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New Xbox Experience Dashboard Available for Limited Preview

Nerd Grind — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:28:52 +0000

Although the new Xbox Experience Dashboard hasn’t officially launched yet, those that signed up for the early release can now begin downloading the update. The official launch is tomorrow. Of important note, Netflix is offering 300 streaming HD titles along with 12,000 movies and TV episodes.

The streaming service will be free to Netflix users who ALSO subscribe to Xbox Live. I can’t wait to check it out tomorrow!

Netflix Teams With Roku to Release Standalone HD Streaming Box

Nerd Grind — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 12:24:52 +0000

Roku has announced a partnership with entertainment giant Netflix in order to bring HD streaming to consumers by the end of the year. Currently, Netflix offers no option to instantly stream content in high definition. Roku will be releasing a $99 dollar standalone Netflix player that will feature HD streaming, according to the company’s VP of Consumer Products. They also promise a tweaked interface to "suit all of those extra pixels." The unit will even be able to handle all of that HD streaming goodness at a lower bitrate than previously expected.

Netflix Offers HD Streaming on Xbox 360 Before Other Formats

Nerd Grind — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:25:14 +0000

Netflix is gearing up to offer HD streaming of their content for the Xbox 360 platform. They currently offer streaming on PCs and Macs but the service is not in high definition. The service will be available when the new Xbox dashboard hits on November 19th. HD streaming will be available to Xbox Live Gold members only.

This is, however, only a "soft launch." Only 300 titles or so will be available at the launch of the service. That number will ramp up before too long, however.

Deal Alert – Sharp AQUOS 32″ 1080p LCD for $699 Shipped

Nerd Grind — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 12:07:57 +0000

6th Avenue Electronics is selling a Sharp AQUOS 32" 1080p LCD television for just $699 shipped. It’s the lowest price we’ve seen for the unit by about $100. These TVs have been well reviewed since their initial release. Click here for more information and for the coupon needed to finalize the deal.

New 360 Drive

Nerd Grind — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 22:41:28 +0000

Just a rumor and there is nothing to really substantiate yet, but it is being reported that Mark Bennett (Microsoft’s European HD DVD business director), announced that Microsoft would be shipping a new and improved 360 HD DVD drive in 2008 which would support HD DVD’s HDi interactive features.

Toshiba Makes 320GB 2.5-inch HDD, Keeps Up with Joneses

Nerd Grind — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 19:53:26 +0000

Toshiba didn’t want Samsung to get all the aclaim with its 1.8 inch 160GB HDD, so they went out and made a 320GB 2.5 inch drive. Yes, that would be the largest 2.5 inch drive, so essentially, Toshiba matched Samsung (short-lasting) record for record. What’s even niftier about the MK3252GSX drive is that, unlike its closest competitor, Fujitsu’s 300GB, it runs at 5400RPM rather than 4200RPM. Other specs include an 8MB buffer, 12ms average seek time, and a 3Gbps SATA interface. It’s also very thin, at only 9.5mm tall. No word on pricing, but they should start showing up in notebooks near you around November.

XtremeNotebooks Xtreme 917X – Doin’ the Quad-Core

Nerd Grind — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 17:45:18 +0000

I just love power, especially when packaged in mobile forms.That goes for cars, motorcycles, and, of course, notebooks. The XtremeNotebook Xtreme 917V (wihch is a bit to type) provides some serious power for a low, low starting price of $2,399. The specs:

17-inch display
Core 2 Quad processor
dual nVidia Geforce Go 7950 GTX graphics processors
Up to 4GB of DDR2 RAM
Multicard reader
Dual-layer DVD writer (no HD?)
Up to three 250GB hard drives (four spindles? wow!)
Optional TV tuner
Gigabit Ethernet
Wi-Fi
Standard ports
12-cell batter that still manages only about 60 minutes

Sounds like a monster. Go get one, oh rich ones.

Lacie Biggest S2S RAID Tower – 5TB – 20TB, Nice!

Nerd Grind — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 18:34:10 +0000

This is nit-picking for a lovely device that provides 5TB of storage in a relatively compact form, but why did Lacie call it the "Biggest S2S"? What happens when they release a bigger one? Anyways, here are the specs:

Standard 5TB storage, scalable to 20TB (via links with other units)
Full RAID support
3Gb/sec eSATA interface
eSATA-eSATA direct connection
200MB/sec burst rate
Hot-swappable disks

The basic model with PCI-X is $3,699, which is a bit but reasonable for that amount of storage. HD video editors are probably already drowning in their own drool over this monster.

Sony Goes Insane, Adds SSD to VAIO For $Billions

Nerd Grind — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 18:19:48 +0000

Let me say that, even though I’m a sucker for ultraportable notebooks, and I think the Sony Vaio TZ18GN is a nifty machine with some nice specs:

11.1-inch LCD
32GB SSD
Core 2 Duo
1GB RAM
2.5lbs

I still feel that $4,300 is a lot to pay for a notebook that’s not some sort of crazy beefed-up 21-inch monster desktop gaming replacement rig. And the striking thing to me is that the SSD option adds "only" $700, which means that the standard HDD version of this puppy is $3,600 if my math doesn’t fail me. And that’s a lot, as well. And, yes, of course, Sony’s not really asking for $billions.

Dish Network to Add Real Functionality to DVR

Nerd Grind — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 17:59:00 +0000

I ditched DirecTV for, well, let’s just say "reasons." I’m now ready to ditch my cable company. And who comes to the rescue? Why, Dish Network, that’s who! They’ve added the ability to connect external storage to their DVR, the ViP622 HD model (for a fee, $39.99), and they’ve enabled updates over Ethernet, so an analog phone line will no longer be required. As if that’s not enough, they’re also allegedly readying their OnDemand service, which for me has always been satellite’s biggest weakness. All of this is going to be happening in the August-September timeframe. So, Dish Network, here I come?

NerdGrind - How-to Computer Help - Tutorials - Tech and Gadget News » HD

New Xbox Experience Dashboard Available for Limited Preview

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Netflix Teams With Roku to Release Standalone HD Streaming Box

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Netflix Offers HD Streaming on Xbox 360 Before Other Formats

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Deal Alert – Sharp AQUOS 32″ 1080p LCD for $699 Shipped

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New 360 Drive

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Toshiba Makes 320GB 2.5-inch HDD, Keeps Up with Joneses

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XtremeNotebooks Xtreme 917X – Doin’ the Quad-Core

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Lacie Biggest S2S RAID Tower – 5TB – 20TB, Nice!

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