I really regretted not being able to go to CES this year. While CEDIA may be more tailored to UltimateAVmag's beat, CES is still the big dog of consumer electronic shows and I missed not getting bitten.
"You want this ... don't you?" asked Geoff in our fab CES coverage. Of course you want LG's BH100 Blu-ray and HD DVD combi player--unless you've already bought into one format or the other, you poor sap. Even at $1199, who wouldn't want it after reading this description on the Best Buy site: "With the ability to play both Blu-ray Discs and HD DVDs, in addition to upconverting standard DVDs, this versatile system delivers crisp and clear images with rich layers of sound that will leave you on the edge of your seat." The site says the unit is sold out and mumbles something about in-store pickup though actually the product is not available yet. But judging from the detailed spec list and photos, it looks as though the product development process was well along before news started to leak out just prior to CES.
Triad's Platinum speakers walked away with Loudpseaker System of the year, with a system with equal amounts of unbridled dynamic power and inner detail and finesse.
Are you a fan of Norah Jones? If so, you may be looking to download "Thinking About You," her new single. Best place to go is Yahoo, where you can buy it in the latest, coolest codec ever: MP3! Yeah, yeah, yeah, you can buy the track from iTunes. But if you do, it will be wrapped in FairPlay, Apple's brand of digital rights management (yuck, tooey). Wouldn't you rather pay the same to Yahoo, and enjoy the following advantages of DRM-free downloads, so helpfully enumerated by Yahoo? Oooh, talk DRM-less to me:
While I haven't finished my full review on the Anthem AVM 50, I'm going to give something away here by showing that it nabbed <I>UAV's</I> Top Pre/Pro for 2006.
Although our review hasn't been published yet, Tom Norton loved NAD's Masters Series power amp so much we decided to give it our version of a Browny Button!
Sony walked away with two of <I>UAV's</I> vaunted awards, nabbing Best Rear Projection TV with the KDS-R60XBR2 and Best Value for the Sony VPL-VW50 Pearl projector.