HP DreamScreen 130 digital photo frame

Photo frames have come a long way since the days of the old wood or metal ones. And the classical photo album is almost obsolete in these high tech days we're living. These days if you want to view your vacation or wedding photos you would get a digital photo frame that's capable to store all of them in one small place and you can view them on a sleek and small LCD screen or you can leave them play as a slide show.

HP's DreamScreen 130 is one of those cool digital lcd photo frames that has a lot more features packed in it's small box Some of those features, aside from storing and displaying photos, are: Internet radio, Facebook updates, music and photo streaming from a PC, a calendar and a built-in alarm clock. All in all HP DreamScreen 130 is a sleek stand-alone "smart screen" you can place on your kitchen counter or take from room to room because it even works with your existing home wireless network.

The DreamScreen 130 digital photo frame gives you the possibility to easily access content on your PCs and the Web via a simple menu, enjoy music, photos, and videos with HP MediaSmart software, control entertainment via an intuitive handheld remote control. For even more usability you can turn it to landscape or portrait orientation with the included stand.

If you are on Facebook, and a lot of people certainly are, with DreamScreen 130 you have easy access to your account so you can view and stay current on Facebook. You can also view slide shows of photos uploaded to Snapfish, stream music and photos from your PC, listen to Internet radio from Pandora or HP SmartRadio and stay organized with the calendar and be on time with the built-in alarm clock

The design of the DreamScreen 130 digital picture frame is pleasing and elegant, complementing your home decor. The speakers are concealed and offer a superb sound quality. If you need to, you can mount the lcd screen on a wall, because holes have been pre-drilled on the back.

For touchscreen capabilities is equipped with capacitive touch navigation buttons. Unlike the more classical 7 inch digital photo frame, the HP's DreamScreen 130 has a 13.3" wide screen display, with a 16:9 aspect ratio and 800x480px screen resolution. It's equipped with built-in Line Out for headphones or external speakers and 10/100 LAN & wireless 802.11 b/g for networking. It has 2 USB ports and a 6-in-2 Card Reader for your data transfer needs. The built in memory is 2GB, out of which 1.5GB is usable space.

For more information related to the HP DreamScreen 130 you can visit the official page on the HP Shopping site here

BD-P1600 - blu-ray disc player

Back after a loooong absence, here to bring a few things found on the web. Maybe this time I'll manage to keep things going, even if I've started a few projects in the meantime, that had the same faith.

But getting back to our little things, about the BD-P1600 blu-ray disc player. This is one of Samsungs' new models, a sleek and nice one if I may say so. Here are a few of the specifications of this blu-ray player:

• Playback Media: BD / DVD / CD
• Playback Formats: VC-1, MPEG2, H.264
• Netflix-Ready: Instantly stream from a selection of over 12,000 (and growing) movies and TV shows. The number of titles you can stream per month depends on which Netflix subscription plan you choose.
• Video A/V Quality: DVD Upconversion (up to 1080p)
• A/V Quality: Dolby Dital Decoder, DTS Decoder, Dolby Digital Plus Decoder, DTS HD Decoder, Dolby True HD Decoder
• Functional Features: BD Profile 2.0, Secondary audio support
• Connectivity: HDMI CEC, Composite Video Outputs, Component Video Outputs, S-Video Outputs, HDMI Outputs Version 1.3, Optical Digital Audio Outputs,
  Analog Audio Outputs 2ch, WiFi Ethernet
• Functional Features: PiP
• Dimension : 17” x 2.13” x 7.83”
  
• Weight: 4.85 lbs.

The full specs can be found on the Samsung website of course, at the products page, here.

A few things worth mentioning about this blu-ray player are:

• the full high definition 1080p resolution,
• the built-in wireless Ethernet connection - "BD profile 2.0 interactivity lets you download the latest firmware upgrades and more with just a click of a button. Making firmware upgrades simple and easy, you can continually upgrade the BD-P1600 with the latest features"
• Netflix instant streaming ready - "Are you a Netflix member? You no longer have to wait by the mailbox to satisfy your flix fix. Instantly stream from a selection of over 12,000 (and growing) movies and TV shows. The number of titles you can stream per month depends on which Netflix subscription plan you choose."
• BD-Live 2.0 Ready - "Get ready for the ultimate interactive film experience. The SAMSUNG BD-P1600 has lets you take full advantage of interactive features like downloadable video content, ringtones, games and more. Download additional content from the internet or even chat with friends when watching the same movie. Requires additional memory and an internet connection"

Again, for more information regarding the Samsung BD-P1600 blu-ray disc player, there should also be a trademark symbol somewhere in there, visit the product's page above.

Samsung T220 22" widescreen LCD Monitor

One thing that starts to appear maybe a little too often here: Samsung LCD monitors. But that's just because there's so great. Being one of the leaders in the industry, Samsung continues to provide us with even better gadgets each time. This is just one of them, part of the Samsung Premium Class LCDs.

The Samsung T220 22" LCD Widescreen Monitor is one beautiful display. Samsung has created a design unlike anything you’ve ever seen called Touch of Color™. Samsung Premium Class LCDs are top-of-the-line premium monitors offering superb picture quality, luxury features and the most striking, sophisticated designs. Premium Class monitors are ideal for executives, professional offices, advertising, public relations, gamers and developers.

The T220 monitor not only has beauty, it also has brains. An amazing 20,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio and 2ms response rate deliver sharp contrast and virtually no blurring when watching movies or playing video games. You’ll be inspired to create your best work with the T220. It looks more like a beautiful piece of art than a lcd monitor.

Here are some of the specifications for the Samsung T220 LCD Monitor:

• Screen Size : 22" wide
• Resolution : 1680 x 1050 (WSXGA+)
• Brightness: 300 cd/m²
• Response time: 2 ms(GTG)
• Contrast Ratio: DC 20,000:1 (1000:1) (Typ.)
• Viewing Angle (Horizontal / Vertical): 170º / 160º (CR>10)
• Power Consumption: 45 watts
• Video Signal: analog RGB, DVI

More detailed information about the Samsung T220 22 inch LCD monitor can be found on the official product page at www.samsung.com.

CRT displays are replaced by LCD

This shouldn't surprise us at all, and it's in no form a news flash, but it appears that finally the LCD displays are reaching affordable prices for a great quality. We can only look back on the days when LCD displays had a small visibility angle or a lousy refresh rate or a crappy resolution and contract. Although the last do make for a great argument in choosing what type of display to purchase, I've always considered the angle factor something somewhat useless. I'm not used to watch my monitor from a 60 degrees angle, so I don't care. I, and probably many others, like to stare at the monitor straight on. I guess It's only necessary when you gather around with the family and look at holiday photos or who knows what else, just like the Windows setup shows up. And probably for presentations.

Anyway, following this article from Extremetech.com we can conclude that the LCD displays have achieved what they were meant to do: replace the CRT displays. Sales on LCD displays and plasma TV's have grown to such an extent that they have overtaken the classic CRT. We can only assume that from now on, things will go on this way and very soon, the old desktop "space takers" will eventually disappear.

Until the next big thing in display technology is discovered/invented we have the sleek looking LCD to glare at. Although I'm a great fan of the old CRT's and still haven't purchased a LCD, it seems like I will be forced to do so. My eyes are starting to impose it on me. It's a good thing they lasted for this long.

Blu-Ray wins over HD-DVD

Toshiba has fought hard to promote their HD-DVD products and the war with Blu-Ray has been one with a highly awaited result. As with the previous battles between media formats, like the one between the VHS and Betamax format, this too has been one that had a real impact on the consumers. Whenever two large companies clash, they tend to create better and cheaper products and we can only rejoice at that though.

What really happened?

On February 19, 2008, after major content manufacturers and key retailers began to withdraw their support of the format, Toshiba made an official announcement to no longer develop, manufacture and market HD-DVD players and recorders, effectively ending the high definition optical disc format war.

This move leaves the high-definition market to its main rival: Sony's Blu-ray format. The two formats had been fighting for dominance in the high-definition home video market. But in recent weeks, HD-DVD had been abandoned on both the retail and content sides.

Toshiba's announcement is going to be a relief to consumers who have had a tough time over the past couple of years choosing between the two formats. If someone needed to upgrade from the now old DVD format, the decition between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD would have been a tough one.

There are also good news. If you made the bad call and chose HD-DVD, don't worry. There are methods for you to keep your videos in the markets leading high-definition format. One good "How To" can be found on Wired.com but I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of them popping up all over the Internet now.