Being on a 2Mbps Plan 1995, I thought the PLDT WatchPad might be a bearable option to watch the big fight. PLDT was also promoting WatchPad a lot and promised subscribers can watch the Pacquiao-Cotto fight for free.

I was scheduled to fly back from out of town around that time so I shrugged off the possibility of seeing the fight live.

Fortunately, our Cebu Pacific flight from Legazpi came in early (a rarity) so I got home just in time for the first round. But alas, we settled for radio commentators as the PLDT WatchPad set up didn’t work. It was slow, choppy and completely unbearable to watch. More angry comments from WatchPad users here.

I was hoping PLDT would shine this time around by bringing the Pacquiao fight for free to hundreds of thousands of its subscribers. This would have also set a precedent and would prove that PLDT is ready to do some sort of an IPTV service. Now, if they are planning to charge subscribers in the future (and that’s the whole idea here) for the live streams, they might as well re-think it first.

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Are there other PLDT myDSL subscribers getting their DVD installers in the mail too? I read that this is available if you subscribe to myDSL Plan 999, 1995 and 3000. This is streaming video so only makes sense for PLDT to offer it to high-bandwidth plans.

Available channels include PBO, CNBC, MTV, GO, Animax, CNN, GMA7, Cartoon Network and National Geographic (provided by Cignal TV). Anyway, I tried installing the application on my Windows 7 desktop but it kept on crashing. Will try this on an XP PC and see if it works.

Anyone else got this running on their system? How is it?

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The CinemaTube does not have an internal storage so you need to hook it up with an external HDD. While this is a cheaper configuration, you still need to buy your own HDD with an enclosure. That means you’ll also need two power cables to hook both the player and the external drive.

The media player’s enclosure is made of up of plastic. Nothing really wrong with since it feels very light but it also gives an impression of a cheap construction (even the painted logo of BriteView-CinemaTube is a little off).

It’s compatible with all hard disk format windows(NTFS), Linux (EXT2/3), and MAC (HFS). The player supports a large number of video formats — MPEG1/2/4 (M1V, M2V, M4V), MPEG1/2 PS (M2P, MPG), AVI, ASF, WMV, MKV, H.264.

CinemaTube supports multiple audio output formats, including MPEG I Layer 1,2,3(2-CH), MPEG II Layer 1,2 (Multi-Channel), LPCM, ADPCM, FLAC, AAC, WAV, WMA and OGG, RA, Dolby Digital AC3 and DTS. DTS (downmix) is supported by CinemaTube so you do not need additional DTS receivers to enjoy HD videos with DTS tracks.

Unlike the DW TV, the CinemaTube is also a torrent downloader (the built-in torrent engine does all the downloading without the need of a PC). The LAN port at the back is the primary connection to hook it up to the internet but I think you can also use a WiFi dongle on one of the USB ports to get it on wireless. The only approved and dedicated WiFi adapter is the WL-6200C which is sold separately.

At the back panel, you get a conservative number of ports — 1 HDMI, 2 SUB 2.0, Ethernet, AV and SPDIF. The UI and navigation of the CinemaTube is pretty simple, straightforward and easy to understand.

Most useful is the preview panel/screen that allows you to view a short clip of video you are browsing before playing them (no need to guess what the video file is).

Although I have not tried it, the device can also do UPnP Streaming so you can watch CNN, ESPN, CBS and Hulu via 3rd-party applications like PlayOn and TVersity.

The CinemaTube will retail for Php6,350 when it comes out in November. You can check out www.digilivingph.com for more info abut the product.

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This 3-in-1 multimedia device can play HD videos, stream content over the network and also serves as a torrent downloader.

• Supports full HD 1080p (1920×1080) resolution
• Play media files off external USB storage devices (in the ff. formats: NTFS, EXT-3, FAT and HFS+)
• Supports ISO files so you can play DVDs thru it
• 1 HDMI, 2 USB ports and 1 LAN port
• DTS + Dolby Digital Ready

The option for wireless can be had with a compatible WiFi dongle from brite-View. The CinemaTube only uses 10 watts of electricity when downloading torrents (up to 3 simultaneous torrent downloads).

UPnP Streaming allows you to connect to other PCs in the network and stream from Windows Media Library.

The CinemaTube is very similar to the Western Digital TV Media Player since they both don’t have external storage. You will need to hook it up to an external HDD or Flash Drive via USB. It will retail for about Php6,000 when it becomes available near the end of the month.

You can check out their site at http://www.digilivingph.com

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Well, that’s if you consider the fact that you can now hook up an external HDD via USB to the LED TV and play movies from there or use the internal storage that’s been bumped up to 2GB.

Despite Samsung’s claim that their LED TVs are internet-ready, I still think it’s a little crippled. There’s ethernet connection and WiFi but internet services are currently available via widgets. These “TV Widgets” include a “YouTube widgets”, “Accuweather widget” and “USA Today widget”.

The Series 8 has all that the 7 has, and more. One big improvement from the Series 7 is that the frame rate of the Series 8 has been doubled from 120MHz to 240MHz (can be significantly noticed when playing fast-action console games on the TV).

Since the introduction of the Series 8 LED TV, the older models had to be re-priced accordingly. Check the pricing table below:

Samsung UA-55B8000 (55″ Series 8 ) – Php215,000 (Php239,900 at 0% 12m)
Samsung UA-55B7000 (55″ Series 7) – Php190,900 (Php211,900 at 0% 12m)
Samsung UA-46B7000 (46″ Series 7) – Php133,900 (Php148,900 at 0% 12m)
Samsung UA-46B6000 (46″ Series 6) – Php125,900 (Php139,900 at 0% 12m)
Samsung UA-40B7000 (40″ Series 7) – Php116,900 (Php129,900 at 0% 12m)
Samsung UA-40B6000 (40″ Series 6) – Php105,900 (Php119,900 at 0% 12m)

More on this when (and if) I’d get a review unit.

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At just under 30mm (1.2 inches), the TV is so thin you can practically hang it on the wall (the set just weighs below 15 kg). It sports the classic design with a glossy black finish and transparent edges. Samsung intended this design so you can actually display digital paintings on the screen and really make the TV look like a regular wall-mounted painting in your room.

The Samsung LED Engine generates a mega contrast (1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio) so you get really nice vibrant colors while maintaining the darkest black level for much better contrast. It supports a resolution of full HD 1080p (1920×1080 pixels) so you get great results in movie playback. The biggest advantage of LED TVs from the non-LEDs is that you get superb color intensity and dynamic range. Problem though is that I didn’t see any huge difference in picture quality when I hooked it up to my HDX 1000 and played some 1080p video clips.

At the back are two 10-watt speakers that points downward for a better sound spread. It doesn’t have the volume you’ll need for watching some hidef or Blu-ray movies but is more than enough for regular TV viewing. You’ll have to hook this up to a separate sound system if you want to enjoy a full surround sound movie experience.

The TV also comes with a plethora of ports at the back panel – two USB 2.0 ports for importing and viewing photos and videos, 4 HDMI ports for connecting with HD players and gaming consoles, and an Ethernet port for connecting the TV to the internet (there’s option for wireless LAN support too), among others.

(I liked this separate small egg-shaped remote you can use just for channel surfing.)

The Series 7 features Picture-in-Picture display (although it can only do multiple video inputs and not two TV channels at the same time) as well as a Content Library and DLNA Wireless. And because of the low energy consumption of LEDs, there’s a 40 percent reduction on power when compared to regular LCDs.

Since LEDs are still a bit expensive, this Samsung LED TV will also reflect that cost. A Samsung Series 7 LED TV has a suggested retail price about twice the price of a regular LCD TV of similar size. If an ultra slim wall-mounted TV really fancies you, the Samsung Series 7 LED TV fits the bill. Expect to shell out about Php150,000 for one of these in stores and I must admit, this one is really for early adopters who has some money to burn.

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The LG 42LH70 is not the slimmest I’ve seen in the LCD category but I think it’s already very thin at under 40mm (my 42-inch Toshiba HDTV is twice as thick). It’s got a glossy black finish in front and a scarlet red finish at the back that gives it an elegant look (see full specs and unboxing photos here).

The base has a wine glass-shaped design and snaps right in fastened with a couple of screws. However, the LCD wobbles on the stand even with a slight tap (feels like it would fall off or snap off easily). The TV can swivel sideways to a maximum angle of 178 degrees.

Embedded on the right side are a couple of controls for channel switching, volume, menu and source input. A huge power button, made of circular translucent/silver plastic, sits on the bottom center and lights up with a red accent when powered up (followed by a 3-second startup music).

At the back panel, the LG Scarlet has a plethora of ports including USB and HDMI. The TV can easily read and display photos, music and videos off of any storage device attached via the USB port. The two 7-watt built-in speakers are also invisibly tucked away here somewhere. They are not very loud but good enough for regular TV viewing.

One of the more interesting features with the LG Scarlet is the Bluetooth connectivity. You can pair it with a Bluetooth device (like a phone or a headset) so you can stream music wirelessly. Was able to pair it with my iPhone 3G to stream audio for up to 20 feet away although it gets cut off when blocked by hard walls.

The LCD TV is capable of full HD 1080p output with a contrast ratio 100,000:1 and a fast response time of 2ms. The display is bright and crisp with an ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts the backlight brightness. There’s an Energy Saver indicator that shows percentage of power consumed/saved depending on the lighting conditions and video playback. With a resolution of 1920 x 1080, 120Mhz refresh rate and a 2ms response time, the LCD is a good display option for PC gaming.

During the product launch, I’ve seen them attach a power meter to the set and show off power usage go as low as around 40 watts to a max of 250watts on this TV. You can set the picture quality to 9 different modes – Intelligent Sensor, Vivid, Standard, Natural, Cinema, Sport, Game, Expert1, Expert2. The same can be done with the aspect ratio as well – 16:9, Just Scan, Original, 4:3, 14:9, Zoom, Cinema Zoom. These two settings allow you to optimize your TV viewing experience.

The LG Scarlet could be something to consider if you’re looking to buy your next HDTV.  The LG 42LH70 42″ LCD TV retails for about Php89,990 in stores. Not too cheap but not that expensive either.

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Each additional channel on top of that will only cost you Php20 or Php350 each, depending on the channel.

I’m curious which channels would cost as expensive as Php350 each and what channels are included in the initial 37 (pre-selected).

In any case, offering a per channel subscription the a la carte way could be cheaper to those who are into a select number of preferred programs.

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