Blu-Ray Player

A big question in my mind this day, do I need to buy a Blu-ray player to replace my old DVD player? Yap... I heard this same question when DVD player was a new thing years ago when people still believed that VHS was the King in the house to watch movie.

For many years people in US enjoyed their movie time at their home by playing their VCR machine. They came to rental store or buy their movie always on VHS Tape. The picture are good and clear. The sound is great. For many years the technology on VHS was refined and perfected, but the format had not been change. The picture recorded analog and the sound was never more than 2 channels (Stereo).

Then in 1997 Sony introduced the first DVD player on US market and the price was staggering high. With the price was so high people believe that DVD won't replace the VCR in a shot time or even people were willing to buy the DVD player. Also there were not many dvd movie yet on the market. However DVD manufacture did not believe to what people want to believe. In about 5 years since the release the DVD become phenomenon. The price was becoming reachable for most of the people and the movie industry was producing DVD movie on every VHS title they sold. Therefore as you know right now, DVD player is a must in the house, the price is very cheap and you can buy every electronics store for just $15 -$30. The movie industry now even only recorded their movie only on DVD format.

Everything happened so fast and we are not even know it that in April 18, 2006 Toshiba electronics introduced to the market a new format for us to enjoy our movie, by selling HD-DVD player. The new kind of thing of enjoying movie changed forever. With high definition digital picture and sound which are so much better that DVD Format. Now people started thinking so this was the dead of DVD movie. However HD-DVD did not last very long. Toshiba announced that the company discontinued the production of HD-DVD on February 19, 2008. Now Blu-ray player just left alone and conquered the market in the world as a successor of the DVD player.

Talking about Blu-ray it self. The project was started by Sony and Pioneer. On mid June 2008 some major manufactures released the Blu-ray player on the market in US. During the same time Blu-ray and HD-DVD were on format battle to get accepted at the world market. Unfortunately HD-DVD was lost because lack of support from major retailers and movie Industries. Therefore Blu-ray is the winner. Even though their equipment is more expensive but the public choose it.

After winning the format battle over HD-DVD, the Blu-ray player is trying to be the next King of entertaiment in the house of the people in US. Everyone must have it, but it is not quite yet, because there is a DVD player that is still sitting at the home entertainment center for every house in US. Even though the price of the Blu-ray player was drop significantly since the first release but it still can't beat the DVD player price. Also since the HD picture is still relatively new to the people, Then people still thinking twice to buy Blu-ray as the same happen when people bought DVD player over VCR.

In my conclusion about the question, "do I need to buy Blu-ray now?" my answer is not yet except you are the freak of all movies and you own a home theater in the house. If you only had cheap LCD and 40" less don't bother to buy Blu-ray. It is a waste of money because DVD player right now can upscale the dvd movie into HD format. Also small TV is just perfect to enjoy DVD player. However it is all up to you, I enjoy my HD movie on my 24" monitor and I love the detail of the picture and you will feel the different while watching HD movie compare regular DVD quality movie.

Fact about Blu-ray player: Maximum resolution of the picture is 1920x1080 or simply 1080p. Frame rate is 23.976p or 59.94i. Audio support tracks are Dolby Digital (AC3), DTS, Linear PCM, Dolby Digital plus, DTS-HD, Dolby TrueHD as well as DTS-HD Master Audio. The Disc storage capacities are 25GB (single layer) and 50GB (dual layer). Video formats are SMPTE VC-1, MPEG-2 Part 2, and H.264/MPEG-4 AVC. Use Java Software as the main programing menu.

The major manufactures for Blu-ray player are Sony, Panasonic, Samsung, LG, Sharp and so on.

NetBook PC

Yes, what about it? the netbook PC is a smaller size of laptop. Most of the screen sizes are between 10 and 11 inches wide, very light in weight and the price ranges are between $299 and $499. Some of them are build in 3G network system that you can link up with AT&T to get services for Internet everywhere, but remember it come with additional fee every month. The Netbook PC is loaded with Windows XP home edition but you can upgrade to pro. The CPU is single core and most of the RAM is 1 GB but it is upgradeable. the Netbook PC has a good enough storage build in and mostly 160 GB but it is also upgradeable. The only thing that does not build in on the system is a CD/DVD-ROM drive but it is not a problem you still get the option on external dvd-rom or ram. Build in speakers are not great because of small speakers. The battery life is depend on the cell that you buy, the system come with 3 cell but you can upgrade to 6 cell battery that will increase the life to almost double, from 2.5 hours with 3 cell to 5 hour with 6 cell.

Netbook PC is the best for you if you are a mobile person. Easy to carry and strong enough to do your job for doing email, Internet browser, typing and spread sheeting but if you do more on graphic such as picture editing and video editing probably you require more powerful PC than netbook. So if you are enjoy being outside all the time than your office also the work that you do does not require powerful software to run, Netbook PC is the best of your choice right now.

How to choose a laptop computer that suit you

Many people are wondering around the computer store while looking at many different Laptop computer that the store offer. Also the sales person can give you more headache if you were not pay attention to everything that he/she said about the laptop.

Moreover I will help you to find the right Laptop for your need.

For your son or daughter between 6 to 12 grades, Find something that less than $800 laptop because most of the time this will be the first computer that he/she may have. Let them explore the new computer and learn more. If it break in a year you did not spend a lot of money and you still able to buy another one easily. One other thing you need to remember that a new Laptop did not come with every software that the school require and you need to spend more money to buy the software.

For College student, Find something that more powerful but yet affordable enough, thing about a better graphic card more memories and more storage space. I say probably about $1,200 to $1,500. Also you need to think about buying more software for research and project management. It all depend on their major in school.

For business person, It depends on your business but most laptops are ready for use in business manner. If you need more on graphic, then you buy the laptop that has dedicated memory for GPU and max the RAMs. If you need to more on the calculation site choose the one that has fast CPU. don't worry much about storage because you can add or change the size as you like it. I say between $1,500 and $2,000.

For fun and gamers. I did not recommended you to buy a laptop because you will be disappointed because every a new game require more thing to add and most of the laptop has limited stuff to add then Desktop computer is the best choice. However if you insist, here the price of laptop that you can buy for gamer and fun $2,500 to unlimited.

In my conclusion about how to buy a Laptop is speed, memory and storage are very important. Make sure you choose the best from your budget and your need. Manufacture name is not very top priority because most of the laptop are made in China any way. Then you don't expect that one laptop has superior on other one. Also do not choose the laptop base on the model and how cute the color and design are, but choose it from your need.

PS. The only laptop that still in made in Japan is Fujitsu.

How to buy a new HDTV

Alright, maybe this is not a new issue for somebody but it is still a big issue for most people especially when they buy a new HDTV (High Definition Television). A decade ago people did not think about HD when they bought TV. They just came to the store and bought the TV set that they like it. They did not need to worry about resolution and refresh rate and so on and on. They mostly worry about the manufacture name.

However right now everything is different. When you buy a new TV, you just not only think about manufacture name, or how big the set is, but you need to think about the picture resolution, the refresh rate, the Vertical scan rate and anything else as the TV set offered.

You went to Electronics store to buy a new TV. Inside the store there are many different type of TVs, there are LCD, Plasma, and DLP TVs also some store still offer CRT TV.
So you need to pick one of the type of TV that you want to buy. Say you choose LCD Type of TV. There are 2 Types of LCD TV right now. Do you want LCD with Fluorescent light as a back light or with LED light as back light. Now it is getting more complicated when you choose a new TV, yes? OK let's continue.

Finally you decide to choose a regular LCD TV (Fluorescent light), then you have a choice of screen sizes from 13 inches to 55 inches. After size you need to choose the resolution 1080p or 720p. Then you go to refresh rate 8ms, 5ms, or 2ms. Then you go to the picture quality from 60Hz, 120Hz and 240Hz. Then you choose the contrast ratio from under 5000:1 to 150000:1. After all of this headache then come up with the price tag of the TV.

HDTV can be more complicated than just as these above, since you need to worry about the inputs and accessories that the set have. That's way every time you decide to buy a new HDTV make sure you talk first with friend that has a knowledge about HDTV or some expert on electronics. Never listen to sales person, because most of them just want to trap you on something that you don't really need it. Also you can choose the best TV for you.

These are the sample point to buy a new TV:

LCD TV (High End) - 52' screen size, 240Hz vertical scan, 1080p resolution, 150000:1 contrast ratio, 2ms respond time and under $3000 price tag.
LCD TV (Mid End) - 52' Screen size, 120Hz vertical scan, 1080p resolution, 80000:1 contrast ratio, 4ms respond time and under $2500 price tag.
LCD TV (Low End) - 52' screen size, 60Hz vertical scan, 1080p resolution, 70000:1 contrast ratio, 6ms respond time and under $2000 price tag.
LCD TV (low budget) - 52' screen size, 1080p resolution and under $1500 price tag.

LED TV (High End) - 55' screen size, 240Hz vertical scan, 1080p resolution, 5,000,000:1 contrast ratio, and under $4000 price tag.
LED TV (Mid End) - 55' screen size, 120Hz vertical scan, 1080p resolution, 3,000,000:1 contrast ratio, and under $3700 price tag.
LED TV (Low End) - 55' screen size, 120Hz vertical scan, 1080p resolution, 3,000,000:1 contrast ratio and under $3500 price tag.

Plasma TV (High End) - 50' screen size, 600Hz vertical scan, 1080p resolution, 3,000,000:1 contrast ratio, 0.001 ms respond time, and under $2500 price tag.
Plasma TV ( Mid End) - 50' screen size, 600Hz vertical scan, 1080p resolution, 3,000.000:1 contrast ratio, 0.001ms respond time and under$2000 price tag.
Plasma TV (Low End) - 50' screen size, 600Hz vertical scan, 1080p resolution, 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, 0.001ms respond time and under $1500 price tag.
Plasma TV (Budget) - 50' screen size, 720p resolution, 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, 0.001ms respond time and under $1000 price tag.

The DLP and CRT TV are fade out from the market currently but you are still able to buy one and usually the price is very cheap and picture quality is still awesome on HD channels.

HDMI VS RCA Connectors

I have many friend asking me about "why use HDMI but not RCA connectors?" The answer is simple. HDMI is a digital connector and RCA is Analog connectors. Ok let's talk about the history and development of the RCA and HDMI connectors.

The RCA Connector is develop by RCA (Radio Corporation of America) in the 40's to connect the Phonograph audio output to the amplifier. Since the phono output and input always uses the same plug since was developed then the name RCA is stuck with it. Since then the RCA connectors have been used for many different applications including audio and video. The well known connector for video are S/Pdif (Digital Audio), Composite Video and Stereo Audio connectors. Also the most current one is for YPbPr connector. They are all using the RCA Connectors. The colors that also well known to the electronic user are red, yellow, black, green, blue, orange, tan, brown, gray and white.

Despite the RCA connectors are being analog, but it can deliver pretty good signal also the other disadvantage using RCA is every single signal require single connector. So it can be a mash behind your system or your TV set with a lot of cables. So if you have a lot of equipments need to hook up to your TV, I have to say have fun to find the right connectors.

HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) is very different compare to RCA Connectors. The connector are slick and small also require only one connector to connect a single equipment including audio and video. therefor no more mash and always connect to the right connector. All signals that transfer through HDMI are digital signal. It guaranty clarity and awesomeness of the picture and sound quality.

Sad News from Plasma TV

Today, I read on one article on the website and shows that Pioneer is going to drop their production on Plasma TV by 2010. It is a sad news for any plasma TV lovers because Pioneer was the pioneer of ultimate black level color on the plasma TV. Every major plasma TV company tried hard to get close to pioneer but no one can even closer to Pioneer Kuro. The best of the best plasma TV ever on the market right now.

Many say because of the price set was to high for Pioneer to stay on the market. Some say because the LCD TV is couching up and able to get close enough to have a better quality picture as Plasma has. They all say the truth and No one can blame only on Pioneer. We need to see the situation, condition and the recession that we all have and seem we all enjoy it.

So with the economic right now, most people will think twice to buy a new Pioneer Kuro. Many people try to save their money as much as they can and hope the value does not drop all the way down.

So If you still wanted to buy plasma TV, there are Panasonic, LG and Samsung to choose. They all great TVs even though not as close as Pioneer Kuro especially on the picture quality, but they are still worth the money to buy.

for more on the Pioneer Kuro news just click this link http://newteevee.com/2009/02/21/pioneers-kuro-killing-a-tipping-point-in-the-plasma-era/

Upscale DVD Player

There are many questions about a new DVD player. The new DVD player is a bit more expensive than the regular DVD player. What are the different between these two players? they look the same and they work the same, but there are some futures different on the new DVD player.

Let choose the product from the DVD player section in Walmart. OK, there you go..

This is the sample of regular DVD player from Philips model DVP5140/37.

This is the sample of New DVD Player from Philips. Call DVD Upconversion or upscale player, model DVP3982/37.

Both of these players play regular DVD Movie and none of them will work with Blu-Ray DVD or HD-DVD Movies. So don't ever try these players to play those High Definition Movies. Since these two play the same DVD's so what is the different.

The Different on these models are on the output video. The regular DVD player video output is only 480i or p. This mean that your vidoe output is consider as a standard definition. If you watched the movie on regular DVD player played on the HDTV the video is very low quality and you will see a lot of image problem, because your TV is trying to fill all those 1920x1080 pixels with the source only 720x480 pixels. The picture will stretch out up, bottom, left and right. However if you watched the movie on the old regular TV then the picture is fine and crisp because the old TV is only has 640x480 pixels. To fill these pixels is easy and does not need to stretch the picture around the screen.

The upscale or upconversion DVD is working the same as regular one but instead only has standard definition video output, the upscale DVD player processed the video output from the source and up converted or upscale into 720p, and 1080i/p to match with the picture resolution on your HDTV. Also the video output will be digital as long as you use the HDMI connection. Therefore, with the upscale DVD player, you will enjoy better quality movie on you HDTV. However the picture is not High Definition, because the DVD is just upconverted the regular video into High Definition video.

However if you wanted to experience real High Definition Movie, why don't you get a Blu-Ray DVD Player. You will surprise with the picture quality on your screen. It will blow you away back.

In conclusion, I just want to say that when you need to buy a new DVD player please make sure you buy the better one because with a little bit money you might get more on your stuff. The DVP5140/37 is $48.88 from Walmart and the DVP3982/37 is 52.88 also from Walmart. So, my friend with only $4 different, you will enjoy better quality picture on you LCD or Plasma HDTV.