Toshiba 19LV506 HDTV with internal DVD is I4U Top 100 Gift Tip #79

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The 19 inch Toshiba 19LV506 HDTV is the ideal dorm room or kids room HDTV because it has integrated DVD player.
This HDTV is small enough to fit in any room and easy to carry around as it just needs a power plug.
The DVD drive is loaded from the side and the Toshiba 19LV506 comes in white and in black.
Read more

Posted on Wed, 5 Nov 2008 15:00:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

GefenTV Adds Two HDMI Switchers to Line

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Gefen added two new solutions to its line for home theater fans that have more HDMI sources than they have inputs on their TV or projector. Both new devices allow multiple HDMI devices to use one HDMI input on the TV at resolutions up to 1080p.

The two products include the GefenTV multi Format Switcher with a MSRP of $499. The switcher supports different video formats and converts standard and HD inputs into HDMI format. Inputs include component, composite, s-video, and HDMI all with supplemental audio inputs. A remote is included as well. Read more

Posted on Wed, 5 Nov 2008 12:00:00 CST | by Shane McGlaun

Canon XH A1S and XH G1S HD Camcorder for Professionals launched

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Building on the XH A1 and XH G1 High Definition (HD) camcorders, Canon has introduced today the newly refined and upgraded hand-held XH A1S and XH G1S HD camcorders.
Both products incorporate enhanced features for improved operation, including greater image control and improved audio capabilities. Whether it is for corporate video production, wedding and events, or filmmaking, the new Canon XH A1S and XH G1S HD camcorders help professional videographers realize their creative vision. Read more

Posted on Wed, 5 Nov 2008 10:44:14 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Google withdraws from Search Ad Deal with Yahoo

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Google Inc has canceled plans for a search advertising partnership with Yahoo Inc amid opposition from antitrust regulators and advertisers, Google's chief legal officer said in a blog posting on Wednesday.
Read more

Posted on Wed, 5 Nov 2008 09:56:13 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

French TNT HD first to adopt Dolby Digital Plus for HD Terrestrial TV

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Dolby announced that Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby Digital have been chosen by France’s new national high-definition terrestrial broadcasters for the Télévision Numérique Terrestre HD (TNT HD) platform, which was launched this week.
TNT HD includes currently channels TF1 HD, France 2 HD, ARTE HD, Canal+ HD, and M6 HD. Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby Digital audio will allow viewers to enjoy broadcasts in 5.1 surround sound as well as stereo. Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby Digital audio are designed specifically to adapt to the changing demands of future entertainment delivery while retaining backward compatibility with the existing Dolby Digital 5.1-channel home theater systems in use today. Read more

Posted on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 04:52:18 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

TiVo Series3, TiVo HD, and TiVo HD XL support Netflix

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TiVo and Netflix announced that TiVo Series3, TiVo HD, and TiVo HD XL DVRs will be supporting the Netflix movie streaming service. Netflix on TiVo is currently in limited testing and will fully roll-out in early December.
Currently the Netflix streaming service offers 12,000 choices of movies and TV episodes that you can watch directly from Netflix on your TV now also via TiVo. Read more

Posted on Thu, 30 Oct 2008 01:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

JVC Everio GZ-HD40 HD Camcorder is I4U Top 100 Gift Tip #71

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HD Camcorders are the cutting edge trend for this Holiday shopping season that can be had for around $1,000.
The JVC Everio GZ-HD40 is another great choice if you want to gift somebody (yourself) with the wonders of HD. JVC pioneered the use of Hard-drives in camcorders years back. The JVC Everio GZ-HD40 packs a 120GB HDD; storage you need when recording HD.
The first JVC Everio four years ago came with a 4GB drive. It sold back then also for about $1,000. Four years later we are getting HD and a 30x bigger HDD for the same money. Read more

Posted on Tue, 28 Oct 2008 12:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Samsung LN52A630 52-Inch LCD HDTV Review

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As reported Samsung TVs dominate the sales charts. To see if they earned it read for instance this Samsung LN52A630 52-Inch LCD HDTV review.
Quote from the review: "As the market gets more competitive, it can become increasingly difficult to choose just the right TV. After all, if you’re going to invest a couple thousand dollars in a large LCD TV, you want to be sure that you’re getting the right one. I had the opportunity to stimulate my senses with the latest series of LCD televisions from Samsung. Read more

Posted on Tue, 28 Oct 2008 04:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Panasonic HDC-SD100 Camcorder Review

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Panasonic introduced the Panasonic HDC-SD100 HD Camcorder in June. Our review partner Digital Trends put this HD camcorder through the paces and published this review.
Quote from the review: "You know the drill-HDD and flash memory-based high-def camcorders are hot as blank tape and disc models fall out of favor. Recently we reviewed two newly introduced hard disc drive editions-the JVC GZ-HD40 and Canon Vixia HG21. Now it's Panasonic's turn for a new AVCHD high-def model but this one only records to SDHC cards. Since there's no drive, disc or tape mechanism it's incredibly compact and lightweight (13.4 ounces loaded versus 19 for the HG21). Read more

Posted on Mon, 27 Oct 2008 15:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Sony HDR-SR12 full HD Camcorder is I4U Top 100 Gift Tip #69

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Sony announced the HDR-SR12 HD camcorder at the CES 2008. The hard-drive camcorder has a big 120GB hard-drive that makes recording in full HD a reasonable endavor.
Feature highlights of the Sony HDR-SR12 include 5.6 MP ClearVid CMOS sensor, BIONZ image processor, 1920 x 1080px video capture, 10.2MP still image capture, Face Detection technology for video, hybrid recording, 120GB HDD, and 3.2" touch panel. Read more

Posted on Sun, 26 Oct 2008 12:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Best Buy Sony PS3 and Sony Bravia HDTV Bundle actually great Value

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This week Best Buy offers a special PS3 bundle featuring the 40 inch Sony Bravia KDL-40V4100 HDTV and the Sony Bravia HTCT100 3.1ch sound bar.
All three items together would cost $2,099.97 at Best Buy. The TV has a $150 rebate and when you buy the PS3 and the soundbar on top you get another $350 savings resulting in a $1,599.97 Package Price. Read more

Posted on Sun, 26 Oct 2008 11:54:01 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

ATI Radeon HD 4830 Card launched by AMD

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Today AMD introduced the ATI Radeon HD 4830 graphics card, raising the performance bar for graphics cards priced at less than $150 (USD)
Like all ATI Radeon HD 4800 series products, the new offering delivers game performance and HD multimedia capabilities, as well as support for the latest DirectX 10.1 games soon to be released for the holiday season.
With the launch of ATI Radeon HD 4830, even the most intimidating games that were previously unplayable on a graphics card selling for less than $150 can now be enjoyed at playable frame rates, even when using image enhancements such as anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering.

For those gamers looking to get even more performance out of their gaming rigs, ATI Radeon HD 4830 cards support ATI CrossFireX technology, allowing gamers to combine as many as four cards in one PC. Read more

Posted on Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:37:33 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Sharp Aquos DX LCD HDTV with integrated Blu-ray Recorder

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Sharp will introduce into the Japanese market the 16 HDTVs in the AQUOS DX Series with integrated Blu-ray player and recorder. The Sharp Aquos DX HDTVs are the world's first TVs equipped with Blu-ray Disc Recorders.
The Digital W Tuner in the Aquos DX series lets you record programs while watching TV, and the H.264/AVC (Advanced Video Coding) standard of the MPEG-4 suite enables 5X extended HD video recording (5X Mode), which allows for extended recording time while retaining the same exact full-HD quality as the original high-definition broadcast.

The Sharp DX Series also features 2X Mode and 3X Mode with Full-Capture Extended HD Recording, which allows recording of audio surround-sound data and extended HD recording while keeping intact the program data links embedded in the original video. Read more

Posted on Thu, 16 Oct 2008 08:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

You need $100 to connect your 30 inch Apple Cinema Display HD to a new MacBook

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Apple introduced this week new shiny MacBook and MacBook Pro notebooks with the new Mini DisplayPort interface for connecting displays. If you already own a fine 30 inch Apple Cinema Display HD and would like to connect a new MacBook Pro you just ordered then you need to spend another $100 on a Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter. Besides the cost the missing link is also not shipping for another 4-5 weeks.

Early adopters of Apple high-end gear will need patience and as always deep pockets. Read more

Posted on Thu, 16 Oct 2008 07:59:47 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Apple iTunes gets new HD TV Series from major Networks

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Apple today announced that all four of the major networks are offering primetime programs in high definition on the iTunes Store, including favorites "Grey's Anatomy" and "Lost" from ABC, "CSI" and "CSI: Miami" from CBS, "Bones" and "Prison Break" airing on FOX, and "Heroes" and "The Office" from NBC Universal.
The iTunes Store is the world's most popular online TV store with over 200 million TV episodes sold, including more than one million HD episodes purchased since the launch of HD programming on iTunes last month. Read more

Posted on Thu, 16 Oct 2008 07:43:38 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

HTC Touch HD rumored to be next Android Phone T-Mobile G2

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The HTC Touch HD has many, including me, already excited as it features this amazing 3.8 inch screen with 800x480px resolution. A rumor sprung up that HTC is working to bring Android onto the HTC Touch HD.
Android fans already named the rumored phone T-Mobile G2. For early adopters the HTC Touch HD would be a boon, as it outperforms the iPhone 3G in all dimensions. Besides the screen the HTC Touch HD features a 5MP camera, 2nd VGA camera, GPS, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. Read more

Posted on Sun, 12 Oct 2008 05:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Apple networked LCD HDTVs rumored

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Had enough of the Apple MacBook rumors? How about a fresh Apple rumor? Jason Calacanis told CNET UK that Apple is working on networked LCD HDTVs. The Apple LCD HDTV would be able to stream all your iTunes content from your Mac or PC. Basically the Apple TV box would be integrated in the TV sets.

There is no further meat to this rumor. I am not really seeing Apple jumping into the TV business. Yes they make nice big LCD monitors, but the market for TVs is very different. Read more

Posted on Sat, 11 Oct 2008 12:56:09 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Olevia 242T FHD 42 inch HDTV Review

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Benchmark Reviews published a test of the Olevia 242T FHD 42" HDTV.
Quote from the review: "With analog broadcasts terminating in February, you can bet HDTVs will be a hot item this holiday season. What was once considered a luxury, is now becoming mainstream as many HDTVs are approaching the price points of their standard definition counterparts. Olevia is one such company making this a possibility. Read more

Posted on Thu, 9 Oct 2008 15:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Samsung LN46A630 HDTV Review

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Our review partner Digital Trends tested the Samsung LN46A630 46 inch LCD HDTV. The gave this stylish Samsung TV a Editor's Choice award because of its excellent picture quality and attractive design.
Quote from the review: "Sitting between the popular 42- and 50-inch HDTV sizes, Samsung’s LN46A630 occupies the middle of the road both in size and features. While it doesn’t quite have all the bells and whistles of Samsung’s pricier 8- and 9-series sets, it gets the essentials, including full 1080p resolution, a 40,000:1 contrast ratio, and Anynet+ for sending remote control signals over HDMI cables. Read more

Posted on Wed, 8 Oct 2008 14:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Palit Radeon HD 4870 Sonic Dual Edition Review

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Techgage published a review of the he Radeon HD 4870 Sonic Dual Edition graphics card.
Quote from the review: "It's no secret that the HD 4870 is one of the best overall GPUs on the market right now, but with so much selection from vendors, it's hard to choose the "best" one. Palit has a definite winner with their Sonic Dual Edition though. Read more

Posted on Tue, 7 Oct 2008 18:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Samsung LN55A950 55-inch HDTV is I4U Top 100 Gift Tip #50

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If you want a big screen HDTV for the holidays with lots of features in addition to over 50-inches of viewable image, the Samsung LN55A950 may be just the ticket. This massive 55-inch LCD HDTV offers up full 1080p resolution along with Motion Plus 120Hz refresh rate.

The 120Hz refresh rate is twice as fast as many current generation HDTVs that feature a 60Hz refresh rate. The higher refresh rate helps improve image quality by reducing the blurriness often associated with fast action on LCD TVs. The difference in image quality between a 60Hz set and a 120Hz TV is noticeable.

The TV has three HDMI inputs on the back of the TV and a composite AV on the rear. The dynamic contrast ratio is 1,000,000:1 and viewing angles at 178-degrees. Other inputs include a PC input, and dual component inputs. The set isn't cheap at $4,999, but the specifications and screen size are very impressive. Read more

Posted on Tue, 7 Oct 2008 12:00:00 CDT | by Shane McGlaun