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HP Magic Giveaway: Enter our contest to win over $6,000 in electronics!

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Announcements, Features, Home Entertainment, Hot Deals, PC / Laptop,

So, a few days ago we told you about our HP Magic Giveaway, and how we’d be giving away an absolutely ridiculous amount of prizes to the winner. Now, we are announcing the the contest has officially started, and we’ve got the details on how you can enter to win. First, though, a refresher on what we are giving away:

HP TouchSmart IQ816
HP HDX18 Premium Notebook PC
HP Pavilion dv4 Entertainment Notebook PC
HP Mini 1000 (Windows XP)
HP MediaSmart Connect
HP Photosmart C6380 Wireless All-in-One printer
HP 564 Photo Value Pack
Microsoft Office Home and Student Edition 2007 with 3 licenses
Microsoft WIndows Live
Corel VideoStudio X
Kung-Fu Panda on Blu-ray disc, and two DVDs

Yes, you do see four computers listed, as well as a Media Center Extender. No, you aren’t dreaming. Yes, we (and HP) are awesome. You want the goods? Here’s how to enter to win - we are making this super-simple:

If you don’t have one already, sign up for a Gear Live account
If you don’t have one already, sign up for a Twitter account
Add the Gear Live Twitter account to your follow list
On Twitter, post a tweet about our contest and link to this page. In the tweet, include the phrase “#glmagic”.
Once that is done, leave a comment here in this post with a direct link back to your Tweet. Be sure you are signed in to your Gear Live account before you leave the comment.

Here’s an example of an appropriate Twitter entry:
“Entering to win a ton of HP gear! http://jk9.qlnk.net/ #glmagic”

BONUS ENTRIES: Want more chances to win? Share the link to our contests on the following sites, and leave us a comment linking to those as well:

Facebook: Shared Link
Del.icio.us bookmark
FriendFeed: Use Post a Link
Your blog: Have a site? Link to our contest on it!

Remember: The bonus entries are just that - bonus. In order to be eligible to win, you must complete the core Twitter requirements.

Now, as to the actual contest dates. The contest starts today, November 28th. You have until 11:59 PM PST on December 4 to enter your comments here on this post. We will then announce our winner, chosen randomly out of all valid entrants and bonus points, on December 5th. We are also going to encourage (but not require) you to think about donating a portion of the prize package to someone else. It can be a charity, a relative, friend, a fellow contest entrant - anyone. We can even handle the shipping to that third party for you. It’s all in the spirit of giving, and we will let you play Secret Santa, if you so choose.

The contest is open to anyone in the world, which is a rarity. If you are in the US, you’ll even have your tax burden taken care of. What more could you ask for? Now, good luck to all - comments are open!

Update: We’ve announced a winner - and a new contest!

Samsung BD-P2500 and P-2550 Feature Netflix in HD

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Movies, Videos,

And the Netflix/Blockbuster beat goes on. Samsung has announced that its BD-P2500 and BD-P2550 Blu-ray Players, as of the first week in December, will have access to movies and TV shows via Netflix in HD via a firmware update. While both models can already access over 12,000 videos, so far they have been in standard definition. At this point, there are 300 titles available in HD, with many more expected in the months to come.

The HP Magic Giveaway: We’re giving away a bunch of stuff

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Announcements, Home Entertainment, Hot Deals, PC / Laptop, Peripherals,

UPDATE: ENTER OUR HP MAGIC GIVEAWAY CONTEST!

Listen, it’s the holiday season, the economy is going to hell, prices are going up on everything but gas, and you know that no one is going to get you any super-fancy consumer electronics this year. Or, so you thought. You see, once again we are partnering with HP (along with 49 other sites) to bring you a mind-blowing prize package. That means that you get 50 chances to win the following:

HP TouchSmart IQ816
HP HDX18 Premium Notebook PC
HP Pavilion dv4 Entertainment Notebook PC
HP Mini 1000 (Windows XP)
HP MediaSmart Connect

Oh, what was that? That isn’t enough? Well, our bad, we though that five computers being given away would be enough. But hey, you pulled our arm, so I guess we’ll also throw in the following:

HP Photosmart C6380 Wireless All-in-One printer
HP 564 Photo Value Pack
Microsoft Office Home and Student Edition 2007 with 3 licenses
Microsoft WIndows Live
Corel VideoStudio X
Kung-Fu Panda on Blu-ray disc, and two DVDs

There, now are you happy? We figured as much. Go back and look over that list again - that’s a lot of stuff. In fact, the value of all that is over $6,000 USD. There’s enough there that you could win it all, and give away some of it as gifts to your family or friends - that what the holidays are all about, right? That whole better to give than to receive thing?

We’ll be announcing the contest rules soon, but in the meantime, check out the HP Magic Giveaway page for more information on the prizes, and other participating sites.

Oh, and let us know what you think of this contest in the comments!

Wall-E 3 Disc Special Edition Blu-ray DVD Release

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Movies,

Wall-E We just couldn’t let the day go by without mentioning one of our fave movies of the year that was released today. How could you not love “Wall-E?” If you order the Blu-ray 3 disc deluxe version from Amazon, you also get access to BD Live, a free download for a mere $24.99. It comes with the short “Burn-E.” That will keep the little nippers busy while you get ready to tell them that this holiday may be slimmer than the last. You can also order a regular one disc widescreen DVD at a decent $14.99.

Find your 2008 Black Friday deals

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Hot Deals, Internet,

Black Friday Cartoon We found a great little site dedicated to Black Friday. There over fifty lists from companies that include Circuit City, CompUSA, Office Depot and Radio Shack, with more to come. Looking at Sears’ list, we found such items as a Samsung Blu-ray Disc Player for $199.99, Sharp’s LC26SB24U 26” 720p LCD HDTV for $399.99, and the Sony 5-Disc DVD/CD Home Theater System with 1080p Upconversion at $249.99, marked down $50.00. Even if we can’t always shop online, it is certainly a plus to be able to check out what is out there ahead of time.

Dark Knight Deluxe Limited Edition Blu-ray set

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Hot Deals, Movies,

The Dark Knight will be released Dec. 9 in both a standard and Limited Edition box. Both versions are in widescreen 2.4:1 1080p video with 5.1 Dolby TrueHD audio. The deluxe set includes 2 discs, a Bat-Pod display case, art galleries and movie extras such as behind the scenes. You can pre-order at Amazon now for $47.95, temporarily marked down from $64.99.

Samsung BD-P1500 With Free Matrix

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Hot Deals, Movies,

Samsung BD-P1500 We told you a while ago about a Limited Edition Matrix Collection that comes with Nebuchadnezzar. Samsung must have thought that was a good idea and it is tossing in the movies (sans vehicle) with the sale of their BD-P1500. The 10-disc set was released today and retails for around $100.00 depending on where you shop. We figure that’s a pretty good deal considering the Blu-ray player can be had for $223.00 up to $299.00, again dependent on online retailers. Prices are only good through October 18.

Netflix charging $1 per month premium for Blu-ray

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Internet, Movies,

Netflix has been charging new members a $1 monthly fee, in addition to the price of their standard monthly rate, for the pleasure of renting Blu-ray discs, while those who have been members of the service for a long while have had no such increase to deal with. Well, as of November 5th, Netflix will make the $1 fee mandatory for all members. If you don’t want to rent Blu-ray discs, you are fine, no change in price - but if you, like us, are all about the 1080p, lossless surround sound goodness, then I think you’ll find that paying one extra dollar isn’t really so bad. Seriously, it could have been a lot worse.

Sony ‘007 Quantum of Solace Laptop

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Movies, PC / Laptop,

Sony’s ‘007 Laptop, in honor of Quantum of Solace, is about to arrive in a limited edition of 700. It features an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 3G Internet connectivity, 4GB of DDR2 RAM, and a 13.3-inch LED backlit LCD. It also has a 128GB SDD or 320GB hard drive, a fingerprint reader, a Motion Eye camera and Blu-ray drive. At a price of about $4,000.00, it should be out later this month encased in a carbon fiber chassis. Sadly, it cannot shoot bullets out the back end or shake or stir your martini.

Vudu HDX 1080p movie downloads are “insanely sharp”

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Broadband, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Movies,

Yesterday, VUDU went live with their new HDX 1080p movie downloads, and word on the street (or, at least, from Pogue at the Times) is that they are the best thing available as it pertains to the digital download movie game. Now, VUDU promised “Blu-ray quality” movies, and I don’t think that’s what we are seeing here. After all, that would mean some people would have to spend the better part of a day downloading a flick - that would make for an awkward evening when inviting the girl over. However, the quality is decidedly sharper than DVD, and looks better than high definition downloads from other services, like iTunes through Apple TV. So, how do they achieve this goodness? Well, the bit rate for the videos hovers around 9Mbps, and goes as high as 20Mbps during fast-moving action scenes. Nothing else touches that, including your cable company with their On Demand, seriously.

VUDU currently has 65 movies available to rent in their HDX format, and all new releases will be available in HDX as well. A VUDU box will run you $299, but if you buy it before the end of the year, you get a $200 movie credit, which seems to make it worth the price of admission - especially since those who own HDTVs have such a hard time finding great content to take advantage of their screens on a consistent basis. You can get one online, or at your local Best Buy.

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