Archive for Danny Phillips
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Home Cinema 3.5 out of 5Panasonic SC-BT230 review
3 September 2010All-in-one systems are home cinema’s answer to a takeaway. Sure you could spend ages buying all the ingredients separately and seeing how they taste together, but sometimes all you want to do is buy it, take it home and get stuck right in. And that...
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Home Cinema 4.5 out of 5Panasonic TX-P42G20B review
26 August 2010Choosing which free high-definition TV platform to go for can be difficult, but thankfully this 42-inch Panasonic plasma makes the decision a whole lot easier. It’s equipped with both Freeview HD and Freesat HD tuners, which means it’s ready to deliver...
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Home Cinema 4 out of 5Sony BDV-E370 review
22 July 2010Sony's entry-level Blu-ray system takes all the best bits from the superb BDP-S370 Blu-ray player, fuses them with an AV receiver and chucks them in a box with a set of 5.1 channel speakers - a convenient and cost-effective way of getting a complete high-def...
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Home Cinema 3.5 out of 5Philips BDP3100 review
16 July 2010This entry-level Blu-ray deck has been designed to offer cash-strapped buyers the chance to get crisp high-def pictures without having to sell any vital organs. It does mean that the spec sheet is light on cutting-edge features, such as network media...
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Home Cinema 4 out of 5LG 47LE8900 television review
23 June 2010LG is one of several manufacturers to incorporate Freeview HD technology into its latest range of flatpanel TVs, bringing you a handful of high-definition channels without the need to fork out for an extra box. This 47-inch set uses Full LED technology...
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Home Cinema 4.5 out of 5Samsung HT-C6930W 3D Blu-ray home cinema system review
18 June 2010Samsung’s focus on innovation has earned it more “world firsts” than the Guinness Book of Records. And here’s another one for you – the HT-C6930W is the world’s first 3D Blu-ray home cinema system, bringing you immersive HD pictures and sizzling...
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Home Cinema 3.5 out of 5Metronic T2 HD Zapbox receiver review
10 June 2010Footie fans keen to enjoy the imminent World Cup in glorious high-def are snapping up Freeview HD boxes like old ladies at a cake sale. And there’s a growing number of basic HD receivers to choose from, offering hi-def pictures without the added complication...
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Home Cinema 4.5 out of 5Samsung UE46C8000 3D television review
8 June 20103D movies like Avatar and Alice In Wonderland have proved to be real cash-cows at the cinema, so it was only natural that 3D technology would find its way into the home. Samsung was quickest off the mark, launching the world’s first 3D Blu-ray player,...
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Home Cinema 4.5 out of 5Panasonic DMR-BW780 Freeview HD Blu-ray recorder review
26 May 2010Last year Panasonic brought the first Blu-ray recorders with built-in Freesat HD tuners to the UK market, and it’s beaten everyone to the punch again in 2010 with the equivalent Freeview HD models. The DMR-BW780 allows you to pick up razor-sharp HD...
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Home Cinema 4.5 out of 5Samsung HT-C6500 Blu-ray home cinema system review
21 May 2010Look up the word generous in the dictionary and you’ll find a little picture of Samsung’s latest Blu-ray home cinema system, the HT-C6500. It’s no exaggeration to say that it’s one of the most feature-packed one-box systems we’ve ever come across,...
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Home Cinema 4.5 out of 5LG HLB54S soundbar speakers review
2 April 2010If you’re looking to snap up a Blu-ray player and home cinema system in one fell swoop, but your room is too pokey to house a full 5.1 rig then this soundbar solution could be right up your alley. Unlike the majority of soundbars that only handle the...
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Home Cinema 3.5 out of 5Pioneer HTP-SB300 soundbar speakers review
19 March 2010As one of the only areas of the loudspeaker market making any money, it’s no surprise that Pioneer is dabbling in soundbar technology. These compact, space-saving systems have really caught consumers’ imagination, bringing high-quality home cinema...
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Home Cinema 4 out of 5Grundig GUFSDTR500HD Freesat recorder review
17 March 2010It might not boast as many high-def channels as Sky HD or Virgin, but Freesat has provided salvation for thousands of viewers who want HD, but simply can’t afford the steep subscription fees. That is, before Freeview HD reared its head. The trouble...
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Home Cinema 4.5 out of 5Toshiba XDE-600 DVD player review
20 October 2009Last year’s XDE-500, the first DVD player equipped with Toshiba’s eXtended Detail Enhancement (XDE) technology, certainly took upscaled picture quality to new heights, but a replacement for high-def it was not. Since then Toshiba has announced plans...
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Home Cinema 3.5 out of 5Sony BDP-S360 Blu-ray player review
13 October 2009If the recession has eaten into your Blu-ray player budget then all is not lost - there are some great-value decks on the market that deliver the high-def basics without making a large dent in your savings. We’ve already looked at the Samsung BD-P1600...
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Home Cinema 4.5 out of 5Pioneer BDP-LX52 Blu-ray player review
9 October 2009When it comes to Blu-ray players, Pioneer always puts performance high on the agenda, an approach that’s made it the darling of the home cinema cognoscenti. All of its decks to date have delivered stunning picture and sound quality, usually accompanied...
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Home Cinema 4 out of 5Toshiba 37RV635D television review
25 August 2009When it comes to LCD TVs, Toshiba is one of the most dependable names in the business. From entry-level up to flagship, it has a canny knack of delivering feature-packed TVs at reasonable prices – and the company’s RV series looks to follow in that...
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Home Cinema 4 out of 5Philips BDP7300 Blu-ray player review
5 August 2009Philips hasn’t really made an impact in the high-def player market so far but the BDP7300 could put the Dutch manufacturer on the Blu-ray map. It’s a fully-fledged Profile 2.0 affair, which puts BD-Live downloads at your disposal (the quality of which...
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Home Cinema 4 out of 5Panasonic SC-BT205 Blu-ray home cinema system review
10 July 2009History tells us that one-box home cinema bundles rarely match the quality of a decent separates system, but for sheer convenience they simply can’t be beaten. And when it comes to Blu-ray, convenience and set-up simplicity are even more vital, given...
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Home Cinema 4.5 out of 5Panasonic DMR-BS850 Freesat Blu-ray recorder review
4 June 2009They’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...
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Home Cinema 3.5 out of 5Sharp AN-PR1500H home cinema rack review
23 October 2008If you’re one of those people who thinks home cinema kit should be heard but not seen, then Sharp’s latest AV rack could be right up your street. Stealthily concealed within its stout frame are a DVD player and 2.1-channel speakers, providing a convenient,...
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Home Cinema 4.5 out of 5Panasonic DMP-BD35 Blu-ray player review
15 October 2008Back when Blu-ray was just a twinkle in its creator’s eye, there was much talk about BD Live and how it would revolutionise the way we watch movies, but little did we know that there would be an arduous 2-year wait for the idea to come to fruition....
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Home Cinema 4.5 out of 5Humax FOXSAT-HD Freesat receiver review
15 September 2008Sky’s subscription stranglehold on high-def broadcasting means that many people simply can’t afford to experience HD TV for themselves. But thanks to Freesat – a joint venture between the BBC and ITV which offers over 80 TV and radio channels via...
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Home Cinema 3.5 out of 5Panasonic SC-BT100 home cinema system review
18 August 2008Blu-ray pioneer Panasonic scoops another world’s first with the SC-BT100, currently the only Blu-ray system on the market with Profile 1.1 support. That means it’ll play the picture-in-picture commentaries found on certain Blu-ray discs (such as Resident...