Best Gadgets for Cable TV Lovers
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Here is a selection of our favourite gadgets for cable TV.
VUDU
This gadget acts as a gateway for the Vudu movie download service. Vudu offers more than 5,000 movie titles to rent or own.
That’s more than most rival download services but less than Netflix’s DVD mail-rental service. The big benefit for movie buffs is the convenience of being able to watch a film right away on your TV.
Vudu also has a super-intuitive navigation system and smart search features so you can quickly find and preview a movie you think you’ll like.
The video quality is very good and Vudu works with both both standard- and high-definition TVs.
Note there is a drawback in that purchased movies are stored on the built-in 250GB hard drive and cannot be transferred anywhere else.
Price point: MSRP: $399 for the Vudu box. Movie rentals cost 99 cents to $4.99 and purchases, $4.99 to $19.99.
TiVo HD DVR
These days sSatellite and cable TV operators offer digital video recorders, but TiVo still has the easiest, most intuitive to use system that’s worth paying the extra for.
As well as enabling you to easily record television shows and pause live TV, TiVo has added Internet access so you can rent or buy videos directly from Amazon.com’s Unbox download service or access to the Rhapsody music subscription service.
The newest TiVo model sports two high-definition TV tuners so you can record two programs at once or record one while watching another live. TiVo users also can transfer recorded TV shows to PCs or compatible video-playing handhelds, including Apple Inc.’s iPods. A 160-gigabyte hard drive stores up to 180 hours of standard-quality programming or 20 hours of HD content.
Pricepoint: MSRP for TiVo: $299.99 + monthly service fee of $12.95 or other yearly plan.
Netgear Digital Entertainer HD EVA8000
The Netgear set-top box acts as a bridge between your PC and TV (warning: its currently geared for the tech-savvy user).
The Netgear takes videos, music or photos from your PC and lets you play them on your TV. It supports many video formats, so it enables you to play YouTube Web videos on your TV. Video downloads from services that use Windows-based copy protections, such as Movielink or Amazon.com, work, but the device it can’t play shows purchased from the online Apple iTunes Store.
The latest Netgear model supports high-definition video, and works with both older and newer model TVs.
Pricepoint: MSRP: $349.99
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