Diamond Viper ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO 256MB PCIE GDDR2 Video Card ( Electronics ) By Diamond Multimedia 1 used and new from $38.00 Customer Rating: First tagged “blue-ray” by Thomas R. Lennon Customer tags: video card (3), graphics card , blue-ray , hdtv , ati , lcd hdtv
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Zune HD review: Excellent media player, slightly flawed After admiring the Zune HD’s slim good looks, now we’ve installed its software and taken it for a spin. We loaded the $290 32GB media player with music, videos, pictures and podcasts, tested out its user interface along with the Zune 4.0 software, and then we put it atop its dock and cranked out some 720p HDTV in our home theater. What did we think? Continue reading to experience it yourself. Fantastic screen The most arresting part of using the Zune HD is its brilliant OLED screen. We’re not accustomed to this kind of contrast, and when its demo video started playing, it elicited astonishment from all who saw it. The NVIDIA Tegra processor inside cranks out crisp video on its small display, even though the 3.3-inch 16:9 OLED touchscreen is only capable of 480×272 resolution. But because the screen is so small, the video looks like HD. Indeed, that touchscreen is a bit tiny for our taste, but then, that’s a sacrifice you’ll have to make for such a slim music player — it’s small enough to take with you anywhere. The capacitive touchscreen is as responsive as any we’ve ever tested, and the user interface is the best we’ve seen. It takes a little getting used to, but once you learn its trick, it’s easy: Instead of pushing the Back button of previous Zunes and other music players, you touch the stylish enlarged text top of the screen, and that takes you to the previous menu. The interface sprinkles niceties throughout, letting you smoothly slide through the history of media you’ve played recently, and control the audio by either touching or sliding your finger on the screen. We especially like the delightful screen saver that pops up when a song is playing, blending text and an album cover into spur-of-the-moment found art. The Zune HD quickly found our Wi-Fi networks, and then we could test its excellent web browsing capability. Even though it’s a variant of Internet Explorer, it’s first rate, but like the iPhone, it can’t play Flash video, including the Pandora website. Maybe someday. Media monster We’re also fond of that Zune 4.0 desktop software, which quickly finds your media, adding album cover art and generally making itself as helpful as possible. Too bad it’s only Windows-only for now. We’re also delighted to find a nascent app store in the making, new for Zune. So far, there’s only about a half a dozen apps in Marketplace, including an advertiser-supported Texas Hold ‘Em application, a calculator, and a couple of basic games. Still, it’s a start, and we can’t wait to see what happens when this tiny acorn grows into a mighty oak. There’s a catch if you want to play the Zune HD’s video in actual HD — you’ll need to spring for that $90 HD AV dock, an expensive accessory that lets you connect HDMI, optical audio and component media into a display or receiver. It comes with an excellent remote that’s quite powerful, not requiring you to point it directly at the dock for it to work. That dock can also function as a charging stand if you want to keep it next to your PC. However, when your Zune is plugged into this dock, you can’t go online and buy movies directly from there, a slight disappointment. Nor are Microsoft’s own Windows Media Center recordings supported in the Zune HD yet. Weird. Home theater player We downloaded a handful of HD videos from the Zune Marketplace, and took them into our home theater where we had installed our dock with its HDMI output. The videos showed up in all their 720p glory, playing smoothly and looking barely compressed. Nice. There were a couple of disappointments, though. One was the lack of any surround sound. Microsoft confirmed to us that it’s only stereo for now, no Dolby 5.1, no surround at all. And, we had an HDMI handshake issue when we connected the Zune’s dock to our Sony AV receiver. An HD movie we rented from the Zune Marketplace refused to play on our HDTV when we routed it through our home theater receiver. Plugging it directly into the HDTV, it played flawlessly. That’s a downside of digital rights management (DRM), because all the other HD videos we loaded played perfectly through our HDMI-equipped AV receiver. We were also disappointed in the lack of codec support, where only Windows Media Video (WMV), MPEG-4, and H.264 are supported. What happened to DivX and Matroska files? Come on, Microsoft. Audio support is slightly better, with Windows Media Audio-standard (WMA), Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), and good ol’ MP3 supported. Music box There’s also HD radio on board, and reception was good, but we just can’t get excited about radio these days when there are so many Internet stations and Pandora available. But then, none of those are possible on the Zune HD, yet. Bypassing the radio for the most part, we thoroughly enjoyed the centerpiece of the Zune HD, its audio playback. To us, it made our variety of music files sound as good as they’ve ever sounded on any Apple product. Of course, this is not lossless audiophile quality audio, but it’ll do. Summing up, the Zune HD represents a remarkable feat of technological prowess. Its user interface is the best we’ve seen on a portable media player, its sound is admirable, and its HD playback is jaw-dropping with that tiny NVIDIA Integra processor inside. This built-from-the-ground-up media player portends great things from Microsoft, perhaps hinting that this tiny form factor might someday grow into something more. Zune phone anyone?
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YouTube Adds New Dimension to TV Tuesday November 3, 2009 I’m currently in the process of reviewing Panasonic’s TC-P46G10 , one of the company’s Internet-enabled plasma televisions. When I review a TV, I don’t just check out the image quality and see how well the stock speakers perform. Whenever possible, I try to live with the set for a few weeks, so I get a sense of what it would be like to “own” the TV. I do this because I believe it better enables me to provide the type of information the average buyer is looking for. In living with this Panasonic plasma , I’ve been taking particular advantage of its Internet functionality by accessing free content on YouTube . I’ve never been the sort of guy who sits at his desk streaming online videos all day, but I’ve become more of a YouTube fan thanks to the instant access on this television. When I’m relaxing at night and I can’t find anything that I want to watch on my favorite channels, I now find myself drifting to YouTube and searching through the content there. Doing so, I’ve enjoyed everything from “Star Wars” fan movies to music videos. I even discovered some short German lessons to help me with my quest to learn a new language. The best part is that the content doesn’t really feel like online video anymore. When the quality is high – and that depends on the video uploaded to YouTube – it feels a lot like watching regular television. I’m wondering if anyone else with an Internet-enabled TV or set-top device is becoming addicted to this sort of alternative programming. I’m also wondering if you are being enticed to buy an Internet-enabled set or Blu-ray player because of their ability to stream content from sites like YouTube. Respond to this post and let me know what you’re thinking.
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New Feature: TV of the Week Monday November 2, 2009 This week, I’m kicking off a new feature for the TV/Video Blog. Each Monday, I’ll highlight a different television, laying out some of the key specs along with the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP). I will also link to a full review if I’ve written one. The main purpose of this feature is to give you an idea of what is available in the marketplace. I’ll be considering all different sizes and types of televisions from a variety of manufacturers, and I’ll throw in my thoughts where appropriate. Hopefully, this feature will give those of you in the market for a new TV a good overview. I also hope it’s fun for those of you who like to window shop and stay abreast of the latest technology. Without further delay, our first TV … TV of the Week : 47LH50 by LG Screen Size : 47″ diagonal Actual Dimensions : 46.2″ x 31.1″ x 13.3″ with stand Television Type : LCD Native Resolution : 1920 x 1080p Contrast Ratio : 70,000:1 Manufacturer Estimated Lifespan : 60,000 hours Internet Enabled : Yes. MSRP :$1,499.99 Official Web Site : http://www.lge.com/us/tv-audio-video/televisions/LG-lcd-tv-47LH50.jsp HDMI Inputs : 4 (three on the rear and one on the side) Component Video Inputs : 2 in the rear with L/R audio Composite Video Inputs : 2 (one rear and one side, both with L/R audio) Digital Audio Out (Optical) : 1 in the rear RGB In : 1 PC Audio Input : 1 LAN : 1 RS-232c In (Control/Service) : 1 Audio Output Power (Watts) : 10W + 10W Speakers : 2-way hidden Built-in Decoding : Dolby Digital Photo © LG
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Roku Adds Two New Players Thursday October 29, 2009 Roku announced this week that it has added two new set-top boxes to its line of video streaming products. One, the Roku SD , is an entry-level model featuring only standard-definition output. The main selling point on the SD is it’s relatively low $79.99 price. The second new model, the Roku HD-XR , sells for $129.99 but can output high-definition signals at a resolution of 720p . Both players are equipped with Wi-Fi or can connect to a wired network with an Ethernet cable. The HD-XR goes a step further as the first Roku player to offer 802.11n dual-band wireless connectivity. Roku players allow viewers to stream video content over the internet to a television, and consumers currently have access to programming from Netflix , Amazon Video On Demand and MLB.TV . It’s important to note, however, that each of those outlets charges for content. The Roku itself is just a delivery system. At $79.99, the SD is $20 cheaper than Roku’s standard player, the HD, and the company is clearly hoping to win more consumers over with the lower price point. The HD-XR, on the other hand, is targeting a higher-tech crowd with its high-definition capabilities and improved Wi-Fi. Photo
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