Podcast #419: Dell Inspiron Zino HD

By now you know that Ara has built himself a nice HTPC out of a Mac Mini. We've received a bunch of email asking us to define a similar system using a PC. There far more options using a PC than a Mac and they come in all shapes and sizes. Ara touted size and quiet operation as a major factor in his love of the Mac Mini. So when we saw that Dell had a box that was roughly the same size as a Mac Mini we ordered one and put it through its paces. The Dell Inspiron Zino HD we bought cost $747, about $150 more than the Mac Mini. The Dell comes with something you can't get on a Mac, a Blu-ray drive.

Click to read more ...

Blu Ray Top Ten Countdown 03-29-2010

Our Semi Monthly countdown of the top ten Blu Ray titles as measured by Amazon.com. Today's show is based on sales as of Friday March 26th.

Click to read more ...

Podcast #418: Front Projector Technologies

We have to admit, we got a little giddy when we got an email from Jason asking us to go over the various technology options available for front projector home theaters.  With rear projection television fading into the sunset, we don't often get the opportunity to talk about the various merits of LCD, DLP, and LCoS projection technologies anymore.  It'll be like the good old days.

Click to read more ...

Podcast #417: ZVOX 575 Single-Cabinet Surround Sound System

We understand that many of our listeners don't have the space for a full blown home theater system. However, those same listeners don't necessarily want to listen to their movies through the TVs tiny speakers. For them a single unit solution is what the doctor ordered. The ZVOX 575 (Buy Now $699) is such a system that takes all of 10 minutes to un-box and start enjoying fuller richer sound from your home theater.

Click to read more ...

Blu Ray Top Ten Countdown

Our Semi Monthly countdown of the top ten Blu Ray titles as measured by Amazon.com. Today's show is based on sales as of Friday February 26th. 

Click to read more ...

Podcast #416: Cryptography, DRM and You

We talk about DRM quite often.  Technically it stands for Digital Rights Management, but we did have a listener recommend we try to change that to Digitally Restricted Media.  The point of DRM is to protect digital media files from piracy.  The actual result of DRM is a lot of frustration for those who just want to watch movies and listen to music.

Click to read more ...