Showing posts with label digital audio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label digital audio. Show all posts

Sonos ZonePlayer 90 Wireless Multi-Room Music System for Home Theater or Stereo Review

Sonos ZonePlayer 90 Wireless Multi-Room Music System for Home Theater or Stereo
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
Seeking to upgrade my home audio setup, I picked up some ZP90s along with a Logitech Squeezebox boom and duet, figuring I'd play around with them and then sell what I didn't like.
Overall, I did feel the Sonos setup offered the best usability. The setup was a breeze, the software very use-friendly and easy to quickly find what you want and play it on the appropriate player(s). Another real treat was the iPhone application, which lets me use my phone as the remote and eliminates the need for the costly and bulky controller. Rhapsody, Pandora, and Last.fm are the 3 major music services offered, and all work very well. There's also the bonus of listening to local radio stations without the static, although I was disappointed to find you could only configure it for one location at a time (listening to KEXP in Seattle would have been great).
However, there were two shortcomings when compared to the Squeezebox. The first is the requirement that at least one of the Sonos players be hard-wired in to the network. This wasn't a problem for me since the Sonos is just 20 feet away from my router, however I'm sure there are users out there that won't be as fortunate. The Squeezebox was completely wireless and could go anywhere in the house, so it has a clear advantage there. The Second was not having support for the Slacker music service. I slightly prefer this service over Pandora, and find myself turing on the Squeezebox more due to that reason.
Summary - If you have the money and want something easy to use, and are OK with having at least one Sonos device hard-wired to the network, then this is for you. But if you love Slacker, need something 100% Wireless, or just don't quite have the budget, go with the Squeezebox.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Sonos ZonePlayer 90 Wireless Multi-Room Music System for Home Theater or Stereo

The Sonos ZonePlayer 90 lets you play all the music you want, all over your house, on all the audio equipment you already own — your home theater receiver, stereo system, powered speakers, and more. Just connect the ZP90 to any amplified audio device in any room and it\'s instantly part of the wireless Sonos system. The ZP90\'s digital and analog outputs deliver superior sound to every room. And with the ZP90\'s superior wireless range, no room is out of reach. The ZP90 is super small, so it will fit just about anywhere. Plus, every ZP90 includes a Sonos Desktop Controller for the ultimate in control and convenience.

Buy Now

Click here for more information about Sonos ZonePlayer 90 Wireless Multi-Room Music System for Home Theater or Stereo

Read More...

Panasonic DMP-BDT210 Integrated-Wi-Fi 3D Blu-ray DVD Player Review

Panasonic DMP-BDT210 Integrated-Wi-Fi 3D Blu-ray DVD Player
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
The player is great. The menu system is the best I've used in a player and I returned both a Sony BD560 and a Samsung 6500 before getting this unit. Just a few notes for those that might be thinking of getting it this player.
#1 The internet options are extensive, new options to me like Amazon streaming and Skype, mixed with the mainstay apps like Netflix, Pandora, and many more. make this player very attractive to the streaming and online entertainment user.
#2 The firmware the unit currently ships with will not let you get into the Internet streaming apps or anything for that matter until you update the firmware. Updating the firmware from the 1.09 firmware it ships with will not work as of this date via wireless or wired internet connections. The secondary option is to burn the frmware to a disc. This you think would be straight foward, but it isn't. Using Windows 7 or Vista, you MUST create an ISO 9660 ONLY... I went through 3 coasters before this player could properly read the Firmware update disc I created to bring it up to 1.47. Using any other ISO format will fail.
#3, Netflix... I have 2 accounts, one old, one new and active. Got them mixed up during the install process and had my OLD netflix account essentially bound to the unit. No way to empty the cache, or sign-out and login with a new username and password (It doesn't use the code on screen method like a lot of players, you actually log into netflix from the machine) To wipe out the incorrect netflix ID, I had to factory reset the Blu-Ray player. Which meant setting everything up again. My shared drives (You can map a shared folder on your network to play files, very nice) Wireless, everything had to be set up again.
#4 No on board memory. It supports SD cards for Storage for Blu Ray online features and other apps, but it has no storage of its own. I personally found this to be nice, especially given I have many SD cards laying around from 1 to 8 gigs in size. But if you want to take full advantage of extras on Blue Rays, add the cost of an SD card to your price (Or possibly USB thumb drive??? haven't tested) in order to have on-board storage.
This player is fast, has an outstanding menu system. A very reliable network interface (Take note Samsung!) and has some nice next-gen features such as touch-less ejecting, kind of novel, but I did find myself liking it.... having come from the Samsung 6500 just recently, I found the fact that the player keeps you informed with on screen displays as to what it is doing if their are the common loading delays when first starting Blu-Rays for instance, a very nice change from the black of screen of questioning I always had with the Samsung model. And Sony's 560 had a very lame netflix interface so that wasn't an option for me after seeing it, given I use streaming a LOT.
For the 2011 models, I'd like to see the offerings from the competitors before I whole heartily recommend this one, but I'm very happy with my purchase. Panasonic seems to know what they are doing with UI's, UI user Feedback and general tech savyness in their Blu-Ray players. (aside from the current Firmware glitch)


Click Here to see more reviews about: Panasonic DMP-BDT210 Integrated-Wi-Fi 3D Blu-ray DVD Player


3D Technology Checklist
This product is 3D-related. To help you get a great 3D experience, use the checklist below to ensure you have everything you need. 3D viewing requires:


Buy Now

Click here for more information about Panasonic DMP-BDT210 Integrated-Wi-Fi 3D Blu-ray DVD Player

Read More...