TiVo Premiere Elite: TiVo’s swan song?

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Editorial, Home Entertainment

I've been a TiVo fan for many years, and a subscriber for about ten of those years. I've had various TiVo machines and have been happy with the performance of my HD TiVo. But like any tech-geek, I'm always interested in what's new.

The TiVo Premiere, released last year, intrigued me because of its HD interface, improved UI, larger storage capacity, and 1080p support. The specs sounded great and I was ready to upgrade my system, but as it approached time to pull the trigger, I began hearing stories of sluggish UI performance. Threads posted on TiVoCommunity.com indicate that the second core of the dual-core processor is disabled for stability reasons, thus crippling its Flash-based interface.

This week, TiVo announced the Premiere Elite ($499), which features four tuners and 2 terabytes of storage. Will it have a better processor that will take advantage of the HD UI or will it be more of the same? Unfortunately, I have a hunch that it will be more of the same.

Click to continue reading TiVo Premiere Elite: TiVo’s swan song?

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Onkyo’s 2010 receivers to support HDMI 1.4

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment

HDMI 1.4 is the next big thing, namely because it brings with it support for 3D television as well as the Audio Return Channel, and Onkyo seems to be leading the charge with getting it rolled into their products and into the hands of the public. In fact, Onkyo just announced that their 2010 receivers, scheduled to start shipping this spring, will support HDMI 1.4. That’s just in time for some of that 3D TV and Blu-ray content to appear.

“We are very supportive of the new standard,” said Onkyo’s marketing manager Paul Wasek, “because of the added capabilities and the simplification of system connections.”

We are fans of Onkyo, and we are definitely looking forward to getting our hands on the new receiver line.

Read More | Onkyo

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TiVo HD out of stock. TiVo Premiere imminent?

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Rumors

Looks like TiVo has run out of TiVo HD units, if their online store is any indication, which has us wondering if the newer TiVo Premiere is about to make it’s debut. We originally mentioned the TiVo Premiere when a customer accidentally received a manual for the device packed in with a TiVo HD purchase. You’d think that if TiVo was already printing instructions on how to use the device, it had to be near-ready to ship, and this was just over a month ago.

In the meantime, if you want a TiVo, go for the TiVo XL instead.

Read More | TiVo Store

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Newegg Deal: Sony 7.1 channel receiver

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Hot Deals

Newegg has a great and inexpensive way for you to incorpate 7.1 surround sound into your home theater, with a great deal on the Sony STR-DN1000 7.1 channel receiver. It looks great with a piano black finish, and supports codecs like Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD MAster Audio, and lossless PCM. For visuals, you get 1080p playback with 24p support. The best part is that Newegg’s got it for $299.99. If you want to get in on it, head on over to the Newegg Sony STR-DN1000 page, add it to your cart, and use promo code “RECEIVER222” to take part in the festivities.

As always, you can find all sorts of Newegg promo codes and deals on our forums.

Read More | Sony 7.1 STR-DN1000 Surround Sound Receiver

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Open Air Inflatable Movie Screen Goes Well With The Rest Of Your Inflatable Furniture

Posted by Patrick Phelps Categories: Home Entertainment, Movies, Portable Audio / Video

Now I realize you’ve been drooling over those new mini-projectors for a while now, but if you’d rather have an extra-large experience and already own a normal projector, you’re in luck:

Remember that “velvety” inflatable couch you had in college? Well, we’ve found you the perfect TV to go along with it – the Open Air Cinema 16 Foot Inflatable Movie Screen. The 16ft x 9ft, widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio, 20-pound inflatable movie screen is the perfect compliment to any backyard (if you’re lucky enough to have a backyard, ahem). Just don’t go filling it with helium - that’s a very, very bad idea; this potential balloon is available at an introductory price of $999, or purchase their CineBox Home complete backyard theater system which includes projection, sound and all necessary cables for $3,299 - you’ll instantly have the most popular backyard on the block and you can recoup the expense by charging admission and selling refreshments…

Read More | Open Air Cinema

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Bleeding Edge TV 272: Computex 2008 - AMD Live! Home Theatre hardware

Posted by Nate True Categories: Gizmatic, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Household, PC / Laptop, Videocasts, Videos

AMD shows us how the home theatre PC arena is getting exciting again. Thanks to AMD Live!, manufacturers are finally creating affordable high-quality and high-performance components for the home theatre PC. Inexpensive platforms supporting full-resolution 1080p HD and 7.1 channel surround sound are being manufactured and will be out for sale real soon.

We love the intiative AMD has taken on this one! We talk with Jay Taylor of AMD Live! and have a look at the new components.

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