Surround-Sound Systems, Gaming Laptops, Inner Vision, Deals, Updates and More

This (and Next) Week on The Wirecutter: Surround-Sound Systems, Gaming Laptops, Inner Vision, Deals, Updates and More

Next Week: Surround-Sound System We spent nearly 70 hours on research, calibration, and testing (including a listening panel with 10 surround systems) to find the best surround-sound speaker system. The $1,500 Apron Audio’s Intimus 5B Harmony SD plays big, bold, beautiful audio and trounced the competition as it emits clear, intelligible dialogue at any volume. With other systems, we found ourselves struggling to discern dialogue in noisier scenes. It gives the best results for music and movies alike. —Andrew The Best Gaming Laptop A total of 130 hours of research and testing went into finding the $1,750 Asus ROG G751JT our new pick for best gaming laptop. Its build quality is better than the competition, it features a great cooling system, beautiful screen, and a comfortable keyboard. Its balance of all these crucial features makes it the best among the competition. The Best External Blu-ray Drives After 30 hours of research and tests, we have determined that the $80-$85 Samsung SE-506CB (black or white) is the best external Blu-ray drive to pair with your computer—if you need one at all. It’s the best Blu-ray drive you can get for the least amount of money, and it’s well-liked by Amazon buyers. The SE-506CB is the quietest drive we tested, and it’s conveniently thin, light, and compact. Inner Vision for the weekend of January 16, 2015 In this weekend’s edition of Inner Vision, use expiration dates to get rid of box clutter, load your dishwasher the right way, and try a simple breathing exercise to help reduce stress. The Best Deals We Can Find Because we think we can make a small difference by being picky, here are some great deals on solid pieces of gear. Updates * Fujifilm announced the X-A2 today, which we'll be checking out further when it arrives next month. [Best Affordable Mirrorless Camera] * We updated our smartwatches guide with new models introduced at CES 2015, and more comparative battery life data for each of the watches we recently tested. [The Best Smartwatch (For Now)] * Our wireless carriers guide has been updated with the latest prices and policies related to privacy, rollover data, data cap exemptions, and more. [Best Wireless Carriers] * We have a new runner-up for best budget laptop: the Acer Aspire E5. It's has double the RAM and storage as our previous runner-up, the Aspire E1, for the same price. [Best Budget Laptop] * Most of the major TV companies unveiled new models for 2015, though very few gave prices or availability more specific than some time in “spring.” But we've updated our guide with what we know so far. [Best TV] * Not much changes in these categories from year to year, but we've made a few additions to our camera cleaning gear and tripod guides to bring them up to date for 2015. * We're looking forward to getting our hands on the just-announced 1200 Mbps adapters from Netgear, D-Link, and TP-Link as soon as they're available. [Best Powerline Networking Kit] * Sennheiser introduced several new versions of our favorite wireless home theater headphones last week, while the Beyerdynamic Custom Street, a more streamlined and cheaper version of our current $300 over-ear step-down pick, is coming in March. Also on our radar: several new Bluetooth headphones from Phiaton, Polk, Sennheiser, and Urbanears. We'll be testing all of these over the next several months. [Best Wireless Home Theater Headphones, Best $300 Over-Ear Headphones, Best Bluetooth On- or Over-Ear Headphones] * We spent a little time with the new Dell XPS 13 last week, and it may end up being our new pick for best ultrabook. In the next months, we'll do in-depth testing comparing it to new models from Acer, Lenovo, and more, to find out for sure. [Best Windows Ultrabook]   Follow on Facebook Follow on Twitter Forward to a Friend Check out our sister siteThe Sweethome; it's a Wirecutter for house supplies and homewares. Notes We support the dozens of hours that go into our evaluations through a small kickback on purchases through our links. Here's how to support our writers and our work. For more on our ethics and how we work, read this. Help wanted. We have a number of open positions ranging from managing editor to researcher. [Jobs] Skip new gear if it won’t make your life better.