Toshiba 26LV610U 26-Inch 720p LCD TV with Built in DVD Player, Black Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Like all Toshiba TV's, the picture quality is top-notch. I compared this TV to a Samsung of similar size. Toshiba's color was a tad better than Samsung, but the Samsung was excellent also. Built in DVD player is a plus when space is limited for a separate player. We use this TV in our bedroom and the 26" size is perfect, almost bought Toshiba's similiar TV in 22" size, glad I picked went for the 26", bigger is always better...
Two gripes, you cannot tilt the TV downward. We have ours on a 5 drawer dresser and we have to look up to watch the TV when laying down in bed. If you do not tilt the TV downward the picture quality goes away, and I mean away, so dark you can't even watch it. I made a wedge out of some molding I had laying around to raise the rear of the TV so it tilts down. No having the screen tilt is a big mistake by Toshiba, the smaller screens sizes of this similar TV DO tilt, I cannot see why Toshiba did not use the same tilt feature in the 26" model. Very bad design for Toshiba on this one. The other gripe is the sound amplifier could be a tad stronger if the TV is used in a room other than a bedroom. The best bet would be a set of amplified speakers if the TV is used in a noisey enviroment. Yes I know you shouldn't have to go out and buy external speakers, but this is a common problem with ALL flat screen LCD TV's, there is not enough room for quality speakers in the thin case design.
Overall this a great TV for picture quality and the built in DVD player is a plus.
To solve the tilting problem, I would suggest mounting the TV on a wall with a wall mount that will enable you to tilt the TV to any desired position. I am thinking of doing that myself.
I would highly recommend this TV/DVD combo.
Additional comment: Wall mounting was simple and easy, but you do need 2 people of course to do this safely. Find at least one stud in your wall, the spacing of the mount does not allow you to screw the mount into two studs of course. Use winged Toggle Bolts for the side without the stud if mounting on sheet rock with a hollow wall behind the sheet rock. If stud mounting is not acceptable, the use of the winged Toggle Bolts can be used to attach the mount to the wall. Make sure your mount has full tilt capabilites of many degrees.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Toshiba 26LV610U 26-Inch 720p LCD TV with Built in DVD Player, Black

26" LCD TV with Built in DVD Player

Buy cheap Toshiba 26LV610U 26-Inch 720p LCD TV with Built in DVD Player, Black now.

Sony KDL-40V4150 - 40" BRAVIA LCD TV - widescreen - 1080p (FullHD) - HDTV - gloss piano black Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I bought the Sony KDL-40v4150 around 10/01/08 for around $950.00 which was part of a package deal (TV, Blue ray DVD, and theater system). The whole package cost about $1399.
To setup the TV was simple. I bought the HDMI cables for under $5.00 (6 foot) from [...].
The picture is excellent and the sound is good (without the theater system). All LCD TV's have only two small speakers so do not expect too much from them. However, if you connect the LCD TV to a sound system- WOW. The sound is GREAT!
I bought the package from PC Richards. They wanted me to buy the HDMI cables for $79- ya right. Do not be fooled by the sale pitch that all stores will give you. Buy the HDMI cables from [...].

Also- to set up the Sony LCD TV with all of the listed (TV, Blue ray DVD, and theater system) will take a little more time. However, the directions are clear and easy to read.
Lastly- the Sony KDL-40v4150 is a new model but is the same as the KDL-40v4100. I do not think there are many differences but the KDL-40v4150 has a 18 month war. the KDL-40v4100 has 12 months.
Overall- you get what you pay for. I have had Sony products before and never had any problems. This LCD TV looks to have a solid built but is light enough to move around.
Again- the picture quality is really nice and even better with HD channels and really great with the Blue ray DVD player.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Sony KDL-40V4150 - 40" BRAVIA LCD TV - widescreen - 1080p (FullHD) - HDTV - gloss piano black

Sony KDL40V4150 - Get Motionflow Full HD 1080p with HDTV KDL-40V4150 from Sony BRAVIA V-Series to deliver 60HZ state-of-art technique for a lucid picture quality when sweeping pans. In addition, DMeX feature gets you to increase your HDTV's capacity with elective BRAVIA Link modules, & elite Xross Media Bar (XMB) interface allows you to navigate across the settings easily.

Buy cheap Sony KDL-40V4150 - 40" BRAVIA LCD TV - widescreen - 1080p (FullHD) - HDTV - gloss piano black now.

Dish Network 612 Dual Tuner Hd DVR Receiver Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This thing puts out more heat than you can imagine. And it has a fan constantly running to keep it "cool". Forget having a quiet living room. This thing is far out the worst piece of AV equipment I have ever owned. Did I mention when you turn it "off" all it does is turn the front panel LEDs off. The fan is still going, the power is still being used, the heat is still there.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Dish Network 612 Dual Tuner Hd DVR Receiver

See TV like never before, and never miss your favorite shows with this advanced high-definition DVR receiver. It features cutting-edge MPEG-4 technology and boasts a powerful hard drivethat lets you record up to 200 hours of standard-definition and up to 30 hours of high-definition TV (or a combination of both.) The integrated DVR features ensure you never miss a moment: pause any programming, including live TV, create instant replays or skip through recorded programs with the touch of one button.One of Our Best HD DVRsAvailable Today? Watch a program while recording anotherprogram, or record two live programs whilewatching a pre-recorded program? Record up to 200 hours of standard-definition (SD), up to 30 hours of high-definition (HD) entertainment or a combination of the two1? View and record HD over-the-air digitalbroadcasts2? Supports Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound? Convenient On-Screen Caller ID3 with call history? Widescreen Electronic Program Guide with easy search features? DishHOME Interactive TV for watching six screens at once and on-demand entertainment, games, shopping, news, sports, weather and customer serviceSINGLETUNERDUAL TUNERSINGLETUNERSINGLETUNERHDTVDVRDVRDVRDVRSINGLETUNERDUAL TUNERSINGLETUNERSINGLETUNERHDTVDVRDVRDVRDVRPhoto by Ross Hoekman

Buy cheap Dish Network 612 Dual Tuner Hd DVR Receiver now.

ADVANCED HIGH SPEED DIGITAL 5 FT HDMI to MINI HDMI HIGH DEFINITION DIGITAL INTERCONNECT VIDEO CABLE Supports: 1440p,1080p,1080i,720p,480p, HDMI Category 2 Certified. Supports up to 7.1 Dolby Digital Audio. (Replaces Any HDMI Type C to Type A Cable including Sony's VMC15MHD, Canon HTC-100, Panasonic RP-CDHM15-K) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)bought this cable for my sony camcorder and it did not work. Tried to contact mobileexcess and got a response but they did not follow up to give me an RMA. When I emailed again I received mail back saying not a good address. So I am stuck with a bad cable

Click Here to see more reviews about: ADVANCED HIGH SPEED DIGITAL 5 FT HDMI to MINI HDMI HIGH DEFINITION DIGITAL INTERCONNECT VIDEO CABLE Supports: 1440p,1080p,1080i,720p,480p, HDMI Category 2 Certified. Supports up to 7.1 Dolby Digital Audio. (Replaces Any HDMI Type C to Type A Cable including Sony's VMC15MHD, Canon HTC-100, Panasonic RP-CDHM15-K)

Micro-HDMI Male to HDMI Male Cable: 5 ft. Gold-Plated digital HDMI to Mini video & audio connection from your digital camera or camcorder to your HDTV or PC. Camcorder or Digital camera must have HDMI micro port for cable to be compatible.

Get 90% OFF

Buy cheap ADVANCED HIGH SPEED DIGITAL 5 FT HDMI to MINI HDMI HIGH DEFINITION DIGITAL INTERCONNECT VIDEO CABLE Supports: 1440p,1080p,1080i,720p,480p, HDMI Category 2 Certified. Supports up to 7.1 Dolby Digital Audio. (Replaces Any HDMI Type C to Type A Cable including Sony's VMC15MHD, Canon HTC-100, Panasonic RP-CDHM15-K) now.

Insignia NS-2BRDVD - Blu-ray disc player - upscaling Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I purchased this unit used to have a Blu-Ray player and an upscale DVD player. The first movie I put in the system told me that I may have to upgrade my firmware in order to play the new content. For giggles, I went to the Insignia Website and downloaded the latest firmware, created a CD and within just a few minutes had the unit working.
It is not the fastest Blu-Ray available of course, but it works great, sounds great through the optical port and is overall a great deal if you can find it for about $100 used or $150 new. Anything over that cost you can probably find a newer, faster version. Overall, I recommend this purchase to anyone looking to get into the Blu-Ray game for $100. Hope this helps.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Insignia NS-2BRDVD - Blu-ray disc player - upscaling

Enjoy high-definition brilliance from all your movies with this Blu-ray Disc player that supports 1080p upconversion and features Dolby Digital and DTS decoders for enhanced audio performance.

Buy cheap Insignia NS-2BRDVD - Blu-ray disc player - upscaling now.

Hauppauge 1340 MediaMVP-HD Digital Media Player Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)For the price paid (less than $75), it's not half bad. I connected it to my LAN and HDTV, configured for DHCP, and was easily able to detect my Ubuntu Linux based Mediatomb server.
When I attempted playback of various media, I wasn't able to get sound over HDMI. I then tried component video (YPbPr) successfully. I went back to HDMI, lowered the bit rate for the sound, and had it up and running fine (including 720p .MKV playback).
From time-to-time the screen goes blank when you've been wandering around in the menus for too long and as of now, I have not been able to make use of the USB port (always reads folder empty no matter what's connected). I have a trouble ticket in with Hauppauge, will update with results.
Pros:
Low price
Played every video format I threw at it
1080p HDMI Output
Decent WAF (Wife Approval Factor)
Instinctive remote control (could be better)
Intuitive on-screen menus
Easy network setup
Automatic video setup built into the software
Cons:
Unit itself could look better
OSD needs polishing: speed, smoothness, fonts are big & blocky (can't really complain for the price)
Has to reboot after some setting changes
Screen goes blank every now and again while in the menu system
No automatic audio setupConclusion:
Setup could have gone more smoothly. For the problem I had with sound over HDMI, there was nothing in the manual, on the website, or in any of the forums that gave me any insight on this problem. I literally stumbled onto the fix. The problem was likely due to the limitations of my HDTV, but the average consumer might not catch that. Although it's not important to my intended application, I'm still waiting on an answer for my USB port issue. All-in-all, for what I purchased it for, (multi-format Upnp/DLNA player w/ HDMI output) it's not horrible when you take into consideration that other comparable consumer products cost anywhere from $30 to $125 more and a custom-built PC with an HDMI output could cost upwards of $400 to $500 at a minimum.Update (12/20/2010):
I've not heard anything beyond the initial response (addressing my already resolved audio over HDMI issue) from Hauppauge support. I've also discovered that the MediaMVP-HD cannot play OGM video. The format is summarily ignored by the media browser (as in doesn't even show up as unknown). Although it's not advertised as one of the supported formats, I'm still disappointed. As for .MKV playback, if you have an MKV video with multiple audio tracks, there's no way to switch betewwn the two tracks. I also contacted Hauppauge about this and have gotten no answer. Prehaps I'll have better luck after the holidays.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Hauppauge 1340 MediaMVP-HD Digital Media Player

The Hauppauge MediaMVP-HD makes it easy to enjoy your favorite digital videos, music, and photos, at up to 1080p resolution, on your HDTV. The MediaMVP-HD plays digital content from a Windows PC or a USB drive. When connected to a PC, the MediaMVP-HD uses your existing local area network (wired) connection to play videos, music, and display digital pictures on your HDTV.In both cases, you can enjoy digital video recordings, photo slideshows, plus your MP3 music collection--all through the high-definition picture and superior sound of your home television. And for the ultimate, customized home media system network,you can connect up to 12 MediaMVP-HDs, each to a separate TV set, giving you practically unlimited play and record options.
MediaMVP-HDDigital Media PlayerAt a Glance:

Get 9% OFF

Buy cheap Hauppauge 1340 MediaMVP-HD Digital Media Player now.

Samsung SyncMaster 216BW 21.6-inch LCD Monitor Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)A lot of desktop real estate at an incredibly affordable price and it looks classy too.
This is not a technical review of the product (incidentally there is very little of it at present on the internet) but wanted to share some thoughts.
I am sure like many who are considering an upgrade to their current monitor(s) will quickly find that the 22" LCD widescreen product class currently represents the best value for money. Going to a 24"+ the prices double and the smaller 19 or 20" seem to be around the same price point. Simply from that it is a no brainer that my options will be in this range. On that basis I have been researching various 22" monitors for a couple of months. I initially narrowed it down to the Acer AL2223WD (since I have an Acer already and has been completely reliable). In doing more research the Samsung SyncMaster 226BW came on top for 2 reasons. There appears to be a general consensus that the Samsung monitors are well regarded and secondly I preferred the styling of the monitor, although it came at a 25% premium over the Acer. So I have been in a holding pattern for the past couple of months to see if there would be significant movement (down) in price until I spotted the Samsung SyncMaster 216BW (released in early June 2007). At the same price point as the Acer, and only 0.4" (1 cm) smaller than the 226BW whilst still the same resolution of 1680 x 1050 the choice became clear. So I took the plunge.
As background, I was upgrading from a 17" widescreen ACER LCD (2003) and an aging SONY 15" LCD (2001), powered by a Radeon 9550. For most part the monitors were used for office work, internet browsing and watching movies. I am not a gamer so the emphasis on the response time wasn't a real concern for me. I unpacked and installed the monitor with relative ease. It really does dwarf my old monitors. I can now easily fit 2 Letter or A4 documents (full size) side by side. The monitor stand that comes with it doesn't look particularly flexible, thought I don't really have a view as I have attached the monitor to my Ergotron LX Desk Arm.
It comes with a thin manual, CD, analogue cable, DVI cable and a power cord. The power cord plugs straight into the monitor as oppose to an external box. Power input range from 100-240V, 50/60Hz, 1.0A.
When I first powered it on it was incredibly bright (Brightness on full setting of 100). With the MagicBright options I quickly changed it to the "Internet" setting which made it much easier on the eyes. There are no "dead pixels" from what I can tell which is a great relief (an irrational fear of mine with buying LCDs).
Some other points you may want to note when you do your own research.
- The 5ms response time is a Grey to Grey rating rather than a Black to Black. The 226BW quote a 2ms G-to-G.
- Also appears under the model number of SyncMaster 223BW as far as I can tell (see the Samsumg User Guide download)
- It is just a classy monitor without the other frills like speakers or USB ports
- An additional remark regarding viewing angles (having used it for a few weeks now). The Horizontal (left right) viewing angles is nothing to write home about but is completely acceptable for a computer monitor. However the Vertical (up down) viewing angle is quite poor. Not normally an issue unless you plan to use the monitor in PORTRAIT mode (i.e. rotated by 90 degrees.) If you do so then plan to use the screen dead on, otherwise its not particularly good.
Overall I am very satisfied with the monitor and hope to get many years to viewing pleasure. No issues with recommending it to anyone else who is considering one.
Update: Having used it daily for a month now, still maintain my recommendations above.
Update (Sept 07): In regards to the DVI vs Analogue cable question. Technically the DVI connection should be better, and maybe psychologically as well. Personally I have two side by side (one with DVI, other Analogue cable) which I use every day and frankly I cannot see the difference at all on every day use applications.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Samsung SyncMaster 216BW 21.6-inch LCD Monitor

Syncmaster 216bw monitor 23.9 x 6.2 x 19.2 21.6 3000:1 5ms 300 cd/m2 black high.

Buy cheap Samsung SyncMaster 216BW 21.6-inch LCD Monitor now.