Recently Filed in Reviews

Last year, the LCD buzz was all about 120Hz refresh rates for smoother moving images. This year there’s 240Hz refresh rates, but the real news is that LCD TVs are going green—and improving their picture quality at the same time. Enter the brightest new TV star, LED (light emitting diode) backlighting. It’s much more energy efficient and more expensive than standard fluorescent backlighting—and it is showing up in numerous 2009 models.  There are two types of LED backlighting: edge-lit and full-array. Some sets that utilize… View this story
LCD • Reviews • Product News

Want an LCD HDTV with the latest advances that costs hundreds of dollars less than comparable models? Look to Vizio and its XVT Series LED-backlit VF551XVT. The 55-inch XVT VF551XVT (XVT stands for Extreme Vizio Technology) offers the two primary features found in today’s top-of-the-line HDTVs. There’s a full HD 1080p display utilizing the company’s proprietary 240Hz SPS (Scenes Per Second) Smooth Motion technology, along with TruLED (light-emitting diode) illumination. The full array of LED backlighting is composed of 960 tiny LEDs in clusters with… View this story
Displays • LCD • Web Services • Reviews • Product News

Quite some time ago we predicted the death of plasma technology, albeit a tad early than was comfortable for most of our readers. The large reason behind this prediction was the advances being made in LCD technology. With the introduction of LED backlighting, LCDs have overcome one of the final hurdles that sets them apart from their plasma counterparts — black levels. The Toshiba Regza 46SV670U capitalizes on this equalization of technologies and maximizes the viewing experience, bringing LCD into the realm of plasma and… View this story
Displays • Flat Panel • HDTV • LCD • Reviews • Product News

I like watching TV. Clearly, the people at ZeeVee do, too, because their ZvPro 250 and ZvBox 150 turn TV viewing into an all-you-can-watch, anywhere-you-can-watch-it-in-HD experience. Suffice it to say, I really liked my time with the ZvPro 250. I like that the ZvPro 250 turned my condo’s coaxial network into a high-definition video distribution system. ZeeVee says there’s no limit to the number of HDTVs that can receive content from a single ZvPro 250. Connected to a cable or satellite box, the ZvPro 250… View this story
Multiroom Video • Web Services • Reviews • Product News

I’ve always been skeptical of power conditioners—could they really make that much difference in an entertainment system’s performance? It didn’t take much time with the Tributaries T100 Power Manager, which conditions and protects power, to answer yes, they really can. Setup was simple. The slim black box took the place of a Monster PowerCenter HT700 surge protector, and I followed basic guidelines suggested in the T100 manual while transferring power cords. The T100 includes nine outlets, divided among four digital “always-on,” two analog “switched,” two… View this story
Power Management • Line Conditioners • Surge Protectors • Reviews • Product News

I love reviewing flagship products. It’s a chance to play with some of the very best equipment this industry has to offer. Denon’s DVD-A1UDCI Universal Blu-ray Player is a dream machine that plays every existing disc format known to man, sans HD DVD. If you want a reference player that will handle all of your DVDs, Blu-rays, DVD-A and SACDs, you’ve come to the right place. But it’s not cheap to own this player. So what does $4,500 buy you over, say, a $500 Oppo… View this story
AV Components • Blu-ray • DVD Players • Reviews • Home Theater • Product News

For starters, I’m going to let my Facebook status update regarding my review experience with VTech’s IS9181 Wi-Fi Internet Radio speak for itself: “Testing out VTech’s Wi-Fi Internet radio. Pretty much a magical music box. Already found a great Beatles-only station streaming from Russia, and it only took a few minutes to add gdradio.net and Live Phish Radio streams. Sleep can wait till tomorrow night, right?” In the tabletop evolution from the old AM/FM-only radios to the cassette boomboxes of the 80s to CD/radio boxes… View this story
AM and FM Tuners • Web Services • Movies and Music • Reviews • Product News

Back in the day it used to be that music fans sat in front of a pair of speakers like the Maxell “Blow-away” guy to listen to their favorite tunes. These days people often listen via their favorite personal media players.  The advent of portable digital media has re-ignited interest in headphones, which has in turned has spawned interest in a sub-category of noise-canceling headphones.  Many familiar audio manufacturers from the consumer- and pro-audio worlds have popularized noise-canceling headphones, and the technology behind the product… View this story
Speakers • Headphones • Reviews • Audio • Product News

Millions pay $12.95 a month for TiVo and millions more the same for satellite radio. The question is, will they pay $12.99 per month to control their homes? Schlage and Trane think so. The Schlage LiNK Home Control system starts with a Schlage door lock, which comes in many different finishes and arrangements, from brass entry locks to brushed nickel deadbolts. Each has the same basic features, a keypad for keyless entry and the ability to communicate with a Z-Wave wireless RF “mesh” network. Add… View this story
Home Control • Home Control Systems • Safety and Security • Home Security Systems • Reviews • Product News

Windows Media Center: you either love it or you hate it. That’s what they all say, but I’ve been an in-betweener for many years. I had one of the earlier models. It was loud, ran hot, and the DVD player never worked properly. Now comes S1Digital’s P500—part of the company’s ProLine Series—and I remember what I liked so much about the Media Center platform in the first place. Let’s start with cosmetics. Right now, the P500 is plopped on my media center console next to… View this story
AV Components • Blu-ray • Digital Media Servers • Reviews • Product News

Several TV makers have unveiled Internet-ready televisions. Though let it be said: Internet-linked TVs are not designed for those who want to surf the web. In their current incarnation, they are meant to enhance our TV viewing experience by offering more entertainment choices and useful web-based information. The limited Internet content is accessed via icons, or widgets, that are located on the screen. Enter Panasonic’s 46-inch Viera TC-P46G10 plasma TV, which is definitely on the cutting edge of the Internet TV scene. All new Panasonic… View this story
Displays • Plasma • Reviews • Product News

The gaping hole in the Blu-ray market has been the lack of a multidisc changer. Finally Sony has deposited two on the field, and the flagship BDP-CX7000ES comes from the company’s Elevated Standard line. It’s a 400-disc changer—Sony calls it a megachanger—equipped with a network connection that pulls disc art and title information from a database so you can scroll through your high-def collection with the ease of an iPod. This isn’t Sony’s first Blu-ray megachanger. In 2007 the company launched the HES-V1000, a 200-disc… View this story
Blu-ray • Reviews • Product News