Post-CES

It's nice to be back home after the madness that was CES. Looking through my bag I realize I have a ton of press kits/flash drives. That means I have lots more news/posts to dish out. I'll roll them out throughout the week. Also, check out our podcast this week as we talk about what we saw at CES. In the meantime, here's are a few of my personal winners and losers of CES.

Winners

Vizio: Absolutely loved their new lineup of TVs. Their pricing is extremely aggressive. Of all the Internet-enabled TVs out there, it looks like Vizio has the best offering and the most intuitive interface. (I'm basing this on the demo we saw.) Vudu, Amazon VOD, Netflix, the list goes on and on. I also liked their Internet Tablet Alarm Clock. It has a built-in iPod dock, which is kinda cool.


Spring Designs: They claim Barnes & Noble stole their design/idea for the Nook, and by the looks of their Alex e-Book reader, it's not a far-fetched idea. Whether or not it actually happened is up to the courts to decide. Either way, the Alex reader was one of my personal favorite products at CES. Dare I say, the best e-Book reader I saw. Why? Well, it has the looks of the Nook (except smaller and lighter), yet it's faster and the bottom LCD screen can actually be used to surf the Web.




Samsung: I'm a big fan of Samsung's LCD HDTVs. Their design is flawless and the picture quality (for the most part) is solid. Their new line of CCFL-based LCD HDTVs and LED-based LCD HDTVs is gorgeous. The 9000 series features a touch-sensitive remote with a built-in LCD (think iPod touch). Pioneer used to be my "premium" line of HDTV. Sadly, they stopped manufacturing their plasmas. I think Samsung is my new Pioneer.



Sony Dash Internet Viewer: Yes, it's another alarm clock/Web tablet, but for whatever reason, I really like Sony's Dash, which runs the Chumby OS and will have access to Chumby's free apps and apps from Sony.




Losers
Asus: I've said it before and I'll say it again, I like a lot of Asus' products. But I feel like they had nothing new to show at CES. More netbooks, more net tops, etc. They invented the netbook. It's time they take it to the next step. And a tablet netbook, in my opinion, is not the next step.

Barnes & Noble Nook: My biggest personal disappointment at CES was the Nook. Amazing design. Nice display. But this e-Book reader is not intuitive at all. Not to mention it lags horribly.

Boxee: Too little too late. Also too pricey. Boxee is up against Roku and their Roku Player. They need to have better (lower) pricing. If I can get a $79 Roku box, why would I spend $200 on a Boxee Box?