Sony Blu-ray Disc Home Theater System - BDV-T10 Review

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(More customer reviews)Not going to buy another Bluray system till I have to. This unit has proven itself to me, so I got one for my Gramps. Great Sound, and beautiful picture with nice HDTV. Easy to navigate menu and access all content. Yeah, I'm very happy with this Sony.

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Sony Blu-Ray Disc Home Theater System (BDV-T10)

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iPod 5in1 Car Kit FM Transmitter, Charger, and Holder White Review

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(More customer reviews)It worked fine for about a month and then it just started fallin apart. I droppd it once from my car to the asphalt and it broke apart. Very cheeply made so you get what you pay for. Would reccomend spending the $5 extra bucks for a better made one.

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Color: White5in1 Car KitAudio CableiPod NOT included

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Panasonic SC-BT230 5.1 Surround Sound System Review

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(More customer reviews)Panasonic's SC-BT230 is a vertitable jack-of-all-trades: this thing plays CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray Discs, but it also has a built-in iPod dock which is compatible with iPod, iPod Touch and iPhone for playback of music, photos *and* videos through your home theater system and TV. But wait, there's more! It also includes built-in amplification, five speakers and a subwoofer for discrete 5.1 channel surround sound, has on-board decoding of the latest audio codecs (DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby TrueHD, etc.), does a nice job upconverting DVDs to 1080p resolution, streams Netflix, Amazon VOD and YouTube, and has a built-in FM tuner.
If you want to use it with a cable or satellite box, a TV's built in ATSC tuner or a gaming system, then just plug it into one of the unit's two fiberoptic digital inputs (for full 5.1 channel compatibility) or use the one analog stereo input. Set-up is pretty simple: the speaker wires are all included and all are terminated in proprietary, color-coded connectors that plug into the back of the main unit. I would have liked to see matching colors on the other ends of the cables as well as on the rear, center and surround channel speakers themselves, but hey, you can't have everything (I mean... where would you put it?). At least the speaker wires are labeled "+" and "-" so you won't be plugging in the speakers out of phase from each other (which can have a nasty effect on the sound). The only other cable you'll need is HDMI (not included) which connects the system to your HDTV. A composite video connection is also available for hooking the unit up to older analog TVs (though you'll only get standard def output this way). With the HDMI cable connected, set-up was a breeze as the TV and HTiB system communicated via VIERA Link (more on that later) to automatically set the screen shape (16:9) and resolution (1080p).
For a $399 packaged system (available even cheaper on Amazon) that includes a built-in Blu-ray player, the sound quality was much better than I expected. The bass is solid, if not really extended and there was very little thumpiness or boom. The tiny little center speaker actually does a pretty good job reproducing dialog and the main front and surround speakers (which are identical to each other, slightly smaller than the center speaker) can put out a surprisingly high volume level. "Avatar" on Blu-ray was a sonic and visual splendor with this system hooked up to a 46-inch VIERA 1080p HDTV. The spoken word was easily audible (whether in English or Na'vi), and the explosions and gun fire produced a deep rumble that actually made our floor shake a little bit. The built-in FM tuner was a bit thin-sounding with only average reception but for casual radio listening, it gets the job done.
Where the system has some flaws is in its actual operation, particularly if you start taking advantage of multiple inputs. Navigating iPod content, for example, is pretty tricky. Inserting the iPod into its dock and hitting the "iPod" button on the remote is simple enough, bringing up a music menu which lists things like playlists and artist selections on the big screen. The unit's remote can be used to navigate through the songs and other content on your iPod. But to get to the higher level iPod menu (where photos and videos are also available), you need to know to hit the "sub-menu" button on the remote. And if you do want to view iPod videos, then you need to hook up a separate composite video cable (included) to your TV. Also, selecting from the other inputs (other than Blu-ray) can be a chore. There is a little "Radio/Ext In" button on the remote that cycles through the available inputs. But it's slow to lock on incoming signals and the text that appears on the LCD readout on the front of the unit is fairly cryptic -- "DIG-IN-1" -- huh? You can also bring up a list of available inputs on the TV screen, but again, this option is not that easy to find.
And if you hook the unit up to a newer TV (from Panasonic or even other brands) with the HDMI cable, then the HDMI-CEC feature (called "VIERA Link" on the Panasonic) can be both a boon and a curse. HDMI-CEC can allow you to operate the functions of the HTiB from a TV's remote control (which is handy) but it also makes certain choices for you about how everything in the system should work together. For the most part, this is helpful (like when you insert a Blu-ray Disc and VIERA Link automatically switches the TV to the correct input) but in some cases, it's annoying, like if you want to listen to music on your iPod, and then you turn off the TV, it shuts down the receiver automatically. Doh. This can be disabled (or behavior modified) in either the HTiB or TV's set-up menu, but unsophisticated users might not be able to figure out what's going on.
Boot-up and loading speeds are a bit slower than we're used to seeing on current generation standalone Blu-ray players, but certainly faster than the early players. Also, a firmware update that we performed took longer than expected (maybe 15 minutes?) with very little indication of what was going on, other than a green flashing light and "SRD" on the display.
Network set-up for us via a wired cable was a breeze (sorry, no built-in WiFi). The player was able to get a dynamic address and DNS info set up automatically. Our very first connections to YouTube and Netflix went through without a hitch and soon we were streaming HD movies from Netflix for free (well, free with a Netflix DVD or Blu-ray rental plan that is). The "VIERA Cast" button on the remote goes right to the IPTV features (Netflix, YouTube, etc.) so those should be easy enough for people to find.
For a pretty small investment, this little HTiB system offers an excellent upgrade to a TV's built-in speakers, while also feeding your HDTV with some fine 1080p HD material on Blu-ray Disc as well as a number of web-based streaming options. Pandora internet music streaming is not available yet but should be coming in a future firmware upgrade. The operational idiosyncrasies are easy enough to get used to, once you figure them out. All in all, it's an excellent choice for a full-featured but inexpensive little home theater system.

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Get your home theater going right out of the box with the Panasonic SC-BT230 home entertainment system, which includes a Blu-ray Disc player/amplifier plus a complete 5.1-channel surround sound speaker system (including one subwoofer, one center channel speaker, and four satellite speakers).

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Sony Walkman E NWZ E345 16GB Video Player (Red) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a wonderful little MP3 player for someone looking for excellent audio quality, small form factor, low weight, and low cost. Even the screen quality on this unit is good enough to support good video playback, but that's not really this player's forte. But what it does do audio-wise, it does exceptionally well, and Sony has certainly developed the unit with the same high quality electronic audio circuitry that has been used in many other of its recent MP3 units.

The player is small and light, and has a solid, high quality feel, with no squeaks or loose parts. The menu is driven from Sony's standard MP3 menuing system, a system which is very easy to master within a minute or two. The 16gb storage space provides plenty of room to store albums, too. At 192kps, this unit will hold well over 100 albums, and still have room for storing digital photos and some videos with room to spare.
Throw out the supplied "headphones" (and I use that term advisedly) away, and combine this player with a set of Klipsch headphones (or even one of Sony's better ear bud products), and then you'll experience see the true audio capabilities of this player. The audio performance will easily surpass many of the other MP3 players on the market, and at higher bitrates with a good set of headphones, you'll have a true marvel of miniaturized electronics.
At under $100, this is a real bargain, and an enjoyable one, at that. Five stars for performance, five for price.
PROS
1. Extremely high quality sound reproduction
2. 16Gb
3. Bright, crisp screen (OLED, of course)
4. Small form factor
5. Quality construction and quality internal electronics
6. Low price
7. Excellent battery life (20 - 30 actual hours per charge)
CONS
1. No 32Gb version available
2. Color available only in red or black (nice, but where's the other colors??)
3. Album browse still not available in text-less format (which makes it easier to see more albums per screen; why was this abandoned?)
4. Headphones are a joke: unless you realize this, you'll not experience the units' true sound capabilities
5. Somewhat limited set of cases (apparently, no hard plastic case is yet available for the unit, only flexible polypropylene)

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Enjoy hours of continuous music and video wherever you go with Sony's slim E340 Series. Enjoy a 2-inch QVGA screen, wide format support, an FM radio, and Sony's time-proven audio technologies in a slim, easy-to-use media player.


Key Features
Long battery life
User-friendly interface for easy operation
2-inch QVGA (320x240) high-brightness, color LCD
Easy drag-and-drop file transfer functionality
Compact and slim design
Supports multiple audio codecs and video formats
Clear Stereo and Clear Bass Audio Technologies
Built-in FM radio tuner
Headphones and Mini USB cable included
Available in black and red


Key Technologies
Battery The long-lasting battery lets you listen to up to 30 hours of music and watch up to 4 hours of video without needing to recharge.
Easy Navigation The E340's user-friendly interface makes navigating through your music, pictures, and videos an easy task.
LCD A 2-inch QVGA (320x240) high-brightness screen, color LCD provides you with a rich viewing experience on your video MP3 player.
Drag-n-Drop Easily manage your music, pictures, and video files via drag-n-drop on your PC.
Design On-the-go video and music is easy thanks to the slim, compact design.
Formats The E340 supports multiple high-quality video formats (AVC (H.264/AVC), MPEG-4, and WMV), as well as a variety of audio codecs (MP3, WMA, AAC-LC [.mp4], and L-PCM [.wav]), giving you more freedom to download the kind of music and video that you want.
Sound Clear Stereo and Clear Bass Audio Technologies for clearer, deeper sound without distortion.
FM Tuner A built-in FM tuner enables you to listen to FM radio stations directly from your MP3.
What's in the Box Sony WALKMAN E-340 Series 16 GB Digital Music Player (Red), Headphones, USB cable, User's Manual

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