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I thought it would be fun to contrast and compare the tubes vs. solid-state debate with the analog vs. digital standoff. I'd readily concede that solid-state/transistor components are, watt for watt, cheaper, more reliable, cooler running, smaller and lighter in weight. But if solid-state is so terrific why haven't tubes become extinct in the half century since transistors came onto the scene? Maybe, just maybe, because tubes sound better?

Ultimate AV Magazine recently conducted a poll, "Do You Prefer Tube-Based or Solid-State Audio Gear?," and the results demonstrated a nearly two-to-one preference for transistors over … Read more

Christmas is about a week away, but I'm sure there are quite a few of you who've yet to even begin your shopping duties yet. I can safely (and smugly) say that I am completely done with mine.

If you've been putting off deciding which monitor to buy your chosen certain someone, today's your lucky day. If you've been wracking your brain over the difference between LCD and LED technologies, you're in even more luck.

Today I updated the Monitor Buying Guide to include exhaustive information on LED backlighting and how it relates to … Read more

Sure, it's fun to create charts and graphs and tell you how one popular product compares with another popular product (and we do and will continue to do that), but it's so much more fun to show you!

And by "fun" I mean a fracking nightmare! Seriously, recording a testing video is no easy feat (for me that is). These four-plus minutes of footage you see here were compiled from an hour and a half of (mostly useless) raw footage. Much of it included copious amounts of word-stumbling, followed by even more cursing. I learned a … Read more

As most people know by now, Barnes & Noble is releasing a new Nook Color e-reader in a few weeks, and that e-reader's color screen is an LCD. As soon as the company announced that its new e-reader had an LCD and not some sort of more exotic screen technology, some readers cried foul. In fact, the first comment out of the gate on our Barnes & Noble unveils Nook Color post was about eyestrain.

"It's very neat-looking, and the price point seems aggressive enough to make an impact for sure. That being said, is eyestrain an issue? I thought the benefit of e-ink was a combination of ease of reading, outdoor or well-lit reading, and battery life..."

A little farther down, another commenter wrote: "LCD technology for an eReader is going backwards for me. It's not that reading on an LCD is so horrible for me, but rather reading on an e-Ink display is so much more pleasing to my eyes."

Other readers came down more favorably on the side of LCD, saying they stare at a computer screen all day and it doesn't bother them. However you look at it, though, the Nook Color hasn't even hit stores yet and the debate over eyestrain is already raging. We got some of this when the iPad came out, but the discussion is more amped up because Barnes & Noble is calling the Nook Color the "reader's tablet," whereas the iPad hasn't been marketed first and foremost as an e-reader.

When we asked William Lynch, Barnes & Noble's CEO, about the potential for eyestrain with Nook Color screen, he said the company had done extensive research on displays and discovered that eyestrain with LCDs was not the huge issue many people were making it out to be. Furthermore, the company is also using a high-resolution next-generation panel from LG that's backlit with LED.

Now, it's not that I don't take Mr. Lynch at his word, but I thought I'd put in a call to an impartial third-party who might be able to shed some light on the issue. So I dialed up my ophthalmologist, Dr. Mark Hornfeld, who has a practice in Manhattan. I said, hey, Mark (yes, I call him by his first name), do any of your patients talk about reading with the iPad, Nook, and Kindle? Are people concerned about eyestrain when using these new e-readers? What's the deal?… Read more

Well, if you were wondering what product Amazon thinks is its biggest competition for the Kindle, one need look no further than the latest Kindle ad, which pits Amazon's e-reader versus the iPad...poolside.

As most people know, the iPad's one big flaw is that it doesn't do well in direct sunlight and the geeky guy in the lounger finds himself staring at his reflection as he tries to make out what's on his iPad's screen. Meanwhile, his bikini-clad neighbor has no trouble reading with her e-ink-based Kindle and points out that it only costs $… Read more

We're down a man this week, as Joey calls in with back problems--but the rest of us are on hand to discuss this week's hot topics. The hottest of which may be Apple's upcoming September 1 press event, and we all weigh in with allegedly thoughtful predictions on what new iPods and other gadgets may show up.

Then it's time for a moment of silence as we mourn the death of the ATI brand, with its corporate parent reportedly planning to tag the company's future graphics cards with the AMD brand name instead.

Among the wackier technology antics we look at this week--a collection of pottery figures inspired by the hit casual game Plants vs. Zombies, and a quick visit to a Chicago coffee shop with a pretty sweet pop culture collectible--a full-size model Delorean car from the "Back to the Future" film series.

… Read more

Just as Apple's iPod wasn't the first MP3 player, Amazon wasn't the first company on the block to release an e-book reader--NuvoMedia's RocketBook and the early Sony Readers all beat the Kindle to market. But it's hard to argue that the online retailer's Kindle isn't the iPod of the e-book reader market. The Kindle has helped usher the e-book reader from gadget curiosity to a burgeoning mass-market device, all in less than three short years.

And now, amid a much more competitive market, Amazon is debuting the third-generation Kindle.

The first thing you … Read more

Buying an iPhone 4 is sort of like a muscle twitch: It doesn't take any conscious thought. There's even a hugely popular YouTube video that skewers the default mentality around buying Apple's smartphone. But you will suffer some derision if you buy something else, that's why I'm here to give you 5 solid reasons to tell those who jeer to shove it. Nicely, of course.

Need more info to make your bold decision? Head to CNET's iPhone center.