Meade CaptureView 8X42 2MP Digital Camera Binocular with LCD Screen

At least this is the real thing! I purchase the previous Capture View compact from Mead for $$$$....I was so disappointed because its picture quality was little better than a toy. It could not handle low light and the resolution was that of a Barbie Camera (Mattel)! Still I fell in love with the concept of a marriage between the digital camera and the Binocular. I felt that I was taking a real chance here on buying this product, but I figured that with 2MP (Which ...by the way there is a setting for 3MP) it had to be better hten the first CaptureView. I was right (Thank God!) This Digital Binocular really works and with acceptable quality.

I also have a Coolpix 4500, so I figured I would compare how the coolpix 4500 at full digital zoom and the Meade binoculars compared. I focused on a subject of a construction site far on the horizon (Must be a few miles away). As far as Magnification, both the CoolPix 4500 and the Binoculars are about tied. ( So maybe a camera is more versitile in most cases.) But the coolpix pictures at full digital zoom could not stand up to the clarity of the Binoculars picture.

The Binoculars arrived with some smudges on the plastic body casing (Looks like grease, which I had to clean off), There was also a minor scratch on the plastic, but still not worth sending back and complaining since this is not a gift and all I care about is functionality. The body is kind of cheap in appearance but this one has a lot more functionality than the other binocular combos I have seen. One comment though....WHERE ARE THE LENS CAPS??? Geez, you make a quality lens for a binocular and don't include a $ .. lens cap for it....it just does not make sense.

I am satisfied with this product, although I believe that the Digital Binocular is still in its young days, and will improve greatly in the next few years.

I think ypur option to buy this product depends on what you wish to do with it....For taking pictures of objects within a 300ft range, stick with your camera. To get fair to good quality shots at a great distance, this is the ticket. I have not tried making a 90 second AVI movie yet...I'll do that when the weather clears, but I have tried shooting in low light. Since there is no shuttle control, you will not be able to do any astrophotography with this unit ( a bright moon appears washed out...) but it can do low light situations. I could not hold it steady enough to do Mars, although it did show up looking quiet like a bright star in the pic ( Just with a trail since my hand is unsteady..) HINT: The next version needs a tripod mounting screw....

In summary this is a little expensive at $$$$ I think I would like to pay about $$$$ for it. I also feel that the casing could be stronger and a camera is more versitle (Third-party vendors make a zoom lens for the coolpix...I could have gone for that...but I love new technologies so I gave this a try.)

I give this Capture View Binoculars four stars because it meets my expectations of what it should be able to do.

I did a lot of research before choosing the Meade CaptureView 8x42 2MP Digital Camera Binocular. This one offers the most for a reasonable price. Unfortunately, the one reason you're probably looking to buy it will be nothing at all like what you were expecting.

As binoculars go, the CaptureView 8x42 works fantastic. It's easy to tune to your own eyesight, it's got a sharp, clear field of view, and the zoom level is as good as more expensive pairs I've looked through.

As a plug-and-play device, it's also really good: any computer I've plugged it into responds quickly, and files are easily accessed. There is software you can also use, but generally I don't have to have it in order to download images.

Ah, but there's the rub: the images. Digital binoculars don't actually use the binocular lenses to take a picture. I imagine there's not a way to easily do this, so the camera in the binoculars uses its own lens. As a result, the camera is really poor. Daytime images at a variety of ranges have come out with a milky white haze. Photoshop doesn't really fix this problem because it permeates the image, as if you're gazing through watery eyes or seeing a corona of white. On images that do not produce a haze, you have pictures about as good as you would see on a typical cellphone camera. Except that in low-light conditions, cellphones take better pictures. After taking picures in low lighting, and looking from darkness into a spotlight, I was amazed at how little light actually came through in the final image: even at a short distance, things that I knew to be brightly lit were blurry, grainy, and sunken in murky darkness.

If you are looking for a great pair of binoculars that you can also use to snap simple pictures while you are on vacation, the Meade CaptureView 8x42 is a good choice. If you're looking for a way to grab telephoto-quality pictures of faraway scenes, this will not live up to your expectations--a decent point-and-shoot digital camera will probably do better, especially in multiple lighting conditions.

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The digital camera looks and works cheap. Had to return product.

The battery compartment cover was not engineered properly, and the camera kept shutting down or not turning on at all.

2) There's no tripod screw!

3) The camera screen is not made well. In direct light you can hardly see the image. And it feels like it will fall off in the near future.

4) No lense covers!

5) The camera case is plastic!

6) Great Binoculars however.

The product is made in China. It shows with the digital camera.

Solid idea in integration of the products. However, engineering needs work for that price.

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I have only used these twice for a total of about 40 pictures. I am sure once I use them more the quality will improve. I was disappointed when I realized that what you see in the binocular is NOT what the picture will be. To frame the picture you must use the LCD screen, which is impossible to see in sunlight. I suggest getting either a good digital camera with high zoom or good binoculars not a combination, until this tecnology improves. The binoculars are very good by themselves.The camera is difficult to use.

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I received my Amazon/Meade Binocular order the first time with an inoperative video screen. Amazon sent out a replacement the next day.

New order arrived, read manual, experimented with photo capabilities, video screen worked and looked great, excited.

Then...on/off toggle button stuck, and stays stuck that same day, after only a few hours of use, another serious designer flaw from the factory. Now I'm starting to feel cheated. The unit becomes inoperative, looping through boot-up commands, then turning off automatically. Item returned, I'm sitting out the next dance.

My discoveries...I liked the 3MP capabilities, still shots looked great, video quality is at a lower resolution than expected, camera is separate from binoculars, this is acceptable since the camera has auto-focus.

Critique: Eye to binocular contact not as comfortable as some standard binoculars I've had, manual focus knob on binoculars placed in a strange position, unit is a little bulky.

Overall, very user friendly with lots of potential, good luck.

Dynex Silver 1080p HDMI Video Cable - 6 feet (1.8 meters) (Bulk Pack U3)

It's a good product with the same specifications in the provided description but the problem is there's nothing says that it's Dynex brand, it's just the cable in a plastic bag without even any packaging.

The description is misleading. "Dynex Silver 1080p HDMI Video Cable 6 feet (1.8 meters) (Bulk Pack U3)" I had assumed "bulk pack U3" meant it was a bulk pack with 3 units. It was a single cable. I think the bulk pack U3 part of the description could be omitted for a more accurate description. $7 for an HDMI cable is still a good deal but I would have went with a 2pack I saw for the same price.

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Ive ordered these hdmis before..just so the pins aren't bent you're ok.....quit whining they're super cheap .just go into best buy

And price em. The party will start!

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I ordered two of these cables and both were defective. Also, the seller Ultra Spec Cables did not send the product that was advertised, I did not receive Dynex cables, and was also not able to leave a negative feedback on their profile. Watch out, these cables are cheap for a reason.

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It was cheap, came on time and does what it is supposed to do. So far I have had no problems with it

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Defender SN500-4CH-002 Feature-rich 4 Channel H.264 DVR Security System with Smart Phone Access and

I setup the 4 cams and used my tv as the monitor, had it up and running in about 30 min. Mounting the cams and getting the view I wanted and installing the cords to where they were hidden took me 2-3 hrs. Daylight images are pretty good quality. The cams are not waterproof and as other said over 20 ft details get fuzzy. I have cam 1 overlooking the driveway set under the eaves above garage, cam 2 in mudroom overlooking main entrance and garage (cam1), cam 3 inside looking at back sliding glass door, cam 4 inside living room looking at main entrance. I installed the outdoor wire through a 25 ft long 3/4" diameter plastic conduit to prevent someone cutting it (use a lubed up electician's fish wire tool helps).

-1/2 star for during the night mode the LEDs cause too much reflection to have the cam setup to record vid through a window even with an antiglare shield. I recommend when you get the cam angle you like, use a bit of lock tight on the clamp screw (the temporary kind, not the permanent) I can see the clamp getting loose during natural cold and heat cycles.

The settings I use are best quality recording and only on Alarm mode (movement). The motion detector is fine during the day, a bit buggy during the night mode (-1/2 star). car lights shining will activate the recording, moths and bugs also are attracted to the IR light during night mode even with the sensitivity turned down. During the night mode also there is about a 1-2 second delay from detection to start of recording... the suggested setting is 24/7 record on low quality unless Alarm or movement mode activates a higher quality record setting, but this will eat up a lot of HD space and you end up with a lot of nothing video.

I use about 1% of HD space a day on Alarm only record mode on Best quality so it will possibly record up to 100 days before rewriting, which is pretty darn good.

-1 star is converting the vid (H.264 format) you want to web friendly or any computer viewable (AVI format) requires a few steps and you end up with a pretty large file (the option to convert to MP4 or other format can be done with a secondary converter, will give you a smaller file with decent quality). You can use USB thumb drive or an alternative you can have another external HD and dump your vid there, then use a PC and the provided AVI converter. You can only convert the one cam vid at a time, so if you have 20 some events on different cam views it will take a while to convert. Practice this step a few times just in case you need to do it for an incident where you have to submit video as evidence to police.

The remote control is very cheaply made and if you have a fat thumb like me it was a bit cumbersome to use... I only use the remote because it has the easiest to find PB button (playback) compared to going through the menus manually. I mainly use the provided mouse to navigate otherwise.

If you want better night vid, there are other better quality waterproof outdoor cams available (any brand with a Sony CCD is good or Panasonic).

***Updated in the comments section 1 year into owning the system*** (K.H.)

This is a video review of SN500-4CH-002 which is Defender's feature-rich 4 Channel H.264 DVR Security System with Smart Phone Access and 4 Indoor/Outdoor Hi-Res CCD Night Vision Surveillance Cameras.

This all-in-one system contains everything you need to setup and record a 4 camera surveillance system in your home or business.

For my installation, I did not need to buy anything extra or subscribe to any monthly service to use the system. I can now access the system through any computer in the world as long as it has internet access. I can also access footage by using my smart-phone when I am on the go.

I really do recommend the Defender SN500-4CH-002 system for anyone looking for an affordable 4ch DVR security system with web and smartphone access.

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This is a great system as a beginner system goes. It is limited to 4 cameras which is the only drawback, really making it applicable for home or small business use.

I installed this on the outside of my home.

The system came well packed, directions were detailed and a snap. It took just over 2 hours to get it all set up. I would say that I am expert at handy man type jobs, so if you aren't comfortable on a ladder, with a makita drill and spade bit, better leave installation to an expert.

Picking the location of the cameras was the toughest part, as I wanted them to have the best views and yet somewhat un-obtrusive. We have had 3 friends come over since I installed the system and none of them had any clue there were cameras around.

I have not tried the web set up yet, but will soon.

The software allows you to fast fwd at an 8x speed so you can search easily. The night vision is awesome as well. The cameras work well in ambient lighting, so no issues there either.

I have a friend who is a police officer take a look at the video quality and he said if anything ever happened, the quality is good enough for law enforcement as well.

Bottom line: If you can drill and route wires, you can install this. Maybe the best $500 I have ever spent.

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After 3 years of researching for a system to place in my home and with my needs of Web/Smartphone ability this company is highly recommended. My line of work allows me to see alot of professional DVR security systems in Corp. and private retail industry. I truely believe in camera security over just an audile alarm for homes. More crimes are solved with a picture over an audible alarm which is monitored. I bought the system due to the cost and features. Once received it was out of the box and running in 10 minutes (No camera's mounted or internet connection at this time). Internet connection took me about 45 minutes (Now I could do it in 5 minutes if I did it over). When it comes to setting up the router read carefully I have Linksey G wireless and everything works using DHCP IP address mode. I also use a first generation iPhone which does allow me to see the cameras in real time. This unit has capabilities to record on different days, hours and or an area of motion can be set within the cameras view to activate. The system does have a notification setup for emails which sends a still photograph if the camera is activated (Would be nice if updated software was to add notifications to phone numbers). Added features in the back of the DVR allow setup of an audile alarm. For around $500 one time fee with no monthly service to monitor or cost to maintain, who can beat this product. Four cameras with IR are very well made with metal bodies and 60ft of cable. Video quality is great, clean and crisp.

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We ordered an SN-500 to use in an outdoor application, to monitor a calving barn. This unit was a great value for the money and is working extremely well for this application. It was easy and quick to install, but took me some time to understand how to make the unit accessible via the internet. Once it was up an running, we have had no problems. It works o.k. with a dynamic DNS service, but does not update the DNS address when it changes, only on a set schedule. This makes the unit go off-line for a few hours before the update occurs if your service provider changes your DNS address on occassion. This is my only complaint and I can live with it. The cameras have worked well in sub-zero temperatures with clear pictures during daytime hours. Night vision also works well and by adding a little light, the picture quality improves greatly. I would highly recommend this unit for the price.

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Evertech Cctv Infrared Security Camera - 30 Ir Led(82ft Night Vision) Cctv Camera, 1/3 Inch Sony Su

3.6mm (slightly 'fisheye') lens an improvement in field of view over original 6mm. I would never buy 6mm lens (they come with orig. systems). Day and night vision a little better in clarity and color than original 400tvl cmos. IRs light up well at least 40 to 50 feet. 2x big as original 400tvl cmos with sturdier mount. If this is using Sony Super HAD chip it's not doing it near as well as full Sony, but then it was only $56. Good enough to keep until I get a full Sony and move this one to the back.

Was on time with UPS.

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE!!!

Getting a better camera(s) is useless if you cannot record at the 30 fps(images per second) AT THE FULL D1 SETTING on the DVR or NVR. 1 fps at D1 uses up a lot more than 1 fps C1 (HD1 is 'half D1' quality, it's not linear comparison). The image resolution is degraded at less than that, but it is crucial to good facial recognition. This is a big problem with most DVRs that have more than 4 cameras input (some will not do 30 fps D1 on all 4 even then !). If it claims at least 120 fps D1 total for a 4 channel DVR/NVR then you can be fairly sure it can allow up to 30 fps per camera D1.

Do the research on the DVR FIRST!!

Meade 0610-03-10 ETX -LS Telescope with ACF Lightswitch Technology

With scopes a buyer has to approach with patience and the right expectations. There are plenty of articles out there describing what you can expect and what types of scope you can use for different types of viewing and it's well worth reading up on this before buying any scope.

I bought this scope because of the LightSwitch feature. This means the onboard computer uses a combination of GPS, digital compass and pattern recognition to figure out where the scope is and to align it so it can find objects stored in it's Go-To database and so it can track objects as they move across the sky. Go-To scopes without LightSwitch require some knowledge of the location of different stars and manual alignment steps before you can use them to locate and track objects.

The advantage of LightSwitch is that instead of slewing the scope to the vicinity of the object you choose to view, leaving you to do final adjustments, it will put the object in the eyepiece every time.

The other attractive features of this scope are it's portability, the always excellent Meade optics, ACF which reduces distortion in the image and the price which is a grand lower than the less portable 8" LX200 without LightSwitch.

Being an early adopter of this scope I have battled through a few bugs and shortfalls in the design, but bottom line when this scope does what Meade intended it to and provided you have the right expectations it's very rewarding and very easy to use.

If you're thinking of buying this scope or you have one and it's giving you problems you might find some points from my own experience useful:

*The scope's primary interface is fairly rudimentary a single-line LCD on the hand controller and can be extremely frustrating, especially when the scope does not seem to be functioning properly. However this scope has an RCA video output which can be used to display additional information: multi-line menus; status info (such as GPS signal stength); error messages; on-board Astronomer Inside media collection. I found the video display makes this scope *much* easier to use. You'll need to provide your own monitor. You can buy dedicated field monitors, I use a cheap portable NTSC DVD player with an AV-in.

*The scope can be powered by 8 C-type batteries in the internal battery compartment. IMHO Meade should have omitted this entirely. Battery life is short and if it goes in the middle of observing you'll have to replace them (in the dark) and go through the alignment process all over. Apparently though two batts in the compartment nearest the eye-piece will ensure that internal state, like time and location, will remain after the scope has been switched off. I use a portable 12v DC power supply purchased for less than $100. When updating the firmware you should use a constant power supply since this takes a while.

*The scope has an SD card slot but the manual is not entirely clear about what type of card you need. It's actually a mini-SD card, I use a Toshiba 2Gb MiniSD card that comes with an adaptor. It must be formatted as FAT32. The slot for the card is a little awkward and you should use care when inserting/removing. When upgrading the firmware of the scope put the card in *before* switching on, When using the SD card to store pictures insert it *after* switching the scope on otherwise you'll just get a blank display.

*Take the lens cap off the CCD finder carefully. Meade did tell me that the CCD can be twisted when removing the cap which could cause it to fail later. The computer uses the CCD finder to snap pictures of the sky so it can locate stars for alignment, if the CCD doesn't work LightSwitch won't work.

*Before taking the scope out it's worth testing the CCD camera to make sure it's functioning properly. Just use the Snap and Store function from the menu with the lenses cap off and the formatted SD card in I simply took snaps of the inside of my apartment then load the SD on your computer to view the pics.

*Heavy light pollution and clouds or other objects blocking the view of the sky can also cause the CCD finder to fail to do it's job, make sure you're going to use this scope in a darkish open area.

*The mount for the red-dot finder on the early models was somewhat flimsy and the finder was prone to movement during shipping. Make sure the red-dot finder is secured tightly with screws as in the newer iterations. Before taking the scope out you'll want to align the finder by centering an object a few tens of feet away, then adjust the finder so it points at the same object. Don't forget to switch the finder off, if the finder battery dies it's replaceable by sliding it sideways out of the center of the finder where it says in tiny letters "Battery".

*Some of these scopes have a problem obtaining the correct location using GPS. These scopes shipped with firmware version 1.07 and this problem was fixed in version 1.2g. You can download this from Meade and save it on the SD card, insert the card and switch the scope on to upgrade.

*The accompanying AutoStar software suite can be used to control your scope from a laptop, *but* the driver is *not compatible* with Windows Vista or Mac OSX. I use Windows XP 64bit installed on a virtual machine (VMWare Fusion) on my Mac laptop. After the driver has been installed, go to the hardware manager and look at the Meade USB device properties to find the COM port it is simulating. Then in AutoStar make sure the set the same COM port under the "Telescope" menu and away you go.

*This scope does not have an option to use an equatorial mount at this time, so it's not practical for astrophotography with exposures longer than maybe a minute or two. Most astrophotography requires very long exposures *or* many shorter exposures in the same orientation which requires an equatorial mount. Since it is a single-fork design it's possible there never will be an equatorial mount option or if there is it might not be very stable.

*If your scope has the correct GPS coordinates and the CCD finder is able to take pictures but the scope consistently fails to align this could be due to drive inaccuracies or misalignment of the CCD finder. There are menu options under the "Setup" menu to align the CCD finder (Center Finder) and to train the drive.

*If you've read all the above and your scope still doesn't function properly send it back and get a replacement. Make sure the supplier gives you free shipment because this scope weighs 30lbs without the tripod.

In summary employing a video monitor and 12v DC power supply and going over as much verification of the scope before heading out can mean the difference between an extremely disappointing/frustrating night out in the cold and a fantastic rewarding journey through the Universe.

I had three LS6s fail on me and it was a terrible experience.

My first LS (when it was still known as the ETX-LS) had a faulty GPS that was replaced by Meade. The second

one is not the best either, and suffers from at least 5 problems, which

I list below.

1. GPS sometimes works, sometimes doesn't, all from about the same

location (by this I mean front yard compared to say, pavement in front

of front yard). GPS on my phone works great and picks up something like

7 satellites. ETX LS, half the time, picks up zero and asks for my

manual input. That is unacceptable. Why would I buy a GPS scope

otherwise?!

2. Scope has slewing problems in manual alignment mode. This happens

especially when it slews to a target star in manual alignment mode and

asks me to centre the star. I cannot do so because the slewing has

mysteriously been disabled.

3. Scope has slewing problems in normal GOTO mode. Sometimes I ask the

scope to goto an object and it does that, albeit unsuccessfully. So I

have to do a manual adjustment using the slew keys. Nothing happens. I

adjust the speed of the slewing to the maximum speed and still the scope

sits still on its base.

4. The scope has displayed albeit only once levelling problems.

Once, the scope thought that "level" was 30 degrees below the horizon

and promptly stayed there. I promptly aborted the operation and directed

the scope to shut down. Well, it carried the mistake in levelling over

and came to a rest 30 degrees past its normal vertical resting position.

5. The audio sometimes shuts down mysteriously. Not that I care much

about a talking telescope, but sometimes after I ask it to go to an

object (again the alignment doesn't work, as mentioned above), it does

so and starts talking about the object. Or, should I say, attempts to do

so. The screen shows "Press A/V to cancel MEDIA", but there is no sound.

I had done nothing with the volume and the scope was speaking on

start-up.

6. Auto-alignment and manual alignment are both hopeless. One caveat is

that I am in quite a light-polluted area (Cambridge, MA) but can still

see some stars in the sky on a good clear day. When the scope slews to

its first alignment star, say Vega, it is way off when I can the star in

the sky. And because I cannot correct the slew sometimes, the bad

attempt fixes. Once, after "alignment", the scope happily informed me

that Jupiter was below the horizon when it was high up in the sky!!

Basically I've spent hours

outside trying to get the scope aligned and seen objects rise and set

behind trees. I think 80% of the time I am with this scope is spent

figuring out what is wrong with it.

This second scope was sent back to Meade. The third scope surprise, surprise had a faulty GPS too. Now, Meade said that the latest firmware would solve the problem. I waited for that, and that didn't work. So I sent the third one back for a full refund.

Since then I have reverted to scopes which do not claim to auto-align for you. I find that one great thing about these older scopes is that you can manually slew the scope if necessary. With the LS6, you cannot. You are reliant on the controller and if that fails, the scope is not movable. Sure, you can try to force the scope to move, but it feels quite tight and I am not sure it's meant to do that.

Bottom line is this: the LS6 promises much, delivers little.

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I bought a Meade LS-6 and it was delivered before Christmas 2009. Right out of the box the unit had a firmware read error and would not start up. Meade had me return the unit and promised to ship a new one immediately. I just received my new scope today, Jan 11, 2010. This new scope will not find GPS satellites. I am out in the middle of my back yard under clear skies. My Meade LX200-GPS is sitting 10 feet away and it finds GPS immediately. My hand held GPS finds 6 satellites with strong signals in under 30 seconds. But my brand new LS-6 with the latest ver 1.3 software will not find GPS. How sad.

This leads me to the following conclusions:

1. Meade is manufacturing a lot of junk. What are the odds that I would get 2 defective scopes unless the factory is simply manufacturing a lot of garbage?

2. Meade has no testing or quality control. It is one thing to make junk but how can you possibly ship these units to a customer? They did not even bother to turn the units on. This is inexcusable.

3. Meade customer service is terrible. They do not accept Email so I wrote them 2 paper letters regarding the first scope. I did not even get the courtesy of a response. Of course you have to wait 5-6 days before you realize that you've been ignored.

I have been a Meade customer for 20 years and I will never buy another one of their products. This is a company that has a manufacturing facility that is simply out of control and they simply don't care.

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Great product idea but very poor implementation. Customer support is a nightmare. The telescope came with a defective firmware. I spent many hours and even days researching online for a solution with no success. The customer support refused to send a replacement before "troubleshooting" is done. They promised to send a replacement firmware maybe a dosen times, and never did. I bought the scope in December 2009 and there still no solution and no help from Meade, more than half a year later. Over $1500 spent on a non-working product. Shame on them and buyers beware!

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I have been stargazing since 1996, and I own 2 other telescopes from 2 different manufactures, so I've been around and I know what good telescope is capable of. The 6" optics on this ETS-LS will provide you with plenty of objects to view, its a perfect size for easy transport too. I had the fortune of owning the ETX-LS 6 ACF and I enjoyed the scope so much, I eventually upgraded to its bigger brother; the LS 8 ACF. I have no doubt that the newer LS 6 ACF has matured into a wonderful unit capable of a lifetime of stargazing. The ETX-LS 6 ACF had wonderful optics, and as a primary visual stargazer, that was extremely important. Go for the ACF optics, I have visually compared side by side with standard scopes, and I really like the ACF, it has tighter star images to me. The GOTO worked wonderfully for me, I even interfaced it with a number of freeware programs such as Stellarium, to permit me to select objects on my computer and have the scope slew to them, a super feature. I routinely placed objects within the field of view of a 14mm eyepiece once I did a sync to a deepsky object, and type of accuracy is very good. The intermittant GPS issues have been resolved by Meade with the latest firmware. And even though I did experience some of the GPS issues with early firmware, to me it wasn't even a big deal when it had no GPS fix. Once you entered in your date, time, city, it would slew to the first star, you center it, press Enter, and go to the next. Thats all that is involved even in the manual alignment. The bottom line is that there will be times that you will want to do a manual alignment, such as when your views are blocked or in my case, when your doing some sidewalk astronomy and there are just too many lights or buildings around. That was one bit of misinformation out there at the initial release of these scopes, that if you didn't get a auto-alignment, your done. Well, that is simply not true. I have done almost all my alignments with auto, but a few with manual just to test and like I previously said, sometimes it will be the preferred method.

The Astronomer Inside was a very fun, and downright educational tool. I must admit, I wasn't expecting that to be of much use for me, with some years of stargazing underneath my belt. But it proved downright fun and informative, and a great "wow" from first time stargazers during the times I took the scope out to public events. There is one recommendation that I will make to you considering this scope, get a external power supply like a PowerTank. Running off of batteries just doesn't cut it much, you will drain them very quickly. Also, if your going to use your scope at home, get a AC adapter too.

I have always recommended a 6" scope to those looking to get into astronomy, or those looking for a 2nd scope. The ETX-LS, and now the LS 6 ACF, has matured to a wonderful scope capable of a lifetime of happy stargazing.

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JVC GR-DVL505U Digital Camcorder

Recently purchased this after a month of research on it and other camcorders. The good things about this camcorder are this: 1) Unlike other camcorders that bombard you with numerous buttons placed about for you to awkardly control, JVC has devised a centralized control system, where that 90 % of what you do with the camera is done by the On/off/PLay Switch, Menu button and the Zoom, which is nicely put in a localized area that your right hand can operate with no problems. 2) The image and sound quality is exceptional. VHS,VHS-C, hi-8, cant compare to the quality of this DV Cam. 3) At 1.2lbs.( give or take a oz.), this camera is very light and easy to handle. Sony D8's are all about twice as heavy as this cam, good excercise tho. 4) Good bit of editing tools, such as Fade effects, video effects, etc. could use a tad bit more tho in this area, but suspect, its a good arrangement of editing features for the avg. consumer. Lots of manual configurations you can set too also. 5) Zoom is good, after about 20 X(10 X opitical + 10 X digital) image suffers dramatically. But very nice below this, may suggest buying a telephoto converter that will increase your optical zoom by 2 X if you are serious bout your photography. By the way, can zoom in and out on things while playing back tapes or looking at pics 6) Digital camera side of this camera is good, takes very good pics outside, inside, better be sure you got plenty of light or it will come out a bit grainy..Suggest using Photo Software to edit pics. But I'd say the digital camera part of this beats out any digital camera in the $200-300 range, and if it had a flash.. man, what it could do indoors. Definitely a great web cam. One drawback to this camera is the included battery which only lasts about 35 min. if you use LCD screen and zoom a lot. So plan on buying an additional battery. On the plus side, it only takes 1.5 hours to charge the battery. And you can get 50-55 minutes if you only use the viewfinder, but, you will soon find out how hard it is to use the viewfinder as opposed to the LCD. If you got any questions about this cam, feel free to email me. And I can also help you save big money on this product to, if your interested. Take care

I like the size and manueverability of this camera. I agree with the other reviews on the battery life, but you can get extended life batteries (somewhat costly). I recommend at least one extra battery. The video and sound are excellent, but I have not figured out the best way to brighten the picture for various lighting conditions indoors the colors seem washed out. The drawbacks to this camera: The REC/Pause button does not stick out far enough from the camera, and often requires some gymnastics to pause without moving the camera, resulting in a jerky end to the recording session. Also, to attach/detach to a viewing mechanism such as a VCR or TV requires a lot of plugging/unplugging, particularly if you use the AC adapter (recommended to preserve battery life). You must remove the battery from the camera, and attach the adapter to a spot under the battery, then attach the S-video cable. For some reason, you cannot charge the battery while the AC adapter cord is plugged in (the charger and adapter are one and the same), so after you are done viewing, you must unplug everything including the cable from the adapter to charge the battery. I hope JVC will do something about this to allow charging with the battery left in the camera, and while using the AC adaptor.

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I was very anxious to get ahold of this baby when I saw it at a trade show. A week later I went out and bought it. The MiniDV format RULES!!! The resolution is Crystal clear. The controls are right at your finger tips making the JVC Digital Camcorder Just Plain AWESOME!!!!

Another Great Feature that I was really impressed with was the ability to take digital pictures. They come out crystal clear at really really close up range. Not blurry like my digital camera does. This is more like a 2-in-1 digital Camera/Camcorder in one!!

I highly reccomend this as a great first camcorder. Its pretty light weight the Battery could last a bit longer. Over all I Love it!!!

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This is a replacement over a Sony 8mm camcorder I owned, which was broken mechanically. So I was not a Sony fan when choosing a replacement.

JVC 505 camcorder certainly meets my expectation when price and performance are considered. For its basic function, the video taken is very clear and colorful, with very little distortion. It amazed me in responding to sudden change in background lighting very quickly, which was not the case with Sony 8mm. Video stabilizer kicks in when you are shooting on moving feet. Sound quality is reasonable. Battery life comes close to book value, if you refrain from zooming or using LCD. Digital still camera works like a charm, making us wonder if we should buy any more films for our Canon SLR camera.

Speaking of its outlook, it's not the smallest in size, but definitely light in weight.

Over all, 505 certainly qualifies as a family camcorder. With the price in the lower range of its class, you get good value for your money.

--Below is an update on 1/1/2002.

After I upgrade my computer from Windows 98 to Windows XP, the Multimedia Navigator program that you need to download pictures to PC stopped working with a "connection error". Searching for JVC's website returned for only one unrelated item in the entire "software update" catagory, and FAQ specifically says no software available for NT, which XP is based on. If you know a working software for NT/2000/XP, please let me know.

I give one star downgrade as a result.

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I have this camcorder since august 2000 and i bought it after a long time of research and comparaison between differents products. Now, i can say that my choice was the best. Very easy to use, video and sound are excellent. I highly recommend this camcorder.

Nikon D3100 Digital SLR Camera & 18-55mm VR + 55-200mm VR Lens with 16GB Card + Filters + Case

I ordered this package on Amazon after doing my research at a lot of local electronics shops plus one very well-respected camera shop. I found this to be much less expensive on amazon and I thought this package was absolutely perfect...exactly what I wanted. It included everything except a USB which is a standard connection so I happened to have one around the house that worked. I cannot tell you how many people have seen my pics and are now ordering this camera. It's easy to use for those who want to use in fully automatic mode, but it will allow you to use it fully manually as well, and at many different steps in between fully manual and automatic. I ordered this through Cameta Camera and took a HUGE gamble trying to get it a week before our disney world trip. I did not pay for extra shipping and their shipping window extended after the time I was leaving on my trip. However, I was extremely impressed that they were able to get it in my hands within 5 days of ordering it, in perfect time for me to practice a day before we left, and take along on our vacation. (I was even more impressed because the camera was stalled in Chicago because of a snow storm and still made it to me quickly). Love everything about my purchase from Amazon...NIKON....and Cameta Camera. Recommend to all!!!!

Bought for mom and she says she really likes it!!! Well worth the money and you get more stuff for your money then you would anywhere else!!!

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I love the camera. This was the best deal I could find on everything I wanted! Definitely recommend this package!

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Best deal anywhere for this D3100...I searched high and low for the best deal and this was it..very highly satisfied

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I am new to the game of SLRs but I can say that this package is awesome. I researched and decided that I wanted to start with the NIKON D3100... At target the Nikon d3100 was priced at 449... including the bundle with the 18-55mm and 55-200mm lens it is priced at 899$. This package is great because it includes all the essentials needed when first starting out and a great price. The camera is awesome for an entry level SLR. My pictures look great and it has a built in guide mode to help you get going. Also, it has a built in edit for the pictures which is nice. The camera bag is heavy duty and is built well to protect your stuff inside. It includes the cleaning kit which gets the job done nothing super fancy. The tripod works well. The UV are good. I just leave them on all the time gives added protection for your lens. It included a 16 GB SD card which is more than enough space for starting out. The LCD protector screen thing is junk for me personally I tried using it but ended up just throwing it out. Could be that I don't know how to use them correctly. The package also comes with an SD wallet where you can store all your SD cards helps you find them easier. Cameta camera shipped all this stuff well in the packaging and i received the package very quick I'm very please with what I received and excited to take great shots!!