Gadget reviews 6

Nokia 1661 Mobile Reviews, Nokia 1661 Mobile Specification

noreply@blogger.com (Senthil Nathan) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 03:50:12 PDT

Description

The Nokia 1661 is a simple dual-band GSM phone. The Nokia 1661 is Nokia's lowest cost color phone including an FM radio and a large color screen. The Nokia 1661 also supports flashlight, loud ringtones and multiple phonebooks.

Features

Phone Style:: Classic
Touch Screen:
Camera:
Web Enabled:
Bluetooth:
External Memory Card:
MP3 Player:
Video Recorder
Video Displayer:
Speaker Phone:
FM Radio:
Text Messaging:
Instant Messaging:
E-Mail:
Wi-Fi:
Keyboard:
GPS:
3G:

Specs

Size:: 4.2 x 1.8 x 0.5 inches
Weight:: 2.9 ounces
Colors:: Black
Screen Resolution:: 128 x 160 pixels
Internal Memory:: - MB
Networks:: GSM 1900, GSM 850
Talk Time:: 3.9 hours
Battery Type:: Lithium-Ion
Standby Time:: 503 hours
Operating System:: Proprietary

LG Cookie KP500 - Mobile

noreply@blogger.com (Senthil Nathan) — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:16:48 PST

Good:

Great design
Well priced
Plenty of editing features
Great battery
Decent audio player and FM radio

Bad:

Touch sensitivity and accelerometer are erratic

I was completely taken aback when I saw the box with the pricing of this touch screen handset the LG KP500 cookie - Rs. 13,990. It amazed me that a large screen touch sensitive handset would cost so little. This could well be the cheapest totally touch screen handset on the Indian market, but what I’m sure you'd need to know is if it's still worth even that price. Let me clue you in this entry level touch screen handset.

Form Factor
The KP500 has a large 3-inch TFT touch screen display featuring a 240 x 400 pixel, 256K color resolution. Just under the display are a set of 3 keys – Call take, end and a center shortcut menu key that can also be used as a sort of 'End task - Task Manager' option to close all active applications. The stylus is neatly concealed and located at the bottom but slides out from the side.
This extremely slim handset (11.9mm) has a microSD card slot on one side followed by a screen lock key and a dedicated camera key located below that. On the opposite side is where you’ll find a proprietary port for the handsfree, charger and USB and volume/zoom keys. A 3 megapixel camera is located at the rear. That's pretty much it for the design; it's simple, slim and quite stylish. Here's how it does in functionality.

Features and Performance
Interface
Running on a Flash UI the KP500’s touch screen functionality is a bit erratic most of the time. Then again there have been times that it's been an absolute pleasure to use. Hence erratic is as accurate a term as any. The handwriting recognition would rival any Windows Mobile device and probably end up being better. The accelerometer is possibly the worst there is though and saying this was erratic would be an understatement. Nevertheless the KP500 sports a QWERTY style virtual keyboard when in landscape that is quite responsive and easy to manage.

The desktop or rather 'desktops' are well designed with a widget pop out feature not unlike the Samsung F480's or the Omnia's . You can choose what shortcuts of your choice and also drop them onto the desktop. By flicking this desktop to the side a new one swivels around. This desktop is designed specifically for quick dialing. The widget section can store up to 8 contacts, which can of course be dropped onto the desktop. Honestly, an integration of both would have been better (one would be completely unnecessary). But it does add a certain personal feel to have two unique desktops. The flicking feature is also evident for viewing images.

The menu set up is a neat division of features according to functionality. I quite like this. It's all very easily usable with just your fingers rendering the stylus redundant most of the time. The only time the stylus is handy is for drawing, handwriting as an option for writing messages and the browser that sometimes makes it a bit tricky selecting options or links from the screen.

There are times when the navigation can get quite frustrating if you're using your fingers. Scrolling can sometimes be an issue as the sensitivity is not consistent and trying to insert a contact into a message is a bit off too.

Samsung F480 TouchWiz - Mobile

noreply@blogger.com (Senthil Nathan) — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:09:33 PST

Good:

Responsive finger navigation
Good media and FM players
Decent battery life

Bad:

Doesn't run Java applications too well
Inbuilt features like Shozu and Opera Mini don't seem to function

I’ve often hailed Samsung's F480 TouchWiz as being a sure contender for the role of 'i-Killer'. Having had an opportunity to test it over the last week or so, here’s my opinion on whether or not it’s the best candidate yet. However, please understand that this is a standalone review and I’m not comparing it to the iPhone in any way; at least, not yet. That said, let's take a look at this TouchWiz.
Form Factor
The design is one of the things I quite liked about the handset when I first saw it. It’s a sleek, balanced handset that won’t protrude out of your pocket and elicit witticisms such as “Is that your mobile or are you just happy to see me?” The steel and black finish impart an air or class and refinement.

One minor drawback is the 2.8" TFT touchscreen. I’m sure it wouldn't have made Samsung bankrupt to take it up a notch to 3 inches. The resolution is 240 x 320 pixels with 256K colors. The speaker and secondary cam (which is well concealed) are located above the display. The F480 has a simple three-button control below the display. All you see are Call and End keys, and a shortcut key in between.
The handset weighs a scant 100g, so needless to say it’s quite comfortable to tote around. On one of the slim sides you’ll find the volume control for everything, including the touch feedback from the Haptics to the sound. Just below that is a microSD card slot. A dedicated camera key is locted on the other side, below where Samsung has placed its proprietary USB/ charging/ earphone socket. A small screen lock switch is located on the top.

Sometimes it was a bit confusing which side of the handset was up, considering the speaker could be construed as an iPhone-like singular key and the main keys as the speaker portion to hear though.

Gadget of the Year 08 - PC speakers

noreply@blogger.com (Senthil Nathan) — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:01:30 PST

It’s round up time, the time to felicitate those that have proved worthy. Anyone been to Tech 2.0 recently would have realized that we are pinning the poster-boy tag on the best products of 2008. In this article we shift the scanner to dynamic PC speaker segment, which could be a simple 2.1 system, or some snazzily designed device that should belong to the Battelstar Galactica set. The best performer has price no bar (which is obvious from our winner), then there is a runner up, and last but not the least, a budget model. These are the products from the PC speaker segment, which receive the Tech2 gadget of the year awards

PC speaker of the year - Bose Computer Music Monitor

This is easily one of the most expensive PC speakers ever released, but that's Bose for you. The MusicMonitor is a 2.0 speaker set, with quite a small foot print, but distinct bass response. This particular product released here in early 2008, and I remember we were called to attend a pre-release demo which impressed me there itself. I am not too much of a fan of their other products, but this unit has very good sound quality, particularly great bass from such a small speaker set. This is due to a system containing two passive radiators near the back panel to pump out extra bass. They are concentrically placed with a calculated distance between them, and both vibrate in exact opposite phase with each other. This is a special technology
that Bose has incorporated for this product, thus they deserve credit for it. The ease of connection and loud sound make it ideal for connecting to any desktop or laptop. The sound is open and has some spectacular depth, something I have not seen in any 2.1 speaker in some time. This is one of the main reasons why it wins, as the sound is more like a full sized speaker set. Nitty gritty faults are mentioned in the review, but that is our job; overall the sound quality is awesome.

Runner up - Logitech Audiohub

This product too released in India early 2008, reviewed by us in April. The Audiohub is a very unique set, rather, it is a single unit, like a soundbar. Meant for laptops
and desktops, this gem of a design might not be absolutely original, but in the PC speaker segment it was quite refreshing to see something so unique in terms of form factor. More over, it also doubles up as a USB Hub! The right and left speaker ‘arms’ can extend outward a bit to cradle variable screen sizes in the middle. The included wire is short, but there is an extension cable provided. The power switch has a thick, round, translucent body; and lights up orange when on. In terms of sound quality, the output is a sufficient 15 watts, with dual 2-inch speakers doing their job. The product has great mid frequencies, and also excellent ‘air’ in the highs. Bass is good enough, though not as thumping as others. Nevertheless the sound is loud and well controlled; no distortion or other grit. It’s quite reasonably priced too, check the review for complete details.

Best Value - Altec Lansing VS2521One of the more reasonably priced products around, this one released in the second half of 2008, reviewed by us in September. It is a text Book 2.1 music system meant for computer use, with a nice cuboid subwoofer that powers the 2 satellite speakers. The speakers are futuristic looking, with a leaden metallic color, The grilles are permanently fixed metallic mesh, which gives it a slightly ‘Vader-ish’ evil look, but very sophisticated. The left speaker has the controls for volume, bass and treble lined up horizontally on its lower side, along with a headphone out and a line-in, in that order. The bass response is low and round, and quite thumping. The good thing is that these Altec Lansing’s behave very well at high volumes, yielding no audible distortion. This is something we always check in lower priced speakers, and the VS2521 performed honestly enough.

Gadget of the Year 08 - Home Theaters

noreply@blogger.com (Senthil Nathan) — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 19:53:44 PST

Home Theaters — the systems in charge of the audio visual experience. We have looked at all the releases this year, and as usual we have a overall winner, a runner up and last, but not least, a budget choice. In this market there dozens of systems, some costing more than a house in Mumbai. Tech 2.0 does not go to such deep ends of the market, thus our coverage is one those products that are accessible and affordable.

Home Theater Of The Year - Onkyo HT-S5105

This system is a new release by Onkyo, one of the most popular brands in the mid to high level Home theater segment in India. They have always belted out good systems, and most of all they have a variety that surpasses most. At Rs. 36,000 this system really delivers the goods, with 3 HDMI sources switching, 130 Watts RMS power per channel, and Onkyo’s plethora of proprietary features like Audyssey 2EQ room-correction technology. The latter is a great method of getting the best possible sound setting for the speakers, according to your room acoustics. The sub has a 20 cm driver, and a good 90 watts of power. The speakers have 8 cm cone woofer and 2.5 cm balanced dome tweeter. The overall sound is quiet balanced and powerful, more suited to surround sound movie experience. But music does not sound bad too, thus the system is great overall, not to mention it fits in with contemporary interiors, due to it sleek black design.

Even though they cannot replace the real thing entirely, I really like the concept of soundbars since their inception, and this year our reputable electronics giant Philips released a couple of models. These handy units can double up as an HT system for those with space constraints, who simply cannot place surround speakers. We reviewed the higher model, though the HS6100 product has won the runner-up prize for a number of reasons, mainly due to its subtle and mature good looks, superb build and decent features. It costs about Rs.35000, so it’s within reach. Philips sound quality is one of the best in the consumer category, with heavy bass and impressively powerful sound. The unit has built in DVD player, thus it acts as a one stop solution for your full AV needs, plus it can play DivX, read off USB drives, and has inputs for connecting external media players. It also supports upscaling to 1080p.

Whenever budget Home theaters are spoken about, yamaha really leads the way. The YHT195 costs about 25,000 bucks, and anything below these prices, like the ones below 10,000 bucks by more popular brands, sound like crap. This unit comes in black or grey, a very simple yet attractive design. The satellite speakers weigh a little less than a kilo each, and are neat little rectangular boxes. It has 500W of total RMS power, at 100W per channel, plus 50W for the subwoofer. Connections include 2 HDMI-ins, 1 HDMI-out, 3 component-ins, a 5.1 analog audio-out, and a host of composite-outs. There are 3 digital audio-ins: one coaxial and 2 optical-ins.. The speakers are rated at 6 ohms. There are regular Yamaha proprietary features like YPAO, CinemaDSP etc. The sound quality is quite nice, and offers the engulfing power that a decent Home theater needs to deliver.

Best 5 home audio products

noreply@blogger.com (Senthil Nathan) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 01:22:10 PST

Onkyo TX-SR606 (black):

Best AV receiver for under $500
Last year, if someone wanted to buy an AV receiver and wasn't flush with cash, our recommendation was easy--the Onkyo TX-SR605 offered an unparalleled feature set for the price and sounded great to boot. This year, Onkyo has released an updated model, the TX-SR606, and has made a great product even better, as it now sports four HDMI inputs and offers upconversion up to 1080i for analog signals.
Price: $334.96 - $499.99

Filed in: Best 5 home audio products, Best AV receivers
Read full review

Logitech Squeezebox Duet:

Best digital audio system
From one perspective, it's hard to call the Logitech Squeezebox Duet a groundbreaking product because it follows in the footsteps of the Sonos Digital Music System, which first appeared in 2005. But the fact is that the Squeezebox Duet delivers much of the same functionality of the Sonos at a far lower pricepoint--and without many compromises. (That said, stick with the Sonos if you want the best multi-room option.) Prefer a version with built-in speakers? Go for the equally excellent Logitech Squeezebox Boom.

Price: $319.00 - $429.70

Filed in: Best 5 home audio products, Best network music players

Read full review

Aperion Intimus 4T Hybrid SD:

Best mid-size speakers for the money
If you're serious about surround sound, you need to invest in a speaker system with some real gravitas--but most people just don't want the living room overrun with giant tower speakers. But the Aperion Intimus 4T Hybrid SD package manages to downsize the towers without sacrificing the sound. At just 34 inches tall and only 5 wide, these mini-towers gorgeous minitowers will fit into smaller rooms with no problems. And you can choose an 8-inch (shown), 10-inch, or 12-inch subwoofer, depending on your bass (and size) requirements. But if they're still too big, there are some worthwhile alternatives: KEF KHT-3005, KEF KHT5005.2 and the Mirage Nanosat Home Theater System all offer great sound from even smaller speakers, and they're all available for under $2,000.

Price: $1,569.00 - $1,569.00
Read full review

Sony HT-CT100:

Best single-speaker home audio unit for under $300
Surround sound is a hot commodity, but many just can't handle the aesthetic compromises that come from a full 5.1-channel speaker system in the living room--and the speaker cables that go along with it. That's prompted an expanded "single speaker" home audio category. The best budget one we've seen is the Sony HT-CT100. With its included subwoofer, the system packs quite a sonic wallop without taking up a lot of space--and its built-in amplification and support for up to 3 HDMI sources means you can get away without using an AV receiver.

Price: $239.99 - $329.99

Filed in: Best 5 home audio products, Best virtual surround speakers

Read full review

Panasonic SC-PT760:

Best home-theater-in-a-box system for under $400
As with most budget home-theaters-in-a-box, the SC-PT760 will do its best work with DVDs, and sound less accomplished with music. But it's still going to sound perfectly fine to most listeners--especially those who don't want to invest upwards of a grand or two in their audio system. That, paired with its generally impressive feature set, makes the SC-PT760 a good choice for those on a budget who need an all-in-one home theater system--so long as they don't need a lot of extra inputs.

Price: $266.95 - $399.99 (check prices)

Filed in: Best 5 home audio products, Best home theater systems (HTIB)

Read full review

Panasonic SC-PT760

noreply@blogger.com (Senthil Nathan) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 00:01:57 PST

The good:5.1-channel home theater in a box with wireless surround speakers; HDMI upscaling to 1080p; stand-mounted front left/right speakers; integrated iPod dock; full iPod menu displayed on TV for easy remote navigation.

The bad:Utilitarian look and feel; paltry connectivity; no iPod video playback via HDMI or component output; sounds better with movies than with music.

The bottom line:With a five-disc changer, wireless rear speakers, and an integrated iPod dock, the Panasonic SC-PT760 offers a solid value for anyone looking for an affordable all-in-one home theater solution.

CNET editors' review:

Panasonic's 2008 home-theater-in-a-box line has three contenders in the sub-$500 range, and we think the midline SC-PT760 will be the most popular model of the group. It comes with a smooth-running five-disc DVD changer, wireless surround speakers, an integrated, flip-down iPod dock, and upscales video over HDMI up to 1080p. The step-down model, the SC-PT660 ($300), is pretty much the same thing, just missing the wireless speakers and front speaker stands, and the step-up model SC-PT960 ($500) duplicates the SC-PT760's features, but adds tallboy tower speakers up front. The SC-PT760's sound quality on DVDs was clean, powerful, and dynamic (considering the bargain price tag). Stereo sound from CDs and the iPod was less impressive, and the unit offers skimpy connectivity for other sources--just one stereo and one surround audio line-in jack. But if you're looking for an affordable all-in-one home theater solution that offers surround sound, a CD/DVD changer, wireless rear speakers, and built-in iPod compatibility, the Panasonic SC-PT760 should be on your short list.

Design

True to its "home-theater-in-a-box" name, the Panasonic SC-PT760 crams quite a few components into the package: the head unit (which includes the 5-disc changer and amplifier), the rear speaker amplifier (to power and wirelessly transmit audio to the two rear speakers), and the surround speakers (five relatively small speakers and a subwoofer). The head unit's slimline receiver/five-disc DVD changer is less than 3 inches high, a wee bit under 17 inches wide, and 13 inches deep. The front panel has the five-disc tray loader on the left side; a concealed, flip-down iPod dock in the middle; and the readout display and volume control over to the right. Panasonic spreads the controls to access each of the five disc-loading trays, transport controls, input selector, and subwoofer boost button across the top-front ledge. We really liked the convenience of the flip-down iPod dock--much better than the "tethered" iPod docks found on most other such systems--and the head unit is certainly compact enough, considering all that it does. However, the big buttons and brash white labels give the thing a much more utilitarian look than similar products you'll find from the likes of Samsung Electronics, Philips, and Sony.

The flip-down iPod dock is a highlight of the SC-PT760.

The no-frills look extends to the remote. It won't win any beauty contests, but it's more straightforward and intuitive than many models. We particularly liked the large buttons, though we kept accidentally hitting the input selector buttons when trying to raise or lower the volume.

The SC-PT760's setup menus and speaker calibration was easy enough to implement. Fresh out of the box and before we did any tweaking, the sound was actually pretty good, so you won't be missing much if you just concentrate on getting the SC-PT760's video to work with your TV's resolution and aspect ratio.

The remote lets you adjust the relative volume level of each speaker, and the subwoofer's volume level in three steps (and there's the sub boost control on the receiver). We would have liked to have bass and treble controls, but Panasonic instead included an EQ control with "Flat," "Heavy," "Clear," and "Soft" options. There was also something called "Whisper-mode Surround" that's supposed to enhance surround effects for late night listening, but we didn't notice much of a difference with it turned on. We did hear some small amount of noise from the rear-mounted cooling fan.

The front left and right speakers can be wall-mounted or attached to the included floor stands. The skinny tube stands come with square bases and are stable enough, but could easily be knocked over by small children or large pets. The speaker on its stand measures 44 inches tall.

The matching center speaker is 10.5 inches wide and the surround speakers are about 5.5 inches tall. All of the speakers are fitted with nonremovable black cloth grilles, and the speakers can be shelf-mounted or wall-mounted with their keyhole slots. The black plastic cabinets look fairly basic, nothing fancy, just plain and simple designs. The satellites all feature one 2.5-inch "woofer" and no tweeters, but at least the center speaker doubles up on the woofers.

The Kelton designed subwoofer has a side-mounted 6.5-inch woofer. The medium-density fiberboard subwoofer has a molded black plastic front baffle. It's just 7.1 inches tall by 14.25 inches wide by 12.5 inches deep and weighs 10.4 pounds. It's also a tad more stylish than the plain-Jane satellite speakers are.

The wireless transmitter (bottom left) pops into the main head unit and sends the surround channels to the wireless receiver.

The two "wireless" surround speakers have wires that get connected to the SC-PT760's separate wireless receiver/amplifier (a relatively compact 6.5 inches by 3.5 inches by 6.5 inches cube), which must be plugged into an AC power outlet. (The wireless signal comes from a module that's built into the rear of the main head unit.) The supplied wires for the surround speakers are only 9.5 feet long, which might not be long enough for some installations, but you can substitute hardware store speaker wire of any length. The subwoofer's 13 foot-long cable is permanently attached to the sub, and the wire's other end has a proprietary connector that plugs into the receiver/DVD changer. The front-left speaker and right speaker comes with 13-foot long wires; and the center speaker uses a 10-foot long wire; these wires also have proprietary connectors that plug into the receiver, but they use bare wire to connect to the spring clips built into the speakers. Therefore, if you need longer wires, you can easily splice longer lengths onto Panasonic's wires.

It's also worth noting that the wireless system needs to be enabled--there's no way to connect the rear speakers to the front head unit. Therefore, if the wireless doesn't interest you--in other words, you don't mind the long speaker cables running from the front to the back of the room--save yourself $100 and go for the aforementioned SC-PT660.

Panasonic SC-PT760 Deluxe 5 DVD Home Theater System

Sony HT-CT100

noreply@blogger.com (Senthil Nathan) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 23:53:21 PST

The good:

Superslender soundbar home-theater system eliminates the need for an AV receiver; comes with a potent subwoofer; three HDMI inputs; supereasy setup.

The bad:Subwoofer-based connection jacks may require creative placement or cable runs; only supports four AV sources (plus Sony's proprietary DM Port accessories).

The bottom line:Sony's HT-CT100 soundbar/subwoofer audio system is a phenomenal value that sounds great with movies and music.

CNET editors' review:
it's a familiar story in consumer electronics: Start with a luxurious, expensive, and exclusive product category, and within just a few years, you'll see a sea of imitators delivering the same basic item with more features, less money, and--ideally--better performance. Take single-speaker audio. Once the exclusive domain of Yamaha Digital Sound Projectors, the category is exploding, with boutique brands (Zvox, Soundmatters), home-audio stalwarts (Polk Audio, Definitive Technology), and major manufacturers (Samsung, Sony) all throwing their respective hat into the ring. But even in this hotly contested category, the Sony HT-CT100 home-theater system is a standout design. The two-part (speaker plus subwoofer) 3.1-channel system is one of the smallest soundbar speakers we've tested to date, and it boasts better-than-average connectivity highlighted by three HDMI inputs. Best of all, it costs just $300, and--considering that modest price tag--it sounds great. And because the HT-CT100 handles power and surround processing, you don't need to buy an AV receiver--just plug in your components and enjoy some powerful audio with more than a hint of faux surround.

To reiterate, the Sony HT-CT100 is a two-part system: a small soundbar designed to sit under the TV, and a modest-size subwoofer that also houses all of the electronics and connections. The skinny speaker is a mere 2.75 inches high and 2.6 deep. Its 31.5-inch width is also smaller than most soundbars and will make a nice match with TVs with 32-inch screens or larger. The speaker sports a satin-finished black plastic cabinet and perforated (nonremovable) metal grille; it's a no-frills look that won't win any beauty contests, but it's unobtrusive enough. The soundbar has three oval-shaped 1.6- by 2.8-inch drivers (left/center/right). You can wall mount the 4.4-pound speaker with its keyhole slots, so long as you account for the permanently attached 10-foot umbilical cable that connects it to the subwoofer. The cable terminates with a 9-pin serial connector that plugs into the subwoofer--if you need to run it a longer distance, check out our related tip.

The medium-density fiberboard sub feels more substantial than the speaker and its black-matte vinyl finish looks a bit more upscale. It's 19.75 inches high and 14.25 deep, and weighs 22 pounds. A black cloth (nonremovable) grille covers the 6.5-inch woofer mounted on the sub's right side. The front edge of the top panel has power, input, and volume controls; the display on the front baffle offers info about volume level, the selected source, and surround processing. There's a bass port smack dab in the middle of the 6.4-inch-wide front baffle. The subwoofer's built-in power amplifiers deliver 50 watts to each of the speakers' three drivers, and 100 watts to the sub's woofer.

All of the system's connections are found on the subwoofer's back panel. There you'll find three HDMI inputs; four digital-audio-only inputs (three optical, one coaxial); one analog stereo input (red/white RCA jacks); and one Digital Media Port connector. However, not counting the DM Port (it's a proprietary connector that works with only a quartet of proprietary Sony accessories), those inputs are really limited to just four AV sources--three audio or HDMI, and one audio only. In other words, you'd use the optical audio inputs (for instance) in lieu of, not in addition to, the HDMI inputs. Obviously, HDMI is the preferred connection, since it allows you to toggle audio and video at the click of a button on the HT-CT100's remote. (And, with the addition of a sub-$50 HDMI switcher, you could more than double the unit's HDMI capacity.) For non-HDMI sources (anything from a Nintendo Wii to a VCR to a non-high-def cable box), you'll use the TV for video switching, and the HT-CT100 for audio.

The HT-CT100 can toggle among three AV sources (with video, if they're HDMI-enabled), plus any Sony Digital Media Port product you choose to connect.
The unit includes standard Dolby and DTS surround processing modes. For Blu-ray, it can accept uncompressed PCM soundtracks, but it won't decode Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, nor any DTS HD flavors. (The better Blu-ray players, such as Sony's own PS3, decode those soundtracks internally and output PCM anyway, so that's not going to be a big deal for most folks.)

Sony HTCT100 Sound Bar with Sub-Woofer - Black

Aperion Intimus 4T Hybrid SD (cherry)

noreply@blogger.com (Senthil Nathan) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 23:40:53 PST

The good:

Six-piece home theater speaker package with slender towers; compact center and surround speakers; remote controlled subwoofer with adjustable equalization; gorgeous furniture grade real cherry wood or black gloss finishes; 10 year warranty; 30 day in-home trial; free shipping.

The bad:Subwoofer equalization may require an expert touch for best sound.

The bottom line:Anchored by its minitower speakers, the Aperion Intimus 4T Hybrid SD is an exceptional surround speaker system that ably combines good looks and superior sound.

CNET editors' review:

The speakers

All of the Intimus 4T Hybrid SD's speakers share the same 4-inch woven fiberglass woofer and 1-inch silk dome tweeter. The 4T tower and 4C center speaker feature a pair of the 4-inch woofers while the 4B satellite has just one. We noted that when setting up the entire Intimus 4T Hybrid SD system the five speakers' tonal matching was exceptionally good. That manifests itself with superior surround imaging. Likewise, the advantage of the towers' dual woofer design was far from subtle. The speakers' all-metal binding posts provide a secure connection with bare wire, spades, or banana plugs.

The 4C center speaker is just 5.33 inches tall by 12.8 inches wide by 5.5 inches deep, and the 4B is even more compact--it's 8.75 inches tall by 5.33 inches wide by 5.5 inches deep. The solid feel and build quality of the cabinets is extremely impressive. Aperion's real cherry wood veneers and high gloss black finishes are on par with high-end speakers costing more than double than Aperion's prices. All of the speakers have removable black cloth grilles. Floor stands as well as wall and ceiling mounts are available for all Aperion satellite and center speakers.

The Bravus 8D subwoofer

The Bravus 8D subwoofer has an 8-inch aluminum woofer on each side of its cabinet (both covered with removable black grilles) and a built-in 150-watt amplifier. The 33-pound sub comes with four metal "spike" feet and a set of pointy rubber cones. The subwoofer is 13 inches tall by 12 inches wide by 12 inches deep.

The cabinet is constructed of 0.75-inch thick high density fiberboard, cross-braced for additional rigidity. Connectivity options include stereo and LFE line-level inputs, plus speaker-level inputs. The sophisticated subwoofer has Music, Movie, and Game modes, each of which can be customized beyond the factory defaults via a small LCD screen built into its front panel. Adjustments can be made via a directional pad next to the screen or the included credit card-size remote control. Having a remote control for your subwoofer is a great convenience because we often like to adjust the sub's volume for different sources, but it's a pain getting off the couch to do so.

The Bravus 8D subwoofer has a couple of design improvements since the last time we saw it.

The menu lets you tweak parametric equalization to help deal with difficult room acoustic problems. That's nice, but unlike other subs with auto EQ, the Bravus' EQ is completely manual. You really have to know what you're doing and use a SPL meter (such as Radio Shack's 33-4050) and a CD or DVD with test tones to get anywhere with the sub's room tuning potential. On the bright side, Aperion fixed two annoyances we saw in an earlier version of the Bravus 8D: the LCD screen is now far more legible, and the built-in directional pad is far more responsive.

Polk Audio RM6750 5.1 Channel Home Theater Speaker System (Set of Six, Black)

Logitech Squeezebox Duet

noreply@blogger.com (Senthil Nathan) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 23:30:40 PST

The good:

Network digital audio system includes excellent wireless remote with color screen and scroll wheel control; supports Wi-Fi and Ethernet home networks; compatible with virtually all non-DRM audio file formats, provides access to PC-based music files (on Windows, Mac, and Linux machines) as well as PC-free Internet radio, podcasts, and premium online music services including Rhapsody, Sirius, and Pandora; excellent online account integration; expandable to multiple rooms.

The bad:Minor improvements could make the already good interface even better; scroll wheel isn't quite as responsive as the iPod's; no compatibility with DRM music files such as those purchased from iTunes or Zune online stores; setup process could frustrate those who aren't tech-savvy.

The bottom line:With its excellent iPod-like remote, the Logitech Squeezebox Duet is an ideal way to stream the full range of digital music--including files on your computer's hard drive, premium subscription music services, and free Internet radio--to your living room stereo system.

CNET editors' review:

Digital audio is great--especially if you've got a multigigabyte music collection sitting on your computer, or you subscribe to an "all you can eat" music service like Rhapsody. The problem, for a lot of people, is that they're stuck listening to all that great music on the tinny speakers of their computer--or perhaps patching the laptop into their living room stereo system. Dedicated audio streamers have helped somewhat, but they have tiny little screens, which--like docked iPods--aren't very useful if you're sitting on a sofa across the room. And the best solution to date--the excellent Sonos Digital Music System--costs a pricey $1,000 for a two-room bundle. Enter Logitech's Squeezebox Duet: the $400 network digital audio streamer employs a winning handheld remote with a brilliant color screen (not unlike an iPod) that lets you navigate your entire music collection--including several online services and the majority of free Internet radio stations--from the palm of your hand, while you hear the music from the big speakers of your home stereo.

The hardware

The Duet is so named because it's a two-part system: the Squeezebox Receiver base station and the Squeezebox Controller remote. The base station is a nondescript black brick that pulls audio from a networked PC (Windows, Mac, or Linux) or the Internet via your Wi-Fi or wired Ethernet home network. The single button on the front of the base station is used to manually sync it to the network during setup. In addition to the Ethernet jack, the rear panel boasts both analog stereo (red and white RCA jacks) and digital (coaxial or optical) jacks. That means you can output your music to pretty much anything you want--be it a high-end AV receiver, a lowly boombox, or a pair of PC speakers--so long as it has an auxiliary input jack. There's no power button, but you can shut it off via your computer (more on that later) or the remote.

The Squeezebox Receiver pulls music over your home network and outputs it to any home stereo via analog or digital connections.

Speaking of the remote--the "Squeezebox Controller," that is--it's the real innovation here. Beyond the 10 buttons controlling standard functions (volume, play/pause, track forward/reverse), it features an iPod-like scroll wheel and a brilliant 2.4-inch color LCD screen (240x320 resolution, 256,000 colors). That puts the song navigation where it belongs: in your hand, instead of a small LCD readout halfway across the room. In addition to the wheel, the menu navigation is also largely iPod-like, so anybody who's familiar with Apple's ubiquitous music player should be able to pick up and use the Squeezebox Duet with no trouble. That said, the Controller's scroll wheel isn't quite as good as the Apple version: it's an actual wheel, not the solid-state touch-sensitive version on the iPod, and it lacks the iPod's speed-sensitive ability to quickly jump up and down through long lists.

The Controller includes a rechargeable lithium-ion battery (it's removable, too, so you can replace it a few years down the line when it eventually expires). The included charging station is heavy and metallic, so the remote won't be tipping over when docked. Interestingly, the Controller also includes an SD slot behind the battery compartment, a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, an IR transmitter, a small speaker (for menu clicks and other feedback), and a three-axis accelerometer (a la the Wii controllers). Few of those features have even been tapped yet, but they show how much room the controller has to grow with future firmware upgrades, both from Logitech and the avid developer community that's been active in developing past Squeezebox products. (Both the Receiver and Controller are firmware upgradable--just choose the "update" option on the controller menu for an automatic download.)

The Squeezebox Controller includes a color screen and iPod-like controls, so you can dial up any song in your library--as well as myriad online music resources as well.

Logitech Squeezebox Duet Network Music System

The Squeezebox Duet is an expandable system, so the two components are also available separately: add additional Receivers for $150 each and additional Controller remotes for $300 (thus, you're saving $50 by buying the Duet bundle). Moreover, the Duet system has been designed to be backward compatible with earlier Squeezebox models. That means that the Squeezebox "Classic" and the high-end Transporter can double as receivers within a home network, and the Controller remote can interact with those models as well. Logitech recommends not exceeding six to eight Squeezebox nodes (Controllers and Receivers total), after which the bandwidth constraints are likely to overwhelm most home networks. But if you're going for a home music system larger than that, you probably should already be considering stepping up to the Sonos Digital Music System anyway.

Features

The Squeezebox Duet can draw audio from two main sources: the Internet or a networked PC--Windows, Mac, or Linux. The breadth of the online sources is impressive and varied:

Online music services: If you like online music services, chances are you'll love the Squeezebox Duet. Thus far, supported services include Rhapsody, Sirius, Last.fm, Slacker, MP3tunes, Pandora, Live365, RadioIO, and RadioTime. (These are mostly premium services, but all of them offer a free trial period.) Also available is the complete catalog of the Live Music Archive, a free resource that includes thousands of live concert recordings.

Internet radio: Prefer free online music? The full panoply of online radio is available. Either access Shoutcast servers (divided by region or genre), or add your own bookmarked favorites through the SqueezeNetwork interface (see below).

Podcasts: As with the Internet radio bookmarks, you can add the feeds for your favorite podcasts on the SqueezeNetwork home page.

You'd think that controlling access to that wide range of online music sources would be a challenge, but Logitech and Slim Devices couldn't have made things simpler. All of the online music sources are aggregated under a single online location called SqueezeNetwork. Set up a free account (it takes about 30 seconds, and you don't need to give more than your e-mail address), and the SqueezeNetwork service provides a single location to coordinate everything: all of your account information for any of the premium online services to which you're subscribed. (The Squeezebox generates a unique PIN code during setup that you input to the SqueezeNetwork page, linking the two together.) The SqueezeNetwork home page is also where you add your Internet radio favorites and podcast RSS feeds (just cut and paste the appropriate URLs). You can even add text RSS feeds, for viewing Web clips on the Squeezebox Controller's screen.

Onkyo TX-SR606 (black)

noreply@blogger.com (Senthil Nathan) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 23:17:32 PST

The good:
Four HDMI inputs; onboard Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding; upconverts analog signals to 1080i over HDMI output; Sirius-ready; excellent automatic speaker calibration; switches as many as six high-definition video sources; improved remote.

The bad:
Poor video processing limits utility of HDMI upconversion for analog sources; sounds better on movies than with music; no phono input.

The bottom line:
The Onkyo TX-SR606 offers tons of functionality for the price, but subpar video processing and improved competition means it's less of a standout receiver than last year's version.
CNET editors' review:

Last year, if someone wanted to buy an AV receiver and wasn't flush with cash, our recommendation was easy--the Onkyo TX-SR605 offered an unparalleled feature set for the price and sounded great to boot. This year, Onkyo has released an updated model, the TX-SR606, and has made a great product even better, as it now sports four HDMI inputs and offers upconversion up to 1080i for analog signals. Even more enticing, these extra features come without any effective price premium: despite its $580 list price, the street price of the TX-SR606 is already $400, equaling the bargain price of the TX-SR605.

While the TX-SR606 is an improvement over the TX-SR605, perhaps the bigger story is that the rest of the field has caught up. The Sony STR-DG920 offers most of the same functionality. Furthermore, in our experience, the capability to upconvert to 1080i just isn't worthwhile, as the TX-SR606's video processing is so poor that even average users will be disappointed. So while the TX-SR606 is an excellent receiver that improves on its predecessor, competition from Sony (and others) and some underperforming features means it's not as much of a no-brainer choice as it was last year. Those with non-HDMI video sources will want to look at alternatives, or consider bypassing the Onkyo and using their TVs to switch analog videos sources instead.

Design
The TX-SR606 looks essentially the same as the TX-SR605. It's big and boxy, with its dimensions coming in at 6.88 inches high by 17.13 inches wide by 15.06 inches deep. From the front, there's a big volume knob in the upper right-hand section. The middle of the receiver is dominated by a strip of glossy black plastic, and in the center is an LCD screen, which is easy enough to see from about 7 feet away. To the right of the display is a front-panel directional pad, which is nice for navigating menus in case the remote is lost, and underneath the glossy black strip are several additional front panel buttons. Along the bottom is a headphone jack, along with more front panel buttons plus a standard AV input. Overall, it's not exactly stylish, but that's pretty typical for an AV receiver.

The included remote is nicely redesigned from previous Onkyo remotes. The new remote is much simpler, obviously built around the concept of navigating via onscreen menus. That means there are significantly fewer buttons that directly access features, which may frustrate some power users who hate digging through menus. However, overall we like the new design, as it should be less intimidating for receiver amateurs, and those of us accustomed to navigating menus on a DVR won't mind searching through the menus to make adjustments. Still, we had some quibbles. We would have liked it if the main volume rocker was more prominently positioned, instead of lumped together with other rockers. We were also frustrated how input buttons such as DVD also force the remote to start controlling the DVD player--which means, for instance, that the "setup" button tries to load the DVD player's setup menu rather than that of the receivers. But these are mostly nitpicks on an otherwise solid redesign.

While manufacturers such as Denon and Sony have put a lot of work into prettying graphical user interfaces, Onkyo continues to stick with plain menus featuring blocky white text. As much as we like the pretty GUIs, we appreciate Onkyo's philosophy of ignoring the eye candy and keeping the price low instead. For example, Sony's STR-DG920 is very close to the TX-SR606 in terms of features, but the STR-DG920 includes Sony's xross media bar (XMB) GUI and costs $100 more. That said, we'd love for Onkyo to offer some high-definition menus at the same price point.

The TX-SR606's Audyssey 2EQ automatic calibration system uses a microphone to analyze the speakers' and subwoofers' sound from three positions in your room. Seconds after you plug in the included mic, the receiver's onscreen display supplies the following very important message, "Please place microphone at center of listening area at ear height." That's essential advice that most calibration systems may supply in the user manual, but owners who don't read the manual may inadvertently place the mic in less than ideal locations that throw off the accuracy of the results. Kudos to Onkyo for emphasizing that point.

Just connect the included mic to utilize the excellent Audyssey 2EQ automatic calibration.

The Audyssey 2EQ process takes about 10 minutes, during which time the receiver sends test tones to all of the speakers and sub. The Onkyo TX-SR606 then adjusts the channel volume level and time delay settings for each speaker, the speaker "sizes," and subwoofer crossover settings. The Audyssey 2EQ also provides equalization corrections to the speakers and sub, which we felt significantly improved the sound of our Aperion Intimus 5B Harmony SD satellite/subwoofer system. The auto setup was just as accurate as our manual setup.

Frankly, we were surprised by the improvements the Audyssey 2EQ provided, the Aperion system is quite nice au natural, yet the Audyssey 2EQ sweetened the treble and smoothed the transition between sub and satellites. That made for improved midbass fullness, apparent dynamic range and impact.

Features:
Connectivity Audio soundtrack capabilities
HDMI inputs 4 Passes Dolby Digital and DTS via HDMI Yes
Component video inputs 2 Passes LPCM via HDMI Yes
AV inputs with S-Video 4 (4 rear, 1 front without S-Video) Decodes Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD Master Yes
Optical inputs 2 Video capabilities
Coaxial inputs 2 HDMI version 1.3
Selectable HD sources 6 1080p via HDMI Yes
Satellite radio Sirius ready 1080p via component Yes
Network audio No Upconverts analog sources Yes
Phono input No Deinterlaces 480i via HDMI Yes
Analog multichannel input Yes Selectable output resolution Yes
The TX-SR606 is a 7.1-channel AV receiver, and Onkyo rates its output at 90 watts per channel. Like essentially every other receiver available, it offers a full selection of standard Dolby and DTS surround processing modes.

Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding means you don't have to worry whether your devices have onboard decoding.

Last year's TX-SR605 was essentially the only AV receiver in its price range to include decoding for the two, new high-resolution soundtrack formats, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. The TX-SR606 includes onboard decoding for both of those soundtrack formats, but it's somewhat less of an important feature as more manufacturers have begun to include this feature at lower price points. Additionally, more and more Blu-ray players (including the PS3) are including onboard decoding, which lessens the importance of having the decoders in the player. That being said, having onboard decoding is a nice way to future-proof your receiver in case other devices come out that output the soundtracks in bit stream (undecoded) format.
More On:reviews.cnet.com
Onkyo TX-SR606 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver (Black)

Samsung HL61A750

noreply@blogger.com (Senthil Nathan) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 12:03:28 PST

The good:
Excellent screen size-to-price ratio compared to big-screen flat-panels; solid black-level performance; very accurate color, with minor tweaking; plenty of connectivity options.

The bad:
Somewhat expensive for a rear-projection set; as with all rear-projection sets, off-angle performance is poor.

The bottom line:
Samsung's HL61A750 61-inch rear-projection HDTV delivers excellent overall picture quality, and, compared to flat-panel options, it's a real bargain.

CNET editors' review:

Rear-projection HDTVs, as a category, are on their way out, and DLP-based sets are the only microdisplay choice available, now that all manufacturers of LCD- and LCoS-based rear-projection displays have basically ceased production. Samsung and Mitsubishi are pretty much the only players left in this category--they're the only two manufacturers listed on the Best Buy and Circuit City Web sites under "rear-projection." The way things are going, 2008 or 2009 may be the last year for rear-projection, lasers notwithstanding. As with any technology nearing the end of its lifespan, RPTV is becoming an even better bargain than before, as long as you're aware of its limitations, such as poor off-angle performance compared to plasmas.

Samsung's HL61A750 is the company's top-of-the-line 61-inch model. It has a really solid feature package, with lots of options focused on optimizing the picture, and generous connectivity to accommodate all your video sources without any issues. Most importantly--at least to this reviewer--it is an excellent performer, with deep blacks and accurate color temperature after just a few tweaks in the user menu. Rear-pros may be a dying breed, but if you're looking to get 61 inches for less than $2,000 (street price), the Samsung HL61A750 is an excellent performer and handily beats the comparable Mitsubishi WD-65735.

Design
If you've seen one big-box microdisplay, you've just about seen them all. This is especially true now that Sony's interestingly styled SXRD rear-projection sets are no longer produced. The Samsung HL61A750 sports a glossy black finish with a very thin bezel surrounding the left, right, and top edges of the screen. Samsung's signature round blue circle still sits directly below the middle of the screen.

While the TV's cabinet is unchanged, the remote has undergone a complete makeover. It has a glossy black finish, and I wasn't a fan of the multicolored buttons. I was disappointed that it is not backlit at all, and the round dial around the Enter button intended to help you navigate the menu is awkward to use; I found myself going to places in the menu I didn't intend to visit. The internal menu system has not changed since last year's DLP models, and is quite intuitive and easy to use.

Features

Like most modern big-screen LCDs, the HL61A750 has a native resolution of 1080p, which works out to 1,920x1,080 pixels. While we often downplay the importance of 1080p resolution at smaller screen sizes, with a 61-inch screen you should be able to see the benefits of 1080p over 720p, albeit at a very close seating distance of 7 feet.

You'll want to select Warm 2, as it's the most accurate color temperature.

Three picture modes are available, including Dynamic, Standard, and Movie. I chose Movie, as it produced the best results at the factory presets. The selectable color temperatures are Cool 1, Cool 2, Normal, Warm 1, and Warm 2; we selected Warm 2, as its by far the closest to the broadcast standard color temperature.

Dynamic may be the brightest, but Movie mode is the best for an accurate picture in a dark room environment.

The Detailed Settings menu includes several additional adjustments and almost all of them, including Black Adjust, Dynamic Contrast, Edge Enhancement, and xvYCC Color, are best shut off. The LED control adjusts the backlight for the LEDs, and is very useful in optimizing the black level of the set. The lower you set it the better the blacks, but you also decrease light output, so there is a tradeoff.

When in the Movie mode, you will find that many of the settings in the Picture Options menu are grayed out, indicating they are set correctly and should not be changed. I was very pleased to see that Samsung has added a Blue Only mode, which is helpful in getting color and tint set correctly, as a blue filter really isn't accurate enough with these types of displays (check this tip for details). Color Gamut comes set to sRGB, and that is the most accurate setting. This feature changes the primary colors, and sRGB is very close to the HDTV specifications for red, green, and blue. The Normal and Wide modes bring the primaries way beyond where they are meant to be.

(Updated July, 31, 2008) The Samsung's selection of aspect ratio modes is solid, and includes a Just Scan option that displays 1080i and 1080p without scaling. Since this is a rear-projection set it still overscans about 2.5 percent, which obscures the extreme edges of the image--whereas flat-panel sets can typically show the entire image with zero overscan.

With three HDMI inputs and two component video inputs, you should be covered for high-def video.

There are ample AV connections located in the rear right side of the HL61A750. The most important connections are the three HDMI inputs. Plus, there are two component video inputs for any analog HD devices you have. For standard-definition analog video, there is a single S-Video input and two composite video inputs. A PC-style VGA input is also included, as well as a digital optical audio output, too.

Pioneer Elite Kuro PRO-111FD

noreply@blogger.com (Senthil Nathan) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 12:00:15 PST

The good:Produces the deepest black levels of any large-screen display we've tested; extremely accurate color points and color temperature; superb antireflective screen; 72Hz refresh mode works well with 1080p/24 sources; Pure picture mode delivers superior settings out of the box; extensive picture controls; excellent connectivity, including 4 HDMI and one PC input; styling that's all business.

The bad:Extremely expensive; mediocre standard-definition processing.

The bottom line:The Pioneer Elite PRO-111FD represents the pinnacle of flat-panel HDTV picture quality.

CNET editors' review:

Pioneer markets its Elite lineup of plasma TVs to appeal to the hard-core home theater enthusiast, and that means pricing these panels above and beyond just about anything else. The enthusiast who can afford one, however, can rest assured that the 50-inch PRO-111FD performs above and beyond anything else on the market today. This display has the best black levels (aside from OLED) and most accurate color of any HDTV we've ever reviewed, and it's hard to find fault with other aspects of its picture quality. A picture mode entitled Pure is exactly that, delivering better out-of-the-box settings--before we performed any adjustments--than any preset picture mode we've tested, including THX on models like the Panasonic TH-50PZ800U. A stratospheric price disqualifies the Elite from consideration as our Editors' Choice, but make no mistake: If you have the cash to burn, this plasma or its 60-inch brother is best flat-panel HDTV you can buy today, period.

Design

Pioneer's no-nonsense, all-black look gives the PRO-111FD an ultraserious air, backed up by the unadorned, glossy-black frame with a simple gold "Elite" tattooed on the bottom. The sharp-cornered frame is characteristically chunky for a 50-inch plasma, and unlike most HDTVs, Pioneer mounts the speakers to both sides, making for an expansive wingspan. We appreciated that the speakers can be detached, as can the glossy black, nonswiveling stand.

Including stand and speakers, the PRO-111FD measures approximately 56.9 inches wide by 31 inches high by 13.8 inches deep and weighs 88 pounds. By itself, the panel measures 48.8 by 28.5 by 3.7 inches and weighs 74.5 pounds.

Pioneer's remote was redesigned after last year, and we really don't like it. Gone are the different shapes for secondary functions; instead, almost all of the keys on the new remote share the same square shape, tiny size, and are arranged in a staid grid. While that may make the clicker look cooler in some designer's opinions, it sure doesn't help navigate the scads of buttons. Sure, we liked the direct access to each of the inputs and the red-backlit keys, but we can't forgive the unforgiving grid.

Pioneer's redesigned menu system has easy-to-read graphics and a smaller inset window instead of the standard overlay.

The menu system underwent an even more thorough overhaul. Instead of overlaying the menu atop the picture, as nearly every other HDTV does, the Pioneer shrinks the live TV image into a small window in the middle-left sector, and fills the remainder of the screen with menu text, onscreen explanations, and guide icons on a black background. We liked the new menus, which are exceedingly easy to read, and appreciated the fact that during picture adjustments the standard overlay arrangement returns, so you can see the effects of your adjustments. We also appreciated the Tools menu, which provided easy access to many of the most used functions.

A Tools menu provides quick access to many oft-used functions, including aspect ratio and picture mode.

Features

The main difference on the spec sheet between Pioneer's non-Elite models and the Elite lineup comes in the form of picture adjustments. Your extra cash buys you a level of control over the image that's equal to that of models from Samsung and LG, for example, although the PRO-111FD lacks the 10-point IRE color-temperature calibration we liked so much on select LG sets. We mention those two manufacturers partly because they provide a high level of picture control throughout their lineups, from the least to the most expensive models, and don't make you pay significantly more for those controls.

Pioneer's picture adjustments start with seven total picture modes, five of which can be tweaked and apply to every input. Another, labeled Standard, is independent per input. We found Pure mode to be the most-accurate overall, to the point where we really didn't have to use all of those controls to get it to look its best (see Performance for details).

The readout along the bottom of the screen lets you follow along with the changes Optimum makes to the picture.

As on the non-Elite models, the PRO-111FD has an Optimum picture mode, which automatically adjusts the picture according to room lighting and content. One item not included with non-Elite TVs is a special room-lighting sensor, which senses the intensity and color of room lighting to better adjust the picture on the fly, according to the company.

An included color sensor reads ambient light conditions and adjusts the picture accordingly.

Those Elite-only picture controls include five color-temperature presets in addition to a Manual color-temperature mode that allows adjustment of red, green, and blue gain and cut. A full color-management system is also onboard, with tint controls for both primary and secondary colors that worked very well. You can choose between a wide color space (denoted as "1" and set as the default on most picture modes) and one that conforms closely to the HD standard (option "2," the default in Pure mode).

Manual controls for color temperature...

...and color management highlight the step-up Elite feature pack.

Additional advanced controls abound. There's a gamma control, adjustable black level, a detail enhancer, automatic contrast adjustment, and an automatic color and brightness adjustment called Intelligent Mode--the latter two dynamically change the picture according to content, although not as dramatically as Optimum. Noise reduction is as comprehensive as we've seen on any TV, with four different NR options, two with four settings and two with On/Off settings. Video processing adjustments include a Smooth mode that introduces some dejudder processing and an Advanced mode, designed to work with 1080p/24 sources, that switches the TV to a 72Hz refresh rate.

An excellent selection of six aspect ratio modes is available for high-def sources and five for standard def, along with an Auto feature that attempts to set the correct aspect ratio for you. As we'd expect, there's also a dot-by-dot mode that scales 1080i and 1080p sources perfectly without any overscan. If you're interested in using this mode, which we highly recommend, be sure to disable the "Auto Size" option in the Setup>Option menu, or else the TV will default to Auto (which doesn't seem to like dot-by-dot much) every time you turn it on.

Pioneer added its Home Media Gallery to the TV this year, which allows it to interface with a USB thumb drive or your home network via an Ethernet port to play back photos, music, and video files on the TV. We didn't test this feature on the PRO-111FD, but it's the same as the version we tested on the PDP-5020FD.

Other features include picture-in-picture with a side-by-side option, and a variety of options to combat potential burn-in, including a pixel orbiter, a scrolling white bar to wipe out retained images, and a mode that "simultaneously optimizes the related settings to alleviate image retention."

While we appreciated the addition of a pair of power-saver modes, which somewhat limit peak light output and therefore energy consumption, a more-important feature is the same kind of store/home choice found on Panasonic and Samsung panels. When we first plugged in the TV, it asked us whether we were in the store or at home, and when we chose "home" the TV was automatically set in the Standard picture mode, which is designed to meet the new Energy Star guidelines coming later this year. According to our tests (see the Juice Box below), Standard did a great job saving power without sacrificing too much light output--a big criticism we had about Panasonic's Standard mode.

The Pioneer's back panel includes three HDMI jacks and an Ethernet port for the home network feature.

Connectivity on the PRO-111FD is as comprehensive as we expect from such an expensive HDTV. There is a total of four HDMI inputs, with three on the rear and one on the side. The back panel includes one component-video input, one AV input with S-Video and composite video, one AV input with only composite video, a PC input (1,280x1,024 maximum resolution), an RF input for cable and antenna, an analog audio output, and an optical digital audio output, along with a LAN port. The side panel adds another AV input, a headphone jack and a USB port that works with the Home Media Gallery.

Sony KDL-55XBR8

noreply@blogger.com (Senthil Nathan) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 11:54:22 PST

The good:

Reproduces the deepest black levels of any LCD we've tested; highly accurate primary color points and grayscale tracking; best-in-class bright-room viewing characteristics; scads of video processing options including superior dejudder capabilities; numerous picture controls; comprehensive complement of inputs including four HDMI and one PC; optional different-colored speaker grilles; unique styling; energy efficient.

The bad:Mind-bogglingly expensive; image quality fades when seen from off-angle; minor blooming in some high-contrast areas; some dejudder modes produce artifacts; nonremovable speakers protrude to either side.

The bottom line:Although not quite the best HDTV we've tested so far, the wallet-busting, LED-powered Sony KDL-55XBR8 comes mighty close.

CNET editors' review:

Among LCD heavyweights, Sony and Samsung have been trading blows for the last couple of years at the top of the standings. This bout involves cutting-edge, top-of-the-line LED-backlit models most of us can't afford, but it's entertaining nonetheless. In this corner is the Sony KDL-55XBR8, the most-expensive flat-panel HDTV we've ever tested at CNET and possibly the worst deal per square inch since Sony's own XEL-1. In that corner is the Samsung LN46A950. In case you don't have time to read the complete blow-by-blow, we'll cut to the chase: the Sony XBR8 won. It delivered deeper black levels than the Samsung, along with less blooming and off-angle fade, two issues you'll have to read about below. But as good as the Sony is, it still couldn't knock out the champion of the superheavyweight plasma division, Pioneer's Elite Kuro, which still reigns supreme as the best HDTV overall and it costs less, even at 60 inches, than the 55-inch KDL-55XBR8. That said, if you have a room full of light, a penchant for video processing modes, and a bank account bursting with cash, you'll find the flagship Sony mighty appealing.

Design

Ever since the "Dumbo Ears" of Sony's KDS-60XBR2, the company has given its highest-end HDTVs a wider cabinet design than the rest of its lineup. The trend continues with the XBR8 series which also includes a 46-inch version. Compared with the less-expensive KDS-52XBR6, which mounts its speakers along the bottom, the XBR8 has side-mounted speakers that add a solid 3 inches to each side of the panel.

The speakers to either side of the Sony KDL-55XBR6's frame are seemingly suspended in midair by transparent panes of glass.

If you don't mind the protruding speakers, there's a lot to love about the rest of the XBR8's design. The black, vertical speakers appear suspended in space to either side of the TV by virtue of transparent panels, the right one bearing a few indicator lights. In case you don't like black speakers, Sony sells alternate-color grilles--silver, red, brown, or gold--at $129 per pair. A glossy black frame surrounds the big screen and a low-profile stand adds to the wide look. The only item interrupting the black frame is an illuminated Sony logo--and yes, you can turn off the blue light.

Including that nonswiveling stand, the Sony KDL-55XBR8 measures 58.6 inches wide by 33.8 inches high by 14.1 inches deep and weighs 120 pounds. Stripped of the stand, it measures 58.6 inches wide by 31.6 inches wide by 5.9 inches deep and weighs 105 pounds.

The remote control and menu system of the XBR8 are identical to that of step-down models like the XBR6. The remote was less-impressive than we expected. On the plus side, the remote is backlit with blue lighting, but most of the controls are for other gear. The extra controls that actually pertain to the TV are crowded into the top and difficult to tell apart. Too many buttons ring the main cursor control, and the remote's larger size requires a stretch to reach the volume and channel controls. It's still not a bad remote; it's just not up to Sony's usual standards.

Although still tedious to navigate, at least the PS3-esque XMB menu system finally groups all of the picture controls under the appropriate heading.

Here's how we mention that we find the PS3-like "Cross Media Bar" (XMB) arrangement a bit cumbersome to use on a TV. Unlike some less-expensive 2008 Sony TVs, which only have three horizontal selections among myriad vertical ones, the XBR8's menu adds two more selections, "photo" and "music," for use with the USB port, an optional Bravia Internet Video Link (which adds a "videos" choice) or a networked media server for photos. Of course, the majority of users probably won't access those functions, so we question the value of giving them so prominent a location in the menu.

One improvement is that most of the picture-affecting items are now grouped under the picture menu, and another is that the secondary "options" menu calls up a few more selections, reducing the need to visit the main menu much. Sony has also added a third way to access different inputs (in addition to the rightmost of three horizontal XMB items and a dedicated "input" menu), which consists of a new "favorites" screen that includes last-used inputs, favorite channels you manually add as well as a weird screensaver that can be programmed with images grabbed from a composite or TV input only. All told, this is one of the most varied and option-riddled menu systems we've seen. However, despite the Sony's sophistication, we prefer a more straightforward arrangement like that found on the Samsung LN52A650.

Features

The big story here, naturally, is LED backlighting. The XBR8 series represents Sony's first mass-market attempt at using LEDs, as opposed to standard fluorescents, to provide the illumination that powers the picture. Samsung got there first with last year's LN-T81F series and provides Sony's principal LED-backlit competition this year with the LNA950 series. Both companies' LED models offer "local dimming," which really improves the TVs' capability to produce a deep shade of black, but there's also a major difference between Sony and Samsung's LED technology.

The LED Dynamic Control menu option on the KDL-55XBR8 affects how local dimming is implemented.

Sony uses three colors of LEDs--two green, one each red and blue--for each of the 128 LED modules behind the screen of the 55-inch XBR8. Samsung, on the other hand, uses white LEDs and would not disclose how many modules it uses. Check out this blog post for more details on the different technologies, and the Performance section of this review for information on how the two compare.

Aside from those LEDs, the XBR8's list of features is very similar to that of the less-expensive XBR6 series. The KDL-55XBR8 has a 120Hz refresh rate, which helps clean up blurring in motion and works hand-in-hand with the company's dejudder video processing, dubbed "Motion Enhancer" in the menu and MotionFlow in Sony's literature. Unlike the XBR6 series, the XBR8 has three Motion Enhancer settings instead of two; we'll go into their effects below. Naturally this flagship set also has a native resolution of 1080p, the highest available today.

On the XBR8 series, Sony's Motion Enhancer dejudder video processing is available in three varieties.

Sony offers four picture presets, each of which can be adjusted independently per input, in addition to a Theater preset that can't be adjusted at all. Among the basic settings, available on all presets, is a pair of noise reduction settings and three color temperature presets. More advanced settings, which can't be adjusted while in the Vivid preset but can on the other three, include a white balance control to further tune color temperature, a gamma setting, and a few other adjustments that we generally left turned off for best picture quality.

We always appreciate having a full set of detailed color temperature controls.

The wave of funky proprietary video processing names continues. Sony touts the Bravia Engine Pro processor on the XBR8 series as an improvement over lesser models, such as the XBR6 that gets only Bravia Engine 2 instead. In the TV's menu, the Engine consists of a choice between two different DRC--Digital Reality Creation--modes, along with an adjustable Reality versus Clarity matrix, BE Pro's most apparent and confusing step-up over BE2. A Sony engineer told us that, in simple terms, increasing the Reality indicator creates more apparent resolution, while increasing the Clarity indicator increases noise reduction. Choosing the "Off" position for DRC bypasses the processing completely, preserving as much of the source's original quality as possible.

Sony's DRC video processing on the XBR8 adds a Reality versus Clarity matrix.

Other video processing options include CineMotion that, among other things, affects the TV's 2:3 pull-down performance, a Game Mode that removes video processing entirely to eliminate any delay between a game controller and the onscreen action, and a photo/video optimizer designed to do exactly that.

Sony includes four aspect ratio modes for HD sources, and a "Full Pixel" setting Display Area section of the Wide menu lets you make one of those modes display 1080-resolution content without any scaling or overscan. We recommend using this setting unless you notice interference along the extreme edges of the screen, which is the fault of the channel or service, not the TV. The menu has a cool graphical display that illustrates the differences between the various aspect ratio settings.

Like other higher-end Sony sets, the XBR8 ships with a rudimentary networking feature. The Ethernet port on the rear of the set allows it to work with DLNA-compatible media server software, such as Windows Media Player 11, to grab photos from a networked PC to display on the TV's screen. Similar functionality is available on numerous devices, including the company's own PlayStation 3, and from certain TVs, including Samsung's LN46A750 and Pioneer's PDP-5020FD. Unlike those products, however, the XBR8 can't stream music or video via the network, just photos and music, so it's much less-useful; to stream video you'll need to purchase a BIVL. Check out this blog post for hands-on testing of Sony's photo streaming, which we performed on a Z-series model.

Conveniences continue with an option we haven't seen on many HDTVs recently: the TV Guide onscreen electronic programming guide . TVG lets the Sony display a grid of information for antenna and cable channels, but people who tune primarily with an external cable or satellite box will probably use their box's EPG instead. In other words, TV Guide won't be useful for most KDL-55XBR8 owners, and we didn't test it for this review. The TV's picture-in-picture mode unfortunately restricts content in the secondary window to only the TV/antenna input.

The XBR8 is one of the first Sony HDTVs to offer the Home/Store option as part of its Energy Star 3.0 compliance. We were also pleased to see a two-step power-saving option that limited peak brightness and really cut down on energy consumption. As expected from an LED-backlit display, the KDL-55XBR8 is quite efficient, delivering one of the best watts per square inch results after calibration (0.11) that we've ever tested. Check out the Juice Box for details.

The back panel's numerous inputs include the standard HDMI and PC ports, plus a LAN port for networking and two Sony proprietary connections labeled DMex and DMPort.

Connectivity on the KDL-55XBR8 matches that of most higher-end HDTVs available today. Around back, we counted three HDMI inputs and on the side, the company stashed number four. Two component-video jacks, a VGA-style PC input (1,920x1,080-pixel maximum resolution), an AV input with S-Video and composite video, another with only composite video, an RF-style antenna/cable input, an analog audio output, and an optical digital audio output complete the back panel jack pack, while another AV input with composite video joins the HDMI port on the side panel. There's also a USB port that slows the TV to handle photos and music stored on USB thumbdrives.

Right-side inputs include one AV with composite video, a fourth HDMI, and a USB port for photos and music.

Sony also includes a port labeled DMex for BIVL and a few other proprietary accessories including a DVD player, a module with four extra HDMI inputs, and a wireless HDMI transmitter/receiver. If one proprietary jack isn't enough for you, the DMPort allows connection to even more add-ons, including a Bluetooth wireless audio adapter or an iPod dock.

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Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ800U

noreply@blogger.com (Senthil Nathan) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 11:47:53 PST

The good:
Reproduces deep black levels and highly accurate color; excellent uniformity with little false contouring; THX mode obviates in-depth calibration; relatively effective antireflective screen; solid connectivity with four HDMI and one PC input; handsome styling with single-pane design.

The bad:
Expensive; blacks not quite as deep as the best plasmas; optional 24p mode introduces flicker; fewer picture controls than most HDTVs.

The bottom line:
With the accuracy of its THX mode and great black-level performance, the Panasonic TH-50PZ800U is one of the best-performing HDTVs available.

CNET editors' review :

For the last year or so, our reigning favorite plasma TV was Pioneer's PDP-5080HD "Kuro," which got there by dint of its game-changing black-level performance, which is still the best we've tested outside of OLED. But many of Panasonic's 2008 plasma TVs, including the TH-50PZ800U, come mighty close to the vaunted blacks of those Kuro models, and this set's THX mode adds significantly improved color and video processing performance compared with other Panasonic plasmas. The bad news, of course, is that THX will cost you hundreds of dollars over the company's step-down, non-THX TH-PZ85U series. Whether that extra scratch is worth the better picture is entirely up to you, but we can say with certainty that Panasonic's TH-50PZ800U is a worthy competitor to the Kuro, and in many ways, it performs even better. For shoppers looking for the ultimate plasma TV that may be enough, at least until the new Kuro models debut later this year.

Design
In photos, the Panasonic TH-50PZ800U looks a lot like every other HDTV on the market: a glossy black rectangle. In person, however, it's a lot more striking and less glossy. In fact, the black frame around the screen isn't glossy at all, it's simply fronted by a big pane of glass that lends the panel a somewhat more sophisticated look than a typical set, where the frame is raised a quarter inch or so from the surface of the screen. Below the screen the Panasonic's frame has what resembles a pair of pursed lips that protrude forward, bearing the logo and hiding a set of inputs behind a flip-down door.

An HDMI input, an AV input, and an SD card slot hide beneath a door on the front panel.

The stand looks identical to the sloped number common to lower-end 2008 Panasonic plasmas such as the TH-46PZ85U and the TH-42PX80U, but unlike those stands, this one swivels, courtesy of a lazy-Susan-like base hidden underneath. Including stand, the TH-50PZ800U measures 49.9 inches wide by 33.4 inches tall by 15.3 inches deep and weighs 92.6 pounds. Divested of stand, its size shrinks to 49.9 inches wide by 31.2 inches tall by 4.1 inches deep and its weight shrinks to 81.6 pounds.

Panasonic's remote remains the same as last year, and we remain fans of its layout. The medium-length wand groups the distinct sets of right-sized buttons in an easy-to-feel arrangement, and although we'd have liked to see some backlighting, we didn't really miss it after a few minutes of becoming familiar with the button arrangement.

A familiar yellow-on-blue menu system leads to the television's setup functions, and although the graphics lack the panache of a Sony or a Samsung menu, navigation was intuitive enough. We liked that the company renamed its previously confusing "Normal" command to "Reset," which more accurately describes what it does to your picture settings.

Features
As we mentioned, the big step-up feature between Panasonic's TH-PZ85U series and the TH-PZ800U models such as this is THX Display Certification. The certification involves testing in a number of categories such as contrast ratio and color accuracy, according to THX, and the TH-50PZ800U has a special THX picture preset that, when engaged, causes the TV's picture to comply with the certification. We'll detail its effects in the Performance section below, and we describe more about the certification itself in this blog post.

One of the TH-50PZ800U's biggest features is THX Display certification, which manifests partly as a an appropriately labeled preset picture mode.

Like most plasmas in Panasonic's 2008 lineup, the TH-50PZ800U has a native resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, or 1080p, which is fast becoming a standard feature on all flat-panel HDTVs. As we've said before, however, the difference between 1080p and lower resolutions is difficult to discern, even at this relatively large screen size.

Picture controls on the TH-50PZ800U aren't as extensive as seen on many higher-end HDTVs. While we appreciated the capability to adjust all of the five picture modes, including THX, and the fact that the Custom mode is independent per input, we couldn't adjust color temperature beyond the three presets. Advanced picture controls on the TH-PZ800U include a color management control that we left off in THX mode; a "C.A.T.S." mode that changes contrast on the fly and so should be left turned-off; two species of noise reduction, and a black-level control. In case you're wondering, the step-up TH-PZ850U series does include adjustable color temperature and a host of other picture tweaks, although it lacks THX certification.

The advanced picture menu offers a few notable selections, like a 24p mode and a zero-overscan HD size selection, but it lacks detailed color temperature adjustments.

Panasonic also touts the mysterious Game mode, which turns out to be little more than an easy way to select a particular input. A quick press of the "Game" button on the remote toggles between any of the inputs that have been labeled "Game" in the input naming menu. Pressing that button does not engage the Game picture mode (which is simply another connection of adjustable picture settings) nor does it affect video processing or lag time between controller and screen--although, to be fair, such modes on other HDTVs have little value as far as we can tell.

The TH-50PZ00U offers five aspect ratio controls for HD sources, more than most HDTVs on the market. There's also a setting, called "HD Size 2," that lets the TV display every pixel of 1080i and 1080p sources without overscan or scaling, and we recommend using it unless you notice interference along the extreme edges of the screen, which can occur on some HD sources. Unfortunately, selecting the THX picture mode doesn't automatically engage HD Size 2; you must go into a separate menu item to do so. We'd prefer HD Size 2 to be the default for all modes, or at least available among the standard selection of aspect ratios. A selection of five modes is also available for SD sources.

A new menu for 2008 deals with burn-in or, as the company calls it, "image retention." There's a pixel orbiter that moves the entire image gradually around the screen, along with an option to set the 4:3 mode to include gray bars to either side of the picture (as opposed to black, which cause image retention more easily than gray). On the off chance that the plasma retains an image, there's a scrolling bar that slides across the screen as a sort of eraser.

We would have liked to see an energy saver mode on this TV, but it does include one nice extra that really helps ameliorate power consumption. When you first plug in and set up the TV, it asks you whether you're in a store or home environment. Choosing "home" engages the Standard picture preset by default across all of the inputs, which saves quite a bit of power over the Vivid preset. This savings is reflected in our Juice Box measurements below, where default was measured in Standard mode.

The Panasonic TH-50PZ800U lacks picture-in-picture, but it does include a thoughtful "Surf Mode" control, which can be set to restrict the TV's tuning options. You can set it to "all," "favorite," "digital only," or "analog only."

With three HDMI inputs and a PC input, the back panel of the TH-50PZ800U has plenty of connectivity.

The jack pack of the TH-50PZ800U is as well equipped as any high-end HDTV we've seen, starting with three HDMI jacks on the back panel and a fourth available out front. A VGA-style PC input is also onboard (1366x760 maximum resolution), along with two component video inputs, an AV input with composite or S-Video, an RF input for antenna or cable, as well as an optical and an analog audio output. In addition to that last HDMI input, the front panel also sports a second AV input with composite and S-Video, as well as an SD card slot for displaying digital photos on the big screen.

Performance
Thanks primarily to the accuracy of its THX picture mode, the TH-50PZ800U is one of the best-performing plasmas we've ever tested. It can't quite match the depth of black evinced by Pioneer's Kuro plasmas, such as the PDP-5080HD, but it most other areas, including color accuracy and uniformity, it's superior.
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Sony NWZ-S738F Walkman (8GB, black)

noreply@blogger.com (Senthil Nathan) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 05:37:01 PST

Sony NWZ-S738F Walkman (8GB, black)

The good:
The Sony S-Series Walkman is nicely designed and has a high-quality feel; it offers a load of cool extras such as integrated noise-canceling, an FM tuner, podcast support, and a smart playlist creator. The display is bright and crisp, and the interface is customizable and easy to navigate. The player sounds great right out of the box and features several sound-enhancement options. It has Rhapsody DNA and works flawlessly with Amazon Video On Demand. Battery life is superb.

The bad:
The S-Series Walkman maxes out at 8GB and doesn't include memory expansion. The packaged earbuds, which are necessary for the noise-cancellation feature, may not be comfortable for all users. There's no voice recording option.

The bottom line:
Thanks to excellent sound quality, integrated noise-canceling functionality, and several smart music sorting options, the Sony S-Series Walkman is a superb choice for music aficionados.

CNET editors' review:

Sony has come a long way since the release of the NW-MS11 Network Walkman. One of the company's first flash-based MP3 players, the NW-MS11 didn't even play MP3s and was crippled by copy-protection woes and painfully slow transcoding, but even back then, Walkmans were a model of sleek design and excellent sound quality. The S-Series Walkman is a prime example of the reason Sony was the original king of portable music devices. The flash player, which comes in 4GB ($149.99) and 8GB ($179.99) models, is sleek, compact, easy to use, and packed with features. Plus, it sounds great and has an impressive battery life--we just wish we could get more than the 8GB of memory.

Design and interface
The Sony S-Series Walkman's design is anything but flashy. The player comes in one color: black. That's not to say the device doesn't have any style, but it's definitely more understated than that of the iPod Nano. The brushed-metal face and backside are joined together by a glossy black border that wraps all the way around the edges of the player, which is compact enough to fit in pretty much any pocket. At 3.4 inches by 1.6 inches by 0.3 inch, it's fractionally shorter and thicker than the Nano. A bright, 2-inch GVCA TFT (with 240x320 resolution) takes up more than half the front, while a circular five-way control pad and two function buttons--back/home and option/off--fill out the remainder. The right edge of the player houses our two favorite controls: a dedicated volume rocker and a hold switch (the latter in particular is useful for Walkmans, which start up quickly with a touch of any button). A proprietary USB port, a noise-cancellation switch, and a semi-standard 3.5mm headphone jack line the bottom of the player.

The physical controls of the S-Series are responsive and intuitive, and thanks to their varied shape and texture, lend well to blind navigation with minimal practice. But the onscreen interface is worth looking at. The main menu is organized into an attractive three-by-three icon grid, and you can choose from a variety of wallpapers and themes that affect the viewing backdrop as well as the selection highlight colors. Music is organized by ID3 tags (sorted by artist, album, playlist, and so on), or you can choose to use folder navigation. The Walkman supports MP3, WMA (including subscription), and unprotected AAC files for music, JPEG photos (and slide shows), and MPEG 4 and M4V video. Purchased and rented videos from Amazon's Video On Demand service may also be transferred to and played on the device.

Features and extras
In addition to the usual array of multimedia support, the Sony S-Series Walkman offers many other desirable features. There's an excellent-sounding FM radio with an autoscan mode and up to 30 preset slots. It's also the first Walkman to integrate podcast support with a separate menu item dedicated to the function, and it will remember where you last left off in a file. A light piece of software that comes in the package (called simply Content Transfer) allows users to drag-and-drop podcasts and other media directly from the iTunes interface. It will also transfer content from anyplace else on your hard drive, though podcasts transferred in this way get placed in the general music menu under the podcast genre, rather than in the specialized podcast menu. Alternatively, you can use a jukebox such as Windows Media Player to manage content.

The S-Series packs in quite a few useful music-oriented extras as well. First is the Intelligent Shuffle function, which creates specialized listening experiences based on the year a song was released. Then you have a veritable smorgasbord of sound enhancement options, including two user-customizable EQs. Next, of course, is the noise-cancellation feature, which works in kind with the packaged headphones--hence the aforementioned semi-standard headphone jack. There's an extra chink for those earbuds' special plug, though the S-Series will work with standard sets also. Sony even includes an accessories cable that allows you to run an airplane's audio system through the player in order to enjoy the built-in noise canceling--quite the thoughtful addition.

Sony has also introduced a brand-new extra on the S-Series: a smart playlist function called SensMe Channels. Somewhat similar to the Nano's Genius feature, SensMe analyzes the songs in your library to create playlists. But unlike Genius, SensMe doesn't create lists on a song-by-song basis. Rather, it analyzes the entire library on the device and creates a selection of Channels ranging from Morning to Lounge to Extreme. You can then access them from a dedicated icon on the main menu. It's certainly an interesting feature and should appeal to those who balk at the time-consuming process of creating custom playlists. However, the cohesiveness of the Channels is questionable at times, although we did really enjoy the Morning playlist on the way to the office.

Performance and such
It may be a bit pricier than the competition, but one of the great things about the S-Series Walkman is that it sounds great right out of the box--meaning you don't have to go through the extra step of tossing out the packaged earbuds and purchasing some decent ones. Still, while the included earphones offer good sound quality, they may not be comfortable for all users, and a proper fit is necessary to enjoy the bass the player is capable of producing. Even at the flat setting, the S-Series offers impressive audio response. Music sounds deep, warm, and enveloping with a nice amount of sparkle at the high end. Bass is reasonably present at flat, but to our ears, is much better with the player's Clear Bass settings jacked up. Tweaking the custom EQ can also help open the sound when listening through canalbuds.

In fact, the S-Series Walkman shines across the board when it comes to performance. Photos look crisp, clear, and bright with great color saturation. The screen is too small for extended video viewing and there's some pixelation during quick motion, but short clips look decent and viewing angles are very good. Truly stellar is the rated battery life of 40 hours for audio and 10 for video. CNET Labs didn't quite match those numbers, getting 38 hours for music and 8.7 for video, but we're still impressed by these slightly diminished results.
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Sony NWZ-B135F Walkman (2GB, black)

noreply@blogger.com (Senthil Nathan) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 05:14:00 PST

The good:The Sony B-Series Walkman offers an ultracompact design, an FM tuner and voice recorder, and a handy quick charge feature. It's inexpensive, comes in a variety of colors, and sounds good. Works with both Windows and Mac.

The bad:The Sony B-Series Walkman's rated battery life is unimpressive and the display is tiny.

The bottom line:

The entry-level Sony B-Series Walkman is a solid choice for the gym thanks to its ultracompact design, quick charge function, and integrated FM tuner--but beware the eye strain.

CNET editors' review :

Features come and go in the rapidly evolving MP3 player space. One that has enjoyed fluctuating popularity is the built-in USB interface, which allows a device to connect directly to a computer without a cable. This "plug-and-play" capability is currently out of fashion, but Sony is trying to keep the dream alive with the B-Series Walkman. The entry-level offering is aimed at active users and is priced competitively at $44.99 for the 1GB model and $59.99 for the 2GB. Battery life isn't as impressive as other Sony Walkmans and the screen is tiny, but the B-Series hits the mark with an array of features suitable for on-the-go use.

The Sony B-Series Walkman is slightly larger than your average thumbdrive, measuring 3.5 inches long by 0.8 inch wide by 0.5 inch thick, which makes it ultraportable and suitable for just about any pocket. It comes in a variety of colors--black, pink, red (2GB only), and blue (1GB only)--which align rather well with the typical gym clothing palette. The USB interface is concealed beneath a removable cap at one end of the device, while a standard 3.5mm headphone jack is bored into the other. The main playback controls sit on the face and consist of a play/pause button, track forward and reverse keys, and a back button. Sony includes a variety of dedicated controls on the top edge of the player, including a record key, a volume toggle, and a bass boost button. The necessary hold switch is housed alone on the bottom spine.

The B-Series Walkman's tiny, monochrome display measures 0.75 inch diagonally on the front of the device. It seems to us that Sony could have made this noticeably larger had it chosen to move its own brand stamp elsewhere. Still, the Walkman does a decent job with the little screen real estate it has. The main menu features four icons indicating the player's minimal features: Voice, Music Library, FM, and Settings. The forward and reverse buttons serve to navigate among menu options, while the play/pause key moves you deeper into menus, and the back button backs you out. For voice recording, you can choose among three settings: low, medium, or high. Within the music menu, you may navigate by folder or by ID3 tags (artist, album, playlist, and so on). The B-Series supports MP3 and WMA, including subscription content from the likes of Rhapsody and Napster. The FM tuner includes an autoscan function and up to 30 preset slots--both the scanner and the tuner worked very well during testing.

Music sound quality also proved good during testing. The B-Series Walkman delivers clear, even audio across genres, though we felt the bass boost function needed to be engaged to get the low-end we crave. Without it, bass is definitely deficient; still, the option to have it either way lets the player appeal to a wider array of listening tastes. Mids come across nice and warm, though not exactly buttery, and high-end detail is reasonably crisp if not sparkling. Sony includes a handful of preset audio settings as well as a five-band custom EQ, which lets you tweak the sound to your liking. You cannot access these with the bass boost function engaged, however--it's one or the other. The rated battery life of 14 hours failed to impress us; we expect better from Sony. However, CNET Labs tests may surprise us, so check back for those results. One thing's for certain: we really appreciate the rebirth of the quick charge function, which gives 90 minutes of juice off of a 3-minute charge

Sony NWZ-E438F Walkman (8GB, black)

noreply@blogger.com (Senthil Nathan) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 05:00:17 PST

The good:
The Sony E-Series Walkman is very competitively priced and features a compact design with a nice, bright screen. It's easy to use and offers a variety of desirable extras, such as an FM tuner, a user-customizable EQ, and support for Rhapsody To Go and Amazon Video On Demand. Rated battery life is superb and sound quality is great.

The bad:
The Sony E-Series Walkman tops out at 8GB and doesn't offer memory expansion. There's no integrated podcast support, and subscription-content syncing is slow.

The bottom line:
The Sony E-Series Walkman is a great value. It's an excellent option for anyone looking for an easy-to-use MP3 player with a pocketable design, a long battery life, handy features, and solid sound quality.

CNET editors' review :

It can't be avoided: any new MP3 player is in direct competition with the Apple iPod, and device manufacturers are well aware of this fact. Some pack their players with boatloads of extras, while others create unique and purportedly useful design elements. Some simply make a product that's just as easy to use, offers a similar array of features, and delivers great sound quality--but then charge less for it. Such is the case with the Sony E-Series Wallkman, a flash player positioned to square off against the iPod Nano. Unfortunately, the E-Series doesn't come in a 16GB model, but the 4GB and 8GB versions are priced to sell at $89.95 and $119.95, respectively.

The Sony E-Series has a fairly standard design, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, as it makes the player very straightforward to operate. Below the 2-inch screen are the main playback controls: a five-way control pad, a back/home button, and an option key that brings up various contextual menus. Sony includes a dedicated volume rocker on the right spine--always a nice touch--as well as a hold switch. The bottom of the unit houses the standard 3.5mm headphone jack and a proprietary USB port. The E-Series measures a compact 3.2 inches tall by 1.7 inches wide by 0.3 inch deep, so it's definitely pocket-friendly and would not be an unreasonable thing to strap to your arm or waistband at the gym. It comes in a variety of colors to suit most tastes: black, red, pink, or blue (4GB only).

The menus on the E-Series are typical of most recent Walkman lines. The main menu features a grid of icons that indicate the player's principle functions. Sadly, there's no option to change the wallpaper or theme for this Walkman: white font on a black background is what you get. In the music submenu, items are sorted by ID3 tag into playlists, artists, albums, and so on, or you may navigate by folder (as it is arranged on your desktop). Tracks are split into sections of letters (A-B, C-E, and so forth) for speedy navigation, and you may browse albums by album art for a more visual experience. Album art can also be magnified on the playback screen, though not to full screen. Getting music and other content onto the player is an easy process; it works with a variety of jukeboxes (such as Windows Media Player or Rhapsody), or you can use the fabulously light Sony Content Transfer app, which allows for drag and drop from your hard drive or from the iTunes interface.

The E-Series Walkman includes a decent smattering of features, which are slightly different than those offered by the Nano--it's a matter of personal preference which you find more suitable. The E-Series supports MP3, WMA, unprotected AAC, and LPCM (lossless) audio, and has Rhapsody DNA, so you can transfer Rhapsody Channels and other subscription content. The device also plays photos (JPEG) and video (MPEG-4, H.264/AVC, and WMV), though the latter often requires conversion for the screen, a 262K color TFT number with a 240x320 resolution (QVGA). The player supports videos purchased and rented from Amazon Video On Demand, as well. When you get sick of digital, you can tune into the integrated FM radio, which offers an autoscan function and 30 preset slots. Notably absent from this Walkman is any support for podcasts.

Performance of the E-Series Walkman is nearly excellent across the board. Music sounds exceptionally clean, clear, and balanced, with a nice presence on the low-end, warm, rich mids, and detailed highs. Sony includes a variety of sound-enhancement options, including four presets and two, five-band custom EQs, so if the flat setting doesn't do it for you, you should have no problem tweaking the sound to your liking. We recommend swapping in your favorite pair of headphones, as the stock earbuds sound just decent and may not be comfortable for everyone. Videos and photos look bright and crisp on the small screen, and viewing angles are good, though the screen is susceptible to glare. Of course, the show-stealer for some is the stellar rated battery life of 45 hours for audio and 8 hours for video (CNET Labs will put these numbers to the test in the near future). The one issue we had during testing concerned some transfer hang-ups while syncing Rhapsody To Go content; drag and drop was much speedier.

http://reviews.cnet.com/mp3-players/sony-nwz-e438f-walkman/4505-6490_7-33270788.html

Apple iPod (fifth-generation update, 30GB, black)

noreply@blogger.com (Senthil Nathan) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 04:52:26 PST

The good:

The enhanced iPod has the same sleek design with improved video battery life and brighter screen; it brings gapless playback to the masses; up to 80GB; new features such as instant search and enhanced games; movies now available in iTunes 7; excellent overall value.

The bad:The Apple iPod has added no major functions such as FM radio, wireless, recording; small screen not conducive to movie viewing; proprietary USB cable; narrow native video-format compatibility; body is still scratch prone.

The bottom line:The amazingly low priced updated Apple iPod gets many under-the-hood improvements, but it's still not a true video player.

At Apple's September 12 media event, Steve Jobs jumped right into introducing an updated fifth-generation iPod. Not a tremendous surprise here, as we believed the sixth-generation "true video iPod" would not be announced until later in the year or even early in 2007. Underneath the familiar and still-scratch-prone polycarbonate and metal skin of the updated iPod (a.k.a. the 5.5 generation, or 5.5G) lies a more mature iPod, many steps wiser and more able than its one-year-old predecessor. The iPod gains many incremental improvements, including a brighter screen and better video battery life, but probably the most appealing aspect is the tantalizing price points of $249 for the 30GB version and $349 for the huge 80GB version (available in both white and black). While it may still not fully address the needs of a new population of iTunes movie watchers, the updated iPod is the best one to date.

Most of this review of the 5.5G iPod will cover new features and performance numbers. For a closer look at the basic design and base features of the iPod, read this review.

Same look and feel

The iPod's physical specs are nearly the same as those of the original fifth generation. It's still one of the sleekest high-capacity players around at 4.1 by 2.4 by 0.43 inches and 4.8 ounces for the 30GB and 4.1 by 2.4 by 0.55 inches and 5.5 ounces for the 80GB model, which has exactly the same dimensions and weight as the now-defunct 60GB version. For me personally, the 80GB version (the one we actually reviewed) feels nicer in the hand than the razor-thin 30GB. The 80GB is enticing for video addicts both for the capacity (iTunes movies are about 1.5GB) and the better battery life (rated for up to 6.5 hours); plus, it's a great value at $349. Though the $249 retail price tag for the 30GB version is outstanding, excellent Windows Media players such as Creative's 30GB Zen Vision:M and Toshiba's 30GB Gigabeat S cost nearly the same on the street.

The 80GB iPod in black next to the 30GB Toshiba Gigabeat S.

The iPod is still pretty easy to scratch, both on the soft and shiny plastic face and the classic metallic backside. Fingerprints love the iPod more than they do most players. You'll definitely want to carry the iPod in a case, or at least protect the screen with adhesive film, since now you'll be watching $9.99 iTunes movies. I think the black version looks nicer, but scratches show up on it more easily. A new Nano-like scratch- and print-proof aluminum case would have taken the iPod over the top.

The new iPod also has a brighter screen--by up to 60 percent. Not that the iPod had a dim screen in the first place, but brighter is always better, especially when it doesn't come at the cost of battery life. In a side-by-side comparison of the old and new screens (at default brightness), the new iPod is noticeably brighter. Even after updating the old iPod to firmware 1.2, which among other things adds brightness control, the old iPod screen at the brightest setting matches only the new one's default setting. Battery life will take a hit at the higher setting, so turn it up only when your'e watching video or viewing photos. You can even adjust brightness while watching a movie by clicking the Select button twice during playback. Conversely, you should turn the brightness down when listening to audio; as always, the iPod can be viewed with the backlight turned off.

You can adjust brightness both within the Settings menu and while you're watching a video.

I still have a problem with watching video for more than 30 minutes on that small 2.5-inch screen. Even a kickstand would help for hands-free viewing, though a bigger-screened unit like the Cowon A2 or Archos 604 would have made the portable iTunes movie experience more satisfying. There are some portable accessories such as the Memorex iFlip that dock with the iPod and increase its viewing size to up to 8.4 inches. Though the proprietary dock connector isn't nearly as convenient as a standard USB port, the iPod benefits from its thousands of dock connector-based third-party accessories.

Once again, Apple does a good job of minimizing packaging and bundled accessories, which include a newly designed set of white earbuds, a proprietary USB cable, a soft case, and a dock adapter. Unfortunately, like many MP3 players these days, you'll have to pony up extra to get a power adapter ($29). You also don't get an iTunes software CD, which leaves nonconnected folks in the dust. And while the futuristic headphones sound decent, they didn't stay firmly in my ears (no foam earbud covers in this version).

The 80GB iPod with its bundled accessories: notice the lack of a power adapter.

A wiser iPod

The iPod's enhanced software definitely makes it better. For one, you can search tunes using an alphabet-style instant search. The last option in the Music menu, Search places a two-line virtual keyboard at the bottom of the screen; the first letter you select brings up all artist, album, and song titles that begin with that letter, with albums and artists indicated by icons. Results pop up dynamically as you enter new letters. If you type in ca, you'll get results listed by all the titles that start with ca, then continue with any mention of the letters ca in any title. It's a little more sophisticated than the search features found in the Creative Zen Vision:M (and other players that actually invented search-by-letters), but because you have to select Done to browse your results, it's a tad more tedious to use.

The search feature, which brings the iPod up to speed with some other brands, gives you a leg up on your massive music library.

Another "borrowed" feature is that as you scroll through tracks, the first letter of the track section appears as a graphical button overlay. This is truly convenient when scrolling through huge lists where your desired alphabet "sector" used to whiz by, and you'd have to make a U-turn. I've found that I still tend to pass up my desired letter, but not by much. Oh, yeah; does this navigation goodie remind you of the Toshiba Gigabeat S?

http://reviews.cnet.com/mp3-players/apple-ipod-fifth-generation/4505-6490_7-32069508.html?tag=mncol;lst

Apple iPod Shuffle (third generation, 1GB, blue)

noreply@blogger.com (Senthil Nathan) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 04:40:38 PST

The good:
The competitively priced iPod Shuffle has a dead-simple user interface with satisfying tactile controls, and its integrated belt clip provides a handy way to keep track of the player. The Shuffle is available in five, metallic colors, and the package includes a cute little syncing cradle.

The bad:
The iPod Shuffle has no screen, so there's no way to navigate easily among artists, albums, or playlists. And it only offers so-so sound quality. The player might be too small for some users, and nonstandard USB syncing takes away from its plug-and-go appeal.

The bottom line:
If you like your music playback simple and your device nearly invisible, the third-generation iPod Shuffle will suit you well. But absentminded users should steer clear of this easy-to-misplace player.

It's true: The third-generation iPod Shuffle (1GB) is the lowest-profile MP3 player we've laid eyes on. Apple may have been slow out of the gate, but the company has succeeded in launching perhaps the tiniest and simplest player on the market--and it sports a price tag to match: $79. The new Shuffle is appealing in its elementariness, too, but the itty-bitty device is far from perfect. Its screenless design means you get few navigational options and no extra features. And how small is too small?

At 1.6x1x0.4 inches and 0.6 ounce, the iPod Shuffle is one minuscule music player. In fact, it's so inconspicuous that we have trouble keeping track of it--if you're constantly misplacing your keys, this player probably isn't your best option. If you just can't help yourself, go for one of the brighter color options. The red, green, purple, and blue models will probably be easier to spot on a cluttered desk than the muted silver one is. That said, the integrated belt clip on the back of the Shuffle helps keep the player within easy reaching distance. Some users have complained that the clip isn't very durable, but it seemed fairly sturdy during our testing.
Like its predecessor, the third-generation iPod Shuffle has no screen for navigating through music or other options (of which there are none). Instead, you get a simple and amply sized five-way control pad on the face of the player: play/pause in the center, surrounded by volume up/down buttons and track shuttle keys. There's no way to navigate among specific albums or artists, but you can click play/pause three times fast to skip through playlists. The bottom edge of the player houses two switches: one for powering the unit on and off and the second for toggling between shuffle and repeat modes. A standard-size headphone jack--which doubles as the Shuffle's USB syncing port--rests on the top side of the device. There's also a tiny LED indicator that lights up different color combos (orange, red, and green) depending on the status of the player

To charge and sync content to the iPod Shuffle, you'll need to use the included cradle. It's a rather cute little piece, but we'd prefer a standard mini USB port or the older Shuffle's built-in USB interface. However, some users may prefer the 3-plus-foot cable attached to the dock for easy USB access. Apple also includes a pair of the newer iPod earbuds now; initially, the Shuffle was packaged with the older, less-sleek set. For music management, you'll need to download the latest version of iTunes (currently, 7.4) from the Apple Web site. As with all iPods, the Shuffle supports MP3, WAV, AIFF, Audible, and both protected and unprotected AAC files. And like the previous Shuffle, you can click Autofill in iTunes to automatically replace contents with music from your music library or playlists.

As you might expect from such a small player, the Shuffle's rated 12-hour battery life is nothing impressive, though CNET Labs tests proved that Apple underestimated the player: we eked out a decent 15.8 hours. In cursory testing, we found the Shuffle's audio quality to be decent through the included earbuds, but bass was lacking, and we could detect some light static when we twisted the headphone plug during quiet moments. Swapping in a pair of Shure E4cs improved the bass situation, but overall, music was still too bright and lacking in warmth for our tastes. We could also detect noticeable background noise during silent segments. Suffice it to say that the newer Shuffle doesn't sound as good as the older one.

In final analysis, the iPod Shuffle is a decent player that offers a sleek, compact form factor, an excessively simple user interface, and a low price. Fans of ultraportable gadgets will no doubt be drawn to it. But audiophiles, beware: this is not the player for you. If you're discerning about audio quality or tend to misplace things easily, steer clear.

Apple iPod Nano (fourth generation, 16GB, silver)

noreply@blogger.com (Senthil Nathan) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 12:07:48 PST

The good:The fourth-generation iPod Nano is more attractive and colorful than its predecessor and includes Apple's new Genius playlist tool, a tilt sensor, and accessibility features for the visually impaired.

The bad:To use the new Nano, you must upgrade to Apple's iTunes 8 software with its laundry list of hardware requirements; the rounded screen invites glare; sound quality is only average.

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The bottom line:The fourth-generation iPod Nano is easy on the eyes and the wallet, and you can't beat its hardware and user interface design. Just be sure to give iTunes 8 a spin before committing.

Apple's fourth-generation iPod Nano returns to the original long, light, and slender formula that put the series on the map. Offered in an attractive range of nine colors for both the 8GB iPod Nano ($149) and 16GB iPod Nano ($199) models, Apple has yet again raised the MP3 player bar.

Design

The Nano 4G feels impossibly light and thin, with a seamless metal construction that prevents it from snapping like a twig. A slightly curved design gives the Nano 4G the essence of an airplane wing, repeating the rounded design themes of Apple's iPhone 3G and second-generation iPod Touch. Compared with the short, squarish design of last year's Nano, the long, tapered body of the fourth-generation Nano is more comfortable to grasp.

Curved glass now covers the iPod Nano's screen, giving it better resilience against scratches--in theory. The curve of the glass screen lies flush with the slight curve of the Nano's body, and although the glass is inherently glossy and reflective, we didn't notice a diminished viewing quality compared with last year's Nano.

The shape may have softened, but the dimensions of the fourth-generation Nano are nearly identical to the second-generation version, measuring 3.5 inches tall by 1.6 inches wide by 0.25 inch thick at its center--the thinnest iPod yet. The Nano's 2-inch screen size remains unchanged from the previous model, as well as its 1-inch wide scroll wheel control. Headphone and dock connections are located on the bottom of the 4G Nano, and a sliding hold switch makes a reappearance on top of the player (another throwback to the second-generation design).

Because Apple has flipped the Nano's screen on its side, menus and user interface get a dramatic overhaul from last year's model. Menu text size has increased slightly and album cover art takes up less real estate on the main menu. In a bid to increase the accessibility of the Nano for people with impaired vision, Apple has included a font size setting on the fourth-generation Nano that makes its menus more legible--a nice feature even if you have 20/20 vision. The Nano's music playback screen now presents full-screen album art by default, and Cover Flow view is zippier than before, offering alphabetization letters below the covers when you quickly flip through your collection.

The fourth-generation iPod Nano (left) uses the same 2-inch screen found on last year's model (right). By turning the screen on its side, Apple was able to return to the Nano to a longer, more slender form.

Features

All of the features from last year's Nano have migrated to the fourth-generation model, including music, video, and podcast playback, as well as extras such as photos, calendar, games, alarms, stopwatch, contacts, notes, and clocks. Apple also added a few features that make the 4G Nano more compelling than its predecessors.

A new Genius feature lets you create an instant 25-song playlists based around the musical characteristics of a single song. The Genius feature is easy to use, and the results are fun, provided your music collection holds enough songs to make interesting connections. To create a Genius playlist, find a song you like and hold the Nano's center button until you see a Start Genius menu option. You can save Genius playlists directly onto your Nano, and with automatic syncing enabled in iTunes you can also transfer them back to your computer. Oddly, the Nano's Genius feature won't work if haven't enabled Genius on your computer's iTunes software. If you find iTunes' Genius feature too demanding on your computer's resources or too invasive of your privacy (the feature reports your listening habits to Apple), then you'll need to live without the feature on your iPod as well.

The fourth-generation iPod Nano also adds the same tilt-sensor found in the iPhone and iPod Touch, which allows for some interesting control tricks. Giving the iPod Nano a vigorous shake, for instance, puts the music player into shuffle mode. Causal shaking caused by running or exercising isn't enough to trigger the Nano's shuffle mode, and you can always deactivate the shake-to-shuffle feature under the iPod's setting menu or by engaging the hold switch.

Looking at the bottom edge of the Nano, you can get a better sense of its oblong shape. A single, seamless section of aluminum wraps around the entire body.

The Nano's new tilt-sensor is also useful for activating the iPod's Cover Flow music view when turning the device on its side (a feature cribbed from the iPhone). The iPod Nano also flips the orientation of video playback depending on which direction you prefer to turn the screen. Lefties rejoice! Unfortunately, we found it a little confusing to use the iPod's scroll wheel controls while holding the player sideways for video playback. You get accustomed to it, but it seems like an inelegant design solution coming from a interface-savvy company like Apple.

Apple iPod Classic (second generation, 120GB, black)

noreply@blogger.com (Senthil Nathan) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 04:16:31 PST

The good:
The second-generation iPod Classic adds a new Genius playlist feature to its time-tested combination of music, video, podcast, audiobook, and photo playback.

The bad:
EQ control is limited; some older iPod video accessories may not be compatible; the plastic screen is susceptible to scratching; users are required to use the latest version of iTunes, which may not work on some older computer systems.

The bottom line:
The iPod Classic refines the formula that put the iPod on the map. Few can match its combination of storage capacity, battery life, and intuitive user interface.

Manufacturer:Apple
Part Number:MB565LL/A
General
Device TypePortable media center
Key FeaturesDigital audio player, Digital video player, Digital photo viewer
PC Interfaces USB 2.0
Depth 0.4 in
Weight 4.9 oz
Height 4.1 in
Width 2.4 in
Body material Aluminum
Color Black
Packaged quantity 1
Digital storage media capacity 120 GB
Digital storage media type Hard disk drive
Digital storage media form factor Built-in
Display
Display Type LCD 2.5 in
Digital Audio
Supported audio formatsAAC, Protected AAC, MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible 2, Audible 3, Audible 4, Apple Lossless, AIFF, WAV
Digital audio featuresVBR
Video
Video Playback FormatsH.264, MPEG-4
Connectivity
Connections USB , Docking connector , 3.5-mm stereo headphone jack
Digital Player / Recorder
Digital player supported digital audio standards AAC , MP3 , WAV , AIFF , Audible , Apple Lossless
Digital player response bandwidth 20 - 20000 Hz
Digital player playback modes Playlist , One track repeat , All tracks repeat , Random play / shuffle
Digital player supported bit rate 16 - 320
Digital player ID3 tags support Yes
Digital player additional features MPEG-4 playback , JPEG photo playback , Variable bit-rate compatible
Battery
Rechargeable Battery Rechargeable
Battery Enclosure Type Integrated
Technology Lithium ion
Battery Lithium ion Rechargeable Integrated
Battery Life Details 36 hour(s) , 6 hour(s)
Mfr estimated battery life 36 hour(s)
Recharge Time 4 hour(s)
Battery Life Details Digital playback 36 hour(s) , Video playback 6 hour(s)
Audio System
Sound output mode Stereo
Additional features Notes , Calendar , Cover Flow , Phone book , Hold button , Date display , Photo wallet , Built-in games , Volume limiter , Upgradeable firmware , USB 2.0 compatibility , Playback speed control , Battery level indication
Software
Software Included Drivers , iTunes 8 or later , iTunes Store account
Cable(s) / Peripheral(s)
Cable(s) included USB cable - External
System Requirements
Operating System Microsoft Windows Vista , Microsoft Windows XP Home , Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP 2 or later , Apple Mac OS X 10.4.11 or later
Connections
Connector type 1 x Docking station , 1 x Headphones Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm
Miscellaneous
Included Accessories Earphone , USB cable , Dock adapter
Power
Power Supply / Device None
Manufacturer Warranty
Service & Support Details Limited warranty - 1 year

Philips Announces New GoGear DAP

noreply@blogger.com (Senthil Nathan) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 02:51:35 PST

Philips has announced a new addition to their popular GoGear range of media devices – the SA2940. The SA2940 with its 1.5 inch color display (128 x 128 pixel resolution) is actually an upgrade to their previousSA2825 model, which was equipped with a monochrome display.

The new color display will be able to show off the album art as well as photos. It will feature Philips' Full Sound technology and will also come with a set of preset EQs as well as a customizable option. This 4GB capacity device is in all other aspects quite the same as the previous model and is still of course quite light weight at 30g. It still retains its glossy square shape with navigation controls on four sides of the display.

Philips has not yet announced a price for the SA2940 or the availability yet, so stay tuned.

macbook pro core 2 duo 2.2 gigahertz

noreply@blogger.com (Senthil Nathan) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 12:10:06 PST

macbook pro core 2 duo 2.2 gigahertz

Millions of folks in the UK and US are currently clamoring for the new iPhone, set for official release in the next week or two. Here at Laptopical we prefer to get excited about another Apple product, namely the new upgraded Macbook Pro. The 15 inch version of this laptop should appeal to our eco-friendly readers as it's mercury free.

macbook pro core 2 duo 2.2 gigahertz Technical Specifications

Processor: 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7500, 4MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB
Memory: 2GB 667 MHz DDR2
Harddrive: 120GB 5,400rpm SATA
OS: Mac OS X
Weight: 5.6 pounds (2.54 kg)
Screen: 15.4 inches
Screen resolution: 1440x900
Graphic Card: Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT
Battery Life: 5-6 hours

Full review of macbook pro core 2 duo 2.2 gigahertz

Mercury exposure has been linked to such awful, chronic, and incurable conditions such as Alzheimer's, autism, and multiple sclerosis. No one can be 100 percent sure about the connections-even the guys with the multiple Ph.D.s doing the research-but why take a chance? We should all do our part to limit mercury release into our environment. One of the newest, hippest and most powerful ways to do so are the updated Apple Macbook Pros.

Yes, besides making their new MacBook Pros some of the most potent and sleekest laptops in the world, Apple has also made them some of the most eco-friendly-call them organic Apples. The 15-inch versions are LED-backlit and contain no mercury, unlike most other IT products, which are a major source of the toxic metal.

That's a bonus for tree huggers, enviro-anarchists, and conscientious capitalists out there. But every other reader of Laptopical will savor the fast and the furious side of the Apples.

The engine under the hood in these new MacBook Pros is the Intel Core 2 Duo with at least 4MB of cache, 800MHz on the frontside bus, and 2GB of RAM-with processor speeds starting at 2.2 GHz, up to 2.4 GHz. For graphics, you're looking at a NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT.

The wireless is faster too. Instead of using the 802.11g frequency, the MacBooks tap into the 802.11n network, which can boost speeds fivefold and double your wireless range. Bluetooth and Ethernet are included to round out multimedia connectivity, as well as an ExpressCard slot, FireWire port, built-in iSight camera, and a DVI video output.

As with any Apple, you get a bushel of software products, such as the iLife suite, Safari browser and OS X. But with any Apple, you get a price tag. The 15-inch, mercury free 2.2-GHz MacBook starts at $1,999. While at $2,799, you get a 17-inch display with optional uber-resolution (1920x1200), and the 2.4-GHz processor. The only problem with the 17-incher-it's got mercury in it.

macbook pro core 2 duo 2.2 gigahertz Product Photos

Dell Vostro 1000

noreply@blogger.com (Senthil Nathan) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 12:11:20 PST

Review of Dell Vostro 1000

A couple of years ago a middle weight business laptop would have cost you over a grand. Today less than 500 dollars will snag you an Athlon dual core powered Vostro 1000, sporting a 15.4 inch wide-screen display and some quality touches like a mylar sealed keyboard and magnesium alloy chassis. Laptopical's Todd Gold offers his opinion on this discount offering from Dell.

Dell Vostro 1000 Technical Specifications

Processor: 1.9GHz AMD Athlon 64 Mobile TK57, 667Mhz FSB
Memory: 2GB 667 MHz DDR2
Harddrive: 120GB 5,400rpm SATA
OS: Windows Vista Business
Weight: 6.26 pounds (2.84 kg)
Screen: 15.4 inches
Screen resolution: 1280x800
Graphic Card: ATI Radeon Xpress 1150 IGP
Battery Life: 1-2 hours

Full review of Dell Vostro 1000

I own two laptops. My favorite is a 17-inch core 2 duo Macbook Pro, the other, I like to call it my backup laptop, is a Toshiba Satellite P10 with a Pentium 4 processor I bought back in 2003. I use the Toshiba on the road, its battered blue lid and weathered chassis far less attractive to thieves than my shiny Apple Macbook. That stays parked safely on my desk at home, connected to an external keyboard, mouse and 24 inch monitor.

A few months back the two fans on my Satellite P10 began whirring loudly, the notebook began overheating and switching itself off. I've cleaned out the heatsink and fans but the problem is persistent. So I decided to start hunting for a cheap backup laptop as a replacement, and Dell's new Vostro line, particularly the Vostro 1000 caught my thrifty eye.

Vostro means YOUR in Italian, and for $499 it's not expensive to make the Vostro 1000 "Your" laptop. The Dell Vostro 1000 is being billed as a bargain priced business notebook. The 6.26 lb black magnesium alloy chassis appears very solid. A thoughtful feature is the mylar sealed keyboard. This will be a crumb and spill safety net for road warriors eating baguettes and drinking at wireless coffee shops while they work.

What's under the bonnet? Well for less than 500 bucks you get an Athlon 64 bit X2 AMD processor, a 15.4 inch Widescreen WXGA (1280x800) widescreen, 512MB of RAM (1GB for another $50), and a 60GB hard drive (up to 120 GB available for extra $70). Wireless comes in the form of a Dell 1390 802.11g Wi-Fi card. For our UK readers a laptop with similar specs is available for the discount sum of Â£239.

If you're still unsure about Vista, you can always ask Dell to install your Vostro with good old Windows XP. Or if you're an open source fan why not experiment by installing a Linux operating system? Dell have preinstalled Ubuntu on their Inspiron 1420 N to a chorus of approval from Linux aficionados. However, just because Ubuntu runs smoothly on the Inspiron doesn't mean it is guaranteed to work on this Dell. Indeed, I have heard whispers of wireless compatibility issues with Ubuntu on the Vostro 100. Not to worry though, it appears Gentoo Linux works fine on the 1000, check out Tuxmobil for the installation guide.

As for me, all the files on my Toshiba are backed up, and I'm ready to swap them over to a new notebook. If/when the P10 succumbs to the dreaded blue screen of death, the Vostro 1000 is definitely being considered.

Gadget reviews 6

Nokia 1661 Mobile Reviews, Nokia 1661 Mobile Specification

LG Cookie KP500 - Mobile

Samsung F480 TouchWiz - Mobile

Gadget of the Year 08 - PC speakers

Gadget of the Year 08 - Home Theaters

Best 5 home audio products

Panasonic SC-PT760

Sony HT-CT100

Aperion Intimus 4T Hybrid SD (cherry)

Logitech Squeezebox Duet

Onkyo TX-SR606 (black)

Samsung HL61A750

Pioneer Elite Kuro PRO-111FD

Sony KDL-55XBR8

Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ800U

Sony NWZ-S738F Walkman (8GB, black)

Sony NWZ-B135F Walkman (2GB, black)

Sony NWZ-E438F Walkman (8GB, black)

Apple iPod (fifth-generation update, 30GB, black)

Apple iPod Shuffle (third generation, 1GB, blue)

Apple iPod Nano (fourth generation, 16GB, silver)

Apple iPod Classic (second generation, 120GB, black)

Philips Announces New GoGear DAP

macbook pro core 2 duo 2.2 gigahertz

macbook pro core 2 duo 2.2 gigahertz

macbook pro core 2 duo 2.2 gigahertz Technical Specifications

Pros

Cons

Full review of macbook pro core 2 duo 2.2 gigahertz

macbook pro core 2 duo 2.2 gigahertz Product Photos

Dell Vostro 1000

Review of Dell Vostro 1000

Dell Vostro 1000 Technical Specifications

Pros

Cons

Full review of Dell Vostro 1000

Dell Vostro 1000 Product Photos