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Review: WD TV Live HD Media Player

Short Version: Western Digital’s newest addition to its growing lineup of media players, the WD TV Live, essentially picks up where its older sibling (the great WD TV) left off. With the newly added networking capabilities via a built-in Ethernet port or USB Wi-Fi adapter (sold separately), the WD TV Live has taken Western Digital’s little black box to the next level. Be it photos, music, video (encoded with just about any codec under the sun), or the newly added access to YouTube, Flickr, Pandora, and Live365, the WD TV Live can handle just about any kind of media thrown its way. Overall, it is a highly capable, easy to use, and relatively affordable all-around high definition media player.

Long Version: The original WD TV HD Media Player was a great first attempt by Western Digital. Unfortunately, the lack of network and Internet access made the device less desirable to a large group of potential customers. Fortunately, WD seems to have listened to the growing community of WD TV fans while putting the new WD TV Live together and has added network and Internet connectivity features.

Hardware:

Although the WD TV Live is technically a new device, in reality it’s just a moderate overhaul of its aging sibling, the original WD TV. As such, I will try to focus more on the new changes than on the features that have remained the same.

Besides the newly added network and Internet connectivity, the most noticeable difference between the old and new WD TV Live is the actual color of the device. Where the original was clad in dust-loving, fingerprint attracting shiny black plastic, the new Live comes sporting an arguably more sleek, matte charcoal gray finish.

The device measures 1.57″ x 3.94″ x 4.94″ and weighs in at 0.67 lbs. It includes two USB ports (one on the side, one on the back), one HDMI 1.3 port, optical audio out, Ethernet, composite out, and component output. The included mini remote (below) is identical to the original version and the AC adapter is relatively small and self-contained (i.e. no power “brick”). Besides the remote and power adapter, the device also ships with composite and component cables (HDMI, optical audio, and USB storage devices sold separately). The WD TV Live is also compatible with various “universal” remotes such as Logitech’s Harmony series.

Installation:

Installing the WD TV Live couldn’t be much easier (assuming you’re using an HDMI cable). Once you’ve attached the little sticky rubber feet to the bottom of the unit, simply plug-in the AC power adapter, attach the HDMI cable to the device and your HDTV, and insert any variety of USB storage (i.e. external hard drive or flash drive) into the side and/or the back USB port(s). That’s it. Now fire up your beautiful TV, hit power on the included WD TV Live remote, and voila…you’ve got an HD media player at your service.

Interface / Functionality:

Just like the old WD TV interface, the slightly updated UI is reminiscent of many media player apps (think Windows Media Center, XBMC, etc). Essentially, you are presented with a visual navigation system to choose between video, photos, music, and system settings. Instead of trying to explain all the various screens and options, here’s a not-so-brief (kinda unnecessarily long) video overview of some of the features:

One thing I forgot to include in the video is the new “preview” mode, which joins the previously included List, Thumbnail, and Search modes. The preview feature allows you to see a file’s info (such as size, type, etc) while also showing/playing a clip of the video, photo, or audio track. This is nice, for example, if your media files are poorly labeled or if you can’t quite remember which was the last episode of Arrested Development you had watched.

Another “oops! I forgot” feature is the newly added ability to copy, move or delete files between connected USB storage drives and/or networked storage/computers. This is really handy if, like me, your DVD ripping machine (i.e. your PC) resides in room X but your WD TV Live is set up in room Y; now you can simply move your latest media files from your machine to your attached USB storage right over the network (with some patience, especially over Wi-Fi).

As for compatibility, the WD TV Live supports the following (enormous list of) file types:

• Video – AVI (Xvid, AVC, MPEG1/2/4), MPG/MPEG, VOB, MKV (h.264, x.264, AVC, MPEG1/2/4, VC-1), TS/TP/M2T (MPEG1/2/4, AVC, VC-1), MP4/MOV (MPEG4, h.264), M2TS, WMV9
• Photo – JPEG, GIF, TIF/TIFF, BMP, PNG
• Audio – MP3, WAV/PCM/LPCM, WMA, AAC, FLAC, MKA, AIF/AIFF, OGG, Dolby Digital, DTS
• Playlist – PLS, M3U, WPL
• Subtitle – SRT, ASS, SSA, SUB, SMI

Conclusion:

The WD TV Live is a definite improvement over its older sibling (the non-Live). If you are looking for an HD media solution that will play pretty much every type of media known to man (see the list above), has a very small physical footprint, network/Internet connectivity, and has limitless storage (i.e. its only limited by the amount of storage you own), then you really can’t do much better than the WD TV Live HD media player.

For those of you who love lists, here is a quick recap of all the highlights and improvements found in the new media player:

• Faster – boot-up, thumbnail loading, and overall operation
• Network access – access content over your home network via Ethernet or USB Wi-Fi adapter
• Internet – access content from YouTube, Flickr, Pandora, and Live365
• Firmware updates – update the media player’s firmware directly over the Internet
• File management – transfer files between USB storage devices, pull files off the network, and delete unwanted files
• Preview mode – in addition to List and Thumbnail views, Preview mode shows the file’s information and plays the media
• Component video – new connection choice in addition to HDMI and Composite
• Color – new matte charcoal casing

As good as the new WD TV Live is, there is still room for improvement. I’d love to see future firmware updates bring Netflix ‘Watch Now’ functionality, access to sites like Hulu, the ability to navigate by ‘chapter’ like on a DVD (with VOB, MKV, etc), and even some sort of Internet browser a la Opera on the Wii. In terms of future hardware improvements, it would be nice if the device had Wi-Fi and Bluetooth built-in, thereby providing an even better network/Internet experience and the ability to use a keyboard with the hypothetical Internet browser. And a physical on/off button built into the WD TV would be handy if you (temporarily) lose your remote (read: there are NO actual buttons/controls on the device itself).

Nonetheless, for $149.99 MSRP (or cheaper somewhere on the ‘Net) the WD TV Live HD Media Player is a highly capable and worthwhile addition to most anyone’s media center. One caveat: if you’ve already got a PS3 and/or XBOX 360 (I have neither), then you are probably one of the few who wouldn’t benefit much from the WD TV Live. In any case, with increases in speed, utility, and functionality, the WD TV Live is definitely a welcome addition to WD’s line of HD media players and a worthy successor to the original WD TV. For more, check out the new WDTVLive.com.

Unibody MacBook (late 2009) review

We’ll just come out and say it: we’re totally underwhelmed by the new plastic MacBook. Hell, we were underwhelmed by the old plastic MacBook back in June, when we reviewed the refreshed unibody MacBook Pros — we said we were “honestly left wondering” why the $999 plastic model continued to exist when the $1,199 13-inch Pro was obviously superior. So when we heard the first whispers that Apple was working on a total overhaul of its low-end MacBook, we naturally assumed that it would either gain in features or drop in price — but neither one of those things happened. The new plastic MacBook remains priced at $999 in its only configuration, and while it’s been updated with the same unibody construction as the Pros, it’s also lost some features along the way. So… what’s going on here? Did Apple just blow a huge opportunity to totally re-think its low-end formula, or is there more to the MacBook than the spec sheets and price tags say? Read on to find out.

Continue reading Unibody MacBook (late 2009) review

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Unibody MacBook (late 2009) review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Review: AKAI LPK 25

I love my keyboard. It is actually a synthesizer, an Alesis micron but I use it as a midi controller. The only problem is I have it in the rehearsal room(s) all the time. So what if I have to work on some music at home? I have to carry that big bunch of plastic from the rehearsal room to the flat and back three times a week. Why not buy a midi keyboard just for home use? No money, no space, no lust. Well the LPK 25 from AKAI might just have solved my problem.

The small package contains the warranty, USB cable, editing software CD and the LPK 25. The software comes on a mini CD because a normal sized one wouldn’t even fit in the box. I expected a manual for the editing software or for the device in the box but these can be downloaded from the Akai website. So you don’t need to try to put the mini CD into your laptop. The editing software comes for mac and PC as well.

This thing is small; it measures less than 13 inches. The keys are wide enough to be comfortable and sensitivity feels just right. I don’t have a big hand so I can play on the LPK 25 without pressing notes I don’t want to press. However I imagine that people with large hands or fat fingers would have a hard time pressing an A without pressing three other keys nearby. The whole device is made of plastic but the feel of it is not cheap at all. The six buttons on the left are for shifting octaves, arpeggiator, sustaining notes, tapping the tempo and calling programmed functions. Sustain works as it should. You can sustain notes or the arpeggiator.

The arpeggiator is a great thing to have is such a small device. You can set the clock to internal and set the tempo by tapping the Tap Tempo button. Or you can set it to external so you get the tempo of the DAW you are using. The ARP ON/OFF button is multifunctional. When the arp is turned on, you can hold the button down and set the mode (UP, DOWN, EXCL, INCL, RAND), the arp time division (from 1/4 to 1/32T) and the octaves 1 to 4 that you want to include in your arp. You can all play with these options while the arp is sustained. It seems that AKAI put some work in this function and it’s surprisingly usable and good to have.

Most importantly this thing is so small that I can put it across the macs keyboard allowing me to use most of the necessary shortcuts in Logic. The little rubber things on the bottom are just in place that the device is lifted above the keyboard of the mac.

The editor software is simple and fast. You can create presets of arp settings and save them to four preset slots.

Overall I think the LPK 25 is good for home music production and eventually it can be used live. You just plug it in and it works. Beware there is no midi out. You can only control your computer with it. This can be a drawback for those who would want to control instruments with the LPK25. For me it’s just perfect considering what I use it for and how much it costs ($73 in Europe).

Review: Apple MacBook

For weeks – months even – analysts have been telling Apple to make a netbook for the masses, a $299 junker designed for those who surf the web on the couch, their Cheeto-stained hands scrabbling for the TiVo remote while they incessantly refresh Reddit and hope against hope that their Craigslist Missed Connection emails them back. The Air, they said, was too expensive, designed for the frou-frou quiche-eaters of Silicon (V)alley while the MacBook Pros were too overpowered for the likes of Flyover Sally and her sad-eyed brood of younglings. They needed to sell something to the masses, something solid, American, and corn-fed.

Well, now Sally, the quiche-eaters, and the Cheeto dude – and the rest of us – have the new MacBook. It offers a bit less power and peformance than the Pro line, a little more of the styling of the Air line, and sells right at $999, a magic marketing number that is neither North of $1000 (before taxes) and South of corporate financial suicide.

I recall in about 2003 when Wal-Mart first breached the thousand dollar mark in a laptop, a defining moment in the marketing of laptops. With the advent of cheap networks, that mark is now, in short, the high water one while sub-$500 is the norm. The breach of a $1000 meant that manufacturers had to cram cheaper hardware into cheaper cases in order to turn a profit.

Apple never went that route and for good reason. By selling lots of cheap netbooks for no money, big manufacturers like HP and Dell could squeeze profit out of a tight market. Apple, on the other hand, squeeze profit out of a constellation of products, iPhone included, and they hope that the social, societal, and mental pressures to make the earbuds match the laptop are enough to make people switch. For the most part their plan is working.

Designed for students and entry-level users, think of this model as the Mac Mini of laptops. The new design is quite smooth with rounded edges on the bottom – the old model was squared off – and an internal battery thart can hit about 7 hours on one charge. The ports were slightly changed in this model with two USB ports, a DisplayPort, and a combination headphone/line-in jack. The laptop also doesn’t have an IR sensor, presumably because you can now control iTunes with the iPhone or Touch. There is also no Firewire port. From an aesthetic standpoint, the battery/active light on the front which winks playfully through a slit in the metal in MacBook Pros looks like an accident on this model. Apple made it large and brooding rather than thin and charming and it seems like the materials limited their design choices.

Geekbench maxed out at 3258 (the 2008 models hit about 3139) thanks to a 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo CPU and 2GB of RAM. This is more than acceptable for most users considering a new MacBook Air clocks in at 2762. I’ll be running a formal battery rundown test tonight.

The large, spacious trackpad is just like the MacBook Pro’s and seamless aspect of the build ensures there’s little to break in a backback or laptop bag. A few caveats: there is no external battery indicator and the bottom panel can be removed but the battery, technically, cannot be changed by mere mortals.

Another caveat is that this thing will get dirty and scratched almost immediately. Polycarbonate is not related “carbonite” or “polyadamantium” – it’s related to plastic. As such, your beautiful white MacBook will soon be a beatiful gray MacBook if you’re not careful.

Obviously you get Snow Leopard with this version and it comes with a power supply, longer power cable, and little else. For example, this model does not include the remote although included remotes seem to be extinct allowing Apple to charge $19 for the new remote.

Bottom Line
This MacBook is not for everyone. It’s a great addition to the MacBook canon, an effort to appease the analysts with an entry level laptop, but don’t ever expect something like this to drop past the $500 mark. Apple doesn’t deign to play in those muddy fields, leaving that to the PC makers in their race to the bottom.

Review: iFrogz Timbre earbuds w/mic and Luxe case for iPod touch

Short Version:

What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate iFrogz’s Timbre headphones w/mic and their iPod touch 2G & 3G Luxe case. In a nutshell, the Timbre headphones (which work with both the iPhone and iPod touch) provide decent audio playback, a reasonably comfortable fit (thanks to the three different ear bud choices), and the convenience of a built-in microphone for voice memos, Skype, etc albeit for the slightly higher than desirable price of $49.99. As for the Luxe, it is mediocre at best with a suspect design and very little going for it, especially considering it runs $29.99.

Timbre headphones w/mic:

Let’s start with the better of the two products, officially known as the EarPollution Timbre with Mic, first. As a non-audiophile (i.e. someone who can appreciate good sounding from bad, but not amazing from almost amazing), my review will be short and sweet.

These “noise isolating” earbuds feature a “natural wood-chamber” design, supposedly to create better sound. In my brief test, I found the earbuds to be generally comfortable (once I swapped out the default rubber bits for one of the other sizes – 3 included). They produce relatively clear audio, albeit a bit on the “bright” side of things. I definitely didn’t notice any “richer” or “more vibrant” sounds due to the gimmicky wood “chambers,” but overall I think the headphones sound pretty good.

The real draw of the Timbre is the built-in microphone. Since iPhone OS 3.0 brought voice functionality to the iPod touch 2G, having headphones with a mic inline has become all that much more useful (they ship with the iPod touch 3G standard). Being able to record voice memos and make Skype calls over Wi-Fi has been incredibly helpful during my recent travels. That said, my brief testing has revealed the Timbre to be a capable set of mic-equipped earbuds. Generally speaking, there is not much extraneous feedback when using the mic, although figuring out exactly how to position it, and where, for the perfect voice pick-up was a minor challenge.

Conclusion:

The EarPollution Timbre with Mic will run you a moderately hefty $49.99. I’d recommend only splurging on the Timbre (or any other earbuds with a mic) if you plan on using the buds for both music and voice apps. If you just want a pair to use for Skype/VoIP, the $29.99 Apple buds with mic (or most other budget ‘phones w/mic) will certainly do the trick.

iPod touch 2G & 3G Luxe case:

Ah, the Luxe case for iPod touch. Where do I start. The case is made out of molded plastic and “features” a under/over “button” design (see the “button” above). The actual feel of the case is kinda nice…its got a sort of grippy-yet-smooth thing going for it (much like my preferred case, the $5 less Griffin Wave). Also, the case features a faux suede-like “pad” on its inside, that sits between the back of the iPod and the case itself.

The real problems with this case are twofold: first, its enclosure method, i.e. the button-thing on the back, is very difficult to line up and snap into place (unlike the previously mentioned Wave, which has a similar design, but is much, much easier to put on and take off) making it one of those “once it’s on, it ain’t coming off” kinda deals. And second, It costs $29.99 when, at best, it should be around $20, or even less. In its defense, the Luxe does come with a free screen protector.

Conclusion:

Overall, I am not a fan of the Luxe. Something about it has been a turn off, right from the start. It feels OK in the hand, but its build quality is questionable and its poorly designed “enclosure” makes for a very disappointing experience. When combined with its unnecessarily steep price tag, the Luxe just falls short.

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