Recent Comments:
Tesla Roadster takes 30 hours to charge from a standard wall socket {Engadget}
Jul 7th 2008 6:00PM So, I guess I better not go to the supermarket 111 miles away. Geeez. This is not the family truckster you take to your mother-in-law's. It has a 220 mile range.
Step 1: Go drive
Step 2: Look at trip odometer
Step 3: Be back home before it says 220
Poll: Do you own / plan to own an HTPC? {Engadget HD}
Jul 6th 2008 8:25AM I have 3 HTPCs. The one I use all the time has a Blu-Ray drive. It was a cheap way to start getting HD video since the drive was about $100 and I already had most of the components for the HTPC. While the nice folks at Slysoft and ImgBurn have made it relatively easy to have a juke box of HD content on the PC, the lack of a 7.1 DIGITAL audio solution is the big drawback to HD HTPCS.
Currently, there is no way to get a 7.1 DIGITAL signal to the receiver. 5.1 digital yes. 7.1 analog yes. 7.1 digital ...almost. The problem is that you need 3 things:
1. An HDMI path to sync up the video with the audio
2. A protected HD audio path
3. Playback software to work with the above 2 so the audio is not
downsampled
I am still waiting for the Asus HDMI-equipped Xonar HDAV1.3 sound
cards to appear that apparently will work with Arcsoft’s BD player. If this plays out like it is supposed to, it will be the Holy Grail of HD HTPCs. At that point I would say there is really no reason to buy a stand-alone BD-player unless they go less than $200 and can do everything.
Sony's $400 BDP-S350 Blu-ray player shows July 15th ship date {Engadget HD}
Jul 2nd 2008 1:33AM Here is the problem with the HD HTPC: There is no way to get a 7.1 DIGITAL signal to the receiver. 5.1 digital yes. 7.1 analog yes. 7.1 digital ...almost. The problem is that you need 3 things:
1. An HDMI path to sync up the video with the audio
2. A protected HD audio path
3. Playback software to work with the above 2 so the audio is not downsampled
I am still waiting for the Asus HDMI-equipped Xonar HDAV1.3 sound cards to appear that apparently will work with Arcsoft’s BD player. If this plays out like it is supposed to, it will be the Holy Grail of HD HTPCs.
And to the "hair dryer" comment above, the noise of computer is based upon the quality of the components. If you are that concerned, look into liquid cooled components. My HTPC is on an in-wall rack. The wall backs to a crawl space under the stairs. I have my 5 SATA hard drives on 36" SATA II cables outside the case in the crawl space. I think my TivoHD has more noise than my HTPC.
Weinstein to finally go Blu in August with The Mist {Engadget HD}
Jun 27th 2008 10:02AM Another way to say that is the ending of the movie is worth every bit of no-name actors and poor acting through the movie. I would say definitely see the movie and sit through the whole thing as the ending will blow your mind.
SlySoft keeps AnyDVD HD current, circumvents latest BD+ {Engadget HD}
Jun 18th 2008 8:43PM You have to hand it to SlySoft (or rather the army of tech geek contractors they employ in places like India and Russia). I seriously doubt that any sort of key flipping or change-up with implementation within batches of movies will ever hold this company down. They now know BD+ better than the people that developed it. BD+ is dead...worse than dead, emasculated.
On a side note, SlySoft is now making more money than ever as they now charge in Euros since the Dollar is so worthless.
Samsung SC-HMX20C HD camcorder review {Engadget HD}
Jun 17th 2008 8:43PM One potential problem is the lack of an HD interface directly on the camera. It is on the base. The base also needs to be powered (with another cable) to use the HDMI output. When compared to the HF10, an HD interface was placed on the camera (where it should be).
I think more and more programs are able to edit MTS files. I could be wrong but it seems the vast majority of consumer video cams are AVCHD. The Samsung seems to be in the minority.
Samsung's SC-HMX20C 1080p camcorder hands-on {Engadget HD}
Jun 11th 2008 10:06PM "At Full HD, 8GB will last you as long as the battery does - about 85 minutes."
Jury finds Taser accountable for man's death, awards $6m settlement to family {Engadget}
Jun 11th 2008 7:59AM @Jimbo
If you are going to go high brow, you should probably spell it right:
Non sequitur
First Blu-ray record, Divertimenti, released {Engadget HD}
May 30th 2008 8:54AM You guys need to hire a fact checker:
I knew about the NIN release but I (easily) found 82 Blu-Ray music titles on Amazon...so this Norway group is definitely not the first:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_d?url=search-alias%3Ddvd&field-keywords=Blu-ray+music&x=0&y=0
Fisker Karma hybrid sports car spotted on test track complete with stripes and video {Engadget}
May 11th 2008 3:09PM Read: "more than" $20000 less. Is this explanation really necessary? Geeez! Get a grip. This is not a fine English class.
