Blu-ray won the format war so it’s time to update the Blu-ray / HD DVD section at HomeTheaterNetwork.com. The section was renamed to just Blu-ray and the following sections were added:

• Is it Worth it to Switch to Blu-ray?
• Blu-ray 1.0, 1.1 and BD-Live Differences
• Blu-ray Technical Details
• Blu-ray vs. HD DVD
• Blu-ray Tips

We also updated the HTPC section with a top 25 ways to use a HTPC section.

ThermalTake VF7001BNS DH101 Black Home Theater PC
Price Comparison	System Board Style: ATX, Micro ATX (mATX) Front earphone jack, Firewire ports (x1), Microphone Jack, USB ports (x2) LCD system monitoring display System volume adjustment switch knob 3.5" internal hard drive bays = 3 5.25" externally accessible ROM bays = 1

Moneual Lab MonCaso 932B Black Home Theater PC
Price Comparison	System Board Style: ATX, Micro ATX (mATX) 7 inch touch screen with 1024 x 768 pixel resolution Remote control included Multimedia memory card reader Front earphone jack, Firewire ports (x1), Microphone Jack, USB ports (x1) 3.5" internal hard drive bays = 4 5.25" externally accessible ROM bays = 1

ThermalTake Bach Media Lab Black Home Theater PC
Price Comparison	System Board Style: ATX, Micro ATX (mATX) Front earphone jack, Firewire ports (x1), Microphone Jack, USB ports (x2), memory card reader LCD system monitoring display 3.5" internal hard drive bays = 5 5.25" externally accessible ROM bays = 1

Antec Veris Fusion V2 Silver/ Black Home Theater PC
Price Comparison	System Board Style: Micro ATX (mATX) Front earphone jack, Firewire ports (x1), Microphone Jack, USB ports (x2) 3.5" internal hard drive bays = 2 5.25" externally accessible ROM bays = 1

ThermalTake DH 102 Home Theater PC
Price Comparison	System Board Style: ATX, Micro ATX (mATX) 7 inch touch screen monitor Remote control included Front earphone jack, Firewire ports (x1), Microphone Jack, USB ports (x2) 3.5" internal hard drive bays = 3 5.25" externally accessible ROM bays = 1

SilverStone CW03B-MT Black Home Theater PC
Price Comparison	System Board Style: ATX, Micro ATX (mATX) 7 inch touch screen with 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution Remote control included 3.5" internal hard drive bays = 6 5.25" externally accessible ROM bays = 2

SilverStone GD01B-MXR
Price Comparison	System Board Style: ATX, Micro ATX (mATX) Front earphone jack, Firewire ports (x1), Microphone Jack, USB ports (x2) LCD system monitoring display Multimedia memory card reader 3.5" internal hard drive bays = 6 5.25" externally accessible ROM bays = 2

Antec Fusion Black 430
Price Comparison	System Board Style: Micro ATX (mATX) Front earphone jack, Firewire ports (x1), Microphone Jack, USB ports (x2) 430W power supply included System volume adjustment switch knob 3.5" internal hard drive bays = 2 5.25" externally accessible ROM bays = 1

Kingwin SN-213HTS Supernova Silver Desktop
Price Comparison	System Board Style: Micro ATX (mATX) Front earphone jack, Firewire ports (x1), Microphone Jack, USB ports (x2) LCD system monitoring display System volume adjustment switch knob 3.5" internal hard drive bays = 3 5.25" externally accessible ROM bays = 2

ThermalTake Mozart Media Lab Black/White Home Theater PC
Price Comparison	System Board Style: ATX, Micro ATX (mATX) Front earphone jack, Firewire ports (x1), Microphone Jack, USB ports (x2), memory card reader LCD system monitoring display 3.5" internal hard drive bays = 5 5.25" externally accessible ROM bays = 1

Find more HTPC cases

HTPC Systems

HTPC Components

HDTV Capture Cards

HTPC Software

Sony PS3
Price Comparison	Blu-ray Profile: 2.0 (BD-Live) with firmware update 2.20 and higher Video Connections: HDMI 1.3 (x2), Component, S-Video, Composite Audio Connections: Coaxial, Optical, Analog Audio Includes Ethernet port for internet connection and Blu-ray profile upgrades Can upscale DVDs Includes a 40GB or 60GB hard drive Plays PS3 games and PS2 games (60 GB version) Supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Decoding

Samsung BDP-1500
Price Comparison	Blu-ray Profile: 1.1 (BD-Live ready) Video Connections: HDMI 1.3, Component, S-Video Audio Connections: Coaxial, Optical, Analog Audio Can upscale DVDs to 1080p Includes Ethernet port for internet connection and Blu-ray profile upgrades USB port Supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Decoding

LG Electronics BH200 High Definition Blu-ray/HD DVD Player
Price Comparison	Blu-ray Profile: 1.1 Video Connections: HDMI 1.3, Component, Composite Audio Connections: Coaxial, Optical, Analog Audio Includes Ethernet port for firmware upgrades Can play HD-DVD movies Can upscale DVDs to 1080p USB port

Sony BDP-S300
Price Comparison	Blu-ray Profile: 1.0 Video Connections: HDMI 1.1, Component, S-Video, Composite Audio Connections: Coaxial, Optical, Analog Audio Can play DVDs and CDs

Samsung BD-P1400
Price Comparison	Blu-ray Profile: 1.0 Video Connections: HDMI 1.3, Component, S-Video Audio Connections: Coaxial, Optical, Analog Audio Includes Ethernet port for firmware upgrades Can upscale DVDs to 1080p Supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Decoding

Panasonic DMP-BD30K
Price Comparison	Blu-ray Profile: 1.1 Video Connections: HDMI 1.3b, Component, S-Video Audio Connections: Coaxial, Optical, Analog Audio Can upscale DVDs to 1080p SD card input to view video from cameras Supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Bitstreaming

Sony BDP-S500
Price Comparison	Blu-ray Profile: 1.0 Video Connections: HDMI 1.1, Component, S-Video, Composite Audio Connections: Coaxial, Optical, Analog Audio Can play DVDs and CDs Supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Decoding

Sharp BD-HP20U
Price Comparison	Blu-ray Profile: 1.0 Video Connections: HDMI 1.3, Component, S-Video, Composite Audio Connections: Coaxial, Optical, Analog Audio Can upscale DVDs to 1080p Supports Dolby TrueHD Decoding

Sony BDP-S2000ES Blu-ray Player
Price Comparison	Blu-ray Profile: 1.1 Video Connections: HDMI 1.3, Component, S-Video, Composite Audio Connections: Coaxial, Optical, Analog Audio Can upscale DVDs to 1080p Supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Bitstreaming

Denon DVD-2500B
Price Comparison	Blu-ray Profile: 1.1 Video and Audio Connections: HDMI 1.3 Can upscale DVDs to 1080p Supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Bitstreaming

Find more Blu-ray Players
Is it Worth it to Switch From DVD to Blu-ray?
Differences Between Blu-ray 1.0, 1.1 and BD-Live

The ratings for game 5 of the Stanley Cup final were up 79% from last year. HDTV sales were up 60% over last year. Is this a coincidence? Probably the increase in TV ratings is due to a more interesting match up between Crosby’s Penguins and Hockey Town’s Redwings, but I would speculate that a portion of the increased ratings is due to increased amount of HDTV owners. 

HDTVs are perfect for watching hockey games as the wide screen format better fits the size of an ice hockey rink. The increased resolution and details makes the small puck visible and easy to find. The increased frame rates in HDTVs also make it easier to follow the 100+ mph slap-shots. 

New HDTV owners who stumble upon an ice hockey game are seeing the benefit, which is increasing viewership. Along with watching the Discovery HD channel, watching an ice hockey game in HD should be on every new HDTV owner’s to-do list. As more and more people get HDTVs, maybe “The puck is too hard to find” comments will finally be put to rest.

Here’s my current setup for my living room. Right now I still have a Standard Definition DVR from Dish Network since the TV is still pretty new.

• Panasonic TH-50PX80U 50″ Plasma 720p
• Panasonic SC-PT960 Home Theater In a Box
• Xbox
• PS2

Here is what I have planned for the not to distant future

•  HTPC - it’s going to start life as a Media PC probably
• One of the advanced Gaming consoles, still not sure what I want/can afford.
• An upgrade to HD programming with Dish.

I’ve also have some plans for some home automation etc… we’ll see…

Netflix Streaming Without a HTPC
If you don’t have a HTPC and you don’t feel like connecting a laptop to your TV, then Netflix has a new option for you. The Netflix Player is a $99 compact box which allows streaming of Netflix movies and TV shows.  Too bad other web streaming services such as Joost, Hulu, and YouTube are not supported. 

Home Automated Door Locks
It’s always good to see new home automation product announcements, but this one caught our eye. Schlage introduced Z-Wave door locks which will let people remotely lock and unlock a door. Could be useful if someone forgot a key or to let someone in if no one is home. It’s important to not that Z-Wave does not encrypt their signals so this not a real good way to keep your house secure.

A couple of months ago, my xv6700 PDA phone crashed for the final time. Not that I’m complaining because it gave me a great excuse to buy a new phone. I went with Samsung’s i760, and it’s been a significant improvement. The simple feature of having number buttons on the front of the phone is a something I’ve missed since I bought the xv6700 more than 2 years ago. To dial a phone number on the xv6700, I would have to use the touch screen which my fingers were too big for, or use the slideout QWERTY keyboard which was a pain. As the picture shows below, the i760 has number buttons on the front of the phone so now entering phone numbers is as easy as entering numbers on a regular phone. 

The xv6700 was one of the first PDA phones Verizon offered with Wi-Fi capabilities. I refused to pay the $50/month for a data package so Wi-Fi was important. The xv6700 wasn’t too bad of a phone as it was able to do all the PDA phone functions I could ask for. Where the i760 excels is in reliability. I had the i760 for 2 months now and it has crashed on me once. The xv6700 with Windows Mobile 5 would crash weekly.  Windows Mobile 6 on the i760 seems to be more stable, at least so far. 

The i760 seems to be faster and more responsive than the xv6700. The i760 also has a significantly louder speaker, is thinner, and has built-in Microsoft Voice command features. It’s pretty cool speaking out “What are my appointments” and hearing a response. I didn’t have to teach the phone my voice which is a big time saver. 

In the end, the i760 may delay my future Android phone purchase. Arguably, the i760 is one of the best phones out there today.