The Best Toys for the Big Game
Feb. 4, 2006 — -- The big game is a big opportunity to ramp up your home theatre and get a few gizmos that will make your Super Bowl party truly super. According to the National Retail Federation, consumers will buy an estimated 1.7 million new TV sets in the weeks leading up to the big game. Another survey from the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association puts total Super Bowl spending at 5.3 billion dollars. Whether your budget is teeny-weeny or XL, here are some gadgets and high-tech devices to spruce up Super Bowl Sunday.
Wireless TV -- Sony Location-Free TV, 7 inch $800
Don't miss a second of the game (even when you are in the John).
Sony has released 2 wireless LCD TVs in a 12.1 inch and 7 inch size. Using an 802.11, or Wi-Fi network, you can roam around your home watching TV. For the big game, I'd station this TV in either the kitchen or the bathroom (but wash your hands if you move between the two).For $800 this TV does a lot more than just allow you to watch wirelessly in your own home. It does something called location shifting- basically you connect the base station to your TV source at home and you can connect the Location Free unit to the Internet anywhere in the world to access and watch the media on your home system.
Get the full tech details from www.sonystyle.com
Wireless Speakers -- Logitech Z-5450 Surround Sound Speakers, $500
Surround Sound without the hassle of wiring the back speakers.
Logitech has taken the biggest hassle of surround sound and made it simple: you don't have to run wires from your TV to the rear-channel speakers in the back of your living room. The front three speakers for this 5:1 surround sound system are traditionally wired through the system's powerful subwoofer. But the back two need only to plug into a power outlet: they receive an audio signal wirelessly. I tested these with some trepidation: to date, wireless speakers have been sub-par, but I was pleasantly surprised with their easy installation, sound quality and consistent performance without interference. One thing to check- what audio inputs and outputs do you have? Will you need a receiver to manage all your devices and input/output issues?
Check www.logitech.com for tech specs
50-inch Plasma -- Vizio P50HDM, $2500
HD-ready plasma at a reasonable price.
Vizio is a three year-old company founded by the people who built a very reputable monitor company, Princeton Graphics: they're relatively new, but run by some well-respected people in the business. Vizio is making their grab at the plasma landscape with a price-conscious big-screen display that brings quality and affordability into the same sentence. The P50HDM does not have an HD-tuner built in, it's HD-ready, but this shouldn't be a problem for the serious HD football fan. Most high-def pigskin buffs are using cable or satellite HD boxes which will flawlessly pump ABC's 720P High-Def signal right into an HD-ready screen. Vizio sells its monitors at Sam's Club and Costco.
Check out www.vinc.com for more info.
Monday Night Football Remote Control -- Excalibur, $24.99
Universal remote that looks like a football.
If you are a football fan and you need a universal remote (and if you've got a serious home theatre, you NEED a universal remote) you might as well get one that looks like a football. www.excaliburelectronics.net
Premier Football Video Games -- Madden NFL 2006, EA Sports, $30-$60
Get in the game with EA sports on the Xbox 360, PS2 and other platforms.
Real NFL players care deeply about how they are portrayed in Madden NFL 2006, it's that real. The Xbox 360 version sports the HD version of the game, but it's pretty darn compelling on the PS2 console. EA Sports has even created a simulation of the actual Super Bowl where Seattle and Pittsburgh go head to head.
www.easports.com/madden06
Ring Bottle Opener -- American Tailgater, $8.95
It's not a Super Bowl ring, but it's a lot handier.
Don't you love watching football analysts like Jimmy Johnson wave their Super Bowl rings around as they expound on a point? You may not be able to win your own Super Bowl ring, but the bottle opener ring is equally large and much handier. Just fit it over a bottle of suds, tilt your wrist down, and your beer is open. Now that's a ring!
www.americantailgater.com
The Ultimate High-Tech Couch -- Dominos Pizza, $30,000 (plus $5000 for shipping)
Never stand-up again!
The Dominos description of this thing says it all: "the Ultimate Couch is a high-end entertainment and food-and-beverage center where everything is within hairy arm's reach." Dominos surveyed 500 guys to determine what features would make up the ultimate couch. The results are a testament to sloth and gluttony: the couch features two flat-screen TVs, built-in speakers, a mini-fridge, remote-control caddy, beverage cooler, bottle opener, two pizza warmers and a host of electronics that include an Xbox with three controllers, MP3 player, cellular phone and DVD player.
Automatic Quarterback, Hammacher Schlemmer, $69
Need to work off all that Pizza you consumed while lying on the Ultimate Couch? GO LONG!
The Automatic QB throws a perfect spiral every time. How many of your friends can deliver that kind of consistency? From its fold-out tripod, the battery-operated launcher can lob a soft polyurethane foam football up to 30 yards, and adjusts between lateral passes and long, high bombs. Receive and then retrieve a few hundred balls a day, and you might get fit enough to challenge Seahawks receiver Darrell Jackson for a spot in training camp next year.
http://www.hammacher.com/publish/71360.asp