Look into the future
There are cutting edge TVs, and then there’s Toshiba’s Regza 55X3 (known as the ZL2 in Europe) whose spec sheet reads like it was DeLorean-ed back from 2015. The 55-inch set is one of the first consumer TVs to sport a 4096 x 2160 pixel resolution (or Quad Full High Definition), which already gives it [...]
Home sweet home theater
As rabid movie, music fans and gamers, we’re always on the hunt for gear that can push our home entertainment experience to 11 (much to our better half’s chagrin). This roundup includes some of our favorite home theater products out today that we’d love to host in our living room. Continues after the jump.
Take it to...
Companies like Logitech have done a decent job of providing consumers with an easy to use solution for controlling most IR-based home theater components — but if you like to take things literally, they still don’t deserve the title of “universal” remote. Commanding Bluetooth based devices like the PS3 for instance requires buying a separate [...]
Epic Moments, Take Two
GoPro’s original line of cameras established the brand as the go-to outfitter for documenting the near-death experiences of the outdoor-inclined/insane. Their successor HD Hero 2 ($300) ups the ante by providing professional low light performance, double the image sharpness, and adding a new narrow (90 degree) and medium (127 degree) recording angle to the original’s [...]
Boxed and Loaded
The entry point for accessing any kind of streaming media service on your TV just got even lower. For $50, Roku’s new LT model can stream over 300 different content services in 720p to virtually any TV out there. All you really need to care about though is Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant, Pandora, EPIX, [...]
Über Compensating
Owning a 55-inch flat screen TV seems pretty damn sweet — that is until you mount it next to Sharp’s Nimitz-class LC-80LE632U. With an 80-inch diagonal, this full LED backlit HD 120Hz TV features more than double the screen area of the now belittled “big screen” we just mentioned, or four times the screen area [...]
One Lesson from the 70s Worth Reviving
The current 3D viewing experience in theaters is terrible for those who prefer wearing old fashioned glasses to see in 20 / 20. Mercifully, LG has finally come to the rescue of spec-sporters everywhere with the AG-F220 Cinema Clip On 3D Glasses ($20). The basic clip-on shades feature polarized lenses — used in most passive [...]
Connect and Project
Epson’s new Megaplex MG-850HD projector ($800) is the perfect home base for digital nomads who typically catch up on movies or TV via their smartphone or tablet. It has all of the usual trappings of a basic 720p projector, pumping out 2800 lumens with connections for USB, VGA, and HDMI sources, and even features an [...]
In Control
There are a handful of companies out there already trying to turn your smartphone or tablet into the universal remote of your dreams, but none of them has the home theater chops of Logitech. Now, after years of making the best universal remotes out there for the average consumer, the company’s new Harmony Link ($99) [...]
Excellence For the Rest of Us
Utter the Runco name around most men, and you’ll trigger a chain reaction that ends with their wallet hiding in a cave of happiness, shivering in anticipation of the pillaging to come. The company’s new Light Style 1 HD DLP Projector ($4,000) still packs a wallop of sticker shock, but it’s down right affordable compared [...]
Getting the Most Out of Those $20 Pieces of Plastic
You may be through with the whole disc-based movie thing at this point, but anyone who demands the best in video quality will value the firepower of Onkyo’s newly announced BD-SP809 Blu-ray player ($599). It’s THX certified, and sports Marvell’s Qdeo processing for top notch DVD 1080p upscaling and Blu-ray video quality. Home theater geeks [...]
Free Your 3D
The Xtreamer Prodigy ($210) is powerful media streamer for digital geeks who prefer that their media libraries remain unsullied by the software whims of Apple or Microsoft. Packed with a 750Mhz CPU, USB 3.0, integrated 802.11n Wifi, a 3.5 inch hard drive bay capable of supporting up to 3TB, and even HDMI 1.4 to handle [...]
Tivolution
After blazing the trail in DVR technology, Tivo’s lead in the set-top box arm’s race has faded recently thanks to stiff competition from DirecTV, Comcast, and Fios. The recently announced Tivo Premier Q and Preview are two new models designed to finally give Tivo a foothold in the whole home DVR universe. Along those lines, [...]
Your Media, All in One Place
Tired of shelling out cash every month to your local cable provider for channels you never watch? Well the Boxee Box is the best solution currently on the market for letting you access all of the digital content you love sans a monthly subscription. Its strange exterior isn’t the most home theater friendly design we’ve [...]
Screen Out Mother Nature
We’ve put men on the moon. We’ve broken the sound barrier many times over, both in the air and on land. We’ve even cured Polio and managed to inject sweet cream into golden cake sticks of deliciousness that can remain edible for centuries. So it’s about damn time that some company focused on building weatherproof [...]
