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Audio Video News
Software Reviews
HT Staff  |  Oct 20, 2003
DVD: Hollywood Homicide—Columbia TriStar
Video: 4
Audio: 4
Extras: 2
Hollywood Homicide is the kind of film that probably looked much better in concept than it did on the scripted page—and far better than it does on screen. Two Hollywood detectives—one a real estate broker on the side, the other an aspiring actor—try to wedge in a murder investigation between their second lives. All of the buddy picture elements are here, notably the grizzled veteran (Harrison Ford) teamed with a green, slightly bumbling rookie (Josh Hartnett), but the screenplay by director Ron Shelton bumbles its own way through the story, creating zero believable chemistry between the two. Ford has never looked older or more dour as the long-timer who's more anxious to unload a turkey of a property than solve the case.
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Audio Video News
Coming Attractions
HT Staff  |  Oct 20, 2003
ELAN
ELAN's new VIA!2 wireless touchpanel is perfect for controlling wholehouse audio, home theater, security, temperature, lighting, drapes, and just about any other wireless solution you could ask for. (Now, if only it could load and unload the dishwasher...) It uses an 802.11b wireless transmission method and comes with both the VIA!2 server and docking station. The 7.8-inch LCD touchscreen and large, easy-to-read buttons and user screens make the VIA!2 both intuitive and user-friendly. Using ELAN's VIA!TOOLS Windows-based software, you can complete the setup process in hours using simple point-and-click methods. ELAN says that the VIA!2 will last for 670 hours in hibernate mode, 24 hours in standby mode, or 6 hours in operation mode. The $3,500 price tag also gets you the Server Station, which can turn the unit's commands into IR or RS-232 commands for controlling other home devices. Look for this handy device in the first quarter of 2004.
ELAN Home Systems
(859) 269-7760
www.elanhomesystems.com
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Other Tech
Shopping Made Simple: DVD Recorders
David Ranada  |  Oct 19, 2003
Photo by John Wilkes Visiting a local Circuit City recently, I saw several customers in front of the display of DVD recorders, mulling over the three or four models shown. Unfortunately, that's all they were doing - mulling. Although each of them probably yearned to replace an aging VCR with a shiny new DVD recorder, nobody had the gumption to lay down the bucks.
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Other Tech
HDTV Showcase
James K. Willcox  |  Oct 14, 2003

For more than a decade, the arrival of high-definition television was trumpeted with all the bluster of a carnival barker and the sincerity of a contestant on a reality-TV dating show.

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Surround Processor Reviews
Rotel RSP-1098 A/V Preamp/Processor
Daniel Kumin  |  Oct 13, 2003

Photos by Tony Cordoza Not too long ago, a loyal Sound & Vision reader wrote complaining that the "audio/video" preamps and receivers we regularly review are really just plain-audio components with a few video inputs and switching thrown in. Point taken. So here's an A/V component with some actual video: the Rotel RSP-1098.

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Audio Video News
Added to the Archives This Week
 |  Oct 13, 2003

Pete Putman reveals that, at first, he paid the <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/showarchives.cgi?159">Optoma H56 DLP front projector</A> little attention. And then he set one up for the 2003 Super Bowl, which lead to a complete review of the sub-$5k projector.

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Audio Video News
Cablevision Goes High-Def
 |  Oct 13, 2003

<A HREF="http://www.cablevision.com">Cablevision Systems Corporation</A> is the latest television provider to jump on the HDTV bandwagon. The twist here? Cablevision will deliver HD from a geosynchonous orbit.

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Audio Video News
New Product Announcements
 |  Oct 13, 2003

Autumn's annual CEDIA Expo is increasingly the launch pad for new video and home theater products. It also leads into many new offerings to be delivered during the winter holiday season.

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Projector Reviews
Optoma H56 DLP front projector
Peter Putman  |  Oct 13, 2003

Reviewing Optoma's H56 DLP front projector has been an issue of karma for me. The H56 has crossed my path several times in the past two months, the first time at the 2003 Consumer Electronics Show, where news of its debut was lost in a sea of PR from other companies. At the time, I paid it little attention.

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Audio Video News
DirecTV's HDTV Push
Barry Willis  |  Oct 13, 2003

High-definition television (HDTV) and digital video recorders (DVRs) are moving quickly from elitist technologies to mainstream entertainment.

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