Video Reviews

Well, I bought a AV120, and I have filled half of it already. It has great tech. Videos & photos can be seen clearly in color, and the screen isn't that small. All the description Amazon fives explain what it does clear enough, but the only problem it has are the batteries. In a way, it'd be better to have a discman or cd player, for you can change when they expire, but with the Jukeboxes, you have to charge them. On the manual, it says you have to do it for 3hr, but it doesn't explain or tell how much they will last. I charged it for 2hr, and that was how long it lasted, but what if you go on an 8hr trip, and there is nowhere to charge the batteries? Try changing the batteries? that's a good idea, but you have to take the screws, and that ain't as easy. But besides this little defect, it id great. If you'll use it for short trips, it's a great aid to keep you entertained

The Jukebox works fine and does every thing it can perfectly. Its quite an amazing device giving the fact that you can watch clear DVD quality movies on that little screen and record directly off of a TV, computer etc.This is alot more convenient than buying a portable DVD player and bringing that on an airplane, train etc.
It is extremly simple to use, if you have a current version of Windows (or mac) , than all you have to do is plug it into your computer's USB, and it will then instantly pop up as a second harddisk on your computer screen (for example, in the My Computer folder in windows).Archos definitly hit the spot in the Ease of use catagory. GREAT as a Laptop companion. I have been able to store more than 45 CDs on my Juke box (I have the 20gb model) and I still have used up only 1/4th of the space on Mp3 format(yes, the music plays clearly and their is a whole menu where you can adjust Bass, Treble, pitch etc. Great on Storage

---------------------------------------------------------------
The only problem I have with jukboxes (yea, all jukeboxes) is that you still can not take this to places where you will be away from AC power, or places where the Jukebox could get damaged. I have recently taken the Jukebox to Austrailia and back, and it has been great on those long flights, but you would have to watch your battery life. (with a cd player, you just have to replace those affordable Alkaline batteries, not with Jukeboxes). It has also has been great on space. It is nearly a hundred times smaller than a CD player + all the CDs you have to carry with it. .

So in conclusion the Archos AV 120 / 140 is PERFECT for home and office use, short trips and short airplain flights. It is also good for vacations where you know you would be visiting a AC power socket for re charging the battery. The only place where the Jukebox does not belong are places where it could get damaged (example, boating) or places where you would be away from power, in those cases, you should take your more durable CD player.

I find Archos AV 120/ AV 140
A Highly Recomended Product

If you run a lot of coax, you need this tool. I install cable television, so needless to say, I run a lot of wire during the day. This tool cuts the time it takes me to run a line almost in half. Instead of hammering in individual staples, just point and shoot. Pretty much the only surfaces it won't staple into are metal, asbestos siding, and concrete/stucco. I only wish it could hold more staples at a time. It's also a little on the pricey side, and I almost didn't buy it because it's so expensive. But having used it, I'd say it was definitely worth the investment. It's earned a permanent place in my tool belt.

I install Electronic Security Systems & I find this tool invaluable, saves time, Its finished appearance is neat
& it doesn't cost the earth :-)

Ohh & if a piece of it breaks, you can get spares for it too!

Here's what you get in the box: *The PCI Xclaim VR 128 Card *A Purple Video Breakout Box (about 6x3x1") *Proprietary S-Video Cable (goes to Break Out Box, for power) *F DB15 --> M HD15 Adaptor (For Old Mac Displays)

This is an all around good card. I have this card installed in my G4/400 withy no problems. I have my second display hooked up to it, which I occationally watch TV on (through the Coax. Connector on the Break Out Box).

Video capture is perfect for very small video snippets (under 30sec), but if you try to capture an entire music video, for instance, the sound will get out of sync with the video. I have found no way to correct this. Might have something to do with the compression, but I've tried many different settings.

Unreal Tournament runs acceptably well. BUT, if you are buying this card so you can play 3D Shooters on your nice, big TV, think again. This card outputs Video in 3D in ONLY GRAYSCALE. Just imagine how hard it is trying to figure out who is on your team in Quake3Fortress or Unreal Tournament when you can't see red or blue! This doesn't happen on a normal CRT Monitor though.

This card only outputs Video in Composite/Component Video, no Coax. Output. But there is Coax. Input.

This Card works wonderfully outputting DVD Movies to a TV. All I have to do is Pop a DVD into my G4, Open ATI Displays, and select 'Mac2TV' (outputs the the contents of the card's display to the Video Out), then the desktop shows up on the TV, then I hit Play, full screen. Ohhh, Ahhhh. If your thinking about watching DVDs this way, definetly buy come Audio cables to connect your Computer to your Home Stereo. Radio Shack has everything you need. The Thicker the better. :)

A Good Card, but could use a driver update of some kind to fix the small issues. 4-5stars

I installed this card in my G3. Wow, when you add an Xclaim VR 128 to your computer, you get what you always wanted in a computer. A fully functioning system, 2D, 3D(for games), the ability to record what is playing on your Mac to a VCR or display on the monitor and TV at the same time and did I mention record video or still shots from your camcorder.

I am having an absolute blast with my kids. Buy this and you will too!

I really like this product. There is only one problem with it they do not ship anything this heavy to APO addresses. So if you are like me and stuck in Germany in the military then don't even try to order it. If you are in the states, I am jealous. I would really like to own this. I am trying to convince someone to buy it for me and send it to me. Enjoy it.

i got the black Atlantic 3020 in the mail yesterday and had it put together in about 10 or 15 minutes. i can fit about 220 dvds on the thing, a huge improvement over having the wobbly stacks taking up a corner of floor in my room.

It looks attractive, with a smooth flat balck finish, and seems very sturdy (especially with the provided wall strap for anchoring). If you use this rack strictly for DVDs, and sit them in horizontal rows, you will only be able to fit 6 tiers (leaving two extra) on the rack.

I already have more DVDs than this unit can occupy so i have this idea. The unit seems more than sturdy enough to hold more tiers, and because of my limited floor space, building this thing up vertically would be necessary. I purchasing another Atlantic 3020, and incorporating the parts into the existing stand to make it about 6 or 7 feet high and hold about 10 or 11 tiers. I'm very confident after seeing the construction and utilizing the wall strap that i can pull this off.

All in all i think this is a great unit and would recommend it to anyone who needs a space-effictent media rack.

At the time of my purchase, the black model was 30 dollars more than the chrome model. I don't quite understand that, but the thing is well worth it either color you choose.

For people who want the extra size view without the weight or price of the alternatives . . .

Picture quality - XGA is beautiful; most people should be very pleased. Daylight and other light sources outside of the projector do affect the viewability of the picture, but it is not extreme. Dark parts of movies or games may be harder to see during the day. Different settings - economic, presentation, vivid, video may improve the picture. During dark hours, no problems exist, even in economic mode.

My main reason for going this route for my home theater was to tie the unit in with my computer. I previously installed a tv tuner card and a DVD burner in my home-assembled computer. Since most projectors, including the Benq, have a vga input port (the 6200 even comes with the cable), the connection couldn't be simpler. I also use a 4-input switchbox to handle my VHS player, XBox and anything else that comes along (for example, a regular DVD player, a tv, my son's Gamecube etc.) I set my computer to 1280x1024 which the Benq can handle, compressing it to 1024x768.

Tips -

1) Placement If you own your home, you could work a ceiling mount. I used a very reasonably priced étagère.

2) Screen I can't comment on how good a white wall works, because mine isn't white. I made my own 4:3 ratio screen from 1x2 douglas fir and 2 yds of 54" wide blackout cloth (from a regular fabric store). Many people on the internet offer advice on how to do it. Mine is quite light. I used two plastic anchors and extra long screws to hold the bottom edge of the top of the frame on the wall. Since many alternatives for a screen drive up the price of an economical "luxury" system, they were not for me.

3) Bulb (Lamp) With a lifespan of 2000-3000 hours and the price of a replacement currently running at $400, I am picky about when I plan to use the projector tv - only for special events (when I get an HDTV tuner card for the computer, I might feel differently) . . . Video games - often . . . Movies - virtually every time . . . Computer/internet - occasionally When any of these sources are well done, one is interested on any size screen.

4) Sound The Benq only handles the video signal. I'm using my computer sound card, which can handle 5.1 sound. With my quality 5.1 speakers, I'm in home theater heaven. Which brings to my last item, where I could use a tip.

5) Wires With the Benq projector I have a power cord, a vga cable, an s-video cable, and a composite video cable. Add to that all the cables for the aforementioned items, and you have cable jungle - guaranteed not to please any woman that I know. I plan to handle part of it with throw rugs. As for the rest . . . help!

Lastly, I need to mention two things. First, Benq is coming out soon with a replacement for the 6200 with the latest DLP chip from Texas Instruments. Second, the 6200 keeps track of how many hours that it has been used, which you can monitor from its menu program. It will warn as the hours limit approaches and actually refuse to start at 3000 hours, until you replace the lamp.

I did a fair amount of research prior to the purchase of this DLP projector and found nothing to sway my decision to make this purchase. Generally you can find BenQ offering some kind of special, in the last couple of months they've offered a free lamp (retail cost about 4 hundered) and at the time of my purchase they had a two hundered dollar rebate. By a good margin, you get far more for you're money in this unit than in any other that I could find to compare, including the 1/3 cheaper version PB6100 that has a 800x600 resolution.

After unboxing the unit, I set it up to test on a couple milk crates and shot the image on my wall at about 85" wide. Plugged in to my PC my native desktop of 1600x1200 had to be reduced down to 1024x768 before I could switch the VGA cable over. Checking the image closely I looked for flaws such as blank patches, rainbows, or any other types of problems that would cause a reduction in enjoyment of the picture. I found that the pixels are way more pronounced fully zoomed in from the unit than if I were to just move the projector back to get a bigger picture. I also noticed that the whites and blacks were displaying very nicely considering I was shooting on a semi tan color wall (no screen).

Bulb life is rated at 2000 hours, but from what i've read, if the unit is set in economy mode it will extend the life about 1000 hours. Under heavy usage of 8 hours a day or so, that would equate to approximately an entire year of use. Average use of about 2-4 hours a day would extend bulb life to over 2 years.

Though I havent seen it project over 85" yet (my plans are a 110" screen), the projector is rated to shoot a 300" screen. Feel free to compare any of those numbers to a plasma or projection big screen of any kind. DLP projectors yeild the most bang-for-the-buck available.

I was able to play a video game at 1280x1024 85hz on it and it performed flawlessly. DVD movies are just incredible, I cant wait to get it hooked up in the living room.

I love my ZR45MC, but it really requires this extended battery.

The battery that came with my ZR45MC is woefully inadequate for anything but a handful of brief cameo shots. Also, the charge doesn't hold for any extended period of time. You may pull out your ZR to catch a great moment in time only to find that the battery has discharged while idle in the camera bag. Not using the LCD does help the situation quite a bit.

This extended battery makes a good primary battery and seems to go more than twice as long as the normal one. Also, you can then use the original as a backup (as long as you refresh it's charge occassionally :-) ).

The battery is great, but Amazon offers the accessory kit with the same battery, plus a mini-dv tape and a carrying case for the same price. The case is useless for the ZR series, but might come in handy for some other purpose.

except the motor noise heard on the tape, its really annoying

I have purchased this product after checking no. of other makes and models like jvc,sony etc etc.Features I like the most are
1) 16x powerful optical zoom Sony has only 10x even in top models
2) 1/4 inch ccd, excellent indoor video quality.
3) Rock solid image stabilisation, no shaky videos.
4) Excellent point and shoot.
5) 1.33 megapixel still photos.
Features I do'nt like are
1) Little bigger and heavy, but good for stable video.
2) Motor noise is heard in recordings.
2) Video conferencing available only on windows xp.

I ordered 5 of the Case DVD Storage trays and they do exactly what they are supposed to do (store DVD's). The construction is fine and appear durable enough especially for the price ! My one critisism is that they do not stack real well! Specifically they do not lock in place. Had I designed this unit I would have simply made the interlocking slide with more of a groove which locks in place! To compensate for this I just used some clear Packing tape to secure them together and it works just fine!

I will never forget the day my Case Logic DVD Storage Tray arrived at my door. I remember clawing through the outer packaging in anticipation of how this apparatus might change my life. Upon inspection of the product, I was awe-struck! "The Tray", as I have come to call it, was a masterpiece of plastics engineering. Impeccably molded, I was unable to locate any flaws.

Then came the real test. I was reluctant to sully such a thing of beauty with my unworthy DVDs. I had half a mind to leave "The Tray", empty, in a conspicuous place in my living room. It would have obviously made a great conversation piece. But, with my hand shaking, I placed my DVDs, one-by-one, into "The Tray". They all fit.

My hat is off to the designers of such a finely tuned instrument of storage.

I recently purchased the Creative Labs Savage4 Pro AGP video card in hopes of attaining a high performance video card for games like quake 2 and quake 3. With the OEM drivers, and using the native Direct3D drivers in 640x480, peformance lagged with unrealistic lighting and undetailed graphics. Switching to the OpenGL drivers and using 640x480 16-bit colour, the graphics improved, and things started to come to life as lighting and detail improved. Moving on to 640x480 and 800x600 32-bit colour yielded some pretty damn good graphics as lighting, detail frame rates all improved. I then tried NFS3 with the OEM drivers, and I was very disappointed. The graphics looked like something you'd see out of a 64-bit 1MB video card. Even switching to OpenGL mode did not help. I even tried overclocking the memory and cpu on the card but excessive overclocking led to freezing. The OEM drivers as you can see were not up to snuff with other competitors like the voodoo3 lingering out there. I then upgraded my v4.01 drivers (gulp!) with creative's v4.11 driver package. This measley driver upgrade allowed to finally overclock the cpu to its limits without freezin and also allowed me to enable the AGP sideband protocal. These drivers produced such alarming differences in Quake 2 and NFS3 that I couldnt believe it. In 800x600 32-bit OpenGL mode in Quake 2 the graphics were almost so realistic I could not believe my eyes...this thing really does have dual rendering pipelines.....the detail and lighting really came to life. In NFS3, the Z-buffer became online and the graphics made a dramatic difference. I was ready to pit this thing against the RivaTNT2 Ultra.....err maybe. All in all this is a okay video card from the factory with the OEM drivers. I strongly recomend upgrading the drivers as it really makes a difference. Good work S3!

This is the second Creative labs product I have in my Computer. It installed in less than 5 minutes, and was easy to setup. I am running it under Win NT, so I play no games with it, but for everyday use, a wounderfull product. GET IT!

I previously owned a Xirlink Video Media IBM USB PC Camera and it was horrid. The pictures were dark and funky. I decided it was time for me to get one with real power. I shopped around for a camera that wasn't fancy, but would do the job for the right price. This is it. The pictures are far better than what I experienced with the previous one, but they're not perfect as you expect with a fancier digital camera in the $200-$400 range. For instance, I took pictures of a toddler and they were a little orangy compared to a regular digital camera. When I take pictures of objects, they turn out nicely and rarely blurry (usually my fault).

I use this camera as a Web cam and to take pictures that I want quickly to put on the Internet and top quality is not of importance. Surprisingly, this camera even takes short videos. I filmed the first video on the first time I used it and was surprised how easy it was to capture the movie and then put it on the PC.

Beginners should find this one easy to learn with the help of an instruction manual. Intermediate and advanced users should be able to dig right in -- maybe look at the manual for button information. I used this Web cam when we were building a pool and enjoyed seeing the captured photos when I was away from home, but had access to the Internet.

I am fairly new to photography so needed something that was going to be easy to use and give me decent results~ this camera surpassed all my expectations.
It is small and light,easy to slip into a pocket or purse, and the shape makes it really comfortable to hold,that's a good plus for me, but the quality of the pictures it produces(128 at good quality) has to be seen to be believed,and thats the clincher!!You are getting, almost true, digital camera quality photos for the price of a web-cam. Obviously you dont get a zoom or some of the other features that you can expect when you pay for a digital camera, but, if you want a web-cam that takes superb pics, that's exactly what you will get,and more, this is real value for money.
It also has a video and voice recording capability and the software that comes with it is good, but, if you have a great imaging programme all ready, this, little beauty has twain~~ so you can import from your PC~CAM 300 straight to either the PC-CAM's photo centre or your own programme.
I love this camera,it is so much more than a web-cam,and is simplicity itself to use. I have had so much pleasure and enjoyment since I have had it~~it is one purchase I will never regret.