Epson Powerlite Home Cinema 1080 Home Theater Projector Review

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(More customer reviews)Pros
- Under $3000!
- VERY easy to set up.
- Well-designed, backlit remote.
- ZERO screen-door effect from real viewing distances.
- Relatively bright (even in theater mode).
- Excellent performance.
Cons
- Blacks could be a little deeper.
- No vertical stretch (only an issue if you're looking to do CIH).
- Menu navigation a little sluggish when using a universal remote.
Being the first 1080p projector under $3000, the Epson Home Cinema 1080 arrived with a lot of hype and anticipation. I bought into that hype, and as a result I was among the first to pick up one of these bad boys the day it came out. Prior to the Epson, I had owned two different 720p HD projectors- a Sanyo Z4 and a Panasonic AX-100U. The Sanyo produced a super-sharp, noise-free picture, but I found the visible pixelation too distracting at close viewing distances. The Panasonic doesn't have that problem as it utilizes Smoothscreen technology to reduce screen-door effect, but it also results in a noticeably softer image. The Epson, on the other hand, is capable of projecting a sharp AND pixel-free image (both undoubtedly thanks to the 2 million pixels afforded by 1080p). The Epson also performs surprisingly well out the box, and after a simple calibration I found that it can deliver even more vivid and accurate color. Black level is the one area where I feel this projector is lacking. For deep, DLP-like blacks you would have to shell out another grand or two for a higher-end model like the JVC RS-1. What I did though was paint my own screen, using a special DIY mix designed to boost contrast and improve black level performance, and voila! I'm looking at a beautiful picture with much darker and convincing blacks. Summing up, the Epson is a killer deal, and for under $3000 I honestly couldn't be happier. If you haven't experienced HD front-projection before, I would advise you to go with a 720p model first as prices are tumbling and you can pick up a pretty decent model for around $1000. If you're looking to jump from 720p to the next level, and you watch a lot of HD DVD, Blu-ray, or other high-res HD material, then this is the projector for you. Highly recommended!

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Sony BDP-S301 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player BD/DVD/CD Playback Review

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(More customer reviews)I gotta admit it: when it comes to electronics, I'm about as brand-loyal to Toshiba as they come. Nevertheless, for me, the whole history of the Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD wars has unfolded on the software battlefield. Sony has simply come up with a better DVD. By the time HD-DVD catches up, we'll all either own two fine DVD players, or one that can play both formats. After haunting a few electronics showrooms, and seeing and hearing the decks in my price range, this latest Sony player just became a no-brainer.

If you're wondering what's the difference between this and the BDP-S300, so am I. The operating manual that came with my S301 listed both model numbers on the cover. I got mine at a price $50 cheaper than I could have got the earlier model, and I didn't pay shipping. That's the only reason I have one and not the other.

Blu-ray Discs are awesome in every way. I use an optical 5.1 connection, and even though there are better connections in newer systems, the sound quality is still noticeably deeper and more dimensional than standard DVD's, due to the greater bandwidth available on the discs. Colors are far more stable, especially with Blu-ray Discs, but also with standard DVD's. My taste in films doesn't run perfectly parallel to the titles currently available on Blu-ray, so the rest of my comments really pertain to the quality of this deck as a player of standard DVD's.

I have found the transition blip between layers on DL-9 discs to be almost imperceptible. The bit encoding rate of "up to 40 Mbps" is probably the single most important spec this player has to offer. That is slightly higher than the Toshiba decks in this price range, though I doubt few people have eyes good enough to appreciate the difference. The point is, you are going to see a picture that contains every bit of information encoded on whatever disc you're watching, with gradations of color and depth of detail that make the disc the weakest link--and that's a good thing.

The fan motor on the S301 is whisper-soft, another factor that gives this deck superiority over its Toshiba counterpart.

All of that said, it should be noted that Sony is going for complete vertical integration, with all the studios (save Universal) behind Blu-ray, and with this and the S300 designed to work optimally with a Bravia monitor and audio system. They want world domination, and I guess we'll just have to trust the marketplace to sort things out. But for now, this is about as good a player as you'll find in this price range, and it works adequately with systems not designed by Sony.

"Adequately" is about as high a complement as I can pay it, though. Each disc has a certain amount of futzing around that is necessary to get the aspect ratio and video specs right. In other words, this doesn't just magically read the disc you put in and know where the settings should be. It does have a very handy video control center that allows for six picture settings, three preset to "standard," "theatre," and "light room," and three that allow you to make custom presets. By the time you've gone through a few discs and tweaked the color, white and black balance, etc., you'll find yourself flipping through the six available settings and finding one that suits each disc you're watching.

All of this extra "trouble," I should add, in reality arises from the far greater picture fidelity you will be seeing.

Some minor annoyances: 1) although this plays music CD-R's, it won't recognize data CD-R's. So, for example, if you have your jpegs stored on CD-R's, prepare to move them to DVD-R's, if you want to use this player as a slide viewer; 2) note the dimensions of the unit, especially the depth, which becomes about 16.5 inches once you've connected everything up--my player is hanging out about 2" from my other components; 3) there is no true "fast-forward," only a multi-speed "scan" feature that, even on the slowest speed skips over frames of significant action you may be trying to spot; 4) there is no "off" button on the unit itself, which, if you don't want to hunt down the remote, will shut itself off after about 25 minutes; 5) the "on" button on the unit doubles as "open" and "close," which is fine, I guess, but it takes exactly 32 seconds between the time you turn the power on and when the "Blu-ray" insignia appears on your screen. Once it is powered up, though, I found the loading times to be reasonable.

Finally, I would want to mention the aspect ratio issue, namely that it sometimes has to be changed manually, by changing the resolution. Some of this may be due to the fact that I am connecting to my monitor using an HDMI-to-DVI cable, but I rather doubt it. I suspect Sony simply did its best to make a good player, but loading it with electronics that would enable it to decode a wide variety of commercial discs would have made it prohibitively expensive.

Funny thing, though. It reads Universal Studios discs perfectly and without any tweaking necessary. Kind of makes you wonder if they weren't putting in a little more effort to win over the one Blu-ray hold-out.

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Sapphire Radeon HD 5450 - 1 GB DDR2 HDMI/DVI-I/VGA PCI-Express Graphics Card 100292L Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm not one for long reviews.
My computer runs Windows 7 64bit. I use media center for all my DVR needs, and I output to an HD front projector in my home theater room.
This card replaced my GeForce 7600, which was very old but still ran pretty well. The main reason I bought the Sapphire 5450 was because AMD/ATi finally put out a nice card that would pass HD audio through HDMI to the source. I was using optical SP/DIF before. The card does everything I am used to at good speeds. It's not much good for gaming, but I'm not a gamer so I don't care.
Great price for a great HTPC card. I recommend it.

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Liteon 4X Blu Ray Reader Black Retail Pack Review

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(More customer reviews)[See updates below: I would now give this unit only two stars.]
Summary: At time of writing, it is cheaper to install this drive in a reasonably powerful HTPC than to buy a blu-ray disc player, assuming you have the HTPC already. As with any new technology, there are problems; these will be worked out as the technology matures. You should upgrade the firmware (CP56 recommended). The bundled software, PowerDVD, has limitations and problems which you can work around.
NOTE: This drive is a READER only. It does not write any kind of disc. This is stated clearly in the product description and I am not complaining: it is much cheaper than a writer, and fine for my HTPC.
THE DRIVE
The drive itself works fine so far (one month). As a very standard optical drive, it is as easy to install as any DVD drive. SATA is required for this model, of course, but the advantages of SATA is one reason I bought this drive. In operation, the drive is reasonably quiet.
Blu-ray content requires a reasonably powerful computer. My do-it-yourself HTPC is based on an Intel E6600, an Asus/Nvidia EN9600 video card, and Windows Vista SP1. These are adequate for quality playback on most discs, but I see a stutter occasionally (no more than once every 3 seconds) on Batman Begins, but not others. Blu-ray requires a video card and display or TV that supports HDCP. I was pleased to find that my 3-year-old Sharp Aquos LCD TV does support HDCP; I assume most or all modern LCD TVs and monitors do now.
My drive came with firmware version CP54 installed. I had two serious problems that were corrected by upgrading to CP56 (visit lite-on's support page):
1. Windows Media Center complained that the region number was incorrect, so I was unable to play a conventional Region 1 (USA) DVD, even after setting Region 1 in the control panel.
2. Using PowerDVD 7.3, I was able to play blu-ray movies for awhile, but then one day, every time I tried, I got an Information box that told me that certain key parts of the program needed to be updated (sorry, I don't have the exact message). It gave me the opportunity to update, to which I said yes, and after a brief pause, it said it was successful. Pressing the Play button again put me through the same sequence; I was no longer able to play movies I had already played on the same equipment.
Since both problems were corrected by upgrading the firmware, I recommend that all users upgrade to CP56 or newer by visiting lite-on's support page.
THE BUNDLED SOFTWARE
PowerDVD 7.3 BD, two channel edition, is included. It is capable of playing some blu-ray discs (Blade Runner, Stargate), and not others (Batman Begins).
Some people complain that the two-channel edition does not provide surround sound. For sure it does not provide Dolby Digital 5.1, but I do hear surround effects on my system, at least for Blade Runner blu-ray edition. There are two possible explanations: it could be that the movie includes a two-channel soundtrack with Dolby Pro-Logic (an early surround technology that is inferior to Dolby Digital 5.1); it could be that my updated Accurus digital processor is simulating surround sound in the same way it expands stereo music into full surround. I don't know which, but the surround I heard on the two-channel edition sounds appropriately surrounded, and comments from others on a different forum report the same thing (suggesting that the Pro-Logic theory is correct).
When I start Batman Begins (blu-ray edition), I get the piracy warning and the Warner logo, followed by an icon suggesting a disc read, then a black screen. For most movies, the black screen lasts a second or two, then the movie begins. For this movie, it stays black, and the application appears to be hung (can only terminate with Windows Task Manager). I worked around this problem by installing the trial (30-day) version of PowerDVD 8 Ultra, and it played fine, so I believe this is a problem with PowerDVD 7.3 BD, or some incompatibility with Windows.
One feature I really like is the speed control. You can set playback speed to 1x, 1.1x, 1.2x, 1.5x, 2x and higher, and similar speeds for reverse. For forward speeds less than 2x, it still plays the audio! but in a sped-up fashion. When watching The Wire (HBO series), we have often wanted to replay the previous episode, and this allows us to review some parts carefully and others more quickly.
One feature I really dislike is the permanent splash screen, which is visible at all times that the program is active but a movie is not playing/paused. It is bright red, shows their logo in a large size, and includes a cheesy picture. They should allow us to have a black background, or to substitute our own image.
You can upgrade to PowerDVD 8 Ultra for eighty five dollars (which is ten dollars less than if you bought it without upgrading from the bundled version). For me, there are just a few reasons for doing so: bug fixes (e.g. a fix to allow me to watch Batman Begins), full digital sound including some modern formats, and DVD-Audio (but: NO SACD!!).
There is a whole lot of stuff in PowerDVD 8 that I will never use. I wish there was a simple blu-ray CODEC that would allow those discs to be played through Windows Media Player instead.
I have found only one alternative blu-ray player software offering: WinDVD from Corel. It is on sale for eighty dollars. Unfortunately, their trial version does not allow you to watch blu-ray, and I am unwilling to take a chance without knowing it works properly. No doubt in the future there will be better alternatives.
While I think that the PowerDVD upgrade is too expensive, the cost of the drive plus the upgrade still makes a less expensive option for watching blu-ray than buying a dedicated blu-ray DVD player.
UPDATE: Windows Media Center again complains about a standard DVD with Region 1, even though Region one is set, which forces me to use PowerDVD. The only thing that has changed since it worked before is playing a blu-ray movie (with PowerDVD). I suppose it is possible that... nah, Cyberlink wouldn't disable the free competition, would they?
UPDATE: I have seen the hardware/software refuse to believe that a disc was present in the drive, even after open/close to check. The solution is a power cycle of the computer. I saw this once before writing the original review (but forgot) and was reminded of it when it happened again yesterday.
If I were writing this review today, I would call it 2 1/2 or three stars because of the various bugs that it seems I have to live with. Perhaps the firmware will improve eventually.
UPDATE: The BluRay of "The Dark Knight" is not recognized by this drive. The player says no disc is in the drive, and that is confirmed by the Windows Explorer, even when the disc IS in the drive. "The Dark Knight" advises getting the latest firmware for your player, but the LiteOn site has a version from March 2008, which does not correct this problem. On encountering this error, I tried inserting another BluRay disc, which was recognized as before, so restarting the computer won't help (as it sometimes does). I would now rate this two stars for lack of working firmware for latest releases.

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