Until recently, Blu-ray players have been unaffordable by most middle-class and lower-class consumers. But we’ve seen them dropping to the $150-$200 range of late, and now that Black Friday ads are busting out all over, it looks like the day-after-Thanksgiving is going to be most consumers’ best opportunity to jump on the Blu-ray bandwagon, with prices dropping as low as $100 and even lower. Which ones offer the best value? These are my three picks, but read carefully… Costco is offering Vizio’s VBR110 Blu-ray player for $99 on Black Friday. It’s important to note that the VBR110 is considered an “entry level” Blu-ray player, meaning it doesn’t come with some of the bigger bells and whistles that... [Read more]

Digital photo frames are a hot item this holiday season, and more and more, we’re seeing clever new twists on the concept that add netbook-like functions to the device. eStarling has announced a new version of its frame that adds the ability to receive video via WiFi in mere seconds. The WPF-588 eStarling 802.11n Touchscreen Connected Digital Frame (yeesh, mouthful much?) comes with a unique Gmail address to be used for sending and receiving digital media. As the name suggests, eStarling has adopted the new WiFi standard, 802.11n, to allow connection speeds of up to 150 megabits and a range of 230 feet. The device sports a huge 10.2′ touchscreen that ditches past models’ remote control for a tactile approach that keeps up... [Read more]

Though only a handful of tablet PCs have been released so far, everyone believes 2010 is going to be the Year of the Tablet. Apple’s long-awaited device will undoubtedly be at the forefront, though Microsoft’s dual-paned Courier project looks highly impressive. Manufacturer ICD has added a new entrant to the race that looks mighty impressive. Boasting a huge, 15.6″ touchscreen and tons of powerful built-in technology, the Vega tablet has a lot to live up to. Plus, it’s got a sleek design that begs to be handled. Let’s look at the specs: runs on Android 2.0 1366 x 768 resolution resistive touchscreen display overall size: 373mm x 254mm x 16mm NVIDIA Tegra graphics chip 1.3 megapixel web cam MicroSD slot Bluetooth... [Read more]

Don’t know about you, but I always find myself worrying about that 50 lb. weight limit for my luggage when I travel. It’s even more troublesome on the return trip, because I almost always wind up with more in my suitcase when I come home! Digigrip aims to alleviate those worries before you ever get to the airport, by weighing your luggage for you automatically. An inventor named Niklas Danielsson came up with this clever idea. All you do is press a button on the handle, and lift the bag. A backlit LCD display shows you how much your bags weigh. It sells for 19 Euro, or about $29. Also available is a little hole-punching gadget that makes it easy to install the Digigrip on your old luggage bags with two screws. The hole puncher is... [Read more]

A dedicated hardware box is on the way for open-source PC-to-TV media player Boxee. Details are few, but here’s what we know. Boxee is a free software platform that combines your personal media (like photos, videos, and music) with Internet-only video and music (such as YouTube or Hulu content), and social networking. It’s touted as easy to use to access all different forms of media with a single remote control, but to do any of it, you first have to connect your computer to your television. The fact that it’s both free and open source has made it a fast favorite of many users, even though it’s only in an alpha build at the moment. (A beta version is expected in early December.) Boxee’s blog indicates that a “Boxee... [Read more]