Entertainment Expo

Yamaha LPX510 Home Cinema Front Projector
$799.12
Yamaha LPX510 Home Cinema ProjectorUtilizing High Resolution LCD Technology, the LPX-510 Provides Excellent Performance with Flexible Installation Capability.Film-Like Quality with Yamaha Natural Black-Yamaha's Natural Black design concept enables the LPX-510 to achieve much deeper levels of black than conventional projectors.High Performance LCD Panels, 10-bit Processing, High Brightness-The LPX-510 uses three TFT Active Matrix LCD panels capable of projecting high resolution 720p (1,280 x 720-pixel) HDTV images. It also employs 10-bit video processing, giving it the ability to reproduce 1.07 billion colors, while 6:9 aspect ratio compatibility means that wide screen movies can be viewed in their entirety, with the correct perspective.1,000 ANSI lumens brightness allows the projector to be used en in relatively bright rooms.3D Linear Color Balance-Ideally, the three signals (R, G, B) from the three LCD panels should have the same linearity, but due to various factors, their linearity continuously varies. The 3D Linear Color Balance function helps maintain the proper balance between them, adjusting color regularities through a range of 15,360 correction points (640 points x 8 steps x 3colors) for accurate color in any type of scene from dark to bright.Cinema Balance Filter-The LPX-510 introduces a new Cinema Balance Filter that enhances color reproduction when viewing in a dark room, such as typically used for movies. It reduces the green level (and blue to a lesser degree), and is an optical filter so dynamic range is not affected. The filter moves to the on or off position (motorized operation) according to the Picture Mode, being on in the Standard,Cinema, Cinema Black and PC modes.Lens Shift, Motorized Iris and Zoom Control-Vertical and horizontal lens shift capability means that the projector does not have to be carefully positioned directly in front of the screen. Maximum range of movement is 100% vertically and 50% horizontally, much greater than conventional

EXPO - Magic of the White City DVD
$24.95
Like so many other viewers, I came round to viewing EXPO - The Magic of the White City ("EXPO") because I read The Devil in the White City (The White City) first. Sort of. Actually, my wife read The White City years after I did and, her curiosity piqued, rented the DVD.

EXPO is about the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, an exposition of such majesty, scope, corruption, and expense that it is a feat unparalleled in America today. The closest we have to the Fair is Disney World, a lineage most explicitly drawn in The White City; Walt Disney's father, Elias, was a construction worker on some of the buildings at the fair.

EXPO is narrated by Gene Wilder. I'm admit to a bias - I'm a big fan of Young Frankenstein and he's the only "celebrity sighting" I've ever encountered in real life. Wilder's getting on in age (the DVD was produced in 2005), so there's now a bit of a whistle to his speech. Still, his lilting voice has enough emotion and wry humor to make his narration enjoyable. And there is a lot of narration.

We tend to think of previous American centuries as quaintly backward, where such modern notions as political correctness and global unity didn't exist. And while EXPO is careful to point out that American culture still had its own foibles and intolerance endemic to the time, the World's Fair put all those to shame. It was a global unification of wealth, prosperity, and cultural exchange in a way that's inconceivable in today's contentious world. We can learn a lot from the Chicago World's Fair.

EXPO uses old maps and photographs to detail events at the fair whenever possible, with few computer graphics or animation. There are occasional shots of live actors, none whom particularly add anything of value to the narrative. In fact, it's clear that the producers felt that the medium was a little dry, because there are copious live action shots of a belly dancer interspersed with discussion of the Midway.

Minor quibbles aside, EXPO works overtime to try to encompass the grandeur of such a huge undertaking without losing sight of the details. As a result, it necessarily glosses over some pieces (rampant corruption, the aforementioned Devil himself who is the subject of The White City book) and emphasizes others (global diversity, architecture, and the first appearances of American staples). That's okay though; EXPO is a huge undertaking with such a sweepingly broad subject that it's better served as a companion piece to a book. Like The Devil in the White City.

Bell'O PVS-4216 Versatile Audio Video Furniture System
$400.00
This product works exactly as advertised. Very sturdy and stylish. First shipment came with a defective part, called customer service and had a replacement part a few days. Great service and reliability and would definitely purchase from this company again.

PSP 3000 Limited Edition Rock Band Unplugged Entertainment Pack
$199.99
I bought this for my son's 13th birthday. He'd use it almost every waking moment if we let him.

This bundle was a good deal because it came with a 4GB memory stick (many of the other bundles in this price range came with only a 2GB memory stick), as well as a game and a voucher for a movie. We chose the PSP 3000 over the PSP Go because I don't like that the PSP Go limits you to downloaded games - I prefer the flexibility of being able to buy games and movies on disks when we choose.

I was particularly impressed by the graphics for a portable system. The sound is good considering the limitations of built-in speakers on a handheld. But most of the time my son uses headphones (we had to buy those separately) for true stereo sound. The headphones also mean he can have the sound on while he plays in the car without bothering everyone else.

The controls will be familiar to anyone who has ever played a Playstation console - he mastered the basic use of the device within a few minutes. So far he is mostly focused on playing games. He still hasn't taken much advantage of its Internet capabilities or its use as a music player, but I expect he will soon...after he finishes playing Dissidia.

So far it seems durable. My son dropped it once on the kitchen floor, and it still works fine. It wasn't in a protective/shock-absorbing case when he dropped it, either.

All in all, it's an impressive handheld gaming system that I think he will enjoy for a long time.