iriver Lplayer 8 GB Video MP3 Player (Black) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)PROS:

Good design for such a small size with largely simple interface (manual is on the packaged mini-CD in pdf). Optional UMS is a godsend as it bypasses proprietary software.Just plug it in and your computer recognizes it at as big floppy (have to install the software first for installation though). If you don't like that, there's another option to transfer from Windows Media Player 11.

The sound quality is about par for mp3 players but depends more on the quality of the mp3s. One thing for audiophiles is the option for FLAC, or loss less audio, but they may want to go for the 8 gig if planning on large amounts of FLAC. Headphones that come with it are pretty decent. Transfer rate is quick. Around 3.7 gigs rather than a full 4, but that was expected. The ability to store and read text files is pretty awesome, especially for students.

Video quality depends largely on the video you're adding. Same goes for pictures. Radio comes in loud and strong. Player comes with an area for a lanyard strap for securing it to your body.

The packaged software allows you to manage your music that way and can look up songs to fix the Mp3 tags as well as get cover art off the internet which also appears when you play the song. Personally, I think this is pretty cool, but in practice the software is extremely slow in finding, updating and saving the tag and cover art to the player, so thus I don't use it. That said, the feature is still pretty nice in theory.

Also, there is a capacity to record from the radio and spoken speech like most Iriver mp3 players.

Battery life for the internal rechargeable battery is not really their alleged 12 hours. More like 10, which still isn't bad, but not good compared to other players'.

CONS:

D-Click can be occasionally sluggish to respond.

Artists are not in alphabetical format which is super annoying in trying to find a certain artist however, this may be patched in the future as the software has the ability to update its firmware. This is my biggest gripe. Same goes for sorting by albums and genre.

It reads and shows Mp3 tags, thus improperly formatted ones will not show the artist or the music track title, just whatever was written. Video sometimes requires a converter.

It's hard to find after market accessories though which may result in unnecessary cosmetic damage. There are some, but they are pretty expensive barring auction sites. iPod accessory market this is not.

The player updates its database every time you upload forcing you to wait for it before you can use it. Also, it's slow in showing pictures.

Video battery is not so good at around 2.5~3 hours.

OVERALL:

It's a pretty solid player, it's tiny and most of the issues are essentially firmware that may be patched or for some people hacked. It's not the best mp3 player Iriver has made, but it is a good buy for its price. It seems like they tried to produce a tiny, tiny computer and the slowness of it comes through a bit too often. Good audio, good video, good radio, picture viewing and text? That's quite a package even with some down sides.

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Product Description:
1. Very sleek, sophisticated style & design and packed with great extrasLplayer comes with intuitive iriver D-Click System, 262K Color 2.0" TFT LCD with colorful GUI, , FM radio with FM recording, Voice Recording,Photo Viewer, andText Viewer. It natively supports OGG, FLAC audio file- both lossless file formats and most popular video formats.2. Intuitive iriver D-Click SystemLplayer also ensures comfortable usage with ‘iriver D-Click System,' which is operated by clicking the screen in the four directions, and UI (User Interface) that is intuitive and easy to control. Take original pleasure in the D-Click system exclusively for iriver that you cannot experience in other products.3. 2.0 inch Multi A/V PlayerLplayer features a 2.0 inch 262k TFT LCD color display at 320 x 240 resolution, FM radio with recording, voice recording, audio playback support for MP3, WMA, OGG, ASF and FLAC, support for MPEG-4, WMV9 and XviD video formats maximizing portability with its most enhanced moving image playing function of 30 frames per second.4. Multiplayer LplayerLplayer, the multiplayer allowing a collection of function, offers various entertainment options such as moving image, FM radio, voice recorder, image, and text viewer as well as mp3 playing. In particular, Lplayer is a moving image player maximizing portability with its most enhanced moving image playing function of 30 frames per second. a. MUSIC filesLplayer supports most popular audio formats MP3, WAV, WMA, and OGG and FLAC - both lossless file formats. Providing abundant base and three-dimensional sounds with a 7-band custom EQ, SRS WOW HD.b. Video filesLplayer with TFT LCD (320 X 240) resolution supports Xvid, MPEG-4 SP and WMV9 SP of 30 frames per second. Thus, you can simply transform various moving picture files such as movies, music videos and animations to see on the vivid screen of Lplayer using iriverplus3.

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Canon FS100 Flash Memory Camcorder with 48x Advanced Zoom (Silver) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is a long review because I took a lot of time in researching the camcorder I wanted, so I think my knowledge and use of this thing should be beneficial to SOMEONE out there. I had my eye on this thing before it was out, and saw reviews from some lucky people who got their hands on it before its release. Once I was able to order, Amazon shipped it in a not very well packaged box, but everything worked. It comes with a little remote, by the way, which came in handy when I connected the camcorder to our TV.

Preface: I am an intermediate video editor. I use Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5, sadly not CS3, and I easily figure out menus of electronics without needing to read manuals. So with that said, this camcorder was perfect for me. For beginners, it is still easy to use, but the more advanced features take some button pushing to access. Still, the basics are out in the open.

(By the way, I purchased the sapphire blue and it's more pretty in person than in the photos.)

I researched for a long while online, and after using the in-laws' Panasonic DV, I knew what I really, really wanted right now in a camcorder.

These were my requirements that I wouldn't budge on:
Small and Lightweight
Microphone input
Less than $500
Records to Flash Memory (Card)
As-close-to-great quality footage

These were optional:
High Definition
Cold/Hot Shoe Attachment
Ability to add other lenses
Digital Camera

So, the FS100 is compact. I knew it would be small, but I had no idea that the whole thing could sit in my hand. It also fits in my purse (and my purse isn't a huge "hobo" bag that many girls carry around these days). Because there are no "moving parts" and everything is recorded to a little memory card (SD), the camcorder is also very light and quiet. If it's still not quiet enough for you because you're in an extremely quiet surrounding, use an external mic.

I required an input for a microphone because, in the future, I'll want better sound for commercial purposes. Especially for when I want to upload my videos to the internet for promotional advertising (or perhaps Amazon reviews?). Or maybe for recording footage of my first child's birth - curses and all. ;D This is one of the very few "consumer" camcorders that allows mic-in.

DV is said to still be of great quality, but SD memory cards are just too cheap and reusable to pass up nowadays. Unless you're a pro editing video for professional purposes, your end-user isn't going to notice the difference between DV and flash memory. Memory cards are also lighter, smaller, and quiet. They make it easier to actually get my footage onto a disc, or stored on a NAS (Network Attached Storage) so that I don't have a stack of unlabeled DV tapes that haven't been watched since they were recorded.

Because the FS100 uses flash memory, recordings are stored as separate digital clips. Do you know what this means? This means my footage WON'T GET RECORDED OVER. You don't know how many times this has happened to me because someone picks up the camcorder and thinks the tape is blank.

The clips can also be placed into a playlist; you can choose where you want the clip to start, and voila - some basic playback editing without ever leaving the camcorder interface. You won't have to waste an entire DVD (or bore a viewer with vacation footage of your spouse snoring).

I used the FS100 *all day* in Hollywood, CA during an outing with two little girls and my friend. We were indoors, outdoors, in overcast, sunny, and shady areas. I also tested out the camera around our house and home office. I set the camcorder to its highest setting (using a 16GB card) and widescreen format. I fiddled with the lighting options depending on where I was so that I got the most natural color. It handled like a champ and I will go into quality details in a bit.

Zoom works amazingly well, obviously still has a bit of a shake in the end, but the stabilization seems better than other camcorders.

I worried about the battery life because it seemed short on paper, but using it all day without its Quick Start option (letting it hibernate so you can just open the screen and instantly record something), was dandy. The battery used up about 25% of its power! (By the way, you can view how the battery is doing without turning the camcorder on by a press of a button.)

Okay, CONS:

The programs it comes with are...crap. Sorry, but don't plan on using them for much unless you need very, very basic editing capabilities. Don't even consider using the still-photo camera. I don't know why Canon even bothered with it at all. Some cell phones take better pictures.

Since I have Premiere, I just wanted to use my reader, but a 16GB SD card requires me to purchase a newer reader because it's so large. I tried USB direct to my computer: WAY. TOO. SLOW. So I thought I would install the program for now just to transfer my footage, but that also was too slow. I ended up purchasing the Transcend reader on Amazon for ~$9 and it worked great.

The footage comes in .MOD files, which you can supposedly rename to .MPEG, but I downloaded SDCopy and it does this for me, as well as marks the footage as widescreen so that they play in Windows Media Player *in widescreen*. Without SDCopy, WMP plays the files in 4:3 format, which means everything looks squashed.

BUT, my Premiere doesn't see the files as widescreen at all. Windows Movie Maker does, but I really don't want to use that for editing. I tried Avidemux, and it didn't pull in the audio. So, I still have a problem to figure out.

My Premiere also didn't recognize the audio - in the MOD or MPEG files. I searched online and my version (Pro 1.5) picked up the audio once I uninstalled PowerDVD. (I know if you have Premiere CS3, then you can add a .DLL file that recognizes the audio.)

The camcorder doesn't like low light. Quality goes a bit downhill. It does have a light you can turn on, but it doesn't make that much of a difference.

I haven't played with the settings to see if I can fix this, but the camcorder also meters for the brightest thing it's looking at - which means a person in front of a window, or even if the window is off to the side, will be very dark. The light through the window just gets blown out, so I had to angle the camcorder away from such "direct" light to catch my subject-in-shadow nicely.

SUMMARY:
Great camcorder with lovely features, but complicating issues with retrieving files, so I couldn't give it 5 stars. Still love it.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Canon FS100 Flash Memory Camcorder with 48x Advanced Zoom (Silver)

Product Description:
The FS100 is one of Canon's first Flash Memory camcorders. In addition to the advantage of added recording time, Flash Memory offers quick response time, because it doesn't have to wait for moving parts. The FS100's lower power consumption rate allows your battery to last longer. Measuring only 2.3" wide, 2.4" high and 4.9" deep, it combines big video storage capacity in a small, easy to carry body. The 2.7" Widescreen LCD on the FS100 lets you see more of what your camcorder is recording. With the FS100 you get a powerful 1.07 Megapixel CCD image sensor. The video you shoot will be sharp, clear and more true to life, as will your still photos. The Genuine Canon 48x Advanced Zoom on the FS100 extends the power of your zoom. In both wide angle and telephoto positions, there is virtually no loss in image quality throughout the range. The Canon DIGIC DV II Image Processor is the next generation of Canon's exclusive DIGIC DV signal processing technology to ensure optimal image quality for still images, even though video and still images have different color requirements. Focal Length - f=2.6-96.2mm Minimum Focusing Distance - 10mm (wide)/1m (tele) White Balance - Daylight, Tungsten, Auto, and Manual Programmed AE - Auto, Program, TV, Portrait, Sports, Night, Snow, Beach, Sunset, Spotlight, and Fireworks 2-channel Dolby Digital Audio (AC-3) 3.5mm Stereo Mini-jack Microphone Terminal Dimensions - Width 2.3 x Height 2.4 x Depth 4.9 (58x60x124mm) Weight - 9.2 ounces (260 grams)

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SanDisk Sansa e270 6 GB MP3 Player with SD Expansion Slot (Black) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)June 15 2006 - Unlike some of the reviewers, I couldn't care less about music "services" be they iTunes, Rhapsody, etc.
Why pay 0.99 to anyone for DRM crippled tracks?
The artist doesn't benefit.
I listen to CDs I have bought and ripped.
For that purpose, this unit works beautifully with *any* OS including Mac X, WinXP, even Linux.
The e270 can act like a flash/keychain drive:
just go into the Settings menu and change the USB mode.
The e270 also shows the album art (folder.jpg) while playing tracks.
The e200 series has a beautiful display, better than the Nano.
I wouldn't whine about the design being imitative:
the Nano has better quality buttons/wheel,
the e270's controls are comparatively flimsy-feeling and are harder for large fingers to operate.
Besides, didn't Apple copy from *Creative's* mp3 players in the first place?
The courts are reviewing that question now.
THE ISSUE.
My only issue is that the USB cable is proprietary, mandatory, and irreplaceable.
And, Sandisk is currently unable to provide a replacement if you lose it.
Without the special Sandisk USB cable, you can't even recharge the on-board Lithium battery,
and also there's no wall wart for AC power available either.
By contrast, my previous Sandisk e140 player (a 1GB model) uses an AAA battery
--and the same USB cable most digital cameras use.
Battery- and connection-wise the e140 is a better solution,
but the drawback is a dim monocolor display.
If you have good eyesight, the e140 is a great economy player;
but the e270 is the ultimate luxury toy.
Everyone who sees my e270 is smitten.
UPDATE July 6th -
Sandisk says it is _now_ able to ship me a replacement
"e270 to USB" cable, so give them credit for that.
Also, according to internet rumor, Griffin makes an e270-compatible wall-wart (AC Power) solution.
Finally, no solution is available yet to the "cannot play-tracks-in-album-order" issue,
a problem I failed to mention above.
This might drive you seriously insane when you play Mozart or Beethoven on the thing when the IV movement isn't played fourth.
Or, when an mp3 audio book can't be played
in chapter order!
We're waiting every day for the firmware update from Sandisk that fixes this track ordering bug.

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Product Description:
You can take it with you. Keep your media in your pocket with the SanDisk Sansa e270 flash memory digital audio/video player with 6 GB of storage. This sleek, light device enables you to enjoy music, video, and photo slideshows on-the-go. Features include MP3 and WMA playback, Microsoft PlaysForSure support, FM tuner (with recording ability), voice recorder, and a bright 1.8" TFT color screen.

Sansa e200 series players mix great design and durability with an excellent user interface.

View the e200 Series Demo.

Choose a Sansa e200-series player with the capacity that's right for you.
Form is Function
The Sansa e270 has a sleek, thin design with a large 1.8" TFT color screen for easy viewing. The strong alloy metal casing means the device is durable and scratch resistant. On the front, easy to use, backlit controls let you access what you want quickly and intuitively. The player also includes a microSD slot for expanding your memory capacity, and supports SanDisk TrustedFlash and gruvi content cards, which can be shared with mobile phones. The user-replaceable lithium-ion battery provides up to 20 hours of enjoyment.
MP3 Player
The Sansa e270 will play MP3, WMA, and secure WMA formats. Other formats can be converted using the Sansa Media Converter (included). The e270 also uses PlaysForSure technology. Look for the PlaysForSure logo if you want to make sure the digital music and video you purchase will play back on it every time. Match the PlaysForSure logo on a large selection of leading devices and online music stores. If you see the logo, you'll know your digital music will play for sure. Choose from a large number of digital music and video stores, including MTV's Urge, Rhapsody, Yahoo!, MSN Music, MusicMatch, MusicNow, Napster, Wal-Mart Music Downloads, and many more.
Video Player
View your favorite video clips anywhere, anytime. Use the included SanDisk Media Converter software to convert most popular video formats (such as MPEG-4, WMV, or DivX) into the MJPEG format playable on the e270.
Photo Viewer
Share slideshows of your favorite photos with your friends. SanDisk Media Converter also supports most image formats, allowing you to convert and downsize your images for display on the e270.
On-Board FM Radio
The e270 includes a digital FM tuner for listening to your favorite radio stations. Keep those favorites readily available by adding them to your presets. You can also record live radio on-the-fly for future listening.
Voice Recording
Have a thought you need to get down before it evades you? Use the built-in microphone to record voice memos. Capture interviews, classes, short notes to yourself, or anything else you might feel inspired to record.
Choose the Capacity for Your Needs
The Sansa e200 series is available in capacities of 2, 4, 6, or 8 GB. Each model contains a the microSD expansion slot, meaning you won't be limited to internal memory capacity.
What's in the Box
Sansa e270 digital audio player, travel pouch and lanyard, stereo headphones, Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery, USB cable, and quick start guide.

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