Recent Comments:
Japan warming to Blu-ray, sales break six-figures in June {Engadget HD}
Jul 23rd 2008 2:30PM I've beginning to think that you are either :
a ) An scripted auto-bot that near instantaneously posts premeditated nonsensical and pathetically motivated anti-bluray banter; relentlessly.
or
b ) A pathetically sad mental midget whose opinions on this site could not be any more worthless.
Can the other readers here vote in on this one?
Pioneer's KURO PDP-5020FD plasma reviewed, not as flawless as previously assumed {Engadget HD}
Jul 22nd 2008 9:34AM My Kuro takes XBR shits.
Sony unveils 256-player MAG: Massive Action Game {Joystiq}
Jul 15th 2008 4:32PM Congratulations, The_Punisher has won the Internets!
Wal-Mart throws in $100 gift card with Blu-ray player purchase {Engadget HD}
Jun 4th 2008 11:20AM Theefman, See my post above.
Thanks for illustrating my point perfectly.
Wal-Mart throws in $100 gift card with Blu-ray player purchase {Engadget HD}
Jun 4th 2008 9:28AM It is astounding to me that some people still harbor such bitterness about the format war, as if they cannot let go of a pathetic allegiance to a small plastic and metal box. You can argue endlessly about the merits and advantages of each format, but at this point it is futile.
The question that it all boils down to is: Do you enjoy watching your favorite films in the highest quality video and sound, and you want studios to continue releasing content that maximizes your home theater setup?
If the answer to this question is 'yes', then right now there is only one horse to back. When Blu-Ray takes an attempt towards mass adoption, such as this article, where is the benefit of senselessly bashing it and comparing it to a format whose demise was arguably a product of these false "advantages". It is not even worth my time to illustrate the how ultra cheap players and fire sales by Toshiba squeezed the format into a one-trick pony, as it is water under the bridge.
There is definitely criticism warranted towards blu-ray, and it is constructive by many of the commenters here. However, there are a select few whose motivation just seems flawed to me. Most of us push for improvements and progression of the format, and others seem to just take every avenue to predict its ultimate demise. A sound mind would understand that the only option right now is Blu-Ray, and although it is not perfect, it is a clear leap forward from DVD. I feel as if some are pointlessly waiting for a moment where they can say " Hey, I told you so! HD-DVD did have it right with X feature ". It is quite obvious to me, that these people stick around here constantly trolling these blu-ray centric articles for one reason, you really f'in enjoy high def movies!
So let up, forget about that time in grade school when you got beat up during recess, bury the hatchet about that HD-DVD player (that also upconverts DVDs, word! ) , and tell that girl Suzie from HS that is now married to some douche that you are sorry you didn't ask her out: AND get down to business: Watching High Def movies and pushing the studios and manufacturers to keep making better products and putting out the material we want.
Blue Underground goes Blu-ray, announces initial slate of releases {Engadget HD}
May 30th 2008 1:51PM I can name at least 5 similarities:
The Final Countdown : Afterburner
Maniac: Splatterhouse
Vigilante : Streets of Rage
Fire and Ice: Golden Axe
The Stendhal Syndrome: Night Trap (Sega CDizzle)
Blue Underground goes Blu-ray, announces initial slate of releases {Engadget HD}
May 30th 2008 1:41PM Does the cover art remind anyone of Sega Genesis games circa 1990s?
Ask Engadget HD: Which gaming console suits HD junkies best? {Engadget HD}
May 28th 2008 1:54PM Yes I forget to mention that the Xbox also supports Media Center extender. This is useful if you have a machine with Windows XP Media Center Edition, or Vista Premium / Ultimate. If you have a standalone NAS unit, Mac computer, linux box, you are not 100% supported.
To be honest, the xbox360 and PS3 are still a mile short of XBMC when it comes to HD media center goodness.
The XBMC project is now mature on Linux / OSX and is coming along nicely for windows. There is simply no other platform as comprehensive as XBMC, which supports nearly every network sharing protocol, video and audio codec, and pretty much every thing else you can throw at it.
It is mature, stable, and has an excellent customizable GUI.
So if you are craving the utlimate HD media center experience, and gaming is not important, skip the consoles and buy yourself a used mac mini or build a nice low power micro-itx linux machine. You will end up spending more, but in the end you will have a fully functional machine that supports anything you throw at it and is constantly evolving and maturing with the support of hundreds of open source developers. I just don't see any large bloated corporation tied to the music/movie industry developing even half what XBMC is.
Ask Engadget HD: Which gaming console suits HD junkies best? {Engadget HD}
May 28th 2008 12:11PM As an owner of all three consoles, I'll try to be as impartial as I can.
When it comes to graphics, I would have to say it is a wash for the PS3/XB360. There are impressive titles for both systems, and it comes down to which exclusive titles you find more desirable.
For an HD media junkie, the PS3 is clearly a better choice. The hardware is far more flexible, and operates quieter and more reliably. The PS3 can be upgraded using an off the shelf 2.5" hard disk, in addition to external USB HD support. There is a built in flash memory reader for many different types, and gigabit ethernet with standard uPnP support for media streaming. The PS3, as well as the XB360, now supports Xvid/Divx playback. You can also encode H264 movies up to 1080p that playback perfectly on the PS3. The upscaling on the PS3 is great, and both standard dvd and divx/xvid play back in great quality.
Where the PS3 truly exceeds as a HD media center, is in the customization. The PS3 support HDMI, true 24P output, and HDMI deep color support. You can output sound over HDMI or Optical, and you can even select which formats should be decoded internally or passed bit stream to the receiver. The PS3 can interally decode DTS-HD, Dolby True-HD, and all the different flavors of uncompressed PCM sound.
A drawback, or advantage according to some, is that the PS3 uses the open bluetooth standard and thus the remote is bluetooth. This allows more flexibility as bluetooth is RF and not IR, but does not allow you to use your venerable Harmony remote. I have heard that there is a usb dongle enabling IR support, but I have not used it.
If your primary interest is primarily gaming, you cannot go wrong with either system. Some still inaccurately portray the PS3 as having a lacking library of games, but if you have a pulse and are a rational human being then you have realized that an amazing amount of material is available for both systems. The XB360 does get the edge if your thing is online gaming and getting corpse tea-bagged by newly pubescent males. At least with the PS3 they had the common sense not to include a headset device to enable everyone to catch a glimpse into the sad state of American adolescence.
Panasonic's 50-inch VIERA TH-50PZ800U plasma gets reviewed {Engadget HD}
May 27th 2008 3:32PM Sounds like the 24p issue could be a HDMI / handshake problem. If not, however, it is pretty unacceptable to buy a high end flat panel at this price in 2008 that doesn't support true 24P and accurate 2:3 pulldown. That's like running a marathon and stopping 5 feet before the finish line.
