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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Lethal Weapon Collection on Blu-ray
David Vaughn  |  Sep 24, 2012
The buddy movie has been a staple in Hollywood going back to the days of Abbott and Costello. The 1980s revived it with films such as 48 Hours and Lethal Weapon, and there have been quite a few copycats over the years that have made their mark. Like most successful films, sequels are a surety, and this is where the Mel Gibson–fueled franchise proved its worth with nearly $500 million in box-office receipts for the four films.
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Other TechAudio Video News
UltraViolet: Building a Movie Library in the Cloud
Bob Ankosko  |  Sep 24, 2012
I half expected an ordeal as I walked into Walmart carrying a small shopping bag with several movies, ready to take the new Disc-to-Digital service for a spin. I was directed to the electronics department where I was greeted by a large placard that read: “Access your movie collection. Any time. Any place. 3 Easy Steps...” Offered in Walmart stores across the country, the service is operated through the chain’s online streaming service, Vudu, and is intended to provide an easy way to set up a cloud-based digital movie library with DVDs and Blu-ray Discs you already own.
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New Products
New Gear: Oppo BDP-103 and BDP-105 Universal Disc Players
Michael Berk  |  Sep 24, 2012

It's no secret that we're big fans of Oppo's line of universal players; in fact, we suggested last year that the company's BDP-93 would likely be the last disc player you'd ever need to buy.

Well, we were wrong. The just-announced BDP-103 ($499) and BDP-105 ($1,199) replace the BDP-93 and 95, and add enough new features to the enticing Oppo package that we just might have to rethink our position.

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Track One
Peter Gabriel, Sonic Sledgehammer
Mike Mettler  |  Sep 24, 2012

When live sound is as good as it was at Peter Gabriel’s show at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on September 21, I felt like I had to pinch myself to believe it. I mean, was I really hearing what I was hearing?

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Out Of The Blu
Chico & Rita, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns - Part 1
Chris Chiarella  |  Sep 21, 2012
The rhythms may be familiar but you've never seen anything like Chico and Rita, while a crazy nanny goes high-def, and The Caped Crusader's monumental conclusion begins.
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Tech2
A Form Letter for Tech Correspondence
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Sep 21, 2012

One of my favorite authors, Robert Heinlein, had a form letter he sent to fans. To save time, it had all the possible options for correspondence, and he’d check the applicable boxes.

Being considerably less talented — and marginally less grumpy (arguable) — I figured this would be a fantastic way to deal with the 100+ emails I get each day.

So for all my tech journalist friends/colleagues/enemies, and for all my future fans/haters/curious minds, here is the eminently useful, infinitely adaptable, largely offensive, Form Letter for Tech Correspondence.

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Audio Video NewsNew Products
New Gear: Phorus Play-Fi Wireless Music System
Michael Berk  |  Sep 20, 2012

Another day, another dock - but wait. There's no dock on the new Phorus PS1 ($199). It's just a shelf. And the little Phorus PR1 ($149). That's no dock either. . .

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Portable Player Reviews
New Gear: HTC 8x - An Audiophile Phone, at Last?
Michael Berk  |  Sep 20, 2012

While we are big fans of the small companies who've stepped up in recent years to build ever-better headphone amps for use on the go, there are times we would prefer to carry a single device.

Does HTC have us covered?

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New Products
New Gear: Roku Streaming Stick
 |  Sep 20, 2012

Yesterday S+V got a peek at the long-awaited new Streaming Stick from Roku - and it turns out to be a lot more than just a Roku 2 XS in a tiny package.

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Surround Sound System ReviewsHome Theater Systems ReviewsSubwoofer ReviewsTower Speaker ReviewsWireless Multiroom Speaker Reviews
Aperion Intimus 4T Summit Home Theater System
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Sep 20, 2012
Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
Price: $3,499 At A Glance: Automatic speaker discovery and channel assignment • Uncompressed 24-bit wireless digital audio • No AVR needed

Not long ago, FedEx deposited a 7.1channel HTIB from Aperion Audio outside my door. It’s not really fair to call it a home theater in a box because the system actually comes in seven boxes and sells for $3,499. But since it includes source switching and amplification, it technically qualifies as an HTIB, albeit a rather unusual one. Aperion Audio prefers the term preconfigured home theater system. Normally, setting up this sort of home theater package would entail speaker wires crisscrossing the floor accompanied by the requisite grumbling, stripping of wires, and fumbling with speaker terminals. In this case, though, the Aperion speakers—a pair of towers, a center channel, a subwoofer, and two pair of satellite speakers—come out of their boxes, get placed in their appropriate spots in the room, have each one’s power cord plugged into the nearest AC outlet…and that’s it.

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