was huge too!!
PROS
Got the bunch of accessories, and they gave me TWO battery chargers. One had a european plug converter (which is exactly what i need since i travel). Also the charger could be used in your car. Then there was a SECOND travel charger. Also cleaning kit, multiple screen protectors, and basically everything else they said. Box had lens cap, strap, tv cable, usb cable, 4 batteries and cd with software
The camera is amazing. Manual controls which i have been looking for for a loooong time. The screen tilt is great
Lots of options too. Best electronic viewfinder everrrr
Cons
The camera bag i received was slightly different from the picture. Its not very durable and looks cheap
Camera is huge
Thats it! I LOVE THIS PURCHASE!
Professional DSLR RIG Shoulder Mount Follow Focus Whips, Crank
List Price: $1,999.99
Sale Price: Price Unavailable
Today's Bonus: 64% Off
We recently converted to DSLR and have checked out a lot of rigs. This rig is incredibly well built and massive making it a great transition from HD video to DSLR. It's weight and smooth controls make it an incredible rig.
JVC KW-AV60 DVD/CD/USB Car Receiver
I originally purchased the JVC KW-AV50 from Crutchfield, but then discovered that the AV60 also supported App Link's via my iPod and/or iPhone. So, I took the plunge and purchased the AV60 from Kings here on Amazon.
The radio has a great display, it supports SiriusXM, which I also purchased the tuner. It supports Pandora, MOG, Tune In, iHeart Radio and Motion X Drive Navigation all from within the radio itself. The video rather DiVX or iTunes looks great. I really love that I can set whatever color I want for the buttons and even customize the display itself.
Overall I am very happy with this radio. If you are in the market this is a great one!
By the way using Motion X Drive on your iPhone allows you to navigate anywhere and the list of points of interest is so up to date, Garmin can't touch this. Totally love this feature.
Hope this helps someone decide!
UPDATE: 3/26/12
Today out of the blue this radio restarted. I have made sure all connections are secure. Will continue to monitor the situation. I will likely be contacting JVC about this. I see a firmware update on their web site, but states its for Bluetooth.
UPDATE 3/30/12
Contacted JVC about the restarting issue, they asked me to verify which version of the software my head unit was running, I checked and the version was 1.01. The person directed me to a link to version 1.05 and told me to install this following the update instructions in the user manual. I downloaded the file and you will need a flash drive to do a software update; I copied the files to the flash ran the update. It took about 10 minutes, then you must do a hard reset. I did this on 3/26/12 and thus far the head unit has not restarted again. The usual pattern was that it would restart during use at least once or twice a day. It has now been 4 full days without a single restart. If it should happen again I will report back.
I want to say that each day that I use this head unit, I love it more and more. The JVC KW-AV60 is one great head unit! I highly recommend it! Much better than Pioneers App Radio!
UPDATE 3/17/13
I've had this head unit for a year. Still love it as much as the day I got it. In fact I've decided to buy another one for a 2nd car. I had considered getting a newer model, but for some reason the JVC KW-AV61 doesn't support MOG that I can see. I sent email to JVC and they told me it currently doesn't support MOG and a few other Apps that the original AV60 supported. This is because they added some compatibly for the iPhone 5 and iPod Touch 5th Gen. I have an iPhone 5, but this just isn't a big enough draw to convince me to get the newer model. Besides this older version has an open box special for a little over $200.
The radio has a great display, it supports SiriusXM, which I also purchased the tuner. It supports Pandora, MOG, Tune In, iHeart Radio and Motion X Drive Navigation all from within the radio itself. The video rather DiVX or iTunes looks great. I really love that I can set whatever color I want for the buttons and even customize the display itself.
Overall I am very happy with this radio. If you are in the market this is a great one!
By the way using Motion X Drive on your iPhone allows you to navigate anywhere and the list of points of interest is so up to date, Garmin can't touch this. Totally love this feature.
Hope this helps someone decide!
UPDATE: 3/26/12
Today out of the blue this radio restarted. I have made sure all connections are secure. Will continue to monitor the situation. I will likely be contacting JVC about this. I see a firmware update on their web site, but states its for Bluetooth.
UPDATE 3/30/12
Contacted JVC about the restarting issue, they asked me to verify which version of the software my head unit was running, I checked and the version was 1.01. The person directed me to a link to version 1.05 and told me to install this following the update instructions in the user manual. I downloaded the file and you will need a flash drive to do a software update; I copied the files to the flash ran the update. It took about 10 minutes, then you must do a hard reset. I did this on 3/26/12 and thus far the head unit has not restarted again. The usual pattern was that it would restart during use at least once or twice a day. It has now been 4 full days without a single restart. If it should happen again I will report back.
I want to say that each day that I use this head unit, I love it more and more. The JVC KW-AV60 is one great head unit! I highly recommend it! Much better than Pioneers App Radio!
UPDATE 3/17/13
I've had this head unit for a year. Still love it as much as the day I got it. In fact I've decided to buy another one for a 2nd car. I had considered getting a newer model, but for some reason the JVC KW-AV61 doesn't support MOG that I can see. I sent email to JVC and they told me it currently doesn't support MOG and a few other Apps that the original AV60 supported. This is because they added some compatibly for the iPhone 5 and iPod Touch 5th Gen. I have an iPhone 5, but this just isn't a big enough draw to convince me to get the newer model. Besides this older version has an open box special for a little over $200.
JVC Everio GZ-X900 AVCHD HD Flash Camcorder w/5x Optical Zoom
This is without a doubt the best camera / video camera combination on the market. The video is absolutely outstanding and surpasses my prior camera the sanyo Xacti HD 1000 by far and I thought that camera was outstanding. The photos are also brilliant with great color saturation and reproduction. It turns on almost instantly and the 5mp stills that can be taken while shooting video are also great quality. The camera has only 2 drawbacks, a limited optical zoom and only fair low light performance. The high quality of the images does much to surpass the limited optical zoom as the digital zoom can be used toover 10x with still wonderful quality. Compared to my panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5, a highly rated point and shoot the low light performance is similar. Bright indoor lights are no problem, but dim lighting results in a grainy image. The use of a tripod or monopod has helped low light performance significantly. Recently shooting images at dawn with a 32x zoom on video the simultaneously recorded stills were grainy but I captured images I never thought I could. When the lighting is better WOW! The images taken on a recent back countrytrip could be published, and the video is DVD quality. The image stabilization is excellent as well with good lighting. The high speed pictures and video are good but also require adequate lights. Lastly, it fits in my front jeans pockets without too much of a bulge. In summary,it is as good as a high quality point and shoot camera,and better than nearly any other video camera on the market wrapped in a small easy to use, instant on package that can always be with you. Low light conditions require a tripod or monopod and the zoom is limited as well but these factors affect less than 10% of my needs.
Samsung SC-HMX10 8GB Flash Memory High Definition Camcorder
I reviewed this camcorder on another camcorde site, but not alot of people peruse that site, so I thougt I would post the review here as well.
I didn't purchase this camcorder from Amazon, (but only because someone got it for me as a gift from another store) but when I was looking for advice on this camcorder it was hard to find.
I'm putting my review here in hopes that it helps someone who wants to buy this camcorder but cannot find any helpful reviews on this camcorder, because it's so new.
Here it is....
Okay, since the place that the camera was bought from has a great return policy, I thought I would open it up to see just how good or bad it was.
Let me say that I am by no means qualified to compare pixels, low light, etc etc etc...my review is based on my being a father and amateur that just wanted a easy point and shoot camcorder that records pictures and movies in great quality.
Upon opening this camera, let me say that it's the smallest thing I've ever seen. It would fit into a fabric sunglass bag (oakleys), that's how small it is.
I shot movies outside in full sunlight and inside during the day and the movies came out great!
I also tried to shoot in low light situation and it worked pretty good as well. I have nothing to compare it to, but whatever I shot looked pretty good.
I also tried it at night time and this is where it was kinda weak. Alot of details couldn't be seen, but being that it was Christmas, I took it to our local city hall and shot the surrounding decorations and I could see everything on my t.v.
The night time shooting is decent if there is sufficient ambient light. I did notice that when I shot video in almost complete darkness (streetlights only) I couldn't make out any details. The zoom was plenty fast and most of all (to me anyway) the performance was great.
Overall, picture quality was AWESOME....I don't know where the other reviewers (especially on Amazon) are shooting their videos but I was very impressed with my video quality.
Now, this doesn't say that it's perfect.
There are some definite flaws to this camera.
The battery for one. The battery will (according to the manual) shoot for about 20-30 minutes with all the zooming and stuff. I shot for about 10 minutes and I had no problems, but if I had to shoot all day without a spare, I wouldn't be happy about it. I thought that this was way too short. I wouldn't have minded so much if they sold an extended life battery but they don't (heck you can't even find a spare battery for sale, anywhere!)
Also, to take a picture, you have to push a button and switch from Video mode to Picture mode, and this takes approximately 1-2 seconds to switch over. I really didn't like that feature.
Since I don't have a high Definition dvd player, I had to hook the camcorder to my t.v. to watch the movies in hi-def and to do this, you have to open the lcd screen and plug the cables into the side of the camera.
The unfortunate thing about this camera was the format in which it records to. I have to agree with a lot of people that this new hi def format is a killer for most computers. I have a PIV 3.2 with 2 gigs of ram and while trying to make a movie in hi def, my computer would lock up and take forever to process the movie. However, if you convert it back to SD using the cyberlink software that is provided, you will notice that it looks almost as good as the hi def with half the processing time.
Since this is the format that most hi def camcorders are using, I don't see how anyone can fault Samsung for it.
So here are my pros and cons for this camcorder;
Pros;
Size....fits in the palm of my hand and it's super light
Performance/video quality....awesome, great quality
Cost....about 300 dollars cheaper than the Canon I'm going to get in the future
Media...records to a 8 gb internal memory or you can use sd cards to record to
looks....looks cool
Ease of use...touch screen, easy menus, point and shoot, perfect for those that don't want to have to learn how to use a gazillion different functions just to take videos of their kids...
Cons;
Battery...small, does not last, and unable to find xtra batteries
Photos...unable to take snap shot during video recording..takes too long to switch over
Use..ridiculous that you have to open LCD just to hook up cables to t.v.
Requirements...not the cameras fault, but still, I'm unable to watch the videos I shot on my computer and you will need a newer computer just to process the data. This HI Def format is great, but I would wait a bit for more support for it.
Would I recommend it...heck yeah! BUT....only if your computer can handle the processing (unless you just want to convert it to SD, then it doesn't matter). For the money and for what it can do, it's a great little camera.
Did I keep it...No, but only because of the fact that my computer obviously couldn't handle the files and since I don't have a high def dvd player (yet) I didn't want to keep plugging the darn thing into my t.v. just to watch it in hi def. The battery life was a small factor as well. My friend has a Sony hdd camcorder and he has an extended battery on it that will last for almost 4 hours (he says so) and that makes me want one that will last that long as well.
I'm going to wait until the support for hi def is more readily available and I also wanted the capabilities to record for longer than 1 hour without having to buy a bunch of SD cards...a hdd camcorder will not incur any additional costs to do so.
Eventually, I will buy a hi def camcoder, and who knows, in the future maybe I'll buy this one again if the price drops and more parts are available for it...i.e. batteries..
Hope this insight helps someone who is considering this camcorder, because it really is a cool little camcorder that records videos well.
Thanks for everyones advice on this matter...
I didn't purchase this camcorder from Amazon, (but only because someone got it for me as a gift from another store) but when I was looking for advice on this camcorder it was hard to find.
I'm putting my review here in hopes that it helps someone who wants to buy this camcorder but cannot find any helpful reviews on this camcorder, because it's so new.
Here it is....
Okay, since the place that the camera was bought from has a great return policy, I thought I would open it up to see just how good or bad it was.
Let me say that I am by no means qualified to compare pixels, low light, etc etc etc...my review is based on my being a father and amateur that just wanted a easy point and shoot camcorder that records pictures and movies in great quality.
Upon opening this camera, let me say that it's the smallest thing I've ever seen. It would fit into a fabric sunglass bag (oakleys), that's how small it is.
I shot movies outside in full sunlight and inside during the day and the movies came out great!
I also tried to shoot in low light situation and it worked pretty good as well. I have nothing to compare it to, but whatever I shot looked pretty good.
I also tried it at night time and this is where it was kinda weak. Alot of details couldn't be seen, but being that it was Christmas, I took it to our local city hall and shot the surrounding decorations and I could see everything on my t.v.
The night time shooting is decent if there is sufficient ambient light. I did notice that when I shot video in almost complete darkness (streetlights only) I couldn't make out any details. The zoom was plenty fast and most of all (to me anyway) the performance was great.
Overall, picture quality was AWESOME....I don't know where the other reviewers (especially on Amazon) are shooting their videos but I was very impressed with my video quality.
Now, this doesn't say that it's perfect.
There are some definite flaws to this camera.
The battery for one. The battery will (according to the manual) shoot for about 20-30 minutes with all the zooming and stuff. I shot for about 10 minutes and I had no problems, but if I had to shoot all day without a spare, I wouldn't be happy about it. I thought that this was way too short. I wouldn't have minded so much if they sold an extended life battery but they don't (heck you can't even find a spare battery for sale, anywhere!)
Also, to take a picture, you have to push a button and switch from Video mode to Picture mode, and this takes approximately 1-2 seconds to switch over. I really didn't like that feature.
Since I don't have a high Definition dvd player, I had to hook the camcorder to my t.v. to watch the movies in hi-def and to do this, you have to open the lcd screen and plug the cables into the side of the camera.
The unfortunate thing about this camera was the format in which it records to. I have to agree with a lot of people that this new hi def format is a killer for most computers. I have a PIV 3.2 with 2 gigs of ram and while trying to make a movie in hi def, my computer would lock up and take forever to process the movie. However, if you convert it back to SD using the cyberlink software that is provided, you will notice that it looks almost as good as the hi def with half the processing time.
Since this is the format that most hi def camcorders are using, I don't see how anyone can fault Samsung for it.
So here are my pros and cons for this camcorder;
Pros;
Size....fits in the palm of my hand and it's super light
Performance/video quality....awesome, great quality
Cost....about 300 dollars cheaper than the Canon I'm going to get in the future
Media...records to a 8 gb internal memory or you can use sd cards to record to
looks....looks cool
Ease of use...touch screen, easy menus, point and shoot, perfect for those that don't want to have to learn how to use a gazillion different functions just to take videos of their kids...
Cons;
Battery...small, does not last, and unable to find xtra batteries
Photos...unable to take snap shot during video recording..takes too long to switch over
Use..ridiculous that you have to open LCD just to hook up cables to t.v.
Requirements...not the cameras fault, but still, I'm unable to watch the videos I shot on my computer and you will need a newer computer just to process the data. This HI Def format is great, but I would wait a bit for more support for it.
Would I recommend it...heck yeah! BUT....only if your computer can handle the processing (unless you just want to convert it to SD, then it doesn't matter). For the money and for what it can do, it's a great little camera.
Did I keep it...No, but only because of the fact that my computer obviously couldn't handle the files and since I don't have a high def dvd player (yet) I didn't want to keep plugging the darn thing into my t.v. just to watch it in hi def. The battery life was a small factor as well. My friend has a Sony hdd camcorder and he has an extended battery on it that will last for almost 4 hours (he says so) and that makes me want one that will last that long as well.
I'm going to wait until the support for hi def is more readily available and I also wanted the capabilities to record for longer than 1 hour without having to buy a bunch of SD cards...a hdd camcorder will not incur any additional costs to do so.
Eventually, I will buy a hi def camcoder, and who knows, in the future maybe I'll buy this one again if the price drops and more parts are available for it...i.e. batteries..
Hope this insight helps someone who is considering this camcorder, because it really is a cool little camcorder that records videos well.
Thanks for everyones advice on this matter...
Panasonic DMC-G5KBODY 16MP SLR Camera with 3-Inch LCD - Body
List Price: $699.00
Sale Price: $409.99
Today's Bonus: 41% Off
I have a few friends with DSLR and micro-4/3 cameras and I was told to look at micro-4/3 due to it's lower cost of entry and portability. In the short term I wanted a new camera to take on my honeymoon, but my long term goal was to improve my photography skills beyond a compact point and shoot.
After much research I decided between the Olympus OM-D E-M5 and Panasonic DMC-G5KK. While I feel the Olympus is a better camera on paper, I didn't feel the cost differential was justified in my case. Micro-4/3 is still a relatively new platform, and I think the cameras will improve quite a bit in the next couple of years. Perhaps in that time I'll upgrade to a camera with a more rugged body and in body stabilization. FWIW, I purchased the DMC-G5 ($699), which included the 14-42mm zoom lens, along with the Lumix 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens ($332).
The combo is low profile and lightweight due to the pancake lens. I purchased the Crumpler "4 million dollar home" camera bag, which comfortably fits the G5, 20mm pancake, 14-42 mm kit lens, spare battery, charger, snackbar, and hand cleanser (a nice to have on vacation). I highly recommend this to anyone look at the G5 or other similarly sized micro-4/3s.
The 20mm pancake shoots amazing pictures with the G5. Landscapes and interiors look great, but portraits are amazing! I was overall quite impressed with photos I took on my vacation, the majority of which I used intelligent auto since I didn't have the time to learn about the camera. I would say I took 90% of my photos using the pancake since it was more convenient and much faster. I only used the zoom lens when I couldn't zoom with my feet.
My favorite things about the camera thus far:
1) Autofocus speed (combined w/ the 20mm)
2) Ergonomics and weight
3) HD video w/ autofocus
4) Large articulating touchscreen w/ AF tracking (touch screen and it will focus and track the subject!)
5) Depth of focus adjustment/box
6) RAW photos (works with Lightroom)
Things I dislike:
1) EVF sensor: even at the low sensitivity setting, my finger occasionally disables the LCD. I wish they put the sensor at the top of the EVF or something
2) Panasonic software: it's not well designed. You're better off buying Adobe Lightroom to handle the importing and post-processing.
Samsung PN43D490 43-Inch 720p 600Hz 3D Plasma HDTV (Black)
So let me start off by saying I rarely write reviews on here but I use them quite often when making a decision on whether or not to buy something. I bought this TV from Vann's, and it came with 2 pair of 3D glasses for free. Amazon use's Paul's TV as the primary seller and they are a very good company as well, so purchasing this TV through Amazon would have been my first choice, but Vann's had the better deal at the time.
My TV arrived via Fed Ex freight on April 21, and I immediately un boxed it and put it in my bedroom. This TV is replacing an Vizio 37" 1080P LCD which was working fine, but I really wanted a 3D set!
Initial Physical Impression was WOW. Very Sleek looking, much thinner than my Vizio, nice sturdy swiveling base, and has an almost Dark Cherry Touch of Color to it, which I was unaware of prior to purchasing but looks great with my Cherry Bedroom set.
Performance: I have the TV hooked up to a PS3 with the most current software (3D Capable), and Panasonic BDT-110 3D bluray player (Was a gift) and a Directv Hr-21 3D capable DVR Receiver. All I can say is WOW. The PQ is amazing, the blacks are Inky dark, there is no motion blur when watching sports and all this from a 720P, budget 3D TV! I have not any gaming on the unit yet, as I am nearing the end of the break in period, but I have been doing a TON of 3D Blu Ray and TV Watching. I must say that the new Bluetooth 3D Glasses from Samsung are great! This unit came with 2 free pair, and they retail right around $70.00 each. They sync with the TV quickly and I have yet to lose signal during a movie.
3D Performance: I have now watched about 10 3D Blu Ray movies on the TV and have seen zero Crosstalk/Ghosting. The picture looks at great in 3D as it does on standard bluray but with the Added 3D effect. You can even convert 2D television programming to 3D, while this is cool, it is not as in depth as original 3D Material (Blu Ray 3D or Directv 3D).
In conclusion, this is a great tv for any price. I am sure if you wanted to you could nit pick a few things (Mostly the adequate speakers) but overall I am very pleased, and I will be picking up a Samsung PN64D7000 to replace my current non 3D TV in the living room!
My TV arrived via Fed Ex freight on April 21, and I immediately un boxed it and put it in my bedroom. This TV is replacing an Vizio 37" 1080P LCD which was working fine, but I really wanted a 3D set!
Initial Physical Impression was WOW. Very Sleek looking, much thinner than my Vizio, nice sturdy swiveling base, and has an almost Dark Cherry Touch of Color to it, which I was unaware of prior to purchasing but looks great with my Cherry Bedroom set.
Performance: I have the TV hooked up to a PS3 with the most current software (3D Capable), and Panasonic BDT-110 3D bluray player (Was a gift) and a Directv Hr-21 3D capable DVR Receiver. All I can say is WOW. The PQ is amazing, the blacks are Inky dark, there is no motion blur when watching sports and all this from a 720P, budget 3D TV! I have not any gaming on the unit yet, as I am nearing the end of the break in period, but I have been doing a TON of 3D Blu Ray and TV Watching. I must say that the new Bluetooth 3D Glasses from Samsung are great! This unit came with 2 free pair, and they retail right around $70.00 each. They sync with the TV quickly and I have yet to lose signal during a movie.
3D Performance: I have now watched about 10 3D Blu Ray movies on the TV and have seen zero Crosstalk/Ghosting. The picture looks at great in 3D as it does on standard bluray but with the Added 3D effect. You can even convert 2D television programming to 3D, while this is cool, it is not as in depth as original 3D Material (Blu Ray 3D or Directv 3D).
In conclusion, this is a great tv for any price. I am sure if you wanted to you could nit pick a few things (Mostly the adequate speakers) but overall I am very pleased, and I will be picking up a Samsung PN64D7000 to replace my current non 3D TV in the living room!
Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD SP Zoom Lens (BIM) with Tripod
Maybe I have a defective model it is the sharpest thing I have shot on a tripod with VC off and in AF-S only. If I shoot with AS-A or AS-C It will never fail to produce a sharp image it also overexposes. Other than that amazing when it's actually in focus it is maybe better than the Nikon counterpart in sharpness. However in shooting it feels unsupported by my camera good thing it has a 6 year warranty. I am shooting a d7000 currently and intend to upgrade to a d800 in a few months, so I will see I hate sending stuff back so I will see if things improve with the d800 first and update my review.
