Logitech HD Pro Webcam C910

Logitech HD Pro Webcam. Whoopity doo.  Honestly, I hate to sound negative but I just do not get what the big deal is.   I get HD.  I do.  Maybe not in the same obsession as anyone with a television or cellphone or video camera.  That group is a whole different breed.   I’ve seen HD and because I’m married to a computer geek, you can bet everything is Hi-Def and Blu-Ray.  While I am not knocking how nice the picture is…I’m just not entirely a part of this “everything’s-gotta-be-HD.”

Webcams.  Again… I see the usefulness of a webcam.  Most computers are installed with webcams and many blogs, sites, online columns and anyone with any pretense to American Idol aspirations use them.   My husband uses the Logitech HD Pro Webcam C910 for conference calls (720 p)  and he seems thrilled with it.  He likes the clarity, the picture, the auto focus and the ease of the 1 Click Upload to Facebook and YouTube.   He uses the Logitech C910 every day because he’s a software engineer who works from his home in Indiana and connects with his team in Oregon, California and elsewhere.  It’s quite useful and he likes it.

But I remain unimpressed.   The movements and sound  of the person on the other end are still jerky and out of sync like a badly looped film.  And this came during testing of the webcam with my husband in the other room instead of with someone across the ether in another state.  But I must say that, with all of the webcams my household has gone through, owing to my husband’s work, the Logitech C910 is by far the most superior.

The set-up is pretty simple too.  Even non-techies can figure this one out.  You set up the camera where you want it, install the software (comes with DVD) and then you connect the webcam to the your computer.  You set up an account, add your friends, co workers or “call-ees”, (my word, not theirs) and that’s pretty much it.  You are also able to fine tune whatever webcam conference call you’re on.  You can adjust for lighting, you hide your own image while staying connected and pan and tilt to show off certain aspects of a project you are featuring.

Pretty easy install of the webcam. Even non techies can do this.

You can also take photographs of yourself or whoever is in front of the web cam, preview it, dump it, or upload it fast and simple. You can edit your photos or “personalize them” like adding smiles and sunglasses and to the pictures and other dorky stuff.  This is a a feature that is best aimed at the twentysomething and younger market.  The cuteness of putting a  human smile on the face of a koala bear lost its appeal with me years ago but my nieces get a kick out of it.

The video option is pretty interesting.   You can use this feature, as many of my friends do, for web blogging, video letters and the teens are big on the doing their own mash-ups and posting them on You tube in 1080p.    You can even use the settings on the webcam to record video whenever it detects movement which is actually the best thing I like about the Logitech C910.  Whenever there is movement in the room where the webcam is set up, the camera will record it.

The Logitech HD Pro Webcam C910 works with the Logitech Vid HD, Skype, Yahoo! Messenger and Windows Live Messenger.

You're not limited to just a built in camera that comes with most lap tops. With the Logitech HD Pro Webcam C910, you can adjust it anywhere.

Now maybe you want to use the motion detection feature to catch your kitty going to the bathroom where she should not be going, or catch someone in your household hiding or sneaking into hidden Christmas presents.   I know a couple of artists who use this feature to capture movement and pose and light in order to assist them with whatever project they’re working on.   One friend used this to capture movements of some local cardinals as they snacked on the birdfeeder she’d set up to purposely record which feathered visitors came to the feeder and what went on. This summer, she wants to do the same thing with hummingbirds which is actually a cool idea.

Here’s a sample video captured with this webcam:

Caveat Emptor:  amp up your machine before you use.  Now it may sound simplistic and almost insulting to inform you that you will need a system running Windows XP, Vista or 7 (32 or 64 bit) and that you will need a USB port,  and that you will need 200 MB of hard drive space with 512 MB of RAM.   But you would be surprised at how many machines are out there that are not even rocking XP yet.   Join the 2000′s and upgrade your computer or you cannot run this equipment.  Just saying.

The C910 is going to run you about $99.00 on the Logitech website ($80 on Amazon) and that’s a little steep for my blood unless it’s going to seriously be used.  There are cheaper, albeit lesser picture quality, webcams out there.  If a good webcam is essential to your business, then this is the way to go.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, Desktop Computer Gear, Reviews

Tagged: 1080P, 720P, HD, Logitech webcam, web cam

Logitech HD Pro Webcam C910 Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 8, 2011 at 11:42 am.

I’ve read reviews on The Gadgeteer for media players that hook up with your TV or home theater setup and let you view your home videos, pictures, movies, and even play your music files.  I’ve always been interested in them, but I’ve never had one of these devices.  I had looked into an Apple TV some months back, but they didn’t do HD.  I liked the idea of the Apple TV because of the easy access to movies I could rent or buy for the device.  Recently, I’d been noticing that some companies making these devices were forming relationships with Netflix or other movie services, and my interest in media players was growing again.  When Julie offered the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex TV HD media player, I was excited to give it a try.

What’s in the Box
FreeAgent GoFlex TV HD Media Player
Composite A/V cable
Component A/V cable
Power supply
Remote control
(Seagate’s website says a Quick Start guide and a CD should be included, but there wasn’t either in my packaging)

Specifications
Dimensions: 4.30in L x 5.91in W x 1.65in H (110mm x 150mm x 42mm)
Weight: 0.67lb (0.30kg)
Video file compatibility: AVI (Xvid, MPEG1/2/4, TS), MPG/MPEG, DVD (VOB, IFO) MP4/MOV (MPEG-4), H.264, VC-1 (WMV9), ISO, RM/RMVB, Motion JPEG, FLV, DivX HD
Audio file compatibility: MP3, WAV/PCM/LPCM, WMA, WMA Pro, AAC, FLAC, MKA, OGG, APE, Dolby Digital (AC3), DTS
Video resolutions: NTSC 480i/480p, PAL 576i/576p, 720p, 1080i,1080p
Computer system requirements: Windows® XP, Windows Vista®, or Windows® 7 operating system or Mac® OS X 10.4.11 or 10.5.6 or later operating system ;  available USB port
Video output: Composite video, component video or HDMI
Audio output: Stereo, S/PDIF Optical Digital Audio or HDMI audio
Network: Ethernet connectivity enables access of shared folders on computers and other devices connected to your network such as a GoFlex Net media sharing device, media server or a NAS
Wireless: Optional Wi-Fi adapter (sold separately), Wireless-N supported
Internet Services: Netflix, YouTube, Paramount, vTuner, Mediafly, Picasa, Flickr, Video feeds (RSS), Text feeds (RSS), Finance widget, Weather widget

(Note: Some of the pictures in this review are clickable for an enlarged view.)

My A/V setup is very simple.  I have a 60” Sharp Aquos LCD TV, a cable box, and a Sony Blu-ray player.  Other than TV programming through the cable connection, our entertainment has been mostly limited to the DVDs we currently own.  We don’t often bother with our local DVD rental store because they have a problem with correctly checking in returned movies.  Our cable service allows us to rent On Demand movies, but we seldom do because of the often choppy, pixelated playback of these movies.  This poor playback of the On Demand movies can’t be attributed to our bandwidth, because we have outstanding bandwidth for home service.  I was happy to see that the GoFlex was partnered with Netflix, and I hoped that the playback of those movies would be better than the On Demand movies.  We were ready to broaden our entertainment horizons! 

The front of the GoFlex TV is actually a hinged cover. A GoFlex hard drive can be plugged in the chamber behind the cover.

The GoFlex TV HD is a small black plastic box, some parts shiny and some matte.  There’s only the Seagate logo and an LED on the front.  The LED is solid amber in standby mode, blinks amber while starting up, and is solid white when the unit is powered on.  If you find it distracting, you can disable the LED in the setup options.

The GoFlex TV HD doesn’t have any internal memory, so I was planning to use an external hard drive I had on hand with it.  When I received the package from Seagate, I was surprised to see that they had also sent a 1 TB Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Ultra-portable hard drive.  The GoFlex Ultra-portable hard drive is also made of shiny black plastic, and it is even smaller than the GoFlex TV.  The hard drive comes with a connector cable that allows you to plug it directly into a USB port.  There is no power adapter for the hard drive; it is powered through the USB port.

Internal chamber for plugging in a GoFlex hard disk

The GoFlex TV actually has an internal chamber (behind the hinged front cover) where you can install a GoFlex Ultra-portable drive, but the chamber is sized for a much smaller drive than the one I received.  The 1TB GoFlex hard drive is physically bigger than the smaller capacity GoFlex drives.  No problem, however, because the GoFlex TV has two USB 2.0 ports – one on the back, and one on the side.  I plugged the GoFlex Ultra-portable drive into the port on the back, leaving the more accessible port on the side available for plugging in USB flash drives, a digital camera, a digital video camera, or the like.

Back of the GoFlex TV showing power connection, composite video, component video, optical audio, HDMI, LAN connection, USB 2.0 port

I did not receive the optional Wi-Fi adapter.  They were on backorder, so I bought an Ethernet cable and connected the GoFlex TV to my router.  Luckily my router and my TV are in the same room.  If you do decide to add the Wi-Fi adapter to your setup, you’ll be happy to know that it supports wireless-N for best range and speed.

Side of GoFlex TV showing USB 2.0 port and reset button

The GoFlex TV comes with composite and component cables, but no HDMI cable is included.  My new Sharp Aquos TV has a lot of HDMI connectors, so I bought an HDMI cable.  Now, I’m finally ready to go.  Or was I?

As I mentioned, my package didn’t contain a Quick Start guide, CD, or manual.  I’m resourceful, so I went to the internet and found the most recent version of the manual and the Quick Start guide.  I hooked everything up in the order specified by the Quick Start guide.  No problems, until I came to the place where I was told to insert the CD.  I couldn’t find downloadable software for the GoFlex TV on the internet, so I contacted Seagate customer service and was eventually told the Media Sync software (which allows you to automatically sync files on your computer with the GoFlex hard drive) was not available for 64-bit systems, and that the GoFlex TV device required no other software installed on the computer. 

I did find a trial version of Media Sync on the GoFlex Ultra-portable hard drive itself.  I connected the hard drive to my computer, installed the software, and ran it to copy my video files to the hard drive.  I found the copy to be rather slow, but I don’t add a lot of files to my video directory.  I won’t have to worry about needing a sync manager – I can just quickly attach the drive and copy over any new files as I add them if I want them on the Seagate’s disk.  At the time I began testing the Seagate with my TV, I had copies of my home video files on both my laptop and on the hard drive attached to the GoFlex TV.  My music files and my picture files are only on my laptop.

The GoFlex TV comes with a remote control.  It is small, with only a few buttons.  There’s a power button, Menu and home buttons (to quickly return to the home menu), a circular set of up/down/right/left/OK buttons to navigate the menus, video playback controls, volume controls, and video zoom buttons.

On-screen keyboard

Some options will require you to input data.  There is an on-screen keyboard that you navigate and select letters with the remote control.  This option works well enough, but you can imagine it is slow.  You can attach a USB keyboard (wired or wireless) to the GoFlex TV using one of the USB 2.0 ports to make entering data much easier and faster.

Home screen

Finally, I’m ready to try out the GoFlex TV Media Player.  I selected the proper video source on my TV and powered on the GoFlex TV, and I was immediately connected.    The final option on the top row in the above image, Browse, lets you search the devices connected via the USB ports, and it lets you find computers on your network and setup shortcut connections for quick access to files stored on them.  I easily created a shortcut to my laptop by signing in once through the Seagate.  You can set up these shortcuts to allow free or restricted access to your files.  After defining the shortcut, you quickly and automatically get logged in to the network devices by browsing to your list of shortcuts.  I had to access the files on my computer through the Browse option or through the Network icon (looks like two computer screens) in the bottom row seen in the above image.  The “Movies”, “Pictures”, and “Music” options on the first row showed only the files on the connected hard drive.

Pictures, Movies, and Music files display with this format

After I created the shortcut, I could see a listing of my computer’s directories.  For music, picture, or video directories, you see an alphanumeric sorted list of icons like the one above.  I’ll be honest and say I have no interest in playing music through my TV, so I gave that a cursory look.  I navigated using the menu control buttons, selected a song, and played it.  Music plays well, and information about the song and time remaining displays on the screen during playback.  I was able to play songs I had ripped from my CDs and songs I had purchased as digital files.

A picture file displayed on the Sharp TV screen.

I’m also not very interested in looking at pictures on my TV screen, but you can view your photos in a slideshow while you’re listening to your music, if you so desire.  Even high-resolution pictures taken with our Nikon camera could sometimes appear fuzzy when blown up to fit our 60″ TV.  The movie playback also works great with our home videos.  They played smoothly and cleanly.

Internet options screen

The “Internet” option takes you to the same options you see in the middle row of the home screen.  We’ll talk about those options in more detail later. 

My Shortcuts lists pre-defined logins to my network devices, and Workgroups lets me see devices on my network

Browse function lets you see files on the attached USB drive or networked computers and media servers

I found an HD movie trailer online and downloaded it to my computer.  I tried streaming it wirelessly from my computer, and it froze up a time or two during the first playback.  I tried playing it from my computer again on a different day, and it played perfectly.  When I copied the trailer to the GoFlex drive connected to the GoFlex TV, playback was smooth and uninterrupted. 

Setup options for GoFlex TV HD

My TV can display information about the attached sources, and I was concerned to see that my video playback from the GoFlex TV was NOT in HD.  After all, I have a full-HD TV, an HDMI cable, and a GoFlex HD media player.  After a quick consultation of the manual I had downloaded from the internet, I realized that I needed to go into the setup function and select the appropriate video resolution for the GoFlex HD. 

Video resolution setup

I selected HDMI Auto resolution, and my playback is now 1080p.

Listing of the movies in my Netflix Instant Queue

We’ll finally discuss the Internet options.  I’m ready to try out the real reason I was interested in a media player – streaming movies from Netflix.  I created my Netflix account, activated my Seagate GoFlex, and was connected – just like that!  You can only play movies that you have already added to your Instant Queue at the Netflix website.  After a few minutes searching around the Netflix database from my computer, I had created an Instant Queue.  On the TV, you see a scrolling list of “movie posters”, and the playing time and rating for each movie.  When you select a movie and press the OK button on the remote, you see a summary description of the movie, an option to rate the movie, and an option to remove it from your queue.  The only parental controls are those you set up for your Netflix account.  Once you select PLAY, you get a progress screen showing the movie retrieval which displays for a few seconds, then the movie starts.  We’ve watched several movies since installing the GoFlex TV.  Every single movie downloaded and played absolutely flawlessly.  There was no hesitation, no pixelation, no problems of any kind.  We won’t be renting any more On Demand movies from the cable company!

Despite being listed in the online information, the Paramount video service isn’t an option on my GoFlex TV.  YouTube videos can be accessed by several categories, including recently added, top rated, etc.  Or you can search for videos by name or sign in to access your account.  Mediafly lets you access popular videos or audio files, search, or sign in to your user account.  vTuner lets you listen to radio stations from around the world.   These functions were easy to use and worked well.

The Picasa picture service lets you search through and view public pictures, or you can access your account.  Flickr lets you search through photos, but there is no login option for your account.  These functions worked well, but some pictures didn’t look their best blown up to fit the screen of our TV.

There are video RSS feeds for world or US news, business and technology, entertainment, and sports.  There are text RSS feeds from CNN News, NPR News, and BBC News.  There’s a weather widget that shows information for pre-selected cities, or you can specify a zip code for your local weather information.  There’s also a finance widget that shows you information for the Dow Jones Industrials and several pre-selected stocks; you can also add stocks to the list or delete stocks you are no longer interested in. 

There seems to be a little redundancy in the home screen options.  As I mentioned before, the “Internet” option at the top takes you to the exact same functions shown in the middle of the home screen.  The complete set of icons on the bottom row on the home menu are exactly the same options that are accessed through “Browse” at the top of the screen.  I don’t mind this, though I wish I could re-order the sets of options.  I’d like to have Netflix on the top row, or at least be able to define it as my pre-selected option when I turn on the GoFlex TV. 

You’ll be happy to know that the GoFlex TV’s firmware can be updated.  Simply check the Seagate website periodically for downloads to keep your GoFlex TV up-to-date with the lastest version.

I found the GoFlex TV HD media player to be a snap to set up.  It’s easy to connect the player to computers on your network, even when you use the on-screen keyboard and the remote to enter your information.  I was able to easily access and play files on my computer with few problems.  It’s easy enough to copy any personal files onto the GoFlex Ultra-portable hard drive, and playback from there is flawless.  My favorite thing is the Netflix option.  It’s a snap to connect to Netflix and select a movie from your Instant Queue.  Netflix movies worked perfectly – no choppiness, no pixelation, and no problems of any kind.  The only hiccough I had was because of the missing CD – that I didn’t actually need.  I would recommend that the Quick Start Guide be amended to remove the CD installation step.  Quick Start also should tell you to go into setup and choose the correct output resolution for your home theater.  I recommend the Seagate GoFlex TV HD media player, and it will have a permanent place in my A/V setup.

I didn’t mention the GoFlex Ultra-portable drive much in this review.  I’ll be covering it, along with a 500GB version in more detail in an upcoming review.

The photo of the tall building shown on my TV screen is from the public pictures at Flickr.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, Reviews

Tagged: A/V device, HD, Media player

Seagate FreeAgent® GoFlex™ TV HD Media Player Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 24, 2010 at 3:00 pm.

Is there any tech company not making a media player?  This will be the fourth product of this type that I’ve reviewed for The Gadgeteer.  The main differentiating property of the devices, besides the price, seems to be the number of file types and codecs supported.  The MPLAY-HD has all the types I need and then some.

This unit is a stand-a-lone media player (no net access), so streaming isn’t an option.

Specs:

File types

- Video Files: MKV, AVI, MP4, MOV, XVID, TS, M2TS, RM, RMVB, DAT, MPG, MPEG, VOB
- Video Codecs: H.264/AVC BP/MP/HiP L4.1,MPEG1/2/4, DivX/Xvid, Real Video
- Audio Files: MP3, WMA, WAV, RM, OGG, AAC, M4A, FLAC, APE
- Audio Codecs: MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG, AAC, FLAC, APE, PCM, DTS, AC3, RA, AMR
- Photo Files: JPG, BMP, PNG, GIF, TIFF
- Subtitle: SUB, ASS, SRT, SSA, SMI, IDX+SUB
- Other: DVD VIDEO_TS with menu

Compatibility

- Video: HDMI 1.3, YPbPr/Component, CVBS/Composite
- Resolution: NTSC, PAL, 480i/p, 576i/p, 720p, 1080i/p
- Audio: SPDIF coaxial and optical, analog stereo
- Storage Interface: Dual USB 2.0 Host ports, SD/SDHC/MS flash memory card reader
- File System: FAT32, NTFS

Here’s what’s in the box:

- Micca MPLAY-HD
- IR Remote
- AV and Component cables
- 100-240V AC adapter

My first impression of the player was positive.  I especially like the coating on the housing which gives it a rubbery non slip feel.

The front panel is clean and the box sits unobtrusively near the TV.

On the back you’ll find most of the connectors.  There is a card slot on the right side.  You will have to provide your own HDMI cable though.  This isn’t a show stopper because I get mine for 99¢ online.  If you don’t want to spend the money, the component cables are more than adequate.

The remote is a small full unit.  Just don’t lose it.

Installation was a snap. Plug the MPLAYER into the TV using the supplied cables or your HDMI cable. Connect the power and turn the on/off switch on the back of the unit. Connect your media storage to either the usb connectors and/or the card reader.  Assuming you have the TV set to the correct input , you’ll get the Home screen above. All functions are activated using the included remote.

At the top right of the screen you will notice 3 small icons. They indicate which devices are plugged into the MPLAYER. The device depicted by a folder icon had me confused for a while. It’s not listed in the user manual and when I selected it, I received a no file found message. After about a week of playing around with the unit, I discovered that this indicates internal memory in the unit. It appears there is about 100MB available which allows one to copy from the other inputs. I don’t know if this is an unsupported feature, because it’s not referenced in the manual or the manufacturer’s web site. The middle icon depicts the 2 usb ports and the last one is for the memory card slot. These will be highlighted if a device is available on the ports.

In the center of the Home screen are icons which filter the media types on the storage devices. These filters can be changed by scrolling using the remote. From left to right they are; Movies, Photos, Music, Text, Flash Videos, and not visible in the photo, Files and Settings. They are mostly self-explanatory. When one of them is highlighted, only those types of files supported by the MPLAYER will be recognized and displayed.

Here’s an example displaying the contents of a portable hard drive connected to the MPLAYER using the Movies filter. Using the remote to select the folder or file will either begin playing the media or if a folder will drill down to the next level.

Once the media is playing, it can be controlled by the remote, or an on-screen bar can be activated using the display button on the remote. It has all the playback functions one would find on a DVD player. Depending upon the media type, background music can be added, sub-titles can be displayed and the image can be adjusted to fit the screen. I particularly liked this last feature because I can fit the image to the different types of TVs I have around the house.

The text file display utility is somewhat unique. I can’t see much use for it, but it does display .txt encoded data.

With the exception of copy protected media, I was able to play a selection of file types using different outputs to both a 720p and 1080p TV. However, comparing this unit to the other 3 I have reviewed does confirm 2 issues apparently inherent in these devices.

The first I define as sluggishness. Selecting an application with the remote takes patience. I found myself stabbing a button several times thinking I didn’t poke it, only to find out my inputs were buffered and when they were actuated I wound up several steps beyond where I wanted to be. I guess this delay it because of the disk access time through the usb ports. Now that I am aware of it, I expect it.

Secondly, the remote on this and other units appears to be extremely directional. Unless I’m pointing it within 20 deg of center, it doesn’t work. Again, I can deal with it now that I know. By the way, this device, as others, is dependent upon the remote. Lose it and you’re out of business. Aside from the power button on the box, there are no function buttons.

In the end, I like the MPLAYER. For less than the price of a DVD player, you have a unit that can play your backed up DVDs , music and photos. I no longer own a DVD player and use media players exclusively. The MPLAYER has been recruited for duty as the grandkids movie player. Because of its intuitive GUI and ease of use, it’s perfect for the younger set.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, Reviews

Tagged: Entertainment, HD, Media player

micca MPLAY HD Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 5, 2010 at 1:00 pm.

Using an SD-Card, FlashDrive, or even a multi-Terabyte USB HardDrive, the CiragoTV Mini lets you playback videos, pictures and music that you downloaded or created at your computer on your television in beautiful 720P or 1080i ( and 480i & 480p for any tube owners ). This isn’t a networked UPNP media playback system with wireless or even ethernet: it’s a far simpler solution utilizing the classic SneakerNet to transfer files on a storage device. For around $70 retail, you’ll get a box a little bigger than a deck of cards with AV and HDMI output, a remote, AC adapter, and some composite AV cables. Plug your SD card ( Or USB hard drive/flash drive ) into the CiragoTV Mini, and it’s quickly being shown on your television in excellent quality. Read on for more information…

Since CiragoTV Mini’s sole purpose is to play media, in my opinion there are just two concerns; The first is what formats the device supports. My video files are in a multitude of formats, so having a device compatible with the majority of my files is seriously important. I don’t want to re-compress anything if possible. And the second is the playback quality; how well does it play on my current TV and on the flatpanel I’ll eventually have in my living room. In both areas I’ve been satisfied with the CiragoTV Mini, but thats because most of my files are in SD formats. But even a few DVD’s compressed down to around 256MB ( created back when my PSP had a 512MB MemoryStick Duo ) looked decent and surprisingly viewable, even on an a 720P plasma.

I have to admit something here; I still have a 32″ tube television. It’s a nice one, but it’s still ancient technology. I used this monstrosity for all the screenshots below and some of the testing. But we also spent a night watching this through the HDMI output on a 720P 42″ Plasma TV, and even though most of my files were SD the output scaled nicely. Of course the higher resolution AVI files played back beautifully on the plasma TV, and we quickly realized we’re probably the only people in Brooklyn without a flatpanel TV. Hopefully Santa is going to rectify this.

I ended up playing files in Divx, AVI, MPEG 1,2 & most 4, and almost all played without problems or hiccups. There were a couple known-bad files I tried to play, and mostly these just refused to play. But a couple times I needed to unplug the device’s power cable to play new files after it ‘froze’. Overall the playback quality was impressive considering most of my video is SD, and I found the UI completely useable although it could look better ( IE: more modern – reminds me of XP ). There is built in support for VOB files & and subtitles too- along with customization of the colors involved which is nice. But the bad news is MKV and M4V files both fail to play back, which could be a serious limitation. Since I’ve been dealing with a tube TV, and most of my files are AVI or Divx SD, I can play almost everything in my library. But a close look at the device’s playback compatibility and your video file formats is a must before purchasing.

Included in the box is the CiragoTV Mini unit, a remote, a AC Adapter, and an A/V cable with composite video & RCA Right and Left audio connectors. On the front of the unit there is an IR sensor, a USB port, and a SD/MMC card slot. On the back is an HDMI output, but the cable is not included, and there is an A/V port for the included composite ( not component ) cable. There is a small wall-wart power adapter included that also plugs into the back. The remote’s batteries are pre-installed and protected by a plastic tab you remove to activate the remote, and the video/audio cable is about six feet long. The digital output is, obviously, sharper and cleaner than analog.

Overall, I’m really enjoying this little box, more than I thought I was going to. The small size of the CiragoTV Mini makes it totally portable, it’s a little bigger than an older iPod, so taking it with you to a friend’s house or a hotel makes watching your media on any tv completely possible. I’ve got about a dozen 1GB to 4GB SD cards floating around, and copying files to one of these cards and popping it into the CiragoTV Mini is almost second nature to us now. Plus the USB port lets you to also keep a huge hard drive plugged in as a permanent addition to your media center and use the SD cards just for new files. The flexibility of the USB and SD/MMC reader plus the great output makes this a real winner in my opinion – I recommend this device as long as it will play back your videos in your existing library & please remember to check for format compatibility before purchasing.

The front of the unit has an IR window ( With the red/blue power indicator LED inside ), the USB port, and the Card slot. I tried a USB Flash Drive, USB Hard Drive, and a USB Card Reader; all worked without problems in a FAT32 format.

The reasonably long AV cable and power adapter, the remote, and the CiragoTV Mini. You get an idea of how small this device is from the picture. The little rubber feet on the bottom helped it stay put on a wood shelf and on the metal top of an A/V receiver.

The remote has some nice features; a USB device button to switch between media containers, mute and volume, but no fast forward. You have to open the menu while video is playing to fast forward in 2x, 4x, and 8x increments then one more press puts in back into normal playback speed.

The main menu lets you select media types to playback, look at the files through a file-system browse, or setup the CiragoTV Mini.

The CiragoTV Mini will work with almost every SD and HD set out there with the composite and HDMI outputs.

The unit also supports 7 languages.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, Reviews

Tagged: HD, HDMI, Media player, USB

CiragoTV Mini Media Player Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 1, 2009 at 1:26 pm.

The Hauppauge HD PVR allows users to record HD content off a cable or satellite set top box to their computer’s hard drive, and from the recordings, create HD quality DVDs for their personal media libraries. The HD PVR is one of the only mass marketed HD personal video recorders presently sold to the consumer.   The strengths of this device lie in its ability to allow the user to burn TV shows and movies to DVD and the ability to optimize recordings for various video playback devices (e.g., Playstation 3, Xbox 360, iPhone, iPod, Zune, etc).

The HD-PVR works with your computer, TV, and cable or satellite set top box or other HD input device such as a video game console or Blue-ray player.   The HD PVR records video onto the computer’s hard drive in a compressed H.264 format.  Recordings are taken from direct connections to the HD PVR box via component video, S-Video or composite video inputs.

In the box:

HD-PVR
Component/Composite cables
IR blaster
USB cable (not shown here)
Remote control (2 AAA batteries included)
5V power supply
Install CD (Arcsoft TotalMedia Extreme software and drivers)

The HD-PVR is surprisingly light. The front of the device includes an S-video in, composite video in and audio in connections.  The back is a little denser and includes on the bottom row: audio in, component video in, optical audio out/in, IR Blaster out, USB, and power. The top row includes the corresponding audio out and component video loop out.

The HD PVR connects to your computer via USB. There are several ways to hook up the HD-PVR inputs to the back or front of the device.  Set-up ultimately depend on how you want to use the device. I was interested in recording off a cable box. Alternatively, you may record off a video game console, DVD/Blue-ray player or practically anything with a composite video or component video output!

Composite Video in:
If you do not have an HD set top box then you may use the standard composite video connection on the front of the box.

Component Video in:
HD connections from the cable box go in the component video in row on the back.

Component Video out:
You may use the component output to hook back to your HDTV.   Note: The box comes with one Component/Composite cable.

S-Video:
There is an S-Video connection on the front of the box if you wish to feed the video signal in that way from you set top box.  Note: The box does not include an S-Video cable.

Installation of drivers and software is simple.  The software to be installed include Arcsoft TotalMedia Extreme, HD PVR Scheduler, and IR Blaster application. Checking the Hauppauge support website for the latest drivers is a good idea too.

IR Blaster:

The device comes with an IR blaster, which acts like a remote control to change the channel on the set top box for scheduled recordings. The IR blaster will not turn your box on and off. It only changes the channel. Therefore, you must leave your cable box ON for the IR blaster to work. The set-up on the IR blaster is the most tedious of all the setup. Like any remote controller the IR blaster has to be configured to work with your specific set top box. The configuration program requires the user to select the manufacturer and then test out codes that work with the box. You can also test out if the IR blaster can change the channel. If the IR configuration does not work for you cable box there is an option for learning a new set top box. Although possible, this seems like a tedious process.

Positioning of the IR blaster is super important. It only works within a 1 inch range with the remote control sensor of the set top box.  For this reason the IR blaster has two-way tape on it so it can stick directly on the cable box’s remote sensor. This may take some guess and test if you cannot readily find the sensor on your set top box.

The IR blaster works as an intermediary between the HD PVR and the set top box to facilitate unattended recordings.  I discovered that if you physically change the channel during the recording then it would record that too. It will not continue to record the channel you set it to if you change the channel during recording. The software itself does not recognize individual channels as input. Rather, it records whatever signal is coming into the box via the component, composite or S-video input.

Software walk through for Arcsoft TotalMedia:

The opening menu for TotalMedia Extreme includes 4 options: Record video, Create DVD, Playback, and Utilities.

The first option (video cassette icon) in the Arcsoft TotalMedia menu brings you to capture mode. Capture mode may record from 480i to 1080i resolution at datarates from 1Mbit/sec to 13 Mbit/sec.  The latter creates very large files. Hauppauge recommends 5Mbit/sec or higher to maintain picture quality. Capture mode can be configured to record directly into HD formats suited for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.  Other players (e.g., Apple TV, iPod, etc) require conversion using the Media Converter, discussed below.

The WinTV Scheduler is used to schedule recordings. Scheduling a recording is uncomplicated. At the scheduled time the HD PVR sends a signal via the IR blaster to the cable box to change to the specified channel and a few seconds later, capture mode will start recording video on you computer.    There is a delay few seconds of delay here.

The second option (film reel icon) in the Arcsoft TotalMedia menu brings you to Arcsoft TotalMedia Studio, which allows DVD authoring so you can be your own producer.  Creating a DVD with background, title menu, and submenus is a snap. The software allows you to grab saved recordings off your computer. You can preview the DVD as you design the menus and Arcsoft gives several still and animated menus to choose from.   Once a design is complete you can save your project or produce your DVD by burning it to disk. Voila! You have made your own HD quality DVD for playback in your Blue-ray player. You could also record in standard format for non-HD recordings.

Since video files don’t always transfer perfectly between devices because of unmatched speed and quality, Happahague added a convenient Arcsoft Media Converter under the Utilities option from the main menu. With the Media Converter you can convert your recorded content for playback on other devices.  Capture mode has direct support for PS3 and Xbox360, but for playback on other devices the conversion step is needed first.  The software converts and optimizes video files for various video-supporting devices including those manufactured by Apple, Microsoft, Philips, SanDisk and Sony.

Third party applications:

The HD-PVR may be used with third party applications.
SageTV
Windows Media Center
Elgato’s Eye TV
Myth TV

For more information on third party support, visit Hauppauge’s site.

The following are some notes that were included in the box from Hauppauge:

The Hauppauge remote control currently does not operate with Arcsoft TotalMedia Extreme. If does operate with other third party applications such as SageTv.

Your PC cannot be put into suspend or hibernate mode while the HD PVR is either previewing video or streaming. This will be fixed in a future release of the HD PVR driver

HD PVR currently supports Dolby Digital and PCM audio capture via SPDIF. DTS audio is not supported at this time.

Conclusion:

If you are looking to use this as a replacement for a DVR, you may want to think again.  In attempting to use the HD-PVR to do un-attended recordings, it was very finicky. It dropped out 20 mins into an hour long recording, and I don’t know why.  The box has to be restarted often. Another time it recorded for 4 hours straight when I had only set it for 30 mins. If you are recording while watching television, you have to keep your set top box tuned to the channel you are recording. As mentioned above the software itself does not recognize individual channels as input, rather it records the signal coming into the box via the component, composite or S-video input.

For DVR like capabilities you are better off with a USB TV tuner stick with a functioning remote control like those made by Hauppauge, Pinnacle, or the Kworld USB ATSC TV Stick that I recently reviewed.

If, however, you are looking to create HD quality DVDs for your personal media library from the shows and movies you record for playback on various kinds of devices, then this may be the tool for you, if not the only tool.  I feel obligated to remind users to respect copyright laws!

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear

Tagged: HD, PVR

Hauppauge HD PVR Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 13, 2009 at 4:22 pm.

Hoping to enjoy the same popularity as the WD TV and Popcorn Hour, the new ViewSonic VMP70 is yet another media player for your TV. The VMP70 boasts more compatible video and audio formats than any other player (MPEG 1/2/4, DivX/Xvid, H.264, VC-1, WMV9, RM/RMVB, WMA, MP3, DTS, OGG, AAC, (2-channel), Real Audio, JPG, JPEG, BMP, PHG,  and GIF photo format) and even includes an HDMI video cable. The ViewSonic VMP70 is now available for an MSRP of $129.99 with a promotional holiday ESP of $98.99. Check out the full press release here.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, News

Tagged: HD, Media player, Spotlight Gadgets, TV

ViewSonic’s sub $100, Full HD media player now available originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 2, 2009 at 6:42 pm.

VholdR has just announced the ContourHD 1080p, a wearable HD camcorder that includes a series of mounts for your goggles, helmet, handle bars, vehicle, or anywhere else you want to attach it. It’s the world’s first wearable camcorder that can capture and share 1080p video (1920×1280). It has a water resistant aluminum and fiberglass body and has configurable settings for contrast, microphone volume, exposure and metering. Full press release after the jump.

VholdR Launches ContourHD1080p: The World’s First HD Wearable Camcorder to Shoot and Share 1080p Video.

Shoot and Share video in Full HD with the Only Camcorder Small Enough to Fit on Your Goggles

“ContourHD1080p was inspired by the professional user,” says Marc Barros, VholdR’s CEO. “It’s still an easy to use Wearable Camcorder, but with Full HD video and adjustable settings, you can capture world-class video with a camcorder you can wear. It’s like taking a professional film crew with you where ever you go!”

The ContourHD family drives a shoot to share experience of wearable video, software, and an online community. With the introduction of ContourHD1080p, VholdR.com will be the only adventure sports community where you can share and watch Full HD video from with in the action, captured around the world! Today 70% of VholdR and ContourHD customers share their adventures on VholdR.com – a vibrant community of adventure sports enthusiasts who are mapping the world through video.

Features New to ContourHD1080p

· 5 Video Settings (User Selectable)

· Configurable Settings

· Record 3.5 Hours of 1080p Video

· Share 1080p Video

Features Standard to ContourHD Cameras

· Wearable Anywhere

· One Button Simplicity

· Laser Alignment

· Armored Body

· Wide Angle Lens:

· Rechargeable Battery

A rugged camcorder for the estimated 75 million outdoor enthusiasts around the world, ContourHD makes it easy to capture video from within the action and share it online in seconds. And it’s available in two models this holiday season: ContourHD ($279.99) and ContourHD1080p ($329.99). Visit www.vholdr.com to learn more about the ContourHD cameras and find a complete list of retailers.

To learn more about ContourHD visit www.vholdr.com

About VholdR

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear

Tagged: Camcorder, HD, Spotlight Gadgets, Video

Capture extreme HD footage with the VholdR ContourHD Helmet Cam originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 29, 2009 at 5:29 pm.

After viewing some remarkable sample footage from the Internet of the Canon VIXIA HV30 HD Camcorder I had to get one of my own and try it out for myself and see if this camcorder was really as good as the footage I kept seeing.

The Canon HV30 is a consumer camcorder which is the replacement model for the Canon HV20. The upgrades to this camcorder are the added 30P mode, an improved zoom toggle, a better LCD screen, a black glossy finish on the body frame and better support for high capacity batteries.

Other than that the HV30 still has the great features of its predecessor, the HV20, with a 1080i, 60i and 24P shooting modes.

The HV30 has a 2.7” LCD screen with 211,000 pixels. It has a 3 Megapixel CMOS sensor which can capture beautiful, crisp HD images in 1440×1080 resolution. However, Canon’s website claims that the HV30 captures at 1920×1080.

Power button and Zoom Rocker

For those of you with editing machines that cannot handle HD footage don’t worry, the HV30 still captures stunning SD footage as well. This camcorder is a great camcorder to have if you are playing with the idea of making the switch to HD editing.

The HV30 features a scroll focus wheel, a Focus Assist that zooms in to 2X to help with getting images super sharp. One note though, if you have large hands you may find the scroll wheel cumbersome. The Focus wheel is only about 1/2” wide.

One of the features I liked was the HDMI cable terminal. This is very handy for those wanting to view your HD footage straight to an HDTV. Just plug in your HDMI cable to the HDMI terminal on the back of the camcorder and connect to your HDTV and start viewing. At the time I purchased mine there was an HDMI cable was included.

Unlike some of the newer models such as the Canon HG20 which uses an internal hard disc drive, the HV30 uses standard MiniDV tapes for both SD and HD shooting.

The HV30 did well in low lighting situations. Low light shooting seems to be better when using the 24p settings. However, the HV30 has settings to increase exposure to improve low light shooting.

When it comes to battery life, the included battery can run up to two hours.  A little less depending on how much you zoom and how long you keep the LCD open. These two factors are a big factor in battery life. It is a good practice to have at least one extra high capacity battery handy.

HDMI and Firewire ports

Other features include firewire, miniSD Card slot, an electronic lens cover, HD video lens, PictBridge, and Canon’s Super-Range Optical Image Stabilizer which helps keep those hand-held shots steady.

The HV30 offers plenty of shooting options such as Shutter and Aperture Priority, a manual white balance, image effects, and Cine Mode. The Cine Mode works well with the HV30′s 24P option giving a more cinematic appearance. Keep in mind though that the HV30 doesn’t capture true 24P but more of a pseudo 24P. It is still actually 60i with a 3:2 pulldown. The HV30 still has the standard features such as an accessory shoe for lights or shotgun mics, wireless remote, auto focus, built-in Led light and adjustable hand strap.

Accessory Shoe

One of the things I wasn’t too thrilled about was its lack of separate plug for headphones. The headphone plug is shared with the A/V Out. So if you intend to view your camcorder with a external monitor you cannot use the headphone plug because it shares the same port. What a bummer.

Headphone and A/V ports

I had a chance to to shoot B-Roll with the Canon HV30 on a short movie for a 48 Hour Film project against a professional JVC HD100 camcorder. When we got the footage in post, we compared the footage from both cameras side-by-side. The JVC footage was low in saturation and the contrast was kinda washed out.

When we looked at the footage from the HV30 it was had deep vivid colors and great detail and depth.

I actually had to color correct the footage from the JVC to match the footage of the HV30. The Canon’s footage was edited untouched. How’s that for a consumer camcorder?

Onboard LED Light

The Canon HV30 can be used for your home movies with the kids or for that family vacation but it can also be a great contender to those professional camcorders to shoot a great indie movie or music video.

Sample videos:

Canon HV30 Sample_1

Canon HV30 Sample_2

The Canon HV30 HD camcorder retails for about $800.00.

This is by far one of the best sub-$1000 consumer HD camcorders on the market for price, features, and function.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear

Tagged: Camcorder, HD, hv30

Canon VIXIA HV30 HD Camcorder Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 10, 2009 at 7:18 am.

Everywhere you look, small USB and hard drive based media players for your TV are popping up on the market. From obscure products like the Cirago MultiMedia Center, to the extremely popular WD TV HD Player and the Popcorn Hour Media Tank. LaCie has been an overachiever, releasing not one, but six different multimedia hard drive devices that range in price from $99.99 up to $449.99. Yesterday they announced that their LaCinema Rugged multimedia hard drive is now available in High Definition. The LaCinema Rugged HD is the first multimedia player in its class, to allow users to store and play High Definition content – on any HDTV in Full-HD 1080p resolution. It comes with a 500GB hard drive and HDMI output.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear

Tagged: HD, TV, Video

YAHDMPFYT (Yet Another Hard Drive Media Player For Your TV) originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 9, 2009 at 8:04 am.

It goes without saying that we love our gadgets here at The Gadgeteer. We love big gadgets, little gadgets, complex gadgets and simple gadgets. Today I want to show you a gadget that is both little and simple. It’s the Flip minoHD video camera.

Hardware Specs

Recording time – 60 minutes
Internal memory – 4GB
Display – Transflective TFT 1.5″ diagonal (528 x 132)
Video resolution – 16:9 widescreen, HD 720p (1280 x 720) at 30 frames per second progressive scan
Sensor – 1/4.5″ HD CMOS Sensor 2.2µm pixels
Lens – 2x digital zoom
Light sensitivity – Ultra low-light sensitivity (>1.4 V/lux-sec)
Average bitrate – 9.0Mbps (auto-adaptive algorithm)
Video format – H.264 video compression, AAC audio compression, MP4 file format
Battery – Internal Lithium-Ion Rechargeable with up to 2hr runtime
Dimensions – 3.94″ x 1.97″ x 0.63″
Weight – 3.3 oz

Package Contents

Flip minoHD
TV cable
Wrist strap
Soft carrying case
Quickstart guide

The Flip minoHD is available in an infinite variety of colors and designs. You can choose from popular designs like the one you see above, or  you can go crazy and use your own images to create a one of a kind look for your Flip.

The camera has a compact plastic body that is very pocketable and comfortable to hold. On the front side you will find the lens and next to it on the right is the microphone. The microphone area lights up in Red when the camera is in record mode.

On the Left side is the power button and lanyard eyelet. On the Right side is the USB connector eject button and TV out jack.

The USB connector folds into the top of the camera when not being used.

When the side switch is activated, the USB connector pops out.

The camera can then be plugged directly into a USB port on your PC or Mac for charging and manipulation of recorded videos. A small White LED on the USB connector glows to show that the Flip’s internal batteries are charging. The LED turns off when the camera is fully charged.

A standard sized threaded tripod mount is located on the bottom of the device.

All of the user controls are located on the back side of the Flip. There’s only one physical button, a big Red record toggle. The other ‘buttons’ are touch sensitive. There’s a + and – that zoom in and out, play/pause, delete and left/right navigation buttons.

Where other video cameras can be overly complex with a bazillion buttons, modes and features, the Flip minoHD is about as simple as it can get. Press the power button to turn on the camera and within 4 seconds you are ready to press the Red button to start recording. Press it again to stop recording. Each time you do that, a new file is saved to the camera’s 2gb internal memory.

The small color LCD shows the battery level and how much time you have left to record before running out of space. The only settings that you can change are the date, time of day and if you want button press tones or not. That’s it. I told you this camera was simple didn’t I?

Recording is easy and spontaneous with a camera this small. The LCD is very small, but it can be seen outdoors in full sunlight. The one button start / stop record is easy to press while holding the camera. Zooming in and out with the touch sensitive buttons is a bit awkward though. Most times I have to press the + or – multiple times before it recognizes that I’ve touched it.

The only other issue that I’ve noticed with recording is that this camera does not have an anti-shake or stabilization feature built into it. This is obvious on some of my recordings where I was holding the camera in my hand.

Once you have recorded a few samples, you can access them by plugging the Flip into your PC or Mac. The Flip will show up as USB flash drive that you can drag and drop files to.  Copy the .MP4 off to your computer, manipulate them with your favorite software and you’re done. Don’t have a favorite software package for manipulating video? Not to fear, there’s a PC and Mac application built into the the camera.

It’s pretty basic software, but this is a basic video camera, so no shock there. The software allows you to view the videos in thumbnail or full screen mode. You can email the videos, create video greeting cards, upload to sites like YouTube or MySpace, create a DVD and even capture a still image from a video.

Simple tools give you the ability to trim clips to remove unnecessary footage.

Here are a few samples that I recorded to give you an idea of the video quality. In order to view the video without problems, right click the links and save the files directly to your computer and view them that way instead of through your web browser. If you view through your web browser, the playback will be jerky.

flip-minohd-traffic 22mb (to view, right click and save to your desktop)

flip-minohd-wasp 28mb (to view, right click and save to your desktop)

flip-minohd-max 56mb (to view, right click and save to your desktop)

flip-minohd-ukulele 105mb (to view, right click and save to your desktop)

These samples show a few things that I’d like to point out. If you look at the wasp and traffic videos, you’ll notice that the recorded frame rate is a bit slow. In the traffic video, if you look through the trees in the upper right corner, you can make out the LED price board from a local gas station. You can see the prices blinking, which of course they don’t do in real life. You’ll see something similar in the wasp video. Wasps typically do not flutter around like a butterfly. If you intend to shoot extremely fast subject matter, this camera might not be able to deliver.

One other thing that I wanted to point out is that the camera captures colors much better in natural light as opposed to indoor artificial light like from compact fluorescent light bulbs. If you take a look at my ukulele video, my skin tone looks kinda Yellow – and as far as I know, I don’ t have any liver issues. Although the minoHD has an automatic white balance feature, I think it would be great to also have a way to manually adjust it.

Even with those few little issues (lack of physical zoom buttons, frame rate and white balance), I have absolutely enjoyed using the Flip minoHD. I love the fact that it is super fast and easy to use. You can give this camera to anyone (child or grandparent) and they won’t be confused with the controls. I also appreciate that I’m not required to have a separate AC adapter to charge it. There’s something to be said for simplicity. You’ve probably heard of the acronym KISS before. It stands for Keep It Simple Stupid and the Flip definitely takes that rule to heart.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, Digital Cameras and Gear

Tagged: Camcorder, HD, Video

Flip minoHD Video Camera Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 21, 2009 at 1:50 pm.

All you tough guys out there listen up… You can now look even more like a tool cool with the HD Helmet camera from ContourHD. It’s an HD camera (1280×720 pixels and 30 fps) with a 135 degree wide angle lens that can fit on your goggles.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear

Tagged: HD, Sports, Spotlight Gadgets, Video

Record your crashes with the HD Helmet Cam originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 27, 2009 at 3:12 pm.