John Lentz Jr.'s blog

The widely publicized transition to digital is approaching quickly. In just about three months, television stations will be required to broadcast exclusively in digital, and anyone with an analog television will be staring at snow. This won’t affect people with digital televisions or those who have signed up for cable/satellite service, but for millions who can’t afford upgrades, the best option is to buy a digital converter box.

Also taking off recently is DVR Technology. Pioneered by TiVo, everyone knows the wonders of DVR by now – watch on your schedule and skip the commercials. It truly revolutionizes the television experiences and leaves many wondering how they ever got by without it.

DISH wisely combines these two facts of the contemporary TV Market with its DVR convertor box. For only 249 dollars (after a 50 dollar rebate), you can upgrade twice – once to digital signals to ensure a working television after February 19, 2009, and once to DVR, so you are never constrained by the broadcaster’s schedule again. This truly is a two-for-one deal, and you won’t want to pass it up.

For more information read the press release or visit www.dishnetwork.com

You all have one – a person in your immediate or extended family (or perhaps very extended group of friends) that is next-to-impossible to shop for because he has everything he wants. That’s where SanDisk, and we at beststuff.com, come into play. Take the hassle and stress out of finding that perfect gift and give your materially blessed colleague extra storage space for his phone or MP3 player.

SanDisk's 16GB mobile memory card fits with phones and mp3 players with a microSD slot and is sure to give your loved one all the room he needs to store songs and pictures. Smaller than a fingernail and less than 100 dollars, the SanDisk microSD 16GB memory card is sure to make life just a little simpler for your friend without lightening your wallet too much.

PopStar Guitar, XS Games’ answer to Guitar Hero, is due on November 18, 2008 for the Wii and PlayStation 2 game consoles. In this game, you take the role of a garage band leader and eventually work your way up to stardom. Along the way, you’ll get to play in up to 25 awe-inspiring venues, as well as getting to jam to the latest tunes by some of this decades hottest artists, including Miley Cyrus, Maroon 5, Rihanna, Jonas Brothers, Fall Out Boy, Paramore, Simple Plan, 3 Doors Down and Blink 182. If you love making virtual music, you’ll want to seriously consider PopStar Guitar.

Want to play? Try out the mini-game after the jump! Read more

In addition to the combination DVR and DTV converter DISH announced, DISH had made itself a pioneer in another way: converting tuners to DVRs.

Starting at the end of November, DISH customers will be able to convert their single tuner ViP211 and ViP211k into DVRs by attaching an external hard drive. With only a one time activation fee of 40 dollars, DISH is making DVR technology available to as many as possible.

For more information read the press release.

Etymotic Research recently announced the invention of the fifth generation of its noise-isolating earphones, the hf5. Following the lines of its multiple award winning predecessor, the hf2, the hf5 is designed to offer exceptional sound quality with a design made to fit the ear canal of whomever tries them on. Compatible with iPods, as well as most other devices, the hf5 retails at a hefty 149 dollars. However, given the design and research that went into them, they won’t fail to disappoint.

For more information visit www.etymotic.com or read the press release.

If you’re among the lucky few headed to Tampa for Super Bowl XLIII, you might want to consider fulfilling your need for aquatic thrill. The Florida Aquarium is offering a few programs that represent unique opportunities to ensure your trip has more than one “once-in-a-lifetime” memory. Certified SCUBA divers can come face to face with five different species of shark, while everyone at least six years old can swim with the fish in a 500,000-gallon tank featuring more than 2,300 of the cute sea creatures. All these aquatic adventures may leave your kids saying "what game?".

For more information and pricing visit www.flaquarium.org

You expect newer projectors to have good image quality, resolution, and contrast ratios. What you don’t expect is for that same new projector to be wireless and tell you when it needs to be cleaned or have its bulb changed. Toshiba’s TLP-X200U has all of this, however, and is finding a nice niche for itself in the projector market.

At less than 5 pounds and 3 inches high, this combined with its wireless network capabilities make it the ultimate tool for meetings on the run. Closed captioning, multiscreen functionality, USB ports, and voice activation make this nifty tool very practical. The icing on the cake, however, is the voice technology.

Company insiders report, “The voice guidance system conveniently directs users with an audible message through the projector's operating instructions and system warnings, such as the on/off status, lamp life, air filter checks and cooling fan status."

For more information read the press release.

Yes, you read that header correctly. Infiniti is revealing their new G Convertible through Bloomingdale’s 2008 Holiday catalog. Arriving in homes tomorrow, the catalog will dedicate eight pages to the latest of luxury convertibles from Infiniti. The first 199 lucky customers to call starting at noon on November 10 will earn the privilege of being the exclusive owners of the Premiere Edition. The rest of the world will have to wait until the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show on November 19. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for more developments about this new automobile!

For more information on Infiniti visit www.infiniti.com

Alienware is renowned by those familiar with computers for its superiority in the gaming market. Its latest release, the M17 Notebook, lives up to that reputation, and, if possibly, perhaps exceeds it. Available today, the M17 boasts a Quad-core Intel Extreme QX9300 processor, as well as a Radeon HD3870 card to give gamers fast, efficient multitasking and a lag free experience. As a notebook with a 17 inch display and HD video/Blu-ray playback capabilities, the M17 is sure to make any future trip on an airplane an enjoyable respite.

For more information visit www.alienware.com/M17 or read the press release.

Nearly every phone these days has a camera, but almost all of those take small, blurry, practically useless pictures unfit for even being part of the latest Facebook photo album. Useless and obsolete camera phones now face stiff competition from Motorola’s latest release, the MOTOZINE ZN5. By teaming up with Kodak, Motorola is able to offer users a fine phone and camera experience beating other “call and clicks” available in the marketplace.

Professional camera designer Kodak endowed this phone with 5 megapixels of power and the feel of a Kodak digital camera. With a camera like shutter button, flash option and viewer placement, the camera on the ZN5 looks less like a cheap afterthought and more like a prime strength of the phone. Combine it with easy sharing, and you finally have a camera on you at all times that you won’t mind taking pictures with.

For more information visit www.motorola.com or read the press release.