We've added five products to The List this month. The Sony and HP rear projectors in this issue are both highly recommendable. The Qsonix Digital Music System, while pricey, is so distinctive and lovable that we had to include it despite its being a work in progress (at least it's upgradable). Garmin's nüvi Digital Travel Assistant is also expensive but beautifully executed.
"Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman)" was my favorite track on Led Zeppelin II. Maybe it was just teenage hormones, but the way the song took off like a shot appealed to me. Like you could OUTRACE society. And I've always been about playing outside society.
The maker of the world's most deliriously successful music player offers these words of advice: "If you expose your ears to excessive sound pressure, you can harm those small hair cells in your ears." Whether this has anything to do with the class-action lawsuit filed in Louisiana alleging hearing damage from iPods is, of course, just so much irresponsible speculation. According to my colleagues at Stereophile, a recent poll indicates hearing loss among the young is a real problem. What is certain is that Apple has announced a firmware upgrade that sets a top volume level deemed safe with Apple's supplied iPod earbuds and other products with similar sensitivity ratings.
You've gotta wonder what Freud would say about all these TV makers trying to outdo each other with the biggest screen. Then again, you also have to admit that an 80-inch plasma TV is never just an 80-inch plasma TV - not when it's the biggest you can get. Taking plasma into the 80s is the (holy crap!) $150,000 Samsung HP-R8082, whose screen has 1,920 x 1,080 pixels.
Sure, the Onkyo CS-V720 minisystem ($400) is willing and able to serve as a DVD/CD player, but this sleek little number doesn't merely spin discs. It's also XM radio-ready, which means that when you get an XM Connect & Play antenna ($20) and a subscription to the satellite service ($12.95 a month), 160 channels of music, sports, news, and more will be at your fingertips.
It's directed by Steven Soderbergh, whose credits include everything from Sex, Lies, and Videotape to Traffic, Erin Brockovich, and Ocean's Eleven. It's scored by Robert Pollard, the former Guided by Voices leader, composing his first film music.
By now, LCD technology has all but taken over the small-screen TV category. You can still buy a small traditional tube set, but most folks looking for a TV to stick in a bedroom or kids' play area will find LCD more appealing. The main reason, of course, is the space-saving flat-panel screen.
