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projector

Sega Toys helps you create your own fireworks

Here's something to consider for the next Fourth of July if you're still feeling the recessionary pinch or want to avoid the holiday throngs. Sega Toys' Uchiage Hanabi Fireworks Projector (15,540 yen; $166) brings the pyrotechnics and fiery colors right into your (preferably darkened) living room, complete with sounds but minus the cordite tang.

Powered by four AA batteries good for three hours, the device measures about 7x8x8 inches. I'd take a rain check, though, on customizing my own fireworks by drawing on the special plates, since they'll just come out looking like toxic fallout … Read more

New 'Joe Kane projector' coming soon

Last year we awarded our Editors' Choice among front projectors to the Samsung SP-A800, saying the unit "outperforms every projector in its class hands-down." Its successor, the SP-A900, is coming soon, and we expect the new model to offer even better picture quality. For well-heeled home theater enthusiasts, the new SP-A900 will likely be the new Holy Grail of projection performance.

That expectation is based on the fact that both the SP-A800 and SP-A900 were designed with significant input from video guru Joe Kane who, among other accomplishments, created the reference calibration series Digital Video Essentials, including the … Read more

Sanyo 120Hz projector a fine bargain

When most people think of a big screen HDTV, they think of something like a 50-inch plasma set, but real home theater enthusiasts know front projectors are the real way to go big. Sanyo's PLV-Z3000 is a 1080p projector, and it has a nice feature package for fine tuning picture quality, good connectivity options, and is quite inexpensive. While it's performance didn't quite match up to the Sony VPL-HW10 we reviewed last November (mostly because of inaccurate primary colors), it does cost about $600 less. Overall, Sanyo's affordable 1080p front projector has its share of flaws, but still represents a good value in its category.

Read the full review of the Sanyo PLV-Z3000.… Read more

A projector that fits in your pocket; remember not to sit on it

I'm not certain if this has truly never been accomplished before, but BenQ is claiming that its new GP1 is the world's first LED pocket projector with an integrated USB reader. According to BenQ, users will be able to run movies, slides, or whatever they want, simply by plugging a USB thumb drive in, with no need for a separate PC.

In addition, GP1 users will be able to connect digital cameras, PDAs, iPods, iPhones, smartphones, gaming consoles, and laptops for viewing projected from 10 inches up to an 80-inch diagonal size, and it will project sound through … Read more

Why Netbooks are good for Seagate

LAS VEGAS--When Acer and Asus first started pushing Netbooks, it was all about flash memory. But now, a majority of the small, Atom-powered notebooks have hard drives. And Bill Watkins, chief executive of hard drive market leader Seagate, likes it that way.

When the two Taiwanese Netbook makers first talked with Seagate about the category, they told Watkins they didn't need storage for their tiny Atom-powered, Linux-based Netbooks since they'd be used only for surfing the Web and all data would be stored in the cloud.

Just two years later it's a totally different story. Besides more … Read more

Samsung wants you to stay home, watch TV

Home theater is Samsung's game at this year's CES. Though the company did announce the new P3 touch-screen MP3 player, an inch-thick plasma TV, feature-packed Blu-ray home theater systems, and backlit LCD TVs dominated the show.

Samsung unveils P3 touch-screen MP3 player Photos: Hands-on with the Samsung P3 player Samsung's slick HT-BD7200 Blu-ray home theater system Samsung's funky Blu-ray and DVD players Samsung's PN-B850 series of plasmas get down to an inch thick Samsung HT-BD1250: 5.1-channel home theater offers Blu-ray, Netflix, Pandora Samsung HT-BD8200 home theater sound bar includes Blu-ray, Netflix, Pandora Samsung DVD-H1080: Portable-sized DVD player for the home … Read more

Sharp's new 'value' home-theater projector: The XV-Z15000

The prices for 1080p front-projectors have gradually been coming down, and Sharp thinks it has a nice proposition for consumers in its new $3,000 XV-Z15000 projector that arrives in March.

This is a DLP projector that features a single 1080p DLP 0.65" DMD chip from Texas Instruments and what Sharp is calling "an unprecedented 30,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio and high brightness in a price-competitive model."

The XV-Z15000 offers a native resolution of 1,920 x 1,080, a 24 Hz film mode, and a six-segment, six-speed color wheel. The press release adds that, &… Read more