avs

The bottom line: A new name heralds some big changes for Trend Micro's Titanium suites. The overhaul to Titanium Internet Security 2011 brings users a faster suite with a smaller system impact. However, Trend Micro's new security engine is too untested to be able to recommend it.

Review: Trend Micro's updates for 2011 bring a substantially overhauled suite, from the name down to its detection engine. The new version brings a new interface, new cloud-based detection engine, and new features that, on whole, are changes as impressive as those that Norton has gone through the past few … Read more

The bottom line: A new name heralds some big changes for Trend Micro's Titanium suites. The overhaul to Maximum Security 2011 brings users a faster suite with a smaller system impact. There's a lot of extras to like here, too, but that's not enough to sell security on.

Review: Trend Micro's updates for 2011 bring a substantially overhauled suite, from the name down to its detection engine. Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security 2011 is the new name for Trend Micro Internet Security Pro, and along with the new nom de guerre comes a new interface, new … Read more

In recent years, Yamaha's AV receivers have disappointed us, with fewer features than competitors and some confusing design choices. The Yamaha RX-V667 is a return to form for the company.

There can be no complaints about HDMI connectivity, with the RX-V667 packing six ports, including a front-panel input. The Yamaha also comes packed with all kinds of niche audio connectivity features that others have left out, including pre-outs and 7.1 analog audio inputs.

We were also really impressed with the new graphical user interface, which has leapfrogged the competition and is the best we've seen so far. … Read more

For some home theater enthusiasts, AV receivers have lost their way. What used to be a relatively simple device with a focus on sound quality is now the complicated hub of your home theater, handling audio, video, and sometimes even online streaming services.

Among such multifaceted receivers, however, the Denon AVR-1911 is something of a throwback. Its connectivity is modern, but sparse, with four HDMI 1.4 inputs where others offer six. There's also only a single-component video input and two digital audio inputs. The Denon has an onscreen display, but it uses blocky, white text, compared with the … Read more

When Sony announced its 2010 line of AV receivers in February, the STR-DN1010 was the first AV receiver announced with 3D pass-through capability, and it was a step-up feature over Sony's STR-DH810. Since then, however, 3D compatibility has become commonplace, trickling down to receivers as inexpensive as Denon's $250 AVR-391 and Pioneer's $230 VSX-520-K.

That largely tells the story of Sony's midrange AV receiver, which is certainly an improvement over last year's STR-DN1000, but lags in comparison with competitors, which offer more HDMI inputs, better sound quality, and easy iPod/iPhone connectivity. Even its once … Read more

After years of making network storage devices, such as the Western Digital My Book World Edition (2TB) and WD TV Live HD Media Player, Western Digital now turns to making an adapter kit that will connect them.

The giant hard-drive maker announced Tuesday its first powerline adapter kit, the WD Livewire Powerline AV Network Kit. The kit includes two identical HomePlug AV-based powerline adapters, designed to turn the existing electrical wiring of your home into network cables.

Each of these adapter has four network ports; WD says these ports allow you to connect up to seven devices and one router … Read more

Pioneer ran away with our Editors' Choice in the AV receiver category in 2009, with the VSX-1019AH-K delivering an unmatched combination of performance and features in its price class. Pioneer hasn't slowed down with the new 2010 model, the VSX-1020-K, upping the HDMI connectivity to six inputs while keeping the same excellent sound quality we loved on last year's model.

Our main knock is that the VSX-1020-K lacks some of the newest HDMI features available on competing receivers, such as audio return channel and standby pass-through. We're also not thrilled it's the only receiver at this … Read more

New models of AV receivers always roll out later in the year and we're in the midst of rounding up the best midrange models of 2010. AV receivers certainly don't change as quickly as other home theater products, like HDTVs and Blu-ray players, but every year there are few new features that are important to be aware of when making a buying decision. Here's a quick look at some of the changes to look out for this year in the midrange price level.

3D pass-through Even though it's a completely new feature for 2010, 3D compatibility … Read more

Yamaha has announced a new line of AV receivers, Aventage, designed to put a greater focus on performance, with Yamaha claiming that the new models have been redesigned from the ground up. For those of you counting, Aventage is now the fourth separate line of Yamaha AV receivers, in addition to the existing RX-V, HTR, and NeoHD lines. Aventage consists of five new models--RX-A700 ($650 list), RX-A800 ($800), RX-A1000 ($1,100), RX-A2000 ($1,500), and the RX-A3000 ($1,900)--which will be released throughout August and September.

In terms of features, the low-end RX-A700 doesn't offer much that's … Read more