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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Boyz N The Hood
David Vaughn  |  Jul 24, 2011

South central Los Angeles wasn't an ideal neighborhood to come of age in the early 1990s given the rampant drug problems and gang violence. John Singleton's debut as a director captures the scene perfectly, following the lives of Doughboy (Ice Cube), Chris (Redge Green), Ricky (Morris Chestnut), and Tre (Cuba Gooding Jr.) as they try and navigate the mean streets of the 'hood.

Even 20 years after its powerful debut, Boyz n The Hood is one of the most realistic depictions of urban life in America. It portrays the hazards that inner-city youth constantly battle—poverty, rampant drug and alcohol use, broken families, and gang violence. Each of the main characters face their own personal struggles, and Lawrence Fishburne delivers a career-defining performance as Furious, Tre's wise father who dishes out advice on life and survival.

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Vote
What Is Your Next Home Theater Purchase?
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jul 22, 2011
HomeTheater.com is all about helping you select the best audio/video components for your needs and budget and then setting up those components so they look and sound as good as they possibly can. This naturally leads me to wonder what our readers are shopping for.

So I ask you—what is your next home-theater purchase? A new flat panel or projector? A Blu-ray player? Part of the audio system? Or are you planning to jump in with both feet and get an entire home-theater system all at once? Once you vote, I'd love to read more details. What makes and models are you considering? Will the new component be 3D-capable? Will it offer online streaming? What components do you already have?

Vote to see the results and leave a comment about your choice.

What Is Your Next Home Theater Purchase?
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TV ReviewsLCD TV Reviews
Samsung UN55D8000YF 3D LED LCD HDTV
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jul 22, 2011
Price: $3,600 At A Glance: Superb resolution • Precise color • Bright, ghost-free 3D • Non-uniform screen lighting

Thin, Dark, and Handsome

Thin was in last year, and the trend continues without an end in sight. Manufacturers aren’t likely to quit the race until they have HDTVs you can use for wallpaper.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Blu-ray Review: Beauty and the Beast (1946)
Josef Krebs  |  Jul 22, 2011

La Belle et la Bête, Jean Cocteau’s modernist and poetic interpretation of Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont’s story, is full of symbol and metaphor but uses the simplest cinematic tricks to enchant and deceive. And now, it continues to work its magic on Blu-ray.

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Ask S&V
Tube Amp Warmth
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jul 22, 2011
I've been reading about tube amps and the warmth of the sound they produce. Will a tube amp work with an A/V receiver if there is a digital amp already in the receiver? It seems to me that it wouldn't because the sound has already gone through a digital amp and you can't get back to the original quality.

Bob Spencer

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Tech2
Video Games vs Computer Games
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Jul 22, 2011

Call me purist. Call me curmudgeon.

For most, the terms "video game" and "computer game" are interchangeable. I disagree, and my complaint is more than just semantics.

You see, the difference is a simple one: video games are dumb.

That in itself isn't a bad thing. The problem is, they're making computer games dumber as well.

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Audio Video News
UAV & HTD Now Merged With HomeTheater.com
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jul 21, 2011
If you tried to visit UltimateAVmag.com or HomeTheaterDesignMag.com and ended up here on HomeTheater.com, it's not a glitch in your system or a mysterious malfunction of the Internet—it's by design. We have integrated UAV and HTD into our flagship site in order to create the Web's most comprehensive resource for those seeking practical, real-world information about what to buy, how to shop, how things work, and how to get the most from all the products that make home theater so entertaining.
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Audio Video NewsMusic Reviews
My mom killed Borders (and maybe music too)
Leslie Shapiro  |  Jul 21, 2011

Sad news in the headlines this week. We all mourn the passing of Borders Books, not just one of the last megabooksellers, but one of the last that also sold music. Who’s to blame? I blame my mom.

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Signals
Android on Wheels
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Jul 21, 2011

Attention all you iPhone weenies: Brace yourself for a dose of reality.

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Tower Speaker Reviews
Vienna Acoustics Beethoven Baby Grand Speaker System
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 20, 2011
Price: $11,250 At A Glance: Silky-smooth sonics • Refined, furniture-grade cabinetry • Depth-charge deep bass

Videophile Ready

Show Vienna Acoustics’ living-room-friendly Beethoven Baby Grand system to your hesitant significant other, and you might get the long-awaited nod you’ve been looking for. This is a speaker system an interior-design-conscious, non–audio enthusiast can make peace with.

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