Well, not so fast, but you might be able to in the very near future.  I have been amazed over the last few years at how many people hate cable boxes.  One of the most common questions I hear when someone’s purchasing a new TV is “is there a way to get rid of my cable box?”

A few years ago, many manufacturers had a feature called Cable Card, which allowed you to eliminate your Cable Set-top Box with a “card” that plugged into a slot on the back of your TV, allowing you to plug your coaxial line in and receive your cable channels.

It never really took off, for several reasons.  The biggest problem was that it was a one-way communication system.  That meant that it could only receive information, not send information back to the cable companies.  The problem was that you could not receive the channel guides (the cable menu system), pay-per-view, video on demand, etc.  Most people were used to these on their Cable Boxes, and did not want to give them up.  Also, you can’t use a separate TIVO box (or similar device) with Cable Card.  There seemed to be other issues, and performance seemed to be a problem with many users as well.

Most manufacturers dropped this feature from their TVs within a year or two, and I’m not aware of any that have them currently.

The good news, potentially, is that Sony Electronics just announced it has signed an agreement with the major cable operators in America to begin producing “tru2way” bi-directional digital cable ready products that will not require a separate set-top box.

According to Sony, “tru2way” will resolve the problems of previous Cable Cards.  It will allow for interactive services like video-on-demand, digital video recording and interactive programming guides,  and finally allow viewers to return to the days when all you needed was a coaxial cable into your TV.

With all of the problems of the previous Cable Cards, we’re a little skeptical until we see it, but it sounds very promising and hopefully, everyone will support this new standard and allow you to say goodbye to your cable box.

Gaming Console’s have been huge for some time now, and I’m sure everyone either has one, or knows someone that has an Xbox, Playstation, or Wii.  So you know what these are, but did you know that some consoles do much more than just allow you to play games?

I bet many of you own a Microsoft Xbox 360 but don’t know the full extent to which you can use it (I’m sure a lot of you do, but I bet a lot of you don’t).  Microsoft has a program called Windows Media Center which allows you to organize and control your entertainment from your PC.  You can play your favorite music, view your photos as a slideshow, watch DVDs, download movies, and you can even watch and record your favorite TV shows (and in the US, you can even record HDTV programs with an HD compatible tuner).  Windows Media Center is included with Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Vista Ultimate Home Editions, and is also available separately.

Windows Media Center allows you to add up to 5 Media Center Extenders so that you can expand your system.  A Media Center Extender is a box that you can add to allow you to “extend” the functions of Windows Media Center.  I’ll give you an example that should clarify what this means.

If you have your PC in your office, and it has Windows Media Center installed, you’re able to do the normal functions such as listen to your music, play a slideshow, etc on your PC.

If you add a Media Center Extender to your family room TV (connected through either a network or wirelessly), you now have the ability to do the exact same thing in your family room.  This means that your family room Media Center Extender acts as an extension of your office PC and allows you to extract information from your office PC and play it in your family room.  It acts completely independantly of your office PC.  This means that if you’re watching a slideshow of your trip to Hawaii in your office, you can play a slideshow of your trip to Europe in your family room, without interfering with the Hawaii slideshow.

Another example is I’m in my office listening to the newest Michael Jackson anniversary CD.  You stop by to say hi, and you hear me listening to Thriller.  You decide you want to hear that so you go to the family room, pull up the Media Center software and find Thriller (from the same anniversary CD I’m listening to on my PC) and hit play.  Now Thriller begins playing in the family room, and I’m still listening to it in my office.  Even though you’re selecting this from the family room Media Center Extender, which is accessing the information from the office PC, it’s totally independant so it does not have any effect on what I’m listening to in the office.

You can have up to 5 Media Center Extenders connected, all accessing one PC, all with independant control.  You can listen to a CD in one room, watch a photo slideshow in another room, listen to a differnet CD in another room, etc, all from the same PC, all at the same time.  And because you have the option to do this wirelessly, it’s a very simple way to expand your system throughout your household.

So what does this have to do with the Microsoft Xbox 360?  Well, the Xbox 360 is also a Media Center Extender.  That means if you already have an Xbox 360, and you have Windows Media Center, you just have to add a network connection to your Xbox 360.

 You can do this either using a wired or wireless connection.  For best results, Microsoft recommends using a wired network connection to connect both your PC and your Xbox 360.  Second best method is to use a wired connection from your router to your PC, then use a wireless connection from your router to your Xbox 360, using the Xbox 360 Wireless Networking Adaptor.  There are some other basic recommendations that are listed on the Microsoft website.

It’s very easy to connect and setup up.  There’s also a Xbox 360 Universal Remote that allows you to easily control your Media Center through your Xbox 360.

You also have the option of using a stand alone Media Center.  Several companies are manufacturing them and they allow you to do the same thing minus the gaming ability of the Xbox 360.

We offer a couple of units from Linksys, the DMA2100 and DMA2200 which are Media Center Extenders and wireless receivers all in one.  The DMA2200 also has a built in DVD Player, and both units have an HDMI output to your TV.

Also, we carry a couple of very cool new TVs from Hewlett Packard.  The HP SL4278N and the HP SL4778N Flat-panel LCD TVs have a built-in network media device that allows you to create a wireless Ethernet connection to your computer, and access your music, photos, and more from your PC.

It’s really exciting what’s going on in the world of convergence…being able to tie your PC and your home entertainment systems together, sharing your music, photos, TV throughout your house, wirelessly!

So if you have your Xbox, make sure you’re maximizing it by using its Media Center Extender capabilities.  If not, take a look at the Xbox, or one of the other options to make sure your whole house it getting in on the action.

Click here to visit our store for the Xbox and other Media Center Extenders

We’ve recently added a bunch of items to our Clearance Center and we’re excited to be able to offer such a great deal on these items. 

Our prices are very competetive on all items, but our clearance items are discounted very aggressively, and some items are discounted more than 80% off of their retail price.

We have some brand new items which we normally don’t stock, so we want to get rid of them as soon as possible.  We also have some demo items that we want to get rid of…and this means one thing…a great deal for you!

Here’s a few of the Brand New items that we’re selling in our clearance section:

We have two Audioquest HDMI-1 (HDMIONE) HDMI Cables, 1 Meter long.  If you’re not familiar with Audioquest Cables, they are a High-End Cable line that offers some of the best cables available anywhere.  Believe it or not, they have Speaker Cables that retail for $8400.00 for a 10 foot pair!  They’re not as well known as Monster Cable, but in my opinion they are a better cable.  Most people haven’t heard of them because they don’t market their products as heavily as Monster Cable does…they definitely spend their money on design and production, making sure you get a top notch product for your money.  The HDMI-1 is their second best HDMI cable, using a 26 AWG 2.5% silver conducter and a Skin-Foam-Skin Polyethylene Dielectric. 

These cables retail for $175.00 each, but our clearance price is $118.75 each.  Click here if you’d like to see our HDMI-1 product page.

This is a Brand New Audiovox DPF1000 Digital Photo Frame, only one available.  This is a 10.4″ (diagonal) screen Digital Picture Frame which allows you to play your digital photos in a slide show.  It has some built in storage for 20-40 high resolution photos, as well as directly supports SD, MMC, and MS memory cards.  To see more specifications and features, click here.  This retails for $240.00, but our clearance price is $123.25.

Crash, Blu-ray DVD, 1080p High Definition, 16 x 9 widescreen DVD, brand new.  This disc retails for $40.00, but we have one available in our clearance center for $14.25.  Click here to view the Crash Blu-ray DVD product page.

We also have incredible deals on demo items…these are items that have been used, but are in very good condition.  The cable above is another Audioquest cable.  The Audioquest YIQ-1 60 foot Component Video cable uses a 24 AWG 2.5% silver conductor with a Hard-Cell Foam Dielectric and Aluminum Foil + Silver-Plated braded shield and Multi-colored braided outer jacket.  This ensures that you’re getting the best picture quality available, especially in a longer run (such as this 60 foot cable).  We have many other component video cables available in shorter lengths, both from Audioquest and Monster Cable.  The YIQ-1 60 foot Component Video Cable retails for $1000.00, but our clearance price is $387.25.  That’s a huge savings, and if you have the need for a long component video cable, you won’t find much better, especially in this price range.  Click here to view the product detail page for the Audioquest YIQ-1 60 foot Component Video Cable.

We have many more items in our clearance center to view…all with great deals.  Items such as Monster Cable Banana Connectors, RCA Audio Cables, Subwoofer, Composite, Digital Coaxial, Coaxial and Component Cables, Case Logic CD/DVD and CD Player cases, and more.

Some items will carry the full manufacturers warranty, and at a minimum every item comes with a 30 day satisfaction guarantee.  Visit each items detail page to see if it’s new or demo, it’s condition, and what the warranty is.  Click here to view our Clearance page and begin browsing your way to great deals!

Pioneer Corp, electronics manufacturer announced today that they will no longer manufacture their own Plasma TV panels, and they will start purchasing panels from outside suppliers.

I say it’s a sad day because I think Pioneer makes the best flat-panel available today (comparing all Plasma TVs and LCD TVs).  The Pioneer Plasma TVs, especially the Elite line is, in my opinion, has the best picture quality of any Plasma or LCD TV available today.  The only TV that I thought was close was the Fujitsu Plasma TV, which late last year announced they are out of the consumer Plasma TV market.

Their reason, as was the reason for Fujitsu, is that they’re losing too much money on Plasma production.  I’m not sure if they will be able to have their panels manufactured like they are currently manufacturing them, but I’m sure that they since they are purchasing them from other companies that they will be different. 

Their electronic processing is also a very important part of their performance, and other manufacturers are making very good panels, so hopefully they will still produce a great product.  Time will tell.

It seems that the LCD market is slowly killing Plasma TVs.  I’m still a big Plasma TV fan, but I have to say that LCD TVs are really catching up in their quality, and the newest LCD TVs have been very impressive.

The Consumer Electronics world changes so fast, that as LCD TVs catch up to Plasmas, new technologies such as OLED are coming out with an absolutely amazing picture.  I guess we’ll always be one step behind the game!

Ever since both formats were released, I knew there could only be support for one player, and that would be Blu-ray.  I recommended Blu-ray to my friends and clients…I just had a feeling.

Not that Blu-ray picture was any better.  To be honest, both formats, when compared side by side, were amazing.  Even when comparing the same DVD in both formats, it’s hard to tell the difference between the two.

I think it was more of the marketing, as well as by looking at who was supporting which format.  Also, Blu-ray is the only true 1080p format on the market.  Even though that doesn’t mean its picture is better than HD-DVD, it’s great for marketing.

Even looking at the manufacturers that were supporting HD-DVD.  Toshiba was the only big name manufacturer, along with Microsoft with the X-box.  LG had a combo HD-DVD/Blu-ray player.  But there were many Blu-ray players on the market.  Sony, Pioneer, Panasonic, Samsung and more.

Just before the January 2008 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Warner Brothers studio announced that it would support Blu-ray.  The HD-DVD camp tried to downplay this, but soon after slashed the price of their HD-DVD players.  The Blu-ray booth at the CES show was buzzing…in contrast to the HD-DVD booth, which seemed pretty quiet when I visited, and when I passed by at other times.

It just seems to get worse for HD-DVD.  This week, Best Buy and Netflix (following Blockbuster) announced that they would only support Bly-ray.  Today, Wal-Mart joined the band-wagon and announced they also would only support Blu-ray, and would begin phasing out of HD-DVD next month.

And if that’s not bad enough, Blue Echo Audio Video has also decided to strictly support the Blu-ray format…a move that is certain to expedite the death of HD-DVD.

Rumor has it that both Microsoft and Toshiba, two of the biggest supporters of HD-DVD, will make the change to Blu-ray soon, which will officially (kinda) be the end of HD-DVD.

For those of you considering juming in to the world of High Definition DVDs, I really recommend making the jump to Blu-ray.   And for those of you that purchased HD-DVD players, maybe it’s time to put that in your kids room and make the jump into the Blu-ray waters…it’s safe to come in now.

Edit - Reuters announced that Toshiba has officially announced they will stop production of HD-DVD equipment, which means Blu-ray will be the High Definition DVD format winner.

My first night in Las Vegas for the CES show, I was fortunate enough to be a guest at the 2008 Monster Retailer Awards, hosted by Noel Lee, owner of Monster Cable, at the Paris Hotel. Noel Lee has been very generous in his award shows going back many years now, and I’ve been lucky enough to attend a few over the years. They’re always a great time, and this one was no different…featuring the one and only…

Mary J. Blige

As you can see from the picture, I think Mary and I had quite a connection, and I’m pretty sure she was singing directly to me…it was a very magical moment…for me at least

Here’s a short clip that shows why she’s so great. She sings with so much soul and passion…it was just amazing to see her perform like this so close.

In this short clip, Mary shares some very inspirational words…then breaks into another awesome performance.

What a performance, and what a night. If they ever happen to read this, thank you Noel Lee and Mary J. Blige!

Plasma TVs and LCD TVs definitely have the “wow” appeal, and many people love them because they free up so much space compared with conventional large TVs. Replace the old 50″ Rear Projection Big Screen TV with a 50″ Plasma or LCD TV on a stand and your room just opens up…they take up so much less space and are visually so much more appealing. Mount that same TV on the wall and hide your electronics in a cabinet or a closet and the room takes on an even more spacious look.

Now there’s an option that has become commercially available which takes things one step further - make your Plasma or LCD TV disappear altogether. More than one manufacturer, such as Sanus Systems or Chief Manufacturing, make a “picture frame” that goes around your TV to make it look like a picture. This one is one of the versions available from Sanus Systems (around $1000.00 for a 50 inch TV).  It’s important to note, these DO NOT include the mounting bracket to attach your Plasma or LCD TV to the wall.

So as you can see, it looks exactly like a picture frame. This one has a silver finish, but like picture frames, they are available in different finishes to match your room’s decor.

They also include an IR kit (infrared) so that your remote will still control your Flat-panel TV through the frame assembly.

One really cool add on is an optical mirror kit (about $1400.00 for the 50″ mirror kit, also from Sanus Systems). When you’re watching television, the optical mirror “disappears” so that your wall-mounted “mirror” becomes your TV. When your TV is off, it goes into “mirror” mode. That means when you’re not watching TV, your TV disappears and now it’s a framed mirror on your wall.

Click on the image above to see a larger image…it turns your TV into art! Now this is a very cool and easy solution for something many of us have been asking for…a TV that doesn’t look like a TV.

Click here to see Blue Echo Audio Video’s selection of Sanus Decorative Frame kits…all on sale with free standard shipping promotion. 

Recently I had the opportunity to audition a pair of the Shure SE530 “sound isolating” earphones. I have to tell you, before I listened to them, I was thinking ‘how big of a difference can headphones make…there’s NO WAY I would ever spend $500.00 for a pair of headphones.’ Yes, I did say $500.00. The Shure SE530 Earphones retail for $500.00 for a pair.

You’re probably thinking, ‘you’re right, I would NEVER spend that much either…what on earth could make earphones so expensive?’ Well, actually, I own the previous version in a lower model, the Shure E4, as well as the E2. Both last year’s models, the E4 costs $400.00 (which was already way more than I ever thought I’d spend) and the E2 costs $100.00, so maybe I would be crazy enough to buy the SE530s.

Before I talk about the SE530s, let me just say that the difference between the E2 and the E4 is pretty dramatic. Not just sound quality, but comfort. The E4s are much more comfortable than the E2, which is really important for long term listening, such as on a long flight.

The E4s also have a better frequency response, which means better bass and better highs. And they just sound more musical…so how much bettr can it get?

So I was anxious to try the new Shure SE530 for myself. I mean, how much better can they be than my already outrageously priced E4s? Well, let me tell you I was blown away! They put an instant smile on my face…I couldn’t believe the difference. They were better in every way. Better Bass. Better midrange. Better treble. More open. Smoother sound. More detailed. More comfortable. These are no small statements, considering how much I love the E4. What makes them so great?

Well, to help understand, let’s compare it to a traditional speaker. Typically in better speakers, you’ll find more drivers, of different sizes. Each driver handles a specific portion of the frequency range and is designed to specialize in those frequencies. Tweeters, for example, are very small speakers that are designed to move extremely quickly to handle high frequencies only, so they specialize in these high frequencies. Larger drivers, such as woofers and subwoofers cannot move as quickly, but can move the large amounts of air needed to output the low, bass frequencies that are so important.

The Shure SE530s use a similar approach. This is the only earphone in Shure’s lineup that uses triple drivers. It uses a tweeter and dual woofers to divide the frequency range and send the right frequencies so that the drivers can “specialize” in their duties. Also, like any good high end speaker, the Shure SE530 uses passive crossover networks to send the appropriate frequencies to the right driver. So the tweeter can specialize in playing only high frequencies, it doesn’t have to work as hard trying to do something it wasn’t designed to do. And the dual woofers really reinforce the bass output for an amazing bass reproduction, but not overpowering. It gives a really seamless integration with the high frequencies.

The Shure SE530 has a frequency response of 18HZ to 19kHZ, which covers the range of human hearing…it’s pretty tough to find an actual speaker that plays below 20HZ.

Also, they have different tips to fit different sized ears comfortably, and the design isolates 90% of outside noise.

I guess if you’re really passionate about your music, and you want to listen to it the way it’s meant to be heard, $500.00 isn’t that much for the amount of use and enjoyment that you’ll experience from these. I bet most of you spend more than that for your home speakers, and maybe don’t listen to them as much as you would listen to these.

So if you’re looking for an awesome pair of headphones that will take your ‘on the road’ music enjoyment to another level, the Shure SE530 is for you. If you’re looking for a great deal on a pair of earphones, I may know a guy that is selling a pair of used Shure E4 earphones…

Continuing from my post on day one, here’s some more of the cool things I saw at the CES show.

Another item that was very high on my list, and apparently everyone else because it was a very busy display, was the Sony XEL-1 11 inch OLED, as well as the larger 27 inch OLED prototype. I was blown away by the pictures of both of these items. The 27 inch is a prototype, but the XEL-1 should be shipping this month at a suggested retail price of $2500.00. It’s rated to have a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1, with a wide color range and rapid response time, and the panel is only 3mm (.11 inches) in depth. Amazing.

Samsung had its own thin LCD TVs on dislpay…here is one of there ultra-slim LCD TVs.

I wasn’t supposed to take a picture of this, but I took one before I realized (and they told me) that I couldn’t, so here it is. It was really thin, and also had a great picture. I’ve become a big fan of the Samsung product over the last few years…very impressive line-up.

Some other cool things that Samsung displayed were a 3-d DLP (headset required) and game, and a 3840×2160 resolution LCD Panel…which also had an amazing picture. The 3-d DLP and game was very cool also…the football game even had raindrops hitting the screen, which made me feel like I was back in the Northwest!

Hitachi showed it’s prototypes of the slim TVs, and also had some wireless video displays, which I’m sure we’ll see a lot of over the next year. Here’s a couple pictures of those and of one of Sony’s wireless HDTV display.

There was so much information to take in, it’s hard to cover everything here. I’ll try to cover more specifics in the next couple of weeks.

I had a great time at the show, and I think it’s going to be a very exciting year in the world of Consumer Electronics and we’ll see some incredible products launched this year…check back for more!

2008 Consumer Electronics Show, Las Vegas, Nevada

Well, it seems a lot of people think it was the opposite, a lackluster show.  I’m not so sure…maybe it’s because I didn’t go the last couple years, but I thought it was an exciting show, and this year’s products, as well as the prototypes were pretty amazing.  There were a few themes that seemed to really stand out this year at the CES show. Some of the concepts weren’t really surprising, but the execution just blew me away. The themes as I saw them were:

1. Bigger TVs - Panasonic topped things off with the 150 inch Plasma TV, but several of the manufacturers showed screens larger than 100 inches, both in Plasma TV and LCD TV Technology.

2. Better Picture Quality - Manufacturers emphasized big improvements in picture quality, emphasizing colors, brightness, viewing angles, and especially contrast ratios. Manufacturers displayed prototypes of TVs with…are you ready for this? (let my get my Austin Powers voice going) 1,000,000 to 1 contrast ratio. I’ve never been big on the way manufacturers rate their contrast ratios, but that’s what some of the claims were. And of course, 1080p (and higher) resolution was everywhere, as was blu-ray and hd-dvd…although the hd-dvd camp seemed much quiter than blu-ray. Maybe in light of the news announced that Warner would now back blu-ray exclusively.

3. Thinner TVs - Almost every manufacturer also displayed very thin flat-panels, both Plasma TV, LCD TV, and the new Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED TV), in thicknesses down to 3mm (.11 inches). It was truly amazing to see the prototypes, as they had excellent picture quality as well. The brightness and clarity was unreal, as were the black levels and contrast.

4. Wireless Audio and Video - Wireless streaming of HD content, including 1080p, was everywhere. There was a large display of Windows Media Extenders as well, which allow wireless streaming of music and pictures. Media Centers had a large showing as well.

5. Storage and Distribution - Many manufacturers displayed Media Centers and Servers which allow you to store your content (photos, music, HD) and distribute it to different TVs. This really seems to be the future of Audio and Video, and the focus was really on user interaction and entire solutions. We should see many more options this year.

It was very exciting to see all of the amazing new technologies that were introduced, and this year will be very exciting for consumers. Here’s some highlights and I will post quite a few more in the next day or two.

It seems Panasonic stole the show with their announcement of the world’s largest Plasma TV. The Panasonic 150 inch Plasma TV was HUGE, really difficult to understand just how big it is without seeing it. And I was blown away with the picture quality. I was really surprised by the black levels and the clarity. I would have thought that it would appear grainy and have a lot of artifacts, but I didn’t notice that at all. There were several of the 103 inch Plasma TVs on display, but they looked tiny compared to this one

It’s a little hard to capture exactly how thin these TVs are, while also showing their picture quality, but these are the prototypes of the ultra-thin Panasonic Plasma TVs. Most likely we will see these available in the next year or two, and there was an impressive display of these by Panasonic, Pioneer, Sony and Samsung. The Samsung was not available for photographs, but I managed to get one before the Samsung folks pointed that out to me…I’ll post that photo in part 2.

Here is Pioneer’s thin display Plasma TV prototype. Amazing. It’s a 50″ 9mm (.35 inches) thick Plasma TV, which Pioneer claims to be the first Plasma TV that is absolute black…that is having no measurable light emitting from the Plasma TV.

And Pioneer Elite’s flaship 1400 watt AV Receiver, the SC-09TX.

Here are pictures of the back of the SC-09TX. Be careful clicking on the picture…it’s a little intimidating. Next is a shot of the Elite speakers and Components. Great looking and awesome sounding!

Sharp displayed several great looking LCD TVs, but here is their biggest, the Sharp 108 inch LCD TV. Also a very impressive picture. The picture was very bright, so I didn’t get a chance to get an idea of how well it displayed dark scenes, but it was a fast moving picture and I didn’t see any real issues with response time. Very impressive for a large LCD TV.

A cutaway of the classic B&W model.

B&W displayed a wireless system that looked awesome. I didn’t get a chance to hear it, and I’m still a little skeptical about most wireless speaker systems, but I know they making a lot of ground in this area. The also had a very cool Ipod dock and speaker system. The next picture is a system composed of very large high end speakers which use ribbon tweeters to for the mids and highs. Very impressive looking speaker. They sounded nice, but I wasn’t completely blown away with them, but to be fair, it’s not really the best environment to demo high end speakers.

Gaming also had a very large turnout. Here is a curved monitor which really immerses you in the game. Samsung had a 3-d system where you put on glasses to play. The depth and realism was very impressive.

Here’s a Monster Stack…followed by a Monster Lamborghini with an amazing custom stereo. Monster Cable is always good to have one or two amazing exotic cars on display at the CES show.

And here is the underbed motorized Plasma TV mount. It’s a remote controlled motorized mount the completely hides under the bed, and when it’s been brought out, you can rotate it around to view anywhere in the room. Pretty cool.

On top of the themes mentioned above, wireless technology with cell phones and computers was very big, as was gaming systems. That’s not really my specialty, so I didn’t spend much time on those, other than to admire the cool toys. I have some more cool pictures to post soon and will get some more detailed information up soon also.

I have to say the future of electronics is extremely exciting, and I’m very happy to be a part of it. The show was awesome and the technologies that are now available, and will soon be available to us are mind-blowing.