Re: Live 2000 review

["Graham Howe" <graham@xxxxxxx>]

-------------------------- eGroups Sponsor -------------------------~-~>
Free @Backup service!  Click here for your free trial of @Backup.
@Backup is the most convenient way to securely protect and access
your files online.  Try it now and receive 300 MyPoints.
http://click.egroups.com/1/6348/9/_/2065/_/969654529/
---------------------------------------------------------------------_->

I have to agree, the show was very poor from the point of view of new
technology. Almost everything on display is readily available on the high
street. There were an huge number of car audio systems that seemed
particularly pointless along with all the mobile phone stands. The only
thing I was impressed by was the shear number of LCD and Plasma displays
being used as part of the stands. It seemed that whatever the product being
promoted, it was surrounded by plasma displays. I did take some time out
and
listen to the What HiFi demo of THX EX which was quite impressive, but it
was in a small sound proof room with broken air conditioning and a dozen
sweaty enthusiasts.

I did learn one thing that I will be acting upon, apparently the two way
radios sold in the US and Canada use a frequency of 461 whereas we use 446.
Whilst it is illegal to use 446 in north America, it is legal to use 461
here until 2003, so I will now order a pair of radios from the US and use
them for three years.

I know Andy Powell was interested in the Imerge music storage system and
the
Habitek cordless speaker lamps. I got leaflets on both of these which I can
send to anyone who is interested. My impressions are that the speakers in
the lamps seemed pretty poor quality and I personally didn't really like
the
look of the lamps which are only available in on size/shape with a choice
of
patterns. The Imerge system was interesting. It appears to be a computer
with up to four sound cards and capacity for a large number of CD/MP3
files,
uses a pronto as a controller and allows audio to be controlled and receive
in up to four rooms. Sounds OK so far, but then I asked a few more
questions. The unit is £3000, on top of that you will need to supply a
multi-zone amp, provide IR distribution for control (and a Pronto or
similar). It seems that all you get for the money is a large capacity PC,
with a smart piece of software and four sound cards in a nice case. I
really
do get the impression that audio distribution is one of the biggest rip
offs
around at the moment.

Anyway, these were my thoughts.

Regards

Graham
----- Original Message -----
From: "Patrick Lidstone" <patrick@xxxxxxx>
To: <ukha_d@xxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, September 22, 2000 7:37 PM
Subject: [ukha_d] Live 2000 review


>
> Just got back from Live 2000. Probably the most disappointing
> show I have ever been to. Save your money and wander down
> the High Street instead. If you're hoping to see the latest cutting
> edge technology and upcoming products (a la CeBit), you will be
> sorely disappointed.
>
> I'll be writing to ask for my money back -  there were so few
> exhibitors that it took less than an hour to cover the lot. The show
> was dominated by mobile phone operators, Sony, Yamaha, and
> ISPs such as Freeserve.
>
> Sadly, no sexy new must have gadgets on display -- and less
> than nothing home automated related (unless you count an
> internet enabled microwave and fridge). The only saving grace:
> Some very cool Sharp LCD based  TV's from 12" to 28", and
the
> new Ericsson R380 phone-cum-organiser.
>
> Patrick
>
>
>
>
>
>