NEW FEATURE:
Recommended Home Theater Receivers with HDMI
May
30, 2008
Starting today we're taking the confusion out
of buying Home Theater products, starting with
receivers! We're going
through thousands of items and cherry
picking the ones that offer the best performance and value for your dollar. We've teamed up with
Amazon to bring you these items at
low sale prices and free shipping! This week it's
Home Theater Receivers with HDMI. Next week we'll attack
Blu-ray players (hint: the
PS3 will be high on the list -
read why)! Our recommended products will
always be listed on our
Products For Sale page and kept up to date
weekly!
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Home Theater Receivers
with HDMI |
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Onkyo
continues it legacy of offering more
value per dollar with its new line
of home theater receivers. They are
some of the best at decoding the
new Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby
TrueHD, DTS-HD, and DTS-HD Master
Audio lossless surround formats on
Blu-ray and HD DVD.
These new
high resolution audio formats contain over
10 times the sound information as
DVD. The difference is a startling
clarity that's never been heard
before in movies. Upgrade your receiver today
and hear what you've been missing!
It's the only way to truly enjoy the
full potential of HD DVD and
Blu-ray!
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Perfect for small
to medium sized rooms:
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Onkyo TX-SR606
90 Watts/ch, 106 db S/N
ratio
1080i Upscaling powered
by Faroudja DCDi Edge
4 Digital audio inputs
5 Composite, 4 S-video
inputs
2 Component video inputs
4 HDMI 1.3a inputs
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List Price: $599 USD
On Sale: Under $450
USD
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Medium to large rooms:
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Onkyo TX-SR705
100 Watts/ch, 106 db S/N
ratio
HDMI video up-conversion
with DCDi technology
THX Select2
Certification
5 Digital audio inputs
5 Composite, 4 S-video
inputs
3 Component video inputs
3 HDMI 1.3 inputs
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List Price: $899 USD
On Sale: Under
$550
USD
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* BEST BANG FOR THE
BUCK*
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Onkyo TX-SR875
140 Watts/ch, 110db S/N
ratio
HQV Reon-VX Chip for
High-Performance Video
Processing (with 1080p
Upscaling)
THX Ultra2 Certification
for a Better Class of
Home Theater
Top line of Burr-Brown
DACs for clean sound
6 Digital audio inputs
6 Composite & S-video
inputs
3 Component video inputs
4 HDMI 1.3 inputs
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List Price: $1699 USD
On Sale: Under
$1050
USD
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For the demanding audio/videophile
:
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Onkyo TX-NR905
140 Watts/ch, 110db S/N
ratio
HQV Reon-VX Chip for
High-Performance Video
Processing (with 1080p
Upscaling)
THX Ultra2 Certification
for a Better Class of
Home Theater
Top line of Burr-Brown
DACs for clean sound
Massive Toroidal
transformer plus 2
separate transformers
for Audio & Video
Processing
Network capability for
audio streaming, and USB
front input
Built in HD Radio
6 Digital audio inputs
6 Composite,
6 S-video
inputs
3 Component video inputs
4 HDMI 1.3 inputs
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List Price: $2099 USD
On Sale: Under
$1500
USD
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In addition to the above, these receivers all feature:
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7.1 channels of surround
sound
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HDMI 1.3 inputs and outputs with
1080p and Deep Colour (36bit)
support
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5Hz - 100Khz frequency response
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Highest quality 192K/24 Bit DACs
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32 Bit digital signal processing
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Independant crossover
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All discrete circuitry
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Upconversion for older analog
signals
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Automated speaker calibration
using an included microphone
(using advanced Audyssey
technology)
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iPod Ready connection
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Dual zones
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Permanent memory storage
(settings are never lost)
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Remote control
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2 year warranty
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NEW PRODUCT: Box1040
Component to RGB Converter
May
28, 2008
The Box1040 component (YPbPr) to RGB converter
provides a picture perfect RGB conversion optimized for HD-ready displays for
full high-definition viewing. It allows you to view high-definition (HD) content
from component sources on your existing projector or HD-ready TV.
 The perfect match for the HDfury!
Simply plug the HDfury directly into
the Box1040's RGB IN port and your display to the Box1040's RGB OUT port and you
now have an excellent HDMI input for Blu-ray players (and other HDMI devices)
along with an excellent component input for older devices like cable/satellite boxes
and DVD players. How does the Box1040 make the HDfury better?
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Adjustable Gamma Boost: The Box1040 adds gamma adjustment to
the HDfury signal for absolutely perfect shadow detail.
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The World's first Image Alignment Correction (IAC) circuitry
to fix the image "left-shift" error.
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The Box1040's cable driver stage also lets you use an analog
output cable of at least up to 30 feet with the HDfury. You no longer need to place the
HDfury near your TV! Perfect for those of you that
already have a long RGBHV cables installed.
Box1040 is plug-n-play with no extra steps required. It can be used for all
standard High-definition TV formats: 1080p, 1080i, 720p. All standard frame
rates are supported in both NTSC and PAL.
As described in our
Greyscale & Colour Calibration for Dummies
guide, gamma boost is critical for achieving perfect
image quality. Videophiles
look for this feature as it is a critical one to
have in order to obtain a proper gamma curve.
Without gamma boost dark details are simply lost:
Buy now »
HOW-TO:
Re-repairing your Xbox360
May
27, 2008
Curt offers an Xbox360
Repair service. It’s pretty common knowledge that the ‘X’ shaped clamps that
hold the heatsinks to the chips cause warping of the PC board. The common cure
is to replace the spring loaded X clamps with bolts to provide more even
pressure between the chip and PC board. We also put the multi-speed fans into
full speed mode which makes the Xbox a bit noisier, but the Xbox runs cooler,
and we also modify the air ducting within the unit to redirect more air over the
video processor chip, that seems to run hotter than the main CPU.
Over time however, the PC board will continue to warp slightly, and the failure
may return after a few hours, weeks or months of game play. Some Xboxes appear
to be permanently repaired and do not fail again after the first repair. We've put together some instructions for fixing the most common re-occurring
problem yourself!
Help my re-fix my Xbox360 »
BLU-RAY RELEASE DATES, MUST-HAVE TITLES, and DEALS!
Purchase Blu-ray
discs from
Amazon.com using these links and a small percentage
automatically goes towards our site maintenance fees at no
extra cost to you! Want to buy something other than Blu-ray
discs? Use
this link instead. We're in Canada and have been buying our movies
from
Amazon.com for over 10 years as they've always been cheaper
than buying locally!
More information » Blu-ray deals:
Amazon Summer Blu-ray Blowout: Save up to 50%
Save 45% on Exclusive Blu-ray Bundles
National Treasure 1 & 2 on Blu-ray - Bundle for only $39.99 -
SAVE 43%
Amazon $12.95 Blu-ray deals
HD DVD deals:
$8.95 Weinstein HD DVDs
$10 & Under Universal HD DVDs
DVD deals:
200 DVDs up to 50% off in the Fantastic DVD Sale
Must-have Blu-ray Discs:
Want to see how good home theater can look and sound? Use some
of our "Must-Have" Blu-ray titles! They represent the absolute
best that 1080p Blu-ray has to offer in terms of audio and video
quality. Every movie collection must have a handful of these
films!
Bee Movie (DreamWorks)
Video: 5
Audio: 4.5
Youth
Without Youth (Sony)
Video: 4.5
Audio: 4.5
Saawariya
(Sony)
Video: 5
Audio: 4
Alien vs. Predator: Requiem
(Fox)
Video: 4.5
Audio: 4.5
(*NOT* Region free)
The 6th Day (Sony)
Video: 4.5
Audio: 4.5
(Region free)
Ice Age (Fox)
Video: 5
Audio: 5
(*NOT* Region free)
I, Robot (Fox)
Video: 4.5
Audio: 4.5
(*NOT* Region free)
I Am Legend (Warner)
Video: 5
Audio: 5
(Region free)
Enchanted (Walt Disney)
Video: 5
Audio: 4.5
(*NOT* Region free)
No Country for Old Men (Walt
Disney)
Video: 5
Audio: 4.5
(Region free)
Shoot 'Em Up
Video: 4.5
Audio: 5
(*NOT* Region free)
Live Free or Die Hard
Video: 4.5
Audio: 5
(*NOT* Region free)
Ratatouille
Video: 5
Audio: 5
(*NOT* Region free)
Cars
Video: 5
Audio: 5
(Region free)
Pirates of the Caribbean: At
World's End
Video: 4
Audio: 5
(*NOT* Region free)
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead
Man's Chest
Video: 5
Audio: 5
(Region free)
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse
of the Black Pearl
Video: 5
Audio: 5
(Region free)
Planet Earth: Complete BBC
Series
Video: 5
Audio: 3 (Region free)
(audio's not quite up to the same standards as the video, but
this 4-disc collection is phenomenal!)
Blade Runner: Complete
Collector's Edition
Video: 5
Audio: 5
(Region free)
The Fifth Element (Remastered)
Video: 4.5 Audio: 4.5
(Region free)
Crank
Video: 4.5
Audio: 5
(*NOT* Region free)
300
Video: 4
Audio: 5
(Region free)
More Must-Have Blu-ray Titles »
Recent and Upcoming Blu-ray Releases:
May 20, 2008
Anger Management (Sony)
(Region free)
Bee Movie (DreamWorks)
Blades of Glory (Paramount)
(Region free)
Company (2007) (Image)
Face/Off (Paramount)
(Region free)
National Treasure (Buena Vista)
(Region free)
National Treasure/National
Treasure: Book of Secrets (Two-Pack) (Walt Disney)
(Region free)
National Treasure: Book of
Secrets (Walt Disney)
(Region free)
Nature: Desert Lions (Questar)
Nature: In the Valley of the Wolves (Questar)
Nature: Shark Mountain (Questar)
Nature: Under Antarctic ice (Questar)
Next (Paramount)
(Region free)
Short Circuit (Image)
(*NOT* Region free)
V for Vendetta (Warner)
(Region free)
WWE: Wrestlemania XXIV (WWE)
May 27, 2008
The Air I Breathe (Image)
(*NOT* Region free)
Dragon Ball Z - Dead
Zone/World's Strongest (Double Feature) (FUNimation)
Dragon Tiger Gate (Tai Seng)
Rambo (Lionsgate)
(Region free)
Rambo (Box Set) (Lionsgate)
(Region free)
Rambo III (Lionsgate)
(Region free)
Rambo: First Blood Part II (Lionsgate)
(Region free)
Strauss: Die Fledermaus (Opus
Arte)
June 03, 2008
Battle of Britain (MGM)
A Bridge Too Far (MGM)
Cloverfield (Paramount)
(Region free)
Dirty Harry (Warner)
Dirty Harry: Ultimate Collection
(Warner)
The Eye (2008) (Lionsgate)
Fearless Planet (Image)
Final Days of Planet Earth (Echo
Bridge)
The Longest Day (Fox)
Meet the Spartans (Fox)
Patton (Fox)
The Poseidon Adventure (2005)
(Echo Bridge)
The Recruit (Walt Disney)
The Sand Pebbles (Fox)
Semi Pro (New Line)
Signs (Walt Disney)
There Will Be Blood (Paramount)
Weeds: Season Three (Lionsgate)
June 10, 2008
Be Kind Rewind (New Line)
Broken Trail (2006) (Sony)
The Bucket List (Warner)
Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire: Live at the
Greek Theatre (Image)
Girls Gone Wild: Hottest Moments Ever (Mantra)
Heart: Alive in Seattle (Image)
Jumper (Fox)
The Missing (2003)
Sea Monsters (National Geographic)
Natural Born Killers (Warner)
The Other Boleyn Girl (Sony)
The Professionals (Sony)
The Signal (2007) (Magnolia)
Witless Protection (Lionsgate)
June 17, 2008
Fool's Gold (Warner)
Men in Black (Sony)
So I Married an Axe Murderer (Sony)
More Upcoming Titles »
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