Audi A3 – Little Wagon, Ho!

Audi's A3 (not to be confused with the AAA) is a wonderful little wagon, a blast to drive but practical and reasonably economical. And despite its size, it's roomy enough for four (five in a pinch – literally) and their accoutrements.

For what more could one want? more....

Audio-Technica Brings New Life to Old Vinyl

Remember the turntable, that big platter-based dinosaur on which we used to play our music before compact discs and digital downloads herded them to the landfills of the world?

Audio-Technica has an elegant solution for converting those old analog albums you may still have collecting dust in the basement into digital discs or files. The AT-LP2D-USB is an honest to goodness belt drive automatic turntable that comes with a built in USB interface you can connect directly to your computer. more....

Catching the Vibe, West Coast Style

They called it the "Catch the Vibe"  Challenge, and it was definitely challenging.

It was also an interesting way for GM to get nearly 100 journalists, bloggers and folk like me to chauffeur rolling billboards for the 2009 Pontiac Vibe around three Canadian cities in an adaptation of the scavenger hunt theme. more....

CorelDraw X4 - More Power for an Old Favorite

Watch out Adobe! With its 14th version of its CorelDraw Suite of applications, the Ottawa, Canada-based company has once again thrown down a gauntlet in the page layout, graphics creation and manipulation application market.

CorelDraw is a powerful and sophisticated suite that goes head to head with Illustrator, Photoshop (the application, if not the verb) and PageMaker/InDesign, offering increasingly easy interfaces and more thoughtful features with each version.  more....

Variations on a Theme: Honda Civic Hybrid, Acura CSX Type S

What's even better than a garden variety Honda Civic? How about a gas-sipping hybrid or a souped up, luxurious version?

The hybrid is a straightforward adaptation of Honda's terrific little sedan, with Honda's Integrated Motor Assist system added on for "even greener" performance. The souped up, more luxurious version is the Canadian-spec Acura CSX Type S, a little rocket that's mostly analogous to the Civic Si sedan, but with different logos, grille, tail light treatment and other goodies thrown in to send the up market Civic a little bit more up market. more....

Sit in the Dark – or Power to the People?

Which is the better answer to the world's growing energy requirements: feel good gestures or creating new energy sources that can feed our needs?

Feel good gestures such as turning out your lights and sitting in the dark for an hour doesn't address the real problems of a growing society that requires ever-increasing amounts of electricity in order to power the machines that make our civilization possible. This is why a recent article caught my eye. more....

Chevrolet Crafts a Winner with New Malibu

Its name has been around for decades, but it seems like decades since the Malibu moniker was applied to a really interesting and compelling car. But it has now: Chevy's Malibu is a car that deserves respect.

Based on GM's global midsize platform, the new Malibu is more than three inches longer than the old model, with a six inch longer wheelbase and a "wheels-at-the-corners stance" that helps contribute to a very nice driving experience. more....

Will Changing Technology Rain on Blu-ray's Parade?

Now that the high definition disc war is over, will Blu-ray have a long and happy life in the living rooms and home theaters of consumers worldwide?

Probably,but, as if to rain on the Blu-ray parade now that the format has earned its place in the sun thanks to its defeat of the competing HD DVD format, some pundits are already forecasting a dark cloud hovering over the high definition disc format, predicting that Blu-ray will lose out soon to downloading. more...

Pilot--ing a Straightforward, Unassuming Honda SUV

Though its name may be inspired by the high flying world of aviation, Honda's Pilot SUV is a decidedly down-to-earth vehicle. And though it may come off as a tad bland, it's really just a straightforward, no nonsense imagining of the eight passenger SUV niche. more....

Panasonic Blu-ray Home Theater

HD discs are getting more attractive as the end of the high def format war leads to more Blu-ray hardware and software appearing, offering consumers the ultimate in picture and sound quality.

Moving to the wonderful world of high def may mean rebuilding your home theater, or at least parts of it, whether it be adding a 1080p compliant TV, a Blu-ray player, or even upping your audio system's ante to exploit the new audio formats that accompany HD disc playback. more....

Reborn 2009 Toyota Corolla Still Screams "Value"

It has an all-new body, more room inside, and many other upgrades, but at heart it's still a Toyota Corolla. And that should please millions of people.

The tenth generation of Toyota's longest-lived vehicle has been blessed, or at least designed, with a leaner, more muscular shape that still manages to look like a Corolla, as well as a set of more powerful, yet still economical, four cylinder engines.

This journeyman people carrier also comes with an all new chassis and suspension designed to make the Corolla even more attractive to its customers and competitive against its challengers. more....

Rotel Preamp/Processor HD, Blu-ray Capable

With high definition TV and discs wriggling their way into the hearts of audio and videophiles, audio manufacturers are now offering the ability to play back these next generation home theater technologies in their full HD video and audio glory.

Rotel's latest preamp/processor, the RSP-1069, is a serious jump into this marketplace. It offers not only HDMI 1.1 switching that accepts the output from Blu-ray and up converting DVD (audio and video) players and passes it onto your HDTV, but which also offers video scaling capabilities of its own. more....

Porsche Cayenne Turbo and Lexus LX 570 – Awesome, Times Two

They're big, brawny and luxurious – and can go nearly anywhere. But are they any good?

Well of course they are – this is high end stuff!

"They," are the 2008 Porsche Cayenne Turbo and Lexus LX 570, top of the line SUV's from opposite corners of the world. Both showcase state-of-the-art technology envisioned differently by different companies. more....

Cable Monster Diversifies, Upgrades its Offerings

What do you do when you're a leading audio/video cable company in an era when many of your products are being made obsolete by technological change?

If you're Monster Cable, you adapt by diversifying your product line and jumping into the emerging HDMI cable market with both corporate feet. more....