What kind of a tech nerd are you buying for? Someone who likes his audio haute? The lady with multi-pockets for multimedia devices? The dude who likes his dinosaurs remote-controlled? We combed the far reaches of circuit board-dom to find 100 presents for all types. Click on the type of gift-givee below.
If projector manufacturers want to compete even in a small way with the flat panels that often go out the door for under $3,000, they need a cost leader—and a full 1080p design—that can slug it out in the trenches. Optoma knows this, and its new HD80 single-chip DLP design, at $2,699 (with a current replacement lamp cost of $349), slides comfortably into this niche.
Is the age of the traditional loudspeaker almost over? Never before has there been so many alternatives to the typical monolith speaker, from in-walls that disappear into the décor to ultra-tiny speaker enclosures that sit on a shelf. A general aversion to complex and highly visible multichannel audio systems has left a good many consumers with only half the home theater experience. According to a September 2006 article from the Consumer Electronics Association, called "Home Theater Opportunities," 76% of all flat panel TV users are not using a separate audio system. As the article points out there are a good deal of opportunities for audio equipment manufacturers to develop alternate methods for delivering quality audio for high-definition TVs.
Big things are happening with LCD flat panel televisions. New developments like LCD motion lag compensation and LED backlighting, manufacturers are attacking some of the well-known shortcomings of that technology.
Sony's new XBR527242717398Sony52XBR5A big surprise of the past year has been seeing how well the latest crop of LCD flat-panel TVs has held up against the plasma competition.
Giving consumer electronics as gifts used to be easy. You picked out what you wanted, wrapped it up, and were off the hook for another year. If you took the time to look at the package, you might have noticed the micro-sized print advising "*Batteries Not Included" and decided whether or not to toss in a pack of AAs for good measure.
JVC LT-47X898 47-inch LCD HDTV46838030581JVC47X898JVC is perhaps best known in the TV world for LCoS-based projectors, but the company also has some impressive flat-panel LCDs.