Computer-Case Reviews

Overview
The Verbatim DigitalMovie DVD-R is a 1x to 4x speed DVD Recordable media with the unique look of a movie reel. Verbatim DigitalMovie discs are available in 3-packs with a choice of 4.7GB DVD-R or DVD+R media packaged in clear DVD Super Jewel Box cases. The discs can be used for backing up DVD video titles and transferring video tapes to optical media that won't degrade over time. The discs can also be used with compatible personal video recorders (PVRs) to standardize the look of their recorded videos in clear, DVD video-sized jewel boxes. With a capacity of 4.7GB, users can store 2 hours of high-quality video on a single disc, and at 4x speed, an entire 4.7GB DVD+R or -R disc can be recorded in about 15 minutes.

Price
Backed by a lifetime warranty, Verbatim DigitalMovie DVD-R media has a street price of about $11.99 per 3-pack.

Setup
The only difficulty I found in using the DVD-R's was getting the DVD-R out of the jewel case. If you try to pull it open from the top, and the plastic just bends (and you can see that it is clasped in the middle). When I tried placing my thumb on the middle of the right edge and pulling outward, my thumb would just slip off. The best way I found to open the case (after much experimentation) was to place the palm of my hand on the front of the cover, and while applying light pressure with my palm, using my fingers to left the right middle edge open. I've never seen another case open like this before, so without knowing this trick up front (no instructions on the box), some less patient consumers may find more drastic ways of freeing the DVD from the case. Once you know the trick, it's pretty easy.

Case aside, the DVD-R itself is just like any other DVD-R. Load it into your Mac's DVD burning drive (whether the Superdrive or a 3rd party drive), and run your DVD-burning software. Piece of cake.

In Use
Sporting the movie reel look, the main selling point of this DVD-R is definitely the presentation. However, it's important to note whether you are sacrificing quality for a nice look. In this case, not at all. The DVD-R records from 1x to 4x speeds, and in all my uses, it recorded flawlessly. The DVD-R discs are based on Mitsubishi Kagaku Media's Metal Azo recording dye technology, which, in simple words, means that the discs produce recordings with greater power margin and better sensitivity than earlier generation discs. The DigitalMovie DVD media also utilizes Ultra-Precise Molding technology, which means that you get very flat discs with stable high-speed rotation during reading and writing. Add to these facts that it comes with a lifetime warranty, and you have a solid and reliable DVD-R product.

Of course, the reason you'll want to buy these DVD-R's is because instead of a plain non-descript print on the top of the DVD-R, there is a movie reel image printed right on the disc, providing a very nostalgic and movie-like feel to the media. It's perfect for putting your home movies on, especially as gifts for family and friends. I used iMovie to put together a couple of movies of my nephew's first year, and burned them onto the DigitalMovie DVD-R using iDVD. They made great gifts! There was not a whole lot of room to write on the disk, so I had to abbreviate the title of the movie. If I wanted to make a list of all the contents in the movie, I could have created a printed slip, and placed it in the jewel case. Although the case may not be the easiest case to open, it is a very nice looking case, and the DVD carrier comes out so that you can insert a printed description of the contents behind it. You could also slide in a cover on the front as well (similar to a CD case, except instead of sliding left to right, the cover slides from top to bottom). The case is also sized similar to cases that commercial DVD's come in, so it will fit nicely into your DVD library.

Summary
Verbatim's DigitalMovie DVD-R discs are stylish DVD-R's that are imprinted with a cool movie reel look, sport state of the art technology in terms of product design and reliability, include a tall clear DVD case, and come with a lifetime warranty. These DVD-R's work great with iDVD, are perfect for your home movies, and make really nice gifts. The jewel case is difficult to open unless you know the trick of opening it. These DVD-R's would be great for mailing as well, so it would be nice to have the option to purchase them on a spool without the cases. For anyone burning home movies, you're going to love these DVD-R's!

Pros
- State of the art DVD-R technology
- Cool movie reel design
- Tall jewel case fits your DVD library
- Lifetime warranty

Cons
- Case can be difficult to open
- Limited writing space on label
- No option to purchase on a spool

Overall Rating
4 1/2 out of 5 Mice

I originally bought three packs of these because they were on sale at Best Buy for 4.99 per 3 pk--a little less than 1/3 of the cost listed here. I've checked BestBuy's site and they have them for 9.99. Don't know if I got lucky on the price or what.

I needed the -R format because my, ah, lower end set-top DVD players (as opposed to my most excellent Pioneer 106D burner!) won't read +Rs with any reliability. Only one +R movie was actually viewable on them whilst both PowerDVD and WinDVD and Media Player read them just fine; so I knew it was the players' problems, not the disks; my mother's high end set top can read +Rs no problem.

It reads my DVD-RWs just fine (a good way to see if you've burned it right without risking creating another coaster; you can always just erase and start over!) The two players I have are both APEX's. Good players, light of features, of course, but that's why they are "lower end." The electronics are basically the same, it's the bells and whistles that cost.

So, I bought these Verbatim -Rs because they were much cheaper than anything else on the shelves and, besides, they look cool.

I've legally backed up four DVDs now and have had ZERO problems with these disks. I highly recommend them, espcially if you have a piece of hardware that's got issues with DVD+Rs.

Five star all the way.

More so than any other aftermarket case, this one was clearly made to fit the s300/s330. No more looking for an APPROXIMATE fit; this one is exact. It is just large enough to allow easy insertion and removal of the camera and provide a relatively snug fit at the same time. There is an integrated zippered pouch in the front - ideal for a spare battery and a couple of CF cards. The soft navy colored material (suede?) is almost luxurious to the touch, yet leaves no doubts as to its durability. I expect this thing to last for a while. Last but not least, you'll look just as good holding this case as you will holding your s330. This thing has more than its share of elegant but discreet style.

This is a great fit for my S200 and I love that it's not the typical black leather/faux-leather camera case. Mine is not obviously purple but more of an indigo in color - a very dark blue with purple undertones. The front zippered compartment zips open top to bottom on the left side and swings completely open to the right, great accessibility! The two pockets are mesh and allow easy viewing of the contents. I'm loving this case and my Canon S200!!! Really! Oh, and as far as an inconvenience in threading the wrist strap through the top hole... I don't experience it. It takes about one second if you press the folded middle through the hole. I can see how it would take longer if you tried to poke the end of it through, a la threading a needle.

All around nice little case for Canon Digital Elph. Front pouch is just big enough for extra battery and CF card. Loop attaches it to your belt or keeps it from getting dinged in dingbat wife's purse.

I don't actually own this case (because it wasn't available when I was looking for one) but I have the PSC-300, which is a dark blue suede-like material case made for the S300 and S330. My camera fits nicely into the PSC-300, and it has a front zipper pocket with enough space to store extra compact flash cards and a battery. If you own a S200 or S230, don't care about the leather and want extra storage space, the PSC-300 may be the way to go.

This is a very nice camera case. My S-400 fits in this little case snugly and perfectly. The case is made with pretty good quality leather and c'mon, for about $10, you can't ask for too much more. And for those of you looking for extra pockets and more padding, look into getting a camera bag and forget about this case. For those of you looking for something to protect the camera from scratches, or something with a belt loop, this is the case for you.

This is exactly what I was looking for in a case: something form-fitting but not so tight that I have to pry my camera out of it. It protects my camera, but it's still small enough to pocket. There's a very large patch of Velcro inside the flap, so flipping the case closed is not a precision act; just close it and the flap sticks. The Velcro is enough to offer a nice tight closure and still allow quick removal of the camera. There are gaps at the top corners, but the flap is wide enough that the camera itself remains substantially protected.

The case provides fine protection from scuffs and scratches, and probably offers a reasonable amount of drop protection as well. No, there's no extra room for batteries or flash cards in there; this is a small protective case for a small camera. Put it in a big case, and you've lost much of the benefit of the camera's diminutive size. For me, it's a case like this or nothing.

Some people don't like the way you're supposed to thread the strap through the hole in the lid. Simple; I don't bother. I have no problem with the strap sticking out the side of the top flap, and it doesn't interfere with use of the case (frankly, it makes it easier). One thing: the camera only fits properly with its lens facing the front of the case. Put it in backwards, and every time you pull it out, the little switch that toggles between taking pictures and displaying them will be pushed to the 'display' side.

I'm very fussy about camera cases, but I was quite pleased to find that this one does exactly what I need without any features that make the camera unpleasant to carry or difficult to get out for a quick shot.

This plastic shell makes it possible for you to bring your camera with you while you go bathing, swimming or diving. Usually I buy the "use once" cameras that also are a bit waterproof, but I find that the picture quality not so good. With this underwater casing, I can bring my S40 instead, giving me a lot of nice pictures. I think the price for this underwater camera shell is about 20 "use once" cameras, but regarding the large amount of pictures you can take with the digital camera, I think it is worth it.

In 4 weeks I will take this gadget to the south of Italy for a try diving. As long as the water is clear so there is enough light this underwater camera solution should produce great pictures. When there is lack of light, the flash is not strong enough though. I will update the review when I am back.

A flexible digital camera solution for fun pictures in the wet - perfect vacation gadget

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Back from Italy:
While in Italy, I took around 1000 pictures. About a 3rd of the pictures were really good. Some pictures lacked focus, and some lacked fishes =). Diving in southern Italy, the water is very clear making it easy for the camera to use auto focus. I used macro mode only during this trip and I got some really good pictures. The only problem I had was the battery. After some days I learned how to take pictures without using the LCD screen. Turning the screen off will prevent the battery from going dead too soon.

I am very pleased with the underwater house, and I will continue to use it during my future trips.

This case is great for underwater work. I have taken it to 120 feet and I has held up fine (it is only rated to 100 feet however, so go deeper at your own risk) I use the flash a lot, but where I dive there is not much particulate in the water, so backscatter was not an issue, except when I was in caves and such. I highly recommend this case to anyone wanting to take underwater photos. An external strobe would improve photos a lot, and I am working on fabricating one to work with my Powershot. There is a tripod mount-style hole on the bottom of the case that facilitates attachment to a strobe assembly. I usually set the camera to automatically power down after 5 mins, this saves battery somewhat. I have been able to take up to 90 shots over the course of about 6 hours (2 dives and a long surface interval) with 80% of the shots with flash. Thats about as far as one can extend the battery's life. Get an extra battery if you plan on doing more work than that without a recharge, Overall it is an excellent product to go with an excellent camera

I am a Scuba instructor and I own a Nikonos V, a Sea&Sea MX-10 and an Ikelite housing for my Pentax PZ-1 SLR. I wanted to move to digital photography for my Underwater Photography classes. (I am NOT an expert. I am NOT a professional photographer. I teach the intro course.) I also needed to reduce the weight of the gear I was hauling to the Caribbean. The Canon S30 with the DC300 housing lets me do just that. I added an Ikelite Substrobe DS50. (If you want to use an external strobe, you REALLY need to get one that is specially made for digital. Normal strobes don't work!)

I taught a class of high school students to do Underwater Photography last spring with this rig. I used it myself last summer on my own vacation trip. I'm using it again this summer in preference to my other rigs. We were all able to take remarkably good pictures and see the results using my laptop during lunch. I really liked being able to give feedback on the student's technique while s/he still remembered taking the picture. No waiting for developing.

(We also were able to take remarkably bad pictures as well. The delay between pushing the shutter release and actual snappage of the picture is Especially Annoying!)

As with any underwater photography gear, meticulous care and cleaning is necessary. That said, I found this particular rig very easy to maintain and very easy for my students to learn how to maintain and use.

These admittedly dinky-looking headphones give surprisingly good sound. Bass is full and the rest of the frequency spectrum is nothing to sneeze at. Since statistically speaking you are like most people, you'll be plugging these into either an MP3 player full of badly-ripped, low-bitrate compressed audio tracks or else a crummy portable CD player with an extremely noisy potentiometer for a volume control. Buying better than these perfectly respectable headphones would be a waste of money.

The Sportapros fold up too, which makes them great for a coat pocket. Also, the headband can fold in such a way that the headphones look like "street-style" headphones that are oh-so-popular these days. This makes them clamp on your head a bit more, but it can't possibly be any less comfortable than any other headphones in such a configuration. I think it looks stupid that way, but hey, if that's your cup of tea so be it.

As for noise isolation, these don't offer much. If you really don't want to hear the subway along with your gangsta rap, you should be looking at a pair of noise-cancelling phones or better yet in-ear headphones such as those made by Etymotics. (The latter are a few times the price of the Sportapros on the bottom end, mind you.)

It even comes with a fake leather bag that I keep laundry money in. (Keeping a set of headphones this inexpensive in such a bag is just screaming "I have OCD!") Bottom line, this is the best pair of portable headphones you can buy for the price. They don't sound worse than the low-end Sennheisers in this price range, for example, and they are quite a bit smaller.

OK people, yes these are not the best looking headphones, but come on, get over it! Buy your headphones for the S-O-U-N-D. Let's get past the whole fashion statement thing-it's about music. Koss Sportapro's deliver in SPADES. These suckers have great bass response-very clear, crisp, and pounding in the low range. The mid's and high's sound really good as well. YOU CAN'T BEAT THESE HEADPHONES FOR THE PRICE. If you want better sound you have to go to at least [the more expensive] models, I know, I've owned many different headphones (including the predecessor of the Sportapro, the 'Portapro'). So yeah, you can pay thru the nose and get some Sony's (over-rated) or Sennheiser's, but hey; it's your money. For the most bang for the buck, get these.

I listen to everything from extreme metal to jazz and classical on these and it all sounds great. The extended cord length and mute button are also nice extras. Also, if you really don't want to talk to someone, just put on some outlandish music loudly-the design allows a good deal of sound to emmanate from the speakers. These phones 'breathe' if you know what I mean. Yet they deliver high quality sound into your ears. They sound great at all volumes. They are light, and the adjustable (over the head or behind the head) headband is really nice. Who says Koss doesn't care about fashion!? All of you who worry about your hair can simply flip the headband back and avoid disturbing your follicles.

Highly recommended.

Recently I was looking for a good pair of headphones for under $. After doing extensive research, I came to the conclusion that the Koss Sporta Pro headphones could not be beaten in that price range, I would even spend $ for them they are so good. The bass is the best I have ever heard from headphones, and the mid and high notes are also clear and well defined. Some people say that these headphones are uncomfortable. I personnally can only feel them for about 5 mins before my head gets used to them and they become very comfortable. The headphones have gold plated connection plug, as well as an adapter to plug them into your older stereo, which is also gold plated. The headphones even come with a carry case. In conclusion, the Sporta Pro's are the best value for headphones under $, and have a lifetime warranty to boot.

When I purchased this Canon case, Amazon did not have a picture available yet. So I gambled.

Here is my personal verdict. The case is made of good leather quality and looks elegant. From distant one might think it is a purse for the ladies. Inside it has two pockets for storage of memory cards and another for a spare battery.

This case lacks a shoulder strap (duh!). To substitute the shoulder strap the wrist strap of the camera (mine is a S-10) is then used when the camera sits tightly in the case and its strap hangs outside at one side of the case. The flap, when closed, leaves its sides uncovered. In my opinion, dirt or water splashes can easily enter here and damage the toy.

I'm looking for a new product.

Since I was mainly looking for a case to protect my camera from the accidental drops when I'm not taking pictures, I'm pretty happy with my selection. (and I have dropped it from a height of maybe 2-3 feet onto pavement with no harm to my camera.) A couple of details:

1) The picture on the website seems to be a much darker grey than the actual case. The case seems to be more of a heather grey.

2) The case has a little zipper in front that it is perfect for storing additional memory cards and battery packs. It's well designed as after you open up the zipper, it has two pouches inside so your memory card/battery fits in snuggly.

3) The case protects the camera reasonably well. However, on one side of the case, it is open (probably so the camera cord is not covered by the case. This side is held by velcro. Generally pretty good, the velcro sometimes comes apart if not velcroed well.

If you're looking for a case that protects your camera when you're not using it, I would say this case does the job. However, it does not shield the camera (slightly open on one side) and it basically just makes your camera larger (not as easy to put in your pocket yet not so large that you can carry it around your neck, etc.) All in all, if you're looking for a general case, this is probably a pretty good choice.

I was so anxious to get a camera case I almost bought a generic case for my S200 from Best Buy. Good thing I waited to buy this case, as it is far superior to any generic case I could have bought. This case is the perfect size for my Elph, it does add size to the camera, making it harder to get in your pocket, but the belt clip works great, so its hardly ever a problem. Good color for the case, and the front pocket holds enough to help out when you need another battery or flash card. The strap still comes out of one of the sides of the case, so you can still use it. Not a case to protect from the elements, but it will protect from impacts VERY well. For it's price, less than the generic cases, and its great fit and quality, I would most definatly buy this case again if my current one were to ever wear out or become lost.

I bought this one few months back for my Toshiba laptop.......the case is quite strong thou a lill small for my 15" Toshiba Satellite.....but on the other side this bag is quite strong and sturdy...and is compact too....if u r thinking that u can also put ur files n other documents in the case itself along with ur laptop then this is not the bag for u.....

Pros: Very Strong, Good Quality fabric n zippers, Water Proof, Very Light and just the right size, Smart looking too
Cons: Wont recommend for 15" Laptops, wont carry ur books or big files....

overall i think this a very good bag for its price.

This bag is fantastic. I bought it before I got the new Pismo PowerBook, because I compared the dimensions and knew it would fit. This is a rather large laptop, so I would imagine that just about any other machine would fit nicely.

It's just an excellent product: good materials, sturdy construction, easy to pack alot into it. One main compartment for the machine, an external sleeve, an inside pocket, a pocket for CDs or cables, business card holder and a couple of other pouches. The shoulder strap is comfortable and sturdy.

I checked around with many different vendors, and thought this looked like a good choice. The bag is made entirely from synthetic materials, no leather on this one. And it's a good price. Definitely worth the money if you're looking for a soft, slick bag for a laptop.

Highly recommended!

I have an HP Pavilion ze5385us (ze5300 series) and this thing fits my laptop perfectly. The front pocket can fit the power supply, an infrared mouse, an infrared transmitter, and a headphone just fine. There is another large pocket inside that I use to store my CDROMs (it can hold up to 8 CDROM covers). Another inside raised pocket is large enough to hold my box of business cards and a 100-tablet migraine-heache bottle. The back-side pocket is slimmer but is big enough to hold my composition notebook & a newspaper. It's perfect for my needs and it looks quite decent. I would highly recommend it.

I was in awe with this cute little camera because of it's size which seemed to amaze me, especially because it had a 3X zoom without any protruding lenses, minolta's worth-praising technology. I thought this was going to be every amateur photographers dream come true, as it is extremely mobile.

After purchasing this camera and seeing the quality of pictures, I now realize what the price of this camera is all about. To say the least, the picture quality is pathetic. When I compare this to my already existing canon powershot, the difference is strikingly clear. Quality of pictues in this camera would be like those of a web camera, if you excuse the size.

I am terribly disappoited. The photo looks totally granulated with lot of disturbance. The color is made up and not natural. I would have forgiven the cheap little camera had I taken photos in no-so-good lighting condition. But as the lighting was good, the performance should have been better.

After checking out so many cameras, I belive there is nothing better than canon powershot. If you have some extra bucks, it's worth spending on a canon. The picture quality is amazing.

You can read my review for Canon powershot 4 mega pixel digital camera. This doesn't come even close to that.

You can waste your money on this one only if you need to be able to carry a camera around in your shirt pocket and be least bothered about quality photos. I wonder how many of us would do that.

Strengths:
Compact and lightweight camera that allows photographers on the go to take high-quality pictures in any place and at anytime
Weaknesses:
No A/V output and slide show function. This is probably the biggest loss for the XG.
Summary:
The ultra slim Minolta DiMAGE Xg packs a 3x optical zoom and 3.2-megapixel resolution into a body that is just 20mm thick! Though the DiMAGE Xg is almost identical to its predecessor, the DiMAGE Xt, it has a number of fundamental difference, including a faster start-up time (a speedy 0.8 seconds), a larger 1.6" LCD monitor, and a fast, 30-frame-per-second movie mode for high quality movies. Much longer battery life - 240 minute playback versus 120 for the XT. Specific AE program modes for sports, portraits, landscapes, sunsets, night scenes. Sports means faster shutter to catch action and so on. Multi-frame in one frame capture for action sequences (9 pics in less than three seconds). Manual settings mode somewhat like the Canon S230. One switch setting chooses the auto settings including the 5 AE modes. The other lets you choose color mode, ISO sensitivity, metering, and white balance. PictBridge printing support. In camera picture editing functions such as cropping and reframing pictures. In camera cut/paste function allows you to place an image within another image. This is one fantastic camera!

By far the best ultra compact, truly shirt pocket digital camera with the right combination of features. Not the best in the world, but real close. The start up time is less than a second and your ready to shoot. One mode for fully automatic with preprogrammed settings for portait, sport, sunset, night, and landscape. Another mode to have more granular control of sensitivity, white balance, and exposure.

Prints great 4x6 pictures on glossy paper, which is 99.9% of the type of pictures I will print. Comes with a 16MB SD card allowing continuous shooting at 1.5 frames per second.

There is a 3x optical zoom that is non-protruding. Great technology with great pictures. I haven't taken a camera on trips due to their bulkiness. Yes, I'm lazy. The Xg is easily kept in a shirt pocket readily available when the urge strikes.

It's a shame they don't show pictures of the inside of this bag. The top opens up and then the front zips down to reveal 3 mesh pockets meant for flashcards, floppy disks, and cables. Actually, I use mine for a camera/binocular set I was given. The point-and-shoot camera and compact binoculars fit in the main compartment easily together with the divider. The mesh pockets don't hold bulky items, but it's good enough for a roll of file and a simple camera cleaning kit. So I have the basics ready for travel in one small bag.

I even bought another one for a personal 2" TV. The TV and its AC adapter are in the main compartment with a small pair of headphones in the front. I initially wanted to get this bag for my digital camera and accessories. But with a camera, battery charger, AC adapter, and three cables, it was just too much to fit inside this bag; I got a small camcorder bag instead.

So this camera bag is great, but don't expect the pockets up front to hold much.

Received this bag to go along with my Olympus C-4000. It's quite a nice bag, relatively compact and easily fits my C-4000 with plenty of protection offereed by the walls of the case and padded divider. There is plenty of room left for cables, a flash or even another camera if you've got one. A mesh pouch on the inside of the main compartment flap offers a handy place to store my SM cards. On the other side, another component offers 4 elastic loops for batteries, and 2 mesh pouches (1 zippered) for storing more batteries or whatever else you might have. I can easily store 3 sets of 4 AA batteries in here, with plenty of room for more SM cards. And to top it all off, a zippered side pouch for another place to put stuff (nothing too thick though). There's an adjustable carry strap that you can use to sling over your shoulder, plus handles on the top and side, so there are plenty of ways to grab onto the bag. The only think I don't like about this bag is that mine doesn't seem to want to stand up. It always ends up rolling over onto its back. This however is a pretty minor thing.

This is a perfect digital camera bag and has many compartments. The inside has a divider (adjustable) so that you can carry the camera and other accessories (a cell phone in my case). It is fairly spacious so that a variety of cameras fit inside. My Kodak DC4800 fits fine. There are also zipper compartments for storage of flash cards, spare batteries and instruction manuals. The included shoulder strap is adjustable. There are currently 2 versions of this bag. Mine has a zipper around the top--A friend of mine bought one and hers looks exactly as pictured in this ad. You will not be disappointed with this bag.