Filed under: Gaming
It looks like a Best Buy in Marina, California was a little confused about what “floor model” meant and accidentally put a boxed 360 version of Rock Band out for sale instead of setting it up as a demo unit — and the eagle-eyed Tim Menz managed to spot the oversize box poking out of the Guitar Hero 3 display and “casually” purchase it. Apparently the UPC was already in the system but didn’t raise any flags when it rang up for $169. Tim didn’t bother with any of that silly rock music nonsense and skipped straight to selling out on eBay, but pulled the auction when EA called him and politely asked him to return the kit to the store. He hasn’t done that yet, since it’s a little unclear whether Tim got a full copy or just an in-store demo — anyone out there know the answer?
Update: Tim got back to us and says it is in fact the demo, but he’s put it back on eBay for all you desperate to rock.
Update 2: Tim just let us know that Best Buy is now offering him a full refund plus a $100 gift card — looks like Big Blue wants their toys back.
[Thanks, Thomas]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Filed under: Features, Portable Audio, Portable Video
Yeah, we already got our P2 touching on back in those heady days of August, and we even saw this sucker unboxed in September, but now Samsung has made everything official and thrust it into some impenetrable plastic packaging for our own unboxing pleasure. Seriously, this thermoformed plastic was some of the worst we’ve ever encountered, and due to a sudden absence of scissors at the Engadget HQ, we were literally risking life and limb to get this thing open. Once we broke in, it was smooth sailing. The device is pretty slick, and Samsung seems to have tweaked the touch sensitivity a bit more to our liking. The default scrolling menu is still pretty bad, but it’s easy to switch to a basic grid interface. The preloaded songs were of course smooth jazz bad techno, but it was no trouble at all getting some of our Rhapsody tunes onto the device — no installation necessary, we just plugged it in and it worked, and we got similar results with Windows Media Center for some TV transfers. It’s hard to get used to that little round dot at the bottom of the player not being a button, but the screen controls are easy enough, and the side buttons are a nice touch for when you’re operating the device without looking. The included headphones are naturally horrible, but you’re going to be picking up some stereo Bluetooth headphones for this one anyways, right?
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Wireless
As if the beginning of November wasn’t reminder enough that CES 2008 is a scant two months away, we also happened to get greeted by our press badge and associated admission tickets when we opened the mailbox today. Normally we’d just toss the envelope aside and pretend that our week of living hell wasn’t nearly upon us, but with this year’s badges sporting an unusual high-tech attachment, we thought we’d snap a few pics before tucking it away. As you can see, the RFID tag attached to the back of our paper badge is no thicker than than the badge itself, with the circuitry actually printed onto an identical piece of card stock. Be sure to check out a few more shots after the break, and tune in for all the excitement when we stick a bunch of these tags onto our intern and trick the Man at CEA into thinking that Team Engadget roams the show floor as an intimidating pack from dawn till dusk.
Continue reading Hands-on with the CES 2008 RFID badge
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Audio
UK-based CyrusLink has released a few iPod speaker systems, but we hadn’t heard anything about the outfit’s latest effort, the LinkMini Two, until the crew at ShinyShiny spotted its nondescript Amazon page. Featuring a 10-watt sub and two five-watt satellites with aluminum cones, the Two probably won’t win any design awards any time soon, but Cyrus is known for solid audio and the £61 ($126) pricetag seems fairly reasonable. Available now to our British friends, but there’s no word if we’ll see this bad boy in the States.
[Via Shiny Shiny]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Filed under: Laptops
We’ve already seen Laptop Mag’s breathless review of Asus’ diminutive Eee PC, but now that the thing is finally trickling out to the masses, it’s time to check in with the best of the rest — and it seems like the tiny wonder is living up to all that advance hype. CNET UK found the Eee to be “stonking value for money,” complaining only that the keyboard is slightly cramped — an overall sentiment echoed by PC Magazine, which called the little bugger a “tremendous bargain for people with general-purpose computing needs who don’t plan on running any sophisticated software.” TrustedReviews was even more positive, saying the keyboard is fine and that the Eee is overall “refreshingly innovative and scandalously cheap.” On top of all this praise, NotebookReview has already started hacking away at the Eee and characterized their experiences as demonstrating a “ton of potential.” Cheap, fun, and versatile: it certainly seems like Asus has a winner on its hands here — now if only they’d ship a few more of ‘em.
Read — CNET (7.5 out of 10: “… a near perfect choice for a highly portable second or backup laptop.”)
Read — PC Magazine (4 out of 5: “Ample software and a substantial feature set that’s well worth the money”)
Read — TrustedReviews (9 out of 10: “The natural successor to likes of the Psion Series 5 and netBook.”
Read — NotebookReview Eee PC Tweak Guide (“This little machine was as powerful as notebooks four to five times its price.”)
[Thanks, Corinne and Jerry]
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
