Reviews Written By: A3R56AWX8PRQLPprovided by Amazon.com |
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 | Unhooked | |
 | "Research is interesting, but much like the hookup the results unsatisfying" | 2007-06-25 |
| Laura Sessions Stepp's Unhooked is a well researched but ultimately unfulfilling book about the changes in sexual culture among today's adolescents and college students. While her original research is quite well done - there's enough here to qualify for an anthropology degree - and deserves 5 stars, once she ventures from the subject of teenagers having sex she badly overreaches. I take two stars off for the latter, giving it 3 overall. Stepp is a writer for the Washington Post who has put in a substantial amount of work in the last few years on teenage sexuality, and like many other reporters decided to publish a book; Unhooked is the result. When she stays on the subject of teenagers and college students having sex and how the culture both differs from their parents' generation and has significant destructive aspects, this is a powerful book. To sum up her argument in a sentence, women under 25 are far more promiscuous, far more demanding sexually, and far less interested in relationships than their elders. Interview after interview points out how early girls start doing things that their parents took very seriously but they don't, how they are far more comfortable talking about it without social consequence, and how young women are now playing the same games that young men did all along - the "walk of shame" has been renamed the "stride of pride," and Stepp makes a pretty good argument that a good chunk of this comes from women "empowering" themselves. As a result, this generation of young women has largely postponed having meaningful relationships despite wanting the same thing their mothers did (albeit at a later age) - marriage and children. All this is very interesting stuff. That's about half the book. It lags when she starts getting into the "whys" and "what can be done" parts, where Stepp has little research and doesn't do a particuarly good job of supporting her arguments. It's not that some of her conclusions don't make sense - particularly that many members of this generation have been babied and entitled beyond belief, and as she puts it "it might have been better to take them to church or a mosque" rather than wipe their knee every time they scraped it - but there's a good slug of academic research on the subject that Stepp doesn't incorporate, and as a result the policy part tends toward preaching rather than thoughtful discussion. Another major problem here is that she focuses almost exclusively on the experience of young women, despite coming up with the conclusion that "young men are as dissatisfied with hooking up as young women." There is a strong sense of feminism gone awry here - a long section talks nostalgically about how men were once required to woo women, but doesn't discuss why perhaps men might not be nearly as interested in doing so given the major shifts in the roles between men and women over the last twenty years (which Stepp dismisses as a result that men can have a lot of sex a lot easier) - and a better book would have taken a long leap across the war of the sexes to figure out what young men were really thinking as well. It takes two to tango. Still, the original research on this generation is worth a read, although parents probably shouldn't be rushing out to lock kids up until they're thirty as a result of reading this. Each generation scares their parents silly, and while there are certainly very, very good reasons to be scared about the "entitlement generation" there are other books that do a better job of explaining why their kids are doing what they're doing. | ||
 | FDR | |
 | "Likely to be the standard reference on FDR for years to come" | 2007-05-30 |
| Jean Edward Smith's FDR will likely become the standard reference biography on the former president given the rare combination of easy accessibility and comprehensive research about one of the most complicated figures in American history. While the one volume format may limit the depth of some topics like Yalta, the overall effect is to create a rare hybrid: something that is both very readable and very deeply referenced. Five stars. As Smith notes in the foreword, there is a ridiculous volume of literature on FDR, his policies, his lieutenants, and his wife. Smith's gift is that he absorbs the massive amount of scholarship, does an impressive amount of primary source research - some of which even after all the preceding authors is still quite original - and then unlike most academics translates it into concepts even neophytes can understand. While shelves are filled with volumes detailing programs of the New Deal, Smith both explains the programs thoroughly and then adds on all the behind the scenes deal-making and politics, yet does so in a masterly crafted 55 pages. This isn't to say that Smith hasn't done his homework. In some places he adds significantly to the existing literature. For instance, Roosevelt's stint as Assistant Secretary of the Navy is probably better explored than any other of his biographers. The results are interesting: FDR's Navy Secretary boss, Josephus Daniels, was not the pushover that many historians argue, FDR contributed a surprising amount to the war effort (it was FDR, not Daniels, that championed the Naval Reserve), and Smith strongly supports an argument that his administrative experience was not just a political education in learning how to deal with Congress but also provided the background to succeed as commander-in-chief during World War II. Some of this is original research, other parts are synthesizing a bunch of underutilized biographies, but in total it works nicely. Smith is an unabashed admirer of Roosevelt - his parents' farm was electrified by the rural projects - but objectively criticizes policy and people in a distinctly non-partisan manner. Woodrow Wilson is torn to shreds as a bungling holier-than-thou racist zealot, and when FDR makes similarly bad mistakes Smith calls him to task. Smith spends a good deal of time attacking FDR's hubris in packing the Supreme Court and attempting to purge the party of conservatives. Those have been covered before by others, but he successful argues there is no little irony how the former crippled his legislative agenda and the latter, if successful, would have lead to disastrous consequences on later foreign policy votes. Other errors like the Japanese detention order and screwing up postwar Europe by largely excluding the State department from policy decisions because of a spat between him and Cordell Hull provide balance. Conspiracy theorists aren't going to like how he tramples the Pearl Harbor myths - Dean Acheson's role in scuttling FDR's final attempt towards defusing things is noteworthy - but the scholarship is there in the footnotes for those who want to look it up. This is a biography that will likely be used as the starting point for most research on the subject matter for years to come. Smith is to be commended for showing that not all scholarly biographies have to break the back of the reader. 5 stars. | ||
 | Garmin GPS 10 Deluxe GPS Unit | |
 | "Decent GPS and price. Mediocre software and maps. Absurd installation process" | 2007-05-12 |
| The GPS 10 is a decent Bluetooth GPS receiver, but the software associated with is obsolete, routes weirdly, and will immediately require an upgrade. Combine this with the torturous installation and upgrade process and despite a good price you're probably better off looking elsewhere. 1.5 stars off for the software and the maps and 1.5 off for the upgrade and installation process lead me to two stars. The GPS 10 receiver is the highlight of the package. It took a while to connect with a Palm 700wx via Bluetooth, although that may have been the fault of the 700wx rather than the receiver as the 700wx can be picky about connections. Reception on the unit is ok but not great. You'll not have a problem finding satellites, but periodically you'll find yourself driving in a river rather than next to it. Battery life is also just so-so at 8 hours, but at least it is stable enough to remain on the dashboard without much work and small enough to slip in your pocket when you want to leave your car. That was the good part. The bad part is the Que software that is included with this unit for PDA is over 2 years old and is incredibly painful to put on your PDA. You cannot install the Que version sent with the unit to the PDA; you'll need to check the OEM page on Garmin's website to find the GPS 10 and download the newer version of Que before it can be installed. Even updated, in general Que feels like a program dating from the late 1990s and isn't particularly nimble. Garmin's free upgrade to XT Mobile helps somewhat. Unfortunately, while it has much better graphics and some useful functions like searching for gas stations and supermarkets and fairly accurate ETAs, the biggest problem with XT Mobile is that it routes bizarrely. You'll be sent on a lot of 2 lane highways and backroads if you allow it to fully control a long trip; for instance, it wanted to send me to San Bernadino via Lancaster while coming from Bakersfield, an addition of 40 minutes and a lot of treacherous driving that made no sense. What's worse is that it will keep trying to reroute you with no real way of forcing your preferred route, and if it loses a signal you have to force it to redraw the map to your preferred size. It also will not share GPS data with other devices, which can be quite aggravating. In general, it's not good software. Unfortunately, it gets worse. Garmin makes its money selling maps, not GPS software, and the major point of buying this unit is access to Garmin's Map Installer software with maps to the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Map Installer is a real pain. Even the most recent version requires selection of each individual state and province, and if you miss one you get to go through the entire process all over. The real issue is that it took me the better part of an hour and two full reinstalls (with no help from customer service) to get Map Installer to recognize my PDA. The trick? Have Que running, or Map Installer won't see the PDA at all. (Same goes for installing XT Mobile). Worse yet, you don't get European or Asian maps. And worst of all? There are updated US maps available - but you get to pay as much for them as for this unit. About the only good news is that a full map install takes about 1.5 GB total, and with 2 and 4 GB SD prices dropping it's affordable and easy to be able to have everything available on one unit. The price is right on this and the bluetooth receiver isn't bad, but there are definitely better software packages available. If you're desperately looking for something for cheap, this might be worth a try; otherwise, look elsewhere. | ||
 | palmOne Treo 650 Vehicle Power Adapter | |
| "Same as on the Palm website, 80% less on Amazon" | 2007-04-01 |
| After reading the other reviews, I was a bit worried about what I was getting for this price. Fear not. This is the Palm Vehicle Power Charger listed on Palm's website, packed in a Palm blister pack with all the pretty bells and whistles. I'm going to guess that several Amazon merchants put the various third-party knockoffs under this item rather than a separate listing, which would explain the prices that don't seem realistic. To get around this, buy it directly from Amazon and you'll be getting the authentic version for 80% less than Palm's website. I'm still waiting to see if the connector holds up, but at this price I don't really care as long as it doesn't break my phone. If it really is as fragile as some say, with Prime you can just get another one for less than you pay for a sandwich. And besides the 650 and T5, this also works with the Treo 750, 700p, 700w, 700wx, 680, TX, LifeDrive, and E2. Cheers. | ||
 | Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion (DVD) | |
| "It's that good. Simply put, best of genre" | 2006-03-21 |
| Simply put, Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion is not only the best RPG of the year, but arguably the next step of the RPG's evolution. Think of it this way: 25 years ago Wizardry I was state of the art in all parts of the RPG - graphics, game design, and character build (stolen straight from D&D). That one game changed the way others were built. Today, Oblivion not only has state of the art graphics but also state of the art game design and character build - essentially, the culmination of 25 years of electronic RPG design. The competition has a lot of work to do to catch up, and it is likely many of the features here will be borrowed for other games. This is a clear 5 stars overall, with the only two flaws being like its predecessors the game is simply massive and the controls can be a bit awkward. For those who never played it, Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind was a great game and major advancement in the genre. (In a sign of how good it was, 3 years after its release the original collector's edition still sells for near its original cost in the secondary market versus other games which might go for 10% of what you paid for them. Incredible.) More specifically, it really reinvented the RPG genre with skill-based advancement - if you want to be a fighter, kill something with a sword - and open-ended quests. What is most noticable about Oblivion besides the eye-popping but system straining graphics (anything lower than a high end PC from last year will likely have problems, but the upside is this screams to be played on a 45" LCD monitor at 1920x1080p) is that Bethesda improved upon Morrowind rather than reinventing the wheel. Advancement is still skill-based but in general seems more balanced than before as powerleveling only a few skills will generally just get you fighting stronger mobs. Exploring the world through quests and NPCs remains the focus as it should be, but it also doesn't feel like you have to constantly grind FedEx quests to advance. In other words, the open-ended gameplay - arguably the one weak spot of Morrowind - remains open-ended but more managable. Don't fear, however, as with several hundred quests it's easy to lose yourself. If you're willing to put in the game time towards the rumored 1000 hours, the adding on of some long guild quests and other miscellaneous ones can get you a very, very powerful character, or you can simply try to solve the main quest quickly. It's up to you. The two downsides are the game is massive in all respects and that while simultaneously designed for Xbox and PC several parts of it feel tilted towards the console. First, the size and lack of direction feel a bit daunting, but more importantly there is a tough learning ramp to figure out the game. For instance, your first couple of characters will probably be rerolled as it's hard to understand how useful all but the most obvious skills work until you use them extensively. Figuring out how to build a character around this based on an hour's worth of gameplay (since you do at least get to rechoose everything after the introduction quest) is asking too much. The open-ended aspect can be scary too; even as early as the the newbie quest there's not a lot of linear direction and the hint levels just drop from there. Walkthroughs for this will be immensely helpful, and in a once-in-a-generation event the Prima Guide is actually worth the money. (One note: given how much Amazon has discounted the Prima Guide, if you're looking to save money, consider combining it along with the non-collector's edition of the game and bypassing the collector's edition entirely. For only a couple of dollars more, you'll substitute the immense help of the Guide over the pretty but not hugely important book included in the latter, and while you're giving up a 'making of' DVD you'll save multiple hours of character design even if you choose to ignore the spoiler walkthroughs.) Second, the game does feel at times like it was designed for a console. This isn't as bad as something that's a console conversion like GTA:SA where a gamepad is mandatory and the graphics are limited by the conversion. However, numerous features like spell selection, inventory management, and NPC interaction all are console-friendly to such an extent where those used to playing on a PC will probably grumble a bit. (It's a bit odd that this got through beta testing on the PC without someone requesting more than the current 8 programmable hotkeys in total that groan under supporting several hundred spells and abilities.) Far more annoying is that while third-person mode is included and playable, it is essentially impossible to use for ranged combat as only the first-person mode has a crosshair to aim spells and weapons. These are minor but noticable nuisances, especially for a game that is otherwise supremely polished. Still, it's the best of the genre. Bethesda is to be commended for the design, the production (little things like hiring Patrick Stewart for a brief role as Emperor show the quality), and the difficult decision to delay the game for several months to fix things, where so many companies now push out beta editions as gold just to get the game on the market. 5 stars, and there will be a lot of people who don't get much work done for the next month. | ||
 | Dungeons & Dragons Online: StormReach | |
| "Fun dungeon crawl, but forced grouping and other issues make longevity questionable" | 2006-03-01 |
| Dungeons and Dragons Online (DDO) is an above average dungeon crawler that has the potential to be a lot of fun for a while with enjoyable instanced quests and lively gameplay. Unfortunately, there are a lot of little things that will likely make the value of the subscription fee here questionable in a month or two, and even early on many will have issues with forced grouping. Having actually purchased the headstart, I am having a blast - but take a star off of fun for the grouping issue, and two stars off of overall for the rule implementations, lack of PvP, and value proposition, leaving this at 4 fun/3 overall, or 3.5 stars. With Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) having spawned literally tens of thousands of imitations at the top of the family tree of RPGs, MUDs, and MMORPGS, publisher Turbine has both the blessing of an eager audience and curse of a really tough comparison. The good news is that they've done an enjoyable job of implementing the heart of the D&D experience, which is the dungeon crawl. Unlike many MMORPGs, support classes like rogues are a requirement for almost all dungeons - there's no uber single class build here - and a well designed group and careful gameplay is a more important than any particular player, item, or spell. However, the group aspect is double-edged. Outside of the first 5 or 6 early dungeons (even less for certain weak combat classes), solo play simply doesn't work - meaning your entire gaming experience will depend on finding a suitable group or guild. The support for this isn't bad, with ingame voice chat and being able to select exactly what you want in terms of a class and level in group search, but even players within a good guild can have significant waiting times while everyone gets ready. Turbine could and should have come up with a way for solo players to do something to advance. All adventure is instanced, which in this implementation makes sense but does mean like Guild Wars the only 'massive multiplayer' aspect of the MMORPG feel is when you're at the taverns. D&D purists will probably not like the rule implementations either. Monks, druids, and several races are left out as are any number of skills, but the biggest wildcard is adding 4 class and race 'enhancements' which provide benefits far above even the best feats (like +5 to all skills or +3 in a certain statistic). Given how the game is set up, it doesn't really affect balance much - can't solo anyway - but between that and loot drops that rival the taj mahal (down a bit from beta, but not much), it does annoyingly throw traditional character builds out the window. Why bother making an especially stout fighter with high constitution if you're going to get 25 free hit points from the start? More significant is longer term viability. Advancement is quick enough so the current level cap (10) was actually reached by any number of people in the 10 day beta. This will shortly be raised to 12 and eventually to 20, but the real issue is the lack of any alternative to the dungeon crawl - PvP, crafting, or anything else - that encourages people to stick around to pay the $14.95 monthly fee. Don't get me wrong. I'm having more fun playing this now than any game in a long time. The issue is that I can also easily see not playing this in 30 or 60 days from now, which is a real shame. Hence, why this is rated 3.5 stars, and why I hope Turbine thinks carefully about how to improve it. | ||
 | Dungeons & Dragons Online: StormReach | |
| "Fun dungeon crawler - but many flaws and enjoyment depends entirely on your group" | 2006-02-28 |
| Dungeons and Dragons Online (DDO) is an above average dungeon crawler that has the potential to be a lot of fun for a while with enjoyable instanced quests and lively gameplay. Unfortunately, there are a lot of little things that will likely make the value of the subscription fee here questionable in a month or two, and even early on many will have issues with forced grouping. Having actually purchased the headstart, I am having a blast - but take a star off of fun for the grouping issue, and two stars off of overall for the rule implementations, lack of PvP, and value proposition, leaving this at 4 fun/3 overall, or 3.5 stars. With Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) having spawned literally tens of thousands of imitations at the top of the family tree of RPGs, MUDs, and MMORPGS, publisher Turbine has both the blessing of an eager audience and curse of a really tough comparison. The good news is that they've done an enjoyable job of implementing the heart of the D&D experience, which is the dungeon crawl. Unlike many MMORPGs, support classes like rogues are a requirement for almost all dungeons - there's no uber single class build here - and a well designed group and careful gameplay is a more important than any particular player, item, or spell. However, the group aspect is double-edged. Outside of the first 5 or 6 early dungeons (even less for certain weak combat classes), solo play simply doesn't work - meaning your entire gaming experience will depend on finding a suitable group or guild. The support for this isn't bad, with ingame voice chat and being able to select exactly what you want in terms of a class and level in group search, but even players within a good guild can have significant waiting times while everyone gets ready. Turbine could and should have come up with a way for solo players to do something to advance. All adventure is instanced, which in this implementation makes sense but does mean like Guild Wars the only 'massive multiplayer' aspect of the MMORPG feel is when you're at the taverns. D&D purists will probably not like the rule implementations either. Monks, druids, and several races are left out as are any number of skills, but the biggest wildcard is adding 4 class and race 'enhancements' which provide benefits far above even the best feats (like +5 to all skills or +3 in a certain statistic). Given how the game is set up, it doesn't really affect balance much - can't solo anyway - but between that and loot drops that rival the taj mahal (down a bit from beta, but not much), it does annoyingly throw traditional character builds out the window. Why bother making an especially stout fighter with high constitution if you're going to get 25 free hit points from the start? More significant is longer term viability. Advancement is quick enough so the current level cap (10) was actually reached by any number of people in the 10 day beta. This will shortly be raised to 12 and eventually to 20, but the real issue is the lack of any alternative to the dungeon crawl - PvP, crafting, or anything else - that encourages people to stick around to pay the $14.95 monthly fee. Don't get me wrong. I'm having more fun playing this now than any game in a long time. The issue is that I can also easily see not playing this in 30 or 60 days from now, which is a real shame. Hence, why this is rated 3.5 stars, and why I hope Turbine thinks carefully about how to improve it. | ||
 | Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach Limited Edition | |
| "Enjoyable dungeon crawl, but forced grouping and other issues challenge viability" | 2006-02-28 |
| Dungeons and Dragons Online (DDO) is an above average dungeon crawler that has the potential to be a lot of fun for a while with enjoyable instanced quests and lively gameplay. Unfortunately, there are a lot of little things that will likely make the value of the subscription fee here questionable in a month or two, and even early on many will have issues with forced grouping. Having actually purchased the headstart, I am having a blast - but take a star off of fun for the grouping issue, and two stars off of overall for the rule implementations, lack of PvP, and value proposition, leaving this at 4 fun/3 overall, or 3.5 stars. Finally, because you can get an equivalent 5% running boost item with about 45 minutes of work very early on, the LE special item (boots of striding) is worthless, meaning you should buy the regular edition rather than LE. With Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) having spawned literally tens of thousands of imitations at the top of the family tree of RPGs, MUDs, and MMORPGS, publisher Turbine has both the blessing of an eager audience and curse of a really tough comparison. The good news is that they've done an enjoyable job of implementing the heart of the D&D experience, which is the dungeon crawl. Unlike many MMORPGs, support classes like rogues are a requirement for almost all dungeons - there's no uber single class build here - and a well designed group and careful gameplay is a more important than any particular player, item, or spell. However, the group aspect is double-edged. Outside of the first 5 or 6 early dungeons (even less for certain weak combat classes), solo play simply doesn't work - meaning your entire gaming experience will depend on finding a suitable group or guild. The support for this isn't bad, with ingame voice chat and being able to select exactly what you want in terms of a class and level in group search, but even players within a good guild can have significant waiting times while everyone gets ready. Turbine could and should have come up with a way for solo players to do something to advance. All adventure is instanced, which in this implementation makes sense but does mean like Guild Wars the only 'massive multiplayer' aspect of the MMORPG feel is when you're at the taverns. D&D purists will probably not like the rule implementations either. Monks, druids, and several races are left out as are any number of skills, but the biggest wildcard is adding 4 class and race 'enhancements' which provide benefits far above even the best feats (like +5 to all skills or +3 in a certain statistic). Given how the game is set up, it doesn't really affect balance much - can't solo anyway - but between that and loot drops that rival the taj mahal (down a bit from beta, but not much), it does annoyingly throw traditional character builds out the window. Why bother making an especially stout fighter with high constitution if you're going to get 25 free hit points from the start? More significant is longer term viability. Advancement is quick enough so the current level cap (10) was actually reached by any number of people in the 10 day beta. This will shortly be raised to 12 and eventually to 20, but the real issue is the lack of any alternative to the dungeon crawl - PvP, crafting, or anything else - that encourages people to stick around to pay the $14.95 monthly fee. Don't get me wrong. I'm having more fun playing this now than any game in a long time. The issue is that I can also easily see not playing this in 30 or 60 days from now, which is a real shame. Hence, why this is rated 3.5 stars, and why I hope Turbine thinks carefully about how to improve it. | ||
 | Sharp Aquos LC-45GD7U 45" HD-Ready LCD Flat Panel TV | |
 | "Great monitor - but same issues as GD4U and GD6U" | 2006-02-07 |
| Like its predecessors the LC-45GD6U and LC-45GD4U, the Sharp LC-45GD7U and the LC-45GD5U are great LCD HDTV monitors. Unfortunately, despite a slight upgrade to their electronics they still don't support 1080p input to a monitor that is perfectly capable and quite good at displaying it. As such, you're better off either trying to find the now-discontinued LC-45GX6U or waiting until March or April 2006 when the LC-45PT90U offers 1080p support. This review is to explain the confusing differences between the units rather than a full review of the set versus its competition; please read my reviews of the GD4U, GD6U, and GX6U to explain why these are some of the best sets on the market. First and foremost, you're buying the same display panels on all 5 units - they are identical 1920x1080p capable displays with 12ms response time manufactured at the same plant. Second, the cosmetic differences are minor. The GD5U is gloss black (versus silver on the GD4U) with detachable side speakers, and the GD7U is almost identical to the GX6U and GD6U with detachable bottom speakers and titanium coloring. The only real difference between them is a minor change in the electronics. The GD5U and GD7U have a TV Guide function which, when given a proper input, displays programming information on shows much like Tivo or an enhanced digital cable box do - versus the older units, which given the same input only display the basic channel title. This is slightly useful if you're watching on a Cablecard or over-the-air, but if you have a Tivo or such its largely useless. There have also been reports that this feature is incompatible with a number of systems. Unfortunately, this upgrade wasn't the one the sets really needed. The major problem with all of these units is that the electronics do not support the 1080p capability of the panels (even on the GX6U, where the trick is that you can just bypass them). Granted, there's not much out there currently that outputs in native 1080p - except for some PC and XBox games that will simply wow your friends and a couple Windows PC-based movie like Terminator 2 - and with Blu-Ray and HD-DVD looking like they'll be in 1080i there's no rush. Furthermore, with Hollywood getting more and more antsy over encryption there's no guarantee the GX6U will even work with 1080p native signals for broadcast media when they eventually come out. However, the way to look at it is that by buying anything except the now-discontinued GX6U you're guaranteed obsolescence at some point. There is some hope on the horizon; Sharp is finally going to put out a couple of sets next year - the 45" LC-45PT90U and 37" LC37PT90U - that will accept and display 1080p input. Until then, the Sharp G series displays today's signals beautifully, but just know the limitations. It's worth noting that most of the nominally capable direct-display 1080p units on the market (like the JVC LT-40FH96) have the same problems with actually displaying 1080p, so don't get me wrong - the G series is still at the top of the heap in display quality. (There are also some recently released sets with full 1080p compatibility, but as they use different technologies like rear-projection you're comparing apples and oranges.) With the recent price drops, I continue to recommend them, especially if you can land one of the earlier models in a closeout sale. Just know what you're buying first! | ||
 | Sharp LC-45GD6U 45" AQUOS LCD Flat Panel HD-Ready TV | |
| "Great monitor - but same issues as GD4U and GD6U" | 2005-12-11 |
| Like its predecessors the LC-45GD4U and LC-45GD6U, the Sharp LC-45GD5U and the LC-45GD7U are great LCD HDTV monitors. Unfortunately, despite a slight upgrade to their electronics they still don't support 1080p input to a monitor that is perfectly capable and quite good at displaying it. As such, you're better off either trying to find the now-discontinued LC-45GX6U or waiting until March or April 2006 when the LC-45PT90U offers 1080p support. This review is to explain the confusing differences between the units rather than a full review of the set versus its competition; please read my reviews of the GD4U, GD6U, and GX6U to explain why these are some of the best sets on the market. First and foremost, you're buying the same display panels on all 5 units - they are identical 1920x1080p capable displays with 12ms response time manufactured at the same plant. Second, the cosmetic differences are minor. The GD5U is gloss black (versus silver on the GD4U) with detachable side speakers, and the GD7U is almost identical to the GX6U and GD6U with detachable bottom speakers and titanium coloring. The only real difference between them is a minor change in the electronics. The GD5U and GD7U have a TV Guide function which, when given a proper input, displays programming information on shows much like Tivo or an enhanced digital cable box do - versus the older units, which given the same input only display the basic channel title. This is slightly useful if you're watching on a Cablecard or over-the-air, but if you have a Tivo or such its largely useless. There have also been reports that this feature is incompatible with a number of systems. Unfortunately, this upgrade wasn't the one the sets really needed. The major problem with all of these units is that the electronics do not support the 1080p capability of the panels (even on the GX6U, where the trick is that you can just bypass them). Granted, there's not much out there currently that outputs in native 1080p - except for some PC and XBox games that will simply wow your friends and a couple Windows PC-based movie like Terminator 2 - and with Blu-Ray and HD-DVD looking like they'll be in 1080i there's no rush. Furthermore, with Hollywood getting more and more antsy over encryption there's no guarantee the GX6U will even work with 1080p native signals for broadcast media when they eventually come out. However, the way to look at it is that by buying anything except the now-discontinued GX6U you're guaranteed obsolescence at some point. There is some hope on the horizon; Sharp is finally going to put out a couple of sets next year - the 45" LC-45PT90U and 37" LC37PT90U - that will accept and display 1080p input. Until then, the Sharp G series displays today's signals beautifully, but just know the limitations. It's worth noting that most of the nominally capable direct-display 1080p units on the market (like the JVC LT-40FH96) have the same problems with actually displaying 1080p, so don't get me wrong - the G series is still at the top of the heap in display quality. (There are also some recently released sets with full 1080p compatibility, but as they use different technologies like rear-projection you're comparing apples and oranges.) With the recent price drops, I continue to recommend them, especially if you can land one of the earlier models in a closeout sale. Just know what you're buying first! | ||
 | Sony HDR-HC1 2.8 MP HD MiniDV Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom | |
| "Groundbreaking camcorder, breakthrough technology offsets omitted but necessary accessories" | 2005-08-11 |
| The Sony HDR-HC1 is a groundbreaking camcorder that brings the ability to record high definition video down to the level of consumers, albeit high end ones at current prices. It's not perfect, especially with the additional outlay this requires for Sony's omissions in battery life and editing, but it's one of those rare gadgets that actually lives up to the hype. Given the breakthrough it represents it deserves 5 stars. Size and features are the first thing you notice. At 1.5 lbs (closer to 2 with the larger battery), this rests comfortably in my hand with only the lens portion sticking out beyond it. Even if it's substantially longer than miniDV models, I've actually stuffed this in a large Bermuda shorts pocket and it and a belly pack seem perfect for each other for hand free carrying. Kudos to Sony for recognizing that all the technology in the world doesn't help if your toy is sitting at home and you're not. This is also well designed for ease of use. The basic controls (record, shoot still, zoom/widen, and power/function) are all accessible using your thumb and index finger, and the touchscreen LCD lets you select any of the plethora of menu controls. As far as filming, point and click works perfectly fine, and the steady cam feature noticably helps up to about 4-6x zoom (go past that and you'll need a tripod as the camera is so small even slight twitches will ruin your shot.) Most importantly, picture quality is quite good. It's not IMAX-quality, but even on my brutally demanding Sharp LC-45GX6U recordings from the HDR-HC1 are equivalent to much HD content currently available - think of it roughly like an HD show segment shot out in the field someplace rather than with fixed million dollar cameras. With 1 rather than 3 CCDs like the FX1, there had been some worry about performance at lower light levels, but it's actually not that bad. The only thing I've noticed is a slight lack of color gradiation; I recently filmed a magnificent red sunrise and while the HDR-HC1 got the main reds in marvelous detail, it did miss some of the subtle differences in the reds that were turning to pink. Unless you're an aspiring filmmaker, not a big deal. (If you want to film at no light levels, turn on the infrared nightshot mode - it's like using nightvision goggles, along with the drawbacks that a light source overwhelms the shot and you're limited to a smaller area in which you can film.) Sound quality is surprisingly good for a couple of small embedded mics. The 2.8 MB still camera is good enough to leave your Cybershot at home unless you're a dedicated photographer and 10x optical zoom from it beats most everything on the market, although it does lack some of the features of the camcorder like digital zoom. Where I'd take a star off if this weren't such a technological breakthrough is that by omitting some necessary items Sony seems intent on you spending several hundred dollars more on accessories to get full functionality from this. To start, you'll need a second and preferably third generation Memory Stick Duo Pro (the second generation sticks out from the side, the first doesn't work) to use still camera features as it includes only a paltry 16MB card - good for all of about 11 pictures in 1920x1440 mode. More serious are issues with battery life and editing. You'll need at least the medium and preferably the large optional batteries (the expensive Sony OEM versions, since aftermarket ones don't fit) as despite its touting of CMOS this chews them up. (The only good news is the heavier battery provides better balance to the front-heavy aspect of this.) Second, editing HD video streams on your PC is painful as most video editing programs on the PC don't coexist well with HDV's native mT2 streams. Windows Media Encoder crashes when I've tried to directly edit them despite my use of a three month old dual-processor monster for this. (Mac users as usual seem to be reporting a bit less of a problem). Why is editing on a PC such a big deal? Well, despite another review claiming otherwise (along with gratuitous HD bashing they got a number of features wrong) HD video shot on this isn't stuck on the DV tapes forever. The inclusion of a Firewire output here means you can output HD video easily. (Although as pointed out elsewhere, yet another 'optional accessory' is the required 4 pin to 4 pin Firewire cable - see my reviews to find a good one for cheap.) The problem is that while you can store HD video from this easily and forever on a D-VHS recorder (see my reviews again if you're not familiar with the technology), you can't transfer it directly to there for some highly technical reasons (too high transmission rate from the camera versus what the recorder will take, apparently). So then, the 80% of people who aren't using a Mac but who are using this for HD recording have no choice but to turn to using a PC-based editor as you HAVE to put this on a PC before archiving it to D-VHS. That becomes an issue as you'll have a. find an editor that accepts mT2 (potentially a several hundred dollar outlay since the demo versions are usually crippleware), b. convert the stream to something more editing friendly (time and processor consuming), and c. then finally archive it to D-VHS or a 10 GB file (that you can split across DVDs in HD format) This is why the lack of a good editor isn't nitpicking but vastly reduces functionality here, as without one you're basically stuck displaying raw HD video stuck on DV tape. So, yes, the lack of included PC editing capability here is a big drawback on several levels. Despite the fact you'll likely have to drop another few hundred dollars getting this up to where it's fully functional, don't get me wrong. This is one of the best gadgets I've bought in a long time. I'm sure in a decade we'll be laughing at how complicated and funky this was compared to something that could record on 2nd generation Blu-ray and edit on the fly, but despite these limitations this is a truly groundbreaking camcorder. I view the progression here as almost akin to moving from Super 8 to VHS for the consumer, which brought the modern age of camcorders to be. Despite the two minor omissions, highly recommended, especially for preserving images of older loved ones for the next 50 years in a format your unborn grandkids will not view as antique. One final note: dealer cost on this is rumoredly $1500-1600, so be very careful about those offering to sell you one or two for half that price! | ||
 | JVC 7-Hour D-VHS Tape | |
| "Does what it says but even more atrocious value proposition" | 2005-07-04 |
| The JVC DF420AU D-VHS tape does exactly what it proposes: given a properly set up D-VHS VCR, it makes perfect pixel by pixel copies of HDTV. I cannot see any difference between live and recorded high definition TV when I use these and a firewire connection with my HM-DH40000. You can also tape SVHS or VHS formats on this tape, and those formats come out quite nicely as well. However, the quiet secret here is that the formulation here is essentially identical to high quality S-VHS tape - at 4 times the price. The only difference is that rather than having a single hole in the chassis this tape has a second, allowing the VCR to read it as a D-VHS tape rather than a S-VHS tape. There is an obvious workaround to this that can be found fairly easily on the web; search if you're interested. From my experience S-VHS tapes with the workaround work just as well as this far more expensive tape, which is why I knock off two stars, and a third for a price gouging at 1.5 times the already outrageously expensive 150 minute D-VHS DF300AU. I can't guarantee S-VHS tapes will last as long, but then again, since there's no warranty on the D-VHS tapes either there doesn't seem to be much risk. I also haven't been able to tell any difference between the JVC and Maxwell DVHS versions, which is unsurprising. Data recording - which is all D-VHS really is - either records data or it doesn't. Cheaper tapes definitely will have drop outs, but quality tapes won't. One further note. There are still a few 3 hour SVHS tapes available at half the cost of this from dealers, which would be my recommendation if you need to archive long sagas like the LOTR movies, Saving Private Ryan, or the Deer Hunter when they show up on premium cable HDTV. Short of archiving sports directly from a tuner instead of a PVR, there's not much that can't fit on a 3 hour tape instead of the much more expensive 3.5 hour version sold here. | ||
 | JVC D-VHS Tape | |
| "Does what it says but even more atrocious value proposition" | 2005-07-03 |
| The JVC DF420AU D-VHS tape does exactly what it proposes: given a properly set up D-VHS VCR, it makes perfect pixel by pixel copies of HDTV. I cannot see any difference between live and recorded high definition TV when I use these and a firewire connection with my HM-DH40000. You can also tape SVHS or VHS formats on this tape, and those formats come out quite nicely as well. However, the quiet secret here is that the formulation here is essentially identical to high quality S-VHS tape - at 4 times the price. The only difference is that rather than having a single hole in the chassis this tape has a second, allowing the VCR to read it as a D-VHS tape rather than a S-VHS tape. There is an obvious workaround to this that can be found fairly easily on the web; search if you're interested. From my experience S-VHS tapes with the workaround work just as well as this far more expensive tape, which is why I knock off two stars, and a third for a price gouging at 1.5 times the already outrageously expensive 150 minute D-VHS DF300AU. I can't guarantee S-VHS tapes will last as long, but then again, since there's no warranty on the D-VHS tapes either there doesn't seem to be much risk. I also haven't been able to tell any difference between the JVC and Maxwell DVHS versions, which is unsurprising. Data recording - which is all D-VHS really is - either records data or it doesn't. Cheaper tapes definitely will have drop outs, but quality tapes won't. One further note. There are still a few 3 hour SVHS tapes available at half the cost of this from dealers, which would be my recommendation if you need to archive long sagas like the LOTR movies, Saving Private Ryan, or the Deer Hunter when they show up on premium cable HDTV. Short of archiving sports directly from a tuner instead of a PVR, there's not much that can't fit on a 3 hour tape instead of the much more expensive 3.5 hour version sold here. | ||
 | Law & Order - The Fourteenth Season (2003-04 Season) | |
| "Scene cuts unacceptable, and you're better off buying next year in HD" | 2005-06-29 |
| As a fairly serious Law and Order fan, I do not two star the fourteenth season of Law and Order lightly. (Read my 5 star reviews of the early seasons if you don't believe me.) Unfortunately the DVD version of this season is really not worth buying unless you simply can't wait. At best this would have been 4 stars given the plot writing has gone downhill, but what really irks me are the lack of special features and even lack of certain scenes (costing another star) and the fact that there was no real reason to release this year in anything less than the eye-candy high definition it was broadcast in (costing yet another). If you aren't planning on upgrading to HD for several years and are a true L&O junkie, this might still be worth a buy; otherwise, wait. There's been a lot said about how recent seasons of Law and Order have "jumped the shark" and to some extent I agree. It is still better than many shows on television, but in general only a precious few episodes live up to the quality of the glory years from seasons 3 to 9 or so. Some point to the cast, although in fairness watching the end of season 15 with Annie Parisse flatlining scenes should make most reconsider if Elisabeth Rohm really was that bad of an actress. (While she wasn't great, in fairness she had a very tough comp following Angie Harmon, who was just as stunningly beautiful but surprised everyone by arching her eyebrows and drawling her lines out in a way that took over scenes from even Sam Waterston.) To me, its just that the actors don't have a lot to work with as the writing has become incredibly predictable. (If you don't think Jesse Martin can act, watch him shine in Christmas Carol; he might not be Chris Noth but he doesn't have Noth's lines either.) After 300 episodes, there are a lot of 'new' episodes that are rehashes of older ones, and the quick turnaround by the writers once they get fresh material from the ripped-from-the-headline stories (in this set, Bounty, Blaze, Darwinian, Hands Free, Evil Breeds among others) means you know you're going to get some stupid error by the cops or the ADA to throw the story off just enough so that NBC doesn't get sued. That's not to say that there aren't a few well written episodes in season 14. Gaijin has a very nasty and in charge DA, Embedded has some unusual plot twists, and Identity takes a plausable current crime (identity theft) and turns it into a pretty compelling case. It's just in general writing in the earlier years was better, so this was 4 stars at best even if the set was perfect. It's not. I was equally disturbed to discover the New Yorkerish cartoon presented to Briscoe at the end of the series wasn't in the episode. (I haven't found anything else but I'm looking.) Moreover, the special features that you'd buy a DVD set for here are again lacking. Season 3 did a far better job of extras, finally including several deleted scenes. The combination of lack of extras and the missing scene is unacceptable and costs another star. Finally, this season was broadcast in glorious high definition and DVDs can't hold HD programming - meaning the DVDs will be obsolete in a year at most. (In fact, as TNTHD mercifully switched over to displaying HD-shot L&O reruns in true HD last month, it's obsolete now if you have a DVHS recorder and can archive them.) Once next-generation Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs hit the market in late 2005/early 2006, you should be able to buy a dual format disc that contains both DVD and high-def versions meaning it is a better value even if you haven't yet upgraded. Law and Order has been shot in 16:9 film since at least 1997 (meaning it can and is being converted to HD-quality for reruns), so there's no reason to buy any L&O set on DVD past season 8 as the primary reason to buy them - better picture quality than broadcast TV - doesn't apply. Another star off for the value proposition from this as there's no reason Universal shouldn't have just waited 18 months rather than put out a set with a miniscule shelf life. Still, if you're a L&O junkie, this will hit your fix, and there are a few good episodes in this season. You're better off waiting until this season shows up on HD-capable discs, however, or buying this used for cheap once they become available. | ||
 | Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas PC | |
| "Really, really not for kids, but Gouranga quintupled baby!" | 2005-06-09 |
| Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (GTA:SA) is, simply put, a great game. The six month wait for a PC port was worth it; although still not state-of-the-art, if you've got the rig for it graphics are noticably improved over the PS2. I'm a bit biased having been addicted since the original GTA came out - Gouranga refers to the easter egg you get for taking out a line of hare krishnas in the original - but the game is probably the best of the series as the world is richer and the missions more fun. My only reservation is that the violence and plot here have no place anywhere near kids, but for adults this is the best of the genre and deserves 5 stars. GTA has fully evolved from a pure-action game in the original GTA to an RPG with a good deal of action in GTA:SA. The majority of the game revolves around completing missions rather than simply jacking cars and running over people as in the early versions. The good news is that the RPG works. Missions are funny but brutal. It's important to note this isn't the tamer, slightly cartoonish Scarface-inspired Vice City. Instead, this is the very nasty world of early 90's South Central LA with a gangbanger-influence and language that many will find disturbing. With the revelation that interactive softcore porn is included, this very much deserves the new AO rating. (All the infamous 'hot coffee' mod does is unlock some hidden but pretty rough sex simulations and take off the computer-generated clothes of those involved - if you're disturbed by the gangbanging the in-genre scenes will make it even worse.) One wonders if the rumor that TakeTwo leaked information about the hidden code to the hacking community as a marketing stunt is true - if so, it's massively backfired and it's hard to argue they don't deserve at least some criticism for at the very least not being far more upfront about its inclusion. Even before hot coffee this was pushing the upper limits of an M rating and probably deserved an AO one. Then again, any parent who let their kid near this game - or incredibly, a litigous grandmother buying this for an unsupervised 14 year old when M is clearly marked for 17 year olds - really isn't doing their job either as its incredibly obvious this is not a game for kids. Caveat emptor, and it looks like the AO version is about to become a collector's item. Regarding content, there are so many more things to do compared to even Vice City. The world is, in a word, huge. It takes at least 20 minutes to drive from one end of the world to another (although if you're creative you just jump the airport fence and fly a plane for 2 minutes instead). Sure, there are standard GTA missions, like mugging drug dealers and drive-bys. But there is a lot more. Want to play death from above? Complete a ton of missions and get the easter egg of a Hunter gunship that can blow anything in the game away. Want an insanely fast car? Don't steal one; go to the docks and import a Super GT. Want to show off your moves? Enter the lowrider contest or go dancing with a date. Where the change from action game to RPG is most noticeable is in the addition of skill-based character advancement. CJ needs to eat and be in shape, but more importantly needs experience with weapons if he wants to hit something besides his foot. It's not onerous by any means, but it's a noticeable difference. One other note for veteran GTA players: this is probably the first GTA in which you'll use your keyboard a bit. The shooting missions are easier with mouse control for targeting, although I definitely prefer my Logitech gamepad for driving. The PC port is clean although several of the PS2 cheats I tested don't work. Several things are better than the console versions. Besides making your own radio station from MP3s (although the GTA ads still air in between songs), graphics are improved. If you have the hardware to run it, high end tweaks like shadowing and draw distance (meaning you can actually decipher signs among other things) are nice. This isn't a showpiece game like Half Life 2 for your 45" LCD monitor by any means - the PS2 development still shows in a vaguely polygonish feel - but the port is a definite improvement over the consoles and the previous GTAs. (If Rockstar insists on an exclusive PS3 contract going forward, hopefully the 1080p PS3 will force improvements in the next game.) I like the special guest voices (like a corrupt Samuel L. Jackson) and the 5.1 surround in general, and have fortunately not experienced any of the numerous reported sound or running problems. (I'm running a 6800GT and a dual Opteron 246 setup which probably helps.) It's probably not the best PC game of the year based on the legacy limitations of developing this for the PS2, but it is a genre defining game and is a must play for anyone who likes being bad. Five stars. | ||
 | Law and Order - The Third Year (1992-1993 Season) | |
| "Great season, transfer and extras still lacking" | 2005-05-26 |
| Law and Order's third season is the beginning of the golden years of the show, six or seven seasons in which this became one of the best crime shows ever. Part of it is the plots, but a larger part is the addition of Jerry Orbach to add both character and humor to a narrowly written role. The show itself is 5 stars, but I knock off a star for yet another season in which the transfers and extras leave something to be desired. Still, very much worth buying. What makes this season golden? Nostalgia for the early 1990s helps, with big hair, Times Square full of strip clubs, crime labs using old IBM 386 computers, colored shirts and narrow ties, and a general feeling that a far more gritty New York made a better backdrop for a crime show than today's sanitized version. Some of it is the writing and source material. Episodes include the standard ripped-from-the-headlines stories - Tailhook (Conduct Unbecoming), sweatshop workers (Wedded Bliss), doctors assaulting patients (Helpless, Promises to Keep), drug smuggling rings (Consultation), hackers (Virus) - but one reason the first few seasons are more robust is that they had just started to scratch the surface of historical crimes, like a restaging of the Malcolm X murder (Conspiracy) and a medical device company scandal (The Corporate Veil). This means that while the bang-bang plot advancement really comes into its own this season after a couple of years of slower episodes, the writers don't have to resort to cheap plot tricks to keep things interesting. Routine false leads and judges throwing out evidence every episode can wait for the formulaic later years. I also particularly like several of the non-Hollywood endings, like Prince of Darkness ("What happened to the little girl?" "She was picked up at school by her uncle." "She doesn't have an uncle.") But a larger part is the acting. With the mid-season addition of Orbach - who plays first-year Briscoe a bit more troubled and edgy than in later years - the Law side of the series finally has two actors that don't think that playing an NYPD detective is beneath their talent. Briscoe's trademark wisecrack helps ("They brought the hookers in? I thought they were on the room service menu"), but there's a chemistry between Orbach and Noth that makes the makes plots come to life. In addition, several of the regular guest stars (Tovah Feldshuh and Lorraine Toussant as memorable defense attorneys, Leslie Hendrix's first appearances as the irascible medical examiner) add life to the show in their brief roles. Finally, one fun part of watching the early years are the stars who have gone on to bigger careers: Claire Danes, Edie Falco, Sam Rockwell, Gloria Foster (the oracle from the Matrix), Desperate Housewife Felicity Huffman, Alias' Ron Rifkin, ER's Paul McCrane and Julianna Margulies. As I have for the first two season sets, I take a star off for transfers and extras that aren't up to the quality of the show. I have mixed opinions about cheaply producing double sided DVDs in three slim cases without any written material, but at least it takes less space on my shelf. Transfer quality is in fact better than the first two seasons, but it's clear remastering was cursory as there is still periodic flecking. After no extras in the first two seasons, at least this set includes some. However, they're still disappointing especially after the long delay in putting this out. The 8 deleted scenes don't add much, although we finally see one of Briscoe's brassy middle aged girlfriends (for the only time in the series!) A five minute interview with and six minute tribute to Orbach by fellow stars doesn't even include the master of ceremonies of his celebration, Sam Waterston; they would have been better served just putting a copy of that on the DVD instead of getting Trial By Jury actors on the profound effect his 4 episodes with them had on their careers. What the series really needs is interviews with writers and actors on the various episodes. At least they don't include an ad as they did in the first year. However, this is very much worth picking up for Law and Order fans. I just wish if Universal is going to price something at a premium that viewers can watch for free on basic cable, they'd at least add premium content. Maybe next season. | ||
 | 6 Ft. IEEE 1394 FireWire 4-Pin to 6-Pin Compatible Cable - Ice - F3N401-06-ICE | |
| "Does exactly what it should. Very useful for HDTV boxes" | 2005-05-03 |
| The 6' 4 pin to 6 pin Belkin IEEE 1394/Firewire cable does exactly what it says it should for relatively cheap. As long as you're at the 400 MB/s standard as this is, there's no need to spend $50 on a gold plated connector and superheavy isolation like the Monster cables. Firewire is designed to function up to 15' without signal degradation, and unlike analog signals the 0 and 1s of digital signals aren't subject to manipulation by electrical fields. Either they get through or they don't, so as long as these are certified under the standard you save money by not buying useless frills. It's shiny translucent silver, not black, but if you care that much about cable color you probably already have your cables hidden anyway.
The 4 pin models work with most electrical powered devices; the 6 pin models usually are for devices that need battery power. (The extra two pins carry current.) For those looking for an adapter for Comcast/Motorola HDTV-ready digital boxes, this is the cable you need. For some reason Motorola decided to use a 6 pin adapter, where almost all HDTVs and DVHS VCRs use a 4 pin. (PCs typically use 6.) I've used one for a while now to run flawless 1080i signals between my Comcast HDTV box and my DVHS VCR. Recommended. | ||
 | 6 Ft. IEEE 1394 FireWire 4-Pin to 4-Pin Compatible Cable - Gray - F3N402-06-ICE | |
| "Does what it should for cheap" | 2005-05-03 |
| The 6' 4 pin to 4 pin Belkin IEEE 1394/Firewire cable does exactly what it says it should for relatively cheap. As long as you're at the 400 MB/s standard as this is, there's no need to spend $50 on a gold plated connector and superheavy isolation like the Monster cables. Firewire is designed to function up to 15' without signal degradation, and unlike analog signals the 0 and 1s of digital signals aren't subject to manipulation by electrical fields. Either they get through or they don't, so as long as these are certified under the standard you save money by not buying useless frills. It's shiny translucent silver, not black, but if you care that much about cable color you probably already have your cables isolated anyway.
The 4 pin models work with most electrical powered devices; the 6 pin models usually are for devices that need battery power. (To tell, look at the cable input. If the Firewire port looks like a USB port it's 6 pin, as the extra two pins carry current. If its tiny, it's a 4 pin outlet.) For those looking for an adapter for Comcast/Motorola HDTV-ready digital boxes, you'll need a 6 pin cable on one end as Motorola decided to use a 6 pin adapter, where almost all HDTVs, DVHS VCRs, and PCs use a 4 pin. Recommended. | ||
 | Empire Earth 2 | |
| "Massively entertaining but rather complex. Very good RTS" | 2005-05-02 |
| Empire Earth 2 (EE2) is a worthy successor to Empire Earth (EE), filling a number of holes and adding massive amounts of content to the original game. The play is frantic and tough and enough content's been added so that you can spend days on a single game. I knock a star off both fun and overall for a combination of things making the game far more complex than it should - including inexcusably skimpy documentation - but this deserves 4/4 stars for fun and playability as a game that will keep you up late, late, late at night.
If you've never played 2001's EE, you're in for a treat with EE2. The concept here is pretty simple. You control a civilization from the stone age through far in the future, but as this is a real-time strategy (RTS) game you can't stop the clock like you do in Civ, meaning you're constantly fighting off opponents along the way. The real issue is why you should buy this over EE. The simplest way I can put it is to compare the original Civilization versus Civilization II, where the two games blew people away but for different reasons. The first one created a genre. The second added massive layers of complexity to the original creation. Simply put, there's a lot more in EE2 than there was in EE. With 300 differing units (versus 200 in EE), more civs, and any number of new variables ranging from weather to tech advances to temporary bonuses, it means that the old "hold off the barbarians by building Hadrian's Wall until you advance and build 10 leviathans to do a Sherman's March through Georgia" RTS strategy doesn't work here. The AI has gotten a lot better, as well as the civilizations being more balanced. The two combine to force you to really have to know the ins and outs of both your civ and your opponent to win. Everything (resource management, unit management, battle strategy, and far more advanced diplomacy and battle plan coordination) becomes important to pay attention to, especially at higher difficulty levels. I view it as kind of like being an air-traffic controller; take your eye off the screen and you lose big. It's a major pain trying to keep up with everything, but if you can it's a blast. The fact this is multiplayer-ready straight out of the box is also an improvement, as well as significant tweaking of handicap levels in multiplayer games that make the potential of newbie versus veteran matchups actually playable for a change. Where this loses a star on both fun and overall is that they didn't do enough to make the information overload easier to manage. There are a couple nice new features in the UI (the Citizen Manager is helpful but I find multiple screens just make things even more confusing) but nothing revolutionary, like the city managers in the later Civs that helped you deal with all the extra layers of complexity. Even small things, like unchangeable hotkeys, weren't well thought out. Where I go from frustrated to disappointed is unacceptably skimpy documentation. There is no tech tree printout included, something basic to all RTS games and that was included in EE. Moreover, neither is a civilization list along with their bonuses as well as any detailed information on unit and building statistics. While all three are available piecemeal in the in-game tooltips feature, that doesn't make up for the fact that this is basic stuff that any RTS game should include. (It's almost as if Sierra has made a deal with Prima to force you to buy the strategy guide.) The lack of help in managing the new complexity means this game is far better suited to hard-core, experienced RTS players than those new to the genre. Finally, graphics are only ok even though this requires fairly new equipment to run properly. Don't get me wrong. This is a very, very entertaining game that will have you shocked that it's 3 in the morning when you just wanted to play for a couple of hours before bedtime. Its just that if they'd spent a little more time polishing up playability this would leap from a great game to a classic. Still, very much worth buying. | ||
| Empire Earth 2 | |
| "Reasonably entertaining but rather complex. Good RTS" | 2005-05-02 |
| Empire Earth 2 (EE2) is a worthy successor to Empire Earth (EE), filling a number of holes and adding massive amounts of content to the original game. The play is frantic and tough and enough content's been added so that you can spend days on a single game. I knock a star off both fun and overall for a combination of things making the game far more complex than it should - including inexcusably skimpy documentation - but this deserves 4/4 stars for fun and playability as a game that can keep you up late, late, late at night. If you've never played 2001's EE, you should. The concept here is pretty simple. You control a civilization from the stone age through far in the future, but as this is a real-time strategy (RTS) game you can't stop the clock like you do in Civ, meaning you're constantly fighting off opponents along the way. The real issue is why you should buy this over EE. The simplest way I can put it is to compare the original Civilization versus Civilization II, where the two games were both popular but for different reasons. The first one created a genre and became a classic. The second, while not nearly original, fixed holes and added massive layers of complexity to the first game. Simply put, there's a lot more in EE2 than there was in EE. With 300 differing units (versus 200 in EE), more civs, and any number of new variables ranging from weather to tech advances to temporary bonuses, it means that the old "hold off the barbarians by building Hadrian's Wall until you advance and build 10 leviathans to do a Sherman's March through Georgia" RTS strategy doesn't work here. At higher difficulty levels, the AI has gotten a lot better. As well, civilizations are more balanced. The two combine to force you to really have to know the ins and outs of both your civ and your opponent to win. Everything (resource management, unit management, battle strategy, and far more advanced diplomacy and battle plan coordination) becomes important to watch, especially at higher difficulty levels. The downside is it's a major pain trying to keep up with everything, but if you can it's a blast. The fact this is multiplayer-ready straight out of the box is also an improvement, as well as significant tweaking of handicap levels in multiplayer games that make the potential of newbie versus veteran matchups actually playable for a change. Where this loses a star on both fun and overall is that they didn't do enough to make the information overload easier to manage. There are a couple nice new features in the UI (the Citizen Manager is helpful but I find multiple screens just make things even more confusing) but nothing revolutionary, like the city managers in the later Civs that helped you deal with all the extra layers of complexity. Even small things, like unchangeable hotkeys, weren't well thought out. Where I go from frustrated to disappointed is unacceptably skimpy documentation. There is no tech tree printout included, something basic to all RTS games and that was included in EE. Moreover, neither is a civilization list along with their bonuses as well as any detailed information on unit and building statistics. While all three are available piecemeal in the in-game tooltips feature, that doesn't make up for the fact that this is basic stuff that any RTS game should include. (It's almost as if Sierra has made a deal with Prima to force you to buy the strategy guide.) The lack of help in managing the new complexity means this game is far better suited to hard-core, experienced RTS players than those new to the genre. Finally, graphics are only ok at best even though this requires fairly new equipment to run properly. Don't get me wrong. This is an entertaining game that will have you shocked that it's 3 in the morning when you just wanted to play for a couple of hours before bedtime. Its just that if they'd spent a little more time polishing up playability this would leap from a good game to a classic. Still, very much worth buying. | ||
 | Guild Wars - Windows | |
| "Solid game - encourages teaming & PVP, not powerleveling" | 2005-04-29 |
| Guild Wars is a very solid MMORPG that strongly encourages team play. The graphics are top-notch (if not up to the cartoon levels of World of Warcraft), the play addicting, and it's well-balanced. With no monthly fee, it's one of the best bargains in the MMORPG world. I take off a star and a half for the forced team aspect as well as the focus on pure fighting versus creating a world, but add 1 back for the value proposition so give this 4 and half stars, or a 4/5 fun/overall split. This is a tough game to master with no outright 'uber' classes. Players choose 2 of 6 fairly standard basic professions (1 tank, 1 mezzer, 1 healer/defender, 2 nukers, 1 mezzer/nuker) with the second profession lacking one of the strongest attributes of the primary (including which armor you can wear and runes you can use). As you level, besides gaining hit points you do two things - specialize in the various basic class attributes and gain access to the real key: skills. You're limited to a certain number of active skills while in combat, so strategy and careful character building take precedence over getting to level 20. Experience to buy skills can be gained through basic PvE, missions, or PvP. Using a small set of skills wisely along with picking and choosing your attribute development is far more important than getting all the 75 skills available to each profession. This is definitely not a game that is easy to blindly powerlevel. Cleverly designed, this sidesteps a lot of the problems surrounding the genre. Rather than deal with constant kill stealing, maps and missions are instanced, and you don't have to spend a whole slug of time traveling between regions. (Once you've been to a locale, boom, it's yours.) Recovery time is minimal as is non-combat time. You don't need to spend time harvesting mats and begging a friend to make your next weapon. Instead, kill things, complete missions, and you can bring mats straight to the NPC crafter to make a custom weapon (that can only be equipped by you, likely eliminating much of the secondary market for gear in this game.) My reservations are four fold but minor. First, the way to truly advance in this game is through missions - and the only way to accomplish many missions is in a balanced team. Thus, you're basically forced to group despite the nominal ability to solo. This really means you have to figure out proper character development early - rather tough with your first few characters until you find a good guild, and frankly, sometimes many of us feel like playing solo. Second, the lack of any real crafting system here means you fight...and fight...and fight. CoH has done well with a similar model (without the PvP aspect) and it's worked well - not to mention the biggest headaches in most MMORPGs are the messes created with a bad item creation system - but if you enjoy socializing more than fighting (the typical harvester/crafter) this isn't the game for you. Third, the game really revolves around PvP much more than PvE for the above reasons - so if you're looking for a game without conflict, this isn't it. Finally, while the focus on instanced events does prevent many of the problems found in most other MMORPGs, it also reduces the multiplayer aspect except in non-instanced locales like towns. The net effect of all of these is to slightly dilute the 'world' aspect, and for those looking for total immersion this may not be a perfect match. Still, this is a great game and deserves 4 1/2 stars, and if you're looking for an alternative to the hordes of WoW that strongly encourages teaming this should be at the top of your list. One final note: this actually runs quite well even on my soon-to-be discarded Athlon 1100 and is geared towards doing well on slightly older systems - and even 56k modems! - unlike most new games. Big plus. | ||
 | JVC DF300AU D-VHS Video Tape | |
| "Does what it says but atrocious value proposition" | 2005-04-22 |
| The JVC DF300AU D-VHS tape does exactly what it proposes: given a properly set up D-VHS VCR, it makes perfect pixel by pixel copies of HDTV. I cannot see any difference between live and recorded high definition TV when I use these and a firewire connection with my HM-DH40000. You can also tape SVHS or VHS formats on this tape, and those formats come out quite nicely as well. However, the quiet secret here is that the formulation here is essentially identical to high quality S-VHS tape - at 2 to 3 times the price. The only difference is that rather than having a single hole in the chassis this tape has a second, allowing the VCR to read it as a D-VHS tape rather than a S-VHS tape. There is an obvious workaround to this that can be found fairly easily on the web; search if you're interested. From my experience S-VHS tapes with the workaround work just as well as this far more expensive tape - at 150 minutes, you should compare this to the 160 minute T-160 SVHS tapes - which is why I knock off two stars. I can't guarantee S-VHS tapes will last as long, but then again, since there's no warranty on the D-VHS tapes either there doesn't seem to be much risk. I also haven't been able to tell any difference between the JVC and Maxwell DVHS versions, which is unsurprising. Data recording - which is all D-VHS really is - either records data or it doesn't. | ||
 | SHARP Aquos LC-45GD4U 45" LCD Flat Panel HDTV TV | |
| "Spectacular monitor...but not nearly obsolescence proof" | 2005-04-11 |
| The 45" Sharp LC-45GD4U is a spectacular LCD HDTV monitor, with superb picture quality that stands up to anything currently on the market. Unfortunately, despite being one of the first 1920x1080 displays, it's not as obsolescence proof as you might think as it doesn't support 1080p resolution at this time without major workarounds. In English, this means that next-generation DVDs won't be displayed in maximum resolution and some HTPCs will have problems. Still, this is a marvelous HDTV; its just that if you're paying this much for it you shouldn't compromise at all - meaning I mark it down 1 star - and the one-year warranty is skimpy enough to take another half-star off. If you want better protection against obsolescence, look at the LC-45GX6U, which has an easier 1080p workaround.
LCDs and plasma each have their own camps; plasma offers better blacks and brighter pictures, where LCDs are easier to break in, have longer lives with a fairly simple repair, and don't wash out in the sunlight. (You need to watch for yourself to make up your own mind.) What's also neat is that (unlike plasma) there are now several LCDs that have reached the limits of HDTV broadcasts with 1920x1080 resolution; there are more coming in the next few months, but for now the three 45" Sharp 1920x1080 LCDs are tied with Samsung for the best native resolution and offer better picture quality comparable to the best plasmas. The difference between the models is minor. The GD4U has detachable side speakers and is silver, the GD6U has a detachable bottom speaker and is titanium, and the GX6U's tuner and scaler are in a standalone box (the GD4U and GD6U have an integrated one) and is also titanium with a detachable bottom speaker. Picture quality is nothing short of spectacular. The blacks rival plasmas, there's no noticeable streaking, and you pretty much can't complain about how this treats any HDTV signal. There still aren't a lot of 1920x1080i HD signals out there (in fact, DirecTV and others just disappointingly cut their signals to 1280x1080i), but those that are display nicely and the 720p signals look good too. (For those slightly confused, HD transmits either in 720p (720 horizontal lines non interlaced) or 1080i (1080 lines interlaced)). One added benefit is that the hardware actually does a good job upscaling both standard broadcasts (480i) and DVDs (480p) to make them look decent. Can't argue with that, although you can tell the difference between the quality of this TV's integrated upscaling versus that of a separate $1000 high end scaler like the DVDO Iscan. Several other features are also useful. CableCARD is a good cheap second tuner (even though this version 1.0 doesn't support sending a signal back to the cable company, which means you can't buy PPV with it). This is also one of the few tuners whose Firewire connection works out of the box with the JVC DVHS VCRs - important as this will save you immense amounts of pain trying to timeshift and save digital recordings. Essentially, for anything you want to watch today this is about as good a toy as you can get. So why not 5 stars? The problem is that Sharp decided that the best you should be able to do with their hardware is to display a 1080i signal. That's fine for today, but the problem is that within a year there should in fact be numerous 1080p sources (in fact, there were several displayed at CES this year) and what's worse is Sharp is somewhat guilty of false advertising as the units are still advertised on Sharp's website as 1080p. In addition, if you're trying to hook up a PC to this the best the tuner will let you display is 1280x1024 resolution, an issue for those with HTPCs. To some extent this is a moot point - the competition is stuck at 1364x768, and it may be hard to tell 1080i from 1080p on a monitor as small as 45" - but there's really no excuse for a monitor that can display 1080p but can't because Sharp wanted to save $100 on hardware. The good news is that the unit with a separate tuner (the GX6U) will happily display 1080p resolutions through the monitor's DVI input...but only if you disconnect the tuner and put your own source in. As a workaround its simple, but also requires a separate $250 DVI switcher if you don't want to constantly connect and disconnect. Unfortunately, with the GD4U and GD6U it's not nearly that easy as you can't bypass the integrated tuner. Furthermore, reported solutions have had notable degrades in picture quality. Sharp has mentioned they may push out an upgrade that would solve this, but I wouldn't hold your breath. Sony wants $3000 for their 1080p upgrade to the Qualia, which should tell you why Sharp hasn't yet implemented this. Finally, the one year warranty (compared to three for most plasma units) is pretty skimpy, although reports of trouble with these monitors have been significantly less than plasma units. Still, for today's signals, this can't be beat. I just think that if you're going to spend this much on a TV you should not have to think about buying another one for many, many years to come. Only the GX6U offers that for now, which is why I recommend that instead of the GD4U and GD6U. In any case, if you're patient, you should see prices come down on all three fairly shortly with increased competition and lower manufacturing failure rates. For now, though, the best game in town. | ||
| Sharp LC-45GD6U 45" AQUOS LCD Flat Panel HD-Ready TV | |
| "Spectacular monitor...but not obsolescence proof" | 2005-04-11 |
| The 45" Sharp LC-45GD6U is a spectacular LCD HDTV monitor, with superb picture quality that stands up to anything currently on the market. Unfortunately, despite being one of the first 1920x1080 displays, it's not as obsolescence proof as you might think as it doesn't support 1080p resolution at this time without major workarounds. In English, this means that next-generation DVDs won't be displayed in maximum resolution and some HTPCs will have problems. Still, this is a marvelous HDTV; its just that if you're paying this much for it you shouldn't compromise at all - meaning I mark it down 1 star - and the one-year warranty is skimpy enough to take another half-star off. If you want better protection against obsolescence, look at the LC-45GX6U, which has an easier 1080p workaround.
LCDs and plasma each have their own camps; plasma offers better blacks and brighter pictures, where LCDs are easier to break in, have longer lives with a fairly simple repair, and don't wash out in the sunlight. (You need to watch for yourself to make up your own mind.) What's also neat is that (unlike plasma) there are now several LCDs that have reached the limits of HDTV broadcasts with 1920x1080 resolution; there are more coming in the next few months, but for now the three 45" Sharp 1920x1080 LCDs are tied with Samsung for the best native resolution and offer better picture quality comparable to the best plasmas. The difference between the models is minor. The GD4U has detachable side speakers and is silver, the GD6U has a detachable bottom speaker and is titanium, and the GX6U's tuner and scaler are in a standalone box (the GD4U and GD6U have an integrated one) and is also titanium with a detachable bottom speaker. I personally prefer the titanium look and the bottom speaker as I find it works as a cheap center surround speaker, although with the significant price difference between the GD4U and GD6U you might as well ditch the side speakers on the GD4U and buy your own center channel speaker. It surely will do better than the GD6U's 10 watts. Picture quality is nothing short of spectacular. The blacks rival plasmas, there's no noticeable streaking, and you pretty much can't complain about how this treats any HDTV signal. There still aren't a lot of 1920x1080i HD signals out there (in fact, DirecTV and others just disappointingly cut their signals to 1280x1080i), but those that are display nicely and the 720p signals look good too. (For those slightly confused, HD transmits either in 720p (720 horizontal lines non interlaced) or 1080i (1080 lines interlaced)). One added benefit is that the hardware actually does a good job upscaling both standard broadcasts (480i) and DVDs (480p) to make them look decent. Can't argue with that, although you can tell the difference between the quality of this TV's integrated upscaling versus that of a separate $1000 high end scaler like the DVDO Iscan. Several other features are also useful. CableCARD is a good cheap second tuner (even though this version 1.0 doesn't support sending a signal back to the cable company, which means you can't buy PPV with it). This is also one of the few tuners whose Firewire connection works out of the box with the JVC DVHS VCRs - important as this will save you immense amounts of pain trying to timeshift and save digital recordings. Essentially, for anything you want to watch today this is about as good a toy as you can get. So why not 5 stars? The problem is that Sharp decided that the best you should be able to do with their hardware is to display a 1080i signal. That's fine for today, but the problem is that within a year there should in fact be numerous 1080p sources (in fact, there were several displayed at CES this year) and what's worse is Sharp is somewhat guilty of false advertising as the units are still advertised on Sharp's website as 1080p. In addition, if you're trying to hook up a PC to this the best the tuner will let you display is 1280x1024 resolution - an issue for those with HTPCs. To some extent this is a moot point - the competition is stuck at 1364x768, and it may be hard to tell 1080i from 1080p on a monitor as small as 45" - but there's really no excuse for a monitor that can display 1080p but can't because Sharp wanted to save $100 on hardware. The good news is that the unit with a separate tuner (the GX6U) will happily display 1080p resolutions through the monitor's DVI input...but only if you disconnect the tuner and put your own source in. As a workaround its simple, but also requires a separate $250 DVI switcher if you don't want to constantly connect and disconnect. Unfortunately, with the GD4U and GD6U it's not nearly that easy as you can't bypass the integrated tuner. Furthermore, reported solutions have had notable degrades in picture quality. Sharp has mentioned they may push out an upgrade that would solve this, but I wouldn't hold your breath. Sony wants $3000 for their 1080p upgrade to the Qualia, which should tell you why Sharp hasn't yet implemented this. Finally, the one year warranty (compared to three for most plasma units) is pretty skimpy, although reports of trouble with these monitors have been significantly less than plasma units. Still, for today's signals, this can't be beat. I just think that if you're going to spend this much on a TV you should not have to think about buying another one for many, many years to come. Only the GX6U offers that for now, which is why I recommend that instead of the GD4U and GD6U. In any case, if you're patient, you should see prices come down on all three fairly shortly with increased competition and lower manufacturing failure rates. For now, though, the best game in town. | ||
 | Sharp LC-45GX6U 45" AQUOS LCD Flat Panel HD-Ready TV | |
| "With a couple of tricks, the last TV you'll buy for years" | 2005-04-11 |
| The 45" Sharp LC-45GX6U is a spectacular LCD HDTV monitor, with superb picture quality that stands up to anything currently on the market. It's unfortunate that it requires an unsupported workaround to display 1920x1080p signals, but at least it does so relatively easily (unlike its twins the GD4U and GD6U). As such, despite misgivings about a bulky separate tuner and the cost of a workaround, this is basically the best LCD on the market and deserves 5 stars.
LCDs and plasma each have their own camps; plasma offers better blacks and brighter pictures, where LCDs are easier to break in, have longer lives with a fairly simple repair, and don't wash out in the sunlight. (You need to watch for yourself to make up your own mind.) What's also neat is that (unlike plasma) there are now several LCDs that have reached the limits of HDTV broadcasts with 1920x1080 resolution; there are more coming in the next few months, but for now the three 45" Sharp 1920x1080 LCDs are tied with Samsung for the best native resolution and offer better picture quality comparable to the best plasmas. The difference between the models is minor. The GD4U has detachable side speakers and is silver, the GD6U has a detachable bottom speaker and is titanium, and the GX6U's tuner and scaler are in a standalone box (the GD4U and GD6U have an integrated one) and is also titanium with a detachable bottom speaker. I personally prefer the titanium look and the bottom speaker as I find it works as a cheap center 5.1 speaker, although with the significant price difference between the GD4U and other units you might as well ditch the side speakers and buy your own center channel speaker. It surely will do better than the native 10 watts. Picture quality is nothing short of spectacular. The blacks rival plasmas, there's no noticeable streaking, and you pretty much can't complain about how this treats any HDTV signal. There still aren't a lot of 1920x1080i HD signals out there (in fact, DirecTV and others just disappointingly cut their signals to 1280x1080i), but those that are display nicely and the 720p signals look good too. (For those slightly confused, HD transmits either in 720p (720 horizontal lines non interlaced) or 1080i (1080 lines interlaced)). One added benefit is that the hardware actually does a good job upscaling both standard broadcasts (480i) and DVDs (480p) to make them look decent. Can't argue with that, although you can tell the difference between the quality of this TV's integrated upscaling versus that of a separate $1000 high end scaler like the DVDO Iscan. Several other features are also useful. CableCARD is a good cheap second tuner (even though this version 1.0 doesn't support sending a signal back to the cable company, which means you can't buy PPV with it). This is also one of the few tuners whose Firewire connection works out of the box with the JVC DVHS VCRs - important as this will save you immense amounts of pain trying to timeshift and save digital recordings. Essentially, for anything you want to watch today this is about as good a toy as you can get. The issue with these monitors, though, is that Sharp decided that the best you should be able to do with their hardware is to display a 1080i signal. That's fine for today, but the problem is that within a year there should in fact be numerous 1080p sources (in fact, there were several displayed at CES this year) and what's worse is Sharp is somewhat guilty of false advertising as the units are still advertised on Sharp's website as 1080p. In addition, if you're trying to hook up a PC to this the best the tuner will let you display is 1280x1024 resolution - an issue for those with HTPCs. To some extent this is a moot point - the competition is stuck at 1364x768, and it may be hard to tell 1080i from 1080p on a monitor as small as 45" - but there's really no excuse for a monitor that can display 1080p but won't because Sharp wanted to save $100 on hardware. The good news is that this unit will happily display 1080p resolutions through the monitor's DVI input...but only if you disconnect the tuner and put your own source in. As a workaround its simple, but also requires a separate $250 DVI switcher if you don't want to constantly connect and disconnect. Unfortunately, Sharp has indicated that market research has indicated customers don't want a separate tuner, so all future LCDs will have an integrated one and the GX-series is being phased out. This presents real problems going forward unless they implement a fix, but is why you should grab a GX6U while it's still available. I'd personally prefer an integrated tuner as the AVC (tuner) unit isn't particularly pretty with a card slot in front and doesn't match the rest of my black components, but given the choice between 1080i and 1080p, I'll take the latter every day. I don't like the one year warranty on these, but problems with these monitors have been significantly less than plasma units. While ridiculously expensive, this also has the potential of being a TV you won't need to replace for many, many years. Unlike plasma, when you hit 60000 hours on this and the screen starts dimming, just swap out your backlight and you have a new unit. Unlike the GD4U and GD6U, when Blu-ray and HD-DVD roll out just plug them into the DVI port and you're good to go at 1080p. It's strange to think that Sharp's later generation models (this was their first 45" TV) don't have the same functionality as their first, but I guess that's why you need to do research before buying. It's tough to decide if you should wait for prices to come down or buy this now given the risk that this product line gets eliminated. In any case, the best game in town. | ||
 | JVC HMDH5U Digital VHS High-Definition Recorder | |
| "Same as the HM-DH40000 except for HDMI and DTS" | 2005-03-22 |
| The JVC HMDH5U is essentially the same unit as the JVC HM-DH40000. It's more expensive (even though the MSRP is less), not nearly as pretty lacking the front cover of the HM-DH40000, and most importantly has a couple small upgrades. As such its a great VCR but still not a particularly great digital recording device. Whether this is a better buy depends on how you plan to use it.
If you're not familiar with DVHS and the JVC DVHS VCR pluses and minuses, please read my long review of the HM-DH40000. In short, the format has issues but the VCR you get with it is in my opinion well worth it, especially at the price. The HMDH5U is a slight upgrade, with four things that the HM-DH40000 lacks. First, it supposedly runs a bit cooler than the HM-DH40000, although I haven't seen that on my model. Second, it can decode DTS (the alternative to Dolby Digital) encoded tapes, not a particularly important upgrade as there frankly isn't much recorded in that format available for playback. Third, it has an option to switch to 480i (standard definition) output by a single keystroke on the remote, which sounds minor but can be incredibly useful when you need to access the menu (only available in 480i) while you're watching video in 720p or 1080i. Finally, it has an HDMI output. For those unfamiliar with it, HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is the next-generation connection (like DVI or optical output) between digital devices. Besides being able to carry audio signals along with the uncompressed video (meaning less cords), its major advantage is that with a simple, cheap adapter it's backwards compatible with DVI interfaces, which your current HDTV or modern PC monitor probably already has. In my experience, the signal quality using HDMI or DVI tends to run a bit better than component but isn't terribly noticable unless you're really looking for differences. Still, it does mean this is less likely to be obsolete as an output device going forward, although I doubt component video inputs are going the way of the dodo bird anytime soon. (Incidentally, one more difference is the component output of this is supposedly slightly improved over the HM-DH40000, but I've never noticed it...and if your eye is good enough to notice such small differences you should be using a digital output anyway.) Unfortunately, almost everything else remains the same. Digital input is by Firewire only, meaning you're limited to a handful of devices that output HD signals this can record. (The 169time solution described below is intriguing but pricey - basically they're a third party that uses a low end computer to add firewire output to a number of other HD receivers. Check them out, but be warned they cost as much as this VCR!) Also, keep in mind that if you're running one of those few tuners that is Firewire compatible with this, do remember Firewire is 2-way - meaning you can play back digital audio and video using it instead, meaning the addition of the HDMI output is rendered moot. Since my recommendation is that you buy the HM-DH40000 more as a VCR than a digital recorder, whether the HMDH5U is a better choice depends on how you're planning on using it most of the time. If you can use the HDMI/DVI output and are planning on being dedicated to the DVHS and D-Theater formats, this might be worth the extra money. If you're planning on using it more as a VCR upgrade with occasionally archiving digital format, it lacks the sleek front panel of its predecessor and costs more. Just depends on how you use it. | ||
 | Western Digital 10,000 RPM 74 GB SATA Raptor Hard Drive | |
| "A bit hot and expensive, but incredibly fast. Great drive." | 2005-03-16 |
| The WD Raptor WD740GD is simply put an insanely fast 10k RPM hard drive. Outside of even more expensive Ultra320 SCSI 15k RPM units, there isn't much that competes with it for pure speed. It does run a bit hot and at almost $3 per MB it's massively expensive, but for what this does you can't complain.
Hard drive performance has never really been about the interface, as once manufacturers moved from the very old ATA format it's pretty hard to get a drive that's fast enough to take full advantage of the bandwidth. As an old SCSI hand, I learned this the hard way by paying a large premium for my first hard drive in 1988 - a nice slow 74 MB SCSI "monster." (I was worried about obsolesence; this was before I learned about replacement cycles.) While SATA (replaced IDE/EIDE, which replaced ATA) is a nice step up in theoretical transfer rates, quite frankly most drives don't get anywhere close to needing it. However, the WD740GD is one of the few, with sustained transfer rates that mirror that of SCSI drives. As an old SCSI hand I hate to say it but a drive like this proves there's no real reason you need SCSI outside of servers now. Since most applications don't require enough data to max out data transfer rates, the real key is the 10K RPM and an 8MB cache that appears to be somewhat faster than the competition. Cache is generally underrated, but critical - I held onto a 16MB ISA SCSI cache card for years past nominal obsolesence since I found it raised performance something like 25% for most applications - and the cache here appears fairly good if not state of the art (lacks TCQ firmware controls). Check websites for current access numbers, but as of this writing a sub-8ms average read is simply awesome. In non-theoretical use, you typically won't notice the extra couple of seconds this saves for loading large apps, but I've timed it and its there. (What you'll notice most is that Windows XP starts up quicker.) I found this runs a bit hot but nothing a well-designed system can't handle, and while not terribly noisy (especially compared to my old IBM drives) you do notice when it is at peak transfer rates. At $3 per MB, this is both relatively expensive and relatively small at 74GB. Still, you can't ask for much more given most comparative SCSI drives will run you upwards $6 to $8 per MB and severely limit your choice of motherboards (or increase your cost as you shop for an adapter). And while 7200 RPM drives are both cheaper and bigger, they don't touch this in terms of performance. Highly recommended, especially when you buy two for a RAID 0 configuration. | ||
 | Western Digital 10,000 RPM 74 GB SATA Raptor Hard Drive | |
| "A bit hot and expensive, but incredibly fast. Great drive." | 2005-03-16 |
| The WD Raptor WD740GD is simply put an insanely fast 10k RPM hard drive. Outside of even more expensive Ultra320 SCSI 15k RPM units, there isn't much that competes with it for pure speed. It does run a bit hot and at almost $3 per MB it's massively expensive, but for what this does you can't complain. Hard drive performance has never really been about the interface, as once manufacturers moved from the very old ATA format it's pretty hard to get a drive that's fast enough to take full advantage of the bandwidth. As an old SCSI hand, I learned this the hard way by paying a large premium for my first hard drive in 1988 - a nice slow 74 MB SCSI "monster." (I was worried about obsolesence; this was before I learned about replacement cycles.) While SATA (replaced IDE/EIDE, which replaced ATA) is a nice step up in theoretical transfer rates, quite frankly most drives don't get anywhere close to needing it. However, the WD740GD is one of the few, with sustained transfer rates that mirror that of SCSI drives. As an old SCSI hand I hate to say it but a drive like this proves there's no real reason you need SCSI outside of servers now. Since most applications don't require enough data to max out data transfer rates, the real key is the 10K RPM and an 8MB cache that appears to be somewhat faster than the competition. Cache is generally underrated, but critical - I held onto a 16MB ISA SCSI cache card for years past nominal obsolesence since I found it raised performance something like 25% for most applications - and the cache here appears fairly good if not state of the art (like the rest of the drive, which lacks TCQ firmware controls for quicker read/write). Check websites for current access numbers, but as of this writing a sub-8ms average read is simply awesome. In non-theoretical use, you typically won't notice the extra couple of seconds this saves for loading large apps, but I've timed it and its there. (What you'll notice most is that Windows XP starts up quicker.) I found this runs a bit hot but nothing a well-designed system can't handle, and while not terribly noisy (especially compared to my old IBM drives) you do notice when it is at peak transfer rates. At $3 per MB, this is both relatively expensive and relatively small at 74GB. Still, you can't ask for much more given most comparative SCSI drives will run you upwards $6 to $8 per MB and severely limit your choice of motherboards (or increase your cost as you shop for an adapter). And while 7200 RPM drives are both cheaper and bigger, they don't touch this in terms of performance. Highly recommended, especially when you buy two for a RAID 0 configuration. | ||
 | JVC HMDH40000U D-VHS Media 1080 HDTV Digital Video Recorder | |
| "Iffy as an HDTV recorder. Great VCR especially for price" | 2005-03-14 |
| The JVC HMDH40000U D-VHS DVR is a great next-generation VCR. Under certain circumstances it's a good HDTV storage system and HD home theater media player. Unfortunately, between the recording industry's paranoia and JVC's mistakes those circumstances are rare. But it's now cheap enough so that you're basically paying for a great VCR with a HD option. On that basis, it's worth 4 stars.
While wonderful to watch, HDTV is clearly still in its early adoption stages. One problem with early adoption is that until standards settle down it's very hard to find critical support technology - like storage. Currently, the main option is to buy a cable/satellite-brand specific integrated DVR/HDTV tuner. This also presents severe limitations: the box is useless if you switch providers, there's typically little storage space (typically 8 hours - HD takes about 4x the space of regular broadcasts), you can't archive programs, and they're wildly expensive. Until Tivo and others finally figure out the technology and come out with standalone HD units sometime in late 2005-2006, your only real alternative is a DVHS recorder. For neophytes, DVHS is a remarkable update to 30 year old technology - it uses the basically the same tapes that VHS always did but records digitally. This is wonderful for backwards compatibility as VHS and SVHS tapes play and record perfectly in a DVHS VCR (and if you've got money to burn you can record an outrageously priced DVHS tape with a VHS signal.) The good news is when it works it's a perfect digital copy of HD content. The bad is that after losing billions on pirated DVDs the recording industry put so many restrictions on digital recording it basically cripples this VCR and the DVHS format. In very simple terms they nerfed things so badly that it's: 1. very hard to record in HD format and 2. even more difficult to copy HD media. So why bother with the JVC HMDH40000U? First, you can in fact record HDTV broadcasts, and when it works its spectacular. The problem is that JVC is so paranoid at offending the studios that the only HD input is a Firewire/I-Link digital one - there are NO component video or HDMI inputs. Only a couple manufacturers provide I-Link outputs from HDTV tuners (Hitachi and Mitsubishi, along with a handful of models from others like Samsung and Sharp) which means for many people subscribing to cable or satellite HDTV this is useless. In addition, there are numerous documented cases where an tuner or camcorder has a nominal I-Link connection and it doesn't work with this. But...if you do get a box that works the results are a perfect copy and while DVHS tapes are outrageously expensive they're still cheap compared to what it would cost for 5 hours of HD stored on a hard drive. Second, there is a very small (about 100 or so) selection of extremely high resolution (1080i) movies in a format known as D-Theater. Between this and the 25 or so late (stopped manufacturing in 2002) lamented Muse-HiVision Laserdiscs that are only playable on machines costing 10 times this VCR, this is about the only way you're going to see a movie in more than 480p on your home screen until HD-DVD/Blu-ray comes out in late 2005/early 2006 at initial prices also probably 10x of this VCR. Unfortunately it feels like D-Theater is going the way of Muse, but I've seen a couple movies this way and your jaw will simply drop if you find a movie you like in this format. Even when you lose a ton of resolution by letting the JVC downscale a D-Theater movie to 480i to play on your old Trinitron, this brings out details you simply don't see in a DVD. Even HDTV broadcasts don't compare to the detail you'll find on a D-Theater movie. But the real reason to buy this is that it is what a 2005 VCR should be. It has component video outputs, an optical digital output, multiple SVHS inputs and outputs, and a range of features (like marking chapters on tapes so that you don't have to find scenes by time and a bunch of advanced recording options) that even good VCRs don't. Better yet, playback and recording in regular VHS and SVHS mode (and you can do both) are noticeably better than my 5-year old SVHS model. As a VCR it's sleek and highly functional. Unfortunately, there's a good chance that if you're buying this for HDTV recording its not compatible. Check very, very carefully first before buying. But...now that JVC appears to have given up on this model since it doesn't have an HDMI output, it's available at prices directly comparable to good SVHS VCRs. As such you get next generation technology for the same price. And if you're lucky, you get a lot more. For laser disc fans I'd compare it to a bargain basement HLD-X9 - the new technology didn't catch on but the upgrades on the old made this well worth it. Just know what you're getting! | ||
 | ONKYO TX-NR901 THX Select 7.1-Channel Digital Surround Receiver | |
| "Expensive if solid receiver. Internet audio needs work." | 2005-03-08 |
| The Onkyo TX-NR901 is a solid center of a home theater system, priced a bit above comparable receivers but worth it for the discreet amps and versatility. I do knock off a star for the fact that both setup and functionality are unnecessarily complex along with the internet audio function being a nice marketing gimmick with relatively little support.
Onkyo isn't nearly as well known in the US as other brands, but for at least 20 years they've produced some relatively go | ||