C Pen 800C Handheld Scanner

• Remarkably light translation tool, ideal for travel
• Includes address book and memory for saving many pages of text
• Transfer data or text directly into your PC or Palm
• Downloadable dictionaries available in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, and Swedish
• Reads, saves, translates, and sends text within seconds

As a graduate student, I am constantly reading. Each week it seems that there are endless chapters of textbook material, and only a very finite amount of time to digest it all. This is compounded by the fact that I am constantly traveling for business, and regularly work fourteen-hour days. So what I needed was a way to read the material once, and move on. I don't have the time to go through the text once with a yellow highlighter and then follow it up a few days later to review what I thought was important. In reading one of those magazines that the airlines put in the "seat pocket in front of you" I saw an ad for the C Pen, and I was sold.

There are several benefits to the C Pen including size, durability, accuracy, and efficiency.

The size is a little larger than three regular pens in a tight bundle. It does take a little getting used to, but I found myself merrily scanning in no time flat. While it feels very light, and is made mostly of plastic, the C Pen is surprisingly durable. I also believe that if the C Pen was made of anything heavier then your hand would get tired very quickly. The bundle I bought included a case for the C Pen with convenient Velcro latch. It seems like it could break easily, but I've had a few spills and mine keeps scanning.

The accuracy of the device is pretty amazing. It can scan up to five inches of text per second, and for the most part will only mess up on occasion. I've found that larger font sizes tend to give it more problems, as well as fonts that are sans serif. Even single-line mathematical formulas were no problem for the C Pen.

The 800C model includes a built in rechargeable battery that is well worth the extra cash. It takes about an hour and a half to fully charge the battery, and it will merrily scan for countless hours. In my experience, I've found that I can scan for about eight hours before needing to recharge the C Pen. As well, in terms of efficiency, the IR capability works like a charm. I can tell the C Pen that I want to beam the last chapter of content to my Palm, and a few seconds later I'm done. This is a great little feature.

I was curious about how much data the C Pen would actually store, and I have yet to hit my limit. I started off scanning very lightly; only where I thought it was necessary in order to save memory. As time progressed and I saw the memory I had left I started scanning even more. I have scanned in seven chapters of notes in a very large and long-winded Economics book, and I still have more space than I know what to do with.

Unfortunately, some of the C Pen's pluses also make for its minuses. Perhaps my biggest complaint with the C Pen is that it is so precise. When scanning a line of text, I've found it better to just scan the entire line, even if the sentence I'm after stops half way through. It's very hard to scan anything other than an entire line without spillover into the next sentence. The C Pen includes all sorts of additional applications that potentially give it PDA functionality but let's get real; you're not going to use the C Pen as an all in one PDA. Don't charge me for applications I'll probably never use especially if you're going to include IR connectivity to my Palm device anyways.

As well, when I beam content to my Palm, I cannot edit it on the Palm. The content must be transferred to my computer first. This seems a little limiting, and I'm not sure why C Tech decided to put this in place. You can use the C Pen as a pen (C Write), and it will recognize what you are writing assuming that you are sticking to their character script. This is very similar to what most Palm users will be used to, but it's not the same Graffiti strokes, which means you'll have to learn two sets. Likewise, if you scanned content with errors, and you want to correct it using the C Write feature, you'll have to navigate several menus to get there, making this a time consuming task.

So if you're looking for a fancy new digital way to scan content, this is a great tool though it has some problems in terms of usability, but it does what it's supposed to, which is scan in text.

Buy C Pen 800C Handheld Scanner Now

When the people at C-Pen say their product is "a stroke of genius" they do not exagerate. Since I bought my C-Pen 800C a couple of months ago, it has become a permanent companion in my academic activity. Two of its functions are particularly impressive, namely "Notes" (the scanner) and "C-Dictionary". Once you get the hang of it, "C-Write" is also very good (though I would have preferred it if they had adopted the Palm graffiti alphabet, so as not to make palm users like myself spend extra time learning the new alphabet). Of special interest for academic use is the possibility of storing the notes you have taken in different files and folders, thereby helping you organize the information gathered.

The precision of C-Pen 800C's OCR is excellent, not only when reading texts written in English, but also in other languages (though I must concede that my experience has been reduced to texts in Spanish, German and French).

Synchronization with the PC is very easy and the use of C-Direct, by means of which we can scan a text directly into the computer, is easy and precise. As for the remaining utilities (address book, calender, etc.) I have nothing to say, since I have not tried to use them.

To wrap up, I simply want to say that this is a great instrument for academic use. Once you've learned to use it you won't understand how in the world you could ever have done research without it in the past!

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I am a graduate student and as such spend endless hours reading academic journals and having to type up references for my papers. Also, often I find an article that I only need a few key points from, or that the article is worthless but there is one reference worth retrieving.. This hand held OCR seemed perfect for my uses.

I first bought the QuickLink Pen by WizCom. It is a good product, but the accuracy was dissapointing on the very small fonts that the reference lists are usually in. I returned it with hopes that the new revision (C-pen 800 *c*) would live up to the promise of better OCR. I don't care too much about the PDA type features, those are only bonuses for me. The main thing I wanted was accurate OCR.

It really blew away the QuickLink in this department, as well as ease of use (the c-pen is more intuitive). I can scan the very smallest print (I assume 5 point, which is the smallest this or as far as I know any pen can read). But where the quicklink pen gave me many errors, the 800c works much better. Of course, none of these are flawless. But from my experience with two different pens, the C-pen 800c is much better for OCR, particularly with small fonts! It is also a little smaller, has rechargable batteries, and matches the quicklink now with serial and IR connections. I am VERY happy with the c-pen, and if you pull bits and pieces or references often, it can save a LOT of time! Very impressed..

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The C-Pen 800C can scan text at over five inches per second, which alone is more than enough reason to rate it so highly. It fares better than its competitors because of the rechargable batteries, and its single toggle switch. This toggle option gives excellent control of the menus displayed on the LCD screen. Rotating the switch left and right navigates through menu items, which you can then select, giving access to sub-menus.

New features on the C-Pen 800C include improved OCR and the ability to communicate with your PC either by using IR or a serial cable connection.

I love this thing, but I hate its connectivity! Which is mostly either lacking or an immense aggravation. So, be very careful about how you plan to download your data, or you will end up owning a very nice and advanced piece of techno-junk.

Getting the hang of the way to scan with C-Pen takes about an hour's practice, but it is well worth it. At first I couldn't get the C-Pen to read anything and I thought I had just thrown $200+ down the drain. Then I learned a few key things: if you are right handed, scan from right to left---don't worry, the pen will automatically transcribe from left to right. Also, I needed to develop a feel for when the automatic trigger was properly depressed, how to keep the eye flat on the page while moving the pen, and the necessity of making sure the page is flat (something of a bother at time with, for example, fat books.) I still have occasional mishaps, but the edit function makes quick cleanup and re-read easily possible.

The OCR is as good as I get from my HP flatbed and I have absolutely no complaints, reading from a variety of texts ranging from early 19th Century texts to inkjet documents. Like all OCR products, one sometimes gets amusing results. If one is merely taking notes, fine. If one wants clean text, some editing will be required.

But --oi-v-voi --the download problem is major. The factory product (I got mine straight from the USA distributor) will not work with Windows XP. The system simply does not recognize the pen's existence. Technical support (Sweden) advised me to download a patch from their website. My desk top twice aborted attempts to download this patch in mid-installation.

Likewise, the C-Pen and my Palm Tungsten C are from different planets and will not connect via infrared. The factory's not very helpful advice was to please be sure that I had the C-Pen oriented in the right direction. Duh-uh! I have no idea what to do about this glitch, which is a major aggravation.

I am saved by the fact that my office operating system is the old Windows 98 and I was able to connect via cable. Throught hat connection I easily and quickly download my scans into Word documents. The downside is that I do most of my work OUT of my office, either at home or elsewhere and it is an incovenience and delay to have to come in here to hook the Pen up.

The bottom line is that --knowing what I know now --I probably would not buy this pen unless I were sure I could sucessfully download from it. I was accidentally saved from owning apiece of useless junk.

Pretec CompactLan Card for Pocket PCs

• Portable Ethernet LAN adapter designed for Windows-powered Pocket PCs
• 10 Mbps maximum data transfer rate
• Synchronize, back up files, browse the Web, and run e-mail
• LED indicators show network status
• Also compatible with Windows CE Palm-sized PC, Handheld PC, and AutoPC

I just received the card and I am using it to write this review. There are not many instructions with the card, but the Pretec website has step-by-step instructions to set up the card for pocket pc's. The card works great with my Ipaq 3630 and it comes with an adaptor for PCMCIA cards in laptops. To install the card in my desktop, I had to download the drivers from the company's website, but it was also easy to setup. I highly recommend this product .

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Just plugged it in, ran the simple Internet setup program that is bundled with Zaurus, and I'm working great.

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I have been waiting for this product for almost 3 months (it was supposed to have been shipped within 1 or 2 weeks)

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THE ORDER I GAVE A WEEK AGO WAS FOR Pretec CompactLan Card AN NOT FOR SOCKET 10/100 ETHERNET CARD YOU GUYS SEND ME. ITS NOT COMPATITABLE WITH MY GEAR...

"Red Flower with Black Splash on White Snap on Hard Skin Shell Protector Faceplate Cover Case for Pa

The back is really pretty and looks just like the picture and holds up really good. BUT the front brakes off super easy and once the little plastic piece brakes off the front cover doesn't go back on.

PDair P01 Black Leather Case for Nokia E7-00

This case is very good. High quality, well done, and perfectly fits my Nokia E7.

Earlier I have purchased vertical leather case by Cellet which was described as designed for Nokia E7 but in fact was too small to fit. This one from PDair is an excellent product. Belt clips is very solid and holds well.

This case is not as cheap as many others, but it's worth every penny.

This keeps Nokia-E7 very well. I am glad I found this product. I certainly recommend this product. It also fits my pocket and it does not show out much. I like it.

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I ordered this case with this seller, and it was shipped from Hong Kong, from some seller who declared it with 8 Dollars as a gift to me. Interesting. I filed a claim with this seller, because this is not acceptable. Plus the case that I received is in bad condition, smells horrible and does not fit the phone for what I ordered it.

Now, they want me to ship it back at my own costs. Cheaters. Do NOT order from this seller. My serious advice. I hope Amazon takes care of this ! I am so upset !

As for the case itself, it is too small for the phone and the phone needs to be squeezed in. If my phone rings, I would not be able to get it out without picking up/hanging up the phone. Either I was sent the wrong item or who knows what. But this was the biggest mistake of purchase I ever made on Amazon.

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I believe it's one of the better cases out there for the Nokia E7 phone. Previously owned a "flip" case where the phone snapped into the holder and you just flipped open the cover to reveal the phone. However, these added to the already big size of the phone and made it difficult to hold when you slid open the keypad to text. This case held the phone quite nice and when you tool out the phone you had access to all the features of the phone without being hampered by the case.

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3M Pocket Projector (3M MPro160)

• 32-lumens brightness for full 2-hour battery
• SVGA (800x600) resolution
• Compatible with: PC, DVD, iPod, iPhone, digital camera, smartphone, gaming consoles
• Two, .75W stero speakers
• Light source: LED-20,000 hours typical
• VGA input/output

The miniaturization of technology is amazing. With iPods and cell phones and netbooks I've always had ways to show neat stuff, but generally one at a time. Nobody likes to squint over a tiny screen or deal with viewing angles. Something small and battery powered that I can just stow in my bag and project on any wall would be pretty great. Unfortunately, this just does that and doesn't quite seem to be as magical as the PR makes it out to be.

As far as controls and circuit logic goes, it's pretty plain. Just a stand-by screen waiting for input, volume up and down, mute, battery check, and off. No color adjustment. No 16:9 / 4:3 toggle. No high-power mode when plugged through AC. I know it's small, but even a simple color adjustment could maximize the range of non-ideal surfaces you can confidently project onto.

The image itself is fair quality... even though this 2010 model has double the brightness of the earlier 3M models, you still really can't consider using this in a lit room. That "whether you're in a cafe .. or conference room" really is a bit of a stretch since the cafe isn't going to let you turn out the lights. One real annoying bit about the display is the rainbow effect that drives me crazy from early DLP televisions. Newer revisions are fast enough to minimize it, but the red/green/blue flicker is quite obvious with this. I would say that rules out most movement-heavy video sources, relegating it to the world of Powerpoints and camera shots. For those things it should do fine: the standby screen gives a nice big "3M" logo in the center and you could use that for a focus reference. As the machine stays on and heats up, though, it seems to lose focus a bit and it then becomes a little more difficult to readjust because the focus dial is now hot. Last part about the image quality: you should know it's a 800x600 display, so, even though you could, in theory, hook up a 1080i or 1280x960 WXGA source, it's all gonna get scaled down to 800x600 anyway. Ye shall find no forgiveness for small fonts.

Audio is another let down. The volume adjust only has 4 levels so there's not too much control over it. And even at it's highest it barely exceeds the noise of the cooling fan. While it's nice it has a headphone port for more substantial audio setups, I wouldn't see why you would route it through the projector unless you were forced to (by using HDMI or a dedicated iPod cable).

Now the stuff that doesn't matter quite so much. It comes with a lot of goodies. It comes with a flexing mini tripod with a standard mounting post, which means not only can you mount the projector on any standard tripod, you can also put anything on this mini-tripod. It also has a fold-down kickstand to raise it, so, it seems like a duplicated accessory. You get tons of plug adapters which are nice, a composite cable with gender adapters for each cable, and a VGA cable with audio tail. The connections are flexible but I much would have rather had real ports on the sides. There's room enough for composite, component, HDMI, and a 1:1 iPod cable. It wouldn't be neat and it would be scattered all around each edge, but at least I wouldn't have to carry an additional bushel of cables for devices I might want to plug in. Rounding up the accessories is a little carrying case that fits it just perfectly. Unfortunately, with the extra stuff you'll have to carry around, the utility of a carrying case that JUST fits the projector is a bit silly. I would have been fine with just a snug little lens cap. I think they included all this stuff because after being a little disappointed with what you get you might not want to throw more money at it for adapters and cables.

Look, I understand it's a POCKET projector, but really I don't think the technology is there yet. Seems the biggest limiting factor of the technology is the battery with a leisurely 2800 mAh. If it simply had more juice then they can crank up the brightness, color cycling frequency (less rainbow), and audio. It takes 3 hours to charge but lasts only 2 while operational. All this puts together a ho-hum product that will put off my fantasy of an impromptu drive-in movie date on the side of a tractor trailer in a parking lot for perhaps another 5 years.

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This projection device was made for business presentations, home slide shows and alike. It is not a replacement for a one thousand dollar high definition projection system, nor was it meant to be. I found it to be exactly as advertised.

WHAT YOU GET

a light, easily hand-held unit (weighing less than 11 ounces), with 32 lumen intensity and two very small(0.75watt)internal speakers.

a small, flexible, tripod

a case for the unit, which holds only the unit

a wall charger that is adaptable for US, EU, UK and AUS electricity plugs (please note that the voltage in these systems varies, so it is very important that this adapter be used as this insures that the correct voltage and current is delivered to the unit)

cables enabling one to use a computer (PC and MAC), camera, and phone as a source

HOW DID MY UNIT PERFORM? The device I received performed as advertised, specifically (based on using it with a lap-top PC, tested with PowerPoint presentations and movie DVDs):

The setup was very simple and straightforward. The unit only allows one to view the state of the battery and to change the sound level from Mute to one of four other levels. However, given the very low level of the sound coming from the projector, the speakers would probably always be used at the highest level unless earphones were being used (there is an earphone jack on the projector). There is a focusing wheel, but no other picture adjustment.

Fully charging the unit from a complete discharge took a little less than the three hours stated in the description of the device. While charging, a yellow/orange light is illuminated, which goes out when the unit is completely charged. The advertised run-time on battery is two hours, and I found that the unit lasted a bit longer than this. At 2 hr, 10 minutes, the green light denoting that the unit was on changed to flashing red, and this continued for another ten minutes before the projector turned off.

The resolution was adequate for a PowerPoint presentation using 24pt type. The output from my computer was only VGA, which is far from being HD. However, the text was fine, but not as sharp as it is on the computer screen. This is not very surprising, given that the image was enlarged over that viewed on a 15 inch screen.

I tested this using a darkened room in the daytime and the same room at night. I found that in the daytime, I got good results with a 36 inch to 48 inch diagonal picture. As expected, the picture was even sharper at less than 36 inches, but going to a very much smaller screen defeats the purpose of the device. At night, when the room was even darker, I got a reasonably good picture up to about 60 inches. The image quality was a function of the darkness of the room and how well aligned the projector was with the screen. I used both a white and beige poster board screens and found both acceptable. I was also able to use the room wall, which is beige and textured. The advertising material suggests that the picture can be used with up to 80 inches enlargement, but at this size there is a further degradation in the intensity and sharpness of the image. Again this is just simple physics as the intensity and sharpness of any image degrades as it is enlarged.

The sound for the unit comes from the earphone jack on my computer and as such it is very weak and tinny. I got better results by not plugging in the speakers on the projector and just using the speakers on the computer.

WHAT I DID NOT LIKE.

While the setup and use of the unit is straight-forward, I would have liked a functional manual. The unit comes with a thick booklet containing a Warranty and Safety Guide, but it is in 10 languages (English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and four Asian languages) and does not tell anything about the operation of the projector. There is also a Quick Start Guide in these ten languages, but most of the information is displayed pictorially. As I said, I found the setup and operation easy, but I still had a few questions. It was not clear how to hook up the sound, but I deduced that it had to be through the earphone jack as there was no other way to do this. I still do not know exactly how to read the battery indication icon, as I see little difference between fully charged, fully discharged, or anything in-between. This is not much of a problem since I plan to use the unit when it is fully charged and use it for less than 2 hours, or use it with the charger hooked up.

As noted, the speakers are weak and tinny and are not very useful for even a moderate size room.

HOW DO I RATE THIS DEVICE?

This is a five-star unit for its intended purpose, which is primarily for business presentations and home slide shows. It is very useful for a traveling businessman as it enables one to carry a presentation on a very small screen laptop or even a tablet and show it to a moderate size group. The unit can easily fit in a large laptop case or attaché case, along with the tripod, charger, and cables. I found that enlarging the image to three feet diagonally enabled me to clearly see 24pt type at 15-20 feet. The image was not perfectly sharp, but was very readable. If you are expecting a perfect image, you will be disappointed, but I found the image very acceptable for a business presentation. For my use of this device, the poor sound quality should not be a problem, as I have never used sound with my presentations. However, if you are showing a prepared presentation that employs sound, you will need better speakers. You could use auxiliary speakers with your laptop and forget about the internal speaker in the projector.

Please remember that this review is based solely on my tests with a laptop PC and on its suitability for business presentations. I give this projector five-stars for its suitability for this task, but this is NOT a good choice for showing a movie to a group of people, nor was it intended to be used as such. The image is only VGA and the sound is poor.

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Greetings,

I've had this handy projector for about two weeks now, and its great at what it does...but why?

WHAT IT DOES:

Projects a low-powered image onto a wall. Room needs to be pretty dark for the image to be at all visible.

WHAT IT DOES NOT DO:

Project an image when there is any real light in a room

WHY USE IT?

Fun, and little else.

This is not a practical projector for business purposes (i.e., when you have a client to impress). It IS a fun device for hotel rooms to watch a movie on the wall, but I would not drag the device with me in an overnight bag due to size and weight issues.

PROS:

Good battery

Reasonably light

Good price

truly portable

CONS:

So low powered (30 lumens, when a standard projector is 2000-3000 lumens) that it is impractical for anything other than a dark room

Speakers are basically uselesss; most laptops or netbooks will have better sound

CONCLUSION:

A product in search of a need. Think hard before you buy it as to what application it will address.

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First of all, this little device displays a very large, clear picture. The color fades out a little if you go larger than about a 6 foot by 4 foot projection, but anything smaller is bright and clear in a dark room. It would be nice to be able to adjust the color for different colored walls, but there is no way to do that, only a dial to adjust the focus. Also, the volume is so low it's not practical to use it when trying to watch a video.

I have three kids and they like to watch each other play computer games, but it drives the player crazy to have someone looking over their shoulder to watch their laptop. They solved that problem by using this projector so the other two can watch it on the wall and the player has his laptop all to himself. We also use it to watch Amazon Prime Instant Videos, but for that, we use speakers, otherwise you wouldn't be able to hear the movies.

It comes with a storage bag, a flexible tripod, all the wires you need to connect it to various devices and power adaptors for different countries.

I really like this portable projector for a couple of reasons.

First, its portability is just awesome. Nowadays regular projectors are getting smaller and smaller, but they are still heavy and bulky to carry around, which is inconvenient, because it is as if I'm carrying an extra laptop. However, with this tiny projector, I don't feel that way. It feels more as if I'm carrying an extra smart phone, just a bit thicker than an iPhone. This pocket projector also comes with a nice carrying pouch for your convenience.

Second, the connection. This projector comes with all kinds of connection cables; I did not have to worry about buying any additional cables, which often times is the case with other gadgets. My favorite is the iphone connector cable that worked great with 3GS, iPhone 4, and iPad. The projector worked immediately with photo, movie, air video, streamtome, YouTube, and a whole bunch of other video apps on my iPhone and iPad. Now with these two small gadgets, I have discovered many creative ways of using this projector for fun or professional business. For instance, a wedding photographer (which is profession which could benefit from this projector) can set up this projector easily on any white wall to showcase the night's captures. And again its portability lessens the weight of a photographers' gear. I also can't wait for the iOS 5's airplay mirroring feature. I am not sure how it will work out with this projector yet, but I can imagine it will be awesome if it does (maybe via apple tv 2).

Third, it is simple and user-friendly, which is great. Lack of settings or simplicity can be annoying for some people, but not all of us have to be technically bright. All I had to do to operate this projector was simply plug, turn on the power, focus, and watch. The fact that this projector is easy to use makes the gadget unbelievably likable.

As for cons: Things I don't like about this projector, however, are: sound quality, lack of settings, mini tripod that it includes, and fan noise. I did not expect great sound quality out of this tiny box, but fortunately, there is an audio out on the projector if I needed better sound.

Also, the tripod connecting hole is not in the center of the weight; therefore, unless you have a better tripod than the one it comes with, it's not too easy to get the projector the way you want. I recommend the $15 Joby golliapod.

Lastly, the fan noise is there. It is not super loud, but it's there. I noticed once the fan started running, within a minute or so, it buried under the movie audio and I forgot about it after that.

There are little things I might want to mention such as the product not including a lens cover, battery life lasts about two hours, which was enough for me, and no keystone control; however I can't have all the features I want in this small projector. Rather, I put it this way : it's awesome that this tiny projector makes huge video screen out of my empty white wall.

GTMax Clear Transparent Crystal LCD Screen Protector + 3 Colors Universal Stylus( Black/ Red/ Silver

This product was ok, the Screen protector was bent when i got the pkg. should have added a little protection to the product before sending....

I needed a new screen protector and stylus, and this was an excellent value!

I was a little disappointed though, the LCD Screen Cleaner Strap that looks like a little jacket in the photo, turned out to be a small piece of blue screen cleaner cloth. No big deal. I'd buy this again.

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I rarely have success putting these screen protectors on without getting dust on the inside even after just cleaning it. A fault on my end of course but would be wonderful if could make them anti-static or something..but maybe that's what helps them stick so nicely.

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I gave this to my child as a holiday gift and it works great for the price. The price was killer!

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GreatShield Chalkee Kids Stylus for Kindle Fire (all models), Pink

It is the size of a piece of sidewalk chalk (hence the name), but it works great. My daughter loves using it on her Kindle Fire HD.

I was originally quite satisfied with this purchase, even to the point of foregoing my typical habit of observing a product in use for a while before reviewing it. After a couple of hours of seeing it drawing on a tablet, it appeared to be exactly what was needed other than a little residue on the screen.

This a very nice stylus out of the box, sized appropriately for young hands or those with dexterity challenges. For a toddler (and I would say anyone up to a preschool aged child) there is one fatal flaw. The tip of the device is hollow. Because there is play in the rubberized portion which contacts the screen, friction is created with the underlying metal tip. After a few days of light use, this device now has an exposed metal part and is essentially broken.

It is not being returned because it appears to work as it was designed to. Unfortunately it just simply was not up to normal use by a small child who has not mastered the art of "gentle". 4 stars reduced to 1 for the fragility of the business end of the device, which should in practice be the most resilient component of the product.

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My grand-daughter loves it!! Her little hands are able to manuever the Chalkee very easily. She was very happy to receive it.

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The Chalkee Stylus is for adults too. I am an adult with hand problems. Also available in Blue GreatShield Chalkee Kids Stylus for Kindle Fire (all models), Blue

I can rarely hold anything in a "pencil-grip" with the pencil, pen, crayon, or stylus going between my fingers. I can easily use the Chalkee while holding it in a "stabbing" grip such as a young child would use for coloring with a crayon (especially on walls!).

I can't grip anything tightly, yet the Chalkee works well for me in a loose grip.

In My Artwork

For any stylus currently on the market, the way to draw fine lines is to use a drawing app. I use the Chalkee Stylus with an app called "Paint Joy" by Bejoy Mobile Paint Joy Movie Your Drawing

"Paint Joy is free (as of February 2013). You can use it on Kindle Fire and on other Android devices.

Go to the Amazon Store called Apps for Android in order to see other apps for drawing, some free. Personally, I like Paint Joy the best. I am able to choose from a wide selection of lines and then tailor the thickness and how opaque the line will be from the software. Remember, no matter which stylus you use, you are going to get the same line you choose. When the software is controlling the thickness of the line, the Chalkee performs fine.

While Playing Games

With the Chalkee stylus, I play games on my Kindle Fire and on my NOOK Tablet: Match 3 games such as Treasures of Montezuma 2 Lite by Big Fish Games; card games such as Hearts and Solitaire; and Memory/Concentration games.

I'm not very interested in Angry Birds, but I can easily play it with the Chalkee stylus.

Many Hidden Object games and many Mahjong games are not well-suited to Tablets due to the small screen and due to the software of games not offering the selection of line thickness that Paint Joy does for my artwork.

My Confession: Please don't give in to temptation the way that I sometimes do and stay too long at the fair, so to speak.

Take frequent breaks from using any tapping, swiping, or other motions with your hands whether with a stylus or with your fingers and thumbs. Even perfect hands, even very young hands can ache, hurt sharply the way a nerve hurts, swell, become stiff by staying too long at the tablet (or cellphone or ereader or other device) without frequent breaks.

PRICE: I've had my Chalkee Stylus for several months, using it many hours during a week, including to turn pages in ebooks I'm reading.

I have accidentally dropped it from a height of 4 feet or more on to carpet and tile about once a week. I have dropped it out of my car on to a parking lot a few times. I have dropped it on to tables and desks and counters.

Not a scratch or dent, no damage to the tip either.

IF I hadn't needed the extra size and lightness of the Chalkee, then I would have bought any old inexpensive stylus and held it in a pencil-grip and saved some money for other things. But I am just thankful that the Chalkee stylus is available and doesn't cost more. I consider any purchase over USD$20 as "Would I rather have pizza delivered?" As much as I love pizza deliveries, I will give up however many I need to when it comes time to buy another Chalkee stylus.

Want GreatShield Chalkee Kids Stylus for Kindle Fire (all models), Pink Discount?

This little shalkee is great to use on my Kindle. I've had other types but this one appears to be sturdier.

Classic Straight USB Cable for the Palm palm Zire 72s with Power Hot Sync and Charge capabilities -

• Simultaneously synchronize and recharge your device; 2 in 1 USB data cable
• Professionally engineered and built; full lifetime warranty
• TipExchange Technology protects investment providing means to upgrade charger tips at lower cost
• Removable tips allow cables to be used for other devices ( Palm palm Zire 72s Tip Included )
• Soft pliable cable with high current carrying guage internal wire for better performance

Because the Palm Zire 72 has not been made for several years, it is difficult to find suitable replacement cables for this model. This one was shipped fast, arrived in perfect condition, and works great.

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Thought Out MagStay Uni, MagSafe Power Connection Lock

• No disconnects while using your laptop on your lap or other casual positions
• Great for those no battery or dead battery circumstances
• Store in ethernet port or attach to power cord
• Viewport to see charge light indicator
• All unibody aluminum construction 13" MacBook and 13"/15"/17" MacBook Pro models (Late 2008~current)

I bought this because I used to be a PC user who was used to the standard plugs on PC notebooks. I use my notebook on my lap all the time and sometimes while lying down... so the plug kept tipping out of the side of the notebook... so I bought this neat little piece of plastic that holds me plug in. It still allows the plug to be unhooked from the computer without removing the plastic piece... but will hold it in there pretty firmly (so, if you trip over the cord, it does keep it plugged in... so be careful as it defeats Apple's careful planning for this exact situation).

The only downside I have for the product is the price of the actual product and shipping. Seriously, it is shipped in a small envelope and could easily be shipped for less than $3. And considering it's just a piece of plastic, the product and shipping should cost less than the item by itself. Yes, I know R&D and marketing cost quite a bit... but $18 plus almost $6 for shipping. That's a bit much. Sorry..

Buy Thought Out MagStay Uni, MagSafe Power Connection Lock Now

Don't get me wrong, this item, as stated in the title, does what it is supposed to do. However, when you get the item, it is easily recognizable that said item could not have cost more than a dollar to manufacture. They could have at least made it out of more durable material, because it feels vulnerable to breaking in half.

Sony PEGA-SA10 Audio Adapter for Clie PEG-T/SJ Series

• Turn your Clie Handheld into an MP3 player
• Play MP3 files stored on Memory Stick media
• Watch video clips with stereo sound with gMovie video player
• Includes headphones
• Compatible with PEG-T615C and PEG-T415 models

The Audio Adapter for the PEG T Series is identical in function to the Audio Adapter for the PEG S Series. The included software is AudioPlayer v1.0 which is a decent base software but it does not allow multi-tasking (ie. playing music in the background while doing other stuff). But there are many upgrades to AudioPlayer v2.2 which adds a Bass function and background play. This upgrade can be found on various sites and installed on your Clie (Note: The upgrade cannot be installed normally through the Install program but has to be instead installed USING a memory stick).

The hardware is very durable and light and the cords are very long (which can be both a good thing and a bad thing). Also, the product comes with included headphones (regular generic headphone plugs) but ANY headphones that you already own will work.

I recommend this adapter to anyone with a Clie that does not come with built-in MP3 playback and that wants to listen to MP3s through their Clie.

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This is a must have for any Clie handheld user. Except NR NX and SJ-33 ... It produces crystal clear sound and good bass without draining much energy either. And with the fact of the background music feature, this is a must have! [local website]

Read Best Reviews of Sony PEGA-SA10 Audio Adapter for Clie PEG-T/SJ Series Here

I bought this must have item for a T625C, I own a CLIE SL10 wich cannot use this item.

Well, I wanted to use the PEGA-SA10 on my CLIE so I put hands on it, after few days I get working the PEGA-SA10 on the SL10 with AudioPlayer 1.0.1, tested also avjmp3 (working perfectly but still alfa), tested AudioPlayer 2.2.x but I got troubles with the vumemeter and background music.

Wat I did basically is to install some libraries from the ROM of the T625C in my SL10.

If you like this item and you have a CLIE SL10 you can download the hack ...

With the hack you can run AudioPlayer but the adapter is needed in order to hear the music.

Hope you enjoy.

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This is a great product for people who have Sony Palm Pilots. I currently use it for my SJ 22 and it works well. My only complaint is with Amazon.com. They expected that it would take a maximum of two weeks (it was on back-order) to recieve the package then another five days to ship it. After the two weeks came and went, they sent me an e-mail saying that it would take another 1 1/2 to 2 weeks before they recieved it then four or five days before I actually recieved it. Making it a total of 1 month from the time I ordered it til the time I got it! I cancelled my order with them and purchased it through sonystyle.com (luckily I had a 25% off coupon so it was the same price as Amazon) and got it within 6 days.

rooCASE Netbook Carrying Bag for Acer Aspire AOD255-2331 10.1 inch Netbook Black - Classic Series Bl

This is a great bag for netbooks. It has plenty of pockets for your accessories. It is well made and protects you netbook so you don't have to worry about your netbook or accessories getting crushed or damaged. Highly recommended bag.

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3 in 1 Stylus for Palm Tungsten T5/TX

This company is awesome. I ordered the product and it arrived within 2 weeks, well before the stated 30 days the site advised. I would definitely order form them again.3 in 1 Stylus for Palm Tungsten T5/TX

Have not received the item and it has been over a month...would suggest not ordering from this company...do not order from this company they are not located in the US and I doubt I will receive the item.

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BoxWave Trignetic Capacitive Stylus for the Apple iPad (3rd Generation) - Magnetic iPad 3 Stylus - T

• Capacitive Stylus tips works for all capacitive touch screen devices
• Provides greater accuracy and less fingerprints
• Triangular design for easy grip
• Rubber thumb pad
• Magnetic to stick on metal objects for storage

I got one of these as a gift for Christmas to use with my iPad. I loved it so much that I bought 4 more for some of my family members and they are also impressed. This little tool makes using any electronic device that has a touch screen so much easier. It works with my phone and iPod as well. It also keeps the screen clean. If you don't have one, get one. We all love ours.

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Hewlett Packard Jornada 540 Color Pocket PC

• Sharp 12-bit color LDC screen, 4,096 colors
• Includes MP3 player for listening to digital music, audiobooks, and news
• Check e-mail and surf the Web
• Manage your schedule with Pocket Outlook and your finances with Pocket Money
• What's in the box: Jornada 540, Stylus, Hardcover, Serial cable, AC adapter, Quick Start Guide, Jornada CD-ROM
• HP documentation pack, Microsoft ActiveSync

This is a follow-up to my report of my Jornada 540 connector damaging both my USB cable mating connector and serial cable mating connector. The socket on the Jornada had a very sharp edge that gouged pins on both cable connectors and made them useless. I have since found that some other Jornada's have had this problem. While HP has no toll free customer or tech support, I was on hold for only 1 minute and on the phone for 15 minutes. I still think that the support should be free for in-warranty products, but the rest of the service was excellent. The customer support person (Bill) was very helpful and gave me options for resolution of the problem (entirely my choice). FedEx picked up the package at my door and delivered the repaired product back to me 4 business days later. The tech (Greg Liston) called me to tell me that my Jornada had been repaired, but that that location did not have replacement USB cables. He offered to send me a USB cradle as a replacement, and I of course agreed. It appears that this is still the HP of old that gave them one of the best reputations in the industry.

For my purposes (financial analysis on Excel, tracking expenses on Money, reading books and AvantGo downloads and loading street maps for vacations), this is the best choice of any non-keyboard handheld. The iPAQ is probably better for games because of it's speed, but I do not use it for that. The cover and metal case make the Jornada more rugged and it looks like a professional tool instead of a toy. I would buy it again. The ability to use CF cards without an adaptor is important if you want to load many maps or music. The ability to close the cover and turn off the screen is also a plus to listen to music; just carry the Jornada in your pocket. You probably couldn't go very wrong with the iPAQ, but I know you can't go wrong with the Jornada.

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I bought a Jornada 540 over the iPAQ and Casio because of the apparent ruggedness and HP reliability reputation. The built in cover is a plus to anyone who likes to carry the device in their pocket and the rubber grips on the sides work well for securely holding the Jornada during use. Everything worked well until I started having problems syncing with the USB cable that I purchased. I noticed that one of the pins (end that connects to the Jornada) was recessed and didn't know if this was the problem. I tried the included serial cable and it worked fine, until the same pin got pushed in. I discovered that there was a sharp edge on the mating contact on the Jornada connector that gouged the connector plug pin. This caught and pushed the pins back. So much for HP quality. To make things worse, I also discovered that HP has no online technical support and phone support is not toll free. At least Compaq has online and toll free phone support. I'm not sure I would buy the Jornada again after discovering the lack of online or toll free support for a product under warranty. Except for this problem, I like the Jornada.

Read Best Reviews of Hewlett Packard Jornada 540 Color Pocket PC Here

I finally upgraded my Sharp Wizard OZ-9500 organizer,(I know its old!), to a Pocket PC. I shopped and read reviews for months before I bought it... and it's probably the best purchase I've made in a while. Rather than repeat everyone else's comments, I'll ditto them and add the following:

-It's not a Palm, it is truly a Pocket PC. -I waited for the iPaq, but didn't like the add-on CF port which added size and $$ to the unit. Casio was too bulky. -HP works flawlessly, Active Sync was easy to install and works by itself. Perfect sync all the time. -Bought a Sandisk 48MB card which is a great option when considering MP3's and Windows Media.

The only negative is finding accessories in the store... You'll find things on the net, but things like leather cases, you really want to touch it in a store and try it out. Hopefully this will improve in the near future.

Peace

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I got my Jornada and it really blew me away. As an owner of a Palm VII and V, my Jornada really just made them look stupid. It comes with Word, Excel, Money, Outlook...and that's just scratching the surface. It can play MP3s and, with the right software, even movies. Granted its short on memory; I strongly recommend buying more. I bought a 128MB CompactFlash card (maybe an overkill) and it doubles as an awesome MP3 player. I always have it in my pocket, so I just plug in my headphones and I walk around campus with music.

I downloaded Microsoft Transcriber (which is free) and I can't say enough about it. 10 times faster and easier than using graffiti, you just write as normal. When you're done it converts your writing to text. It even reads cursive! I have pretty mediocore penmanship and it can read things that even other humans cannot.

It has a built-in microphone and speaker. It comes with PeaceMaker to exchange contacts and business cards with Palms. It has Internet Explorer so it can view regular web pages; not just preformatted AvantGo pages. I like the flat stylus better than the skinny Palm one...its wider, so you can grip it more like a normal pen than a toothpick.

Here are the downsides: like every color screen, its hard to see in daylight, though there are preset brightness settings to help you out a bit. It needs more memory, so get a compactflash card. The serial cable is a bit slow; a USB cradle or cable will save you a LOT of time, especially if you transfer a lot of MP3s or web pages. It WILL crash every once in awhile. Its really not a big deal. All you do is take your stylus and tap the button on the back. 3 seconds later its up and running again.

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It's obvious Microsoft wants to take back some of the PDA market share. The new pocket pc offers many major improvements over past WindowsCE models which make it the #1 choice for the tech-savy person. The Palm IIIc is about the same price yet it includes half the memory, speed, and features of the Jornada.

Adesso Mini USB Keyboard with Embedded Numeric Keypad (ACK-595UW)

• 88/89 keys keyboard with embedded numeric keypad and 12 dedicated function keys
• Fully function of 104/105 keys
• Designed for Windows

This keyboard is the right size, right color, and has the right feel. It is one of the few portable keyboards that extends the space bar far enough to the right to allow for easy thumb use. I have only one complaint: the function, control, etc. keys on the space bar row are too small and close together. That may be essential for Windows users, but it would be nice to have a mini-keyboard like this configured for my Mac, which requires fewer keys. Also, it may not be necessary to have all the keys duplicated on both sides of the space bar on such a small keyboard, since most users will use the left keys most of the time. Other than that, it's a great item and I'm happy with it.

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eForCity Black Rubber Coated Case Compatible with Palm Pixi + Car Charger + USB Data / Charging Cabl

• Included 1x Black Rubber Coated Case for Palm Pixi + Car Charger + USB Data / Charging Cable + Reusable Screen Protector
• Material: hard plastic case with rubber coating
• Type: Non-OEM / Aftermarket
• LED charging indication
• Accessory only, phone not included

this is a great phone case. very durable. i use the car charger some, but not oftennever had any problems with it. the screen protector is really great too except that i didn't clean the screen well enough before putting it on so there were air bubbles that i couldn't really fix. that was my fault. usb data cable is also great to keep in my purse when i travel. great purchase overall.

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the charger and cable did not work, the screen protector did not fit and was impossible to get the bubbles out from under it! Wishing I would have paid attention and bought something that worked. :( Not worth the shipping to return it.

Read Best Reviews of eForCity Black Rubber Coated Case Compatible with Palm Pixi + Car Charger + USB Data / Charging Cabl Here

I'm so proud of this purchase. I really like everything included in the package. And it was an amazing price.

Acer Aspire V5-571P-6407 15.6-Inch Touchscreen Laptop (Silky Silver)

• Intel Core i3-3227U Processor (1.9 GHz, 3 MB Cache)
• 6 GB DDR3 RAM
• 500 GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive
• 15.6-Inch Screen, Intel HD Graphics 4000
• Windows 8, 5-hour battery life

Appearance4/5 The laptop looks great in its silver plastic. Although its plastic, you couldn't tell it apart from metal from a few feet away. Overall, it looks sleek and thin.

Construction4/5 It feels very solid with no creaks or loose parts. The plastic body does give in a little bit when it's pushed down really hard, but other than that, very good build.

Operating System5/5 I personally love Windows 8. It's extremely intuitive once you get the hang of it. It's fast and fluid, and the laptop comes pre-loaded with W8.

Touch Screen4/5 The touch screen is great! It's very responsive and has a 10-point touch infrastructure. It's easy to pinch and zoom.

Screen Resolution3/5 Screen resolution is average for a laptop of this midrange price. It's nothing spectacular, but it delivers and is good enough.

Features5/5 This laptop is feature packed. It has a backlit keyboard, no-button touchpad, touchscreen, bluetooth, wi-fi, hotspot connectivity, optical drive, numerical pad, you name it.

Performance3.8/5Performance is above average with a core i3 processor and 6GB of memory. The hard drive has plenty of space as well. Boot times are relatively low, but this laptop does lack behind other laptops, such as the Acer M5.

Speakers3/5The speakers sound VERY thin and tinny. Toshiba's Harmon Kardan speakers on its Satellite Series sound far better. But they're good enough for the average listener. Bluetooth will allow you to add your own wireless speakers, which is nice.

Keyboard/Mousepad4/5Many reviewers give the keyboard a lot of smack because the keys are a bit small. But even with my large hands, I found the keyboard to be exceedingly comfortable and good for long use. It's also backlit, which makes it easy to type in dimly lit areas. The mousepad is amazing and extremely responsive-feels like it was taken right out of a $1000+ UltraBook.

Battery3/5It's average. I get around 4 hours under normal use. 3-3.5 under heavy use.

Customer Support5/5Acer's website solves every single problem that you could possibly have. It is full of updates and patches and drivers. The support team is also very helpful.

OVERALLAwesome laptop and definitely recommend to anyone! 4/5

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Tuff-Luv Vintage Leather 'Embrace Pro' case cover & Stand (with Sleep Function) for Apple iPad Mini

• Embrace Pro' book-style case handmade in 'Vintage' genuine leather: brown
• Includes an integrated kick-stand to hold this case in portrait - perfect for FaceTime, and landscape for video watching
• Recessed band which allows you to hold and read your Apple iPad mini one-handed
• Stasis feature puts your iPad mini to sleep when case is closed
• This Tuff-Luv product qualifies for our lifetime guarantee against faulty workmanship / materials – conditions apply

I love that this product has a vertical and a horizontal stand. I love the hand strap and the leather. The only thing I don't like is that it's hard to access the corner iPad features like the Web back button in the upper left corner.

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Great case, gives the option to stand up portrait or landscape and ties in the functionality of a hand strap. The leather is good quality and makes the case classy.

I don't use a stylus with my mini, but there is an elastic loop to hold one.

Panasonic BL-C210A Internet Security Camera

• Image Sensor: 1/4" CMOS, 320,000 pixel
• 3x Digital Zoom
• Up to 30 Frames per second
• Max. Video Resolution: 640 x 480 (VGA)
• 82pan, 42tilt F2.8 Lens brightness

Bought this camera through one of Amazon's Gold Box Deals for $130. For the price, it's a great camera. This is my second Panasonic network camera. A few years ago I bought their BL-C1A model Panasonic Network Camera and Pet Cam (BLC1A). The BL-C210A is a much nicer camera. The picture image is several times better, especially when motion is involved. You have the option of pan and tilt to look around. You can disable the indicator lights on the camera that lets you know the camera is on. You can also disable or override the privacy mode button on top of the camera. You can configure the camera to email you a picture when it detects motion in your house. Now how's that for peace of mind while you're away? And my favorite is that the camera is powered through the network cable which eliminates the need for a power outlet near the camera. The camera has a threaded mounting hole in the back that can be used to mount the camera to a standard tripod or an optional wall mount. The cube design is nice because it allows you to just set the camera on a shelf or table. The camera is light, so a tug on the network cable can bring it crashing down if it's not secured.

There are limitations with the camera. If you want to view an entire room, you'll need to mount the camera in a corner. It can only pan 41 degrees to the left or right, 10 degrees up and 32 degrees down. The camera is powered through the network cable, but it doesn't support the industry standard PoE. Luckily it comes with its own power injector. You'll need to purchase two network cables to use this camera. One cable connects the camera to the power injector and the other connects the power injector to your router/switch. The cable between the camera and power injector must be shorter than 98 feet. The box says you can only view still images from a cell phone. The website says you can't listen to audio with a cell phone. I haven't tried either. The software works pretty good, although I have found a few minor bugs in it. You have the option of viewing multiple cameras on one screen, but the max resolution for multiple cameras is only 320x240 and not the 640x480 max camera resolution. You don't need a computer onsite to use the camera, but you'll need one to do the initial setup.

Panasonic has nicer cameras than this model, but the prices also get outrageous. $185 (current Amazon price) is not bad for one camera. But after you buy one, you'll want more so you can monitor the rest of the house. That's when $185 per camera starts adding up. If the price drops again, I'll definitely buy another.

Note: The zoom function is not obvious. There are buttons on the screen to do everything but zoom. I discovered you can right-click on the top half of the video to zoom in and right-click on the lower half to zoom out. You can also use the wheel on your mouse to zoom in and out.

Update (March 9, 2010): I did a little research on the camera model (BL-C111A) that the BL-C210A replaced. This camera has a larger CMOS sensor but the same resolution. The old model can pan 50 degrees to the left or right while this model can only pan 41 degrees. The old model can tilt down 40 degrees while this model can only tilt down 32 degrees. The old model had a 10x digital zoom while this model only has a 3x digital zoom. The digital zoom is not very good. If you have a need to zoom in on objects, you'll want a camera with an optical zoom. Some new features added are SSL data encryption for secure viewing over the Internet, power through the network cable, H.264 video compression, and the ability to operate the camera with some models of Panasonic flat screen TV's.

I bought another camera from Amazon to monitor the back door and kitchen area. It comes with mounting holes on the back of the camera so you can slide it down on a couple of screw heads. It frustrates me that you can't mount it flat on a wall and pan 90 degrees to the left and right. I ended up purchasing mounting brackets VideoSecu Ceiling Mount Bracket for CCTV CCD Box Body Pro Camera 2-6 inch Adjustable MCB1w 1A2 so I can mount the cameras in a corner. Again, I really like the ability to power this camera through the network cable. I have the cameras and my network equipment all plugged into the same UPS. This way I can still monitor my house in the event of a power failure. If you're looking for a camera to monitor the baby's room, this is not it. You can't see much with only a night light on in the room. You're better off with a dedicated baby camera. We've had good luck with a baby camera made by Astak Astak 2.4 GHz Pan & Tilt Baby Camera with 2.5" LCD Color Handheld Monitor with Night Vision. It can pan and tilt to see the whole room, can see very well in the dark even with no lights on, and comes with a handheld color monitor. The monitor eats batteries so we just turn it on when we hear something or want to check up on the kids. It also comes with an AC adaptor for continuous monitoring. Another reason why a baby camera works better for monitoring babies than this camera is that you don't have to fire up your computer in the middle of the night to see if your child is awake. A word of warning, many baby camera's operate on the same frequencies as your wireless network. You might need to play around with the channels on both the baby camera and your wireless network until they don't interfere with each other.

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A year or so ago, we installed an Ademco burglar alarm which we found we could not hook up to a monitoring service because we had dropped our landline. There are services that will monitor your alarm system through the cell phone network but they are expensive. So I decided to make a project out of this. I would find a way to monitor the alarm system with zero net monthly cash outlays. I spent idle hours wondering how I might cobble together some homemade piece of equipment that can capture the alarm signal off the Ademco and fire a programmable event on one of our computers through a USB port or something like that. Tricky stuff. Iffy.

Then I discovered the fact that this ip camera (as well as many others) have e-mailing functionality. After a little research I bought a couple and they are now in service. I connected the bell circuit on my Ademco, through a relay switch, to one of the two open alarm circuits on the Panasonic and now whenever the Ademco sends an alarm, we receive an e-mail with an alarm message plus, as a bonus, a photo of what the camera is seeing at the time. When we get the e-mail, we can go online either with a computer or our cell phone and see what is going on in the house. If the situation merits, we can then call the police or we can ask the neighbor to peek over. This is intelligent alarm monitoring as opposed to the automated kind you get when your alarm system sends a signal to the monitoring station every time the system is tripped for whatever reason (I read that almost all reports sent to the police by these systems are false and are placed on low priority). I am going to document this system and send it to my insurance agent asking for a premium discount in line with the standard discount you get with automated monitoring. We have achieved our goal of a no-cost alarm notification system.

Two very good features of this unit are that you do not have to have a running computer to make it work and it receives its power over the ethernet cable. As long as your run is less than 98 feet, you can snake cable through your walls to your heart's content without worrying about how you will power the camera.

Since this camera has, in addition to its ability to take a signal from your burglar alarm, its own internal motion-heat-sound detectors, you could also use it as a sort of burglar alarm all by itself. But it does not have the capability to act as a perimeter alarm as would be the case if you have an alarm system with door and/or window sensors. And it does not turn on sirens to 1.) wake you up, 2.) scare the intruders away or 3.) if they are not scared away, heighten the level of insanity that is already going on in their minds.

Like the others, I find that the camera does not perform well in low light. But I have several lamps in our home that are hooked up to X-10 switches. These X-10s are programmed through the burglar alarm to turn on when the alarm goes off. I have not tested them with the camera yet but I am hoping that they will provide enough light to let us see what is going on in the event of an alarm.

There is one glaring vulnerability in all of this: your camera gives you notification and visual access through the internet; your house connects to the internet through a wire; burglars know how to snip a wire with a wire cutters and the more experienced burglars are going to do this before they attempt to break in. I circumvented this problem by changing my ISP. My new ISP connects the internet to my house wirelessly and that fixes that. If you do not have the wireless option, however, this issue needs to be addressed. Many alarm systems now can be fitted with an auxiliary backup device that calls you and/or the police through the cell phone network if your wire is cut. They cost extra both for the equipment and the ongoing use of the cell phone network.

We got a lot of value for our money here. It proved to be an elegant solution to our problem and added many more features to boot. I love gadgets and my heart sings whenever I see it up in the corner of my living room ceiling with its lights blinking down on me. What other people might think is 'beyond the scope of this review'.

ON PANASONIC SUPPORT: I'm not going to lower the rating on this camera because I think it is a fine product. But I will say that Panasonic support falls far short of the mark. In trying to get the camera viewable over the internet, I talked to 4 different representatives each of whom offered a different solution all of which were wrong. I wrote them a letter a week ago with no reply so far. So I did what I should have initially done which is to learn a little networking, specifically port forwarding. After my research and armed with some actual knowledge, I set up the cameras properly and they are now humming along. I can credit the reviewer who praised Panasonic support. However, that was not my experience. All these people had to do was to ask the right questions and then tell me what to do to configure the system properly. It took me, an amateur, a couple of hours to figure it out on my own and yet all four of these professionals failed to come up with the correct solution. And yes, I am fully aware that this is partly a result of a lack of committment on the part of management and not entirely the fault of the individual on the other end of the phone. 1-14-2011 UPDATE: Yesterday, I came across a puzzling issue having to do with sending sensor messages from the camera to our Panasonic Viera TV. Since I already know how good they are at fielding support requests over the telephone and through the postal service, I thought it might be interesting to send them an e-mail message via their website. The model of the camera was stated in the e-mail by way of the e-mail setup fields and I gave the model of the TV in the body of the e-mail. Later that day, I received this reply which I quote in full: 'Thank you for your inquiry. What is the model # to your cameras? If you have any additonal questions or concerns, please contact our technical support hotline at . Thank you for choosing Panasonic.' Additional questions indeed.

SETUP NOTE: If your network sits behind two in-line routers (one connected directly to the internet through the phone or cable TV wires, the 'outside' router; the other sitting between the outside router and the LAN: the 'inside' router) and you are having a hard time of it, identify both the public and private IP address of the inside router. Do a little googling to get yourself squared away on what the public and private IP addresses of a router are. Then, when you are setting up port forwarding on the outside router, you need to forward requests to the public not the private IP address of the inside router. Then use the private IP address of the inside router as the Default Gateway in your camera settings. There are other pitfalls but this particular one was my mine.

Read Best Reviews of Panasonic BL-C210A Internet Security Camera Here

I would change the rating to 2 and would not recommend purchasing if you need LOW Light like a nursery. I absolutely do not recommend this or the 230a for a nursery!

Review updated on 2-27-2010. I will start by saying this was a very difficult to set-up camera on a Mac using Snow Leopard with VM Fusion and Parallels. I was not able to get it to work on VM Fusion and Windows 7 and eventually switched to Parallels with Windows XP I finally got it to work. I also have Trendnet TV-IP422W which was simple to configure.

Pro's

1. Comparing the picture in bright light using Parallels, IE and H.264 the picture is AMAZING. I will use the word 'Shocking' to describe how clear the picture is. Compared to Trendnet it is laughable how clearer the Panasonic picture is.

2. Web interface is great and is not limited for Mac users like Trendnet

3. The P/T is Very quick and much quieter compared to Trendnet

4. Unit size is very nice and the POE is well thought out.

Con

1. Night 'vision' is completely worthless. In the nursery with only a nightlight the TV-IP422W switches to a b&w view and we can see basic outlines, blanket vs child is a bit of a challenge. However, turn on the night vision IR's and you can. No switch to the panasonic setting next to the Trendnet, NOTHING. When I say nothing I mean, you can't see anything just a black room. No joke!

2. The range of the P/T is very limited and I haven't figured out how to zoom.

3. It appears H.264 compression improvements only work on IE and Windows. You do not see a benefit with H.264 on FireFox or Mac browsers.

4. I found it very difficult to setup on a Mac and feel free to leave comments if you are having trouble and I will see if I can help walk you through what I did

I received a 4 pack of Synology surveillance License and it works great. You can P/T and detection appears to work. I'm using the latest beta firmware on a Synology DS 409.

Final

Bright and I mean bright light the picture is amazing. Dusk the picture is not as good as the Trendnet and in very low light there is NO picture! If you have the need for Low Light pass on this camera! I also bought a 230a wireless and I used the same approach and was easy to set up and will put details in comment response. I'm returning the 230a as it doesn't work in low light of a nursery.

Want Panasonic BL-C210A Internet Security Camera Discount?

Has been playing with this network camera for 3 days and here's my opinions:

1. Setup is easy. As long as your router support DHCP, it's just a matter of popping the setup CD and click on 'Camera discovery'.

2. Good built-in software. I have another Panasonic BL-C111A network camera and both of them can show up in the same page.

3. Need two ethernet cables separately: One goes to your switch and one goes to the camera. They both connect to a proprietary PoE injector.

4. Tons of features: Motion trigger, Time trigger, Upload images to ftp, send images by email, remote access, etc.

Let's talk about the image quality, as it's probably the thing most people are interested in learning. In short, if you need a camera for mission critical monitoring (business location, identify a thief, etc), this is probably not your camera. The sensor of this camera is only 1/4" CMOS, which means it will be performing badly in low light situations. If you are looking for a camera for your business, then get a camera that have sensor size of at least 1/3", those cameras cost at least $400 or more. However, for basic monitoring, or use it as a gadget, then I think it should be fine.

Comparing my older BL-C111A and this camera, I came to the conclusion they perform almost identical, i.e. suck in lowlight, decent in bright light conditions. For the BL-C210A though, the overall image is sharper but it also gives a lot of 'mosquitoes' noise. My older BL-C111A has a softer image, but with a lot less noise. So it really depends on your preference, I find the 'mosquitoes' noise annoying, even though the image is sharper.

Another thing is, they advertise this camera as 640x480 30fps capable. This is another one of those advertising gimmicks. The camera image looks the best when they are 320x240. In 640x480 mode, they just extrapolate or enlarge it from 320x240, hence, the noise is even more pronounced in 640x480 mode. You will not see any more details in 640x480 mode than you will in 320x240. But again, this is a $130 (or $180) camera, so this is to be expected. If you need more detail in your images, then consider a 1/3" sensor camera.

In conclusion, I think (just my IMHO) the image quality of this camera is no better or worse than generic Chinese made IP camera you can get on ebay (they all use 1/4" CMOS sensor). However, Panasonic wins out in terms of support and the software features/quality. I would give this camera a 3.5 star for the image quality, and a 4 star for the value.

The MPEG-4 and H.264 are very clear (as clear as 640x480 can be). If you need more than 2 people to be able to watch it, you'll have to not use H.264. The MJPEG is quite a bandwidth hog on LAN, so if you expect to monitor this remotely you would best try to use the more efficient H.264 or at least MPEG-4.

If it bothers you to have to switch resolution every time you open it, then set it the way you want it (640x480, etc), then create a favorite and/or desktop icon with the big long address box contents and it will open that way every time.

The low light isn't spectacular but it's better than I get with my Logitech Pro 9000 webcam. It's better to see some things really grainy than to see nothing.

The zoom is client-side, you can see when others move the camera but not when others use the mouse wheel to zoom in, it's not an optical zoom..

The audio works great and there is a configuration for 3 microphone sensitivity levels. Programming the presets sent me to the manual but it's not hard once you see how to do it (the Program button above the presets, when logged in as admin).

I have not, and will not, install any included software, so my review is limited to what you can do just accessing the camera via a web browser.

PDair Leather case for AT&T Samsung Captivate Galaxy S SGH-i897 - Book Type (Black)

This is the second book style case I've purchased for my Android phone. It is a Samsung Galaxy I and the first case, custom made for the phone and available through Samsung, lasted about 1.5 years, gradually breaking down at the corners. This one is bulkier, which I don't like, doesn't fit quite as well, and the phone tends to slide out the top, but it is very well made, appears quite durable, and does the job of protecting the phone.