Klipsch's nifty ProMedia 2.1 does bona fide stereo, and its subwoofer belts out more and better bass than single-box iPod speaker systems.
(Credit: Klipsch)I don't know why, but it seems like almost every iPod speaker I hear here at CNET is a wretched-sounding thing. Most have screechy treble, lumpy bass, and vocals never sound remotely human.
As always, you get what you pay for, and the cheapest ones tend to be the worst offenders, but hey, they're cheap.
Some, going for upward of $300 are somewhat less horrible, but for three hundred bucks, you could actually buy a nice set of hi-fi speakers.
The A2 speakers
(Credit: Audioengine)And since most iPod speakers are one-piece systems, they don't do stereo all that well. Sure, many incorporate some sort of processing to simulate stereo separation, but that usually messes up their already pitiful sound quality even more. With separate speakers, you can place them far enough apart to make stereo sound like stereo. Which stereo speakers, you ask?
I like Klipsch's little 2.1-channel iPod solution, the ProMedia 2.1 iPod/Computer Speaker system that goes for $150. It features a pair of two-way satellite speakers and a 6.5-inch powered subwoofer. Separate speakers means it does bona fide stereo, and the sub is big enough to generate real bass.
The larger A5 speakers
(Credit: Audioengine)For $199 you could buy a pair of Audioengine A2 speakers and hook them up directly to your iPod. In my opinion, the A2 sounds at least as good as any single-box $400 iPod speaker I've heard. Granted, the $600 high-end iPod speakers make a lot more bass, but it's still on the thick, boomy, and bloated side of natural. And they're $600! For that kind of dough, you could buy a small stereo receiver and actual hi-fi speakers.
You can read my complete A2 review here.
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How many marketing goons did it take to come up with "Beanzawave?"
(Credit: Daily Mail)In what appears to be another case of "good idea, poor execution," Heinz has partnered with Frazer Designers to invent the world's smallest USB-powered microwave. The little device aims to satisfy the appetites of office workers who have so much work on their plate they can't find the time to step outside for a bite to eat. Stranger still, the microwave is called...the Beanzawave (what?!).
The small turquoise device is officially the smallest microwave ever invented, measuring a tiny 7.4 inches tall, 6.2 inches wide, and 5.9 inches deep. Much like today's external hard drives, the microwave is entirely powered by the USB bus on a computer, so there's no extra plug necessary. If you're wondering how it'll nuke your food, the answer has the Microwave Association (what?!) worried as well. Gordon Andrews and Stephen Frazer, the masterminds and "microwave experts" (what?!) behind the Beanzawave claim the device uses phone radio frequencies that produce the heat necessary to cook a single serving of food in Heinz's proprietary "Snap Pots."
Bill takes a break and enjoys a nice pot of poison.
(Credit: Daily Mail)All right wait, what?! Phone radio frequencies to cook our food? Apparently we've totally forgotten our fear that cell phones are carcinogenic and catapulted directly to ingestion. Andrews claims it's actually possible to adjust these radio frequencies to cook different foods, including pies, burgers, soup, or tea. He also suggests powering the Beanzawave with lithium ion batteries for campers and fishermen who want hot food in the field.
This prototype isn't getting very good feedback from the Microwave Association, and they're pretty sure this miniature technology won't ever see the light of day. I'm with them. But Heinz is sticking to the plan and says the final production decision rests in the hands of public feedback, so let's hear it: would you feel comfortable eating food out of a microwave powered by your computer using phone radio frequencies? Leave a comment and let us know!
(Source: DailyMail)
The Iriver S10 was too dated to make the list this time, but it's truly impressive at 0.8-inch.
(Credit: CBS Interactive/Corinne Schulze)Flash-based MP3 players are taking over the marketplace. Unlike their hard-drive-based counterparts, flash MP3 players have no moving parts, affording them entirely skip-free playback and, in most cases, a long battery life. Also, flash chips are tiny, meaning the players that use them can be small to the point of ridiculousness.
Luckily, most (but perhaps not all) manufacturers realize that there is such a thing as too small. We had no trouble finding a collection of manageable MP3 players that won't take up valuable space in a briefcase, a backpack, a purse, or a pocket. And although each measures less than 2 cubic inches, all of them offer at least 2GB of memory, which is enough to hold about 500 songs or 32 hours' worth of music.
Casual home users might not need something like this, but the business world will definitely want the new NAS server from D-Link.
Last week, the company announced its all-new Stack DSN-1100 iSCSI SAN Array NAS server, which offers up to 7.5TB of storage and 425MBps of bandwidth. It achieves this high throughput speed thanks to IEEE 802.3ad Link Aggregate Groups technology that combines the speeds of the device's four Gigabit Ethernet ports.
The new DSN-1100 NAS server.
(Credit: D-Link)The NAS server include five bays, each of which can take a 3.5-inch SATA (or SATA-II) hard drive of up to 1.5TB. The company says that the bays will be able to accommodate higher-capacity drives after a new firmware update. These hard drives can be configured to RAID 0, 1, 1+0, and 5.
The DSN-1100 features an embedded, user-friendly IP-SAN Device Manager, a suite of utilities that allows monitoring and control via the Storage Management Initiative-Specification command set. Users can also remotely configure and monitor their SAN storage subsystems.
Thanks to its internal 10Gb iSCSI SoC configuration, the DSN-1100 can handle more than 80,000 input/outputs per second.
Other features of the new NAS include:
- Compact Cube Chassis for easy office placement (10.7 inches high by 6.6 inches wide wide by and 10.2 inches deep.)
- 200-watt power supply
- CHAP authentication to halt intruders
- SSL security to manage the console
- Up to 72 hours of battery backup on full charge
- VLAN zoning for traffic segregation to secure access and jumbo frames
- Highly integrated, multi-core SoC for greater power efficiency
The new DSN-1100 NAS server is available now with the estimated price of $1,799.99.
Yeah, I get it, big displays garner oohs and aahs; but why are big speakers always portrayed as hideous things only an audiophile could love?
Thing is, tiny speakers cheat you out of more than half the experience. On a return-on-investment basis, home audio is more accurate than video. A 50-inch display may be sharp and clear, but it can't approach the majestic scale of a movie theater screen. A decent home theater sound system will blow away most movie theater systems.
The KEF iQ50, a $900-per-pair tower that'll eat your micro speakers for breakfast.
(Credit: KEF)How large is a large speaker? For the purpose of this blog, 20-inch high bookshelf speakers with 6-inch (or larger) woofers would be a good place to start. Of course, floor standing speakers that are 36 inches high or more are even better. Wee satellite speakers with 3-inch "woofers" never come remotely close to belting out a sound that could be mistaken for a large speaker (even the best of the wee ones never hold up in direct comparisons with larger speakers). The little ones sound like the puny, anemic things they really are. Subwoofers can only do so much.
Sound, schmound--most speaker manufacturers go with the flow and give the people what they want. And they want to believe little speakers sound just as good as big speakers. The manufacturers know most folks buy with their eyes, not their ears, so they don't know what they're missing. It's way more important to look good than sound good.
I covered some of this same ground in my very first Audiophiliac blog, "My speakers can beat up your TV." Point being, money spent on quality speakers, compared to video, is a better investment. With display prices reaching record lows you'd be wise to spend more for quality speakers. Pick up a nice big display for $1,000 ($1,200 to 1,500 less than what you would have paid a couple of years ago); invest the video savings on audio and you'll wind up with a way more satisfying home theater.
(Credit:
Energy)
"The bigger the speaker, the better the sound" is a rule of thumb that you're likely to hear from many audiophiles. Thankfully, every rule has an exception. In this case, it's the Energy RC-Micro 5.1. Energy's latest surround-sound speaker system sports downright miniscule dimensions--the satellite speakers are a mere 4.7 inches high--but they deliver the sort of sound you'd expect from much larger speakers. Among the highlights were the $1,000 system's ability to blend seamlessly between the tiny satellite speakers and the 8-inch subwoofer. While the system's size does have its limitations--wattage freaks who like to crank it overly loud will soon find its sonic restrictions--most listeners looking for a set of surround-sound speakers that's heard and not seen would be hard-pressed to find a better-sounding solution at this size and price than the Energy RC-Micro.
One caveat: Anyone who's tempted by big sound from little speakers might want to wait for our review of the $1,200 Mirage MX 5.1--an even smaller version of the Mirage Nanosat 5.1, which is still available, and a steal for under $600. (Mirage and Energy are sister brands in the Klipsch family.)
As part of its launch into the U.S. laptop market, Samsung announced two models designed for small business, the 14.1-inch P460 and 15.4-inch P560. Both laptops are built to take a little extra abuse: the matte-black lids are scratch-resistant and incorporate an internal metal plate that helps protect the screen. A sturdy brushed-aluminum keyboard deck surrounds a spill-resistant keyboard. And the keys themselves incorporate silver nanotechnolgy to fight off bacteria and viruses.
(Credit:
Samsung)
Samsung will offer two fixed configurations of the 5.3-pound P460: one with a previous-generation 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5800 processor and a 320GB, 5,400rpm hard drive for $1,199, and one with a latest-generation 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 processor and a 320GB, 7,200rpm hard drive for $1,399. Otherwise both configurations are the same, with integrated Intel X4500 graphics, 4GB of 1,066MHz RAM, and a built-in optical drive (though the more expensive version adds LightScribe labeling). When it comes to ports and connections, the P460 offers everything you'd expect from a 14.1-inch business system, including Bluetooth, a PC Card slot, and a 1.3-megapixel Webcam. There's also a fingerprint reader that works with the laptop's Trusted Platform Module.
The 5.8-pound P560 also comes in two fixed configurations with discrete graphics. The $1,299 P560 incorporates a 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5800 processor, a 320GB, 5,400rpm hard drive, and 256MB Nvidia GeForce 9600M GS graphics; the $1,499 version has a 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 processor, a 320GB, 7,200rpm hard drive, and 512MB Nvidia GeForce 9600M GS graphics. Both models include a LightScribe DVD burner and a fingerprint reader with Trusted Platform Module.
Both the P460 and P560 will be available by mid-November at such online retailers as NewEgg, Buy.com, CDW, and Amazon.
The EZ300HD has an HD shooting mode--but don't expect true HD quality.
(Credit: RCA)Got a look at RCA's new EZ300HD Thursday and at first touch it appears to be a significant step up from the other budget camcorders in the company's Small Wonder line.
The highlights here are a 720p (1280x720) HD shooting mode, a 2.4-inch LCD with "improved viewing in bright sunlight," and a swiveling lens that gives you more flexibility when shooting. The 2GB of built-in memory gives you one hour of recording time in HD mode or six hours of recording time in the lower-resolution YouTube capture mode. The EZ300HD is powered by a rechargeable lithium ion battery pack and its memory can be expanded by purchasing a higher-capacity SD card.
On paper at least, the EZ300HD matches up well with Kodak's Zi6, which also bills itself as an HD camcorder. We had this to say about that model: "The Kodak Zi6 is technically an HD camcorder the way a tomato is technically a fruit: it meets the definition, but doesn't deliver the experience. True, the Zi6 records video in 1,280x720-pixel resolution at both 30 frames per second and 60fps--720p resolution--which technically qualifies it as an HD camcorder, but a lot of factors go into creating an image, not just a CMOS sensor capable of capturing an image at a certain resolution and frame rate."
We assume the same will be true of the Small Wonder EZ300HD, but as usual, we'll reserve final judgment until we get a review sample. At least the EZ300HD is less expensive than the Kodak Zi6, which currently costs about $175. The EZ300HD carries a list price of $159.99, but according to the PR rep, it will be sold at Circuit City for $130.
Comments?
On Sale Now: $200.33
View the latest prices for RCA Small Wonder EZ300HD - camcorder - flash card
(Credit:
Crave UK)
With the world anxiously awaiting the Asus Eee Box, it's all too easy to overlook the company's other small PCs. We've already seen the Nova P20, and now we have the privilege of showing you its younger, more attractive sibling, the Nova Lite.
It's designed primarily for use as a media center machine. Its petite frame (231 x 184 x 51 millimeters) is small and cute enough to fit alongside your existing AV equipment without looking too out of place. It even comes with a stand so you can position it vertically as well as horizontally.
Inside, our entry-level sample is packing a 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, 1GB of RAM, and an 80GB hard drive, so it's not going to win any awards for speed or storage. However, it's quick enough to play HD movies over its HDMI and DVI ports without stuttering and you can easily add more storage via one of the four USB ports at the rear. To see more, click here.
(Source: Crave UK)
Mariah Power says its Windspire vertical-axis wind turbine is now commercially available, after having passed performance tests.
The Windspire vertical-axis wind turbine
(Credit: Mariah Power)The Windspire costs $4,995, which includes the inverter, pole, and other equipment.
Typically, small-wind turbines such as Southwest Windpower's 1.9-kilowatt Skystream, are best suited for homes with a substantial amount of land.
Mariah Power said the Windspire is aimed at residential customers in urban, suburban, and rural areas. It has already been installed in a handful of U.S. locations.
"(Its) efficiency is on par with most propeller-based wind turbines, but it is priced much lower. It is also much quieter because the rotor glides through the air at only a third the speed of propeller blades, and it can capture wind instantly from any direction," Mariah Power CEO Mike Hess said in a statement.
The Windspire produces about 1.2 kilowatts, or 2,000 kilowatt-hours, per year, according to Mariah's brochure. It works best in 12 mph average winds or higher, and it generally requires half an acre of land, the company said. It's 30 feet high and has a 2-foot radius.
