Video Reviews

I had been using a 2-chip Hi8 camcorder for years, but my baby finally conked out. This machine was a godsend! Image quality almost as good, the ability to playback my old Hi8 tapes, and the digital recording and firewire output to my computer has completely changed the way I shoot, edit, and present my videos.

The only thing I could think of that I would want is a 3-chip version of The Little Camcorder that Could.

Whether you're an old hand, or just getting into video, you need to check out Sony's Digital8 system. The tape stock is a lot cheaper then Mini DV, plus you can still play back your 8mm/Hi8 tapes on it.

I liked all the features though indor pictures were alittle bad....but you can allways eit them on your PC.

The DCR-TR7000 is a great camcorder if you can find it at a resonable price. The DCR-TR7000 has all the features of the higher priced Sony Camcorders minus one option - the view window. Personally, I find the windows to be of little use unless you are viewing what you taped but you still need headphones to listen to the audio.

Of particular interest on these Sony Digital 8 are Steadyshot (works very well), Nightshot (can see subjects in 0 light via infrared light emitted from front of camera), the ability to send the digital data (via iLink (IEEE1394, Firewire)) to your computer and autofocus/exposure.

I have the 27 inch version of Sylvania's TV/DVD/VCR. It has a wonderful picture, and it is VCR program friendly. The sound is very radio-like (not enough bass), however, it sounds standard for a TV. For stereo sound you'd have to connect it to your home stereo. What they don't tell you in the advertisements is that it has a sleep timer! You can set the TV to shut of in 30, 60, 90, or 120 minutes. This is great for people who fall asleep with the TV on. On the downside, the VCR plays loudly in comparison to how quiet the DVD player runs. It is also a very heavy TV-mine weighs 98 lbs. I paid under [money] for my set in November 2002; it was worth it. I plan to keep this set forever.

For the money, this is a pretty good deal, especially if you can find it on sale. It is about the same price as if you bought all three components separately, and still had stereo sound. You could go cheaper if you bought a mono TV and mono VCR. But, then why would want a DVD player, if you had mono sound.

The picture quality is acceptable, but not as good as the more expensive flat screen TV's from Sony, Toshiba or Philips. The sound is in stereo and it does have surround sound affects. However, the little three inch speakers don't have much bass response. Stereo separation is good, but dynamic range is disappointing. There is no sound adjustments available, so you can't boost the bass. The system does have audio outputs, so you could hook it up to boombox for improved sound.

The VCR and DVD are fully functional. It doesn't mention it on the box, but the DVD plays everything from MP3's to VCD's.

The menus, setup and remote control are all very nice and contain all the functions you would expect. The menus are easy to use.

The best thing is you have all three functions in a fairly compact space. The whole system isn't very heavy at 58 pounds. It is perfect for a bedroom. I got it for my son so he could play his video games in his room and still enjoy the stereo affects.

If you want to get a premium picture and premium sound, you would need to go up to the next level, like the Toshiba combo. However that will be a couple of hundred dollars more. But, if you want high quality, you would probably be better off getting separate components.

The last thing to consider when buying a combo system is the lifetime of the system. A TV can last 20 years, but the typical VCR lasts only about 5 to 7 years. I still have the Sony TV I bought in 1980 (but one I bought in 1993 has died already). In that time, I have gone through 5 VCR's. But, in 5 years, you won't care about the TV. Digital TV will finally take off, and any TV bought now will be obsolete. Plus, the prices will be so low, that it will be worth replacing everything.

...P>This unit combines the ability to play all these in a nice package. Picture and sound quality are above average. Appearance is acceptable. Generally a good deal.

The remote could be more user friendly and it's impossible to use in the dark. And it was more than I wanted to pay. But I am more than satisfied with it.

I purchased the Technics based on the good words of Consumer Reports. If I had no stereo equipment, I might consider it a good deal at a good price. Unfortunately, my $... Teac AV receiver from Costco seems to be the equal of the Technics. My 11 year old Yamaha integrated Dolby surround sound amp is certainly it's superior.

The back panel is well laid out, with a good number of connections. However, setup is not as easy or intuitive as one would hope for.

If budget is a concern, with the $... rebate, this is probably a decent buy. However, I think there are other alternatives that might be considered as better choices.

This unit replaced my 6 year old H/K that had regular 'Pro Logic'. What a difference! ... sound quality and setup features are great. The 'Simulated Surround Sound' does great with old movies -- watched the original "King Kong" last night... was great to have the rear channels making understandable sound, not just some muffled noise. The remote is nice too! ... is able to control most necessary functions for my JVC S-VHS, Sony Wega TV, and Digital Cable box. The rear 'switched' outlet is a nice feature built into the system - switches power on/off when you do a power-off/on with the remote.

My speakers are 15 years old and patched. My receiver was a nine year-old technics model that seemed to work OK. Yet the sound--Thelonius Monk to Beethoven to Chopin--was often somewhat muddy, with an irritating lack of crispness. In other words, I could live with it but then life is too short, or too long, as I have been saying recently. Question: replace the speakers or replace the receiver? Or mandatory to replace both? [....]Here's the answer: the new receiver, with its 100 watts, made a vast improvement in sound quality. I no longer contemplate buying new speakers. I use the unit only with a CD player and turntable, but it is nice to know that the 1050 is really designed for surround-sound home theater application, if I ever get around to that.

Before I start let me clarify that this Video-CD recorder is NOT for everyone. For instance, my mother could never use it... it has too many buttons and there is no single-button operation (except for Video-CD playback). Recording involves pressing the menu button, selecting the video and audio source, hit record, waiting for the "Record ready" message, and then pressing the "confirm" button.

With that in mind, for the video and techno-geek, this unit is very nice. I will start by listing the good points:

1. You can record around 73 minutes of video on 650mb CD-R media
- or 79 minutes of video on 700mb (80 min) media.
2. You can use CD-R OR CD-RW (rewritable) media.
3. The unit has composite video (RCA plugs), stereo sound (RCA) inputs and outputs in the back, and a secondary set of inputs in the front.
4. The unit has s-video input and output connectors in the back.
5. The unit has digital audio input!
6. In addition to TV programs, movies, etc, you can also record CD-Audio to cdr-audio media.
7. The unit records in MPEG1 video cd format but with EXCELLENT image quality, much better than the dazzle 1 or other PC-based mpeg1 hardware encoders. There is no pixelation, if the source image quality is clear and good.
8. You can play back recorded programs on CD in the unit OR on any Pentium 1 - 100Mhz or higher PC running Windows, Linux, or MacOS.
9. You can see what the recording is going to look like by hooking your Terapin's video-out to the Video-IN of your TV (what you see is what you get, no surprises!).

..and here's the bad:
1. You need to "finalize" the disc before a disc runs out of space, otherwise, you can't play it back on a PC.
2. The unit overheats. The manual recommends turning the unit off to let it cool down after 4 hours of continued use. This can be easily fixed by opening the unit (voids warranty), and drilling a few holes to let the hot air get out. Yes, the company should have thought about this, but after you do this, the unit works flawlessly.
3. There is no TV-out or TV-tuner in the unit, you need to hook it to a VCR via the rca video and audio connectors to tune into tv/catv programs

Before I start let me clarify that this Video-CD recorder is NOT for everyone. For instance, my mother could never use it... it has too many buttons and there is no single-button operation (except for Video-CD playback). Recording involves pressing the menu button, selecting the video and audio source, hit record, waiting for the "Record ready" message, and then pressing the "confirm" button.

With that in mind, for the video and techno-geek, this unit is very nice. I will start by listing the good points:

1. You can record around 73 minutes of video on 650mb CD-R media
- or 79 minutes of video on 700mb (80 min) media.
2. You can use CD-R OR CD-RW (rewritable) media.
3. The unit has composite video (RCA plugs), stereo sound (RCA) inputs and outputs in the back, and a secondary set of inputs in the front.
4. The unit has s-video input and output connectors in the back.
5. The unit has digital audio input!
6. In addition to TV programs, movies, etc, you can also record CD-Audio to cdr-audio media.
7. The unit records in MPEG1 video cd format but with EXCELLENT image quality, much better than the dazzle 1 or other PC-based mpeg1 hardware encoders. There is no pixelation, if the source image quality is clear and good.
8. You can play back recorded programs on CD in the unit OR on any Pentium 1 - 100Mhz or higher PC running Windows, Linux, or MacOS.
9. You can see what the recording is going to look like by hooking your Terapin's video-out to the Video-IN of your TV (what you see is what you get, no surprises!).

The bad:
1. You need to "finalize" the disc before a disc runs out of space, otherwise, you can't play it back on a PC.
2. The unit overheats. The manual recommends turning the unit off to let it cool down after 4 hours of continued use. This can be easily fixed by opening the unit (voids warranty), and drilling a few holes to let the hot air get out. Yes, the company should have thought about this, but after you do this, the unit works flawlessly.
3. There is no TV-out or TV-tuner in the unit, you need to hook it to a VCR via the rca video and audio connectors to tune into tv/catv programs

Love the product. Very surprise that the company did not mass produce this product. This product could have replaced the VCR.
I have not tried the latest DVD-Recorder. Since the CDRW price is so low relatively to the DVD disc, this product is a great alternative. I use it for mostly storing vacation videocam from the VHS-C to the disc (great storage of memories). Again, great product.

This is a nice DVD Player, but this is a discontinued product and the SD-9100 is the new one which replace the SD-9000. The SD-9100 is a excellent DVD player and I give it 5 stars

Outstanding picture quality. Very easy to use with a lot of features. Sound quality is very good (but not oustanding, that's why the 4 stars and a half) when compared to my YBA CD player. To fully take advantage of this excellent DVD player, do not hesitate to spend for audio and video cables (I use Wireworld interconnects for the Audio and XLO for the S-Video). The difference well designed cables can make is just AMAZING!

I purchased the SD-9000 when it was still selling at its regular (and high) price. It is a superb, industrial strength (heavy!) DVD player. Picture quality and sound are outstanding. The only downside was the price, which is now much lower. So, if you want a top quality unit, go for it at the reduced price.

This TV has a nice picture on any analog inputs. If I use my DSS through the cable input the picture is great. However, if I use it through the S-Video Input at times of high motion the TV can't decode the signal fast enough. The result is a bunch of blocks on your 50" screen. Pretty irritating to spend $1500 on a TV and see blocks as the signal quality! It is a super obvious problem with any S-Video or Component input source. I am not at all satisified with this product!

This "blocking" effect, known as pixeling, is the result of over compression of the digital signal by your DBS provider DIRECTV. This problem will eventually improve as DIRECTV launches more DBS satellites. I find EchoStar's DISH Network to be far superior as far as compression issues are concerened. Currently, EchoStar has more bandwith, therefore requiring less compression. I have a DISH Network receiver connected to my 62" Toshiba projection TV set via S-Video and am very pleased with the picture quality.

It is quite surprising to me that one could think that an S-Video cable is sending data to be "decoded" by the television. The problem the gentleman from Philadelphia was having had absolutely nothing to do with the television. He should be quite aware that the "decoding" is actually performed entirely by his DSS receiver and is caused by the lack of signal from the dish.

Though I cannot make a specific comment on this particular model, in my humble opinion Toshiba televisions are quite marvelous.

You can be reasonably assured as a customer that the macro blocks experienced by the reviewer from Philadelphia would be seen on ANY television this customer purchased - and that YOU will not be plagued by this problem if you have properly installed your dish. Though at one time or another any digital source such as digital cable or digital satellite will at times have this problem if the signal TO the box is not good.

It is my contention that the large blocks this reviewer witnessed on his TV were in fact of extraordinary image quality, though improperly "decoded" by his DSS receiver.

One other reviewer praises the ability to watch his kids in the other room. I agree the camera is useable for this. However, access over the internet for me, so far, has been impossible. I have jumped through all the hoops such as firmware and software updates, followed the very specific instructions supplied by veo for my linksys wireless ap/router, and tried using a different port than 80. I have tried and tried but now must face the fact that I cannot recommend this product in it's present form. A good idea but does not perform as advertised. Something better will come soon I think.

Some pros: Motion detector attachment works well although you can only send the resulting email snapshot to one address. This means you cannot email your phone as an alarm and at the same time have the snapshot sent to a remote computer that burglers will not be taking with them when they leave. You get either a virtual alarm or an email snapshot. Not both. I would think veo would have thought this through and could have easily had this feature.

In closing, obviously I had some idea that I could use this camera for security monitoring over the net. This has not been the case for me and I am not a total amatuer. I usually work stuff like this out.

Oh, and dont let me forget to mention that there is NO telephone support of any kind and my email went unanswered.

Setup's a toughie, no doubt, but I bagged the complex manual and went right to the telephone tech support. After a 15 min. wait, they walked me through the setup in about 45 mins. Works great and compared to other systems its cheap.

Note: For remote viewing you'll most likely need a web portal that will offer a "static" web address. TZO.com will do it for 25 bucks a year.

I hooked it up to my Linksys wireless network and I can now see my kids in the play room while I am working. Very easy to install, I was blown away with the remote pan and tilt features.

I bought two of these cards (...). One for myself, and one for my son. I have an PIII-750 processor with a via chipset on the motherboard. The card installed fairly easily, although I did have to get the upgraded drivers as I initially got the dreaded blue screen of death warnings with the original drivers. Since then it's worked great. I mainly surf the internet and do word processing type of things. I've noticed the colors are better than my old 4 mb video card, and the speed of everything has increased. My son has an AMD K6-2 550 chip and a via chipset. I could never get the video card to work on his machine, and ended up taking it back. I tried all the newest of drivers that I could find, but have to admit I never contacted the company for help. He's big on games, and we decided to get the 64 MB MX2-400 Geforce card for him instead. Costs a little more(no rebate), but the hours spent trying to get the Radeon to work are behind me now.

The Radeon VE is an great video card with excellent drivers for Windows. My dfather bought the Radeon VE shortly after getting a new computer with a Savage4 Chipset that did not work. The Radeon VE works really well with windows but it was hard to find drivers for Linux (Suprisingly it is the only Radeon not supported by xfree86). ATI boasts the dual-display support which is relatively confusing, although most people will probably buy the card because it is the cheapest AGP Radeon. All in All, it is a very good card worth the money!
One of the majors FLAWS is, the Radeon VE/7000 does not have hardware T&L, which is very much needed for demanding 3D games.

Ati DV Wonder is a great ALL IN ONE card for DV editing beginner.

It includes
: DV capture card with 3 IEEE1394 (Firewire) ports. Allows you to connect your DV and 2 other IEEE1394 devices. like external hard drive.

:Ulead Video Studio 5.0, which is a better than average DV editing software. It is everything a home movie editor need. It makes editing very easy. It has plug & play capture. You can edit, erase scenes, add special effects, insert new scenes, make titles. You can save the movie in MPEG-2 (save you a lot of hard drive space!!) or other formats. Then you can burn it on a CD.

:INCLUDES A IEEE1394 cable!!!! (6pin to 4 pin) (save[d] me ...[money], cause my Sharp VL-WD450U (bought at Amazon) doesn't include firewire cable)

Pro:
This ... DV editing package has everything you need for startup..(even cable) and back by grahic card giant Ati. It has easy to use editing software and a fast IEEE1394 card.

Con: I wish they come with Ulead Video Studio 6.0 or 6.5, but hey ...its [less then] [inexpensive].....what more can you ask?

Compare to Pinnacle DV Express, hardware-wise they both come with a IEEE1394 w/ cable. The only difference is software, Ati's Ulead has more functions. The only thing Pinnacle DV express 's software can do and Ati 's Ulead can't, is create DVD ready CD or DVD. But i rather have a well function software than a software that can't do anything but capture and burn DVD ready CD. ...

This card is great ! It comes with Firewire card and a 6 pin to 4 pin firewire cabe, which will cost more than ($) in .... . The software Ulead videostudio 5.0 is above average. It should be good enough for avg or beginner home user. It lets you capture the movie from your DV, lets you edit it and burn it on a CD. This product is great for it's price, better than Pinnacle DV Express since it can't save movie in MPEG-2 mode, which will eat up your hard drive very fast.

Rodeon 7000 is better deal than this this is older card, and only 16MB SDR, Rodeon come with 64MB DDR.
This card is good for older Windows 98 and ME, not recomane for XP windows.
Both card cost same money, that is why Rodeon is better deal.

i loved it. great resolution and a abundant amount of options to play with!! kind of a pain to install , but well worth the wait. a must get!!