Handy Gadgets

PC Advisor have published their review of the Western Digital WD TV media player. 'The Western Digital WD TV's two USB ports - one at front, one at back - let you keep two storage devices connected to the player simultaneously. The WD TV ships on its own, without a hard drive, but it will work with any hard drive, not just Western Digital models (the dock that ships with the drive will perfectly fit a Western Digital Passport portable drive, however). One bonus for multiplatform households: the device can read disks formatted for either Windows (FAT-32, NTFS) or Mac OS X (HFS+ without journaling), so you'll be able to view media files from every computer in your home even if you have a mix of Macs and Windows PCs.'

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Posted by Admin at 11:19 PM | Permalink

PC Magazine have published a review of the SageTV HD Theater media extender. 'The tiny, black-metal HD Theater measures just 1.5 by 6.7 by 5.7 (HWD) inches. Unlike last year's HD Media Extender, this one has no media controls on the front. Instead, there are only power and status lights, along with a USB port. This is fine with me, since the unit comes with the same large, full-featured remote as the previous model. The back panel features inputs for HDMI, component, S-Video, and composite video, along with a second USB port, an S/PDIF digital audio port, and an Ethernet port. In addition to the remote, the unit comes with HDMI, composite, and S-video cables in the box, as well as an Ethernet cable and the power adapter. There are no five-way component video cables in the box, but I'd prefer the HDMI cable in any case.'

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Posted by Admin at 11:14 PM | Permalink

A review of the Western Digital HD TV Media Player has been posted over at Notebook Review. 'Combined with a Western Digital My Passport portable drive (sold separately), the WD TV ($129.99 MSRP) is an extremely convenient way to play HD movies or home videos, listen to digital music and show high-resolution slideshows of your family photos on your HDTV. The WD TV is essentially a tiny Home Theater PC with an easy-to-use interface. Even if you don't have a My Passport drive, the WD TV works with any USB flash drive or USB external drive. Not only that, but you can connect the WD TV with any digital camera, camcorder, or portable media player that can be recognized as a mass storage device with a USB cable.

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Posted by Admin at 12:27 PM | Permalink

A review of the D-Link DSM-330 DivX Connected HD Media Player which allows you to view your digital media without having to be in front of your PC has been posted over at Tracy and Matt's Blog. 'The DSM-330 box is a client that displays on the attached TV. So the first thing you do is install the included server software on the PC. Once installed, you tell the software which folders you want to share for your videos, mp3's and photos. You can even add PIN codes for folders if you want some of them to be protected. This server software then sits as a tray icon and runs in the background. This PC needs to be connected to your local network (either with a direct cable or else wirelessly). It should be noted that as you are going to be pushing your media over the network that the speed of the network will directly affect the results you are going to get. The DSM-330 box itself connects to your TV. There are quite a few connections on the back so you should be able to find a connector to suit your needs.'

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Posted by Admin at 10:30 PM | Permalink

A review of the Samsung HT-BD2 Blu-ray Home Cinema System has been posted over at Trusted Reviews. 'All of the processing and amplification takes place in the main unit, which pumps out a respectable 1,100W (RMS) or power, which works out at 135W per channel with 155W for the sub. The built-in disc drive obviously plays Blu-ray, but it also spins DVDs (upscaling them to 1080p if you want), finalised DVD-RW/-Rs and CDs, and you can also play MP3 and JPEG files from recordable CDs and DVDs. However, the unit is locked into Blu-ray Region B and DVD Region 2 and you can forget about DVD-Audio playback, which would have been a nice bonus feature for fans of hi-res music

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Posted by Admin at 5:18 PM | Permalink

CNET have published a review of the Onkyo TX-SR606 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver. '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.'

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Posted by Admin at 10:07 PM | Permalink

Digital Trends have published a review of the Onkyo TX-SR606 receiver. ‘The TX-SR606 passes a full 1080p signal (1080 lines, progressive scan, the best that HD currently has to offer) and is HDMI 1.3a-compliant. The higher bandwidth of 1.3a means that it accepts the raw digital bitstreams of the high-resolution Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio formats, in addition to supporting up to 48-bit color depth (the current standard is 24-bit) and potentially higher frame rates. So right away we know that the TX-SR606 is a good investment today, and one that will provide headroom for the future of consumer electronics as the quality continues to improve. Onkyo has also added Remote Interactive over HDMI (RIHD), their own proprietary spin on the more common Consumer Electronics Control (CEC), to better allow the operation of multiple connected HDMI devices from different manufacturers with a single remote.’

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Posted by Admin at 10:09 PM | Permalink

A review of the Neuros OSD TV and Video Recorder has been posted over at Mobile Tech Review. 'The crescent-shaped OSD measures 5.5 x 5.5 x 1.26 inches with a weight of 8 ounces, and features a simple black color scheme similar to that of its predecessors. A remote control and stand are also included. The basic connectors are on the back of the device, including composite input/output, S-Video input, power, Ethernet, and a connector for the included infrared blaster. On the front edge are the OSD's storage slots, which can accept SD and CF cards as well as Memory Sticks.

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Posted by Admin at 10:17 PM | Permalink

Pocket-Lint have publsihed a review of Creative's Xmod Wireless which streams all of your digital audio to the receiver in any room. 'The system is made up of two devices: a transmitter and a receiver although you can have four receivers in total. Both are about the size of a small paperback novel, are gloss black, feature a large volume dial on the top that has a blue glowing ring and have audio inputs to connect other devices in or out. The transmitter features a USB socket to connect to a PC and through a cable supplied in the box, the Xmod Wireless system also connects to a power socket if you aren't connecting it to a PC. The receiver is virtually identical. Set up is incredibly easy. Plug the in two devices and the units will automatically pair with each other very much like a baby monitor and there is another blue light, this time feedback on the connection status.'

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Posted by Admin at 10:05 PM | Permalink

PC Magazine have published a review of the SageTV HD Media Extender which allows you to view live or recorded HDTV, online video, photos and your DVD library on televisions in any room in your home. ‘The HD Media Extender comes with a full-featured remote control and looks like your typical A/V component. Its slim, black plastic front panel contains the usual Stop, Play, Pause, and Search controls, along with a Standby switch and two nonfunctioning—and therefore somewhat odd—USB ports. (In the device's PDF user manual, the company acknowledges that these ports aren't currently active.) The rear panel, meanwhile, offers HDMI, component, S-Video, and composite A/V outputs.

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Posted by Admin at 11:36 AM | Permalink

GadgetNutz have published a review of the Slingbox Solo. ‘Founded in 2004, Sling Media, Inc. is a different kind of consumer electronics company - one that's working to demystify convergence technologies and to create empowering experiences for the digital media consumer. The focus of Sling Media is to embrace - not replace - existing products and standards by enhancing them with hardware and software that make divergent technologies compatible and greatly improve the consumer experience. Because, after all, can't we all just get along?! Sling Media's first product, internationally acclaimed, Emmy award-winning Slingbox™, has literally transformed the way we are able to watch TV. The Slingbox turns any Internet-connected PC or laptop, Mac, or smartphone into your home television. That means you can watch TV virtually anywhere in the world.

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Posted by Admin at 3:16 PM | Permalink

PC Magazine have published a review of the Slingbox SOLO HD-compatible box which "allows you to watch and control your favorite TV source—including your HD content—from anywhere in the world on your laptop or cell phone". 'The SOLO is an attractive piece of gear. Like the original Slingbox, it has a trapezoid shape. But this one is smaller, measuring 4.0 by 8.5 by 1.9 inches (HWD), and it's clad in black metal and glossy plastic with bright red accents. The front panel is blank save for Power and Ethernet LEDs, and a logo that lights up when video is actively streaming. The rear of the unit contains everything else. From left to right, there's an AC power jack, an Ethernet port, a USB connector, and two identical rows of RCA, S-Video, and component inputs and outputs. There's also a jack to connect the included IR receiver. Alas, there's no HDMI port.

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Posted by Admin at 9:17 PM | Permalink

The Register Hardware have reviewed the Netgear EVA8000 media player which streams movies, videos, music, Internet radio, and photos from your home PCs and storage devices to your HDTV. 'The EVA8000 was a high-end product when it was announced, bundling HDMI with 1080P HD playback. But the video encoding world moves quickly. It may have been suitable when HD standards were emerging, but a few months later the situation looks decidedly different. H.264 has emerged as the HD codec of choice, although you'll also find material encoded with Microsoft's VC1 codec out there as well. Both are used on HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc. MPEG 2 is still hanging in there, but for HD material it's really not up to the job.

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Posted by Admin at 11:45 AM | Permalink

A review of the NOXON iRadio network audio player has been posted over at Madshrimps. 'Since the iRadio comes with only one speaker, you get mono sound, if you want to get stereo you need a second speaker, you can either hook up your own, or get one for ~€40 with the same style and look. By plugging in the speaker, the left channel will be played, so the iRadio speakers becomes the right speaker.If you want to use the iRadio to play music through your Hi-Fi or tuner, you hook up the line-out and get stereo out through your own speakers, the iRadio speaker will continue to play too, you can mute it by turning the volume dial to the left, the line-out volume is not affected here. The iRadio device is not high, but quite deep, since the construction serves as the speaker’s “boom box”, a look inside reveals that there’s a lot of “breathing room”.'

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Posted by Admin at 4:00 PM | Permalink

A review of the Pinnacle Showcenter 250HD media streaming device has been posted over at Computeractive. 'Wireless media streaming devices such as the Showcenter 250HD connect to a TV, allowing users to browse and play any digital media stored on a networked computer from the comfort of the sofa. Pinnacle says the Showcenter is plug-and-play, but we found that stretched the truth. It lacked drivers to install in the first place and it was in fact quite difficult to get our existing wireless network to recognise it. There are three ways of adding it to a network: using your PC's own wireless network facility (if it has one), a wireless router or a network cable.'

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Posted by Admin at 9:23 PM | Permalink

CNET Asia have published a review of the Onkyo TX-SR875 A/V Receiver . 'The clear advantage of this receiver over most others on the market is its amazing support for the latest audio formats used on HD-DVD and Blu-ray. Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio are both supported. Obviously, the more standard DVD sound formats are fully supported, too, so you'll be able to get the best out of Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks. The added bonus of the SR875 is that it can decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio over HDMI 1.3a, a feature not all amps have. This means that as long has you have a high-definition disc player that supports HDMI 1.3a, you can get the very best digital sound direct to the Onkyo, with no distortion or loss.'

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Posted by Admin at 9:28 PM | Permalink

The JVC KD-BT1 CD/MP3 receiver features MOSFET 50W X Peak Power Output, multi-format playback, 3-D Variable color display, TI/Burr-Brown 24-Bit DAC, HS-IV 24 presets tuner, Bluetooth and a rear USB Port ‘The JVC KD-BT1 features a basic single-DIN design with a mechanical fold-down faceplate and a backlit monochrome dot-matrix LCD display, which can be set to one of 1,728 colors. However, the LCD screen is not very bright, and in direct sunlight it can be difficult to see the digits and readouts especially when the text color is set to one of the darker shades (such as apple, grape, or rose). The KD BT-1 takes customization to a new level, as users can set separate colors for each source (CD, satellite radio, Bluetooth phone, Bluetooth audio, for example). Different disc-based media such as MP3 and WMA CDs can be given their own colors, and for those who can't decide, the screen can be set to scroll through every color in its memory.’

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Posted by Admin at 11:57 AM | Permalink

A "Hands-on" review of the Ziova CS505 high-definition network media player has been posted over at Gizmodo. 'First off, the format support is pretty complete, playing back just about everything we threw at it. There's DivX, of course, plus "Windows Media Video 9, XviD, Nero Digital™, MPEG-4, QuickTime MPEG-4, MPEG-2, MPEG-1, DVD and other formats." Audio support isn't taking a nap either, with FLAC, OGG, AAC, MP3, WM9, CD and various others. You'll be hard-pressed to find something this sucker doesn't play, unless you're talking about Real Media formats.

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Posted by Admin at 2:51 AM | Permalink

Personal Computer World have reviewed the Buffalo Linktheater Media Streamer which allows the user to stream video, music and pictures around the home. 'Buffalo’s Linktheater offers the promise of streaming music, video and photos around your home from your PCs to your TV, all packaged in a diminutive silver box. The unit supports the standard formats you would expect, including jpeg for images, wmv, Mpeg1/2/4 and H.264 for video and mp3, wma and wav for music amongst others. And thankfully the Linktheater was easy to set up. Media streamers sometimes come with a reputation of being stubborn beasts, but this was a breeze. It found our wireless network immediately, accepted the security key, connected and quickly told us which computers were on.'

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Posted by Admin at 4:31 PM | Permalink

Samsung has launched the BD-P1000 Blu-ray player at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The BD-P1200 is the first second generation player to date. 'One of the BD-P1200 player's key new features is its Hollywood Quality Video (HQV) processor, which is a powerful unit similar to those used by Hollywood production studios. With its HQV processor, the BD-P1200 player offers true 1080i to 1080p HD de-interlacing, so it can deliver the best HD images possible ? ven from non-Blu-ray formats. The player¡¯s HDMI connection helps boost the sound quality (via 7.1-channel Dolby Digital Plus) and color. This HDMI connection also offers Anynet+ (HDMI-CEC) technology, which enables a single remote control unit to operate the BD player, TV and other A/V products from Samsung. With the BD-P1200 model¡¯s HDMI connections, consumers will get superior audio/video quality, with incredible ease and convenience of use.'

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Posted by Admin at 12:08 PM | Permalink

Gizmodo have posted a "hands-on" review of the Helios X3000 media player which allows you to stream PC-stored movies, music and photos, along with internet media content straight to your television over wired or wireless network. 'The features the X3000 has in common with the H4000—5.1 surround audio via optical or component audio outputs, HDMI, component, and VGA video—don't disappoint on the X3000. Upscaling DVDs looks great on our HDTV set in 1080i, and the 5.1 surround sounded solid on our setup as well. But the new stuff performed admirably too.'

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Posted by Admin at 12:34 PM | Permalink