Archive for the ‘Top Christmas Gifts’ Category
Anomia
December 18th, 2010 | 
Author: 
We received this game shortly before having a fairly large party at our home. After playing some Wii bowling, people were looking around for the next entertainment. I pulled out Anomia, since we hadn’t used it yet, and said we should try to figure this one out. It turns out the rules are fairly simple, and we had a real game going within 10 minutes. We all had a blast. It was an incredibly funny game, very entertaining, and everyone had a blast. It went fairly fast, so people didn’t get bored. We had a couple instances of “just one more game” when people were planning on leaving the party. After that great experience, we brought it to a large family gathering, and had a number of my younger relatives playing. Beyond a few categories the very young people had trouble listing (a musician for instance), they all had a blast playing. Additionally, since most of the categories are perfectly fair for any age, it’s quite possible for an 8 year old to beat out an adult in a matchup, which is just great fun 
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In Stock.
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Want it delivered Tuesday, December 21? Order it in the next 40 hours and 40 minutes, and choose One-Day Shipping at checkout.
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Sony BDP-S560 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player
Let me first start out by stating that I’m living in an analog world. I’m using component video and 7.1-channel RCA connectors for audio. This ability, combined with Profile 2.0, was the primary reason I waited for the Sony BDP-S550.
Out of the box, the unit is surprisingly small. It’s full-width, but only half the depth of every other component I have in my rack. This all but guarantees the new Blu-ray Disc player will sit proudly at the top of my six-and-a-half foot tower of electronics. It’s a pretty unit with a slight bluish black complexion so I don’t mind, really. I was just surprised. My previous foray into Sony disc players was the DVP-S9000ES which was a 40-pound, brass-plated monster.
The initial setup was a breeze. I like the matrix-like setup menus. The only tweaks I had to make were to set the Audio Output Priority to multi-channel analog and [eventually] to set the BD Audio Setting to “Direct”. This last item was critically important and almost made me return the unit. By allowing menu-based sound effects to be mixed into the BD audio, it introduced a ~150ms audio delay in watching Blu-ray Discs. I was horrified until, on a SWAG, I changed this setting. Phew!
After playing a few minutes from every Blu-ray Disc I bought, I threw in a few reference quality DVDs. The upconversion from 480i to both 480p and 1080i (via component video) was excellent. It was almost too good, showing the limitations of some of my lesser DVDs. Film grain in the recently remastered “Dirty Dancing” DVD [Disclaimer: this is my fiancee's disc] was more obvious on this player than I’ve seen on any of my other DVD players. There are extensive noise reduction settings available in the player, but the film grain was more a testament to the clarity of the player rather than distracting.
I also tested 4×3 (1.33:1) DVDs and audio CDs, just to be sure the player could be my end-all, be-all player. Initially, the player stretched the 4×3 DVD to fit my 16×9 screen, but I eventually found the Screen Format video settings, which when set to the non-intuitive value of “Fixed Aspect Ratio”, displays all DVDs in their proper aspect ratio.
In conclusion, the video on my 1080i RPTV is pristine; the best I’ve ever seen. The player-decoded 7.1-channel audio is also crystal clear. I didn’t expect to hear an improvement over optical DTS-ES or THX-EX, but the difference is amazingly obvious. The player *does*, unfortunately, suffer from the -10dB subwoofer output limitation, which is very irritating (and the cause of only 4 stars). Relative to all the other channels, the line-level subwoofer output is over 10dB too low. This causes a major disparity in perceived output between the seven main channels and the subwoofer. I’m hoping and praying Sony will release a firmware upgrade to fix this in the very near future. Until then, I’ve got all the other channels set to -10 to -12dB with the subwoofer set to 0dB, which is almost close to the correct value for my home theatre.
If you can live with or compensate for the very low subwoofer output, or use HDMI for audio and video, then I do not hesitate in strongly recommending this player to anyone looking for an excellent, user-friendly, fully-functional and surprisingly inexpensive Blu-ray Disc player.
Video Features
- BD-R/RE Read Compatibility: Yes (BDMV & BDAV format)
- BD-ROM: Yes
- DVD+R Read Compatibility: Yes
- DVD+RW Read Compatibility: Yes
- DVD-R Read Compatibility: Yes (Video Mode and VR Mode)
- DVD-RW Read Compatibility: Yes (Video Mode and VR Mode)
- JPEG Playback: Yes
- x.v.Color Technology: Yes
Audio Features
- Dolby: Yes & Dolby TrueHD bitstream out over HDMI (V1.3)
- Dolby Digital plus Decoding: Yes
- Dolby TrueHD Decoding : Yes
- dts Decoding: Yes
- dts Output: Yes
- dts-HD Decoding: Yes
- LPCM: Yes (multi channel decoder): Yes (HDMI bitstream out)
- Dolby True HD bitstream output: Yes
- dts HD bitstream output: Yes
Capability
- CD: Yes
- DVD: Yes
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Price: $479.99 In Stock.Only 1 left in stock–order soon.Ordering for Christmas? Based on the shipping schedule of Crawford’s Superstore, choose Expedited at checkout for delivery by December 24.
Car Cup Holder Mount for Apple iPad
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Why would I want an iPad in my car?
• Listen to Pandora streaming music for free
• Use Google Maps to find your destination
• Take advantage of Turn-by-Turn Navigation
• Find that unique restaurant and get the phone number via the web
• Play Netflix for the passengers or kids in the back seat on long road trips
• Jot down a note to pick up the groceries when you get off work
• Download your iTunes playlists to iPad & have all your music everywhere you go
• Check traffic and traffic cameras before you leave for work
• Listen to all your local radio stations on the iPad
• Check your email while stuck in traffic
• Show clients a business project or website while on the road with them
• Let your passengers look at pictures of your family Your Padholdr Car Kit includes a vehicle specific bracket, an adjustable high grade aluminum arm, and our high gloss holder. The install time of a padholdr is anywhere from 5-25 minutes.
Padholdr for your car is the best solution in the industry for making your iPad work in your car with no custom install. When you order your Padholdr, you will have the ability to install the exact fit for your vehicle. All of our vehicle-specific mounts are meant to be installed without any visible screws showing on the dash board — you’ll be able to remove the kit with no visible signs that there was ever a Padholdr in your car!
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Want it delivered Tuesday, December 21? Order it in the next 41 hours and 6 minutes, and choose One-Day Shipping at checkout.
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Ordering for Christmas?
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Apple iPod Touch Accessories Kit
Make Sure Your iTouch is Covered
Protect your brand new Apple iTouch 4 against scratches and damages while exercising with this well designed high-density neoprene armband. The cover itself is made out of Scratch-resistant neoprene that has been woven over multiple times to make it as dense and protective as we possibly could make it.
We wanted to make sure that the iTouch 4 was safe and secure once inside the armband and we believe we accomplished just that. Armband is One-size fits all and so durable and well designed that we have imposed an extended warranty on our work, when purchased from Vangoddy.
Defend yourself, defend your iTouch 4: Get a protective Neoprene Exercise Armand for Apple iTouch today!
90 Day Customer Satisfaction Warranty when purchase from Vangoddy !
This product is not affiliated with Apple, Inc. The terms “iPod” and “iPhone” are used for compatibility purposes only. iPhone and iPod trademarks are the property of Apple Inc.
*** iTouch 4 NOT Included***
Price: $33.85
Posted in Top Christmas Gifts | 
Tags: Accessories, Apple, Argyle, Armband, Black, Crystal, Diamond, Earphones, Exercise, Generation, hands, Laugh, microphone, Neoprene, touch, Wrist | 
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Xbox 360 4GB Console with Kinect
Kinect brings games and entertainment to life in extraordinary new ways—no controller required. Easy to use and instantly fun, Kinect gets everyone off the couch moving, laughing, and cheering. See a ball? Kick it. Control a HD movie with the wave of the hand. Want to join a friend in the fun? Simply jump in. Wi-Fi is built-in for easier connection to the world of entertainment on Xbox LIVE, where HD movies and TV stream in an instant.
Price: $299.99