Recently, we have been talking about buying an action cam to use for the blog but we didn’t want to invest several hundred dollars in a GoPro until we knew this type of camera would work for us. We did some research and discovered the Vivitar DVR 787HD 12.1MP Action Full HD Camcorder. Most reviews for this unit praised its functional features and durability but what people liked most was the price tag.

When the 787 was released, you could find it at most Walmart stores with a ton of accessories for under $60 bucks. I’m not sure what happened between then and now but we had difficulty getting our hands on this little camera! The Walmart deal is no longer offered in store or online. As a matter of fact, you can’t get the 787 at all from Walmart. I found the unit on Amazon and made the purchase for just under $100, with fewer accessories. We also purchased a monopod so we could easily manipulate it while shooting on the road.

We’ve been using the camera all summer and overall, it’s fun and easy to use but there are a couple of things that could be improved:

• The display is very difficult to see when taking video outside in bright light. Even without the screen protector, we were unable to see what we were recording.
• The remote doesn’t turn the camera on.

Check out these videos of our new toy, the Parrot AR 2.0 Drone. We hope to do all kinds of cool things with this over the summer, so stay tuned!

J&J

Welcome to our first gadget review!

An essential part of any J&J road trip is MUSIC! No matter where we’re headed or how long the trip will be, we never hit the road without our tunes.

The main component of our audio armamentarium is Sirius/XM Satellite radio. We are both long time subscribers & one of the first things we did when we brought Lady T home was to add a mount and antenna for a Sirius/XM receiver.

Although Sirius/XM offers a wide variety of music to choose from, we also enjoy bringing our own music along. Before leaving for our road last year, we did a lot of research to find a good portable Bluetooth speaker for a reasonable price. It had to be durable and able to handle the variety of music styles we listen to.

The Braven BRV-1 was everything we were looking for! This speaker is designed to be used outdoors so you can knock it around a bit without worry. It’s also supposed to be waterproof but we haven’t tested that feature (yet). A feature we have tested is the 12-hour battery life on a full charge. We listened to the Braven every night at dinner up until we went to bed for almost a month and we charged it maybe every three days. We were never able to run it down all the way. Additionally, the Bluetooth connectivity was seamless and the only time we had problems was when the phone lost its signal.

Another cool feature is its ability to charge portable devices, such as your phone. We tried this out when we first purchased the product to see how well it worked but we didn’t use it long term. Doing so will definitely eat up more of the battery life but the feature is there if needed.

Now, for the sound! On the road, we play everything from EDM to heavy metal to country and it all sounds great on the BRV-1. We listen to a lot of bass heavy stuff and this little speaker is able to handle it without bottoming out or sounding like it was under water. We tend to agree with those who argue that “it’s all about the bass” but in this case, the treble is equally impressive. Vocals are crisp and the overall clarity is very good.

The BRV-1 currently comes in three color choices: black, cyan/gray & black/orange. Out of the box, you get the BRV-1 speaker, lanyard, USB cable and 3.5mm AUX cable. We also purchased one of those water resistant camping pouches to carry it in.

Overall, we would definitely recommend this gadget to anyone looking for a rugged, well-made portable Bluetooth speaker with a couple of extra bells and whistles. For more info on the Braven BRV-1, check out our Amazon store.

See you on the road!