Friday, February 18, 2005

Consumer Reports' Five-Step Guide to Buying a High-Definition Television

Sky-high costs may have scared many consumers away from large-screen high definition TVs until now, but prices have dropped sharply and the March issue of Consumer Reports says that they could hit new lows in the coming months. Even with prices falling, a big-screen TV is still a four-figure investment, and shoppers will find a host of new display technologies to consider along with a growing list of unfamiliar brands. The March issue of Consumer Reports offers a step-by-step guide to buying a high-definition television and advice on financing, warranties and installation.

The experts at Consumer Reports recommend that shoppers ask themselves these five questions when shopping for a high- definition television.

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Thursday, Feb 17, 2005

A Big LCD TV that Won't Break the Bank

HDTV has become the hot item in the consumer electronics world. The bull market on HDTVs kicked into high gear last holiday season and shows no signs of slowing. Most price/performance offerings leverage older panel technology to drive down price. Gateway attempted this strategy, with only limited success. A relative newcomer to the scene, The Syntax Group has brought its Olevia line of HDTVs to market this year, and today we take their largest LCD HDTV for a test drive.

Many 30-inch LCD HDTVs have street prices in the $2500 to $3000 range, Olevia's LT30HV checks in at around $1,700, and is one of the lowest-priced HDTV panels of this size that we've seen to date. There are now others around that price-point (Westinghouse, Albatron and ViewSonic to name a few), but this is the first offering we've seen in this price range that we'd actually want to recommend. To find out why, click on Read.

Wednesday, Feb 16, 2005

Firefly emergency cellphone for kids

We’re pretty sure within a few years nary an American adult worth their weight in salt (or soccer balls) will be satisfied until every family member has some time of cellular device, from grams and gramps to their pre-pubescent little darlings. A little less novelty and a little more sombre than the MyMo kids’ cellphone, the decidedly more advanced GSM-roaming Firefly has a screen (that’s a plus), dedicated mom and dad call buttons, a 20-number phonebook, a backpack hook, and, of course, a 911 button. Of course, we’d be a bit concerned about that 911 button getting triggered at such inopportune time as, well, any time it’s not intended, but we remain hopeful they’ve 8-12-year old-proofed it sufficiently.

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Tuesday, Feb 15, 2005

Sony SDM-HS75P and SDM-HS95P X-Brite Flat-Panel Monitors

Sony has two new LCD flat-panel monitors out in a very appealing design—I'm sure they'll be both attractive, with Sony's X-Brite screen technology, and considerably more expensive than less swanky models. Both the 17-inch SDM-HS75P and the 19-inch SDM-HS95P have a native resolution of 1280 by 1024 pixels, with an 8ms refresh for the former and a 16ms refresh time on the latter (LCD refresh determines how much 'ghosting' you'll get when watching video or playing games).

Both are available in silver or black bezels, with DVI digital video connections. The 17-inch will retail for $350, while the 19-inch will show up for $500. That's maybe a little steep, but not as bad as I was expecting, actually.

Monday, Feb 14, 2005

Mitsubishi’s PocketProjector

Maybe barely pocketable if you’re rocking the XXXL cargo pants, Mitsubishi just announced the PocketProjector, a tiny DLP projector that weighs just 14 ounces and has a resolution of 800x600 (which is plenty good for all your non-high def needs). Should be out in July with a retail price of $699.

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