Electronics Gadget Reviews

Sony HT IS100 BRAVIA Theater Micro System Set of Six Black

HT-IS100 is the perfect surround-sound add-on system to existing Blu-ray Disc or DVD players.For those consumers who already have a Blu-ray Disc player or a DVD player/recorder, the perfect upgrade solution is the HT-IS100, combining all the surround processing and amplification into a single hideaway subwoofer unit.Within the subwoofer is powerful s-master digital amplification and sophisticated surround-sound processing, able to handle all the surround-sound formats on DVD and also accept high-definition audio from Blu-ray Disc for an even more thrilling home cinema experience.The system can also accept video signals from all your existing sources, either via HDMI connections or component and composite video sockets, and then will up convert for a single HDMI cable connection to your BRAVIA TV.It has the same digital cinema auto calibration as the other ‘IS family’ systems, and also features the digital media port for fast and easy hook-up of portable devices. If you’re looking for a simple, great-sounding system to take you from just watching TV to truly experiencing it, look no further.

User Ratings and Reviews

2 Stars I’m not picky but…..
PROS:

Audio: I’m not picky, so in terms of the audio, it’s fine to be. I just wanted an upgrade from the tv speakers. This is loud enough!

Looks: I also didn’t want huge speakers. These tiny speakers are cool and unobtrusive. You find plenty of universal stands for the speakers.

CON:

Notice my con is not plural. I’m just going to summarize. I own a Samsung LN52A850. You might want to consider what brand tv you have before buying this. There is no on-screen menu for me. Nobody else has mentioned this in their review. Because if someone has a Bravia and the HT-IS100 and still don’t have on-screen menu, I would imagine that someone would have mention this “con” by now. So I’m assuming that those with Bravia TVs do have on-screen menu. Or, maybe people just don’t mind not having an on-screen menu. Why am I making such a big deal about this? Because the LCD display on the sub woofer faces the ceiling. Then engineers who made this should realize that if you make the display face the ceiling, then you better provide an on-screen menu. So I’m surprise I’m the first person to complain about this. Like I said, I have a Samsung, those with a Bravia may have onscreen menu. I don’t know, I can’t confirm that. I hope the next reviewer will confirm this. So for me, it sucks that I got to walk to my sub woofer every time to look at the display when I want to play around with the functions. Another con is that the accessories to make the rear speakers wireless is expensive, hard to find and quite frankly, confusing. You need to buy a transmitter, and you also have to buy a subunit. That’s right, it’s not totally wireless. You need to buy another subunit to place in the back of your room and the wires of the rear speakers will go into this subunit. Tricky marketing!!

Man, writing this review has made me more angry and determined to return this.

4 Stars Great for a Small Room/Apt/Studio
I live in a 1bd Apartment and my living room is fairly large (for an apt) The sound that this System produces is truly beautiful. I have my HD Digital Box, PS3, Xbox and Wii hooked up and they all sound great. I had a Pioneer Elite VSX-01TXH (paired with POLK speakers) and although that receiver is far superior in features and sound effects (as well as total watts) This little system worked out better for me because it’s far more simple and practical (and won’t get me kicked out of my building. For those looking for a good Surround System that won’t take a lot of space, Offers simple menus and won’t cost too much $$$$, this is it!

1 Star HT-IS100 micro system
Can only give one star right now because the systems center speaker and remote did not work. Called Sony and they had me send the center speaker and remote to Texas for repair. After a week they sent back still not repaired. Call Sony and they said to send the complete system back for repair. Looks like I will receive tomorrow (3/4/09). I have been waiting over a month now to hear this system. I will review later if it works this time. One thing I can say is the ease of setup, and no wires from front to back for the speakers using the SA1. Also, purchased two stands for the back speakers. They look great and enable you ease of hiding wires to each of the back speakers under the carpet.

It is now 3/7, received system back from Sony repaired and ready to go.

However, they forgot to enclose the remote, so I am waiting another 4 days for the most important part. I can say now that this system sounds great, of course mine is not tuned because of no remote. But, it really makes a difference in watching blue rays. It puts you right in the movie, what a great sound from such small speakers. I now rate this a 4 star system

3 Stars It would be a great system if wireless accessories could be bought…
Its a great system from looks and sound wise and I first purchased it without the wireless accessories to see if I need them. After a short time I decided to opt for the wireless amplifier for [...]. When it arrived in the mail I was first excited but then quickly realized that additionally an EZW T100 is neede for[...]. First of all I find this to expensive to have to add 200 dollars to a 700 dollar system to make it wireless, if 400 dollar systems are available that already have that function included. But the real dissapointment was that the EZW T100 is sold out for 2 months and I have invested 850 bucks in a system that is still wired and the required accessories are not available. That is not acceptable.

5 Stars HT-IS100
I’ve been back and forth about home theater systems for the last month or so and I finally came across this bad boy at frys for 549 promo sale and got it after hearing it at best buy and all I can say is WOW if your considering this system dont be afraid to pull the trigger on it. The system feels my room full of sound just like the movies. I’m glad I did a little research and went for this with all the connectivity it offers you cant go wrong. Amazing hooked up to my kdl52-wl140 is not enough for this system.

Buy/More Info

JVC BN VF815US 1460 mAh Rechargeable Data Battery for JVC MiniDV and Everio Camcorders

JVC is a leading consumer electronics manufacturer. The company distributes a complete line of video and audio equipment including DVD players and changers, camcorders, VCRs, color televisions, home and portable audio equipment, mobile entertainment, recording media as well as versatile supplies and accessories, which supplement the impressive products range. JVC power options let you stay uninterrupted while enjoying full functionality of your appliance.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars JVC BN-VF815US 1460 Battery
Good battery stick with the original JVC product battery or you might encounter problems knowing how much battery time you have left.

5 Stars Great Battery, Enough Power For Extended Shooting – Highly Recommended!
The JVC BN-VF815 provides engough power to shoot for about 2.5 hours, which is just about perfect when using 16mb SDHC cards in my JVC Everio GZ-HM200 Dual SD High-Def Camcorder (Black) in XP mode.

The battery is somewhat larger (about 1/2″) than the BN-VF808 that came with the camera and I have posted pictures to show the difference. It took roughly 2.25 hours for the battery to fully charge the first time.

We now leave this battery connected to the camera and carry the BN-808 in the case, giving us a total of 4 hours or so of recording time!

Highly recommended!

5 Stars Great Battery. A must for this type of camcorder.
t doesn’t make sense to have a camcorder capable of 30 hrs of record time but only a 1 hr battery. So this battery is great. I recently used this battery on a trip to the amusement parks, and using it on and off, it lasted two days before I had to recharge it. Keep in mind though, it does add some length and weight to the camcorder. Although smaller than the other battery available, it is still approximately 3 times as big as the battery supplied. Other reviews stated it “stuck out a bit more”, but I was surprised to see how big it was. I would say an excellent battery for those days when you are going to be out all day, but if you only need a short film time (i.e. a child’s school play), you can always use the original battery to save weight and size. Although bigger than expected, I would still highly recommend. And I agree with most others, that the larger version of this battery would simply be too big.

5 Stars Perfect size
Perfect size for my 330 Everio.Has the extra power I need plus it does not really increase the weight.Am very pleased with my purchase.

5 Stars Works Perfect!!!
I purchased this battery as a replacement for the one that came with my JVC Everio GZ-MG330. It works great. I just recorded my daughters graduation that lasted about 3hrs and it worked just fine. I recommend this battery…yes its larger than the battery that comes with the camera but the camera is very small but it didn’t hender me operating the camera. Great buy as well!!

Buy/More Info

Sennheiser CX300 B Earbuds Black

Sennheiser is the acknowledged world leader in headphone-transducer technology. These CX 300 headphones are its first consumer ear-canal model. The CX 300 model is ideal for use with portable MP3, CD, MD, DVD players and many other portable devices with 3.5mm headphone sockets. Soft Silicone-Rubber Ear adapters in three different sizes are included to ensure a perfect fit, high wearing comfort and an excellent attenuation of ambient noise.

User Ratings and Reviews

3 Stars Nice earbuds, but flabby bass
I purchased these earbuds to replace the ones that came with my iPod nano.

Once you get by the extremely tough packaging, you’ll find that it has three sizes of ear cushions. That makes for a very comfortable fit. Because they’re thin silicone rubber instead of foam, the sound isolation abilities are a bit limited, but they still manage to keep out ambient noise to a degree. The ability to keep the wire behind your neck using the asymmetric wire is a nice feature.

So far, the only issue I’ve had with them is that they tend to distort and break up when playing very low bass at slightly higher than normal levels.

Overall, they’re nice earbuds, but the tendency for them to break up on bassy passages keeps the score down a bit.

5 Stars As Expected
Only one annoyance with these headphones and that is the asymmetrical cord designed to go around the neck, still prefer the “classic” design but these seem to be the trend now with all headphones so I wont discredit the product.

The cord itself is slightly shorter then some other headphones but just about perfect for me, with my phone sitting in my pocket there is only a little slack left over when wearing the headphones, with others’ there was more slack to get in the way.

Sound quality is the expected for the price range and the buds isolate as expected, just don’t expect the noise canceling and quality you get with $100+ sets.

5 Stars great service
this company is great- was very easy to work with- my product got sent back to them once and they were nice about sending it back.

5 Stars Sennheiser cx300 Vs V-Moda Bass Freq Vs Bose In-Ear Buds

A quick review and comparison for 3 ear buds. The first thing that is the most important factor is price; therefore most of my analysis will be based on a price ratio.

Comfort

Each of these ear buds were basically the same in terms of comfort, however the Bose ear buds may have a slight advantage in this category due to the uniqueness of its in ear yet out of the ear design. There is a more sound isolation in the Sennheiser and vibe ear buds, and between these two ear buds I give Sennheiser a slight advantage in comfort.

Sound Quality

All of these ear buds have exponential sound quality and PLEASE get one of these if you’re using the ipod ear buds or some other cheap generic buds. You will not regret it! Personally I listen to a lot of bass heavy music such as hip hop. I believe that your satisfaction depends on the type of music you listen to. If you like rap, hip hop, r&b then I would recommend the Vibe Bass Freqs Ear Buds. You will be amazed by the deepness, “thump” of the bass and yet the bass doesn’t muffle out the high end. The Bose ear buds may have equal or slightly better deepness but not the same “thump”. However I think that these ear buds have bad high ends due to the bass.

The Sennheiser is unqiue because it have amazing high ends, and yet almost equal bass of the Vibe Bass Freqs and Bose in ear buds. The Sennheiser is a great mix for people who listen to a wide variety of music. Overall I would recommend them over the others. However, if your looking for the best ear buds for bass (rap, hip hop) then go with the Vibe Bass Freqs.

Now looking in terms of price, the Vibes and the Sennheiser are basically the same in price about $25. If your on a budget, then the Vibes are a little cheaper (see Durability) and is the best value for the dollar (barely). The worst is definitely the Bose, even though Bose is great company and brand name, they are way over priced for the given sound quality. If you’re highly considering Bose, just give Sennheiser a try first.

Durability

The best durability is from Sennheiser, and the worst is from Vibe Base ( I went through 2 before I bought Sennheiser). Bose is in the middle (mine broke after a year). Bose’s ear buds will always pop off and you will probably lose them. The same can go with Vibe, Sennheiser doesn’t have that problem.

Overall

1. Sennheiser cx300 ( great blend of high and low ends)

2. Vibe Freq Bass ( very close to #1 due to the better bass)

3. Bose in ear (too expensive for same sound quality and bad high ends)

Also, Sennheiser has great bass, not at the same level as the Vibe.

1 Star Defective!
I give up. My 3rd pair of the exact same buds just died. Sennheiser does a great job of replacing them when they are under warranty (they did this for me twice), but these buds inevitably go bad. I won’t buy them again.

Buy/More Info

Sennheiser CX300 B Earbuds Black

Sennheiser is the acknowledged world leader in headphone-transducer technology. These CX 300 headphones are its first consumer ear-canal model. The CX 300 model is ideal for use with portable MP3, CD, MD, DVD players and many other portable devices with 3.5mm headphone sockets. Soft Silicone-Rubber Ear adapters in three different sizes are included to ensure a perfect fit, high wearing comfort and an excellent attenuation of ambient noise.

User Ratings and Reviews

3 Stars Nice earbuds, but flabby bass
I purchased these earbuds to replace the ones that came with my iPod nano.

Once you get by the extremely tough packaging, you’ll find that it has three sizes of ear cushions. That makes for a very comfortable fit. Because they’re thin silicone rubber instead of foam, the sound isolation abilities are a bit limited, but they still manage to keep out ambient noise to a degree. The ability to keep the wire behind your neck using the asymmetric wire is a nice feature.

So far, the only issue I’ve had with them is that they tend to distort and break up when playing very low bass at slightly higher than normal levels.

Overall, they’re nice earbuds, but the tendency for them to break up on bassy passages keeps the score down a bit.

5 Stars As Expected
Only one annoyance with these headphones and that is the asymmetrical cord designed to go around the neck, still prefer the “classic” design but these seem to be the trend now with all headphones so I wont discredit the product.

The cord itself is slightly shorter then some other headphones but just about perfect for me, with my phone sitting in my pocket there is only a little slack left over when wearing the headphones, with others’ there was more slack to get in the way.

Sound quality is the expected for the price range and the buds isolate as expected, just don’t expect the noise canceling and quality you get with $100+ sets.

5 Stars great service
this company is great- was very easy to work with- my product got sent back to them once and they were nice about sending it back.

5 Stars Sennheiser cx300 Vs V-Moda Bass Freq Vs Bose In-Ear Buds

A quick review and comparison for 3 ear buds. The first thing that is the most important factor is price; therefore most of my analysis will be based on a price ratio.

Comfort

Each of these ear buds were basically the same in terms of comfort, however the Bose ear buds may have a slight advantage in this category due to the uniqueness of its in ear yet out of the ear design. There is a more sound isolation in the Sennheiser and vibe ear buds, and between these two ear buds I give Sennheiser a slight advantage in comfort.

Sound Quality

All of these ear buds have exponential sound quality and PLEASE get one of these if you’re using the ipod ear buds or some other cheap generic buds. You will not regret it! Personally I listen to a lot of bass heavy music such as hip hop. I believe that your satisfaction depends on the type of music you listen to. If you like rap, hip hop, r&b then I would recommend the Vibe Bass Freqs Ear Buds. You will be amazed by the deepness, “thump” of the bass and yet the bass doesn’t muffle out the high end. The Bose ear buds may have equal or slightly better deepness but not the same “thump”. However I think that these ear buds have bad high ends due to the bass.

The Sennheiser is unqiue because it have amazing high ends, and yet almost equal bass of the Vibe Bass Freqs and Bose in ear buds. The Sennheiser is a great mix for people who listen to a wide variety of music. Overall I would recommend them over the others. However, if your looking for the best ear buds for bass (rap, hip hop) then go with the Vibe Bass Freqs.

Now looking in terms of price, the Vibes and the Sennheiser are basically the same in price about $25. If your on a budget, then the Vibes are a little cheaper (see Durability) and is the best value for the dollar (barely). The worst is definitely the Bose, even though Bose is great company and brand name, they are way over priced for the given sound quality. If you’re highly considering Bose, just give Sennheiser a try first.

Durability

The best durability is from Sennheiser, and the worst is from Vibe Base ( I went through 2 before I bought Sennheiser). Bose is in the middle (mine broke after a year). Bose’s ear buds will always pop off and you will probably lose them. The same can go with Vibe, Sennheiser doesn’t have that problem.

Overall

1. Sennheiser cx300 ( great blend of high and low ends)

2. Vibe Freq Bass ( very close to #1 due to the better bass)

3. Bose in ear (too expensive for same sound quality and bad high ends)

Also, Sennheiser has great bass, not at the same level as the Vibe.

1 Star Defective!
I give up. My 3rd pair of the exact same buds just died. Sennheiser does a great job of replacing them when they are under warranty (they did this for me twice), but these buds inevitably go bad. I won’t buy them again.

Buy/More Info

If you look around for the latest entertainment gadgets, you will definitely come across a number of Blu-ray devices. So does that mean that the DVD players are out of the scene? No, they aren’t.