dvd

DVD-recorders with hard drives may be old technology, but they're commanding astronomical prices on the free market these days. Case in point: We reviewed the Panasonic DMR-EH75V about a year and half ago when it had a list price of $500. If you search for the DMR-EH75H on Amazon, you'll see three resellers (all with reputable ratings) selling them for insane prices:

New DMR-EH75V: $1,895 New DMR-EH75V: $1,899 Used DMR-EH75V: $1,498

Is it just a glitch with Amazon? You might think so, but that's pretty clearly not the case. Jumping over to eBay, we found some recent auctions for the same product.

New Panasonic DMR-EH75V: $750 Refurbished DMR-EH75V: $675 Used DMR-EH75V: $760

Sure, that's less than half of the Amazon prices, but they're still very high. How often does the price of electronics increase after being used for a few years? What's going on here?

The answer is pretty simple--if you know the gritty details of consumer electronics and a little economics.… Read more

What's better than Nero 7's suite of multimedia apps, which bursts with tools to record, edit, save, and distribute audio, video, and data CDs and DVDs in a dozen permutations?

The so-new-you-can't-buy-it release of Nero 8. Tune into the First Look video below, and watch this space on Monday for a full review.

Could the end of the next-gen optical format war be on the horizon? While you wait for the shakedown, why not tune in some ambient color for your TV? Plus, organizing meetups with your 700+ Facebook friends, 800 IM contacts and your five real friends isn't an easy task, and we found one service that aims to annoy everyone equally. Lastly, we send Mark the intern out into the streets to see if New Yorkers are scared their workplace computer habits could get them fired. That and more, on today's episode of The Queue.

Get The Queue:

[CNET TV] … Read more

Stationing a waterproof TV outside has got to be the height of impracticality. Not only do you have to deal with the long-term effects of the elements, but you'd always need to reposition it (or yourself) to avoid the glare.

But a splashproof portable DVD player, now that's a different story. We're still not convinced of the need to watch video outdoors unless you have a private beach in Malibu or Maui, but at least you can take this player inside with you when it rains. The "DVD Zabady" also plays MP4 clips and MP3s … Read more

This story's been puttering around the blogs for the last few days, but I missed it until I saw an entry on our sister site Gamespot. It goes like this: Some U.K.-based analyst firm, Screen Digest, has issued a report saying that the HD DVD vs. Blu-ray war is destined not to have a winner--it's going to end in a stalemate. But that's not necessarily the end of the world, the report suggests.

Sure, there's been all this talk lately about studios switching sides for money, but what the report implies is that if … Read more

We can't help but be a little skeptical, but according to a Samsung representative, the new Samsung BD-UP5000 Blu-ray/HD DVD combo player will have onboard decoding for all high-resolution audio formats following a firmware update, including DTS-HD Master Audio. This is great news for high-def disc fans, as the BD-UP5000 would be the first player we're aware of that has onboard decoding for DTS-HD Master Audio, DTS's losslessly compressed soundtrack format. The same representative also confirmed that both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks can be output over the analog 7.1 outputs, which will … Read more

It's all go in the HD DVD camp at the moment. Still on a high from the Paramount/Dreamworks deal, we're now hearing that HD DVD will soon have a 51GB, triple-layer disc on the way. The significance of a 51GB capacity is that it exceeds the current Blu-ray maximum by 1GB.

Obviously, 1GB is nothing more than a token increase, but it's an amusing nose-thumbing by Sony's opposition. Of course, the smile might be wiped from HD DVD's face if Sony announces a 100GB disc in the near future. There's also a DVD/… Read more

First, Paramount and DreamWorks Animation get bought off to go HD DVD exclusive. Now word is Toshiba's trying to romance Warner into flipping. The only problem is Sony's doing its best to seduce the last dual-format studio into exclusively shacking up with Blu-ray.

This lurid next chapter in our favorite little tech soap opera comes to us by way of The Digital Bits, which links to an L.A. Times story (also printed in Newsday) that suggest serious bucks are being dangled by both Toshiba and Sony to win Warner's affections. Wal-Mart's in the mix, too, … Read more

If ever a technology was introduced prematurely, it was digital rights management (DRM). From the DVD Content Scramble System (CSS) to the Advanced Access Content System (AACS) in HD DVD and Blu-ray systems, millions of dollars have been invested in failed attempts to prevent piracy of digital content.

Security is difficult to do right. CSS failed because virtually every element of the system was poorly designed. It used weak 40-bit encryption and was vulnerable to break-once, break-everywhere attacks. CSS continues to be used because it's better than… Read more