HD Guru’s list of last minute gift items will help you pick outstanding products for the video and audio enthusiasts in your family. HD Guru or a staff member tested every product and each one is highly rated. To make shopping easy, we’ve included links to Amazon.

Spears and Munsil Blu-ray Test Disc $25

This Blu-ray disc contains all the test signals you’ll need to properly set the main user controls on any HDTV. Among other useful tests is the moving wedge HDGuru used for 120Hz/240Hz LCD evaluations. This disc, our least expensive suggestion, will be a welcome addition to any HDTV owner’s Blu-ray collection.

Moxi DVR MR 1500-T3 $499

HD Guru sampled Motorola and Cisco HD DVRs provided by cable providers and Verizon’s FIOS  and the Moxi significantly outperformed all of them thanks to better graphics, improved functionality and far greater storage capacity—a built-in 500GB hard drive stores 75 hours of HD— plus the ability to add a large external hard drive (up to 6TB) for 1000 hours of HD content.

Moxi also brings to your HDTV Internet content from Hulu, Netflix YouTube and web servicess. Best of all, there is no monthly box fee. You’ll only pay for an M CableCard rental (typically about $2 a month from your cable provider) to supply its built-in twin tuners.  HD Guru gives the Moxi its highest ♥♥♥♥♥ rating (a full review will be coming soon).

Monsoon HAVA Titanium HD WIFI $149.95

The Monsoon HAVA Titanium HD WIFI extends your HD content throughout your home and anywhere in the world using a broadband internet connection and PC or laptop. You can view your live or DVR recorded content where and when you desire. The HAVA accepts any HD video source and wirelessly streams it throughout your home in DVD-quality video. You can also watch and control programming on a mobile phone with a broadband Internet connection.  Makes a great gift for anyone who’s on spends a lot of time “on the road.” Hammacher Schlemmer via Amazon

Panasonic Real Pro Ultra Massage Chair 30007KX $3446.81

The 30007KX is Panasonic’s best massage chair with 7 different techniques (Swedish, Kneading, Junetsu, Percussion, Compression, Tapping, Shiatsu and Rolling). It has 36 air bags covering 460 sq. inches for your feet, calves, arm/hand, waist, shoulder and your butt!  The back area rollers provide 200 sq. inches of heavenly massage. This chair also features auto body scanning to customize the massage to your body. We love ours. Disclaimer: we purchased it. Gizmos for life via Amazon

Tripp Lite AVR900U Surge Protector/Uninterrupted Power Supply $99.65 (Free Shipping)

Don’t fall victim to salesmen spouting benefits of a power line conditioner, claiming it will give you a sharper picture or richer color. It’s nonsense. All you’ll really need is protection against power surges and blackouts ( the latter if your system uses a hard drive such as a DVR or Vudu). Tripp Lite`s AVR900U line-interactive UPS provides surge protection for home theaters in an ultra-compact housing. Its battery-supported AC output will supply continuous power during short blackouts, while its automatic voltage regulation corrects for brownouts (low voltage)  and over voltages. The AVR900A includes 12 output receptacles, 4 of which are widely spaced to accommodate large transformer blocks without obstructing adjacent outlets. 6 outlets feature full battery support and surge suppression. The remaining 6 supply surge suppression for components such as a cable box or surround sound receiver. Single-line telephone suppression jacks protect equipment with a DSL or standard dialup RJ-11 phone line connection such as a TiVo or a DirecTV receiver.  Amazon

Sony  MDR500NC Noise Cancelling  Headphones $271.99

The  Sony MDR-NC500D headphones use digital technology  to reduce up to 99% of the noise from planes, trains and buses, while providing high-quality audio. Its built-in lithium-ion rechargable battery provided over 15 hours of noise cancellation in our tests. The MDR500NC fit snugly yet comfortably without any of the ear pressure discomfort of the Bose noise cancelling headphones (as reported by CNET and NY Time’s David Pogue). The 500s come with hard case and adapters for twin miniature plugs found in many planes and a battery backup (in case you forgot to recharge). The HD Guru gives it our highest recommendation. The price has just been reduced (for the first time) to below $300 Buy.com via Amazon.

Panasonic DMP-BD60 Blu-ray Player $127.99

If you have not seen a Blu-ray movie on your 1080p HDTV, you have never seen how good high def can appear. Broadcast, cable and satellite HDTV is far more compressed than Blu-ray movies, resulting in noise or artifacts that are not present on Blu-ray. The Panasonic Blu-ray player uses proprietary chips to create superb Blu-ray playback and excellent functionality.

Vudu Movie Streaming Player $149.99 and up

The Vudu system offers “on demand” viewing of movies in standard and high def versions with a library of over 10,000 titles. Why Vudu instead of Amazon on demand, Netflix (on-line) or other services? Because it has the best picture quality of any provider we’ve tested to date. It’s also simple to operate and has a fantastic user interface. Vudu is available as a free standing box or embedded within the LG BD390 Blu-ray player. Best Buy has the lowest price on each at $149.99 for the BX100 free standing box and $279.99 for the  LG BD390 (currently in store pickup only).

To learn more about choosing an HDTV please click this link.

For a list of the Best HDTVs under $1000 please click this link.

For a list of the 10 Best HDTVs please click this link.

Edited By Michael Fremer. If you’re looking for great music to play on your home theater/audio system, check out Michael’s website (link)

Have a question for the HD Guru?
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Copyright ©2009 HD Guru Inc. All rights reserved. HDGURU is a registered trademark. The content and photos within may not be distributed electronically or copied mechanically without specific written permission. The content within is based upon information provided to the editor, which is believed to be reliable. Data within is subject to change. HD GURU is not responsible for errors or omissions.

With Christmas rapidly approaching, the HD Guru has picked some of his favorite gadgets and accessories for holiday gifting.

By Cha Merson

VUDU

With VUDU you wouldn’t need to go to a video store or wait for a disc in the mail from Netflix, you can download the latest DVD releases and see the movie in seconds. VUDU is a hard drive recorder +internet downloading service, which provides access to thousands of movies and a number of TV series. The beauty of VUDU is its outstanding picture quality. There are three levels of picture quality, SD, HD and HDx. Subjectively (A/B comparisons with discs will appear in a future review) the standard definition images are comparable to DVDs.  Using the HD mode, (with over 1300 movies currently available) images appear similar to 720p HD quality. The highest definition mode, called HDx is 1080i resolution quality, without many of the MPEG2 compression noise and artifacts associated with broadcast HDTV. An Internet connection is required for the downloading of content. Using a high-speed Internet connection (Verizon FIOS) SD content immediately begins to play, HD within 30 seconds. The quick startup is due to each movie’s opening being stored on the hard drive.

The slow pokes are films in the highest HDx resolution. They typically take around 2 hours to download.  There are two size hard drive models available, the standard VUDU (regularly $299) has a 250GB drive and the VUDU XL has a one-terabyte hard drive. Recent movies are $2.99 for SD and $5.99 for the HD or HDx versions with 24-hour viewing window. You may also purchase a movie and keep it stored on the hard drive indefinitely for (usually) $19.99.

The user interface and remote are so intuitive, (once connected and set-up) even granny should be able to learn how to operate it in minutes (note: granny was not available to confirm this at the time of this was written)

VUDU is currently running a terrific on-line Christmas special at (VUDU). You may now purchase the standard VUDU for only $99, if you buy $50 worth of downloads at the time of ordering, saving you $200. The offer is only available on-line and not at VUDU retailers, according to a customer service representative.

TiVo HD

The TiVo HD (160 GB $299) and TiVo HD XL (1 TB $599) are far and away the best digital video recorders (DVR) you can own. The HD Guru has sampled the competition from Cisco (formally Scientific Atlanta), Motorola and DirecTV and its no contest. The graphics, ease of use and reliability of knowing the shows you wanted to record were recorded, beats all other DVRs sampled.  These TiVo models are for persons with cable systems and require up to two CableCARDs for its twin tuners (some systems can supply a single multi use “M” CableCARD to operate both cable tuners), allowing the recording of up to two programs at the same time. There is a monthly fee from cable operator for the CableCARD(s), typically $2-$3 a month each, plus a monthly fee from TiVo ($12.95) or discounted prepaid yearly plans or a prepaid lifetime account for $399.

You can save $100 off the lifetime subscription ($299) if you have a will friend with a current TiVo subscription place the order for you. Details are at (TiVo).

Gefen Splitters & Switchers

If you need to send an HDMI signal from your Blu-ray player, Cable box or any other HDMI source to multiple displays (such as a front projector and a flat panel), Gefen has the solution. They make a line of HDMI splitters that flawlessly distribute any HDMI signal (including 1.3) without any loss or degradation. Superbly engineered and ruggedly built in the USA, Gefen’s full line of HDTV solutions include CAT5 to HDMI converters, HDMI extenders and HDMI switchers. The HD Guru lab uses its 1:4 HDMI splitter ($499) for accurate comparisons of up to four HDTVs and recommends it to all readers with multiple displays sharing an HDMI source. Learn more at (Gefen)

Sony MDR-NC500D Noise Canceling Headphones

HD Guru has sampled and purchased a number of noise canceling headphones with varying results (including the Bose models). Some produce moderate noise canceling with good fidelity others provide better ambient noise reduction with mediocre sound. The Sony MDR-NC500D provides phenomenal ambient noise reduction, with good sound as well! These rechargeable headphones pack enough charge to last an entire 18 hour plus flight. They are around the ear designs that digitally analyze ambient sound and feeds an inverse noise into the headphones to cancel out (according to Sony) up to 99% of the cabin noise. The result, when listening to a movie soundtrack, these marvelous headphones managed to eliminate the sound of a crying baby two rows behind my seat location. Another plus, they are the only around the air headphone found that don’t make ones ears too hot when wearing them. Expensive at $399, however, but they are truly the Ferrari of noise canceller headphones. A sturdy carrying case, accessories and battery back-up power supply are included.

Sling Box

The Sling Box allows one to view your local SD or HD cable or satellite programming, over an Internet connection anywhere in the world on a laptop. If you have a traveler that would enjoy seeing American programs anytime, anywhere the Sling Box makes a great gift. There are two models, the Sling Box standard definition unit called the SLINGBOX SOLO ($179.95 retail) and the HD model, SLINGBOX PRO-HD($299.99 retail).  Both have no fee and once set-up on your  laqptop computer, your can control your source box from anywhere. Mine is connected to an HD TIVO. One small caveat, you’ll need an inbound connection (when traveling) of at least about 100Mbps, a problem in hotels that have very slow internet service.

Tributaries Surge Protector

The HD Guru has been recommending a surge protector for your HDTV and related electronics. Tributaries makes really good, moderately priced ones that are much more useful than many competitors, due to their clever designs.

The first thing you will notice, a number of the outlets rotate 90 or 180 degrees depending on the model. This allows the use of external power supplies often called “wall warts”, those little black boxes that supply power to most low voltage device like Slingbox, switchers, VUDU etc. The rotation design allows you to place the wall warts next to each other on the surge protector. Without rotation, wall warts tend to block the adjacent power jacks, often turning a 8 outlet strip into a 3 outlet strip.

The other great feature on the Tributaries surge protectors is an auto test lamp. Many consumers don’t realize, after a surge protector takes a strong surge, it may not absorb the next one and will simply pass the excess voltage to your HDTV and connected devices, negating its purpose and possibly causing damage to your equipment. There is simply no way to know if it is doing its job with out a test. The Tributaries T series have a self-check light to assure it continues to function properly. Tributaries makes surge protectors with 8, 10 and 12 outlets, starting at just $50 retail. That’s cheap insurance.

Happy Holidays to All Our Readers
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Copyright ©2008, 2009 Gary Merson/HD Guru™. All rights reserved. The content and photos within may not be distributed electronically or copied mechanically without specific written permission.