It’s hard to argue with the installation simplicity of a soundbar and wireless surrounds, especially in a rented or older house where pulling wires can be a chore. I ended up with a pricey Yamaha sound projector a few years ago because there weren’t really any good alternatives that supported HDMI and real surround sound, so it’s nice to see […]
Read moreIf you’ve ever wondered how to approach matching up a set of speakers with an amp (or AVR), but didn’t know where to start Home Theater Review has a great primer available. But first, a caveat: this article is intended as a quick primer for beginners. As such, it contains a number of simplifications, many of them bordering on grossness. […]
Read moreIt looks like MSI is bringing out a line of “green” motherboards which allow you to disable features/components that aren’t being used to save power. Frankly, I think this is an amazing idea as long as it can be done without compromising the stability of the system. My only complaint is that it appears that only mATX boards will be […]
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With the D-Link DAP-1650 now available there’s another option for those looking to extend or bridge your 802.11AC home network. Best part is that it’s only $89.99 for the multi-function device with four Gigabit Ethernet ports and up to 867Mbps (5GHz) and 300Mbps (2.4GHz). Full PR after the click. D-Link Now Shipping 11AC Dual Band Range Extender Range Extender Works […]
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A small home theater PC (HTPC) driven by an Intel Atom is not a new idea. Both NVIDIA’s ION and Broadcom’s Crystal HD offered solutions that coupled the chip’s TDP with specialized hardware that overcame its shortcomings–one with a complete GPU, the other providing just hardware accelerated video decoding. Neither of these products truly delivered on the concept of a […]
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Even in a mid-sized home, it is quite common to end up with a few “dead spots” where the main Wi-Fi router just does not provide enough signal to make the network work smoothly. Until recently–if your network is based on 802.11AC–the only way to address this, and take advantage of AC’s performance was by adding another full-on router acting […]
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Last year CyberLink added the option to subscribe to PowerDVD alongside their cloud service, and that continues to be available this year with PowerDVD 14. The $44.99 per year (or $14.99 per quarter) alongside the standard purchase options of Ultra ($99.95), Pro ($79.95) and Standard ($49.95). If you opt for the subscription or Ultra 10GB of CyberLink Cloud storage is […]
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As wireless networking has gotten faster and become more reliable, I’ve found myself relying on having a quality signal in more places around the house. As good as my router is, there are a few places where, while there is signal, it’s not quite as fast as I would like it to be. I saw a few new products at […]
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Projectors used to be strictly for those with expensive setups, but now it’s quite feasible to get a decent 1080p system without breaking the bank. Everything requires some compromise, so obviously you won’t get the same performance from a sub-$1000 device as something that cost 5x as much, but if you have the space it’s hard to argue with 100″. […]
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There is no substitute for discrete speakers, but sometimes compromised is required when provisioning the home theater. Soundbars are a good option when you can’t put a speaker where you want – anything is better than TV speakers. I’m a little disappointed that even though the ASB-2 has HDMI it doesn’t support HBR audio decoding, but that’s a small tradeoff […]
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