Reviews

In the last 5 - 10 years wireless has vastly changed how we connect devices to the internet in our homes. Every smartphone, laptop, tablet, media streamer, gaming console has the ability to connect to your network through your wireless access point. Along with the ability to no longer having to run an Ethernet cord everywhere you needed network connectivity, there were short comes. As almost everyone can attest to wireless is not 100% perfect, there is always a corner of your home, or an area in your back yard that your wireless can not reach.

That is where wireless repeaters or "range extenders" come into play, they allow you to extend your wireless coverage to distances greater than your access point at home can do on it's own. Lately the trend from many consumer network manufactures is bringing to market these range extenders. Today we were able to review one of the new 802.11N range extenders from Netgear, the Netgear Universal WiFi Range Extender WN3000RP.

The Netgear range extender as we get into later on in the review, allows users to bridge the gap between where your wireless network starts to fall apart and where you would like to use your wireless devices but can not.

For those holding on to an aging HDTV or projector which lacks HDMI support, there are few options in a world where component (YPbPr) output is slowly being stripped away.  In fact, until recently there were only two, the HDFURY II and HDFURY III; but with the lower model starting at $180, neither is a perfect option for the thrifty.  Fortunately, there is now another solution provided by a company best known for their high quality HDMI cables; the MonoPrice HDMI to Component & R/L Stereo Audio Converter (MYCH01 / Product ID: 8125).  With an asking price of $39.92, it is natural to expect some compromise; after all we often get what we pay for.

From a recent poll regarding external storage, it is clear that a significant number of respondents are making use of external storage options using interfaces such as USB and eSATA. One of the drawbacks of USB 2.0 is its lack of speed, while eSATA is not nearly as pervasive as USB. With USB 3.0 found in more motherboards, chassis (Fractal Design Define Mini, SilverStone TJ08-E), and expansion cards (SilverStone EC01), it seems like a perfect time to take a look at SilverStone’s new USB 3.0 3.5” external drive enclosure, the TS07.

Some of our recent enclosure reviews (SilverStone TJ08-E, Fractal Design Define Mini) have featured external USB 3.0 ports requiring a connection to a 19-pin header required by the USB 3.0 specification which poses a problem for most motherboards to date. While SilverStone was kind enough to provide an internal USB 3.0 to USB 2.0 adapter with the TJ08-E, it would be ideal to take advantage of the USB 3.0 capability. Enter SilverStone’s EC01 PCI Express card providing a 19-pin internal connector capable of supporting two USB 3.0 ports.

Over the past year we’ve reviewed a number of different wireless products that help enhance unique home theater environments, such as wireless HDMI streamers and Bluetooth speakers. For my living situation, the need to extend USB over a wireless network became relevant, and as such, I obtained the GUWIP204 4-Port Wireless USB Sharing Station from IOGEAR to achieve this objective. Things were not perfect however, as we attempted to use this product unconventionally.

SPECIFICATIONS

Before we begin and cover our experience with the GUWIP204 we should take a look at the specifications and its limitations according to IOGEAR. According to the product’s webpage:

IOGEAR's Wireless 4-Port USB Sharing Station enables any USB external hard drive, USB flash drive, USB memory card reader, USB webcam, USB speaker, or USB multi-function printer (MFP) to be shared over a Wi-Fi network among different users. It offers the flexibility to place your USB devices anywhere in the home or office as long as there is Wi-Fi coverage. You are no longer constrained by the 16’ distance limitation from your USB devices to your computers.

The IOGEAR GKM571R is a palm-sized mini wireless 2.4 GHz wireless LED backlit keyboard with built-in laser trackball, mouse buttons and built-in scroll wheel.  It uses RF technology with an advertised range of 33 feet.  IOGEAR refers to the GKM57IR as “the ideal solution for the home entertainment living room and computer enthusiast looking to compliment their PC to TV solution.”  We needed to find out for ourselves, is it the ideal solution? My first impression certainty seemed so.

When Philips first introduced their Ambilight technology for their television sets they were all the rage--fantastic concept that actually works to help minimize the strain on your eyes while watching the television, but who wants to buy a brand new set just for a cool technology. Luckily the folks at Antec have got you covered...sort of. The soundscience halo 6 LED bias lighting kit is designed for monitors up to 24” in size on your desk. So what does a website focused on home theaters do, we grabbed two of these from our friends at Antec and tested them on a 50” plasma television. Let’s see how it matches up to the real deal.

SPECIFICATIONS

How much can be said about the specifications of a row of LED lights? Not much, but let’s look anyways.

Not too long ago, we took a look at Fractal Design’s Define R3 ATX chassis and came away impressed. Today, we’re going to examine the R3’s younger sibling, the Define Mini Micro-ATX tower chassis. The Define Mini holds a lot of promise with six 2.5”/3.5” internal and two 5.25” external bays, six fan slots, support for expansion cards up to 400mm in length, USB 3.0 port, dampened side panels and cable management features all intriguingly hidden behind a black, brushed steel door.

Many of us have home theater setups in a particular room in our homes fully configured and ready to integrate with all our content and devices. But what about when you want to take that entertainment to another room, outside or even to someone else’s house? That’s where the SuperTooth Disco Bluetooth Speaker comes into play as it is a fully portable and powerful speaker setup designed to let you wirelessly send audio from a variety of devices to it. With an MSRP of $149 the Disco is positioned right where other portable audio solutions are placed but with the added benefit of being connected without power or wires to your audio player.

SPECIFICATIONS

As always let’s start with the specifications and marketing speak given to us by the manufacturer of the SuperTooth Disco Bluetooth Speaker:

Your music anywhere, anytime thanks to its record-breaking battery life and its carry case. Powerful, it is the most powerful portable Bluetooth A2DP speaker on the market at the moment.

We spend a good deal of time covering digital cable tuners (DCT) because they are popular and quite possibly the easiest way to get premium content into the home theater PC (HTPC). They do have some downsides, however. For example, if the content the DCT records is copy-protected, it can only be played back within Windows Media Center and can’t be analyzed for automated commercial skipping purposes. There is also no support for utilizing a service provider’s video on demand (VOD) offerings.

There is an answer to those two problems when using an audio-video (AV) capture solution. Today, we’ll be examining the AVerMedia AVerTV USB HD DVR which, like the Hauppauge Colossus we reviewed, is an AV capture solution that can handle both SD and HD video and can be utilized not just to work with HTPC DVR software, but also to capture any type of video for applications such as recording video gameplay, video stored on a camcorder or VHS tape, etc.

As the long-time leader in network connected digital TV tuners, when SiliconDust announced the three CableCARD tuner HDHomeRun PRIME labeling it “highly-anticipated” would be an understatement.  Offering native support for Window 7 Media Center via its gigabit Ethernet port, the PRIME is also unique in what is becoming a [welcomely] crowded market for Digital Cable Tuners (DCT) not just because of its attractive price point, but also because as a standalone network device it does not require a PC host or drivers to function with other devices or software implementing the Digital Receiver Interface (DRI) specification.    Explicit network support reaps a more obvious benefit as well--providing freedom to locate the DCT and home theater PC (HTPC) in discrete, convenient locations as well as provide a full cable lineup to chassis with limited (or no) internal PCIe expansion. 

Getting our hands on a new product is always exciting so we thought we would share it with you! We've been anxiously awaiting the Hauppauge WinTV-DCR-2650 ever since we first saw the prototype of the CableCARD product at CES. If you haven't heard by now, the WinTV-DCR-2650 is a dual-cable tuner that connects to a PC via USB--a great option for small form factors or a situation where there's no free PCIe slot available. It also happens to be the most inexpensive way to gain access to the entire subscription package from a cable provider on a PC with a retail price of $149. Enough about what it is, let's take a look at it after the break!