Jim Bray: Technofile

Is that bargain priced flat panel TV on sale in your local electronics store a good idea for consumers looking for a new TV to keep for the long haul?

NoiseBusters Headphones for our Cacophonous Times
by Jim Bray, TechnoFile Magazine
Monday, April 3, 2006

Noise, noise, noise. It's everywhere, from the fan on the computer let lets you read this digital scribbling of mine to the general hubbub of life that surrounds us every day. This cacophony can even extend to our most private spaces, from the noise of the dishwasher in the kitchen to the snoring of a spouse in bed at night.

Have you ever wanted to look up something in an owner's manual, only to discover that the booklet you'd put away in a safe place seems to have crawled off somewhere to die?

Audiophile power amplifiers have traditionally been big, hulking beasts, at least comparatively speaking - heavy and generally ugly components whose primary function is taking audio signals from the preamplifier and injecting a healthy dose of steroids into them before passing them on to your speakers.

In this age of iPods and MP3 players, the old fashioned boom box may have its life flashing before its eyes.

After all, why have a great big portable stereo when you can carry all your tunes in your pocket or purse?

Youve probably seen those little manhole cover-like robot vacuum cleaners advertised. They promise to end the drudgery of pushing or pulling a vacuum around your home by zipping around Chez Vous and doing it for you.

If youre looking for a home theatre thats state-of-the-art enough for most people who arent particularly anal about such things, something which offers decent quality and wont break the bank, Panasonic has a couple ideas that could serve you well.

It's beginning to rain music - and talk, and sports all across Canada. But it'll cost you to partake!

This information precipitation is promising to bring Canadian broadcasters some much-needed competition, while offering Canadian consumers more choice.

Navigation systems are popular options on cars these days, and they really can help the navigationally-challenged driver find his or her way from point "A" to point "B".

Computer games continue to evolve and to offer hours of excitement for those who want to live other lives vicariously.

Ive been playing with three of the newest releases, and though I dont have enough time (or, alas, skill!) to do them justice, Ive certainly had a lot of fun living in the old West, on the battlefields of World War II, and building my own empire while dumping on others. The games, Gun, Call of Duty 2 and Age of Empires III respectively, come from Activision and Microsoft and are definitely diverting.

Weve been talking about "convergence" for years now, the coming together of video, audio and computer technology that continues to revolutionize our homes and our lives.

Adobes industrial strength, "janitor in a drum" creativity suite is back in a second incarnation that builds upon the original bundle of applications and ups the ante.

If youve been looking for a digital camera that offers more than "Instamatic-type" point and shoot performance, you may want to check out their Lumix DMC-FZ5.

Heck, its a good choice even if you want point and shoot convenience, but higher quality and more flexibility than the garden variety digital camera.

Looking for a 5.1 speaker system thats affordable and offers good performance whether youre listening to home theatre or straight audio? You could do much worse than Paradigms Cinema CT series.

In one fell swoop, Bell ExpressVu has answered most of the prayers of satellite TV customers wanting the best in high definition service.

The companys new model 9200 HD PVR Plus is not only a terrific satellite receiver, its also a fully featured PVR (personal video recorder) that brings VCR convenience and more to the set top box.

You have to take your hat off to Panasonic. Not only have they been traditionally at or near the leading edge of electronics technology, but theyve also blazed trails into such seemingly silly-sounding product lines as automatic bread makers and massage chairs.

And now you see massage chairs and bread makers from a variety of manufacturers and at many price points.

How do you create a corporate identity if you arent an ad agency or professional graphics designer?

Well, if you own or buy the CorelDRAW suite, you can add its Design Collection, a bunch of templates the "graphically challenged or naive" can use to give their business a fresh new look.

Okay, so its basically a glorified clock radio. But that doesnt mean Boston Acoustics MicroSystem CD cant offer surprisingly good sound and, in fact, it does.

Cell phone technology continues to advance, meaning consumers are being offered more features for less money and in smaller packages than ever before.

Part of this is the continual march of technology, while another part is "the Gillette syndrome," by which the hardware is offered affordably so that the software (in this case, airtime and other features) can be sold on a month-to-month basis, thus ensuring long term profits for the service providers.

Voice over IP is starting to make some headway in the marketplace, thanks to companies like Vonage. Voice over IP telephones take the long distance out of long distance phoning by using the Internet instead of conventional phone lines, because in cyberspace where you are physically doesnt matter, and this makes every call a local call regardless of who or where youre calling.

Burning your own DVDs is becoming increasingly popular now that DVD burners have become affordable. Theres an abundance of software packages on the market that can help you in the process of creation, and one of the easiest Ive tried is the unfortunately named Tsunami MPEG DVD Author.

You may have seen those USB key-like "hard drives" that are becoming so popular. They really are a terrific way to pack your files around with you. But they arent honest to goodness hard disk drives and, from what Ive heard, such USB drives have a finite--though still large--number of uses.

More...

Panasonic DMR-E75H, New Video Tech Meets Old Video Tech
Saturday, January 29, 2005
Ready to leap into DVD, but don't want to lose all your old VHS tapes?

Well, friends, Panasonic has the solution for you in its DMR-E75H combo unit, which is a full function VHS VCR and a DVD burner/PVR in one. It offers you perhaps not the absolute best of both worlds, but a marvelous combo that's flexible and works very well.
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Skylink Security Products Empower Home Owners
Friday, January 14, 2005
Youd almost think that with all of the two way home and business security companies advertising you hear these days that thered be no room for smaller, more personal home protection systems.

But of course youd be wrong.
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Rotel Amplifier a Real Power Player
Friday, December 10, 2004
In my last column I looked at Rotels fantastic RSP-1098 home theatre preamplifier/surround sound processor. This is a true piece of audiophile equipment thats also equally at home in a video-heavy installation.
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Rotel RSP-1098 -- Home Theatre To Die For
Friday, December 3, 2004
Wow! Thats about all I can say about Rotels RSP-1098, the award-winning preamplifier/surround sound processor that recently took up residence in my reference home theatre. Its not only a home theatre tour de force, its a reviewers and an audiophiles dream.
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