Audio gear

Slacker Portable Radio Review

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I have a confession to make… Even though I love my iPod classic, I really don’t listen to it as much in the car as I listen to… the radio. Yes, it’s true. I find myself listening to regular FM radio way more than my iPod. The radio is on when I drive into work in the morning and again in the afternoon on my way home. Why do I prefer listening to radio? One of the main reasons is that I never know what the next song will be and I like variety and finding new artists. Over the years I’ve tried XM and Sirius satellite radios and enjoyed them, but in the end, I got tired of the ads and mediocre audio quality. Now I think I have found the perfect radio gadget for me. It’s the Slacker Portable Radio.

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HOMADE LEGO Shaped MP3 i-Player Review

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When I was a kid, I remember looking in the Sears Christmas Wish Book at LEGO sets. Unfortunately for me, I never had any of those fun building bricks. But as an adult, I’m not ashamed to say that I’ve purchased a set or two. Or three :o) Who can’t help but love them? As a huge LEGO fan, I knew that I had to review the HOMADE iPlayer MP3 player when Brando started selling them.

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Insignia NS-HD2114 DVD/CD/HD Radio Compact Shelf System

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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).

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Audioengine AW1 Premium Wireless Audio Adapter

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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.

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Samsung P2 (YP-P2) Digital Audio Player

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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.

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Zune 8GB

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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.

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DVD Stripper

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Picture Christmas Day. You and your family are sitting in the living room. Everyone is stuffed from the awesome dinner and exhausted from too many starches. Then, the little one comes over and wants you to open her brand new video. Grrr, you cannot even think about dealing with the stupid security tape and plastic wrap. Not to mention, your hands are cut from all the chopping and late night wrapping of Santa’s gifts. Here to make your life easier is Lori Power’s DVD Stripper.

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Audioengine A2 Desktop Speakers

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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.

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Apple iPod touch

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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.

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Apple iPod nano “Fatty”

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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.

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Apple iPod classic

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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.

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Altec Lansing T515 Wireless Speaker / Headset System

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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.

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Pioneer inno Portable XM Radio

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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.

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XtremeMac XtremeHD 4 To 1 HDMI Switcher

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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.

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XtremeMac Luna iPod Alarm Clock

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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.

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Insignia NS-DVB4G Video MP3 Player

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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…

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Mvix MX-760HD Wireless HD Media Center

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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.

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