Bad experience with this one

This is after about 2 weeks of use. It does record alright from video sources. Voice recorder barely works if at all. The front menu is scrambled to where you have to use the manual to know what you are choosing. All recording (video or audio) freezes unit about 50% of the time. Bad sound with internal speakers and very low volume with headphones.

I would would warn anyone to stay away from this (from my experience).

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Neat little recorder and player, worth more than you paid!

I was looking for something that I could record from tv or a small cctv camera and this thing does it very well. I haven't had any trouble loading the battery, though the battery door is a bit cheesy and probably easily broken if you were pulling the battery in and out, which I don't see myself doing as it keeps a charge long enough for me to get done what I need done or I can keep it tethered to the ac adapter while recording.

I'm still testing it's function and find it fairly easy to use. You must use their software to transfer video to the machine (at least if it's saved in something other than asf format). You can drag and drop mp3's to the directory.

When you put a card in, the unit creates several subdirectories on it. MP3, Video, Audio etc., The card shows up as a second drive to the internal memory.

The screen is very clear and crisp and easy to see. I have had no concerns at all with it so far.

Rating:


The unit is OK for kids, but there are better choices

Pros: Good quality TFT screen, video playback, support for larger SD cards

Cons: Awkward UI, poor bundled software, weak manufacturing and design

The bottom line: Unless you're ready and willing to spend $300+ on a Personal Media Center (the gold standard) and want to play portable video and audio - and can live with the limitations - the Mustek PVR-A1 32 is a good choice for young kids.

The Mustek PVR-A1 is a great unit - we purchased two for our kids at Christmas and have used on a couple of trips with great success. Yes, it has some limitations, but for $129 on line, it is good value for the money.

I use the units with 256MB and 512MB SD cards (all regular, off the shelf name brands) with success.

Our kids (both under 7) used this on family trips and it easily lasted a 2 hr flight with battery power to spare. And I found that the PVR is compatible with popular rechargable batteries from Panasonic (model Panasonic CGA003A/1B or CGA-S302A), used in the small format Panasonic SV-AV100, SVAS10 and SVAV50 camcorders.

Negatives include...

- the bundled "Multimedia Converter" to covert files - you can load cards directly from your PC (assuming you have an SD reader on your PC). As noted in other reviews, the PC software application that comes with the unit is not very intuitive and prone to problems. The only way I've been able to convert videos is with the bundled app, and that is somewhat difficult under Windows XP SP2. And the .asf conversion it creates seems to be non standard: every .asf file I created with other encoders did not work on the PVR.

- operational controls are weak, with limited fast-forward and rewind. if you pause a file you will not be able to play from where you left off if you power down/sleep the unit. In comparison with the new PMCs (like Creative's Zen) this is a poor second choice, but at a third of the price it was an acceptable trade off.

- FF is too slow for searching through videos - it only goes 4x or so faster than real time.

- low quality design and manufacturing, resulting in a weak batter door, front panel controls. Perfect for smaller fingers, adults may have some difficulty turning the unit on and off.

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