Posted by Amazon Customer Reviews
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/themoneysit08-20
Jeff Wiley reviewed:
Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope (1977 & 2004 Versions, 2-Disc Widescreen Edition)
| 10 of 16 people found the following review helpful:  Fool me once...., August 31, 2006 That said, one of the disadvantages -- maybe the biggest disadvantage -- of being a Star Wars fan is that we are, by and large, fiercely loyal. Often, that loyalty is taken advantage of, and this is a prime example. Like most other fans, I was ecstatic that the original trilogy was finally being released on DVD, albeit with the special editions. George Lucas had a grand opportunity to please ALL Star Wars fans by offering both the SE and original theatrical versions on DVD, and allowing the fans to decide which they would like to own. Why he passed that chance, I will never know, but I don't pretend to know and understand the ins-and-outs of DVD distribution. If (no...WHEN) Lucas decides to remaster both the audio and the video for Eps IV-VI, and leave them as the original theatrical versions, I will consider purchasing them. However, this is a disgraceful attempt to squeeze a few more dollars out of the fans who helped put Lucas in the position he is today. This fan, no matter how loyal, will not be purchasing this edition of the films he loves. See you in 2-3 years, when the next and latest "limited edition/special release" hits the streets. |
| August 31, 2006 |
Posted by Amazon Customer Reviews
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/themoneysit08-20
Rubin Carver reviewed:
Doom 3 Limited Collector's Edition
| 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:  are you afraid of the dark?, August 28, 2006 Fun: Any big name release with a lot of hype will inevitably bring with it some degree of backlash. But which do you believe? In the case of Doom 3 a little of both is probably a good idea. This title nails a lot of aspects necessary for an amazing game experiance. It also has its fair share of irritating (and one would think easy to avoid) faults bogging it down. In particular, the atmosphere in this game is intensely gripping. the audio ambience combined with the dynamic lighting and enemy use of the dark makes this a pretty terrifying game to play. It succeeds wildly in transporting you inside a sci-fi horror film. Of course it's pretty much a straight nod to the Alien franchise in that way - the story is nowhere as solid (although thank heavens the voice acting is competent.) But inasmuch as Doom 3 instils in the player the visceral sensations of being hunted by bogeymen in the dark, the horror element here is pure gold. The engine is fairly realistic and all around solid. Apparently the pc version has occasional framrate problems but you will find no such issues in the Xbox version. I went from end to end of this game's campaign mode without a single lock-up or slow-down. The character models behave in 3D space in a surprisingly convincing manner. The bump-mapping is phenomenal and no corners were cut on the visual production. The artistic updates on various enemies and weapons were well done and sensible. A number of fairly stupid design problems do hinder the overall experiance though. For example, as the game progresses you will start to find unavoidable situations that force you to platform in first person. That's generally considered a huge no-no in first person shooters and was completely avoidable. Also, the level designs are occasionally redundent, particularely early on in the game when the story gives you no real clear goal. Additionally, the menu system is uncomfortably sluggish. It may not sound like a big deal that it takes 1.5 seconds to go from menu to menu instead of .5 seconds, but when you're really immersed in the gameplay and you just want to customize the D-Pad weapons really quick in the middle of a fight or make a just-in-case save file, it stacks up. Another similar frustration comes in the form of save file load times. Although the ability to save at any place in the game may seem desirable, it results in a lot of time wasted staring at load screens later on in the game when you may need to retry particularely difficult passages or bosses over and over. Some sort of checkpoint system would have eliminated this flaw, even if only implemented in particular trouble spots. Besides these technical issues, there are a number of little spots in the gameplay where goals are ambiguous and general level design works against you in a way that feels distinctly unintentional. The special edition features are decent. It does come with full emulations of the original two doom games as well as a smattering of somewhat informative interviews and other video features. Still, there isn't anything of mindblowing proportions here so if you're the frugal type you won't be missing anything by opting for the basic edition. There aren't any especially good arguments against playing this game; it accomplishes its main goal as a horror fps quite well. At the very least it's worth a rental. The flaws keep it from being a hall of fame game but they certainly don't ruin what is mostly an enjoyable and convincing game with a well-balanced fps set up. |
| August 28, 2006 |
Posted by Amazon Customer Reviews
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/themoneysit08-20
MOVIE MAVEN reviewed:
Reco International 01132 Classic Romertopf 14 Pounds Clay Baker
| 10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:  Simply The BEST, August 24, 2006 |
| August 24, 2006 |
Posted by TheTechLounge - Recent Articles: Hardware: Video Cards
http://www.thetechlounge.com
| August 23, 2006 |
Posted by Amazon Customer Reviews
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/themoneysit08-20
Synergy reviewed:
SanDisk Sansa M240 1 GB MP3 Player (Silver)
| 5 of 6 people found the following review helpful: Good Hardware But Poor Tech Service, August 16, 2006 The M240's radio is excellent. I live in a metro area and the ability to pick up stations and maintain good reception even while mobile on my 15 mile bicycle rides is very satisfactory. I like the M240's shape, size, and the controls. I wear trifocal glasses and I don't have any problem reading the screen. I attached a thin nylon cord to the player (it has to be real thin to go through the M240's retaining clip) so I can carry it in my bicycle jersey pocket and still loop it around my neck to be sure I don't drop it or lose it. The supplied earbuds are not very comfortable and don't fit my ears very well. The poor fit results in a lot of windnoise while on the bicycle. I replaced the earbuds with better fitting Sony MDR-EX51LP. The result is a better quality of listening and windnoise is practically non existent. These Sony earphones block out street sounds as well so be careful using them when you need your sense of hearing for safety. I now find that the ability to store and listen to music without commercial interuption is also delightful. Even though Sansa tech service insistently states that the player is designed only for Windows XP I find that converting CD music and storing them as MP3 files works well using my Windows 2000 system and Realplayer conversion software. Other freeware conversion software also function well with Windows 2000. I tried several. I don't intend to download any music from the internet so I can't speak to the M240's ability to do this. I have converted and installed 216 songs occupying 651 megabytes (about 3000 kilobytes per song - deviations from this average will influence the number of songs) of the total 973 megabytes available. Doing the math leads to the conclusion that my M240 would be expected to hold over 300 song titles. Of course if you fill it up with songs you have no room for any voice recording. I have no need for voice recording so I haven't tried this claimed feature. 216 songs is over 10 hours of listening. I could put more songs on when I have the opportunity but I don't expect I will be listening continuously for anything approaching 10 hours. If you are married you will understand this last statement. If you aren't married you don't yet understand what listening means:>). Of the 216 installed songs, two are cataloged in an unknown album folder. Although this amounts to only 1% of the installed songs being misfiled it is an issue to me. I have tried multiple times using all available recording and transfer modes as well as different conversion software to give the M240 the opportunity to properly catalog the music. Neither I nor the M240 have succeeded. I used an MP3 tag editor to check that the tags are properly constructed (they are) but the M240 still refuses to properly catalog all the music. Although the M240 responds as a storage device in Windows the unknown folder does not show up in a directory listing. All the other album folders and subfolders show up properly. I believe these issues to be the fault of the firmware. The installed firmware on my M240 is reportedly the latest version and is identified by the M240 as 3.2.8A. I tested battery life using a rechargeable and fully charged 900mah Sony Nickel Metal Hydride battery. The M240 was operated at about midway on the volume scale (comfortable listening for me) for 9 hours straight on one day and then turned off. The next day the M240 operated for between 3 and 4 hours before shutting down on low battery (I checked the player every hour - I didn't wear it continuously). I would say that the M240's claimed potential battery life of 19 hours might be achieved in a laboratory at very low volume settings but is very unlikely in a real world listening environment. If you use an alkaline AAA battery I would predict a battery life of less than 10 hours at a mid level operating volume. Now the tech service - I am downgrading this player to 4 because of my experiences with Sansa's technical service. The first line technicians were not very knowledgeable, misrepresented themselves by giving false names, and did not follow through with their promised actions. There was ignorance and confusion about the firmware installed on the player and the website references to firmware upgrades were out of date on my visits. The latest firmware available was a 2.something. I finally talked to the technical service manager and he informed me that 1% miscataloging was acceptable and that Sansa would be unlikely to do anything about trying to correct such a problem. I was offered the opportunity to exchange the M240 for an E240 but I didn't think the hassle was worth it nor did I want to trade in a known problem for perhaps some other unknown issues. As you have gathered I was not satisfied with the tech service and the uncaring and insincere attitude of the personnel. All in all, for the money, the M240 fills my need and I would recommend it realizing that it may not be perfect. The tech service leaves a lot to be desired and I expect its perfomance will hinder Sansa's goal of corporate growth. |
| August 16, 2006 |
Posted by TheTechLounge - Recent Articles: Multimedia: Portable Media Players
http://www.thetechlounge.com
| August 15, 2006 |
Posted by Amazon Customer Reviews
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/themoneysit08-20
Erin Loughran reviewed:
Bring It On - All or Nothing (Widescreen Edition)
| Bring it On All or nothing, August 10, 2006 |
| August 10, 2006 |
Posted by Amazon Customer Reviews
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/themoneysit08-20
Dr. Paul A. Laughlin reviewed:
SanDisk Sansa M240 1 GB MP3 Player (Silver)| 9 of 10 people found the following review helpful: Great little player!, August 9, 2006 The fairest comparison, of course, is between this SanDisk and the Zen Nano: both are 1Gb in capacity, both run on 1 AAA battery, and both load nicely via copy-and-paste in Windows Explorer. The SanDisk is roughly twice as big as the Zen Nano physically, but still quite small; and has a built-in FM radio (as does the Zen Nano Plus). The larger size makes the SanDisk easier to use, and as its best feature, it has a much larger. more informative, and easier-to-read display. It also has a much more substantial battery cover than the Zen Nano's little one-tooth wonder (its worst feature). Other reviewers have called the Sandisk a battery-eater. Mine operated for three days of nearly constant waking-hour use on a single battery, just as my Zen Nano does. (I might suggest that top-grade alkalines be used. They last longer and are cheaper in the long run.) Some have claimed that the SanDisk filled up awfully quickly. Well, I listen mostly to classic jazz, and I can get between 16 and 18 albums (I'm old) on it at a time. Some reviewers mention the "cheesy" case provided along with an arm strap. I don't intend to use the arm strap (not my style), but the heavy clear soft plastic case seems well-enough made, and nicely protects my player from my pocket change. Don't get me wrong: I still love my sleek little Zen Nano, and will probably use it on long walks in which I just play through albums without having to change from one folder or file to another. If I had to choose between the two, however, or could afford only one small player, I would go with the SanDisk hands down. Bottom line: it's a great little player and a bargain to boot. |
| August 9, 2006 |
Posted by CNET Reviews - Most Recent PDAs
http://reviews.cnet.com/Handhelds/2001-3127_7-0.html?subj=fdba&part=rss&tag=MR_PDAs
| August 8, 2006 |
Posted by Amazon Customer Reviews
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/themoneysit08-20
Rubin Carver reviewed:
V for Vendetta (Two-Disc Special Edition)
| 7 of 9 people found the following review helpful: An instant classic, one of the best films I've seen in years, August 8, 2006 Many insightful things have already been said about 'V' by other reviewers, so I will try to keep this brief for the sake of not retreading what they've already said. First, the characterization in this film is nothing short of brilliant. The script is fantastic and they chose the right actors/actresses for the right rolls. You will believe you know these characters yourself when the film is through. The production team pulled no punches on the visuals. Over 80 full-scale sets with minute attention to detail, beautifully realistic model-based special effects as opposed to thinly veiled CGI as is the common practice in hollywood nowadays... it's all there. Not only that, but the soundtrack is gorgeous. The orchestral themes are memorable, the use of secondary tunes appropriate and unobtrusive. The soundtrack goes so far towards moving the plot emotionally. Most importantly, the story is rich and multi-faceted in a way that I was not expecting. There is layer upon layer of storyline elements, points, general brainfood, call them what you will... when you add the superb (and highly emotional) character development as well as its historical allusions to November the fifth and Guy Fawkes, you get a film that is massive in scale. Quickly before I wrap this review up, I would like to address a few specific things. Mainly, I think anyone who complains about the slightly unfaithful adaptation of the graphic novel is missing the point and depriving themselves of some of what this film has to offer as a separate body of work. Given the medium, this adaptation is about as good as it could have been. The changes to the story do not affect the quality at all. The convoluted maze of plot details now native to the graphic novel are beyond the scope of a mere two hour roll of celluloid (not to mention some of them might have dulled the delivery of the film considerably, IE the "Fate" computer.) Personally I'm relieved they chose overall quality over 100% accuracy. Lastly, I am reviewing the Two-Disc Special Edition DVD because it is the edition I purchased, but it is not really necessary. The special features are interesting but are not very long and you may not find it worth the extra four bucks. I prefer the artwork though and it does come with a hilarious (although hidden) SNL skit featuring Natalie Portman. This movie is worth an immediate purchase. Number one of the year so far and a contender for my personal top five. It's subversive and some people may find it uncomfortable, but it is undoubtedly of the highest quality filmmaking. Completely worth your money and the time you'll spend obsessing about it after you watch it for the first time. |
| August 8, 2006 |
