Geek Treat of the Week philips’ Fidelio speakers for iOS – such as the DS9 – have gotten a big thumbs-up from us in the past, and now philips has released a new range specifically designed for Android devices.
I got my hands on the top-of-the-range Fidelio AS851, which comes in at £200, but there’s also a smaller model called the AS351 priced at £129, and a little bedside jobbie called the AS111 for just 70 quid.
The AS851 docks some – but not all – Android phones
You don’t have to worry about the sound, as the AS851 provides 30W worth of the same warm, detailed sound we’ve come to expect from the Fidelio range. However, the Android side of things isn’t quite so neat and tidy. Read the rest of this entry »
Review Sidestepping the cheap black plastic approach of even some mid market Blu-ray Disc players, the BDP7600 from philips has a robust metallic build. Its smooth and quiet disc tray emerges from a mirrored front panel, which is otherwise interrupted only by a USB port to the right. Beneath the fascia is a curved control strip with illuminated touch sensitive controls.
Shining example: the philips BDP7600 distances itself from non-descript black plastic Blu-ray boxes
Around the back is a broad range of AV connections as well as an Ethernet port for networking and internet access. The BDP7600 also features built in 802.11n Wi-Fi. Although it has more sockets than basic players, a second HDMI would have been be helpful for sending HD audio to older AV receivers that can’t pass through 3D images. Moreoever, if you’re committed to using analogue component video on your receiver or TV, then you’re out of luck, as this player doesn’t have this interfacing either. Read the rest of this entry »
Review All modern TVs can function perfectly well as a computer monitor; however the same isn’t true the other way round. To make a TV you’ll of course need a tuner to pick up the transmitted signal, a decent remote control for all that armchair channel hopping and probably a few extra inputs for your Blu-ray player, games console and the like.
philips has taken all these extras and folded them into a 21.5in display to create the 221TE2L TV monitor. Sit up and work on your PC as normal or sit back with the remote and enjoy digital Freeview TV, the choice is yours.
Thanks to the use of a white LED backlight, it’s a slim, lightweight display which also sports a glossy black finish adorned with sexy touch-sensitive controls built into the bezel. With TVs considered part of the furniture, a great deal of effort goes into creating their impressive living-room friendly looks. Read the rest of this entry »
Review LED backlighting is all the rage at the moment; it can dramatically improve the contrast ratio of LCD panels, helping them towards the deep blacks seen on plasma displays. But many of the sets available at the moment, including the LG we recently reviewed, use LEDs that aren’t individually addressable – so it’s still really all or nothing.
philips’ 9704 offers ‘Pro LED’ backlighting, the better to distinguish it from the presumably amateur type on other sets. That means that the backlighting is split into 274 individual segments, each of which is independently controlled. Other selling points include the latest version of the Ambilight system, wireless connectivity, built in web browsing and DLNA support.
Users outside the UK may be able to take advantage of the MPEG4 decoding, and the CI+ slot too, but for those of us in Blighty, an external source of some sort will be needed if you want to watch HD programming. SD Freeview and analogue tuners are, of course, included. Compared to some recent TVs from the competition, the philips is positively chunky, with the rear panel curving round to the front, and providing sufficient depth for both the Ambilight system and decent size speakers. Read the rest of this entry »
Review philips‘ media player range has been undergoing something of a renaissance of late. Both its Spark and Opus players struck us as a thoroughly respectable little devices that sounded good, worked well and represented decent value. Now philips has released the Muse and, even from a cursory glance at the spec sheet, it is clear that philips has raised its game.
In the hand, the Muse looks more like a thin mobile phone than a media player. The lettering on the fascia clearly indicates that the device is supposed to be held landscape-style, with the controls to the right of the 3in screen. Yet, even after a week of use we still tended to pick it up and hold it so the controls were at the bottom.
Physically, the Muse is a solid device, and a smart one too, with its brushed metal back and sides and glossy black fascia housing a flush screen. It won’t take up too much pocket space either, measuring up at 110 x 8.9 x 55mm and weighing 95g, which is on a par with Samsung’s P3. Read the rest of this entry »
