Here’s another NAS for you, this time from Western Digital. Their My Book Live Personal Cloud drive has three storage capacity options, ranging from 1TB thru 2TB up to a whopping 3TB. The My Book Live gets a few mixed reviews but most seem to indicate that the unit is pretty fast at data transfer but lacks a few bells and whistles of other similarly priced NAS such as a USB port for extra drives.
* Centralize and share media on your home network
* View your photo collection with your iPhone
* Stream media to your entertainment center
* Automatic backup with WD SmartWare for Windows
* Compatible with Apple Time Machine
* Leading-edge performance
* Play your music on any computer in your home
* Secure remote access
System Requirements
* Windows XP (SP3), Windows Vista, Windows 7
* Mac OS X Leopard, Snow Leopard, or Lion
* DLNA/UPnP enabled devices
* Internet connection for remote access
Supported Browsers
* Internet Explorer 7.0 or higher
* Safari 4.0 or higher
* Firefox 3.6 or higher
Pros – Value for money, fast
Cons – No USB port for expansion, no standard NAS features
We’re normally quite keen on Western Digital gear, but the WD My Book Live Personal Cloud drive doesn’t quite do it for us. No USB port, standard NAS features? The Western Digital My Book Live gets a thumbs down from Our Picks.
An average score of 3.2 out of 5 based on these 3 reviews.
Today we’re taking a look at Onkyo’s networked 7.2 channel receiver the TX-NR709. This little puppy has eight HMDI inputs, is THX-certified and will playback media from your PCs using it’s “Play To” feature. An optional USB adapter will enable wireless connectivity for the TX-NR609 too. Along with iPod/iPhone connectivity and 1080p upscaling, the Onkyo TX-NR709 is a great receiver for any home theatre system.
* 110 Watts per Channel at 8 Ohms, 20 Hz-20 kHz, 0.08%, 2 Channels Driven, FTC;
* HDMI Support for 3D, Audio Return Channel, Deep Color, x.v.Color, Lip Sync
* HDMI Video Upscaling to 4K with Qdeo Technology by Marvell
* Playback of Audio Files Through Local Network (MP3, WMA, WMA Lossless, FLAC, WAV, Ogg Vorbis, AAC, LPCM)
* THX Select2 Plus Certified
* 14.9 x 17.1 x 6.9 inches
* 26.9 pounds
* Network Capability Delivers Internet Radio and Network Streaming
* Direct Digital Connection of iPod/iPhone via Front-Panel USB Port
* Audyssey MultEQ XT Advanced Room-correction and Speaker Calibration
* Audyssey DSX and Dolby Pro Logic IIz Add New Dimensions to Surround Sound
Pros – Great sound, easy to use, multiple HDMI inputs, network functionality
Cons – No Apple Airplay
We’ve never seen a piece of gear ever get top marks before, and the Onkyo TX-NR709 gets a massive five out of five from What Hi-Fi. Every review was glowing in its apparaisal of the 7.2 channel receiver and the unit is certainly a step-up from the TX-NR609 which it replaces, yet not in price! Needless to say the Onkyo TX-NR709 receiver gets a big Our Picks thumbs up.
An average score of 4.4 out of 5 based on these 4 reviews.
Here’s a great little LCD 720p HDTV for you from Panasonic, namely the Viera TC-L32C3, priced under $300. Whilst it doesn’t boast all the major features of the larger models, the TC-L32C3 does feature the Viera Image Viewer, an in-built viewer utilising the SD slot on the HDTV, a Game Mode and an Intelligent Scene Controller to improve contrast.
Despite a lack of major features the Panasonic Viera TC-L32C3 gets some good reviews and is a great purchase for under $400. We like the 32 inch HDTV and it gets an Our Picks thumbs up.
An average score of 4.4 out of 5 based on these 4 reviews.
Today we’re going to take a quick look at LG’s 42 inch LED HDTV, the 42LV4400. It sports a 1080p display which features LG’s TruMotion 120Hz technology to reduce motion blur, Enhanced Noise Reduction and an Intelligent Sensor which automatically adjusts the TV’s colour and brightness settings depening on the ambient light in your viewing room. Whilst the reviews for the LG 42LV4400 are not exactly stellar, they still represent an average to good rating for the 42 inch LED HDTV. And with the unit sporting a $500 price tag at Amazon too, may be it’s time to check out the 42LV4400 1080p model.
Pros – Value for money, easy setup
Cons – Sports blur
It’s a shame that TruMotion is touted as a main feature on the 42LV4400 as there are a number of customer reviews that claim motion blur especially when watching sports. The reviews average out at 3.6 but surely most sports fans would be disappointed by the LG 42LV4400. We give the 42LV4400 a thumbs down.
An average score of 3.6 out of 5 based on these 3 reviews.
If you’re in the market for a great wireless printer then you should check out the Canon Pixma MP245 all-in-one. The MP245 achieves a great print resolution with a 4800 x 1200 maximum color dpi, comes with Canon’s Full HD Movie Print software to get great pictures from your HD clips and is supplied with Canon’s high quality print cartridges for great image quality. The Canon Pixma MP245 is currently priced at only $52 which is a bargain price in anyone’s books.
* Printing resolution (dpi) 4800 (horizontal) x 1200 (vertical)
* Printer Port : Hi-Speed USB
* Direct Print Port : PictBridge
* Print width 8 inches/203.2 mm max. (for Borderless Printing: 8.5 inches/216 mm)
* Acoustic noise level Approx. 46 dB
* 444 (W) x 331 (D) x 155 (H) mm
* 5.5 kg
Canon Pixma MP245 Features
* Full HD Movie Print software
* Auto Photo Fix II automatically adjusts and corrects your photos
* Chromalife 100 + system gives you beautiful and long lasting photos
* Wireless Lan
* Borderless 4 x 6 photo
NAS seem to be the latest piece of hardware your average consumer seems to be investing in. One of the top models available is the DS212j Disk Station from the Taiwanese company Synology. Currently priced at $220 at Amazon, the Synology DS212j is a great entry level NAS solution for people wanting to centralise their media on their home network and also make it available over the net. The Synology DS212j NAS is a DLNA Certified Media Server, offers the honme user effortless backup and features the EZ-Internet wizard to guide you through setting the unit up for internet access.
* CPU Frequency : 1.2GHz
* Memory : DDR2 256MB
* Internal HDD/SSD : 3.5″ or 2.5″ SATA(II) X 2 (with Disk Holder) (Hard drive not included)
* Max Internal Capacity : 6TB (2X 3TB HDD) (Capacity may vary by RAID types)
* USB 2.0 Port x 2
* 165 X 100 X 225.5 mm
* 0.94Kg
* LAN : Gigabit X1
* 18.3 dB(A)
* Power Consumption : 17.6W (Access) ; 5.5W (HDD Hibernation)
Synology DS212j Reviews
We managed to track down some reviews for you on the Synology DS212j NAS and glowing reviews they were indeed
Pros – affordable, excellent performance, support for 2.5” SSD, low power consumption, almost silent
Cons – no SATA 3 support, swapping drives means taking unit apart
Our Picks verdict
Well what more can we add? The Synology DS212j NAS seems to get a thumbs up from just about everybody and with a just a couple of minor cons we not going to buck the trend. Yes, the DS212j NAS solution gets a big thumbs up from us.
An average score of 4.69 out of 5 based on these 2 reviews.
Today we’re taking a quick look at the Dell Inspiron 15 i15-N5040 notebook, for which unfortunately we’re unable to find any decent reviews. However the laptop is currently the bestselling laptop at Amazon so that must say something about it. The i15-N5040 sports a 15.6 inch display and is powered by an Intel i3 Core processor. The base model comes with 3 GB of memory and a 320 GB spinny drive and all for $460 which is not a lot more than a 12 inch netbook and it packs a lot more into its case.
* 2.53 GHz Intel Core i3-380M
* 3GB DIMM Memory (up to 8GB)
* 320 GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive
* 15.6-Inch Screen 720p
* Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
* 19.9 x 13.9 x 4.2 inches
* 7 pounds
* 802.11bgn Wi-Fi
* 3 x USB 2.0 ports
* HDMI port
* VGA video output
* 3-in-1 Media Card Reader (supports SD, MS, MMC)
* 48 watt_hours 6 cell Lithium Ion Battery
* Intel HD Graphics for casual and mainstream gaming (supports Microsoft DirectX 10).
* 8x multi-format CD/DVD drive
* 0.3-megapixel webcam
* Built-in stereo speakers
* Fast Ethernet (10/100)
* Microphone and headphone jacks
Unfortunately there’s little in the way of reviews out there including Amazon customer reviews which seems a bit strange and on the video front we only managed to find this uncommented video presumably taken in a store.
So we can’t really give the Dell Inspiron 15 i15-N5040 a thumbs up or down but of course if you have one of these suckers feel free to let us know what you think of it in the comment box below.
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(285 customer reviews)
(49 customer reviews)
– 4 out of 5
(146 customer reviews)
(407 customer reviews)
