Sony DCR-HC45 Handycam Mini Dv Camcorder with 2.5” LCD screen

Sony DCR-HC45 Handycam Mini Dv Camcorder with 2.5” LCD screen
MINIDV CARL ZEISS 2.5 LCD INA 40X OPT. ZM 2000X DIG. ZM NS
Customer Review: Compact and good value
A great little standard definition dv camcorder which fits comfortably in the palm of the hand and produces good quality footage for general home&family use.
The supplied software from Sony will only allow capture to PC via Firewire/iLink which means you have purchase an extra cable because its not included in the box. However you can capture video to PC via USB (cable included), just turn on the USB Streaming option through the onboard menu (set off by default) and then use a suitable third party program which can detect it (I suggest Virtualdub, its free and fully featured).
I definitely recommend this camcorder to anyone on a sub ?200 budget - from my own research, I could not find another model that could beat it for value in this price bracket.
Customer Review: Sony Software does not support USB Streaming
The Picture Motion Browser software that comes with this doesn’t have tool to download video using USB streaming. The only option that comes with it is iLink . So, if your PC doesn’t have iLink then this handycam is useless. Even the iLink cable is not supplied by Sony.
I was really surprised to see that USB streaming is not supported. Sony used to supply Picture Package software previously, which had USB streaming and it was really good and now their latest handycams with latest software doesn’t have this feature.
So don’t go this if you rely on only USB2.
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New Apple iPod classic 160GB silver
Amazon Price: ?214.00
Customer Review: Brill ! - Get one for nothing !
I cannot praise this thing enough, its brilliant, great size, great new design and loads of storage !< Its quite expensive though, try and get one for next to nothing from freeipodtouch.co.nr (there are also other ipods there :) copy and paste it into your browser !
Customer Review: Why Buy A New Ipod Classic When You Can Get it for nothng
Why Buy A New Ipod Classic When You Can Get it for nothng iPod classic puts your entire music and video collection in your pocket.Use the patented Click Wheel to flip through your music by album cover. Beautifully redesigned, iPod classic features a sleek, new all-metal enclosure. Experience a whole new way to browse and view your music and video Go for it, go to ipodtouch.notlong.com to get your ipod Classic! Complete an offer - Some cost nothing and are all well known companies Give it a go!!!
Samsung Super Multi Format DVD Recorder With HDMI DVD-R155/XEU
Samsung DVD Recorder
Customer Review: Great machine
Initially I bought a HDD dvd recorder (not Samsung) to replace my old Samsung model. After endless trouble trying to set up I shipped it back and bought this, the updated version of my old dvd. No set up problems with this. Easy to use and much quicker to load and process the discs. It’s quieter as well. If you don’t need a dvd with a hard drive, and on reflection, I don’t think I did! Then this piece of hardware comes highly recommended, and with a great price tag!
Customer Review: Decent budget DVD recorder
I bought this DVD recorder primarily for its HDMI connection and it’s upscaling capabilities. (I have a Liteon 5006 DVD recorder which still works fine but has no HDMI - for my Sony HD ready TV). Firstly my gripes; I’m struggling to notice any difference between normal and upscaled pictures. On some upscaled DVD’s i’ve also noticed some digital lines at the edge of the picture. Whilst 1 and 2 hour recordings are spot on - the 4hr long play has proven unwatchable in most cases - with images starting blocky with fast moving action - and then sharpening up when the action dies down. (The Liteon 3hr recordings - whilst grainy - are always watchable) Shame Samsung didn’t include a 3hr recording option which usually fits most British TV series on and longer films. It has a flexible recording mode - but all this appears to do is change to different recording modes depending on space left on dvd. ie. don’t expect 2hr 15mins recordings to be near 2hr quality - they are recorded in 4hr Long Play The Samsung does support dual layer disks - i’ve used Datawrites +R discs - but these are write once only - and are twice the price of +/-RW disks. (I struggled to see if this can be made Multi region through the remote - bought mine elsewhere where it was chipped.) Now the good; The operation of the player is relatively quiet and a massive improvement on my noisy Liteon It is inexpensive With it being super format - most PC’s will be able to read the disks making copying, editing and the like easier (My Liteon recorded +RW disks will not play on my PC - but the Samsung +RW ones play perfectly) The Samsung has a number of editing functions - which differ depending on disk type - but with +RW you can insert chapters manually and then hide them during playback (so it skips adverts etc) All in all this is a decent recorder for the price - which attempts a lot of things - and does them OK. Look elsewhere - and perhaps upping your budget for better HD upscaling
Creative ZEN 8GB MP3 Player
ZEN 8GB IN
Amazon Price: ?115.00
Customer Review: Album Art bug
When i received my mp3 player, i was delighted with the design and the ease of use. However this mp3 player has a bug with the album art. For e.g if i was playing a Beyonce song, then somehow (I couldnt figure it out myself, and neither could Creative) Shayne Ward’s album art was displayed instead. How weird is that? I even deleted his songs off the mp3 player but somehow his album art appeared even on Evanescence tracks. How annoying! On most of my songs, this problem was repeated. Creative told me that i needed to format my player and try copying everything onto it again. Also they told me to update the firmware which i did, but it was the same version as the one on the player. I had a few problems with the mp3 player freezing as well after disconnecting it from my pc, it had to be reset a few times using a pin.. I am really disappointed and returned it to play.com for a refund. I gathered that it was probably related to the first few batches of products that came out. In future i will not pre-order items and wait until all problems have been rectified in future batches. However, I would definately prefer a creative to an ipod because creative do offer more file formats. I just wish they could sort their mp3 software out. As for support, they were very good, very prompt and courteous. They couldn’t stop apologising. Although i did give them 2/5 rating, i would recommend them… but give it some time. This player was only released on 29/09/07 so my advice would be to wait..
Customer Review: My player died in less than 12 hours
These were the problems I had in the first 12 hours up to when it died. 1) Had to modify registry to get it working, to recognise an MTP device. 2) Kept locking up when transferring data to it, had to keep resetting using a pin in the small hole. This happened 4 times. 3) Stopped charging via USB. 4) Stopped working altogether (it was still charged). While it worked I was very pleased with the sound quality the video playback and how the device worked in general. My only complaint would be that the resolution required for video playback is too low. Who has divx, xvid or wmv files these days that are 320 x 240. You’d have to convert any video files to get them to work. I’ve posted my issues on the Creative forum, and will wait a few days before I take the player back, but based on the amount of posts relating to Zen problems I don’t think this is an isolated issue. It’s a shame because I really like the player and didn’t want to get a Nano. I’d recommend you check the forum before you decide to buy.

































