Sony launch new 5.1 Surround Sound System HT-SF470

April 22nd, 2010
Sony 5.1 Surround Sound System HT-SF470

Sony today announced a number of new soundbars plus a new 5.1 surround sound system, the HT-SF470. We’ll be taking a close look at the HT-SF470 which sports the following bits and pieces

* 3D capable when paired with a Blu-ray 3D player
* 1000 watt (157W x 5 +167W sub) system
* 3D pass-through via the three HDMI inputs, HDMI repeater and audio return channel
* S-Air wireless technology and wireless multi-room capabilities
* Designed to match Sony’s 2010 Blu-ray Disc players and BRAVIA HDTVs
* BRAVIA Sync feature
* Digital Media Port for iPod (iPod cradle sold separately)
* Two digital audio inputs (one coax and one optical)
* Digital cinema auto calibration

Unfortunately the Sony HT-SF470 won’t be out until June, but will be price tagged at around $550. It’ll be available from Sony stockists as well as Sony Style.

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Verizon get real with the Samsung Reality

April 20th, 2010
Verizon Samsung Reality

As of Thursday you will be able to get hold of the Samsung Reality slider cellphone courtesy of Verizon Wireless. The Reality is a QWERTY slider with a 3 inch touchscreen display and sports the Communities Widget which allows you to update your status on your fav social networking site at the touch of a button. Here are the rest of the details on the Samsung Reality

* Colour options – Piano Black and City Red
* 3 inch WQVGA (240 x 400) full touch screen
* Horizontal slide-out QWERTY keyboard
* Text, picture, video and voice messaging; Mobile IM; Mobile Chat; Mobile Email; and Mobile Web Email
* 3.2 megapixel camera
* Bluetooth® technology
* Corporate Email support for Microsoft Office Exchange
* microSDâ„¢ card slot with support for up to 16 GB
* Access to social networking services
* VZ Navigator® capable

The Samsung Reality will set you back $80 after a $50 credit rebate as long as you purchase an appropriate two year plan from Verizon. It seems these days that the line between smartphone and ordinary cellphone is blurring and the reality is that consumers are now getting better units for less of their hard-earned cash. The Samsung Reality is just another example of this phenomenon in action and if you’re after a neat slider social networking unit, then the Samsung Reality may just be the answer for you.

Source: Verizon Wireless

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MSI launch CR600 laptop

February 18th, 2010

MSI CR600-234US laptop

MSI have just cranked out a bunch of new laptops for your perusal. There are three new models in the CR620 range, but we shall take a look at the latest addition to the CR600 range, the CR600-234US model. The new CR600 is powered by an Intel Dual-Core T5400 processor, managed by Windows 7 Home Premium and has a 16 inch LCD display. Other snazzy features include an HDMI output, brushed aluminium touchpad and built-in webcam and microphone. The full details on the CR600-234US are as follows

* Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core T4500 2.3GHz 800 MHz FSB Processor
* Windows 7 Home Premium OS
* Black or Silver options
* 16 inch 1366 x 768 res WXGA LCD 16:9 display
* GeForce 8200M G GPU
* 1W x 2 internal speakers
* 3 GB memory
* 320 GB SATA HDD
* DVD Super Multi Optical drive
* 10/100/1000 Mbps Gigabit Ethernet LAN connection
* 802.11b/g/draft n WLAN Card built-in
* 4 in 1 Card Reader (SD/MMC/MS/XD)
* 1.3 MP webcam
* 3 x USB 2.0 outputs
* VGA, HDMI output
* Headphone, Mic-in, Line-in ports
* 14.73 x 9.73 x 0.63 – 1.18 inches

It all sounds quite impressive to us and with price tag of $526.20 at Amazon the MSI CR600
looks very attractive indeed. As we’ve discussed a large number of laptops recently we thought we’d point out a couple of units that are just priced above the MSI CR600. For $800 Alienware’s M11x compares nicely but admittedly it’s aimed at a different market and Lenovo’s IdeaPad G560 with the same $800 price tag sports an extra 1 GB of memory over the CR600’s spec. So if you’re looking for a laptop under $600 then the MSI CR600 seems like a good option to us.

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ATI Radeon HD 5450 card with three outputs

February 5th, 2010

AMD ATI Radeon HD 5450

AMD have just unleashed a cheap graphics card with three outputs, DirectX 11 and OpenGL 3.2 support. The ATI Radeon HD 5450 has a measly $60 price tag and will apparently

Expand your visual real estate across up to three displays and get lost in the action with ATI Eyefinity Technology.

Here are the numbers on the ATI Radeon HD 5450 graphics card

* 80 Stream Processing Units
* 8 Texture Units
* PCI Express 2.1 x16 bus interface
* DirectX® 11 support
* OpenGL 3.2 support
* Three independent display controllers – Drive up to three displays simultaneously with independent resolutions, refresh rates, color controls, and video overlays
* Display grouping – Combine multiple displays to behave like a single large display
* ATI Stream acceleration technology
* ATI CrossFireXâ„¢ multi-GPU technology
* ATI Avivo HD Video & Display technology
* Dynamic contrast enhancement and color correction
* Brighter whites processing (blue stretch)
* Independent video gamma control
* Support for H.264, VC-1, MPEG-2, and Adobe Flash
* Dual-stream (HD+SD) playback support
* Integrated dual-link DVI output with HDCP14 – Max resolution: 2560×1600
* Integrated DisplayPort output – Max resolution: 2560×1600
* Integrated HDMI 1.3 output – Max resolution: 1920×1200
* Integrated VGA output – Max resolution: 2048×1536
* 3D stereoscopic display/glasses support
* Integrated HD audio controller
* Output protected high bit rate 7.1 channel surround sound over HDMI with no additional cables required
* Supports AC-3, AAC, Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio formats
* ATI PowerPlayâ„¢ power management technology
* Certified drivers for Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP

Three independent outputs, integrated HD audio support and only for $60. We reckon the Radeon HD 5450 is a bargain in anyone’s books. Here are three reviews for you to read if you’re still not convinced from Techspot, HotHardware and LegitReviews. Admittedly HotHardware say its not a great card for gamers, but all agree if you need a card with three outputs the ATI Radeon HD 5450 is pretty hard to beat.

Source: AMD

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Sony Bravia NX800 2D HDTV Series with Monolithic Design

January 8th, 2010

Sony Bravia NX800 Series

Whilst 2010 may be the year of the 3D HDTV, manufacturers of course are still producing latest and greatest two dimensional units for us to drool over too. Sony are certainly no exception to this and have unleashed a plethora of traditional 2D BRAVIA units on us at CES 2010. Ironically three of the series LX900, HX9000 and HX800 are in fact 3D capable with the LX900 series having ‘Integrated Full HD 3D technology’. For the other two series a 3D emitter and glasses are sold separately. These series are also not available until the summer.

However we shall concentrate on what you can get your mits on right now and that’ll be the Sony Bravia NX800 series which sports screen sizes all the way from 46 inches up to the big boy 60 incher. Here are the details on the largest with any exceptions on its smaller siblings noted

* Edge Lit LED backlight
* Sony’s Monolithic design
* Integrated LightSensor technology automatically adjusts to your room’s ambient light
* Motionflow 240Hz refresh rate
* Full HD 1080p picture quality
* Built-in wireless connectivity to your home entertainment network
* USB port
* Handles 1080/60p (HDMI/Component), 1080/60i, 1080/24p (HDMI Only), 720/60p, 480/60p, 480/60i
* 60 inch 16:9 Full HD 1920×1080 res (52 inch and 46 inch)
* Audio Power Output : 20W (10W x 2)
* 60 inch – 1440 x 927 x 380mm and 50.6 kg with pedestal
* 52 inch – 1261 x 819 x 400mm and 36.1 kg with pedestal
* 46 inch – 1127 x 742 x 320mm and 28.8 kg with pedestal
* 5.1 Channel Audio Out

Perhaps the most unusual thing about the Sony Bravia NX800 series is the Monolithic design which presents the display at an upward angle of 6 degrees. This would present the viewer with an ever-so-slightly non-square display. Without actually seeing it in the flesh we’re not sure whether this is a good thing or not, but it is definitely different. Anyway on to possibly more important things the price tags. Pre-ordering these suckers will set you back $4600, $3400 and $2800 respectively through the Sony Bravia website. Whilst hanging on to see how the 3D market pans out may be a wise move, if you’re itching for HD love right now then these bad boys would certainly fill that need.

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Brando Unitek USB 3.0 to SATA adapter (Y-1034)

December 30th, 2009

Brando Unitek USB 3.0 to SATA adapter

The guys at Brando have very kindly come up with a very cunning device, the Y-1034 USB 3.0 to SATA adapter. Attach the Y-1034 to any old SATA HDDs and then plug the other end into your shiny new USB 3.0 port on your desktop and the files on the HDD will become available at the theoretical USB 3.0 speed of 5.0 Gbps. This ‘theoretical’ speed is ten times faster than USB 2.0 – now you’re interested! Here are some more details on the Y-1034 USB to SATA adapter from Brando

* USB 3.0 connectivity
* Plays nicely with Window 7 / Vista / Xp, Linux
* 69 x 40 x 12mm
* 67g

The price tag on this is a mere $48, how can you say no? And for IDE devices you’ll need an extra gizmo, the ‘Docking Convertor’, but that’s only $16. So for $64 tops, you can grab an old HDD and convert it instantly into a USB 3.0 external HDD. How cool is that?

Source: Brando

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Dell unleash small Desktop Optiplex 780 USFF

December 12th, 2009

Dell Optiplex 780 USFF

Aimed at the business user with space consideration a top priority, Dell have launched the Optiplex 780 USFF (Ultra Small Form Factor). The base on this unit measures a mere 9.4 x 9.4 inches yet the box contains the usual bits and pieces you’d associate with a ‘normal’ sized desktop. The Optiplex 780 USFF also has a neat $624 price tag with customisations and for that you get the following bells and whistles

* Genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic SP1
* Intel® Celeron® 450 (2.2GHz, 512K, 800MHz FSB)
* 1GB DDR3 Non-ECC SDRAM, 1066MHz, (1 DIMM)
* 160GB 2.5 inch SATA 3.0Gb/s
* Integrated Video, Intel® GMA 4500
* Dell USB 2-Button Entry Mouse with Scroll, Black
* Dell USB Entry Keyboard

Of course there’s no optical drive or monitor, but with most workplace installs done over a network and monitors chip as chips, well almost, the 19 inch Dell E190S will set you back $169, for a touch over $800 you get yourself a corporate desktop. As usual with Dell PCs you can ramp the base Optiplex 780 up a touch with a Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 (2.93GHz) powered unit with 2 GB memory, 320 GB HDD and 8X DVD+/-RW SATA optical drive costing $902. Not bad if you’re looking for something compact for your office workstations.

Source: Dell

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