Posted by Amazon Customer Reviews
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/themoneysit08-20
Art reviewed:
CyberHome CH-DVD 300S Progressive-Scan DVD Player (Silver)
| 635 of 649 people found the following review helpful:  Excellent Unit, Low Price, and Multi-Region Capability!, July 30, 2004 Not familiar with the PAL/NTSC thing? It's like this - if an American buys a DVD from England, for example, he or she will find that it will not play in the average North American Region 1, NTSC DVD player because in England, DVDs and players are Region 2 and PAL TV format (North America has NTSC format TV broadcasts). They are incompatible and will not play. This player will play both PAL and NTSC DVDs, and will play them from any region! There is one minor caveat - there are no instructions as to how to change regions included with the player (but can be found with an internet search). Not to worry, though - this is how you do it: 1. With no disc in the tray, push "Menu" "1" "9" (ignoring the "No" symbol that appears on the upper left-hand corner of the screen). 2. A menu will appear that shows in highlight the region it is set to (almost certainly Region 1). Push the "Enter" button and the region number will change. You can set it to any region (1 through 6) or to Region 0, which means it will play PAL or NTSC DVDs from all 6 DVD regions! 3. Push the "Open/Close" button to close the menu, and you're done! Enjoy! |
| July 30, 2004 |
Posted by TheTechLounge - Recent Articles: Hardware: Motherboards
http://www.thetechlounge.com
| July 29, 2004 |
Posted by TheTechLounge - Recent Articles: Hardware: Motherboards
http://www.thetechlounge.com
| July 22, 2004 |
Posted by Amazon Customer Reviews
http://www.amazon.com/
maxmasa31 reviewed:
VideoNow Color Personal Video Player - Blue
| 61 of 62 people found the following review helpful: I wish I had one of these when I was a kid..., July 15, 2004 Durability: This is an incredible toy for the value. I wish I had something like this as a kid, and in fact, I remember wishing they had something like this. Fun: Educational: As far as fun, I have to give this five stars. I mean, cartoons on the go? What could be more fun for a kid? And for adults, what could be better than having your child quiet for half an hour while you're driving or out shopping? As a plus, some of the cartoons can be fun for adults (Spongebob) and there's also PVDs containing episodes of popular grown-up shows like "Trading Spaces," "Monster Garage" with more on the way. Educational value is also a five. While Spongebob may not seem terribly educational, some episodes have some sort of moral, like the episode "Procrastination." There are also shows like "Jeff Corwin," the guy from Animal Planet. So, with the right PVDs, kids can have fun watching programs that have good entertainment value, but also teach something. Durability. Well, one reviewer commented that the VideoNow Color broke when her child dropped it. While I do understand that kids do drop toys, consider this is like a CD player or portable DVD player, and ask yourself, "Would this withstand being dropped?" The answer most likely is no. In general, electronic devices, especially one at this price, are not the most robust. It can handle being jostled in a backpack or slathered in sticky candy juices, so I'd have to say that if you have a child who takes care of his/her toys, then the VideoNow Color should last quite a while. The backlit LCD has a hard plastic cover over it, so there is little worry about puncturing and should be protected from most damage caused by being bounced around in a bag. Downsides: Proprietary disc format (no playing DVDs, VCDs or homemade discs), uses three AA batteries, which can get costly (better to invest in rechargeables) With that said, this is a wonderful toy for a child of any age, although the package states ages six and up. I bought this gadget and am fairly impressed with its construction and function, considering the price of this device--a backlit color LCD is not a cheap thing to include in a device meant for a child. Even though this device is rated to last 5-8 hours on three AA alkaline batteries, which is actually pretty good, you'll probably want to invest in rechargeables if you expect a lot of use. And just for reference, the unit is about the size of a portable CD player, just a bit fatter because of the room needed to incorporate the LCD. As for content, the price isn't bad, even if you have to rely only on VideoNow-only discs. Assuming your average DVD costs $20, you can find a 3-pack of VideoNow PVDs for about five dollars less, and they can contain about the same amount of episodes as its DVD counterpart. With that said, cost-wise, if you were thinking of investing in a DVD player to keep your kids entertained while on the road, this device will save you a ton of money. |
| July 15, 2004 |
Posted by Amazon Customer Reviews
http://www.amazon.com/
maxmasa31 reviewed:
VideoNow Color Personal Video Player - Blue by Hasbro
| 61 of 61 people found the following review helpful: I wish I had one of these when I was a kid..., July 15, 2004 Durability: This is an incredible toy for the value. I wish I had something like this as a kid, and in fact, I remember wishing they had something like this. Fun: Educational: As far as fun, I have to give this five stars. I mean, cartoons on the go? What could be more fun for a kid? And for adults, what could be better than having your child quiet for half an hour while you're driving or out shopping? As a plus, some of the cartoons can be fun for adults (Spongebob) and there's also PVDs containing episodes of popular grown-up shows like "Trading Spaces," "Monster Garage" with more on the way. Educational value is also a five. While Spongebob may not seem terribly educational, some episodes have some sort of moral, like the episode "Procrastination." There are also shows like "Jeff Corwin," the guy from Animal Planet. So, with the right PVDs, kids can have fun watching programs that have good entertainment value, but also teach something. Durability. Well, one reviewer commented that the VideoNow Color broke when her child dropped it. While I do understand that kids do drop toys, consider this is like a CD player or portable DVD player, and ask yourself, "Would this withstand being dropped?" The answer most likely is no. In general, electronic devices, especially one at this price, are not the most robust. It can handle being jostled in a backpack or slathered in sticky candy juices, so I'd have to say that if you have a child who takes care of his/her toys, then the VideoNow Color should last quite a while. The backlit LCD has a hard plastic cover over it, so there is little worry about puncturing and should be protected from most damage caused by being bounced around in a bag. Downsides: Proprietary disc format (no playing DVDs, VCDs or homemade discs), uses three AA batteries, which can get costly (better to invest in rechargeables) With that said, this is a wonderful toy for a child of any age, although the package states ages six and up. I bought this gadget and am fairly impressed with its construction and function, considering the price of this device--a backlit color LCD is not a cheap thing to include in a device meant for a child. Even though this device is rated to last 5-8 hours on three AA alkaline batteries, which is actually pretty good, you'll probably want to invest in rechargeables if you expect a lot of use. And just for reference, the unit is about the size of a portable CD player, just a bit fatter because of the room needed to incorporate the LCD. As for content, the price isn't bad, even if you have to rely only on VideoNow-only discs. Assuming your average DVD costs $20, you can find a 3-pack of VideoNow PVDs for about five dollars less, and they can contain about the same amount of episodes as its DVD counterpart. With that said, cost-wise, if you were thinking of investing in a DVD player to keep your kids entertained while on the road, this device will save you a ton of money. |
| July 15, 2004 |
Posted by Amazon Customer Reviews
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/themoneysit08-20
Art reviewed:
Star Trek The Original Series - The Complete First Season
| 24 of 47 people found the following review helpful: A Simple Review, July 7, 2004 Those who bemoan the "primitive" special effects of the original 1966-69 series seem to forget this series was created when special effects were in their infancy! What the technical people on the show accomplished with limited technology is actually rather remarkable. It is the program that made all other intelligent (and not-so-intelligent) sci-fi possible. Quite simply, this is television's greatest series. However it is packaged, it is welcome - by me and legions of "Trekkies" from 'way back' (no, not "Trekkers," as eighties and ninties revisionists would have us believe - it has been, and always will be, "Trekkies!"). Buy the first season, and the other two sets as well. You could not possibly be disappointed by what you will find. |
| July 7, 2004 |
