Showing posts with label best baby monitors 2013. Show all posts
Showing posts with label best baby monitors 2013. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Mitsuba DV9002 12MP 8x Digital Zoom Camera/Camcorder (Black)
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS15 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 16x Optical Zoom (Black) BigVALUEInc Accessory
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Mediabridge High Speed HDMI Cable with Ethernet (35 ft) - Ultra Series - Supports Ethernet, 3D, and
I recently upgraded my HDTV system and now have a HDTV, Blue-ray, and Receiver that supports the HDMI 1.3 spec. This spec enables new high bandwidth features previously not supported in older HDMI cables and equipment. Both the Blue-ray and the HDTV, and my Roku-Netflix box are firmware upgradeable, so this cable should support their enhancements for at least a couple of years.
Being the quintessential anal-retentive Electrical Engineer, I tend to over analyze everything (even if not required). When buying cables (typically, the weak link in most systems), you have to determine if the product is manufactured from a reputable vendor, or built by a couple of guys in their garage, with no quality control. Mediabridge Products is a subsidiary of Broadband Products, Inc. Broadband Products has HDMI certification (see hdmi.org for why this is important).
There are two types of HDMI cable, Standard (Category 1) and High Speed (Category 2), and they have different performance metrics. A Standard cable can transmit a 1080i signal for 15 meters (49 feet) or more, while a High Speed HDMI cable can transmit a 1080p signal for at least 7.5 meters (25 feet). For the most part, running cables less than 5 meters, either will work, but I want to make sure and this cable is Category 2.
Why did I buy this specific cable from this vendor: The vendor has an almost perfect feedback record, the product is low cost for the specs, fulfilled by Amazon, and importantly free shipping, and a return policy that pays the shipping for returns/exchanges of defects.
ADKSo far I have bought a total of four HDMI cables, in lengths ranging from 3' to 15'. I bought the 3' cable first. It was made by Philips and sold by the most gigantic of all gigantic discount Marts. It worked fine, and it would have been long enough except it was so stiff I could never straighten it out completely. I returned it.
I did some research on Amazon and found these Mediabridge cables with astounding user ratings and amazingly reasonable prices. Not the sub-dollar junk you can also find here, but less than one third the big-box price of the Philips cables in equivalent lengths. I bought two of the 6' cables to connect my two 1080p upconverting DVD players (a Sony 5-disc changer and a Philips region-free single-disc for playing foreign DVDs) to my wonderful (and cheap) AOC HDTV.
I was a little reluctant to buy 6' cables because I only really needed 3', and I know cable length can be tricky with very high-speed signals, but since the Philips 3' wasn't actually usable to that length, and I didn't want to have to return these, I ordered 6'. They work like a dream. They're as flexible as cooked spaghetti and transmit the signals without a single glitch.
Then I bought a new HP laptop with an HDMI output, but to work comfortably the cable had to be longer than 6'. I figured I'd go all the way and order the 15', since it's only marginally more expensive and would allow me to use the HDTV easily for watching streaming movies from Netflix. This cable also works like a dream.
My TV only has two HDMI inputs, so I do a fair amount of plugging and unplugging, with no signs of reliability problems so far. I highly recommend these Mediabridge HDMI cables--in any length--to anybody needing one.
I'm also very impressed with Mediabridge itself. Each cable comes very nicely packaged individually in a sturdy corrugated box, which is put into a larger box for shipping, and they ship quickly directly to the customer. What a relief not to have to saw through a hard plastic shell to get the product out! It's an impressive company. PLUS, they're an American company, and although I don't know if they manufacture the cables domestically, they're unafraid to print their New Jersey street address right on the box.Just in case someone may feel guilty for not paying a lot more for, basically the same thing, let's look at our top of the line offer, Monster HDMI 1000HD Ultra-High Speed HDMI Cable (2 meters) and do a quick comparison.
This item supports the HDMI 1.3b standard which is almost as good as it gets (1.3c doesn't add anything special). Any HDMI 1.3 cable can carry up to 10.2 Gbit/s. Hmmm... I suppose the Monster is much better, right? Well... it "guarantees a certified cable bandwidth of 10.2" Okay, but the Monster also supports "x.v.Color, and Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD". It turns out that, all of the above, and more, are part of the HDMI 1.3 specs and they are fully supported by every cable that complies to the standard and can be had for about 90% less in the Mediabridge. The expensive brand presentation simply enumerates the HDMI 1.3 specs as if it being HDMI 1.3 compliant was a really big deal. It is not a big deal. Even a cable that costs 95% less is HDMI 1.3 compliant.
My suggestion: if you think that the proponents of the expensive brand have a point when they claim that their product is a lot more durable, buy TWO Media Bridge wires and still pay almost 80% less than you would pay for one of the expensive ones.
My personal experience: I've never paid 'a lot' for an HDMI cable because it makes no sense to pay more. I took home one of the 'expensive' ones once because the salesman promised to take it back if I wasn't amazed by the difference. It made zero difference and I returned it.
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The following are the HDMI 1.3 specs and all certified HDMI 1.3 cables (including Monster) are going to support them.
Maximum signal bandwidth (MHz) 340
Maximum TMDS bandwidth (Gbit/s) 10.2
Maximum video bandwidth (Gbit/s) 8.16
Maximum audio bandwidth (Mbit/s) 36.86
Maximum Color Depth (bit/px) 48
Maximum resolution over single link at 24-bit/px 2560×1600p75
Maximum resolution over single link at 30-bit/px 2560×1600p60
Maximum resolution over single link at 36-bit/px 1920x1200p75
Maximum resolution over single link at 48-bit/px 1920×1200p60
sRGB
YCbCr
8 channel LPCM/192 kHz/24-bit audio capability
Blu-ray Disc video and audio at full resolution
Consumer Electronic Control (CEC)
DVD-Audio support
Super Audio CD (DSD) support
Deep Color
xvYCC
Auto lip-sync
Dolby TrueHD bitstream capable
DTS-HD Master Audio bitstream capable
Updated list of CEC commands (only on HDMI 1.3a,b,c)These cables worked great for me...I'm getting 1080p@24hz no problem. My setup is a Samsung 52" LCD TV (LN52A650) and a Playstation 3. Save yourself a whole lot of money and don't get ripped off buying "Monster" or any other overpriced HDMI cable. Order processing, USPS shipping, and receipt in Texas was lightling fast(7 days). Order 2 while you're at it...someday you'll need another one!This cable was a great fit for our purposes. I was running cables in a crawl space from our TV mounted on the wall to a cabinet to have a fully hidden AV system. The 25 ft was the right length and the price was amazing for a cable of this length. Everything I priced locally was well over $100 for the cable. Unfortunately, my TV does not run Ethernet over HDMI so I can't use that feature, but the 3D Blu-ray works well with this system. The cables held up with with all the fishing of wires that I needed to do as well. The flex points where they attach to the cable were solid and held up well being pulled thru multiple holes.
Pros: Affordable. Ethernet over HDMI and 3D ready.
Cons: None come to mind.
Saturday, April 5, 2014
Nikon Coolpix L12 7MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Vibration Reduction Zoom
The vibration reduction I have used only a couple times, not the best pictures-they come out VERY GRAINY!! I thought I would need it more to take pictures of the kids, I have better luck on the Auto mode or Indoor mode. The delay between pictures is slower than others, but the picture quality is great.
Overall, very happy. Would give it 5 stars but the delay between pictures and the hype of the vibration reduction mode disappoints me. I would buy another again despite these facts and am actually waiting to get some more in the slush fund to buy my husband one so we each have one!!
Very easy, light and user friendly for the beginner to slight advanced photographer!!I purchased the L12 to replace my Coolpix 4600 so I could get sound in the movie mode. This works very well, and I'm more than satisfied with picture quality and battery life, and ease of use. The big problem is no viewfinder. I purchased this camera knowing that there was no viewfinder, but I thought I could get used to composing my pictures on the LCD screen. Unfortunately, the LCD screen is virtually useless outdoors on sunny days. You are reduced to pointing the camera and crossing your fingers. Forget about composition. It seems that most camera makers are eleminating the viewfinders in this catagory. I think that is a mistake. The old Coolpix 4600 zoom viewfinder is excellent.
Buy Nikon Coolpix L12 7MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Vibration Reduction Zoom Now
I bought this camera and returned it the same day. The reason: when you take a photo, there is a really long waiting period before you can take another photo. If you're not using the flash, it's about 3 seconds, which is manageable, but still slow compared to other cameras. If you are using flash, be prepared to wait. You take a photo, then the LCD screen goes blank and the flash resets itself. You can do nothing during this time you can't take another photo, you can't turn off the flash, nothing. And this goes on for 9 seconds (I timed it). This nearly 10-second delay between flash photos makes this camera basically useless when using the flash.The camera otherwise seemed fine, but nothing spectacular. The VR wasn't that awe-inspiring and you can get more by buying a Sony Cybershot (which I did and am very happy with). The Sony, which costs about $20 more, takes less than 3 seconds between flash photos. It's the difference between capturing a good shot and missing it completely.I just got the camera and first thing I tested was VR.
First I thought it was bad as the pictures were dark and grainy only to realize that this camera has another feature Anti-Shake Don't use it for low light pictures. VR and Anti-shake are two different options that come with camera.
VR is great. I took picture of wires in a dark nook of my office cube at 2X zoom and without flash and VR, the wires looked blurred. Now I turned on VR, no flash, 2x zoom and the blur on the wires were gone, though pictures were not crisp it was bright and looked good to me. VR-wise this camera is as good as $300 ones, I tested couple of those in shops.
Other than VR, it's an usual Nikon, you can find plenty of professional reviews on Nikon L series cameras.
I felt this camera is faster than L3 that I owned before.
For $178, I give it 5 stars for value.
But 4 stars for performance, as the $300 ones will do better than this in terms of speed and options for exposure control.
Want Nikon Coolpix L12 7MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Vibration Reduction Zoom Discount?
My wife is the camera aficionado in the family. I've bought her good cameras, film and digital, and for birthdays, anniversaries, and Christmas.Of course, sometimes I get to borrow those. I love her Canon digital SLR, and I can borrow it whenever I need to.
She's a schoolteacher and likes to take pictures on the fly. That's the reason I bought her a Nikon CoolPix pocket camera a couple years ago. At the time, the camera was fairly expensive. I like the idea of having one in the car, but I wasn't going to pay for one for myself.
Lately, with camera prices getting more purchaser-friendly, I decided to buy one for myself. I write a blogspot and occasionally go to conventions and other events where I've wanted to have a camera with me but forgot it.
One of the best things I love about my new camera is that I can shove it into a pocket easily. It travels well in the protective case and it's always immediately to hand when I want to take a picture.
Since it uses SDRAM memory cards to store the images, I can take quite a lot of pictures without having to change film, or carry film, or even worry about an extra memory card to carry along. I can also take a lot of images of one thing without worrying about running out of film or exhausting memory space.
The camera is simple point and shoot operation. What you see in the viewscreen is what you get. Even I can do it. The 2.5in. viewscreen is a dream to work with. I know immediately what's going to be in my shot when I take the picture. And reviewing the pictures I've taken is relatively simple. They show up in good detail on the viewscreen and even better on a PC.
Downloading to your desktop computer or to a notebook PC is simple. Just plug in the cord that comes with the camera and you're all set. All you have to do is name the file you're going to be saving your pictures to.
The camera takes really good pictures inside. It comes with a flash, but often doesn't need the flash because there's generally enough light inside the buildings I've shot pictures in. One drawback, though, is the long time it takes for a flash to process. That has been a little disconcerting, but I don't generally take action pictures so it doesn't matter in what I'm using it for.
The 4x digital zoom optical lens works great. When you switch the camera on, the lens spins out automatically. The auto-focus feature is simple to operate as well. I also like the fact that this camera runs on AA batteries that I can pick up anywhere instead of some special hybrid batteries that I have to find a photography or specialty store.
It has fifteen scene modes, a Best Shot Selector that automatically picks the best shot of a series of ten that you're taking, voice recording capability, video recording capability, macro shooting from as close as six inches, and image stabilization.
A professional photographer might want more out of a camera than this one provides, but the Nikon CoolPix L12 really fits the bill for someone who's on the go and wants to just take occasional shots to remember an event or post on blogspots.
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