News Archive
Thu 20 April 2006
Cutting edge looks but slightly watered down performance with the Sharp Internet Aquos
If only first impressions did count. Look at this beautiful bundle by Sharp. A 32 or 37" LCD TV, a PC and snappy looking keyboard and remote control.
The TV has 1200:1 contrast ratio, 550cd/m2 brightness, 6ms and 176 degree viewing angle however, it is not full HD as it has a maximum resolution of 1366x768. It also has only 1 HDMI port although fortunately the DVI port is HDCP.
Strangely the spec on the PC has suffered a very similar fate as the TV. It has a Duo Core 2300, an HD tuner, is Vista-ready although the Intel graphics card might prove a bit weak for that. Omitted as well is no HD-DVD or BR drive and the machine also runs on XP Home rather than Media Centre Edition (bizarre choice!). The LD-37SP1 and PC-AX50M package looks great and performs averagely meaning it will probably cut out the techie market but do fine for average users, which it clearly is pitched at anyway.
Related Article: One box to rule all other boxes
Thu 20 April 2006
Worlds first Blu-ray Media Centre PC
Altech Computers, an Australian Computer company has announced the release of the world’s first Media Centre to incorporate a Blu-ray drive. The Maestro Pro 2 Blu-ray edition features a Blu-ray optical drive from Samsung enabling the playback of the latest High Definition movies and the burning of HD content recorded on the Maestro to Blu-ray media with a capacity of 25 or 50GB.
The Maestro Pro 2 Blu-ray edition, shown at launch will be available through major retailers and specialist hi-fi stores in June, with a RRP of $3999 (£1669).
Tech spec:
- Zalman HTPC Chassis and Advanced Cooling solution
- Antec Neo 430W High Efficiency Power Supply
- Intel 945 Chipset Motherboard
- Intel Pentium D 930
- 3.0GHz Dual Core CPU
- 2GB Corsair DDR2 RAM
- 256MB NVIDIA 6600GT GPU
- Dual Samsung 250GB SATA2 HDD
- Samsung 2x BD-RW Optical Drive
Related Article: One box to rule all other boxes
Tue 18 April 2006
Bang out some tunes with the B&O Wireless Music system
The BeoLink Wireless 1 System from Bang & Olufsen enables high-quality music to be distributed all over the house, wirelessly. Each transmitter/receiver communicates with the others via 2.4GHz wireless technology, with the transmitters capable of sending and receiving signals 30 metres away. A single transmitter can handle seven pairs of BeoLab loudspeakers, which it communicates with via the remote IR eye. Being so retrofit friendly and marketing it with such heavy focus on maintaining audio fidelity, B & O rightly jump on this ever-growing band wagon.
For further reading on retrofitting see Same outcome, different process
Tue 18 April 2006
This personal security monitoring system will call 6 designated numbers when it detects a fire or an intrusion. With a built-in speaker you can also try to plead or intimidate the intruder into reconsidering not burglarizing your home or, perhaps you could suggest that your neighbours are a much more lucrative and easier prospect. Obviously fires are not so susceptible to this tactic. Another innovative function is that you can call the Cybereye and listen to what is going on over the microphone. This clever little device will set you back a neat $260.
Related article: Moat & Drawbridge
