Learning Resources Zoomy Handheld Digital Microscope

The Zoomy microscope is easy to load software for and starts up with no problem. My ten-year-old uses it as part of home school, to look at, identify & record all sorts of cool bugs. I think it well worth the $50 we spent. The USB connection is convenient and the pictures can be saved in .jpg format, the same as photos.

If you own a Mac you have experienced compatibly issues. I have spent time trying to get accessories to talk to a Mac and given up frustrated. That is why I always check the reviews before buying an accessory for my Mac. This is the review warning you that the Zoomy may not work with your Mac and definitely does not work with Mac Mini running OS 10.6

The Zoomy does work well with my PC but the software and the person who wrote the software both suck.

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We love our zoomy! I was very impressed at how detailed the images were. It is very easy to focus and takes high quality pictures. I bought the zoomy for our kids, but am actually thinking of getting one for work. They would be great in the classroom too.

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Bought the Zoomy for my 6 year old because he shows an interest in science, but I have been having as much or more fun using it myself. It has a much clearer picture than I ever thought something in this price range would have had. Worth every penny!

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This product does what is says. It takes very clear, detailed pictures and videos. It has a preview setting. This means it has a "live view" screen to focus your picture, and allow for hours (!?!) of entertainment. If I thought this would be so much fun for my kids, I would have bought one sooner!

We bought it to correctly identify insects and spiders in the gardens, which it allows me to do wonderfully, but we have found so many other uses for it! My two children (2yo and 4yo) are in love with this little machine. They are exploring a whole new world! The first day we received it the kids looked at everything from their toe nails (ew!), lined paper, a house fly, a pencil tip, the dog's fur, the cat's ear, and we even located and pulled out a sliver in mommy's finger! They have more fun just watching the preview screen, and don't take alot of pictures with it. They are usually too involved, and move on to the next item without taking any.

For my purposes, I use it to correctly identify insects and spiders in the house and garden. It is essential to know what pest (or beneficial) you are dealing with to know if, when, and how to kill. Many nymphs, and instars of insects look similar if not identical to the naked eye. I now know that the brown beetle I thought was a common stink bug, it actually the fourth instar of the marmolated stink bug. This is an invasive, foreign species that is just now spreading to my area. It's the first time I've seen one, and he got the flush instead of being carried outside to freedom. I also know to look for more of them. It will also help me identify lacewing, ladybug, and parasitic wasp larvae. These are all beneficial insects that should NOT be destroyed, and will help, or completely control a pest insect in the garden. Bugs like thrips, gnats, and ants are no longer difficult to identify!

It has few options. For example the focus is not labeled like a standard microscope, so you can't tell what magnification setting is being used. But it's because of the low options that make it so kid friendly. It's easy to hold (smaller than a standard computer mouse), operate (single button push for picture taking), and the focus is easy to manipulate (turn left and right). Once I get it plugged into the computer and pull up the program, they can use the zoomy without any input from me, all I do is watch them wonder at the picture they see on the screen. This is going to be lots of fun this summer when we get pond water and garden worms to look at!

It does need to be connected to the computer to work, but for the tiny area focused, that's not a big deal. I use it with a laptop, and it has no problem. The program used with it loads fast, and the zoomy itself is quickly and easily recognized by any computer I've plugged it into. We have used it with Windows 7, vista, and XP with no problems. This little machine is durable (dropped by my kids several times), easy to use, and dependably works. Well worth the money I spent on it.

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Nikon Coolpix S6500 Wi-Fi Digital Camera (Black) with 16GB Card + Case + Battery + Tripods + Access

These shoes are for very wide feet. They are absolutely cute unfortunately. They are not true to size. I wear a 10 most of the time. I am getting some insoles to fix the problem. I needed a pair of black dress shoes so I will remedy the problem eventually.

Epson PowerLite 1880 Projector, 4000 Lumens, 1024 x 768 Pixels Projector

If you don't have the ability to create perfect home theater conditions then this is a great option for you! The 4000 lumens lets me project nice, bright images even in a well lit room at a 20' throw. The resolution is good enough for nice HD pictures, and the contrast works great for even low light scenes. (With my old projector I had to crank the brightness and contrast way up in order to watch movies with dark scenes, which makes the black colors look more grayish.)

The only practical criticism is that the projector could use more HDMI inputs, but I knew it only had one going into the deal. I use a switch on the HDMI inputs and for the most part it works well.

No matter what I tried I could not get my Windows 7 computer to recognize the projector via USB. Ended up using the VGA connector, which is probably better for my needs anyway. For a short while I had it connected to my home network and the LAN projection feature seemed to work nicely, even though I didn't really need it.

If this projector maintains its quality over time I can see myself buying another Epson when the time comes. I'm very happy with this 3 weeks into using it!

Toshiba Camileo X400 Camcorder

I purchased the X400 from Best Buy online. It had only been out a short whle and the feature set was compelling for me. Having been using a standard definition mini DV camcorder for years, this was my first entry into HD recording. My primary use was to record my son's gymnastics metts.

I shot a brief video outside to get used to the controls. The results were amazing crisp video with vibrant color. I was pretty psyched. Then I tried recording at the next gym meet. The resulting video was blurry. Strangely, the clarity of the picture would go in and out of focus. It appeared the camcorder was constantly attempting to autofocus but could never get there. I looked through the manual for help but could find nothing regarding this. I thought perhaps I should turn off the autofocus but could not find a way to do this. I experimented further changing other controls, resolution, auto stabilization, and light settings. Still the video was blurry.

Next step was to see if Toshiba could help. I went to the support section of Toshiba's web site. There was a user's forum but nothing on the X400. There was not a form or email address so I phoned the support number. I thought they might give me suggestions on how to correct the issue. I was wrong. They told me I would need to return the camcorder to Toshiba. So I boxed it up and sent it back. I was disappointed in the customer service in that they could not even offer any suggestions to resolve the issue.

Figuring that the X400 was defective, with the credit I decided to try the X416. It is the exact same camcorder with the exception of having 16GB of built in memory. (The X400 had no built in memory but relied solely on SD card). Unfortunately it is exhibiting the same deficiencies as the X400. Unless I can get better results out of the video, this will be returned as well.

The other issue worth noting with both the X400 and X416 is the battery life. It is pretty short. I am lucky to get 1 hours worth of video before the thing is spent.

I have purchased several Toshiba products in the past and been happy with the items and experience. I think their TVs are very good. But it appears they missed the mark with the Camileo HD camcorders. As disappointing as the camcorder is, the customer service is equally so.

This camera will not focus. It constantly moves in and out of focus and there is no way to stop it. I DO NOT recommend purchasing this camera.

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Low quality of the battery, it only lasts 1 hour ... I'm in for warranty claim.

The camcorder works great, excellent zoom and has a good quality recording and the best, is light.

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I bought this camera about 6 months ago. It is absolutely the worst camcorder I have ever owned, and I have owned several. It is HORRIBLE in low light. Seriously, its like you are recording through a thin film of tomato soup. It is average in bright sunshine, though I have seen non-HD camcorders with sharper picture. To top it all off, there is some kind of glitch, where if you record while plugged in (cause the battery only lasts about 15 minutes)it will just shut off in the middle of your recording, without saving.

Last, and WORST of all, there is no way to disable the autofocus, which constantly bounces in and out of focus, with the speed of a championship ping-pong match. It is IMPOSSIBLE to get good video with this camera....

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Good Day to all of our valued customers. I would like to take this opportunity to address any outstanding isues with the Camileo product line. If for any reason you are at the point of an unresolved issue with a product, you may have it replaced free of charge , from the origin of purchase. Furthermore, a new warranty will apply to your replacement item and you will be updated for 24 hour support on our valued customer marketing profile. Hoping this will ease your troubles or acclimation to any one of our new products. .... Please bring this correspondence with you.

Sincerely, Michael A. Camileo , Director,C.E.O. Marines Landing Companies on behalf of Norio Sasaki , Director,President,C.E.O. Toshiba Corporate Headquarters , Tokyo.

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ALZO Multi-Mount® for Attaching Video Gear incl. Microphones & Lights to DSLR or Camcorders or Vid

This is a well designed piece of gear that is super lightweight and very versatile. I just wish the space 'inside' the cage was tall enough to accommodate my Rode Video Pro shotgun mic. It's not. If it were, this would be perfect.

...although not all the shoes are the same size. Some are tighter than the other. I don't know if it was just mine or if it's standard.

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I looked at a lot of accessory mounts to use with my Canon XH-A1S but most were cheaply made and I didn't want it sticking out to the sides like airplane wings. Based on some of the reviews here and the quality of the build I bought one and have not been disappointed. I've got a 7" HD LCD monitor, a 150 LED light and a Rode or AT shotgun mic mounted on it for a lot of work and it's great for my needs. I've also used it on my Canon 5DII and 7D for mounting mics and lights and it's not too heavy for the shoe. If you're looking for something made of metal and quality built this is the mount for you!

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the item is just great because you can slide in the mics or lights you have or an lcd screen too. down side is that it makes your camera extremely top heavy, and now that creates your camera to get a bit more shaky.

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This really helped me out, "BIG TIME". I was able to mount all my accessories on it. It got me out of tuff jams.

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Canon DC230 1MP DVD Camcorder with 35x Optical Zoom

I got this over 2 weeks ago. The quality of the digital video image is good when recoding in standard recording (not EP).

The book that comes with the Camera is extremely poorly written. I had some difficulty figuring out how to finalize a DVD, the main thing is that the Camera should be connected to the power, it would not finalize while on battery, DVD -R cannot be un-finalized.

Editing VOB files requires additional software. On the other hand you can play without any problem your video straight out of the finalized mini DVD-R on any DVD player, including your computer DVD device.

This would be a great camcorder in all respects if pictures taken in the dark were not so very grainy. One solution to this would be the addition of a video light that would produce good video of near subjects. Also, Canon should include video software (such as MyDVD for Canon), an 8cm DVD, and a wrist or shoulder strap with the camera. I don't believe it pays off to be "cheap."

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If you want a simple way to take decent video and burn it onto a DVD with basically no editing, this is a good choice. If you want to take that video and put it on your computer, this thing is terrible. It doesn't come with any video software, even though the manual has instructions for Roxio MyDVD for Canon. This software comes with a different model, and you can't buy the "for Canon" version separately. The regular MyDVD from Roxio costs $70, and is terrible.

Overall, my old Sony miniDV tape camcorder worked better with my computer. I think the main benefit here will be to capture raw video of the kids on a little DVD, then just mail the DVD to the in-laws.

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We bought this camcorder because it had the ability to take pictures as well as videos. It is a good price and it is small and cute and light. First of all, becareful what dvd you buy. it really doesn't work with all of them, it warns you on the instructions that it doesn't work with all brands, but it doesn't tell you which ones. So we bought several brands and we couldn't get the camcorder to record. It couldn't recognize the dvd. So we then tried the sd card and taking pictures. Well, it doesn't let you use the sd card to record videos, and worse of all it takes terrible pictures. No kidding, these were not even decent pictures. 35mm camera does a million times better. It is always fuzzy and unclear and you cant move even a mm or the picture will be unrecognizable.

It was overall very disappointed and I am currently in the process of sending it back. We just decided to buy a regular camera that has the capability of taking videos that are just as good quality and way way million times better looking pictures.

So the main warning: do not buy it because it can also take pictures, it doesn't take good pictures. not even bad pictures, all you can see is a wave, and when the picture is sort of clear, everybody looks like they have chickenpox because the resolution really sucks. Also, if you want it as a camcorder, find out who has bought it, and ask what dvd they actually bought.

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After using this camera for a while, I already have more than a dozen DVDs, there are no way of playing the DVDs in my computers, tried various versions of Windows with no luck, can't play them in DVD player either, the only way is to play it in the Camcorder itself, the software supplied by Canon labeled as "Digital Video" solutions disk is a lie, it doesn't do video, only handle images. The mannul claim you can connect the camcorder to PC with the digtal cable supplied, it didn't work, PC won't recogize it, keep asking if you want to reformat the disk. Horrible, horrible, just gave up on it, bought a different brand instead! don't know what to do with the recorded DVDs.

Sean

Sony SNC-M1 Fixed IP Network Camera w/Audio

I've recently upgrade my usb webcam to a Sony M1 because of the features and performance I've read on a few websites. I've learned that the technology Sony put into this camera comes from their professional line of camera products. So, I decided to purchase one to test out. The picture quality is far more superior than a $99 webcam I used to have. I love that it has a recording software w/ audio. I purchased the M1 model, but they also have a wireless version M1W and a pan and tilt model M3 and M3W. I'm currently looking into purchasing 3 more cameras to complete my system. I give this camera a 5 star for it performance.

This is a very easy to install network camera. It was up and running in 20 minutes in my small home office.

I am using the camera in a 300 sqf room. The picture will be overexposed when the camera is facing to a window which is a common problem with most of cameras. It has some nice features like the motion detection and alert by email. Be aware of the fact that you need to run the cat5 and the power cable to the camera. Definitely recommended.

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The highlights are it has good quality, good capture and all of that. The problem is getting the video+audio on another media, ie, DVD or whatever. They have one export feature and that is to AVI, and all it does is export the video. Why have a microphone to record sound and no method to export the audio+video. Anyways, called Sony, and they told me that this camera was not designed to do that. Quote, "it was designed to playback on the computer only." What kind of junk is that? 1 star!

So if you only want to see the audio and video together on the computer, then this is for you. If you ever want to export your video recording to DVD or anything else, forget about it.

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Maybe it's a great camera, but unable to get it working at all. Installation software is really horrible, manual is even worse. Can't Sony hire someone who speaks/writes English? Install software is very strange, they don't understand the conventions/basics of writing a Windows application...really disappointed and frustrated.

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30 Foot B & A Computer Black Gold HDMI Male/Male Digital Audio/Video HDTV/Home Theater Cable

I was a little worried about this cable; after all, the HDMI spec says 32 feet maximum, and 30 feet is 93.75% of that. But I had to try, my projector is a long way from my receiver.

The cable worked fine so I was quite pleased.

The quality of the product itself is very high, good connectors, heavy, yet flexible cable between the connectors, gold in all the appropriate places.

I'd buy again.

Also, shipping was perfectly reasonable it took about four business days from ordering to receipt using Amazon's expedited shipping option. That's not bad for a third-party vendor.

Very good product. The quality looks great. I use it to hook up my TV to my computer, which is about 15 feet away, so I got this 30' HDMI cable, and the image has a very good quality. I can watch videos, movies or picture slide shows directly on the big screen. (Recommended)

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I tried to use this hdmi cable for my home theater system. And it did not work. There must be a ton of resistance in this cable because the signal does not get transferred properly and it stops sending signal immediately after power up. I didn't believe the other negative reviewers. Trust me, don't buy this cable. Find another one.

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Excellent 30 foot HDMI cable, works great! Arrived quickly and works great. No problems at all. Highy recommend this product to anyone that needs to connect an HDMI device that is 30 feet or less from their TV.

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I did not know you could have so much interference with a digital cable. Now I know. I should have read the reviews before buying. I returned the item. On a positive note, the return was easy through Amazon.

Canon EOS Rebel T3i 36 Piece Pro Kit

First of all this is my first SLR camera and i didnt know what i was missing! it is an amazing camera! just got it today and im in love! also this bundle is perfect, comes with everything you could possibly need! im very happy with it!

I purchased Canon EOS rebel T3i with Kit from A&R PHOTO VIDEO INC on Amazon. Excellent camera with all accessaries required to get start photograhy. Overall kit is very useful as it includes all items rather searching them individually.Gerat value for money surprisingly item reached in two business days from day ordered. Really worth buying this kit.

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Flycam 5000 Professional Action Stabilizer Steadycam for Dslr Cameras/Camcorders (upto 8 pounds)

Let me start off by saying that I am by no means unsatisfied by this product. If I could, I would give it a 3 1/2 star rating.

The price was a bit steep for the amount of engineering / materials used to make this device.

But then after I bought it, I found it on another site for $100 less, so you can find it for what you would normally find p.o.s. steady-cams.

The whole weight set up is more than awkward, with having these little compartments for the weights to go into. Why not just have a longer screw and wing nut? OH! And the weights are anything but accurate. You will need to go out and buy some flat washers so that you can better fine tune the amount of weight used.

All things considered, you can (with practice) achieve high quality stabilized footage with this product. I have used it on many occasions; including, several half day, and full day sessions. With the addition of the Arm Brace, you can wield this device for longer periods with less effort.

All in all, find this for less than $200, and then buy it. OOOHHH, make sure to buy the QUICK RELEASE ADAPTER for the mounting plate, or you will find yourself like me, spending time undoing the camera from the device instead of just releasing the quick release adapter.

i'm needing practice, but this is very very very sturdy and well built, great product!!! might not be great for you but its cool for me

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I read multiple reviews before buying this product and despite the multiple reviews where people say they cannot balance their steadycam I thought to myself 'ehh, I'm sure mine will work fine'. So, I went ahead and bought one and I found i have the exact same problem as everyone else. The issue is, while you can get the static balance correct (its balanced facing forward) as soon as you turn the camera to the right left or 180 degrees, everything gets thrown out of whack. So, after I found this, I emailed the company and they were good about sending me another one... Guess what, same exact problem. So, I think it is just a quality control issue. With this sort of thing every hole, every axis, every screw needs to be perfect or it wont balance correctly and a lack of quality control shows in this product. While this product is useable and is better than running with nothing, I would STRONGLY urge you to save up the extra few hundred and get one of the entry level glidecams because it is simply not worth the stress, time and effort needed to make this product even remotely useable.

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