Vizio's feeling confident enough about their VF551XVT 55-inch LED-backlit TV they're showing it off against Samsung sets now (though these kind of fights are rarely fair) and offering some harder specs.

The price has creeped up $200 from what they'd announced in January to $2199, and the date's slipped a bit to the tail-end of summer: Vizio's promising late August/early September. The TV uses 960 white LEDs in 80 clusters for backlighting (vs. a tri-color or edge-lit LED setup), so we're interested to see how it'll do against some of the other affordable local-dimming TVs using white LEDs, since it's at least $200 cheaper.

In the comparison shot here, the VF551XVT (right side) is stacked against an unnamed edge-lit Samsung LED set (left side). Supposedly both have been color calibrated, though the Samsung running in "movie mode" was seriously blown out, and the Vizio is running in "home mode," so make of it what you will. (Or rather, not much.)

If you wait until December, for the same price you can get the same set running their version of Yahoo's widget platform, which has a bunch of new widgets like Rhapsody and Twitter. Amazon streaming video was up and running, though a bit slow to start—presumably it'll get better by launch.

No mention of possible delays caused by their recent import ban, but I guess we'll see when we get there. [Vizio]

Today, we've got some great deals on LCDs, if you still haven't bought a decent TV. Nothing to watch? Got you covered with great deals on Entourage and SNL. Want to get out? Free Trojans for all you thrill seekers.

Computers and Peripherals:
• 15.6" Lenovo IdeaPad Y550 Dual Core Laptop with 4GB RAM 320GB HDD for $499 plus free shipping (normally $729).
• 15.4" Toshiba Satellite L305-S5921 Dual Core Laptop for $379.99 plus free shipping (normally $500).
• 8.9" Asus Eee PC 900A Netbook with 1GB RAM and Ubuntu Linux for $179.99 plus free shipping (normally $239).
• 14.1" HP Pavilion dv4t Intel Core 2 Duo Laptop with 3GB RAM 320GB HDD and Blu-ray for $699.99 plus free shipping (normally $$999.98 - use coupon code NB2556).
• 23" Dell S2309W Widescreen LCD Monitor for $149 plus free shipping (normally $239).
• 1.5TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 Internal SATA Hard Drive for $99.99 plus free shipping (normally $139.99).
• Microsoft Rechargeable Wireless Laser Mouse 7000 for $34.99 plus free shipping (normally $64.99).
• Logitech G9 Laser Mouse for $19.95 plus free shipping (normally $99.99).
• Brother QL-570 Label Printer for $34.99 plus free shipping (normally $69).

Gaming:
• Xbox 360 White Wireless Controller for $22.90 (normally $35).
• Batman: Arkham Asylum on Xbox 360 or PS3 for $52.99 plus free shipping (normally $59.99).
• Munchables on Wii for $16.99 plus free shipping (normally $39.99).
• Warcraft III: Battlechest on PC for $19.99 (normally $39.99).
• Wii Fit Energy Pack for $4.98 plus free shipping (normally $29.99).

Home Entertainment and Movies:
• 47" LG 47LG90 1080p 120Hz LED LCD TV for $1,624.99 plus free shipping (normally $1,899).
• 46" Sony BRAVIA KDL46V4100 1080p LCD HDTV for $999 plus free shipping (normally $1,499 - use coupon code Q4W4Q0S6BQ140C).
• 40" Sony BRAVIA KDL40V4100 1080p LCD HDTV for $799.00 plus free shipping (normally $1,299 - use coupon code K9K8DQ3?R0XR3?).
• Pioneer HTS-950NXT DVD Home Theater System for $180 plus free shipping (normally $599).
• Saturday Night Live Complete 3rd Season Limited Box Set on DVD for $24 plus free shipping (normally $39.99).
• Entourage: The Complete Fifth Season on DVD for $19.99 plus free shipping (normally $39.98).

Personal Portables:
• 16GB Kingston DataTravler USB 2.0 Flash Drive for $30.79 plus free shipping (normally $41).
• Zag Invisible Shield Skins for iPhone 3G/3GS or Palm Pre for $17.47 (normally $24.95 - use coupon code iphonepalm).

Hobomodo:
• Bottle of Kiss My Face Shower/Bath Gel for $0.
• Brooks Bell Pen for $0.
• Subscription to Kiplinger's Personal Finance for $0.
• Trojan condoms for $0.

If a deal looks too good to be true, investigate the store and see if it's a good, reputable place to buy. Safe shopping!

[Thanks TechDealDigger, Fat Wallet, DealNews, GamerHotline, SlickDeals, CheapStingyBargains and TechBargains.]

It's taken a while, but Wildcharge has released iPhone and iPod touch adapters to their inductive charging system.

The soft, matte black cases wrap around your iPhone/iPod, allowing it to be charged whenever the device is placed on a WildCharger Pad. The cases run $35 a pop or you can wait until July to pick up an $80 iPhone case/Wildcharger Pad bundle. The convenience of placing my phone on the table to charge is certainly tempting, but I just hate storing my gadgets in cases. It kills the intimacy. [BW via ubergizmo]

It's taken a while, but Wildcharge has released iPhone and iPod touch adapters to their conductive charging system.

The soft, matte black cases wrap around your iPhone/iPod, allowing it to be charged whenever the device is placed on a WildCharger Pad. The cases run $35 a pop or you can wait until July to pick up an $80 iPhone case/Wildcharger Pad bundle. The convenience of placing my phone on the table to charge is certainly tempting, but I just hate storing my gadgets in cases. It kills the intimacy. [BW via ubergizmo]

For this week's Photoshop Contest, I asked you to create some video games that may have existed if game consoles had been around for hundreds of years. And man, some of these actually look pretty awesome.

First Place — Jeffer Mitchell
Second Place — Eric Benge
Third Place — Alex Roemer

Dave Zatz found the upcoming Squeezebox Touch from Logitech, a successor to the Squeezebox BOom and Squeezebox Duet from last year. Other than knowing it'll have touch and that it's coming, there's nothing else to report. [ZNF]

After years of having people load custom Linux-based firmwares onto their routers, Linksys decided to just go ahead and make a router with Linux on there from the start. Computer Science grad students are all awkwardly high fiving each other.

The guts of the machine are a 400MHz processor, 32MB RAM, and 8MB flash memory, plus two external antennas for wider coverage. You can also stream media from USB drives through the USB port to UPnP devices. It's 802.11n compliant, of course, and will retail for $120.

Main point? That it's Linux-based, so people can shove apps on there like BitTorrent downloaders and whatever else you can find that runs on Linux. [Linksys]

Even if this tent were just a tent, it's fashionable enough to seriously covet. But because it's a concept with ubertech, the tent produces enough electricity to power a small town and connects to the internet wirelessly.

Telecommunication firm Orange's latest eco tent concept exploits photovoltaic fabric to produce energy without bulky, inflexible solar panels. This power feeds gadgets that are stored in a magnetic induction pouch, and also drives a flexible LCD screen with wireless internet.

The connectivity extends beyond the tent itself, however, as SMS or RFID can be deployed at any time to light up the tent, identifying your campsite (potentially, from afar). We're also guessing that the tent would obnoxiously pulsate any time you got a call to the rhythm of your ringer (Orange, feel free to use that idea, on us).

Who knows what Orange would charge for a monthly 3G tent subscription, but if you camped a WHOLE LOT... [Orange via DVICE via Bornrich]

I own a digital frame, and I enjoy it, but I'll be the first to admit that they are not the most exciting gadgets in the world. If you are a Twitterholic, Kogan's new 8-inch frame may change all that.

That's right—it can access your Twitter, Flickr and Facebook accounts via Wi-Fi in addition to features like an 800 X 600 LCD display, the ability to email photos to and from the frame, RSS support and smart photo playlists. Personally, I think the PC and my iPhone provide all of the Twittering my fragile sanity can handle, but if you can't get enough, the Kogan frame will be available starting in July for $169 AUD ($133). [Kogan via PC Authority]

Trust us: If there's one time you can get away with a not-so-green lifestyle, it's when you're dead.

Still, this Toyota Prius Hearse plans to unleash its green yuppie fury on Japan's funeral circuit. For just $80,000 a pop, you too can ride around (rotting) in the finest of posthumous eco luxury. According to a rough translation and some metric conversion, it looks like this supersized Prius gets 52 miles per gallon. That's really pretty good for a dead person mobile. It's just too bad you won't be around to appreciate the fuel savings while giving smug looks to truck drivers at the pump. [Press Release via Japan Probe]