Category Archives: Hardware

Jan 3 2010

Gaming 2010

Well, I went and done it.  I now have a Playstation 3.  I went for the new ‘slim’ redesign (pictured), and have to say am very impressed with it, aesthetically.  My impressions of the machine, is that as far as online goes, I haven’t had chance to try out what multiplayer is like yet, but the Playstation Network, with the store etc is very impressive and easy to navigate.  The wealth of content here too is to be commended.  As a fan of XBOX I’m not going to compare the services, as I don’t want to knock either system (yes, splinters in my ass from sitting on the fence).  Other than that the design of the user interface is well done and there are lots of options to tinker with.  Playback of Blu-ray content can not be faulted either and access to BD-Live functions is a valued extra feature you may not normally use on a stand-alone player. 

Games-wise I have been playing Ratchet & Clank: Tools Of Destruction and download game Pixel Junk Shooter, and both have impressed me.  I also checked out the demo for Kill Zone 2 and was suitably astonished by the graphics and atmosphere, even if the sluggish controls will take a bit of getting used to (the PS3′s duel-shock controller, as with the controllers on PS1 & 2, never really suited first person shooters in a way the XBOX & XBOX 360 controllers do).  But this is early days, and I have much to look forward to, especially the likes of Uncharted 1 & 2, and in the coming months, Final Fantasy XIII.

Thats not saying that the 360 is going to be overlooked.  I am still playing Shadow Complex, and aim to get hold of Bayonetta in the coming weeks.  I am also looking forward to Bioshock 2 and Alan Wake this year.  So looking to the year ahead, I feel I am in for some real treats.

Jul 9 2009

Improved sound system

Hi.  I have been wanting to boost the quality of the sound I get when watching DVD / Blu-ray in the main room of my house via the Panasonic Blu-ray and the Samsung LCD.  Well considering I was reluctant to shell out on an expensive home cinema system, I have gone for a very reasonably priced (around £70) 2.1 speaker system which is to be connected directly to my Blu-ray’s stereo jacks.  I know, I still won’t be getting Blu-ray’s much celebrated 7.1 sound quality.  But that does not concern me.  I just want a bit more Oomph than I currently get from the Samsung’s rather basic built-in speakers.

Here’s a quick picture of what I have gone for.  I’ll report back soon on what I think of it.

JBL Spot 2.1 Sound System

JBL Spot

 

UPDATE (15/07/2009):

Well although not having watched a full movie yet, I have given the system a good try out, and can reveal that it packs quite a punch.  The bass, even at medium level really kicks some power out, and in movies like Terminator 2, Taken and the opening title music to Tim Burton’s Batman Returns, I was very impressed.  At times it sounded like a system three times the cost!!!  Naturally when watching a full length movie some trial and error will take place with the overall volume to get it to a comfortable level everyone can enjoy, but for now I’m very pleased I purchased this system, and recommend it to anyone after some quality sound enhancement to their basic LCD speaker set up, when on a budget.

Jun 20 2009

My new PC

Hey guys, check out my brand new PC.  I will be receiving delivery of this cool looking Windows Vista PC on Monday all being well, so will report back on it then.  For now, here’s the specs and a picture.

acer-x3200_868834

Acer Aspire ASX3200

19″ widescreen TFT monitor

AMD Quad-core Phenom 9100E Processor 1.8ghz

NVidia Gforce 8200 Graphics Card

1024MB graphics memory

320 GB Sata hardrive

Duel-format DVD / Blu-ray drive

4GB DDR RAM

Windows Vista Home Premium

Jan 9 2009

Blu-ray here I come!!!!!!!

Well it was bound to happen someday…a DVD and Cinema enthusiast and not all aboard the HD train? Well fear not loyal readers…The Movie Report is now fully Blu-ray compliant.

Feast your eyes:

I also purchased the following movies on Blu-ray:

Zodiac (Director’s Cut)

Cloverfield

and also included free in the box:  National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets

The player was very easy to set up as I already had a HDMI lead.  Strangely the box the player comes in only includes a Composite cable, which cannot be used for HD!  Very bizarre.  The player is connected to my Samsung 32″ LCD television in the main room of my house, as thats the newest and best TV I own next to the still good quality Philips LCD in my bedroom. 

Update  (11/01/2009):

Well I have had a good play around with my Panasonic Blu-ray player and have watched Cloverfield and taken a look at Nation Treasure 2 and Zodiac, and here are my findings:

All 3 films look excellent, and although Zodiac and Cloverfield use subdued colour palettes, little details and close ups did seem an improvement over regular DVD image quality.  However I didn’t feel blown-away by the improvement, and when watching some of my regular DVDs such as Transformers and Wall-E the difference seemed minimal (looking slightly soft-focus).  This is especially the case as the player also upscales the DVD quality to near-HD and improves what you are looking at anyway.  Transformers especially looked incredible. 

I am happy with my player and look forward to road testing some other Blu-ray titles in the future, and in a way I am also happy that the difference isn’t so much a leap as to render my existing DVD collection obsolete.  The interactivity and new menu features of Blu-ray are still to be fully explored by myself…but so far, colour me HAPPY.