Monthly Archives: August 2004

The History of the Internet according to, ahem, me

For some years I’ve been writing for the magazine Geare, usually just reviews of the assorted bits and pieces that I review. I was always a bit ambivalent about it because Geare is one of those ‘guys’ magazines, in which … Continue reading

Posted in Computer, How Things Work | Leave a comment

Deep, deep bass from Whise Profunder 319A subwoofer

My review of the Whise Profunder 319A subwoofer ($6,499) appeared in Wednesday’s ‘Connect’ section in the Melbourne Herald Sun newspaper, unfortunately under someone else’s name. No matter. The graph herewith is something I couldn’t put in the article. This shows … Continue reading

Posted in Audio, Equipment | 3 Comments

Philips releasing (at last) a hard disk DVD recorder, plus the largest LCD TV in Australia

Philips Electronics flew me up to Sydney today to have a look at some of its forthcoming products. It was focusing on its new, expanded, Flat TV lineup, but there were some other interesting products there as well. The Flat … Continue reading

Posted in Equipment | Leave a comment

DVD Recorder hard disk drives getting bigger

Sharp has released the DVHR350X DVD recorder with a built-in hard disk drive (RRP: $AUS1,769). What’s interesting here is that this raises the hard disk size. Previously all DVD recorders incorporating hard disks have used 80GB models, but this one … Continue reading

Posted in Equipment, Recorders | Leave a comment

What advice do I not give?

From time to time people write to me asking various questions about home entertainment matters. Generally I am happy to help, time permitting, and if I think the matter interesting I may include it here. However I have had a … Continue reading

Posted in Admin | Leave a comment

DVD recordable prices continue to fall

The other day someone in the hi fi industry was telling me about concerns regarding the longevity of recordable DVDs. Some cheap brands, he said, are not properly UV finished so they can go off in a relatively short time … Continue reading

Posted in DVD, Equipment, Recorders | Leave a comment

Amplifiers and Speakers in The Herald Sun

I’ve switched over from ‘Livewire’ in the Thursday edition of Melbourne’s The Age newspaper, to ‘Connect’ in the Wednesday edition of the Herald Sun. Today’s ‘Connect’ cover story is mine: how to get lots of volume from your speakers without … Continue reading

Posted in Admin, Equipment, How Things Work | Leave a comment

Accurate timing of videos

Rod, who runs the excellent The Chopping List, has asked me: I was talking to a friend who has also adopted a censorship watchdog role about VHS running times for movies. To get a duration for a film on tape … Continue reading

Posted in Cinema, How Things Work, Video, Video tape | Leave a comment

What does that subwoofer ‘phase’ switch do?

Most subwoofers have a switch on the back that’s labelled ‘Phase’, and has positions of 0 and 180 degrees. What this switch does, electrically, is the second easist thing to understand on a subwoofer’s wiring (the easiest is the ‘on/off’ … Continue reading

Posted in Audio, Equipment, How Things Work | 3 Comments

DVD Giveaway upgraded to the Great DVD Giveaway (hah!)

Okay, I’ve done some sorting out. Here is a full list of DVDs I’m giving away. Again, none of these have the printed slicks, although all have properly printed labels on the discs themselves. All are stamped ‘Not For Sale’. … Continue reading

Posted in DVD, Giveaway | Leave a comment