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Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Blu-ray review roundup

by Richard Lawler posted Oct 21st 2009 at 4:29PM


It's pretty hard to miss this week's premiere Blu-ray release, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen may not be as well regarded as the first movie, but the hype train has continued to roll. Still holding out on a possible purchase? A slew of reviews of the Blu-ray edition are available to help you make a choice, so dig in and see what there is. The Dallas Morning News says FX can't turn a bad film into a good one, but were still impressed by the Blu-ray special features, while Blu-ray.com's reviewer had perfect scores the video, audio and supplements of the IMAX edition, calling it "THE one to own" (reports on AVSForum.com also point to a volume difference between editions) Our friends at Cinematical actually preferred the flick at home to the theater experience, citing the thrill of checking out the preparations entailed in making such an explosive movie, plus the ability to pause and take in each set piece individually. DVD Town actually split up review duties between tow people with one on the quality of the flick, and the other on audio, video and extras, finding this flick "the kind of sonic spectacular one can use to impress friends and neighbors who haven't bought into Blu-ray yet."

Read - DVDTown.com
Read - Blu-ray.com
Read - The Dallas Morning News
Read - Cinematical.com
Read - AVSForum.com

VUDU throwing Rotten Tomatoes reviews on every movie it sells

by Richard Lawler posted Oct 13th 2009 at 9:00AM


Next step for VUDU after adding LG's BD390 to its list of compatible players? The streaming service is now trying to help you figure out which movie to watch with help from the website Rotten Tomatoes, integrating its ratings directly into the movie listings as seen above. Viewers can sort by Tomatometer score and see quotes from top reviews directly on their HDTV screen. Sure it's not auto Twitter updates and IMDB clippings on what scene, movie and actor you're watching, but if they're not going to reduce the cost per rented (or purchased) streaming flick, at least VUDU can help you pick one that's actually good. Check out another screen capture from the new addition after the break.

Continue reading VUDU throwing Rotten Tomatoes reviews on every movie it sells

Samsung BD-P4600 review

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Jul 16th 2009 at 1:00PM

Samsung BD-P4600

In a day when the most inexpensive Blu-ray player can be had for $99, you really have to do something special to a player to make it warrant a $499 price tag. This is obviously what Samsung is trying to do with the BD-P4600, but not in the normal way we'd expect. Instead of adding features or improving the specifications, Samsung has instead went the supercilious route and focused this player on the "wall people.' We all know looks aren't everything -- or shouldn't be at least -- so you'll just have to read on to find out if the functionality of the BD-P4600 matches the appearance.

Continue reading Samsung BD-P4600 review

Dish Network DTVPal DVR review

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Jun 29th 2009 at 3:39PM


For some reason almost all DVRs are like cell phones, they have lots of strings attached. You either need to pay a monthly subscription or you need to get a CableCARD from your provider and give up access to other features your provider offers that you pay for. There are a few exceptions and the newest one is from Dish Network in the way of the DTVPal DVR. It doesn't require a monthly subscription, or even a cable or satellite provider because it works with free over-the-air TV. It does HD, has two tuners, and a 250GB hard drive; all for the reasonable price of $250. If this all sounds good so far, then keep reading because like all things there's a catch.

Gallery: DTVPal DVR

Continue reading Dish Network DTVPal DVR review

Moxi HD DVR Review

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Jun 22nd 2009 at 1:00PM

Moxi HD DVR search interface
In our world the only thing that stays the same is our desire to discover the next great thing. The cycle starts with new product announcements, which builds to anticipation, and eventually to disappointment once we realize the latest gadget isn't everything we hoped. This is more true in the DVR world than any other category we cover because although DVRs have been around for about 10 years now, it seems little has changed since. This is especially true when it comes to 3rd party DVRs which have been few and far between. In fact we are hard pressed to think of even a hand-full of DVRs that made a single dent in the market. TiVo is the most notable, but far from perfect and ReplayTV was great, but didn't last. Both LG and Sony had an HD DVR out there at one point, but you don't remember them for a reason. It's just a really hard sell to convince people to spend cash up front when their provider will give 'em a box for free. So it should come as no surprise that we couldn't wait to try out the Moxi HD DVR from Diego. We thought, finally a real competitor to TiVo, and now with a real HD interface for our HDTV.

Continue reading Moxi HD DVR Review

LG's HB354BS Blu-ray HTIB gets a thumbs-up review

by Steven Kim posted Apr 16th 2009 at 2:23AM

LG HD354BS Blu-ray HTIB
Although pricing info for LG's HB354BS Blu-ray HTIB wasn't available by the time it hit the internet, TrustedReview's impressions of the all-in-one sound pretty favorable. Whether it's because LG chose to focus on quality over quantity by delivering "only" a 2.1-channel system or Mark Levinson sprinkled some audiophile-approved fairy dust over the pieces, it all came together pretty nicely. Once things were set up, the slick UI and retractable iPod dock went a long way towards minimizing the light and hollow feel of the individual parts, and sound quality that didn't immediately fall apart with increasing volume didn't hurt either. As expected, the Blu-ray visuals -- rivaling LG's standalone BD370 -- didn't disappoint, which sealed the deal for this system. Even for surround sound, we'd take a solid 2.1-channel system over a lackluster 7.1-channel one, and TrustedReviews did too, giving it the HB354BS a recommendation -- assuming it hits the streets at a reasonable price.

Embedded Automation's mPanel Review

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Oct 24th 2008 at 12:00PM

mPanel In-wall touch screen.
We just love the idea of having a connected home where every device in our house -- you know, like the HDTV -- is integrated together. Unfortunately for the most part, the connected home is financially out of our reach -- as it is for most Americans. Affordability is one of the reasons why we've keep our eye on Embedded Automation and its new mPanel in particular. While most 7-inch in-wall touch panels cost at least $3,000 (some as much as $7,000!), the new mPanel hit the streets last week at $999. This might not seem cheap in the world of netbooks and $200 Blu-ray players that we usually cover at Engadget, but it does bring a cool gadget into our price range. The mPanel seems like even more of a deal when you consider that it is a full-on Windows CE touch screen computer that does POE (Power over Ethernet) and even has a built in amplifier for audio. Of course it is only one of many pieces necessary to bring our dreams of a connected home to reality, but one we definitely enjoyed putting through the paces.

Gallery: mPanel Review

  • Home screen
  • Without the face plate
  • The connections

Continue reading Embedded Automation's mPanel Review

ZeeVee ZvBox review

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Sep 23rd 2008 at 10:20AM Featured Story



There aren't many things we love more than when a new gadget comes along that is nothing like anything we've ever seen, so when we first heard about a box that streams HD around the house on the existing coax that is in just about every abode in America, we got pretty excited. Lucky for us, we were able to pull a ZeeVee ZvBox in for review, and after a few setbacks during setup, we were left playing with something pretty unique. The problem of course is that unique isn't really a compliment, but it can be if it just happens to be the solution you're looking for. So if you've been scouting a way to get web content on your HDTV without running any wires and without being forced to deal with a STB or the headaches that come with a wireless device, click on through to see what all the fuss is about.

Continue reading ZeeVee ZvBox review

Consumer Reports' take on HD DVD / Blu-ray players: it's a tie

by Darren Murph posted Nov 18th 2007 at 6:10PM

We've taken a look at a number of Consumer Reports' views in the past, but the latest critiques give format fanboys (hardly) any ammunition to use against their respective rivals. Reportedly, CR evaluated Pioneer's DBP-94HD and Toshiba's HD-XA2, and while we were anxious to see which unit "proved" superior, the fact is that both units garnered an impressive 91-percent rating. Granted, the publication did review a total of nine high-definition players from each camp, but the general feeling was that all of them provided "excellent HD picture quality with high-def discs." In the end, we were told that both sides had their pros and cons; for Blu-ray, it's the wider array of players from various manufacturers, while HD DVD maintains the lead on price. Truth be told, we're not terribly shocked to see both camps getting a fair amount of praise, and while we know there's lots of you out there holding out for one to win the proverbial race, it sounds like we could be waiting a bit longer for the finish line to be crossed.

[Image courtesy of ConsumerReports]

Toshiba's second-gen HD-XA2 reviewed

by Erik Hanson posted Feb 7th 2007 at 1:28PM

Toshiba's second-generation high-end HD-XA2 HD DVD playerHD Guru has a review up of Toshiba's second-generation HD DVD player, the HD-XA2, which they gave top ratings. This is the higher-end of the two new HD DVD Toshiba models, and gets high marks for its improvements on the previous model, with faster loading times, 1080p support, a smaller form factor, and a much-improved chipset for upscaling standard-definition DVDs (the HD-A2 lacks 1080p and the improved upscaling chip). It includes the Silicon Optix Reon chip for converting your old library of DVDs into 1080p -- or any other resolution supported with the HDMI 1.3a connector -- and also supports the Deep Color space offered by the new HDMI specification, for improved color reproduction with compatible source material. According to HD Guru's tests, the Toshiba did better than Pioneer's competing first-generation BDP-HD1 Blu-ray player on upconverting SD DVDs, while matching it on quality for high-definition content. Unfortunately, while the prices and feature sets on both next-gen formats are getting better and better, even this second-gen player takes between 45 and 57 seconds to boot and play a movie. Maybe the third generation will treat us right.

TrustedReviews.com tearing up HDTV reviews

by Matt Burns posted May 17th 2006 at 1:53PM

It can be hard to find good reviews of HDTVs these days. Back when a television had a shelf life of a over a year, you could always dig one up, but now that TVs are only out for 6-7 months, it can be hard. TrustedReviews.com has been hitting TVs hard and they seem to have complied the most complete selection of current HDTV reviews. NOTE: this site is based out of the UK, so most of these TVs are not sold here in the States. But, there is always a 'but', while the model numbers might not match up, most of the TV remains the same in different markets. So for the most part, if you find the HDTV you are seeking about and they give a positive review, more then likely the US model would get a positive review as well.

Yahoo getting into the tech business

by Matt Burns posted May 2nd 2006 at 11:17AM


There might be a war starting here. CNET has long owned the tech reviewing genre on the Internet. They have been doing it forever and no one has been able to match them with coverage and depth. But Yahoo isn't "no one" and they have just launched a sweet looking website. Granted it just launched so we hope that is the reason it is slow, but it sure is cool looking. The site is reviewing everything from HDTVs to car tech. No we take that back. Yahoo's site just provides a clipping from a Consumer Reports review and provides you with a link to subscribe in order to get more reviews - What?!?! [example] We don't care how cool the site looks, if it can't provide us with comprehensive reviews of our HDTVs, then what good is it?

Your thoughts...

CNET reviews MovieBeam MB2160

by Matt Burns posted Apr 17th 2006 at 1:47PM

MovieBeam is an amazing concept. It lets you view programs on-demand via an Internet connection antenna and best of all, it has high-def content in its library. But it is a bit ahead of its time. Ben had a chance to review the service early on and was not impressed. CNET now has their take on the MovieBeam and comes away with the same conclusion. The price is too high and they had problems with the hardware. For us high-def fans, the picture quality was very bad. i.e. think bit-starved cable signal with tons of digital artifacts.

Check out their full review here.

BenQ PE8720 projector review

by Kevin C. Tofel posted Jan 18th 2006 at 9:48AM

BenQ PE8720
You know the review product is good when the reviewer actually purchases the product. In fact, you know the product is great when it lists for $8k and the reviewer actually purchases it! That's what happened when ProjectorReviews took the BenQ PE8720 for a spin. This 720p DLP projector boasts a whopping 10,000:1 contrast ratio, which is the same ratio that blew us away on the demo SED sets at CES. (Note: production SED sets will offer contrast ratios of 100,000:1). Looks like the TI DarkChip 3 is a real winner since it's the guts of this projector.
(via HDBlog.net)




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