Filed under: Desktops, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Sure, Sony’s been kickin’ out iMac-like machines for some time now, but the firm’s latest all-in-one desktop made a pit-stop by the PCMag labs in order to get critiqued. The sleek, stylish VAIO VGC-LT19U fared pretty well, and the built-in Blu-ray burner, dazzling 22-inch panel and satisfactory integrated speakers were all given a thumbs-up. Granted, you won’t find any drool-worthy hardware on the CPU / GPU fronts, but the machine was said to run quietly thanks to its reliance on “laptop-grade components.” The only major digs revolved around the lackluster mouse / keyboard combo and the “obscene” amount of bloatware that comes loaded on, and of course, the folks were none too pleased to see an external CableCARD tuner (hard to avoid, we know) bundled with an otherwise elegant machine. All in all, the system seemed to perform quite well, and in our book, earning four out of five twinkling stars (or red dots, whateva) ain’t half bad.

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Filed under: HDTV, Laptops

Sony has a nice new line of upgraded AR series laptops on offer, with options for Blu-ray and CableCard in the mix. The main differences are pretty straightforward: The $1,700 AR630E sports the Blu-ray drive alone, the $2,400 AR660U does the CablecCard thing, and the $3,300 AR690U does both. The laptops run Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 and T7500 processors and Vista Home or Ultimate — the AR630E gets the short end of the stick in both cases. Other standard features include a 1.3 megapixel webcam, 1440 x 900 or 1920 x 1200 17-inch display, 8400M GT and 8600M GT NVIDIA graphics, dual 160GB SATA HDDs and HDMI out. All three models should be out around the 2nd of October.

[Thanks, William M]

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Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Although BenQ prefers to market its MP622 and MP622c projectors to the suits, we see no reason these bad boys can’t be carted home after the nine-to-five for a little fun. Both DLP units sport a 1,024 x 768 (XGA) resolution, a 2,000:1 contrast ratio, ultra-quiet 26dB noise level whilst running in economy mode, and a sexy “midnight black high gloss exterior.” The MP622 offers up 2,700 ANSI lumens while the MP622c musters just 2,200, but you’ll find VGA / S-Video / composite video inputs on each to compliment the audio in jack and integrated speakers. Word on the street puts these two units on store shelves later this month, with the MP622 ringing up at around $999 and the MP622c costing $849.

[Via FarEastGizmos]

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Filed under: Displays, HDTV

ViewSonic’s Diamani DUO lineup claims to be a couple of widescreen HDTVs at heart that just handle monitor duties on the side, but we don’t see any reason to neglect these two displays just because you don’t have television on the brain. The 19-inch NX1932w offers up a 1,440 x 900 resolution, five-millisecond response time, 800:1 contrast ratio, 300 cd/m2 brightness, a pair of five-watt speakers, integrated ATSC / NTSC / QAM tuner, and a bevy of inputs including HDCP-compliant HDMI, VGA, component / S-Video / composite, and audio in / out. The 22-incher musters up a 1,680 x 1,050 resolution and a 1,000:1 contrast ratio, but otherwise mimics its smaller sibling in the specs department. The new duo is available immediately for $349 and $399 — we’ll let you guess which pricetag belongs to which.

[Via CNET]

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Filed under: Gaming, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Details are beyond sketchy at this point, but Personal Computer World is reporting that Mark Bennett, Microsoft’s European HD DVD business director, announced that Microsoft would be shipping a revised 360 HD DVD drive in 2008 — presumably one with improved support for HD DVD’s HDi interactive features, which Microsoft is touting as being “nine months” ahead of Blu-ray. That’s all the info we have for now, but you can bet we haven’t heard the last of this one.

[Thanks, ChronoZaga]

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Filed under: HDTV, Peripherals

It looks like those that weren’t satisfied with Pinnacle’s previous USB HDTV tuners for one reason or another now have yet another option to consider, with the company recently introducing its new and improved PCTV HD Ultimate USB stick. As before, this one packs an antenna to pick up ATSC digital TV signals, and it’ll of course pick up plain old NTSC analog TV if you so choose. Unlike previous devices from the company, however, you apparently won’t have to install any software to use it, and you’ll even get some built-in flash storage to record up to two hours worth of content. If that’s enough to push you over the edge, you’ll be able to grab one of ‘em next month for for $130, with a desktop version also available for $80.

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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Media PCs

Earlier this month, we gave you a glance at Exceptional Innovation’s (producer of Life|Ware) quad-CableCARD media server, and now the outfit is finally making things (extra) official. Two machines will initially be offered up with (count ‘em) four CableCARD tuners within, and neither are likely to run ya cheap. Up first is the flagship LMS-754, which packs a quad-core Intel Core 2 Extreme processor, 4GB of RAM, 4TB of hard drive space in a RAID 5 array, Ethernet, a slew of USB 2.0 ports, audio in / out, and a FireWire connector to boot. The slightly more affordable LMS-654 will probably ratchet things down a bit in the storage and CPU department, and while no specific prices are given, we are told that the Life|Media line now ranges from $3,500 to $15,000. Additionally, the firm introduced 8.9-inch and 12.1-inch widescreen Life|point touch panels with the new Life|slide function, both of which offer up 720p resolution and enable the user to “gesture right or left to quickly navigate the Life|ware gallery.” Click on through for a shot of the front.

Continue reading Life|ware’s quad-CableCARD Life|media systems get (more) official

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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

As the news continues to flow from Intel’s Developer Forum, we’re now hearing that the chip maker could make “surprise moves into consumer electronics chips.” More specifically, it seems that the outfit is looking to “roll out a system-on-a-chip code-named Canmore aimed at HDTVs and other products,” as well as Silverthorne, which would apparently be reserved for handheld devices. ‘Course, Intel has dabbled in these areas without notable success in the past, but analysts are suggesting that gaining traction this time around “could be big” for the firm. Ah Intel, why the tease?

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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

We’ve seen a number of USB tuners that make converting files for handheld viewing a lesson in simplicity, but ReplayTV is givin’ you one more alternative. The Personal HD kit includes a USB 2.0 ATSC / NTSC hybrid tuner, an antenna, wireless remote (which fits nicely in a spare PCMCIA slot), a free year of ReplayTV Electronic Program Guide (EPG), and bundled software that features native iPod, Apple TV and iPhone support. This “all-in-one” solution for getting OTA content on your device of choice is set to ship this November for $99.95.

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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

Denon has loosed a pair of new semi-HTIBs on the world, with the compact (and admittedly stylish) 2.1 systems catching most of our attention. These additions to the S-series both tout DVD playback (sorry, no Blu-ray action here) and 1080p upscaling via HDMI, but the higher-end S-302 adds WiFi for streaming audio and a slightly more powerful amplifier. Reportedly, the DVD player within is the same drive found in the firm’s DVD-2930 player, and while both units reserve 100-watts for the subwoofer, the S-102 pushes 35-watts to its satellites while the S-302 cranks out 50. Both sets are scheduled to land soon for $1,699 (S-302) and $999 (S-102).

[Via Pocket-Lint]

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