An excellent addition to a home theatre
I bought these so that I could watch television late into the night as my wife sleeps. They are very well made and the battery lasts for quite a while. I like how you can swap the batteries out with AAs if they run low so you are never unable to use them. Like others have mentioned, the range is only about 33 feet and within an IR conical profile in front of the transmitter. This is to be expected because the information is transmitted via a wide “beam.” I find this advantageous because I have a Home Theatre PC, a Wii, Roku box, and a PS3 that could be used with this and I did not want to encounter major interference with sound using any of those products. Because this is not based on a transmitted “radio” signal, there is no chance of interference. While I like the concept of the optical in, its just not convenient to keep switching back and forth between products that do not have that option so I just use the A/V jacks all of the time and quality of sound is great. One tip I would give to anyone to reduce any audible hiss they may encounter is to leave the volume for the headphones waaaaaay down and then just use your receiver to control the sound level. You will hear almost no hiss and the tiny fraction you do hear will be drowned out by your sound anyway. The sound is comparable to a really good pair of headphones but is admittedly not as good as a surround sound system. But hey, its a lot better to crank the sound up on these at night while my wife sleeps then it is to turn the sound way down so that I do not disturb her and not be able to hear anything.
Link: http://astore.amazon.com/sony.wireless.headphones-20
Pros:
1) Slim design.
2) Most well constructed iPod to date (components are actually screwed on to the body instead of just being sandwiched between the body.)
3) Video playback.
4) iPod scroll wheel interface
5) Strong power management system
6) High quality LCD.
Cons:
1) Inferior sound quality compared to competitors and older ipods.
2) Interface is slow and choppy.
3) Albums and Artist names disappear from the albums and artist menus if you have Compilations on.
4) Touch pad is not very sensitive.
5) Weak volume
I bought this Ipod for the video, battery life and space. The most annoying thing about this iPod is the sound quality. Compared to my 6 year old 2nd gen iPod, the sound quality was a step down. It didnt have accurate bass. Music sounded distorted with with the EQ. The sound lacked all spatial feel. The DSP is to blame here i think. It was tweaked to give a better battery life. Other than the sound quality issue this is a decent DAP. However, is this a good DAP at all when its primary function (audio) is mediocre? Too bad there are not many really good sounding DAPs anymore. The iPod is still the best in terms of balance of style, features, interface, third party support and battery life.
At this time, the new revision with HDMI is NOT, I repeat, NOT the new Falcon chipset with 65nm, which would lead to less heat and supposedly less Red Ring of Doom. It has the same innards as Xbox 360 Elite, except the smaller hard drive; it’s a Zephyr. This revision however does have quieter BenQ drive.
If you are thinking about buying an Xbox, wait for the Falcon chipset which should be out in 2-3 months.
PS3 is the ultimate gaming machine. The graphics are out of this world, the OS is sweet and slick, and when PS Home comes out the online community will be awesome!
The best part about this machine is that it doubles as a Blu-Ray player. Not only does it double as one, but it is probably the best cheap Blu-Ray player on the market. The firmware is updated smoothly and the load times are very short.
I would recommend this system to everyone.
Great Camera For Recreational Photography
If you are looking for a good, basic digital camera, this one is great. It’s got enough features to do everything you want from a personal use camera (not professional level).
I bought this camera for my mother. I bought myself the Cannon SureShot, because I got lured in by the extra features. After they both came in and I used my mom’s camera, I wished I had bought the Sony instead of the Cannon.
This camera is easy to use. The dials/menus are easy to use. Just a few minutes of “playing around with it” is enough to figure out the basic functions. A good solid camera. Nice pictures.
By J.Windham
Reset issue fixed with a simple firmware update
First of all, Amazon’s white glove delivery service was great. I was a little hesitant about buying a TV of this size online but now that I’ve gone through the process I would do it again in a heart beat.
For those of you who have been following the news on the A650s, the reset issue has been fixed with the latest firmware. Chances are you will have to upgrade the firmware yourself when the TV arrives but it is pretty simple procedure using a USB thumb drive and Samsung provides step by step instructions with photos if you need them.
I’ve had my TV for about four days now and I’m still completely blown away by clarity, detail and colors this set produces. The LN40A650 has three HDMI inputs on the back, and one HDMI input on left side which made my devices incredibly easy to hook up. I then watched Ratatouille followed by Apocalypto, both on Blu-ray - great movies to show off your new set.
The 40″ is the only model in the 6 series that has a fan built into the screen. Some people may be put off because of this but the good news is that this fan is completely inaudible. This weekend we had 90 degree Santa Ana winds here in California and even with out any air conditioning, I still couldn’t hear the fan.
When I first saw the Touch of Color online I was indifferent. I don’t really care for the color red but now that I have the set, it’s slowly growing on me. All of the stock Samsung photos show a vibrant red but with my 40A650 in the living room it has the perfect amount of color. It’s not strong enough to steal my focus away while watching TV but at the same time it looks great when the TV is shut off. I believe the rest of the colors have been announced so if red isn’t your thing then it’s just a matter of time.
The glossy piano black of the A650s does cause reflections at times but I don’t consider it to be a deal breaker. It’s easier to notice the reflections during the day but I still experimented with light placement so that lamp reflections were not visible at night. Most of the time I only notice the reflections when I’m actively looking for them and it has never interfered with my viewing experience but it’s something to consider.
While you’re not going to get any realistic surround sound out of the built in speakers, they do come with a little power if needed. I’ll be upgrading to a 5.1 system pretty soon and the built in speakers are more than enough to hold me over. If you’re not planning on using anything but the built in speakers then the 7 series television might interest you with it’s built in subwoofer.
Be sure and take advantage of the 30 day price guarantee if you do buy your TV through Amazon. There are third party websites to help keep track of these things (price protector). I’ve already done this once so far and I can continue to do so for the first 30 days.
Overall I’m extremely pleased with the LN40A650 and my purchase experience through Amazon
| Review By | F. Ramirez |
Tom Tom One vs Magellan and Text to Speech
I replaced a Magellan 4040 with this. The Magellan had text to speech - wide screen - blue tooth and AAA guides. Cost much more.
In my opinion the inexpensive Tom Tom beats the Magellan hands down, even without text to speech.
Text to speech is a great concept but seems to strain the processor to the point that it would sometimes forget to give you street names OR directions. Very bad. I had 2 Magellan’s ( I thought first was defective and returned it ) and both would do this. I would much rather hear “turn right in 500 feet” than no instructions at all. Many times I was blocks past my turn before Magellan would announce it. Not good.
Both Magellan’s got flaky on me as well. One would need an occasional reboot for a frozen screen, the other would occasionally tell me I had reached my destination when it was still miles away.
Tom Tom has been rock solid.
Tom Tom NEVER misses a turn voice command. They are quite detailed as well unlike Magellan. Magellan says “turn right at Blair Street” where Tom Tom says “turn right in 200 feet than make third left”.
POI in Tom Tom is way better in my area than Magellan. It had an espresso stands that only opened 4 months ago near me! Of course results may vary depending upon where you live.
Voice is loud and clear, map colors are changeable, interface is very customizable.
Also Tom Tom guarantees a free download of the latest map for your unit at purchase. Garman and Magellan have very vague policies on that and may charge you for the latest map.
I have owned both Garman C220 and Magellan 4040. I will be most likely be purchasing Tom Tom from now on….
By E. Osworth
Magellan 4250 After The Update
I’ll keep this short and sweet. This is the 2nd 4250 I own. I got them for under $250 each on Amazon. The units are slow and clunky just like everyone says (out of the box). But WAIT…once you update the firmware (current is 4.60), you’ll be moving very fast and the unit even came with 1 year free to traffic update service. You can’t beat that deal! I owned the Nuvi 360 before, and I returned it for the sole reason that it doesn’t show POI icons on the screen while I drive. That was a deal breaker for me. When your in a new place trying to find a parking garage or a gas station these icons are life savors!
Garmin is the best for GPS
I spent a lot of time trying out GPS units, and have compared Garmin, Tom Tom, Magellan, and several factory GPS units. All of these GPS units tell you how to get somewhere and will re-route if you make a wrong turn. However, Garmin is my absolute favorite, and here’s why:
1. The most important thing about Garmin units is the user interface. It is simple to understand and easy to use.
2. The Garmin unit uses a built in database of sunrise and sunset times (based upon your location) to automatically change from daylight mode to night-time mode. This is important because the daylight screen is much too bright for use at night. With the Tom Tom, you must make this change manually.
3. If you have the Garmin unit plugged into your car power, when you turn off the car (and the cigarette lighter power goes off), the Garmin unit will detect that and automatically turn itself off (it gives you 30 seconds to override and keep the unit on).
4. When you start your car again, the Garmin unit will detect that too and automatically power up. If you were in the middle of a trip, the Garmin unit will pick up where you left off, and you won’t have to tell it where you were going again.
5. Unlike most factory GPS units, Garmin will allow you to select your route and make changes while you are moving.
6. The Garmin units have an extensive database of locations and the excellent interface makes it easy to search the database to find what you want. Do you want food or gas? Just click three buttons and a list of locations (sorted by distance) will appear. If you know the name of the place you want, you can type it in on the on-screen keypad and Garmin will find it for you. You can even add your own locations using the favorites feature. I first started using this when I was out of town, but its amazing what you’ll find near you when you look.
7. While you are driving, the Garmin unit will both prompt you to turn and give you a written explanation of the turn (including the street or highway name and direction) at the top of the screen. The Garmin unit also shows an estimated arrival time (usually a few minutes earlier than you’ll actually arrive) and the distance to your next turn. A separate screen gives you detailed trip information, including how far and how long you’ve been driving and your maximum speed. I used mine on an airplane once (yes, it is allowed - read the back of the airplane magazine), and it now says that by maximum speed was 590 miles per hour.
8. I often use the Garmin even when driving locally, becase it often finds better, faster ways to get there then the way that I usually use.
9. Garmin offers a variety of installation options and accessories. My favorite is the friction based dashboard mount (three weights connected to a center stand) which is much more convenient than the supplied mounting system.
10. If you turn off the GPS receiver (see settings) and then look up another location, you will get the option to set this new location as your present location. This will allow you to use search Garmin’s points of interest for the new location. This is a great feature when planning trips, because Garmin’s points of interest database is quite extensive and includes all of the typical tourist attractions, plus food, shopping, gas, banking, etc.
11. Be sure to check for the latest map and firmware updates at Garmin’s web-site.
Very good overall
The TZ5 is in a class of its own, offering both a wide angle lens and an excellent zoom.
In addition, the specs show an excellent 3″ LCD screen and HD video recording. The TZ3 (the predecessor of the TZ5) is one of the top recommended compact cameras on many camera review sites. The other camera that consistently tops the charts is the canon sd870is. Because the canon sd870is and the TZ5 are among the few compact cameras that have a wide angle (28mm) lens, I will reference the sd870is at times during this review as a comparison. Again, please keep in mind that these cameras aren’t necessarily in the same class (the canon has a 28-105mm zoom lens and the Panasonic TZ5 has a 28-280mm zoom lens). Also, while I have used a TZ3, I don’t actually own one.
Design:
Excellent, in fact there are very few things I can see that they could have done better. The body of the camera is very well designed and mostly made of metal (another reviewer wrote that it is made of plastic - it’s not). I haven’t used/seen the black or silver cameras, but the blue color looks very nice and adds texture to the camera making it easier to grip. The TZ5 isn’t as compact as some other cameras like the sd870is, and therefore isn’t as pocketable. However, for the vast majority of applications, and as a travel camera, it is the perfect size. You can use this camera easily with one hand, in contrast with smaller cameras like those in the canon digital elph series. All of the controls are easy to use and access and the majority of camera looks/feels of very high quality (exceptions: the power switch and the AV door on the side are a little sketchy, also the tripod mount is plastic). The screen on the back is beautiful, but lacks anti-reflective coating like the sd870is. As other reviewers have noted, the improvement in resolution is most obvious when reviewing the photos in play back mode. When taking pictures, the increase in resolution isn’t as obvious. However, this is the best screen I have ever seen on a point and shoot camera.
Menu System:
This camera is very easy to use, and the menu system is very logically designed. The Q-menu button allows access to features that you would want access to more often/quickly (e.g. white balance and ISO settings). I can’t say enough about the usability of this camera, it certainly outdoes the canon. Additionally, the graphics of the menus have been improved compared to previous panasonic cameras.
Photos:
There are various scene modes to take advantage of, but the most important new feature to note is the intelligent auto mode. In the intelligent auto mode, if you are taking a picture of a person, the camera detects the face (the face detection works extremely well by the way) and puts the camera in portrait mode, automatically removing red-eye if a flash is needed (not only with a pre-flash, but digitally as well! Nice!) -This feature is available outside intelligent auto mode as well-. If you are taking a close-up of a flower or other object, the camera is automatically put in macro mode, and if you are taking a picture of a landscape the camera is put in landscape mode. It is rarely fooled and works extremely well. In the intelligent auto mode the camera automatically adjusts the ISO (which can be scary above 400). In the camera settings you can adjust the MAX ISO you want the camera to go to while set in automatic ISO. However, in the intelligent auto mode, the camera will take the ISO as high as 800 if it needs to (this doesn’t happen often). The intelligent auto mode is absolutely fantastic for novices that don’t want to have to worry about tinkering with the camera settings.
How is the picture quality? Very good. In fact I was extremely pleased with it until I compared it to the canon sd870is. Of course, most of the differences are not evident until you start analyzing the photos at 75-100% magnification. However, viewed at 100% the TZ5 dispalys more noise at all ISO settings than the canon and I prefer the smooth appearance of the photos produced by the canon cameras. The color saturation was only *slightly* better with the sd870is, but the sd870is tended to expose the pictures better in some situations, and was rarely bested by the TZ5.
The macro mode on the TZ5 is very good but not as good as I was expecting. The canon allows you to get much closer and tends to make *slightly* better photos in this mode. However, for the majority of people that aren’t going to analyze every aspect of the photo, the TZ5 will do more than an adequate job.
Lens:
This leica lens is one of the shining points for the TZ5. The zoom is incredible, fast and quiet. Also, unlike the canon there is very little distortion and also unlike the canon, I never noticed any blurred corners. The ability to go from 28-280mm is an incredible feature. I do wish that the lens was faster (only f3.3 - 4.9) compared to the sd870is (f2.8-5.8). In addition, this allows the canon to produce more depth of field (which I prefer). Overall, this is an easy win for the TZ5, no other compact can compete.
Video Mode:
I was very excited to see the videos that this camera produces. I would call them good with average sound quality. Yes, it is nice that they are such high resolution (and you can zoom during video), but the overall quality of the videos is still lacking. I made a 640×480 video with both the sd870is and the TZ5 (obviously the TZ5 can attain much higher resolution at 1280×720, but for testing purposes I wanted to make them the same resolution; the canon can only make a 640×480 video) and the canon embarrassed the TZ5 in both video quality and sound quality. On its own and for what it is, the high definition video from the TZ5 looks good, but it won’t stand up to scrutiny. Don’t buy this camera for the HD video capability and expect miracles. As others have noted, this is a point and shoot camera with video recording capability, not a stand alone high definition video recorder. *As a side note, make sure you turn off the continuous focus feature for the best videos, otherwise it is always focusing in and out*
Overall, I am very impressed with this camera. The lens is first rate, the design of both the camera body and its software is excellent. While the photo quality is very good, I would like to see photo quality (color saturation, exposure and detail) more similar to the canon and of course, like everyone else, I was hoping that the HD video would have been better. Focusing takes noticably longer than the sd870is and startup time, while great, isn’t as good as the sd870is. Despite the mentioned negatives, I definitely recommend this camera. When I travel what I am I going to take with as a compact camera? It is going to be the Panasonic TZ5.
I am sure I forgot to mention something, so If you have any questions or comments about this review, please post them and I will reply when I can! Thanks!
*Make sure you buy a high speed sd or sdhc card for this camera. It requires a high speed card for the HD video. I bought the SanDisk 4 GB Extreme III SDHC Card with MicroMate USB 2.0 Reader, and it works perfectly. Have fun!