When we first received an Epson PowerLite home Cinema 1080 projector earlier this week, we were eager to take it into our test theater for a look-see, wondering just how much projector you can get for your $3000 these days. Surely there must be a catch to a 1080p projector that it costs so comparatively little. It didn't look like it was missing anything when we looked at the spec list: Packed with three LCDs, this puppy has the latest HDMI 1.3 input in the back, a quoted 12,000:1 contrast ratio, that Blu-ray and HD DVD-friendly resolution of 1080p, and it doesn't look half bad, either.
The first thing we wanted to try was an HD DVD using its HDMI 1.3 port. Loading a our newly acquired HQV benchmark test HD DVD disk, it was hard to find anything wrong with the picture we were looking at. The blacks were some of the blackest we've seen with an LCD projector at any price, and blacks are a weakness of LCDs. There were hardly any visible jaggies in the diagonal lines test, and tha...

Filed under: Laptops

While the classic IBM ThinkPad stylings might play well in the ultraportable range, we've never been quite impressed with Lenovo's widescreen attempts at business friendly minimalism. That said, there's a lot to love in the specs department of Lenovo's upcoming T61 (pictured) and R61 Santa Rosa 14-inchers, which IBM leaked info on today -- which is odd, considering the fact that the IBM logo has left these things completely -- and while the looks might be a tad frumpy, the actual sizes aren't so terribly chubsy. Of course, the big news here is the Santa Rosa processor action, with chips like the T7100, T7300, T7500 and T7700 bringing up to 2.4GHz of 64-bit Core 2 Duo lovin' to the two models. Other notables include Intel's latest PM965 integrated graphics chipset, Intel Turbo Card "Robson" flash memory cache tech in select models, and a LCD "roll cage" in the T61. You can also toss in discrete NVIDIA graphics, or pretty much whatever else you're up for:...

Onkyo's got a press event today -- in Jersey City, of all places -- where they're showing off their top line TX-NR905. The most important thing you should know about the NR905 (and 875) is that it uses a Reon-HQV video processor. That's the same processor that the Samsung BD-P1200 Blu-ray and the Toshiba HD-XA2 HD DVD players use to do their stunning DVD upconversion to 1080p from all video sources. So, it's likely when videophiles like Gary Merson get their mitts on it, they'll have the same scaling verdict as they did with the players: Awesome.
The NR905 also has HD radio reception out of the box, Ethernet for internet radio, and PC streaming, as well as a USB port for thumbdrives, and HDDs, presumably holding MP3s. Room acoustic compensation, alters frequency and delay for up to 8 listening spots in a room. No word on wattage, but the 905's "high-current power supply with a massive toroidal transformer" and Ultra2 THX certification are probably good enough.
The 7.1 rece...

Because its official date is less than a week away, I've been thinking a lot about the Xbox 360 Elite. By and large, the gaming press doesn't really get it, but that's because its not for them. An alternative name for it could have been Xbox 360 Home Theater Nut Edition.
There's a lot of good to it. The HDMI cable allows for HD-DVD at 1080p over a single cable. Good because those of us with low-end TVs don't have to depend on the TV for deinterlacing. The HDD upgrade is welcome for storing more HD movies. But those are rentals that expire. And DIY hacks as well as an official upgrade for the regular 360 will be around, it's questionable how much value that drive has.
So it comes down to HDMI and black paint.
Still, as someone who's taken an intense liking to the Xbox video marketplace and the HD-DVD player, I still want one. (Pay for one is a different story.) But what I really dream about is a version that commits the console to the living room in a much great...

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment
The Blu-ray vs HD DVD format war reaches another milestone, with sales of Blu-ray Discs reaching more than one million sold since the format launched less than a year ago. According to Home Media Research, Blu-ray locked up 70% of high-definition movies sales in the first quarter of 2007 (832,530 to 359,300), and account for seven of the top ten best-selling high-def movies. Even on those few titles available in both formats, like The Departed, consumers are buying more Blu-ray than HD DVD versions. HD DVD owners and fans can still point to sales of their format of choice reaching number one at Amazon recently -- as well as early release dates like The Matrix and exclusives like Smokin' Aces -- but with Blu-ray-only Disney releasing big titles like Cars and both Pirates movies in the coming months, the Blu-ray Disc Association won't be stopping the press releases anytime soon.

Read - Reute...

The argument continues to rage, with no end in sight. HD DVD was winning last week, with rumors of cheap HD DVD players flooding the market via Wal-Mart (who else?). Augmenting that was a sales spike in HD DVD discs, though one that was caused by an artificial (or at least, unsustainable) sales spike caused by fervent fanboys.
This week, the Blu-ray camp is reclaiming some lost ground on the battlefield of public opinion.
Reporters are citing research by Home Media Magazine that says Blu-ray movies outsold HD DVD movies 70% to 30% in the first quarter of this year. (The research was apparently backed up by Nielsen VideoScan data.)
In addition, Wired's Gadget Lab ran an article with this fairly jingoistic headline: "Let the Price War Begin: Pioneer Announces $300 Blu-Ray Player". It turns out, the "player" is actually a BD read-only PC drive that's available in China and, they suggest, assorted gray-market vendors.
Highlighting the ambiguity was last ...

Wal-Mart is about to bring HD DVD to the masses. The retail giant we all love to hate just bought 2 million HD DVD units from Taiwanese electronics corp Fuh Yuan, who along with TDK recently built a massive factory to handle HD DVD cores.
So basically Wal-Mart has a crapload of HD DVD players heading its way. (Can anyone say discount?) Sadly, this probably won't put an end to the format wars, but it'll definitely come as a blow to the Blu-ray camp, especially since their cheapest machine is nowhere near $300. You can expect to see Wal-Mart's players sometime in 2008. – Louis Ramirez
Fuh Yuan Will Make Two Million HD DVD Players for Wal-Mart [AVS Forums]

Crocs, those ugly little shoes that all the suburbanites seem to be wearing these days, have been banned in Swedish hospitals. Thanks to the possibility of creating a static "cloud of lightning" thereby disabling all of the hospitals equipment.
Froogle, Google's product search, has been shut down. But never fear price-savvy readers, now there's Google Price Finder.
And speaking of being price-savvy, Pioneer has a internal PC Blu-ray drive in the works. What's so special? How does a retail price of only $300 sound?
According to a Poll of IT security managers sponsored by Cisco, data theft has supplanted malware as the biggest security threat. – Ben Longo

Filed under: Desktops, HDTV, Laptops

We've got all ideas that anyone crushing on Dell's awkward, albeit expansive, XPS M2010 probably already has one by now, but if you've just started falling for the unsightly beast, this one just may pull the trigger for you. Just over a week after cramming half a terabyte of hard drive space into the machine, Dell is now offering up an internal slot-loading Blu-ray drive for the HD set. Sure, it only reads at 2x and can't even think about writing, but it will enable Blu-ray disc viewing in between rounds at your next LAN party. As expected, this newfangled luxury won't run you cheap, as the BD-equipped machine will run you upwards of $4,000 -- and that's before the upgrade bug attacks at the checkout aisle.

[Via NotebookReview] 
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time
Office Depot Featured Gadget:...

Anyone who was hoping for a built-in Blu-ray drive in their next-gen iMac is gonna have to wait till mid 2008. That's when Intel will replace their current Bearlake chipset with their Eaglelake chipset, which will officially support Blu-ray. Apple is infamous for waiting before they adopt new technologies, so in a sense this comes as no surprise. The question is, how badly do you want an integrated Blu-ray drive in your next iMac? Bad enough to warrant not buying one without a high-def drive? – Louis Ramirez
No Blu-ray for iMac's Until 2008? [Macnn]