Acer has announced a brand new 23-inch LCD monitor ready to play nice with Windows 7. The T230H comes with full HD 1,920 x 1,080 resolution, VGA, HDMI and DVI inputs, USB connectivity, a brightness of 300cd/m2, 80,000:1 dynamic contrast and 2ms response time.

As for multitouch support, the new monitor can do one- and two-finger gestures and it will cost you $513 when it becomes available. Europeans are set to get it first but there are no actual release dates available yet.

via Acer

Normally, when I talk about Samsung hardware, I usually have a problem with something.  Well, I always have a problem with the controls, but I mean besides that.  This time around I have a problem with something other than the controls, and it’s actually pretty disturbing. Read on.

The Samsung LN40B530 is a forty inch 1080p LCD television with two ten watt speakers, SRS TruSurround, and three HDMI inputs), one Anynet+ input, and one PC input.

First, I actually don’t have a problem at all with the controls.  They’re side-mounted rocker controls, not those strange subcutaneous ones mounted on the front.  The sound is at least fair, which I generally don’t expect out of Samsung.  Generally, their sound is high quality.  But the biggest problem with this one is that the picture was oddly washed out, which is definitely not something I expect in a Samsung, and especially not in a Samsung 1080p.

And considering that this washed out wreck with merely fair sound costs nine hundred bucks, I can’t even look like recommending it.

If you’re looking for a smaller TV for, say, a bedroom or the basement or something similar, you may want to consider part of the new Vizio lineup of televisions, a nineteen inch and a twenty three inch television that both have a profile thickness of just under an inch.

Now here’s the interesting part–these two actually use LEDs as backlight for the front panel.  While only the  twenty three incher is 1080p, both feature 20,000:1 dynamic contrast ratios, 5ms response times and 300 nits of brightness.  And both of them also offer two HDMI inputs, a PC input, SRS TruVolume so that when you go from the nature show to the used car ad you’re not blasted out of the room, and SRS TruSurround HD.

The phrase “tiny but mighty” comes to mind here, even if the prices of three hundred fifty and four hundred dollars respectively is a bit salty for such small units from Vizio.

Sometimes even a company like Sharp, who I rely on to put out lots of choice hardware, can let me down.  That’s okay in the long run–you can’t win ‘em all, plain and simple. And the Sharp LC40E67U is just proof of that old maxim.

The Sharp LC40E67U is a forty inch 1080p LCD that comes with four HDMI inputs, two component video inputs, a PC input and an RS-232 port.  Plus it comes with something called Vyper Drive game mode that improves game display.  Plus, it’s got an expected product life of sixty thousand hours.

Well, the one I was working with must have been pushing the end of that particular envelope because, while the sound was pretty sharp and clear, as I usually expect from Sharp, the picture on the model I was working with seemed surprisingly washed out, especially odd for a 1080p.  The controls, on the other hand, work just fine.

So maybe your mileage may vary on this one.  But what I experienced was a Sharp with decent sound, good controls and a picture that had seen better days.  Especially bad news considering they’re charging at least five hundred fifty bucks for it used.  There are much better Sharps out there, especially for the money.

Sharp, especially the Sharp Aquos, has given me a lot of excellent televisions to discuss over the last few months, and the Sharp Aquos LC52E77U is another in a lengthening series of excellent pieces to mention.

What makes is so fantastic?  Well, first off, it’s got an incredible picture.  The sound quality is excellent for a standalone television unaugmented by a home theater kit, and the controls are easy to use right out of the box.

But it’s not just a great experience–it’s also plenty of sweet hardware backing the play.  It’s a fifty two inch 1080p LCD TV with five HDMI ports, two component ports, a PC input, and an expected lifetime of sixty thousand hours.

Sixty thousand hours.  That’s the equivalent of nearly SEVEN YEARS of nonstop operation.  Assume an eight hour day of watching TV every day and you up that expected runtime into two decades.  The sheer durability of this piece, along with its incredible technical profile, actually makes it worth the nineteen hundred bucks they want for it at retail.  Of course, as always, shop around–you can get a used one on Amazon for just over a grand.

All things considered, though, this is an excellent piece I’d easily recommend to anyone.

Acer Japan recently launched its newest PC display, the S243HLbmii. It is a slim LCD monitor that comes integrated with White LED backlight and features a 24 inch widescreen display. The display sports a futuristic design and is just 14.5mm thick.

The S243HLbmii features 1920×1080p Full HD resolution, 16.7 million colors, 250cd/m2 brightness, 1000:1 contrast ratio, 2ms response time and 160/170-degree wide viewing angle. Apart from the design, some of the biggest selling point of this monitor includes LED illumination that consumes a mere 17.2W during normal operation and a 65% reduction in energy consumption. The display sports two 1W speakers concealed in the frame and offers D-Sub and two HDMI connectors.

The Acer S243HLbmii LCD display has already started selling in Japan and is priced at about 33,000 Yen.

Turn your living area into a movie theater with the latest Samsung 40" 400UXn-UD2 LCD video wall display. The advanced cooling technology feature will allow you to enjoy reliable operation of the display 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.

The 400UXN-UD2 display features 11 mm bezels for virtually seamless video walls, 1080p resolution, up to 700 cd/m2 max brightness and is compatibility with MID40 interlocking assembly kit. Plus, the display adds realtime, dynamic content control from a single PC, with up to 125 source PCs and video walls of up to 250 displays.

For perfect image integrity, the 400UXN-UD2 video wall display supports 10,000:1 Dynamic Contrast ratio. It is also capable of displaying massive gigapixel images promptly. Plus, the PIP (Picture In Picture) / PBP (Picture By Picture) Multi tasking function will let you enjoy an image from two different source straight away.

Via: Samsung

In general I’ve always approved of Sony’s line of big-screen TVs.  There’s so much to like about them, and they usually bring a great value overall.  Sometimes their pricing is a little on the high side, but in general, they’re worth the money.  The Sony KDL 46S5100 is no exception.

The Sony KDL 46S5100 is a forty six inch 1080p LCD television that comes with an assortment of Bravia specific features like Bravia Linkand Bravia Sync, plus a whole legion of ports, including three HDMI inputs, two component inputs, and one PC input.

That set of ports and such will do nicely in just about any contingency up to and including using it as a PC monitor, but it also has an amazing picture and excellent sound, plus the controls are easy to operate and understand.  And the price is actually pretty good when you consider what all you get–you too can get a Sony KDL 46S5100 for just over eleven hundred bucks, or about nine hundred fifty if you buy on Amazon.

This may well mark the first time that I’ve ever even heard of an MP5 player.  And this means something, because anyone who’s been here for a while knows I’m scouring the net hunting up newsy bits on a weekdaily basis.

But I’m reading about the Yinlips YDP800, which promises to be the first MP5 player with its own internal projector. Here’s the salient I got from the source:

On paper it can project up to 12 lumens, play 64-bit games and supports NES, GBA, GB, GBC, SMC, SFC emulation. Weighing in at just 300g, it also sports a 3.5-inch LCD display, infrared remote, and support for 16GB microSD cards.

Twelve lumens isn’t anything big and fancy, no mistake there, but considering that you can take it anywhere and the thing likely runs on batteries?  Now that’s no small feat.

Price and release data are still up in the air, but from what I can tell it’s an “on the order of soon” sort of affair, so look for the projector you can take anywhere coming soon.

I know that I just took Sony to task a couple days ago for their less than quality KDL, but today I’m here to praise Sony for the high quality they’ve put out in the form of the Sony KDL46X5100.

The Sony KDL465100 is a forty six inch 1080p LCD television with an integrated TV guide package (not specifically released or endorsed by TV Guide, at least I don’t think there’s a connection), Bravia widgets and internet video packages, and a whole slew of ports including Get versatile HD connection options with four HDMI inputs, one HD combination input, and one PC input.

The sound and picture on this one are absolutely beautiful (frankly, “breathtaking” might be a better word for that incredible 1080p picture) and the controls are smooth and easy to operate.  Of course, this had better be a great setup for what they’re charging for it–this sucker retails for about twenty two hundred bucks, but as always, your mileage may vary.  In fact, Amazon took about a third off the price and knocked it down to seventeen hundred.

Still, if you’re not afraid of that monster price tag then you’ll do just fine with this positively amazing TV.

Samsung is a strange line of television–seems like for every problem I have, I find something interesting to counter it.  And this model is no different in its study of contrasts.  Today we’re talking about the Samsung LN4B5750, a television that shows that you generally can’t have everything.

The Samsung LN4B5750 is a forty six inch 1080P LCD television that comes with four HDMI ports, two component jacks, one PC input slot, and two composite video inputs; two ten watt bottom speakers and SRS TruSurround HD for that little extra burst of surround sound joy.

And the sound is, doubtlessly, the very best feature on this television.  It’s very clear and very precise.  But there’s a strange anomaly, at least with the one I saw, that left me unable to get a lot of enjoyment out of this television.  The picture is oddly compressed.  I’m not sure what the deal was or why I was watching a flattened, vaguely squashed picture, but man, it did NOT bode well.

Maybe with some tweaks the problem can be taken care of, but until those tweaks are made, if you do get the Samsung LN4B5750, I’d keep the receipt handy.

Frankly, I don’t take Sony to task very often. I don’t have much call to.  But with the release of the Sony KDL52XBR9, now I do.  I don’t like that I do, but I do nonetheless.

The Sony KDL52XBR9 is a fifty two inch 1080p LCD television with Bravia Link and Bravia Sync capability, as well as a host of ports and slots, including four HDMI inputs, one component input, one combination input, and a PC input.

It’s not that I have a problem with the slots and ports available–it’s that I have a problem with the fact that I only just covered a Samsung that was about the same price as this particular Sony model (the Sony KDL52XBR9 retails for thirty one hundred dollars depending on where you shop), and slightly larger, and yet the Samsung just literally BLEW the Sony out of the water on every available front.

If I can buy a bigger, better TV for the same price as a smaller inferior model then why on EARTH would I ever encourage anyone to buy the lesser model?  I can’t, not in any good conscience, and so I’m telling you you probably want to stay away from the Sony KDL52XBR9.

Sony has probably realized that selling cheaper TVs might be the way to go, particularly during these economic times. According to rumors Sony is going to launch a new but very cheap LCD TV line. The B series will include 32- and 40-inch models which should be a lot cheaper than the current S-series entry-level models. The 32-inch B series model is going to cost around $463 or even lower but nothing is certain yet. This wallet-friendly LCD TV line will be available at some point early next year although Sony hasn’t officially announced the B-series just yet.

via DigiTimes

Lenovo has five new ThinkVision LCDs for you to choose from. These are the 17-inch L1711p, the 19-inch L1951p Wide, the 22-inch L2250p Wide, the 22-inch L2251p Wide and the 22-inch L2251x Wide and they are all eco-friendly, energy efficient monitors.

The monitors are TCO Certified and EPEAT Gold rated and they will offer you 1,680 x 1,050 resolution, a 1,000:1 contrast ratio, 5ms response time. DisplayPort connectivity and built-in webcam will also be available on selected models.

The ThinkVision L1951p Wide, the L2250p Wide and the L2251p Wide will be available starting October 23 for $239.99, $249.99 and $259.99, respectively. The L1711p will be available on November 6 for $229.99 while the L2251x Wide will be available for $299.99 later next month.

It’s odd how sometimes a television might sound vastly better than it looks, or look vastly better than it sounds, but that’s exactly what will go on today with the Sony KDL46W5150.

The Sony KDL46W5150 is a forty six inch 1080p LCD television that comes with four HDMI inputs, one component input, one composite input, and a PC input.

Like I said, this is a strange one in that it sounds a whole lot better than it looks–sometimes I question whether some of these I look at are 1080p, because they get horrible artifacts and stutters in the video and suchlike, and you really wouldn’t expect that kind of thing out of the 1080p.  Maybe they’re not properly calibrated or something, I’m really not sure what accounts for big quality differences like that.  Suffice it to say that they’re there, whatever it is that’s causing the differences.

The sound is great, the picture poor, and the controls easy to handle.  You’d expect more than this out of a seventeen hundred dollar television (depending on where you shop), but that’s what you get from the Sony KDL46W5150.

This represents a great surprise for me, as well as an opportunity to actually say something nice, without qualification or reservation, about a Samsung set.  Believe me, I’m stunned too.

Today we’re talking about the best Samsung television I’ve found to talk about yet, the Samsung LN52B530.  The Samsung LN52B530 is a fifty two inch 1080p LCD television, with different visual modes including a game mode to cut down on blurring while playing games, a built in digital tuner, and a whole series of ports, including three HDMI inputs, a PC input, and something called an Anynet+ input, which frankly I have never seen before.

This is the part where, normally, I would complain about Samsung’s ridiculous subcutaneous control model, but not today.  See, they’ve FINALLY figured out that you can put controls for a TV on the SIDE of the TV, and make them into visible rocker switches.  Yes, the hard to find front panel controls are gone on this model, replaced with fairly standard rocker switches.  The picture and sound are also excellent, so there’s really not much bad to say about this television that I can find.

Well, maybe the price–eighteen hundred bucks retail IS pretty huge in terms of price–but considering the quality of this setup, it’s actually pretty fair.

Got a great television to talk about you with today, folks–the Sharp Aquos LC52E77U, an absolutely beautiful television.

Now, why would I say that about this magnificent Sharp Aquos?  Well, that’s an easy one–the sheer quality speaks for itself.  See, the Sharp Aquos LC52E77U is a fifty two inch 1080p LCD TV with Spectral Contrast Engine, Optical Picture Control, and a vast array of ports and inputs including a whopping FIVE HDMI inputs, two component inputs, two composite inputs, one S-video port, one PC input, and one optical digital audio output jack.

Along with that incredible array of options and proprietary technologies is the sheer end result of the whole thing.  The Sharp Aquos LC52E77U offers a spectacular picture, fantastic sound, and supremely easy to use control scheme that makes this an unquestionably good value for its price.  And that’s the other great point about this Aquos–though it retails for nineteen hundred dollars, you can buy it used through Amazon for just over a thousand.

And when you combine fantastic components that produce a fantastic result, in the end, you get a fantastic television from Sharp.

Ah, Samsung…you give me so much to talk about.  You have so many different brands of television that I can go for weeks.  The odd part is that so much of what you offer is so very similar, and the Samsung LN52B750 is a good example.

The Samsung LN52B750 is a 1080p LCD television with four HDMI inputs, two component inputs, one PC jack, and two composite video inputs.  It also features two 10W bottom speakers and SRS TruSurround HD, as well as Auto Motion Plus technology to cut down on movement blurs.

Unlike a lot of Samsungs, this has both a great picture AND great sound, which is something wildly unusual for Samsung.  Normally Samsung drops the ball in one regard or another, and leaves me to complain about just one thing, that standard Samsung control scheme which is very much present on this model and never fails to irk me.

And considering that this sucker retails for just under three grand (you can get it for just over two on Amazon), it had better not offer a whole lot of complaints.  Thankfully, it doesn’t, which is a huge step for Samsung.

Today we’re talking about the Sharp LC40E77U, and though I’ve already given you my thoughts about this one in the title, it’s all a matter of WHY, and that’s what we’re going to tackle now.  Yes, I liked it, but there’s important reasons behind it, and that’s what you came here for.  Well, at least part of it, anyway.

The Sharp LC40E77U television is a forty inch 1080p TV with a dejudding mode and the Spectral Contrast Engine XD (Extreme Dark) that gives the picture extra improvement.  Plus, it also comes with four HDMI ports, two component video inputs, one composite input, one S-video port, a PC input, and one optical digital audio output port.

The picture and sound are just plain old awesome, though not as amazing as some, and are even better in light of the fact that this puppy retails for just over a thousand bucks, depending on where to shop.  Basically, if you’re cool with dropping four figures on a TV, this is a good one to do it with.

The all new Samsung 32" 320TSn-2 LCD Touch Screen display takes communication to an elevated level. It is a simple integrated solution that features fast and accurate touch-sensitive infrared technology.

The Samsung 320TSn-2 Display supports a fast screen response, allowing you to get information you need with just a single touch of your finger. To display highest resolution content, the display supports full HD 1920 x 1080p resolution. Scheduling and controlling content of the display is made simple with the built-in PC and proprietary MagicInfo™ Pro software. Other matchless features of the display include four types of anti-image retention, built in speakers and built-in Windows XP Embedded.

Built to last in a commercial environment, the 320TSn-2 has been fully equipped with a 3 mm protective LCD glass panel and flexible pivot function that allows viewing a vertical image or text easy without mouse scrolling.