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Archive for the ‘Home Theater’ Category

The All-In-One Remote

Wednesday, August 6th, 2008

Let’s just say that I like to keep things neat and organized!  I admit, I had surrendered this priority when it came to the four remote controls on the TV console.  After all, everyone was doing it and I did not think that I had any options … until the all-in-one universal remote.

I purchased the Harmony Advanced Universal Remote as a gift for my husband.  After connecting it to my computer and filling in some information from the back of my devices — ta da!  I was in business!

 

I can use the one remote for my DVD player, TV, VCR (yes, I still own one of these) and my cable box.  When I push the “watch TV” button, both my TV and cable box turn on.  The four remotes are now neatly packed away out of view, and life is a little less messy!

Posted in Cyber Sisterhood, Design, Home Theater | 2 Comments »

Microsoft & Netflix Agreement Coming

Monday, July 14th, 2008

A while back, I had mentioned how excited I was about how the vmcNetflix add-in brought Netflix’s Watch Instantly feature to my Xbox 360. Now, Microsoft is making it official over at E3. Several folks like Todd Bishop,  Dean Takahashi and John Biggs have confirmed an agreement between the two companies coming later this Fall.

Beyond that, looks like Live Groups will make it even more compelling. Good stuff… a few things on my wishlist: better video quality, faster performance from the Xbox 360 interface, and a bigger portion of the Netflix library to choose from.

This new development could present a solid challenge to the Apple TV. Come on Netflix and Microsoft… I bet you can do it.

Posted in Connectivity, HDTV, Home Theater, Video | 2 Comments »

Alternative to Roku for Streaming Netflix

Wednesday, June 25th, 2008

Netflix I love Netflix, and I’m a big fan of their Watch Instantly feature. Like lots of folks have pointed out, there are some limitations to that functionality: it requires Internet Explorer which means you have to sit in front of a computer or laptop to watch streamed movies. That’s why there was lots of buzz since Roku and Netflix announced a set top box for $99 that lets you watch these streamed movies.

Thanks to Lifehacker’s Adam Pash for an excellent post about how you can use a Media Center PC, the vmcNetflix add-in and an Xbox 360 as an extender for watching streamed movies in your living room. Adam also includes a YouTube video from Mike K. (you rock IMHO) at hackingnetflix.com where you can see it in action. Lifehacker also shows everything you need and a step-by-step process for setting it up.

I know what I’m doing when I get home.

Posted in Connectivity, Home Theater, Tips | 1 Comment »

The Vista Media Center PC – This Isn’t Your Father’s DVR

Friday, June 20th, 2008

I, like everyone else, want what I want.  I sit in an office, stare at a computer all day and type my fingers to the bone.  When I get home, like you, I want my TV and I want it on my terms.  Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you know how great a digital video recorder (DVR) is.  They give you the freedom to watch a show while recording another, they provide an onscreen TV guide and best of all allow you to skip commercials.  Now, what if I told you, you may already have the best DVR available in your home right now, and it doesn’t require any fees.  A Vista Media Center PC is just that, and is hands down the best TV viewing experience I have ever encountered.

Microsoft hasn’t exactly just introduced this.  For years they have built this capability into Windows to organize your music, photos and videos.  The Media Center program was written specifically to view these items on your TV.  This is commonly called the “10 Foot Interface.”  With all due respect to your grandmother’s scrapbooking efforts, nothing compares to seeing your home photos and movies elegantly organized and in high definition with your own custom audio.  All of this available, with the press of a button on your remote control.

The Vista Media Center program seamlessly records the TV shows you choose from the onscreen guide.  You can opt to record more than one show at the same time, simply by installing an additional TV tuner.  Many tuners don’t require the PC to be opened, and can even record free, over the air (OTA) high definition shows as well.  Like a traditional DVR, you can watch one show while recording another.  If you don’t want a PC in the living room, a Microsoft XBOX 360 will work just as well.  The XBOX connects to your TV, which in turns connects to your PC in another room (wired or wirelessly). 

The free onscreen guide is built into Media Center

With my beefy hard drive I can record as little or much as I like.  My measly (by today’s standards) 200 Gig hard drive has over 40 hours of HDTV.  Odds are, I’ll delete much of it, but the shows look great.   Browsing and selecting a TV show could not be easier.  A large visual thumbnail of each show scrolls across the TV with a description and the time it was recorded.  Even my three year old can successfully navigate the simplistic menu to drill into the very exact “Thomas and His Friends” that he absolutely has to watch.
 

Selecting a recorded TV show is simple and elegant

In another post, I’ll describe how you can edit the TV show you recorded, and splice it into a home movie.   Also, I’ll go into how you can rip your DVD collection and integrate it into the experience.

The fact of the matter is, I have a three year old.  So I don’t have lazy Sunday evenings to sit and watch reruns of “American Dad.”  However, at least it is still pretty darn easy to watch TV on my own terms.

Posted in Desktops, Film, Gaming, HDTV, Home Theater, Laptops, Operating Systems | 4 Comments »

New Options for Home Theater

Thursday, June 12th, 2008

When people start building their home theater experience, bigger is usually better but of course, bigger is usually a lot more expensive. Getting a monitor larger than 32” to 37” diagonally runs the price well over $1,000. But there are alternatives to the bigger monitor that are well worth considering when putting together your home theater experience.

Digital projectors are getting smaller and more affordable and this week, Dell is releasing the M409WX. Priced from $999, it has a small footprint while offering true widescreen perspective with a high enough resolution to support high-definition images.

So what are the pros and cons of using a projector as the center of your home theater system?

The first big advantage to using a projector is obviously size. In most houses, a projector the size of the M409WX is plenty powerful to project as large an image as space allows. I watched this year’s Final Four with my prototype at about eight-feet wide in the living room connected to my high-definition cable box and the results were spectacular!

Another advantage is the flexibility to project any video mode. While the M409WX’s specs show a maximum resolution of 1280 x 800, that’s when connected to a computer. Connected to other video sources, it goes to 1600 x 1200 which easily accommodates 1080p high definition video. The projector has HDMI inputs as well as VGA, S-Video and composite.

Finally, the atmosphere you create is another reason why projectors work for home theater. A darkened room with projected images from behind actually helps re-create the ambience of a movie theater. For those who have designed viewing rooms to enhance this atmosphere, a projector really fits the whole scheme.
 
On the negative side, the biggest concern is naturally the life expectancy of the projector lamp. The M409WX is expected to last 3,000 hours but you can extend this to 5,000 hours by running the projector in Eco mode. Eco mode trades brightness for extended bulb life and lower energy use — and in most households, is still bright enough to enjoy your favorite DVDs or sports programs.
 
Some projector types can create problems with color accuracy and contrast. Dell projectors use DLP (Digital Light Processing) technology that tends to have some of the best color accuracy in video, but sometimes there can still be barely discernible differences between projected video and a monitor display. 
 
Space can also be a consideration since cabling to the projector and the heat it generates definitely affect your home theater layout. But there are a number of creative solutions for those issues, depending on your room. The M409WX can be configured for front or rear projection and also for inverted mounting on a ceiling. So most of the architectural problems can be overcome with a little ingenuity.
 
There is a fairly thorough article on using projectors for home theater at About.com and it is obvious from the way projectors are being marketed on home theater enthusiast Web sites that they aren’t just for the corporate conference room any more.

Posted in HDTV, Home Theater | 2 Comments »


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