August 30th, 2006

Okay, since I have been talking about low budget tvs, why don’t we go further and check this whooping 50 inch Maxent plasma tv.

Firstly, you may have never heard of this brand. But do not be deterred from looking at this set just because you’ve never heard of it. Yes, it’s not as famous as Panasonic, Sharp or Sony. However, it pictures are as good as money can get.

This plasma is one of the cheapest 50 inch plasma in the market. It lacks a tuner but that shouldn’t worry you if you have satellite or cable set-top box since those stuff would provide you with one. It also got only one HDMI input but at it’s price that is already a blessing.

The design is not as slick as other branded plasma but I guess that’s only a minor problem for most budget conscious people like me.

Okay, the good points are these :

a) It has detachable speakers so if you prefer to hook it to your home theater, you can keep it’s 2×10watt speakers in the basement.

b) The pictures are sharp and contrast admirable .

c) It has most features you’d find on more expensive sets (like Picture in Picture) and lastly ..

d) It’s around a thousand bucks cheaper than some other branded 50 inch plasma

If you want a plasma and got one tight budget, you may want to consider this one. Just make sure you hook it to your own speakers since it’s own sound system is not that impressive.

RETAIL AT: around $2300

August 29th, 2006

Okay, I know I have been guilty at promoting those high end tvs. I just realise that sometimes people put the price first and quality second.

That’s why this time, you’ll get to see the Vizio 32 inch LCD tv review on top of the Sony’s I have just talked about.

Firstly, let’s talk about the price. While the Sony Bravia 32 inch will cost you around $1300, at the same price, you could get a Vizio 32 inch L32HDTV and have a few hundred bucks to spare.

The good thing is it comes with HDMI input, PiP control (so that you could watch 2 channels at the same time) and adjustable backlight - something that you could find on high end tv.

The picture wasn’t as clear as Sony’s or Panasonic’s but is still acceptable for everyday’s viewing. Of course, it wouldn’t stun you with it’s super crisp pictures like a Bravia but with great price and ample features, Sony’s and Sharp’s share in the tv market will continue to drop considerably.

A great lcd tv for budget concious people. And thanks to the aggressive price tag, we’re going to see cheaper lcd and plasma tv every year.

RETAIL AT: around $800

August 29th, 2006

I saw this tv displayed alongside other similarly sized tvs. There was Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp, JVC and a few other lcd tv brands I couldn’t recall.

All I can remember was being impressed at the clarity that this newly launched Sony Bravia (replacing WEGA) compared to the other sets. The closest rival is the Panasonic set but all the other sets are put to shame by this one unit.

The picture is clear. I can still remember vividly seeing one picture. It was a distant shot of a cliff and I stand there being impressed by the ripples from the waves I saw. I saw it on the Panasonic set too, but all the other sets wasn’t up to the par.

This set is a bit cheaper that the s2000 because it has no built in HDTV tuner. Well, it wasn’t a bad thing since you are getting it form your cable or satellite company.

When it comes to the price, this KLV-32U100M itsn’t as cheap as other LCD tv it’s size. But hey! if you really want a sensational picture - you need to pay the price.

RETAIL AT: around $1300

August 27th, 2006

Like our previous post on the Sony dual use tv, you can also use this Samsung 32 inch as a pc monitor - that is if you fancy a huge screen.

It’s easy to set it up and you’d be impressed by high contrast and fast response time of this unit.
Although this is a HDTV, the good news is Samsung has also put an enhanced analog support in this tv. That means you could still enjoy analog broadcast signals - but with clearer picture.

It also support Samsung MP3 players and other portable audio devices and comes with the Game Mode. This mode is used to enhance the sound of your games as well as making image processes faster.

This thin piano black lcd can stand on it’s pedestal or be hung on the wall. No matter how you want to put it, this tv will allow anyone in the room to watch their favourite channels through it’s 178 degrees viewing angles. Integrated tv tuner, 2 HDMI input and 3D Y/C digital comb filter combines to give you sharp picture quality.

It’s not the cheapest LCD on the market though!

RETAIL AT: around $1300

August 26th, 2006

Okay, I know what you’re thinking. Why is HP jumping into the tv market? And can it do better than most top of the line tv manufacturers like Sony or Panasonic?

Forget those skepticism. The most important thing is whether it can deliver.

Okay, first and foremost, this projection tv has been voted as the best MicroDisplay tv by the Sound and Vision magazine. Secondly, it is also been Cnet’s top Rear Projection TV. So, those 2 reason alone should kill all attempts by you at questioning HP’s ability.

It accepts 1080p resolution through it’s HDMI input.
(note: tv with 1080p resolution is capable of displaying every pixel of the highest-resolution HD broadcasts, theoretically). Apart from that, it has it’s input bays on it’s front channel.

Because of it’s 1080p display and 63 inch screen, the picture quality is solid (remember, for 1080p tv, the bigger the display size, the better). Maybe due to HP’s experience in color printing, the color displayed is also stunning. The only problem is out of the box, it’s red is not so pure. However, you can adjust this using it’s RGB gain controls.

RETAIL AT: $ 3000 - 4500

p/s The drawback of micro display is it’s picture quality if fed by analog signal is not that good.

August 25th, 2006

So far we have been reviewing tv just as that - home entertainment unit. I think it’s about time we introduce you to one that gives you the best of both worlds - work and play.

This highly rated Sony MFM-HT205 20 inch LCD is designed to be a high quality flat screen tv and also a pc monitor.

Like most Sony flat screen tvs, this unit’s HDTV display is sharp. There’s very little noise and it’s colors are as bright and vivid as you’d expect a tv to be. The input boasts all the connection you’d ask for :

a) For Rear Input: Component x 1 • DVI x 1 • Audio (RCA) x 1 • RF x 1 • 1 x D-Sub (RGB PC) • 21-pin SCART x 1

b) For Front Input: S-Video x 1 • Composite x 1 • Audio (RCA) x 1

The only complain is we have about this unit is it lack a HDMI port ( a truly digital port for video and audio - something that is ideal for HDTV).
As a pc monitor, you’ll be impressed with the picture and text quality at it’s default 1,400×1,050 resolution. Moreover, you’ll also get 3 watt speakers and 5 watts subwoofer - not something you’d find on even the latest pc monitors.

If you’re looking for an lcd pc monitor and a tv, this is as good as it gets. The Sony MFM-HT205 comes with 3 years warranty.
RETAIL AT: $900

August 25th, 2006

This is the kind of portable tv that you need during bad wheather.

If you live in hurricane prone areas or one that has seasonal bad weather, this tiny 5 inch LCD color tv will still bring you the news and information you need during those emergency situation (power outage).

It’s powered by a portable 10 AA battery pack that would lasts around 2-3 hours. For normal situation, instead of using the battery pack you can hook it up to your power supply and enjoy cable tv in the kitchen (yes! there’s a connection for cable).

On it’s standard antenna you’ll get 7-8 channels easily. If you want more, use a “rabbit antenna” instead. The sound is good and the picture very clear for a portable tv. Oh! it also has it’s own remote control - if you still need one.
The only drawback is the fact that the documentation that comes with this unit is basically useless.
RETAIL AT: around $90

August 23rd, 2006

We don’t normally put a picture this big in our site but this 32 inch Sharp LCD tv deserves a special treatment.

Firstly, let’s talk about the input. You can use this tv for your pc display using it’s DVI input, and hookup your high-end digital video equipment with it’s 2 firewire ports. Apart from those, you also get other standard video and audio ports.

This HDTV (high definition tv) comes in a sleek “titanium” finishing and will not disappoint those who loves to tweak their gadgets. This tv comes with a lot of tweakable picture options.

Most of this unit is manufactured in Japan, unlike it’s previous models that were assembled in China or Mexico. However, you may want to double check with your local electronic store to verify this information.

It’s response time is lightning fast. High speed action films will look a lot more lifelike because of it’s less than 6ms response time. The speakers is mounted at the bottom of the set and comes with Virtual Dolby.

The picture quality is excellent. The high brightness Active Matrix LCD make sure that no other light sources can interfere with your viewing pleasure. You can put this tv near opened windows or any lighting sources and still enjoy vivid colors. Apart from that, Sharp has increased the contrast of this tv to 1.5 more that the previous model. Thus, you’ll get sharper image on your tv. Coupled with 176 degrees viewing angle, you’d have a super tv in your living room.

The downside? Firstly, there’s no detachable speakers (unlike the previous models). If you would like to have that feature you would have to go for a slightly bigger models ( the 37 inch). Apart from that, some buyers have complained that the great deep blacks on the new Sharp LCD panels comes at a slight compromise - some detail lost in the darkest areas.

Having said that, we still believe this tv is the best in it’s class. Superb picture quality, ample inputs, improved image processor and elegant styling makes this Sharp workhorse our choice for 32 inch tv segment.

p/s This 42 pound tv comes with it’s own stand if you do not want to mount it to the wall.

RETAIL AT: around $1200

August 22nd, 2006

Swiss scientists have declared a breakthrough in bringing “real colour” to your next tv and computer displays.

The new technology promise superior quality picture than plasma or lcd tvs. It uses “robotic muscles” to control thousands of tiny super prisms that will in turn produce a wide array of colors to the screen - something that is impossible to achive using current technology.

While current plasma or lcd displays (which are already superb in picture) uses 3 colors combination, the latest breakthrough is not confined by this rule. Thus, you’d get full spectrum of colors just like you see in nature.

If the old technology uses red, green and blue as it’s base and combined them to produce other colors, the new technology emits full range of colors - just like a rainbow.

For your information, right now even the latest and the most expensive tv wouldn’t be able to display all colors.

The technology will be available to consumer products in (sadly) 8 years time.

August 22nd, 2006

If you can’t shell out your precious dollars for a plasma or lcd, we suggest you take a look at this standard 24 inch tv from Toshiba.

This pure flat tv offers less glare than conventional screens. It comes with standard headphone jacks and other video input/output. You would also get stereo sound and special colourstream input for DVD. Thus, you’d get the optimum viewing pleasure for all your dvd movies.

If you’ve never tried pure flat tv, this tv will show you why the pure flat technology is much superior than those conventional standard screen. Some people who have this tv and Sony Trinitron even says that this Toshiba has far sharper picture.

The bad news is this tv is hard to find online. Check your local electronic store.