Hasta La Gadget!

This week VIZIO has shown that they’re still very much in the business of making televisions with their M-Series Razor LED Smart TV line for 2013. These televisions come in sizes from 30 all the way up to 80 inches and feature technologies like Smart Dimming and VIZIO Internet Apps Plus for high quality picture both locally and via the web. These machines come with what VIZIO notes is an “ultra-thin bezel” for a “near-borderless” TV experience.

While VIZIO has over the past year shown its ability to spread into the world of personal computing and mobile devices, the M-Series here shows their original home to still be a welcome one. Each television in this series works with full HD 1080p picture with up to 240Hz effective refresh rate.

Each of these televisions work with Smooth Motion technology enhanced with backlight scanning, while models 50-inches or larger gain added abilities. Every model at 50-inches or larger works with a “flicker-free” 3D picture viewable with VIZIO’s implementation of Theater 3D technology.

The whole range works with VIZIO’s newest Internet Apps Plus Smart TV platform, this allowing the user access to apps like Facebook, Pandora, VUDU, YouTube, M-GO, Amazon Instant Video, Hulu Plus, and Netflix. All of this will be accessible with each television’s built-in Wifi connectivity or ethernet to keep you up on the internet.

Each M-Series television works with a new backlit Smart remote made specifically for ease in nighttime viewing. These remotes will have Wifi connectivity and new Universal remote features later this summer (2013), allowing the user to control all home entertainment devices. Each of the following: 32, 40, and 47-inch models will be costing between $399.99 and $729.99 MSRP, while models at or above 50-inches will begin at $799.99 ranging up to $3,999.99 USD for 80-inches of Razor LED Smart TV with Theater 3D abilities.

And for those users who want a bit more punch for sound, VIZIO has also introduced the VIZIO S4251w 5.1 Sound Bar which we’ve also reviewed in full earlier this month. Stay tuned as VIZIO continues to keep it sharp.

VIZIO M-Series Razor LED Smart TVs line up to cover bulk of 2013 is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Back at this year’s CES, all Vizio said about its brand new M-Series lineup of HDTVs was that they’d be hitting shelves at some point “later this year.” Fast forward to today, and the company’s announcing its 2013 M-Series Smart TVs are now shipping to retailers such as Best Buy, Amazon and Walmart, with interested folks being able to grab one starting at $400 for a 32-inch LED model. Speaking of which, Vizio also went ahead and modified the M-Series pricing scheme a bit, making some models a little more expensive and others slightly cheaper. For example, the Theater 3D-ready 80-inch Razor LED Smart TV (say that five times fast) is now $4,000, as opposed to the $5,000 price tag that it was announced with originally. You’ll find the full MSRP list in the PR after the break, and do let us know in the comments below if you plan on snagging one of these for yourself.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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Source: Vizio

Vizio trotted out a new line of soundbars back at CES, and true to its word, they’re starting to materialize out in the real world. It’s the middle-child, 42-inch unit we’re seeing become available today. As a refresher, the 5.1 system comes with a wireless subwoofer, Dolby Digital, DTS Digital Surround, Bluetooth, and a pair of rear satellite speakers. If that gap under your TV was calling out for this, then you can expect to see it at Amazon, Costco, and Walmart online, or Best Buy on both sides of the digital / physical realm (although it won’t be in stores until May 27th). Wherever you get it from, expect to lay down $330 for the honor.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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This week we’ve had a peek at the soon-to-market VIZIO S4251w 5.1 Sound Bar, a speaker unit that comes packaged with a wireless subwoofer, two satellite speakers, and the ability to connect wirelessly (or wired) to your HDTV. While several different wired connections are available, the main sound bar connects with the subwoofer using Bluetooth – and you’re able to connect to your television using this system as well.

Hardware

What VIZIO delivers with this system is a fully ready-for-action system, the box containing both the cables for the speakers and the gear necessary for your to mount the speakers if you do so desire. Of course you’ve also got the option to set the bar at the base of your television if you’ve got it on a television tablet station, and your subwoofer certainly needs to sit on a flat surface.

But your satellite speakers just beg to be hooked up to the corners of your room, angled directly at your head, and so forth. In the box you’ve got two satellite wall mount brackets with the attachment screws you’ll need to mount the satellite speakers to them. These satellite speakers aren’t wireless, you should note, each of them need to be connected to the sound bar in order to blast sound. The wireless connection exists between the subwoofer and the sound bar – up to 60 feet of space can exist between them – though the signal is best under 30 feet, and in the clear, too.

Once you have the wireless connection in place, each satellite speaker is connected to the subwoofer with a single RCA cable. The sound bar is also able to be connected to your television with as little as a single cable, if you like. The back of the bar has a USB port, a digital optical audio in, coaxial in, a single analog audio in port and a set of analog audio in ports.

Each of these inputs are seen by the sound bar as a different option accessible by the set of buttons on the far left of the unit or through the system’s remote control. Because of this, you’re able to connect several devices to the bar at once, choosing between them if you’ve got a need for such a thing.

Button controls on the side of the sound bar include five separate clickers, one each for power, input, and Bluetooth input, with one button for volume up and one for down. You’re able to “wake” the system from its low power “sleep” after it’s not been in use for an extended time by pressing the power button or by tapping a volume up or down button. This set of buttons is easy to get used to, but we’d have preferred some physical differentiator between the set to more easily tap at once.

The remote control works with a digital display that contains one of our other – admittedly very few – complaints in that it doesn’t seem to light up enough to be read in the dark. While it’s nice to be able to see which option is being selected, in-the-dark movie adjustments will be limited to what you’ve memorized for controls. If that’s just volume adjustments and track controls, you’ll be good to go. The controller itself is a conveniently small size and has a soft-plastic bottom, making it a comfortable experience – and again, one easy to get used to for sound control.

Sound

Each channel in this system’s surround speakers works with 1 x 2.5″ full-range driver. The subwoofer works with a 6″ throw (high excursion) driver and the full system has 102dB sound pressure with what VIZIO says is less than 1% total harmonic distortion. The sound bar works with 3 channels, left and right, each of the three tweeters coming in at 3/4” each. This the system is rounded out with a set of Center Channel 2 x 2.5 full-range drivers.

You’ve got a pack of software compliments to the hardware delivery here with features like DTS Circle Surround, DTS TruVolume, and Dolby Digital / DTS Digital Surround for audio decoding. Needless to say, this system can get loud. There’s really no arguing that.

The delivery you’re going to get with this setup depends a lot on the machine you’ve got feeding it, of course, but in testing each of the inputs with different devices – and not just televisions – we’ve found the end product to be generally well balanced. If you’ve got a child sleeping in the room next to your television attached to a VIZIO S4251w 5.1 Sound Bar system, you may have trouble finding a balance between too quiet and too loud.

Adjusting for bass, moving the sound around to the system’s satellites, and taking a bit of time to optimize the sound for your chosen room will correct for this sort of situation. Also helping with this situation is DTS TruVolume – made specifically to provide a consistent volume no matter the media. Making sure you understand how to work with TruVolume as well as this system’s adjustment abilities is vital for a superior sound experience.

Wrap-up

This system delivers the best of what your HDTV, stereo, or any other sound-blasting device is capable of. The VIZIO S4251w 5.1 Sound Bar system delivers an immersive sound experience that’s not just good for the relatively inexpensive package it’s delivered to the market with: it’s worth more than it costs ($329.99 USD, if you’d like to know). It’s not often that we can say such a thing for a device here in an age when a product is replaced by a newer, more powerful version of itself in no time flat: VIZIO delivers a product you’ll be satisfied with for many years to come.

Sound quality is something you’re not going to want to skip when you’re aiming for a full home theater experience. VIZIO delivers a powerful solution in the S4251w 5.1 Sound Bar system, one that’s not to be overlooked.

VIZIO S4251w 5.1 Sound Bar Review is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Now here is a robot that is worth drooling over – after all, mechanical items that fly around, zipping here and there definitely help set the tone for a tech and gadget blog like ours. The BionicOpter is a robotic version of the dragonfly, where it is inspired by one of nature’s more interesting insects. Dragonflies are able to hover in mid-air naturally, maneuver in all directions, as well as glide without having to beat its wings, and the good people over at the German pneumatic and electric automation company known as Festo decided to challenge themselves by coming up with the BionicOpter.

Sporting a 63cm wingspan, the BionicOpter will have a quartet of wings in addition to a carbon fiber frame which is covered by a polyester membrane. It is capable of being twisted up to 90 degrees from the horizontal, and if you were to take a measuring tape to measure it from tip to tail, the BionicOpter would be 44cm long. A couple of LiPo cells power this puppy, where it is remotely controlled via a smartphone or digital spectrum transmitter using a 2.4 GHz wireless module.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Cyro Jellyfish Robot, Robot Headed For Competition Hijacked In FedEx Truck,