Entertainment

With all the Blu-ray drives I have reviewed somewhere I have mentioned that Blu-ray is not only about picture quality but Dolby sound as well. Here not only do you get the Blu-ray player but also a rather nice set of speakers.

Again looking towards Christmas two items to give as ideal presents, the first for someone with an urge to learn and the second for some who just wants to play, but even playing with this helicopter uses and improves dexterity skills.

Although billed as a home cinema system this cool looking product from LG offers a range of multimedia functions.

Brace yourself – ready or not – Christmas is not that far away. Here two items for the kids and no doubt the best way to cope is a little at a time. First a tradition Jigsaw from Ravensburger and second a new twist on the Rubik’s Cube.

Fed up with earphones that under perform? Want to reclaim your music? s-Jays earphones offer amazing quality and performance for a wide variety of uses.

First a wireless device great for the energetic that enables them to hear music or phone calls while indulging in exercise. Second a small speaker to enable your iPod, MP3 player or phones content to be heard by all.

I always enjoy reviewing a Blu-ray player, one because I do not own one but do have several Blu-ray discs including several that will not play in a PC with a Blu-ray player, even experts do not know why and two its an excuse to watch Blu-ray movies.

Maybe, like me, when you were a young child you were told not to be grabby when treats came around. Now Terratec wants you to ignore this advice as you use the company’s product to convert your analogue VHS tapes into digital content stored on your hard disk or optical media. Appropriately enough this product is entitled Grabby.

I have reviewed many DAB/FM units and a few DAB/FM/CD but so far none from Sony. As you would expect it is a quality unit and as you should also expect it is by no means cheap, but then quality never is.

If your singing is better than ‘hair brush’ standard then this item from Memorex could get you used to a Microphone so that when you progress you do not make the eating/licking the microphone mistake on your first gigs.

Our ears are as individual as the rest of us and with TwistJax Atomic Floyd aims to provide a perfect fit for all, combined of course with superb sound.

As I am sure everyone knows the Digital Changeover is coming (in fact it has already arrived in some places), so to keep perfectly good Analogue TV’s working set top boxes were made to translate the signals, then the PVR (to replace the video recorder), then the PVR had Freeview built in. Now something slightly different.

Having just spent time updating my sister’s television set up, and getting different pieces of kit to work in harmony, in preparation for the digital switch-over, I just wish I had waited a little longer until this next product came along.

Never mind toys for the boys – keep them kids occupied whatever the weather. I've been having a look at some of the great toys out there for the kids this summer. Bearing in mind our lovely weather I've included a good selection of active toys for indoors as well as the great outdoors.

This unit has a built in Freeview box so anyone with only an Analog TV can now move on and since it can play (and record) DVD’s as well as record either to the HDD or direct to DVD you have the best of both in a single unit.

Some great toys from ECOutlet the online store for eco-friendly items. We checked out some fab environmentally friendly toys.

As “D-Day” (that’s the switch over from analogue to digital television) approaches for certain parts of the country, it is perhaps the appropriate time to look at a digital set-top box.

As we tend to use our computers when listening to music, some thought should be given to the kit that provides the audio output.

Joining the ever-expanding range of iPod add-on devices is Kensington’s latest FM device for working with your car radio.

Not just another MP3 player but this touchscreen controlled unit is also an MP4 unit as well. This means that not only can you listen to your music you can also watch movies.

Gear4 takes a different approach with its product that connects an iPod to your car radio.

Yes two more useful USB gadgets from the people in Hong Kong that charge a flat rate postage and packing fee of $3 US no matter what the size of your order. First a Micro SD Card reader that is also an MP3 player and second a model plane that is a speaker.

A new product from Sandberg offers to add ease-of-use and increase functionality when linking devices by HDMI.

As well as its takeover of Pinnacle’s PCTV line up, Hauppauge has added to its portfolio product with the release of its WinTV-HVR 900 offering.

It has been a long time since I have told you about some of the recent Naim offerings that come under the broad heading of Jazz. Jazz in itself is a word that means many things to many people, my preference is modern but not experimental.

While you may recognise the name of Memorex, you might not be so familiar with the company’s new focus on your life with regards to in-home entertainment.

In February this year (23-2-09) I reviewed a pre production version of their 250GB version. Here I am looking at the resale version and the one I have is 500GB and it takes a long time – with normal watching – to fill this unit up.

Just over a week ago I told about two ways of listening while unconnected, here are two different types of quality earbuds. The first from Shure and the second from a company that designs earbuds to suit your Genre of music.

First an ingenious device called the Deco Mandala Designer and second something – say it very quietly – educational from the History of Art series, that dare I say is fun as well as educational what used to be called Edutainment.

Wireless speakers are one such method and outdoor speakers are another. Here I am looking at both. First some rather natty speaker cubes from Griffin. Second an outdoor speaker that works by wireless from wherever.