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Other Source Component Reviews
Sony DVP-NS9100ES DVD/SACD Player
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jun 15, 2006
Your DVD collection flies first class.

Why pay $1,300 for a DVD player when you can get one for $100? You might as well ask, why fly first class when you can fly coach? Membership in the club of videophiles has its privileges. There will always be people who can afford to pay extra for tangible benefits, like top picture and sound quality, and intangible ones, like pride of ownership.

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Ears On
Bose Cuts the Noise
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jun 15, 2006
Bose product demos always come with a dash of entertainment. At last week's New York press demo for the QuietComfort 3 headphones, hapless reporters entered the room to find a mannequin wearing a pair of large Bose headphones, only to see the earpieces whipped off to reveal the newer, smaller model. The QuietComfort 3 is the third generation of Bose noise-canceling headphones. They cover the ear without enclosing it. They're the first noise-canceling headphones to use a rechargable battery, a 20-hour lithium ion type, and the charger is a cute earcup-shaped object with flip-down prongs that plug into the wall without a cable. A $39 accessory cable allows users to switch between cell phone and music. Check bose.com to see if your phone is compatible. The demo in New York actually used a Nokia cell phone with MP3 files at 192kbps. The headphones were accurate enough to reveal smeary compression artifacts—no surprise to me, since I already use the original QuietComfort 1, as well as the non-NC TriPort, and thought highly enough of the former to have the earpads renovated when they wore out. If you want full-sized cans, the QuietComfort 2 remains in the line for $299, but the new QuietComfort 3 sells for $349 and is available from the Bose site as of today.
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Fred Manteghian Blog
Tormenting the Plasma
Fred Manteghian  |  Jun 14, 2006

The Plasma Display Coalition (PDC), a consortium of well known plasma manufacturers, is high on life. According to Coalition’s President Jim Palumbo, 2006 will see over three million plasma sets sold to consumers. So why are coalition members Hitachi Home Electronics, LG Electronics USA, Panasonic Corporation of America, Pioneer Electronics (USA) and Samsung Electronics USA going on the defensive? That’s easy, just ask any of the ill-trained sales employees at the big consumer electronic chains to tell you the difference between plasma and LCD panels, and they’ll blurt out urban legend like it’s going on sale.

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Audio Video News
A TV for All Seasons
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Jun 14, 2006
Since the days when near-humans first descended from the trees (substitute your own particular theory of creation/evolution/intelligent design here), mankind has faced one overwhelming problem: how do you watch TV outside?
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Ears On
MusicGremlin Does No-PC Downloads
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jun 14, 2006
Today MusicGremlin started selling the first player to download without a PC and The Wall Street Journal has got hold of it. (We all can't be Walter Mossberg and Katherine Boehret.) The Gremlin downloads via wi-fi for 99 cents per song. You can also use a PC but it must be a Windows PC. For music sharing, it can even beam music from player to player, as long as both parties subscribe to MusicGremlin Direct for $14.99/month. The WSJ does describe a few DRM limitations: "you can't share certain kinds of songs, including legally obtained MP3 files that you transfer to the Gremlin from your computer." Also, while the player downloads from T-Mobile hotpots, it can't do some forms of PC-enabled wi-fi-ing. The player has a two-inch LCD, 8GB capacity, and sells for $299 from musicgremlin.com.
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Sony KDS-R70XBR2 RPTV: Short Take
 |  Jun 14, 2006

<UL CLASS="square">
<LI>Price: $7800</LI>
<LI>Technology: Three-chip SXRD</LI>
<LI>Resolution: 1920x1080 native</LI>
<LI>Size: 70"</LI>
<LI>Inputs: N/A</LI>
<LI>Feature Highlights: Three HDMI inputs including a front panel input, CableCARD HD tuner, Cinema Black Pro dynamic iris, WEGA Engine video processing, detachable side speakers</LI>
</UL>

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Audio Video News
Online DVD Rentals are Patently Absurd
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Jun 13, 2006
Oh, why can't we just have digital movie downloads and forget this whole packaged media era?
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Geoffrey Morrison Blog
Sony's New Sets
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Jun 13, 2006
Just a quick update today, as this is the only day this week I’m in the office. Here’s some hi-rez images of the new TVs Sony announced at the show .
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A/V Veteran
It's a Wrap
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jun 13, 2006

The gear has been packed back up and the rooms cleared. The demo material has been tossed into suitcases, destined to end up in an obscure corner of each exhibitor's factory, the place where overplayed and now unloved recordings go to die. And copious notes have been made on what worked and what needs to be improved.

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Ears On
Pioneer Delays Blu-ray Player
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jun 13, 2006
The Pioneer Blu-ray player won't be arriving in June after all. In fact, it won't be out till autumn, according to a vague report in Reuters. Blu-ray's official software launch had already been delayed from May 23 to June 20 to coordinate with a delay in the launch of Samsung's player. If Samsung comes up with the goods on time, that probably won't change again. Pioneer's Blu-ray internal hard drive made its debut more or less on time last month, so presumably the player hitch is software—DRM?—as opposed to hardware related.
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