Archive for the 'Television' Category

Panasonic 50-inch S60 plasma for $649 at Best Buy

Best Buy has the Panasonic 50-inch plasma TC-P50S60 on sale for $649.  It is a Smart TV without 3D and the picture is exceptional for the price.  It’s $879 at Amazon right now, so you save and have the convenience of buying from a local store. I came across this deal while doing some research […]

Color calibration for Panasonic plasma HDTVs, good sounding, affordable home theater using tiny speakers

Sound Advice By Don Lindich Week 13, 2010 Q. We recently purchased a 58-inch Panasonic VT25 series 3D plasma TV. The installer strongly recommended we get it color balanced by a professional service person for $200. Do you think it is worth it? -Anand Kumar, Pleasonton, CA A. I think calibration can be worthwhile for […]

Sound Advice Column: Using a digital converter box with a VCR

Sound Advice By Don Lindich Distributed By McClatchy-Tribune Information Services Q: I hope you can answer my many questions about the new digital TV converter boxes. Probably a lot of your readers will soon be interested in this. My first problem: The VCR won’t work. I hooked up the antenna into the box and white […]

Inexpensive fixes can boost TV sound

Sound Advice By Don Lindich Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services Q: The sound on rented VCR tapes and DVDs is usually so poor that I can barely hear the dialogue, even with my TV sound turned up to the maximum. Sometimes it is impossible to hear across the room, even when the air conditioner is […]

Sound Advice Column: Plasma vs. LCD TVs, 120 Hz technology

JVC LCD HDTV with 120Hz technology Sound Advice By Don Lindich Week 4, 2008 Q: I am in the market for a 42-46 inch HDTV. A friend just purchased a 50-inch plasma and is complaining about blurred movement when watching sports. We will use our TV to watch lots of sports as well. Should I […]

Echostar (Dish Network) TR-40 Converter Box gets a new look

Echostar TR-40 Digital TV Converter Box- free with government coupon The TR-40 digital converter box from Echostar (also known as Dish Network) has a new look! My Echostar media contact, Francie Bauer, sent me the image posted above. The TR-40 will be 40%-60% smaller than the original design, shown below. Thanks, Francie!   Original Dish […]

Don’s Dealfinder: Sony KDL-40V3000 40 inch 1080p LCD TV, save $700

Sony KDL-40V3000  One Call, one of the best online retailers, has the 40 inch Sony KDL-40V3000 1080p LCD TV for only $1399.77, which is $700 off of MSRP. If you love the beautiful picture of a Sony TV and need something around 40 inches, check this one out. Sony KDL-40V3000 at One Call

Free Dish Network TR-40 digital TV converter box available in June

Dish Network has announced their free digital TV converter box, the TR-40, will be available in June.  In February 2009 all analog TV broadcasts in the USA will cease and without a converter box, analog TVs will be unable to receive any stations.  The government is now issuing $40 coupons good towards the purchase of a […]

Remote codes that don’t work, Format vs. Erase All, CRT TVs are still wonderful (if you can find one!)

Sound Advice By Don Lindich Week 39, 2007 Q: I recently purchased a Sylvania 15″ digital LCD HDTV to use with Dish Network. My Dish remote does every other thing it should with the Dish receiver, such as channel selection, program guide,system info and recall. I cannot program my Dish remote to turn the TV […]

Don’s Dealfinder: Oppo DV-970HD Universal DVD player, $119 Refurbished

Oppo DV-970HD Upconverting DVD player with SACD/DVD-Audio   Oppo’s upconverting DVD players are some of the finest available at any price, with top-notch picture and sound. They even include an HDMI cable! I could ramble on but so much has been said about Oppo’s players and the company’s outstanding customer service, no more needs to […]

Get Full/True HD stickers for your TV here!

A lot of my regular readers know I am fed up with the “1080p Full HD” and “1080p True HD” baloney foisted on us by the electronics companies and retailers. It leads many to believe that anything less than 1080p is not high definition, and lately I’ve seen posts on A/V message boards proclaiming the […]

Blu-ray vs. Upconverted DVDs, TV Antennas and 2009 Digital TV Transition, converter boxes

Sound Advice By Don Lindich Week 36, 2007 Q: Is there much of a difference in picture quality between, say, the Oppo 1080p upconverting DVD player and one of the two actual HD (Blu-ray and HD DVD) players? I know one plays/up converts “regular” DVD’s and the other plays actual “HD” DVD’s. I have a […]

DVD/VCR combo a decent stopgap as you await HDTV

Sound Advice By Don Lindich Week 34, 2007 Q: I made the mistake of buying an LCD TV that requires a cable or satellite box. The TV is not returnable. The store’s tech guy said I can use a VCR to watch the TV. I don’t even own a VCR anymore. What’s your advice? GEORGE […]

Plasma TVs and Burn-In

Sound Advice By Don Lindich Week 28, 2007 Q: I started talking about plasma and LCD TVs with a man at a local electronics shop and he said that he has heard that by 2010 plasmas will be phased out due to their high cost of repairs. He went on to say that LCDs and […]

Proper speaker placement when wall-mounting, using more than one HDMI source

Sound Advice By Don Lindich Week 24, 2007 Q: When we bought our home, it came with wires sticking out of the wall at about seven feet high for small speakers that were part of a home entertainment system. We would like to add speakers in that location. Do you have any suggestions as to […]

HD DVD vs. Blu-ray (revisited), 1080i vs. 1080p on a 46″ screen

Sound Advice By Don Lindich Week 22, 2007 Q: I have a 46 inch Mitsubishi 1080 HDTV an need a new DVD player. Should I get HD DVD or Blu-ray? If Blu-ray, which one should I get, and why? If HD DVD, the Toshiba HD-A2 or HD-A20 and why? -Al Szczepanski , Minneapolis, MN A: […]

1080P HDTV: I told you so

In a few recent columns I have stated my opinion that unless you have a video projector with a large screen, 1080p is a pretty meaningless specification and most viewers won’t be able to tell the difference compared to 720p or 1080i HDTVs.     If I could have chosen the column’s headline (I do […]

Changing sound level with HDTV vs. satellite, 35mm slides to CD/DVD

Sound Advice By Don Lindich Week 15, 2007 Q: We recently purchased our first HDTV. I haven’t converted my satellite to HD yet, but watch the local channels in HD via your recommended Phillips Silver Sensor antenna. I route all sound through the TV back to my old receiver and listen in simple ol’ Pro-Logic […]

Transferring cassettes to computer, recording high-numbered channels on satellite or digital cable

Sound Advice By Don Lindich Week 12, 2007 Q: I have several cassette tapes that I would like to transfer to my computer, which uses Windows xXP Media Edition. I am using a laptop and the only audio imput that I have is the mic jack. How can I connect my cassette deck to my […]

DLP vs. LCD and plasma, analog TV cut-off, 1080p broadcasts

 Sound Advice By Don Lindich Week 5, 2007 Q: My first question is, how do DLP TV’s rate against LCD and plasma? My second question regards the lock cable has on digital TV. When the change is implemented and analog is gone, will you be able to receive digital channels directly on your digital TV […]