Stuff Geeks Want

We recently told you about five Blu-ray players below $200. But here’s a player plus surround sound system that delivers majestic picture quality and an absorbing sound stage.

The Panasonic SC-BT300 is a 1250 watt, 7.1 channel system that integrates a Blu-ray player and an audio receiver with a built-in iPod dock. The system is made up of two tall-boy speakers that sound fatter than they look, four small speakers for the surround/surround-back channels, a center channel and the subwoofer.

The receiver uses Panasonic’s VieraCast system that lets you download additional content via the Internet from services like Amazon’s Video On-Demand.

It’s a well-thought-out system that combines the same excellent video quality of the standalone Panasonic DMP-BD60K Blu-ray player with a solid ‘above-par’ 7.1 surround-sound speaker package.

Buy for $489 from Amazon

Overweight airline baggage fees are no longer chump change. Scumbag airlines are charging $50 or more for overweight bags and making a killing, especially on overseas travel.

It’s time to get smart and screw ‘em where it hurts. The Balanzza BZ100 Luggage Scale is a portable device that allows you to weigh your luggage before you hit the airport.

Instead of a flat scale you lay your luggage on, this handheld device has a sturdy luggage strap that you attach to the handle of your suitcase. Simply lift the item, wait for a little beep and then drop it to the floor (gently, gently). A large LED display will tell you in kilograms or pounds what the bag weighs.

You’ll never come home again knowing those holiday souvenirs cost you $200 to ship home.

Buy for $15 from Amazon

Just because you took French for four years in high school doesn’t mean you know the entire language. That’s where the Franklin TGA-495 12-Language Speaking Global Translator comes in.

It translates to and from French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Polish, Turkish, Arabic, Japanese, Chinese (Mandarin) and English. Enter a word in your native language and this indispensable travel tool will speak and show the translation. It contains over 450,000 words and 12,000 phrases, and speaks 115,000 words in recorded human voice.

It also includes an organizer, a calculator, and a currency and metric converter.

Buy for $201 from Amazon

Filmed over the course of more than six years at some of nature’s most spectacular locales, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea is a six-part, 12-hour documentary series by Ken Burns and his longtime colleague Dayton Duncan on the history of America’s national parks. With its marathon run on American public television now complete, it’s now available on Blu-ray and DVD.

This is a compelling tale to tell of greed, politics, violence and spirituality, and Burns, who has devoted his career to producing historical cultural sagas for U.S. public television, does so with his usual flair and high standards. Filmed all over the United States from Alaska to the Florida Everglades, it explores an idea as uniquely American as the Declaration of Independence: American taxpayers should own their nation’s natural splendor.

Even without a fascinating back story, the high-definition photography alone would be enough for most viewers. The stories Burns delivers simply complete the picture.

Buy standard DVD for $65 from Amazon

Buy Blu-ray for $73 from Amazon

This is a sharp idea for laptop cases from Built NY: Take stretchy wet-suit-grade neoprene and add fun prints and lots of color. You’ve then got the Built NY 15-inch laptop sleeve.

Plastic zippers and a single-layer construction means this bag passes through airpot X-rays without having to remove the laptop from the bag.

Its sleek, hourglass-shape is stain resistant and machine washable in a variety of colors. With its Shark Gill Grips on the sides, gripping and handling is slip-free.  Simple form and simple function.

Buy for $30 from Amazon

The age old problem of men who forget to put the toilet seat down will soon be a thing of the past thanks to the AutoClose by Pressalit.

The AutoClose is an intelligent toilet seat that takes everyone into consideration by closing by itself, automatically. It’s got a built-in, infrared sensor that keeps the toilet cover open when a user is present and will gently close when the user shuffles off with their bum in tow (and toilet paper dangling from their shoe).

It’s not available until January of 2010 and there’s no set price yet because it will be an option for a number of Pressalit’s toilets, but when it is available it’ll be the Christmas gift of 2010 from wives to husbands everywhere. Sort of the equivalent of buying a set of pots and pans for ladies.

Everyone expected it would happen in the last month and it did…Blu-ray player prices have plummeted with many feature-packed, entry-level models now going for well under $200.

This development may surprise some, but it shouldn’t when you realize the holiday buying season we’re about to enter. Industry estimates are as many as six million standalone Blu-ray players will be sold before year’s end.

So without further ado, here’s a list of five Blu-ray player under $200 that are worth taking a look at:

LG BD270 Blu-ray Disc Player: Buy for $137 from Amazon

Sylvania NB530SLX Blu-ray Disc Player: Buy for $160 from Amazon

Sharp AQUOS BD-HP22U 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player: Buy for $167 from Amazon

LG BD370 Network Blu-ray Disc Player w/Netflix: Buy for $170 from Amazon

Panasonic DMP-BD60 Blu-ray Disc Player: Buy for $172 from Amazon

So Blu-Ray players below $200. Not only will consumers be happy, but so will retailers and especially movie studios and producers of Blu-ray discs. Blu-ray disc prices have fallen as well, with many new titles available for around $20.

With new studies showing those who text while driving are 23 times more likely to cause a crash than a non-texting driver and rumblings that a federal law banning the practice is imminent, the demand for Bluetooth in-car speakerphones will no doubt pick up. But there are two problems: (1) most of them sound like crap and (2) well, YOU sound like crap to the person you’re talking to.

Maybe, just maybe, Jabra’s new offering – the Cruiser – might be the answer to everything. It’s the first speakerphone to use ‘Dual Microphone’ technology that Jabra claims eliminates background noise and cancels out any echo (really?!). There’s also ‘Voice Announcements’ where the speakerphone will access the address book to speak the name of the caller, or read the number aloud if it’s not in your contacts.



The Jabra Cruiser can also play MP3s stored on a mobile through the speakerphone, and through the car stereo using its built-in FM transmitter. When a call comes in, it will auto fade then mute the music.

Jabra says battery life is about 14 hours of talk time and up to 300 hours of standby time.

Oh, read elsewhere it’s not available in the states and no one knows when? Stick with us folks. It’s available.

Buy for $100 from Amazon

The smart phone landscape continues to grow from a trickle to a flood. But as with any electronic product, the cream rises to the top and the HTC Hero is doing just that.

Based on Google’s Android OS, it’s winning accolades for its simplicity and customization, to name a few. Respected Wall Street Journal technology columnist Walt Mossberg recently wrote that the Hero stands out because of its touch-screen keyboard (much like the iPhone), synchronization with Microsoft’s Exchange service, and its manufacturers “own signature software layer” called ‘Sense’ that sits atop Android giving the Hero additional and much-needed functionality.

Sense also offers something called Scenes, which is a collection of screens and apps that can change the phones look and feel. You can switch from a work-oriented scene with apps like a stock tracker and work e-mail on the weekdays to a music-oriented scene on the weekends with a music player, photo album and personal e-mail.

“I found the HTC Hero to be the best Android phone I’ve tested, and a worthy competitor to the iPhone, the BlackBerry and the Pre,” Mossberg wrote. His pluses: the growing library of Android apps (now over 8,000), a much higher resolution camera than the iPhone or Pre at five megapixels, and a “clear and strong” speaker phone. His minuses: Poor battery life at well below the promised five hours, and a sometimes unresponsive touch screen.

It will be available from Sprint in the U.S. on October 11 for $180 after a $100 rebate with a new two-year service agreement, but is also available in an international, unlocked version from Amazon at the links below.

Buy the international white version for $682 from Amazon

Buy the international black version for $660 from Amazon

Wine is a matter of taste, so this exquisite wine rack shows everyone how good yours is.

The Wine Enthusiast Arched Oak Stave Rack displays seven of your best wine bottles. It’s eco-friendly, constructed from American oak that’s been recovered from retired wine barrels, then hand-sanded and hand-polished. On a wide, open bar or hutch, it’s real eye candy.

Buy for $37 from Amazon