Computer Reviews

I am taking the time to write this review because I am so impressed with this product. I wanted a flat screen because of both the space saving, and the appearance, but did not want to invest a lot of money in an extra monitor. What I never expected was the image quality. The colours are clear, clean, and vibrant.

I spend a lot of time doing detailed design work, work on photos and video, (and have worked with several high-end monitors) yet am really pleased with the image quality. And at the Amazon price, I really feel I have gotten a bargain.

I have to say that I think Samsung has come up with another winner. Word seems to be getting out as well, since I have started noticing this particular monitor in a lot of places -- particularly some design-conscious places of business.

I was looking for a space saver monitor and I think the Samsung 570V is the best buy. I ve seen this priced at $... and was surprised to see this monitor so low in price. I highly recommend. Clear ~ sharp . . . Best buy in LCD monitors.

I picked this up on the recommendation of a friend, and I'm not disappointed. Considering you can get this monitor ... after rebates and coupons if you know where to look, it's a great deal. Keep in mind that a 15" LCD has almost as much viewable area as a 17" CRT monitor, and the price doesn't even seem that steep. I've reclaimed some valuable desk space, and my desk hutch doesn't heat up any more like it used to because of the heat generated by my previous CRT. Very bright, very clear, and works great with standard video cards/cables (digital not necessary). Samsung has come a long way in electronics, IMO. I really notice the difference when I use someone else's CRT now.

I bought the unit in January 2002. By design or bad luck, the unit froze. I bought it from [a department store] and they offered no extended warranty.

I called Sony two days ago. They have the most impressive and accurate voice messaging system I have ever heard. After a lengthy, but clever, screening, I managed to hear human voices. Very kind, obviously reading scripts from screens. I could not distinguish the electronic voice system from actual real people. They were following a coreographed procedure. Did you reset? Yes. Did you recharge? Yes. After repeating about 3 times, I was told to ship the unit for repair. The cost [is] mind boggling... After only 14 months since new. This is the end of the script of Sony Clie Service.

I just want to warn the potential buyers. Sony charges the PDA consumer hidden costs tha annoy and make an otherwise a loyal owner very disappointed.

I spent months deciding which PDA to get. I wanted to see the second-gen Pocket PCs before I did anything.

Ultimately it came down to reliability, bells & whistles, and cost. I'm the first to admit I love gadgets. So I was mightily tempted by the current crop of PocketPCs, particularly for their gaming ability. Face it: this generation of Palm PDAs--even the ones with the Dragonball 33 mhz processor like the Clie--can't compare to the 206 mhz 32-bit StrongARM-powered PocketPCs when it comes to animated gaming. The Clie's 33 mhz 16-bit CPU simply lacks the horsepower for realistic animation. The same goes for video. So if it's important to you to be able to play action games on your handheld or watch movies on a tiny screen, by all means get a Pocket PC.

If you want to use your PDA for business, understand that Pocket PCs are still toys for adults. Business users should get a Palm OS PDA. And if you're going to get a Palm OS PDA, the Clie 610c (or 760c) is the way to go.

This may sound like blasphemy to Clie fans--Sony is trying to position the Clie 6-and 7-series PDAs as multimedia machines to compete with Pocket PC. But they really can't compare in that regard for the reason I noted above. (You can listen to music on your 760c, though.)

So why the Clie, with its Palm OS, instead of Pocket PC for business? After all, Pocket PCs will sync with your Windows apps, right? Pocket Outlook, Pocket Word, etc must be a more seamless match than Palm's 3rd party apps, right? Wrong. Pocket Outlook is a brain-damaged version of the real thing. Just try sync-ing subfolders. It's not gonna happen. Same with Pocket Word. You lose all your formatting. Meanwhile Palm OS has 3-4 different 3d party apps that sync with each program, and allow you to retain your subfolders and formatting. And these are just examples. The Palm business apps really are better--for now.

Then there's reliability. The dreaded Blue Screen of Death should be all-too familiar to all Windows users. Guess what? Now you can have the Blue Screen of Death right in your Pocket. Imagine how much fun you'll have when you're on the road and your Pocket PC requires a hard reset and you lose ALL YOUR DATA and you can't restore it from your desktop because you're, as I said, ON THE ROAD. Pocket PC's are as unstable as their pre-Windows XP big brothers. In my view, they are not stable enough for serious business use. Palm OS, by contrast, is rock-solid.

Cost is also a factor. Personally I can easily afford the [the price] of a 2nd-gen Pocket PC, but for what purpose? I would have a very expensive Gameboy Advance, and I would still need a REAL PDA for work.

What really sets the Sonys apart from the crowd of Palm OS PDAs is their incomparable screens. The Clie 610c and 760c use the same screen technology as the Compaq Ipaqs--universally cited as the best in the Pocket PC world. And the Sonys posess even higher resolution than PocketPCs (320 x 320 vs 320 x 240). All the other Palm PDAs are still stuck with relatively dim 160 x 160 displays (OK, the Handspring Prism isn't dim, but it is still low-res). But the numbers don't begin to tell the real story. The 610c's display is bright with 64K colors, readable in daylight, and razor-sharp . You will never go back to a monochrome unit once you've used the Clie.

Clie also has a jog-dial. It sounded handy before I tried it, but after using it: big deal. A non-issue. Clie also looks cooler than other Palm PDAs, but that's just my opinion.

As for support, I confess to being among the very first PEG 415 users, as I ordered one direct from Sony the day it came out. The 415 has a 320 x 320 16-shade grayscale screen in a beautiful brushed aluminum body that is a bit over 1/2 as thick as a 6- or 7-series Clie. Unfortunately, the 415's screen is so dim it is almost unreadable in ordinary light, even with the (weak) blue-green backlight on. (...)

As for expandability: you're pretty much limited to the memory stick. There is an MP3 player add-on for the 610c, but if you wanted MP3 you would have bought a 760c in the first place. The memory stick itself is excellent, and cost is now comparable to other flash memory. But if you want a GPS unit or some other specialized add-on, you'd better go with a Handspring.

Battery life on the Clie 610c is excellent, particularly compared to Pocket PCs. I routinely use it for 2-3 days without charging it, and the battery life has always remained above 3/4. It would probably last over a week with a single charge.

Construction is very sturdy. I haven't had a problem with dust under the screen as reported by some Ipaq users.

The bottom line is, the Clie PEG 610c's multimedia abilities are oversold, but its beautiful display, Palm OS and apps, and compact size make it the best choice for a business user. Pocket PCs are undeniably better at multimedia, but they still aren't reliable enough for business use. My suggestion: give Microsoft a pass this time and check back in a year or two. By then Pocket PCs may be ready for prime time, or Palm may well have overburdened its simple, stable OS with a plethora of features in an effort to match Microsoft, making Palm OS just as unstable as Pocket PC. Either way, you'll be ready for a new machine by then, anyway. For now, though, Palm OS is the only real choice for business, and the Clie 610c is the best Palm OS PDA out there.

I have a PEG-N710C, which is the same as this model, but includes the MP3 player functionality, which can be added to this one as an option. This is a wonderful PDA. The resolution is amazing and much better than its Palm or Handspring competitors. Photos can be downloaded and viewed with brilliant clarity. The memory stick slot is very handy for storing applications, MP3 files, or pictures. Memory sticks can be shared between the PDA and other Sony electronics. I have a Sony digital camera as well and it is very helpful to be able to use my memory sticks in both the camera and the PDA. Applications cannot be run directly from the memory stick but pictures and MP3 files can be directly accessed. The processor is fast, the UI is great, the unit is lightweight, and I have had nothing but good experiences with Sony support.

I bought this home theater system nearly a week ago and arrived at my home at around 9:30 with this system in my hands.At 10:30 I was watching a movie with it. It was so easy to set-up. Also it produces great sound. I got a DVD player for my birthday and didn't want to spend more money to get a dvd player with my system. This product fit me well.

If you already have a DVD player, or you don't want to get locked into a DVD player that doesn't have all the features you want, this is a good home theater system for you.

Since it doesn't include a DVD player, it's a lot less expensive than one that does have one, and you can get a DVD player with features like Progressive Scan to add to this great system to really make your home theater watching experience look and sound terrific.

Overall, quality from Sony has always been high, and this unit is no exception. The 100 watts of power is ample for a home theater unit in all but the largest rooms. The integrated Dolby sound processing makes sure that your audio experience will be as pure as digital sound can make it. It's fairly easy for even an amateur to set up and use. And the SubWoofer will blow your socks off. The stereo AM/FM tuner that's included has enough presets for the whole family. And it has more than enough inputs and outputs for all but the most demanding audio/video connoisseur.

5.1 Surround Sound can only be appreciated in person, in a room set up correctly. One of the things you will really enjoy is how the sounds seem to come from in back of you and then zoom around to the front. But its fairly small size makes it easy to set up, even in an apartment. You won't believe your ears when you hear it, and you won't believe the price when you see it. It's the only complete system in a box for this price.

I don't think I could recommend this system any higher for those who already have a DVD player and want to add the home theater experience, or for those who want to get a DVD player with different features than a whole package deal. I'm now recommending this unit, which is still available, over my original choice of the Sony HT-DDW740 which is no longer available.

I have never had anything but the audio coming from the stereo speakers on my TV, and I was blown away the first time I heard this system. I bought this system brand new off of eBay for $250 total in late February 2004 and have been completely satisfied since.

I like to relax in my room now and crank that sub all the way up untill my windows rattle and the pictures on the wall shake. It did take me a couple hours to get set-up becuase I went crazy in getting everything just perfect in the settings. This system can get as loud as you'd want for a small to medium sized room.

One of the main reasons I got this was for Pro Logic II decoding on my Gamecube games, and Wow it's awesome to hear on games that support it. But the real treat comes when watching DVDs in Digital or DTS. For the first time I experienced true surround in my room and it was incredible. I recommend trying Saving Private Ryan DVD in the first beach-landing scene with the bass cranked all the way up to feel the explosions.

The receiver is pretty straight-forward and easy to use if you read the manual first. Some of the settings don't change the overall sound that much. I use different modes when I am listening to sound from different equipment...

Audio CDs - Dolby Pro Logic II MUS mode
DVD's - CSTEX B Movie mode
Gamecube/Radio - Dolby Pro Logic II MOV mode

Overall an excellent budget system (A Sony too!). I recommend.

I bought a new D-NE509 a while ago, and when I hadn't even owned it for two weeks, it suddenly stopped working. I've consulted the instructions, and none of the valid reasons as to why it would read "NO DISC" when there was a disc in place were present. This item had not been under any stressful elements and was brand-new when I bought it from Target in the Mid-West. I'm currently rounding up the cheap headphones that also came with it and plan on returning it very soon--and not for another one! It also makes very loud rustling noises. Sony should be better than this, and I have switched back to the cd player/walkman I had been using for two years.

Dysfunction aside, this cd player is too big for the little capabilities it does provide. It is too large to hold easily in your hand, nor to slip into a jacket pocket or a front pocket on a hoodie. You'd think it would have a large screen, but instead it doesn't. I've seen much smaller MP3 players that display more than this does.

If you're interested in hearing your music and nothing else, this would be the item to choose. But if you want actual options, then get something better.

As many have said, this is a very nice CD/MP3 Walkman.

Pros

+ Very solid and reliable, in a small package.

+ The battery life is amazing. I use NiMH batteries, and they last for days.

+ Very nice full sound.

+ If you hit the Stop button, it powers down in 10 seconds. When you power back up, it remembers the spot where you left off, even in the middle of a cut. I like this feature a lot, as I listen to a lot of recorded messages.

+ It's a Sony! They're always great.

+ It WILL play MP3Pro files, and they sound great, even though MP3Pro is not necessarily supported.

Cons

- Display is ridiculously small. I don't know what Sony is thinking on this one. If you want a similar Sony CD walkman with a very good display, try Sony's Psyc® ATRAC® CD Walkman®
D-NF400PSGRAY (check Sony website). I wish I knew about that one before buying this one.

- By default beeps with every button press and beeps constantly on Pause. However, this CAN be easily disabled, as documented in the instructions.

- EXTREMELY slow FF and RW functions. This is irritating if you want to skip forward or backward in an extended recording.

Further observation

I haven't tried the SonicStage software, based on the very negative reviews here. I'm using MusicMatch Jukebox Plus, encoding everything MP3Pro 96 khz with great success.

Overall, I'm very pleased with this player. Yeah, you need an electron microscope to read the display -- but beyond that it's great.

I read lots of reviews conserning other CD-mp3 players. Most of them did match this Sony player. By far the batt. life is much greater than others. I have had mine for three weeks and I have used it everyday. The batteries are still working. The sound is great. With the factory headphones I can hear my music with greater definition than with any stereo that I own.

It would be nice to have a larger display and to beable to light it. However this is not a problem if you take the time to set up directories when you burn a CD. This makes searching quite easy.

The ATRAC3PLUS format works well on the player but it takes forever to convert the files and there is no way to save progress. It took my P733 processor seven hours to set up one CD with Sony's format. However, the format can be very nice because with it you can fix a ton of music on one disk. I have almost 30 CDs on one ATRAC disk.

I am totaly pleased with my purchase and I sujest that you look at reviews concerning many different players before buying one.

Good Luck!

I bought another program (Neato) and spent a frustrating 2 hours trying to create one label. Found Surething on the net and used the free trial version. It's intuitive, comes with great templates, and makes it incredibly easy to design your own labels. I wanted my burned cd's to list the tracks on the label and finally have a means to do so. No more majic marker for my labels! Wish this program cost less, but sometimes, you get what you pay for, and this is worth it.

I have used many different labeling programs and have struggled trying to make a great label. I purchased Surething and making a label takes minutes and looks great. There are hundreds of different backrounds that look great. Also, you do not have to shape the backround to fit a CD like you do with other programs. It is a simple click and go. This program cost a little bit more than other CD labeling progrmas but the money is well worth it. Surething is the only labeling program that allows you to use labels from other makers. This allows you to use labels from other programs that don't come close to the quality of Surething. A must buy!!!!!!!

Need I say more.... SureThing is a sure thing. This product has everything you need for cd labeling. The software is fabulous. Tons of art work, backgrounds, etc. for creating a professional label and it is user friendly.

I have a small suggestion here. Go to google.com and type

"Hercules 3D Prophet 4500 64 MB review".

The first 40-50 search results give in depth reviews of what has been one of the best selling card for the year 2001. I wont go into the statistics and the frame rates and the strengths and weaknesses - all of those are covered many times over in the reviews done by professional.

What I will speak about is my experience in choosing this card and using it. I was looking for a upgrade for a defunct RIVA TNT2 M64 card that I owned previously, and didn't want to sell my clothes to acquire a new piece of hardware. Having read glowing reviews everywhere on the net, I decided, after much deliberation and research to invest in the Hercules 3D Prophet 4500 AGP. Suffice to say - I am totally satisfied with the card and can play graphic intensive games such as RTCW and MoHAA with ease, with medium settings, in 1024x768, 32 bit colour (thanks to the internal rendering done in default 32 bit colour). In fact I have heard people crib about how MoHAA taxes their high end systems and I am happy to say that this speedy tile based renderer performs admirably in crunch situations. Off course, in retrospect it was a great investment and a great upgrade.

My PC configuration:

PIII 800 EB
Win 98SE
256 MB RAM
20 GB HDD
Intel 815 chip set with 2x/4X AGP slot
15 inch colour monitor
Hercules 3D Prophet 4500 graphics accelerator card (Kyro II)

If you want bleeding edge triple digit frame rates - maybe you should look elsewhere - maybe at a Geforce 3 Ti500. But the Geforce costs about 3- 4 times as much as this card as probably offers about 50-70% better performance, for about 300-400% better price !! So take your pick.

I bought mine for about USD 138 and at the current price of USD 94 , it's a fantastic deal. Go for it !

The card is amazing, it runs todays(Note That) most played games, Unreal Tournament, Quake III etc. at very high framerates, hell it even gives the GeForce 2 GTS a run for it's money but fails just short because it has no integrated T & L engine, which most of the newer games are going to use (Unreal 2, Max Payne, Giants; Citizen Kabuto, Nascar Racing 4 and a few more).

Although it runs the games good snd at decent framerates (mostly depends on your system) it doesn't have that long of a shelf life, just because that mistake. Better than the GeForce 2 MX. The card has a 175Mhz Core Speed, 64MB SD or DDR RAM (Don't Remember). If your looking for an excellent card that performs for a cheap price look no further. Let the 3D Prophet show you the way !!!

I have been using a herc card for years, they have worked great for me. I don't play the bleeding edge games all the time, but this little 64 meg card does fine on quake II and unreal when I do play them. No complaints.

LaCie has hit a towering home run with its line of plug and play d2 FireWire CD-RW drives. While not as sporty as some drives on the market, the d2 is a fleet and tireless workhorse with priceless cross-platform compatibility, and that's what counts. Documentation is plainly written, installation is a breeze and usage is an unqualified pleasure. The d2 comes with simple to use recording software (Easy CD Creator for PC, Toast Lite for Mac) that makes burning CDs an almost brainless operation involving dragging desired files into the program window, selecting a few options and letting the d2 do its magic. (Mac users wanting to push the envelope can upgrade to the scarily powerful Toast Titanium.) As a small business owner on Mac platform, the ability to share data with my PC colleagues via hybrid format CDs is a godsend. And as a music lover, I'm amazed and overjoyed to be able to burn audio CDs in a veritable trice.

The solid performance of the d2 is a testament to the Mac-savviness for which LaCie has long been hailed. In all likelihood, the drive will perform just as flawlessly for PC users. The d2 has increased my business productivity a hundred-fold, and I regard it as my most essential peripheral.

I bought and starting using this drive about 2 months ago, on the advice of a techno-wizard at an all-Mac dealer. As it's the first "burner" I've owned, I can't compare it to others, but I have owned other LaCie products and this one seems to be in the same tradition of solid construction and easy installation and use. It should be -- it's a lot pricier than the ones I see at the big box stores.

Setup was a plug-and-play breeze via my Mac's Firewire port and the user-friendly instructions that came on LaCie's CD (what else would they come on?).

Some reviews brag about the quiet operation of their drive; actually when this one really revs up, it sounds like a little tornado -- an experience I kinda like.

So far, no problems. Everything it's read or burned has been flawless and has played on other CD players.

(Fellow Beginners: I had to learn that high-powered RW drives like this work best with top-speed CD's, which are not easy to find and cost a little more. LaCie pointed that out in their User Guide, a long with many more tips. Another techno-wizard clued me into the fact that good RW CDs cost so much more than regular read-only ones that you're better off to just burn a fresh one when you've had enough "sessions" to fill one up.)

I like this drive and it functions well every time. The only problem I have is sometimes the eject button doesn't function manually (could be my system) but as long as your software has a controller function you'll be ok. The quality and speed are as advertised.

I found the sony digital cam photo printer online by accident while holiday shopping, read the reviews and decided to make the purchase. The product is a good value, cost wise, and is so easy to operate and the pictures are superb! I've only used the product twice- just recieved it 5 days ago and I haven't hooked it up to my pc yet (but that wasn't the point of my purchase anyway because I have an inkjet photo printer and printing software) but have used it on my home tv and the software program is just great- right from the TV I view all prints, can add text to the print, change the print to B&W, adjust tint, brightness etc and print however many prints of each photo I want. I even printed out an index photo of all the pics on my memory stick- awesome. The picture quality is so much better than inkjet prints and you can't tell the difference between these and professionally printed photos. The quality is remarkable. I highly recommend this product to both experienced and inexperienced digital camera users- it's great to have a device like this on hand to print pictures out immediately to share with others (modern similarity to poloroid cams in that you're able to share immediately right from your home TV or others- did I Say how easily PORTABLE this is-but SO MUCH MORE) The reviews here helped me so I'm hoping I can help someone else in making a decision.

I bought this printer a week ago and am extremely satisfied with its quality. The photos come out in about 90 seconds, and are impossible to distinquish from photo-lab prints. Pictures were taken with a Sony DSC-P5, a 3.2 megapixel model. I've read complaints about photos not coming out so well on this model... I imagine they are not using a Sony camera. It's got a memory stick reader for a reason =)

This printer is all you need, and its the cheapest one offered by sony right now. I did some research and all three currently offered printers use the same printing technology (dye sublimation), it's only the features that effect the price. The $500 model has an lcd screen, the $250 is extra tiny but can only do 3x5. this $200 needs a television or your computer, tho.

Cons: noisy whine while machine is off. doesn't come with usb cable for computer hookup (manual claims using a computer disables the "fine print" option).

pictures look real this printer is excellant

This is my first telescope, although I've viewed the night sky with far more expensive scopes. I'm impressed with the capabilities and value (I paid far less than retail at Costco).

I have not had the problem with the scope bumping into the base. However I do think the az/el drive system could be driven a bit better. On the highest rate - 9 - it seems to start up rather jerky, neccessitating a switch to a lower rate for short movements.

The only problem I've had is with the various types of alignment. It's hard to use a magnetic compass near the scope, for the quick alignment procedure. I would attribute this to my lack of experience with the equipment, but it makes it hard to track Mars properly.

I recently purchased the Celestron NexStar 114GT in preparation for a college astronomy course and I am sure glad I did! I am still learning how to use it, but so far it is exceeding my expectations. The fact that I can control the scope with the handheld control or my laptop computer is a real plus. If you plan to use your laptop computer with this scope, you will need to purchase an inexpensive serial cable compatible with the NexStar. With this cable you can hook up to the telescope hand control using your serial port or USB port (using a converter, that's what I do)

I also found an Internet site for people who own any Celestron NexStar telescope. This site is wonderful! It is full of so much information (www.nexstarsite.com) On this site are things like tips for viewing, controller the scope with your PC, updated NexStar Observer List software, and information regarding accessories (including the serial cable above)...plus so much more!

Bottom line...the Celestron NexStar 114GT is an excellent value for the beginner or intermediate observer. I highly recommend it.

When I first bought this product it was when Mars came really close to earth and this was the first time in 72,000 years. I read the News on the Internet so I chose which item to buy and came across this item. It was a good choice and well designed. The ONLY problem is putting it back in the box but that wasn't too much trouble. This device moves by itself and pinpoints the exact dirrection of the stars. I enjoyed seeing the moon alot and learned new stars. This item also come with a PC CD where I can check out any new stars, comets, meteors ect. I also whent to telescopesforless.com and bought a new eye piece. Clestron.com is the best web site for seeing what's new. I never experience a telescope like this one. For More info email me at juan13@sbcglobal.net.

Harman Kardon is selling this item for 25% less on its own website! buy it there!

Hooked it up to my flat pannel iMac running OS 10.2 and it didn't seem like it was working at first until I figured out that the defalt for the iSub has the mute box checked. I was also surprised at how loud it can actually go. I think it works best at about half it's potential volume with the pro speakers. It's really not worth [...] but I had a gift certificate and got half off. Look online for amazon coupons before you buy this one.

No complaints about the sound or looks here. Both are of course amazing. My one problem with the iSub however is it's USB interface. Because of this, certain things do not work as expected. Pluging in headphones will not mute the subwoofer, and neither will pressing the mute button on the keyboard. To turn off the iSub I have to unplug it, or go specifically mute it in the system preferences. This is extremely annoying to me, as I often hit the mute button to answer phone calls, and plug in headphones so I can continue listening to music when my roommates are studying or going to bed.

The problem is listed in apples support webpage as this:
Symptom : You connect headphones to your computer, but the iSub speaker's volume does not mute as you may expect.
Solution : The iSub is a subwoofer-type speaker designed to be used in conjunction with a pair of speakers. Your computer does not distinguish between analog headphones and analog speakers when you connect either to the computer's analog sound output port. Therefore it is the correct behavior for the iSub not to be muted. The iSub is muted if you connect USB headphones. Alternatively, disconnect the iSub when you do not wish to hear it.

I own the PowerMac Dual 867 running 10.2.4. My iSub is working alongside the apple pro speakers. If this problem may annoy you as well I would suggest looking at the JBL Creature Speakers.