Telephotolens - canon g11, telephotolens

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I read a number of negative reviews about Canon's lens adapter and how its length is too short as the lens hits it while extending. I read a few positives about this one and for the most part they were right on. It's made of steel (feels heavy duty) and comes in 2 pieces, with another smaller ring that fits beautifully over my filter. I love it. I'm still wondering why Canon didn't get it right! 58mm Two Piece Lens Adapter for Canon Powershot G10, G11 (an alternative to the LA-DC58K)

This thing quite simply is perfect.



Its a 2 piece metallic adapter that hands down is the best deal for your G10 or G11.



We all know the cheap Canon one is plastic. And the other one available on that other website that everyone talks about is NO BETTER than this one.

It's a very simple two part adapter, as another reviewer wrote "it doesn't work on the G11"

is misleading. It works, yes it does vignette at 28mm, but only if you use both of the adapters

together. I don't use the zoom much, and most of my shots are at the wide angle setting, so I'll

just use the first part of the adapter "when" I need a filter. For the price I have no complaints.



There is another solution available on the net, but it requires buying 72mm filters, which are more expensive

than the 58mm this unit requires.

The actual product is a slightly different shape than the picture, but it has to be in order for both pieces to be 58mm. I guess they should have picked a different picture. :P Anywho, it works great and feels very sturdy. This left me wondering why the canon one is so expensive. Glad I picked this one over the other.

Such a great price - I wanted to take a 'chance' on it either way and it got overall better reviews than the other one anyway. Glad i picked it. Very happy with the product and it makes my camera look so much cooler! :P

Definitely recommend!

I am glad that this adapter is available at such a reasonable price. This metal adapter holds the tele lens attachment that I purchased recently firmly to the camera and just feels solid. It also doubles as a filter holder for 58mm sized filters. I haven't had an opportunity to use this feature yet but I know that I will.

My previous Canon camera (a PowerShot 620) used a Canon made adapter to add a Wide Angle lens attachment. The plastic adapter was always loose and felt flimsy. When I looked at the Canon adapter for the tele lens attachment for my G11 and saw that it was made of the same plastic that my original camera's adapter was made of, I quickly decided that this metal adapter for my current camera was the way to go.

I recommend this item highly

I've had this same trouble with any adapters for the G10 and G11.

I wanted to use a polarizing filter. if using the 2 piece adapter it vignettes at 28mm. I tried usinf 1/2 of the adapter and that works for wide angle but if you zoom to far the lens hits the filter and the camera shuts down. I also had that problem with adapters like this one conecting a telescope eyepiec to my telescopes. shut down again/ it needs to be about an 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch longer.



if all you're interested in is WA shots then it's ok.

nice build.

but not reccomended - Canon G11 - Telephotolens'

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Cell Phone Car Charger

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First things first: IF (and that's IF) you get the genuine OEM Motorola charger listed here, the SPN5400/P513/89143N, it works great with modern smart phones like the Motorola Droid, The Incredible, The Google Nexus One, etc. Basically, if your phone has a micro USB connector (and almost all of the newer generation smart phones do), then this is the charger for you.



That said: Not every seller is selling the right item. There are lots of reports of people getting the wrong charger (I've had this happen myself). Your best bet: Amazon, who not only IS selling the correct charger, but has the best price, when you factor in shipping, provided you qualify for free shipping from Amazon (either with Prime, or if your order is > $25).



The Amazon-as-seller listing for this charger can be found here, at least at the time of this review. Search through the sellers to find Amazon. Their price, if you get free shipping from Amazon, is the cheapest, or close to it. And you are guaranteed of getting the correct item, brand new, retail.



OK, that said, here's the rest of my review:



There are so many sketchy sellers selling phone chargers out there, that it can be a bit scary. The problem is that if the charger is poorly made, the output of the charger can be out of spec and can, in some cases, fry the phone you connect to it.



For that reason, when it comes to phone chargers, you should stick to name brands. (They are all made in China, but the name brand ones are usually subject to stricter QA).



When I found this charger on Amazon, SOLD BY AMAZON, I jumped on it. It's a MICRO USB car charger, made for Motorola and sold under the Motorola name, in retail packaging. The rated output is 4.75-5.25V and 950mA.



This charger should work fine with most any phone that uses the MICRO USB connector. The key number to pay attention to is the second one, the rated amperage. This is the MAXIMUM amount of current that the phone can request from the charger. A typical USB port on a PC provides as little as 100mA, and few provide more than 500mA. So this charger should charge your phone faster than when it's connected to a PC. A few phones out now can use up to 1000mA. But that just means they CAN use that amount. If 950mA is provided, they'll still charge, just a bit more slowly.



Note that the amperage (second number) merely tells you how much the charger CAN supply, if requested. The phone itself is responsible for asking for the current. That is to say, if this charger can provide 950mA, but your phone can only use 300mA--no problem. Your phone asks for 300mA and the charger provides all of what is requested. If, on the other hand, your phone can use 1000mA, this charger will provide all it can, which is 950mA--a wee bit less than the max asked for. That's also not a problem; it just means your phone will charge a little bit (not much in this case) more slowly. The rated voltage for this charger is presented in a range of 4.75-5.25V. The "ideal" voltage for a USB charger of any type if 5V. And most chargers for home use are rated right at 5V. But car chargers work in a noisier environment and thus you have the range. This is where a cheapo charger can really do damage, as some of them are poorly regulated and can provide voltages that are WAY out of spec. Again, when you can get a name brand charger from a seller you can trust (Amazon) for such a reasonable price, it's very foolish to consider the cheapo no-names.



This is an excellent quality name brand travel micro USB charger at a price that beats the no-name junk from third party sellers. What's not to like?



BE SURE TO ORDER IT FROM AMAZON AND NOT ONE OF THE THIRD PARTY SELLERS, as some of those have been known to make mistakes with respect to what they ship relative to the listing. I can confirm that Amazon is shipping the P513 /89143N /SPN5400 charger, as pictured.



One last note: This charger is alternatively sold as the P513, the 89143N OR the SPN5400. These numbers all refer to the same charger. A different product number is assigned depending on the channel through which the charger has been sold. But they are all the same. Motorola Vehicle Power Adapter micro-USB Rapid Rate Charger'

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Home Theater - speaker stand, home theater

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Buyers beware. I have a pair of Sanus 31" speakers stands and wanted to reduce the height of the speakers. I got the "16" inch stands and put them together. Sanus is not a poor stand, but not one of the best. When I got the stands assembled I realized that they were not 16" high. When I measured them they stand just under 14 3/4" from the bottom of the base to the top of the top platform. I know Amazon is good about returns, however taking them apart and going through the issues involved in returning them is not worth it. So, I'll live with these, even though they are not the advertised dimensions. SANUS SYSTEMS BF-16B 16" Wood Speaker Stands (BF16B)

You get what you pay for. When you pay less than $40 for speaker stands you aren't going to get things like good materials or even reliable product descriptions.



These things are made of something. Certainly not wood.



It is *very* easy to split the material when you are putting it together if you are not careful.



They are not 16" tall. As another reviewer also noted. They are at least an inch shorter than that. Keep that in mind as well.



The "wire management" is a joke. There is a hole in the bottom of the base but then there is no groove to route the wire once it gets out so the base ends up on top of it. Very poor design.



So it loses a star for the material, the lie on the height and the wire management issue.



It gets a star for holding up the speakers and another for being cheap and easy to put together.



Any way you slice it. Two Stars.



I got these to hold up my mids in a 7.1 system. For that they are fine.

Briefly:

--------

I ordered these stands to hold a pair of satellite speakers on a 7.1 setup and I am using them but the few design flaws have created major problems and, while I am using them now, I would not order them today, knowing what I know now.



But, here it is, what I hope is an objective review.





Packaging:

----------

They were delivered in a nice box. All parts were packed tight and secure with all wooden panels well protected against scratches.





Assembly:

---------

It shouldn't take longer than 30 minutes. It basically consists on attaching the 2 pillars to the base and then adding the top to the assembly. It's 8 screws per stand. A Phillips screwdriver is needed.



I was impressed how everything fit perfectly. There were no chips, cracks or scratches.





Looks:

------

These are surprisingly good-looking if black finish is what you need. To the extent that you can avoid chipping on scratching them, they don't look 'cheap' at all.



The bottom place allows for the speaker wire to come from underneath but there's no groove so, if you are placing the stand on a hard floor, it would destabilize it but carpets should be okay. Plastic wire covers will hide the wires if anyone would ever look 'behind' the speaker.





Here are the dimensions:



Height - 14.75"

Base - 12" x 10.5"

Top plate - 7" x 7"



Made in Malaysia.





Design Flaws:

-------------



* HEIGHT *

Everyone should be aware that these stands are NOT 16" tall. They are under 15".



* BASE*

There is no way you can hide the wire by running it under the base because there is no groove carved in the base for that purpose. If the stand sits on a flat, hard surface such as a wood floor running a wire underneath would destabilize the stand. If the stand sits on a carpet you MIGHT be able to squeeze a thin wire under, if you are using the provided spikes.



* WIRE PATH *

Assuming that you found a way to run the wire under the base, you will find that it's impossible to pass it through the speaker platform hole, unless it's very thin. It was impossible to run a 16 gauge speaker wire through that hole.



* SPEAKER PLATFORM *

If you wire was thin enough to pass through the wall, you will have to deal with the hole being in the center of the platform. The only way you can have the wire going through that hole without destabilizing the speaker is by placing the speaker on its back, facing the ceiling or, if the speakers are small enough, place them on the front half of the platform, possibly destabilizing the stand.



I am currently using these stands in the same way I'd be using a stool to hold the speakers. The wire does not go underneath the base and it does not pass through the holes in the base or the speaker platform. There are no mounting options but I manage to keep the speaker in place with a little Velcro - it works.





Overall:

--------

Even though the packaging is tight, the assembly is easy and the materials appear to be of good quality I would not order stands of this design again for the reasons I stated above. Therefore, a 2-star rating is warranted because in Amazon's rating system 3 stars mean 'I like it' and I don't. - Home Entertainment Furniture - Stands - Home Theater - Speaker Stand'

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2009 Amazon Frustration-fre - trimmer, mens grooming

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I have been using a Wahl beard trimmer for nearly 6 years. It finally started to show its age and I went looking for a new one. I tried Remington brand, and they just did not work for me. I have very thick, stubborn hair and the Remmington's blades did not get close enough to my skin to get the hairs I wanted. So I went back to what I knew worked, and re-ordered a new Wahl Beard Trimmer. This one is very similar to my old one, except a few new things. There are more blade guards than before, and the clipper setting now has 6 stages instead of 5. Otherwise, the trimmer is the same.



And that is a good thing. Immediately, the new Wahl made a difference and I am very happy with the results. The reason why Wahl is so much better than anything else (including the Remington) is that the blades that move back and forth as so much closer the to the guard teeth that you can see the difference. Go to a store and look...you can see the difference between this trimmer and other brands. The Wahl will always cut closer and better. There is no other brand I would recommend - Wahl trimmers are simply the highest quality you can find in this price range that give the closest trim on your face.

Pros:



Price.

Charges quickly, and stays charged afterward for some time.

Gives a great trim, nice and neat and no pulling. Has all the attachments you'll ever need.

Easy to maintain and clean up.



Cons:



Attachment system could be a little better, a little tough to get on and off without some practice. They do work great and are easy to use once on, however.



Bottom line:



Great trimmer for a great price, you can't go wrong here. Can use it with the cord or without and works great either way, this thing will last you forever. I'm really happy I picked this one up out of the crowd of trimmers I looked at.

For the cheap cost of this trimmer, you can't go wrong! I love it, the battery lasts long, it comes with tons of clips and the one adjustable 5 setting clip and it's a very nice package for it's price. Very comfy and a nice grip, I look forward to trimming now that I have this wonderful trimmer in my life. I really don't think you can go wrong with this purchase!



P.S. I buy a lot of stuff at amazon.com and I NEVER review it, I suppose it's cause I think it's "too out of the way" to do, but I love this product so much that it was time to change that!

The Wahl Groomsman is a solidly built trimmer, but the plastic attachments are not. I used this trimmer for my beard 3 times before the plastic guide broke and fell off. I could not correct the angle in time and now have no beard! (I guess I won't be needing the trimmer after all!)



Buyer beware! This is NOT the Wahl product you remember!

This is a very good electric razor/trimmer. I was hoping to use it to maintain a stubble look. Unfortunately, the stubble guide keeps my stubble a bit too long for my taste. And just using the razor keeps the stubble a bit too short. If you're looking for a razor that will maintain a "2-day look," this is not it.

It is good only for complete shaving not for trimming.The attachments are so delicate and loose that they may drop in the middle of your trimming process ending you with bald patches.Earlier I had the panasonic trimmer which was quite good with trimming adjustment fixed by sliding above the blade,so no chance of dropping of.

This trimmer works as advertised: powerful, easily adjustable, lasts FOREVER on a single charge and very easy to use. I have had it for just over a month and use it about twice a week.

I couldn't have asked for more from this kind of product.

No complaints about the trimmer itself -- it is effective and easy to use. But the attachments are flimsy and you have to get the knack for shoving them on and taking them off. No instructions are provided for this. As a result I broke one attachment and had to order a new one from Wahl, which cost$5.99 plus and unconscionable $9.99 for shipping! Still the clipper is better than the last one I had.

I bought this not too long ago to replace an old norelco trimmer. This wahl one looked good, but it had too many problems. First, I could not get the attachments on or off. It shouldn't be that complicated. More importantly, this trimmer hurts. It would catch the hair and not cut it evenly. Very disappointed and a waste of money. Back to the Norelco.

First the good things-

1) sharp blades and the cutting edge is close to the skin surface.

2) ability to operate with the cord connected.



The Bad -

The construction (and yes, have no doubts, it is Made in China) is so bad. Though the trimmer feels solid, if you look at the edges, you will see the ugly finish of the product. The plastic with which the guides have been made is not that flimsy(though i dont mean it is sturdy); but the way they have designed the insertion mechanisms and the length selector mechanism is so mindless that the plastic guide will break eventually, like mine did. It is so hard to fix the guide on to the trimmer; and once you fix it, if you want to take it out, you have to use so much force that you will fear if it would break.

The stubble guide also has the same story. I actually injured myself trying to get the thing from the trimmer. It is so damn hard to take it out once you put it in.



I wonder why would they make it this way. Once you break the guide or the beard regulator attachments, the thing is rendered useless. So, why dont they improve the locking mechanisms and improve the quality of the plastic used??? I would strongly advice to try some other brands who give a little more importance to quality and put some thinking into the product!

Ha, the bag is a joke; well, not much complaints here because i dont intend to keep it in a bag.

Then the noise - it IS loud. After using it around your sideburns area, and once you switch it off, you will hear the beauty of silence! But not much complaints here too, because, i think it is standard with trimmers though may not be as noisy as this one.

People say for 20$, you cannot expect much!! Give a little more respect to your hard earned money! Thats all... - Trimmer - Mustache Trimmer - Wahl - Mens Grooming'

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Keyboard Light - led light, book light

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I rarely write reviews for the products I buy. This product is an exception. Never in my life was I so pleased with such a simple product as a book light. It is just very smartly designed: It is dually compatible with both power supply and computer usb port. It has dual intensity lighting. It has a magnet at the base so it connects sturdily to any metal object. It runs on standard AAA batteries that are easy to find, not some impossibly rare lithium stuff thats impossible to find. It has a blue backlight that reduces strain on the eye by reducing contrast. Oh and I almost forgot to mention that the LEDs give off light at just the right intensity for reading/typing. Seeing that no reviews were written to date I just had to let you all know that being priced even less than the competition this is certainly the one to get. Ritelite LPL792XLB 5-LED Computer and Book Light, Metal

My search for the right lighting system for my laptop finally ended with the discovery of the RiteLite Wireless Light. Mounted with five LEDs and three power settings, this outstanding tool more then covers the basics.



With its all metal 8" flexible neck, this model spreads the perfect amount of direct light to both my laptop or hardbound books. No matter if its a laptop or notebook, keyboard real estate is easily covered. The push button power switch is conveniently located on the tip of the light head. A nice surprise was the aesthetic, soft blue glow emitted from the top of the light head via five portholes.



The RightLite operates via a USB port or by plugging directly into the battery powered magnetic base. Three AAA batteries supply the juice for the base. I strongly suggest users avoid placing the magnetic base near your laptop. A metal clip is attached to the base for book reading. The gray finished RightLite comes packed with instructions, power base and the standard one year manufacturer's warranty. Batteries not included.



After going through several inferior, overpriced lighting sources its indeed a pleasure to finally find a product that delivers in both quality and price. Ritelite Computer/Book Light is an excellent tool that won't leave you in the dark.

First, the good: The light is nice and bright, but also directional (so as not to disturb others nearby). The gooseneck is very flexible and can twist at least 180 degrees.



The not-so-good: The clip is metal and curved (over the battery housing) with relatively sharp edges. It could easily end up scratching whatever you clipped it to (I don't use it on my leather e-reader cover). The USB cable is short, so an extension cable is necessary for an e-reader (as well as a nearby powered USB port) but not a laptop/netbook with a spare port. Note that when using the USB cable, the battery-pack and clip are disconnected as the gooseneck plugs into either a USB port or the battery pack.

The attractive feature of this item was that the light can be plugged into a USB port or into the supplied clip/base unit. It may be a little too bright reading in bed when your spouse/partner is sleeping (even on the dimmest setting) but it's light is sharply directed where you want it. The entire unit is too heavy for even the thickest of paperbacks. However, my main reason for purchasing this was so that I could see my keyboard at night while my wife is sleeping and this item allows me to keep all of the house lights off. Even considering how cumbersome the item is with paperback books, this is well worth it's money and does not disappoint.

I bought this light because of its dual use. There are pros and cons with every product. Yes, its nice that the light uses AAA batteries, however, that makes the base bulky. On paperbacks it seems to work better on the half of the book that is larger (more page support to keep it from flopping). However, on hardbacks, the clip isn't quite big enough. It only clips on about halfway, which is fine, but occasionally you have to adjust as it starts to fall off the book.



It does work great on my laptop, no complaints there.



Overall, I'm satisfied with this light. My husband is also happy that I do not need the lamp on as I read in bed, he claimed he didn't even realize I was up reading.

We got this to go with our kindle. It's a great design and appears to be good quality.



The light worked great ... for about one month.



Then it stopped working. Permanently.



It didn't even last as long as the first set of batteries.



We didn't get around to returning it and now it's headed for a landfill.



I ignored the 'broke immediately' warnings and now i'm one of the hundereds of diapointed costomers.



Do not buy.

I bought a Mighty Bright XtraFlex2 Clip-On Light (Black, Kindle Version) a 2 years ago to use with my Kindle and had been disappointed with that light from the very beginning as the light it provided was very "blue" hued and did not provide enough brightness for me to read without eye strain at night. I finally broke down and bought Ritelite LPL792XLB 5-LED Computer and Book Light, Metal to replace it and I'm kicking myself for not doing it sooner!



When I was shopping for a new light last week, there were many that were less expensive. However, I noticed that this light works not only with a battery pack for use reading, but also detaches from that battery pack so you can plug it into your laptop or netbook via the USB port to get great directional task lighting. In fact, amazon sells the USB only version of this light: Ritelite LPL792 5-LED Computer Light, Metal for not much less. I think having the option to charge this light via AAA batteries and effectively go "wireless" with it is great.



In terms of design, I can only find one drawback. The battery pack attachment has a slot where you can slide the cover of a book through it in order to hang the light for viewing. The light is really too heavy to do this effectively with a paperback book. This slot also means that there is no clip to use to attach the light to other surfaces such as desk or table ledges. The 5 on-board LED lights provide a great pool of light that is fully adjustable by the flexible arm of the unit. There are 2 settings though there isn't much difference between them. There are 5 blue dots that glow on the top of the unit that may bother some users. An easy fix for this is to just place a piece of tape over them so that their soft glow isn't shining up at you. - Book Light - Booklight - Led Light - Laptop Light'

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Cassette Player - usb, tape converter

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I ordered this tape player from Amazon about three months ago and it's been on back order since then. It finally came in this week. This unit is going to replace an old Realistic SCT-17 cassette tape deck that bit the dust earlier this year. Not sure how old the Realistic deck was, but I bought it sometime back in the 80's. I've been looking for a new deck to replace it, but nowadays there isn't a whole lot to choose from. At least not something that doesn't cost more than I was willing to spend. Looked on Craigslist and found a number of old used decks - but was concerned that anything used would probably be prone to the same problems all my old tape decks did - old belts and/or dried out capacitors. So I wanted something new. This Tape2USB seemed to fit the bill. Like the Realistic deck I was using, it is a table top top-loading unit with a small footprint. And I like that you can connect it to a computer via a USB cable.



Ok, now for the meat of the review. This is just my initial thoughts and observations. I might come back and add to it later as I haven't spent a whole lot of time using the unit.



Number One: What is in the Box?



* Cassette Player / Recorder

* Power Adaptor (standard transformer)

* Stereo audio RCA cable

* Stereo audio RCA to mini-phone plug cable

* Two standard USB to USB "D" cables (same as what most printers today use)

* 35 page manual

* Software CD



Not sure why there were two USB cables, you only need one. Think the second one might have been a mistake.



First impressions: The main unit itself is about the same size as a regular box of tissues. The first thing I noticed is that the quality of the materials is a bit inconsistent. The case of the unit seems to be of fairly good quality heavy duty plastic - similar to the materials in the tape deck that I'm replacing. What seems to be of slightly lesser quality are the knobs and switches. My impression of them is that they would look more at home on a cheap toy than on this unit. Maybe it's just the way they are shaped or the plastic they are made out of - but that is my impression. Over all I like the look of the unit - just not the knobs. The unit has slots on both ends of the case - I thought this was for ventilation, but when I first tried playing a tape in the unit I discovered that it has built-in speakers. The volume control knob for the speakers is on back of the unit, which I thought was a bit inconvenient, but once I set the volume level I pretty much left it there. Also on the back of the unit are RCA inputs / outputs for connecting the unit to regular stereo systems. On top of the unit are all the controls. There are the standard cassette tape player controls (rec, play, rew, f.fwd, stop/eject, and pause), plus there is a power button, cassette out / line in selector switch, and buttons to switch between normal & CrO2 tapes. There is also a REC Level knob. You also have a basic rec level indicator in the form of a light bar as well as a mechanical counter for tape length. Basically the same or similar setup to what I had on my previous tape desk.



Now for my thoughts on my experience of hooking this up to my computer. You really don't need to do anything special - like installing any drivers. Just connect the power transformer and the USB cable. The unit does come with the free audio software "Audacity" - which is pretty easy to install. About half of the manual details installing the software. I didn't need to as I already have it installed and have been using it for years. The version that ships with the unit is up-to-date, it's that same as the version I'm currently using. This is where I started having some problems. My off-the-shelf PC (which is running XP) came with just the basic audio circuit that comes on most mother boards and my system is running the basic OEM version of RealTek audio utilities. While the system recognized the USB connection, for some reason I couldn't get the audio from the cassette player to play on my computer's speakers. I can record the input in Audacity, just not monitor it while it was recording. Which makes the unit's built in speakers very useful. The problem I have seems to be with my system and not with the unit as I tried connecting to my laptop and didn't have the problem.



So far I'm happy with the operation of this tape deck and the quality of the output I'm getting from using a computer to record my old tape collection to MP3s. TAPE2USB Cassette To PC Recorder

A+. Here is the entire experience:



1) You purchase this item on Amazon.com.

2) You get it in under a week (usually.)

3) You bring it home and there are all of 5-7 buttons on the entire device (and that includes the volume!) Not complicated at all.

4) There are only 2 cords. One is the power cable and the other is the USB cable. There is a 3rd cord as well, but you would probably never use it (it has the capability to make the TAPE2USB machine do manual recording from the radio but why bother when you can just tape from your radio/tape deck combo directly.)

5) Install the software that comes with the machine (Audacity, if you do not already have it.)

6) Plug the USB cord from the TAPE2USB machine into your computer.

7) Change the button on the TAPE2USB machine from Line-Out to Line-In (or vice-versa.)

8) Press "Play" on your TAPE2USB machine.

9) Click on "Record" on the Audacity software.

10) You're done.



The software allows you to manage your recordings so that you can have songs fade in and out and the most important feature of all....YOU CAN ADJUST THE SPEED OF YOUR SONGS! That is the biggest issue with recording songs, in my opinion. You also have this issue when you purchase an mp3 online and it is too fast or too slow. But the Audacity software allows you to make the song as fast or as slow as you like. I actually now prefer to initially record songs to tape for the very reason being that I can edit them with the Audacity software.



Also, the quality of the tape deck is good but not TOO good. If the sound quality is too good, you start to hear all the nastiness like hiss and distortion in a low-quality format like tapes. Your final mp3 will sound just like your tape, but slightly better (since your external speakers for your computer are probably better than the speakers in your tape deck.)



This is an all-around good experience. - Cassette Player - Usb - Recorder - Tape Converter'

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Canon Digital Camera - image stabilization, canon

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I'll start by saying that I'm a Canon fan. Three out of four of my current digital cameras, including both my DSLR's, are Canon. When I was looking to upgrade my compact zoom, this unit caught my eye for both its price point and its feature set. For a sub-$200 compact zoom, this camera definitely leads the pack.



Pros:

* 12 megapixel image capture

* Very good image quality

* Full 720P HD video capture

* Excellent low light performance for its class

* Excellent image stabilization capability

* Full manual control, including Av, Tv and full manual modes

* Great zoom range, especially at the wide end

* Excellent, fast and intuitive performance

* Reasonable battery performance with rechargables (a MUST!)

* Works with convenient AA batteries

* Excellent flash for its class

* Excellent color fidelity with no detectable image artifacts

* Fast continuous shooting for a compact camera

* Perfect size for a compact zoom, fits in a large pocket

* Fantastic price/performance ratio



Cons:

* No CCD cleaner that I've found

* No flash shoe for an external flash

* No external audio inputs for video capture

* 10 minute video capture limit

* No RAW image support

* Terrible support for HD video codec

* No optical/digital viewfinder / LCD display only

* My unit got a speck of dust inside the lens, creating a spot on images/video for awhile



It's been a couple years since I've purchased a camera and I was a bit surprised to see how far the feature sets have come, especially on the lower-end compacts. I've now put this camera through the paces in many different situations and overall, I'm very pleased with everything about it so far.



My criteria for this camera purchase was fairly simple. I wanted a compact zoom with decent optical range, AA battery support, excellent color fidelity, reasonable low light performance and a unit that provided full manual control. I'm an amateur/semi-pro photographer and I expect a lot from my cameras. After reviewing the options out there, this one was a clear winner.



First, I'll speak to the image quality and zoom. I've been very impressed with both its color fidelity and the overall image quality. Images are sharp and its ability to provide vivid color and great dynamic range within images is fantastic. With the unit's lack of RAW support, this was very important to me. At the low end of the zoom, there is a bit of the wide-angle effect...but I really appreciate how wide this camera is able to go. At the far end of the zoom, the optical quality is still great and I haven't detected any weak spots within the optical range. I've never been impressed with digital zoom, and I nearly always avoid it...but as is typical with digital zoom, you'll get artifacts at the furthest end of the spectrum. For a compact, the macro mode is also quite functional, allowing a very short focus range of less than 1/2" - and the 2" focus minimum for normal mode is also quite impressive.



Aperture performance was up to my expectations for a camera lens of this quality, if not even a little better than I expected. The range is from f/3.4 to f/8.0 in aperture priority mode, and I typically would want more on the far end, but as far as I'm concerned, this camera produces f/22 and above quality in landscapes. You're not going to get beautiful bokeh effects at the low end (f/3.4) but this is typical of compact cameras with inexpensive lenses. With that said, though, I was surprised to see any bokeh whatsoever...and it is possible to get a little.



Low light performance is important to me as this is one of my strongest interests in photography. Up to ISO800, there is very little noise in the captured images and I've found that my noise filters will clean up what little there is quite well. ISO1600 starts to introduce a fairly strong noise characteristic, but I expected as much. There is no ISO3200 support, but personally, I feel like this is a waste in a camera at this price point as there's no way you're going to get good performance at such extremes. The image stabilization works well, especially when you're right on the edge of needing a tripod. The camera features an auto focus assist beam, which is a welcome addition within a camera at this price point. Low-light video performance was quite good, although it does take a performance hit in the noise department...but I was still very impressed that it performs as well as it does by producing very watchable low-light video results.



The overall feature set for a relatively inexpensive compact is just staggering to me. All of the basic features are there for a person who appreciates some creative control, including full Tv, Av and manual modes. The automatic modes are great for those times when I don't want to put effort in and P-mode (full auto, except for control over ISO) was an absolute necessity for me. The time-to-live is quick and from an off-state, I can capture an image in less than 3 seconds. I've tested some of the newer, fancier features and I have to say, they're quite impressive. The smile detection blew my mind because it actually worked! The ability to auto-shoot portraits when new people enter the scene is also pretty amazing to me. Blink detection? I would have never thought of that, but it's actually worked for me in a couple of cases. The HD-video is a great addition to my camera lineup and I've started playing with it fairly extensively. I have noticed a bit of discrepancy between the image stability on the LCD screen and the actual result in the produced video, but then again, if I wanted super-stable video, I'd use a tripod. There is a 10 minute limit to video capture, which could be a deal breaker for some, but for my purposes it's just fine. It picks up audio quite well, which was surprising to me - although you're not going to get movie studio quality out of the thing.



Physically speaking, the camera is very comfortable to hold and all of the buttons are conveniently placed. Anyone who's used a Canon camera will feel quite at home with it...and even if you're not, I wouldn't anticipate much difficulty. I haven't had any notable difficulty with the button placement, but have inadvertently turned off the camera when I was trying to capture a picture in a hurried situation. It's not exactly a sub-compact, but for a compact zoom, the size is perfect and exceeds my expectations. (It fits in a large pocket quite easily, but not well in smaller ones, such as most rear pockets.) The lens retraction is very nice and the lens portion only sticks out about 3/4" from the body when fully retracted.



Battery performance met my expectations, for the most part. The use of rechargeable batteries is a must for any digital camera - it's no secret that ALL digital cameras suck up a lot of juice. (This is WHY most of cameras use proprietary NiMH batteries!) For me, I'm fairly heavily invested into NiMH AA batteries, so it was very important for this purchase to support them. I don't get the rated performance, but I never trust those values and I can certainly squeak 200+ images out of a set of 2300mAh batteries, without flash usage. Video use does suck up the juice, but I've still been surprisingly impressed with its performance as I expected a lot less. I wouldn't really consider using standard alkaline batteries in a digital camera for all but a pinch situation and if you expect good performance on alkaline batteries, you're not going to get it. I did find the camera did not like a couple of my sets of 2700mAh batteries, and wouldn't even turn on...and while that bugged me, it wasn't a deal breaker as it does work with 90% of my batteries. A quality battery charger/tester goes a long way, as you won't get good performance if your batteries aren't up to snuff and aren't properly matched according to actual capacity.



I really only have a couple of complaints. Somehow my unit got a fairly large spec of dust inside the lens, and for awhile, all my images/video had a blurry spot on them - particularly in images with fairly strong light/midrange backgrounds. I'm a little concern about the seal and its ability to prevent dust from entering into the lens. Eventually, this speck of dust went away and my images are back to normal - but it's frustrating when you can't do anything about something like this. Additionally, the HD video codec that is used by this camera (H.264/Apple Quicktime MOV) is very frustrating to work with on a computer. It's just not well supported yet and takes a LONG time to open on my computer, even within Apple's quicktime application. (My machine is a quad-core 3.2Ghz proc, 4GB RAM...fast, for all intents and purposes - perhaps I have an issue with my computer's video codecs and I am willing to concede that possibility.) With that said though, I've found it best to convert it to a different format for editing...a step that I would rather avoid. These two issues prevented me from giving the product a full five-star rating.



Overall, though, I'm impressed with this camera and it fit the bill perfectly for me. I hope you've found this review helpful! Canon PowerShot SX130IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 12x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom with 3.0-Inch LCD - Powershot - Canon - Digital Camera - Image Stabilization'

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