3/27/2012

Sony RDR-VX560 1080p Tunerless DVD Recorder/VHS Combo Player Review

Sony RDR-VX560 1080p Tunerless DVD Recorder/VHS Combo Player
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Finally, a DVD Recorder and VHS combination unit that allows you to view DVD and your old VHS through your HDMI connection. That's right, you read that correctly. One of the biggest drawbacks of earlier upscaling machines from a variety of manufacturers was that you STILL had to use primitive S or RCA cables to output VHS images onto your HDTV.
Like many folks, I still have a large collection of movies on VHS (for some films, it remains the only version in print), but I was not going to buy another VCR unless I could really view them on my Samsung HDTV. Some VCRs connect with component cables, but cost as much (if not more) than this combo unit, which is so feature laden that I'm glad I waited.
The upconversion is very impressive so far for both DVD and factory VHS releases (lets face it, grainy home recorded VHS copies of TV programs will never look sharp at 1080p, so keep that in mind) and the controls are no more complicated than the average machine (which, may in itself be a problem for some already).
I have yet to fully utilize all the features, including the use of my Sony HD digital camera or camcorder, but those were secondary parts of the purchase. For me, the fact that I can now view my VHS library (and non-Blue Ray DVD library) on my HDTV through HDMI with such impressive image quality is more than enough to satisfy me.
If you are in the market for a combo unit to use with your HDTV, then this may finally be what you and I have been waiting for. Stellar product.
Why 4 stars? Well, I've only had the product a week, so it is too early to throw a 5th star onto the score, but it certainly merits 4 right out of the box.

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Sony's new DVD Recorder/VCR - Just what your cable box ordered. Save your favorite TV shows, archive old VHS tapes, even burn photos and personal video from Sony USB based camcorders and digital cameras The RDR-VX560 brings the ability to record your content to DVD to your living room. Do you have old VHS tapes lying around? Well, now you can save space and make them last by burning them onto a DVD. The RDR-VX560 brings ease of use with One Touch dubbing from VHS to DVD, or even from DVD to VHS. It couldn't be simpler.

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Level Mount ELTVS52 52-Inch 3-Color Glass TV Stand Review

Level Mount ELTVS52 52-Inch 3-Color Glass TV Stand
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This stand is a great deal for the price. During assembly (which takes 15 min tops), I was a bit concerned about how stable it would be but when finished the stand was solid. The stand is not as wide as I expected for a 52" TV but it still looks great, my 52" Samsung hangs over each side by about half of an inch. The glass has a black coating on the bottom giving it a black tint. The legs have slots for colored panels (black, gray, and a light wood pattern) to slide into which is what the "3-Color" is referring to. The angles and curves give it a modern appearance. The rear legs of the stand will limit the placement of some larger electronics to the center but most should be fine. My first gen PS3 fist comfortably to one side, any larger and you may need to place it in the center. Overall I am impressed. I think TV stands are overpriced in general but if you can get this stand at a discount I would highly recommend.

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Level Mount ELTVS52 52-Inch 3-Color Glass TV Stand

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3/26/2012

Sony KDF-55E2000 KDF55E2000 Lamp with Housing XL2400 Review

Sony KDF-55E2000 KDF55E2000 Lamp with Housing XL2400
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Lamp was for a Sony KDF-55e2000. After lamp was installed TV started going on and off. I returned the lamp and got another bad lamp. Hired local TV repairman and he found the lamp caused my main board to get too hot due to the lamp needing too much power to light it. After spending more money on the lamp and the repair than a original Sony lamp, I decided to ask Amazon for a return under the gurantee program. Apparrently that program is not really there to actually use. Amazon refused and DLP lamps refused a refund. I would not recommend buying electronics from DLP Lamps, and now I will not use Amazon to purchase anything. If you buy local the local person may charge a little more, but in my experience it is easier for a refund when the product is bad.

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Sony KDF-55E2000 KDF55E2000 Lamp with Housing XL2400

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PTC 6ft PREMIUM GOLD SERIES MINI HDMI TO HDMI v1.3 Certified Cable for CANON VIXIA HD Camcorders, HF series and others with Mini HDMI output port Review

PTC 6ft PREMIUM GOLD SERIES MINI HDMI TO HDMI v1.3 Certified Cable for CANON VIXIA HD Camcorders, HF series and others with Mini HDMI output port
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I bought this cable to connect my camcorder to my TV. The standard HDMI end of the cable has a secure fit however, the mini end is so loose that unless you hold / push it constantly it will not work (no sound or picture due to poor connection). It appears that this item was manufactured with poor tolerances. This makes this cables nearly useless and potentially harmful for the camera / TV.

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Now you can enjoy your High Definition Personal Digital Videos on your HDTV or HD Projector or Computers with HDMI port by simply connecting them using this single cable. PTC's Premium Gold Series Mini HDMI to HDMI cable will deliver the very best quality picture and sound from your HD Camcorders to you HD Displays each and every time.

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LG RC897T Multi-Format DVD Recorder and VCR Combo with Digital Tuner Review

LG RC897T Multi-Format DVD Recorder and VCR Combo with Digital Tuner
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As a satisfied owner of an LG HDTV, I bought this DVD/VCR combo recorder fully expecting to be likewise happy with the quality of the images produced by another LG product. Unfortunately, I had to box it up for return the same day I got it. The problem with the product is one that I hadn't anticipated, but which further very specifically-targeted reading online revealed as a known problem with LG's DVD recorders. That problem is what various message-boarders and bloggers call "image over-processing". Translate that as "too much anti-aliasing" (image-smoothing) or "too much blur". And it was not just on the recorded images. For the minute you switch from the LG TV's internal tuner to the LG recorder's internal tuner, there's an instant layer of "smoothing" that is pronounced enough to be distracting. ...I am talking, depending on your threshold of sensitivity to such things, a potential headache-inducing level of fuzziness.
If you purchase this product hoping to use it to archive your family videos, no way it can do them justice. If you plan to use it as a down and dirty digital era VCR, grabbing episodes of shows you intend to record over once you watch them a single time, it is really not quite servicable for that. All this keeps pulling me back to one head-shaker of a question: What were the people at LG thinking? At nearly three hundred bucks, the quality of the LG RC897T is a major disappointment.

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Super Multi 1080p DVD Recorder+VCR Combi, D2A Tuner, LG Simple Link, USB Media Plus, STB Control

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3/25/2012

Panasonic DMR-EZ47V Up-Converting 1080p DVD-Recorder/VCR Combo with Built In Tuner Review

Panasonic DMR-EZ47V Up-Converting 1080p DVD-Recorder/VCR Combo with Built In Tuner
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My setup: HD antenna directly into the Panasonic's coax input, then connected via HDMI, coax and component cables to the back of my LCD panel (a Sharp LC37D62U, a 1080P panel with HDMI inputs).
The tuner in the Panasonic unit, while capable of receiving HD signals, cannot output a full HD signal, but only 480P. If you are looking for a unit to act as a full-on HD tuner, this unit is not for you, but if your TV already has an HD tuner, then this unit offers some cool features. Before I start though, I want to point out that the unit does "pass" a full HD signal - that is, when using my TV's own tuner with the Panasonic set to "TV" (on the "TV/VCR" selection), the TV receives a pass-through of the HD signal coming in over the air to the Panasonic. Other descriptions of this unit had me believing that it would pass-through a 480P signal, but this is fortunately not the case.
Cool Feature #1: Recording HD TV shows over the air. This is one of the first of a new generation of DVD recorders that can record an HD signal onto a DVD disc (although only at the lower 480P resolution). Despite the lower resolution, the picture looks great, obviously not full HD but far better than analog TV. I have recorded "Lost" and "House" and both shows look pretty good. While the unit appears to be able to record on every DVD format known, DVD-RAM format provides some advantages. Using a DVD-RAM disc and the HDMI connection to the TV, the TV switches automatically to a full wide screen picture. Setting the unit on its LP recording mode, I can record 4 hours of HD programs on one disc, and the sound is great.
Cool Feature #2: Chase play. After starting a program recording, you can start watching the recorded program before the entire recording is complete - skipping past commercials and so on until you catch up to the "live" point in the recording. This works only with DVD-RAM discs, but is pretty nifty. By the way, the DVD-RAM discs can (according to the Panasonic manual) be re-recorded up to 100,000 times, so they are ALMOST like having a hard drive in the unit.
Cool Feature #3: Disc navigator. This allows you to see all the programs recorded on a DVD disc on a single screen - you can then use this to select which recorded program you want to watch. Nifty! No more hunting through VCR tapes for the program you recorded you can't remember when...
The VCR output is also fine (although obviously much less impressive that the DVD output). I can't comment on its ability to output upscaled 1080P as compared to other DVD units with a similar feature, but the outlook looks pretty darn good to me, no noticable "jaggies".
Complaints: The auto-channel setup missed one of my local HD stations, instead tuning a secondary station being broadcast on the same signal. Annoying! There appears to be no way to manually select which channels are tuned by the unit. I have been meaning to call Panasonic about this, but haven't gotten around to it. Also, long-ish startup time (like 15 seconds). Sometimes the DVD output seems a little washed out, but this can be taken care of by re-adjusting the TV's color settings. Having to turn the unit off in order to have it launch a scheduled recording.
Overall, quite happy with the performance.
FYI, the first unit I bought (from Amazon) arrived DOA, but they were great about returning it and I had a new unit two days later. They even paid for the shipping to return the first unit. Nice!

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DVD/VCR/SD Card Recorder, With ATSC Digital Tuner,1080P HDMI Upconversaion DV Input

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HP L2335 - LCD display - TFT - 23" - 1920 x 1200 / 60 Hz - 250 cd/m2 - 500:1 - 16 ms - 0.258 mm - DVI-I, VGA - silver, carbon Review

HP L2335 - LCD display - TFT - 23 - 1920 x 1200 / 60 Hz - 250 cd/m2 - 500:1 - 16 ms - 0.258 mm - DVI-I, VGA - silver, carbon
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This monitor is singularly the best I've ever owned. I was looking for a new LCD to replace my aging Sony Trinitron. I wanted something to work with my G4/450 Macintosh (Sawtooth) with a Mac Radeon 9000 Pro card in the AGP slot. The Mac Radeon card has a DVI connector and a native resolution of 1920x1200. However, I didn't want to pay $2,000 for the Apple 23 inch LCD, new version or older version. I found the L2335, checked all the specs with HP and MacMall, but neither could confirm that the display would work perfectly with my setup. When MacMall said they'd take it back if I had a problem, I decided to risk it. What a stroke of luck!!! Not only does it work flawlessly, it is actually the exact same display, with the exact some features, specs and components as the Apple 23 inch (without the aluminum frame, of course) and it costs $1,580 at MacMall ($420 less than Apple's) and comes with 3 times Apple's warranty! The price is less here too but not as much of a discount as at MacMall (are you listening Amazon?). But with 3 years parts, 3 years labor AND 3 year ON-SITE, this is a no-brainer for anyone wanting an Apple 23 inch but who doesn't want to pay the Apple tax.

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HEWLETT PACKARD (P9615A#ABA) HP Flat panel monitor L2335 U.S. - Engli

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