3600

Crave giveaway of the week with Dolby Volume: Harman AVR 3600 AV receiver

In case you missed last week's giveaway, Dolby is sponsoring the Crave Giveaway of the Week, and serving up some sweet home theater prizes. Last week we had the Harman AVR 2600 AV receiver. This week, Dolby's doing you one better with the step-up Harman AVR 3600 with Dolby Volume.

Here's what Dolby has to say about the AVR 3600: "The 7.1-channel AVR 3600 includes a direct connection for charging and playback of iPhone and iPod devices. Advanced Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD decoding complement the built-in Dolby Volume signal processing and 80 watts-per-channel audio performance." (See full specs on Harman's Web site).

Normally, the AVR 3600 would cost about $960, but you have the chance to get it gratis.

So, how do you try to win this Harman AV receiver? Let me enumerate the basic rules. Please read them carefully; there will be a test.

Register as a CNET user. Go to the top of this page and hit the "Join CNET" link to start the registration process. If you're already registered, there's no need to register again. Leave a comment below. You can leave whatever comment you want. If it's funny or insightful it won't help you win, but we're trying to have fun here, so anything entertaining is appreciated. Leave only one comment. You may enter this specific giveaway only once. If you enter more than one comment, you will be automatically disqualified. The winner will be chosen randomly. The winner will receive (1) Harman AVR 3600 AV receiver. Approximate retail value is $960. If you are chosen, you will be notified via e-mail. Winners must respond within three days of the end of the contest. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen. Entries can be submitted until Monday, June 14 at noon EDT.

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More Bluetooth headsets from Samsung

Along with the Modus 3500 and the HM1000, Samsung also showed us a whole slew of Bluetooth headsets that it hopes to release in the second quarter of 2010. They are the HM1600, the HM1500, the HM3200, the HM3600, and the WEP570.

The HM1600 is sort of like the bigger brother of the HM1000. It also has active pairing and multipoint technology, but it has a much sleeker styling than the HM1000. The HM1600 also has a narrower ear insert that promises better ear stability without the need for an ear hook. The HM1500, on the other hand, isn't … Read more

Why are the CNET user opinions on Samsung Blu-ray players so low?

If you're looking closely at the Blu-ray player reviews on CNET, there's a frustrating trend that complicates buying decisions--Samsung Blu-ray players get solid editorial reviews from CNET, but user opinions are consistently poor. While there are always differences between CNET reviews and user opinions, the differences with Samsung Blu-ray players stand out as being consistent and large.

Ratings have been standardized to a 100-point scale to make comparisons easier.

User opinions from Amazon and Newegg are also included to give some perspective. Their ratings are consistently more positive than CNET user opinions, although we're not sure why.

There are some factors inherent in CNET's review process that can explain why editorial opinion and user opinions are different, and they're worth pointing out.

CNET relies on review samples from manufacturers. CNET gets review samples directly from manufacturers rather than buying them off the shelf like a regular buyer. It's completely possible that manufacturers handpick review samples for us; if there's a problem with a certain "batch," a company can make sure we get the good batch. As much as CNET editors might like to purchase all our review samples, we don't have the budget for it.

CNET's review periods are relatively short. To review as many products as we do, we obviously can't test every product as long as a standard buyer would. If a product has quality control issues that cause it to break down after a couple of months, that's not something we're going to catch. That's why user opinions are so important.… Read more

Does a cheaper PS3 make standalone Blu-ray players overpriced again?

For most of Blu-ray's existence, the PlayStation 3 has easily been the best value in home theater. Only recently have we reviewed Blu-ray players that come close to matching its performance, speed, and functionality, while costing about the same amount.

The $300 PS3 Slim changes the marketplace considerably. Standalone Blu-ray players that offer similar performance to the PS3, like the LG BD390 and Samsung BD-P3600, used to offer some savings over PS3, but now they actually cost a little more. How can these standalone players expect us to pay more?

The standalone players have a few points in their … Read more

Review: Samsung BD-P3600 is as speedy as the PS3, packed with features

In almost every standalone Blu-ray player we review, you're likely to find a comment about its disc-loading speed and how it inevitably doesn't compare with the Sony PlayStation 3. For once, that's not the case, as the Samsung BD-P3600 is flat-out faster than the PS3 at loading most movies and its operational speed is just as quick.

It also has a nearly comprehensive feature package, including 7.1 analog outputs, 1GB onboard memory, an included Wi-Fi adapter, and Netflix and Pandora streaming. Top it off with excellent image quality on Blu-ray movies and a sleek design, and … Read more

OKI color laser printer hits the spot

Small businesses and work-at-homies shopping for a new printer should definitely consider the OKI C3600n color laser. A laser printer is a good fit if you print out a larger-than-average amount of documents per day, and this one extends its versatility by offering color prints as well.

Although the C3600n can't exactly brag about its paltry feature list (it's also lacking wireless and isn't very easy on the eyes), it accomplishes its core competency and produces pleasing output results in both color and black and white. And, at about 2.9 cents for a black-only page and … Read more

Samsung BD-P3600 Blu-ray player includes Wi-Fi dongle

The BD-P3600 Blu-ray player includes much of the same basic feature list as the Samsung BD-P2550 released last fall: Profile 2.0 (BD-Live), built-in Netflix and Pandora streaming, and 1GB onboard memory. But the 2009 model includes a few niceties missing from the 2550: an included USB dongle adds 802.11n Wi-Fi (in addition to Ethernet) and the 3600 should support DTS-HD Master Audio decoding out of the box (no need to wait for a future firmware update, as with early purchasers of the 2550). On the design front, the BD-P3600 will also sport unusual topside button placement and Samsung'… Read more

Nokia unveils glossy trio of handsets in Asia

Following a pair of new XpressMusic handsets last week, Nokia today unveiled three more handsets: the 6600 folder, 6600 slider, and 3600 slider.

The Finnish giant is marketing these three phones as "beautiful to use" even though we think they look just like regular handsets. According to Aki Laine, the man responsible for the 6600 clamshell, the phone is designed to fit the contours of your face (which sounds like the "banana" phone sometime back), and there's no need to manually open the handset because there's a dedicated button to do that. The pictures … Read more