Now that you’ve got all of your VHS tapes either copied to your computer or onto DVD, it’s time to back all of those DVDs up. DVD Ranger copies your DVDs to your computer; your mobile device, be it iPod, iPhone, PSP, Zune and more; or over to Blu-Ray disc.

You can opt to squeeze 10 older formatted DVDs onto a single BluRay or upscale your 480i/480p DVD to 720p or 1080p HD video.

DVD-Ranger can burn your already created disk images (ISO) to SCSI/IDE/USB DVD burners and recorders. It can rip your DVDs for backing up or make a backup copy in case you have a disc that seems to be dying.

About the only downside to DVD-Ranger is that it comes in either a yearly subscription or lifetime subscription.

Buy now!
Price: yearly subscription: $39.95; lifetime subscription: $69.95
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

There are numerous portable battery backup solutions out there that come in various sizes, shapes and function. iTech makes one that falls into the ‘green’ category. How? By being rechargeable via solar energy. The SolarCharger 906 is a compact iPhone-sized (approx 4″ x 2.5″ x 0.6″) solar panel that holds 1,260mAh of power.

You can either charge up the 906 via a USB cable but of course, its star power (pardon the pun) is to be recharged via the sun’s rays. The 906 comes with a clear plastic cradle that is very securely connected and suction cups that you can use to attach it to your car’s windscreen. There’s also a car-kit.

The SolarCharger 906 has 4 blue LED lights on it that shows the degree to which it is charged up. Unfortunately, it takes over 20 hours to get fully charged up via sunlight, but iTech claims that it can keep a full charge for up to a year. So far, we’ve found that it does keep a charge for a week.

It also comes with 10 different power adapter tips including ones for LG, Nokia, Nintendo, Samsung, and Sony phones, Sony PSP and a few different USB tips (supports iPhone, iPods, Motorola and Blackberrys).

You can simultaneously charge a device while the 906 is charging via sunlight. Theoretically, you can keep the 906 running indefinitely if it gets enough sunshine.

We really liked iTech’s SolarCharger 906, but have to say that it is ideal for those folks that have their cars outside for a significant amount of time daily and use their portable devices enough to warrant an emergency backup. People that don’t fit this description may not get their money’s worth from the SolarCharger, although the 1 time you absolutely need your phone recharged, you may think just that!

Paramount may not have screened the movie to critics, but they’ve teamed up with Electronic Arts to create an ambitious accompanying game for 6 platforms, including Xbox 360, PS 2 & 3, PSP, and Nintendo Wii and DS.

You choose from one of 12 characters and work your way through storylines developed just for the game. You can even play with a friend.

Buy now!

More info from the manufacturer
Price: $29.99 – $47.99 depending on platform
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

While style is usually an Apple trait and is typically last on Microsoft’s mind, they seem to have got it right on this one – the Zune HD. This is the latest in the line of Zune players and is beautifully angular to fit in with the modern world. This new 3.3-inch OLED touchscreen Zune can browse the internet via WiFi, play movies and snag digital radio feeds – hang about, this is starting to sound like an iPod Touch (bar the design). The player is available in silver (pictured) and black.

When hooked up to the TV, playback can be produced at 720p for a superior high definition image and a hookup between the XBox Live Marketplace TV/video service has been confirmed. The limited announcement from Redmond has left many users wondering whether or not this is some sort of PSP rival and will support XBox games and is it going to develop into some sort of Zune phone? Let’s just wait for the release in the fall!

More info at Zune.net.

Sega is getting back into hardware, this time it’ll be a handheld console. Dubbed the Vision, it will play games, plus movies and music, and apparently have a camera and TV-tuner. Really…

I haven’t heard WiFi mentioned. Honestly, this needs to compete with the PSP. On the other hand, I’d love to play Sonic again.

Nero and TiVo have teamed up to create Nero LiquidTV which is software version of TiVo that runs on your PC. LiquidTV has most of the same features as a regular TiVo box plus some additional ones that you can only get on a PC. Not only can you watch shows that you recorded on your PC on your PC, but also on your TV in your home network as well. HD recording is included and you can also burn your shows to DVD or transfer to portable devices like your iPod or PSP.

Of course, you’ll need a subscription to TiVo to get the guide info. LiquidTV will be available in about 2 weeks. It will come in 2 versions: 1 is just the software that you can download for $99, and there’s also a retail package that includes a WinTV-HVR-950Q TV tuner card from Hauppauge.

TiVo has a new HD DVR box – the HD XL that boasts a capacity of 150 hours (about 1 terabyte (TB)) of High Def recording. The HD XL also sports a tri-tuner that lets you record 2 HD channels while watching a 3rd live.

As far as HD support goes, the XL supports 480i, 480p, 720p, and 1080i, as well as native and hybrid modes, and of course HDMI out.

And since you’ll need a TiVo subscription to get the channel guide info, you will get features such as being able to control your TiVo from anywhere on the Net, transfer shows between TiVos on your home network, save shows on your computer, iPod or even your PSP.

This just scratches the surface of the feature set, so be sure to check out the full list.

Gimme!

Price: $599.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Sony is adding Google search to the Playstation Portable (PSP) in the latest firmware update. Oh Google, is there nowhere you’re not helping us search?

[Buy v3.0!] [Buy v4.0!]

Update: Honestech has released v4.0 of VHS to DVD Deluxe.

If you have any kind of video collection dating back even to the 90s, then you probably have a number of VHS tapes collecting dust once you stopped using your VCR and switched to using your DVD player exclusively. Without having to go out and spend the same amount of money or more restocking your collection with DVD versions of your movies, you can obtain a hw/sw solution such as VHS to DVD 3.0 Deluxe and convert your VHS video tape collection to DVD yourself at the cost of about 4-6 movies. We tested out this product from Honest Technology (honestech) and found a very capable, complete solution that works without much fuss.

Read the rest of this entry »

Pinnacle Systems unveiled a small handheld device called the Pinnacle Video Transfer that would let consumers easily record video from a TV, DVD player, PVR, camcorder or set-top box directly to their iPod Video, iPod nano (3rd generation), Sony PSP or a USB flash drive. You can select 1 of 3 video quality modes which of course dictates how large the video will be on the destination device. On the input side, the Video Transfer has composite video, and an S-video input, and USB on the output.  Hit the jump to see more pics. Read the rest of this entry »