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Kamen G.

Kamen G.

Joined on 06/04/03

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Product Reviews
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product reviews
  • 6
Most Favorable Review

Unique product, for the money

Vonnic VCS307 Recording SD / MMC Card (The Capacity Can Be Used up to 64GB, Not included) Vehicle High Resolution Camera
Vonnic VCS307 Recording SD / MMC Card (The Capacity Can Be Used up to 64GB, Not included) Vehicle High Resolution Camera

Pros: The product combines features that are not found in any other similar product, certainly nowhere near its price range: low-light/darkness/IR video recording to a circular buffer, with motion-activated and DC-power-activated triggering. It has a display with menus to configure and review recordings, and for live-video monitoring. It comes with a long DC power cord that can be routed for a permanent installation in a car or in the home (e.g., using an AC 12V socket adapter). It has a backup Li-Ion battery, so the video would not be lost when power is cut, and you can even use it on battery power. The night-vision works two ways: the low-light sensitivity is very good, but when there is no light at all, the camera will see only what the IR LEDs can illuminate, which is right around 4-5 feet. Still, pretty good if you wanted to film your sleep (e.g., CPAP users). The recorder uses SDHC cards up to 32GB, which would yield around 8 hours of video at the 720x480 resolution.

Cons: The overall quality is rather low, typical of technical designs seen in most Chinese-designed products. The video quality is very low, the camera is definitely not HD: first, because HD video has certain defined requirements, second, because even though the resolution of the video (1280x1024) is higher than SD, that doesn't make it HD - it is simply interpolated. The latency of both triggers is rather high - 2-3 seconds are lost before the video starts (or resumes). The battery seems to have a very short life, so the device must be used on DC power. The built-in USB card reader is very slow, so you should pop out the SD card and use your own reader. The included mount is rather sturdy but it has come off my windshield several times now. Aiming is not easy as it has two axes of motion, not a ball-mount (the third axis - the 1/4" tripod mount, cannot be fully used as it has only a few threads to keep it in place).

Overall Review: As with most similar devices, the video format is Motion JPEG and the audio is uncompressed PCM. You will need the appropriate codec to play it (e.g., ffdshow). The bit-rate is around 10-15 Mbit/s at 720x480 (recommended mode). I will attach a sample video to a separate review since my last attempt was lost when I tried that. Overall, I recommend this product for anyone who needs something of the kind. You can spend upwards of $300 for a product that would have most (but not all) of its features, so for what it sells here, it is a bargain. Just don't expect too much.

Outstadning value

Five Star Inc HD 1080P HDMI G-sensor Dash Car DVR Vehicle Camera IR LED Night Vision GS8000L
Five Star Inc HD 1080P HDMI G-sensor Dash Car DVR Vehicle Camera IR LED Night Vision GS8000L

Pros: Does everything a car camcorder is supposed to do; is very compact; the quality of the video is very good; good on-screen controls; standard USB power.

Cons: As with many such products (from China), the manual is poorly written and with such wide range of configurability, you need a good manual to be able to make proper use of this complex device. The low-light sensitivity is rather poor and the IR LED's don't seem to do anything. The video format is MJPEG and not H264, as claimed, which gives for about an hour of recording per 8GB (at 720P), so you'll want a large-capacity micro SD card in there.

Overall Review: First of all, I wish Newegg would let us edit our own reviews so I could come back and update it. Right now I have a broken arm and I wouldn't be able to fully test and write a detailed review for another month or so, but I wanted to quickly write a review because this product is an outstanding value: The price of this dash-cam is on par with the cheapest on the market yet its quality and features are comparable to the best examples out there. It does almost everything you'd want from a dash-cam, at a level that is perfectly acceptable, for one of the lowest prices you'll find. The only way you'll need more than this product offers is if you have been through a few of those and have become quite the expert, and, most importantly, you're ready to pay a lot more for it. I highly recommend this product if you've been wanting to get a dash-cam but are not quite sure what to except from such a device. Just be prepared to do some research on how those work and experiment with the controls to figure them out. I'd write a detailed product manual, but the risk that Newegg would stop carrying this product is too high for me to put the time in it.

Outstadning value

Rosewill RHYM-13001 7 Glass Cups Digital Yogurt Maker
Rosewill RHYM-13001 7 Glass Cups Digital Yogurt Maker

Pros: The appliance does everything that matters that other, much more expensive yogurt-makers on the market do, for a significantly lower price (I got it on sale). The build-quality is excellent, operation is intuitive and robust, and given its simplicity, one can expect a long service life. The capacity is 7 glass jars of 200ml each, a little more if you fill the jars to the top (recommended). The lids are plastic and close tightly but do not seal the jars airtight, which is not really necessary but would have been nice. The power cord is short, so you need an outlet nearby. The operation starts by setting the time (in whole hours) and pressing "start". A blinking dot indicates the unit is operating (heating). The indicator changes by whole hours, so you will not see it change until an hour after it has been started, expect for the last hour when it shows minutes. The temperature is steady, close to 110F (I only measured it with a IR meter, if I ever use a probe, I'll update my review). This yogurt maker can produce delicious Bulgarian yogurt, and probably many other styles, as long as you follow a good methodology in making it.

Cons: Controls and display are a little too simplistic and leave some room for confusion. I almost ruined a batch because I dialed in the time but did not start the heater/timer, and only noticed it after a coupe of hours when I saw the time had not changed on the indicator. I could use a yogurt maker of higher capacity, but we eat a lot of yogurt (we are Bulgarian); I guess most people don't since most yogurt makers on the market are the same size or smaller. ended up buying two machines for a total of 3 liters of yogurt (14 jars). It still goes within a week, and we are restraining ourselves. :-)

Overall Review: I wish they made a yogurt maker that does it all: heat the milk to 185F, let it cool to 110F, let you know (alarm) to add the starter, and keep it warm for certain time. I'd pay a lot more for something like that, with a 2 gallon capacity. With this machine the overhead in preparing the milk is about an hour; it doesn't save you any time, it just keeps it warm for fermentation, which is very hard otherwise. As long as the preparation is done properly (a very critical process), this machine will allow you to make excellent yogurt, every single time. And so will just about any other yogurt maker, but if you can buy this one for less, do not hesitate.

Important information

Super Mini ELM327 V1.5 OBD2 OBD-II Bluetooth CAN-BUS Auto Diagnostic Tool
Super Mini ELM327 V1.5 OBD2 OBD-II Bluetooth CAN-BUS Auto Diagnostic Tool

Pros: This is by far the cheapest I've seen a compact Bluetooth ELM327 from a reputable vendor (even though it's not NewEgg but its marketplace). It works as expected, although not quite as advertised. If you know what you are doing, i.e., you know how to use this device, this is a great deal. I won a CHX ELM327 - twice as long (deep) and cost twice as much, direct from China, and had to get this one since it can stay in the OBD port without getting in the way. I will not get into further detail right now since, as of now, the item is out of stock and is not clear whether it will ever be back.

Cons: If you are not familiar with those devices, which probably includes most people who will consider buying it, it might be a major challenge to do anything with it. Contrary to what the "details" tab is suggesting, there isn't any software on the CD that might be of use to you: one is an unsupported open-source application that hasn't been updated since 2006 and may or may not work with your computer/vehicle; and the rest appear to be trial (demo) versions of commercial software for Windows that cost several times what this device costs.

Overall Review: The main reason I am hurrying to post this review is for those who might have purchased the AGPtek CR32 as it was posted on the main NewEgg page a few days ago. When you are pairing the device to your computer, you need to provide a pairing code as this device uses secured communications. THE PAIRING CODE IS: ----- 1234 ----- Without it, the device will not work properly. Once it is paired, it will assign two virtual COM ports, one for computer-initiated communications and the other for device-initiated communications. You could use any terminal software (e.g., TeraTerm) to confirm the proper operation: open the former port (usually, the lesser-numbered port) at 38400k-baud, 8-N-1, and type ATZ - you should see the response. The ELM 327 version reported by mine is 1.5. The question about where to get software is rather tricky and, especially since the item is discontinued, I will not get into it now. But if you have software, this product is great.

Excellent price/performance ratio

Logitech QuickCam Messenger USB 2.0 WebCam
Logitech QuickCam Messenger USB 2.0 WebCam

Pros: For the price, this webcam has all it needs to have: good image quality in different conditions, convenient form factor, easy installation.

Cons: It crashed on both of my computers when I tried 640-480, but VGA resolution from a dirt-cheap webcam should not be expected, so I'm not deducting any points for this.

Overall Review: I am writing this review mainly to inform those potential buyers who are worried about the frame rate: the way this webcam (and most others, for that matter) deals with low-light conditions is by severely reducing the shutter speed. In a dimly lit room, it can get down to 1/3 - 1/4 second and thus you cannot expect more than a couple of frames per second. This has nothing to do with the speed of your USB connection, your CPU, the drivers, etc. With an aperture of 3-4mm (or possibly even less), this is the only way you can see anything at all at night in a room lit by a 75W bulb. You can expect the full frame rate only under perfect, daylight conditions.

Works, so far

Link Depot PCB-U22 USB PCMCIA Card 2 x USB 2.0
Link Depot PCB-U22 USB PCMCIA Card 2 x USB 2.0

Pros: Appears to be doing its job.

Cons: Bad reputation - waiting to see how it will work out in the long term.

Overall Review: I am writing this to provide my initial experience to others who may be hesitating. I bought it as an "open-box item" for little money, so I was taking a low risk. My laptop is an ancient Texas Instruments Extensa 655CD with 64MB RAM and Windows 2000 on it. With the OS up and running, I inserted the card and let it do its thing. All drivers were installed and everything seemed successful. Then I plugged in a 128MB USB 2.0 flash drive and it also had its drivers automatically installed and all files were accessible on it. So far - so good. I will try to report any further experiences.

seller reviews
  • 5

A little slow shipping, but no issues

Can't tell much from a single order, it all went as expected

On-time
Delivery
Product
Accuracy
Customer Service
Satisfactory
11/17/2016

No issues

Uneventful ordering, prompt shipping, no issues with the order.

On-time
Delivery
Product
Accuracy
Customer Service
Satisfactory

Relatively fast shipping, no issues

The item shipped from Asia and came in about 10 days, which is excellent under those circumstances. I had no issues in the process and, thus, have not contacted them.

On-time
Delivery
Product
Accuracy
Customer Service
Satisfactory