Our colleagues in the Consumer Reports Cars department have just finished reviewing the latest GPS navigation systems. Among the 55 models in our latest Ratings of GPS systems (available to subscribers) are units with interesting features, including the voice-activated Garmin Nuvi 880. We’ve updated the way we score and display the models in our GPS […]
Month: August 2008
Sharp is targeting the growing market for larger-size 1080p LCD TVs with a new, lower-priced SB series of 42-, 46-, and 52-inch LCD sets. Prices will range from $1,400 for a 42-inch model (LC-42SB45U) to $2,300 for a 52-inch set (LC-52SB55U). All have piano-black finishes. Sharp says the TVs include technology to improve black levels […]
With the summer Olympics almost upon us, you may be in the mood for photographing athletic competitions—if not in Beijing, then in your own backyard or school stadium. Here are some features that can give you winning photos. A long zoom. A digital camera with 10x or greater optical zoom—what we call super-zoom—will let you […]
It’s back-to-school time (how I hated that phrase when I was a kid). That means you could be in the market for a new laptop. We tested 33 of them, ranging in size from the slimmest and smallest 13.3-inch models to bulkier and more powerful 17-inchers. Check our latest Ratings of laptops (available to ConsumerReports.org […]
Our colleagues in the Cars department have just finished testing the Garmin Nuvi 880, the first GPS navigation unit with a fully-integrated voice recognition system. An excerpt from the Consumer Reports Cars blog: “The Garmin Nuvi 880 is a premium, full-featured portable navigation device (PND) with an impressive voice-recognition system. It has a wide vocabulary, […]
As we reported yesterday, at a press event in New York City last night LG Electronics took the wraps off its new BD300 Blu-ray player, which can stream movies and TV shows from the Netflix website directly to a TV. Also unveiled were two previously announced LCD TVs—the company’s first LCD to use LED backlighting, […]
If you’re buying a new flat-panel TV to watch the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing this month, you might be wrestling with what size and type to get. We recommend at least a 40-inch or 42-inch set for a main TV used in an average-sized living room. You might want to go larger if you’ll […]
Viewers seeking easy access to prerecorded movies and TV shows will soon have a new option: LG says its next high-def DVD player, the BD300 Network Blu-ray Player, can stream content from the Netflix website directly to their TVs. The BD300, which will be available this fall, requires a broadband connection to access the Netflix […]
Summer vacations can be tough on cell phones, digital cameras, iPods, GPS, and other mobile electronics. How do you keep your portables safe from sand, surf, and other summertime hazards when you head to the beach or pool or hit the showers after a swim? Some of us here at Consumer Reports have stumbled on […]
Electronic-book (or e-book) readers, including the Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader, use an electronic "ink" (or e-Ink) display to reproduce text. (The image at right shows a sample of the e-Ink technology. You can click on it for a closer look.) You move through a book by pressing a button to pull the next page […]