Special Edition Consumer Tech for July
By Richard M. Sherwin

The Rich get Happier

A bunch of pricey but worthwhile products

Parrot’s Anafi Foldable Drone

Parrot, one of the leading drone makers for prosumer users and wealthy hobbyists, has been trying to unseat DJI as the leading luxury brand in the billion-dollar and still growing drone industry.
Parrot’s newest entry, the Anafi ($700 plus $99 for extra battery) was really fun to play with because it was light and foldable and not as intimidating as some of the larger drones we’ve used. This unit is great for pro video taking and news and marketing disciplines.

With the Hudson River and the famed New York City Highline as a backdrop, the Anafi foldable drone performed all the functions its impressive feature set claimed. The Anafi, named after a Grecian island, shoots 4K HDR videos at 100Mbps, employing 4K Cinema Resolution, for ro quality videos with a 21MP 1/2.4″ Sony® CMOS Sensor. For the experienced shooter, it has an ASPH wide-angle lens f/2.4. The professional photographers were also wowed by the more than 20-minute hang time, so it stayed up longer than most any other drone we had used. The App was also easy to run via Android or Apple.

The Best 65 inch or more TVs

LG OLED65C8PUA TV

We visited a lawyer friend who had a several rooms in his luxury condo designed specifically to include large screen TVs. He split his den, living room and bedroom with different brands. This segment of TV making, used to be dominated by Samsung, but now two other manufacturers have surpassed the venerable Korean giant with OLED screens arguably better quality, better features and even with different viewing angles and different content exceeded Samsung. If you can afford that level of television, the following will not disappoint no matter what you are watching. But remember even if you can afford an 80 inch TV most experts recommend if you have a 60-inch screen, you’d want to sit at least 96 inches (or 8 feet) away and commensurately further away as your screen size goes up.

Nearly every brand now makes the large screen TVs in Ultra-high definition (UHD) TVs, also called 4K TVs, have screen resolutions of 3840×2160. This translates to 8 million pixels, or almost four times the number of individual pixels as an HD set. The higher amount or of pixels in Ultra HD sets makes them capable of greater picture clarity. The benefits of a UHD TV are easily appreciated screen sizes of 55 inches or more or when you’d like to sit closer to the TV than you could with a 1080p set .
In the den our lawyer friend had the LG OLED 65 inch C8PUA model which we had loved since its introduction. This $3,500 unit has 2160p resolution, four HDMI inputs, no component-video inputs, (a slight minus if you have a video player that requires component.) The LG 65 inch TV also has three USB ports. The LG proprietary “Smart TV” does require smart phone or tablet to enjoy all the features, but the bottom line is that this TV’s viewing experience was superior to almost anything we’ve seen this year. THE LG 65 also has HDR (High Dynamic Range), which boosts a TV’s brightness, contrast, and depth of color, making the pictures on the screen look more like real life.

Sony Bravia XBR-65A1E TV

In the Lawyer’s oversized bedroom was the Sony Bravia XBR-651E model, which is just about equal to LG in a luxury TV viewing experience,

With pretty much the same specs as the LG, we thought Sony’s model might have had slightly sharper defined dark scenes. Sony was one of the first manufacturers to include HDR in their higher end sets and their proficiency in this area is easy to see. They have a few models in this category, but double check the date on the back of the serial number as their 2018 models (same spec) seem to have a brighter bright and darker dark than the 2017 models.

The Rich on a budget

In the lawyer’s seemingly endless living room/great room was a Smart TV with nearly as good a picture as the LG or Sony Bravia, but costs about half the price. The Hisense H9E Plus ULED™ 4K Smart TV Series 65 inch TV which features the Google assistant built in. Like the Sony, the Hisense has a sleek, bezel-less design. The voice controlled TV using Android TV offers users a wide variety of content including Google Play Movies, YouTube and over 3,000 Google Play apps built for the big screen.
The H9E Plus ULED™4K Smart TV Series includes proprietary ULED™ technology and premium features like Dolby Vision HDR*, HDR 10, Wide Color Gamut, Motion Rate 240, Local Dimming and room-filling natural sound by Harman/Kardon®. Awarded over 20 patents, Hisense’s ULED™ technology offers better dynamic range and perception of black and white while enhancing color, contrast, black level, brightness and smooth motion. The 65 inch model runs around $1100, but the 55 inch is about $550 at Walmart.

Cut Cable With An Indoor-Outdoor Antenna

Ok we’ve touted the $15 antennas for those just wanting their local TV stations and a few UHS stations that are available with analog to digital conversion. But when we got to use the Antop AT-400BV combination indoor-outdoor unit and tried it in our forest laden model home, far from any terrestrial signals, it was well worth the price of around $175.
•Its UV coating, weather resistant finish and creative design make the AT-400BV perfect for easy home exterior installation on a wall, roof or balcony. It is also suitable for indoor use in an attic or placed on a table top.
•4G LTE Filter: ANTOP was the first antenna manufacturer to include a built-in filter to block unwanted 3G and 4G signals from mobile devices and wireless networks to ensure a noise-free digital TV reception. ANTOP has a Smart Pass Amplifier Technology, with an all-in-one design that allows for an easier connection and more possibilities in receiving short and long range signals. HDTV, 1080P TV, and 4K ULTRA HD compatible. Coaxial cable included.

https://www.antopusa.com/antop-videos

LG’S Wi-Fi based Steam Clothing Care Styler

Refresh any garment in minutes with LG’s much talked out Steam Clothing care system. So if you can afford one (around $1500), they work really well. The LG Styler System is designed to save you money and time by smoothing out wrinkles and eliminating odor, while its cool sleek design can be like a new object de art for many homes. The LG’s moving hanger helps to smooth out your clothing with 220 revolutions a minute and in the process can eliminate odors. Now you can store clothing and other items for east freshening at any time

The Be-All and End-All of Laptops

Yes you can buy a very serviceable, very fast, very light Laptop from Acer or Asus for under $500, but what if you really want the BMW or Mercedes of laptops?
The ultimate laptop for some may just be the incredibly powerful and meticulously crafted, Microsoft Surface Book, which some claim out shined even Apple in laptop design. The detachable 13.5“ PixelSense™ Display is optimized for Pen and touch. With the full power of a high performance laptop and the versatility of a tablet, Surface Book gives you everything you need to work with the most sophisticated and general use software too, anywhere you want. Priced around $2,400, the Microsoft Surface Book 2 15″ Silver 1TB i7 Laptop Computer – FVH-00001 just might the venerable Microsoft’s first hardware hit in a while.

Apple’s MacBook Pro 15-inch

Not to be outdone by its hated rival, Apple’s MacBook Pro 15-inch with Touch Bar MPTU2LL/A computer is still the choice for the Mercedes-BMW demographic. Priced around $2,400, the 15.4-inch laptop using the newest macOS has an Intel Core i7 2.8GHz processor, 16GB of memory, AMD Radeon Pro 555/Intel HD Graphics 630 graphics, and a 256GB solid state drive.
The new MacBook features the Touch Bar, which displays multi-touch menus that change according to which program is running. It has Touch ID, which uses your fingerprint to quickly unlock your account or make purchases with Apple Pay. Its excellent screen shows accurate colors and has little glare. As for its design, it’s still cool but Apple’s rivals have finally caught up. And if you thought that Apple might finally give in to the complaints about lacking a DVD drive, there’s still no optical drive like a CD or DVD reader, so you’ll have to buy an external drive if you need one. There is also no memory-card reader, so you’ll need to buy an external reader or connect your digital camera directly to this laptop to transfer photos. Ugh!

The HP Spectre 15-BL112DX

The HP Spectre 15-BL112DX x360 is considered by business experts to be one of the fastest laptops around. You don’t have to trust CNET or Consumer Reports testing, just go to a retail store and try one. If you are into heavy video editing or complex digital photography or even moderate gaming, The HP Spectre is for you. Yes, HP, whose hybrid laptops are not so easy to convert between Laptop, Tablet, tent and stand modes now converts over it simply and quickly for anyone. If you like touch screen manipulations, it does a terrific job of streaming videos or displaying pictures in its 3840 x 2160 display with wide viewing angles. And, like we said a few years ago, the built-in speakers are decent, its internal audio specs using headphones or higher end blue tooth speakers are better. Like its predecessor, which we praised, it has about 11 hours of battery life without needing a charge. A 15.6-inch convertible laptop tested with Windows 10 Home includes an Intel Core i7-8550U 1.8GHz processor, 16GB of memory, Nvidia GeForce MX150/Intel UHD Graphics 620 graphics, a touchscreen, and a 512GB solid state drive.

Lenovo 720S-15IKB

Another higher end laptop without an optical drive, but whose performance is unquestionably ranked as a “best buy” by almost every recognized expert, is the Lenovo 720S-15IKB computer. Super-fast for home and work chores, it will match even gaming machines for many system-bending games. A long battery life even under heavy workloads or gaming, it comes with a fingerprint reader and a standard 512GB solid state drive. An unusual feature is that it has a USB sleep and charge for charging devices while in sleep mode.

Can you hear this?

Lots of companies claim to be the BMW of their niche. Bose is still one of those. The venerable audio products makers is now available at mass market stores at competitive prices. The Bose Sound Touch 300 Soundbar (around $700) is not the priciest product in the late Dr. Bose line of high end audio products, but its deep base reminds you of all the original base based Bose speakers but adds next gen audio technology to give the device a full room sound in a slim design. As usual Bose offers Custom drivers, proprietary QuietPort and PhaseGuide technology … and as its new president said recently, “the feeling of hearing sounds where there are no speakers.”

Does it look like the new sound bars from LG, Sony or Samsung? Possibly. But its glass top and redesigned grille do have that Bose touch. Another one of the Bose higher priced legacy products is its speakers. Yes you can buy a good to great sound systems from quite a few high end manufacturers, but some of the top audiophiles chose the Bose 650 Home Entertainment system ($4,000) as the best all-in-one surround sound system in its category. No longer big and bulky like previous Bose systems, allegedly over 30 designers and engineers collaborated to create the tiny OmniJewel® speakers. These satellite speakers are made from space age aluminum, and each one projects detailed sound in an omnidirectional, 360-degree pattern. The result for those who can afford it, is more rotating surround sound that will make your music better and maybe even your movies, too.

Safety Storage Sensibility and a lot of Cents

Arriving soon is Amber, half a terabyte of backup storage for your business files, digital photos, videos, movies and pictures. Other backup systems combine hardware and use a cloud based monthly site to protect your digital valuables. Those combo products often rely on third party sites and don’t make it easy to go and forth between your hardware and cloud.

In many cases, you are also paying a monthly surcharge for many features. But a Silicon Valley company dubbed Amber is introducing a Personal Hybrid Cloud which should be ideal for consumers. It’s small and medium sized businesses in one cool looking device. With Amber, you have complete control of your digital life and no longer have to entrust third parties with your data. Amber’s LiFE companion app for iOS and Android/MacOS and Windows lets you effortlessly access and share your files, photos, videos, music, and memories from anywhere. With Amber, your digital memories are in sync, secure and always accessible. Plus, data is stored in its full resolution with no subscription fees required.

Features of the LiFE app include camera roll auto backup function, facial search, video streaming/viewing, TV casting, remote share and access, file/folder explorer, and multi-device file synchronization.
Amber offers Data-at-Rest storage encryption and Secure Data Transfer (TLS/SSL) with Secure Firewall protection. To further protect data and enhance in-home streaming experience, Amber comes equipped with a built-in AC2600 Router that supports MU-MIMO and Beam Forming technology so everyone on the network can enjoy smooth video streaming and sharing – without reducing bandwidth quality. Amber’s Personal Hybrid Cloud is used only to provide . Amber retails for $549 and is available for preorder with early bird pricing incentives at www.myamberlife.com. Amber will begin first shipments in early Q4 – ahead of the holidays. And if you put in your order now you, Amber will cost under $400.

Look at this spot next week for our picks for the best buys in Tablets, Mobile Phones and hybrid mobile devices.