Video Reviews

When our 8mm stopped working that we had used for nine years, I found it overwhelming to research and find a new camera.
I knew I didn't want digital because I don't even use my digital still camera very often, other than to e-mail pictures.
I knew that I wanted another 8mm, so that we could play our tapes we have now. I didn't want to spend too much money. We received this camera a couple of weeks ago and I couldn't be happier. It even has more options than I really need. We charged the battery when we got the camera and for 2 weeks we have been filming the kids occasionally and the battery is still full. I never thought I would use the night vision, but have found it is fun to film the kids when they are asleep and I don't have to turn a light on to film. The zoom works well and the color looks good. For the price, I don't see how you could get a better camera. I don't think you could find a better analog camera even if you did spend more money. I obviously can't comment on how well it will hold up in the future, but as far as its performance now, I love it.

We bought this projector in lieu of a big screen TV. It was an excellent investment! We were able to set up a VCR or DVD in one room, with the projector, and have a movie night as a family. On other nights we would send the kids in the "movie room" to watch a kid's film. We were then able to watch a "grown-up" film in the living room without worry about the children. The quality of the picture is very good and the bulb lasted a long time. The only drawback is the bulb is difficult to find to replace - but well worth the effort.

If you are like me and have tons of old 8mm (or Hi8) tapes lying around, this 8mm Walkman is perfect. I upgraded to MiniDV but forgot to transfer my old 8mm tapes before giving my Canon 8mm camcorder away, so with this I'm not stuck with useless tapes. It plays back regular 8mm, Hi8, and also Sony's Digital8 formats. You can hook it up to a VCR or TV, and even to a DV-savvy PC. I capture my 8mm videos to my Fujitsu LifeBook C2210 laptop, using Windows Movie Maker 2 (download for free on Microsoft's website). I'm now about 40% done with transfering my old tapes, but I also enjoy hooking this up to my TV and playing back old tapes and re-living old memories. Ah, how time just flies...

This camera is the best of both worlds. It is as small as a consumer camcorder, but has rugged metal construction instead of flimsy plastic. It comes with a phantom powered stereo XLR input module which is an add-on for most camcorders. The picture quality and features are superb.

It may look like an oversize answering machine from the 70s, but this two-tone gray box is actually Sony's new 600-dots-per-inch photo printer. The FVP-1 Mavica Photo Printer lets you print 3-by-5-inch photos with or without a PC, and it offers several ways of capturing digital images. It's the only photo printer I've seen that's equipped with a floppy drive. You insert a floppy into its disk drive (which reads .jpg, .bmp, or the printer's proprietary .nui graphics files) and view the images by connecting the printer to a television using its video-out or S-video connector.

In addition to floppies, you can also capture, retrieve, or print photos from digital cameras, TVs, VCRs, camcorders, and PCs. But to connect the printer to your computer, you must have a graphics card with a video-in port. In my tests using a shipping FVP-1 unit, capturing an image from television video took roughly 10 seconds to save to the printer's memory. The printed photos looked decent, but I noticed some slight ghosting and blurring flaws--no doubt from my TV reception.

Inconveniently, for the printer's drive to read the .jpg files I'd saved on a floppy, I had to first convert the images to the .nui file format using Sony's simple photo utility. After that, I popped the floppy back into the printer drive and was able to print a crisp, colorful photograph within 2 minutes.

The Mavica's thumbwheel-like button control lets you make index prints or multiples of 2, 4, and 16 images on a sheet. The printer requires photo paper, which doesn't ship with the unit. Sony sells a 50-pack paper and ink cartridge combo for $45. It also offers an optional $99 automatic paper feeder that holds 100 sheets; the alternative is manually inserting a sheet at a time in the printer's paper port.

Although somewhat pricey, this easy-to-use photo printer yields nice pictures, offers the convenience of floppies, and ends tedious trips to the photo shop.

Pros: Prints great quality photos stored on floppies, in easy steps.

Cons: To connect the printer to a PC, you need a graphics card with a video-in feature.

Value: Easy-to-use and versatile photo printer.

It is one of the best things out!

This television has redefined the entire category of projection televisions. Typically, a big screen was purchased with the understanding that you were getting quantity (screen size) over quality (picture quality). This set from SONY has completely blown away this theory. I am so convinced that this is the best non HDTV on the market that I not only used to sell them, but I broke down and bought one for myself. It is truly a viewing experience that you have to see to believe. It defies not only the quality vs. quantity issue, but it also defies the big screen viewing angle issue. You can have a great, clear view of the screen from just about any angle. I could go on and on but time is at a premium. Trust a former electronics salesman when he recommends this television to headline a great home theater. Couple it with a quality dvd player with some surround sound and you will have a better theater than the local cineplex. Pull out the extra dough and make this the centerpiece of your entertainment universe.

I have this Sony telephone and two expandable handsets. We live in an old house with limited phone jacks, so we have the expandable handsets in places where we could not otherwise have a telephone. We also can take the handset with us when we go to another phoneless room and save running up and down steps to answer a phone. The only problem we have is occasionally forgetting to put one of the cordless handsets in a charger at night and then running down the batteries. My biggest worry is where to buy new batteries as this phone seems to be discontinued.

Theres a reason this is a this is a $ 1500 unit.
I can't being impresses by the unreal sound quality of this reciever. This is from a guy who has a Mark Levinson system for music. I know music. This reciever blew my mind.

Yes you can get recievers with the same power ( FTC sine wave rated) for a lot less money, but listen to the depth, the realism and the purity of the frequencies and you'll think that this is a $10,000 tube amp.

Add in all the great home theater features and this is all you need.

The Sony ES series is really an elevated standard. You can buy Sony gear anywhere from Sears to Walmart, don't let that fool you. This is a serious piece of gear.

I've been testing my CD collection on it and hooked up my turntable to it to test my old vinyl albums. The DSP had me skeptical for a while but it works great. Usually I like my music pure and unmanipulated, but the DSP is fun for DVD's.

I'm still worling on the remote. It's overly complex and the only thing I can really fault about this product.

If you care about music sound quality as well as want a home theater system in one cabinet, this is the hot ticket here.

The damn thing is built like a tank and also has a 5 years parts and labor warranty.

Oh how i love this receiver, let me count the ways....Seriously this is a great receiver for a great price ... It's got everything expect for component video, and a 2-way remote. The 6.1 100watts/channel is a great thing to have, and that is the main reason i bought it. It's got 4 video inputs/3 outs and i think 3 audio ins. it also has a second room option, where someone else can listen to and audio source in another room while the first room is watching a movie in 6.1 home theater... I've had mine for about 7 monthes and i use it daily. I have many different components hooked to it and they all sound and look great. i love it, i love it, i love it!

First glance at the unit made me think I would never learn how to set up the receiver correctly. Instead, I found the set up was very logical and intuitive. Less than 20 minutes I had the Digital Cable box, CD, DVD, VCR, turntable, and theater speaker system attached and working. Only negative I have, if you want to call it a negative, is that I had to attach the DVD through the satelite/TV component hook-up as it had an optical audio input. The DVD inputs had no optical input but did have a digital cable input. I opted for the optical and just told myself the sat/TV setting on the receiver was the DVD. Otherwise, this unit is well worth the price.