Last spring I reviewed Epson’s PowerLite Home Cinema 1080 and looking back on that earlier review I was impressed with the quality and price point ($2999) of that unit.

This year Epson sent me the new version, the Home Cinema 1080UB. UB stands for Ultra Black and this projector is also priced at $2999. So the question one would ask is: how much of an improvement (if any) is this model over last year’s model?
Epson is the biggest manufactures of HD projectors, so it’s not for nothing that Epson is the big boy on the block. It makes sense; Epson also makes the LCD panels for their own projectors. That gives them a leg up over Sanyo, Mitsubishi and Panasonic because those guys all use Epson LCD panels in their projectors.

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Is the medium really the message? First, I had a VHS camcorder, then an S-VHS camcorder and in the early nineties I did a lot of recording on the Hi-8 format. After that I went digital with DV tapes. All of those were messages, right? Messages from the past to the future. Deep stuff. So recently I stumbled across a box with some of my old tapes and I thought it would be cool to save them. I would imagine that many of us have old family videos of vacations or birthday or other special events. So, what is the best way to save them? The general consensus is that burning them on to a DVD disc is the way to go. The challenge is to find the easiest way to do it.

A good choice is the Sony DVDirect VRD-MC5 next generation multi-function recorder. The MC5 transfers AVCHD quality videos to DVD discs in their native 1080i resolution. But, it can also transfer standard–definition videos, depending on your video equipment (VCR, camcorder etc) and there are many things you can do. While it’s true that Sony being Sony, they usually like to work within their own proprietary product family, with the MC5, Sony has relaxed a little and made this burner compatible with most other products.
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It’s that time of year when those of a certain age are heading off to school. It’s a middle step in life, not moving into apartments or houses but into dorms, frat houses and various off and on-campus residences. For a lot of you, it’s your first time away from home for an extended period of time. I don’t think I would be going out on a limb by assuming that both money and space are going to be scarce. If this is the question you ask yourself, “how can I get my HD situation together?” then this round-up is for you. Prices have dropped and options have expanded to the point where more solutions are within reach. This info should help you make the right choice, while bringing you up-to-date about the HD marketplace.
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How many pictures are stored in your cell phone? It’s a rhetorical question, but I can speculate that there are a bunch. Camera phones aren’t new, but until recently the picture quality, well for lack of a better description, sucked. Three years ago I took a picture of Bill Cosby and not one single person who I showed it to could tell it was him.

Still, I do take pictures with my camera phone and I have been searching for a better solution. I tried posting the photos on the phone company’s site, but that required me to have to go to their web address to view them. One day, I went to see my pictures and they were gone, timed out. Next, I tried emailing them to myself (and others) and while that worked, I was paying the phone company for the privilege of sending myself an email of pictures to store or print. Of course the photos sucked anyway, so why even bother?
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The nifty little Zonbu is definitely a new and interesting concept in the world of computing. The $99 hunk of plastic is a non-upgradeable PC built around Gentoo Linux that runs on a 1.2-GHz Via main board with a skimpy 512 MB of RAM, integrated graphics and a 4 GB flash card (included). The Zonbu is the “greenest” desktop computer yet, and has met the highest “gold” EPEAT rating from the non-profit Green Electronics Council. Better still, the Zonbu is billed as carbon neutral. But is it suckage neutral?

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The Mondo Mint DMS300 (Digital Music System) is a very attractive, glossy, piano-white iPod docking stereo system with wood finished speakers. The system consists of four parts: a set of speakers, an amplifier with iPod docking station and a separate stand-alone iPod dock transmitter. The bookshelf speakers have soft dome, one-inch neodymium textile Peerless tweeters and a four-inch aluminum cone woofer. The Mondo speakers are rated at 70 watts per channel. If you’d prefer to use your own speakers, the Mondo can work with speakers in 4, 6 or 8 ohm configurations.
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I’m willing to bet that everyone reading CrunchGear has a digital camera. Delicate little things that they are, they don’t take kindly to abuse. In fact, I’d even bet a bunch of youz (err you) guys have abused some of these poor little fellers. The Olympus Stylus 770SW is made with the active person in mind and will serve you heavy-handed Cruncher’s quite well.
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The methods by which we receive audio content just keep on expanding. In fact, there are so many ways to get free music and Podcasts it’s hard to keep up. And, if you think about it, it’s a wonder that any service that charges for content will be able to keep its head above water.

One of the free categories bubbling up is internet radio which gives you incredible flexibility and some interesting tools. Let’s say, you’re going on a trip to Poland, like my editor Biggs. You can tune in and listen to the local radio, find out about the weather, traffic and even political issues. You can receive all the information that any local resident can get, and that makes the world a smaller place. Yes I know, this is already available to anyone with a computer, but that isn’t too convenient or very portable. I think that’s a significant reason why it’s been overlooked by many.
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Finally, summer is here and it’s your chance to bolt for vacation. You’ve rented a summer place and it’s a beautiful thing. We could talk about video game systems and air conditioners, but screw that! You’re off the leash and you know what? This is your life, and you’re going to have fun playing outdoors all summer long. Since summer rentals only last about 3 months, you are certainly not going to make any capital improvements on someone else’s house.
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We all spend too much time in our cars and a summer drive can turn into a nightmare with the right mix of traffic, heat, and gas prices. There are industries built around making our in-car time more productive and enjoyable. The degree to which they’ve been successful is debatable. There is something to the argument that every solution creates another problem. For example’ we all want to avoid traffic but can we? Consider this, if everyone had the real-time information about a traffic jam in one location, then everyone who has that information would choose an alternate route. At that point all those vehicles move to this new route, most likely causing another jam.

When new car models come out later this year, the tech in cars will really start to percolate. Some new models will have Microsoft’s Auto operating system. This voice activated system will enable you to control your MP3 player and iPod with voice commands. Then, by next year you can use this application to download your emails and have them read to you. But what does this have to do with summer driving?
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This is not the Curve

I admit it: I’m a Crackberry addict, er, guy. There’s a reason why the BlackBerry has sold so many units. The BlackBerry device by Research in Motion (RIM) is a great portable email device. Initially, the BlackBerry’s popularity started with government and finance communities, but over the years its spread to the more casual email addicts.

The earlier Blackberry (RIM 957) was a stodgy looking unit with email functions only. After a few years RIM combined phone service with the BlackBerry. That BlackBerry looked like a frozen waffle. The waffles weren’t good phones. But, even the lousy phone didn’t stop the RIM’s growth. Then, last year, things changed, RIM came out with the BlackBerry Pearl and the Pearl has some very cool features. The Pearl has a camera, media player, MP3/video, microSD card slot for extra memory, voice dialing and GPS ready map.
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The Epson R380 is an Ultra Hi-Definition photo printer that relies on some of the same technologies used by professional photo printers. The R380s is the mid-range in Epson’s HD photo printer line with the R260 on the lower end and the RX580 at the top of the line.

Slightly less than 16 pounds, the R380 is approximately 18 inches wide, 21 inches deep and just over 11 inches high and has the foot print of a bulkier scanner /rinter. In fact, it looks like an all-in-one printer/scanner/copier. It uses 6-color cartridges that are accessible from the top and it has a bright LCD and a 5-in-1 card reader. These features may account for the bulky design. There is only one paper feed input and that is on top. The paper feed tray holds about 120 sheets of regular paper or 20 sheets of photo paper.

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In the simplest terms the iLoad by Wingspan transfers your CDs onto your iPod without using a computer. No computer, no iTunes, nada, zippo, nothing. Potentially it’s a useful product that addresses a need of those who want an iPod and don’t want to use or aren’t comfortable using a computer. When you think of it, who won’t want to load their CDs directly onto their iPod, bypassing the computers? This obviously presumes you still own CDs.
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The George by Chestnut Hill Sound is one of the more ambitious entries into the iPod accessory field. With the iPod dock on top of the unit, the George is similar in size to the I-Sonic or Bose Wave but it is especially for iPods. The white audio system weighs 10 pounds and has four internal speakers and a subwoofer. It features a faceplate that comes off and becomes the remote control. Besides being an iPod dock, it’s also an AM/FM radio with 24 presets, 6 per page and has a built-in amplifier, internal speakers and downward firing subwoofer. There are the obligatory bass and treble settings with adjustable crossover points for sound modifications in different types of rooms.
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Give a little get a little” is an appropriate description of the SkyFi3. Seems to me that Delphi’s initial thought was to provide XM in the car, and then they expanded that role. Similar to Pioneer’s Inno and Samsung’s Helix, the SkyFi3 performs many of the same functions as these more expensive units. XM satellite radio is robust in its line-up with over 170 channels of music, talk, comedy, sports, traffic and weather. The traffic coverage is provided by Nav Traffic and is available in over 50 cities and growing. Frankly, I found it to be very helpful.

All grown up, the SkyFi3 multi-tasks by moving from the car to home to boom box to portable satellite radio, There is a new feature: an expansion microSD slot to add your own MP3 tunes. The size of a big MP3 player (4.4×2.25×0.7 inches) the SkyFi3 is surprisingly light and has a 2.8 inch monochrome screenThe screen can be shown either vertically or horizontally with the press of a button.
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I’m not exactly flipping my lid here, but Toilet Tattoos isn’t just potty talk. In my bathroom the lid is always up and it drives my girlfriend crazy. The toilet lid is not exactly a place where I expected to see art but hey, why not? Toilet Tattoos come in different styles and themes, including a line for potty training (just a little late for me).
They are hygienic, removable and a reusable decorative appliqué’. No adhesives, they’re made from vinyl film so it’s easy to clean and apply. Toilet Tattoos is a crowning of the throne while at the same time giving me a reason to keep the lid down.

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Smaller, lighter, better, is the mantra for the new category of ultra portable multi-function GPS devices. While portable GPS systems aren’t new, manufacturers are expanding the category by cramming in new features. Fujitsu Siemens Pocket LOOX N100 certainly fits that bill, if only somewhat. The difficulty is providing a feature-set that appeals to a broad audience and a user interface that works well.
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War creates all kinds of new weapons but this isn’t one of them — it’s just the scariest lawn care product I’ve ever seen. The MOW-AERATOR is a manly thing of beauty, strong 1/8 inch cold rolled steel made into sets of 1.5-inch spikes. It attaches to the rear tires of your lawn mover for great traction and aeration. Makes sense to me, I see how it would work but I wonder about liability. Just putting these spikes on your lawnmower tires seems tricky and dangerous. Now get out of my way and tie up the dog. I got mowing to do.

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For years, we have all dreamed of kitchen appliances we could talk to. “Stove, make me some chicken. Microwave, popcorn please.” But what about a tiny device that keeps the whole family on their toes by offering a central message pad and shopping list for the whole gang?

The SmartShopper SS-101 helps you create a shopping list that’s completely error proof. In the simplest terms, the SmartShopper is a device to organize your shopping list. It records your voice, puts together your shopping list and prints it out.
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Epson, one of the big boys in the projector business, loaned me the PowerLite Home Cinema 1080 for a test drive. The Home Cinema is the first 1080p, three-LCD projector priced less than $3,000 ($2,999). That price, in itself is a big deal considering that just three years ago you would be paying more than $30,000 for a 1080p projector. Besides the price, Epson didn’t cut any corners on the PowerLite Cinema.
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Looking at a device like Seagate’s FreeAgent Go 160 GB makes the average user yawn. Storage? 160GB? Feh. Boring.

But Seagate has some tricks up its sleeve. In affect, the FreeAgent Go is your computer’s environment and personality in the palm of your hand. It’s a storage product that’s focused on always traveling, location-moving, iPod-toting, digital-camera-snapping, video-taping folks. Generally, it’s a device made just for us geeks.
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My, what a big zoom you have.

The box said 18x wide angle zoom lens. Being a zoom kinda guy, it was love at first sight. The Olympus SP-550UZ is the very first wide 18x optical zoom (28mm to 504mm) ranging from real wide-angle to long telephoto and is without a doubt awesome. In fact it’s amazing; 28mm is wider than any compact on the market and at 504mm brings you closer than any of its competitors, without a doubt, period.
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