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3D projectors bring 3D to the home

nowhere0225 — Wed, 12 May 2010 08:48:26 +0000

It seems that Avatar sparked a 3D storm which kept theatres full for weeks and is now slowly creeping into thousands of homes across the world. For those wanting to duplicate what they first saw in theatres in their home, 3D projectors are now available to do exactly that.
The Acer H5360 brings true 3D into the home

The Acer H5360 3D projector brings any home entertainment experience to life as the viewer feels fully immersed in the display thanks to the projector’s Nvidia 3D Vision. The projector, using Active Shutter 3D glasses to create the 3D effect, works well enough to replicate the theatre experience. Playing video at a HD resolution of 720p, the Acer projector delivers incredibly clear images with truly rich colour thanks to the projector’s Acer Colorboost II+ technology which ensures that the colour stays the same regardless of the colour of the wall the image is being projected on. The Acer H5360 3D comes with 2500 ANSI lumens brightness which shouldn’t fade over time. The H5360 is definitely a quality 3D projector which should be taken seriously for anyone in the market for 3D projection and brings value for money at £519.99.

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TV furniture makes your TV look better then it would hanging on the wall

nowhere0225 — Wed, 12 May 2010 08:45:38 +0000

Some people may feel a bit uncomfortable mounting their recently purchased flat screen TV on a wall, or they could just be looking for a more traditional type of setting for their TV set. This is where TV furniture steps in and saves the day, offering more than just a few brackets, nuts and bolts to hold a flat screen TV up, but a stylish wooden box in some cases which adds to the room overall ambience in some cases. Some TV stands also come with integrated speakers, making it easier than ever to get a home entertainment system up and running with great ease.

The Sony RHT-G550 delivers value for money

First up we have the Sony RHT-G550 which comes with integrated 3.1 channel audio pumping out an impressive 330W for a TV stand. This makes the Sony TV Stand a 2-in-1 knockout saving the avid customer having to purchase a home theatre speaker system. The Sony RHT-G550 is made to fit 32-40 inch TV screens making it pretty flexible over a wide range, and at the same time is also sleek and stylish with a matte black finish. It also comes with Bravia sync and also retails at £399, which delivers value for money.

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The beautifully designed Samsung BD-C7500 Blu-ray player

nowhere0225 — Sun, 09 May 2010 10:25:22 +0000

Samsung’s latest Blu Ray player – the BD-C7500 – is a work of art. It’s only 1.1 inches thick, making it the thinnest Blu-ray player on the market. It has a wooden veneer finish, giving it a sophisticated and natural look. It can be placed flat on a surface or be wall mounted, and the disc slot comes out from the side, so you won’t have any hassles loading DVDs. You can customise the look of the Samsung BD-C7500 with a choice of four different skins.

Wireless features

The BD-C7500 has built in wi-fi plus Ethernet cables to connect to your home network. The wireless feature also enables Samsung applications to be transported straight to the Blu-ray player, and the with 1GB of memory, you’ll be able to store loads of content with BD Live. It has Internet@TV which basically provides the user with subject matter from websites like Netflix, Pandora, Vudu, Picasa and Twitter. Widgets will automatically appear on the screen and with the Anynet remote control you’ll have full control of your Samsung devices.

The Samsung Blu-ray player can also stream content from the Internet by connecting a USB cable into the back and transporting files you’ve stored on the flash drive. The BD-C7500 supports formats like DivX, JPEG-HD and Mp3, allowing you to enjoy streamed content in HD 1080p quality. The C7500 is also very fast for a Blu-ray player and shows 24 frames per second, giving you smooth displays.

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The stylish and classy Vizio VF552XVT

nowhere0225 — Sun, 09 May 2010 10:23:45 +0000

The new LCD television from Vizio, the 552XVT, has 960 LED backlights producing an awesome display of crisp quality. The 55-inch display is one of two televisions in the range, with the other being 47 inches. The new Vizio LED TV has a sleek black border and a silver stereo speaker that is placed underneath the TV. The speaker provides great Dolby Digital 5.1 and SRS Tru surround sound, but does make the design look a little bulky. The Vizio 552XVT has some great features, especially its wireless options.

Get connected

The 552XVT uses 802.11N wi-fi, giving an undisturbed wireless connection. There is also an Ethernet portal to connect to your home network. The Vizio 55 inch TV provides loads of apps to choose from including Netflix, for all your favourite movies and shows, and Rhapsody, perfect for downloading your most wanted tunes. The other apps include Facebook, Twitter, Pandora, Amazon and Vudu. The Vizio LED TV comes with a Bluetooth-enabled remote control that has a slide out QWERTY keyboard, making it easy to update your Facebook status or to publish a Tweet. Apart from streaming online content, you can also keep in touch with world news, sport and weather updates.

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Enjoy a night in with the Popbox

nowhere0225 — Thu, 06 May 2010 09:00:37 +0000

Syabas has produced a successor to the popular Popcorn Hour C-200 – the Popbox. The media streamer has a wide variety of features and applications, but also has a new and improved design. It’s small, lightweight and stylish with a black matte finish. It’s got two USB ports, one at the front, the other at the back along with an HDMI output, so you’ll be able to enjoy movies and shows stored on a flash drive or from an external source. The Syabas Popbox also comes with an SD card slot and a 2GB SD card included in the package, giving you loads of room to store all your applications.

Stream wireless feeds

The Popbox has a variety of widgets that appear on the homepage, including time, date and weather forecast. There are different files where you can store videos, movies, music and photos. The Syabas Popbox has Sigma’s designed 8643 chip at the media centre, keeping everything automatically organised. Users will also have the option of wi-fi, enabling the Popbox to stream content wirelessly from the home network. It already comes with 10/100 Ethernet cables, but wi-fi comes in handy if you want to take the Popbox over to a friend’s house. The multimedia player displays images with 720p resolution and supports JPEG, WMA and MPEG formats. It uses Dolby Digital and DTS support and is able to produce a surround sound experience.

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Samsung unveil world’s thinnest 3D TV

nowhere0225 — Thu, 06 May 2010 07:00:20 +0000

Samsung are already looking to gain a weight advantage over the competition in the 3D TV battle as they recently unveiled the word’s thinnest 3D TV. At only 7.98mm thin, the 9000 series range of TVs to come from Samsung will definitely look stunning and tantalise the visual taste buds of those who like to be entertained at home without the bulkiness of other large TVs.

Big calls from Samsung

Samsung are looking to flood the 3D market with their new extremely thin TVs, by setting what some have outrageous sales targets of matching their previous LED TV sales. Bearing in mind that the consumer electronics company sold about 2.6 million LED TVs in 2009, it does sound like a slightly outlandish target for new technology which lacks content, which was said by many to be the main driving force behind the increasing demand for home 3D displays.

Looks sharp and incredibly sleek

The Samsung C9000 LED 3D TV even though only measuring a third of a typical flat screen TV is packed full features inside its stainless steel body. It comes with touch screen remote control which offers a simple UI and allows the viewer an incredible sense of control. The LED 3D TV also comes with wireless technology and is wi-fi capable, allowing users to stream content online. The Samsung C9000 looks amazing and its stainless steel bezel makes the TV look sharp enough to actually cut yourself if you touch it.

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ASUS O!Play HDP-R1 media streamer

nowhere0225 — Tue, 04 May 2010 06:47:27 +0000

The ASUS O!Play HDP-R1 media streamer is easy to use and handles all common file types. With the exception of streaming from networked PCs, it is a capable and simple media playback device with a few nifty features.

Media streamers often have varied designs — we’ve seen the tall, thin Compro T1000W, the elegant Olive No.2 and the boxy DViCO TViX M-6600N. The ASUS O!Play HDP-R1 looks like a VHS tape on steroids (children of the DVD era, enlighten yourself here) — it’s squat, black and boxy with a glossy front. You’ll probably spend most of your time poking around the rear and the right side, where ports are located. USB 2.0 and eSATA ports can be easily accessed on the right side, while video and network connections are on the rear.

We used HDMI to connect the ASUS O!Play HDP-R1 media streamer to a Sharp LC37D53X LCD and a Pioneer PDP-C509A plasma. Since the O!Play HDP-R1 doesn’t have a wireless network adapter, we used its wired 10/100MBps Ethernet port to connect it to our network.

After booting up the ASUS O!Play HDP-R1, you’re presented with a simple, responsive and relatively pretty interface. Navigating through menus is easy and intuitive: you simply pick a media type to view and then choose your source. File previews help you distinguish what file you’re about to play, which can be helpful for videos with long filenames. This makes choosing and playing back video a breeze, but the same can’t be said for audio. We tried files with MP3, AAC and FLAC extensions but the ASUS O!Play HDP-R1 did not display track or artist names from ID3v1 tags. If your music library isn’t sorted into folders, you’ll have trouble finding files.

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Orb Audio People’s Choice home theatre system

nowhere0225 — Tue, 04 May 2010 06:44:35 +0000

The Orb Audio People’s Choice home theatre system is a set of five satellite speakers and a powered subwoofer. Despite needing to be shipped from the US, the system isn’t excessively expensive. The speakers can be ordered in a huge range of different configurations and finishes, allowing for significant customisation. Sound quality from the small satellite speakers is good, with high levels of detail, and the compact subwoofer is capable of delivering significant low-frequency punch.

The People’s Choice home theatre system is, unsurprisingly, the most popular configuration ordered off Orb Audio’s Web site. Consisting of double-speaker front and centre channels and single-speaker rears, it allows for 5.1 surround sound in its default packaging — but you can get additional channels for 6.1 or 7.1 sound. You can also select triple- or quadruple-speaker designs for any channel, increasing power handling and volume output. The speakers take bare wire connections — no banana plug connections are available — and you’ll need to supply an amplifier yourself. We used the more-than-capable Pioneer VSX-LX52 to supply the 110W that each individual speaker can handle. Our test system was finished in copper, but glossy black, white, steel and bronze finishes can also be selected for an additional price…Read Full Story

Kogan Blu-ray Player Full HD 1080P

nowhere0225 — Mon, 03 May 2010 17:28:31 +0000

Kogan seems to love slashing the price of its products. When the Kogan Blu-ray Player Full HD 1080P first appeared, it cost just $299. Within a few months, this was reduced by a further 50 bucks. Recently, the price tag dropped again to just $199, making it one of the cheapest Blu-ray players on the market.

In addition to the price drop, Kogan has also added some new features to its Blu-ray player — namely a USB input for viewing PC media and an Ethernet port for BD Live downloads. In other words, the Kogan Blu-ray Player Full HD 1080P is able to compete with the latest batch of Profile 2.0 BD models, despite being significantly cheaper. There really isn’t much it skimps out on.

Like its identically named predecessor, the Kogan Blu-ray Player Full HD 1080P offers plenty of connectivity for audio/videophiles. Along the back …Read Full Story

LG FB164DAB mini hi-fi

nowhere0225 — Mon, 03 May 2010 17:22:42 +0000

LG’s FB164DAB is a mini hi-fi system with an internal DAB+ digital radio tuner. It has stereo bookshelf speakers with good mid-range and treble reproduction, although there is no lower bass extension and music begins to distort when higher volumes are reached. The LG FB164DAB has an attractive and modern design, but we worry about its fingerprint-attracting glossy finish.

It is a very simple mini hi-fi system to set up. Speaker cables are pre-attached to the left and right bookshelf speakers, and their bare-wire ends attach to the spring-loaded terminals on the rear of the main system. A bundled set of aerials picks up AM, FM and DAB+ radio signals, and a set of component and composite video outputs allow the FB164DAB to be connected to a television for playing DVD movies. An optical audio input Read Full Story