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Home Entertainment
Venturer Electronics has announced that they will start shipping their first HD DVD player, the SHD7000, in time for the holidays. This low-cost, Chinese manufactured player features 1080i video output, Dolby TrueHD audio, ethernet connectivity and the ability to upconvert standard DVD's.

Venturer Electronics today announced the launch of its first HD DVD player for the North American market. Responding to strong consumer demand for high definition video playback devices, Venturer will introduce the SHD7000 that offers the superior HD movie experience as defined by the DVD Forum.

Featuring 1080i video output and an HDMI connection, the SHD7000 is designed to be compatible with the vast majority of HDTVs already in North American consumers' homes. With Ethernet connectivity to the network , the SHD7000 also allows users to access bonus features from movie studio web servers and unlock special prerecorded content on some HD DVD discs. Dolby TrueHD rounds out the high definition experience by presenting the HD DVD disc soundtrack as it was meant to be heard, virtually equal to the studio master.
While Venturer has not announced a price for the SHD7000, they expect it be "one of the lowest among entry-level HD DVD players". If you'd like to read more, Venturer's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment
Sony recently announced the VAIO LT HD PC/TV. This combination PC/TV features a 22" widescreen display, Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM and 802.11n LAN technology. A Blu-ray drive is also an option, giving users the ability to play back high-def movies and store up to 50GB of data onto a single disc.

Featuring a floating glass design, the VAIO LT HD PC/TV serves as a computer entertainment center, where you can watch and record analog, digital and cable television programming, including premium HD channels. A Cable CARD is required.

Part of a series, the new LT PC/TV comes in multiple configurations, including a standard and an HD model. The high-definition version features a Blu-ray Disc optical drive so you can enjoy high-definition movies, as well as record, store and play back personal content on high-capacity BD media (up to 50 GB on a single disc).

The unit features a 22-inch diagonal WSXGA+ widescreen display, with Sony’s XBRITE-HiColor LCD technology. It displays images in razor-sharp detail, whether watching TV, enjoying family photos or simply surfing the web.
The VAIO LT series will be available in October. Pricing starts at $1,900 for the LT standard model and goes up to $2,900 for the Blu-ray equipped LT HD model. Full details can be found here. Add a comment

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Flash Memory
SanDisk has announced an 8GB version of its Cruzer Micro USB flash drive. Like the other drives in the Cruzer Micro line, the 8GB model features a sliding USB connector and support for U3 Smart Technology.

SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) today announced an 8 gigabyte (GB) model of its popular Cruzer Micro USB flash drive, double the largest capacity previously available in the Cruzer Micro line.

Only two inches long, a half-inch thick and weighing less than half an ounce, the 8GB Cruzer Micro nonetheless can hold a massive personal library - 1,600 ultra-high-resolution digital pictures, 2,000 digital songs or five hours of high-quality home video.
The Cruzer Micro 8GB is expected to be available in mid-September for a suggested retail price of $129.99. More information can be found here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage
Since its launch, Pioneer's DVR-A12 series of drives has had its share of problems. There have been numorous reports in our forum and elsewhere about drives failing to recognize CD's. While Pioneer has been quietly replacing these drives, they haven't made an official statement until now.

According to a post on Pioneer Japan's website, drives manufactured before March 2007 are affected by the problem. Those that purchased their drives in Japan, can get theirs repaired by calling Pioneer's contact center.

Unfortunately, this problem also affects a number of Pioneer's OEM customers. Buffalo and Logitec have already provided information on how their customers can get their drives repaired.

Pioneer Electronics (USA) has yet to make a statement about this problem. However, from the reports I've read, their tech support is more than willing to replace a drive experiencing this problem. Add a comment

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Other

ASUS P5N32-E SLI Plus Motherboard @Virtual-Hideout
HIS Radeon HD 2600 Pro IceQ Turbo 512MB @HotHardware.com
Humanscale CPU 600 PC Holder @I4U
Ideazon Zboard Gaming Keyboard @BCCHardware
LapWorks Futura LapDesk @BCCHardware
Samsung SyncMaster 940UX 19-inch LCD Monitor @ThinkComputers.org
Sapphire Radeon HD 2400 XT And HD 2600 XT @TweakTown
Steel Series SX Pro Gaming Mousepad @Tweaknews.net
Synology Cube Station CS407 @HotHardware.com
Ultra Grid ATX Mid Tower Case @Madshrimps
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Software
For the last few months, there has been a lot of speculation surrounding Nero 8. While Nero has been very quiet about its release, there have been a number of rumors stating that it would be available soon. Within the last week or so, Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Play.com have updated their websites to include a pre-order for Nero 8.


Going by the information on Amazon.com, Nero 8 will be released in the US on September 1st and will be priced at $99.99. Considering we have yet to see an announcement from Nero and the release is less than a week away, I don't think this is going to happen.

More realistic are the release dates listed on Amazon.co.uk and Play.com. In both cases, Nero 8 is down for a late September release, shipping somewhere between the 26th and 28th. This is plenty of time for Nero to launch their marketing campaign and get the software out the door.

Ship date aside, there is still very little known about Nero 8. Will it include new features or just an overhaul of the graphical interface? Feel free to leave your comments and thoughts in the forum. Add a comment

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Optical Storage
Aleratec has announced that they've developed a commercial grade disc repair system. According to their press release, the Aleratec DVD/CD Disc Repair CG can remove scratch damage from CD's and DVD's in as little as 5 minutes.

Aleratec, Inc., leading developer and manufacturer of Aleratec Award Winning "Prosumers' Choice" solutions for the Blu-ray, DVD/CD, USB duplicating, and DVD/CD publishing markets introduces its new Aleratec DVD/CD Disc Repair CG that removes most light, medium, or heavy scratch damage from any photo, music, movie, game, data DVD or CD. The Aleratec DVD/CD Disc Repair CG is a commercial grade disc repair system that will repair most damaged discs in as quickly as 5 minutes. It includes two 500ml bottles of finishing solution, repair pads, a 3 1/2" disc holder that makes fixing scratched 5" and 3 1/2" discs as easy as 1-2-3 and it is powered by a 1/4 HP motor.
The Aleratec DVD/CD Disc Repair CG is available now for an estimated retail price of $525. Full details can be found here. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment
Things aren't looking good for the Taiwan-developed FVD and China-developed EVD formats. According to DigiTimes, FVD and EVD players have been suffering from slow sales due to the lack of titles and increased competition from entry-level Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD players.
Audio/video players of FVD (forward versatile disc), a Taiwan-developed red-laser high-definition DVD standard, and EVD (enhanced versatile disc), a China-developed DVD standard, have faced slack sales in Taiwan and China since the beginning of 2007 because of pricing competition from Blu-ray Disc (BD) and HD DVD players as well as insufficient supply of movies using the standards, according to industry sources in Taiwan.

The development of FVD and EVD was motivated by manufacturers in Taiwan and China wanting to avoid having to pay royalties to international companies holding DVD patents, the sources pointed out. In order to promote FVD in China, the Electronics & Optoelectronics Research Lab under the Taiwan government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), the developer of FVD, has cooperated with organizations related to EVD in China, including making the two formats mutually compatible, the sources indicated.
If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment

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Other

AMD Athlon X2 BE-2350 Processor @InsideHW.com
Antec TruePower Quattro 850W Modular Power Supply @ ThinkComputers.org
CoolIT PCI Cooling Booster @Tweaknews.net
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 PSU @DV Hardware
Sennheiser CX-300 In-Ear Headphones @OCModShop
Synology Cube Station CS407 @HotHardware.com
VIZO Xena Laptop Cooler @Futurelooks
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Home Entertainment
Crave has reported that Mitsubishi is developing a 3D Blu-ray player. While details are still a bit sketchy, Mitsubishi claims that this player will be able to convert existing 2D movies into 3D.
Most of us were pretty impressed by the demo, which included clips from movies, commercials, and sporting events. There was real depth to the 3D, and you got that 3D-feeling of objects poking out at you from the screen. All the demo material had been shot in 3D, but the kicker to the whole presentation was that Mitsubishi apparently has a Blu-ray player in its labs that can convert existing 2D movies into 3D on the fly. Better yet, according to company representatives, it may be available early next year.
Crave also mentions that Mitsubishi is currently talking to one game console manufacturer about integrating this 3D technology into their system. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

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