Customer Reviews:
GPS Compatibility
GPS Compatibility…

As advertised, TOPO! works well with GPS units. I use it with a Garmin Vista Cx GPS frequently. Other people’s negative reviews concerning GPS compatibility probably stem from their assumption that they should be able to download the maps themselves to a GPS device. No, you can’t do that with just TOPO.

As advertised, you CAN download waypoints or routes before a trip, which becomes extremely helpful when you feel lost. And you CAN upload waypoints and tracks after a trip, which is very interesting to map where you’ve been.

General Comments on the Software…

This is an excellent product which I always use before going exploring or mountain climbing. I discover new features in the software all the time. I don’t think the program has ever crashed on me, and it is not hard to learn. 5 stars!!

Topo for Mac is horrible
The PC version works ok but if you own a Mac, you are out of luck. Major glitches of very basic uses (such as unable to upload waypoints from a spreadsheet to your GPS!! Both upload and download buttons and pulldowns send you to a download only option). It is one of the few Mac apps that will lock down your computer and not respond to force quit.

The interface is bizarre. Want to find a place? - go to “Edit”. Want to find a coordinate? - go to “View”. Want to find customer support? - go to the back of the room.

iMac 2.4 ghz OS 10.5.4, Topo 4.5.0

Out of date maps
I bought this software because I am a grad student and I had to survey alpine sites around the state of Colorado. I thought it would be great. It was not. The biggest problem is that the maps are out of date. For example several hiking trails are missing. I drove up at least ten roads that had locked gates that were not on the map. Many roads are not labeled or not labeled correctly. It was good for putting waypoints in my GPS, but that is all it was good for.

Expect a long learning curve
I’ve used TOPO! for eight years and it’s the best there is for mapping software. I own software for 10 of the western states and use the program almost daily. I use the program in my laptop and when hooked up to my GPS, I have what amounts to a super detailed car navigation system with a 17″ screen. As new maps become available, you can download them free into your computer as needed and it’s a very easy procedure. Also, free upgrades are available on-line and that’s an easy procedure too.

To make the state series most useable, you need to add Back Roads Explorer, which gives much more detailed up-to-date street and street name information.

The only caveates with this program is that you need a relatively fast computer and lots of memory so you can copy the whole program to your hard drive so you don’t have to constantly change cd’s. Also, expect to take some time to fully get to know this program.

Mac OS X Mapping
This piece of software is what I have been hoping for for since I bought my machine. It is the most elegant and detailed mapping system that I have used. With the Garmin Vista Cx it works flawlessly. You can download any or all of the map data from the disks into the “Topo” file and it runs very well on my powerbook G4. It will upload all waypoints, and routes. It will download all waypoints, routes and tracks! The maps are gorgeous! The interactive web feature is cool but young. It has a geocaching feature. The 3d maps are sweet! It downloads updates and new map layers almost perfectly (had to manually download the software update). I only wish that waypoints symbols would transfer to and from my unit but I can easily live without them. Load the Mapsource maps to your device (Garmin “x” series saves to swappable memory microSD cards) and use Topo! from your laptop.

Customer Reviews:
A good, secure, USB flash drive
Solid feeling drive, bulkier than most, supposed to be water proof (have not had the desire to test this yet) easy to setup, and nice security features (hardware 256 AES encryption, and drive lockout after 10 failed authentication attempts which defeats brute forcing. (lockout = reformat of drive, but your data stays secure, this is nice peace of mind and makes the product well worth the price.

I have 1 complaint, which depending on the user may be of value or seem foolish. I tried out the drive by locking my system, then reauthenticating (no reboot). Apparently once the drive has been authenticated in a user sesion, even if the host is locked (ctrl-alt-del) then is logged back into, the drive remains open. I was hoping the drive would require the user to reauthenticate to it as well. I have not tried it, but makes me think if someone was to RDP/VNC in to your box while the drive is authenticated (NetAdmin) then they would have access to your data as well. This may be an issue with WinXP if User quick switching is enabled and is certainly the case if you share user login/passwords on the same box. (I purchased the drive for someone who practices poor data security and was hoping this drive would force good behaviour).

Data throughput is slower than other USB drives / the drive weighs more than most plastic USB thumbdrives.
Data throughput is slower than other USB drives / the drive weighs more than most plastic USB thumbdrives.

You don’t have to buy this to get free and seamless encryption for jump drives if you are using XP, Vista or even Windows 2000.

There IS NO SOFTWARE INSTALLATION when you insert the drive, instead the DTSP_Launcher.exe applet will autorun (if enabled) and walk you through the password setup process, and create a custom hint.

If you fail to enter the password 10 consecutive times, the disk will destroy the protected data with a thorough wipe, we couldn’t restore the data with Sysinternals Disk Commander or SmartUnDelete.

Data transfer from the encrypted partition is slower than other jump drives we use, it seems comparable to the latency we encounter when using NTFS EFS formatted disks.

The disadvantage to NTFS EFS is you have to import the decryption certificate / key onto any system you wish to read the encrypted data, unless the key is deleted when done then any data encrypted and stored anywhere can be read by the importing computer.

Titanium casing is plastic hybrid and has some noticeable but not necessarily arduous weight, if you are used to carrying it inside your pocket you’ll notice if it falls out.

——— Management ———

Inside Win32 DiskManager the drive appears as multiple partitions, the first is a virtual CD-ROM about 6MB in size, this contains the DTSP_Launcher.exe, the encrypted partition will appear as a Removable Disk.

The DTSP_Launcher.exe applet remains resident in the application bar tray and can be dynamically unloaded.

Overall, we recommend it because it is straightforward to use, doesn’t install software onto your computer and thoroughly destroys the data when necessary.

Customer Reviews:
Great size and value!
Good Camera, for the price. Palm size is very comfortable. Get a 16 Gig Card and you are good to go. No complaints with a Canon. Would recommend to all real dads who want save kid memories.

1st Review
I am very pleased with the size of this product and the easy use for talking stills and movies

Problems solved
I bought the Cannon FS100 (blue) even after reading all the reviews about the problems with the .MOD file extension. After receiving the camera and playing with it for a few hours it was really symple to save the movies. I took two videos, changed the file extension to .MPG. Opened Windows Movie Maker. I imported the two movies and clicked save to my computer. Then enter the file name, choose a place to save, click next and go to other settings. Choose (High Quality Video-large) Once the movie is joined the quality is excellent. I have no problem with saving, using this method. I’m really happy with this camera. I hope this helps.

Some things no one else mentioned
I’m a beginner with video, so I’m not one to judge the quality of the image. After reading other reviews, I thought it would be better than it is though. You have only the small LCD screen to use to make adjustments such as exposure or white balance or manual focus, and LCD screens are notorious for looking different at different angles. The screen swivels for ease of use, but where do you set it to know you are seeing what the camera is seeing? Once I put some video onto my computer, it was easier to view, but several shots taken of a marina on a cloudy day had vague purple stripes in the sky. The still images are awful, with lots of purple fringing. The stabilization is electronic and only applies to the video mode, so the camera portion is almost worthless.

I took some video of some real estate to show my family, and the microphone picked up my footsteps in the grass much better than my voice. The windscreen hardly works at all. I shot some video at the beach and didn’t even notice the breeze until I heard it on the video. (and despite what another review said, there is no audio gain control — there is an audio level indicator but you can’t control it)

A big surprise for me was the noise of the buttons. The microphone is up front, but the buttons on the LCD are right there too. There are only a few things you can change while recording (exposure, manual focus, mini-light, backlight compensation, zoom), but all the buttons make noise that is recorded and make it difficult to hold the camera steady. Other features such as white balance, scene type, digital effects, and a few other settings must be chosen before recording starts.

I haven’t tried the included software. I can easily copy the files to my computer by plugging the camera in with the USB cable. I tried putting the SD card into my built-in card reader, but half the time it worked and half the time it locked up my computer. I think that’s probably a hardware issue and has nothing to do with the camera. But the first few videos I took were strange because sometimes playing them (in Windows Media Player) sometimes hung the program and sometimes they played fine.

If you shoot video at eye level, the standard grip that the camera is built for is OK. I have fairly average sized hands, but I have to put my hand at a tiring angle to keep the camera level. My boyfriend’s larger hands have no problem with this (it fits better), but he has a hard time hitting the record button with his thumb - he has to use the middle of the thumb since it’s so close. Trying to hold the camera any other way, it’s difficult to keep it level and steady.

Great little unit with some minor annoyances, but overall pleased for the price
Canon FS100 Flash Memory Camcorder with 48x Optical Zoom (Garnet Wine)

This is my 6th Canon digital video camcorder, having owned a ZR30MC, ZR50MC, ZR90, Optura 20 and Elura 100 before this one. My main objective for purchasing the new flash-memory based camcorder was to get away from the dreaded motor noise from most of these units. Out of all 6 previous models, the Optura 20 had the best video sensor CCD size (1/4″), followed by the Elura 100 (1/5″). The other models, including this FS100, use a sensor CCD size of 1/6″, so I was expecting the video quality to be a bit more grainy (especially from reading all these reviews).

Right out of the box after charging the BP-808 battery, the unit starts up very quickly, however, the LCD is a bit grainy even in moderate lighting. Don’t be alarmed though, this granularity image is not transferred to video, it’s just the nature of the 123K pixel color LCD (my Powershot SD750 has the same problem with its LCD but still takes great pictures). But the biggest test of this new unit was to see how the audio sounded from a camcorder with no moving parts/motor. I am pleased to report the sound is great, and even better (good bass) when hooked up to my 55″ projection TV.

Now for the video quality, it is true the video is very grainy and noisy in low-light settings, but I am much impressed with how well the unit retains its focus in these situations. What I am very much disappointed in is the unit only uses electronic stabilization and at max. telephoto, I can’t get a steady shot with the IS on no matter how steady my hand. And I am not sure what to think of the advanced 48X zoom, the picture tends to pixelate at you approach the 48X, so I may just stick with the 37X optical zoom (I never owned a camera with a zoom bigger than 22X on the older ZR models). Now I haven’t had the chance to video in bright sunlight, but I do feel the single LED video light works very well to help out in low-light situations.

The record, photo and playback menus are excellent on this model, since you are recording to the SD card (I use 8GB Transcend card with included USB reader) and you can never accidentally erase footage and you can choose scenes and playback with a few touches of a button. The joystick on the LCD is placed in a comfortable location and is very responsive. One major complaint I have is why does Canon insist on the user having to press buttons to activate the faders/digital effects? Every model I have owned has this same problem, and yes the mics will pick up on you having to press button to activate you fade-to-black for ending your current recording in progress. I know for a fact on older Sony 8mm units, once you activate a fader, it will remain active for every scene you shoot until you turn it off. Canon needs to do this on future models.

Still photo quality is surprisingly good on this model (as compared to experience on previous models), but it is a function of lighting available to you.

I use iMovie ‘08 and the software/Macbook has no problem recognizing the files. I don’t like the fact you have to use AC power to transfer your files/photos to your computer, but I bought the USB card reader to get around this. IMovie HD will not recognize these files, so you’ll have to upgrade to iLife 08 and you need an Intel Mac for this to work. iPhoto immediately recognizes the camera if you have any still images to transfer.

In summary, the unit is very light and easy to hold, very responsive to start recording in about a second, and the electronic lens cap is a nice little feature. Here are my PROs and CONs:

PROs:

- Sleek, lightweight and colorful unit that is easy to hold and the major user features to operate it are well placed

- Focus in excellent and very responsive even in low light settings

- Very bright LED video light that helps in low-light recordings

- Very good video quality in very well-lit surroundings, and audio is great with no motor noise!

- Excellent menu hierarchy with quick, easy playback of your scenes

- Flash memory is great and very reliable, but pick up extra cards (8GB Class 6 or higher) especially with the good prices here at Amazon.com. I recommend Transcend from experience with this unit.

- Many manual controls I have not yet explored

- NO MOTOR NOISE, did I mention this?

- Quickstart standby mode is great and really helps to conserve battery power.

- Intelligent battery meter a great addition to help you gauge remaining battery life

CONS:

- Low light performance on this unit is very poor, but video light does improve video quality and I’m sure Shutter priority and other manual settings could even help out more.

- Electronic stabilization is not at all useful at maximum telephoto and even pixelates the image while producing a really bad shake even with steady hands.

- I am not impressed with the advanced zoom to gain an extra 11X from plain optical zoom. Video quality will suffer at maximum telephoto.

- You have to use the joystick to activate faders and digital effects during your recordings, so expect to hear the button-pushing on your video footage.

- Have to plug in the unit to AC power to transfer video/photos to your computer.

So as you can see the PROs outweigh the CONs and I am happy with this unit in overall performance and value for its price (I got mine in a bundle pack at [...] with the unit, extra OEM Canon battery and a carrying case, sorry Amazon!) This camera is a definite keeper for me for a while (until I get HD TV and home theater systems), and then I’ll probably upgrade to the equivalent HD model the HF100.

I would recommend this camera to anyone wanting a new standard definition unit, but be sure to invest in several SD memory cards to support your video needs. As you can see I am a loyal Canon consumer for both my camcorder and digital camera needs. Nice job overall, Canon, on this FS100 model.