Let’s face it, the constant evolution of technology has spoiled us. We, as consumers, crave electronics that have everything, yet are small enough to be inconspicuous when not in use. The people at Insignia have created a shelf stereo system with numerous features designed to please, yet small enough to not require a lot of space. For those of you not familiar with Insignia, it is the brand sold exclusively at Best Buy. Today I review their 75W DVD/CD/HD Radio Compact Shelf System with USB Port (Model: NS-HD2114).
What is the worst thing about setting up a stereo speaker system? In my opinion, it’s running all the necessary wires. I always said that if I ever build a new house, that it will have speaker wiring pre-installed in all the walls. But for an existing house without this feature, what do you do to get around this issue? You can either buy a wireless speaker system, or you can check out a wireless audio adapter like the one I’m going to tell you about today from Audioengine. The AW1 Premium Wireless Audio Adapter is designed for Audioengine’s A5 speaker system (my current favorite speakers), but will work with any other speakers just fine.
I have been a Mac-guy for over a decade and have owned an iPod since the beginning.
I am currently using an iPod Touch and I take it with me everywhere I go. But
being the gadget-junkie that I am, I was getting a bit bored with my current
lot of tech-toys. So, I started looking into other portable music/video players
to play with. The Samsung
P2 looked like a worthy candidate; it had several features the Touch did
not, a nice form-factor, and it had received rave reviews. I read many reviews
praising the P2 as a less costly (some even said better) alternative to the
Touch. However, those reviews were definitely coming from the perspective of
Windows users. This review will be coming from a Mac/iPod user’s viewpoint.
I got into the MP3 player market a little late. I was in high school during the early years of the
digital music revolution, so I couldn’t really afford the players of the time. My very first foray
into MP3 hardware was with a very, very poorly made RCA MP3-CD player. I upgraded from that to a
Creative Muvo2 with the microdrive ripped out and a 512MB CompactFlash card installed. I never used
it much, because the interface was clunky and annoying to use.
Toshiba isn’t normally a brand name that comes to mind when a conversation about portable media players takes place. Today I’m going to take you on a tour of two of their gigabeat players, the T and U-Series portable media players.
Earlier this year, Audioengine was
kind enough to send me a pair of their wonderful
A5
speakers to review. These speakers have turned out to be a favorite of mine
and still occupy space on my desk at Gadgeteer headquarters. Now Audioengine
have created another set of speakers for people that don’t want to devote as
much desktop space and money in order to own a great sounding pair of speakers.
The A2′s work great with both PCs, Macs and other audio devices. Let’s take a
closer look.
Apple has been particularly
busy these past few months. We’ve seen updated aluminum iMacs, the new
iPod classic,
new iPod nano
fatty and of course, we can’t forget the mega hyped
iPhone. Redefining
both mobile phones and digital media players, the iPhone has made a definite
dent in tech history. Now we have the iPod touch. This device takes all the
music and video related features that have made the iPhone so popular, and made
them available to people that don’t want to switch carriers or phones.
Of the three updated iPods that Apple recently announced, I would have to say that the updates to the nano have caused me more excitement than the 160GB classic and the touch screen enabled iPod touch. To date, the nano has been Apple’s smallest audio player with a color display. But now it’s evolved into a video player as well. Dubbed the ‘fatty’, the new nano is anything but pudgy. It’s as thin as ever, but now has a wide display capable of showing your favorite videos and movies.
The globally popular Apple iPod video has been updated with a new face, a new interface, higher storage capacity and even a new name. It’s now called the iPod classic, which may sound like a name that would be given to a low end model, but this isn’t the case with the new iPod classic. This
classic may not be tiny like the new “fatty” nano, or have a touch screen like the new iPod touch. But neither of those devices are available in capacities of 80 or 160GB, enabling you can carry your entire music and video library with you in your pocket. Today I’m going to tell you about the 160GB version of this device.
Mobile phones aren’t just for placing calls these days. They have become full blown digital audio players for a lot of people. Heck, the advertising for the LG Chocolate phones is pretty much based on that very feature alone. Altec Lansing’s T515 portable wireless speaker system is now available for those of you with mobile phones that have Bluetooth (it must have the A2DP profile though…) and music playing capabilities.
When you think of satellite radio, you probably think of car audio. But your car isn’t the only place to listen to XM and Sirius. Although portable satellite receivers have been around for a few years, recent models have matured considerably compared to some of their predecessors. In this review, we’ll be covering the Pioneer Inno, XM’s top of the line portable receiver.
I have had a huge 65″ Mitsubishi RPTV (rear projection television) for several years now. I love having such a large screen, but having to pull it out when I need to connect various devices to the inputs on the back panel is a real chore. Then there’s the fact that this TV’s best input is DVI, of which there is only 1. When I recently saw XtremeMac’s XtremeHD 4 to 1 HDMI Switcher, I knew I had to get one for my home theater setup.
At the end of last year, I reviewed the iH5 iPod Clock by iHome. I liked it well enough, but it left me wanting more. The latest iPod alarm clock to grace my night stand is XtremeMac’s Luna. If you’re wondering if the iH5 that was next to my bed before, has now been banished to my shelf of discarded gadgets, you’ll need to keep reading to find the answer.
At the end of 2006, I had the opportunity to review 2 digital audio players from Best Buy’s house brand of products: Insignia. I really liked both of these players and was happy when I was asked if I was interested in taking a look at their latest version of the NS-DV video player. Let’s see what has changed…
The gluttony of digital audio players available to consumers in today’s market is mind-blowing. Audio playing gadgets are being produced in every shape, style and color imaginable, and some that are beyond my imagination. So it can be difficult to find the right one for you.
Last Spring, I had the opportunity to review the MV-5000U Multimedia Player from Mvix. Except for a couple issues like a noisy fan and no networking features, I really liked this device. It is one year later and we now have the MX-760HD. This unit addresses all of the complaints that I had with the first generation device and goes even further to add a few major enhancements.
I’m a big fan of USB gadgets. From the whimsical to the practical, I find them all fascinating. When I saw that Elgato condensed one of their EyeTV tuners into a USB dongle, I began to daydream of watching live network TV while sitting in a coffee shop or in a laundromat. “Never again will I miss an important football game!” I thought to myself while handing over my credit card.
The Apple iPod nano has received an extreme
makeover. Not that it really needed one though… The
1st generation iPod
nano which was released approximately 1 year before the 2nd gen nano, looked
like a baby version of the full sized player. This new version looks more like
an anorexic version of the discontinued iPod mini. Are the changes all cosmetic,
are are there some other new bits under the hood of this very popular DAP
(digital audio player)? Let’s take a closer look.
You can clip the new
iPod shuffle to your shirt, but would you rather wear your MP3 player on your wrist? Don’t really care? What if it could record audio and play video too? Do I have your interest now? Then you’ll want to read this review on the MP4 Watch from Brando.
People reading this site are no doubt well aware of my love for all things iPod. I’ve been a fan for years now, and have eight of them (various models) strewn around my house in drawers and gear bags. Although I’ve tested many other brands of digital audio players, I always come back to the iPod as my favorite. Today I’m going to tell you about the Insignia NS-DV2G and NS-DA1G players from Best Buy. These are great alternatives… dare I say that they might even be a better choice than the iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle!
