jeff's blog

The official title for the giveaway is, "JVC The Dark Knight Capture the Joker Sweepstakes" that ends on December 31, 2008. The grand prize JVC home theater package is valued at more than $3,000 USD. There are many other products being given away, including several DVDs of the latest Batman movie. Warner Home Video is also sponsoring this opportunity with JVC. December 9, 2008 is the date the movie, The Dark Knight, is released on DVD and Blu-ray disc. JVC will feature the movie The Dark Knight in its advertising campaign through the Holidays. Are you ready to "Catch the Joker"? Visit www.jvc.com/thedarkknight for your chance to win! The daily prizes will keep you going back for more chances to win this amazing home theater setup. The JVC microsite also has behind the scenes footage and movie trivia.

Are you concerned you are not green enough? What about your family or friends? Do you do your part for a cleaner environment? Those batteries for the electronics… do you recycle or recharge? Are you still throwing away your batteries?! Well, now is the time to start new habits. You can charge your gear while you commute with the new Fusion canvas/leather Solar Messenger Bag by Eclipse Solar Gear.

The Fusion Messenger Bags are functional bags, and they have solar cells built right into the side for easy charging. Anything you can plug into your car using a 12-volt auto adapter can be trickle charged using solar bags by Eclipse Solar Gear. These messenger bags are sold online, and at Macy’s Department Stores. The MSRP on the Fusion Messenger Bags are $189 - $249. As for your batteries that you no longer have a use for, please find a location to recycle them: www.rbrc.org

How many times have you had your luggage placed on the scale at the airport, and you became concerned you might be fined? Did you pack too much? Are your bags overweight? There is a way to know the weight of your bags before you get to the airport. I use a handheld scale when I travel with my family to get each bag to 49 lbs. The Balanzza Ergo digital handheld scale requires AAA batteries (included), can weigh bags up to 100 pounds and is only 10oz. The Balanzza is $24 MSRP, and is much less than the penalties from the airlines.

See the graph below to better understand the penalties and fees from the airlines:

The Inada Songno massage chair is so modern and luxurious that you would assume that just sitting in it, you might be able to transport yourself out of this world. Actually, if you sit down and dial up one of the 106 stored profiles from the infrared body scan – you just might have an experience that is out of this world.

The Inada Sogno experience is one that every other massage chair wishes they could produce. The Inada Sogno starts with an infrared body scan and then it mimics the hand movements of a human massage therapist. How many massage chairs actually produce shoulder to finger-tip — head to tippy-toe massages? There is an air compression option for the more sensitive people (youth and seniors). The MSRP for the Inada Sogno is $5,999 available at Healthy Back stores, www.healthyback.com. If you know the value of one of these chairs, look no further as this is the best massage chair in the market.

This company's speakers continue to amaze me. I still can’t believe they produce sound, much less sound fit for the best of audiophiles. To prove it to you, the consumer, the awards they win are from industry experts. The Absolute Sound is the premier magazine for high-end audio enthusiasts. They have awarded MartinLogan with a 2008 Budget Component of the Year Award with the MartinLogan Source Loudspeaker.

MartinLogan is one of the most respected names in audio and they stand out by incorporating high-resolution electrostatic technology and ATF™ (Advanced This Film) transducers into their products. Their speakers range in price from $299 to $30,000 USD. Devin Zell, MartinLogan’s marketing guru recently said, “We are honored to have our efforts recognized by our peers.” Keep up the good work MartinLogan!

Not really … I wrote about the Slacker radio the other day, and now Sony has a press release about Slacker. Randy Waynick, SVP of Sony Electronics’ Home Products Division said recently, “Internet content is expanding faster than ever and Sony is bringing it straight to BRAVIA televisions.”

It is about time, right? To explain what Slacker is briefly … internet radio that you control with DVR functionality. It is more than that, and Sony recognizes this value that it can bring to its core consumers. What stands out to me about this partnership is that Sony rarely (if ever) partners with another company. Something else to take note is the Sony BRAVIA is also integrating Howcast into this strategic partnership.

You say, “Hello Moshi.” Moshi says, “Command Please.” Then you ask the time, or program the alarm, ask the date, request ambient sound, request the temperature, and several other requests that Moshi will answer in her voice. Programming an alarm clock can be somewhat frustrating sometimes, but with Moshi it is easy. This alarm clock is a $49 MSRP alarm clock and endorsed by the World Blind Union. This Union does not endorse just anyone, if you are reading this be thankful. If your computer is reading this to you - because you are blind - then this is truly the alarm clock for you.

Here is Moshi’s Web site, which is interactive, showing you her capabilities. As for telling Moshi to SNOOZE, you are out of luck. Moshi will play the alarm, and if you do not shut it off it goes into SNOOZE mode for nine-minutes. Then, it will repeat this three times, until it stops sounding the alarm. The only thing I would prefer that Moshi did was have a friendly alarm option verses the PANIC alarm sounds available. Check out Moshi’s cool Web site: www.moshilifestyle.com

Mitsubishi is a consumer electronics industry leader. Their 3D laser technology is a marvel, and when LIVE sporting events are broadcast in 3D we will all certainly own one of these amazing televisions. The Mitsubishi Projector is also something to consider this Holiday Season if you are upgrading. The projector is a great way to have Home Theater at home. This industry leader is lowering their price through a new rebate offer for those ready to make the upgrade. Here are the new rebate offers:

HC1600 has a $100 mail-in rebate plus a free lamp (valued at $495). That is a total giveaway of $595 in effective value! This 720p HD projector is one of the more affordable, if not the most affordable in the market today.

HC5500 LCD projector has a mail-in rebate of $500. It already has a suggested MSRP of only $1,995. This 1080p projector has a contrast ratio of 10,000:1, and has an automatic iris function to help make the black-to-light image shift when scenes change from dark to light. What an amazing value for an HD projector.

The HC6500 is NEW and has a mail-in rebate of $200. This makes the total suggested retail price (MSRP) $2,295! This one is available at Best Buy’s Magnolia Home Theater stores, or through authorized Mitsubishi dealers. Read more

If you are using Skype, then you already know how great it is to communicate affordably. In the age of controlling your telephony and voice communication, and now video phone, it is only fitting that Skype makes it easy to buy products that work with their services. Sure, some computers have cameras built right into the screen frame. What about those who don’t want to buy a new computer for a camera? The Skype Shop has all you need.

Here are just a few of the products available directly from Skype:

Logitech High Quality Web Cams – There are three Logitech Web Cams available in the Skype Shop. The QuickCam Pro 9000 and QuickCam Pro for Notebooks are both $99 MSRP. The Logitech QuickCam Orbit AF is $129. Read more

The pocket video camera is all the rage with those regularly posting to YouTube. Now HD (high definition) video is more important than just "plain-old-video". Where 720p at 60 frames per second produces quality content for your 16:9 LCD or Plasma televisions in smaller cameras. The Kodak Zi6 has a USB arm that “pops” out of the side of the camera when prompted. The camera powers itself from two AA batteries, and Kodak makes sure you have rechargeable batteries with the charger with this purchase. The expandable memory card slot is a great option, as there are 32 GB SD memory cards in the market. There are also cables that come with this camera for easy viewing on any HDTV.

For $179 MSRP this camera is worth the money for the easiest solution to capturing video today. As Yoda would say, "A Great Holiday Gift this would make." Who knows … the person you buy this for might be the next George Lucas.