Engadget HD Podcast 101 - 09.9.2008
by Trent Wolbe 
posted Sep 9th 2008 at 5:03PM
Breaking past the century mark, we pull our own Darren Murph into the studio to give us the rundown on last week's CEDIA show. Highlights from Denver included Mitsubishi's LaserVue TV and Belkin's FlyWire wireless hub -- we're not sure we see the FlyWire device moving in large volume, but we wonder if the LaserVue's picture quality could give RPTVs a real shot in the arm. One thing that did show up at CEDIA was Blu-ray players; despite Samsung's call for a five-year Blu lifespan, units from Panasonic, Sony, Sharp and LG all got rolled out. Features are all over the map, but it's good to see that the product segment is getting some diversity. There also was a tru2way demo from Panasonic and Comcast, and again we find ourselves in the "glass half full" camp that wishes for more, but appreciates the baby steps being made. TiVo had a good week, with an spec-bumped HD model and the return of a DirecTV solution. But when it comes to whole-home media, Niveus still tugs at our hearts -- unfortunately, it also tugs a little too hard at our wallets. And with that, the show moves on to the new items we're not so enthusiastic about: Sony and Samsung's 200/240Hz TVs, SIM2's $40 hard drive movie mailers, Pioneer's Kuro in-wall speakers, and Philips' purported "better than Kuro" LCD. File all these under, "return to sender." We wrap up on a good note, the appearance of Seinfeld on TBS HD, remastered from film-stock for a quality 16:9 HD experience. Get the podcast
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3).
[RSS] Add the Engadget HD Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically
[Zune]Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune Marketplace
[MP3] Download the show (MP3).
Hosts: Ben Drawbaugh and Steve Kim
Producer: Trent Wolbe
01:06 - Comments from Engadget HD Podcast 0100 - 09.3.2008
09:48 - Mitsubishi's 65-inch LaserVue priced at CEDIA: $6,999
13:57 - Belkin's FlyWire hands-on at CEDIA
19:11 - Panasonic's DMP-BD35 / DMP-BD55 Blu-ray players hands-on
21:07 - Hands-on: Sony shows off prototype 400-disc Blu-ray Mega Changer
24:23 - LG's BD300 Netflix / Blu-ray deck ships next month for $399.95
28:17 - Sharp's AQUOS BD-HP50U / BD-HP21U Blu-ray players eyes-on
30:22 - Samsung UK exec says Blu-ray "has five years left"
33:53 - Panasonic & Comcast to demonstrate "real" tru2way at CEDIA
38:37 - Hell freezes over, new DirecTV HD TiVo on the way
40:58 - TiVo HD XL DVR: 150 hours of HD recording, $599.99, available now
43:23 - Niveus says "never enough," adds support for eight CableCARDs / ten Extenders
47:56 - Sony, Samsung both claim "world's first" 200Hz LCD TV
49:54 - SIM2 tag-teams with Entertainment Experience to bring you movies on hard drives
52:26 - Pioneer goes crazy with 16 new speaker models, KURO brand push
55:30 - Philips LCDs better than Kuro plasmas...at least according to Philips
57:35 - Seinfeld goes HD on TBS HD
LISTEN (MP3)
LISTEN (AAC)
LISTEN (OGG)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
sTeViO @ Sep 9th 2008 8:03PM
I think the 4th generation refers to this:
BD-10 1st gen
BD-30 2nd gen
BD-50 3rd gen
BD-35 and BD-55 4th gen
Bruce S @ Sep 11th 2008 4:10PM
In your comments on DVR to buy, you talk about the various user interfaces. I have been with ReplayTV until this month moving to Dish. Replay had MRV for at least 8 years and it worked GREAT! Only now has some DVR's offered this, and I went to Dish because they have an ok MRV system. But the interface and the remote - not so good. In fact, even Tivo does not have as good an interface and remote combination as Replay has forever (in tech time). And, of course, the commercial skip feature (not a 30 sec skip -- a true commercial skip) was incredible. So I say the best interface and remote has been around for many years - they just did not survive to make it to HD, and both my wife and I are grieving the loss of our dear buffed up Replay units.
I enjoy the podcasts, thanks.
cckrobinson @ Sep 15th 2008 7:55PM
I want wireless HDMI right now. I have a projector that's 35' from the rack. My video processor attenuates the HDMI output something fierce, so I needed a beefy cable. I was getting sparkles with the highest quality monoprice cable, so I ended up spending more that I wanted for a top end Bluejean cable that works most of the time. I refuse to pay $$$ for an HDMI signal amplifier. My projector is attached to a scissor lift, and the massive HDMI cable was a nightmare to route. Wireless HDMI would have solved all of my problems (minus the power cord). There's no way I'm spending more for wireless HDMI than for a Blu-ray player. $199 is the sweet spot for me.
Joe Nace @ Sep 15th 2008 7:55PM
I live in Arizona and I'm going through Cox for my HD service and basic cable. Lately I have been hearing that Dish Network has the better service as far as HD quality. One example is last week I had a TV repair guy replacing my optics block on my Sony RPTV and he was mentioning that I had a real nice setup for home theater audio. He mentioned that I must care about audio a lot. Then he pointed at my Cox cable box and said that I must not care about video because Cox HD quality is flat and washed out. Then he told me he has Dish Network and that their HD quality is so much better. Just wondering if you guys think it would be worth it to make the switch to Dish Network. Keep up the good work on the podcast guys!
Thanks
Kevin @ Sep 16th 2008 2:26PM
I remember hearing ben talk about "ben-o-vision" a few episodes back, and saw this article that sounded similar: http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/16/tvclickr-launches-updated-facebook-app-that-makes-you-watch-tv/