Gadgetoid

It’s official, Toshiba has backed out of the HD war leaving Blu-Ray the clear winner. This should come as no surprise to anybody who was lured into buying an Xbox 360 DVD player by the offer of 5 free HD-DVDs. As a general rule; if it sounds too good to be true, it is. I’m one of those people and I have no hard feelings, now comes the wait for the death of HD-DVD to proliferate through the industry and ensure low, low HD-DVD prices for those of us who can appreciate our limited collection for years to come.

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Back in October the Sennheiser PXC 450 were rated the best noise canceling headphone on the market, in november a black edition was released dubbed the PXC 350 and retailing for some £70 less. It’s this version I managed to obtain for the Gadgetoid once over, and it didn’t take much more than the insertion of batteries and the flip of just one switch to realize exactly how the Sennheiser PXC 450 stole the noise canceling crown. In fact, the PXC 350s have won the very first Gadgetoid “really rather good” award.

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Paramount Pictures confirmed today that they would be extending their partnership with Microsoft to bring the films they’ve been enjoying over in the States to the UK as well.

From tomorrow the film Transformers will be available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace Video Store in both SD and HD alongside other Paramount blockbusters. Movies are downloaded-to-rent with Points but cost from as little as 250 (about £2) for standard definition and 280 (£3.20) for high definition.

See over the fold for a list of titles coming this spring.

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What better valentines gift for the long-distance lover than a shiny new web cam (Did somebody say “train ticket”? Shh!).

Creative Labs have announced a range of such shiny web cams. Amongst them are the Creative Live! Cam Notebook Pro and the Creative Live! Cam Video IM.

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Next month the award winning sci-fi RPG Mass Effect is about to get even massive, with the launch of downloadable content which should have over 1 million gamers salivating in anticipation.

From March 10th, gamers will be able to visit the Xbox Live Marketplace and download the additional content pack “Bring Down the Sky”, which contains approximately 90 minutes of heart-pounding action.

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This Wednesday two arcade titles wing their way to the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Check after the fold for more information.

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There’s never been a huge issue with the portability of PCTV USB sticks, they’re pretty small as TV tuners go, but Pinnacle seems to think there’s cause to make them even smaller and I can’t complain.

The biggest benefit of the new PCTV Nano Stick is, of course, the fact it intrudes even less upon other USB ports, a problem that is common on desktops and laptops alike with bulky USB dongles. Most of us have at some point rendered an ajacent USB port useless when plugging in an obese accessory.

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Sennheiser are very quickly coming round to the popularity of their headsets amongst gamers. With so many PC peripheral companies churning out mediocrity or novelty and claiming it to be the greatest of gaming headsets (Razer, I’m looking at you) having Sennheiser step in and floor the competition with a genuinely high quality product is a breath of fresh air. Albiet at £150 the Sennheiser PC 350 Gaming Headet is an incredibly expensive one.

Granted, with the Sennheiser brand behind these I’ve assumed that they floor the competition without having experienced them for myself but it’s an easy assumption to make if you’ve had any experience with Sennheiser products in the past. And. Seriously. Look at the things; a build like a brick outhouse must have been part of the design specification.

Anyway, enough of the ranting blurb… I use Roland headphones for all my gaming/audio/tv needs anyway! Check over the fold for specifications.

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ARCHOS have released an updated version of their feature packed but diminuatively sized 405 series portable media player now boasting a whopping 30gb capacity. That’s not bad for something so compact; the 405 is, in fact, the smallest PMP in the Generation 5 lineup from ARCHOS.

The 405 includes a great lineup of accessories and plug-ins which allow for on-the-go video recording from many sources, playback of MPEG2/VOB video files straight from DVD and Video Podcast support.

The 3.5″ screen strikes a good balance between portability and viewability, with 30gb storage now backing that up my 30gb 5.5g iPod video is begging to be ‘accidentally broken’.

You can get more information on the new 30gb 405 from the ARCHOS website.

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Yet another iPod dock has hit the market in the form of the IXOS XMI318 ARGO £49.99. Touting an already-obsolete FM Radio (seriously, give us some quality DAB love already!) and a solid 12 watts of power from 4 drivers all in a neat, compact package the IXOS is sure to appeal to someone. But that someone sure isn’t me!

The “portable” in the IXOS ARGO’s name comes from the fact it can additionally be driven by 6 x AA batteries, so it’s an ideal dock for adding music to the many outdoor activities you might embark upon this summer.

The ARGO will be supplied complete with a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable, USB connection (which lets you sync your iPod whilst docked) the usual interchangable dock cartridges and, surprisingly enough, a mains adaptor with UK/European converters.

The third generation “fat” iPod nano will not fit in the ARGO out of the box, but IXOS are offering a converter free of charge via the contact section on their website.

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