Video Reviews

This has been one of the greatest cameras until...problems...And I have two of them! On fast re-wind they will sometimes destroy the tape. On both, I only re-wind on slow rewind. Now one will not accept a tape at all. I think someone rewound on fast and hurt the mechanism somehow. A call to Cannon did not admit that they have problems. Still trying to determine cost to fix...if possible. I am reading others on internet with Elura 40 which is similar and they are having problems with totally destroying the tape and $600 to repair??????

To be somewhat fair, I use mine with a helmet camera, carrying the camcorder on my chest. I have not crashed on it but it is not a perfect lifestyle. As a back-up, I bought another... Almost out of the box I had the rewind problems. I could live with those...until now! Changing brands of tapes made no difference.

I use the picture MMC side alot, but remember that it is only 2.0 megpixles and can't take much blowing up. But the pictures are e-mail friendly. The digital zoom is AWSOME!

Other than Tape problems, where you can loose everything, a great camera! 5 stars and falling fast!

This Canon Elura is the best camera iv'e seen my whole life from Canon. Its good quality pixels is so much better than the sony brand, and its small size and new mini-DV ability is sumething everyone needs to get out of the dark age of cameras!

I need an Adapter ( power adapter) for CANON MV20 ( Canon DM-MV20E , it writes on the battery spot ). My cam is same as ELURA but the difference is that MV20 is" PAL System " and ELURA is on " NTSC System ". I guess that Power Adapter would be same for both types.If someone knows where could I find a product please let me know. Camera is perfect, no doubt.

The Kodak DVC325 camera captures great color among other cameras. Probably the far best in colors, because it produce great vibrant color (see link for image quality comparison: .... The only problem I have with this camera is the lack of mobility from left-to-right. It only tilt up and down of a tilt range of up to 75 degrees. See Kodak's site for more info: ....

I still rank it 4 stars, because of the high quality of the images captured.

you can still use it with windows XP by downloading the XP driver. so far, there are no problems in using this camera..... quality is good and image is clear.

For the money, the DVC325 is a good, low cost digital video camera. Its single focusing knob permits precision focusing, and like Kodak's extensive line of digital still cameras, the picture quality is superb. In low light conditions, the camera does fairly well, although the colors sometimes shift to red. I have found that turning on a light or momentarily blocking the lens with my hand (turning the image black) allows the image to shift back to normal. This anomaly occurs only rarely, otherwise even in low light the images are very good. I've used the camera to broadcast all sorts of challenging images for a camera, including: a beautiful sunset, a candle flickering at a table, a fire roaring in the fireplace, Christmas lights and even my husband and I working at our computers in a dark room.

I use the DVC325 primarily for fun, as a webcam my friends and family have access to. The camera works extremely well with the standard webcam software such as Webcam32. Although I often mount the camera on an inexpensive tripod, the camera's detachable foot is weighted and very stable so it can be used while perched on a shelf or other stable surface.

For more practical applications, you can use your DVC325 for videoconferencing with business associates or family living out-of-state using Microsoft Netmeeting or any other popular streaming video software.

Reasons that this card only deserves one star:
1) The manual is only a small piece of paper with Mac instrution on one side and PC instructions on the other side. I think [amount]price should at least buy a piece of 8.5x11 letter paper.
2) No 1-800 tech support. I have to call long distance for some stupid questions.
3) This firewire card for notebook is not powered. So if your firewire device needs power, then by their great tech support guy, you have to buy a [amount] Orange Micro power supply cable, exclusively from their own website. Why don't they tell me this before?
4) This card couldn't connect Apple iPod to Thinkpad T23.

How many peripherals have you added to an old creaky computer that caused more problems than it fixed? Well the Orange Micro OrangeLink Firewire Cardbus PC Card isn't one of them. I installed the software on the Orange Micro CD, slid the PC card in and whamo!, I'm downloading music into my brand new iPod for Windows. No muss, no fuss. Everything in the PC domain should be so easy. And I'm talking a 4 year old Dell Inspiron. Maybe I won't switch to Mac after all.

My desktop computer came with two 1394 (Firewire) ports and I use them to download video from my Sony camcorder. I just pruchased a Compaq notebook that came with Windows XP home edition to edit video, digital pictures and burn CD's while traveling in Asia. I pluged the card in and Windows XP recoginzed it right away. I pluged my camcorder in to the Orange Micro OrangeLink Firewire 1394 PC Card and it worked just like it was pluged into my desktop. No problems. I would recommend this card to anyone who's notebook does not come with internal 1394 (Firewire) support. Basic information about my notebook: Compaq, AMD Duron 1.1 Ghz, 256 Mg Ram, 20 Gig HD, WinXp Home Ed.

Overall I was dissapointed in this camera. The description is not thorough enough. 1.3 Megapixels is for STILL images, and the images are decent but there is no flash so limited when lighting is bad. Video modes are 640x480, 320x240, and 160x120. Probably my biggest dissapointment was that the best video mode, 640x480, only shoots at 8 frames per second, which is very choppy and fuzzy. The other two modes shoot at 15 frames per second, which is a little better but they are small screen sizes. Audio is pretty good. If this was my first digital camera ever I would probably think its ok, but I was looking for an upgrade to the video capabilities of my current digital still camera, and this was not it. I will probably give it to some 10 year old as a gift or to a friend who has never had a digital camera.

I wanted an entirely digital (i.e. no tape) camcorder in order to try out the technology. We're not "camcorder people," so the idea of dropping several hundred dollars on a video camera (Mini-DV, Hi-8, Digital-8, or what have you) wasn't attractive. Surprisingly, there are not a lot of straight-to-memory-card camcorders out there! I thought the Sipix DV100 was exactly what we were looking for.

The other reviews are right. It's sturdy, very small, and it does just what it advertises. It's true that the shutter button is a bit awkwardly located, but a) you only hit it once to start recording, and b) you can brace your thumb against the left side of the camera to make reaching the button easier. The lack of any type of flash makes recording a challenge. The AUTO white balance feature, while a plus, doesn't always compensate, particularly indoors. Outdoors, though, I have no complaints. Resolution is exactly what I expected: 15fps (with a 256Mb SanDisk SD card) at 320x240, and 8fps at 640x480. The microphone does a decent job of picking up sound, most especially for the camera operator (not so much for the subjects). The ability to connect to a TV is great for immediately sharing the results of your recordings, and the USB connection is as fast as I expected. Finally, battery life is tremendous! Whereas my Sony Cybershot still camera drains batteries like there's no tomorrow, this little camcorder is still running on its original batteries after at least 20 minutes of recording, several downloads, and several TV "productions." I realize that this is due in large part to the lack of a flash, but it's still a nice bonus.

The only reason I'd give it 4 rather than 5 stars is the lack of an AC power source. Battery life is great, but it'd be nice to not have to run on batteries every single time you use the camera.

Oh, yeah...you get about 35 minutes of recording at 320x240 on a 256Mb SanDisk SD card.

When I started my family, I bought an 8mm camera. I can probably count the number of times I used it on one hand in the five years I've owned it. It was bulky, needed frequent recharging, and frankly, after a while, I would forget to bring it out. I was looking for something small, digital, and of course inexepensive. I gave the SiPix a shot. I love this little camera. I can take it everywhere and it's very simple to use. The software is also simple, but it doesn't have alot of features. If buying this camera, it is a MUST to purchase a memory stick, at LEAST 256 MB or you can't record video for more than a couple of minutes. Also, there is no flash, so only outside or in lit areas. I was dissapointed that there was no flash or lighting options, and battery life (2 AAs) doesn't last as long as I like (but longer than the 8mm NiMH, how sad). Overall, this camera had performed how I expected it to for the cost. The quality is not the best, but decent, and it works great to record little moments on family trips and the kid's activities. If you are looking for portable, digital, and an inexpensive camera to start with; and can live with "ok" quality, this is the camera to buy. Especially since it's a great starter camera if you're not sure you want to upgrade to digital camcorders because of price. The money you spend on this camera is worth "experimenting" in the digital world, before you upgrade to the "big dogs"

I got this Monster cable for my PS2 because of the Monster name. And that's just about all you'll get if you buy this set of cables to replace the ones that came with your PS2. Yes, the image quality and the sound quality are improved, but not enough to justify the [amount of money] that you'll spend for these cables. If you got money to burn, then get these cables. Else, the ones that came with your PS2 are good enough.

Maybe Im just a rock but how are you supposed to connect your system to both a TV and a audio reciever/decoder? There is not enough play in the end to allow the video cable to go to the TV and the audio cables to go to my sound system. So after trying to slice the individual cables apart with my kbar I finally gave up and just used regular AV cables.

who every says these cables are bad really must not knew what they are saying I have two ps2 one american one imported both use monster cables and a dreamcast which are all hooked up to monster cables for hdtv tekken tag is improved 75% I can see sweat coming from unknowns body and every thing behind the action as it should be see by true gamers so take it from a person that only plays imported games if you have the money go with monster

Now, I'm a gadget freak. I considered buying a portable DVD player so I could watch movies on the road without dragging along a laptop. When I saw this little beauty, it seemed an obvious alternative! I already had a decent MP3 jukebox, so video was my main draw here.

First, the good stuff. The quality of the video is great! Solid colors will show some artifacts, but nothing too horrible. Don't expect DVD quality here, but it's quite reasonable for the type of device and amount of compression being done.

The included recording device works great. A little tricky to figure out the interface for recording, but once I did, had no problems recording off my TV.

Sound quality of MP3s is fine. Nothing to write home about, but okay. There's a decent playlist feature and the usual play modes. I tend to get lost in the menus though.

So, some negatives. I'll try to include stuff other people haven't mentioned. A big one for me is that you can't bookmark a video! That means if you don't finish watching it, you have to remember where you were and forward to get to that spot! Absolutely horrendous. Even my little Palm device can bookmark a video. At least the new upgrade has fast forward feature that will get there quickly.

I also find battery life to be much worse than reported. My first one was so bad, I returned it thinking the battery was bad. The new one is just as bad, I get maybe 1-1/2 hour of video playback. Not even enough to watch most movies. Even most DVD players (known battery hogs) are better than this. MP3 playing is certainly better, with the screen off, but I definitely don't get anywhere near 10 hours (or even the 8 that some report). Worse, the new model has a button that does not seem to work well, I have to press extra hard to activate its functions. So there's a good chance this one will go back as well. Just wish there was a reasonably decent alternative!

The music functions are pretty inadequate. It doesn't seem to sort my records in proper track order (alphabetical instead), which is really frustrating, not sure if there is a setting for this, but any decent MP3 player should do it by default. As mentioned before, the menuing is really counter intuitive at times and I often find myself unable to find the playback screen to forward to the next song. No quick mute feature that I could find either.

Overall, it's main plus is that there just aren't many great PVPs out yet. It wouldn't take much to improve this one, but right now, it's a tough sell for me.

The Arcos is fantastic! Although I do not own one myself, my friend owns one and I get regular use out of it... what a cool dude. But to the point of my entry: When you first get the Arcos, DON'T go straight into using it without charging the battery first. This is what my friend did, and we figured this is what cause the battery to be so pathetic. He re-ordered and CHARGED the new one first, resulting in a better battery. So remember to charge the Arcos BEFORE you use it 4 the first time.

First let me say that I had delivery of my Archos AV340 one week PRIOR to the Amazon estimated arrival date! Way to go Amazon. Excellent price, too.

The AV340 is to the older Archos models as a kitchen knife is to a Swiss Army Knife. Sitting on mine right now are several hundred jazz recordings, hundreds of family photos, some family videos, the extended dvd versions of both Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, the complete stage works of Samuel Beckett (3 dvds)...well, get the picture? And yes, the video recorder does over-ride any copy protection, both vhs and DVD. The user interface is quite simple, though as with previous Archos models it does take several clicks to get to specific items much like a PC. But this is essentially a PC, so manuevering through screens seems quite natural. Loading tons of recordings onto the hd is painless, simply drag and drop. The hd shows up in XP just like any other drive.

I also purchased the camera attachment which is, again, quite simple to use. It snaps onto the side of the base unit and shows up immediately on the interface screen. The still and video quality is quite good with the proper lighting. Commercial videos copied to the hd look perfect on the small screen. Blowing up to a large screen is not the way to go. When viewed on my Toshiba 50+ inch screen the picture quality greatly diminished. Still photos looked okay, but you wouldn't want to watch a film that way. But why do this anyway?

The unit itself is a bit bulkier than the previous versions of the already bulky Jukebox series. This baby will not fit in your shirt pocket. I was rather disappointed that Archos did not include a carrying case, though curiously the camera attachment did come with a case for the whole shebang. I use the case from my Jukebox, which works quite well with the AV340.

Be sure to purchase a PDA screen protector. The unit itself is very solid but offers no protection for the screen. A case and protector are a must.

Archos reverts back to their previous ways by attaching the interface connector cover with a piece of string. Come on guys, for this price couldn't you spare a metal clip?

Last, a previous review states that the batteries are not replaceable. According to Archos they are not. However, there is an online company that sells replacements and instructions on how to do this. I have not purchased one, but it looks quite simple, and would certainly extend movie viewing time.

So what you get here is an MP3, WAV, and WMA player and recorder, a vcr (with a built in timer), a great clear screen, an excellent user interface, and a 40GB hd for about $100-$150 more than an iPOD. Throw in about another $175 (got mine for $150)and you add a video camera and a 3.3 pixel digital still camera. Oh, and it will work on any tv in the world and over-rides dvd region codes. Just like my Swiss Army Knife, the Archos AV340 is big and bulky, but I wouldn't be without it.

The replay unit is Wonderful! However, I would never buy it again and will avoid all Panasonic products in the future. If the romote dies, you can no longer use the unit. There are no replacement remotes available and the company does not repair them. This ranks right up there with buying a new car because of a flat tire. JUST DON'T BUY THIS!

After researching this item and TiVo, I purchased Showstopper for two primary reasons: no monthly subscription fees and quicker, easier set-up than TiVo. It's given trouble-free, superb performance for 11 months (no more blown tapings, as was formerly the case with my VCR). But I'm disturbed on two accounts: 1. For some reason, Showstopper appears to be losing market share to TiVo and inviting its own demise; 2. After 11 months, numerous phone calls, and several faxes of duplicate copies of my original receipts and proofs of purchase, I have yet to receive the (...) rebate I was promised. For that matter, I haven't even received an explanation from the Replay TV people. The amount of time I saved in setting up the product has been given back many times over in trying to track down the parties responsible for making good on the rebate.

After using both products I have to call the Replay the winner. Both products are great but I feel the Replay wins overall. First the Replay's manual is much better then the Tivo's. It is easy to follow and the large pictures include many different setup options to choose from. The record options in the OS are perfect. Add the fact that Tivo charges a monthly fee and it is no contest. Finally I had to call Panasonic due to a very old Cable Box. They answered the phone with a human in less then two minutes (I called three times over two days to test) and knew exactly how to control the old cable hardware. Both Replay and Tivo are good but if you are on the fence I would suggest the Replay.

This card works very well.If you all ready have an onboard video cardb 2d-3d and you want to enhence the performance of virtually all 3D games.By adding this video card 12 mb.to your computer will make ahuge difference.This card a couple of years ago sold for over [...]. Supports open glide,which some new cards on the market don't support.excellent video card.!!![...]

I just got this product the other day because i had a sorry ati rage IIc card, i have a pentuim II 350 mhz computer with 128 mb of ram and this card works like magic. I have unreal tournament and this game with everything on high at 800x600, i got an average of 27 to 40fps. For being an older card this can cook. Don't even get me started about SLI, with two of these together you get voodoo 3 3000 performance which is fast, very fast. This card would be a great edition to anyone looking for the best low cost 3d card. I recommend it.

Even though this card is only 12megs remember that it is a 3D accelerator that is added as an expansion of your regular video card. This card handles the 3D processing exclusively. As well, two card can be put together to give 24megs and double the processing power.

To correct a few mistakes by other reviewers. VooDoo2 works great with the latest DirectX. The only problem you might have is if you are using old drivers. Get the latest drivers from [their website]
In many ways there is more support for these cards now then when 3DFX was in business. The user base for VooDoo is huge.
This card is very easy to setup on any system. I have set it up on Windows95, 98, 2000 very fast and with no difficulty. It is one of the easiest to install expansion cards I have installed. As long as you have the latest drivers.

The other comment made by a reviewer here stated that this card was only good for Starcraft. Well Starcraft is not a 3D game. VooDoo does nothing for Starcraft, you cannot even use VooDoo to run Starcraft because Starcraft uses NO 3D technology. However I personally play Unreal with a single VooDoo2 12meg card and it flies on my K6-2 350.

The other benefit of having a VooDoo2 is that it runs games using GLide better and faster and with more features than newer 3D cards since such games were programmed specifically for VooDoo.

I've been looking for a solid, reliable VCR to replace my 12-year-old Magnavox (which I loved). Panasonic VCRs are known for their reliability, so my first purchase was a Panasonic PV-V4623S. The features and user interface were great, except that it made more noise during operation than a Boeing 747 and was annoyingly slow to respond to the remote controls. I returned it. I purchased the Sharp VC-H965U after reading the enthusiastic reviews on this site (thanks, guys). Right out of the box it had a problem: During fast rewind, the tape counter would "slip", requiring a tedious manual search to locate recorded programs. This happened almost every time. The remote has three times as many buttons as other VCR remotes, and their use is not always intuitive. The back-light for the display is turned off when the VCR is off, making the clock all but impossible to read. The user manual is not available on Sharp's web site. The VCR costs more than competitive units. This is the second Sharp consumer electronics product I have owned in my life, and I haven't been happy with either one. I'm returning this VCR.

I had thought at first that this VCR did almost everything well, but was worried because of a dark picture during playback. As it turns out, though, it was the copy protection interfering with the picture on the TV. Because I have a TV/VCR combo, it would darken everything from the new VCR. On other TVs without a built-in VCR, this Sharp model works perfectly.

So it's got a great picture on any normal television, the sound is crisp and in stereo, which is a big plus. And its features are all clearly explained in the directions and easy to figure out on the remote. I was nervous about the backlit display being distracting or too bright, but it's not at all. Automatic tracking is good, but the option to manually track is nice to have. The fast rewind and fast forward are good about being careful with the tapes and slows them before stopping or playing them.

This Sharp model was the clear winner in my shopping research, and my only complaint in the first place was the dark playback - but upon discovering that the problem doesn't lie with this VCR, I would recommend this unit to anyone interested in a good, solid, quality, and featured-packed VCR for a reasonable price.

This is a great VCR. I have had it for a few months and I had the previous version for several years. I probably use the VCR for recording or playing something two or three times a day. It has a super fast rewind, which is fantastic (for when you are trying to make it to Blockbuster by noon).

I just wanted to write a review to say that there is a way to reset the counter, but clearly people have trouble figuring out how to do it. It is rather simple, you just make the display show the counter (by pressing the display button the the remote) and then you press the cancel button (on the remote) and it resets the counter to 00:00:00.

Another thing, I noticed when I was reading deciding which VCR to buy that a reviewer or two said something about this not having a manual and I was very concerned by this. Well, it's not true at all. This VCR DOES come with a manual, when you buy it new. I would guess that some others buy it used or from other sellers, and well, at that point, it's really their own responsibility to make sure it includes a manual. Also, when I spoke with Sharp, and if you have proof of valid purchase of the machine, they will send a new manual.

All in all, this is a truly excellent VCR, especially for the price. I have had more expensive VCRs that just have not been as dependable, they broke down much sooner, something happens with the clarity of the picture, or a problem starts to develop with the rewind or fast forward. I have had no problems with this VCR or its previous version. I would highly recommend this for anyone who is looking to save a little money, but wants a good, dependable machine.

Forget about Optical cables, with this coaxial cable you will experience the BEST sound from your DOLBY DIGITAL 5.1 system. It provides the best DIGITAL audio connection between your DVD and your dolby digital receiver.

For some time, I had been reluctant to switch to coaxial digital cables. I figured I was getting good sound with the optical cable which I paid [price] for, and why should I spend another [price] for digital coaxial cable. Last week I switched to Monster Cable IDL 100 Interlink Datalink 100 coaxial digital cable and now my optical cable is collecting dust in my garage. The difference in the sound is incredible!!! This Interlink 100 cable eliminated "sound inpurities" and turned it into a much crispier, detailed sound. The bass from the subwoofer is crystal clear and powerful but without the "puffy"/distorted bass. dvd players have both connection options in the back. Some new models have only the digital coaxial option. Buy this Interlink 100 and experience the difference yourself. You will not be sorry you switched. I give this product two thumbs up!!!

This is for the gentelman from Houston who has been lost in the world of cables and wishes to return the Monster Cable IDL 100 Coaxial digital cable. Do not return it!! As another reviewer suggested, you run the IDL 100 from your Digital receiver (it will not work if your receiver doesn't have a digital coaxial out put) to your dvd player. You connect the end of the IDL 100 with the arrows into your digital coaxial out put in the back of your reciver and the other end of the cable into your dvd player (NOT your TV) This cable is an audio cable NOT a video. The back of your Sony TV is for video connections: component, analog or S video. Read your owners manual or visit Amazon.com, find your tv model, your dvd model and read thechnical information. You will be surprise how easy it is.