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Accessory Reviews
Universal Remote Control KP-900 Universal Remote Control
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Jan 26, 2009
Price: $599 At A Glance: Can control URC lighting dimmers wirelessly • Wall mountable • Uses AAA batteries

Looks Good and Feels Good

At first glance, you might wonder why the diminutive KP-900 from Universal Remote Control (there’s no doubt about what that company does, is there?) warrants a $599 price tag. It’s about 2 inches shorter than the average paperback book and maybe half as thick. The relatively large buttons are backlit, but there aren’t that many of them. Also, although you can adjust the LCD screen’s backlight color and brightness, the screen can’t display any of the nice graphics and logos that other remotes can. By the way, did I mention that the KP-900 doesn’t have a touchscreen, either?

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Accessory Reviews
Universal Electronics NevoS70 Universal Remote Control
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Jan 26, 2009
Price: $1,199 At A Glance: No motion sensing • Great form factor • Z-Wave and Wi-Fi communication

To Have and to Hold

To say I’ve found and fallen in love with the perfect universal remote control wouldn’t be 100-percent correct. After all, the NevoS70 certainly has its flaws. But then so do I, and yet my wife loves me anyway. In the case of Universal Electronics’ NevoS70, there are so many good features, it’s hard to remember any that might not be so good. First and foremost, the NevoS70’s shape is a great fit for the average person’s hand (a.k.a. my hand). Because of the way the back of the remote control’s case curves and where the unit’s center of gravity is located, the most comfortable and natural way to hold the remote puts the most-used keys (volume, channel, and directional keypad) within easy reach of your thumb. From there, it’s not much of a stretch to reach the touchscreen. A small scroll wheel for navigation is mounted on the right side of the remote (I’m sure not coincidentally), which is exactly where your thumb rests when it’s not pressing the keys on the front. Should you need or want it, the right side of the remote’s casing also stores a standard PDA-type stylus.

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Accessory Reviews
RTI T4 Universal System Controller
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Jan 26, 2009
Price: $2,499 At A Glance: 6.4-inch diagonal color touchscreen • Motion sensor • Built-in IR, RF, and Wi-Fi • Kicks all other remotes controls’ butts

My Remote Can Beat Up Your Remote

If you like car analogies (I don’t, but I’ll use one here anyway), RTI’s T4 is the Hummer of universal remote controls. At a little more than 9 by 6 inches (not to mention over 2.5 inches thick), it’s a monster that will dwarf nearly everything else sitting on your coffee table. It weighs 2 pounds. It sports an LCD touchscreen that by itself is larger than most other remote controls. At this point, you’re probably thinking that the prime consumer demographic for the T4 is the guy who feels the need to make up for some, shall we say, inadequacy in his personal life.

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Audio Video News
Tru2way Not Quite Ready for Prime Time
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 26, 2009
Are you ready for the second generation of digital cable readiness? Cable operators are saying yes and TV makers are saying no.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Pride and Glory—New Line (Blu-ray)
Kris Deering  |  Jan 25, 2009
Video: 4.25/5
Audio: 4.5/5
Extras: 2/5
Four cops down: two dead, two likely. An NYPD drug bust has gone horribly wrong, and Detective Ray Tierney heads the investigating task force. He already has ties to this case. His brother was commander of the ambushed officers. His brother-in-law, a fellow officer, often partnered with them. The more Ray uncovers, the more those family ties are tested. And the more the fraternal order starts to fray.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist—Columbia Pictures (Blu-ray)
Kris Deering  |  Jan 25, 2009
Video: 4.25/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 4/5
"Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist" is a comedy about two people thrust together for one hilarious, sleepless night of adventure in a world of mix tapes, late-night living and live, loud music. Nick (Michael Cera) frequents New York's indie rock scene nursing a broken heart and a vague ability to play the bass. Norah (Kat Dennings) is questioning pretty much all of her assumptions about the world. Though they have nothing in common except for their taste in music, their chance encounter leads to an all-night quest to find a legendary band's secret show and ends up becoming the first date in a romance that could change both their lives.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
My Best Friend’s Girl—Lionsgate (Blu-ray)
Kris Deering  |  Jan 25, 2009
Video: 3.5/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 3.75/5
Smart, beautiful and headstrong, Alexis is the girl of Dustin's dreams. But after only five weeks of dating, the love-struck Dustin is coming on so strong that Alexis is forced to slow things down - permanently. Devastated and desperate to get her back, Dustin turns to his best friend, Tank, the rebound specialist. A master at seducing - and offending - women, Tank gets hired by freshly dumped guys to take their ex-girlfriends out on the worst date of their lives - an experience so horrible it sends them running gratefully back to their beaus. But when Tank works his magic on Alexis, he ends up meeting the challenge of a lifetime. Alexis is the first girl who knows how to call his bluff, and Tank soon finds himself torn between his loyalty to Dustin and a strange new attraction to his best friend's girl.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Henry Poole Is Here—Anchor Bay (Blu-ray)
Kris Deering  |  Jan 25, 2009
Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 3.5/5
Henry Poole is a disillusioned man who attempts to hide from life only to discover he cannot escape the forces of hope. Shattered by circumstances beyond his control, Henry Poole settles in to suburban isolation, but his well-meaning busybody neighbor destroys his exile when she discovers a mysterious stain on Henry's stucco wall that is seen to have miraculous powers. With the help of the beautiful young divorcee next door, and her daughter Millie, Henry finds himself gradually drawn back towards life as he realizes his plan to live out his days in quiet desperation is going to be much harder than he ever imagined.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Friday The 13TH—Paramount Pictures (Blu-ray)
Kris Deering  |  Jan 25, 2009
Video: 3.25/5
Audio: 3/5
Extras: 3.5/5
Terror and suspense abound in this 24-hour nightmare of blood. Camp Crystal Lake has been shuttered for over 20 years due to several vicious and unsolved murders. The camp's new owner and seven young counselors are readying the property for re-opening despite warnings of a "death curse" by local residents. The curse proves true on "Friday The 13th" as one by one each of the counselors is stalked by a violent killer.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Domino—New Line (Blu-ray)
Kris Deering  |  Jan 25, 2009
Video: 4.75/5
Audio: 5/5
Extras: 3.5/5
"Domino" presents an entertaining mix of gritty action and a sharp visual style. The film is inspired by the life of Domino Harvey, a former model who rejected her privileged Beverly Hills life to become a bounty hunter.
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