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Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Back-to-School - Neverlate 7-day Alarm Clock Now $20 If you've got a Linens & Things near you you can save the shipping, so if you have any reason to get an alarm clock/radio, this should be the one. You can order online and pickup in the store, and it's a good deal for a truly innovative clock. What else would you expect from American Innovative, I guess.I saw this clock at CAMEX, a college marketing expo, and it really is a marvel of simplicity. There are two concentric dials on top. You turn the center dial to the day of the week, and turn the outer dial to the time you need to wake up that day. Once you've done that for all 7 days, set the dial to "Run" and you're all set. It's not a bad looking clock either. I rest my case. | ||
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
New Champ of Cheap - RJ Tech RJ-1800DVX - $86 If there's a better combination of functions for less money, I haven't seen it. The RJ Tech RJ-1800DVX combines MPEG4/DivX playback functionality, a card reader on the front, and a USB port on the back for attaching mass storage, all for about $86 shipped.The video is output through a VGA port, so no DVI unfortunately, but it makes up for it with two front-panel microphone inputs for karaoke hijinx. | ||
Monday, July 25, 2005
HD Network DVD Player - Momitsu V880N - $350 Finally a DVD/media player with a DVI output, the Momitsu V880N is available for around $350 shipped. For those of us using projectors, it makes this player much more usable than the Linkplayer or Buffalo models.The downside to this, and a confusing one, is that I see no mention of WMV HD or DivX HD support in anything about the Momitsu. So it can play back HD size, but not HD formats? I'm not sure, but they are updating firmware constantly, so maybe it's just a case of not pre-announcing capabilities. The main thing I'm taking away from this is that I'll be able to get an HD player with DVI eventually, I just might have to wait a few months for the right mix to come along. For those that must buy now, and must have DVI, I suppose the Oppo is still the best bet. | ||
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
OPPO DV971 Upconversion/Multiregion/DVI - $200 If this played backed HD formats and had a network connection, it would be perfect. For people that have no use for those features, then, it's got to be very close to perfect.The OPPO DV971 has a DVI connector, HD upconversion via Faroudja, plays back DivX and MPEG4 formats, it can be switched to multi-region, and it's only $200. If you have a DVI capable projector or television, the word on the street is there is a substantial difference in quality over component. Changing the Region: 1. Press Setup on remote control to access the setup page 2. Enter 9210 on the remote 3. A service menu will pop up 4. Select a region: 0- 6 in region code. 0 is all-region. 5. Press Setup on remote again to exit | ||
Network Drive Enclosure - INOi Argosy HD363N $80 A lot of the newer DVD and media players lately have included ethernet connections to play back files, so I've been looking at network drive enclosures. A 400GB drive and enclosure is usually over $400, and I've never seen one as low as $300. I haven't looked at wireless enclosures, because I just don't have any kind of good luck playing back large media files over wireless.This INOi Argosy HD363N enclosure is only $80 and includes a 10/100 ethernet port, and works as an FTP and Samba server. With 400GB bare drives under $200, it's an easy way to save at least a hundred dollars for a nice NAS system. It's also a nice way to keep your media center quieter, keeping the fans and storage separate from the rest of your equipment. | ||
"New Type Wearabel TV" - VTV-101 TV Watch $149 This is an idea that has captured man's imagination for so long, it's hard for me to know if it's new or not at all. If it's not new, I'm confused why everyone isn't already wearing one. I have added a giant photo to make it clear the importance of this device.The VTV-101 Wearable Television, apparently gets decent reception, uses the headphones as an antenna, and gets about an hour of viewing time. But really, you just want to turn it on long enough to captivate the ladies anyway, so no problemo there. That shouldn't take longer than 45 seconds, the velcro strap will see to that. Amazingly, they've also crammed a digital clock into this device. A clock on your wrist! | ||
TV/PVR/PMP - The NHJ MPM-201 Under $400 To be honest it's a little expensive for my taste, I tend towards cheaper, more useless things, but for those that like PMPs, the NHJ MPM-201 looks pretty nice. It has a TV tuner, a video recorder, and all the normal playback options on a 3.5 inch screen. A 30GB drive holds your video or data files.One nice touch that may or may not be common, is that you can schedule your recordings on the 201. It also includes a remote so you can get back far enough to take in its 3.5 inches of splendor. Yes indeed. | ||
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Direct DivX Encoding and PVR & Tuner Under $100 I don't normally like these kinds of devices because I don't like having to be connected to the computer, but for those that don't mind, the Plextor PX-TV100U has some nice features for under $100.It records (via USB 2.0) directly to 640x480 DivX video, and includes Sage TV Lite with a free electronic program guide to control the recordings for you. If you've got everything close so this kind of setup works easily, it certainly seems better than recording in MPEG and converting it. I'm still waiting on a simple DVR to record out of the Firewire on my Motorola cable box though. Anyone? | ||
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Minolta Dimage E500 5MP 3x Optical Zoom Under $200 For those that want an optical zoom, even a relatively small 3x one, this Minolta E500 might be just the ticket. It's under $200 at Amazon, but less than $160 at the multitude of photo discount stores. If you're fine with rebuffing upselling attempts, have no fear. I'm not, so I think I'd just spend the $40 myself.It has a 2" screen, records QVGA video with sound, and takes SD/MMC cards for storage. It takes AA batteries, always a plus if you're away from an outlet for a while. | ||
Polaroid 5MP PDC5070BD at Circuit City - Only $100 It's a web only special, in the store it's $30 more. This Polaroid PDC5070BD 5MP digital camera has been getting consistently solid user reviews on the Circuit City site as well.Lack of optical zoom would be an issue for many, but a 5MP point-and-shoot from Polaroid for $100 is still pretty decent. It shoots movies with sound too, but I wouldn't expect great results there. | ||
For Occasional Recorders - Neuros MPEG4 $140 They're around $100 on eBay, and for those that don't record everything they watch, or need any real scheduling, this looks fairly nifty. The Neuros MPEG4 Recorder will surprisingly record MPEG4 of all things onto memory cards, or possibly a USB drive through it's USB port.You can also view photos on your TV and play back MP3s with this, but interestingly I don't think you can play any video back with it. Other than that, it might be a nice way to record video from pretty much anywhere if you don't have a PC with you. | ||
Monday, July 11, 2005
Sort of iPod Shuffle Photo, Paradise 512MB - $100 So this is pretty cute, a tiny little MP3 player and photo viewer, as well as FM radio. With 512MB and being only about $100, the i.Perris Paradise MMP looks like a pretty cool little player to have around.It has a 1" 96x64 OLED 16-bit screen, and the case is aluminum. It supports MP1, MP2, MP3, WMA, WMV, ASF and WAV audio formats, as well as MTV Film and has some kind of lyrics display support. It has a Li-ion battery that should last 8 hours with the photos going, and recharges through the USB port. My favorite feature is something i.Perris calls the "mightiness spread function," I can only hope to find out eventually what that is, we could all use a little mightiness spread around. | ||
i.Perris CAMP34 Multi-Device for $180 From i.Perris (?) comes this interesting multifunction device, the CAMP34. As a media player, it plays back 30fps MPEG4, up to 640x480 on its 2.5" color screen. It is an MP3 player, a 6MP digital camera, and a voice recorder.It does have A/V outputs so you could use this as a media center as well, but that also brings up the device's major flaw in my opinion. It comes with 32MB of memory, and is expandable to 1GB with SD/MMC cards. That makes it unpractical very quickly when you actually want to use it as a video player. In any case, the form factor and functions, as well as relative cheapness should make this worthwhile to some. | ||
Saturday, July 09, 2005
Bad Name, High Definition, AVeL LinkPlayer2 $250 Now that I've overdone the entire home media player area, here comes IO Data's AVeL LinkPlayer2.What does it add that the myriad other DivX/MPEG4 DVD players don't have? Well, it plays back in high definition for one, it has both network and USB connections for mass storage, and it's available now. And when I say it plays back in HD, I don't mean it scales video up to HD resolutions (it doesn't, it stays at 480p), I mean it actually plays HD formats, like WMV HD, DivX HD, and MPEG-TS, up to 1080i resolutions. It also supports all the MPEG4 formats, as well as MP3, Ogg, and things like Rhapsody and some other Internet radio formats. It has outputs for composite, S-Video, and D4 (which is essentially just component except you need a special cable, which I think is included), as well as analog and digital audio outputs. Plus it has this diagram:  The only possible downside I can see to this is that it doesn't support any of the next-generation disc formats, but I actually have some WMV HD discs right now, so I'll take the bird in hand this time. | ||
Cheapest Media Player Chassis Yet - $76 Delivered Add a $100 80GB notebook drive from ChiefValue, Newegg, or any number of other places, and you'll have a pretty nifty media player you can take with you.The DC input is 5V, so I can hope (please?) that it's USB powered also. It plays all the normal MPEG4 formats, and has a composite video output as well as a VGA (which can connect to component), and a mini-audio connection. This is just an eBay auction, so I don't know the brand, or how long it'll be there. But regardless, these things are getting cheaper by the day, and what's not to like about that? | ||
Maybe Worth it Just for Audio - EZ-Stream Only $50 Most of the reviews sound like my DSM-320 experience, so I guess I wouldn't suggest this SMCWMR-AG for your primary video source, but who knows? It's got 802.11g and an 10/100 RJ-45 port, and it supports all the popular formats, so it's probably just a firmware upgrade away from nirvana. Oh, even better, it's got 802.11a!If you just want something for what it actually does now, $50 isn't much for a network audio adapter. It can play back MP3 and Internet Radio (which is still MP3, right?). In any case, you could do worse for $50, and I often do. | ||
Friday, July 08, 2005
RCA Lyra RD900W Audio Link Under $40 This is not new, but I've been a little frustrated lately trying to find a decent connection from my computer to my stereo system. Bluetooth A2DP is still too expensive in my opinion, being around $150 and up, and FM just blows (yes I was wrong).There are 2.4GHz point to point audio links, but they're around $70 (on eBay, so don't know the brand), and they use the same frequencies as 802.11, and I already have a lot of interference in that range in my house. So along comes the RCA Lyra RD900W, which uses the old 900MHz range like the cordless phones that actually used to work, and I'm tempted to try it out. In fact, I am ordering it now, just like I order all the rest of this stuff. Musicmatch users will like the fact that the remote control can actually control playback on the computer from the receiver end. Those that use other players, the transmitter works just like a USB sound card, so it'll play back pretty much anything. The range is reportedly 100 feet, but I'll be happy with 20 at this point. The reviews appear to be pretty great on every site I've read, so I'm a little more confident than usual on this one. UPDATE: Apparently the newest version of the remote software allows the remote to work with Rhapsody as well as Musicmatch. Which is great for me, I already ordered this anyway. | ||
Sunday, July 03, 2005
Ecobox-net/u Personnel Monitor for $40 I guarantee this thing would crash my computer in an instant, but I've never had great luck with sleeping, suspended, or hibernating computers. For those that need instant notification when someone's not at their post, or for people who really do want to save some energy, just plug this thing into a USB port, point it at your chest, and absorb the warming IR stream.It keeps track of how long there is actually a person sitting where it's pointed, and it can be set up to turn off the monitor or do any number of other energy-saving things when you leave. For only $40 each, it would definitely help in keeping on-site consultants at their desk. I'd have lasted about a day with this thing in front of me when I was consulting. | ||
JVC XV-NP10S Offers Unique Features for $110 Similar in functionality to the Philips 642, the JVC XV-NP10S is available new for around $110. It is a DivX certified player so should play all the MPEG4 formats you're accustomed to, like XviD. It has component outputs and seems to have put the focus on wide playability and high quality picture, which works for me. It's also a very slim player, and looks pretty nice as you can see.The addition of a card reader (SD, MMC, Memory Stick, Smart Media, Compact Flash, XD) sets this player apart from the rest of the crowd. What I'm waiting for is someone to hack the card reader to accept a regular hard drive. I'm sure it'd have to be external or it'd be a tight fit inside, but all the network players kind of annoy me. In any case, the combination of features on this player and the fact that it's still cheap make it worth considering for a lot of folks. | ||
Saturday, July 02, 2005
Last VR3 of the Day - VRFS40 Speakers $20 Nothing revolutionary, but a nice looking set of folding portable speakers for $20. It uses 3 AAA batteries.A million uses for them, but I have no idea what the sound quality's like. With 4.5V of pulse-pounding fury behind them, probably not exactly high-fidelity. | ||
In-Dash CD/MP3 with USB - VRCD300-USB $100 I can't change my head unit easily, so I normally pass over most head units, but a USB input on the front definitely makes the VRCD300 stand out from the crowd. At $100, it stands out even more, you can probably find it at any local Checkers/Schucks/Kragen.I don't know whether the display shows anything of the file information on USB drives, but it's better than anyone else is doing, and it's cheap. It also makes a lot of the USB powered devices nicer to use in the car since you don't need so many adapters. | ||
Easy In-Car Audio - MP320T Player/Transmitter $49 I'm a little underwhelmed by the storage size (128MB), but at least it's a start. For $50 at Walmart and using just a single AAA battery, this is the easiest way to get sound to your car's stereo without any wires.I suppose if it were 1GB or so they'd really have something here, but what can you do. If everyone wants to wait for Apple including their competitors, well, that's that. Having a decent little jukebox you could throw into anyone's glovebox for a road trip has some appeal though, even if it weren't someone's main player. At 128MB though? Probably not. | ||
Poor Man's Media Center - Philips DVP642 $63 I think this has been around a while, but for $63 delivered from Amazon, (compare other prices here) this is the easiest, cheapest way to get a nice flexible media center going. It uses the Vibratto II ES6698F, like the Kiss player, and plays all the normal DivX type files you'd expect at this point. At the price I just don't think you can go wrong.If you don't have a PC in the living room, or if you don't like having fan noise in the living room, this particular player might be just the thing. It's certainly a simpler solution than a lot of things, and cheaper than any of them. Formats: Movies: DVD, DVD+R/RW, DVD-R/RW, VCD, SVCD, MPEG-4 and DivX 3.11/4.x/5.x Music: CD, MP3-CD, CD-R and CD-RW Pictures: Picture CD (JPEG) with music (MP3) Turning it Region-Free Power up, open tray, and press 7, 8, 9, OK, and then 0 on the remote. 0 should appear in the lower left of the screen. Close the tray. reboot and you're done. That's all. | ||
Friday, July 01, 2005
Tivoli SongBook, Nice Portable RadioFor one, it looks great, and based on the reviews the sound is equally impressive. It has audio inputs for your other music devices, and runs on 12V for when you're totally off the grid. Iit comes in about a million other colors, or 7 rather, but all the primaries are covered. It's also $160, but I just like everything about Tivoli and Henry Kloss so I can live with that. | ||
Buffalo PC-P3LWG Link Theater Network DVD I haven't exactly had the best luck with wireless media players, but for some this Buffalo Link Theater might have just the right combination of features. Plays back all the common formats, most importantly XviD, has component and D4(?) digital outputs, and it's $300.For moving beyond it's DVD drive alone, it includes 802.11g and, nicely, a USB 2.0 input so you can get movies to it pretty easily. UPDATE: Apparently, like the LinkPlayer2, this player supports HD formats like WMV HD, DIVX HD, etc. Since they have the same connectors also, they are essentially the same machine, but I just prefer the I-O Data over the Buffalo. Probably it's just the name. On the other hand, I saw these at Fry's, so who knows when the impulse might strike. | ||
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Gadgetize: July 2005