Crave

Microsoft's second-gen Zune isn't quite as sexy as the new Zune HD, but it's still a versatile, feature-packed media player and a worthy iPod alternative.

And now it's a cheap one, too: Buy.com has the refurbished Zune 80 player for $129.99 shipped. It sold for $249 when it debuted a couple years ago, and is still running around $200 new.

Obviously a big draw here is the whopping 80GB hard drive, which should be enough to hold even the largest music libraries, with room left over for photos, videos, podcasts, and the like.

You get to view all that stuff on a 3.2-inch glass LCD--way bigger than the screen on the only comparable iPod, the Classic.

Other perks include an FM radio, wireless syncing/sharing, support for Microsoft's Zune Pass subscription service (one of the few such services left), and a terrific interface.

What's more, a free firmware update endows the Zune 80 with many of the features added to the third-gen Zune, so be sure to read CNET's review of that model.

If you have a lot of media you want to keep in your pocket, the Zune transports it in style. My only complaint is with the 90-day warranty--a far cry from Apple's 1-year coverage for refurbished hardware.

(Credit: The Beatles)

No, the digitally remastered Beatles catalog hasn't come to Apple's iTunes. But it has come to an apple-shaped USB device.

Retailing for $279.99, the collection will be released December 8 in North America, three months after the September 9 release of the remastered set of the band's albums (as well as The Beatles: Rock Band video game). The apple shape is in reference to Apple Corps, the Beatles music publisher--which in the past, you may recall, sued tech giant Apple in a trademark dispute.

(Credit: The Official Beatles Shop)

When the release of the remastered Beatles catalog and Rock Band game were announced for September 9, 2009 (the band has a song called "Revolution 9"), speculation arose that a concurrently scheduled Apple Inc. announcement might bring the catalog, still unavailable for digital download on the Web, to iTunes. That didn't happen. But with the release of the USB collection, the albums are available in non-CD digital form for the first time.

In addition to MP3 and FLAC versions of 14 stereo titles, according to a release, the 16GB device contains "all of the remastered CDs' visual elements, including 13 mini-documentary films about the studio albums, replicated original UK album art, rare photos and expanded liner notes."

Correction 10:45 a.m. PST: This story initially misstated the release date. It is December 8 in North America. Also, the type of lawsuit Apple Corps filed against Apple Inc. has been corrected. It was a trademark dispute.

First the Nook (pictured), now the MediaBook?

(Credit: Barnes & Noble)

The question is, who isn't getting in on the e-book reader action these days? Less than two weeks after we met Barnes & Nobles' Nook and just a few days after hearing of tire maker Bridgestone's plans for a flexible e-reader, our friends at Crave UK alerted us that Creative may be hopping on the e-reader bandwagon as well.

Creative fan site EpiZenter.net (so named for Creative's family of popular Zen MP3 players) reports that the company showed off a working model of its first e-book reader, tentatively named the MediaBook, at its annual general meeting Thursday in Singapore. The device reportedly has a touch screen, text-to-speech function, and an SD memory card slot. It will run on Creative's Zii System-On-Chip technology and will be Internet-enabled.

At the meeting, Willie Png, Creative's vice president of strategic business, described Amazon's Kindle as "just another electronic device which displays books in text" (snap!), according to EpiZenter.net, and said Creative's e-reader will harness "videos, pictures, text, and services in one device that supports a media-rich experience." Color Creative ready to join the ever-tightening race to produce that proverbial "Kindle killer."

Creative reportedly is talking to 10 international and local publishers to provide content for the MediaBook, with fiction, newspaper, magazines, education materials, and textbooks all slotted for the device. Singapore Press Holdings, which publishes 17 newspapers and more than 100 magazines, could be one local content provider, saying it is exploring with Creative how to provide a variety of multimedia content, including videos and radio programs, for the device.

No word yet on pricing and availability, but we'll fill you in as soon as we hear.

HP's ultra-compact Pavilion is stuffed with home theater-friendly features.

(Credit: HP)

If you're in the market for a PC to serve as the hub of your home theater, look no further than the refurbished HP Pavilion Slimline S3750F. It's compact, loaded, and on sale at Buy.com for $479.99 shipped.

As many of you pointed out in last weekend's post about the Nero LiquidTV TiVo PC, Windows Media Center offers some pretty killer DVR features.

I agree 100 percent, which is why there's a PC much like this HP sitting in my family room, connected to my TV.

The S3750F features a quad-core AMD processor, 4GB of RAM, a 640GB hard drive, and a Blu-ray drive/LightScribe DVD burner.

It also comes with an AverMedia ATSC/NTSC TV tuner, which can pull in analog cable or over-the-air digital signals. My advice: add a couple extra tuners so you can record multiple shows from multiple sources simultaneously. (Thursday night is just a bear this year, isn't it?)

HP supplies a remote for couch-friendly operation and 802.11n Wi-Fi for wireless-friendly operation.

My one and only complaint with this system (apart from the 90-day warranty, which I consider minor) is that it comes with Vista Home Premium, not Windows 7. And because it's a refurb, it's not eligible for a free upgrade.

Still, I'm running Vista on my media-center PC, and it's been absolutely fine and dandy. In other words, an upgrade isn't essential, IMHO.

Shop around a bit and you'll see this system selling for at least $800 elsewhere, and as high as $1,000 at many stores (including Amazon). A desktop this loaded for $479 is a real deal.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

Roku is prepping its set-top box line for the holiday season by adding two new models and new content "channels" due within the coming weeks.

The step-up Roku HD XR Player ($130) adds faster 802.11n. Wi-Fi and a USB port "for future use." The step-down model--the Roku SD Player--loses the HD outputs of its siblings; it'll retail for $80. The two new boxes will have the same look and feel of the existing Roku box, which is being redubbed as the Roku HD Player. That model (802.11g Wi-Fi, no USB port) will continue to be available at the same $100 price point.

The $80 SD Player doesn't offer HD output.

(Credit: Roku)

Currently, the Roku boxes have three content channels: Netflix (unlimited streaming of thousands of TV shows and movies for Netflix subscribers); Amazon Video-on-Demand (thousands of movies and TV shows available on a pay-per-title basis), and MLB TV (out-of-area Major League Baseball games, available as a seasonal subscription). However, the imminent (November) launch of the "Roku Channel Store" will add an expanded roster of programming options, including some free content. That should include the already announced Blip.tv and Mediafly channels, and may include some others as well.

Update: Blogger Dave Zatz notes that online tech video site Revision3 has already announced that it will be getting a dedicated channel on the Roku boxes. Furthermore, during a demo of the Revision3 Roku channel posted earlier this month, icons for Flickr and Pandora channels are clearly visible on the Roku's home screen.

The Roku HD XR (bottom) adds faster Wi-Fi and a USB port.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

We'll have a full review of the Roku HD XR Player once the new programming options appear next month via a firmware update. (Right now, the HD XR's USB port is disabled, so there's not a lot to test.) In the meantime, we hope that Roku is able to one-up itself with some compelling online programming offerings. The company's $100 box has long been our cheapest and easiest Netflix streaming recommendation, but recent price drops and newly available Netflix-enabled products are making that less of a clear-cut decision. Already available on the Xbox 360 (which costs between $200 and $300, depending on the model), Netflix is coming to the $300 PS3 as well. It's also available on all 2009 Samsung and LG Blu-ray players and Blu-ray home theater systems (and coming to some Sony models as well). And it's even popping up on entry-level models such as Insignia's supercheap $99 Blu-ray player, too. True, not all of these products have the Roku's built-in Wi-Fi, but they all offer the added features of playing DVDs, Blu-ray discs, and/or games.

At the same time, as products approach the $100 price point, every $10 or $20 represents a big percentage change in the price tag. Those looking for the best value--or to add Netflix streaming to a second or third TV in the house--may well find one of the Roku boxes to still be the best value.

What do you think: Are you an existing Roku owner looking forward to the new content? Are you planning on buying one of the models for the holidays? Or do you think the other Netflix-enabled devices are a better deal? Share your thoughts below.

If you're new to the whole USB media player category, it goes something like this: storage brands like Western Digital, Seagate, and Iomega are looking for ways to tap into the growing number of consumers who have multimedia files stored on their computers and want to bring them to their TVs without much fuss. Of course, game consoles such as the PS3 and Xbox 360 offer similar functionality as part of their extensive repertoire (as do some Blu-ray players), but products like Seagate's FreeAgent Theater+ Media Player are targeting a more price-conscious consumer who doesn't want--or need--to deal with a full-fledged console.

The model we tested is the "plus" version of the Theater HD, and it addresses many of the complaints we had about the early version that was released in April 2009. Instead of just offering a component video connection, the Theater+ adds HDMI with 1080p output (for easier hookup to an HDTV and higher maximum resolution), an Ethernet connection (for streaming digital media files over a network), and better file support (it reads more file formats). Like its predecessor, this model comes in a bare-bones "bring your own drive" version ($150 list), as well as one that includes a 500GB FreeAgent Go drive that slides into a slot at the front of the unit and lists for $289. Any Free Agent Go drive, regardless of capacity, fits into the unit just fine, and the drive can be formatted for Windows PCs or Macs (NTFS, HFS+, or FAT all work).

Read the full review of the Seagate FreeAgent Theater+.

The new WD TV Live DH Media player shares the same shape and size with the previous model, the WD TV, but has a lot more to offer.

(Credit: Josh P. Miller/CNET)

Awhile ago, Western Digital tackled the home entertainment arena with the WD TV, which turned out to be a success. Nonetheless, a lot of enthusiasts, including me, were turned off by the fact that the WD TV lacks support for networking and doesn't include the capability to decode DTS audio, which is popularly used in compressed high-def video formats.

It seems Western Digital took our complaints to heart as the company announced Tuesday the availability of the next generation of the device, the WD TV Live HD Media Player.

Outside, the WD TV Live has the same shape and size as the WD TV. However, on the back, apart from the USB, HDMI, and composite ports, you'll find the newly added 10/100 Ethernet port. This port opens the device to many possibilities, which, for now, include access to YouTube, Flickr, and Internet radio stations.

On the inside, the device now can decode both DTS and DTS 2.0 audio encoding and sports a faster processor.

Like the previous WD TV, the new WD TV Live supports playing back all kinds of video, audio, and photo formats, including the most popular high-def video formats such as Matroska (MKV) and DivX. In addition, it also has these new and improved features:

• Full-HD 1080p video playback with support for different sound tracks, subtitles (when available), and the capability to decode DTS audio
• Capability to play videos, music, photos, and radio from the Internet
• Ethernet port for wired connection to access digital content from other network devices
• Supports two USB mass storage devices at the same time, including external hard drives, digital cameras, camcorders, and portable media players

WD TV Live DH Media Player photos

I tried the unit out and it was indeed a much better experience than the WD TV.

HP Touchsmart 600

(Credit: HP.com)

HP just announced the third upgrade to of its line of TouchSmart PCs, and the first model we've laid hands on, the TouchSmart 600 (full review here), was good enough to earn an Editor's Choice award. The new TouchSmart 300 and TouchSmart 600 feature 20-inch and 23-inch screens, respectively, and both offer the same multitouch screen with either a 16:9 1080P HD or HD-ready display.

To coincide with this announcement, HP is also rolling out exclusive applications for the TouchSmart PCs that take advantage of its multitouch enabled screen and Windows 7, including, but not limited to:

• Hulu Desktop: browse and watch your favorite TV shows
• Netflix: Instantly watch movies or browse and add films to your online queue
• Pandora Internet Radio: Discover new music based on your personalized taste
• TouchSmart Live TV: Watch and record your favorite television shows
• TouchSmart Canvas: organize your photos on a virtual canvas and use your fingers to make edits
• TouchSmart RecipeBox: Enjoy a hands-free cooking experience with recipes that respond to voice commands

Of those apps, the Recipe Box is the most impressive. Smart software lets you scrap and catalog recipes from a variety of popular recipe Web sites (Epicurious, Food Network, and Martha Stewart among them), and via voice recognition and text-to-speech you can navigate the recipes hands-free. It's the best kitchen-oriented PC solution we've seen.

The new 300 and 600 models also include a new swivel stand, a built-in wall mount support, in addition to a new tiltable web cam for group conferences and video chats. Both models are available in a variety of retail configurations with customizable configurations available at HP.com.

More photos after the jump.

(Credit: John P. Falcone/CNET)

HP has one big request for when you're talking about its new DreamScreen product line: don't call it just a digital photo frame.

Fair enough. The DreamScreen can display your photos effortlessly, but that just scratches the surface of what it can do. Available in 10.2-inch and 13.3-inch versions (both 800x480 resolution), the DreamScreen offers 2GB of onboard memory, plus slots for all standard flash media card types as well as USB storage. If loading your digital media via flash memory is too old-fashioned for you, the DreamScreen can also connect to your home network via Wi-Fi or Ethernet, and--according to HP--the included software lets you drag and drop the files you want to move to it via the network.

Beyond photos, the DreamScreen can also play videos (MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, H.264) and music (MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV) through its built-in speakers (or you can use the headphone jack to connect to an outboard stereo); it can also play music in the background while displaying a slideshow. But if you don't have a single audio file, you can instead opt for one of thousands of Internet radio stations or Pandora's streaming audio service instead.

But wait, there's more! ... Read more