As a recent [quasi-]immigrant to the UK I’ve enjoyed learning the differences between American and British culture. Sometimes these gaps are obvious, making it possible to clearly discern where American expectations are inconsistent with the norms of this society and other times more subtle where our shared language doesn’t equate to a shared lexicon (e.g. pants vs. trousers). In most […]
Read moreControl 4 recently went public, and I’m sure this deal can only help their stock price. While it’s a bit odd, given the cost of a Control 4 system, and that Dish is the low cost satellite solution, it’s a good way for them to get their name across and possibly gain future customers. DISH and Control4 have teamed up […]
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Confession time: I’m a sucker for CEDIA PR. The amazing electronics, beautiful speakers, and slick home automation systems are tantalizing but honestly, usually intended for a difference audience. Something is different this year though, because here I am posting two CEDIA announcements in as many days. This time we have an announcement from Cambridge Audio highlighting a new line of […]
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It might seem a little strange at first that the backend of this Integra AVR has two RJ-45 plugs, but it isn’t. What we’re seeing here is one of the first retail AVR with HDBaseT built in – very slick! The technology is [unfortunately] still relegated mostly to the high-end CI market, but it’s great to see this, and an […]
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Fractal Design has made themselves a reputation for quality and attractive chassis that can serve as capable as a gaming system just as it would in your living room as your home theater PC (HTPC). With the Node 304 White enclosure, Fractal Design is offering a small form factor chassis with a lot of storage flexibility and still the ability […]
Read moreI consider the audio video receiver (AVR) to be a critical home theater component, but aside from a basic understanding of what’s inside my knowledge of what is actually in the black box in the stack is pretty limited. That’s not to say I’m not curious, just a little leary of cracking open a very expensive component just to have […]
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If you saw the recent Intel Haswell NUC D54250WYK announcment and thought “hey, that would make a pretty slick HTPC” – go ahead and sit down. Not only does it have all the good stuff like IR, SATA, USB 3.0, etc. that we mentioned before. It also has the HTPC_HEADER on board. Unfortunately, there isn’t space in the stock chassis […]
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If you’ve been following the Chromecast, Google’s latest foray into TV Land, there appears to be quite divergent opinions on how useful it is for consumers. What I haven’t seen before, is a discussion on how the existing STB/pay-TV provider views the device. I’m not sure if I agree with the conclusions, but I won’t spoil it. No matter where […]
Read moreIf you have an HTPC, many of you may have experienced a problem with no picture or sound with your Home Theater setup connected through an HDMI cable at one time or another. This article is to cover some of the nuances that can come with them along with possible solutions as well as open up a discussion for better […]
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Six is a good number – even better when it is equated to the number of tuners in your current HTPC. Obviously it is possible to get by with less, but after considering EPG overlaps, a couple children and the spouse – what was an impossible luxury not that long ago quickly becomes a celebrated necessity. With ClearQAM disappearing and […]
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