Wow, I just don’t know what to say…
I am not 100% convinced this is for real as it almost looks like CGI at some points; maybe a better video quality would clear up my doubts.
Wow, I just don’t know what to say…
I am not 100% convinced this is for real as it almost looks like CGI at some points; maybe a better video quality would clear up my doubts.
I woke this morning to something that sounded like an off-tune radio station: it was my Philips alarm clock trying to emulate the sounds of the ocean. I think it tried the ‘gentle wake’ but I didn’t hear it until it sufficiently annoyed me. This is going back in the back and back to Target next weekend (unless the xMas return lines are still long). If Philips eventually releases a firmware update that allows MP3 music I may re-consider this purchase.
Why wait until next weekend to return? I ordered a Chumby today and it is 3-5 days until it is delivered; I will need an alarm clock until then.
I ordered the Black Chumby and this was placed on order #4109- so I guess they have managed to sell a few thousand of these guys so far…
Wow, I just don’t know what to say…
I am not 100% convinced this is for real as it almost looks like CGI at some points; maybe a better video quality would clear up my doubts.
I woke this morning to something that sounded like an off-tune radio station: it was my Philips alarm clock trying to emulate the sounds of the ocean. I think it tried the ‘gentle wake’ but I didn’t hear it until it sufficiently annoyed me. This is going back in the back and back to Target next weekend (unless the xMas return lines are still long). If Philips eventually releases a firmware update that allows MP3 music I may re-consider this purchase.
Why wait until next weekend to return? I ordered a Chumby today and it is 3-5 days until it is delivered; I will need an alarm clock until then.
I ordered the Black Chumby and this was placed on order #4109- so I guess they have managed to sell a few thousand of these guys so far…
I was listening to the Diggnation podcast while driving around this afternoon and they were discussing a review by Zero Punctuation. These are funny as Hell; below is the one for Guitar Hero III:
I was listening to the Diggnation podcast while driving around this afternoon and they were discussing a review by Zero Punctuation. These are funny as Hell; below is the one for Guitar Hero III:
Bases on the aggregated sales statistics from Amazon it looks like a lot of people received HD DVD players for the holidays (or perhaps the BOGO sale at Amazon was very successful!)
BestBuy now has some crazy-ass ‘buy three get two free’ sale on HD DVDs; I take it last week’s ‘buy two get one free’ sale wasn’t nearly as successful as the prior ‘buy one get one’ sale and they are trying to find a comfortable selling level. Here’s a suggestion to BestBuy: with a total of only about 200 tiles on HD DVD to choose from it is VERY hard to find 5 tiles that you want. BOGO lets you pickup the movie you really want and then get an ‘extra bonus’ of something you probably wouldn’t normally buy.
Bases on the aggregated sales statistics from Amazon it looks like a lot of people received HD DVD players for the holidays (or perhaps the BOGO sale at Amazon was very successful!)
BestBuy now has some crazy-ass ‘buy three get two free’ sale on HD DVDs; I take it last week’s ‘buy two get one free’ sale wasn’t nearly as successful as the prior ‘buy one get one’ sale and they are trying to find a comfortable selling level. Here’s a suggestion to BestBuy: with a total of only about 200 tiles on HD DVD to choose from it is VERY hard to find 5 tiles that you want. BOGO lets you pickup the movie you really want and then get an ‘extra bonus’ of something you probably wouldn’t normally buy.
Ok, this is my favorite Cruxshadows song at the moment- and it looks like someone has made an anime music video (AMV) of it with some Kingdom Hearts footage…
I think I am making fun of something with the title of this post, but tonight I rediscovered the Milkdrop plugin for WinAmp. This is a full screen visualization plugin that is about the same a dropping a hit of acid and staring through a kaleidoscope (this is very interesting if you haven’t tried it)
Ok, this is my favorite Cruxshadows song at the moment- and it looks like someone has made an anime music video (AMV) of it with some Kingdom Hearts footage…
I think I am making fun of something with the title of this post, but tonight I rediscovered the Milkdrop plugin for WinAmp. This is a full screen visualization plugin that is about the same a dropping a hit of acid and staring through a kaleidoscope (this is very interesting if you haven’t tried it)
I know it sounds weird- maybe even a little perverse- but I want a Chumby…
I bought a Philips AKL308/37 clock radio from Target with the impression that it could use an MP3 as the waking music- this is not the case. (Even thought the description on Philips site states ‘Choose to wake up to your favorite music, radio station or buzzer alarm’). I will be returning this and looking for another alarm clock.
I have been through a few radio alarm clocks for the iPod, but they all have been lacking features that I was looking for (JBL On Time was too big and would not sync over a long USB cable; Jensen JiMS-190 was also too big and was hard to use).
What I really want is a readable alarm clock (with atomic time sync) that can play a specific song for waking (such as ‘Adrift‘ by The Cruxshadows). Added features would be weather info and a time/temperature projection onto the ceiling. The Chumby seems to do all of this (save for the projection) and have a lot more gadgets/gizmos that I may never use (Woot!, eBay, moon phases, etc). It is about $50 more than my Philips and the screen isn’t as big (3.5" vs 7").
I have added a ‘Virtual Chumby’ to my website until I can decide if I want to return the Philips and invest in a Chumby…
I know it sounds weird- maybe even a little perverse- but I want a Chumby…
I bought a Philips AKL308/37 clock radio from Target with the impression that it could use an MP3 as the waking music- this is not the case. (Even thought the description on Philips site states ‘Choose to wake up to your favorite music, radio station or buzzer alarm’). I will be returning this and looking for another alarm clock.
I have been through a few radio alarm clocks for the iPod, but they all have been lacking features that I was looking for (JBL On Time was too big and would not sync over a long USB cable; Jensen JiMS-190 was also too big and was hard to use).
What I really want is a readable alarm clock (with atomic time sync) that can play a specific song for waking (such as ‘Adrift‘ by The Cruxshadows). Added features would be weather info and a time/temperature projection onto the ceiling. The Chumby seems to do all of this (save for the projection) and have a lot more gadgets/gizmos that I may never use (Woot!, eBay, moon phases, etc). It is about $50 more than my Philips and the screen isn’t as big (3.5" vs 7").
I have added a ‘Virtual Chumby’ to my website until I can decide if I want to return the Philips and invest in a Chumby…
I was browsing around the HD channels (800s range) on my Comcast cable box and I noticed there is now a channel 874- the HD version of SciFi channel (SD at 74). Woo hoo!
It looks like everything is still SD (BeastMaster is in a 4×3 window) but it is a step in the right direction: now maybe I will get the new season of Battlestar Galactica in HD!
Ok, I have had a few days to play with my Toshiba HD A3 and I decided to put up a little review for it…
The Toshiba HD A3 is an entry level priced HD DVD player ($199 – $250) that currently includes two free movies: “The Bourne Identity” and “300”. Both of these movies are pretty good (albeit one is over 5 years old) and do justice to the HD DVD format.
Hookup is very easy if you have an HDMI port on your receiver/TV; simply plug in an HDMI cable and the video and audio is carried across the single cable to the destination- done. The power cord is a (thankfully) a removable ‘8’ plug (with one side flat) as found on the PS2, ReplayTV and other such electronic devices. There is an RJ-45 plug for Ethernet connectivity (recommended). The rear of the unit also has component and composite video along side L/R audio and an optical SPDIF connector.
The HD A3 will only output 1080i for HD DVD movies (or upsampled DVDs over HDMI) but this works well with my Philips 42″ plasma TV as it only supports 720p/1080i. From what I read in the owners manual 480i/480p is the only signal that will be sent across the component cable from copy-protected media; this means that standard DVDs can do no better than 480p across this path. I believe that 1080i is still available across component as they have not activated the HDCP copy protection flag for HD DVD movies (why bother, AACS has been cracked each time it is update)- but don’t quote me on this as I have not tested this!
Once the system is powered on it takes about a minute to respond to the ‘eject disk’ button. Once a disk is inserted it takes another 30 seconds or so to recognize and bring up the menu. Now here are some basic complaints:
Once I set the IP address of the unit I had it do a firmware update check- one was available and it started the update; and then rebooted and went through the ‘welcome’ cycle again.
For the discs there can be a TON of features in the HD DVD menus- Transformers for example has downloads, movie annotations and director commentary overlays- all of which are very interesting for a 2nd movie watch. There are also lots of behind the scenes thrown in that show how it looked from the actors point-of-view.
The HD DVD picture is much better than standard def TV- but I personally cannot tell the difference between 720p/1080i/480p upsampled to 1080i (even with my glasses on). I guess I have been spoiled by 720p downloads of most movies that appear almost identical in quality- so I am not overwhelmed by the video.
Overall this is a very good HD DVD player with a decent feature set. The player will automatically do updates and connectivity has been provided for most standards (no s-video). The HD DVD standard was finalized before release so this unit should play all features for all past and future HD DVD releases (unlike the BluRay ‘standard’ as some players will not support the new 1.1 requirement as it specifies persistent storage and a 2nd decoder for PiP rendering- look for these BluRay units on closeout as the new players come out!)
One thing lacking is an RS-232 port for remote control (for automated theater setups) but I understand this is available on their next up player (the HD A30 for $499). The HD DVD library is not as vast as the DVD library as many titles are still being converted and the format wars have created exclusive titles on both sides (The Matrix, Transformers, Battlestar Galactica on HD DVD- Pirates of the Caribbean, Underworld, and Ratatouie on BluRay).
The A3 is a great introduction to the world of HD for the typical user. I see HD DVD sales starting to even out with BluRay on Amazon, so I would think that both formats will be around for at least a few years (until the next 2160i format comes along).
Side Note: I do not see the point of making some of the titles HD format; why would anyone want a HD copy of ‘Blazing Saddles’ or “A Christmas Story”- these were filmed so long ago on such old technology that I doubt I would see any improvement in video quality. Given the choice of $30 for a HD copy or $5-$10 for a standard DVD copy I cannot see anyone going the former route (unless -like a fool- they like to be parted with their money)
Ok, I have had a few days to play with my Toshiba HD A3 and I decided to put up a little review for it…
The Toshiba HD A3 is an entry level priced HD DVD player ($199 – $250) that currently includes two free movies: “The Bourne Identity” and “300”. Both of these movies are pretty good (albeit one is over 5 years old) and do justice to the HD DVD format.
Hookup is very easy if you have an HDMI port on your receiver/TV; simply plug in an HDMI cable and the video and audio is carried across the single cable to the destination- done. The power cord is a (thankfully) a removable ‘8’ plug (with one side flat) as found on the PS2, ReplayTV and other such electronic devices. There is an RJ-45 plug for Ethernet connectivity (recommended). The rear of the unit also has component and composite video along side L/R audio and an optical SPDIF connector.
The HD A3 will only output 1080i for HD DVD movies (or upsampled DVDs over HDMI) but this works well with my Philips 42″ plasma TV as it only supports 720p/1080i. From what I read in the owners manual 480i/480p is the only signal that will be sent across the component cable from copy-protected media; this means that standard DVDs can do no better than 480p across this path. I believe that 1080i is still available across component as they have not activated the HDCP copy protection flag for HD DVD movies (why bother, AACS has been cracked each time it is update)- but don’t quote me on this as I have not tested this!
Once the system is powered on it takes about a minute to respond to the ‘eject disk’ button. Once a disk is inserted it takes another 30 seconds or so to recognize and bring up the menu. Now here are some basic complaints:
Once I set the IP address of the unit I had it do a firmware update check- one was available and it started the update; and then rebooted and went through the ‘welcome’ cycle again.
For the discs there can be a TON of features in the HD DVD menus- Transformers for example has downloads, movie annotations and director commentary overlays- all of which are very interesting for a 2nd movie watch. There are also lots of behind the scenes thrown in that show how it looked from the actors point-of-view.
The HD DVD picture is much better than standard def TV- but I personally cannot tell the difference between 720p/1080i/480p upsampled to 1080i (even with my glasses on). I guess I have been spoiled by 720p downloads of most movies that appear almost identical in quality- so I am not overwhelmed by the video.
Overall this is a very good HD DVD player with a decent feature set. The player will automatically do updates and connectivity has been provided for most standards (no S-video). The HD DVD standard was finalized before release so this unit should play all features for all past and future HD DVD releases (unlike the BluRay ‘standard’ as some players will not support the new 1.1 requirement as it specifies persistent storage and a 2nd decoder for PiP rendering- look for these BluRay units on closeout as the new players come out!)
One thing lacking is an RS-232 port for remote control (for automated theater setups) but I understand this is available on their next up player (the HD A30 for $499). The HD DVD library is not as vast as the DVD library as many titles are still being converted and the format wars have created exclusive titles on both sides (The Matrix, Transformers, Battlestar Galactica on HD DVD- Pirates of the Caribbean, Underworld, and Ratatouille on BluRay).
The A3 is a great introduction to the world of HD for the typical user. I see HD DVD sales starting to even out with BluRay on Amazon, so I would think that both formats will be around for at least a few years (until the next 2160i format comes along).
Side Note: I do not see the point of making some of the titles HD format; why would anyone want a HD copy of ‘Blazing Saddles’ or “A Christmas Story”- these were filmed so long ago on such old technology that I doubt I would see any improvement in video quality. Given the choice of $30 for a HD copy or $5-$10 for a standard DVD copy I cannot see anyone going the former route (unless -like a fool- they like to be parted with their money)
Merry Christmas all; and Happy Holidays to those that do not officially celebrate Christmas! :o)
I got some awesome gifts from my roommates; they did get me the Toshiba HD A3 HD DVD Player- along with a Canon Monopod, a Frank Zappa CD and many ‘stocking stuffers’ (such as Office Space box of flair, a Simpsons’ Pizza Cuter, ‘Flippin Sweet’ lip balm, pop rocks, incense and many other such items).
The roommates seemed to like their gifts as well; I think I did pretty good at picking them out (I actually have one more gift to get- but the roommates surprised me and we opened gifts on the eve of Christmas Eve as Diana was not going to be around on Christmas day!)
For myself I also bought a Canon 40D and it is fracking awesome! I got a new camera bag and I kept my EF24-110 IS lens as my walk-about lens. I also kept my EF75-200 lens, but I will probably replace it with an IS version sometime before Dragon*Con.
I also picked up a Sony Reader (the PRS-500) as the new model is out and the old units are at closeout prices ($200 for the reader, $16 for the charging stand- down from $300 and $50, respectively). There was even the demo model on sale for $150 (with a charging stand!) but it looked kind of funky with the screen refresh…
The PRS-500 is pretty cool and fairly readable in bright light but it absolutely sucks with PDF Files! It renders the PDF exactly the same as it would on a computer screen- but the screen is a 4 color grayscale 600×800 6" screen (with no options for zoom!) I will probably return it as it really sucks for reading PDF files- maybe I will get an Asus Eee PC when they go in stock at BestBuy…
The included Sony software is Ok- after updates- but still lacks support for LIT and other type files. I found LIBPRS500 which acts as a decent Sony software replacement- it it crashes a lot during eBook conversion (on both Vista and OS X 10.5!)…
One thing that stuck we as odd during the last few days of xMas shopping were some places (namely MicroCenter) had gift suggestions with Mail in rebates (MIR)… So if I give a gift to someone I either have to rip off the UPC tag before I send it (and look like I bought a returned/closeout item) or tell them to hold onto the box when they open their gift (and look like a cheap-ass as I need the box for a rebate)- WTF were they thinking with having MIR with xMas gifts