So you finally went out and bought a high-definition TV. Congratulations - you've joined a growing community of people who've switched to the new digital technology.
RCA Still playing your CDs and your DVDs on two separate machines? The RCA DRC510N changer is here to simplify things for a price that's a no-brainer. Shuffling between five discs, the changer can play CDs loaded with MP3, Windows Media Audio (WMA), or mp3PRO files as well as all recordable DVD formats except DVD-RAM.
Thiel ViewPoint
Here's the solution for all of you flat-screen lovers out there who don't know what to do about the accompanying loudspeakers. Thiel's ViewPoint loudspeaker is designed to integrate with your wall-mounted flat panel. The ViewPoint combines a coaxial and coplanar driver with a 90-degree radiation pattern for a sound that covers the room. The loudspeaker features a 6.5-inch woofer and the same 1-inch tweeter that Thiel uses in their flagship CS7.2. The ViewPoint measures 8 inches wide by 5 deep with a built-to-order height. It sells for $1,990 and weighs 18 pounds.
Thiel
(859) 254-9427 www.thielaudio.com
DVD: National Lampoon's Senior Trip—New Line
Video: 2
Audio: 2
Extras: 1
The longest road trip you've ever taken won't feel so bad after sitting through this 90-minute "high schoolers-hit-the-road" piece of dreck. The jokes aren't funny, every character is an overdrawn cliché, and there's absolutely no one to hold our interest, let alone root for.
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is celebrating the official July 1 launch of the national "plug-and-play" digital cable standard, one that will deliver digital and high-definition television (HDTV) via cable for the first time without the need for a cable set-top box.
Jack Valenti has officially announced the end of his tenure as president of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). The silver-haired 82-year-old pitchman carved his niche in entertainment industry history as the originator of the movie rating system. He also fought hard against the VCR, a device he likened to "the Boston Strangler." In recent years, Valenti concentrated on a campaign against piracy—not only the wholesale industrial variety, but against small scale copying by movie fans for personal use, an effort that has not endeared him to the civil libertarian element among home entertainment enthusiasts.
Peter Putman reviews the <A HREF="/directviewandptvtelevisions/604mits">Mitsubishi PD-5030 & HD-5000 plasma monitor & HDTV receiver controller</A>, noting that this product "represents the company's long-awaited step into flat-panel-TVs."
Score one for Matsushita Electric Industrial Company. On July 1, Panasonic's parent organization became the first manufacturer to deliver a large-capacity high-definition DVD recorder—just in time for the Athens Olympic Games next month.
<I>Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany. Directed by Peter Weir. Aspect ratio: 2.40:1 (anamorphic). DTS (English), Dolby Digital 5.1 (English, French), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround (Spanish). Two discs. 138 minutes. 2003. 20th Century Fox Home Video. PG-13. $39.98.</I>
Mitsubishi's PD-5030 Diamond-series 50-inch-diagonal plasma monitor represents the company's long-awaited step into flat-panel TVs, ostensibly to expand their product line beyond the CRT rear-projection sets that for years have been their hallmark. Mitsubishi also makes 61- and 42-inch plasmas, and even a few LCD sets in smaller sizes.