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By Philip Wong, CNET Asia
Apr 30, 2008

The HT-X810 is a whole new breed of sound bar that leverages on the latest advancements in wireless technologies. These enable it to "talk" to mobile devices and companion components without the dangling cords, quite unlike most of its competitors around. If you factor in its inbuilt DVD and FM radio player and have no desire to add on other decks, you'll probably be left with only power cords and an HDMI cable for the TV to deal with. Pretty neat, isn't it?

Upside: Basic functionality-wise, the new Samsung HT-X810 can be closely associated with the Philips HTS-8100. Both have an inbuilt DVD player and an auxiliary subwoofer to rock your house down. However, while the Dutch company relies on a complicated motorized sliding door for its player, it is the Korean chaebol which has gone with a simple-yet-elegant slot drive. Then there're the sensuous rounded corners against the 8100's boxy and hard edges, transparent overlay vs. silver trimmings. All in all, this isn't even a close comparison, though we feel Philips isn't shabby on its own merits.

Beyond the glamorous and pretty facade, you will also get to enjoy the conveniences brought about by two wireless technologies. First of all, there's no unsightly cable to hide with a Wi-Fi-like link between the sound bar and subwoofer. Since it's operating on 5.8GHz radio frequency, there's no line-of-sight issue and potential interference from common 2.4GHz gadgets like cordless phones. To take this concept one step further, Samsung has added Bluetooth connectivity for streaming music from cell phones, laptops, etc. as a hassle-free alternative to its hardwired USB input.

As a media hub, the HT-X810 covers quite an impressive range of disc and multimedia formats, too. Besides upscaling regular DVDs to 1080p resolution via HDMI, it also plays back the audio equivalent (DVD-Audio) plus CDs. Furthermore, you will have a choice of either CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW or DVD+R/RW to burn your MP3, WMA, JPEG, DivX and WMV compilations. For users planning to hook up their gaming consoles and settop boxes to the sound bar, routing external audio signals is adequately supported here through analog and digit optical inputs.

Downside: Browsing through the press kit, we're struggling to single out any remote references to onboard DTS and Dolby Pro Logic II audio processing. Both standard features for most home theater systems, their potential omission is definitely a setback. On the other hand, it would be near-perfect if Samsung could sweeten the deal with a couple of HDMI inputs and even switching capability. These could give the sound bar A/V receiver-oriented capabilities and elevate its overall appeal over the latest Yamaha digital sound projectors and Marantz's ES7001.

Outlook: In many ways, the Samsung HT-X810 is a very interesting 2.1 virtual surround sound system that has both the looks and strong ease of use. Its self-contained design is another strong plus for building a minimalist clutter-free home theater system, though some of its key omissions may be stumble blocks against offerings from market pioneers such as the Japanese Yamaha.

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