New Home Theater groups from Berkline at the Market in High Point, NC

[RSH]

Folks,

Here is a little review of new groups and some others from last year, which I have had a chance to try this time at the Market in High Point, NC. Please remember, I am only sharing my opinion here...

The new groups from the last year: 45008, 45009, 45010 and 45012 (you can see them here: www.rtheaters.com/berkline

The 45008 – is basically the 090 with different armrest and back. I liked the group and find it fairly comfortable. I did not like the double consoles which to me were too low and did not provide adequate support.

The 45009 – this one has one of the most comfortable backs (I am 6’ and 185 lb for your reference). I felt that the back fitted me just like a glove. The seat was comfortable as well, but I am not a big fan of the comfort rest and prefer chaise design instead.

The 45010 – while I found that this was a pretty nice looking recliner, I did not care much about this group – it did not do anything for me.

The 45012 – now, a lot of folks will find that this group is not very attractive, maybe even ugly? I may agree with that, but oh boy, it was comfortable. In fact, I consider this group being the most comfortable of all. It felt like it swallowed me. It adjusts to you shape and surrounds you creating the felling that you are in hammock . It is the most comfortable chair, but it is for the guys who are 6’4” or taller. Unfortunately the 45” tall back will block your surround sound if you are not that tall…

The 45008, 45009 and 45010 all have hidden cup holder feature, which may be appealing to may people who do not want to see the cup holders exposed. By sliding the armrest back you can easily reveal and use the cup holders. To push the armrest back was not as convenient, but would not be a deal breaker for me.

Now, new groups for this year (I was able to take some pictures):

The 45002

It is the same chair as the 45012 but with two motors – one for the reclining of the chair itself, one for the headrest. I found this to be extremely comfortable and useful. I was able to fully recline into a horizontal position and adjust the headrest (you can see on the picture that the very left recliner had the headrest moved forward), so I felt I was lying in my bed with two pillows under my head – very nice.

The 45013

This chair was OK, not too bad, but not something I would rave about. The interesting feature was LED lighting under the chairs. The chairs had a switch built into the armrest, which will allows you to turn them on and off. They are also working on putting another switch for the lighted cup holders - smart move IMHO.

The 45014

This is a very nice chair, which is only going to be available with 2 motors - one for the chair and one for the headrest. I liked it very much, except for the fact that the back was 45” – again for the tall folks it would be a great chair. They also decided to have all black leather chairs with red stitching, and on all other colors tan stitching. I am not sure why – do not ask.


Both 45002 and 45014 groups had the chair and headrest power recline controls on the wand (you can see the remote control on the picture sitting in the cup holder where I put it) – I did not like that at all, and I expressed my not liking it to the manager who is in charge of HT groups at Berkline. They may change it and built it into the chair, but you never know.

It is not clear when the new groups start shipping, but I was told that the estimate was for July of this year.

I also spent some time with a friend of mine Cliff Adelman from the Guitammer Company. They are working on some exiting products as well. We may see in the future “wireless buttkickiers” fully built into the chairs.

Well, it was a day well worth spent.