Category: Tech

Big HD Boggin

Front projectors for home video aren’t for everyone. They’re not good for casual TV viewing, especially in SD. But for sports in HD, and a true home theatre experience, if you can manage a front projector it’s the way to go.

I’m very happy with my Panasonic PT-AX200U, a 720p model. Regular widescreen DVD’s look awesome, and FiOS HD is jaw-dropping good. The price on this model has just been cut to $999. This is the best front projector deal going.

With the $300 savings compared to last year, you can get a projector cart like the Da-Lite PH 800-1250, avoiding the expense and difficulty of a ceiling mount. If you need to mount the projector on a wall, there’s a shelf at Target for less than $40. The Epson Duet portable screen can be set up and taken down in two minutes. It’s called “duet” because it can be adjusted for 4:3 and 16:9. Very nifty.

DTV PSA

Samjay has suggested this helpful public service announcement about Digital TV for everybody who relies on over-air television reception.
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Spam mess

Note: I may have deleted a couple of comments by mistake when clearing out spam today. Keep in mind that if you post multiple comments in a row, the spam filter sometimes grabs one and I have to go fish it out of the pile. Today the pile has been very big, and if you’re not seeing a comment you wrote, I apologize.

Bad and loud

My ears aren’t what they once were (well, they’re bigger, just not better), but I’m bugged by the latest audio technology going backwards in sound quality. Over a year ago I talked about overcompression, and today tastewar pointed out something on Gizmodo about Metallica’s new stuff sounding better on Guitar Hero III than it does on the CD release.

Speaking of Guitar Hero, Stephen Colbert has been digitized and is available for downloading on the video game Rock Band 2.

And coming in November will be “A Colbert Christmas“, with musical guests, including Elvis Costello. Check out the pictures at that link. Looks like the pilot for “Colbert’s Playhouse”!

Closing the Gates

I’ve watched the new Microsoft commercial a couple of times, and to me it falls flat. I fail to see the entertainment value of one of the world’s richest men talking about shoes with a rich comedian who’s been given $10 million to be in the commercial.

Aren’t both Gates and Seinfeld essentially retired anyway? In that context, I guess having them pal around like a couple of old men makes sense — they’ve got nothing better to do.
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What really gets me is that somehow the subtext of the commercial is supposed to be Windows Vista as a cool alternative to Mac OS X. Well, it isn’t. Click here for one reason why. Thanks to tastewar for the tip. This article explains why it’s a waste having more than 3GB of memory installed for Windows XP and Vista.

Everybody’s been wondering about Steve Jobs’ health, but does Bill Gates look all right to you in that commercial? He doesn’t look well to me. Oh, by the way, what do Gates, Jobs, Tim Berners-Lee (inventor of the Worldwide Web) — and myself — all have in common? Well, we’re all in the computer biz, but I’m not rich and famous. We were born in 1955. Unfortunately, so were Mark David Chapman and John Hinkley, Jr.