I knew Optimus could transform into some groovy vehicles and even become a peripheral or cool tool every once in a while, but I had no idea that he was in the home entertainment biz as well. The Optimus Prime USB Speaker Set is a three-pound faux Transformer robotic head, with a helme which folds out to be a pair of speakers.

Word on the street is that there will also be an Ultra Magnus version. But why bother when the Opt-man is available anyway? Now, I can’t guarantee an audiophile listening experience (in all honestly, the speakers look sorta shoddy), I can very well affirm that you’ll probably be the only guy on the block listening to J-pop through the ears of a geek culture icon.

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Why venture out to the movie theater if you can bring the theater right into the comfort of your own home. Ohio man and all-around American hero Randy Murray took $80,000 and spent 8 months transforming his basement into a complete movie theater.

To get the experience just right, Murray included a full-concession display, a claw machine, an arcade game, movie posters and oh, of course all of that sound and video equipment stuff. Hit the jump for more cinematastic pics and a full list of equipment.

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Apparently, some people are still getting scammed into buying converter boxes, even as they are buying brand new digitally-correct LCD TVs. Sure, it’s fun to take advantage of old people every once in a while, but usually only when they are your Grandma and there’s a $20 bill on the line. Here’s testimonial from one such customer’s son-in-law:

They were buying a TV for a new RV and bought a DTV converter box. I told them after they got it that they shouldn’t need a converter because the TV (an LCD) was new. I unhooked the converter box and the TV found the new digital stations fine. They are in a poor reception area where they only get a couple of channels, but the digital ones were very clear.

They still don’t quite believe they don’t need the converter. I wonder how many people were over-sold the converter boxes. I did a fair amount of searching and couldn’t really find much (although there was a glut of general information) about what happens when a converter box is hooked to a new TV. I’m guessing it won’t work too great, but I’d like to see a more in depth analysis.

Either these salesmen are really uninformed or they are simply scamming old people into buying shit they don’t need, in hopes of a higher commission. Either way, get with the fucking program.

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Normally, when you think of Vizio, you think of decent plasma and LCD television sets that cost about half the price of a Sony BRAVIA. Now there’s even more incentive to run out and buy a Vizio: web apps. The company announced that it’ll be bringing Facebook, Twitter and plenty of others to its new line of Vizio XVT HDTVs. But that’s not all: Netflix, Amazon VOD, Rhapsody, Vudu, Blockbuster, Revision3, Showtime, Flickr and Pandora will all be available on said HDTV sets. That’s a huge incentive that really blurs the line between computer and TV.

You have to see the remote, though. Hit the jump to view Vizio’s new remote that has a built-in keyboard.
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Look at this fucking thing. What’s the first thing that pops in your head? If you answered “dildo“, you are so correct. Panasonic thinks that consumers want a remote that can rest on a surface like a slug. What kind of market research went into this? Single females 22 to 45? Give me a break.

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Barbie Foot is a Barbie doll-themed table football or foosball table. It’ll no doubt fit like a glove in your princess themed room. A perfect match with your Hannah Montana night light.

Just becuase the Barbie Foot is gender-aware, doesn’t mean there isn’t a dose of racism. I see a brunette Latina type Barbie, but where’s the black Barbie? You trying to say that blacks can’t play soccer? Huh? Huh?

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Next time you take a trip up to your lake house, you’ll most likely spend the first few days there waiting for the FedEx guy to arrive with your lovely new Iceberg climbing wall. Sure you just dropped $5400 on a 20-foot high climbing wall that floats in a lake, but think of the fun you’ll have when you and your pals get drunk! I don’t know. What do you think? Would you rather have this or a Sea-Doo Jet Ski?

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Back in the ’80s and ’90s, the de facto water gun was the Super Soaker. I myself had both the SS 50 and SS 100 guns, including a few extra water tanks. My friends and I would stake out my backyard, gunning for an hours-long fight to the death. Hasbro is re-releasing the original Super Soaker 50 to celebrate its 20th anniversary and for only $15 to boot. Do your kids a favor and pick one up for them. You and I both know you won’t regret it.

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Pandora is a fantastic online radio service. While I prefer Last.fm at times because they know me better, Pandora is great whenever you want to listen to similar tunes for awhile. Unfortunately, it’s web-based so if you don’t have a laptop or PC in your living room, you’re kind of out of luck. That was, until the Livio Radio came out. This thing is designed with Pandora in mind, even featuring Thumbs-up and Thumbs-down buttons for voting on tracks. It can use Ethernet or WiFi, whichever floats your boat. And at $150, it’s priced to move. Just pray that Pandora doesn’t go belly up this time next year.

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For a small fee each month, you can get Netflix to not only send DVDs to your house, but you can also stream thousands of movies via its online movie service. The Xbox 360 currently supports this feature, which no doubt pisses off most Playstation 3 owners like myself. But now, there’s a glimmer of hope.

According to the Netflix job listings, there’s a position for “Engineering Leader - Gaming Platforms.” Yeah, I know. Take it with a grain of salt, but some websites believe that this is a sign that Netflix will bring streaming video to PS3 and the Wii. The PS3 already supports Flash, though. Has anyone tried Netflix’s movie service via the web browser on the PS3?

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