Philips 32PFL9604 review

The 32PFL9604 uses Philips' Ambilight to great effect

Having produced some of the best TVs at this size in the past year, Philips is making the most of its glowing reputation with this feature-packed, aluminium-clad 32in TV. While the inclusion of Ambilight and wireless web browsing are the headline acts, the 32PFL9604 has got much more up its sleeve.

Features

It's exceptionally well connected, with Net TV being Philips' first foray into internet features. Unlike most sets that offer a ring-fenced platform on a wired ethernet connection, the 32PFL9604 can access the Net TV portal using Wi-Fi and even browse the internet at large.

Further digital niceties come in the form of DLNA networking (wired or wirelessly) from a PC, a USB port that plays video files and a stunning five HDMI inputs.

It all helps create a unique TV, but the engine room is elsewhere. On board is Philips' Perfect Pixel HD processing, which includes separate circuitry to improve contrast (Perfect Contrast), get rid of blur (100Hz Clear LCD) and lose judder (HD Natural Motion).

A staple of Philips TVs is Ambilight, which appears here in its Spectra 2 guise. It projects a dynamic light show onto surrounding walls that mimics the changing colours on screen.

Ease of use

Navigating the icon-based home page is a cinch, but finding what you want can be long winded. For example, switching the surround sound effect on or off during a movie takes so long that you will need to pause the disc.

We've also got issues with its major picture features, most of which are hidden away. The set really should come with a sheet of tips and hints on getting the best picture, especially since most of its excellent settings for Blu-ray and DVDs – HD Natural Motion and 100Hz Clear LCD – are not activated by default and can be tricky to find.

On the multimedia side, the 32PFL9604's USB slot can play MP3, JPEG and video files including MP4, MPEG and DivX, although the latter takes 15secs to load.

Those same files can be watched from a PC or Mac over a Wi-Fi network by simply entering your broadband router's WEP key, though loading times can become much longer.

Full Access

The remote for Philips' 32PFL9604 allows control over the TV's internet functions

The streamlined remote features a dedicated button to access the Net TV menus, which include icons for various content partners, including YouTube, a weather channel, internet radio and some simple gaming.

Loading times are reasonably fast, but not quite as impressive as Panasonic's Viera Cast. Manually entering web addresses is a pain, loading times are slow and no favourite sites can be set, but it's better than nothing.

Picture

The rich colour of The Matrix on BD hits you immediately, enhanced by Ambilight. As a fireball rips through the lobby in slo-mo, the vivid oranges and reds are stunning, as is the appearance on the wall behind the TV of a fierce glow.

Blacks are inky while containing loads of detail, as demonstrated by Neo's suit in an early scene. Perfect Contrast almost lives up to its name, though we did notice some light leakage from the top of the panel.



Domestic Bliss

The 32PFL9604's image quality and features list make it ideal for the living room

The helicopter scene atop a building shows off some terrific detail both in close-ups and surroundings, though as Trinity pulls Neo from the floor there are some noticeable artefacts around his shoulders and hair as he moves. The same flickers around moving objects are visible during the final scene where pedestrians walk past Neo as he leaves the phone box.

HD Natural Motion is the reason for this. Set it to its minimum setting and these artefacts become less noticeable, but they don't disappear entirely. Meanwhile 100Hz Clear LCD removes all but minute traces of blur. All in all, HD pictures are fabulous and unbeatable at this size.

The 32PFL9604 also makes a decent stab at upscaling our DVD of The Last Emperor, though even with MPEG noise reduction switched on there are jagged edges aplenty as the servants move around the Forbidden City, and a lot of picture noise in backgrounds.

It's a different story with Freeview, where some tennis on BBC2 reveals unusual depth, colour and contrast, with an odd shimmer of the net being the only issue.

With 15W speakers and two mid-bass drivers visible on the rear of the TV, it's no surprise that the 32PFL9604 serves up rounded audio, though its 'surround' mode is best avoided for dialogue-rich films.

The results from Blu-ray are something to behold and with Freeview also much stronger than on rival sets, the 32PFL9604 makes an ideal TV for the living room.

Bosch Tassimo TAS8520GB coffee machine

Bosch and Tassimo promise freshly brewed hot drinks - from Twinings green tea and Milka hot chocolate to Starbucks filter and Kenco cappuccinos - but can this table top vending machine deliver designer drinks tastier than the office canteen?

At 20cm wide the Bosch is mercifully compact and nestled nicely on our worktop. It’s also a handsome devil, with just enough tech detailing - LCD screen, bright LEDs - to keep us interested without looking like a hi-fi. It's also superbly built - the rear mounted water tank is robust and features a BRITA filter, the buttons are solid and the lid mechanism closes with a satisfying thud.

Turn it on and the LCD display lights up and helps you through the options. Once the 1.8ltr water tank is full you’ll be prompted to insert a T-Disc (T stands for Tassimo), stick a cup under the spout and push the big green button. Thanks to a pump and heating element inside there’s no waiting, it’s ready to go instantly.

The T-Discs sit neatly in the slot and a built-in reader scans the disc's bar code to discover what flavour drink it is and adjusts the amount of water/pressure to suit.

The Bosch is a simple, well designed machine and takes no effort at all to use. The big button does all the work, the indicator symbols are clear and the LCD screen shows how long before drinks are ready and even offers top-ups. It’s just a shame they’ve wasted a great machine on such a disappointing drinks system.

As a basic coffee maker the Tassimo does an OK job; it has the big brands - Starbucks, Kenco, Carte Noire - and can knock out an acceptable espresso or filter coffee in just 20 seconds. But if you want a cappuccino you have to use a concentrated milk disc to provide the froth. It’s convenient, but the results make an in-flight coffee taste somewhat sophisticated.

But Tassimo isn’t just about coffee; they also offer a variety of tea and hot chocolate delights. The chocolate actually scored points for being thick, creamy and super sweet, but the tea was nothing more than vending machine fodder.

Our other big bugbear with Tassimo is all the waste. After making two cappuccinos and two hot chocolates we were left with eight landfill clogging plastic discs. We might live in a disposable society, but the amount of plastic used with the T-Discs just seems unnecessary.

As for pricing, a box of 16 discs cost £1.99 to £3.49 from the Tassimo website. They are also available in supermarkets and discounts are pretty common. In total we counted 37 different drinks, so you’re spoilt for choice. If you like that sort of thing.

Panasonic DMR-BS850 Freesat Blu-ray recorder

They’ve had Blu-ray recorders in Japan for donkey's years, but the lack of free HD content in the UK has delayed their introduction here. But the emergence of Freesat - now a year old - has finally made Blu-ray recording a reality for us Brits, and naturally Panasonic is the company to make it happen given its previous pioneering exploits in the Blu-ray and Freesat markets.

The company has launched two Blu-ray/hard-disk combis - the top-end 500GB DMR-BS850 on test here and the 250GB DMR-BS750 - as well as a Freesat-equipped DVD/HDD model. At £1000 the BS850 isn’t cheap, but when you take a look at the vast array of features - many of which you won’t find anywhere else - it’s easy to see where your money is going.

The DMR-BS850 is the first hard-disk combi recorder to feature twin tuners, making it possible to record one channel while watching another, or record two channels while watching a previous recording. If you watch as much TV as we do, this will be music to your ears, and the presence of features like series recording makes it even more convenient to watch and record the programmes you love.

Because it’s equipped with Freesat tuners, you can receive high-definition programmes from BBC HD and ITV HD for free and record them directly onto the hard-disk. To do this, the unit uses a "DR" recording mode, which captures the raw bitstream (as well as subtitles and audio descriptions) rather than decoding it first. That means recorded pictures look identical to the live broadcast and subsequently allow you to make a pristine digital copy on Blu-ray.

That said, you can’t just make HD copies willy nilly. Broadcasters have the ability to flag high-def broadcasts and limit the number of copies that can be made. At present the BBC is flagging its programmes as "Copy Once" while ITV HDs are "Copy Never" although it’s by no means set in stone - there’s talk of BBC HD allowing unlimited copies later this year and ITV HD could have a change of heart. Until then, these restrictions could be a real turn off for people who like to share their favourite shows with family and friends.

When making a Blu-ray copy, the unit’s MPEG4 H.264 encoder can compress the file at a lower bitrate but retain its high-def resolution, which takes up less space on the disc without massively compromising on picture quality.

Although high-def recording is the BS850’s raison d'être, there are many more strings to its bow. It’s also a high-spec Profile 2.0 Blu-ray player, equipped with Panasonic’s lauded P4HD and PHL Reference Chroma Processor Plus technology, and it supports a healthy range of multimedia formats, including DivX, MP3, JPEG, AVCHD and SD Video. All of these, except DivX, can be copied to the hard-disk from USB or SD card (but not vice-versa), turning the BS850 into a multimedia hub, and it can even rip CDs and tag them automatically using the pre-installed Gracenote database.


Rear panel connections include HDMI, Component, S-Video and Composite video outputs, Scart input and output, two digital audio outputs and analogue stereo output. The Ethernet connection on the back not only allows you to download BD-Live movie extras but also lets you browse videos on YouTube or photos on Google Picasa through the Viera Cast feature. The Ethernet port will also provide access to the BBC iPlayer when it becomes available on Freesat later this year.

The BS850 isn’t a bad-looking machine around the front, with slim dimensions, a dark mirrored fascia and legible display panel. On the front you’ll find a USB port and SD card slot, a DV input for camcorder dubbing, plus S-Video, Composite and stereo audio inputs, reflecting the designs seen in Panasonic's DVD recorders in the past.

In action the BS850 is wonderfully intuitive, despite its potentially confusing array of functions. Channel tuning is quick and painless, while the onscreen displays like the EPG, Direct Navigator menu (where you find your recordings) and editing screens are straightforward. To cap it all, the button arrangement on the remote is superb.

High-def recordings from BBC HD look impeccable, with the BS850 retaining every last scrap of detail in the original broadcast. Programmes like Bleak House and Reggie Perrin are reproduced with mesmerising depth and clarity, while vivid colours blaze from the screen. HD recordings compressed to HL (the lowest-bitrate high-def recording mode) look sharp and natural, with fewer artefacts than we expected.
And its performance with pre-recorded Blu-ray discs is every bit as impressive as the DMP-BD60 and BD80, offering sharp and clean 1080/24p pictures that clearly benefit from P4HD’s awesome processing power. Even upscaled DVDs look incredible, with natural colour reproduction, remarkable detail retrieval and no edge artefacts to speak of.

The lack of multichannel analogue outputs on the back means you’ll need an AV receiver with HDMI inputs to enjoy Dolby True HD and DTS HD Master Audio tracks from Blu-ray. If you’ve got one, you’re in for a treat – the sound on offer is sharp, dynamic and fulsome. CD and MP3 playback are also hugely enjoyable.

Navman Spirit TV: 7-inch Satnav with built-in Freeview

Do you want to Watch while you drive..?

Navman has announced that it will be launching a supersized satnav device later in the summer that will include a Freeview tuner so you can watch TV when you aren't trying to find out where you are going.

Claiming to the be the world's first Satnav with built-in TV, it will be called the Navman Spirit TV and come in two sizes; a 4.7-inch screen model and a massive 7-inch screen model.

Aside from the ability to pick up television channels when in a decent Freeview area, the unit will be a fully-fledged Satnav that comes with all the latest features as sported on the company's newly announced Spirit range, the Spirit 500, 300 and Spirit Flat - so Postcode support, Bluetooth, Google local search, walking mode, Points of Interest and the such like.

The unit is expected to cost between £200 and £300 when it eventually does land in the UK.

The catch? Even Mio/Navman themselves are dubious about getting a good TV reception everywhere; "I can't get Freeview where I live," Pocket-lint overheard a spokesman for the company telling a journalist at the UK launch, before omitting that the device "won't be for everyone."

Still if you need to catch the latest episode of EastEnders on the way home, this might just be the device to do it with, well as long as you know where you are going.

Panasonic ES8249 Pro-Curve shaver

Will this tackle the hair on your chinny chin chin?

When we think high-tech shavers we generally imagine a Braun or Philips, but can Panasonic’s top of the range wet and dry, the ES8249, cut it with the big boys?

From a design point of view the ES8249 ticks many of the right boxes; it’s silver and black, comes with a bright orange LED display has ergonomic detailing and a large head mounted on twin directional springs. It looks good, but for a £200 shaver we think it lacks a cutting edge designer finish and the casing, although tough, looks a little plasticy.

In the hand however the shaver feels weighty and dependable, the rubber grips and handle fit the hand well and make it easy to use whichever part of the face you’re tackling.

Cutting is handled by four blades each with multi-arc foils that offer uniform contact to the skin whatever the angle, and a 13,000rpm motor - the fastest in the world. In practice this motor sounds like the world’s biggest mosquito, but the overall effect is superb. It is also a sealed unit so can be used wet or dry which is a practical touch.

The four blades compress even under the lightest pressure so working around the jaw and chin doesn’t pull at the beard. As with every electric shaver this reviewer has ever used it struggled to get all the annoying hairs on the neck but did a better job than many and we didn’t feel the need to push down to get a closer shave. This also left our neck without the tell-tale red marks that can cause razor rash.

The Panasonic ES8249 removed 3 days worth of stubble in less than 5 minutes, and left our face feeling smooth with only a few rogue hairs missed around the neck and under the chin.

At the back of the shaver is a pop out beard trimmer for tidying side burns etc, but we found it an aggressive little blade that did an OK job, but did pull at the skin.

After shaving the ES8249 can be returned to its docking station for cleaning and charging - insert it head first and choose to charge, clean or dry. The cleaning unit comes with a replaceable cartridge and needs filling with water, with a 30min cleaning cycle, or 90 minutes to clean and dry. But after all that gurgling, whirling and blow-drying the shaver looked as good as new even under the foils. It takes up plenty of space in the bathroom, but is well worth it for keeping the blades in box-fresh condition.

As for battery life, 1 hour charging gives 45 minutes use and the LCD status indicator displays minutes used, charge percentage and cleaning status.

Hauppauge WinTV MiniStick HD TV tuner

The WinTV-MiniStick HD is the latest portable tuner from Hauppauge, promising to offer a range of digital Freeview channels along with any free-to-air HD programming in the area. It’s the smallest we’ve seen to date, being around the same size as a USB drive, and comes supplied with a portable antenna, remote control, USB exension cable for tight spaces and WinTV version 7 to store and manage channels.

Setup is quite straightforward and involves installing the drivers and software before connecting the device and scanning for channels. One of the WinTV components - Signalmonitor - is particularly useful here, reporting the strength of the signal reaching the device.

Unfortunately the supplied antenna was extremely inconsistent and was rarely powerful enough to gather more than a handful of channels, and reception on these was poor. This performance is likely to vary to a degree based on location, but in our tests we certainly couldn’t advocate use of the product using this supplied aerial. This leaves a hardwired rooftop aerial as the only option, which will not be useful for those who are looking to view television on the move.

Using this we were able to establish a good signal and populate the software with over 80 channels, including radio stations. These are displayed on a channel list or the built-in EPG, which is a little rough and ready but is responsive and functional enough to do a job. Up to 7 days are viewable across the channel range, and specific programmes can be selected and recorded with a single click.

A scheduler offers control over repeat recordings on a daily or weekly basis, or on specific days of the week. The software also offers time-shift and programme recording direct to the hard drive and though this generally works quite well, skipping back and forth through video is done in intervals of a few seconds, so don’t expect the smooth performance you might be used to with Sky+.

Quality is very good though and there’s access to subtitles and Teletext where relevant, aspect ratio control and further information on the current programme. Generally we were quite pleased with what is a basic but functional package that offers just the right amount of control.

One rather large caveat we should place on this performance though is that a rather powerful machine will be necessary for smooth playback and recording. Hauppauge states that a 1.2GHz processor or faster is necessary for SD streaming, and a Core 2 Duo 2.8GHz (or equivalent) for HD. These specifications are ambitious though, to say the least, and we’d recommend the HD spec as a general minimum, faster if you want HD playback to be smooth, for those lucky enough to live in an HD broadcast area.

With this in mind we were left with mixed opinions of the MiniStick HD. On one hand it’s a tidy, portable product that works well in the right environment, but on the other it seems clearly oriented towards being used on the move, due to the small design and supplied antenna. We’d only really be comfortable recommending it for use with a rooftop aerial and a suitably powerful computer though, which may end up being a little too restrictive for most.

Magimix M190 CitiZ & Milk Nespresso machine

The fully automatic Magimix M190 CitiZ & Milk Nespresso machine promises delicious mess-free espresso, but does the addition of a unique milk heater and frother finally mean proper cappuccinos for all?

Using the Nespresso coffee pod system the Magimix, unlike so many coffee makers on the market, is a mercifully simple. Fill with water, choose your coffee flavour (16 in the basic range), pop the foil pod in the slot, pull down the lever and choose large or small espresso and that’s it - no coffee grounds to spill, handles to pull, pressure to set or mess to clear up.

Measuring 27.7 x 23.7 x 37.2cm the M190 isn’t much bigger than a kettle, so it won’t swamp your worktop but has a solid weight to it and looks built to last, which is just as well, as £180 is too steep for something that ends up in the back of the drawer after a month.

You can customise the size of your coffee which is a useful extra, especially if you want a longer Americano style drink rather than a full on espresso shot. But that’s about it for clever features: a multi-tasker this isn’t, but if you’re after a no hassle quality coffee this is going to be hard to beat.

The standout feature for us though is the milk frother. Unlike the steam-spewing third degree burn issuing metal arms on most machines it effortlessly heats and froths milk in less than 30 seconds. You just pour a little milk in the stainless steel jug and push the button - a small whisk and hidden heating element takes care of the rest.

Coffee snobs will scoff at the lack of steam, and if we’re being picky the milk could have done with being a touch hotter, but the results are delicious and as close to a restaurant quality cappuccino we’ve ever managed at home.

But is it worth £180? For the quality of the machine, the ease of use and the great results we think its well worth it, but be prepared for the cost of the coffee. Nespresso pods cost 25p each, which isn’t so bad for occasional use, but if you have a couple of cups every day the cost will sky rocket compared to buying beans or grounds.

You’ll also need to join the Nespresso Club (www.nespresso.com) and order your coffee online (there is a flagship store in Knightsbridge, London, if you’re in the neighbourhood). Oh and you can only order in multiples of 50, and postage is £4.95.

Brennan JB7 160GB review

Launch price £418 incl. speakers

Micro hi-fis are a great option if you’re still buying CDs, but what if you’ve been completely converted to the digital world? The JB7 from English hi-fi specialists Brennan could be the answer.

The tiny, bright-blue casing of the Brennan JB7 isn’t the only way it stands out from the crowd – the real headline is the built-in hard disk and CD ripping feature.

Ripping point
Pop a CD into the sleek slot-loader and it’ll rip it at 12-times playback speed. By default it rips into 192kbps MP3, but you can change this to 128, 320 or uncompressed.

Using our preferred rate of 320kbps still allows you to store 1,000 CDs on the 160GB HDD, and there are 80GB and 320GB versions available, too.

Ye olde database
Unfortunately the built-in CD database is quickly out of date. You can manually input track details but the irritatingly small, cluttered remote makes this tedious. While the buttons have surprisingly satisfying travel, there’s just too many of them.

Brennan will send you a database update CD, but this costs a fiver each time. Surely an Ethernet connection or database download from the website isn’t too much to ask for?

Plug and play
Luckily it’s more user-friendly in other ways. You can transfer music from your computer to the JB7, complete with track details, using the front-mounted USB socket, and there are also aux-in, line-out and headphone sockets on the back.

Hit the Next button and the Brennan will also turn on and automatically start playing your entire music collection on shuffle – perfect for when you just need some background tunes.

Enjoyable listen
The other good news is that the JB7’s an entertaining listen, with decent balance through the tonal range, tight bass, and nice dynamics. It’ll go loud without sounding shocking, too.

There’s a little bit of clatter in the treble, but given the fun, unique nature of the wee beasty, we’re still very keen on it.

Brennan’s speakers add just £60 to the JB7, but they also cause occasional harshness in the treble. If you can stretch your budget a bit, pick up a pair of £99 Roth OLi1s instead – they’re more exciting but also more controlled at the top.

Ronseal Power Sprayer

Does this do exactly what it says on the tin?

It's that time of year when everyone returns to the garden to find that the fence is looking a little tired. To extend the life of your fence, using some sort of treatment is essential with plenty of types and colours to choose from. But can the Ronseal Power Sprayer make this an easier job?

The Power Sprayer consists of a 5-litre tank, on which sits the pump unit and power, attached by four clips. Separating the two halves is simply a case of flipping up the catches and lifting off the top. The Ronseal Fence Life also comes in 5-litre containers, so you can simply pour the whole thing in.

The pump unit contains four D cell batteries (supplied) that Ronseal claim will see you through 40 fence panels. Simply install the batteries and you are ready to get going once you have primed the pump.

The attached 2-metre hose features a hand trigger for controlling the spray. A quick squeeze and eases the pressure allowing the content of the tank to be sprayed out through the nozzle on the end. It is very simple to use.

The pump is a little weighty and the full 5-litres tank adds an extra 5kg to the weight, but thanks to the 2-metre hose you can easily leave the Power Sprayer on the ground while you do the spraying, which will appeal to those interested in a sprayer because they find painting too difficult.

The treatment came out in a good even spray, with on optimum distance of 25cm suggested in the user manual. We found that this worked well, with long even strokes providing an even coverage. Ronseal claim that you can spray one side of a fence panel in about 2 minutes and this seems to be about right.

Brush painting is solid fence can be pretty fast, but the Power Sprayer comes into its own on slatted panels where there are lots of nooks and crannies to fill that would require lots of painstaking brush work. It is also apt at painting parts of a shed that you'd otherwise struggle to reach.

We tested the Power Sprayer on a slatted fence and an inter-locking log cabin. On the log cabin it was able to spray into small gaps and around the ends of logs that would have taken plenty of time to paint.

You do need to take some precautions however. Because you are spraying, it is almost impossible to stop some overspray onto surrounding walls, plants or paths. It is worth protecting anything close to the fence that you don't want spraying – we covered our Araucaria araucana, but allowed a little spray onto the grass. You'll also have to use a brush along fence tops, or you'll be spraying your neighbour's prize-winning courgettes growing on the other side.

If you are painting a shed, then you'll want to get the windows well taped up, as well as any handles, locks or hinges that you don't want to spray. You might decide that it is simpler and easier to avoid those areas and then touch them up with a brush later.

We also found that you can't spray in even the lightest winds otherwise the spray will go literally everywhere. Working around all these conditions can make the episode a little more work than you might have originally thought.

The Power Sprayer claims to get 6 fence sides from a 5-litre container which is pretty close, however we found that the level got too low to pump effectively on the fifth panel. As a result, we were left with some liquid still in the tank. You could preserve this but it is potentially wasted. (We used a brush to apply the spare treatment to the fence which worked well enough.)

You also have to ensure that the solution is well mixed before you pour it into the tank – it is worth giving it a vigorous inverting shaking before you take the lid off to counter any separation that occurred whilst on the store shelf.

If you don't mix the solution well enough, you'll find that the filters quickly clog, at which point your sprayer stops pumping out an even spray and reverts instead to sporadic spurting and a very uneven finish. Unfortunately you won't know if this is going to happen until it does, as we discovered after we'd got through the first container of solution.

Another downside is cleaning. The Power Sprayer contains two filters, one at the pick-up end of the pump and one immediately before the nozzle. These need to be perfectly cleaned to make sure that the pump remains effective, which seems near impossible. You'll need to flush quite a bit of water through to get everything running clear and even then you'll find residues of the spray inside various parts.

As a result cleaning takes a long time and when combined with the guidance on the packaging that the stuff shouldn't be poured down the drain you are left wondering what to do with the buckets of contaminated water – at least with a normal tub you can stick the lid on easily.<.span>

Panasonic TH-65VX100 review

Pros

Black depth and contrast ratio. Great colour realism and accuracy. Adjustable,
flexible design. Sheer size

Cons

Sheer size. Price. Purist design is light on features

Panasonic’s new TH-65VX100 is a TV of extremes in every sense. It’s huge, for one thing – a 65in screen is some size even in the modern market, and that 69kg weight isn’t to be sniffed at either.

The price is equally eye watering: at a suggested £8,000, this set costs substantially more than many of the best 60in sets on the market.

Blank canvas
But you get plenty to play with to sweeten the deal, right? Nope: it’s stripped for action, resolutely focused on delivering the maximum possible picture performance.

There’s nary a trace of a widget or a fancy adaptive backlight – in fact, there aren’t any loudspeakers, and you don’t even get a TV tuner.


That’s because this set isn’t part of Panasonic’s Viera range of flat TVs: instead, it’s sold as part of the company’s professional operation, and so is aimed squarely at an enthusiast, home cinema-orientated audience.

Tailor-made telly
That means you can specify it to suit your needs with various input boards (ours had four HDMIs, for example) but at the same time, you don’t pay for features you won’t need or use, such as speakers.

Of course, you’ve a right to expect a good picture as compensation for all this hair-shirted purism: happily, the TH-65VX100 delivers that in spades.

Naturally, it’s a Full HD, 1920x1080 panel, featuring a new-generation plasma panel with a dramatic 60,000:1 claimed contrast ratio, a wider colour gamut and extraordinarily powerful 18-bit digital signal processing, able to deliver 7,160 steps of light-to-dark gradation. We can’t think of a TV that allows more adjustability, either: the on-screen options are amazingly complete.

Excellent picture quality
In action, the Panasonic’s picture quality is just wonderful. Detail is beautifully sharp and well-resolved, even with rapid motion, and textures are exceptionally convincing.

Black levels are brilliantly inky and consistent, too – only Pioneer’s Kuro plasmas rival the depth and sheer drama here.

Pioneer KRP-500A review

Pros

Stupendous black depth and contrast. Brilliant colours, edge definition and
clarity. Gorgeous design. Extensive spec

Cons

It’s not cheap. That’s it

We’ve seen so many fine Pioneer plasmas in the last few years it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find new superlatives. But amazingly, the Japanese company’s newest (and last) model, the KRP-500A, eclipses even its illustrious forebears. Behold, the best TV you can buy.

Two-box design
The KRP-500A’s configuration returns to the two-box design approach of older Pioneer sets. The main display panel is just that – a panel, with no TV tuner and a strictly limited array of inputs.

Even speakers are optional, Pioneer reasoning that most potential buyers will already own an external audio system. Everything else is taken care of in an external ‘media receiver’, itself a sultry slab of glossiness featuring a neat fold-down fascia panel that hides certain key inputs, plus a pair of card-reader slots.

Unusually, it also includes a digital satellite TV receiver, although this doesn’t meet the Freesat specification: it’ll receive free-to-view (unencrypted) satellite signals, but without the electronic programme guide (EPG) of Freesat. The remaining input sockets, including a DLNA-friendly Ethernet input, are located on the unit’s rear panel.


Why adopt this approach having dispensed with it previously? Partially, because it makes wall-mounting neater and easier – and is thus very popular with custom installers – but it also has the benefit of cutting down on the depth and weight of the panel itself: at just 64mm thin, it’s one of the slimmest 50in TVs around.

Pure picture
The KRP-500A’s real appeal lies in its performance. It boasts two new picture modes: the first is an enhanced version of the automatic picture-adjusting ‘Optimum’ system found in older Pioneer sets, modified here with an external colour sensor probe that clips magnetically to the side of the set.

We felt the end results were overcooked for our tastes, but you might like it, and the onscreen graphics (designed to illustrate what the mode is doing to the picture in real-time) are certainly a flashy touch.

But we were far more interested in the other new mode, called ‘Pure’. Essentially, this is like a Direct mode on an AV amp: it cuts out all the picture processing you don’t need, and sets the Pioneer to an almost uncannily accurate ‘out-of-the-box’ picture set-up that – unless you’re prepared to get a specialist picture calibration done – is pretty much as good as it gets in a mainstream TV.

Movement, colour depth, black level and detail are all simply fabulous. And even if you switch to lower-quality content, from off-air TV to satellite content, the good news continues, with the obvious caveat that not even the best off-air signals look quite as clean as Blu-ray.

Pioneer Kuro KRP-500A 50in Plasma TV

As we're only two days away from Christmas at the time that I'm writing this, I've frankly decided to give myself an early Christmas present by spending some quality time with Pioneer's latest and, indeed, greatest plasma TV: the KRP-500A.

This model number immediately hints at something strange going on, as it doesn't seem to tally with Pioneer's usual ‘PDP-something' numbering convention. And the sense that something's different grows as I count up the boxes Pioneer has supplied me with and find not one, not two, but three. Inside one lies the screen, inside another lies a desktop stand, while inside the third lies the real key to the 500A: a separate AV receiver unit.

In other words, with the 500A Pioneer has ripped the tuner, processing and connectivity usually found in a TV out of the screen, and stuck them into an external box. And there are at least three very good reasons why it might have wanted to do this.

First of all, it's widely accepted among the AV cognoscenti that it's possible to deliver much more successful video processing if you remove the processing chipset from the confines of a flat TV chassis. Second, using an external tuner/connections box allows you to only have a single connection cable running into the screen - a much better solution if you're wall-hanging the TV than having loads of cables spooling out down your wall.

Finally, removing the tuners from the 500A's screen makes it possible for Pioneer to trim down the screen's depth; so much so that the 500A's screen comes in at just 64mm deep - barely half the depth of Pioneer's standard plasma TVs.

The extra slenderness of the 500A's screen makes it an even more desirable item than Pioneer's PDP-LX5090, which was itself a vision of high-gloss elegance. But putting even more icing on the design cake is the separate media receiver, which sports a gorgeous glossy, near-reflective finish that makes it perfectly matched to the screen

It's worth noting, too, that the design prowess on show here extends to the remote control, which is a gloriously heavy, tactile thing made from aluminium rather than the usual plastic.

The potential flexibility advantage of going for an external media receiver immediately becomes apparent with the 500A's connectivity. For the KRP-M01 receiver is stuffed with connections to cater for pretty much every scenario. There are four HDMIs, for instance (three on the rear, one on the front), a USB input, a front-mounted D-Sub PC port, two common interface slots, three SCARTs, an optical digital audio output, a component video input, an Ethernet port, and a satellite connector alongside the normal antenna connection.

Going back to some of the entries on the KRP-M01's long list of jacks, the Ethernet port allows the box to hook up to and (since it's DLNA-certified) access multimedia files on a PC; the USB input permits you to play JPEG stills from USB storage devices straight into the screen; while the satellite connector actually allows you to connect a dish to the receiver and watch free to air satellite broadcasts.

The 500A's tuner can actually handle MPEG-4 HD, meaning that you can, say, receive and watch BBC HD on it. However, it doesn't support the dual-stream Freesat service, or the encryption systems of Sky, and won't even be able to handle Freeview HD when that eventually launches, thanks to that service's likely use of a new DVB-T2 decoding system not found in the 500A. Indeed, the latest we hear is that DVB-T2 decoders probably won't even be made available to manufacturers until autumn 2009.

Looking for more points of difference between the 500A and the PDP-LX5090, one of the main things is a new AV Optimum mode that uses an optical light sensor to automatically adjust the screen's picture settings according to the light conditions in the room and - get this - the colour characteristics of the ambient light around the screen. Ooh, clever.

Probably the most ‘dreamy' feature for AV purists, though, is the 500A's new Pure AV mode. This basically bypasses as many of the usual video processing shenanigans between the source and the screen as possible, enabling the picture to look almost precisely how it appears at source. We have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that provided it works well, this purist's feature will sell a healthy number of 500As all by itself.

Exploring the 500A's onscreen menus, meanwhile, immediately reveals another key difference between it and the LX5090. For the 500A uses a really rather sumptuous new onscreen menu system, complete with metallic-looking background, HD presentation, fast-key shortcuts, and best of all an onscreen guide to what each option actually does. This is a huge improvement over the slightly inscrutable onscreen menus of past Pioneer screens.

There's a decent degree of flexibility to be found in the 500A's menus, too. With pictures, for instance, some of the more impressive fine-tuning elements on offer include three different gamma settings, Pioneer's excellent PureCinema processing for adjusting the progressive scanning to better suit film (rather than video) sources, an ‘Intelligent' mode that can take on automatic picture optimisation duties if you don't like tinkering with things yourself, dynamic range expansion, black level expansion, and that most important of things to a true AV obsessive, a colour management system.

This enables you to adjust the relative saturations of all six of the main colour components, as well as tweak the basic colour temperature and switch on or off colour transient improvement processing. I should add, too, that there are no less then four different noise reduction systems; one standard ‘3D' one, a field one, an MPEG block one, and one aimed expressly at Mosquito noise.

As I set about trying to assess the 500A's picture performance, to some extent there's not really much I need to say. For since the technology in the 500A's monitor is essentially the same as that found in the PDP-LX5090 and LX6090 models I've already raved about, we already know the results are going to be more or less gobsmackingly good, with class leading black levels, stunningly rich colours, impeccable sharpness, and good motion handling. So really all I need to focus on is whether the external media receiver and any of the new features really affect the picture quality.

The short answer is that they do. Not by an absolute country mile, but enough to add an extra reason for AV fans to pick a 500A over the ‘integrated' Pioneer plasma models.

Without doubt the single most intriguing string to the 500A's bow is the Pure AV mode. For it really does appear that if you use this mode with a high quality HD source, the resulting picture looks subtly different - in a good way - to the results achieved using a PDP-LX5090. There seems a touch more sharpness, a touch more authenticity to the colour palette, and a touch more ‘texture'.

I should say here that when I say ‘texture' I'm to a large extent talking about grain, but since grain is an inherent - and deliberate - part of many HD film transfers, the 500A is merely doing what it's supposed to be doing in Pure mode and revealing every last thing a source has got going on.

This fact makes me feel the need to stress that I'd maybe only really recommend the Pure mode with a HIGH QUALITY HD source. For the mode's inevitable ‘warts and all' tendencies mean that if a source has any severe weaknesses caused by poor encoding (and believe me, such weaknesses aren't as rare as they should be, even on Blu-ray discs), such as a curious colour palette, lots of dot crawl and/or a tendency to over-stress edges, in Pure mode the 500A won't be able to use its clever processing to actually make things better

When you do want the 500A to ‘make things better', meanwhile, it does so with exceptional confidence and without generating seemingly any of the nasty processing side effects that accompany so many processing-heavy TVs. Probably the best way to describe the 500A's improvements over the LX5090's pictures is to say that they just show a defter feel for what a given source is trying to achieve pictorially.

The 500A's knack for improving things extends to standard definition sources too, which look to my eyes slightly more stable and noiseless than they do on the LX5090 - and vastly less noisy than I'm used to seeing on many other Full HD TVs.

The 500A's innate cleverness also means that its AV Optimum mode delivers massively more credible ‘automated' results than the usual light-sensor modes employed by rival TVs.

The only thing I might say against the generally stunning 500A is that strangely I didn't find its colours quite as convincing ‘out of the box' as those of the LX5090. The various colour and gamma management options provided me with the tools to get things back to how I like them, but you should just take heed that getting the very best from the 500A might entail a bit of effort on your part.

Sooloos

Launch price £11,270.00

• Pros Simply extraordinary user interface and user experience. Deeply impressive sound quality. Flexibility and quality
• Cons Only that we can’t afford it

How much!? OK, the Sooloos system is hugely expensive. But you know what? Very few products have got every member of the Stuff team quite so ready to cash in a kidney just to get one.

The essence of Sooloos is simple. It’s designed to marry the best possible server interface with eye-popping sound quality – like an ultra-swanky Sonos system. Compression? None of that here: your music is stored at optimum-quality Flac for playback through your hi-fi.

Expandable to 100 rooms
Sooloos will even preload your system with the first 2500 CDs in your collection for free, so it’s ready to go out of the box. Even more helpfully, the system will also make a 192kbps MP3 file of the same tunes for transferring to your iPod.

The combination we tested has three key components. The first is the most obvious: the Control:One is a glorious 17in touchpanel that displays all you need to drive the system, and which also includes a CD drive for ripping discs.

Naturally, you can put together a system based on multiple zones, each with a Control:One – but if you want, the interface can also be ported on to your iPod Touch or iPhone. Blimey.

Zone out
The Control:One links via Ethernet to a single Source:One, which is effectively the system’s preamp. The outputs of this connect to any hi-fi amp, just like a CD player would, so you’ll need Source:Ones in each zone you want music in.

Finally, there are two Store:One Network Attached Storage boxes: one holds the music; the other is a backup.

Terabytes of tunes
Our test unit came with one terabyte of storage, enough for around 2500 albums in Flac, but up to 3TB can be installed in each mirrored pair (7200 albums in total) – and more Store:One components can be added.

We never thought we’d find an interface that made iTunes look slow, but this is it: Sooloos writes its own software, and the result is genius. It really is as fast as you can think.

The touchpanel makes operating the system child’s play too, while info from the All Media Guide gives sleeve art, album credits, release dates and even reviews. The result is a musical epiphany.

Summing up is difficult without ignoring that price. This certainly isn’t a credit crunch investment. So let’s just say that it’s brilliant, and celebrate the very fact that it exists. Now, about that kidney

Glow Rings help you locate you bedside drink

A great deal of people take a drink to bed with them at night. Me, once I’m out, I’m out so there is really no need for a glass of water. Also admittedly, I’m paranoid when it comes to spiders and I always half expect to take a big gulp of water and find one caught in my throat. Yes, I’m aware I’m seriously cracked in the head. Well if you haven’t been scared out of bringing water to bed with you, you might consider picking up one of these little gadgets.

That’s right, someone created glowing rubber bands and are actually calling them gadgets. Their words, not mine. Actually, technically these aren’t rubber bands, they are stretchy rings according to the seller, my bad. Well if you don’t want to fumble around in the dark trying to locate your drink, toss one of these glowing bands on it. It’ll make for easy locating at 3AM. Thankfully, these are on sale right now and have dropped in price down to about $6 or £2.99 for a pack of four.

Glow Rings help you locate you bedside drink

A great deal of people take a drink to bed with them at night. Me, once I’m out, I’m out so there is really no need for a glass of water. Also admittedly, I’m paranoid when it comes to spiders and I always half expect to take a big gulp of water and find one caught in my throat. Yes, I’m aware I’m seriously cracked in the head. Well if you haven’t been scared out of bringing water to bed with you, you might consider picking up one of these little gadgets.

That’s right, someone created glowing rubber bands and are actually calling them gadgets. Their words, not mine. Actually, technically these aren’t rubber bands, they are stretchy rings according to the seller, my bad. Well if you don’t want to fumble around in the dark trying to locate your drink, toss one of these glowing bands on it. It’ll make for easy locating at 3AM. Thankfully, these are on sale right now and have dropped in price down to about $6 or £2.99 for a pack of four.

Baby Food Dispensing Spoon

Scoop, feed, wipe, repeat. New parents are all too familiar with this constant cycle of baby feeding. It seems easy, just because it’s the only real option you have. Not too mention that having an open food jar near a curious infant is never a good idea. Get ready for a spill!

I know, I know. You’re probably saying to yourself, “Well, I’d like to see you try it, CG!” While we aren’t quite ready to take you up on that offer, we can at least provide an alternative to the same old, same old. The Boon Squirt Baby Food Dispensing Spoon is a practical eating utensil which can hold up to 3 oz. of the finest purée, feeding your baby one freshly squeezed spoonful at a time.

The Boon Squirt allows you to multi-task, since you only need one hand to feed your child using this spoon. The other hand can be flipping through a newspaper for all we care, as long as you watch out for where you’re thrusting that spoon. No poking out any eyes!

We imagine this makes feeding your child in public a much easier experience. At least you don’t need to lug around an extra heavy jar. And it’s large bulb shape makes it super easy to clean. You can grab your own Boon Squirt spoon for $7 from CSN Baby.

Baby Food Dispensing Spoon

Scoop, feed, wipe, repeat. New parents are all too familiar with this constant cycle of baby feeding. It seems easy, just because it’s the only real option you have. Not too mention that having an open food jar near a curious infant is never a good idea. Get ready for a spill!

I know, I know. You’re probably saying to yourself, “Well, I’d like to see you try it, CG!” While we aren’t quite ready to take you up on that offer, we can at least provide an alternative to the same old, same old. The Boon Squirt Baby Food Dispensing Spoon is a practical eating utensil which can hold up to 3 oz. of the finest purée, feeding your baby one freshly squeezed spoonful at a time.

The Boon Squirt allows you to multi-task, since you only need one hand to feed your child using this spoon. The other hand can be flipping through a newspaper for all we care, as long as you watch out for where you’re thrusting that spoon. No poking out any eyes!

We imagine this makes feeding your child in public a much easier experience. At least you don’t need to lug around an extra heavy jar. And it’s large bulb shape makes it super easy to clean. You can grab your own Boon Squirt spoon for $7 from CSN Baby.

DNA Painting proves you’re unique

Don’t be so pessimistic. Just because you’ve inherited your Mother’s big ass or your Father’s beer gut doesn’t mean your genes are destined for ruin. Our genetics are actually a lot more beautiful then our outward appearance might suggest.

Anything that can be seen as beautiful can be seen as art. While everyone’s DNA is made of the same base materials, the patterns and strains are nearly infinite. DNA is much more unique than a fingerprint even. It’s the uniqueness of genes which makes it such an excellent base for artistry, as proven through DNA 11’s DNA Art.

DNA 11 takes a swab of your genetic information and transforms it into a totally unique painting. You can choose up to four different personal DNA patterns to display on your canvas, and you even get to customize the color and size of the art piece.

The custom DNA paintings start at $390. If genes don’t float your boat, then DNA 11 even offers paintings of your lips or fingerprints, priced at $290 and $190 respectively. Don’t let anyone tell you you’re not beautiful, because it’s your uniqueness that will prove otherwise.

DNA Painting proves you’re unique

Don’t be so pessimistic. Just because you’ve inherited your Mother’s big ass or your Father’s beer gut doesn’t mean your genes are destined for ruin. Our genetics are actually a lot more beautiful then our outward appearance might suggest.

Anything that can be seen as beautiful can be seen as art. While everyone’s DNA is made of the same base materials, the patterns and strains are nearly infinite. DNA is much more unique than a fingerprint even. It’s the uniqueness of genes which makes it such an excellent base for artistry, as proven through DNA 11’s DNA Art.

DNA 11 takes a swab of your genetic information and transforms it into a totally unique painting. You can choose up to four different personal DNA patterns to display on your canvas, and you even get to customize the color and size of the art piece.

The custom DNA paintings start at $390. If genes don’t float your boat, then DNA 11 even offers paintings of your lips or fingerprints, priced at $290 and $190 respectively. Don’t let anyone tell you you’re not beautiful, because it’s your uniqueness that will prove otherwise.

Worlds largest water fountain in Dubai

Emaar Properties said on Monday it plans to build one of the largest fountains in the world as the centrepiece of its Downtown Burj Dubai project. Arabian Business reveals what the real estate giant has in store. The fountains, which has yet to be named, will be capable of shooting water over 150 metres into the air - the height of a 50-storey building - and stretch over 275 metres - the length of two football fields.