Canon ES75 Hi8 Camcorder with Color Viewfinder

Canon ES75 Hi8 Camcorder with Color Viewfinder
Manufacturer: Canon
Product Type: Photography

Editorial Review:
Product Description
If you're looking to take the plunge into the camcorder market, the Canon ES75 Hi8 camcorder is the perfect reason to dive right in. The ES75 comes packed with a top-quality Canon lens that magnifies your creative possibilities. Its powerful optical zoom range covers everything from sweeping panoramas to action-grabbing telephoto shots. The high-quality digital zoom increases the magnification to 800x for even more dramatic results.The ES75 offers point-and-shoot simplicity. It incorporates Canon's innovative automatic focusing and exposure to assure you crisp, sharp videos in any lighting condition.
Amazon.com Product Description
Hi8 technology has been ignored lately because of the digital revolution, but price-conscious buyers can still find great picture quality and feature-laden Hi8 camcorders, and the Canon ES75 is no exception. Some of its many features include a color viewfinder, built-in video light, time base corrector for a more accurate picture, and digital effects such as art, black and white, sepia, negative, and 16:9 screen ratio. There are also custom keys where you can set the most used or favorite functions close to your fingers.

Lens
The optical zoom has a power of 22x and a digital zoom of 800x. The digital zoom works by electronically enhancing the optical image and comes in handy for objects far away. The autofocus and autoexposure functions keep you concentrated on the action rather than on trying to find the ideal setting for each moment. For greater control you can use the focus controller and direct the camera to focus on an off-center subject. The ES75 has programmed autoexposure settings to match a variety of shooting situations: auto, sports, portrait, spotlight, and sand and snow.

Inputs and Outputs
The standard RCA input-output and cable are included so you can hook the camcorder to a TV for convenient viewing or a VCR for dubbing to regular VHS.

Contents
This package contains the ES75 camcorder, battery pack (model BP-911K), shoulder strap, power adapter (model CA-550K), and AV cable.

Average customer rating: 3.0

Not bad, but could very easily have been so much better..
I love this machine!
Yes Talking
no talking

Talking English French electronic dictionary ECTACO EF600T

Manufacturer: ECTACO
Product Group: CE
Binding: Electronics
ASIN: B00005A3H5

Related Categories:

Foreign Language Translators

| Electronic Dictionaries, Thesauri & Translators | Office Electronics | Categories | Electronics

Foreign Language Dictionaries

| Electronic Dictionaries, Thesauri & Translators | Office Electronics | Categories | Electronics

Ectaco

| Brands | Electronics Features | Electronics

Product Description

This is an English - French Electronic Talking Dictionary EF600T with advanced linguistic capabilities. Its graphic user interface, backlit display and key panel make it very easy and convenient to use. This model includes all you need to feel comfortable and assured abroad or when communicating with your overseas business partners. The academic size dictionary of 475,000 words includes 36,000 medical, 33,000 technical, 28,000 legal and 29,000 business terms, phrases, idioms and slang. New words recording function for dictionary expansion. Over 1,200 commonly used and emergency phrases on 12 topics. Over 200 American idioms. Additional features include the latest technology for pronunciation of any word, adjustable speech frequency, speed and volume. The section on language learning includes an electronic English grammar book, English and French irregular verbs, a comprehensive TOEFL guide with sample tests and a linguistic game. Now an improved English-French dictionary Ectaco Partner EF400T is available!

Amazon.com Product Description

The Ectaco Electronic Dictionary is a talking dictionary with advanced linguistic capabilities. Its backlit display and key panel make it very easy and convenient to use. This model is compact, and its multiple functions will make you feel comfortable and capable when communicating with your overseas business partners.

The Ectaco has an academic-size dictionary of 550,000 words including 36,000 medical, 33,000 technical, 28,000 legal, and 29,000 business terms, phrases, idioms, and slang. It also has over 1,200 commonly used phrases on 12 topics, over 200 American idioms, and a new word-recording function for dictionary expansion.

Additional features include an adjustable speech frequency, speed and volume control, a calculator with a metric/currency converter, and spell checker. The section on language learning includes electronic English and French grammar books, English and French irregular verbs, and a linguistics game. It also has a 128 KB trilingual business organizer with a telephone directory and a schedule.

Customer Reviews:

Not bad, but could very easily have been so much better.........2003-01-10

Let me start by saying I am very impressed by the amount of words stored in this little gadget, although it favours obscure vocabulary like 'binnacle' over lots of useful variations of usage of verbs like avoir. Still, compared to what you got 10 years ago with this sort of thing, it really is impressive.

Regarding the speech capabilities of the thing, I really wasn't that surprised nor was I disappointed to find it speaks like a Dalek. What's important is that you know the basics of pronouncing a word, which it does very well. For instance I looked up 'mulch' which it gave in french as 'le paillis.' So - do you pronounce the s on the end or not? The EF600T makes it quite clear there is no s on the end. (unlike 'le tennis' where the s is pronounced.)

HOWEVER! The REALLY DISAPPOINTING thing about the gadget is the lack of proper tuition features. Its called a 'Language Teacher' but it is nothing of the sort. What's a real shame is that these features could have been added very cheaply with a minimum of extra programming and time if they'd thought about it, and I doubt if it would have added that much to the price. I refer to the 'word game' included which is basically 'hangman.' This is the only game provided !

Tuition systems are supposed to have 3 levels of play: A presentation stage, where a set of new words to learn (customizable) is presented to the learner in many and varied interesting ways. The hangman game included fits this category. However, then a system should provide 'recognition training' games. Quite simply these reinforce your memory when you have only partially learned something. A simple example is a multiple choice test, based on the previous set of words you are supposed to have learned during the presentation phase. The third level of tuition is 'recall practice' where it should say something like 'what's the french for cat?' which you have to recall without clues (unlike a multiple-choice) and type it in correctly.

This sort of thing is so easy to program, but is blatantly missing from this device. You also cannot browse the dictionary in a sequential fashion to do your own 'rote' learning.

Please, ectaco, if you would only provide these features I would have been prepared to pay double the money for this thing as then it really would have been my own personal vocab builder and teacher. The Dalek speech isn't an issue as far as I'm concerned, that feature is OK and does its job well. The real problem is the lack of tuition. I would suggest, to make things interesting, 5 different games for each of the 3 tuition 'stages' described above. For instance, to beef up a simple multi-choice game, add some monsters slowly creeping towards a spaceship or whatever. When you get a word right, the spaceship blows up the monster and as you get more right, the monsters get faster and faster and you get a score and hi score at the end. All this helps to break the monotony of rote learning and practice. In summary , add more verb examples to the dictionary, add a sequential browse feature, add a dozen or so games and I'll happily pay double for this and recommend it to the large french club we have a work for a bulk purchase.

One last point: maybe I haven't read the manual right either, but is it not weird that there is a test for english-as-a-foreign-language included for french speakers, but not the other way around?!! For other prospective buyers reading this, don't get me wrong. This gadget has not gone into the bottom of a draw never to be seen again, I use it all the time ALONGSIDE my normal studies and at work for instant word lookup - it is a VERY USEFUL tool but it is not a LANGUAGE TEACHER.

I love this machine!.......2003-01-02

I love it!! I use it almost every day. The pronounciation is easy to understand for a machine. My French professor agrees that the pronounciation is pretty good. I have noticed that sevberal reviews say that there are no audibles in French. This is not true. If you will look in your manual, the instructions clearly say to hear the pronounciation in French press shift and then enter. It will also expand on synonyms by moving the right arrow keys to highlight the word and then press enter. A simple check of the manual will open unlimited possibilities. I am actually looking to purchase another machine to have as a backup but have been unable to locate one.

Yes Talking.......2001-08-26

Too bad Jeanette Scott doesn't read the directions! It DOES speak French and English (you have to hit the shift key before the speaker button). It has menu speech controls that allow you to change the speed and frequency of the sound of the computurized voice. It also has a volume control and a jack for an ear fone. These help in trying to understand the pronunciations in French. Its got a ton of pre-programed phrases in groups that look to be helpful for different situations - everyday, traveling, hotel, restuarant, sightseeing, etc. I'm sure the ones I'll use most next month in France are: "I'm sorry, I did't catch you." and "Can anyone here speak English?" The other features look pretty extensive, but speaking French was the reason I bought it. The voice sounds like you would expect - computerized, kindy of tinny. Its not going to show me how to speak Frech with a perfect accent, but what do you want in a nice small portable unit?

no talking.......2001-06-29

I searched long & hard for a dictionary that would pronounce french. This product, for which i was willing to pay handsomely, does not speak french. While it does written translations both ways, the only audibles are in english, and I could hardly understand the english pronounciations. The dictionary capabilities are good, but there is no reason to pay more to HEAR the words if they are only in english & you can't understand them anyway. I'm returning this item, and buying a non-talking electronic dictionary.

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