Robin Hood made it’s appearance into theaters on May 14th, 2010 in competition with Iron Man 2. Everybody knows and loves the original Robin Hood movie, but we all are asking, “Is the new one worth the money? Does it live up to expectations?” Just keep reading and you’ll find out everything I think about this movie and whether or not to see it in theaters or wait until you can rent or buy it on DVD and BluRay.
Let me just get this out of the way first, being as I was fooled by this, so if you’re thinking of going to see Robin Hood, you may well want to know this as well. The story in this Robin Hood movie doesn’t follow the original story that we all remember from our childhood. It tries to keep the general idea the same, but instead it more portrays the path leading up to the original movie that we all know and love, meaning that it has been well set up to allow for a sequel to be released.
As far as the cast goes, the only complaints I have are that Robin tries to talk like Batman when he tries to be manly and we all know how Batman’s voice went over in his movie, so let’s just say, it’s not a highlight of this movie either. Another person that didn’t really fit too well in my mind was Friar Tuck. I really can’t pinpoint any specifics, I just didn’t like the overall character for this part, I think they could have found someone better. Then, last but not least, we have Maid Marian. Overall, there was basically nothing I liked about her in this movie. Her overall role in the film didn’t fit with what I expected in my mind and honestly, she looked much too old to play the one who is supposed to be the highlight of the film.
Graphically, Robin Hood was very well done. I really enjoy picking apart the special effects of movies and trying my best to figure out how they recreated those scenes. The color contrast rendering of the movie matches that of Gladiator, but this being said, it isn’t a good thing, in fact, it fits very well and really makes the Robin Hood movie what it is.
As far as the rating goes and what to expect if you’re considering bringing your kids along with you to see this movie, there was no swearing and no nudity involved, so there is not much of a concern in this department. If your kids are interested, I would say go ahead and bring them along. They probably won’t understand most of the storyline, but they will enjoy the action and war scenes.
Other than this, I believe there is nothing left to discuss for this review. If you are thinking about going to see Robin Hood in theaters, I would say go for it, it’s worth 10 bucks. If you’re not really interested, I would say, there’s no need to go out of your way to see it, but you may want to consider it just to kill some time. I think that’s about it, I’ll see you next week with another review!
It’s 2010 and by now, if you don’t have an iPhone, you most definitely have an iPod or Zune that you bring along everywhere you go for those moments where you just need a little music in your life. One of the main reasons why iPods were invented though, were to replace the piles of CD’s that we all have lying around and even drag around in our cars so we can listen to music while driving. The only problem with this is there usually isn’t a very good place to put your iPod in the car where it wont slide around or fall off of inside your car, so that is where an iPod dock comes in. Now, not only does this dock hold your iPod, but it enables it to charge simultaneously, while also giving you an extra USB port for another device and just encase you don’t have an auxiliary port in your car stereo, you can always use the built in FM transmitter to play your music on your iPod or iPhone through your cars stereo!
Now that I’ve gone over the practicality for one of these car docks, let me get into the details of how this gadget is constructed and everything this little guy has to offer!
Lets start out with the adjustable dock part. The overall build quality is solid and doesn’t feel like it’s going to fall apart in your hands, this thing can take a bit of a beating before it falls apart. The dock was constructed in such a way that it gives enough room to fit just about any iPod or Zune with almost any case on it in the dock without too much trouble. Granted, it is a little snug with some cases, but it saves you the hassle of having to remove your case every time you want to dock your iPod.
Next we have the FM transmitter portion of this handy gadget. Basically, this is one of the best, if not the best working car FM transmitter that I have used. There is some occasional static, but is easily self-resolved within a couple seconds. There is no need to have to find a radio station that isn’t being used, you can just send the signal over a station that is already in use and the FM transmitter will play your music right over whatever is currently being played on that station with no interference.
The other included features aren’t so major, but they do pack a large punch. For instance, on the right side of the device is an additional USB port that can charge anything that has a USB cable for it. This is by far the most useful add-on that this gadget has to offer. Nowadays everything can be charged by a USB cord and therefore, this makes this extremely practical and useful for the everyday traveler. You also have an included iPod cable out the bottom of this device for you to charge your iPod or iPhone while it is docked so you don’t have to ever worry about it running out of battery juice.
I’m just going to quickly cover the overall way this gadget does its job and then this review is all wrapped up! So, one thing you need to absolutely check before purchasing this item, is where your cigarette lighter ports or port is/are. For some cars it is really close to the steering wheel and when you plug the dock in it ends up being right behind the steering wheel and can interfere with steering or other necessary parts of the car. You should also know before purchasing this car dock that the practicality of using this dock turned sideways does not work very well. It will hold your iPod while the car is stationary, but as soon as you start to make a turn or even go over a slight bump in the road, the dock spins upside down because of the weight on the end of the dock.
Other than those things, there is really nothing else that is problematic with this car dock and it’s great that it fits iPods and Zunes with their cases on! Overall, this device is great for most people, but you just need to make sure it will work with your car, because sometimes the compatibility just isn’t practical and you will need to look into another dock that works better with your cars internal layout.
Okay, so you guys have been waiting for this review since back in December and it’s finally here! I got this for Christmas of 2009 and have been evaluating it up to this point trying to get a good feel for how I like it and how well everything works.
I’m going to start off and address the whole “Samsung clicking” issue. As far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t exist. I’ve never seen it, and it’s never happened to my TV the whole time I’ve had it. The one thing I do have to say about it is that if you do have this so called “Samsung clicking” you should make sure you have your cable box hooked up and set up correctly, because if you have not done this it could cause the box to click letting you know that something’s wrong, but it isn’t the actual TV doing the clicking.
Next up we have the picture quality. Now I couldn’t compare side by side with another LCD TV, but at the time, this TV was the top of the line model and it still shows. The picture and sound quality is crystal clear, the colors are vibrant and really pop well. The audio is sufficient, but if you really want to experience the full potential of this LCD TV, I would advise you to hook it up to some sort of sound system and then listen to how much it improves the overall experience of this television.
One thing I do want to mention about this particular Samsung LCD TV is that the menus are extremely well done. Not only are the icons crisp and clear, but they are also colorful instead of being boring and bland like other televisions on the market. The reason why I bring up the color issue is because I am an artistic person and love graphical design and like to inspect others work in such fields. Sometimes when color is added to icons, the color is too much, or is done in such a way that it just doesn’t fit, but this is not the case with the Samsung LE40B650 TV. I have no complaints whatsoever as far as the icons, menu layout, and icon designs.
Lastly we have the plugs and ports on the back of this beast. The Samsung LE40B650 has the power plug on the back left all by itself. In the middle there is a nice wire tie for keeping the wires from turning into a jumbled mess. Then in the back right there are all the ports, this LCD TV has 4 HDMI ports, 2 USB ports, 1 VGA port, Component input and outputs, an Ethernet port, and lots of RGB and additional audio video ports. This being said, there is no need to worry about a shortage of ports in the back of this television. If you run out of ports on this thing, that probably means you just spend way too much time in front of it to begin with, so for the average and even the advanced user, there are plenty of ports for anything you could think of to plug into this Samsung TV.
Overall the layout, look, and feel of this TV is great. I love the overall theme of red and black and really appreciate the glass accent with the stand. With all of this taken into consideration, I have absolutely no complaints whatsoever, I can’t even think of anything I would change on it if I could. I see absolutely no reason why not to get this TV, so if you are in the market for a new 40″ flatscreen TV, this is by far the way to go!
