Recent Comments:
OnStar's Stolen Vehicle Slowdown used to recover carjacked vehicle, baffle carjacker (video) {Engadget}
Oct 21st 2009 11:45PM Wow... way more Visalians here than I ever would have thought. Cool to see us featured nationally, but I'll still never own an Onstar equipped vehicle.
Poll: What part of your home theater is getting upgraded this holiday season? {Engadget HD}
Oct 16th 2009 1:14PM Our home theater is pretty much set. As it stands we've got a Pioneer 5020FD Plasma, Pioneer VSX-1019AH-K Receiver, Elemental Design and Polk Speakers, Elemental Design A2-300 sub, XBox 360, PS3 and U-Verse in our living room. Very happy with the setup for the budget we had.
We are considering upgrading our old 27" Panasonic tube TV in the bedroom to a 32" flat panel. I really wish you could still get a 32" plasma, but I don't know of a single model available in the US. So we'll probably just go with a sub-$400 LCD. We'd also get a new Blu-Ray player for the bedroom at the same time. Having a Netflix, etc. enabled player would be nice, but not a necessity. We're also considering a sounbar for the bedroom as well. Though, that may be overkill.
Ask Engadget HD: How do I hook up surround sound without cables running everywhere? {Engadget HD}
Oct 1st 2009 4:44PM Your situation sounds nearly identical to mine. We have a TV "cubby" with a fireplace directly to the left at a 45* angle and it is open on the right to the room beyond. I agonized over how to tackle the problem myself.
In the end I decided to go with ceiling mounted speakers for my surround. On the left wall of the "cubby" (shared with fireplace) I cut a 3 gang hole and used an 7.1 surround sound wall plate with binding posts and RCAs for the sub. Then I used in-wall speaker wire up to the location of the surround speakers. I also ran in-wall rated coax for the sub through the walls/ceiling as well. I did not connect the left right or center speakers this way, as they are located within the cubby space.
It was quite intimidating when I started, but once I had cut the first hole in the wall (single gang for the RCA plate at the subwoofer location) I wasn't intimidated at all any more. When all was said and done I had a great sounding system and even better, it was wife approved. To look at the installation now, you wouldn't be able to tell it was not done professionally. This is definitely something that added value to our new home, rather than detract from it.
Pioneer adds Anchor Bay VRS scaling to VSX-23TXH, VSX-21TXH and VSX-1019AH-K receivers {Engadget HD}
Sep 28th 2009 7:31PM Not that it really makes a difference for me, but I was an early adopter (1019). I am curious if this is a spec bump, or if it is just a press release after the fact. Might have to go digging for the box/manual to find out.
Numbers be damned, plasma eats LCD's cake in DisplayMate's tests {Engadget HD}
Jul 17th 2009 1:56AM You and me both brother. I bought my 5020FD from Costco shortly after the announcement as well. When I told my father, he bought the same TV. And he hadn't even been looking to buy a TV.
Kuro to the end. Pioneer's plasma line will be greatly missed. At least I have the satisfaction of knowing that by the time I am looking to buy a TV, technology and the rest of the industry should have caught up with my Kuro.
Engadget's recession antidote: win Radius earphones for iPhone 3G! {Engadget}
Apr 20th 2009 12:23PM I could use these.
Engadget's recession antidote: win a Klipsch HD Theater 500 sound system! {Engadget}
Apr 10th 2009 4:02AM This would go really well with the Kuro 1050 I got a couple months ago.
Engadget's recession antidote: win a Razer Mamba, Carcharias and case! {Engadget}
Apr 8th 2009 1:00PM Fix the economy? OK...
Strip unions of their power.
Reduce taxes and institute a flat tax.
Do away with the IRS.
Stricter term limits for congress.
No "bonuses" for government (Local, State and Federal) employees without strict voter approved guidelines.
Bottom line, somehow stop the government from trying to "fix" everything.
Can I have my Razer kit now?
Video: Scarpar off-road powerboard absolutely must go commercial {Engadget}
Apr 8th 2009 12:53PM Please build. But out a half way decent suspension under the thing. I'd actually consider using something like that for urban commuting if it could handle a decent drop/jump.
DirecTV's free iPhone app manages 100k downloads in a week {Engadget Mobile}
Apr 8th 2009 12:43PM Kind of sad that they got an app out before AT&T got an app done for their own U-Verse service. (Happy U-Verse customer otherwise.)
